Chapter 199 – The Knights’ Advance (1)

The portal we came through was installed inside the inner castle of the territory. The fact that we saw undead as soon as we stepped through the portal meant that the undead had already pushed their way into the inner castle.

“Kyaaak!”

“Kill them!”

“It hurts!”

Amidst the screams, shouts, and the roars of zombies, the cries of people could be heard.

“Hold them back! We must protect the portal!”

“We can’t hold on any longer! My lord, you must escape!”

“I can’t go alone! If we hold out a little longer, reinforcements will come! The chancellor and the emperor promised!”

They were knights, nobles, and the lord of this territory, fighting desperately at the entrance of the building, covered in their own blood and that of their comrades.

“Maybe it’s because I’m old, but this is quite dizzying.”

As I listened to the muttering of the elderly swordsman, Duke Charles, who had come through the portal with me, I rushed forward.

Beyond the entrance where the undead were fighting, I could see the burning castle. It seemed like this territory was truly doomed.

Even in the short time it took me to reach the entrance, people were dying. The knights who had been desperately holding the entrance fell, and the lord fighting alongside them had his arm severed along with his sword.

The lord turned his head, looked at his severed arm, and then his eyes met mine. His eyes, filled with despair, lit up with hope when he saw me, but then turned resentful.

“Why only now…?”

Was it because we were too late?

The person he should resent wasn’t me. It wasn’t I who delayed our departure, but the emperor.

If the emperor hadn’t held that departure ceremony, this territory might not have been in such a dangerous situation.

But such political matters weren’t what was needed right now. What was needed now was a sword and mana.

As I passed by the fallen lord, I swung my sword.

Whoosh!

A long blade of energy swept through the front.

Crash!

Dozens of skeletons that had been entering the building entrance were shattered by the blade.

The bone fragments and armor scattered before my eyes. These weren’t ordinary skeletons; they were elite skeleton soldiers equipped with proper armor and weapons to fight knights, but they couldn’t withstand the mana-infused blade.

As I swept away the incoming skeletons, I felt something fast and hard flying toward me.

‘Is that a sniper?’

I immediately swung my sword, deflecting the bullets.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Even if there were elite skeleton soldiers meant to fight knights, the knights shouldn’t have been pushed back so easily.

Looking in the direction the bullets came from, I saw skeleton snipers positioned on the castle walls. The skeleton soldiers charged from the front, while the snipers fired from a distance.

“Thanks to turning living soldiers into their minions.”

Indeed, the Demon King’s army was now properly using modern weaponry. Of course, even with this, it was difficult for them to harm me, but for other knights, it would have been a fatal attack.

‘That’s why this castle fell so easily.’

It would have been extremely tedious for me to break through all the skeletons filling the inner courtyard and deal with the snipers. Fortunately, my party also had a sniper.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out from behind me, and the heads of the skeletons on the castle walls exploded.

I didn’t need to look back to know. The Archmage Zahina had used a sniper rifle instead of magic to take out the skeleton snipers.

But it wasn’t the undead who were surprised by the mage’s unexpected attack.

“What kind of weapon is that? If our soldiers could use it, it would be incredibly effective.”

Duke Charles, the swordsman, showed interest in the gun Zahina had fired.

Zahina, who was still shooting to take out the snipers, didn’t respond, but someone else stepped in to explain.

“Unfortunately, there are very few mages who can continuously infuse mana into such small metal objects. Honestly, even I find it difficult. Arrows are the limit. But if there’s no mana infused, it would be useless against the undead, so it wouldn’t be of much use to other soldiers.”

The one who explained this was another archmage, Mage Quanter.

“Indeed… It’s a weapon developed to fight humans. It wouldn’t be effective against the undead, but against humans, it would be much more useful than arrows.”

Duke Charles nodded at his words, and it was clear that others had also realized this.

It seemed that after the war with the Demon King’s army, warfare on this continent would change.

“By the way, aren’t you going to step in?”

“There’s no need. She’s doing well on her own. You should stay put too…”

I shook my head inwardly at the conversation behind me. Indeed, there was no need for others to step in.

With Zahina taking out the skeleton snipers, there were no undead left to block my path. I swept through the courtyard like a farmer reaping wheat with a scythe, using my blade of energy.

As I cleared the courtyard, two swordsmen walked out of the building. They clicked their tongues as they looked at the crumbling, burning castle.

“The cleanup will be the bigger problem. The undead have likely infiltrated the entire castle, so we’ll have to search every corner to eliminate them all.”

“I doubt we’ll have time for that.”

As Duke Charles said, we were the ones who had to leave. We couldn’t afford to spend time here.

“Please, help us! There are still many people alive inside the castle, including my family and the people of this territory!”

At that moment, the lord, whose life Yerim had saved, ran over and prostrated himself before Duke Charles.

With no time to reattach his severed arm, he pleaded with one hand on the ground. Duke Charles clicked his tongue, and Count Schröder also shook his head.

After confirming that the courtyard was mostly cleared, I turned around and saw Yerim standing at the entrance, praying.

Instead of a cross or rosary, Yerim was holding the lord’s severed arm in both hands as she prayed.

Whoosh…

Yerim’s body glowed brightly, and divine power emanated from her.

The divine power spread in all directions.

Kyaaak!

Simultaneously, screams erupted from all over the castle, and burning undead burst out.

At the same time, Yerim staggered, and I rushed over to support her.

Fortunately, she seemed fine.

“I’m okay. Just a little tired.”

Relieved, I asked her, “Did you create a sanctuary, a safe zone?”

“Only for a moment. I can’t kill them all, but there shouldn’t be any undead hiding in the castle now.”

It was only for a moment, and the effect was weaker than a properly created sanctuary, but it was still amazing that she had created a safe zone without a holy relic.

Or had she used the lord’s severed arm as a holy relic?

I looked down at the arm she was holding. It was glowing faintly with divine power.

“Oh, right. I need to reattach this arm.”

Yerim ran over to the lord, who was sitting on the ground, holding the glowing arm.

The lord stared blankly as Yerim reattached his arm, and the two swordsmen who had been watching Zahina and me from behind were also astonished by Yerim’s actions.

“Hmm, this is something I’ve never seen or heard of before…”

“Is this the first time you’ve seen something like this, Duke?”

“Since I’m not a priest, I don’t know everything, but I’ve never seen or heard of a saint using a person’s arm as a holy relic to create a sanctuary.”

Although it was a bizarre incident, it made things easier. The undead, burning as they burst out, were dealt with by the knights who came through the portal one after another, and the people hiding inside the castle were also rescued by the mages and knights.

There were still many undead outside the castle, but at least the inside was now safe.

“Unfortunately, we’ll have to abandon this territory. Take the rescued people and head to the capital. We’ll leave after you’ve all gone.”

After the knights and mages had all come through the portal, Duke Charles spoke to the lord of this territory.

Having saved his family, the lord agreed to Duke Charles’s suggestion to abandon the territory.

“Understood. We’ll do that. Thank you for saving us.”

“But you should know, it wasn’t me who saved you.”

Duke Charles pointed to Yerim standing beside me, and the lord, looking at his still faintly glowing hand, bowed deeply to Yerim.

It was a gesture of gratitude that was difficult for a noble to make.

“Yes. I plan to visit the temple in the capital to express my gratitude separately.”

But Duke Charles could only make an awkward expression at the lord’s words.

“The temple in the capital is dedicated to gods from another world, but…”

Seeing Duke Charles’s awkwardness, Yerim shook her head.

“That’s fine. Any gratitude, no matter where it’s expressed, will be accepted.”

“Your god is generous.”

Duke Charles nodded with a satisfied expression, and Yerim pouted at his words.

“He’s also strict.”

I thought the same. From what I knew, the desert god was indeed a very strict deity.

After the rescued people, the lord, and the knights left for the capital through the portal, the rest of us exited the castle.

The knights and mages quickly formed ranks. The knights guarded the front and sides, while the mages stood in the center.

The mages cast various spells on the knights and themselves, and the knights infused their armor and swords with mana.

The amount of mana that surged into the sky was enough to overload my mana senses.

After finishing their preparations, the knights waited for Duke Charles’s signal.

Unlike medieval knights who charged on horseback with lances, the knights here charged on foot with swords. In Ea, there were no mounts that could keep up with the speed of a mana-infused knight.

Moreover, with the mages’ acceleration spells, the knights’ legs were the fastest means of movement in this situation.

“This path is the path to save the empire. Everyone, move out!”

With Duke Charles’s short declaration, unlike the emperor’s long speeches, the knights began to run.

The vast mana of the swordsmen and others surged as the knights raced through the city outside the castle.

The undead remaining in the city, startled by the powerful mana, charged at the knights, but they were all torn apart by the charging knights.

Crash!

The undead, whether zombies, skeletons, or powerful monsters turned into undead, were all the same.

The advance was so swift that even the hero and saint, who joined late, and the swordsmen didn’t need to intervene.

It was the same for us.

The charge of the imperial knights, composed of senior knights and knight commanders, was something to behold.

We could feel the immense power of the swordsmen and the knights.

As they crushed the undead in their path, the knights continued to charge eastward.

Their destination was the Kingdom of Possen, where the gate was located.

The destination was quickly approaching.