WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 145: The Crumbling Boundary (13)

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Once the bells began ringing, they did not stop. Kyle took Elysia straight to the inn's stables.

The horses left by the guests stood in rows inside. There were ordinary packhorses used for trading convoys, as well as riding horses used by mercenaries with some money to spare. Kyle stopped in front of two especially glossy, powerfully built horses. The fine steeds Count Perian had personally provided were already awake, as though they had sensed someone approaching.

"We're leaving now."

Kyle immediately threw open the stall gate. Elysia, standing beside him, urgently asked,

"To the east?"

"Yes."

"What about the Chevaliers? Are you going to leave the Council Knight behind too? If we're retreating anyway, wouldn't it be better to travel with them..."

"It's already too late."

Kyle spoke firmly. Elysia's expression stiffened as she watched him bridle the horse and saddle it before it could even startle.

"If Marent falls..."

"The way to the rear will be open. The city's soldiers and residents will be slaughtered."

"I... I don't know. I don't know if this is the right choice."

Elysia murmured in a trembling voice. Fleeing together in the dead of night troubled her, but what lay ahead worried her even more.

Is it really right to run away without even putting up a proper fight?

Marent was the largest city in the area. If it fell, the already swift Imperial Army would surely advance even faster. Even if they managed to evacuate safely to Rier, where Grand Duke Rivelius was staying, it would mean nothing if the Kingdom of Russel was destroyed. Kyle and Elysia had come to the Federation to borrow the strength needed to stand against the Empire, not to watch the Federation collapse before they could do anything.

More than anything, she could not stop thinking about the people who would die when the city fell. The residents, soldiers, knights, and even the blond Council Knight and his squire, who had traveled with them for only a short time. Was it truly right to save their own lives by using those people as bait? Though it was not her fault, Elysia could not shake that foolish sense of guilt. She also doubted the decision to give up without trying.

"Then perhaps..."

"No."

Kyle cut her off. His voice was entirely different from before, sharp enough that Elysia flinched.

"I debated whether to leave even though I knew staying was the right choice because Duke Mortein might be among the wyvern knights attacking the city. That was why I said I would watch the situation until tomorrow morning. If my concern proved unfounded, it would be a chance to kill three wyvern knights and weaken the Celestial Knights."

"..."

"But that no longer matters. Duke Mortein has come himself. If I were alone, I might have stayed. Things are different now."

He would not gamble with his client's life. At least not until he finished this escort mission.

"Kyle."

"..."

"Even you cannot defeat Duke Mortein?"

Kyle had just helped Elysia onto the saddled horse when she asked, her eyes filled with conflict. He tried to answer, but only empty air escaped through his lips. Nothing meaningful came from his throat.

Even when Kyle had been with the knights, he had never defeated Rowen, the previous Commander.

During the war with the Empire, when they had fallen deep into a trap, Rowen had stayed behind alone to buy time for their retreat.

Then he had been surrounded by enemies and died. Duke Mortein had probably been the one to finish him.

Four years had passed since then. Kyle had wandered endlessly under a curse, while they had sharpened their blades for the next war.

Could he not win?

...

For a brief moment, Kyle stood frozen. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

It did not last long. Kyle slowly looked down at himself. His cursed body. All he had was the star iron sword he had used since being knighted in Hailen.

And the Dragon Heart.

At the end of his thoughts was the fragment of Prisia's heart tucked inside his clothes. The Dragon Heart's light had not gone out even after they left the inn. If anything, it seemed stronger. Prisia's mana, which wrapped warmly around his whole body and had somehow begun to feel like part of him.

It isn't exactly the same as before.

That old man said I was becoming assimilated with Prisia's mana.

If there is one variable...

"...Let's go."

Kyle forcibly cut off his thoughts and spoke shortly. He did not answer Elysia's question. He quickly mounted his horse, gripped the reins, and rode out of the stable.

"What? What's happening?"

"What the hell is going on before dawn..."

"It's an enemy attack! We're under attack!"

"It's in the west! Gather at the western gate!"

The city streets, quiet only moments ago, had become complete chaos. People poured out of the inn where Kyle had been staying and buildings throughout the main road. Some were armed soldiers rushing about in panic. They seemed to be the men who had been stationed throughout the city since early yesterday evening to maintain control.

Kyle and Elysia rode side by side through the chaotic streets. After weaving through the crowd, they saw the enormous city wall and the gate sealing off the east not far ahead. Naturally, the situation at the eastern gate was no better. People who had come out after hearing the alarm bells had turned it into a disaster.

"Open the gate, you bastards!"

"Please calm down! We still aren't certain..."

"What do you mean, we aren't certain, damn it? I saw the wyvern with my own two eyes!"

"There's a lever here! It's on the inside!"

The guards were helplessly crushed beneath the flood of refugees. Shouting in front of the tightly shut gate was not enough for them. Some had climbed inside the wall itself to force the gate open.

Before long, the massive eastern gate began to rise with a groaning sound. Refugees who could no longer endure it threw themselves onto the ground and wriggled through the widening gap like worms. Even then, Kyle did not slow down. Elysia murmured anxiously beside him.

"Kyle..."

"We're getting out this way. Get ready."

Kyle forcibly pushed the uneasy thoughts and possibilities rising in his mind into a corner of his head. He could not die here with Elysia. Even if she alone survived and returned to Archandia, that would not be enough. With the Emperor's mind consumed by the First Emperor, there was no telling what might happen to her there. She might even be sacrificed to create Izra's Thorn, just as Elysia's birth mother had been.

Not yet. Not yet...

Until when?

Kyle gritted his teeth and drew on the mana in his ring. Multicolored light flashed from the middle finger of his left hand. Frowning, Kyle swept his hand through the air. Along the broad main road leading to the eastern gate, the people blocking the way were scattered to both sides as though swept away by a wave.

"Argh!"

"W-What was that?!"

Kyle pulled the reins and increased his speed. He charged through the temporarily cleared path, bent low over his horse, and passed through the gate. A beat later, the refugees came to their senses and struggled to squeeze through the half-open gate.

"M-Me too!"

"Move!"

The half-open eastern gate could no longer be controlled. The guards looked around with empty expressions. The two horses that had escaped first had already vanished into the darkness in the distance.

* * *

After the alarm bells announcing the enemy attack rang throughout the city, Matis hurried out of his room with his squire Noel. They needed to find out what was happening outside.

"Sir Matis..."

"Ah..."

The two could not help stopping when they stepped into the inner castle's courtyard. Bright red flames rose in the distance toward the west. The city below was chaos beyond words. Screams rang out everywhere.

"W-What is going on?"

The people who emerged after Matis and Noel murmured with faces drained of color. Marquis Levran was among them, still dressed in nightclothes. He looked dumbfounded, unable to accept reality. He had expected the enemy to come, but not this quickly. He had thought they would need at least a few days.

"We are under attack."

Matis bit his lip and made them face reality.

"At this hour?"

Marquis Levran asked in a disbelieving voice. The others felt the same.

"A wyvern's speed cannot be compared to a horse's. For them, this late hour is better for an ambush."

"How could this..."

"We have to stop them, even now. Send out the knights and mages. I will open the way from the front."

Marquis Levran kept nodding with an uneasy expression. After gathering the marquis's knights and mages, Matis immediately left the inner castle.

"From here, we split up. Do not fight the wyverns head-on. Focus on stopping the enemy cavalry. Divert the breath attacks to the side. Collateral damage cannot be helped."

Matis left the rest to the Commander who had led the marquis's knights until now, then headed west with only a small number of knights and mages. The area they had to defend was too wide to stay together.

"Sir Matis."

Noel, following directly behind him, whispered in a quiet voice.

"Will this number be enough? To kill wyverns..."

"Too many would only get in the way. They are not invincible. It is better to go with a skilled few."

"Is that so..."

"A wyvern cannot block Sword Aura either."

Yes, they had a good chance.

Neither Matis nor Noel had ever fought a wyvern directly. Still, they knew the theory better than anyone. The Empire had been raising wyverns in earnest for centuries, and many methods for dealing with them had spread throughout the world.

The enemy forces themselves were not that numerous. At most, there were three wyverns and a cavalry unit. Moving an army in earnest would make them far less mobile, and their supply lines would become too long. Looking at it another way, that meant this side still had a chance.

More than anything...

"What about Sir Kyle?"

Noel asked what he was most curious about. It was something Matis had also been thinking about.

"I told you before, but he gave no definite answer."

"Then..."

"There is no time to look for him either. He must have sensed that something was wrong and come out by now."

Would he stay and fight, or would he leave?

Matis could not force either choice on him. Had Marquis Levran not earnestly pleaded with all four of them just moments ago? Matis had noticed Kyle's hesitation and subtly encouraged him to stay, but he did not know what choice Kyle had made. He was entrusted with an escort mission, after all.

"Focus only on what is in front of us."

"..."

"It would be reassuring if he fought with us, but we cannot waste time on an uncertain possibility."

Matis spoke, and Noel nodded. As they approached the flames, the devastation became clearer.

Two wyverns circled overhead, setting the city ablaze. The residents below shrieked as they fled. The group kept moving west against the tide of people until they saw Imperial cavalry charging toward them. They also saw soldiers dying beneath their lances.

"Prepare for battle!"

A clear metallic ring sounded at the shout. The blade drawn from Matis's waist sliced a charging cavalryman cleanly in two.

"T-Thank..."

Matis and Noel continued killing Imperial cavalry before they could even hear the fallen soldier's thanks. As more Imperial Army corpses piled up across the ground and more surviving soldiers joined them, the front line that had only been pushed back began advancing.

Reduce their numbers as much as possible here.

The wyverns might open the path, but the cavalry was the one that cleaned up afterward. They were also the ones who killed the most people. It was important to reduce the cavalry's numbers as much as possible and draw the wyvern knights' attention here.

Breath attacks could not be used one after another.

That was also one of a wyvern's weaknesses. They had speed and power, but their weak stamina held them back. They would exploit that weakness relentlessly. If the cavalry kept dying while the wyverns were unable to use breath attacks after burning down the city, the wyvern knights would surely descend. The knights and mages on the other side would have an easier time then. It would be far easier to defend.

Grrr...

Matis's thoughts broke when he had stopped counting the dead cavalrymen some time ago. Looking down at a fallen rider's corpse, Matis slowly raised his head.

"Cassius... Mortein..."

"Chevalier. So you were here."

An enormous black wyvern had descended before him. Its blood-red eyes, like blazing flames, swept over its surroundings. A knight clad in full black armor lightly landed on the ground from its back.

"Are you the only Council Knight?"

"..."

"Good. This too will be a form of amusement. The rest of you will not interfere. That is an order."

A wyvern knight who had landed on a nearby rooftop stopped just as they were about to jump down. Noel and the other soldiers behind Matis did the same.

"I will yield the first move."

A strange circle formed around the two men in an instant. The black knight stretched out a hand through the fluttering crimson cape. A massive greatsword rose from the air, and a black gauntlet roughly gripped its hilt.

"Or are you... afraid?"

Before the black knight had even finished speaking, Matis kicked off the ground. He forcibly pushed mana into his legs, frozen by fear, and made them move. He deliberately ignored Noel's desperate cry behind him.

There was no avoiding this once Duke Mortein had stepped forward.

If he could settle this here instead.

If, by some chance, he could kill that man.

Those assumptions shattered the moment their swords first met. Crimson Sword Aura wrapped around the greatsword and struck fiercely through Matis's scattering blue Sword Aura. It felt as if the efforts of his entire life had been denied.

This is impossible.

How can this...

His balance broke with the first exchange. His stance faltered with the second.

The sword technique he unleashed in the third exchange collapsed without resistance. In the fourth, his beloved sword, bestowed upon him when he was knighted, broke in two. In the fifth, strength left the hand gripping its hilt.

The final sixth exchange.

With a wet thrust, the blade of the greatsword wrapped in crimson Sword Aura smoothly pierced Matis's body. The breastplate engraved with the Chevaliers' crest could not stop the blade.

"Sir Matis!"

"Cough!"

Matis vomited blood and felt his vision turn blurry. Noel's desperate scream, piercing his ears, faded into the distance. Only the black knight's footsteps as he drew closer remained clear.

"Excellent."

"..."

"I will ask one thing. The cavalry unit pursuing the survivors of Krosen Fortress never returned. Was that your doing? Or..."

Matis's green eyes trembled slightly. He said nothing, but Cassius Mortein smiled deeply behind his helmet as though that was enough. Matis could not see it, yet he could feel it. As if that had been more than enough of an answer.

"The prophecy was right. The Blue Wolf lives."

Muttering to himself, Cassius Mortein pulled the embedded greatsword out in an instant. The blond knight vomited blood again and fell face-first onto the ground.

"A mere handful of burnt ash."

The fading crimson Sword Aura shone even more brightly. The wyverns perched on the rooftops flew into the black sky. Across from him, a young squire rushed forward with tears of blood in their eyes. Cassius Mortein raised his sword once more toward the still-unseasoned knight.

Footnotes:

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