My Students Regret It After I Retired

38 – The Imperial Palace Under Attack. Leos Begins to Move in Earnest.

Leaving Bellin behind, Keltazar stepped outside, noticing a knight rushing toward him.

“What is it? Why are you here when you should be at the Imperial Palace?”

Keltazar was currently quite far from the Palace, separated with Bellin. Not knowing the situation, he questioned the knight, who urgently cried out.

“It’s a disaster! A Red Gate has opened near the Palace, and His Majesty is surrounded! We must deploy all Imperial Shadow Unit members immediately and fight together!”

“Why didn’t you contact me via distance and came in person?”

“Wha…what are you talking about! I’ve been trying to reach you, but it is *you* who did not respond, Keltazar!”

“What nonsense is this? There was clearly no contact… Nevermind, this isn’t the time to stand around. Let’s move. His Majesty’s safety is paramount.”

Keltazar quickly began sending comms to his comrades, and those nearby arrived almost instantly, answering the call. The Imperial Shadow Unit assembled in the blink of an eye. Not seeing Bellin, Keltazar thought.

‘Now that I think about it, she must be posting on the Interrunner by now. Taking one more Bellin won’t change anything. The Red Gate is a problem, but it’s also true we need a scapegoat right now to quell the chaos and public outcry. Besides, we’ve secured her sister’s location. She can’t do anything even if we leave her be.’

Thinking so, Keltazar immediately dashed towards the Palace, dragging all nearby forces with him. Looking at the scene, Keltazar stared blankly up at the sky.

“What…what in the hell happened…”

Red Gates filled the sky. Monsters poured out of them. Keltazar watched the monster flood, like a waterfall, unable to do anything but freeze.

His mind itself seemed to stop functioning. He had no idea where to even begin to address this mess.

“Red Gates…are supposed to appear only within the vortex range…?”

“They’re being transferred! It’s not just the Palace! Red Gates are appearing in more and more places even outside the vortex! There is no safe place anymore. The entire Empire needs to prepare for war!”

Knowing LEO’s true identity was Leos and having pinpointed his location, Keltazar had thought his victory was a given. Pressuring Leos in a dangerous place from the safety he occupied would not have been a difficult task, or so he thought. But the current situation was completely different from his expectations.

As the world stood now. It was, ironically, Leos who was safe at the eye of the storm.

“Keltazar-nim! I’m going to help the Knight Commander first!”

One of the knights rushed off, and Keltazar gave orders to his Shadow Unit members.

“Move to the Palace immediately. We will intercept the monsters attempting to reach it.”

*

Keltazar reached the palace gates. Hundreds of Shadow Legionnaires, including reserves, began encircling the palace perimeter. Then, at Keltazar’s command, dozens of them surged toward a single point.

“Fire!”

The instant Keltazar’s order rang out, they channeled mana into throwable artifacts, and scores of Shadow Legionnaires unleashed massive mana bombs.

*CRASH, CRASH* The monsters exploded in an instant. Observing this, Keltazar assessed the situation.

“The number of mutated monsters is low. Most of them are ordinary. That’s good news. Hit wide, search for where the mutated ones are.”

Soon, hundreds of soldiers each moved to their own throwable artifacts, and mana bombs detonated with *CRASHES* in all directions around the palace. Mana bombs flew with incredible speed and trajectory. Despite their powerful explosion radius, they only killed monsters, not harming their allies. Their skill was not just outstanding, it was downright awe-inspiring.

Keltazar, sword in hand, intently watched the monsters die.

“Mutated monster spotted northeast. Thirty men, move that way.”

Another mana bomb detonated elsewhere, again isolating the surviving mutated monster. This time Keltazar addressed the knights positioned at the front.

“A mutated monster has appeared northeast of the palace center! Long-range attacks aren’t working on that thing. Get up close, weaken it, and stop its charge! We’ll cover your rear, charge in now!”

As he began leading the battle, the scattered forces began to unify. At the same time, Keltazar sensed something amiss.

“Drezar! Where is Royal Knight Commander Drezar?!”

“H-he…he went inside the gate. He went in to shut down the nearest gate… then, we lost contact.”

“Damn it.”

Only now did Keltazar understand. Normally, Royal Knight Commander Drezar would be commanding the battle, and the system would move around him. But Drezar had recklessly charged into enemy territory and disappeared.

With the commander’s fate unknown, for a subordinate to give orders meant taking responsibility for any future failure, a death sentence if things went south. In short, those beneath Drezar, fearing to be held accountable, had done nothing, just left the situation to fester.

“…Those b*stards…”

Keltazar bit down on his lip, drawing blood, and yelled.

“In the current situation with Drezar missing, from this moment on, I, the commander of the Shadow Legion, take command of all operations. I will take responsibility for all that follows. Follow my orders. Right now, the close-range assault team will charge through the gate that Drezar went through.”

“K-Keltazar-nim, it’s impossible! The monsters are all blocking the way, we can’t break through…!”

Keltazar, staring at the onrushing monsters, drew his sword. He sliced his own arm, and as the blood was absorbed into the blade, a crimson magical aura began to flow from it.

One of the Dark Shadow unit members, panicked, tried to stop Keltazar.

“C-Commander… that power is too dangerous. If something goes wrong, you could die…”

“Shut up. His Imperial Majesty is inside the palace. If this place is breached, His Majesty will die. If His Majesty dies, there will be no one to rule the Empire, and a nation without a ruler will fall.”

Keltazar, watching his own blood being drawn into the sharp blade, raised the sword towards the sky.

“For the glorious prosperity of the Empire, I am willing to sacrifice my own life. For that is the reason for my existence.”

Then, Keltazar charged forward at a crazed speed. He began to tear through the monsters one by one, moving faster than the eye could follow, and the speed at which the monsters were disappearing began to surpass the rate at which they poured from the gate.

Covered head to toe in monster blood, Keltazar shouted at those who cowered in fear.

“For His Majesty the Emperor! For the glorious prosperity of the Empire! Stake your lives and defeat the enemy!”

His overwhelming power and presence made those who had been retreating begin to push forward, one by one. Already there were tens of thousands of soldiers. As the elite soldiers of the Empire, numbering in the tens of thousands, began to regain their confidence, they started to eradicate the monsters at a speed unlike anything before.

“Cough…!”

Keltazar, who had been charging forward, began to cough up blood. The backlash from using too much power.

-Thwack!-

A monster struck Keltazar’s head, and Keltazar went flying through the air.

“K-Keltazar-nim has been hit!”

Despite the commotion from the knights next to him, Keltazar, even as he fell to the ground, kept his eyes on the enemy.

‘A mutated monster.’

Keltazar, bleeding profusely, quickly rose, sword in hand, and staggered towards the mutated monster, raising his trembling hand and shouting,

“For the glorious prosperity of the Empire. Stake your lives and advance.”

– *KWAANG!*

In a flash, the mutated monster lunged, crushing Keltazar’s arm to pulp. The man, arm hanging uselessly, swung it around and with his other hand, pushed himself up, beginning to run again.

“K-Keltazar-nim, it’s dangerous!”

“Shut it!”

Keltazar, having flung aside the knight attempting to stop him, whispered,

“For the Empire…for the Great Emperor…sacrifice your life… That is our mission, our reason for being.”

Safe Zone Outskirts.

Strike Team Leader Lacarte spoke, looking at Leos.

“Leos, the informant has contacted us. The Imperial Palace is under attack by monsters. It won’t be long before posts start going up on Interrunner.”

“How would civilians know the Palace is under attack and start posting about it? They’d be trying to hide it, surely.”

“Because they can’t hide it. It’s not just the Imperial Palace, Red Gates are starting to appear all across the Empire.”

“So the transition’s begun already. Faster than expected, though.”

“Transition…? You know about this phenomenon?”

“I do.”

Leos, with his chain sword, picked up a short mace in his other hand and began walking towards the bunker.

“Leos. What are you going to do?”

“It’s time we started moving for real.”

“…?”

Leos gave a thin smile, and said:

“Until now, this place we’re in was hell, and the others just watched the scene from afar. Even the powerless Empire.”

Leos added, swinging his mace forcefully.

“After the transfer started, their numbers begin to exponentially increase if you don’t seal the Red Gate. In short, from now on, everywhere except where we are is going to become hell.”

“Then, aren’t we in danger too? There are huge Red Gates everywhere except in the central safe zone.”

“Don’t worry. For our side, I can handle it all.”

“How…?”

Leos answered curtly.

“I’ll show you now. The difference between an expert and an amateur.”