Episode 530
Chapter 144. For a Friend (8)
The psychological pressure was unbearable for the enemy.
For the Emperor’s army, this was a war without any cause, justification, or hatred.
It was nothing more than a childish game of picking sides—winners and losers—and those who had joined such a fight had no unbreakable will or burning fighting spirit.
All the knights and mages in the rear battlefield had completely lost their morale. This happened less than thirty minutes after Jin appeared.
As Jin began moving forward again, the knights and mages who had been standing idly, far from him, parted to either side to avoid him.
Whether they stood and fought or fled, it was hell either way.
Not a single knight chose to stand their ground. Those whose legs still held strength bolted madly out of the battlefield, while the others crawled and wept as they ran.
True to his word, Jin did not pursue the fleeing enemies.
But the enemy commanders couldn’t afford such mercy.
“You fools…! Fight! Anyone who runs will die by my hand!”
“Do you think you can bear the punishment for disobeying the Emperor’s orders? Better to die fighting—then at least your family won’t be wiped out!”
Despite the cruel commands from the Emperor’s commanders, the knights did not stop fleeing.
It was already clear which was more terrifying: the Emperor or Jin Runcandel.
Eventually, the commanders began slaughtering their own fleeing knights and mages.
But even after witnessing that, the knights did not cease their retreat.
When the situation reached such a dire point, even the commanders fell into panic. The knights of Runcandel, who could not be matched even if united, were closing in, yet the battle lines had already scattered so thoroughly they could no longer be called an army.
Only the main knights, the Hensarks, and the Lilista mage corps remained.
But all they could do was steel themselves to face death.
Most of the empire’s strongest war machines—the dragon lances—had been destroyed or captured, and Jin, despite unleashing his decisive techniques repeatedly, showed no sign of fatigue, pressing them with a fierce killing intent.
No support could come from the front or flanks.
The front was still held by Dante, while the flanks were swept by the likes of the Prochi siblings, Kashimir, Alisa, Julian, Kuzan, and Gilly.
The Emperor’s rear forces were even attempting to take the refugees from Sword Emperor City hostage, those who had yet to escape.
It was a desperate move that could backfire terribly, but they believed it was their only chance to shake the tide of battle.
Yet even that was failing, thanks to Jin’s comrades.
“Mesa, Skut! Prioritize protecting the refugees with your squads. Bellop, you and I will take down the enemy commanders!”
Luton Perma, former execution knight of Runcandel, and the youngest division were also fighting in this war.
Having endured hellish training under Luton, and as Runcandel’s guardian knights from the start, the Emperor’s rear knights were no match for them.
Thus, Jin and his comrades, all fired up, were tearing the battlefield apart.
“For our lord!”
“For our lord and Hiran!”
“Rescue our allies! Tend to the wounded!”
As the enemy knights fled, the battle cries grew louder than the screams.
Everyone knew this war wouldn’t end in victory so easily.
But the knights of Sword Emperor City had finally escaped despair and dared to hope for victory.
“The dragon lances are gathering around Lady Amela! Eight cannons so far, and counting!”
“So she wasn’t dead on Gaipa Island… she’s become one of the Twelve Riders…!”
In large-scale wars, Amela’s abilities shone brightest. Using her own Taki energy and Valkas’s power, she was continuously gathering the dragon lances.
At the same time, she was rapidly repairing them. Dozens of hands formed from Taki busily removed broken parts and attached salvaged components and pre-prepared materials to the captured dragon lances.
“Mortar fire ready! Lord, preparations are almost complete! Give the order, and we’ll begin front-line bombardment!”
Jin nodded, and Amela, stepping out from her camouflage, raised a hand in salute.
“Order received! Please look forward to Amela’s thrilling artillery support!”
The dragon lances all raised their barrels in unison.
“Boom!”
Kraaaah!
Eight dragon lances fired simultaneously into the sky at a slant.
The shells flew beyond Sword Emperor City, far ahead to where the Emperor was.
Though she had no direct line of sight, Amela fired without hesitation.
She measured the exact distance by the vibrations of the battlefield, ensuring no friendly fire.
Valkas’s assessment that no one could match Amela in war was no exaggeration.
Dante caught his breath, watching the shells fall like meteors over the Emperor’s forces in the distance.
He saw the shells being blocked. The elite Hensarks and Lilista mages had raised protective shields.
But the dragon lances were the empire’s strongest war machines.
They were not so easily stopped by mages, especially not eight firing at once.
The Emperor’s mages’ power was amplified to a degree even Dante could feel, and the knights could see with their own eyes.
As far as Dante knew, the empire did not possess technology capable of such large-scale magical amplification. It was almost unheard of in academic circles or historical records.
Ziphl.
Only they could do this.
Though he hadn’t heard Alton’s warning, Dante was certain the Emperor had made some kind of deal with Ziphl.
“That damned White Stone…!”
The White Stone had been poisoning Dante’s heart long before the war began.
And now that the war had spilled over, the hatred and rage born from the White Stone were growing faster and faster.
Amela’s dragon lances were not without effect on the Emperor’s forces.
The elite mages protected only the Emperor and other key figures, leaving the knights exposed.
Dante gripped his sword tighter.
He was suddenly frightened by himself—how he felt no emotion at the deaths of the Emperor’s knights and mages exploding before his eyes, and how a strange thrill, almost like pleasure, washed over him.
But the war was only just beginning.
“Step aside. I will kill the Emperor.”
The Imperial Guard and knights scattered before Dante’s blade.
After a long moment, a towering man appeared through the gap.
“…Sir Dante.”
The Dragon King Knight Commander, the Empire’s Number One Sword.
Jonsina Peral had stepped in to block Dante. Unlike Dante, who was drenched in blood and looked like a fearsome demon, Jonsina’s blue armor gleamed even in the darkness.
Jonsina’s heroic tales and various legends had inspired countless knights. Though overshadowed by Ron and thus less individually renowned, Jonsina was a paragon for knights everywhere.
Dante had long respected him.
So a bitter laugh escaped him.
“Ever since Kevin Peral arrived, I expected you’d be with the Emperor’s army. But seeing you stand in my way in person… I can’t hold back my disgust.”
“Spit,” Dante spat blood.
Jonsina said nothing, instead drawing power. The ground beneath him trembled, small rocks scattered and floated.
“Did you harbor a long-standing inferiority complex against my grandfather? Or did you want to see the Peral family become the empire’s pillar in Hiran’s place?”
His voice trembled with betrayal.
Dante had been sure that even if the entire Dragon King Knight Corps blindly followed the Emperor’s orders, Jonsina would never forget his honor.
Just as Dante was about to sneer again—
Jonsina vanished from his sight. When Dante quickly looked around, Jonsina’s greatsword was already crashing down on his shoulder.
Crack! Zzhang!
Dante blocked the blow, but his shoulder dislocated. He was thrown to the ground, rolling as Jonsina’s sword energy rained down.
Dante quickly popped his shoulder back into place and rose, deflecting the sword energy. His legs trembled, barely holding his balance.
This was the Empire’s Number One Sword. Dante, on the verge of collapse, could not easily withstand it.
“Enough. Stop this.”
“You and I both stabbed Sword Emperor City first, yet you have the nerve to tell me to stop? Aren’t you ashamed, you hypocrite!”
Dante charged, screaming, but his sword could not pierce Jonsina’s greatsword.
With every exchange, Dante’s bones and organs were battered, and he coughed up blood, while Jonsina remained unbreathable.
An iron wall.
Jonsina showed a level far beyond any knight Dante had ever cut down.
“Please.”
“Hah, please?”
“I don’t want to see you die.”
“You speak as if you’re sparing me, Dragon King Knight Commander… You must find it amusing that I’m exhausted and coughing up blood…”
Dante’s body was bathed in aura.
The prelude to the Emperor’s Sword’s secret technique was about to unfold. And Jonsina knew what it demanded as its price.
Life.
“Do you really intend to die alongside someone like me? How long will you keep making such foolish moves, Dante Hiran? You should be planning for the future instead!”
“You are now the lord of Sword Emperor City!”
Jonsina shouted, eyes blazing.
“If you die, Hiran will never rise again. Why do you keep throwing yourself into the darkness ahead? Is this what Sir Ron would want to see?”
“How dare you speak my grandfather’s name with such filth…!”
[Meow!]
The moment the rear battlefield was cleared, Shuri of the Jeokokmyo, who had been running nonstop, threw herself between Dante and John Cena.
Jin was riding on Shuri’s back.
From the very first time the blue sword energy lit up the night sky, Dante had sensed his arrival. But he never expected him to clear the rear so quickly and come straight to him.
He hadn’t even thought about regrouping and joining forces with him.
That’s how deep he was trapped in his own despair.
So many of Hailan and her knights had fallen. Trying to survive alone, even just a little, was unthinkable.
“Dante.”
Jin spoke as if he understood everything going on inside Dante’s mind.
“If I only cared about saving you, I wouldn’t have come to help. I came to save both you and the Sword Emperor’s Star. So don’t fight like this is the end. Remember, there has to be a next time.”