Chapter 144 - The Day the Sky Path Opens (3)

The first to notice the anomaly were the Mages of Dotrin.

"T-This is..."

"Oh my god..."

The Mages, who rarely ever left their barracks, rushed outside all at once. As if they had planned it, they all stared at the exact same spot. Black stains were dotting and spreading across the sky above. Like black ink dissolving in water, the entire sky quickly turned pitch-black.

The Mages trembled.

The mana of the entire world was swirling wildly. Caught in an overwhelming torrent of mana they had never experienced in their lives, the Mages felt their minds grow faint.

RUMBLE.

The dark clouds spat out a roaring sound.

Several Mages startled and snapped back to their senses. They immediately headed to where the command staff of the headquarters was located.

"What is the matter?"

Seeing the Mages' pale, frightened faces, the Commander asked with a stiff expression.

"I-It is a sign of large-scale magic!"

A Mage shouted like a scream and added one more thing.

"At least an Archmage-class Mage has appeared on the battlefield...!"

Before he could even finish speaking, the Commander and the knights widened their eyes and rushed out of the barracks.

At that moment, a deafening roar rang out.

CRAAASH!

It sounded as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was caving in.

The knights looked up at the western sky with blank faces.

The dark clouds that completely covered the sky were endlessly pouring down dozens of lightning bolts.

It was the direction of the outpost.

* * *

The messenger who had left on orders returned.

With a complexion as pale as a corpse, the messenger barely managed to give his report.

"I-It's all burned down. Nothing was left but black ash."

Through the rambling messenger's mouth, the situation at the outpost became known.

Collapsed wooden fences, barracks burning black in flames, and charred corpses.

According to the messenger, the outpost had already become hell.

The Commander urgently dispatched a search party.

However, they could not find a single survivor.

The outpost's eight knight orders and four elite legions had vanished without leaving a single survivor.

Forty percent of the defensive line's forces had evaporated overnight.

The Commander, who had stiffened like a stone, belatedly recalled the existence of the large-scale surprise operation that he had forgotten in the chaos.

"At least half of the troops must have left the base for the operation! We need to find them!"

His words were correct.

Some of the outpost's troops who had set out on the operation returned to the main camp where the headquarters was located.

However, the Commander and the command staff could not rejoice in the slightest.

Through the survivors, they heard the fact that the demon who destroyed the outpost was on the move, slaughtering their allies.

The occasional roaring thunder told them that their words were true.

The night deepened.

The number of survivors returning one by one had now dwindled significantly.

Around the time the sun was belatedly rising, a knight who survived sought out the headquarters.

And he said,

"The Commander of the Vale Mercenaries is still fighting!"

He said that the Sword Master of the twin swords was fighting the demon.

That he was buying time all alone so the demon couldn't chase after the retreating allies.

At the knight's words, a few old men sitting in the barracks jumped to their feet.

"I will enter the sea of trees."

It was Burk Berten and the old knights.

"I said something unnecessary. I feel like I pushed a promising young man into a death trap. Perhaps I misunderstood him. Either way, I feel a sense of responsibility."

Thinking that the mercenary Commander, who had more than enough capability to flee long ago, remained in that deadly place because of him, he strapped his sword to his waist.

"Although his contributions are not small, I cannot send knights to their deaths for a mere mercenary."

"I do not need help. I have no intention of putting our knights in danger due to my own stubbornness."

Just as the Commander was about to say something to the old man's death-defying resolve, someone threw open the barracks door and appeared.

"The former head of the Berten family does not need to bring danger upon himself."

The knights at the headquarters widened their eyes when they saw the man who had suddenly appeared.

To those knights, the man raised a single finger and pointed at the sky.

SWOOSH!

At the same time, the command staff's barracks shook as if it were about to blow away.

KAAAAAAH!

And a moment later, the roar of something could be heard.

"Because the Azure Sky Knights have begun their operations."

The man, Jean Catherine, showed a grinning smile.

Burk Berten rushed outside the barracks like a madman. The old knights and the Commander followed right behind him.

SWOOSH!

Wyverns were flying perilously close, as if they would crash into the flag hanging on the barracks.

"To think I would live to see the Wyvern Riders mobilize as a group..."

Burk Berten spoke in an impassioned voice.

"You will see it often now."

Jean Catherine said with a proud face.

"And the enemies will see it even more often."

Then he added one more thing.

That from now on, the enemies would be too terrified of the sky to dare enjoy its blueness.

* * *

The tables had turned.

The Dotrin army was no longer the hunter. They were the hunted beasts.

"Do not stop moving. Just a little further and we are out of the sea of trees. If we keep running, we can meet up with the main camp. Then we can all live."

A knight encouraged the soldiers.

At that moment, a flashing light appeared above his head.

The knight looked at the others with a blank face. The same clumps of light were floating above the soldiers' heads.

In the dark forest, it was a brilliant flash that could be spotted even from afar.

The Mages of the Imperial Army had ultimately confirmed the location of the allies and attached markers to them.

"Damn it..."

The knight's face turned blank with despair.

A desperate light surfaced on the faces of the soldiers.

"Do not give up, keep going!"

Seeing his subordinates' expressions, the knight struggled to boost their morale and shouted.

"Even if the enemy appears, do not fight, just run!"

Contrary to his words, the knight gripped his sword tightly.

If the Imperial Army appeared, he intended to stay behind and buy time.

However, there were things in this world that could not be stopped even with a death-defying resolve. This was exactly such a case.

Unfortunately, the first to spot their markers were neither the soldiers nor the knights of the empire.

It was the demon who had turned the sea of trees into hell.

RUUUMBLE.

The knight raised his head.

Obscured by dense branches and leaves, the sky could not be seen. But he could still feel the monstrous energy gathering beyond them.

"Dammit..."

He lowered his sword and muttered.

That he couldn't stop that.

At that moment, the world flashed white.

The knight closed his eyes.

*'I'm dying like this.' * He thought to himself.

CRASH!

A deafening roar rang out.

That was all.

There was no pain that he had braced for, nor any imminent death.

He opened his eyes to a slit.

Before him stood a man in a completely battered state.

In his hand, he gripped a sword imbued with scorching flashes of light.

CRACKLE.

The flashes of light clinging to the blade writhed along the edge like snakes.

The man flicked his sword with a *swish*.

The unabsorbed light was scattered onto the ground ahead.

CRACK.

A giant tree was cleanly sliced through. In the wake of the light, flames flared up with a *whoosh*.

"That hurts like hell!"

Above the head of the shouting man floated a Mage's marker.

A marker that shone larger and brighter than anyone else's.

"What are you standing there spacing out for! Go! I said go!"

The man yelled furiously.

Only then did the knight snap back to his senses and lead the soldiers.

"I want to know your name! If we make it out alive, I must reward you!"

Just before leaving the spot, the knight asked.

But the man did not answer.

He merely continued to glare at the sky with his sword tightly gripped.

* * *

"...!"

It looked like the knight had said something right before leaving, but I couldn't understand him.

Having been struck by that damn lightning so many times, my eardrums seemed to have burst, as I couldn't hear well.

BEEEEEP.

The only thing I could hear was an unpleasant ringing in my ears.

It wasn't just my ears.

My entire body was a wreck.

My armor was already half-melted and stuck to my skin, and my hands were trembling.

Every time I took a breath, it hurt as if my throat was being torn apart.

Despite all that, I still couldn't leave the battlefield.

Joining my allies with this marker floating above my head was an act of madness.

If I did, that terrifying barrage of lightning would rain down upon Dotrin's main camp.

Gritting my teeth, I glared at the sky visible through a gap in the dense branches.

Dark clouds were gathering once again.

The area covered by those dark clouds was far too extensive for me to simply run away.

Watching the flickering flashes, I raised my original body.

FLASH!

At that moment, a lightning bolt struck down upon my head.

CRACKLE.

My original body ravenously devoured the lightning.

The energy my original body spilled while eating dug into my body through my hand.

"Hah!"

I circulated the mana in my heart and drove out the energy.

"Keugh!"

But unable to fully process the energy in time, I ended up coughing up a mouthful of blood.

I stabbed Dusk into the ground. Then, leaning against it, I dropped to one knee.

"Hoo, hoo."

Gasping for breath, I glared at the sky.

I was truly at my limit now. If I took another strike or two like this, my body wouldn't hold up, no matter how much my original body offset the magic's power.

I glared at the sky before pushing myself back up.

Then, I kicked off the ground.

After running for a long while, dozens of light clusters latched onto the space above my head.

Each one was a brand that guided the Mages' spells, a marker broadcasting my location in every direction.

Mana surged violently.

North, south, east, west—there were enemies in every direction.

Only then did I realize that I had been caught in their round-up.

I couldn't understand it.

In this vast sea of trees, with so many enemies to deal with, to think they mobilized this much force just to catch me alone.

Before I could fully grasp the situation, the enemies' magic rained down.

Flames flew at me, and arrows made of ice struck down.

I dodged and slashed them away as I continued to run.

A massive energy was gathering above my head once again.

Just before that energy turned into lightning and poured over my head, the Imperial Army appeared.

The energy gathering above me scattered in an instant.

It was a relief.

Aside from the hundreds of knights and dozens of Mages surrounding me, it was a very positive situation.

Damn it.

"...!"

"... ...!"

Shouts rang out from all directions.

But due to the ringing in my ears, I couldn't make out a word they were saying.

There was no need to understand them either.

It was obvious anyway.

Catch him. Kill him.

They were undoubtedly the same cliché shouts.

Adjusting my grip on my sword, I assessed the strength of the enemies surrounding me from all sides.

There were seven Paladins and two hundred knights. Along with twenty heavily guarded Mages.

I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.

It was fine that I had evaded the tiger only to be surrounded by a pack of wolves, but the problem was that there were simply way too many wolves.

"Why are there so many of them?"

Saying that, I adjusted my grip on my swords.

Dawn was breaking.

By now, the news would have reached Dotrin's main camp, so I just hoped they had prepared a countermeasure to stop this terrifying enemy.

Because if they hadn't found a countermeasure, they wouldn't be able to hold the defensive line.

"Hoo."

I let out a heavy breath. Eyes flashing, I searched for a way out.

Then I realized that one side of the encirclement was unusually loose.

Perhaps they had purposely left an opening so the cornered rat wouldn't bite the cat, or maybe they just sloppily formed the net, thinking that catching one guy would be no problem with this many knights gathered.

Regardless, I had no choice.

"...!"

While I was thinking of a way to escape this place in my head, two Paladins and dozens of knights approached me.

"...!"

"What are you saying? I can't hear you."

Drawing my sword, I replied like that to the shouting Paladin, and the bastard immediately drew his blade as well.

Then he rushed at me, thrusting his sword straight ahead.

I blocked, dodged, and slashed.

The bastard also blocked, dodged, and countered my attacks.

After exchanging blows a few times, I quickly thrust Dusk in a long reach.

While the Paladin, stabbed in the shoulder, faltered, I slammed down my original body.

CRASH!

A sword coated in Aura Blade cut in and deflected my attack.

Before I knew it, the Paladins were surrounding me.

"Right. This is the Empire's way."

I spat with a *hawk*, then adjusted my grip on my swords again.

In my mind, I recalled a Poem of Martial Deeds that could break through the current situation.

In the worst-case scenario, I intended to use the Poem of Slaying Dragons to escape this place.

But that was strictly a last resort; for now, I would hold out for as long as I could.

I quietly recited the [Poem of Gold].

The energy that was unknowingly leaking out of me in the desperate situation was instantly locked back inside my body.

My breathing calmed in an instant.

I raised Dusk upright and angled my original body diagonally.

If I just survived this, I would surely obtain a new poem.

My fighting spirit surged. My drive welled up.

In the midst of that, I suddenly had a thought.

That it was a relief I was alone.

If Gunne, Adelia, and that Eli bastard had been here, we really would have been in major trouble.

Thinking that, I was startled.

And I realized.

Something I had never once thought about despite wandering through countless battlefields up until this very day.

Perhaps it was out of ignorance, or perhaps it was because of arrogance.

For the first time, I was thinking about my own death.

The moment I realized that fact, my original body vibrated with a *woooong*.

Someone spoke to me in my mind.

It wasn't the Scoundrel Prince's voice, nor was it the messages from my original body that I occasionally heard.

But it wasn't a completely unfamiliar voice either.

It was.

[■■■!, ■■■!]

A thick, foul curse that made my mind inadvertently go blank the moment I heard it.