‘It’s soon.’
The barrier was precariously shaking.
It had started to shatter from one side, and before long, the barrier that covered the surroundings would disappear without a trace.
From that moment, they had to hold out for two hours.
The surviving guards and mages here were holding the line, so they wouldn’t fall so easily.
They, too, must have realized there was no other option.
If they failed to hold the line, they would die.
So they would fight with everything they had.
I would fill in the gaps and ensure the frontline remained as long as possible.
‘Narvan’s puppet will be the real variable here.’
The veiled ones seemed manageable with the forces we had.
Their numbers were far greater, but with Sylvia and El, we could cover a good portion of the battlefield.
“They’re— they’re breaking through!”
“Hold the line! Hold them back!”
As the barrier collapsed, the veiled ones rushed in all at once.
The guards struggled with all their might to keep them at bay.
Terrified civilians screamed in panic.
‘They’re holding out better than I expected.’
The guards were quite skilled.
They weren’t on par with the Empire’s elite knights, but it was clear they hadn’t neglected their training and discipline.
On top of that, any available mages lent their aid, reinforcing the front line.
At first glance, it seemed like they were maintaining the formation.
But only for a moment.
The arrival of Narvan’s puppets began to break the front apart.
‘It hasn’t even been an hour yet.’
We had managed to buy some time, at least.
“Sylvia.”
“Yeah, I’ll take that side.”
“I’ll cover the opposite.”
Sylvia and El rushed to the collapsing sections of the front line to support the defenders.
I, too, moved around, filling in gaps and working to maintain our current state.
‘As expected, he’s no ordinary knight.’
At first, I thought a single knight as a duke’s escort was too few, but El was proving himself formidable.
He single-handedly cut down enemies with overwhelming skill.
Before, I wouldn’t have even been able to grasp his level.
Judging by the energy he exuded, he was at least Seventh Rank.
Moreover, his composure in large-scale battles suggested extensive experience.
‘Sylvia is beyond question.’
Compared to when she was at Arcane, her aura had deepened further, and her swordplay was sharper than ever as she cut through enemies with precision.
She truly was the protagonist of this world.
Thanks to Sylvia and El’s efforts, the broken front was being restored.
If things continued this way, repairing the power core wouldn’t be an issue—
Until—
“…Damn it, Sylvia, fall back!”
KWA-KWAGWANG!
An explosion like a meteor strike erupted in the center of the battlefield, turning the area into a wasteland.
The ground shattered, debris flying up and blanketing the surroundings.
From within the wreckage, a humanoid figure slowly emerged.
“Haha, well, well. That was quite the hit. I didn’t expect such skilled fighters here.”
His tone was far too casual for someone standing in the middle of the battlefield.
A grotesque man, with the number ‘5’ engraved on his forehead.
There was no doubt about it.
I remembered him from the illustrations I had seen before.
One of Narvan’s key weapons—
The Sixth Apostle.
The fifth puppet had arrived.
‘Was it too optimistic to think things would end here?’
The remaining time was at most 30 minutes.
If the power source was repaired, support from the Empire would arrive.
“I wasn’t sure from afar, but as expected, it was you.”
I had hoped enough time had passed for him not to remember.
But Narvan remembered me clearly.
“You seem to have a lot of questions.”
“Oh, you bastard. I have a ton.”
“Heh, but unfortunately—
there’s nothing for you here.”
His target was, of course, the power source.
I didn’t know why he wanted to consume this city, but I had to stop him here.
‘No one else would stand a chance.’
Each of Narvan’s Six Apostles held immense power.
Even though his main body was fragile, if one had to name the most troublesome officer of Amcheon, it would undoubtedly be him.
Puppetry was an incredibly vexing technique.
And even if those things were destroyed, there was no telling when they would appear again.
As long as Amcheon possessed such great power,
they would always have an endless supply of strong-bodied corpses.
‘Sylvia and El are out of the question. If they fall back, the front line collapses.’
A few mages capable of repairs were struggling to restore the power source.
The guards didn’t have the strength to handle him.
That meant I had to stop him myself.
“To think you survived after meeting Bakal. You’re even more interesting than I thought.”
“Shut up.”
“Well, it’s a shame to meet like this,
but I have my orders, so I have no choice.”
As he stomped the ground, a rush of heat surged forward, engulfing my entire body.
‘The fifth one possesses the ability to freely manipulate flames.’
It wasn’t magic.
It felt more like some kind of supernatural power.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but it was undoubtedly formidable.
And with Narvan’s magic added on top, it became even more ferocious and destructive.
‘There’s no chance in a head-on fight.’
A direct clash of strength would be a guaranteed loss.
I had to focus on stalling for time as much as possible.
It wasn’t a battle I needed to win—just one I needed to delay.
“What could you be thinking so deeply about?”
Narvan suddenly lunged.
His flame-wrapped fist lashed out, radiating scorching heat.
“Ugh…”
I instinctively raised my sword to deflect his strike, redirecting it downward to shake off the flames.
‘This won’t be easy.’
Training with Drakan had definitely helped.
My movements were sharper than before.
But the real problem was the searing flames.
Just a brief clash had already caused the blade to start melting.
At this rate, my sword would be gone after just a few more blocks.
There were plenty of swords scattered around, left behind by the fallen guards, but those would barely last one or two swings.
‘I can’t just keep picking up swords while fighting.’
Moments like these always made me lament the absence of a custom-made weapon.
I couldn’t fight at full strength without one.
They say a true master doesn’t rely on their tools, but to me, that’s utter nonsense.
The stronger someone is, the more particular they become about their weapons.
“So, you plan to just stall for time?
It’s so obvious, it’s laughable.”
“…..”
There was no room to respond.
Narvan kept pressing me relentlessly.
‘Does he have no intention of doing this properly?’
He was toying with me.
Even though he had the ability to deliver a fatal blow.
Was he desperately trying to break me down slowly?
Well, it’s not necessarily bad news.
If he lets his guard down, I’ll have a chance to strike back.
‘He must be planning to play around with me for a while before dealing with me and destroying the power source.’
All the troops had already been directed toward Sylvia and El.
Narvan had determined that, aside from them, there was no one else who posed a threat, so he had given his orders.
Numbers win battles.
Though their lives wouldn’t be in immediate danger, the journey here would be incredibly difficult.
‘That bastard.’
Just because he wasn’t going all out didn’t mean Narvan was weak.
The sword I had been holding was already shattered, and I was now using one I had picked up from nearby.
My clothes were scorched in several places, and my skin was blackened with burns.
It was a relief that my flesh hadn’t completely melted.
“This is strange. Bakal wouldn’t have died from something like this…”
“Hah, what a load of crap. He died because he was bound to die.”
“I noticed last time too, but you have quite the foul mouth.”
“Would you speak politely to someone trying to kill you, you psycho bastard?”
About ten minutes had passed since I started fighting him.
I could feel myself slowly being pushed back.
His attacks were growing fiercer—at first, they felt like blazing flames, but now they burned like boiling lava, unbearably hot.
‘This won’t work.’
I never intended to defeat Narvan in a direct flight.
I had only been waiting for the right moment to pull a trick.
“Gray!”
I shouted as I leapt backward.
“Catch!”
Gray, who had been hiding near the teleportation magic circle, threw something toward me.
“What’s that?”
“What do you think? Something that’ll screw you over.”
What Gray had tossed was a sword.
But it wasn’t an ordinary steel sword.
‘This is a magic sword.’
It was something I had taken from the place where Helena had been imprisoned.
I had kept it just in case.
‘People don’t really understand how to use magic swords properly.’
There were so many misconceptions about them.
The saddest one involved the Aldonia family, the creators of magic swords.
Magic swords weren’t inherently evil or cursed.
Their proper name was magical swords—literally, swords that emitted magic.
But people believed them to be sinister weapons that consumed their wielders.
And because of that, the Aldonia family had been wiped out.
‘The truth is completely different.’
Magic swords had a fundamental flaw—their durability was terrible.
Since they contained immense magical power within a sword’s frame, they weren’t built to last.
They were also incredibly difficult to make, and the materials were expensive, so only a few were ever crafted.
As a result, those who managed to obtain one tended to use them sparingly, only unleashing small bursts of power at a time.
But over time, cracks would form, and eventually, the sword would explode.
Many people had been injured or killed because of this, leading to the misunderstanding that magic swords were cursed.
‘But if I unleash all its power at once, it’s a different story.’
Magic swords were actually single-use weapons.
I wasn’t sure if the Aldonia family had intended them to be this way, but—
If all the magic stored inside was released in one go, at least it wouldn’t explode uncontrollably.
Tup.
“You’re dead, bastard.”
As I gripped the sword Gray had thrown me, a cold chill began creeping up my body.