Chapter 114
-It seems the fame of the Order's First Sword ends here.
The helmet trembled finely again. It was clear he was laughing under that solid black helmet.
"To be able to mock someone with that body of yours, that truly is a skill."
Baltimo's sword, dyed with black aura, flew towards Walter at high speed.
The blade struck, aiming simultaneously for the neck and legs, so fast that the sword targeting the neck left only a faint afterimage.
Walter blocked the attack aimed at his neck with his greatsword, then slammed the greatsword downwards, intercepting the attack aimed at his lower body.
Simultaneously, still clad in aura, he charged straight towards the Death Knight.
Kwaaaaang!
-…!
For the first time, a sound other than mockery flowed from Baltimo's mouth.
Could that body even possess senses?
Perhaps it couldn't feel pain, maybe it was the result of his body shaking from the impact.
Accumulating various pieces of information, Walter followed up the body slam by swinging his greatsword with all his might, aiming for the Death Knight's waist.
The greatsword, imbued with white light, flew menacingly towards the Death Knight's waist.
Kwaang!
He was certain the attack would land, given the momentary stagger from the charge's impact, yet a shield, seemingly formed out of nowhere in the Death Knight's left hand, blocked the greatsword.
Simultaneously, the sword in his right hand thrust straight towards Walter's neck.
"Hup…!"
He barely managed to twist his head and avoid the sword, but a thin line appearing on his neck was unavoidable.
Blood seeped out, and Walter widened the distance, gripping his greatsword anew.
The two, aiming for each other's openings, slowly circled, beginning to look for an opportunity.
"Kugh..!"
Just as his nerves were frayed to the extreme, focusing on the opponent's movements, the groans of Holy Knights reached Walter's ears.
"..."
Walter barely suppressed the urge to turn his head and focused his mind on the monster before him.
He couldn't break here.
"Keup...!"
As Walter tried hard not to look elsewhere, the screams of his members continued to reach his ears.
Then, at some point, the moment he heard a voice presumed to be Isabel's, Walter's head slightly turned to the side.
"Saintess!"
Isabel, who had fallen and gotten back up to fight, was eventually injured by an undead knight's sword.
Walter grit his teeth tightly and tried to run towards Isabel.
-Caught you.
And at that moment.
Black aura flew in from behind without fail.
"Hup...!"
Walter ultimately couldn't go towards Isabel and had to rotate his body, swinging his greatsword.
Pat!
The hastily swung greatsword failed to properly block the Death Knight's sword.
Blood flowed from his left forearm.
The wound wasn't very deep, but in a confrontation like this, it was a significant injury that could decide the outcome.
-You sorts always make foolish choices at crucial moments.
The Death Knight's helmet shook again.
And at some point, the black aura blooming from his sword began to sweep all around like the Grim Reaper's scythe.
In opposition, white streaks of light began to shoot downwards from Walter's greatsword.
The streaks of light collided with the scythe of black aura, exploding and scattering remnants of black and white in all directions.
But the endurance of the undead and humans could not be the same.
At some point, the power of the light streaks began to weaken gradually.
By the time the thinning streaks of light had completely died down.
Blood spurted from Walter's mouth.
"Cough..."
Walter, having suffered internal injuries, knelt, and the scythe of black aura descended towards Walter's neck.
‘Essus... Please save Isabel at least...’
It was when he offered his last fervent prayer, dyeing his body with white light.
Kwaaaaang!
An intruding golden energy struck the black aura, forcing the Death Knight several steps back from his position.
-You've come!
The Death Knight's voice felt filled with an unprecedentedly cold grudge.
"So this works."
The voice of the man shaking his fist while looking at the blown-away Death Knight was indifferent, devoid of highs and lows, unlike the enraged Death Knight.
The man seemed uninterested in the creature emitting strands of black aura, merely shaking his fist, dyed in golden aura, this way and that.
-Because of you, everything I had collapsed. Everything!
Enraged, Baltimo flew towards Karl, clad in black aura.
This time, his entire body had transformed into a black Grim Reaper.
Kwaaang!
-How...!?
Baltimo, having become a Death Knight, couldn't feel pain.
However, he could feel that his body had been damaged by the impact.
"Thanks to you, I learned something good. Be grateful."
-Youuuuuu!
Karl's single remark pushed Baltimo's anger to its peak.
And the enraged Death Knight gathered all his strength, drew out black aura, and unleashed a single strike towards Karl.
Unlike before, the black aura no longer took the shape of a scythe.
It was just black aura itself, emitting an immensely dense and dark light.
[Karl Meyer Style. 3rd Form. Lightning]
A single streak of golden lightning, similar yet different from the heavenly punishment moments ago, struck Baltimo like a thunderbolt.
Kwaaaaaang!
With another explosion, the already heavily gouged surroundings turned to dust and scattered again.
-Why! I am much stronger than before! This doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense!
Part of his body crumbled, and his armor burst open, revealing the bones within.
Baltimo couldn't accept the reality.
By becoming a Death Knight, he had grown much stronger than before.
So why was he being pushed back?
"Because I've grown stronger than back then too."
His utterly indifferent and calm tone, paradoxically, made Baltimo feel even more futile and shattered his spirit.
-Why... Why...
Seeing him repeat the same words over and over, Karl raised his sword.
And once again, golden lightning struck the ground.
Kwaaaaang
Just as the golden aura transformed into a single streak of light and struck the ground.
"Truly amazing. There was a reason the Master told me to avoid you."
"Who are you?"
"I feel we might meet again someday. Today doesn't seem to be the day, so I'll just retrieve this item and leave."
Einar the elf, tasked with cleaning up here, retrieved the fallen Baltimo.
And just as she turned to leave the place, a storm of golden aura raged behind her.
She, who had intended to leave the place using magic, was trapped in the currents created by the madly blowing storm of aura.
"Where do you think you're going."
At that moment, Karl's sword fell from the sky once more.
[Karl Meyer Style. Fourth Form. Heavy Pressure]
"Ugh...!"
A groan escaped Einar's lips under the pressure that seemed intent on crushing everything to dust.
"Tsk..."
Thud. Tumble.
Just then, something like a green emerald fell from her grasp, dyeing the surroundings green as it exploded.
Kwaaaaaang!
By the time the green light subsided, Einar was gone.
"An elf..."
Karl confirmed the golden hair and pointed ears.
"Her eyes were red."
The information he had read about elves stated they had blue eyes, but that creature clearly had red eyes.
Was the record wrong?
Or was she not an elf?
Karl's mind grew complicated due to the first Inhuman he had seen.
"Keoheok...!"
First, he had to deal with the immediate priorities.
Karl approached the fallen Walter, took out the potion from his pouch, and poured it into his mouth.
Then, using the medical supplies from his subspace, he tended to Walter's wounds.
"The Saintess first...!"
"Isabel came?"
Nod.
Karl looked around and found the woman Kelvin was tending to.
He had only heard rumors that she had become the Saintess, but seeing her again like this felt strange.
"They call you Saintess, but it seems you still fight at the very front."
"...I'm a mess."
"Much better than the previous Saintess."
"...Haha. Thank you."
Karl, having administered first aid with the potion she had, stood up.
"It seems the zombies were gathered in this area. Seems like the work of that elf I saw just now. She's quite different from the elves I knew. Undead instead of spirits..."
The elves he had read about in books were benevolent guardians of the forest.
It seemed he had to discard that notion.
"Let's move location first and attend to the other injured."
Karl and his subordinates gathered the Holy Knights and moved them to the barracks.
While tending to the injured, they realized that quite a few fatalities were included.
It seemed the problem was the undead knights and soldiers that accompanied the Death Knight.
"..."
The faces of Walter and Isabel hardened noticeably.
Although they too were people who worked close to death, the death of comrades or subordinates was never something easily accepted.
A short while later, having returned to the Knight of the Lighthouse's camp, they took time to mourn those who had passed before tending to treatments or resting.
They lit a fire, kindled a sacred flame according to their ritual procedures, and then burned the deceased comrades in the sacred flame.
Originally, they did not cremate bodies, but as the war dragged on and they too experienced sending off comrades on the battlefield more often, burning bodies to prevent disease became permissible.
As long as the fire was clearly a sacred flame.
They prayed continuously as they sent off their comrades.
"God, please watch over your children and guide them to the glorious kingdom of heaven."
Her appearance, hands clasped in prayer, suited the name Saintess well.
After the time of mourning ended, Isabel, Walter, and Karl sat facing each other in the barracks.
Kelvin, the former Holy Knight, was also included.
"It's been a while."
"I saw you earlier too, but Sir Kelvin now quite looks the part of a knight."
Kelvin blushed in embarrassment, recalling past events.
"Please forget the past."
The atmosphere softened with the light joke, and Karl handed them some wine and simple refreshments.
"Can you tell us how the situation is progressing?"
At Walter's question, Karl nodded and brought over a map situation board they could see.
"Most areas are being cleared up well, and now, if we move from the south towards the north, only Andersen Domain, Baltimo's direct territory, remains. The problem is we don't know what mischief that elf we saw earlier might have done there. Aside from that, it seems there won't be any major dangers."
The map clearly showed the formations advancing from the west, north, east, and south.
"We'll rest sufficiently and depart in two days. For now, please focus fully on recovery."
Karl left the barracks, and two days passed.