Chapter 584
Exterminate the Enemy. (1)
The first to regain his senses was Marquis Gideon.
“Quick, seize him! Lord Jerome, hurry!”
The knights who had been standing by rushed forward and lifted Jerome up.
As they laid him on the ground, Marquis Gideon ran over and grabbed Jerome’s hand.
“Lord Jerome! Get a hold of yourself! Summon the priests and mages! Quickly!”
Jerome’s condition was dire. His usual lively and charming face was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a pallor as if death itself loomed over him.
Blood continued to trickle from his nose and mouth, and his heaving chest made him look extremely precarious.
Marquis Gideon, panicking, shouted repeatedly.
“Lord Jerome! Stay with us!”
“A... pa...”
Jerome clutched his chest in agony. Something was clearly wrong within his body.
A few priests and mages soon arrived, with the priests stepping forward first to release their divine power onto Jerome.
Fwaaaah...
A white light spread out, healing Jerome’s wounds. Some color returned to his face, but his condition remained critical.
One of the mages who had rushed over quickly spoke up.
“It looks like a mana burn phenomenon. Let me examine him.”
He was a 6th-circle mage assigned to defend the fortress. The mage immediately channeled mana into Jerome’s body.
As he examined Jerome, the mage gasped in shock and cried out.
“T-This is bad! His circle is about to break! How could this be...?”
The mage was flustered. A mana circle did not shatter easily, even under immense shock.
Even when one overextended their power beyond its limits, it typically only drained their life force rather than breaking the circle itself.
“Just how... powerful was the magic he used...?”
The miraculous spell must have impacted Jerome’s very source of mana.
Hearing this, Marquis Gideon anxiously asked,
“T-Then what must we do?”
“We need to keep injecting mana into him to stabilize the circle until it settles.”
“Hurry, do it now!”
More mages gathered and began channeling mana into Jerome’s body.
Protecting the circle of an 8th-circle mage was no easy task. They completely forgot they were still in the middle of a battle and focused solely on feeding mana into Jerome.
It was an act uncharacteristic of mages, who were often considered selfish. But they were doing this wholeheartedly.
It was a tribute of respect to the great archmage who had just performed a miraculous spell before their very eyes.
While Jerome teetered on the brink of death, Gartros, on the other hand, barely survived as Jerome’s magic dissipated.
The massive dark aura that had formed around him had completely vanished. Now, he floated in the sky in his original body.
“Huff... Huff... I-I'm alive... But how...?”
He had no idea why, but the relic had saved him.
Why would something imbued with divine power, which was the complete opposite of his own energy, save him?
Especially when he was the leader of those who opposed the Goddess?
Gartros, who had been gasping for breath, soon clutched his chest and burst into loud laughter.
“Ha, hahaha! I see now! It is not yet my time to die! This too must be the will of the gods!”
There was no other explanation. The god he served had granted him yet another miracle.
Though all the energy he had gathered had dissipated, and more than half of his own power was gone, it did not matter.
Now that Jerome had fallen, who could possibly stop them?
Gartros ground his teeth and roared.
“Attack! Right now! Crush them beneath your feet!”
The Atrodean army, still reeling from the shocking display of magic, snapped out of their daze at Gartros' command.
Likewise, Count Biphenbelt, who had also been momentarily stunned, regained his senses and shouted.
“Advance! All troops, charge!”
Victory was within reach. They had to press forward with all their might.
The Atrodean mages were the first to move.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
“Their magic is working! Push them back!”
The elite mages of the allied forces were preoccupied with healing Jerome. Though the remaining mages attempted to hold the line, spells that had failed to be properly dispelled were detonating all over the battlefield.
“T-this is…!”
As the fortress troops began to fall under the magical assault, the allied mages grew flustered. If they wished to counter the enemy’s spells, they would have to stop healing Jerome.
But if they ceased healing, Jerome’s circle would shatter completely, leaving him either dead or crippled.
As they hesitated, torn between impossible choices, Marquis Gideon made a firm decision.
“Focus on healing Sir Jerome.”
“What? But the fortress ?”
“Sir Jerome’s efforts have already drained the enemy priests. We will use what remains of our forces to hold them back.”
“But, Commander! If we’re struck by their magic as well, we’ll have no chance of victory! Our troops are already at a disadvantage!”
Marquis Gideon nodded before responding with a resolute expression.
“That is why you must heal Sir Jerome and flee.”
“Commander…”
“Sir Jerome is vital to the allied forces. You must keep him alive, no matter what.”
Losing the fortress was not the real issue. Once the Ritanian army returned, they would surely be able to deal with the Atrodean forces.
However, if the Atrodean army managed to secure this location and regroup with the other legions, that would be disastrous.
“Our forces are already scattered. If they take control here and consolidate their strength, even the Ritanian army will suffer great losses. Sir Jerome is the only one who can mitigate that damage.”
Marquis Gideon had no way of knowing how the overall battle was shifting. The rapid movements of both enemy and ally alike meant that proper reports had yet to reach him.
Dark, who had been tasked with delivering information, had ended up getting caught in the conflict and vanished.
“Then wouldn’t it be better for all of us to retreat together ?!”
One of the mages shouted, but Marquis Gideon shook his head. If the First Legion abandoned this place, the consequences would be far worse.
“Some kingdoms have yet to suppress their rebellions. There are still remnants of the Salvation Church. If the Atrodean Army escapes this place, avoiding the Ritanian forces, they will once again become a rallying point.”
The main forces of the Atrodean Army, along with the surrounding rebels, had gathered in the Kingdom of Grimwell. However, several distant kingdoms were still engaged in battles against rebels and rifts.
That was why it was crucial to keep the Atrodean Army tied down here.
Fortunately, thanks to Jerome, the transcendents had been completely drained of their strength. At this point, it was a battle worth risking one’s life for.
“Hurry and move! I will hold them off, even at the cost of my own life!”
“L-Legion Commander……”
“Go, now!”
At Marquis Gideon’s commanding roar, some of the mages lifted Jerome and began to move.
They had to keep pouring mana into him as they moved, making a swift escape difficult. To make matters worse, enemy spells that had failed to be dispelled were exploding behind them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The mages cautiously advanced while deploying defensive magic.
Meanwhile, the Atrodean Army was hauling ladders to the fortress walls.
Thud! Thud!
“Waaaahhhhhh!”
Unlike the exhausted allied forces, the Atrodean Army was brimming with strength and morale.
From the very start, their transcendents had taken the lead in thinning out the fortress's defenders. It was inevitable that their situation was better than the allied forces’.
Moreover, their individual skills were far superior. The Atrodean Army gradually began to push the allied forces back.
Marquis Gideon swung his sword and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“We can hold! Fight! We must defend this place!”
The allied soldiers regained their strength. It was all thanks to the miraculous magic that Jerome had shown them.
The Atrodean Army was indeed strong, but without their priests, they were no longer overwhelmingly dominant.
Even so, the disparity in power was undeniable. And with their mages gone as well, unable to block enemy magic attacks, the allied forces' defeat became more apparent by the moment.
“Hold the line! We can stop them!”
“We must at least inflict some damage on the enemy before we fall!”
“This will be our final battle! So muster all your strength!”
The allied forces fought fiercely, enduring the onslaught. They had abandoned the thought of retreat. The moment they turned to flee, the enemy would mount their horses and give chase.
It was a desperate situation. Unless the Atrodean Army withdrew on their own, the allied forces had no other options.
As he observed the battlefield turning in his favor, Gartros scanned the inside of the fortress.
Victory was certain. But now, something even more pressing had emerged.
“He must die… I have to kill him, no matter what.”
For the first time, Gartros felt the terror of death. No, it was a fear that transcended death itself.
That feeling the sensation of his very existence being erased was beyond words, utterly horrifying.
Which was why Jerome had to die.
In Gartros’s eyes, Jerome was the most dangerous man among the allied forces.
“Not even the Duke of Fenris… nor the prince of Turian could display such a miracle…”
Even their king would likely be unable to withstand that magic completely. Now was the perfect opportunity to kill that dangerous bastard.
“I found them.”
He was too drained to properly scan the fortress’s interior, but by focusing his mind, he finally spotted the mages carrying Jerome on their backs as they fled.
“Hoo…”
It was too dangerous to charge in alone. His strength was not at its peak. If enemy knights swarmed in, he would have a hard time dealing with them.
But he had no choice. No matter the risk, this was something he had to do. At this moment, he was the only one who could put an end to Jerome.
“I can't let them escape.”
Grit.
Gartros clenched his teeth and gathered the last remnants of his strength. If he focused solely on killing quickly and getting out, he could manage.
Hoooo…
The dark energy he forced out enveloped his body. He intended to dive in like a streak of light and cut them down in one swift motion.
But then—
Swish!
Something flew in from behind.
Gartros turned his head.
“An arrow?”
A glowing red arrow was streaking toward him.
Gartros’ expression twisted in disdain.
“How dare they… with a mere arrow!”
There was no need to even block it. A slight movement would be enough to dodge. He just had to move—
Shiver!
Gartros’ entire body tensed with chills.
That arrow… it was moving as if it followed the threads of fate, homing in on him.
Aimed precisely at his head.
Time seemed to stretch. The arrow cut through the air at an agonizingly slow pace.
All he had to do was swat it aside or dodge—
And yet, his body felt as if it had turned to lead, frozen in place.
Crack…
His muscles screamed in protest as he tried to move.
“Ghh…!”
Gartros gritted his teeth, bloodshot eyes straining as he mustered every ounce of energy to break free.
It was as if he were being crushed by the pressure of the deep sea, his body refusing to obey.
Even in his exhaustion, how could a mere arrow render him trapped in this strange time?
“Gh… What is this…?”
It was as if the world whispered to him—
That he must be struck by this arrow.
As it neared, the flow of the world itself seemed to enforce that inevitability.
“Like hell I will!”
Boom!
Gartros detonated the last of his strength in a violent burst. For a brief moment, the flow of time returned to normal.
With everything he had, he wrenched his head to the side.
Crunch!
The arrow grazed past, destroying one of his ears. Flesh tore, blood splattered.
Breathing heavily, Gartros snapped his gaze toward the source of the arrow.
“Duke of Fenris… you bastard…”
Riding alone atop a fearsome black steed there was Ghislain.
He nocked another arrow to his bowstring. But this time, he wasn't aiming at Gartros.
Drawing the string back, Ghislain grinned.
“Our Jerome has pushed himself too hard.”
He had rushed here at full speed after hearing from Dark. Now, he needed to draw all attention to himself.
Fwoosh!
A crimson glow began to coat the arrow.
It wasn’t just infused with mana this time. His sheer willpower was embedded into it - his will shaping the world itself.
Ghislain let the bowstring slip from his fingers.
Twang.
With a crisp sound, the arrow shot forth. The moment it left his grasp, it began to change.
Boom!
The crimson light burned even brighter, roaring like living flames. It streaked toward the rear of the Atrodean army with the speed of lightning.
In the next instant, it struck.
KWOOM!