章節 369: Chapter 528
The swords of the Imperial Guard rushed to Dante, who was left alone.
The knights of the Hairan assault squad were blocking them, but the sheer numbers of the Imperial Guard were overwhelming.
In addition, the rank-file knights continued to attack Dante.
Every time Dante moved, sharp flashes of light accompanied his actions.
Each time more than one knight died.
Even though they knew they were no match for him, Dante couldn't fathom the relentless charge of the rank-file soldiers, akin to moths to a flame.
'I can't afford to go easy on them...!'
The sword of the Imperial Guard was visible between the bodies of the rank-file soldiers who had just been cut down.
Dante reflexively turned his head to avoid it, but the blade grazed his forehead, leaving a trail of blood running into his eyes.
An opening was created when Dante took a moment to wipe away the blood, and the Imperial Guard seized the opportunity.
Even Dante would not have been able to avoid a fatal wound if it hadn't been for the dragon sword armor, another secret technique of the sword emperor.
The blue band of aura that wrapped around Dante's body blocked the blade of the Imperial Guard.
The band of aura didn't stop there, but instead pierced the chest of the imperial guard like a thorn.
The golden armor was mercilessly pierced and blood poured out.
Three other Imperial Guard knights who had pushed their swords together with him also suffered fatal injuries or were forced to retreat.
Of course, the Imperial Guard was made up of talented people who are incomparable to rank-file soldiers.
Some had passed the Runcandel's cadet exam in their youth, and they were often evaluated as geniuses or prodigies.
However, standing next to Dante, they seemed like rank-file soldiers.
Talent, effort, the will to overcome one's natural limitations, the determination to stand on the battlefield until now – Dante surpassed the Imperial Guard knights in every aspect.
"Do you really think you can kill me? Is that why you're throwing yourselves at me? You're nowhere near capable. At the very least, you should be at the level of the Imperial Guard Captain...!"
Dante stopped talking and looked at a man standing in front of a dragon lance.
The Imperial Guard Captain, Alton Hairan. He was Dante's uncle and had been flagbearer of Hairan before joining the Imperial Guard.
"Stop, Dante."
Dante let out a mocking laugh.
"Alton Hairan, my uncle. Grandfather always found you pitiful, but I tried to understand and respect you. The reason you became a member of the Imperial Guard wasn't because you didn't have the qualifications and potential to become the patriarch of Hairan... I thought it was another form of loyalty towards the clan and the empire."
Dante slowly moves towards Alton.
Those who were still alive among the imperial guards and rank-file soldiers who rushed at first continued to extend their swords, but Dante took their breath away without taking his eyes off Alton.
"Grandfather was right. You're just trash who couldn't have anything in Hairan, so you became the emperor's lapdog for a meager bit of power."
"If you stop now, everything can return to its place. Dante."
"Ha, what?"
"Meager power? I am the Imperial Guard Captain. If you show your intention to surrender even now and hand over the white stone to His Majesty, Hairan can continue to exist as a pillar of the Empire. I swear by my name. Just stop. Stop now. This massacre doesn't suit you. Everything can be forgotten."
"Hahaha…!"
Dante's face contorted.
"You're crazy, Alton Hairan. How many do you think have already lost their lives? If I stop, will they come back alive? Will the fact that the emperor branded Hairan as a traitor disappear?"
Nonsense!
Dante shouted with bloodshot eyes.
"The fight will not end until one of us, Hairan or the Empire, is destroyed."
"Foolish... don't you feel any responsibility as the young patriarch? If you don't stop, Hairan will be destroyed! Even its history will be erased without a trace."
Dante lunged, extending his sword.
Alton deflected Dante's sword head-on.
Clang!
A loud noise and shockwave erupted, and the knights of the Imperial Guard attempting to assist Alton couldn't approach hastily.
Argh-!
Dante spat out a mouthful of blood.
Blood flowed from his eyes and ears, and the hand gripping the entangled swords seemed on the verge of snapping, as if the bones could break at any moment.
"And what do you think you can achieve with that body? What choice have you made as the young patriarch? Aren't you just plunging yourself and the clan members into a senseless massacre? Even though the path for everyone to live is right in front of you!"
As if there was no point in answering any more, Dante silently swung his sword.
As Alton said, it seemed that his weak body had already passed its limits.
However, the fact that he was still moving his rattling body so sharply implied that Dante was passing through a certain point as a martial artist.
Unlike the blood pouring from his body, Dante's sword was emitting stronger and brighter light. It was digging into Alton faster and sharper.
The wind let out a shrill scream as the blades collided and cut through the air.
Fragments of sword energy bounced in all directions, forming a vortex, and the ground beneath the two of them was constantly upheaved by their footsteps.
The nearby knights stayed at a distance, waiting for the shockwaves to weaken. For those who hadn't reached a certain level, it was a fight they couldn't dare to stand near.
It didn't take long for the outcome of the match to come.
Just as Alton was about to execute Hairan's secret technique, Dante caught up with him by slashing his wrist.
Thud-!
Dante's blade, which stabbed Alton in the back and escaped through his chest, was stained dark red with blood.
Dante turned his sword, and Alton flinched and shook his head.
The blood flowing from Dante's forehead continued to spread through his eyes.
In an instant, several memories of his childhood with Alton flashed through his mind.
The moments when Dante looked up to him as his uncle and how he struggled to push away the inferiority he had for his nephew as his uncle.
But he had come too far for his sorrow.
Dante wasn't really sad at the thought that floated like a bubble bursting on the surface of the water for a moment.
"Alton Hairan, Hairan has never abandoned you, but you abandoned Hairan. Hairan has never betrayed you, but you betrayed Hairan more than anyone else. Even this death is not enough to pay for that sin."
"Cher, ha...."
Alton was also recalling something similar to what Dante was thinking.
He wasn't as strong and resilient as Dante. That's why he left Hairan, just a moment ago he suggested saving Hairan, and now he was speaking his last words.
"Stop... it."
Swoosh!
Dante withdrew his sword, and Alton fell forward and convulsed.
Stop it, Zipfel is coming...… Dante.
The voice of his imminent death was so feeble that he could barely open his mouth.
Dante hadn't heard that Zipfel was coming.
Even if he had heard of it, it wouldn't have changed his resolve.
When Alton met death, the emperor's army had no choice but to be greatly shaken.
No one expected that the captain of the Imperial Guard would be killed like this. The one currently breaking through the battlefield wasn't Ron but Dante.
"Assault squad! Keep supporting the young patriarch!"
Like a ghost, Dante started rushing towards the Dragon lance again.
At this point, the nearby rank-file soldiers regained the fear shrouded in madness.
They dared not confront the young patriarch of Hairan.
Hundreds of rank-file soldiers waiting at dragon lance stepped back, and only high-ranking knights, including the Imperial Guard, barely aimed their swords at Dante.
The dragons behind the dragon lance let out a roar.
The dragons fired their breaths at once, and at that moment, the knights of another assault squad who had just arrived, protected Dante with sword shields.
"Go, young patriarch!"
The knights of Hairan were not all monsters like Dante. The assault squad was barely holding their breath. The situation was complicated as the Red Dragon-class and Golden Dragon-class cannons aimed at Dante were flying from everywhere.
When the dragon lance is destroyed and the Five Sword Saint arrives...
The Hairan knights shot their sword energies at the dragons.
Dante narrowed the distance with the dragon lance by cutting off the remaining fire of the dragons.
While Dante and the assault squad cleared the road, Dragon lance fired two more shells at sword emperor castle.
The castle wall where Dante was standing had completely collapsed, revealing the interior of the castle.
Dante wasn't fighting with the aim of defending the castle, but Ron, who had lost consciousness, was present within the deepest part of the castle.
As a member of Hairan, and as the grandson of the Sword emperor.
Ron is still Dante's greatest hope.
Ron was still unable to regain consciousness as the sword emperor castle was being destroyed, but Dante believed that Ron would awaken before the end of the war.
When he wakes up, he will show what weight the name Sword Emperor carries to the enemies of Hairan...… Dante believed so.
If there wasn't even that hope, his weary and battered body would have collapsed on the cold ground long ago.
"Haa, ha...!"
Dante exhaled heavily, gripping his sword.
The dragon lance was right in front of his eyes.
Seeing it up close, the dragon lance looked enormous and emitted an indescribable ominous aura.
I cut it with a single sword
The secret technique of the sword emperor, Heavenly Flash cut through the middle of the dragon lance, leaving a shining afterimage.
The dragon lance, split in half, collapsed on both sides and crushed the rank-file soldiers and mages who could not escape.
Dante knelt down for a moment, concealing his body in the dust and smoke that scattered as the dragon lance fell. Then, before the enemies could see his condition, he rose again, steadying his trembling body.
It was the moment when Hairan achieved a small victory in this war.
"Young patriarch has defeated the captain of the Imperial Guard and the Dragon lance!"
"The emperor's dragon lance has collapsed... … !"
But at that moment.
Kwaaa-!
Kwaaaaa...!
Somewhere, the sound of an explosion echoed.
Although the distance was far, it was the exact same sound as when dragon lance spewed cannonballs.
When he turned around, he saw the protective shield of the Sword Emperor castle and the outer wall collapsing.
'There's... another Dragon Lance?'
There was only one Dragon Lance in the Empire.
However, in preparation for such a moment, the emperor had made replicas of the dragon lance using Zipfel's ability.
"Aagh!"
"Ha, ha... The second dragon lance has been confirmed at the back gate!"
"Hensirk Magic Corps, Lilista Magic Corps are operating dragon lance! At least the 4, no, 7, 9...… !"
Dante was too far away for the urgent voices of the vigilante knights to reach.
However, even without hearing their reports, he could tell that the situation was not just wrong but far worse.
"Sword emperor castle protection can't be possible! We must evacuate!"
"Medical staff, medical staff…!"
"Where are we supposed to evacuate to? Hold your positions! Protect even if you have to die!"
"Scatter! Scatter, so they can't target us with cannon fire!"
It felt like the blood in his entire body was turning cold.
'Should I continue to advance and aim for the emperor, no, the sword emperor castle, the knights of Hairan, my grandfather…!'
Nausea rose within him.
He had to somehow pull himself together and deal with the situation. It couldn't end like this, so futilely.
Dante was engulfed in despair, and the Emperor smiled. However, both Dante's despair and the Emperor's smile.
It was just for a fleeting moment.
From beyond the rear of the sword emperor castle, a huge stream of shining swords was cutting down the dark night sky fiercely.
A unique blue color created by mixing lightning energy and aura.
There was only one person in the world who wielded such a sword.
Because of that everyone standing on the battlefield who witnessed the sword were able to understand in an instant.
Jin Runcandel had arrived.
章節 370: Chapter 529
Dante couldn't take his eyes off the blue sword that started from the far end of the rear.
Everyone in the clan risked their lives, so he didn't want to survive cowardly alone.
However, the blue sword that Dante saw with his own two eyes felt like a light that cut through despair.
'Jin... !'
Jin did not receive Dante's letter.
Even if he received it, he and his people would surely have come to aid the Sword emperor castle.
Hairan!
We have come!
Jin shouted with determination, and the entire battlefield vibrated with his voice. Even Dante, standing alone at the forefront of the battlefield, could hear his friend's voice clearly.
The Imperial Army in the rear looked up. Jin was standing alone on the cliff towering high behind the Sword Emperor Castle.
"The Vamel Alliance and the Tikan Kingdom will defend the sword emperor castle with Hairan now."
Blue-pale sword Sigmund, the thunder sword bestowed directly by battle god, was stained with sharp lightning bolts.
The dragon lance cannon, which was aimed at the back gate, was hurriedly aiming at Jin.
"So, all enemies open the way."
Aaaah-!
The moment the dragon lance cannon fired, Jin's sword emitted light.
Runcandel 5th secret move
Light-speed Thrust – Plutonian
The light from a single sword lit up the night sky for an instant.
And the projectile of the dragon lance disappeared without a trace, leaving only the sound of the explosion.
It was swallowed up by the sword energy of the Light-Speed Thrust.
The sword energy that swallowed the projectile pierced the protective shields of the knights and mages of the imperial army and even completely destroyed the dragon lance.
It happened before the sound of the explosion could disperse into the air.
Those who witnessed it couldn't understand what was happening.
Just looking at Jin's movements and at the lighting and aura remaining on the straight line between the cliff and the broken dragon lance.
They could only infer the fact that he had thrust his sword once.
But the shock didn't end there.
"Aagh!"
"W-What is this...!"
Lightning began to pour out at the strike point of the light-speed thrust, where the dragon lance was shattered.
The original light-speed thrust was just an insanely fast thrust, as Talaris said it. However, Jin's Light-Speed Thrust, named after his brethren, carried the fierce energy unique to Plutonian Swordsmanship.
The ruthless power of a race that once ruled and dominated as the sole victors.
The blue lightning bolts were trampling on the knights and mages of the imperial army. They had no means to defend themselves against its power.
With a single sword, the rear ranks of the imperial army collapsed.
Both allies and enemies, feeling the thrill from Jin's sword, could only think the same thing.
This is the kind of knight that overwhelms the battlefield.
Jin raised his aura again.
And he fired a series of light-speed thrusts until the cliff collapsed because it couldn't support the force.
The blue flashes falling on the battlefield looked like a punishment from a god in the eyes of the enemies.
It seemed like they were paying the price for daring to betray Hairan as a part of the Empire.
It seemed like they were being punished for not confronting the Emperor's tyranny as a human who was safe within the shield named Hairan.
The cliff collapsed after five more light-speed thrusts.
And the fact that the cliff has collapsed means that the monster would now directly sweep through the battlefield.
The enemy's fear had to be weighed heavily.
Plutonian swordsmanship was created solely for conquest and destruction. There was no martial art more specialized for war in the world than that.
As soon as Jin entered the battlefield, the number of deaths changed.
Lightning bolts fell every time lightning energy spread, and when lightning bolts poured, dozens to hundreds of enemies either died or were so severely injured that they could no longer fight, lying on the ground.
Not only the rank-file soldiers but even the knights who considered themselves part of the Imperial Army dared not block Jin's path. If they were recklessly engaged, their entire bodies would burn before they could even clash swords.
Screams loud enough to pierce one's eardrums echoed.
But Jin couldn't hear their screams.
Only the harsh voice of his friend whose heart must have been torn apart by the madness of war, broke his heart.
"Back off, you bastards. How could you guys do this to Hairan...…!"
Even in defeat, people were witnessing another name called Runcandel.
The dragon lance aiming at the back gate and the entire cannon of the Golden Dragon-class or higher followed Jin's movements.
In the first place, the dragon lance that Dante slashed in the front line was nothing more than a deception. Much more dragon lances were being deployed in the rear and on the sides.
More than fifty dragon lances were being loaded.
In addition, the enemy commanders were also prepared for a joint attack.
"Jin Runcandel! Are you aware that the people you are killing are the troops of His Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Vermont Empire? Runcandel is now intervening in the Empire's civil war, do you understand what that means...?"
The commander of the Lillista Magic Corps couldn't finish her words.
Jin immediately fired another light-speed thrust in the direction where the voice came from.
As soon as she died, the knights of the Central Knight Order, about a hundred of the key figures of the Imperial Army as Dante had anticipated, formed a formation to block Jin.
Jin snorted.
"The fact that you can die by hand of a Runcandel on the battlefield is the highest honor garbage like you can have."
The Knights of the Central Knight Order did not add any further words like Lillista's commander.
It was because they knew it at a glance. No matter what they say, Jin won't stop.
"So I don't want to give you bastards even that honor. That's the price you pay for forgetting honor."
As soon as Jin finished talking.
Boom! Sizzle!
Sudden cannon fire from somewhere rained down on the knights of the Central Knight Order.
It was a dragon lance. The knights hurriedly threw their shields and swung their swords, but the flagship cannon fire boasted by the Empire claimed their lives.
'Damn it, why is dragon lance doing us!'
'Hensirk Magic Corps wouldn't make such a mistake. Could it be...!'
Jin smiled coldly and shrugged his shoulders.
"I clearly shouted that we came, not just me. Did you commanders forget that?"
Sizzle, boom!
The firing of the dragon lances continuously rained down on the Central Knight Order.
The person aiming the cannon at them from the rear-left side of the battlefield was not the imperial army.
"It's a hit! Hehe, my lord will praise me, right?"
Amela laughed and loaded the next cannon.
Great mercenary Amela, as soon as she entered the battlefield, she swiftly assessed the enemy's equipment and began confiscating them one by one.
"Old man Valkas, that one. That one looks usable. Hand it over."
"…Fine."
"It would have been better if the cuties had brought it to me instead of old man Valkas, but our Proch cuties are organizing the side battlefield well."
Valkas, the leader of the Black Kings, and Amela, the great mercenary.
The two people who could be called the incarnation of war were also stirring the rear battlefield with Jin.
Realizing this fact belatedly, the Imperial Army once again felt a horrifying sensation as if blood was draining from their heads.
Valkas lifted the dragon lance pointed by Amela's finger.
He lifts the huge cannon lead by Hundreds of rank-file soldiers, as if it's a little heavy rock.
The number of troops has no meaning in front of a human who has risen to the ranks of superhumans.
"It's nothing compared to the Black King Cannon No.1, but this isn't bad either. I'll take a few of these and hang them in Tikan when the war is over! Fire, fire!"
In the end, the dragon lances operated by Amela annihilated all the knights who stood in the way of Jin before thirty seconds had passed.
"ugh… uh… Kuh."
Jin didn't even cut them directly, as he said.
No glorious death in battle by the hands of Runcandel was left for them.
"Even if you die, apologize for what you guys have done. And hope that Dante doesn't die or get hurt. If such a thing happens, I will not only exterminate your families but also your relatives and their kin..."
At those words, the knights of the Central Knight Order couldn't believe this was the end even facing death.
It was a deep and dark voice that anyone could not think of as a lie if they heard it in person, and it was the threat from pure-blood Runcandel.
When Jin started to move again, the imperial troops surrounding him backed away.
The plain was wide, but it seemed like there was a cliff right behind them. If they continued retreating to avoid Jin, they might fall off that edge.
However, their footsteps did not seem to be heading forward at all.
The Emperor's command and the madness of war were overshadowed by a massive, terrifying shadow approaching step by step.
When they thought they were going to face Hairan without Ron, all of the imperial troops were confident of victory.
They thought that the sword emperor would eventually come to an end in front of numerous dragons, knights, mages, and the strongest war equipment of the empire including dragon lances.
That is why the imperial army attacked the sword emperor, even though they knew that this purge was in no way reasonable.
Regardless of right or wrong, standing on the losing side in a war will ultimately only bring death and destruction.
The moment they defend Hairan, they will also become traitors and get executed.
However, they overlooked that Hairan is not alone.
They did not recognize the relationship between the young patriarch of Hairan and Runcandel's 12th flagbearer that was thicker than blood.
Therefore, now the conviction that 'they cannot win' and the despair were weighing down the Imperial Army. Beyond that, even questions arose.
Could the Empire continue to exist as it had after today?
They wanted to confess their sins immediately and plead to stand on Hairan's side now.
They wished to speak with a humble voice, admitting they followed the Emperor's orders only because they lacked the strength, and in reality, they respected Hairan more than the Imperial family.
There was no way Jin and Hairan wouldn't entertain such ridiculous pleas.
They knew better than anyone that claiming to have just followed orders was no excuse.
Some lost their minds and sobbed uncontrollably, while others dropped their weapons, trembling all over.
Some shouted, but it was not to fight the opponent, but only to lose reason and turn into a frightened beast.
"I swear in the name of Runcandel's 12th flagbearer. Run away, I won't pursue you. However, any enemy remaining on the battlefield will die without exception. But I think...."
It seems better to die here than to endure a lifetime of disgrace and self-loathing.
Jin continued talking and glared at the enemies.
Those who saw his gaze keenly felt the harsh reality.
Whether facing him or running away, there was only hell awaiting them.
200+ 推薦票
榜單 
51 推薦票 
段落評論