Chapter 222: Choices of Possibility (3)
In the temple of the gods, the berserker Huarf rolled his eyes with a wild grin as he watched the approaching paladin.
“Heh.”
Finally, a worthy opponent.
Her armor glowed with divine tattoos, her sword shone with a pure white light, and an aura of sharp intensity surrounded her.
After dealing with nothing but riffraff since being deployed on the wall, he was eager to taste the blood of a true warrior.
His initial disappointment with the so-called city of transcendents was quickly replaced by renewed anticipation.
“Heh… hehehe.”
“Dammit… making me revert to old habits.”
Lucia frowned, raising her sword.
“Parn, stay behind me. Don’t move recklessly.”
“Yes.”
Lucia activated her divine tattoos to their fullest, pulling the one-eyed boy back.
The berserker drooled like a madman, but his skills were undeniably real.
His rough blade was wrapped in a fierce aura, and his bloodshot eyes leaked streams of magical power.
The bodies of soldiers lay scattered around, each with their throats slit, blood pooling beneath them.
Judging by the bloodstains on the berserker’s mouth, it seemed he alone had killed dozens.
‘Blood magic that amplifies power by drinking blood… Is there a god in the pantheon with such power?’
In a pantheon where gods were named after anything and everything, it was hard to say for sure.
After all, there were gods of flies and mosquitoes, regardless of the number of followers.
But Lucia couldn’t easily categorize the berserker’s power. He was temporarily, but clearly, a step into the fifth rank of transcendence.
It was hard to believe a minor deity with few followers could grant such power beyond mortal limits.
‘Vampires come to mind with blood magic, but the count has been at odds with the empire for centuries…’
It wasn’t a question she could solve immediately. Lucia set aside her thoughts and adjusted her stance.
The berserker wiped his mouth and crouched low, his wounded body enveloped in a dark red aura.
Boom!
The stone beneath his feet cracked as he charged with such speed that his massive form became a blur.
Swoosh—
The tip of Lucia’s sword, brimming with divine power, followed the berserker’s beast-like trajectory.
[So, you’re the paladin.]
Time seemed to freeze.
[The demon slayer. The sharpest white blade of the war god. The guardian who reached transcendence to protect the prophesied one.]
No, time had indeed stopped for a brief moment.
The sword strike, which had been extending sharply, halted for an instant. It was a gap so narrow and natural it was almost imperceptible.
”…You’re a transcendent of the Diamond Palace.”
The paladin’s heightened senses could faintly detect that gap.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Beside the berserker, frozen mid-charge in the air, a girl with long white hair nodded.
Lucia slowly withdrew her sword. The girl seemed at least two handspans shorter than her.
In this crisis of the empire’s invasion, there were twelve transcendents of the Diamond Palace whose barriers had been lifted.
Over the past three days of defending the wall, Lucia had seen the faces of all but one.
So, the girl who had effortlessly subdued the berserker must be the last one, who had gone to rescue Dalen and his group.
The one Everon spoke of as the strongest and oldest among the Diamond Palace’s transcendents…
“Inquisitor, could she really be that old hag…?”
”…Parn?”
“I mean, not that she looks old or anything…”
“Sigh…”
Crack!
“Ugh…!”
The berserker, who had been suspended in mid-air, had his limbs twisted in impossible directions.
His body, like a dry twig, bent and twisted repeatedly.
”…Eek.”
The boy, realizing his mistake, clamped his mouth shut, his face turning pale at the sight.
“Don’t misunderstand. I bear no ill will towards that child.”
”…”
“Everon Raktala, you damn bastard. Spreading such rumors even outside?”
Crunch!
The berserker from the pantheon, who had been twitching, went limp.
Lucia realized what it meant to create misunderstandings where there were none.
Fortunately, the misunderstanding didn’t escalate.
The one who had informed Lucia and Parn of the Seer’s peculiar nickname soon joined them.
“You did well, old hag. You arrived sooner than expected.”
”…I didn’t think you’d call me that even in front of outsiders. Do I need to discipline you like when you were a child?”
Her words were sharp, but her pouty expression, combined with her youthful face, only made her seem endearing.
If not for the overwhelming presence of a transcendent emanating from her, she could easily be mistaken for someone Parn’s age.
Regardless of appearances, the arrival of the Seer completely shifted the tide of the siege.
Boom— Rumble!
Each time the empire’s artillery breached the wall, a star appeared in the dawn sky.
As the starlight mingled with the morning sun, it touched the broken sections of the wall, reversing time.
The starlight instantly restored the damaged areas and even sent the artillery back along its trajectory.
Moreover, the sections painstakingly repaired by the Elgaia Tower and Shania Philopon over the past few days were returned to their original state under the starlight.
Freed from the endless repairs, the tower joined forces with Felber to wreak havoc on the enemy lines.
”…Wow.”
The young paladin gasped in awe as the heavy stones reassembled themselves.
What was happening on the vast wall was an unbelievable, surreal spectacle.
“That’s why they’re called demigods.”
Coo—
Sienna appeared with the cooing of pigeons.
“A fifth-rank transcendent can face an army alone, but a sixth-rank can control the entire battlefield.”
She patted Parn’s shoulder as she passed him, standing before the three.
“The residents of the lower district have been evacuated. We’ve set up temporary camps in the eastern and western border villages.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Sienna.”
“Gawain is personally leading the Silent Company to maintain order inside, and my crows are keeping watch on the outskirts, so there’s no need to worry.”
Perhaps the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents had taken its toll. Sienna rubbed her darkened eyes and perched on the wall’s battlement.
The white-haired girl approached her as she gazed silently beyond the wall.
“It’s been a while, Sienna Eclasia. You’ve grown a lot. Despite our mistakes, you’ve turned out well. I’m grateful.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Her words were sharp, and the girl hesitated.
Even when she stood before the three, Sienna didn’t spare her a glance.
“You stood by while my mother died. You knew it would happen and had the power to stop it.”
“Sienna, you know omniscience isn’t omnipotence…”
“No matter what excuse you give, it’s just an excuse to the victims. You know that, right?”
The girl bit her lip slightly. The witch didn’t look back.
She simply watched the battlefield, where arrows and artillery still flew. With Felber and the Seer joining, the balance was slowly tipping in their favor.
“But someone once told me they move forward to avoid losing. That retreating out of fear of loss only makes it easier to lose.”
After a moment of silence, she spoke again.
“Only those who’ve already lost can say that. In the end, it’s about choosing for myself. Whether to become a witch that devours the city or a friend who helps the powerless.”
“Even if you can’t swim against the river of fate, choosing which path to take is the privilege of those with free will. Ultimately, which direction you face…”
“Old hag, could you stop talking like a damn spellcaster?”
The Seer fell silent, a faint smile on her lips.
“That way of speaking is familiar. It must be something Philopon said.”
“Shania? You trust the words of that drug-addled old man? What good is someone who drinks tea like it’s liquor…”
Rumble…
In the distance, at the heart of the empire’s formation, dark clouds were gathering.
Sienna’s eyes, fixed on the direction of the clouds, suddenly gleamed.
”…No way.”
“Is it because of Dalen? He said he’d sweep through the command structure and retreat if it seemed too much, so there’s no need to…”
“No, that’s not it.”
Sienna stood up. Instantly, dozens of birds of various sizes appeared, surrounding her.
[I’ll be back soon.]
“Sien…”
From within the swirling mass of birds, like a small tornado, came the low chant of a witch.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the birds scattered in all directions, leaving no trace of her behind.
Thud, thud, thud…
The sound of hooves grew louder, a menacing wave of tension rolling in.
Through the ranks of soldiers parting to the sides, dozens of mounted knights advanced in formation.
“The Twilight Knights.”
Their armor gleamed with a bronze hue, intricate runes etched across their full suits, and a large crystal embedded in the center of their breastplates.
“Bronze isn’t the toughest metal, but its magical efficiency rivals that of pure silver. They rely on the rune magic for protection, not the armor itself.”
Ever since inheriting the dragonbone crafting technique from the blacksmith, knowledge about weapons and armor flowed into his mind effortlessly.
The equipment one possesses often reflects their skill and capability, and this knowledge could be leveraged to great effect.
The armor also hinted at the empire’s complex relationship with non-human races, showing how many, like dwarves, lived within its borders.
Of course, most of them were still slaves or lower-class citizens.
“Cease attack! Anyone who attacks without orders will be executed by my hand!”
Lost in thought, Dalen found himself surrounded by the knights.
The knights formed a wide circle, enclosing him within a radius of several dozen meters.
The knight calling for a halt was likely their leader.
Considering the status of the Twilight Knights within the empire, it was safe to assume this person commanded the entire force.
Clank!
A knight dismounted with ease, his helmet adorned with more elaborate designs than the others. Dalen instinctively rested his hand on his belt.
“Are you the platinum-ranked mercenary, Dalen?”
“That’s right.”
The knight with the ornate helmet asked, and Dalen nodded.
His hand was already wrapped around the axe handle, ready to throw it as naturally as breathing.
Sensing that the knight was likely a fifth-tier superhuman, Dalen decided to engage in conversation a bit longer, looking for an opening…
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Bukvan, commander of the Twilight Knights.”
”…What the hell?”
Bukvan, the silver-ranked mercenary?
The name I used to get by?