Chapter 88

"Report! The Dark Zone is thinning!"

Keldian nodded at the scout's shout.

"It seems Sir Charlo has succeeded. Signal the entire army at once."

BWOOOOOO!

A brilliant white light shot into the sky with the mighty blast of a horn. It was the signal to advance.

"Royal Guard Knights! Follow me!"

Without delay, Keldian led his forces charging toward the Dark Zone.

"Raaaaah!"

"Raaah!"

Cheers rose from the Holy King's Knights and the Blue Knights as they saw the signal. Streaming in from three directions, the knights swept away the Nightfolk remaining in the Dark Zone and began clearing the darkness.

"Holy King's Knights, heed me! Let your holy implements shine!"

At Vice-Captain Rohan's shout, the paladins wrapped the pendants hanging around their necks around their swords.

HUMMM...!

[The blessing of Rashin, god of light, descends.]

▶ Attack increases by 5%.

▶ Divine power increases by 5%.

HISSSS...!

As the light pouring from their swords touched the darkness of the Dark Zone, the darkness began evaporating in clouds of black smoke.

"There it is!"

The Black Dragon appeared through the darkness, which the paladins' power had thinned in an instant.

"Fire the signal flare!"

FWEEEEEE!

A flare shot into the sky, and the light bursting in midair carried the signal to the magic cannon unit.

"Load the magic cannons!"

Commander Victor, who had been watching the battlefield closely, raised his hand and shouted the moment he spotted the flare.

CLACK!

WHIIIIIR...!

Energy began condensing rapidly inside the barrels of the fully charged magic cannons.

"Fire!"

As the Black Dragon's head came into view, Victor brought his hand down.

KRA-KA-KA-BOOOM!

Light erupted from the magic cannons and hurtled toward the Black Dragon at incredible speed.

-Battle of Thorn Bach live coverage! Link: http://...

-Live coverage, my ass. You haven't even gone near it. Just farming views with this crap.

-Yep, that's just a shot of the scenery.

-Damn it... I'm dying to know what's happening.

-Lowbie in the Dark Forest here, just sitting around wishing...

As the battle began, the community erupted once again. This was a large-scale battle unlike anything seen before.

After the raid teams' annihilation, players had come to fear the Black Dragon. But rumors that knightly orders from multiple nations had joined the fight, and that even a sacred relic of the Holy See had been activated, drew everyone's attention once more.

-Breaking! Red Tower decides to dispatch reinforcements!

-Seventeen raid teams, including the Norn Raid Team, are heading back to the portal!

-Lol, the Red Tower is one thing, but why are the raid teams showing up this late?

-Weren't they posting that it was absolutely impossible to kill? Now they want a piece of the action?

The response was cold.

And one person was following those community posts in real time.

It was none other than Im Huijeong.

[Vision recording complete.]

[The saved video has been sent to the designated user.]

[Recording 1 received.]

"... Got it."

As the system notification sounded, she hurriedly opened the file. She swallowed.

The battle of Thorn Bach, which no one had yet seen.

"Even if they head over to help now, none of the portals are working properly because of the Dark Zone. The temporary portals are overloaded from transporting the knightly orders, too..."

Even if they made it there, the battle would likely be over.

"Which means this is the only footage of the Battle of Thorn Bach."

She smacked her lips and grinned.

"I can't wait to see how many views this gets."

CLICK.

When she clicked the video file in the system window, a holographic window appeared before her.

[BOOM! KRA-KA-BOOOM!]

A fierce battle was raging in the footage: an enormous Black Dragon and the knightly orders surrounding it. Her younger brother Alteon was there, too.

"Huh... It feels different seeing it like this."

Im Huijeong chuckled at the sight of her brother fighting desperately.

"The knights are pushing the Black Dragon back. At this rate... this might end more easily than I thought."

She decided she needed to hurry and edit the footage.

"... Huh?"

But her smile was short-lived. As she watched, her expression slowly stiffened.

"W-wait...? What is this?"

Her eyes widened as the video continued playing in the holographic window.

* * *

["Magic cannons... I did not realize the ancient dwarves' technology was still being passed down."]

"Ghh... Urgh..."

["But they fall short of their predecessors. Had these been dwarven cannons, they might have blown my head off."]

"E-everyone, retr—aargh!"

The Black Dragon's enormous foot crushed Victor to death.

["You must pay for taking one of my wings."]

Folding his broken wing, Bensina slowly drew in a breath.

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing the heat spilling from the Black Dragon's mouth, the Naga Mercenary Company guarding the magic cannon unit began scattering.

"Damn it! Those mercenary bastards...!"

"We must protect the magic cannons at all costs!"

"... Shield bearers!"

Despite losing their commander, the soldiers of the magic cannon unit moved in perfect unison.

CLACK! CLACK!

A wall of shields swiftly formed in front of the magic cannons.

"Deploy shields!"

A bluish aura formed around the shield wall.

"You idiots...! There's no way that can stop it! Run, now!"

Tachif shouted with all his might, but not a single member of the magic cannon unit abandoned their post.

KRA-KA-BOOOM!

The moment the Black Dragon's breath struck the shield wall, it melted the shield bearers.

"Aaaaagh!"

"H-help me...!"

Screams rang out.

The fleeing mercenaries shook their heads at the burning magic cannons.

"Pathetic fools. Honor doesn't put food on the table."

Captain Tachif clicked his tongue.

"... What do we do now?"

"What do you think? Run! The knights have been slaughtered. What can we possibly do?"

"B-but..."

"What? Are you chasing honor, too? Then go walk into that field of corpses!"

"No, sir!"

At Tachif's roar, the mercenaries hurried off the battlefield.

That was the reality.

The knightly orders, who had held the advantage only moments earlier, had lost more than half their numbers. Even among those remaining, most were wounded.

["..."]

Bensina trampled the burning magic cannons and looked down the hill.

The weakened Dark Zone was once again spewing dense darkness, and the wounded survivors had lost the will to fight, their faces blank with despair.

"What in the world... happened?"

Alteon shook his head, clutching his throbbing skull. He felt all the strength drain from his body, as though his accumulated fatigue had struck him all at once.

'Everything was going well when the magic cannons shot the Black Dragon down... '

The problem had come afterward.

The three knightly orders had pressed the Black Dragon simultaneously. With one wing injured, the dragon had gradually begun giving ground under their attacks.

'We definitely had the upper hand.'

But then the effect of the [Immortal's Stake] had suddenly vanished.

The result was Charlo's sudden death. With the balance broken, the Black Dragon had taken Keldian's life in an instant as well.

The knights had done their best after losing their commanders, but it was not enough. Their formation broke, and the offensive collapsed, starting with the Holy King's Knights.

"Hurry and get to safety! We will... hold this position somehow."

Alteon looked up at the voice. Zion Muren, the only surviving commander, was shouting, his face battered.

His Blue Knights had lost half their numbers as well. But he had not given up; he urged his men on as he resisted desperately.

"Uncle!"

"Karlan...? Why are you here...?"

"Things just worked out that way. I'm the surprised one. I never knew you were the one commanding the Blue Knights..."

"Things just worked out that way for me, too."

Zion Muren gave his nephew a wry smile and lightly stroked his head.

"But where is your sword? Why are you empty-handed?"

"Oh... I'm sorry. I lost it fighting the Nightfolk."

"... Did you?"

For a moment, Zion's gaze turned cold as he looked at Karlan.

"These things happen. Don't let it trouble you. It's enough that you're alive."

But no one noticed the look in his eyes.

"Karlan, escort the high-ranking devotee to safety. You shouldn't be here."

"No! I... must find the Immortal's Stake."

Alteon shouted urgently. With Charlo dead, he could not afford to lose the Holy See's sacred relic as well.

"You intend to go back in there now? That would be suicide! The Black Dragon has destroyed the magic cannons. It will be back here soon."

"But..."

Under Zion Muren's insistent words, Alteon could only move his lips, unable to answer.

"I can't return to the Holy See like this..."

Panic filled his face. Taking the bewildered Alteon by the shoulders, Zion Muren encouraged him in a warm voice.

"There will still be time to find the relic after we defeat the Black Dragon. It will remain right here. Those who remain here now are people who understand honor."

There was a strange power in his voice.

"... Very well."

Alteon forced out the answer.

'This is driving me mad... How am I supposed to report this...?'

"Please, get to safety. Now that we have lost the Knight of Glory, I could not face the pope if we lost you as well."

"B-but..."

"Blue Knights! You three will escort the high-ranking devotee to the portal. Understood?"

At Zion Muren's command, the Blue Knights helped Alteon up from where he lay.

"Let's go."

"W-wait a moment...!"

His orders were carried out seamlessly, leaving no time for objections. Before Alteon knew it, the Blue Knights had seated him in a saddle.

"All survivors, hear me...! Reinforcements will come...! Do not give up!"

Had he used some sort of magic?

Though his voice was not particularly loud, it rang across the battlefield.

'Were the rumors wrong? I heard he was the weakest member of House Muren... '

'I thought he was just a pampered young lord, but I was wrong.'

At his shout, the knights began kindling the last of their fighting spirit.

"All troops...! Stand and fight!"

The three knightly orders began rallying under his command.

"..."

Woojin watched them with cold eyes.

Zion Muren.

When the Immortal's Stake disappeared and the two commanders died, he had appeared as though he had been waiting for it.

Was that merely a coincidence?

"You must be the Outlander who fought the Black Dragon."

"That's right."

"Would you help us? As you can see, we are desperately short of fighting strength."

"I will."

Zion Muren extended a hand to Woojin.

"Please, just call me Zion. I would love to become better acquainted with someone capable of fighting the Black Dragon for three days."

He was courteous. He had none of the airs of nobility.

Perhaps that was why no one suspected him.

"Is that so?"

Woojin took his hand.

"Since you say I can speak freely... may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"The Immortal's Stake."

Woojin's voice turned icy as he asked,

"Did you pull it out?"

Three knightly orders and the magic cannon unit.

They had numbered some eight hundred in all.

More than half were gone.

Because of a single man's greed.

"Of course not."

Zion Muren's expression twisted strangely as he answered.

"... All right."

Woojin clapped him on the shoulder and walked past.

[GRRRRR...]

The Black Dragon's roar rang out.

It was not time yet.

He carefully banked his mounting anger.