Chapter 287: Without Front or Back (3)
Translator: miraclerifle
Editor: Borderline Masochist
Teaser: Black helmet with red eyes showing underneath
The Empire's Third Knights Brigade rushed toward the only path between the fire.
“Get off your horses!”
Duke Huten jumped off his horse as he shouted.
The horses were getting scared while looking at the red fire. Anybody who was scared was useless in battle.
‘They are more of a hindrance in that small opening.’
Duke Huten rushed quickly toward the opening in the fire after quickly making that judgment.
Clang-!
His sword, no, his aura shot up toward the sky.
His silver-grey colored aura that resembled the color of his sword shot up to the sky.
The Sword of the Empire. Duke Huten had been given that title because he was a sword master and because the color of his aura was the color of a sword.
“Follow the Duke-nim!”
The captain of the Third Knights Brigade gave the order and the knights who had gotten off their horses wrapped around the Duke as they headed toward the castle gate.
“Ahahahaha! You came down to the ground in the end! It's only fun when we are on the same level! Kahahahahah!”
Duke Huten could see Toonka charging toward him.
Once Toonka and the warriors moved forward, the soldiers behind them put up long spears and bows to cover the gap.
“You cocky bastard.”
Duke Huten grumbled as he kicked off the ground with the aura-covered sword in his hand.
Toonka and Huten.
The two of them were only looking at each other as they ran toward each other.
‘You're just a damn arrogant barbarian! I'm going to kill you!’
Huten’s pride had been hurt.
They kept getting toyed with by the Whipper Kingdom and even the flow of battle had changed when he was the one to come with the overwhelming numbers.
He had rushed forward to change the flow of battle once again.
It was also to buy some time.
And finally.
“I will kill you!”
It was to kill Toonka.
Toonka was now within Duke Huten's range. Duke Huten could now attack Toonka at a range that a stupid barbarian without aura could not reach him.
He could do so because of his aura.
Just like how mages and regular citizens had different values, people with aura and people without aura had different values on the battlefield as well.
Ooooooong-
The silver-grey aura shot up toward the sky. It then shot down at a quick speed.
‘Kill Toonka.’
Duke Huten’s first attack that had the desire to kill Toonka had started.
“I will step all over your-”
It was at that moment.
He suddenly got the chills.
Duke Huten could feel it.
‘An attack is coming.
A sharp blade is heading my way.’
Huten turned his head to the right.
He could see a black helmet.
This helmet even covered the eyes area so that he could not see anything about the person behind it.
‘...When?
When did that, when did that person get here?
I didn’t sense him at all.
A sword master like me couldn’t sense him?’
However, he could not question it any longer.
The helmeted swordsman was running like an average person toward him with an average sword in his hand. Duke Huten quickly moved his arm that was covered in goosebumps.
However, the black helmeted swordsman was faster.
“Ugh!”
Huten’s body staggered. His eyes opened wide.
He could see the person quickly moving toward his right side with a sudden burst of speed.
‘How is this kind of speed possible......?!
Is he a regular swordsman?
Is he an assassin?
Or...
Is he a sword master?’
The silver-grey aura started to come out of Huten’s sword again. He tried his best to look at the person’s eyes through the completely covered helmet.
It was because he knew that the Whipper Kingdom didn’t have a swordsman like this.
He could barely make out the eyes underneath.
They were red.
He could see the red pupils through the gap in the helmet.
These eyes reminded him of a snake that had crawled up from the fires of hell. Huten subconsciously thought that he could see those fires of hell behind the black helmet.
He then urgently swung his arm.
The silver-grey aura headed toward the black helmet.
The black helmeted swordsman, Choi Han, jumped back as soon as he saw the aura.
Slash.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m
However, a bit of his clothing ended up getting cut.
‘As expected.’
Choi Han started to frown while looking at his cut clothes. He then tightened his grip around his sword.
He observed Duke Huten with his red pupils that had been colored this way with magic.
‘Raon, change Choi Han's eye color. We don't want him to get caught.’
‘I understand, human! Choi Han! I will make it a color I like. I will make it whatever color I want!’
Although Raon had just changed it to a color he liked, it unintentionally had the effect of leaving a deep red image on Duke Huten’s mind. However, Huten was an experienced sword master.
“Who are you?”
Choi Han answered Huten's question by pointing his sword again.
Huten stared at the crude black helmet.
This person was wearing a regular outfit instead of armor.
Furthermore, he was using a regular sword without any aura.
“Duke-nim, I will handle him!”
However, he now had a home and a new family; he once again had something to protect.
That was why he believed he was in this state of urgency.
‘No. I don't feel any sense of urgency at all.’
He figured out the identity of this wall.
Choi Han realized why his progress had stalled.
It was because of these voices.
- Choi Han, raise your hand if you think you are about to get hurt! I will create a shield for you!
- Choi Han, the human says don’t overdo it!
“Activate the shields! Put a shield around Pelia-nim!”
“Rosalyn-nim! Round two of the electricity magic is going!”
“Fire, don't let them put out the wall of fire! Continue to use fire magic!”
“Point the spears!”
“Soldiers in the rear support the soldiers up front! We’ll all be stomped to death if we are pushed back!”
“Move to the back if you are injured! The rest of you, keep firing the arrows without stopping!”
It was because he was the only one who was not in a state of urgency.
Choi Han could see Duke Huten’s sword. He seemed to have prepared properly as the aura around the sword aimed for Choi Han’s openings.
It was an attack that was filled with elegance. Choi Han rolled on the ground in front of that sword.
He would do anything he needed to do in order to survive in front of a strong enemy.
Choi Han was covered in dirt.
“You-!”
Huten was glaring at Choi Han as if he could not believe that Choi Han just rolled on the ground to escape.
His gaze seemed to be asking how a swordsman who had trained in such a refined sword art could use such dirty tactics to dodge.
“How pathetic.”
He also did not miss the opening that appeared from Choi Han rolling on the ground.
Huten’s sword once again aimed for Choi Han’s heart.
Huten looked toward the black helmeted swordsman with ridicule.
Choi Han’s stance was broken because he rolled on the ground in order to dodge the aura. It was easy to catch someone like this.
It was at that moment.
“This is why I couldn't get past the wall.”
‘What?’
It was the moment he heard the odd statement from the helmeted swordsman.
“Kehehehe-”
He could hear laughter.
‘Crap!’
Toonka.
‘It’s Toonka!’
He had forgotten about Toonka. Duke Huten’s sword flinched.
In front of him was the helmeted swordsman.
Behind him was Toonka.
There was a slight hesitation at the tip of the Duke's sword. However, he decided to swing the sword as he had originally planned.
‘This bastard comes first.’
He would start with the helmeted swordsman.
Duke Huten made eye contact with those red eyes behind the helmet at that moment.
Those eyes were smiling.
The Duke flinched again.
Choi Han was smiling. He could see Toonka charging toward the Duke’s back.
Toonka was bloodied from the knights chasing behind him, but he still charged toward the Duke while laughing. He could see the sense of urgency to kill the Duke in Toonka’s eyes.
This was the problem.
The problem was that he was the only one who didn’t feel this sense of urgency.
It was because he saw many paths to win even without doing things on his own.
He could see this path when he was fighting with Cale and the others. He could see a path where it was okay even if he wasn’t that strong.
Toonka kicked off the ground.
The iron club that was sliced in half was aiming for Duke Huten’s head.
“Damn it!”
In that slight instant that he flinched, Duke Huten decided to turn away from the helmeted swordsman and turned his body around.
He needed to get rid of Toonka first. The silver grey aura moved toward Toonka's neck.
It was at that moment.
Duke Huten heard a chilling voice.
"Where are you looking?”
Slash.
Duke Huten’s body stiffened up. His eyes started to move. He could see the helmeted swordsman standing there as if his stance had not been ruined earlier.
He could also see the regular sword stabbed into the side of his body.
Snakes bite down on their prey without making any noises. They then release their venom.
“Ugh!”
Black aura started to come out from the tip of the sword that was inside the Duke's body.
However, nobody could see the black aura because it was being released inside the Duke's body.
‘He was able to use aura this whole time......!’
The Duke could not say that out loud and the only thing he could see were those cold red eyes.
It was at that moment.
Beeeeeep- Beeeeeeep-
He heard the sound of a flute coming from on top of the castle wall.
The wall of fire around the castle prevented the enemies from attacking, however, it also locked the Maple Castle’s forces inside the castle.
Screeeech-
It was the white bird that had disappeared above Rosalyn and Raon's black clouds. That white skeleton bird had returned.
Screech, screech.
The white bird cut through the black clouds and looked down at the ground.
The Whipper Kingdom's forces on the ground had locked themselves in, however, the Whipper Kingdom's forces in the air were the freest.
Cale calmly started to speak after seeing Duke Huten managing to stare at him even with Choi Han's sword stabbed into his body.
“Destroy the black towers.”
His voice was delivered to the Dwarves on top of the white skeleton birds via the video communication device.
The first battle would end soon.
It didn't matter if the Empire didn't want it to be that way. Cale and the Whipper Kingdom wanted a prolonged war.
This was just the first step in dragging Imperial Prince Adin out here. There was no reason to extend the first taste.
But once the Imperial Prince comes down to the edge of the pit of fire... A true fire devil will gobble him up.
- You'll use my power properly later, right?
Cale responded back to the cheapskate fiery thunderbolt with silence.