Chapter 193 – The Knight and the Self-Propelled Artillery (3)

“What a crazy world.”

Sitting in the driver’s seat of a tank that had been diagonally sliced in half, Liu Qian let out a hollow laugh.

The country had fallen to the Demon King, his surrendered comrades and subordinates had turned into skeletons, and now he had become a servant of the Demon King, attacking another world. It was all so absurd.

But now, the medieval knights from another world, who had become his enemies, were nothing like the knights he knew.

According to the radio transmissions, the awakened humans had become faster, stronger, and could use strange sword-like energies, but they were still enemies that could be understood within the bounds of human common sense.

However, the knight currently obliterating his tank platoon before his eyes was nothing like the knights he had heard about.

“What part of a knight cutting through tank armor with a sword is supposed to be understandable by common sense?”

Moreover, the tank that had been sliced in half wasn’t some outdated model—it was one of the latest tanks deployed just a few years ago.

It was a third-generation tank, boasting that it could withstand ballistic attacks, yet it had been cut in half in a single strike.

The knight before him was like something out of a wuxia novel or an American superhero movie—a superhuman.

“I should’ve just stayed still. Trying to dodge only prolonged the pain.”

Liu Qian clicked his tongue as he looked at his severed arm.

The knight had hidden himself so well that Liu Qian hadn’t even noticed the danger until the last moment, when his crisis detection ability kicked in.

Thanks to that, he managed to dodge just as the tank was sliced diagonally.

But no matter how fast he moved, he couldn’t completely avoid the knight’s sword, which moved like a flash of light.

He only managed to save his torso and head—his shoulder and arm were severed along with the tank.

If this had happened before his awakening, he would have bled to death instantly.

“Well, it still looks like I’m not going to survive this.”

Thanks to his awakened body and the strange magic cast by the Demon King’s servant, he was still alive, but seeing the blood pouring out of him, survival seemed unlikely.

Liu Qian raised his remaining hand and touched behind his ear.

“At least you stayed with me till the end.”

He took out a cigarette he had tucked behind his ear and placed it in his mouth.

“Ah, damn, I don’t have a light. Can’t even smoke on my way out.”

Boom! Boom!

Though he didn’t have a light, the surroundings were ablaze with fire.

Since his tank had been sliced diagonally, he could watch in real-time as the other tanks around him were destroyed.

The tanks were all exploding, and now the self-propelled artillery units were being obliterated one after another.

If the tanks couldn’t stop that inhuman knight, there was no way the artillery could.

Flames erupted one after another.

The massive explosions shook his body.

“Did all the shells inside the artillery units explode? With this level of destruction, no one’s going to survive.”

Just as the knight had sliced through the tanks, he must have done the same to the artillery units. How anyone could survive that was beyond Liu Qian’s understanding.

“Well, with enemies like that, it’s no wonder the Demon King’s army was built in such a brutal way.”

If this were just a normal medieval continent with magic, the Demon King wouldn’t have needed to come to Earth and create an undead army armed with modern weapons.

“I knew the end wouldn’t be pretty, but I didn’t think it would come this quickly. I guess I’ll end up just like you guys.”

He spoke to his subordinates as he had done before.

This time, there was no response.

But this time, it wasn’t because they had turned into undead.

“So it’s true what they say—the knight’s sword has the power to stop skeletons and zombies.”

When the tank was sliced in half, his undead subordinates were also cut in half along with it.

At the same time, the skeletons lost their animating force and turned into ordinary bones.

After waving goodbye to his now-deceased subordinates, he took one last look around.

There were no tanks or artillery units left here.

Everything had been destroyed, leaving only burning wreckage.

The only thing that remained intact, albeit sliced in half, was the tank he was sitting in.

“I guess I’m lucky in a way? Our tank didn’t explode.”

“It’s not luck.”

A voice answered his muttering.

Startled, he turned around, but the bones scattered on the ground remained unchanged.

However, there was someone standing there whom he hadn’t seen before.

It was a young, blond Western man in armor.

Though he had never seen him before, Liu Qian immediately knew who he was.

After all, there was only one human left alive here besides himself.

“Ah, so you left me alive on purpose?”

“I saw that you survived my sword, so I thought you might have something to say.”

Just as the skeleton mage had said when casting the spell, he could communicate with the knight from another world.

It was still a strange and wondrous thing, but Liu Qian, already overwhelmed by everything, was just glad they could talk.

Feeling a bit of relief, he grumbled to the knight.

“If that’s the case, you could’ve spared my arm too.”

The knight shook his head firmly.

“Once you’ve accepted the Demon King’s magic, I can’t let you live.”

“Ah, I see.”

The magic cast by the Demon King’s servant, the skeleton mage, required the target’s consent.

“But why does the target need to consent? Couldn’t you just cast it on them? It just makes me feel worse.”

The requirement for consent made it feel like he had willingly become the Demon King’s servant.

That made it even harder to resist.

“Didn’t you hear? The spell is cast on hundreds, even thousands of people. No matter how powerful the mage, their mana couldn’t handle it.

So, the consent of the target is required to make them pay the mana cost of the spell.”

Hearing the reason for the first time, Liu Qian gave a bitter smile.

“So there was a reason… Well, even if I had known, I wouldn’t have been able to refuse.”

Those who refused had all turned into skeletons. In that situation, there was no way he could have refused.

Seeing his hollow laugh, the knight spoke again.

“Is there anything else you want to know?”

Liu Qian looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“You’re quite kind.”

“I have questions too.”

Surprised by the unexpected response, Liu Qian felt a bit better.

So, he kindly explained his situation.

“I have the Demon King’s magic cast on me, right?”

“I know. But that magic isn’t some brainwashing spell that forces you to obey the Demon King. If it were, there would be no reason to turn people into undead and leave them alive.”

It did tamper with the mind a bit, but the human spirit was too delicate to be completely altered.

“It’s just a spell that allows the Demon King to take your life at will and turn you into an undead at any time.”

Of course, there were other functions, but there was no need to explain them to a dying man.

“I’m done. I’m going to die soon, so what’s there to ask? But I do have a request—can you let me die as a human?”

The reason he had become the Demon King’s servant was that he couldn’t bear the thought of his soul being bound to a dead body.

Whether that was the truth or not didn’t matter.

Even before this, he had secretly believed in reincarnation, and his soul was the most important thing to him.

“I promise.”

“Then that’s enough. I couldn’t smoke a cigarette before dying, but at least my biggest wish has been granted. What did you want to ask?”

With a sense of resignation, I first confirmed his identity.

“First, are you Chinese? A Chinese soldier?”

“Huh? How do you know I’m Chinese?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve been to Earth chasing the Demon King.”

“Ah, you’re from that allied force that was in Korea, right? I heard they were wiped out by the Demon King, and only a few escaped. I guess you’re one of them.”

Liu Qian’s words made me frown.

From his perspective, having only heard the Demon King’s side, it was a natural thing to say, but it still didn’t sit well with me.

“Ah, I guess that was too much. Anyway, I’m Liu Qian, a warrant officer of the 79th Group Army, 116th Combined Brigade of the People’s Liberation Army.”

“So you are a Chinese soldier.”

As expected. I had guessed as much from the soldiers’ uniforms and the tanks.

“Your rank isn’t high, but since you’re awakened, you must know quite a bit. Tell me everything you know about the Demon King’s forces, the modern weapons they have, and how many are coming through.”

He nodded at my words.

Clearly, he had heard quite a bit.

However, his face had turned pale as the blood drained from his body.

“If you want, I’ll tell you everything I know. But it seems I don’t have much time left.”

Showing his pale hand, he spoke, but I shook my head.

“You have enough time. That spell won’t let you die easily.”

Even for an awakened individual, losing this much blood would have been fatal.

But he wasn’t dead yet.

It was all thanks to the magic cast by the undead mage.

In fact, the soldier before me was already half-dead.

His body was being animated by spiritual energy instead of blood, and the moment the magic wore off, he would turn into an undead.

Of course, as time passed, the undead mage who cast the spell would notice something was wrong and intervene, but there was still time before that happened.

At my words, he stopped worrying and calmly began to share what he knew.

How many Chinese had turned into zombies, how many modern weapons had fallen into the Demon King’s hands, and finally, the number of troops that had come through the gate.

In this way, I was able to gather more information than I expected from the dying soldier.

“…That’s all the important information I know. There are some minor details, but I think I’ve reached my limit…”

Seeing the soldier’s exhausted expression, I drew my sword.

I stopped the blade in front of his neck.

Sword energy flickered at the tip of the blade.

Whoosh.

Unlike usual, the sword energy emitted heat, lighting the cigarette in his mouth.

“This is a bonus.”

Looking down at the lit cigarette, he gave me a thumbs-up.

“The best gift.”

With those words, he closed his eyes.

The smile on his face disappeared shortly after.

All the muscles in his face relaxed, erasing any trace of humanity, and the cigarette in his mouth fell to the ground.

As he turned into a doll-like figure, his eyes opened again.

“Huh? What’s going on? Did the swordsman find us?”

With an expressionless face, he stammered as he spoke, then tilted his head when he saw me standing in front of him.

“Not a swordsman? A knight? Did the knights attack us? But how did they deal with the machine guns and tanks?”

Though the person who had just woken up didn’t know who I was, I knew exactly what he was.

The one looking at me now was the undead mage, the lich, who had cast the spell on the soldier.

One of the minor functions of the spell, which I hadn’t mentioned to the soldier, was that the lich who cast the spell could possess the body of the person under the spell.

Of course, it was only the lich’s spirit that possessed the body, so it couldn’t use all of the lich’s magic, but even with simple spells, we had suffered greatly.

After rescuing people from the Demon King’s grasp, they would kill their own family members or even self-destruct using magic, causing immense damage.

So, we had no choice but to kill anyone who fell into the Demon King’s hands.

After we started killing people, the lich had never possessed anyone directly like this.

I had waited just in case, and it seemed luck was on my side.

This lich must have been one of the newly created ones by the Demon King.

I thrust my sword into the confused opponent.

I aimed for his head, pushing the mana-filled blade deep inside.

Thud.

The soldier—no, the lich possessing the soldier—opened its mouth wide.

Though it couldn’t show any expression, I could feel its pain as I stabbed it.

The fact that the lich could possess someone’s body with magic meant that attacking the body could also harm the lich’s spirit.

It wasn’t a fatal blow, just a small injury to the spirit, but the opponent was a lich, a powerful mage.

Moreover, it was a lich that had cast spells on humans.

If its spirit was damaged, the humans under its spell wouldn’t remain unaffected.

[Ahhh! My head! What’s this? Why is the magic suddenly—!]

As expected, screams came from the still-active radio.

Not just one person, but multiple voices screaming.