Alliance

In the depths of the Southern Sea, 208 knights had descended into the abyss, all of them elite forces handling 7th-tier equipment or higher.

7th class combat suits that only the elite wore even in ancient times—they had to wear at least that much to conduct battles in the deep sea.

184 high knights armed with 7th class equipment. They could easily defeat 4th Circle opponents and were just shy of matching 5th Circle power.

20 grand knights armed with 6th-tier equipment. They could handily defeat 5th Circle wizards but would struggle against 6th Circle wizards.

And three lords including Evan who were grand knights capable of wielding Coins of Rebellion.

Finally, there was Doom Knight Zeros, who handled 5th class equipment and was called a grand lord.

Evan Petrov surveyed the knight order.

With this level of force… they could definitely gain the upper hand in this war.

‘Let’s use this opportunity to deal with both Pathfinder and Ragnarok at once!’ That’s how he’d originally persuaded them to bring this force here.

‘But that was just an excuse to get them here.’

Evan swallowed hard. He’d lived his whole life fearing nothing, but this moment made him tremble with nervousness.

“Are you alright?”

Rain, who had been behind him, moved to his side and asked.

“Huh?”

Evan looked back at Rain and flinched in surprise. Rain’s face visible through his combat helmet was pale, and bloodshot eyes filled with killing intent had settled into a deep, ominous gloom.

He looked less like a person than a ghost.

Evan had watched Rain for over ten years… but he’d never seen him in such a wretched state.

“…I should be the one asking you that. Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine. In fact, I’m happy. I can finally catch and kill those bastards.”

Only then did Evan understand why Rain was in such a state.

In the last battle where Evan had been captured by Pathfinder, Rain had commanded the retreat of the remaining forces.

It was a perfect withdrawal according to knight order discipline, but he had spent hellish days tormented by guilt over abandoning his lord Evan.

How could killing intent not surge when the day for that revenge had come?

Even at this moment when all the other knights were entranced by the battle between Baek Jun-woo and the Prophet, Rain alone was sharpening his blade.

Evan quietly observed Rain.

His loyal retainer who considered himself Evan’s first sword.

Could he accept what I have to say?

Even though it was Rain, seeing him like this made Evan hesitant. The topic was that sensitive.

“Rain.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“If I told you to accept a mage as an ally, could you do it?”

Rain’s eyes widened. He blinked those large eyes slowly.

The bloodshot veins of killing intent gradually subsided and his dark blue eyes regained their composure.

Though his answer was delayed as he went through confusion, bewilderment, and various thoughts, he finally responded with steady eyes.

“If it’s an order, absolutely.”

It was always like this. Rain never asked questions. Right was right. Wrong was wrong. He prioritized answers. Smiling at his consistent attitude, Evan asked again.

“Could the other brothers do the same?”

“…Perhaps one out of ten… wouldn’t doubt Lord Evan.”

One out of ten.

‘Is that my level of credibility?’

Evan smiled faintly. To convince the other nine, he’d have to show them more than just the reputation of the name ‘Evan.’ His heart felt cold and thrilling.

“Understood.”

Evan left Rain behind and stepped forward. He turned his back to the battlefield of Ragnarok and Pathfinder and faced the knights. Monggu, sensing the atmosphere, came to stand beside Evan.

“Brothers. And sisters.”

Though his voice wasn’t loud, all the knights turned to look at Evan in unison. They moved without a moment’s hesitation, as if they’d known Evan would call them.

‘Right. These are the kind of people they are.’

No matter what else might captivate their hearts, they never forget the cause they carry in their chests. To the voice of the lord who leads that cause, they listen attentively even if their bodies are burning in hellfire. That’s how they were trained and how they lived.

That’s why Evan realized anew that his mission wouldn’t be easy.

He would have to be prepared to risk his life.

“In truth, I didn’t bring you to this place to eliminate Pathfinder.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Doom Knight Zeros blocked Evan’s words.

Frost-like coldness settled in the eyes of his master, who had always been full of affection. ‘The sin of deceiving one’s brothers and sisters.’ This was classified as a cardinal sin in the knight order’s code. No matter that Evan was one of the knight order’s five lords and Zeros’s beloved disciple—if he had deceived his brothers, Zeros would not hesitate to take his head.

“I speak exactly as I said. I will not oppose Pathfinder. Rather, I called you all here to gain reinforcements who will stand with Pathfinder and fight alongside Ragnarok.”

Killing intent bloomed. The knights who had been purely admiring the battle between Baek Jun-woo and the Prophet were no longer present. Thick killing intent writhed like a living thing and tightened around Evan’s throat.

Zzzziiing—

A navy-blue beam shot up from Zeros’s beam hilt. The tremendous power emanating from 5th class equipment crossed the distance and threatened Evan. Just looking at it felt like it would cut him.

“Evan. Are you saying you’ve betrayed the knight order?”

A resolute voice that left no room for negotiation. But Evan knew. The very fact that he was still alive proved how much trust he had in the knight order. That’s why Evan could steel his resolve once more.

‘As expected. Only I can do this. I’m the only one who can bring about an alliance between the knight order and mages.’

Evan steadied his breathing and slowly looked over his brothers and sisters. All cold eyes. But surprisingly, there was no anger beyond them. Just bewilderment and distrust.

Flick!

Evan caught the ‘Coin of Rebellion’ symbolizing his lordship between his index and middle fingers and held it forward. The ‘Coin of Rebellion’ was glowing red-hot as if it would melt at any moment. On the coin’s surface was engraved a man holding a sword fully drawn with both hands, pointing it toward the sky.

Zeros’s eyes twitched.

“Could it be… you’ve filled it with points? How on earth?”

The Coin of Rebellion that accumulated points by killing mages. But even Zeros himself had never accumulated points to that degree. Just getting the engraved man to draw his sword from its sheath required killing enough mages to pile up mountains.

No, in the knight order’s long history, not a single knight had ever filled their coin with points.

“How could I, who was just freed after being held prisoner by Pathfinder, have so many points… is that what you’re asking?”

Evan looked down at the Coin of Rebellion with sad eyes.

“It’s because I’ve had conversations with the Coin of Rebellion, and now I’m doing what they want. Preventing the world’s destruction.”

Immediate backlash followed.

“What! That’s nonsense!”

“The Coin of Rebellion is an ancient arrangement! It holds great power but has no intelligence for conversation!”

It was Kaltz and Mookuru, the lords who possessed coins. The only voices they’d heard from their coins were mechanical messages. Even those weren’t conversations but one-sided messages. Throughout all the knight order’s history, conversing with a coin was unheard of.

“Because we weren’t qualified!”

Evan shouted. He surprised even himself. He hadn’t meant to get angry… but his chest felt stuffy and his voice kept getting louder.

“Because we… we were completely wrong! About why the world is being destroyed. What magic is! How the Coins of Rebellion were made! We knew nothing and yet rampaged as we pleased!”

This wasn’t directed at others. He was talking to himself.

How many lives had he taken with wrong assumptions over all these years?

How much time had he wasted while claiming to prevent destruction?

Evan shook his head.

“Now we must correct our past wrongs. Here, listen to the message the Coin of Rebellion sends. It will tell us what we must do.”

Mookuru and Kaltz reflexively reached for their Coins of Rebellion. But,

“Stop.”

Zeros restrained them.

He looked at Evan with an unreadable expression and asked slowly.

“So? The Coin of Rebellion told you the truth… is that it? How? How did you alone gain the qualification to converse with the Coin of Rebellion?”

Evan calmed his excitement. Then he answered honestly.

“Strictly speaking, I became the ally of someone who has that qualification.”

He pointed to Baek Jun-woo, still fighting fiercely. Zeros’s eyes wavered.

“I no longer intend to lie to my brothers and sisters. I’ll speak honestly. I made a promise to him. That I would bring reinforcements. That’s why I brought you all here. To reduce the damage Pathfinder would suffer. To drive in the definitive wedge of victory. Because Baek Jun-woo is the only hero who can prevent this world’s destruction.”

Evan looked down at the fierce battlefield.

Mages fighting while cutting through the deep sea.

Though they were somehow holding on thanks to the iron giants that Baek Jun-woo had <Transported>, the situation remained precarious.

The mages were fighting in chaos without forming ranks, as if possessed by something, filled with rage.

Damage could only increase with time.

They might even be annihilated.

This was the critical moment when the knight order’s intervention was desperately needed.

Evan pleaded.

“Brothers, and sisters, and… respected master. Please calm your anger momentarily and listen to my words. Please examine this battle before your eyes without prejudice. Lords, take hold of your Coins of Rebellion and listen to the voices they convey. Please… even if you remember the affection we once shared, hear me out.”

Evan was quite confident. Seeing the battle unfolding before their eyes, they would have to develop favorable feelings toward Baek Jun-woo and Pathfinder.

Seeing simultaneously the power of the Outer God trying to destroy the world and the power of mages opposing it, they would instinctively realize which side was truly theirs.

That was true. However, the knights needed to open their hearts just a little.

The knights, who had been brainwashed their whole lives and considered stubborn obsession bordering on self-harm as virtue. They were all stubborn enough to ignore even the cries of instinct.

But if they opened their hearts just a little, he could persuade them with the evidence spread before their eyes.

Evan believed he could become the key to opening their hearts.

However, the unexpected obstacle he hadn’t considered was the person closest to him… his master.

When Evan’s passionate speech had thrown the knights into confusion and hesitation, Zeros burst into hearty laughter.

“So you’re saying the knight order’s strongest weapon and symbol of lordship, the Coin of Rebellion… recognizes that boy mage over there?”

“That’s correct.”

At Evan’s answer, Zeros nodded greatly, then said coldly.

“Then we should throw away the coin.”

Without hesitation, Zeros hurled the Coin of Rebellion he’d been carrying into the ocean depths.

Watching the golden coin disappear into endless darkness, Evan gaped in disbelief.

Zeros’s voice pierced coldly into the bewildered Evan’s ears.

“Don’t be mistaken, Evan. We destroy mages, the cause of destruction. That’s our belief. The Coin of Rebellion is at best just a well-sharpened sword. Without a sword, we fight with our hands. Without hands, we fight with our teeth. That’s what a knight is.”

This… this…! Stubborn old fool…!

Evan gritted his teeth.

Zzziiiing—!

His beam hilt emitted a blue beam.

“Shadow Library open.”

Around Evan, space twisted to reveal darkness as the Shadow Library’s transcendent weapons aimed at the knight order.

Evan’s copper eyes blazed fiercely.

“Master. Who do you think taught me the way of knighthood? Master. Even if you call me a traitor, I am a knight to the end. The purpose of knighthood is to prevent the world’s destruction. But I’ve realized—the one who can prevent destruction isn’t us knights but mages. I can no longer let you continue massacring mages. Even if I die here. I won’t be broken. Because that’s the conviction of Evan Petrov, the ‘last knight.'”

Zeros asked back.

“Last knight?”

“Because idiots who close their eyes to truth and hasten the world’s destruction aren’t knights!”

It was an arrogant declaration that only Evan himself was a true knight.

And…

Watching all this unfold right beside them, Monggu screamed silently.

‘Hey, you crazy bastard! You said you’d persuade them! What’s the point of bringing them if you’re going to fight! Ahhhhh!’

Even so,

The battle between Baek Jun-woo and the Prophet was gradually approaching its end.