Chapter 264 : The Darkness Was Cut

The duke looked down at the wall, holding the humming Turquoise Sword, Aurora.

"...I can't believe it."

Although a considerable amount of time had passed since the third wave began, the magical beasts had not reached the wall.

There were three main reasons for this.

First, it was thanks to the ice barricade that the captain of Sherwood and the ice mage had created in abundance the day before, which had successfully blocked their advance during the second wave.

Second, it was because Adrian's grotesque creatures were blocking the narrowed path created by the barricade.

And third, it was because the magical beasts that were trying to break through that path were weakened by the poison that Linda had mass-produced, and were unable to exert their full strength.

"Fire!"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The magic cannonballs that were still being fired continuously were heavily laced with the poison that Linda had produced through days and nights of repeated research.

KWAGWAGWANG!

The magic cannonballs, which flew in a parabola, fell on the wave of magical beasts and exploded, spraying the stored poison in all directions.

This was also thanks to the mages who had put their heads together and developed a formula that could spread the poison most effectively.

Princess Lilia's significant contribution was hidden here.

The princess, who had been loitering around, had said, 'Hmm. Can't you just do this and that over there?', and at that one word, the mages had all slapped their foreheads and broken through the impasse.

Green poisonous mist, deadly to the magical beasts, rose like smoke here and there on the battlefield.

It was the product of the efforts of many people coming together.

Most of the magical beasts exposed to the poison died, vomiting blood, and only a few individuals survived and advanced toward the wall.

But even they were weakened by the poison.

Wooooooo!

There, the arm of the reaper summoned by Duke Elsbears continued to sweep through the waves, dragging the magical beasts to hell.

'Even though it's the worst monster wave with over a hundred A-rank magical beasts, at this rate, we might be able to block it safely...'

Just as he was thinking that.

"Your Grace!"

The adjutant, who had received a report from a soldier, pointed to one place and called him.

When he looked where he was pointing...

In the distance, beyond the white hell where the magical beasts had come from.

An unusually thick blizzard was raging.

It was so thick that it looked as if only that one place had been painted over several times.

It also looked like a white stain.

But... it was not just a stain, and it was slowly approaching this way.

The duke focused his mana on his eyes and stared at its center.

There, there was a being engulfed in a blizzard, approaching this way.

It was something that looked like a snowman.

The duke's eyes widened.

'Snowman?'

The fact that the special S-rank individual, Snowman, had shown itself this far.

Meant that something was wrong.

'Did they fail?'

Originally, the plan was for the rest to block the magical beasts at the wall, while the Sherwood Mercenary Corps went out into the white hell and defeated the king and queen of the magical beasts.

But Sherwood was nowhere to be seen, and only the king of the magical beasts was slowly approaching the wall.

'Don't tell me. Were they defeated?'

Grind—

The duke's hand, which was holding the Turquoise Sword, Aurora, tightened.

If even one thing went wrong with the plan, they would not be able to block this wave.

The soldiers and knights of Tundra would block the magical beasts at the wall, and the Sherwood Mercenary Corps would defeat the king and queen of the magical beasts respectively.

If even one thing went wrong, the plan would fall into a quagmire.

But one of them had gone wrong.

Should he be glad that the queen of the magical beasts was not seen?

No, she might appear sooner or later.

The duke made a quick decision.

He had to break through the still-rushing wave and confront the king of the magical beasts.

Extreme damage was expected, but it had to be done.

He couldn't let that monster approach the wall.

Because if the wall fell, everything would fall.

The role of guardian that the Elsbears family had carried on for hundreds of years would be for naught.

Just as the duke, who had made his decision, was about to put it into action.

A golden light flashed, and a spear pierced the Snowman's chest.

At the same time, a thunderbolt struck down from the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky.

CLANG!!!

The heavens and the earth flashed.

The enormous amount of light that was emitted in an instant was so bright that it was blinding even on the wall, which was a considerable distance away.

Duke Elsbears, who had been watching with his mana focused on his eyes, couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut.

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble—

Then, as if the ground were shaking, the white land split.

Crack!

A crack appeared in the pure white land.

The piled-up snow powder scattered hazily.

"It's an earthquake!"

"Grab onto something!"

The aftermath reached the top of the wall, and the soldiers had to crouch down and hold onto the railings for a while to avoid falling off the wall.

Soon, after the earthquake had stopped.

The soldiers were at a loss for words at the sight that unfolded beyond.

A huge crack was running across the white land.

Its flesh was as black as a part of the abyss.

An indelible wound was carved into the earth.

That huge crack reached behind the wave of magical beasts and swallowed them.

At some point, the raging blizzard, as well as its master, had been swallowed and was nowhere to be seen.

The adjutant standing next to the duke muttered with his mouth half-open.

"What in the world..."

The duke, also at a loss for words, looked at the scar on the earth that had run across the once-perfect white land.

It was not difficult to guess whose work it was.

"...The disaster-calling spirit master."

A spirit master who wielded the wrath of Mother Nature.

They say that when she gets angry, Mother Nature also gets angry.

He had heard rumors about her before, but to this extent?

Was it not an exaggeration to say that in a large-scale battle, there was no one who could surpass her?

Perhaps, if she was determined, she could even destroy this wall.

He felt like he knew why even the royal family was wary of Sherwood.

In front of her, the triple-layered walls of Milgard, which they were so proud of, would be no different from a sandcastle.

The grand title of 'disaster-calling spirit master' was by no means undeserved.

The surprise was brief.

The duke came out of it and quickly grasped the situation.

The spirit master had collapsed the ground and tied the Snowman's feet.

And the golden light that had flashed before the disaster was probably the work of the golden-furred martial artist.

That meant that Sherwood had not yet failed.

The fight was not over yet.

There was hope.

The duke raised the humming Turquoise Sword, Aurora, high and shouted.

"Fire!"

At that, the adjutant, who had belatedly come to his senses, relayed the duke's order.

"Fire!"

The soldiers, who had been unable to come to their senses at the overwhelming scale that had unfolded before their eyes, hurriedly loaded the cannons.

"W-we're still loading!"

"What are you doing! Get a grip!"

"Loading complete!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The cannonballs flew in a parabola.

KWAGWAGWANG!

—KIEEEEEK!

—KYAAAAAK!

* * *

We moved quickly, riding on Hud's spirit.

It was the dark blue tiger with horns on its head that I had ridden before—Silape, the spirit of the storm that runs through the sky.

As befitting its name, the spirit of the storm, Silape kicked off the air and flew at a fast speed.

Every time we crossed a mountain ridge, my heart grew anxious.

Because he was nowhere to be seen.

Either more time had passed than I thought, or he was moving faster than I thought.

It was one of the two.

Or maybe both.

In any case, it was not good news.

And so, as we passed over the mountain range and advanced quickly.

We finally found him after crossing all eight ridges.

"There!"

We found the Snowman, who was going down the hill that was as good as the starting point of the snowy mountain.

I couldn't miss him because he was wrapped in a blizzard like a barrier.

Silape kicked off the air and flew in that direction.

As we approached the raging blizzard, Hud asked.

"What's the plan?"

There wasn't much time.

A situation where the wall was already visible in the distance.

If we crossed the snowy plains in front of the wall, it was the wall right away.

We had to stop him.

Somehow.

"There is none."

At my answer, Hud, who was sitting in front, turned to look at me.

"None?"

"Since when did we have a grand plan when we fight? Let's go with improvisation."

It would be much more efficient than making a clumsy plan that wouldn't even work now.

We had been together for over 10 years.

To exaggerate a little, I could tell what they had eaten for dinner the night before just by looking at their eyes.

Meaning, we had a perfect chemistry when it came to beating someone up.

Hud let out a sneer.

"Well."

When I looked back, Schmidt was also grinning behind me.

Even though it was a desperate, dangerous situation.

Why was I laughing?

They say that just looking at the faces of ugly people is fun. A smile naturally formed on my face.

I followed them and said with a fresh smile.

"Let's not worry about the details. It's not cool."

Whoooosh!

As we were talking, we reached the sky where the blizzard was raging.

We jumped off Silape's back almost at the same time.

Schmidt, while falling, quickly drew the spear blade from his waist and made a golden spear, and then, he spun his body in the air and threw it.

Swoosh!

It flew like a ray of light and pierced the Snowman's chest.

The moment he looked up at us.

"Close your eyes!"

CLANG!!

A huge thunderbolt struck the top of his head.

The fiercely blowing blizzard disappeared without a trace.

And it didn't end there.

Thump!

Hud, who had landed on the ground, caressed the ground and muttered softly.

"Please, Gnome."

The moment I thought I saw a mole peeking its head out of the ground.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

As if the ground were shaking.

Crack!

A huge crack appeared and swallowed the area.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!

"..."

To cause an earthquake just by whispering a few words.

I was naturally amazed at the unrealistic sight.

"Wow... you're still the same."

As befitting the child of the sunset who received the love of Mother Nature.

Even the Heavenly Demon couldn't hide his surprise.

[Hoh...]

As I was looking into the crack that was open like a black mouth.

Hud came up next to me and said in a casual tone.

"Well, I've tied his legs. Let's go in and finish him."

At some point, several spirits had gathered next to her.

Even though it was a serious situation, they were still as innocent as mischievous children.

To think that those small creatures had created such a natural disaster.

'...Should I have made a contract too?'

Just then, Schmidt also came up next to me and moved his hands.

—What are you doing? Aren't you going in?

At his urging, I nodded and stared at the large hole between the cracks.

I stared at the abyss for a moment...

I felt someone's gaze.

Was it the gaze of the Snowman that had fallen in there, or was it the abyss itself that was looking at me?

I would only know if I went in.

I took a step toward the black pit of the abyss.

"Let's go."

I drew the Night Sky Sword and took another step into the abyss.

My body leaned forward.

There was no hesitation.

Because the vastness and depth of the abyss were not unfamiliar.

Because I had always been staring into the darkness.

Because I had sometimes run on a dark road where I couldn't see in front of me.

A dizzying sense of falling captivated me.

My clothes and hair flapped wildly.

For some reason, I felt like I was diving into deep water, so I smiled and stealthily closed my eyes.

The light grew distant, and the darkness approached.

I was, once again, sinking into Ketel's embrace.

Below, a stage without light was waiting for us.

The stage was set.

All that was left was to decorate it splendidly.

I closed my eyes and entrusted my body to the feeling of falling.

Rather, the darkness felt more comfortable.

I muttered a small spell.

"As always."

As always, I used myself as a lantern and walked into the darkness.

And, I swung my sword.

The darkness was cut.

(End of Chapter)