novelraw Chapter 59
Chapter 59
K1 transformed, becoming a Benelli M4 (M1014).
It was the combat shotgun, nicknamed a ‘shotgun,’ that Arthur had used while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps—the strongest short-range killing weapon.
It had transformed into precisely the weapon needed for the current situation.
“I wonder what kind of expressions they’ll make.”
A deep smile played on Arthur’s lips.
Then, he charged towards the one who had launched the magic attack.
“Th-this can’t be…”
Barthes was bewildered that his attack had been blocked so easily.
Yarve, who had witnessed the scene, felt the same.
“To be able to block a 4th-class magic spell…”
Hazan replied with a serious expression.
“He’s a Sword Master.”
“Nonsense! A Sword Master in the House of Count Julius…!”
Yarve shook his head vigorously.
He had never heard of or seen the man now charging at them, radiating a ferocious aura.
Who on earth was he?
For now, they had to somehow stop him until Kapo arrived.
Yarve shouted at his Knights.
“Stop him!”
In response, Barthes cried out.
“Karos Knights, follow me!”
As he charged forward, the Knights of the Densha territory roared and followed.
Ballong, the Commander of the Karos Knights, approached Barthes and asked.
“What are your orders?!”
“Hold him off while I prepare my attack!”
“Understood!”
Ballong raised his sword high, waving it left and right as he gave orders to the Knights.
The Knight Order then split into two groups and rushed towards Arthur.
“If he blocked Rune Prayer…”
Barthes immediately dismounted and plunged his staff into the ground.
Then, muttering runes, he prepared the most powerful magic he could cast.
“Oh, power of light~.”
Arthur’s eyes, seeing this as he charged, glinted sharply.
“Do you think I’ll let you attack?”
Arthur increased his speed even further.
The distance to the Knight Order led by Ballong was now barely 20 meters.
He knew their attacks would soon pour down on him from all directions, but with the shotgun, he felt no fear at all.
“I’ll show you hell.”
The moment Arthur’s eyes shone chillingly, Ballong shouted.
“Attack!”
The Knight Order’s formation stretched out in a long line, then charged aggressively at Arthur from both ends.
“Die!”
“Die!”
Swords, radiating killing intent, flew in from both sides.
“Get lost!”
Bang!
With a heavy gunshot, the Mana bullets fired from the shotgun rained down on them.
“Aaahhh!”
“Dodge!”
“Aargh!”
“Run!”
In an instant, pandemonium broke out.
Knights hit by the Mana bullets fell from their horses, tumbling on the ground or being trampled by their comrades’ horses.
They were in utter disarray, frantic and unsure of what to do.
Arthur did not miss their opening.
He plunged into their formation, unleashing an indiscriminate attack.
Bang!
Bang!
“Aargh!”
“My eye!”
“Aaahhh!”
Each shot sent five or six men falling from their horses.
Count Yarve’s face twisted in agony as he watched the scene.
“What in the world is that thing?!”
“It looks like magic, but I believe it’s a variation of an Aura Blade.”
Hazan stared intently at Arthur, who was tearing through the Knight Order, his face grim.
Golden armor!
The power emanating from him was so intense, so fearsome, that it made one cower even from a distance.
‘Who on earth is he?’
Hazan’s face was filled with questions.
No matter how much he thought, no one came to mind, and for now, the possibility that he was a mercenary hired by the House of Count Julius seemed most likely.
However, no matter how desperate the House of Count Julius felt, they wouldn’t have given a family heirloom to a mercenary.
Moreover, he had never heard of a mercenary using such a bizarre weapon.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
The more he thought, the more complicated his mind became.
Yarve bellowed.
“Whoever defeats that man will be given the position of Commander of the Rose Knights!”
But no one stepped forward.
Instead, their faces hardened, as if they feared Arthur’s strength.
Yarve snapped at their reaction.
“What are you all doing?! Go out and fight!”
The Knights merely exchanged glances, with no one willing to step forward.
“Damn it!”
Yarve frowned and said.
“Fine! Whoever defeats him will be granted a barony and live a life of wealth and glory forever!”
“...!”
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes gleamed.
A moment later, greed appeared on the Knights’ faces.
The first to move were the Commanders leading the Knight Orders of each territory.
As they stepped forward, their subordinates followed without hesitation.
As those who had been merely eyeing each other began to move, the Commanders of each Knight Order shouted.
“Attack!”
“Charge!”
Whoooosh!
The Knights charged at Arthur all at once.
Arthur, who had been mercilessly attacking the Karos Knights as if slaughtering them, gripped his shotgun tightly as hundreds of Knights swarmed him like a pack of dogs.
“Let’s go!”
Arthur kicked Khan hard.
Heeeeeeng!
Khan let out a powerful neigh and galloped towards them.
“He’s coming!”
“Archers!”
At the Commanders’ shouts, the Knights drew their bows, aiming at Arthur.
“Fire!”
Papapapapat!
Dozens of arrows sliced through the wind and flew.
Arthur’s eyes shone sharply.
He was a man who had roamed battlefields without fear, even when guns and cannons rained down.
“Hmph, you think arrows can stop me?”
He parried the incoming arrows with his dagger and charged at them.
Heeeng!
Khan snorted roughly, simultaneously ramming into the other horses.
The horses screamed and were knocked away.
Khan, like a runaway locomotive, thrashed about, incapacitating enemies.
Arthur also pulled the trigger without rest.
Bang!
Bang!
Each time a gunshot rang out, the enemies were thrown into a panic.
More than ten were wounded or killed.
“Die!”
Ballong swung his bastard sword, as large as his own bulky frame.
Arthur quickly parried the attack with his dagger.
Clang!
With a loud impact, a tremendous shock was transmitted through his wrist and entire arm.
“Try blocking this again!”
Ballong brought his sword down hard towards Arthur’s head.
“Eat this!”
Arthur snapped back fiercely, pointing the muzzle of his gun at Ballong’s face.
Bang!
A Mana bullet struck Ballong’s face.
“Aaahhh!”
Engulfed in immense pain, Ballong fell from his horse and was instantly killed, kicked by the hind legs of the stampeding horses.
The Karos Knights lost their will to fight when Ballong died so meaninglessly.
It was then.
Knights, consumed by greed, charged in, radiating killing intent.
They swung their swords at Arthur without mercy.
But Arthur calmly parried their swords with his dagger and fired his shotgun.
Bang!
Bang!
The enemies fell helplessly.
Yet, the Knights continued to charge endlessly.
Far from being intimidated, Arthur attacked them with even greater vigor.
It was then.
“Fire Field!”
A booming shout was heard.
Barthes had finished casting and unleashed his attack.
It was a fearsome attack, his most powerful magic, which transformed a certain area into a fiery wasteland.
Flash! Flash!
*Whoosh!*
A 5-meter radius around Arthur turned into a fiery inferno.
The Knights and horses within it were startled.
Heeeeeeng!
“What?!”
“Why are you attacking us too?!”
The Knights shouted, not knowing why.
Barthes ignored their reactions, staring only at Arthur.
“You’re finished now.”
As he channeled more Mana, the flames blazed even more intensely.
Khan moved back and forth, avoiding the fire.
But as the entire area turned into an inferno, the ground also grew hot.
*Heeeeeeng!*
Khan let out a loud neigh, snorting like an enraged bull, and tried to escape the flames.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
The Knights blocked his path.
Khan kicked off the ground and leaped.
Simultaneously, several Knights rushed at Khan, thrusting their swords.
The swords touched Khan’s body, but instead of piercing, they bounced off.
This was a Britanniker, with a body so tough that even an Orc’s attack wouldn’t work.
Moreover, Khan was the King of Britannikers, born with only the strengths of both a Unicorn and a Britanniker!
Most attacks wouldn’t affect him.
Heeeeeeng—!
As Khan roared as if angered, shaking the surroundings, the horses shrieked in terror and went wild.
Knights fell from their horses in droves, and the intense momentum that had seemed ready to devour Arthur vanished.
It was then.
Dudududududu—.
The ground shook.
In the distance, dust rose, revealing a massive group.
Along with the banner of the House of Count Julius, a banner with a blue phoenix emblazoned on it was visible.
“That’s!”
Yarve and all the Knights’ eyes trembled violently.
It was the Phoenix Knights.
They were charging furiously, riding Britannikers.
“What in the world is this…?”
It was when Yarve was utterly dumbfounded.
Kroaang!
“Clear the way!”
Drakan, leading the Knight Order, crashed in.
Giant Wolves mercilessly bit at the Knights, and formidable spears flew.
They pierced through everything, helmets and armor alike.
Thwack!
Thump!
Yarve’s army was thrown into disarray by the sudden arrival of the Drakan Knights.
“What are those guys now?!”
“Monsters…”
Fear clouded Hazan’s face.
First Britannikers, then Giant Wolves appeared.
Seeing Knights controlling monsters, they had to be followers of a demon.
“Damn it! We shouldn’t have sent those guys to the castle.”
“Kapo!”
Yarve looked around and shouted.
But Kapo was nowhere to be seen; only the sight of his own men being trampled or bitten by monsters, cut by Knights’ swords, and stabbed by spears filled his vision.
“This can’t be happening…”
He shook his head vigorously, denying the current situation. But the more he did, the more anxious he became, and his body trembled.
Bang!
Bang!
The man in golden armor slaughtered Knights with his bizarre weapon.
Covered in the Knights’ blood, he resembled a demon.
“A-a demon…”
Just as fear gripped Yarve’s chest.
His eyes met Arthur’s.
“Gasp!”
He nearly fell from his horse.
Hazan cried out.
“He’s coming! You must flee!”
“S-stop him…”
Yarve was pale with fright, flustered and unsure of what to do.
Arthur, on the other hand, mercilessly shot his shotgun at the Knights blocking his path, clearing a way.
“Move!”
Bang!
“Aargh!”
“Aaahhh!”
The Knights’ desperate screams echoed endlessly.
Drakan followed, eliminating those who attacked Arthur from the left and right.
As their numbers rapidly dwindled, the Knights also followed Drakan.
“H-how…?”
Barthes was aghast.
Even 5th-class magic couldn’t damage him.
What shocked him even more was that it hadn’t damaged the Knights following him either.
At the same time, the ancient reputation of the Phoenix Knights came to mind.
—They know no fear.
—Only advance.
“Everyone has it wrong…”
They had believed the fallen Count’s family was barely maintaining its lineage.
But the reality was different.
Their power, allied with demons, was truly beyond imagination.
At this level, they surpassed not just Counts, but even Marquises, and if mishandled, could even endanger the Empire.
He finally understood why the Emperor had issued an extermination order.
“This fact…”
Barthes whistled.
But his horse was nowhere to be seen, having vanished, and a giant Britanniker charged towards him.
A deep blue Aura flowed from the Knight riding it.
It blazed like intense flames.
“Another Sword Master…!”
The moment Barthes’ eyes widened, Skevin swung Excalibur.
Thwack!
Barthes’ neck was severed and fell.
The Knights following Skevin inherited his momentum, ruthlessly sweeping away the enemies blocking their path.
When the might of the Britannikers and the fervor of the Knights united as one, they unleashed tremendous power.
The Knights’ eyes, filled with nothing but the thought of annihilating their foes, were chilling to the extreme.
Blood-soaked armor, filled with intense killing intent—they resembled Yakshas risen from hell.
Fear filled the enemies’ faces.
“Th-they’re not human…”
“We have to run!”
One by one, they began to flee the battlefield.
Fear spread like an epidemic, and the number of Knights willing to confront the Phoenix Knights rapidly dwindled.
Skevin looked at the Knights scattering and fleeing the battlefield and shouted loudly.
“Pursuit Squad!”
*Ugh!*
Knights on normal horses began to pursue them.
They were no less agile than the Knights riding Britannikers.
Not to be outdone, Drakan also extended his spear towards them and shouted.
“Pursuit Squad!”
At his cry, the Giant Wolves darted out like arrows.
Those who fled could not escape death.
Count Yarve was aghast at the sight of his vast forces collapsing helplessly.
“H-how…?”
Hazan, noticing Yarve’s reaction, quietly retreated and quickly fled.
Yarve’s escort Knights were also terrified and restless.
It was then that a Britanniker wearing golden scale armor and a breastplate appeared before them.
Bang!
Over ten Mana bullets struck the Knights.
“Aaahhh!”
The Knights fell from their horses and crashed to the ground.
The pure white banner of the Rose Knights was stained crimson with their blood.
Yarve, his face pale, remained stunned and bewildered.
Clop-clop—clop-clop.
The sound of death approaching.
“Gasp!”
At the sound of hooves, his heart plummeted.
Khan, emitting fierce, glowing eyes, stopped before Yarve.
Arthur looked down at him with chilling eyes, aiming his gun.
“Kneel.”