Chapter 112

The troops of the empire was pouring out from the curtains of light that acted as portals.

Still, the Grand Spears of Gollus weren't omnipotent. They couldn't transfer the whole of the Imperial Army.

Just like everything else in the world, they too had limits.

'Five Grand Spears, and this many soldiers... then there should be five Masters.'

Along with perhaps ten or a few more captain-level combatants.

One of the enemy Masters had to have failed to cross, because Callius had stolen one of the imperial relics in advance.

That was the only ray of hope.

There were exactly five Masters in the kingdom.

And five had come with the imperial invasion force.

If they could only hold on -

If they could persevere, they could win!

- Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!

Slash!

Callius, who was cutting down the imperial soldiers like wheat, raised his head at the shout.

Soldiers from both sides trembled at the terrible voice that came from the royal castle.

'That must be the prince, roaring.'

Did they trigger the prince's madness, too?

Indeed, Callius could understand now. It must've been the archbishop who'd recommended the Light Dragon Sword to the prince in the past.

The man wouldn't have found it hard to trigger his madness again, in that case.

"There's no time."

The rampaging prince would be no less of a threat compared to a Master.

There was no time because the queen would be the endpoint of his rampage.

She'd either be killed by the prince, her own brother, or by the archbishop.

This was no time to hold back.

"Sir Callius! There're too many enemies! Besides, it's hard to identify friend from foe..."

Snikt!

Looking at the fallen imperial soldier, Callius frowned.

"Allen."

"Yes!"

"Shut up."

Crackkkkkkle!

He swung his sword, releasing a wave of frost.

Crackackackackack!

Ice walls began to rise from every side.

"...!"

The fiercely burning battlefield became silent as if suddenly drenched in ice water.

But although the chaotic battlefield had suddenly turned calm, that didn't mean the enemies bearing spears had vanished. As the white frost cleared, the outlines of the people on the field became visible, and fighting was starting up again. There were even people who were trying to stab their own allies with their blades.

Nobody knew who was a friend and who an enemy.

Then what Callius had to do was simple.

"Whoever stands in our way to the castle is an enemy."

"Alright!"

Allen led the troops and charged forward.

Callius unsheathed another sword to wield with his left hand, just as a traitor appeared in their path with a roar.

"Jervain, you bastard!!"

Snikt!!

"Ghk!"

The man tried to grab his head as it was severed and about to fall down, but could only collapse in vain.

『Kingdom Quest』

[Imperial Spies]

◆ Save the kingdom from ruin by killing the spies of the empire.

◆ Number of spies killed: 16/18

<Reward>「Monarch's Flag」

Only two left.

"K-, kill that wolf bastard!! Or that Jervain will be the ruin of us all!"

"Thank you for telling me your position."

It definitely made things easier.

Whoooosh-!

The path was cleared with one swing.

The enemy's feet were frozen, stuck to the floor.

And three swings were enough to freeze them whole.

There was no way for them to deal with it.

Snikt.

"Ugh..."

Slaaash!

Now there was only one left.

The archbishop.

Callius was just about to start running again, but -

Booom-! A gigantic form descended to his position, as if waiting for him.

Callius was just about to cut his way through, but -

Claaaang!!

Screeeech!

Slaaash! Callius, feeling himself getting pushed back, narrowed his eyes.

His strength, that had been continually reinforced with Verse of Grace, by now deserved to be called formidable.

Who had the power to so simply push him away?

An imperial knight?

Or one of the nobles who'd joined the rebellion?

But the form that was revealed as the white chill dispersed, completely overturned Callius' expectations.

"Orc?"

A severed left arm that had been replaced with an axe.

Holding a spear in his right hand.

"Krrrrrr. I remember. You."

A slurred pronunciation.

However, what the orc spoke was definitely the official language of the continent.

'An orc, speaking Common?'

Anybody would be surprised.

But there was something familiar about him.

Red hair. Swollen muscles, and valiant strength. A great axe attached to his arm.

Finally, those deep scars.

"... No way."

Callius recalled a name he'd forgotten. There'd been a champion among the orcs in the North, whom he hadn't been able to defeat.

"Kel'tuk."

Kel'tuk, the orc champion[1] who'd faced Callius in the North.

And this time he was here again, blocking his way.

"What happened to you?"

Callius couldn't help but ask.

Orcs revered axes and detested other weapons. The orc in question had replaced an arm with an axe, true, but what the hell was up with the spear in his other hand?

"Abandoned. To fight."

He had a spear in one hand.

And also an axe.

He'd probably abandoned his God.

"And got. New power."

So -

"Fight. Callius. For honour."

Huh. Callius' lips twisted as he raised his sword. To think somebody even forsook his God so he could fight more.

"Is that why you abandoned your God? To get your honour back?"

What was the point in such honour?

But Callius didn't care.

Their battle had long been left unfinished.

"Fine."

His opponent had come all this way to block his path with such a request. Since he craved death so badly, shouldn't Callius oblige?

He crossed his two swords at the hilt.

The intense rush of divine power set his cloak aflutter.

As Callius prepared for battle, Kel'tuk roared.

"Callius!!"

Claaang!!

Two forms clashed on the battlefield -

And a storm began to rage between them.

An axe replacing the lost left arm -

A new spear in the right hand -

'The feeling's different from back then.'

The champion's axe came swinging with abandon, as if in a hurry to tear him apart.

The heavy point of the spear was also quite cumbersome to deal with. Although one would call it a spear, the blade at the tip was as wide as it was long.

As if a small axe-head had been bound to a spear shaft.

And in the same vein, instead of stabbing with it like one would with a spear, the orc used it like a long-shafted axe.

But -

"What a joke."

Claaaaaaaaaanggg-!!

Callius' aura surged.

Although Kel'tuk's spear came to cut him -

Crack!

His sword, covered in layers upon layers of his art, snapped its blade away on impact.

Puff-! Craackk!!

A devastating kick sent Kel'tuk crashing against a nearby pillar.

The orc struggled upright with a pained groan, but Callius' sword was already caressing his neck.

Callius' eyes, looking down at Kel'tuk, didn't show any trace of the excitement from last time.

"Have you been punished?"

"Kunta. Punishment. Honour. Have to get it back."

Kunta, the God of the Axe.

The Gods of this world were quite free with their miracles.

Bestowing them upon those who believed in their power and their strength.

Gods treated equally those who worked harder and harder, and those who only stood still.

'But -'

No God easily tolerated apostasy.

What would be the end of an apostate, if not divine punishment?

Kel'tuk had received that divine punishment.

'Kunta's divine punishment is pain.'

Pain at every action.

Turning your life into a prison, crushing you and tearing you apart moment by moment.

Every movement was painful, and sleep was no release.

As if an insect was gnawing your body from within, and the slightest breeze would feel like your skin was being ripped apart.

That's why the orc was moving like this.

"This isn't fun anymore."

Callius retracted his sword.

When he turned around to leave, Kel'tuk cried out convulsively.

"Honour!! For me! Honour, is different!!"

Had an orc's natural desire to fight and die, led him to this point?

"You did something stupid, Kel'tuk. You gave up your God to gain more power, but that only made you weaker."

Callius couldn't throw away his sword either, for the same reason.

God's punishment could be quite harsh.

"See where your stupid choice has led you? Decide for yourself. How you can find your honour again."

Callius left the orc behind and ran. Unfortunately, the opponent who'd once made him struggle so much had become so weak.

He wished they hadn't met.

It was ruining his mood.

"Honour!! Honour!!"

Until the voice of the green beast, howling for honour, was lost to the wind -

Callius ran, and ran.

"Damn!"

"It's that wolf of Jervain! Get him!!"

"Stop him! Don't let anybody in, that's an order!"

There were quite a few rebels and imperials int the way.

Callius immediately drew another sword.

Dirge in the right hand -

Rakan, the Blue Thunderbolt in the left -

Now was not the time to hold back, after all.

"Stop him!"

Enemy soldiers were pouring in like a flood.

From dozens, to a hundred or more.

Where common sense would tell you to stop rushing and focus on defence -

Callius instead accelerated.

"Go away."

Dirge swung.

Crackackackackack!!

Showers of ice shards attacked the army.

"Ahhhhh!!"

A bolt of thunder burst out from Rakan.

Crackkkllle!!

With each cut, the thunderbolts dwelling within the sword surged outwards with a flash of lightning.

Boooooooom!!

Callius exhaled a violent breath full of both frosty chill and blue lightning.

A single exchange of blows had blown a large hole through the enemy formation.

"This doesn't make sense...!!"

"Shut up! That bastard is mine!"

Claang!

One of the imperial captains stabbed the ground with their spear. A terrifying sound emanated from the cracked floor.

"B-, back off! Don't block Captain's path!!"

The frightened imperial soldiers quickly retreated to both sides. Thanks to this, only the rebels who hadn't been alert enough to escape were standing between Callius and the captain.

And the imperial captain thrust his spear without hesitation.

Screeeech!

"Let's see how you handle this!"

Screeeeech!

"Aaaaaah!!"

The rebels fell down, screaming. A strange, distorted sound was ringing in their ears.

It dug into their eardrums and disturbed their minds.

Callius took the attack head-on.

He, too, couldn't escape the range of that delusion.

The ruby ring on his hand shone faintly.

"I don't like it."

"You -!"

Slaaaash!

The imperial captain's blood sprayed into the air as Callius glided past him.

"Keh! Kgh!"

The enemy spewed out blood like a fountain, and collapsed.

Callius kept going forward, his eyes cold.

There was only one man advancing, but the crowd of enemies surrounding him couldn't muster up the courage to stop him.

"Bastards, don't be afraid! He's alone!!"

"You're scared of one man?! You call yourselves the army of the Great Holy Empire!!"

"Waaaaaagh!!"

"For Lactus!!"

"The honour of the empire, for the glory of Lactus!!"

At the command of the leaders, the soldiers again rushed in.

Spears clasped, the imperial soldiers charged.

However, it was not Jervain's wolf that met them in battle this time.

Claang!!

"Ugh!"

A form bowled through the mass of soldiers like a shooting star.

Flashes of a pure white sword could be seen through the dust cloud as it began to slaughter the nearby imperial soldiers.

"Wh-, what!"

Ink gushed out from behind a perplexed imperial commander.

It bent like a snake and mercilessly cut off his head.

When the commander died in an instant, the imperial soldiers couldn't stay calm anymore.

"Hey there, Mister Callius. Been busy?"

"Count! Are you okay?!"

Blue hair, and red hair.

Esther and Helena had appeared.

"The queen's in danger."

"!!"

At that moment, the elites of the kingdom's army also arrived, shouting loudly.

"For Carpe!!"

Boooom!

Swords and spears clashed once again.

Callius was trying to make a gap so he could get out.

"Where do you think -!"

But the imperials wouldn't let him go.

The moment he was about to swing his sword again -

"Go! I'll handle this!"

Esther deflected the spear coming at him with her sword.

"Cheeky! What's that toothpick going to do!"

"Don't think your skewer will save you."

As Callius was about to escape through that gap -

Another spearman appeared.

But then -

Claaaangggg!

Helena, holding her double swords, swam through the shadows and blocked him.

"Go, quickly! Remember, you owe me!"

"Thank you."

Crackkkkkk-!!

In one breath, Callius swung his Thunderbolt Sword and smashed through the door with a mass of lightning bolts.

As his whole body trembled at the aftershock, his eyes fell upon the barren desert in front of him.

A wasteland where not a single blade of grass grew.

Strange rocks were scattered here and there, making disproportionate formations.

'Here, is a sanctuary.'

A great tremor was resonating throughout his body.

There was probably an ongoing battle between Masters, and another fight on a smaller scale was also happening at one side.

Callius wanted to help if he could, but right now the queen's safety took priority.

If the queen died, Carpe's collapse would become irreversible.

Callius ran straight ahead and scoured the surroundings.

Perhaps this sanctuary was due to Gerald of Judgment and Paceton the Spear Freak.

If the fight between the two had created this place by chance and unnecessarily dragged everything in, the archbishop couldn't have prepared a way in advance to destroy it.

'Where's the queen?'

Callius sheathed Dirge and drew the Tyrant Sword.

He spread the gravitational force as if he was unfurling his own aura sense.

Further, further, and further again.

Now the force was so microscopic that it could hardly even be called a gravitational field anymore, but there was nothing better to sense anomalies in the sanctuary of another.

"Found it."

Callius ran straight towards a small crack in space that was already healing.

He pulled out the Blue Thunderbolt Sword.

"Huff."

Focus.

Concentrate.

Even if there was a rift in this sanctuary, it was a sanctuary created by two Masters.

To pierce through it was no easy feat.

But he had to.

Callius began to push a huge amount of spiritual power into the Blue Thunderbolt Sword.

Blue lightning bolts burst out from the sword that was raised high towards the sky.

Boooom-boooom-boooom!!

As if a thunderstorm had arrived, a gale wind blew, staining Callius' whole body blue with electricity.

And in an instant -

Intertwined with the energies of the Other Shore Flower that stemmed from the Silver Flower Wave Sword.

Thoooooooooom!!

A flower of blue lightning bloomed.

As the sanctuary was pierced, a strong power of suction dragged Callius inside[2], and there he saw the archbishop.

The man was about to pierce the queen's neck with an ominous-looking spear.

'Thank God.'

It wasn't too late.

Callius' form shot forward like a loosed arrow.

Claaaaaaaang!!

"So it's you, you bastard."

The archbishop - no, the traitor's face distorted.

"Count!"

"Damn it, why are you here?!"

Callius sneered at Alhamtra's cry.

"Because there's a traitor here."

The traitor's face darkened even more at his answer.

Editor's Notes:

[1] Changing from 'great warrior' to 'champion'.

[2] This suction didn't happen to the invaders, so one assumes Victor is responsible for dragging Callius closer to the queen so he could protect her, as it's his sanctuary and he's the master of the space.