REFDL 49

Situation.

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

“Which part exactly doesn’t make sense?”

……Count Anax, the lord of the territory and the overall commander of the subjugation, and Duke Irelion, the captain of the Dragon Knight Order, were arguing.

“What does the mage think?”

And then he asked for his opinion.

Judgment.

‘Yeah. Knocked out.’

The mage slumped sideways, pressing his hand to his forehead. Kaelus grabbed him and pulled him upright.

Kaelus’s complexion grew worse day by day. He had lost weight, shadows deepening beneath his eyes. And with that, his spirit grew sharper.

The duke now resembled a starving gray wolf.

Whatever stood before him.

A murderous wolf ready to tear it apart.

“So, what does the mage think?”

……Haha.

‘Are you asking for my opinion?’

His gaze demanded unconditional agreement. Fortunately, the mage’s opinion aligned with the duke’s.

“This…”

He quickly added before Count Anax, the castle lord and overall commander of the subjugation, could speak.

“It’s a matter of possibility. Your Lordship must not forget. The reason we’re still breathing and intact right now isn’t because Anax’s fortress walls or our mages’ protective barriers are so formidable.”

“……”

“It’s because some malevolent will controlling the monsters desires it.”

If that entity changed its mind. Total annihilation would follow instantly.

“But you’re saying only the dragon knights will leave this place?! You mean abandon the people in the fortress and flee yourselves?!”

“……How did you hear what I’ve said so far, Count? I said we were going to the capital to ask for help. In this state, even if the second subjugation force arrives, it’s problematic. If they approach complacently without proper preparation, the second subjugation force will be wiped out along with the rest.“

”Cut the nonsense! Who do you think would fall for that?! Your real plan is to let only the dragon knights escape… Ugh!”

“Mind your manners, Count.”

Otherwise, he would be facing someone who would likewise throw manners aside.

……If that meaning felt implied, maybe he went too far.

The mage shuddered and bowed his head.

The count glared at Kaelus, throat constricted. But after gasping for breath a few times, he calmed himself, closed his mouth, and bowed his head.

By then, Kaelus had also eased the pressure and stepped back.

The count clenched his teeth and apologized meekly.

“I’m sorry. I was rude.”

“I understand.”

Kaelus nodded toward the young man, so young he was almost a boy, who had only recently taken the lord’s seat.

“I understand.”

“……”

The count felt even more deflated. Seeing his shoulders slumped and shriveled in dejection, the mage’s original headache intensified.

The duke left the count alone, telling him to cool off for a moment. The mage slapped his own face with his palm, hesitated, then chased after the duke.

“The plan proceeds as scheduled.”

“Your Grace. But I have something to say…”

“I won’t hear any objections.”

“No, it’s not that…”

“I said I won’t heart it.”

“……”

The mage smiled, his face old and weary. He decided to say it later.

* * *

That day, the weather felt ominous.

Winter rain poured down in torrents.

It was the season for snow, yet torrential rain fell. This was the northernmost part of the empire, the coldest region.

The ominous rain fell over the harpies and bats swarming the perimeter like a swarm of bees, reaching deep into the fortress.

The people of Anax were gripped by terror.

The end of the world was coming. The demons were coming.

Fueled by anxiety, bad rumors began to spread.

And Kaelus gathered together all the surviving dragon knights who were fit to fight immediately, excluding the wounded.

He selected only those whose partner dragons were also unharmed.

Sixteen.

That number included Kaelus himself.

‘Only a few of us, including myself, will remain here. The rest will all go to the capital and report the situation here accurately. Afterwards, they will join the second subjugation force to attack the monsters from the outside.’

‘Then I will stay!’

The captain of the Second Dragon Knight Order insisted.

‘No. In this situation, morale and hope are far more crucial than you realize. If I go, no matter how the castle lord tries to placate them, the Anax and the subjugation force will conclude they’ve been abandoned.’

‘…….’

‘I will select and dispatch personnel to the capital.’

He was doing his utmost.

But in truth, Kaelus’s outlook on the situation was bleak and pessimistic.

The monsters’ strength had not simply exceeded expectations, it had surpassed them by a vast margin. Meanwhile, they themselves were unprepared.

The monsters they had anticipated were, at best, a few more ogres and giants, and harpies slightly more ferocious than last time.

Even if reinforcements arrived as the second subjugation force…

Could they resolve the current situation?

…Could they hold back the monsters flooding forth with a momentum that seemed poised to swallow the entire world?

“Prepare for flight!”

Pushing all anxiety aside, Kaelus shouted.

Grrrrr!

Kyararrak!

The excited Pensilta roared. The Pensilta were far from normal themselves, worn down by continuous battles, the smell of blood, and the monsters scattered everywhere.

They were overly excited, their violence heightened.

If they lost control even slightly, they would refuse the knights’ guidance and charge headlong at the monsters.

The knights’ backs were tense and taut.

Though the first subjugation force was composed only of the most outstanding veterans, this unprecedented crisis easily shook the hearts of the seasoned dragon knights.

“Look at me!”

Kaelus shouted again.

“Who is it before you!”

“…….”

‘He hates that sort of thing.’

Yet he did it when necessary. That was Kaelus.

Still carrying the nightmares of the past, undiminished by the years.

Just as he rode his Pensilta again without hesitation, though mere contact brought him agony.

“Kaelus Irelion!”

“The Great Dragon Knight!”

“Hero of the Civil War!”

“Kaelus! Kaelus! Kaelus!”

The captain of the Second Order gripped the reins tightly. Her Pensilta, the only one remaining calm, snorted softly and spread its wings obediently.

Once the path opened.

From that moment on, she would become Kaelus.

Ah.

‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

It’s already heavy.

It felt suffocating.

‘But a person has pride.’

Melissa, the commander of the Second Order, smiled.

Her shining eyes fixed on Kaelus.

It was such a splendid back that it felt like a shame that the only thing she could offer was her life.

No separate signal was needed.

The Pensilta, which had lowered its body like a spring, flew upward, spreading its wings wide.

Fifteen yellow and blue dragons.

They aimed at the harpies and bats crowd obscuring the sun.

They looked like brilliant sunlight being fired against a blue sky.

At the forefront.

From his Pensilta, clearly protruding ahead of the other dragons, Kaelus gripped his sword. An explosive burst of blue light shot forth, tracing a crescent shape.

Boom!

The sword’s aura struck the harpy swarm directly. Feathers and wings, along with flesh, rained down in all directions.

It hadn’t pierced through.

Instead, it thinned them.

Kaelus’s Pensilta aimed precisely at the thinned section.

Crunch!

It bit down.

Kyaaaah!

Kyaaaah!

Grrrrrrr!

It was a chaotic battle from the start.

The Pensilta and the harpies became entangled. The Pensilta, their pupils dilated, attacked the harpies’ feathered wings indiscriminately.

When they were about to get caught, they dropped inside the barrier, then surged upward again like light reversing its course.

Originally, harpies like these couldn’t even hope to be Pensilta’s opponents. A single Pensilta could wipe out an entire harpy nest.

The problem was their numbers.

An overwhelming force, as if every harpy in the Sea of Trees had gathered.

The knights whipped out their aura like lashes. They couldn’t perform miracles like Kaelus, but even so, they could slice through the tough hides of monsters.

Grrraaak!

The fifteen Pensilta dragons finally broke through the vicious monsters’ encirclement and soared skyward.

One fell behind.

He screamed as he plummeted toward the fortress.

……It was still impossible to tell who it was.

The knights didn’t look.

……They tried not to look.