Book 21 Chapter 3
Episode 198
To the Land of Decisive Battle!
The City of Beginning and End, The Decisive Battle of Raftas (2)
The Imperial Army was organized into a standing army system, one of the few on both continents. Panic rarely sets in for them, tempered solely through constant military training without a single farmer-soldier. There is one more reason why the camp, which should have been scattered, was able to quickly form a battle line and confront the ancient specter.
"Eight Gates Formation! Protect His Imperial Majesty! The outer perimeter, spread your detection feelers wide to check for additional enemy forces!" It was the presence of a great man who could serve as the focal point of military discipline, thanks to 'former Sword Saint' Riland Apeltas taking on that role.
"Father!"
"Stay back, Gid! This is not your place."
Riland, having refined his battle formation, led his warhorse forward.
'What kind of monster is this…?'
The wolves of ancient times were devouring their prey.
'Even I have never encountered an Uruk with such terrifying killing intent…'
The bodies of masters have a high concentration of mana. That is why they are considered the ultimate delicacy by magical beasts. Therefore, the wolves were tasting the corpses of the Spear Saint and the Magic Saint according to their hierarchy.
'If it weren't for this horse I've ridden since my youth, I would have been scared by their sinister aura and fled.'
The alpha wolf, which had first tasted the most delicious entrails, and its rider looked at Riland.
"Hmmmm."
His attitude was so relaxed it was hard to believe he had invaded the heart of the enemy lines.
"Hey, sir, the hero's father…"
Mutian Ryuminik, who had been protecting the emperor who had fainted after falling from his horse until the Imperial Army completed its formation, moved alongside Riland.
"As you can clearly see, that guy is no ordinary foe. He invaded in an instant and took out the Spear Saint and the Magic Saint with one blow. This isn't the time for your grand chivalry or honor."
"Chivalry is what is needed when leading fellow humans down the path of honor. I have never invoked chivalry against demons who have no honor whatsoever, nor will I ever, so don't worry."
"As expected of that crazy hero's father, I'm glad we can communicate."
The moment Ryuminik smiled, Rabashuurf bared its gigantic fangs and charged.
Draw Sword!
In response, Riland, spurring his warhorse, had his blade erupt from its scabbard, scattering a hazy light… and soon a fierce roar shook this wilderness.
'Is that a mace of lava…!'
Riland's move did not target Rabashuurf's fangs; instead, he chose to leap and counter the mace fiercely wielded by its rider.
The result!
The blade of mana momentarily pushed back the rider's mace, but Rabashuurf easily seized the warhorse's neck.
"P-Phili!"
Gid, observing the battle, covered his mouth in dismay.
Riland did not explicitly show emotion, but he looked with shadowed eyes at the dying warhorse, its neck crushed by Rabashuurf.
It was a warhorse Riland had received as a gift from his wife in his youth. She called this horse Phili. It was a gentle horse, just like her.
'It had to be this way.'
To create this moment, where Rabashuurf would be distracted by its prey and the rider's mace would be pushed far back!
"This is enough! This is perfect, brother!"
And to allow Ryuminik, who had been hiding in the shadows of Riland and his warhorse, to successfully ambush the rider from behind!
"If you like eating so much, I'll feed you until you burst! Take this, the power of the sun, practically boiling! Illyangseonryun (Solar Wheel)!"
Finishing off an enemy whose posture is broken from behind is easier than eating rice cakes while lying down!
'Aim with the toes! The location of the pressure point!'
However, Ryuminik instinctively knew the next moment.
This monstrous figure, several times larger than the average Uruk… was a genius in combat!
'This guy… the mace?'
Then, in the fleeting moment slightly before that instant, when the mace was pushed back by Riland's blow…!
He had thrown the mace!
By not clinging but rather letting go, adding just one more movement would turn the impact on his body into a smooth current rather than a backflow.
'Instead of directly receiving the impact from that Sword Saint brother, he actually used it as rotational force to turn his body! To even use an incoming attack as a smooth current!'
And in that very process!
At this point, less than a second after the sword and mace collided!
The astonishing sight of that ancient Uruk's arm lunging at Ryuminik unfolded!
"Ughhh, this bastard…!"
Just before his toes could touch the critical points known as the Four Vitals, Ryuminik had no choice but to create a magical foothold and push off it.
With that power, a spinning leap!
Barely avoiding the monster's arm in mid-air by a hair's breadth, he then continuously struck the pressure points around its neck and shoulder with his fingertips, before landing on Rabashuurf's back.
"The fatal blow missed, but because of that, you'll die more painfully!"
"!"
"The power of the sun that infiltrated your pressure points will begin to melt your body! It's a fatal blow given in cooperation with that Sword Saint brother, so be grateful!"
The monstrous Uruk turned to Ryuminik and grinned slyly.
"Y-you're laughing? You crazy bastard, you're dying right now!"
As the pressure points boiled, his flesh could be seen melting away.
If such phenomena were appearing externally, the internal degradation process would surely be several times more potent and excruciatingly painful?
But then, to an astonishing degree, the Uruk, the very next moment, applied Rabashuurf's lava, which had been ravenously devouring the warhorse, to its own neck!
"W-what is this bastard…? He's applying lava like an ointment! Neutralizing that with lava?"
Mutian Ryuminik was also a fierce general who had seen many battles! He had dealt with countless unconventional enemies until now. He never gets flustered unless it's an extraordinary situation.
'But this guy…'
This fellow, who suddenly appeared, took down two of the Four Great Generals of the Yellow River, and easily countered even a combined attack with the former Sword Saint… his true identity was unfathomable.
"Batokurashi (Interesting)."
The unknown Uruk let out a booming laugh, and as he wiggled his fingers, veins bulged around Ryuminik's sternocleidomastoid muscle.
"This bastard… a demon making fun of a human! The only ones allowed to tease me are women with national-power-level beauty!"
Ryuminik's furious charge was not a result of falling for a provocation. This was the second feint! He deliberately created a huge commotion and launched a frontal assault so that Riland Apeltas could aim precisely at the enemy's rear!
"……!"
"……!"
But if the opponent effortlessly parried both Ryuminik's frontal flurry and Riland's rear slash… then what kind of expression should one make?
"Akubuta (Excellent)!"
He said.
For a moment, he seemed impressed, but soon his expression and tone sank with disappointment.
"Tara, Kiroshi benita Yakataromo wa 1,000gen Hake ni jilakati kerotashibbata (However, I killed and fed enough of your kind to wolves a thousand years ago)."
Then, in an instant, he widely sprayed fresh blood from the scars on his body created by Riland's slashes!
Was that blood, all lava?!
In that single moment, when Ryuminik and Riland's attention and movements were consumed to dodge or block that lava!
"Ah, Father─────!"
He charged in both directions along with Rabashuurf!
The target was Riland Apeltas, whose movements were slightly slower due to the effects of aging, rather than Ryuminik!
A dozen ice shards flew at the Uruk, but this one, who easily deflected them as well, was truly a monster!
'It's impossible. It was a 3rd-star magic that could only barely be used in time by the beastmen…!'
Pormas of the Osarius school gasped.
'Lynn, how on earth have you been fighting against guys like these…?'
Now, even if Riland successfully blocks one side, death is unavoidable!
Truly, he was surrounded on all sides!
In that instant, Riland weighed which side he should inflict a fatal wound on before dying, to be of more help to the overall strength. He was a man who could coldly place even his own life on the scales!
'I'll aim for the wolf side…!'
As for the Uruk's side, unfortunately, inflicting a fatal wound with my aged body is impossible right now!
'I'm sorry, Gid. I can't stay with you any longer than this.'
In that case, choosing the path where death serves a greater value is the correct choice!
The moment Riland, prepared for death, sharpened his blade with desperate mana!
That very instant when the lava fangs and mace lunged right before his eyes!
CLANG──────!
Repelling all those attacks with a dazzling sword light… this is a Holy Sword! The blade of the Supreme Holy Sword, Shirpen!
"─────Haaahhhh!"
Is that all?!
Not stopping at merely repelling, the blade, which momentarily twisted the trajectory of the force, plunged deep into Rabashuurf's snout…!
Look as it reverses the momentum of that charge, cleaves its gigantic body along the spine, and exits through the tip of its tail!
"T-the Hero!"
"The Hero has come!"
Rabashuurf crashed to the ground with its massive body, and as its flesh flowed down along the severed sections, the morale of the Imperial Army soldiers soared.
The last Faequarius of this era, Lestar Alter Shirpen! Having raced alone at full speed, he had arrived several minutes earlier than his Hero Party comrades.
"Gather the soldiers and retreat, Sword Count Apeltas! Our Hero Party will take care of this!"
In contrast to the Imperial Army officers and soldiers whose morale was sky-high, Lestar was shouting urgently. It had to be. Surely it should have been instantly killed by that slash, but what was happening? Rabashuurf's body was regenerating amidst boiling lava!
'This isn't regeneration by the [King's Flesh]… it's closer to the super-regeneration of the Annihilation Squad I saw back then in <Langbard>!'
What astonished Lestar even more was the Uruk's reaction. He was bursting with laughter, as if overly pleased!
"Sarandis───────!"
Shouting the name of the first Faequarius, Sarandis Alter Niseimon!
'No way… is it really Kyral?'
Pushing away the dismay settling in a corner of his mind, he connected his central nervous system directly to combat thinking.
'Priority assignment.'
First, finish off this Uruk before the wolf's super-regeneration is complete. If the two link up, it will become troublesome.
'Time acceleration.'
As Shirpen's light reached its peak, a total of twelve slashes were projected within a single instant.
Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-ching…!
However, Kyral's carelessly swung mace, astonishingly, deflected half of those slashes.
Is that all?!
An arm, thrust without any fear of being cut or severed, seized Lestar's throat, almost breaking it…
"Lestar!"
Frieda shouted.
An arrow of fresh green, reaching the battlefield even before her voice, not only pierced Kyral's upper arm but severed his forearm.
"Thanks, Kees!"
Lestar stepped back. He wiped away the cold sweat that instantly drenched his forehead, along with the death that had surged right before his eyes.
'This Uruk is an Asura…'
Kyral's arm could be seen regenerating, with colorful lava gushing from the severed section.
'Fighting is the joy of life itself; being cut or dying in the process is merely a natural price to pay for pleasure. He is truly the Uruk itself.'
Lestar swallowed dryly.
'Now, there's truly only a little left… I wanted to use it sparingly, somehow.'
But if I do, I'll die before fully exhausting this lifespan.
'In this very moment, I will defeat him with all my might.'
The Rabashuurfs, which had been busy devouring their prey, gathered one by one around Kyral, baring their fangs at the Hero Party.
'However, I don't feel like we're being pushed back at all.'
Because Lynn, the main artillery of the Hero Party, had also arrived just in time and began deploying the rosary entwined around her left hand.
"Lynn and Kees, stop the wolves."
"Hah, look at them, only giving us tasteless things again."
"Frieda, those things also use super-regeneration, so you'll need the power of the Creation Scripture."
"Leave it to me."
"As for Kyral, I'll finish him off in the meantime. Alright, let's begin."