Chapter 11 : Life is real

Before sunrise, in the bluish dawn,the atmosphere of battle loomed over the fortress.

Ten thousand heavily armored vanguard troops stood in formation, facing off against a mere few hundred beasts.

At the forefront of the vanguard, atop his horse, was Darkin.

‘The young lady… seems content to just watch from the rear.’

Darkin turned his head, trying to spot where she might be observing from, but she was nowhere in sight.

Once the sun had fully risen, Darkin shouted,”Hear me, Sage!”

From atop the fortress wall, a masked figure in red peeked out.

“If you surrender now and open the gates, there will be no bloodshed!”

“Relay this to the princess: we have no intention of fighting.”

“Then what are these beasts supposed to be?!”

“These ones… uh… uh… Lord of the fortress, how should I answer?”

“Why are you asking me?”

Watching the so-called Sage crack jokes in such a tense situation made Darkin’s blood boil.

‘What does the young lady even see in this guy?’

Of course, all these words were just a formality before the battle.

Right now, the one who needed this war the most was none other than Darkin himself.

He wanted to rip that red mask off and trample him into the dirt before Elena’s very eyes, utterly breaking him.

“All troops, prepare!”

The soldiers drew their weapons, and Darkin began to release his holy energy throughout his entire body.

The House of Lunamic was devoted to the Lunar Constellation, Selene.

A radiant, bluish-white lunar glow poured from his body, drawing admiration from the soldiers around him.

“Ohh…!”

“As expected of the heir to House Lunamic…”

“Not as strong as the princess, but still impressive!”

“This fortress won’t stand a chance!”

The soldiers, emboldened by Darkin’s light, raised their morale.

Meanwhile, the Sage began gathering his mysterious energy, Extinguishing Star Aura, into his hands.

‘Is this the mystical power Elena spoke of? But if it’s just healing magic, what does he intend to do with it?’

Darkin shot a glare at the Sage before drawing his sword.

He pressed his holy energy into the blade, infusing it with divine power.

“All troops! Charge!!”

The moment he gave the order, he swung his sword forward.

A massive crescent-shaped wave of bluish-white lunar energy surged toward the beasts stationed outside the fortress.

With thunderous battle cries, the ten thousand vanguard troops charged, following the streaking crescent of light.

“I’ll be back, my lord.”

“Yes, I believe in—wait, he’s already gone.”

In an instant, the Sage had moved from the top of the fortress wall to the beast’s formation.

‘Since when?!’

Just moments ago, he had been standing atop the wall, yet now he was on the ground, facing the charging vanguard with his back to the beasts.

He simply extended his hand toward the incoming lunar wave, now infused with Extinguishing Star Aura.

And just like that—The massive crescent wave, once brimming with divine energy, melted away, vanishing into thin air as if it had never existed.

“W-What the hell?!”

Darkin unintentionally shouted in shock.

The soldiers, having witnessed their leader’s powerful attack dissipate into nothingness, were equally stunned.

Their once-thunderous charge faltered, as hesitation took root among them.

“W-What was that just now?”

“Why… why did the holy energy just disappear?!”

The officers among them scrambled to restore order.

“It’s a trick! He’s using some kind of illusion! Keep charging! Charge!!”

Darkin, convinced that the Sage was using some kind of sorcery, swung his sword again and again, unleashing crescent waves of lunar energy.

Each time, they were brighter, faster, and larger than before.

But the result never changed.

Every time his mighty crescent slashes cut through the air, the moment they touched that eerie, glowing hand, they simply ceased to exist, as if erased from reality.

Holy energy didn’t work on the Sage.

Fear began to creep into the hearts of the soldiers.

How could they possibly break through the beasts’ defenses without divine power?

It was impossible.

Their morale, already shaken, began to plummet further.

Even the officers sensed that something was going terribly wrong.

But it was still too early in the battle—only a few minutes had passed.

They couldn’t retreat now, not before even clashing swords with the enemy.

“Advance! Advance! The lunar light of House Lunamic will protect you!”

But reviving a broken morale was no easy task.

The once-booming war cries grew fainter, and the pace of the charge noticeably slowed.

Doubt crept into every soldier’s mind—is this really the right decision?

And then—The last remnants of their courage were snuffed out in an instant.

Fwoooosh!!!

Fwooooooooosh!!!

“T-This is…!”

“Even darker flames than the princess’s!!”

“Aaaaaaah!! Run! We have to run!!”

“Fall back! Fall back! Fall back!! What are you doing?! Fall back!!”

The moment the Sage unleashed his monstrous black flames, the soldiers turned and ran for their lives.

These were veterans who had fought alongside the princess herself—they knew firsthand what black flames could do.

They didn’t merely burn flesh—they melted bone in an instant.

And the Sage’s flames were even darker, deeper, and far more ominous than the princess’s own.

Before they had even reached the beasts, the vanguard army had collapsed into a chaotic, panicked mess, entangled with one another as they fled.

And then, from above that chaotic battlefield, a massive sea of black flames mercilessly surged toward the soldiers.

“Charge!! Keep charging!!”

“Stop! Please, retreat! We have to run!!”

“Anyone who flees will have their head cut off on the spot!!”

“Aaaaah!! It’s burning! Help me!! Water! Pour water on me!!”

“Black flames?! It’s black flames!! The enemy is using black flames!!!”

“What? Black flames…?!”

“It’s sorcery!! Don’t fall for this baseless trickery! Keep advancing!!”

Some soldiers screamed as the black flames clung to their bodies.

Others, seeing this, turned to flee.

Meanwhile, officers, unaware of the full situation ahead, stubbornly shouted for their men to keep moving forward.

And in between, some were crushed to death before even getting the chance to fight.

It was pure hell on earth.

“L-Lord Darkin! The soldiers are in chaos! Please, take command…!!”

Even though the officer was right beside him, his words urging Darkin to lead fell on deaf ears.

Lacking real battle experience, Darkin had been in a state of mental paralysis ever since his crescent-shaped holy energy attacks had melted away like snow.

And now, seeing the Sage’s overwhelming power—on a scale far beyond his own—he was struck by another wave of shock.

This was not how things were supposed to go.

He had believed that with just a few slashes, the beasts guarding the fortress would scatter in fear, and the fortress itself would crumble, its gates blasted apart.

As the heir to House Lunamic, a noble family destined to lead the northwestern nobility, he had never even considered the possibility that he might fail to take down one mere fortress.

That he would be utterly crushed by a single red-masked man—he had never even imagined such a nightmare.

He had left with such bold, boastful words to the princess and Elena… and yet now, this was the disaster that had unfolded.

Fwoooosh!!

Fwoooooosh!!!

Ten thousand soldiers were drowning in a sea of black flames.

Darkin’s pupils trembled violently, as if shaken by an earthquake.

‘What do I do…? How… How do I…?’

Never having faced a situation like this before, Darkin had no instructions or strategies to fall back on.

His breath grew ragged.

His pulse raced wildly.

Cold sweat poured down his body.

He was beginning to panic.

From a distance, the Sage observed him carefully.

‘Foolish man. At this rate, they’ll all die. Why aren’t you running? Why are you just standing there like an idiot?’

In truth, the Sage was already holding back his power as much as he possibly could.

Though the black flames appeared massive, the actual divine energy within them was nothing compared to what he had used against the beasts.

The soldiers were only following orders—they had no reason to die here.

So he had tried to control his strength, to minimize casualties.

But unlike other nobles who merely borrowed power from their constellations, the Sage directly wielded the sealed power of the celestial being itself.

Even though he was actively suppressing it, it wasn’t as easy as he had hoped.

The fewer deaths, the better.

The faster this ended, the better.

That, too, was a form of mercy.

His plan had been to intimidate the enemy into retreating.

But with that idiot of a commander standing there, frozen in place, doing nothing, he was beginning to lose his patience.

‘Guess I have no choice.’

One of the fastest ways to end a war—Take out the enemy commander.

Without their leader, the soldiers would collapse on their own.

The Sage took a step forward—And in an instant, he was right in front of Darkin’s horse.

“….?!??! What?! When did—?!”

“Hello.”

Enveloping himself in Moonlit Martial Energy, he displayed overwhelming strength, grabbing Darkin by the ankle and yanking him off his horse.

“Uwoooah?!?!”

Darkin, caught completely off guard, couldn’t react as he was flung off his mount, crashing into the ground.

Reflexively, he tried to summon his divine power—But before he could, a glowing hand seized him by the collar.

‘W-What…? What is this?! Why won’t my divine energy…?!’

For a brief moment, it was as if his divine energy had been completely paralyzed.

The Sage, still gripping his collar, lifted him into the air—Then slammed him back into the ground with tremendous force.

Darkin lost consciousness instantly.

And with that, the Sage picked up the fallen commander—And vanished.

The officers, who had been watching from nearby, stood there in stunned silence, blinking in disbelief, unable to utter a single word.