The Burning Granary (3)
A jaw trembling uncontrollably. Drool trickling down thickly.
Dalen tilted his head slightly. The Bronze District was known for its tough guards, even if they were just a single soldier.
Given the city’s size, the back alleys and lower streets were a breeding ground for all sorts of crime.
The current situation seemed too extreme to be just the result of a group of drugged vagrants.
“Hey, get a grip! Be specific. What exactly are we supposed to stop?”
Sienna seemed to share the same thought, pressing the guard for answers. The guard swallowed hard before responding.
“At first, it was just vagrants. We thought we could handle it.”
The Bronze District’s guard unit was no pushover.
They were responsible for maintaining order in the largest district of the massive city, despite their limited patrol range and shady connections. Their skills were unmatched compared to other city guards.
When Dalen fought against the Apostles of Reversal, the Bronze District had managed to root out hidden dens in just a few days.
This incident should have been no different, easily suppressed.
Even if there were thousands of addicts, they couldn’t possibly defeat the thousands of armed guards.
In the first few hours of the unrest, that was indeed the case. The guards, well-trained after the cultist incident, seemed to have the upper hand against the drugged vagrants.
“That was until the monster arrived.”
“Monster? Who?”
The guard shuddered, as if the mere memory was horrifying.
“God of War, help us.”
With Lucia’s prayer bolstering him, the guard managed to continue.
“A mountain of corpses. Torn apart by ashen winds, vines growing and merging into a massive body. What I saw was a monster made from dozens of people, and the ashen winds and vines kept creating more of them.”
The group raced down the main road. As expected, the guard had said the enemies were heading for the warehouse district.
It wasn’t hard to guess their intentions. The grain warehouses in the western district were crucial for Falcion’s self-sufficiency.
Before the full-scale invasion began, they intended to incapacitate the city by starving it.
“The guard said the addicts were moving like an army.”
Dalen thought as he sprinted through the streets with Parn on his back.
The addicts fighting the guards were nothing like the beasts he had encountered in the lower streets, who were solely focused on devouring human flesh.
On the surface, however, they had somehow organized under a single command structure within hours.
According to the guard, dark mages or black knights were seen among the addicts, likely acting as mid-level commanders.
They were probably the dark mages under the Vine Witch, who had caused this drug crisis.
“The Vine Witch… and the Ashen Winds.”
Ashen Winds.
The term felt eerily familiar. Dalen furrowed his brow.
“I was sure it was completely destroyed.”
The Ashen Winds that devoured everything.
How many times had that dreadful curse ruined the game in its latter half?
Determined to prevent it this time, he had gone to Revivach as soon as he heard the news and snuffed out the possibility.
He had thought the holy sword’s power had ensured its destruction, yet here it was again.
”…Tsk.”
Dalen clicked his tongue lightly. As he gathered his thoughts, the group was nearing the warehouse district, Zone 43.
From afar, the sounds of battle could be heard. Screams, shouts, and the clashing of weapons grew louder.
“Dalen, the magic…”
“I know.”
It wasn’t just that. As Sienna was about to point out, the magical winds in the area were in severe turmoil.
With the ominous magic mixed in, it seemed as if nearly ten gates to hell had opened.
Dalen paused briefly and set Parn down from his back. He spoke.
“Stay close to Lucia.”
”…Yes.”
Srrng—
Leaving the nodding boy behind, he checked his armor and weapons before drawing his holy sword.
Sienna gathered her magic, and Lucia activated her divine tattoos.
As they crested a gentle hill, the battlefield came into view. The guards’ defensive line stretched across the main road, clashing with countless addicts trying to break through.
“Let’s see it from the inside.”
With that, Dalen pushed off the ground.
Thump—
In an instant, he soared to the height of the rooftops, twisting in mid-air to step on the void.
There was no need to summon storm clouds. The sky, already dark with drizzle, was enough.
With the holy sword in hand, he kicked off the air, shooting down like a bolt of lightning.
And a blue streak followed like a shadow.
「Thunder Strike」
Boom—!
Nearly ten fell to the direct sword strike, and several times more collapsed under the descending lightning.
The shockwave that followed toppled dozens more. Dalen decided to press forward.
「Step of Thunder」
Instead of landing, he lightly stepped on the air, gripping his sword.
The unique ability of the Step of Thunder condensed a portion of the magic released at the first step, converting it into raw power.
He infused the force of the falling lightning into his next step, amplifying it in all directions.
「Thunder Strike: Discharge」
Crackle—!
Blue lightning spread in all directions. The street’s paving stones shattered and flew, and the addicts pierced by the electric current fell, spilling green blood.
In a single attack, over a hundred addicts were down. Naturally, all eyes turned to him.
Clang!
In response to those gazes, an axe flew from his waist, slicing through the crowd.
Limbs fell, heads rolled.
Amidst the collapsing addicts, a dark hand appeared.
Clang—!
The axe was caught mid-air by a bare hand. It struggled briefly, but the black, thick hand gripped it tighter.
“Heh, we meet again, you sluggish barbarian.”
The owner of the hand, a dark knight, grinned. Dalen raised an eyebrow.
“You know me?”
“Ha, of course. I should have cut your head off back then, but I let my guard down and lost an arm.”
Clunk.
The dark knight lifted his helmet, revealing blackened skin and a shiny bald head.
“I, Sir Angel Ztram, will punish your insolence this time.”
”…Ah, that idiot.”
The bald head and manner of speech made it easy to remember.
He was the low-ranking knight who had threatened him in the central square after returning from the labyrinth.
“Heh, you remember now. I understand. My appearance has changed quite a bit. The gods have granted me overflowing power and even a new arm.”
Clink. Clink.
The dark knight chuckled as he approached. He tossed the hand axe aside and drew a massive battle axe from his back.
His body, enhanced by corrupt magic, easily exceeded two meters.
The new right arm, supposedly a gift, was grotesquely large, even for his enlarged body, as if it had been taken from a troll.
He raised the massive axe with his black, thick hand and shouted.
“Say your last words, barbarian! I, Dark Knight Angel Ztram, in the name of Lapilem, will offer you up!”
Fwoosh!
The axe blade ignited with a dark flame, a vivid manifestation of sinister magic.
The dark knight charged with a satisfied grin, swinging the battle axe imbued with dark energy.
Dalen shrugged and simply raised his sword.
“Hahaha… Gah?”
Clang!
The axe blade, now without a handle, struck the ground. The dark energy quickly dissipated from the axe embedded in the paving stones.
The dark knight, staggering past Dalen, looked down at his axe in disbelief.
“W-What…?”
He tried to turn towards Dalen but collapsed. His upper body, split with his armor, slid to the ground, and the troll-like hand twitched a few times before going still.
Dalen reached out. The axe the dark knight had thrown returned to him.
He sheathed the axe at his waist and moved towards the charging addicts once more.
Around that time, from the opposite side of the main road, a rain of feathers and flashes of divine power began to sweep through.
Thanks to the trio’s disruption of the front lines, the soldiers at the defensive line could easily launch a counterattack.
Lucia’s battle prayer revitalized the morale and energy of the guards, while Sienna’s spell swiftly swept away the hordes of addicts.
Meanwhile, Dalen began to hunt down every dark sorcerer and black knight he could find.
By the time the seventh commander’s head fell at his hands, the terrified enemies had already retreated their remaining forces into the alleyways.
It was a moment when at least one side of the defensive line could breathe a little easier.
Joining the guards, Dalen spotted a familiar face among the soldiers.
“Dalen. It’s good to see you again. Thanks for your help. We owe you our lives.”
“It’s been a while. I see you’ve changed your armor again.”
Dalen shook hands with Gawain, who gave a wry smile.
Gone was the gleaming armor of the knightly order; he was back in the worn plate armor characteristic of the Silent Company.
“I hadn’t planned on returning so soon, but given the circumstances, I had no choice.”
“Returning?”
“Truth is, I never really joined the Order of the Silver Knights. Well, officially, yes, but it was more of a cover. I couldn’t just leave the men I’ve served with for over a decade… But this isn’t the time for that story.”
Dalen nodded. It was his first encounter with a covert enlistment, but there would be time to hear the full story later.
Gawain quickly briefed him on the situation.
The attack by the addicts had begun under the cover of night, their numbers swelling to tens of thousands. Just as they were barely holding them off, an elite unit of dark knights and sorcerers had breached the defenses and pushed inward.
“That’s when the Silent Company and I arrived, and the guards managed to restore the breached line. But we didn’t have enough troops to pursue those who got inside.”
Gawain bit his lip and lowered his head. Dalen nodded, recognizing the feat as impressive in itself.
The current guard force holding the line numbered only a few thousand.
Defending the vast area from District 41 to 43, packed with warehouses, with such limited numbers was no small feat.
To have restored a broken defense line was nothing short of a miraculous turnaround by Gawain and the Silent Company.
With their group joining the fray, they had gained an advantage on one front, and now it was time to plan a counterattack on the others.
“Now, the only thing left is to chase down those who got inside.”
Dalen stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The elite enemy unit had breached the defenses two hours ago.
They were likely skilled enough to set fire to the grain warehouses with ease.
Yet, even after two hours, there was no sign of explosions or large-scale fires.
When Dalen shared his thoughts, Gawain also looked puzzled.
“Whatever their intentions, we need to go inside to find out.”
There was no time to waste. Just as Dalen was about to move, a heavily armored soldier came running up, panting heavily.
Lifting the visor of his helmet, a noble face with thin blond hair was revealed.
“Wait, wait! Let me come with you. I know what they’re planning.”
“E-Ever…”
“Please, Captain of the Silent Company, keep quiet. I’m Evan, a volunteer from the Labyrinth Administration, dispatched in response to the request for support in the Bronze District.”
The young man, who had stopped Gawain mid-sentence with a raised finger, smiled awkwardly.
Everon Lachtala.
The name Gawain couldn’t quite bring himself to say.