Chapter 244: Reunion (1)

“Captain Kuros, sir?”

Kuros, who had fallen into deep contemplation while riding on a horse, was awoken by a voice to his side. Locating the source, he found a boy with a hood staring at him.

“Are you alright, sir? I understand if you’re worried, anyone would feel stressed under these circumstances. If this Shadow World falls apart, then five cities within the Kelin Kingdom are at risk.”

“Mm, I’m alright. I was just going over the plan we made with the Imperial Army.”

The pair stood motionless atop a misty hill. Normally, the scent of morning dew and the sound of birds that signals the start of a new day brings a sense of ease; this dawn mist was deeply permeated with the scent of blood, and the song of the morning birds were deafened by the chorus of screams and the clashing of weapons in the distance.

The Knights of the Kelin Kingdom had been dispatched to clear the Level Two Shadow World that had appeared. Their next step in doing so was to clear the battlefield in front of them.

“We should have sufficient distance to launch an assault from here, sir.”

The boy, who continued to speak to Kuros, the Captain of the Kelin Knights, was the only one present that hailed from the Hebrion Empire. Kelin was a small kingdom and consequently did not have enough power to successfully clear the Level Two Shadow World. Forced between a rock and a hard place, they had to request assistance from the Hebrion Empire. Luckily for them, the Empire dispatched two men on condition of them being able to act freely and for the Kelin Knights to heed their orders.

The boy next to Kuros was one of the two men dispatched.

The Kelin Kingdom was not dissatisfied with this arrangement, nor were they angry that the Empire only spared them two men. The two that had been dispatched were widely known in the Kelin Kingdom for their skill in both battle and command.

Still, Kuros looked at the boy next to him, unease in his eyes.

‘Is this boy really the Silver Light Swordsman… ?’

The Hebrion Empire boasted ownership of a prodigious swordsman known by his title, the ‘Silver Light Swordsman’. Kuros thoroughly respected the Silver Light Swordsman, but was this youth really deserving of such a title?

‘Well… … We’ll see soon enough.’

Kuros handed out orders to his subordinates.

“Maya, I ask you to secure line of sight.”

“Leave it to me.”

Maya, a Fourth-Circle magician, began arranging a large magical formation. Soon after it was invoked, a strong wind began to clear the billowing mist. From atop the hill, the Kelin Knights had a clear view of the challenge they faced.

“… … Huh?”

Their vision unencumbered, their faces began to harden as the Shadow World’s notification appeared.

[-Before you lie orcs led by Valhald Rakuntash, the Lord of the Orcs.

-Valhald’s army has trained single-mindedly with the goal of seizing the continent and placing it in their Lord’s hands.

-Orcs naturally possess superior physiques. These orcs have become stronger through training and move strategically under the control of a commander with superior talent. Countless countries have collapsed as a result of this strength and his cunning.]

The misty hill before them was covered with waves of green.

Lines of orcs spanned as far as the eye could see. Their seemingly infinite numbers were, at the least, in the hundreds of thousands

[-Beginning final quest, ‘Extinction’.

-Lord Valhald Rakuntash has assembled orcs in an attempt to destroy humanity and seize control of the continent.

-Defend against Valhald’s army.]

The Kelin Knights entered this Shadow World having done the pertinent research and reading on this historical event, but the reality before their eyes versus what they had imagined after preparing for it were two totally different concepts.

The mere presence of this vast army of orcs left a sense of overwhelment. It was no surprise that the knights of a small kingdom were left paralyzed in fear.

And that hesitation soon became poison.

“Humans! Shhhk!”

“They are over there! They removed our mist!”

The fog clearing allowed the knights to gain vision of the orcs, but in turn so did the orcs gain vision of the knights.

“Blade Wolf Tribe, take the lead! Stop them while our defence line forms!”

The orcs raised their spears and charged towards the knights while other orcs holding shields hurriedly repositioned. The orc shouting out orders was distinctly more powerful than the rest, likely the commander of this unit.

If this situation continued unchecked, the orcs would establish their defensive line and the Knights of Kelin would have no choice but to retreat helplessly.

“We have to assault them before they finish that defensive line!”

The Silver Light Sword sprung into action, removing his hood to unobscure his vision. His sky blue hair, revealed to the world, fluttered in the wind.

With his visage and effeminate features revealed, he could easily be mistaken for a pretty woman.

His clear blue eyes that were locked onto Kuros did not waver, even as he found himself face to face with hundreds of thousands of orcs. In his eyes, absolute trust in the success of this operation was engraved.

“As Commander of the Side Guard, I will open the way. Do your best to follow, sir.”

The youth from the Hebrion Empire, Pram Schneider, began his isolated charge into the heart of the orc army.

Kuros’s face hardened. Charging blindly into hundreds of thousands of orcs was nothing more than suicide. Everyone remained rooted to the spot, expressing their solemn grievances for the grueling sacrifice of the pretty boy.

Pram bore down on the wall of spear wielding orcs. All of the spears had been pointed his way, under the direction of the commanding orc. As Pram approached, a silvery aura rose from his rapier. Moments later, numerous silver trajectories spread out in every direction as his weapon began to blur.

In what felt like an eternity as time itself seemed to slow, red lines of blood were carved into the bodies of the orcs..

*Whizzzz*

Time resumed its normal pace, and the orcs bodies were neatly carved. Their bodies fell apart into thousands of bloody pieces, precisely cut to ensure a quick death.

A scene of utter carnage unfolded before the eyes of both the orcs and knights. To compare the two groups’ responses was unfair to the orcs. Those who had survived, and played witness to the brutal exchange, were beyond paralyzed in shock. Fear had been implanted so deep in their souls that their bodies forgot they could ever move to begin with.

“What the hell! Shhhhk!”

“Our brothers are dead! Shhhhk!”

They weren’t the only ones astonished though. The Knights of Kelin also couldn’t believe their eyes.

Kuros, a Bishop-Class swordsman himself, stared at Pram with his eyes wide open.

Kuros now realized why he was known as the Silver Light Swordsman. He was able to unleash a barrage of attacks, far too many to count, resulting in his silver aura creating a meteor shower of attacks. The average swordsman would not be able to follow any trajectories of that attack. Instead, all they would be able to make out was a solid silver line, as though the light of his aura was death itself.

After a while, there were no more orcs attempting to block Pram.

Pram had only swung his sword for a couple of minutes but already a thousand orcs had died. It didn’t take any further displays of prowess for the orcs to realize that he was not at a level they could handle.

“Shhhk!”

“Strong! Shhhhk!”

Confusion arose amongst the orcs.

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On the other hand, the morale of the knights exploded upwards.

Kuros raised his sword. Nothing was said aloud, but everyone was aware what the action meant.

*Buuuuuuu*

The sound of the grand trumpet blanketed the hill. At the same time, thousands of horses began to run across the ground as one.

The hill vibrated as if there were an earthquake.

The Knights of Kelin, who were in the highest of spirits, charged through the sides of the orcs.

“Kuaaaak!”

“Kaak!”

*BAAAM*

In follow up to the cavalry charge, several spells smashed down on the orcs.

The Kelin Knights faced a force with far superior numbers. Frankly, it was a battle that could not be won.

However, the orc forces were frightened by Pram’s performance, and as a result could not properly demonstrate their normal fighting strength. Their front line had already begun to collapse long before the devastating cavalry charge had deeply penetrated their flanks.

With Pram’s seemingly reckless charge, the flow of battle had been decided.

Their first charge complete, the cavalry once again readied themselves for a second decisive charge.

“You’re creating quite the commotion, arrogant humans!”

A silencing voice sounded from within the orc ranks, suddenly appearing along the pathway the knights had chosen. A towering orc, wearing a void-black eye patch had asserted himself. This orc, far more encompassing than any of the others, was certainly the Lord. He wielded a greatsword that was several meters in length, and looked sharp enough to cleave through steel. Were it not for his terrifying size and presence, the red insignia entrenched on his well defined shoulders cemented the fact that this orc was far from ordinary.

Unsurprisingly, an alarm from the Shadow World sounded.

[-You have encountered Orc Lord Valhald Rakuntash.

-Valhald Rakuntash is praised by the orcs as their Lord. He is an outstanding commander and the most powerful orc in history.]

Kuros sucked in a deep breath.

Facing Valhald brought about a pressure far greater than when they found the hundreds of thousands of orcs they would be facing.

It was the aura of someone with absolute strength.

Despite their worry, no one was caught off-guard.

“I can’t believe it. Everything is going exactly as he said.”

The knights seemingly unphased, Valhald felt the corners of his mouth raise slightly in a smirk. In a show of his overwhelming dominance, Valhald readied his greatsword and showcased an even more powerful display of his aura.

The surroundings shook as Valhald demonstrated his aura. The face of the Knights of Kelin immediately distorted. They had never seen this level of power before.

Kuros shouted out an order at his knights.

“Defense… !”

*BANG*

When Valhald brandished his greatsword, the ground shook with a deep rumble.

Over ten meters of ground was overturned, ripped apart, and launched into the air. There was no distinction between ally and enemy in his attack. Orc and human alike were either crushed, or swept away.

The knights immediately halted their charge, their momentum put to waste. In face of such an attack, what choice was there but to stop?

Luckily, that was the extent of it. The damage inflicted to the knights wasn’t as severe as Valhald had expected.

“Eh?”

Valhald exclaimed lightly. His greatsword had been stopped before its swing completed, a slender rapier barely just halting its progress.

With Pram’s quick action, Valhald’s attack only had about half of its normal destructive power.

Although the momentary crisis had passed, the situation was certainly not ideal. As the ground collapsed, the many knights lost their horses and were trapped in a steep hole, surrounded by their enemies. Orcs gradually began to close in on them, cutting off any hope of escape.

“I admire the spirit you show in challenging me head-on!”

Valhald kicked against the ground, causing the surface to sink beneath him as he flew through the air.

“But as long as I’m here as Lord, you human beings are going to lose no matter what you do!”

*BOOOM*

Valhald, moving at a speed unbefitting his size, crossed blades with Pram once more.

Pram was pushed back by the concentrated force of Valhald’s attack, and Valhald used this to relentlessly push into him.

There were dozens of attacks exchanged in a second, each exchange culminating in a tremendous shock wave. Silver and red aura entangled like a pair dancing a waltz.

*BAAM*

As their swords crossed once again, Pram finally spoke.

“So long as we take you out, then this is our victory.”

“What?”

“The moment you showed up in front of me was the moment we won.”

“Arrogance!”

Valhald, deciding he was done toying with the doll-like human, put his all into his strike. His aura responded to this change in attitude, and a red haze began to flow from both himself and his greatsword.

*Kang*

Pram’s sword couldn’t withstand Valhald’s aura anymore and broke under the pressure.

Valhald followed up with another attack immediately after. His strike had hit the young boy, that is until he moved backwards so quickly that Valhald had somehow missed the moment Pram jumped, and instead left a vacuum in his sword’s wake. Of course, there was no jump for Valhald to notice; Pram had used his Cloud Walkers at the exact moment necessary.

As Pram reached out after stepping back, a new rapier, one emanating a silver light, formed in his hand.

It was a sword bearing the tell-tale characteristics of a weapon forged out of Blankšum.

*Whhiinngg*

Aura incomparable to what Pram had previously wielded gathered within his rapier.

“You were holding back?”

Valhald wasn’t dumb enough to stand idly by while his opponent powered up. He coated his entire body in aura, launching himself towards Pram like a massive bullet.

As he did so, thousands of silver trajectories were drawn toward Valhald. An incredible amount of aura was poured into this attack, at least in comparison to the previous time Pram had used it.

But that was it.

Only the amount of power poured into it had changed. It was otherwise identical to the previous execution.

‘How did he… Was he holding back that much power?’

The aura Valhald could draw upon, as a King Class swordsman, was leagues above what Pram could manage.

No matter how fast and numerous Pram’s attacks were, if they didn’t cause any damage, they meant nothing in the course of battle. Pram’s sword was not able to inflict a fatal blow on Valhald. On the other hand, Valhald’s greatsword could on Pram. The result of this match was surely obvious.

Just as Valhald began to relax, he suddenly tensed up as his instincts told him something was wrong. The silver lights that had been spreading everywhere suddenly began to gather into a single dot.

The moment the concentration of aura reached its zenith, Valhald’s sight was bleached white.

Silver light filled the battlefield.

“… … ”

Everyone observing the battle was left blinded, unable to see even after the dazzling light had faded.

Long before they could see it, the clatter of a broken greatsword filled their ears.

“Although I was defeated by you… ”

Blood gushed out of Valhald’s body.

“My legion will triumph… and devour your land… ”

The giant orc fell. Contrary to his theatrical self, blood flowed quietly from his perforated chest and wet the soil. Even as he took his last breath, Valhald did not relinquish his grasp on his shattered sword.

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