The conclusion had been decided the moment [The Infallible Diffindor] descended.
In the face of the Mist's War Flag drifting in the sky and the loyal knights who had survived the trial of time, when the horn to advance was blown, the vast demon army wasn't worth mentioning in front of me.
I had always believed that in the face of this drifting Mist's War Flag, no matter which Demons or Devils from the Lower Realms nor Angels and Heroic Spirits from the Upper Realm, they wouldn't be able to withstand the charge of my army. We would be invincible.
Camisia, who was opening up the road ahead of me, was currently back at the pinnacle of his strength and his incredible muscles were hidden underneath his gigantic armor. The Nightmare Horse he was riding on was rushing forward with all its strength, leaving fiery footprints in its trail, while two 4-meter long Dragon Lances served as his spears.
How many years has it been? As my strongest warrior, he still stood at the forefront of the army.
Regardless of whether it was a Hezrou with boundless strength or the gigantic Bebilith, in the face of Camisia who was blessed with God's Strength, they fell down like little chicks with just a little bump at their sides. Even the extremely heavy adamantine Dragon Lance which normal people were unable to lift, he could use both of them simultaneously easily.
On other days, this extremely powerful expert who couldn't be stopped once he began his charge had a fatal flaw. That was, due to his heavy weight, it was easy for his mount to tire. However, as soon as his Undead Mount had also stepped into the realm of Heroic Spirits, his fearless charge no longer held any possibility of being stopped.
On his right, the young man Carlos who was dubbed as the 'most useless Knight' carried his shield up high, blocking arrows and magic spells for him. At this moment, he was the grindstone which ensured the sharpness of the flying arrow.
'The Mobile Fortress' was the prided nickname of that young Knight. In terms of skills as a Defender, Carlos still remained the top among the Royal Knights. Even after this noble Heroic Spirit was stuffed into the body of an abhorrent Abomination Undead, this tall and strong young man still solemnly blocked the attack for his comrade using his body as a shield.
He might not be skilled in offensive martial arts or magic. But, if there was someone who looked at him in despise because he wasn't suited to offense and called him 'useless', then he could prepare a coffin. That's because the comrades that Carlos had saved would step out and use their life to protect the honor of this young Knight without any hesitation.
But, looking at how this beige-hair young man easily warded off the arrows and magic, it seemed that his ability with the shield was much stronger than in the past!
On the left of Camisia was old Sir Ferdinand. He had been the Swordsmanship tutor for both me and Karwenz and the strongest Swordsman of the Royal Knight. Even more so, he was the father of the Great Sword Saint Fayde and the one who guided him on his path.
The old general's hair had long turned completely white. Facing the Demon army, he didn't even use the Swordsmanship that he was most proficient in. Instead, he lifted up his silver bow and shot. Squinting his eyes, he pulled the bowstring and shot 6 arrows at once. None of the Demon Captains that he set his eyes upon survived.
Regardless of strength or prestige, he was the Knight that was most qualified to respond to my call. However…
"Respected Sir Ferdinand, are you still blaming yourself for not being able to complete your mission? Please don't, it really wasn't your fault. No one would have expected that the undefeated Knight would run out of time and die of old age while carrying out the mission. Perhaps, it should my fault. If I had seen through the meaning of the 3 cups of heavy liquor you had before heading out and your forced smile while holding on tightly to the remnants of your lifespan, I wouldn't have allowed the retired you to head to the battlefield and carry out a mission that was destined to end in failure."
At this moment, the old General seemed to have vented his will to fight. As a lightly armored cavalry, he often charged too far ahead accidentally. But, if the Demons thought that they could make use of this opportunity to get rid of him, this old Sword Saint would use his sharp swords to prove them wrong.
The female Holy Knight riding behind Camisia, Lani, the older sister of Fanderk, was spreading the radiance of the Holy Light around the battlefield. The sacred glow of Light healed her comrades while purifying and destroying the Demons.
The war hammer-carrying 'Human Siege' Lucas, the one whose spears were as swift as the wind, Slance, the Great Sword Saint Fayde, the Mistress of Plague Kakana who was throwing Alchemy reagents around and last but not least, the Dragon Knight Timier… In the midst of the arousing drum beats, countless Legendary Knights gathered under the Mist's War Flag. These Heroes who had underwent countless battles seemed to view the battlefield as another celebratory banquet as laughed heartily while charging fearlessly.
"Mist's War Flag? The Spirit of Mist? What is that?"
When I was young, I had viewed myself as the protagonist of the world, so there was no way the Spirit of the Knight of these natives would have resonated with me. Towards the me who spoke arrogant words, my father, the King, only patted my shoulders and said 'You are a descendant of the Mist. You will understand."
When I was 12 years old and urgently got summoned back from the Headquarters of the Holy Church to lead the army, I thought that I would just become a puppet General. After all, a large portion of my time had been spent in the Holy Church training as a Holy Knight. Furthermore, the Holy Church had a hostile relationship with the Mist Country at the time, so how could the 12-year-old me then get everyone to submit to me?
But, regardless of whether it was the old veteran soldiers or the young and arrogant genius Knights, they all followed my commands. Even if I made some mistakes, they would secretly correct them. In the midst of war, they continuously imparted to me what they were skilled at, all kinds of battle experience.
"As expected of a descendant of the Mist." Every time I had outstanding results and led an army to victory, they would say these words so gleefully as though this was their pride as well. When I made a judgmental error due to my lack of experience, they would say "You're still young, it's fine like that" and forgive me like how a doting grandfather would. Then, they would sacrifice their blood, sweat and even their lives to correct the mistakes that I made without any hesitation.
Those who had given their life just for me to grow up were innumerable. Towards these people, how could I not grow up quickly.
"As expected of a descendant of the Mist." Gradually, these words that used to make me uncomfortable became my greatest pride!
The Mist Country had often been in a state of war with foreign tribes. Our country was in an isolated land far away from the prosperous center of the continent. We might have had precious and rare mines, but they had to be exchanged for different kinds of food and resources. In a place where half the year was a bone-breaking chilling period, it was obviously a bad place for humans to live in.
In the course of thousands of years, the soldiers and civilians gave their all to trust the descendant of the Mist Royalty to protect this barren land. The Mist Royalty used equality and sacrifice to repay their trust. For generations, the Princes of each generation served as Generals and treated dying on the field as an honor.
I finally understood what the Spirit of the Mist was. It wasn't some high and mighty teaching. It was like the mist of a valley, intangible but definitely existent. It was like the fortress among the raging wind on the Battle Flags, the final defence when pushed to a corner!
"You are a descendant of the Mist. You will understand."
Haa, indeed. Father, I finally understood. I didn't expect to understand it that quickly.
In this instant, we were still in the battlefield where ice and fire intertwined all around. The Mist's War Flag still flew up high. Our battle had yet to end.
"I am the descendant of the Mist. I am a pitiful person who couldn't even protect his own country and citizens. I admit that we are just lonely souls who miss the mortal world, that we are defeated soldiers. But…"
"We are dead but we aren't willing to die like that! We are defeated soldiers but we aere unwilling to put down the past! There is still too much injustice and tragedy in this world! How can we shut our eyes and sleep peacefully? Our remains have yet to rot and our arms are still capable of lifting weapons. We want to ride on our mount and charge, launching a crusade against the ambitious who created war and chaos!
The cheers of the Knights were their lingering will which had allowed them to become Undead and the faith that allowed them to become Heroic Spirits.
Under the Mist's War Flag, I pointed my Roland Sacred Sword towards the direction of advance and the Knights used their faith and courage to repay my trust.
"Charge!"
As a loyal cannon fodder, under the commands of their master, the bloodthirsty Beastman army blocked our path. However, just like how a mantis was unable to block a carriage, they were crushed under our advance.
In the chaos, wasn't the one who old Sir Ferdinand beheaded with one hit the Beastman Sovereign who never regrets? He didn't even stop us for a single second.
Maybe, dying meaninglessly was a suitable punishment for an ambitious and ruthless person who stepped on other people's life to fulfill his own desires like him.
When the gigantic Ancient Hell Dragon was forcefully dispatched by her master to block us, that familiar gigantic Dragon already had a destined enemy waiting for her.
"Molly, you truly are a big disgrace!"
Before she could even swipe down to assist, Einz Mezus, who suddenly descended down, tackled her, causing her to continuously roll in the air.
Yes, the previous Chaos Demon Dragon from before was the former Dragon Queen Molly. Due to the unexpected battle that occurred, she, who was supposed to serve as a tribute, survived. Afterwards, facing the Demon Count, she gave up her pride and chose to convert into a Demon Dragon – Hell Dragon.
The two Ancient Giant Dragon tore each other apart while howling furiously. Despite the fact that the Hell Dragon should be much stronger in a physical battle than the Giant Dragons on the surface, but the one who had the advantage in all aspects was the smaller and younger Einz Mezus.
"Where did the dignity of the Dragon Tribe that you often spoke of go to? Did you swallow it down? I can't stand looking at such an ugly appearance! Die!"
The furious Einz Mezus discarded the final inch of kindness of hope in her heart and for the first time, attacked Molly with the intent to kill.
Einz Mezus, the master of two elements, showcased her deep understanding of magic. There was no need for incantation or hand gestures, just the breathing of the Dragon Tribe, whose bloodline was full of mana, was magic itself. Just by flapping her wings and staring at Molly, Wind and Fire were created continuously.
The Wind gave a boost to her while interfering with Molly's flight. On the other hand, the Fire was more flexible. Sometimes, it changes into smoke to block Molly's vision. Other times, it explodes in front of Molly, breaking her scales. Furthermore, every single attack of Einz Mezus was infused with the power of Elements.
As the fight went on, Molly's heart chilled as she realized that she had no hopes for victory. Thus, her fickleness acted up again and without regards for the severe wounds she just incurred, she abandoned the boss she just chose to serve under and escaped into the horizon.
The rapid loss of the two original Underground Autarchs seemed to start a domino effect and the Demon army fell back continuously under the assault of the army of Heroic Spirits. Not too far away, the battle between the 100-meter tall giant Demon and Adam could be seen. The light of victory was within sight.
As long as the Demon Commander who summoned the Demons was killed, those low-tier Demons would naturally be driven back to the Abyss.
Even the bloodthirsty and frenzied Demons treasured their lives. In the face of the unstoppable charge, they had started to scatter.
But, before we even arrived, a large silhouette couldn't hold in its anger any longer.
That large black silhouette leapt up and despite being a 60~70-meter tall gigantic beast which should have slow reactions, they appeared to be as agile as a leopard. It bypassed the few Balor Demons who serves as bodyguards and crashes violently into the giant Demon Count.
That was the Captain of the Red Hunting Hounds, Demonic Spatial Hellhound Bastian!
The gigantic Demon Lord fell to the ground with his Demon Halberd supporting his body. His upper body was similar to a goat while his lower body was like an incomparably big lizard. Bastian used his 3 heads and directly tore apart one of his limb!
"AHHHHH! FILTHY WORMS!"
The gigantic Three-Headed Hellhound Bastian, in the formation of our Knight Order, the job of this Captain was never a Knight. Instead, it was a Giant War Beast and a Siege Machine!
It normally served as the vanguard to tear apart the enemy's formation. This huge black war beast would jump into the enemy's formation and cause a fatal chaos within. That gap would then be torn apart to become a fatal blow that couldn't be fixed.
The reason why I used 'huge' to describe his body and not fixed numbers was because his size was never fixed.
The center head of Bastian was the incarnation of Wrath. He didn't have any name or rationality, but he was responsible for using his fangs and claws to rip apart the enemy. When his rage reached a certain point, he would grow bigger because of his anger. For a Giant War Beast, a large mass meant greater strength that couldn't be countered.
Just like how there was no limit to rage, as long as Bastian turned back into his original form on the battlefield, as the battle proceeded, his wrath and size was limitless. We once encountered a difficult battle for two days and two nights. There was an Ancient Gold Dragon that suppressed our army but in the end, it was crushed to death by a single leg of Bastian! Not to mention, the number of city walls and city gates he crushed under his feet were uncountable.
The reason why he usually split into two different bodies and kept his main consciousness in that pitiful Skeleton Dog was to suppress his endless wrath.
But, if he only had this much, he wouldn't be worthy of being called the Head of the Four Heavenly Kings, the strongest General that I trusted the most.
The head of the savage beast in the middle who moved instinctively only listens to the order of the other two heads. The left head was Ah Bao (his sub-consciousness). His soothing voice brought about the order of death. The right head was Bastian's main consciousness. Having a vantage point of the entire field, he often roared orders to direct the movement of the entire army.
It was said that the Three-Headed Hellhound was the gatekeeper of Hell and for Wrath, I only designed one ability for it — Soul World [Gates of Hell].
When the Three-Headed Hellhound howled together, the vague image of the gates of hell would appear behind them. When Ah Bao opened the left door, the Undead allies who had just died in a distance not too far away who had their souls intact would be revived. When Bastian opened the right door, the Air of Death would rush out, causing all surrounding life to wither away.
Of course, resurrection couldn't be without a price. For every 10 taken away by the right door, only one could come back from the left. When both doors were opened together, there would be endless destruction.
In this instant, Bastian had already rushed into the midst of the Demon army. In an instant, Adam who was using his Inferno Wings to deal with Kakajil became part of the audience. When Bastian and Kakajil were pitting together physically while tearing each other apart with their fangs, the doors of death had been long since opened.
Perhaps, as the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins, Bastian's individual fighting prowess may not be on par to Ah Dang of Gluttony. But, in a team battle, Bastian who could revive, command and serve as a war machine still served as my strongest General.
"Don't duel if you can lynch. I've said that before. This is one of the basic strategies of war — Gathering soldiers to get the upper hand to destroy the enemy's isolated and weaker soldiers."
At this moment, when Kakajil's arm that was holding on to the Demon Halberd and his throat was bitten firmly by Bastian, the God Sword of the man in the sky struck relentlessly at the vitals of the Demon Lord. The fate of the isolated Demon Noble who could no longer move was sealed. He could only serve as the punchbag of the charging army.
In the face of the absolute army formed by 24602 Heroic Spirits, no matter how strong he was individually, the only possible ending for him was to get crushed.
However, in the face of a critical situation, the infuriated Demon activated the talent that he could only use once a day.
"Soul Extraction Curse!"
That was a powerful curse created by combining the ability of the Demon Lord and his SemiGod Equipment Kakajil's Soul-Burning Lantern. The target of this curse would have their soul forcefully extracted and for a soul that left the body, there was no way it was able to withstand the attraction of the Soul-Burning Lantern.
However, it chose the wrong target.
The gigantic finger pointed towards me. The black tattoos of the curse spread rapidly across my body in the shape of a spider's web. The next second, it went still.
Indeed, if the summoner of the Soul World died, the Soul World would disappeared along with him. The Royal Knights would have turned back into their original forms as Undead Knights, becoming significantly weaker. Thus, using his strongest talent, his curse, to kill me instantly was a correct strategic move.
But, even though I looked like a living being, I was still dead. Let's first not discuss how a soul could be extracted from the body of a dead person, even the River Styx which had the greatest ability to attract and eat into souls couldn't do anything to my soul, so what could a SemiGod Equipment do?
"Charge!!"
Seeing the master they served being attacked, the Knights were enraged. Even without my orders, they wouldn't have stopped their charge.
After a large AOE Holy Light buff, the silver arrows carrying with it the nemesis of the Demons, Holy Light, turned into a rain of arrows that filled the entire skyline. Just like how corrosive poison worked on living beings, the areas hit by the Holy Light caused the wounds to widen. The area around the impact immediately bloated up and exploded. Perhaps, it might not be really effective against the massive Demon Count, but it was definitely excruciating.
"AHHHHHH! DARNED WORMS!!" Enraged, he smacked away the equally big Bastian. With his remaining hand, he summoned forth a destructive Forbidden Spell.
But my Knights wouldn't simply sit back and allow him to do as he pleased.
As the Heroic Spirit Mages started to show their might, innumerable Magic Restrictions forcefully caused the casting of the Forbidden Spell Meteor Rain to fail again and again. In the end, only a small flame in his palm remains.
That was the helplessness of a Great Mage without cannon fodders to shield him. Facing an entire army of Mage's Magic Restriction, the fact that he was able to summon a small flame meant that his basics were very solid.
After Camisia, leading the charge, cut out a terrifying hole of flesh and blood on the tower-like gigantic legs, the other Knights followed suit like carnivorous ants, inflicting severe wounds on the body of the Demon Count.
Adam made use of this opportunity to stab the Blessing of the Phoenix into Kakajil's eyes, destroying an eye of his among screams of agony. When Bastian expanded once again and crushed Kakajil to the ground, everyone knew that it was the end of the powerful Demon Count.
Kakajil was strong, extremely strong. But, war wasn't a duel. Even if he was strong individually, there was a limit to what he could do alone.
He rolled around on the ground in pain, using his Demon Halberd to shake off the 'little worms' on his body. But, this was no different from suicide. The corrosive blood of the Demon flowed out continuously and due to excessive corrosion, the land he was on started to turn into scorched land.
Very quickly, when his neck was severed, the Demon Count Kakajil finally fell. His massive body gradually turned into ashes.
This time, he had used his true body to descend. Even if he was able to revive, he would have to start afresh from the lowest-tier Demon. Following the fall of the summoner, the Demons to disappeared one by one as they were banished back to their own Dimension.
This time, they didn't get to claim many souls. After the depletion from the journey here and back, the losses they incurred would take centuries to regain.
"Victory!!"
When the horn symbolizing victory was blown, not only on the battlefield, even Sulfur Mountain City, which was not that far away, was hit by a wave of joy. Regardless of whether they had known each other before, the citizens hugged each other in relief, celebrating their survival in this calamity!
But, this was only the start of my trouble.
"Clang!"
The crimson-red God Sword and Silver Sacred Sword clashed together violently. Despite the fact that their master was assaulted, the Heroic Spirits only had the intention to observe the commotion. In fact, a few of them even started accepting bets. All that was lacking was some stools and sunflower seeds to enjoy the battle.
Adam's stupid face was right in front of me and the words that he squeezed out from his gritted teeth were filled with deep resentment.
"Roland… no, Big Brother Rolo, maybe it's about time for us to settle our old score!"
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(The following is Starve's comment about an alternate version of this chapter)
PS. Since someone asked and the plot is here already, I shall explain for a bit. For all 3 of his lives, he started out as a Holy Knight, just that he got into other fields later on. After all, going with something that he was experienced with saved him a lot of effort.
The first time he died was at 14 years old. His second life will be mentioned later on in the series and his 3rd life was the one with his identity as an Adventurer named Rolo.
Btw, I really can't stand the word Mist :X Somehow the feeling feels totally different from Chinese. It was a bit like trying to convert the Han of the Han Dynasty into English. But, Lan Country looks visually ugly.
I realized how little English words there are for angry compared to Chinese today. Also, I will confess that I am getting lazier in typing properly as I anticipate the arrival of my editor.
Somehow, there are 2 different chapters for Chapter 62. The 2 chapters are quite similar in the story flow. The one that I am translating is the newer one but the older one has some details which the newer one doesn't have. I probably won't translate it so I will just put the summary here.
It starts out with him saying that Roland worships the Holy Light, just the Holy Light itself and not the God. After all, other than the fanatics who have a screw loose in their head, no one would worship a system that controls the god power that doesn't have any sense of self. Even so, he is the one closest to the Origin of Holy Light. While viewing it as a tool, he studies and analyses it, which is the main reason how he was able to create the similar Power of Law.
The core of Holy Light is 'Purification'. It is a power that mends the world, destroying everything that doesn't belong to this world and returning the distorted Rules back its original state. It is what the Origin of Order expects of the world.
Its healing abilities is just the reparation of life. It is useless towards those who are reaching the limit of their lifespan, because life, sickness and death are a natural part of life.
However, to the Demons who can distort Rules and Undead, whose existence is a distortion of Rules, the reparation of the distortion is equivalent to destroying them.
So, the Holy Light is the nemesis of Demons and Undead.
Thus, no matter how good it sounds, Holy Light can never rid the world of war. The Judge must be a neutral party. How can the conflict be resolved if one party wants to destroy the other. Wiping away the other party to end the war is a joke (As long as the River Styx continues to flow, Demons will be created endlessly). That is the main reason why I gave up on the Holy Light and created the Power of Law.
Starting out as a Holy Knight for 3 of my lives, I have absolute confidence in my control of Holy Light.
-Then, he buffs his sword and says that if his Soul Imprint Son of Light is still intact, even the Pope would have to bow to how pure his Holy Light was-
-He fights with Adam against Kakajil when joking about-
-Molly swoops down to help him but was driven away by Ein Mezus, who was using a weapon (talon)-
-Margaret summons her Star Spirits to fight with the Demons-
-Molly appears once again and throws Shou into the battle of Adam and Roland against Kakajil, exacting vengeance on the person who used her as a tribute-
-Shou gets destroyed by a three-pronged attack of them 3-
-Molly escapes once again after being scared off by Ein Mezus-
-Using Adam as a distraction, Roland looks for a weak spot in Kakajil's armor and penetrates it, then cutting his veins etc. from within-
-Kakajil is in pain. He destroys his lantern and commands the spirits inside to hunt down Roland who is wreaking havoc in his body-
-Roland uses Holy Light to purify these spirits-
-Kakajil falls-
-Adam and Roland starts fighting (This time it feels more like clashing on friendly terms)-