445 - Regressor of the Fallen Family

Chapter 445: The Lines of Connection Between the Emperor and the Black Knights Two lines, one of souls and the other of magic, nearly manifested in Logan's heightened senses the instant they breached the wall. As he'd initially suspected, the newly appeared Black Knights were no more than hastily assembled puppets. Perhaps this was why their brainwashing seemed incomplete, to the extent that the Emperor had to directly manipulate them by connecting through their souls. And within the weakened souls of these Black Knights, their core hatred was laid bare. ‘No need to sever the magic line then.’ With a faint smile, Logan swung his sword. In a flash. The line tethering the Emperor and his Black Knights snapped with a radiant golden glow. The Emperor's azure magic failed to resist Logan's transcendent strike. “What the…!?” At the moment of the Emperor’s startled exclamation, the Black Knights’ spirits surged visibly, and cries of despair echoed among them. “I, I don’t…” “Don't want to…” “I despise being a monster…” “Curse the Empire…!” “I hate the Emperor…!” The madness gleaming in their eyes, visible through their dark helms, signaled that Logan's ploy had succeeded. Their murderous intent had completely shifted direction. “No!” The Emperor's face contorted as the blue mana emanating from beneath his feet swiftly waned. However. “I won’t let it end like this.” Crack. The golden blade pierced not the Emperor, but the ground beneath him. Simultaneously, the golden power from the sword began to substitute the Emperor's magic. While forcibly maintaining the magical construct the Emperor had crafted, it channeled the energy of the scrolls back to the Black Knights. A spectacle beyond belief, seeing Logan, not even a mage, seize and repurpose an archmage's spell. “This can’t be…!!” The Emperor, shocked, roared. Then, a massive, gleaming golden fist manifested directly before him. BANG! “...Urk!?” Unable to even scream properly, the Emperor was launched beyond the fortress wall. Watching the Emperor plummet, Logan’s crimson eyes shimmered with deep regret. ‘Too bad…’ He should have finished it with one blow. Though the Emperor seemed severely wounded, Logan couldn’t afford to leave the scene to pursue him. Wooooong. “Hatred for the Empire…!” “The Emperor betrayed our loyalty…!” Thud. The disposable superhumans thrashed about, radiating a crimson black aura. For now, restraining the rampaging Black Knights was more pressing. Uncontrolled, they would sow chaos on the battlefield. Of course, there was a way to resolve both issues at once. [The Emperor is over there.] The psychic message reached the Black Knights. “The Emperor…!” “He exists!!” “Kill the Emperor!!!” Immediately, the Black Knights’ eyes widened with a menacing gleam, and they started storming towards the eastern wall. “Kill the Emperor!” “Destroy the Empire!” A lurid red aura began spreading from the center of the fortress wall. “Aaaargh!” “Wh-What are these monsters!?” “S-Save us!” An army bearing the 'Gold Dragon Emblem' crumbled in an instant. Yet, this catastrophe was the work of only a few—around ten—Black Knights. The remaining forty or so Knights, driven by the location of the Emperor implanted into their minds by Logan, ran madly in pursuit. At the end of their sight was the Emperor, barely regaining his footing after being flung outside the battlefield. – Emperor!!! Shrieking ferociously, the Black Knights charged. – Pathetic test subjects! BOOM! In a tumultuous explosion, the Emperor and Black Knights clashed, slightly apart from the main battlefield. The Imperial forces began to collapse in earnest. “Save His Majesty the Emperor!” “We must rescue the Emperor!” The Empire's knights, overwhelmed, rushed towards the Emperor. Simultaneously, Logan gritted his teeth as he sensed the end of his Rank-Up ability's duration. [The power to sustain you is depleting. End it now.] The source of the Black Knights’ power came from scroll-drawn energies on the field, but the method of delivery was the Emperor’s crafted spell. Logan's limit was just maintaining that construct through manipulation. Even with his enhanced capability from Rank-Up, Logan, not being a mage, could merely hold it momentarily. Fortunately, it seemed the Knights retained enough sanity to understand. – It cannot be! Logan felt their souls scream out, and simultaneously perceived their resolve, or rather their hatred, intensely. And that hatred soon materialized into an unprecedented colossal explosion. Flash! All eyes were drawn to the brilliant blast from where most of the Black Knights had gathered. A mushroom cloud surged skyward, followed by a shockwave that struck the battlefield a moment later. – BOOOOM! Soldiers were thrown, and even knights lost their footing and stumbled. Yet, the ordeal wasn’t over. A searing tempest swept the field, generating numerous screams. “Aaaargh!” “W-What is this!? Aaaah!!” “Screeeeech!” Rumble. At the locus of boom and shock, an intact field was now marred as if a colossal giant had cleaved it with an axe, sending tremors across the ground. A cataclysm that forced every battle in Rusfelheim to an abrupt halt. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the riven field, and the first to grasp the situation slightly narrowed his crimson eyes. ‘…He escaped.’ Despite the passage of the appointed time, as the uplifted souls fell back into stillness, Logan’s senses detected the Emperor’s soul withdrawing from the battlefield. Though controlling space as he did made him immune to mere physical harm, Logan had inflicted a serious wound... ‘So even under those circumstances, he still had magic left. A persistent one.’ As Logan clicked his tongue in regret, movement resumed amidst the explosion that had momentarily frozen all. It came from the remaining Black Knights stationed on the fortress wall. “Emperor!” “Empire!” “Kill!” Boom! KABOOM! Rumble. The sight of the Black Knights hurling themselves towards the clustered Imperial forces snapped both armies out of their stupor from the earlier explosion. Simultaneously, repeated explosions caused the eastern wall to crumble from its center. Rumble. “It’s collapsing!” “Retreat!” KABOOM! In the midst of chaos, a golden pillar of light shot up from an uncleared section of the fortress wall. Amidst the deafening crash of the crumbling wall, a resounding shout pierced the air, capturing everyone’s attention. “The Emperor has fled! We, MacLaine, have triumphed!” How could this proclamation ring so clearly amid the chaotic battlefield? Though the reason itself was curious, the majority of the Imperial soldiers had no leisure to ponder it. Simply. – We've lost. They could only despair at the imminent reality. “This can’t be…” “We have to flee!” “Take me with you!” Soldiers leaped madly off the still-standing wall. Those who managed to survive unscathed amidst the collapse screamed in panic. Even those with severed limbs, blood gushing like fountains, still clung to life, struggling desperately to move. With Logan's declaration of victory, the Imperial forces crumbled in an instant. Yet, among them, there were a few who retained their resolve until the end. “Don’t be ridiculous!” “The Empire shall not fall!” A few fanatical knights, who worshipped the Emperor and the Empire, struggled to rally the crumbling troops, striving to continue the battle. More precisely, they aimed to retreat while preserving as much of their scattered forces as possible. Among these struggling knights was one particularly close to Logan. “Ugh.” Imperial knight, Gix, forced himself upright using the last remnants of his energy despite his fatal injuries. ‘I can’t let it end like this.’ Before him stood the enemy king. He wasn’t someone Gix, unable to withstand even the aftermath of His Majesty's clash, could hope to challenge. Not only was he unable to face him, even his partial exposure to the radiant energy would easily end Gix’s life. Yet still. ‘I must demonstrate the spirit of an Imperial Knight.’ Gix resolved to risk everything. No, he had already lost a lethal amount of blood. It was only through sheer force of will that he was holding onto life. In other words, his life was forfeit nonetheless. If his sacrifice could inspire courage in his retreating allies, he would gladly give his life. ‘For the Empire!’ The ideology engraved in his heart since he was a mere soldier, that unshakable determination, breathed life into his overtaxed body. Gix vocalized his resolve, burning the last of his will to live. “For the Empire!!” His sword, enveloped in fervent red aura, slashed towards the enemy king. Swish. And the spray of blood followed. Gix saw his sword leave a shallow gash on the cheek of this ‘monster.’ And the adversary's crimson eyes wavering dramatically. ‘…What?!’ An outcome neither the attacker nor the one attacked anticipated. ‘What on earth…?’ For a moment, Gix thought that some superhuman power had imbued his weapon just before what he believed to be his final swing. But only for a brief moment, before he realized the truth. ‘It’s not that. He’s… weakened.’ He didn’t know why. He couldn’t comprehend why the adversary who had defeated His Majesty and emitted light piercing the heavens had suddenly become susceptible to his strike. But he was consumed by the need to take advantage of this opportunity, to inform others of this truth. “The enemy is…!” Exhaustion overcame him. Just as he was about to shout, a chilling sensation swept over his entire body. “…Exhausted.” Slash. Gix could only utter a syllable before being cleaved in two while still standing. Behind him, a female knight appeared, saving her comrade with an exhausted yet relieved smile. “The Steel Mage has been dealt with.” “...Well done.” Logan’s face, momentarily pale, regained its color with a faint smile. At the very moment when the aftereffects of his enhanced ability enveloped him, as his energy reserves reached absolute depletion, a precise blade had exploited this moment of vulnerability. He had nearly faced a crisis in a battle he was poised to win. Eilen subtly supported his nearly staggered body in a manner that was almost imperceptible. “Recover quickly. The troops are watching.” “Thank you.” Logan moved his force core to replenish his drained energy, his stoic expression betraying none of the strain. Soon, comrades began to gather around him. “Apologies, Your Majesty. We lost the Gale Sorcerer. The Shadow Mage blocked our efforts at the cost of himself…” “I took down four of the Imperial Guard Supers. To clarify, I defeated three and Viktor accounted for one.” “Correction: Count Ronian claims two and I one, though we dealt with one together. Jerome Decaid escaped due to Count Ronian's independent action.” “Hey, you…!” Crash!! – Caught two. Amidst the Knights, young prodigies, and sacred beasts boasting of their victories— Thud. Thud. Scrape. – Tidal Wave, Frozen. Completed… In one corner, three golems were scratching messages onto the fortress wall, but none paid them any heed. “What about Burdel?” Even Logan was looking for an absent ally when a voice responded from behind. “He’s pursued the retreating Imperial forces. Said he’d thin the knights’ numbers and return.” With a shimmer of silver wind, Wicken Kalia continued. “As for Luther, he’s organizing the troops, clearing the remaining forces. The Kingdom Alliance at the Southern Gate is entering within. The Mages of Fortress and Tidal Waves are accompanying them.” “…Thank you for your hard work, Duke Wicken.” "I apologize for my tardiness, Your Majesty." Even as Logan praised him, Wicken knelt with a look of regret. His eyes were fixed on the eastern wall, collapsed from the center, and the field, fissured as if by an earthquake. It was clear that he truly regretted not being at the heart of the greatest battlefield. Yet beneath that regret, the unmistakable joy he couldn't conceal was a testament to their victory.