Chapter 136: The Sage Notices the Heterogeneity between the Heralds

It was an unexpected turn of events.

I never thought that the modified tank would be wrecked.

It wasn’t something that could easily break down and explode.

To produce such a result was proof that the attack power of the Steel Knight was stronger than I thought.

Although the tank was on fire, Diella should be fine.

She wouldn’t die from just that much.

There should be no problem if I left her alone.

The Steel Knight was more important.

I was curious about his abnormal amount of strength.

To think he could pierce his halberd into the modified tank then throw it so far. As expected, it was beyond ridiculous.

There were only a few who could do the same within the Demon Lord’s Army.

Even if he were strengthened by using the golem’s prosthetics, that kind of raw power was normally impossible to attain. 

I observed the Steel Knight.

His magic power greatly exceeded that of common magicians, but it wasn’t very remarkable.

His magic was far below mine, so it was within our calculations.

That didn't explain his abnormal strength though.

As I observed further, I noticed a deviation in the movement of magic power.

The portion with high output probably came from the prosthetic parts.

Almost no part of him was that of the original body, other than a large proportion of it being his head and chest area.

It was where his brain and heart were contained, and they must be his weak point.

This is…

I felt something off about the Steel Knight.

The nature of his magic power was peculiar, giving off an artificial feel.

His prosthetic body parts weren’t the only cause.

It seemed he had undergone some sort of magical transformation.

Perhaps it was something related to Steel Knight’s source of power, and that's the very part I wanted to know about.

As expected, it wasn’t possible to know it just by looking at it.

So I wanted to catch him alive and ask, so that information comes directly from his mouth.

Depending on the results of the interrogation, I might be able to find out what's the trigger for the awakening of the heralds.

Our army has the upper hand right now. There’s no need to be hasty.

I looked behind the Steel Knight.

The Magic Kingdom’s Army was half-destroyed.

The series of artillery and magic had disrupted their chain of command, and many soldiers had begun to flee by now.

Their order would collapse on it's own without need to pursue them.

Despite such a situation, the Steel Knight didn’t falter.

He rushed alone towards the Demon Lord’s Army.

He didn’t intend to abandon the fight to save his own life.

He still had an extraordinary fighting spirit.

“Now! Destroy that bastard!”

Following Henry’s command, the Demon Lord’s Army resumed their attack.

The tank unit and the gun unit fired their cannons and guns.

Simultaneously, Henry also sniped with his bow.

On the other hand, the Steel Knight ran in a straight line.

He steadily closed the distance as he parried the incoming attacks with his halberd.

That is impossible. What’s going on?

I was amazed by such a sight.

The Steel Knight made use of his transcendental skill and strength to shut out the attacks that flooded him.

Compared to the beginning, his speed and accuracy of defense had clearly improved.

The more he was cornered, the more powerful he became.

Eventually, the Steel Knight’s defense turned into counterattacks.

He used his halberd to deflect the bullets back to the Demon Lord’s Army's direction.

He also did the same to the cannonball, making use of all his strength to hit it back.

The Demon Lord’s Army instantly used protective magic to defend.

Fortunately, there were no casualties.

However, the subsequent attacks at the Steel Knight were either avoided or bounced back.

They couldn’t wound him.

The waves of ranged attacks were disabled by just a single herald.

To think he caused this much damage…

As expected, I should also participate.

The moment I thought of that, Henry jumped down from the top of the tank.

He ran with the bow in his hand and headed directly to the location of the Steel Knight.

“Hahaha! Okay, I’ll fight you myself!”

Henry let out such caustic words as he wore a feral grin.

It seemed he intended to defeat the Steel Knight himself in order to prevent damage done to the Demon Lord’s Army.

No, looking at him, I doubt he'd thought that far.

It was just due to the circumstances of the battlefield so he just couldn’t suppress his urge.

Henry lunged at the Steel Knight.

The Steel Knight skid to a stop.

In an instant, the tip of his halberd blurred.

A high-pitched metallic sound echoed.

Henry blocked the halberd’s thrust using his bow, then launched a roundhouse kick at the Steel Knight.

It was a powerful attack from a close range.

In addition, both of their weapons were deadlocked due to the last exchange.

It would be difficult to avoid or block such an attack in that state.

Then, there was a clicking noise from a mechanism running at the Steel Knight’s right shoulder.

A small protective magic shield was deployed from there.

It was one of his built-in functions.

Henry’s kick hit the magic shield directly.

The Steel Knight was forced back by the impact as his feet slid on the ground.

No wounds appeared on him, so it seemed he managed to overcome that kick.

Without protective magic, one of his arms would have been torn apart.

“Nicely done! Let me have some more fun!”

From there, Henry unleashed a series of ferocious attacks.

He made use of his bow as a blunt weapon combined with hand to hand combat.

Meanwhile, the Steel Knight resisted it using his halberd.

However, he was soon forced into submission.

He had no time to counter attack as he focused on his defense.

He might have continued to grow more powerful as he battled, but the speed of Henry’s fierce attacks exceeded that.

Henry was once a candidate to subdue the Demon Lord.

He was someone who could have fought alongside me and that person.

Due to his behavior, however, he never got recognized as a herald.

But he did have the ability to deserve such a title.

Even after joining the Demon Lord’s Army, Henry kept demonstrating his talent.

The fact he still stood at the top ranks amongst the non-humans in a meritocracy was an undeniable proof of his capabilities.

There was no way he could be weak.

“There’s an opening!”

Henry skillfully rotated his bow.

He was able to slip past the halberd’s defense and struck the knee of the Steel Knight.

The Steel Knight staggered at that.

Although he managed to prevent himself from falling by using his halberd to support his weight, it was a fatal move.

Henry’s fist dug between his ribs.

—The Steel Knight, with a hole in his torso, flew high in the air.