Chapter 125

Seven hundred knights charged forward, treading on the azure waters.

At the forefront were Lord Evan and his senior knights following him. Blue and green lightning crackled from their full-body suits—a characteristic of high-grade relics, 6th and 7th class equipment.

A knight following behind Evan asked with an uneasy tone,

“Commander! Are we really charging in like this? Truth Tower must be watching our backs…”

“Did you think they’d let Ragnarok get devoured so easily? They’re going to make big moves. We have no choice. If we’re going to catch them, it has to be now!”

“But I heard that crazy woman came down here…”

“Ah, that crazy woman? Don’t worry. Things are different from last time!”

Grinding his teeth, Evan reached into his chest to touch the ‘Coin of Rebellion.’ He had successfully received the coin’s acknowledgment five years ago, becoming the fifth coin master among the current lords.

Seven years ago, when they were both rookies. Hwi Someong, the princess of Truth Tower who had fought him to a draw. Thinking of her, Evan ground his teeth again.

“If she comes, I’ll be grateful! Now! Let’s shut these mages’ mouths first! Prepare for bombardment!”

“Preparing for bombardment!”

Click-click-click!

At Evan’s command, knights in the center of the formation began combining large metal pieces they had been carrying on their backs. When five knights joined the parts together, a streamlined, elongated missile was completed. Even then, the knights didn’t stop. They continued running while holding the missile—two on each side and one at the back. There were twelve such missiles in total.

“Synchronize and aim!”

“Synchronizing and aiming!”

Four knights awakened the power contained within the shell, while the fifth at the back calculated the trajectory the shell would follow.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

Spewing flames, twelve missiles flew toward the main force of the ‘Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee.’

The spells meant to counter the knights hadn’t even been completed yet.

“We’ve already won half the battle.”

Knowing full well how powerful these relics were, a satisfied smile formed on Evan’s lips. But that smile quickly froze awkwardly. The missiles that were about to explode suddenly ricocheted away at bizarre angles.

Yet what truly astonished Evan wasn’t the fact that the missiles had been blocked, but the manner in which they had been blocked.

“Wh-what? Why are beam shields coming from there?”

* * *

Looking back, Monggu hadn’t been a boy with bad instincts from the beginning.

Even Baek Jun-woo once said,

-Guardian’s Forest. He survived even that hell, didn’t he? Without being a Mana User, not even a mana beginner, he escaped the pursuit of ogres and harpies to find us. …Thinking back, he achieved the best possible result for himself. Of course, because of that, I… Ah, I’m getting angry again just thinking about it. Haah…

Monggu’s survival until now hadn’t been mere coincidence. He had talent.

First,

His vision was broad and precise.

It still was. Monggu instantly spotted all twelve missiles flying at high speed.

Second,

While he wasn’t as quick to react or as precise in his movements as Yuria, he had an exceptional memory instead.

And he possessed the concentration and patience to repeat a memorized movement thousands, tens of thousands of times until it was ‘perfectly’ ingrained in his body.

“Beam Shield!”

Thirty small spheres about two finger joints in size, attached to Monggu’s waist, all shot into the sky at once.

Swish!

The beam shields opened like umbrellas in the sky, spreading green shields, and three attached to each falling missile.

Due to his extreme concentration, blood vessels in Monggu’s eyes burst, turning them bright red.

Clang! Clang…Clang!

It was like watching a magic show. The beam shields deflected the missiles in a strange rhythm.

When two beam shields lightly struck a missile, its nose section shook violently, and when the third beam shield hit at a 45-degree angle with a bang, the missile veered off at a bizarre angle.

There wasn’t a single exception.

Ten missiles flew off in completely different directions. But there were missiles that Monggu ultimately failed to catch.

Two missiles still hit the main force of the Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee.

Boom!

Dazzling light poured out, creating a sphere with a radius of five meters. Like a scoop taken out of the world. Destructive energy raged only within that radius.

As the light cleared, the revealed landscape was devastating. Not even a speck of dust remained. Even the sea had vanished, leaving a smooth crater that didn’t recover for several seconds. Only after some time did the seawater flow back, surging.

Whoosh!

Only the sound of wind filling the vacuum was noisy.

Belatedly, goosebumps rose on the mages’ arms.

What if ten more such missiles had fallen?

Their gaze toward Monggu changed.

Beside the panting Monggu, Yuria’s eyes sparkled as she fired off questions.

“Wow! How did you do that?”

“Oh? Ah… I practiced what I’d seen on TV whenever I could.”

“TV? That thing you saw at Arsenal #7? The moving, talking picture?”

“Yeah. Sergeant Bear taught a technique for surviving amid raining tactical weapons.”

Yuria was shocked.

“…Did you watch all the programs there?”

“I watched everything related to Sergeant Bear.”

“…And you remember all of it?”

“Yes. I practice every day. But, let’s talk later. We need to stop the Knight Order first.”

Pushing aside Yuria, who was muttering “What a monster” under her breath, Monggu stood before the charging knights. He knew well that the missile attack from earlier was just a taste of what was to come.

Hum-

A beam hilt hummed lowly, drawing out a green light blade.

Monggu gave instructions into his communication magical device.

“When the sun rises! We’ll charge first! Ready! Three! Two…!”

The eyes of mages who had been covering themselves with barriers came alive. Their gazes at Monggu were filled with trust as they faced the charging knights without fear.

“One!”

And the promised magic activated.

“Sun Rise!”

From the rear—a brilliant sun rose. The three suns guarding the sky of the 3rd floor were summoned to the 13th floor. They shed purifying light that destroyed only calamities across the land.

“Kyeeeeee!”

The corrosion calamities and disease calamities lurking in the air were purified.

The swamp calamities that had been sinking the ground beneath their feet hardened.

The Night Calamities that had been flying around and devouring mages all screamed and burned.

Even the charging knights were blinded by the sudden light. Their combat helmets, designed to regulate incoming light, couldn’t handle the full force of light emitted by the 3rd floor’s suns.

“Charge!!”

With a resounding command, Monggu launched his body forward. Having recently turned seventeen after his birthday, Monggu had grown rapidly, already exceeding 180cm in height.

Following his sturdy back, the mages at the front threw aside their barriers and charged.

As Yuria watched this scene with her tongue sticking out, she received a communication from Monggu.

-Sis! I’ll hold Evan, so… take care of the other knights!

-What? Are you crazy? How can you handle Evan alone? He’s a monster called the heir of the Knight Order!

-Mages have bad compatibility with knights. I’ll hold onto Evan even if I die!

-…I won’t let you off if you die!

Realizing that it was too late to change his mind and that there was no other alternative, Yuria bit her lip hard and ended the communication.

‘Alright. Let’s see who wins!’

The mages and knights collided.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But Monggu activated his booster boots and leaped over the knights charging at him. He could have blown off a few heads if he wanted, but he didn’t. He simply ran toward Evan by the shortest route.

“Are you Evaaaan!”

“What? This crazy brother? Why is a knight fighting for the mages?”

Evan, frowning deeply, swung his blue light sword at Monggu.

Slash!

Monggu’s green light scattered like an explosion, and Evan’s blue light blade mercilessly scraped across Monggu’s chest.

* * *

“You guys! You guys! Looks like you’re in trouble? Shouldn’t you retreat now?!”

Beatrice shouted with evident delight.

Glancing back, she could see the Knight Order ravaging our forces. Despite our stubborn resistance, we were inevitably being pushed back due to the perfectly timed ambush. If this continued, the damage would increase.

But I turned my head back without hesitation.

“It’s fine. Pan-Dalus and Hedric have gone. And my companions are strong. They can subdue them before the damage grows.”

I nodded toward the two figures rolling on the ground, taunting Beatrice.

The 5th Elder of Ragnarok who had faced Pan-Dalus had been turned to stone and then shattered into rubble,

And the vampire lord Kaisel, who had faced Hedric, was bound and unconscious. Her missing left arm, shot off by Yuria, looked pitiful.

Beatrice’s face turned crimson.

“D-don’t be ridiculous! Do you have any idea how good those Butchers are at catching mages? Y-you need to retreat now if you want to save your poor companions!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, I don’t know. Why don’t you worry about yourself? From what I can see… you’re quite exhausted now.”

“Wh-what? Don’t be ridiculous! I-I’m still perfectly fine!”

Beatrice tried to appear spirited, but she couldn’t hide her trembling eyes and voice.

“Shall we find out?”

I clapped my hands and blew a soft breath.

“Sowing.”

[Soooowing!]

Green sprouts began to emerge abruptly from beneath Beatrice’s feet. As soon as they appeared, they grew rapidly. She made a distressed face.

* * *

“Ha, haha? What’s this? Crazy brother? Why won’t the brother fall? This is really fascinating!”

Before Evan stood a blood-soaked Monggu. His full-body suit was horribly torn, exposing his bare skin, and the green lightning that had been periodically flashing had diminished in output, turning to orange lightning.

But Monggu did not fall. Despite having received what appeared to be several finishing blows, Monggu continued to rise and block Evan’s path.

“Wow… you really have an amazing talent, brother. But you don’t need to fight us. I’ll explain everything later, so why not stand down?”

Evan tried to persuade Monggu.

“Ah, how disappointing… the world has become like this because of mages, I tell you.”

“The more mages use magic, the closer destruction comes! Don’t you understand?”

“Haah… really. We’re not bad people, brother. Just put down your beam hilt first.”

Evan, who had been earnestly trying to persuade Monggu, suddenly looked dismayed.

“Ah! Damn it! Pan-Dalus has joined the fight! Damn it…! Someone mark this brother! I’ll catch Pan-Dalus! Ah, don’t kill him!”

“Yes!”

A knight, flashing green light, rushed at Monggu. But Monggu didn’t block the attack. He couldn’t risk losing sight of Evan during that brief moment of defense.

“Sergeant Bear… survival technique… avoiding Fatal Wound…!”

Muttering words others wouldn’t understand, Monggu instead threw himself under the green light blade.

Splurt!

Blood sprayed.

But Monggu, though staggering, continued to push forward. He caught up to Evan from behind.

“Really… do you have to go this far?”

Evan’s face, as he looked back, had lost all trace of a smile. A smile formed at the corners of Monggu’s mouth.

“Haah… now you’re finally looking at me properly?”

“Yes. You were an excellent knight. You were.”

Chill!

Goosebumps ran down Monggu’s neck.

As if cutting through time itself. Evan’s light sword had already sliced across Monggu’s abdomen before he even realized he’d seen it.

“Huh?”

Monggu collapsed forward with a thud.

Something soft flowed from his abdomen and mixed with the azure sea.

“Forgive me. But as a fellow knight, I at least didn’t behead you.”

Evan spoke with mixed emotions and turned his gaze. His eyes, which had first aimed at Pan-Dalus, slowly shifted until they stopped on Baek Jun-woo.

‘Now that I look… isn’t that one more dangerous?’

Ping!

Evan flicked the ‘Coin of Rebellion.’

-Synchronization rate 100%! You have fulfilled the qualifications to use the ultimate weapon. Which weapon would you like to load? (Remaining points: 137,500pt)

A notification sound that only he could hear rang out.