Chapter 145 - The Day the Sky Path Opens (4)

[How long are you going to stand there like a retard?]

A voice that pierced clearly into my ears in a world filled only with tinnitus.

There were many foul-mouthed people in the world, but among those I knew, there was only one who would hammer curses into my ears with such an elegant, whispering voice.

"Ann?"

[It has been a while since I heard that fucking nickname.]

At that blunt reply, I ended up dazed.

She was the hero of the Great War that ended hundreds of years ago,

A knight who, as one of the Five Prince-Electors, had beheaded the Giant King, Eda.

The Iron-blooded Sword Marquis, Agnes Bayern.

Hearing Agnes's voice, which I thought I would never hear again, I choked up with emotion.

"Is it really you, Agnes?"

My voice was trembling like never before.

[Agnes or whatever, it doesn't matter. First, put away those shitty twin swords. A rootless, mongrel-like twin sword technique? It feels like my eyes are going to rot.]

But she paid absolutely no attention to my agitation.

"How are you..."

[It won't be too late to talk after taking care of those mongrels who are neither knights nor Mages.]

At her words, I suddenly snapped back to my senses.

Before I knew it, the Paladins were surrounding me.

Just as she said, now was not the time to be savoring our reunion.

"Don't go anywhere."

[I have always been in this exact place for hundreds of years.]

Only after hearing her answer was I relieved.

I tightly gripped my swords with strength.

"...!"

"...!"

The Paladins rushed toward me.

Sword light danced wildly.

Every single strike was a blow capable of splitting boulders and shattering citadel gates.

I did not dare underestimate them, raising my swords to parry the pouring sword light.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

A deafening roar dug into my ears, piercing through the tinnitus.

I blocked, blocked, and blocked again like a madman.

I could not even think of counterattacking.

I just desperately blocked and dodged.

But a single hand could not block ten hands, and it was impossible to parry all seven swords with just two.

My back was slashed. My leg was stabbed. The flesh of my waist was torn away.

The scorched armor fell off along with chunks of my flesh.

Amidst the terrible pain of my whole body being hacked to pieces, I gritted my teeth and thrust my sword.

"...!"

A Paladin who got stabbed in the chest grabbed my blade.

I swung my original body and severed his hand.

The Paladin screamed.

SLASH.

Before I could even recover my bloodstained sword, another blade flew at me.

THUK.

I was stabbed in the shoulder. Following that, the back of my knee was slashed.

My legs gave out.

"Keuhk."

Dropping to one knee, I slammed Dusk into the ground and held on.

Maintaining that posture, I swung the Dragon Slayer as if to sweep the surroundings.

A golden flash shot out in all directions.

The Paladins hurriedly retreated.

"Ugh."

[Didn't I tell you that those shitty twin swords wouldn't work?]

Agnes sneered.

Instead of answering, I suppressed the breath that had risen to the tip of my chin.

Practically leaning against Dusk, I glared at my surroundings.

The Paladins were glaring with flashing eyes, waiting for an opportunity.

My vision was not good.

Perhaps because I had been struck by so many lightning bolts, or perhaps because I had lost too much blood, everything before my eyes was blurry.

I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes wide open.

[Do you remember?]

Leaving Dusk planted in the ground, I staggered to my feet.

[When I was surrounded by the Giant Legionnaires (Gigantes).]

I tilted Dusk diagonally and pulled my original body back as if to thrust.

[At that time, I thought it was truly the end.]

"Hoooooh."

I let out a long breath and glared at the Paladins.

[If it had not been for you, nine times out of ten I would have died without even leaving a corpse behind.]

The Paladins exchanged glances.

[So this time, it is my turn to help you.]

And then they stealthily began to approach me.

[Just as you guided me.]

Puffing up my chest, I took a deep breath.

Almost simultaneously, the Paladins kicked off the ground.

[I shall guide you.]

At that moment, everything began to flow slowly.

[My only companion, my old partner.]

Agnes spoke to me.

[You and I are not separate; we are two, yet one.]

[What I have done is what you have done, and what I have achieved is what you have achieved.]

[This is the fruit borne from the seed you sowed.]

[The glory you achieved through me.]

As soon as those strangely resonating whispers ended, something majestic and grand embraced me.

Strength welled up once again in my drooping arms.

The mana that had been struggling to flow began to pulsate vigorously once more.

[Run rampant to your heart's content.]

My blurry vision cleared in an instant.

[For I will take care of the aftermath.]

Watching the six swords thrusting toward me, I moved my lips slightly.

『A single stroke is cast, and blood flows into a river, while flesh enriches the land.』

『I sing the [Poem of Creation].』

FLASH!

And at that moment, a brilliant golden light erupted from the tip of my sword.

KABOOOM!

Amidst the deafening roar that felt as if the world was collapsing, the cool-headed War Maniac laughed pleasantly.

Hearing that laughter, I swung my sword down with all my might.

The massive pillar of light that had soared as if to touch the sky crashed straight down into the earth.

* * *

A pillar of light rising from the middle of the battlefield.

It was a massive sword reaching tens of meters in length.

Within that dreadful unreality, the Imperial Knights and Mages gave up even resisting.

They watched the sword of light tilt.

"Ah..."

The absent-minded knights reached out their hands as if to stroke the light.

The auspicious light devoured their hands.

There wasn't even a scream.

They blankly stared at their hands that had disappeared.

The massive sword of light fell upon the heads of the Imperial Army.

CRASH.

A roar that shook the earth. Dirt and dust rose up and swallowed the area.

SWOOOOOSH.

A wind blowing from somewhere pushed the dirt and dust away.

And the gruesome sight was revealed.

Scattered all around were pieces of iron flattened tight. Blood, chunks of flesh, and hair were tangled up here and there.

They were the corpses of knights crushed entirely along with their armor.

Among them were the corpses of the Paladins that the Empire boasted of.

Because they were closest to the center of the sword, the state of the Paladins' corpses was more wretched than any others.

THUD.

Two Paladins who had luckily avoided a direct hit fell back onto their rear ends and collapsed.

They possessed neither the pride of a perfected knight nor anything else.

"Ugh..."

They groaned like terrified beasts and pushed at the ground with their feet.

It was an unsightly behavior and a shameful display.

But absolutely no one pointed fingers at them and called them ugly.

They were either already dead, or even if they were alive, they weren't truly alive.

The Imperial Knights dropped their swords and looked at the man who had caused this horrific disaster.

Covered in blood and kneeling on one knee, the man was gasping for breath.

He looked so precarious that he might draw his last breath at any moment, but his spirit alone was enough to overwhelm everyone present.

The Imperial Army didn't even dare think of rushing him and hesitantly backed away.

The man staggered and raised his body.

Then, he gripped his swords with both hands and aimed them at the Imperial Army.

Even though half of them were dead and turned into bloody pulps, the fighting force still present was nothing to scoff at.

There were still nearly a hundred knights and dozens of Mages alive.

Nevertheless, the Imperial Army was scared out of their wits by that small gesture of the man and scrambled backward.

Staring blankly at that sight, the man hacked and spat. Then, he picked up the sword he had planted in the ground and tramped forward.

CLATTER, CLATTER.

Every time the corpses crushed within their armor were stepped on by the man's feet, they spat out an uncomfortable noise.

SCREEEECH.

The two swords the man trailed behind him scraped against the ground, leaking a bone-chilling sound.

THUD.

A few timid Mages, unable to endure that horrific noise, simply fainted on the spot.

DRIP.

Blood trickled down the man's forehead. The man stopped in his tracks and wiped the blood from his brow.

STAGGER.

Swaying on his feet, the man took a step forward again.

His steps kept leaning to one side. It was toward where the surviving Imperial Knights were.

No one moved.

A man who looked as though he would vomit blood and collapse at a single thrust was passing right under their noses, and his defenselessly exposed, blood-covered back was right beside them, yet not a single one drew their sword.

Unable to even breathe, they merely watched as the man passed right in front of them.

The man walked past the ranks of the knights.

Before him, the sea of trees stretched out.

The man looked back.

In a way, it seemed as though he was admiring the carnage he had created, and in another way, it seemed as if he was engraving the surviving knights into his memory, promising a next time.

The Imperial Knights belatedly came to their senses.

They could not let him go alive like this. If they were to kill him, their only chance was today.

The first to move were the two surviving Paladins.

They were terrified. And so, they were even more desperate.

Gripping their swords with trembling hands, they staggered as they began to run.

"K-Kill him!"

At the Paladins' scream-like words, the knights drew their swords one by one and began to approach the man.

The man did not move. He just stood blankly with his back to the sea of trees.

On his deeply shadowed face, only his eyes gleamed eerily.

The approaching knights hesitantly came to a halt.

"Right now, that bastard can't even lift a single finger!"

"Don't be fooled by his bluff!"

The Paladins urged them on. The knights began to approach the man once more.

Finally reaching right in front of his nose, the knights awkwardly thrust out their swords.

And then they realized.

That the man's gaze was not directed at them.

The man was looking at the sky.

RUMBLEEEE.

Before they knew it, pitch-black clouds were covering the sky.

The knights froze right on the spot.

They had witnessed the lightning striking down countless times throughout the night, but because they were not the targets, they had merely marveled at it.

But now, that terrible magic which had swept away the enemy was about to fall right above their heads.

"Stop! Our allies will be caught in it!"

The terrified Imperial Army shouted out. However, the caster of the magic remained hidden.

They shouted in all directions, yelling to halt the magic.

It was a meaningless action.

Even as they cried out at the top of their lungs, the magic was completing itself by the second.

FLASH.

Light flashed between the dark clouds.

Dozens of lightning bolts slithered between the dark clouds like snakes.

The terrified knights scattered in all directions.

But everyone already knew.

The fact that human legs were too slow to escape the range of the magic covering the area.

Even in the midst of the chaos, the man, who hadn't batted an eye, raised his sword and aimed it at the sky.

It was an aura as if he was going to slash apart even the pouring lightning.

RUMBLEEEE.

The dark clouds howled.

Dozens of blue snakes flicked their tongues from beyond the dark clouds.

Right then, a sharp cry was heard from somewhere.

SCREEEEEEECH!

Not one, but dozens of roars.

Following that, a hundred wyverns revealed themselves from the other side of the sky.

SCREEEEEECH!

The wyverns howled and flew in.

Straight toward the center of the dark clouds that looked ready to unleash lightning at any moment.

At the forefront was an unusually massive wyvern.

"Raise lances!"

A magnificent roar echoed out.

The wyvern riders thrust their freakishly long lances forward.

"Opeeeen the heaaaaveeens!"

The moment that customary roar burst out, dozens of wyverns became shining spears and pierced through the black sky.

The sky split apart.

The pitch-black clouds scattered. Dozens of holes were punched into the dark sky.

Dozens of streaks of light formed through those gaps.

The places the wyverns passed through immediately became a path,

And just as the Azure Sky Knights of old had done, in their wake, only the resonating light remained.