21st Century Archmage

“Hahh…”

Priest Daterian, the leader of the paladin order, made a sound of consternation.

They successfully divided Lord Kyre’s forces and used the Havis Kingdom army as a decoy to cut all the way up to Denfors, never doubting for a moment that the guards of Denfors would kneel and open the doors before the sacred cross of Neran-nim. In the history of what was called the church, there were hardly any people who disobeyed in the face of God’s name.

But the impudent young lambs of Denfors were currently cheering, their will to fight blazing sky high. Daterian wasn’t the only one feeling flustered—the paladins had never seen such resistance, either. 

It was called a ‘holy war’ when villains threatening the peace of the continent, like demons or black mages, were exterminated. And the punishment of Nerman’s Lord, Kyre, also had that kind of implication. A large-scale meeting of the church had ensued in order to punish the man who kidnapped a priestess and brutally murdered paladins. But the soldiers were deceived by the seeds that evil Kyre sowed, and thus dared to insult the church.

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

Quickly shaking off his bewilderment, a firm order for battle came out of Daterian’s throat. Anyone who interfered with a holy war held in the name of God was a follower of the devil. Arming himself with the arrogant pride of a paladin rooted deep in his bones, Daterian steeled himself. He would offer to an altar the blood of those who disobeyed God.

Excluding 200 paladins who would charge as soon as the gate was open, the rest of the paladins loudly dismounted from their horses. Only an idiot would be stupid enough to charge towards the castle walls on their horse.

“O’ blessed Neran-nim! Your loyal servants shall offer blood in your heavenly name! Every honor we earn today is our prayer to you, may you grant us the strength of courage with your almightyness!”

Daterian gave an intense prayer to God. The knights kneeled and drew crosses.

“Antedatian… Tomsabarshania…”

The priests began to chant a blessing over the heads of the kneeling paladins.

Flaaaaaaash!

Faint blue transparent holy energy drizzled onto the paladins’ bodies. It was a solemn scene that regular commoners would hardly ever have the chance to see. For the past 10 years, no temple had raised the banner of holy war.

Kioooooooooooooooo!

The temple wyverns that had been raised from birth on holy water from the Temple of Neran rejoiced upon seeing the holy light of the blessing and let out long cries.

“In the name of God!”

After the completion of the blessing incantation, Priest Daterian took the lead.

“In the name of God!!!!!!’

Clang!

He unsheathed his sword, which was shimmering with holy blue energy.

Cla-cla-cla-cla-clang!

A thousand paladins followed suit, filling the surroundings with a holy light that outshined the sun.

“ATTAAAAACK!!!!!”

A fierce roar emerged from within the wave of blue light.

“Attack!!!!!”

Their armor gleaming with the blue light of holy power, the paladins charged ahead on foot. 

“FIRE!”

Fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip.

The men of Denfors had already resolved themselves. They fearlessly fired arrows at the paladins. Despite knowing that their arrows would be unable to pierce the armor and protective aura of the paladins, they continued to draw their bows taut.

They were determined to prove their passionate loyalty towards Nerman and their lord, Kyre, with their deaths.

It was a short time, but they had tasted the hope of the future. If their beloved parents, children, and friends could become happy with their sacrifice, that was enough. All of the soldiers knew that their deaths would absolutely not be in vain.

‘My liege… Can you see? The passionate love the people have for you…’

Looking out from the watchtower, Derval’s eyes grew red. 

From the actions of a single person, Nerman had transformed itself dramatically in less than a year.

All of this was the achievement of just one person.

Kyre de Nerman.

It was all thanks to the incredible Lord of Nerman.

* * *

Craaaaaash!

“Aaaaghhhh!”

“B-Block them! Defend the walls at all costs!!!!!”

The screams and shouts of the soldiers and knights echoed across the castle walls.

Kioooooooooo!

Without a single wyvern to guard the skies above them, the guards atop the walls of Denfors were hunted by the plunging wyverns of the paladin Skyknights.

Crunch!

“UAAAGHHHHHH!”

The soldiers desperately firing their bows and clenching their weapons were knocked away like bowling pins by the steel-hard wyvern claws, falling off the castle wall to their deaths.

Step, step.

“I-It is too dangerous.”

Aramis quietly strode towards the source of the splashing blood and screams, the castle walls, without any hesitation. The knights guarding her drew their swords and tried to stop her. However, Aramis, who was biting her lips hard, never stopped walking forward.

“Prepare for wyvern attack!”

Ten mages followed the knights and Aramis. Looking warily into the sky, they prepared to cast magic.

Having overcome incredible hardship from their beastmen instructors, their eyes were sparkling like hawks seeing prey. They were doing everything they could to protect Aramis and the knights. Because they, too, were mages of Nerman, men who would throw away their lives to defend the territory.

CRAAAAASH!

“D-Defend the walls!! Hurl the stones! Pour the oil!!!!!”

They were old, but the walls defending Denfors had been created using techniques from the Bajran Empire. In addition, Lord Kyre had personally strengthened the castle gate with a protective array. Booms resounded as the paladins struck out with their mana-charged blades, but the walls were holding.

“Holy Burst!!!!!”

“Greater Fire!”

The castle gates were not the only things getting barraged. Sacred spells were being unleashed towards the sections of the walls that looked weak, as well. Most people thought that the majority of holy attribute spells were related to healing, opposing dark magic, and blessings, but there were also many offensive spells not inferior to regular spells.

Carrying out a brutal slaughter in the name of the holy war, the priests fired spells at the walls under the protection of the paladins.

Whooooosh!

CRAAAAAASH!

Drawing a long line of light in the air, fearsome holy magic crashed into the walls.

Ruummmmble.

“AAHHHHHHHHH!”

Dozens of soldiers fell along with the crumbling wreckage.

Splaaaaat.

Crushed under the debris of the walls, red blood and flesh went flying everywhere.

“All paladins, retreat from the castle walls!”

The paladins, who didn’t have siege equipment and had to attack the gates in close combat with their holy protective aura and armor alone, heard someone’s shout and quickly jumped back, the arrows raining down from the walls bouncing off them.

KUOOOOOOOO!

At that moment, the wyverns preparing above flew towards the castle gates in tandem.

Schwip!

Ten Blessed Spears whistled through the air, shooting towards the walls like blue lightning bolts filled with holy power.

“D-DODGE!!!!!!!” screamed the knight in command on the walls.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bam.

Ten spears that lodged themselves deep into the castle gate, the sound of the impact quieter than expected. For a moment, it seemed that the protective array on the gate had properly blocked the spears filled with powerful holy power.

Whiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrr!

Cruuuuuumble.

However, that hopeful thought died in an instant. Breaking through the protective magic array, the holy power from the spears and the array clashed, causing a vibration so strong that the walls next to the gate began to crumble.

“D-Dange—”

Derval, who had been watching everything unfold, began to mumble a single word.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

Even before he could finish uttering it, an enormous explosion rocked the city.

BOOOOOOM!

The clash of two powerful, opposing energies, the holy power in the spears and the mana of the protective array on the gate, created an explosion of unimaginable proportions.

Crash! Craaaash!

Ruuuuuuumble.

The hundreds of soldiers positioned on the walls above the gate were flung away by the explosion, and dozens of meters of the nearby walls collapsed from the shock of the explosion. Spears from regular knights would not have been able to achieve such insane explosive power, but the power granted by what was called mana from the Gods, holy power, was beyond imagination.

“….”

The red dust was carried off by the winter wind, revealing a gruesome scene. The attacking paladins and defending soldiers all stopped moving, staring blankly in silence at the tragedy that had occurred.

This was something no one had expected. A single action had robbed the lives of hundreds, leaving ruins where the castle gate had stood. The wreckage was scattered with the helmets, spears, and shields of lost men.

Inside a sea of blood.

“Surrender… Even now, if you toss down your weapons, you will be forgiven.”

The leader of the paladins, Daterian, had quickly led the mounted paladins to the wall. He told the soldiers atop the wall to surrender, his eyes hard.

But not a single person put down their weapon.

Not a single person went wild with fear upon seeing the deaths of their comrades.

Clink, clang.

They clenched their swords, spears, and shields, glaring at the slaughterers, radiating intense bloodthirst towards the paladins who had killed so many of their own.

Step, step, step, step.

It wasn’t just them. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people could be seen beyond the debris of the castle gate. Every man who could hold a weapon showed up with swords, pitchforks, and at the very least, clubs.

The people bared the rage dwelling in their hearts from the many years of oppression they suffered from monsters and countless formidable enemies. They walked without pause towards the paladins, existences they would have worshipped like the heavens itself in normal circumstances.

“O’ Neran-nim… Forgive the rotten sinners who have been tainted by evil…”

Looking at the people who were exuding bloodthirst along with the soldiers towards the paladins, Daterian drew a cross and called God. 

The order of Cardinal Torphon rang out in his head. ‘Make everyone who disobeys the name of God cross the River Lute into the afterlife’—had been the order.

And Daterian, a proud guardian of Neran, was not afraid.

This was what a holy war was. A single city, thousands of lives… Those were nothing before God’s honor. In a previous holy war, hundreds of thousands of souls tainted by evil had been guided across the river to Hell.

“All those who stand in our way are children of the Evil God, Kerma! Exterminate all the foul beasts interfering with the holy war! In the name of God!!!!!!!”

Touched by madness, Daterian gave the command to murder everyone.

“In the name of God!!!!!!”

Under the inviolable, holy shield of ‘In the name of God,’ the paladins recovered from their daze.

There was nothing left in their path of destruction.

A knight order might be able to desperately defend the broken gate somehow, but the people standing before them were soldiers with aura-less weapons and furious citizens. They couldn’t see a single person who could block even a single blow from their holy blades.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The paladins quickly formed ranks and began to advance, just as they had been trained to do, holding swords gleaming with holy power bluer than mana.

* * *

“Ah…”

Derval murmured at the sight of the first tragedy he had ever seen in his life.

He thought they could somehow endure to some extent, but a few spears caused an explosion of unprecedented proportions, destroying everything, as he could only watch, his mouth agape.

Hundreds of soldiers had been concentrated over the gate. In the explosion, they perished without even being able to scream a cry of death.

Derval clenched the hilt of the longsword in his one hand.

The only thing he could do was to watch in sadness like this. His heart was thumping wildly as if to gallop out of his ribcage, but with a single groan, he suppressed all his rage.

“Un…forgivable… bastards…”

Derval, who was not particularly religious but also not particularly opposed to it, gritted out a curse. The paladins armed with shimmering blue holy power were walking towards the soldiers and citizens holding useless, dead lumps of metal. A brutal slaughter was about to occur under the grandiose slogan of ‘In the name of God.’ 

Unable to bring himself to look, Derval looked up into the sky.

“….!”

And then, he saw it.

Far, far, in the distance, a single black dot appeared from the dark blanket of clouds in the winter sky.

“M-My liege!”

It was impossible to see so far into the distance with normal eyes, but Derval had already recognized his liege through the eyes of his heart. The hot tears he’d been holding back went rolling down his cheeks. His liege was alone, but his appearance alone could dash away all of Derval’s fears.

“You bastards… are all dead now!”

Turning his head, he looked at the paladins, who had advanced through the walls. He did not doubt that the path they were walking was the road to Hell.

“OUR LIEGE HAS COME!!!!! THE MASTER OF NERMAN, LORD KYRE, HAS COMEEEEEE!!!!!”

Raising his sword high into the air, Derval screamed with all his might.

All eyes instantly turned to him. That was the kind of weight the name of Lord Kyre, Master of Nerman, commanded.

And then, everyone’s gazes followed Derval’s into the sky. There, past the ten wyverns of the temple flying above Denfors, they saw a small, black dot.

Flash!

A blue dot flashed in the sky, drawing everyone’s attention. Like a blue bolt of lightning striking the earth in the dead of night, a single bolt cut through the dark sky.

BAM!

A muffled explosion rang out as the lightning struck a temple wyvern.

KWAAAAAAAAAAK!

And then came the wyvern’s cry of agony, so loud the air itself seemed to vibrate. Careening in chaotic circles with one wing, it crashed into the ground.

THUUUD!

Crashing to the ground from a height that was easily hundreds of meters, besides the impact reverberating on the ground, the wyvern screamed no more.

At the same time, unable to flee with Fly magic because he was caught by surprise, the paladin Skyknight lay akimbo over his dead wyvern.

The spear that had punched through the wyvern’s right wing all the way into the body sparkled with blue mana, shining like a radiant jewel.