How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

53.

The source of power the elves possess is the spirits.

From birth, their kind forms bonds with spirits, growing up alongside them and learning to command them.

As each of them is an exceptional spirit mage, the level of spirit magic pouring towards the lich was by no means low.

Each magical attack, falling like a deluge from the sky, carried enough force to inflict significant damage even on a knight.

But as majestic as these attacks were, with a single gesture from the lich, they lost their power and fell towards the ground.

Even the elves, who had lived for ages, were left gaping in disbelief as the lich’s arm moved once more.

Vast dark magic moved in accordance with Harken’s gestures, and with his will alone, spells were completed.

From the black whirlwind that suddenly appeared in the air, a group of elves was swept away, torn apart, and plummeted.

“This is insane!”

In the unbelievable spectacle, a wizard riding a wyvern spat out a curse.

He had realized the incredible power akin to a force of nature being wielded without a single incantation.

It was a level of magic that even an ordinary wizard would find unimaginable in their dreams.

As the lich continued to battle the elves, the corpse dragon began to gather its breath once more.

Receiving the power from the gems held by the black sorcerers, a formidable energy greater than the attack that breached the castle gate began to converge in the dragon’s maw.

Though the elves tried to resist with all their might, piercing through the lich’s ironclad defense was impossible.

The dragon’s breath poured down upon the castle walls, inflicting tremendous damage on priests and knights who had not yet realized the attack.

Not only did those who had entered the ranks of the giants perish in vain, but the dense dark magic carried in the breath began to animate the dead once more.

The surviving priests hurriedly poured forth their divine power, but the knights turned undead displayed a power far beyond that of ordinary corpses.

“Oh, Arnisian…”

As a knight who had just been fending off monsters swung his sword, a priest who sensed impending death sought solace in the divine.

It wasn’t fear of dying that troubled him, but the thought of dying at the hands of an evil seed as a servant of the gods.

As the undead’s sword fell and the priest tightly shut his eyes.

A knight who sensed his danger swiftly parried the man’s sword.

“…Ah, thank you.”

“Quickly, step back.”

The knight who rescued the priest once again swung his sword, and the undead, now cleaved in half, lost strength and collapsed to the ground.

“…It’s truly not easy.”

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Viscount Izel, who had just struck down his fellow knight, muttered.

Despite being aware of the risks, the Viscount had come from the north, but the battle against the warlock was more intense and fierce than any battlefield he had experienced.

With the relentless tide of monsters and the ceaseless pouring of dark magic, the fact that he was still alive felt miraculous.

Gasping for breath, the Viscount moved his heavy legs towards the next target.

While the kingdom’s forces, including Viscount Izel, were engaged in combat, Rohan, a member of the expedition force, was also in the midst of a grueling battle.

The flank that had been on the brink of collapse managed to hold on somehow with the support of knights who felt the enemies’ momentum wane.

But they had only overcome one hurdle, and the situation had not improved at all.

The knights, who had stoically withstood the onslaught of monsters, were made of flesh and blood like everyone else.

Amidst the relentless attacks, knights who had exhausted their strength fell one by one, losing their lives.

“Cough, cough…”

In the face of imminent danger, Rohan, who had been moving tirelessly, also felt his strength dwindling.

The body that had felt light with the newly acquired skills now felt heavier than anything in the world, making it hard to breathe.

The sharp sword had dulled, and the once radiant aura now emitted a faint light as if it could go out at any moment.

Moreover, if the sun completely set, the combat effectiveness of ordinary soldiers who couldn’t see in the dark would approach zero.

Even time was not on their side.

Just when the situation seemed desperate, a sudden attack by the elves, pouring in to aid, changed the course of the battle against the monsters.

Like hammers falling on anvils, elves riding giant deer swiftly overwhelmed the monsters attacking the expedition force.

With knights and pikemen holding the front and elves’ elemental magic striking from the rear, there was no way even the horrific monsters could withstand.

Empowered by the unexpected reinforcement, members of the expedition force gasped for breath but wielded their weapons vigorously, while Rohan, fueled by determination, inflicted fatal wounds on dozens of monsters.

Even the warlocks dominating the skies met their end, and the monsters’ forces were swiftly decimated.

A brief moment of calm passed over the battlefield littered with countless deaths.

“Huh?!”

A knight, staggering on the ground mixed with human blood and monster fluids, gasped in astonishment after catching sight of something reflecting in the twilight.

“My liege!”

The knight, who had been staring blankly as if doubting what he had seen, finally realized that the figure was none other than King Arden the 6th and shouted out.

At his cry, the exhausted knights’ gazes immediately turned towards the king.

The news of the king’s survival surprised not only the knights but also Viscount Tigron, who led the expedition force, as he hurriedly approached upon hearing the knights’ commotion.

Soon, Viscount Tigron, who had mounted the giant deer, looked at the king with a mix of astonishment and joy and spoke.

“My liege, you are truly, truly unharmed.”

As a staunch supporter of the royal faction, his relationship with the king was by no means hostile.

In response to the heartfelt greeting from the Viscount, the king nodded before speaking.

“I am an ugly prince who failed to protect Arden… Thank you for welcoming me like this. The battle is urgent, so it seems we’ll have to untangle the mess later.”

In response to the king’s words, the duke also nodded his head.

While the monsters that attacked the punitive force all met their demise, the power of the monsters attacking the castle still maintained a considerable force.

The knights inside the castle and the elves racing across the plain continued to launch relentless attacks, but due to the vast difference in numbers, it was impossible to swiftly deal with them.

To minimize the losses of our allies, it was necessary to reinforce our strength as soon as possible.

After exchanging brief greetings with the duke, the king once again started racing across the plain with the elves.

“It’s a dire situation.”

After the king left, the duke, who had withstood the enemy’s fierce attacks, assessed the state of the punitive force.

The military forces had suffered significant losses, with over half of the knights perishing.

The only ones who fared relatively better were the forces of the clergy; both priests and paladins managed to survive more than two-thirds.

Of course, having endured equally harsh battles, it was evident that even they were not in great condition.

After evaluating the state of the punitive force, the duke quickly came to a conclusion after a brief contemplation.

Selecting the unscathed forces, they swiftly moved towards the castle.

Given that it was a battlefield where the fate of the nation was at stake, the standard for being unscathed was remarkably low. As long as limbs were intact, they had to pick up their weapons again.

Lohan was no exception; he had to participate in the upcoming battle as a core part of the knight forces.

Taking a brief rest, the members of the punitive force began to move following the deer tracks left behind.

Harken, who had been gradually reducing the numbers of elf-like flies, felt irritated.

The day-long battle continued to be precarious, and taking down the elves who freely flew through the air was a tiresome task.

Moreover, there were formidable individuals among the elves.

Especially one who seemed to have aged considerably, with a hint of gray amidst the green hair.

Whether he had accumulated power befitting his age or not, each of his spells displayed significant potency.

Harken, who had shed his human form and been reborn as a new being, could not afford to let his guard down even against someone of his own age.

Adding to the adversity was the fact that as night fell, the power of dark magic intensified.

With a flick of his hand, Harken brought down two elves in an instant, gazing briefly at their lifeless bodies.

“There’s no reason for them to stay a moment longer.”

While the breath of a dragon proved formidable when the enemy was at a fixed point like a castle, it seemed less entertaining to face elves riding deer and scattering freely.

Since the dragon’s breath consumed a significant amount of dark magic, it was better to utilize his massive body against the elves rather than recklessly expelling it in all directions and quickly depleting his energy.

Although he couldn’t use transcendental magic like before, emitting dark magic from his colossal form alone made it a potent weapon.

Simultaneously, he could even introduce his newly created “puppet,” making it an ideal battleground.

With Harken’s decision, the remains of the massive dragon supporting him began to move towards Frederick Castle.

As the scene unfolded like a calamity, the soldiers who had been valiantly holding back the monsters’ onslaught let out cries tinged with despair.

The knights who had been defending the already crumbling castle walls had long been defeated.

The kingdom’s army, continuing their combat on the outer walls, abruptly dodged to the top as the colossal dragon appeared.

Under the dark magic emitted by the dragon, the bodies of the fallen soldiers began to rise one by one.

Amidst the thick scent of death, the hands of the soldiers, sensing their impending doom, began to tremble.

Their determination to fight to the end was slowly being eroded by fear.

Finally, when the colossal dragon fully lowered its massive body to the ground, a beam of holy light burst forth from the castle walls.

In what remained of the clergy, only three priests had proclaimed the “sacred ground” through their sacrificial spells.

The tremendous divine power, bestowed in exchange for offering their souls entirely to the gods, illuminated Frederick Castle, dispelling the dark magic that had been engulfing it and causing the colossal dragon to dissipate.

When the corpses that had risen fell once more, losing their strength, and the movement of demons briefly halted by the impact of the divine power.

From the eastern sky, a middle-aged man with white hair drew his sword on the back of a red beast in flight and began to descend towards the ground.

It was Duke Karl, the kingdom’s sword, who had finally appeared on the battlefield.

The sword of the renowned Duke, known as a famous swordsman, was completely engulfed in a deep blue aura, and as he advanced with the aura standing like a blade, it pierced straight towards the gem embedded in the dragon’s forehead.

Duke Karl had been renowned as a great swordsman for a long time, and now he was revered as a legend.

People had long started to treat him not as an individual but as a hero.

Yet, he was just a human being with emotions not much different from others.

Even now, as he spurred on his wyvern and leaped forward, his heart was filled with helplessness and guilt.

Duke Karl arrived on the battlefield just after Harken had transformed into a lich.

He witnessed the collapse of the walls and the kingdom’s people dying against numerous demons.

While the elves bought time, they could gather strength to drive out the demons towards the castle.

But he knew his role too well to engage in that.

As the kingdom’s sole master, he had the duty to face the most formidable enemy.

Of course, in his younger days, he would have charged without hesitation.

He would have rescued the besieged castle and not hesitated to confront that great evil.

But even a master is human.

Their lifespan may be incomparable to ordinary humans, but it is impossible for their bodies to evade the passage of time completely.

Despite his appearance being nothing more than middle-aged, his body, which had aged as much as the piled-up years of the aura, was frail.

Having reached a high level of enlightenment, he had already made the judgment about his own physical condition.

While he could endure all those countless demons, he couldn’t guarantee that his body would withstand the subsequent battles.

In the end, the Duke chose to wait.

He watched countless knights and soldiers facing death, tears of blood in his eyes.

And finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

The two evil beings that had always been together had scattered.

The Duke did not miss the opportunity.

Leaping from the wyvern’s back, the Duke did not doubt that his attack would succeed.

As if not noticing the attack, the corpse dragon sitting on the buildings within the outer walls made no movement.

The obsidian embedded in the creature’s forehead rapidly increased in size, and the tip of the sword, engulfed in the aura, aimed at the center of the gem.

When the long sword reached the obsidian’s proximity.

The Duke faced an unexpected adversary.

A knight wearing a mask, who had been sitting motionless on the saddle on the dragon’s vertebrae, suddenly drew his sword at a staggering speed and swung it towards the Duke.

Faced with an attack that could not be considered ordinary knightly, the Duke, who had hesitated briefly, eventually chose to retaliate.

The sword twisted sharply, and despite the Duke’s added momentum, the knight’s arm that parried the sword like a twig broke.

Though the Duke managed to land without any injury, his expression was infinitely dark.

“What a missed opportunity.”

With eyes filled with deep anger, the Duke’s gaze turned towards the mysterious knight.