21st Century Archmage

Chapter 102: Backstabbed

‘It’s a landslide victory!’

The moment the wyverns were defeated by our hidden attack while they were in the middle of their bombardment, the battle was decided. Right now, the knights were hurling Blessed Spears at the fleeing enemies without reserve. If they had put up a proper fight without panicking, the victory would have only been achievable with considerable damage from our side. However, the mishmash of territory knights were unable to reinforce the coalition’s military discipline and instead flailed like short-legged dwarves in a shark-infested sea.

Kwaaaaaaaak!

Kiaaaaaaaaaak!

Even now, the Havis Kingdom wyverns were crashing down before the Nerman knights who chased them in formation. Skyknights were using Fly to escape everywhere. They didn’t have anywhere to go, but their instincts to live were making one last-ditch effort.

‘We’ll chase them all the way to the border!’

I had already given the order before setting off—fleeing enemies should be chased out of the territory. My Skyknights were loyally following that command, forming formations of twos and threes to harry the Havis Kingdom wyverns.

“Put down your weapons! Anyone who resists will be killed!”

The mana-charged shouts of my knights rang out over the chaotic battlefield. The unmounted infantry had given up on escape and were forming groups of up to a dozen men to turtle up. The knights of Nerman confidently recommended the soldiers to surrender, the swords in their hands burning with blue mana.

Clang, clang clang clang.

And then, one after another, the Havis ground troops threw away their weapons and fell to their knees.

“Collect the Blessed Spears!”

“Search the surroundings thoroughly!”

Archers and regular infantry poured out of Gadain Castle, collecting weapons and the Blessed Spears scattered all over. They were old-model spears, but they were still valuable weapons that couldn’t be wasted since we would need them for later wars. Their performance was lacking compared to the new model the dwarves made when coupled with the fact I had magically enhanced them, but you couldn’t use a dull knife to kill a chicken, after all.

“Phew…”

The border was already blocked off by the soldiers I had sent by carriage. A substantial number of enemy Skyknights had fled, however, it wasn’t my problem anymore, it was Rosiathe’s and the Royal Family’s.

I let out a long breath and circled around the battlefield.

Peppered outside Gadain Castle were wyverns and Skyknights struck by spears.

The battle was short, but at least a thousand corpses had built up from the ballista bolts or from getting trampled under hooves. Red blood flowed as the bodies lay still on the ground, the cold wind passing by.

We had won a victory of unimaginable proportions, but a part of my heart could not help but feel heavy.

The survivors below were enemies who had invaded my territory, but now they were kneeling like dogs without fangs or claws, looking around wildly with fearful eyes.

There were tens of thousands of them.

Bebeto and the beastmen’s wyverns were circling above their heads, filling their wings with the winter wind called Kazofune…

* * *

“W-We won! And it is a landslide victory!!”

“Haah…”

Inside the Weyn Covert office of Lord Kyre, the ruler of Nerman, news of the victory was relayed through the communicator crystal ball. Aramis, who had been waiting anxiously in the office, breathed a sigh of relief as her expression instantly turned bright.

She believed in Lord Kyre, but because there were so many wyverns and enemy troops that invaded the territory, she had been extremely stressed.

“Thank you, O’ Neran-nim…”

Drawing a cross, Aramis gave a prayer of thanks to her god. Since the start of the war, Aramis had been praying every day in the temple, and for the first time in a while, her face was beaming with joy.

“What a relief that it ended quickly. It would have been difficult if they came all the way to Denfors.”

Because the area between Gadain Castle and Denfors was safe from monsters, quite a large portion of the territory’s population was living there. If the Havis Kingdom army cut all the way to Denfors, everyone would have suffered. The weather was getting colder and colder, with snow on the way. It would have been a disaster if the residents were forced to leave their homes and wander homeless through the winter. Denfors was big, but it couldn’t house everyone.

“There might be many injured people, so please send plenty of holy water.”

“Understood. I will arrange it right away.”

Because of her incredible holy power, Aramis made top-grade potions every day. Derval was well aware that when she said ‘injured people,’ she wasn’t just talking about Nerman soldiers, but also Havis Kingdom’s men.

The two people were amicably discussing matters for after the battle when they suddenly heard long, drawn-out bellows from a horn.

It wasn’t the bell used by the covert guard, but the horn used by the soldiers defending Denfors.

“Enemies have appeared! Paladins are heading towards the city!”

“Wyverns! The paladins’ wyverns have appeared!!!!!’

The soldiers screamed outside, their voices reaching all the way to the covert from the castle walls.

“P-Paladins?”

“Ah…”

Derval unconsciously mumbled in surprise while Aramis’ face darkened as she let out a long groan.

“All men, prepare for battle!! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!!”

The horns bellowed again and again, and the alarm bell of the covert began to clamor as well.

“I will go see what is going on. Please wait inside!”

Derval knew that the paladins were linked to Aramis, so he asked her to stay in the office.

“No… I will also go.”

Even so, Aramis tried to go with him. An indescribable look of sadness was on her face.

“My liege will be sad. Please stay here, where it’s safe.”

“…..”

Aramis shut her mouth tightly at the mention of Kyre.

‘This isn’t good, to think that my lord didn’t know that the paladins came all the way here…’

The paladins had definitely headed to Denfors without going through Gadain Castle. They had heard that people from the Temple of Neran were participating, but no one had expected a sneak attack. Moreover, only old veterans and 3,000 soldiers relegated from Orakk Castle were left in Denfors right now. They didn’t have a single wyvern, and only the minimum number of knights were here, just a couple dozen.

“Quickly inform our liege—tell him that paladins have reached Denfors! Knights, protect Priestess Aramis with your lives!”

“As you command!”

Leaving the office, Derval commanded the waiting knights. The crisis ahead had completely soured the exhilaration of victory.

‘I will protect her this time for sure!’

Clenching his only hand into a fist, Derval silently resolved himself to give his life for Aramis’ safety.

‘They’re not here!’

I was riding on Bebeto, instructing the clean-up of the battle and prisoners when I realized one ominous fact.

They weren’t here.

Paladins serving the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, were definitely participating with Havis, but they were nowhere to be seen.

‘I-It can’t be—!!’

An alarming thought occurred to me. In Nerman, which was mostly plains, nothing had an altitude as high as a real mountain, but the plains in front of Gadain Castle had fairly high hills. I was struck by the realization that the path towards Denfors diverged in those hills.

“My lord! Urgent report!’

At that moment, the communicator in my ear buzzed. The product I had spent several nights perfecting in order to install it in my helmet answered my suspicions.

“Speak! What’s going on!”

“I received contact from Denfors just now. A thousand soldi-no, paladins, and 10 wyverns have appeared!”

“!!”

The feeling of getting stabbed in the back while your guard was down struck me full force.

“W-What happened to Aramis! The walls have not fallen yet, right?!!” I shouted in alarm to the knight in charge of the communication channel.

“They have not yet attacked. But when they do…”

The knight could not bring himself to continue. He was well aware. With over a thousand paladins, the moment they attacked, the poorly defended castle walls and gate would be knocked down in an instant.

‘Ah…’

I suppressed an exclamation of rage, clamping down hard on my lips.

A slight moment of carelessness had invited an outrageous counterattack.

If Aramis fell into their hands, there would be no way to save her. And even if this battle was a victory, it would be meaningless.

Aramis.

She was a companion for life that Nerman, no, I, could not live without.

‘Hold on a little! Aramis! I’m coming!’

Biting my lips, I whipped Bebeto’s reins around.

The battlefield wasn’t completely settled yet, but my mind was full of Aramis and the imagery of her trembling on some stranger’s wyvern in the skies above Denfors. Trembling, while waiting for me…

* * *

“…Haah.”

At the urgent report that paladins were heading towards the city, Derval hastened to Denfors’ main gate. He had rushed over as quickly as possible after getting the news, but the paladins were already setting up camp just 1 km away from the city.

In clear view were 1,000 paladins wearing white cloaks emblazoned with the symbol of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, a golden cross within a circle.

The soldiers keeping watch atop the castle walls were hushed.

Paladins had skills far outstripping regular knights. Also, because of Aramis, the Goddess of Mercy was worshipped as an absolute god in Nerman. The soldiers believed that injuring a paladin’s body would sentence you to hell. They looked at Derval, the highest officer in command present, with uneasy eyes.

The soldiers knew instinctively that there was nothing they could do with their paltry strength.

Kiiiuuuuuuuuu!

Krrrrrrrrrraaaa!

Moreover, 10 wyverns were slowly circling above the paladins. Unlike other wyverns, their armor was engraved with the dazzling golden cross of Neran.

It was a sight that rendered Denfors’ soldiers unable to even consider fighting.

Clip clop, clip clop.

As the soldiers looked blankly at the nearby paladins, a single horse approached with a flag of Neran, galloping up to Denfors’ front gate in mere moments.

“In the name of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran-nim, She who loves all creatures, may every human staying in Denfors heed my command~!!” shouted the paladin, his silver helmet and armor gleaming under his white cloak.

At the command coming in the name of Neran, the devoted soldiers unconsciously lowered their heads. They knew they were in the middle of a war, but because they had lived worshipping the gods, the name of a god was nobler than any other.

“The mercy of Neran-nim is bestowed upon all until they breathe their last, but the Banner of Holy War has been raised to punish the Lord of Nerman, Kyre, the criminal who used his degenerate mortal body to kidnap a priestess, belittle God, and sully Her noble name with the wretchedness of sin! Therefore, pay heed that anyone who raises their sword for Count Kyre, the man who has committed the unforgivable crime of insulting Neran-nim’s name, shall be sentenced to hell in the name of God! As such, the soldiers and people of Denfors should open the gates and repent for their sins and assist in the punishment of the sinner, Kyre!”

The paladin’s voice rang out with holy power and mana over the old and large castle walls of Denfors.

And as soon as the paladin spoke, the soldiers flinched in alarm. When the man outside rudely called out their lord’s name, the same lord who spilled his sweat and blood doing his best for them, and branded their lord as a sinner who would go to hell, they immediately returned to their senses.

Just who was their lord?

Their lord was someone who saved them in their time of crisis, someone who appeared one day from the sky on his hybrid wyvern like a blessing from the Great God.

The soldiers could not comprehend the paladin’s accusation that their lord had kidnapped a priestess and slighted a God. As far as they knew, the “kidnapped” Priestess Aramis had never been harassed or tormented. Rather, everyone remembered how happy Aramis looked and the way her cheeks reddened with shyness whenever she was with Lord Kyre.

The soldiers slowly raised the heads they had lowered.

They had bowed their heads before the name of God, but now, their faces revealed a little anger.

Gripping their weapons, the soldiers glared at the paladin. Their aura had changed, and they even exuded bloodthirst towards him, as if facing a mortal enemy.

“D-Do you intend to oppose the command of God?!”

He was close enough to see the expressions of all the soldiers on the castle walls, so when he saw their faces change, he shouted in a fit of shock. He had never received such treatment ever since being appointed as a paladin. The mere mention of the Goddess of Mercy’s name was enough to make everyone kneel in worship. But these soldiers dared to fearlessly direct bloodthirst towards a sacred sword of God, a paladin!

‘My liege…’

Derval saw his liege’s mighty image in the soldiers’ straightening backs and was overcome with emotion even in this time of danger. Where else in the continent would you find soldiers who would defy a holy war of a temple, which commanded absolute authority?

“Come no closer! Do not slander our sinless Lord and take your rotten knight order and go!! Otherwise, you will be labeled a trespasser of the territory and put to death!!!”

Bolstered by the sight of the soldiers, Derval shouted with all his strength, since he couldn’t use mana. His shout thundered over the castle walls and carried far into the distance.

Piiiing!

And as if responding to his voice, the archers drew their bows back taut.

“Y-YOUUUU!!!!” The paladin gnashed his teeth. “You will all receive the punishment of God!!!!!”

With that last threatening cry, he whirled his horse around and returned to the knight order.

‘We need only hold on a little longer! Our liege will come!’

1,000 paladins.

If they charged after receiving a blessing from priests, they would be too strong to fight against even if they had twice or thrice the soldiers.

Even so, Derval blazed with fighting spirit.

“The Lord has won victory over the Havis invaders and will soon arrive! Soldiers! Raise your weapons! Think of spilling your blood in death for Nerman as an honor! The blood spilt today is the joy of our successors tomorrow!!!!!!”

Resembling his liege more every day, Derval raised a longsword in his only hand.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Let’s protect Nerman with our hands!”

“For the Lord!!”

“For Aramis-nim!!!!!”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The soldiers cheered as they beat their spears and shields against the floor of the castle wall.

They did not cower before a powerful order of paladins that overwhelmed them in both numbers and force.

Everyone’s hearts were blazing, ready to protect that certain precious something inside their hearts.