Chapter 201 – The Great Battle

The hero and the saint beside me were staring at me in shock, but I was just as surprised.

The divine power surging from my sword, far stronger than I had anticipated, was clearly due to the saint’s divine power. When Yerim’s and the saint’s divine powers combined, it created an effect I hadn’t expected.

It was both astonishing and absurd, but it wasn’t entirely a good thing.

“How can you show such divine power and still claim you’re not the hero…?”

The hero, seemingly dumbfounded, pointed at the saint and Yerim with his other hand.

“This isn’t something I can do on my own.”

Unlike the hero, who could emit divine power on his own, I couldn’t use this ability without a saint or divine power nearby. Moreover, since I was drawing on the divine power of two people, this ability couldn’t be sustained for long, unlike the hero who could generate his own divine power.

Even now, because I was drawing on their divine power, both Yerim and the saint looked visibly exhausted. As a result, the divine blade of light I had created would likely disappear sooner than expected.

Still, the effect I had hoped for was more than sufficient.

*Kwaaaaaa!*

The eerie cries of the undead echoed from the city.

The simultaneous wails of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of undead filled the air. The miasma that had engulfed the city seemed to ripple with anger.

“Well, we definitely got their attention.”

Although the duration of the divine blade was short, making it more like a finishing move, it was undeniably effective in this situation.

Countless undead began pouring out of the city.

Most were zombies created from the city’s former inhabitants, and here and there, skeletons left behind by the Demon King’s army could be seen.

Their target was the hostile divine power I had created.

Of course, the divine blade, infused with that power, didn’t last long due to Yerim and the saint’s exhaustion. But even after it disappeared, the undead continued to pour out of the city, and those already outside kept coming.

The divine blade I had created was gone, but another divine blade remained beside me.

Though not as powerful as the one I had made, the hero’s divine blade was still formidable. It was enough to keep the attention of the undead I had drawn out.

“Let’s start falling back now.”

Even though the city wasn’t as large as Earth’s cities, it was still the capital of a nation. With a population of hundreds of thousands, the number of undead pouring out of the city was staggering.

The sight of the undead filling the plains was overwhelming.

I began running, carrying the exhausted Yerim and the saint in my arms, while the hero followed behind, holding up his glowing sword.

Amusingly, the hero seemed more concerned about the saint in my arms than the undead chasing us or the sword he was holding.

It was unfortunate for the hero, who seemed to have some kind of romantic tension with the saint, but there was nothing I could do. I hadn’t expected both of them to collapse like this.

If the undead chasing us had any sense of reason, they might have stopped in disbelief at the sight.

But as expected, there were no proper Demon King’s forces or his lieutenants left in this rear city.

The Demon King’s goal wasn’t to conquer the human world, so he had no reason to leave his subordinates in the rear.

After a somewhat absurd chase, we finally reached the knights waiting on the other side of the plains.

The knights and mages had formed ranks and were waiting for us.

Unlike before, the knights held shields and formed a defensive formation to receive us.

While the knights had been the main force during our journey here, this battle was the mages’ turn to shine.

After we arrived, the mages, protected by the knights, raised their staffs.

As they moved, a massive surge of mana began to flow.

Magic circles appeared across the plains, and even the sky was filled with them.

Nearly a hundred imperial mages were unleashing large-scale spells simultaneously.

The spells they had prepared while we were luring the undead.

The scene before us made it clear why mages were called the preparers.

*Kwaaaaak!*

As the magic circles lit up, the vast wasteland filled with undead began to churn.

Parts of the plains sank, while others rose.

The undead charging across the plains fell into the sinking ground or were buried by the rising earth.

It looked as if a massive earthquake was sweeping across the plains.

At the same time, torrents of water poured from the sky, and Archmage Quanter flew through the downpour, hurling lightning bolts at the ground.

Zombies and skeletons, soaked and struck by lightning, were torn apart.

Countless undead were buried in the earth or reduced to pieces by the water and lightning.

It was a spectacular sight, showcasing the power of the imperial mage corps and the archmage, but even such powerful magic couldn’t annihilate all the undead.

Due to their sheer numbers, some undead survived, and others even managed to withstand the magic and approach the mages.

Undead clad in armor, wielding staffs and wearing robes.

These were undead created from fallen knights and mages.

Though they hadn’t been imbued with the Demon King’s mana to become Death Knights or Liches, they still possessed mana, making them different from ordinary undead.

They were like the higher-tier undead, evolved from awakened ghouls.

Unlike the other undead swept away by the magic, these undead, now wielding miasma instead of mana, broke through the earth and withstood the lightning, reaching the mages.

But standing before them were the knights protecting the mages.

Knights who wielded mana.

They were more akin to modern tanks than medieval knights.

Though they couldn’t fire cannons, their powerful swords could pierce enemy lines, and when defending allies, they were sturdier than any fortress wall.

The sight of the knights, forming ranks and blocking enemy charges with mana-infused shields and armor, was exactly what I had once dreamed of.

In the past, I would have marveled at such a sight, but now wasn’t the time.

While the knights focused on defense, others had to take down the enemies.

Of course, Zahina, floating above the mages, was sweeping away the approaching undead with blades of wind, but some of the undead knights managed to block her attacks.

These undead had likely been part of the royal knight order or at least held high ranks when alive.

After leaving the exhausted saints with the mages, I drew my sword and approached the skeletal knights clad in ornate armor bearing royal insignias.

“Were they part of the royal knight order here?”

Even in death, their skill in blocking Zahina’s wind blades with their swords was impressive, but unfortunately, they were no match for me.

Their swordsmanship, refined through experience, and their coordinated attacks were formidable, but they were already dead, and the gap between a swordsman and a knight was vast.

Within ten exchanges, the heads of the skeletal knights were severed, and after a few more exchanges, the one who seemed to be their leader fell.

The skeletal knights lay on the ground, still gripping their swords.

After a moment of looking at them, I turned to the elderly swordsman.

While I had been dealing with the royal knights, he had been fighting the skeletal mages, likely former royal mages of the kingdom.

He placed his shield over the fallen skeletal mage, whose skull had been shattered.

“He was a mage I knew. I thought he would have fled, but I didn’t expect him to give his life like this.”

I had heard that the royals had all fled through the portal, but it seemed many had chosen to stay and fight for their kingdom.

After we finished off the last of the undead, the plains were silent, with no more moving undead in sight.

Instead, the plains were littered with tens of thousands of corpses and bones.

It was a great victory.

A tremendous triumph, with fewer than two hundred soldiers defeating tens of thousands of undead.

The mages were completely drained of mana, and dozens of imperial knights had fallen, but the victory was undeniable.

Of course, if the two saints had any divine power left, the death toll might have been lower, but unfortunately, controlling that at the time was impossible.

Instead, after the battle, the two saints, having recovered their divine power, worked hard to heal the wounded, ensuring no injuries remained.

Seeing the knights and mages with their morale high, I spoke.

“The imperial knights and mage corps are more impressive than I thought.”

“Indeed. They’re not just the empire’s last line of defense alongside the swordsmen for nothing.”

The elderly swordsman, satisfied with my words, stroked his sword.

As the master of the imperial knights, he seemed to take the praise for the knights as praise for himself.

But in truth, I hadn’t brought it up just to compliment them.

“That’s why it’s even more regrettable. If the empire had properly supported the allied forces back then, we might have been able to capture the Demon King.”

At my words, he turned his head with an awkward expression.

“Well, there were reasons back then… But more than anything, it was because the empire wasn’t in danger. Besides, the empire did send a hero’s party.”

In the end, no matter how he spun it, it came down to political reasons.

Or perhaps they had placed too much faith in the hero.

Seeing how the empire’s territories were ravaged and the heroes defeated twice before they finally committed their forces, it seemed both reasons were valid.

In any case, after treating the wounded, we quickly entered the city.

As we moved through the city, undead emerged from all directions.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t cleared all the undead from the city.

“There are still some left.”

“It’s fine. We’ve done as much as we can.”

Yerim nodded at my words.

The sporadic undead that appeared could easily be handled by our party alone.

But beside us were the fully recovered imperial knights and mage corps.

As we made our way through the ruined city, we arrived at the former home of the battle mage where we had first crossed over.

As we approached, a figure suddenly emerged from the shadows of the collapsed house.

It was Hoffman.

Though he often complained about being weaker than others, in moments like this, those words seemed meaningless.

To infiltrate a city overrun by undead and hold out for a day—this wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Moreover, he brought the news we had been hoping for.

“I’ve been watching for a day, and the gate is still buried in the ground.

Yelena, the mage on the other side, seems to be safe. She contacted us at the agreed time.”

It was news that Yelena was safe.

The message was a simple communication spell Yelena had sent to the party members.

It was the same kind of message spell I had received when left behind on Earth, and Yelena, being a spatial mage capable of creating gates, could easily manage it.

Of course, unlike before, the party members had to be near the gate, which was why Hoffman had infiltrated the city in advance. But now that we had confirmation, we could proceed.

As the knights and mages set up camp around us, Zahina caused the risen earth to sink back down.

The ruined house of the battle mage reappeared, and shortly after, as the time arrived, the entire party received Yelena’s message spell.

[Routine check-in. Earth is safe.]

It was a very simple message.

Now it was time to respond to the previously unanswered messages.

When I signaled to Zahina, another message spell came through.

[…You’re really back? Wait! I’ll open it right away!]

And shortly after, a gate began to open above the ruins.