Chapter 521 – Late (6)

"No–!"

The fire that looked like a wild animal with sharp fangs struck down to rip Alberu's body apart.
Taylor was leaning forward so much that it looked as if he might fall over the ledge as he screamed.

"Your highness!"
"S, shoot that with magic immediately!"
"What the hell is the Knights Brigade doing?! Open the gates! I need to go out there!"

A portion of the vassals who had come with Alberu could not hide their astonishment.

'…No, this isn't it!'

Taylor's mind was going blank.
Yes, he should not have let his highness go out in the first place.

'Even if I had to throw a fit or hold onto him for dear life, I should have made his highness stay inside the castle!'

The Royal Knights Brigade was too busy defending against the wyverns to protect Alberu.
They were trying their best.
However, they could not do anything about the fact that there were not more of them.

'If Mr. Choi Han was here...!'

Something like this would not have happened if Choi Han was here instead of those knights.
Taylor became weak the moment he had that thought.

'…This is the Roan Kingdom's weakness.'

The weakness of the Roan Kingdom that was growing quickly on the Western continent was this.

'We only rely on a few select people.'

Taylor hated the fact that he was hoping for Cale to quickly head over even as he realized this weakness.
But there was nothing he could do about it.

'I need to do my part...! But there is nothing I can do. I am weak. I am doing my best, but none of it is useful to block the White Star's attack right now.'

"…What do I do?"

Taylor started to fall to the ground as he felt his strength leave his body as he could only watch as the White Star's fire sword struck down on Alberu.

Plop.

One of his knees touched the floor. The coldness from the floor traveled up his body.
He knelt on one knee and grabbed the ledge and looked toward the sword that was about to slash Alberu.

'…His highness who is a high-grade swordsman cannot block that attack.'

He felt as if his own body was going to rip.
His vision started to turn dark.

It was at that moment.

"…Ah?"

His vision brightened.
Everything started to become bright.

"…Ah!"

The questioning gasp turned into a shocked gasp.
He pushed off the ground with his knee while tightening his grip on the ledge.
He subconsciously stood up.

"…Your highness!"

'His highness, he…!'

"No, this, what?!"

He could not speak properly.
He could not believe it even after seeing it with his own eyes.

His body leaned forward a little more over the edge.
Taylor could hear one of the territory soldiers who was pointing his arrow to prevent the enemy invasion mumble to himself at that moment.

"…Light."

Taylor said the same thing as if he was out of it.

"…It's light."

As the soldier mentioned, Taylor was looking at light.
Through the fire that looked like it would gobble everything up…in between the white wyvern's cold and large wings…

There was light shooting up.

It was small in size compared to the other two, but it was clearly making its presence known.
Taylor and the soldier were not the only ones blanking out because of the light.

"Oh, my goodness."

The vassals who had come with Alberu from the capital could not speak after seeing the sight in front of them as well.

"W, what is that?"

An administrator who had been urgently called over to deal with supply issues grabbed onto a general and asked.
He almost shouted in an urgent but happy manner.

"W, what is that sword in his highness's hand? General, do you know what it is?"

A sword made of light.
A sword of light shining as radiantly as the sun was in Alberu's hand.

"I, I don't know. I've never-"

The General did not know the identity of that sword.
It was at that moment.

The Mage Brigade Captain started to speak.

"That is magic! That sword is made of magic!"
"What did you say?"

Everybody looked shocked.

'Magic?'

"That means-"

The vassal holding onto the General mumbled to himself.

"A magic swordsman…? His highness is a magic swordsman?"

The vassal then remembered what Alberu had said while looking down at them in the throne room.

'Do I look weak to all of you? You are making a grave mistake if you do think that.'

The General he was holding onto started to speak at that moment.

"…There are a few reasons the military leaders follow his highness."

'What was he talking about?'

The vassal looked toward the General.
The General recalled what Alberu had told him before they came here.

'People who are already preparing for defeat will not be able to persist. Use me. Raise their morale.'

He had asked Alberu a question about it.

'Your highness. I don't understand what you mean by that.'
'It's good if you keep not knowing what I mean. I'm just telling you to do that if the time comes when you understand what I mean.'

The General now understood the meaning behind Alberu's words.

The allied soldiers who were scared because of the White Star…
He needed to raise their morale.
Only then would they be able to persist.

The General's mind cleared up.
He recalled what Alberu said before he headed out of the castle.

'You see, I… I am someone who knows how to do my part.'

Alberu had said that to Marquis Taylor Stan, but the General realized how idly he had been standing here.
That was why he tensed up and started to speak to the people looking at him.

"One of the reasons the military leaders follow his highness is because his highness is a highest-grade expert."
"Gasp!"

Someone gasped.

A highest-grade expert.
That was the level right below sword master.

He was such a talented swordsman?
None of them could hide their shock.

At the same time, they also realized that the spell Alberu cast was quite a high level skill as well.

An odd sensation started from on top of the walls and started to spread throughout the ally formation.
The General immediately shouted toward the Mage Brigade Captain.

"Captain! How much longer for the shield?"
"10 minutes! I just need 10 more minutes!"

The General immediately raised his voice.

"10 minutes! We just need to hold on for ten more minutes! Fire your arrows! We will protect the castle at all costs!"

He shouted toward the soldiers looking at him.

"Look over there! His highness is holding the White Star back! That is why we can do it too!"

They could do it and they needed to do it.
He felt like it was possible.

The odd sensation surrounding the castle walls quickly turned into a burning passion.
The Stan territory's mage who was responsible for messages urgently ran toward Taylor.

"Lord-nim!"

He was huffing but did not stop talking as he reported while holding a video communication device.

"The Henituse territory called saying they will send us reinforcements!"

'The Henituse territory? …Reinforcements from so far away? Reinforcements from the Henituse territory and not young master Cale?'

Taylor's eyes sparkled while he had multiple questions on his mind.

His heart was beating fast.
An unknown sense of anticipation filled his mind.

'We can do it.'

He believed they could do something.

The mage continued his report.

Everybody held their breaths as they waited for his report.

The Henituse territory.

That location was like a sign of victory for the Roan Kingdom.

"They said that the teleportation magic circle is ready and that they will send the people his highness asked for as soon as they get your permission!"

'…His highness prepared them in advance?'

Taylor quickly responded without looking around.

"Tell them that we request reinforcements immediately!"

He didn't know what kind of reinforcements they would receive from the Henituse territory since it was not Cale.
However, he was certain about something.

The flow of battle might change.

Just as how the atmosphere around the battlefield was changing right now, he felt that something that could change the flow of battle that determines victory or defeat was approaching.

Taylor realized that he definitely needed to do his part to make that flow turns out to be victorious for their side.
He motioned to the General with his eyes and started to shout.

"Focus on attacking the wyverns!"

It was at that moment.

Baaaaang!

Taylor heard a loud explosion.
He turned his head in shock and then bit down on his lips.

Alberu's sword and the White Star's sword were clashing against each other.

The White Star's fire still seemed as if it would gobble up Alberu's light, but Alberu was persisting.

Taylor suddenly recalled when the northern Indomitable Alliance declared that they would attack the Roan Kingdom.
He recalled how the Roan Kingdom, as the representative of the Western continent, had responded.

'The Roan Kingdom is the kingdom with the longest history on the Western continent. We will show them the strength of the survivors.'

Alberu Crossman had been the one to say that.
He had lost his mother at an early age and had lost the king's trust.
He continued to persist throughout it all until he became the influential future king and the Roan Kingdom's true sun.

He felt that the Roan Kingdom and Alberu Crossman's life were very similar.
The Roan Kingdom had persisted and persisted until it was finally spreading its wings now.

'…There wasn't necessarily only one person to trust and follow.'

Taylor watched Alberu fight in his armor and helmet with the sword of light before turning around.

He had things to do.
His steps were full of energy.

Baaaaaaaaaang! Baaaaang-

He heard loud noises behind him again, but he did not turn back.
It was because he trusted Alberu.

Alberu was smiling at that moment.
However, nobody could see it because of his helmet.

"…You bastard!"

However, his enemy could not hide his anger as he glared at the helmeted Alberu.
The White Star was shouting in anger and disbelief.

"You bastard… you're a Dark Elf?"

He didn't know how Alberu had hidden it, but he was certain that Alberu was a Dark Elf.
Others may not have seen it, but he had seen how Alberu used dead mana to create light.
The White Star's fire instantly roared toward Alberu's shoulder.

Baaaaang!

However, Alberu's sword of light pushed it back before the fire sword could reach his shoulder.
Alberu started to speak in a laughing tone at that moment.

"A Dark Elf? Who? Me? Should I give you the answer if you're so curious?"

He sounded as if he was making fun of the White Star.

"Did you know?"

The sword of light that Alberu had been holding with both hands was moved to his right hand.
Black mana appeared for a moment in his empty left hand before turning into a water spear.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

That spear was quickly flung toward the White Star.
The White Star twisted his body and struck the water spear with his fire sword.

Alberu continued to speak at that moment.

"If a weakling is someone who reveals everything… An expert is someone who hides at least half of what he can do."

Baaaaang!

The fire sword cut through the water spear.
It had no issues doing so.

However, a sharp light shot toward him through the exploding water the moment he slashed the water spear.
The White Star could hear Alberu's jovial voice.

"In that sense, I am an expert."
"You bastard!"

Bang!

Alberu and the White Star glared at each other as their swords clashed once again.
In those short few seconds…

The White Star could get a sense of Alberu's level of strength in that short moment.

'I didn't give it my all, but he was able to block my attacks multiple times.'

The crown prince in front of him was a highest-grade expert just under the level of a sword master.

His magic level seemed to be between high-grade and highest-grade as well.
He wasn't a highest-grade mage, but…

'…He has an abnormally large amount of dead mana.'

How the hell did the Roan Kingdom's crown prince have the characteristics of a Dark Elf?
He also had no idea how Alberu could be in possession of so much dead mana.

However, he was certain about one thing.

'He's troublesome.'

Cale Henituse had an abnormally large number of ancient powers, but his body was weak.
Choi Han was extremely talented with the sword, however, he knew nothing about magic.
Rosalyn was famous for her magic but was not a talented swordsman.

Alberu Crossman who was in front of him was not especially strong in any area like those three individuals.
However, he…

'His balance is amazing.'

…Was balanced.

That was why he was troublesome.

"…Looks like I need to get serious."

He could not let a troublesome bastard hold him back.

'I was trying to save as much power as possible because I don't know when Cale Henituse might arrive, but…'

The White Star had been conserving energy because he didn't know when Cale and his group who should be fighting against the noble bastards on the Eastern continent would come back, but he decided to change his thinking.

Ooooooo-

The area around the White Star started to shake.
The fire sword slowly started to shrink in size.
However, unlike its smaller body, the aura of the sword became much more violent than before.

The White Star started to speak to Alberu without any hesitation.

"We need to chat, so I will destroy every part of your body other than your mouth."

It was at that moment.

"You're going to do that to me? Ha!"

Alberu was laughing.

"How funny."

The White Star then heard the castle gate starting to open.

Screeeech-

The castle gate opened.
The White Star's eyes opened wide.
Alberu's eyes clouded over at that moment.

"They're here."

Alberu could see the warriors heading out of the castle gate.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The ground shook every time these warriors took a step.
The leader of these warriors started to speak to the person standing next to him.

"We made up our minds to respond to his highness's request, but will you be okay?"
"Yes, I'll be fine, Grandpa Gashan."

The berserk Tigers walked out on their hind legs. Their baggy clothes fluttered in the wind.

Duke Deruth had sent a message to Harris Village a moment ago and the Tiger tribe who now lived in Harris Village happily came to the Stan territory after hearing the crown prince's request.

"I will be out there with you."

Next to Gashan was the Blue Wolf boy Lock with a large shield in his hand.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]