Chapter 147 - Cataclysm (2)

Even though quite some time had passed since the sudden bizarre phenomenon ended, Burk Berten could not calm his mind.

So he wandered aimlessly through the military camp to soothe his heart.

BWOOOOO.

As he had been walking for a while, the sound of a horn rang out.

"The Azure Sky Knights have returned!"

He heard the shouts of the soldiers.

Burk Berten reflexively raised his head and looked toward the western sky.

A single wyvern was flying rapidly toward the camp.

A hundred had departed, so why was only one returning alone?

The old noble's heart sank.

A terrible thought flashed through his mind.

"Huh? But why is he alone?"

"Could it be..."

As he stood frozen and watched the wyvern, he heard the murmurs of the soldiers.

His sense of foreboding grew.

Struggling to contain it, he focused his eyes.

The wyvern's wingbeats seemed somewhat frantic.

He gauged the wyvern's trajectory and started running.

SWOOSH!

The wyvern swooped past overhead.

The distinct fishy stench of the wyvern pierced his nose. Mixed within it was the metallic scent of blood and the smell of something burnt.

He gritted his teeth and picked up his pace.

In the distance, the wyvern was descending. It was an urgent landing, almost like a crash.

"A Mage! Where is a Mage who can use healing magic!"

A scream-like voice immediately followed.

As he ran past the tents, a crowd that had gathered like a swarm of bees in mere moments blocked his path.

"What is it? Why did he come back alone?"

"And with a corpse..."

Amid the buzzing noise, the word 'corpse' pierced his ears exceptionally clearly.

"Let me pass for a moment!"

He roughly pushed his way through the soldiers and knights.

Beyond the wall of people lay the wyvern.

The back of the wyvern, which was breathing heavily, was entirely red. The saddle was covered in blood, and clotted blood that had flowed and dried was caked thickly onto its yellowish scales.

Burk Berten frowned.

His eyes felt strangely dry and stiff. His vision was restricted. Instead of rolling his stiff eyes, he turned his head.

And finally, he could see the wyvern's rider.

As well as the battered man lying limply at his feet, unmoving.

The old noble approached the man.

Seen up close, the man's condition was even more gruesome.

Half-melted leather armor was stuck to his skin. Even that was heavily damaged, full of cuts and gashes. The skin exposed beneath it was incredibly hideous.

Yellow pus oozed from skin that had boiled red and blistered. Of the dozens of sword wounds crisscrossing over it, not a single one was shallow.

His helmet was missing, nowhere to be seen.

Only then did Burk Berten realize he was seeing the man's face for the first time.

The mercenary Commander, who had always worn a helmet or had his cloak pulled low, was much younger than he had thought.

No, 'young' wasn't even enough to describe it.

Was he barely eighteen or nineteen at most?

"Ah..."

Looking at that youthful face, which had yet to shed all traces of boyhood, the old noble could not help but let out a held-back groan.

His chin was stained red with dried blood, and blood scabs were crusted around his nose and mouth. His skin was drained of color, as pale as a blank sheet of paper.

It was the typical appearance of knights who had fought until they suffered Mana Backflow.

He could imagine it without even seeing it.

Just how desperately the young mercenary Commander had fought within the sea of trees.

"Step aside!"

Someone pushed the old noble aside with an urgent voice.

It was a Mage from the camp.

The Mage knelt before the blood-soaked mercenary Commander and poured out flashes of healing light.

The hideously swollen blisters subsided slightly.

But it wasn't enough.

Another Mage appeared and added their light.

The sword marks etched all over the man's body gradually faded. His boiled red skin also recovered a bit of its original color.

Nevertheless, the man's injuries were critical.

Just then, the Commander of the main force and the young Vice-Commander of the Azure Sky Knights appeared.

"Report first."

At the Vice-Commander's stiff voice, the Wyvern Rider straightened his posture.

"Immediately after the enemy's large-scale magic was shattered, all Wyvern Riders descended at once to neutralize the enemy's magical forces. We believe the engagement is still ongoing at this time, and up until I left, the tide of battle was overwhelmingly in our favor."

The soldiers and knights surrounding them erupted into cheers.

To those who had spent all night watching their allies return barely clinging to life and looking like defeated stragglers, the news that the Azure Sky Knights were overwhelming the enemy was enough to revive their fading will to fight.

"As expected of the Azure Sky Knights!"

The Commander laughed heartily, immensely overjoyed.

Yet, even as everyone rejoiced, Burk Berten maintained a stiff expression.

At the end of his gaze were the members of the Vale Mercenaries, who had appeared after pushing their way through the crowd.

"...!"

The men and women, who had stood blankly staring at their limp Commander, trudged forward and knelt before him.

"......!"

A young man yelled something with a contorted face.

None of the people present understood that unfamiliar language. However, no one failed to understand its meaning.

The atmosphere sank as if doused in cold water. The cheers could no longer be heard.

"Move him inside."

The young Vice-Commander said. The Mages, drenched in sweat, nodded.

Soldiers approached, placed the man on a stretcher, and headed toward one of the tents. The members of the Vale Mercenaries followed behind them.

Burk Berten stared blankly at the sight.

* * *

The Azure Sky Knights, who had remained on the battlefield engaging the enemy, returned.

Twenty-one enemy Mages, two hundred and ninety-four knights. Two Paladins.

That was the combat record the Azure Sky Knights achieved in just one day.

The overwhelming news of victory reversed the camp's previously depressed atmosphere. Everyone praised the sharpness of Dotrin's hidden dagger.

However, the Azure Sky Knights did not rejoice at all.

"When we arrived, the enemy was already in no shape to fight. They were terrified, unable to even think of forming ranks and resisting. Even the Paladins the Empire boasted of were the same. All we did was drive our spears into the chests of men who couldn't even grip their swords properly."

People thought it was humility. They assumed the Azure Sky Knights said this to elevate the achievements of the outpost's knights and soldiers who had been sacrificed overnight.

But it wasn't.

Through the mouths of the Azure Sky Knights, a shocking story spread.

It was a story about the astonishing feats achieved solely by a certain mercenary Commander.

Three hundred knights and over twenty Mages. And five Paladins.

That was the number of enemies the mercenary Commander had taken down alone before the Azure Sky Knights even arrived on the battlefield.

The Wyvern Riders stated that they were able to achieve such great results without casualties because the enemy had lost their will to fight due to his overwhelming martial prowess.

They also emphasized that he was the one who had made the greatest contribution in this battle, and that he had played the biggest role in saving their allies.

Of course, the people didn't believe it.

Because it made no sense.

For a single person—and a mercenary, not even a knight—to accomplish alone what ten knightly orders couldn't have achieved even if they had rushed in together was a story not even a passing dog would believe.

But there were those who believed.

They were the survivors of the outpost who had their lives saved by the mercenary Commander.

"We lived because he blocked that terrible lightning."

"He cut down the lightning with a single stroke of his sword."

They clamored to testify about how devotedly the mercenary Commander had fought, and how incredible his martial prowess was.

They visited his tent every single day, praying that the mercenary Commander would regain consciousness as soon as possible.

Whether they did so or not, the members of the Vale Mercenaries stayed shut inside their Commander's tent, refusing to come out.

* * *

When Doris arrived in front of the Vale Mercenaries' tent, it was unusually noisy inside.

Clattering sounds, shouts, and a woman's shrill voice continuously spilled out.

Doris hurriedly opened the tent flap and stepped inside.

And then he froze on the spot.

Men with bruise-covered faces were pinning down some woman's limbs.

"Urgh!"

The woman, her hair disheveled, thrashed her whole body while pinned under the men.

Every time she did, the burly men's bodies bounced.

"Just what is going..."

As he opened his mouth, the men momentarily turned their eyes.

THWACK!

In that opening, the woman swung her arms, making two of the men slam their heads together. Then she shot up to her feet.

However, the two eyes of the woman who had risen were glowing terrifyingly.

"Damn it! Grab her! Don't let her run out!"

The men freaked out and rushed at the woman again. But before they could reach her, the woman grabbed a sword that was in the corner of the tent.

The men froze in the exact posture they had been stepping forward in.

The woman glared at them with eyes flashing in different colors.

"Didn't I tell you to put the swords away?"

"I put them all away. That one is His Highness's sword."

The men exchanged words while dripping cold sweat.

The woman took a step forward. The men backed away.

Doris looked at the woman. At an aura that was fundamentally different from a knight's sharpness—an aura like that of a wild beast—he unconsciously placed his hand on his sword hilt.

"Absolutely do not draw your sword! If you draw it, we're in huge trouble!"

At that moment, one of the men shouted.

But it was too late. Doris already had his sword drawn halfway.

Upon seeing the white blade, a fierce light began to drip endlessly from the edges of the woman's eyes.

It was blatant killing intent.

Doris frowned. He couldn't know the exact circumstances, but it was clear that the woman was out of her mind.

It seemed he needed to subdue the woman first.

Though he didn't know if that would be possible.

She was a woman he hadn't even known was here until now, but once she unleashed her aura, her presence was colossal.

At that beast-like aura, Doris audibly swallowed dry saliva.

The woman took a step.

SMACK!

With the sudden dull sound, the woman stopped in her tracks.

Standing before the woman was a half-elf with her cloak pulled low, who had appeared like a ghost.

The woman looked at the fist planted in her stomach and curled up. The moment she did, the men lunged and pinned her down.

The woman, who had been huffing and puffing while pinned down, suddenly began to sob sorrowfully.

"Why do you keep stopping me? I was just trying to... for His Highness..."

The woman cried so mournfully that Doris momentarily wondered if the men were tormenting her.

But the terrifying glow that had spilled from her eyes was still vivid in his mind. When he turned his gaze, the bruise marks covering the men's faces came into view. The woman was definitely not being tormented.

She sobbed like that until, unable to overcome her fury, she fainted.

The men hesitantly backed away from the woman.

"Phew. It's getting worse. At this rate, she's going to run off before His Highness wakes up."

"We might die before that happens."

The men panted heavily and lamented.

In the meantime, the half-elf picked up the sword the woman had dropped and fastened it to her waist. Then, she mercilessly bound the woman. As if tying up a traitor.

Doris watched their actions with a blank face before asking.

"Just what in the world is going on here?"

"We were just calming down a feisty young lady who wants to avenge her master."

"If she gets feisty a second time, you'll all be dead."

"Tell me about it."

The man, wiping cold sweat from his forehead, asked for his business.

"I came to see if there's been any improvement."

"It's exactly as you see. His mana flow is irregular, and he has no consciousness."

The man replied nonchalantly.

The Mages had poured healing magic over him for several days, but closing the physical flesh wounds was all they could manage. The prince remained unconscious, showing not even a sign of waking up.

It had already been four days.

As Doris was looking at the prince with a stiff face, the man suddenly spoke.

"As soon as His Highness's condition improves, we plan to escort him back to the Kingdom."

Doris frowned at the excessively sudden declaration.

"If he must bleed, it should be on Leonberk soil, not Dotrin's."

But the man didn't care at all about his expression.

"I believe the price for Dotrin's goodwill and friendship has already been paid to overflowing."

Thanks to the prince remaining alone in enemy lines to draw the enemy Mage's attention, many were able to return alive. The number of people he directly saved exceeded hundreds, and the number of those whose lives he saved indirectly was in the thousands.

Even without explicitly listing the number of enemies he had struck down, it had long since become impossible to hold the debt incurred regarding the Empire over their heads.

No, even before that, Doris had absolutely no intention of using that debt as an excuse to hold onto the Prince of Leonberk.

He was merely troubled by the fact that the prince would be returning in such an unwell condition.

"Tell me whenever you need it. The Azure Sky Knights will assist with your return."

However, there was no justification to stop a subordinate who wanted to escort his master back to his own country.

"Thank you."

The man expressed his thanks and closed his mouth.

Doris watched the prince for a little while longer before leaving the Vale Mercenaries' tent.

Despite suffering massive casualties in the battle a few days ago, the atmosphere in the camp wasn't entirely dark.

It was partly thanks to the fact that more of the outpost's forces had returned alive than expected—when they had thought it would be a relief if even half survived—and also thanks to the steady combat achievements the Azure Sky Knights had racked up over the past few days.

The war had entered a lull.

When the Wyvern Riders dominated the skies and frequently launched surprise attacks, the Imperial Army, instead of coming out of the sea of trees, dug themselves in even deeper.

The dense trees hid them.

If they set their minds to launching an ambush, it wouldn't be impossible, but there was no need to overexert themselves.

The Azure Sky Knights had already expanded their radius of activity beyond the sea of trees and were already achieving significant results.

In such a situation, there was no need to provoke a massive army of tens of thousands that was tightly hidden in the sea of trees.

They were merely watching.

So that they wouldn't pop out from some unexpected place.

"Just what is that Third Imperial Prince bastard thinking?"

Doris shook his head back and forth as he thought of the Imperial Prince who had become the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army.