21st Century Archmage

“He still hasn’t appeared yet?”

“I am told he has not yet shown himself in Nerman yet.”

“Kukuku. How amusing. To think he’d run away after challenging me.”

All the soldiers of the Dark Empire had left for the battlefield. Other than several dozen Death Knights and about a thousand Hell Soldiers to guard the Imperial Capital, the city had been emptied of the rest of its high-level forces. Within the empty Imperial Palace, Altakas’ adjutant, Galuaice, reported the details he had received from the black merchant group.

“All of our preparations are complete. With thy order, oh Master of Darkness, Nerman will instantly become a festival of hell.”

“The time has come for me to take action, I see. It is time to meet the one called Aidal. Kukuku.”

Aidal, the purported 8th Circle mage, was once as notorious as a black mage. Altakas’ lips curled into a dark smile as he thought of the man he would soon meet in battle. He was set on catching Aidal and turning him into an 8th Circle Dark Guardian.

“Warp Gate!”

Still sitting on the throne, Altakas cast the 8th Circle teleportation magic.

Flash!

Because he used yin-attribute mana, the circular Warp Gate that appeared in the palace was as black as night.

“Let’s go.”

“By thy will.”

Altakas walked cheerfully towards the Warp Gate.

Whirrr.

And then, he disappeared through it, as did Galuaice who followed him.

Flash!

Once the two people disappeared, the spatial door closed with a burst of light.

The big battle that would decide the fate of the Kallian Continent… finally began.

* * *

‘My liege, just where are you?!’

“Th-Their numbers are astounding! We cannot see because of the darkness, but there seem to be more of them than was determined in the daytime.”

“Hundreds of thousands of monsters have swarmed out of the Kovilan Mountains. In just a few hours, they will reach the wall.”

“Please permit the sortie of the 4th Flight stationed in Dalphoia!”

“The Kingdom Skyknights are agitated. They are collectively refusing to work with the Kesmire pirates.”

The Dark Empire’s soldiers had crossed over the Havis Kingdom’s borders, and now, they were finally situated within direct view of the Nerman border fort. However, their side could not launch a preemptive attack. Death Wyverns that sent a chill down the spine to merely look at were guarding the army, so the Continental Coalition that had gathered in Nerman did not dare to attack.

There was also internal conflict. The Kingdom Coalition stubbornly rejected the Kesmire Kingdom and Haildrian Empire’s reinforcements in a show of the Central Continent’s typical discriminatory mindset. Although they hadn’t taken as much damage from Kesmire’s maritime dominance as the nations in the east, the kingdoms blatantly scorned the Kesmire troops for being pirates. On top of that, the paladins also refused to listen to orders. The paladins who were used to only taking orders from the gods or cardinals were standing by in a temporary covert near Nerman Castle.

‘Archmage Aidal… needs to block the advance well.’

At least the mages followed Aidal’s orders with desperate fervor. Because of his 100-year-old famous reputation of being ill-tempered, they were dragged to the fort, no buts allowed.

‘The Lord must return to give the absolute orders. Otherwise… we will be defeated.’

Lord Kyre said he was heading out to get help from the Temir people, but two weeks had already passed since his departure. It was a godsend that the Dark Empire stayed their hand for whatever reason, seemingly waiting for something. If they had attacked earlier, it would have been a disaster. The problem was just that severe. The people who came to lend their help refused to listen to anyone. Only Countess Irene from the Bajran Empire and the reinforcements from Kesmire and Haildrian listened to Derval, while the Kingdom Coalition and paladins refused.

‘We need people who will give their lives for Nerman, not people who will flee as soon as the battle turns sour.’

The biggest problem was the Kingdom Skyknights who made up the biggest portion of the reinforcements. Every kingdom other than the Lialion, Defort, and Yukane Kingdoms that suffered invasions from the Mercenary Kingdom and the Dark Empire sent reinforcements. They were supposed to be a coalition, but the Skyknights only took orders from the eleven highest-ranking nobles who participated.

‘Dammit…’

Nerman absolutely needed the Kingdom Coalition. So far, the Death Wyvern count was estimated to be around 1,500. With Nerman’s wyverns included, their side had over 3,000 wyverns, but the scales were still tipped way against them. The Death Wyverns and Death Skyknights that could simply brush off three or four Blessed Spears were the very essence of terror.

‘I’m not sure how effective Archmage Aidal’s idea will be.’

Of course, it wasn’t like they were completely without countermeasures. The holy water made by Saintess Aramis was a fatal weapon against Death Knights. The Continental Coalition’s wyverns were fitted with leak-proof holy water containers that Skyknights could dip Blessed Spears into. The plan was to coat the spears with holy water before firing to deal damage to the undead.

‘Those damn paladins.’

But there was an even easier method than that. If the paladins and priests blessed the spears with holy power before the battle, their weapons would be just as effective. However, for whatever braindead reason, the damned paladins refused to move.

‘My liege, where are you?!’

The seamless cloak of night had fallen. It was the moonless night leading into the first day of the month belonging to the God of Wind and Freedom, Bormio. Everything was unfavorable for them.

‘My liege…’

Craning his head into the dark sky, Derval sought his liege. He confirmed once again that only his liege Kyre could save Nerman from this crisis.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

“Tch, this is the problem with young’uns these days. They’re so antsy to take advantage of the elderly, seriously.”

Standing in a watchtower of the border fort his disciple had built to prevent enemies from coming into Nerman ever again, Aidal muttered a constant stream of dissatisfaction.

He came to the Kallian Continent after a long period of absence because his newly fitted magic crystal was full of mana, and because he was bored, but now, he was well and properly wrapped up in the affairs of his disciple. It was great and all that his disciple Kang Hyuk became a 7th Circle magic swordsman, seized Nerman to become its lord, and built a mansion that was suitable for Aidal’s use, but things went strangely awry. Just 100 years ago, he made his name with magic and received unlimited admiration(?) as the only mage to have reached the 8th Circle.

But then, he appeared. Aidal tried his best to ignore the glaring truth out of disdain for black magic, but the magic swordsman named Altakas had apparently reached the 8th Circle earlier than himself. Just thinking about him made Aidal’s head throb.

‘Should I just bounce?’

The mana density was so high here that his mana crystal was already charged up again. He only had to sneak off to a remote place and complete the dimensional teleportation array, and he could kiss the Kallian Continent goodbye forever.

‘Ach, that’s too embarrassing.’

An 8th Circle archmage who had once ruled the world running away because he was scared of an 8th Circle black mage would leave a permanent stain in the Continent’s history.

‘But I might really become orc poop like this.’

Outside the fort, he saw hundreds of thousands of blue, yellow, and red monster eyes shining in the darkness. He didn’t fear them, but to be honest, he feared the man named Altakas lurking behind them. Aidal had lived 200 years, but he felt he could easily go another 100 or so years. He didn’t want to return to mana’s embrace at such a young, strapping age.

“That Hyuk, why I oughta—!”

He misdirected his anger at his disciple Kang Hyuk.

“Hey! You there, stand up straight! If the defenses break at your position, there’ll be a hole in your head next!”

At least the 8th Circle defensive array on the fort was reassuring. Apparently, the elves had installed it, and it was pretty decent.

“Welcome, Altakas. Today, I’ll give you a real nosebleed.”

He had long since passed the age at which one’s blood would boil at the thought of battle, but Aidal still burned with quite a lot of fighting spirit. Grinding his teeth, he glared into the darkness.

* * *

“The monsters are rushing in!”

“Everyone at the ready! The black mages are also coming!”

The cities facing the Kovilan Mountains weren’t a part of Nerman’s main front line. After the reorganization of the territory into administrative divisions, a few castles were built to be the centers of new cities. A frantic commotion was ensuing on the walls of one such city, Dalphoia, which was also the residence of Nerman’s 4th Flight.

As soon as darkness fell, hundreds of thousands of monsters began to pour out of the Kovilan Mountains. They knew it was coming, but it was impossible to not feel tense about the monsters that broke through the Skyknight defense line and were rapidly closing in.

Thud thud thud thud, thud thud thud thud.

The earth rumbled in the darkness like a charging order of knights. The people on the wall began to see the monsters, barely illuminated by the faint light of the stars in the moonless sky.

“My god…”

“H-How can there be so many?”

Hearing about hundreds of thousands was different from seeing hundreds of thousands. The 5,000 soldiers guarding the walls and the village militias combined made 15,000 soldiers in total. As they watched the monsters rumbling in and surrounding the walls in moments, they felt their hearts sink.

Schwiiiiiiiiiiip. Ba-ba-ba-bam. Squeaaaaaal.

In the skies above the monsters, the Skyknights of the 4th Flight hurled iron spears instead of Blessed Spears. But the monsters completely ignored the wyverns and spears, fixing their bloodthirsty eyes on the castle ahead. Even when the monster next to them died, they stayed stock still with nary a flinch.

Kugaaaaaaaaaarrr! Kakukikikikikiki.

The sharp cries of demon beasts rang out from amongst the monsters that had been arranging themselves into neat rows.

Graaaaaaaaaa! Kiruuuuuuuuuu!

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!

As if the monsters had been waiting for the signal, they marched in unison towards the castle.

“F-Fire! Fire your arrows!”

“YEAAAAAAH!”

At the monsters’ advance, the order to fire was given, and a cheer to drive away their terror traveled along the walls.

Schwiiiiiiiiiiiip. Flaaash! Flaaash!

The magic tower mages who were sent from Central to support the city cast Light into the sky.

“Knights, aim for the large monsters and demon beasts!”

“Lightning Field!”

“Chain Lightning!”

“Fire Field!”

A parade of spells crashed down on the monsters charging through the rain of arrows.

Craaaaaaaaash! Fwoooooooooooooooosh. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Kwaaaaaak! Kwehhk.

There were monsters to hit in every direction, so the spells were fired at random. As they landed, the screams of monsters shook the air. 

And with that, Dalphoia became the first of Nerman’s cities to be attacked.

“Never back down! Face straight forward and fight for Nerman and for the Lord, soldiers of Nerman!!!!!”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

At one knight’s mana-charged shout, the soldiers holding their weapons cheered. Even if they died, they could never, ever give up on Nerman. This was their land, land they would protect with their blood.

* * *

‘These bastards!’

As soon as I got back in Nerman territory, I began to hear various reports through the communicator in my helmet. A hectic flurry of messages came and went over the communication line.

‘It’s already the promised day.’

The Temir people counted their days differently from the Continent. They had their own system based on the sky and moon. I knew that quite a lot of time had passed while I was ascending to the 8th Circle, but I didn’t expect it to already be the dawn of the day I had arranged with Altakas. Something I would have regretted even in death came within a hairbreadth of happening.

“Dalphoia is under concentrated attack. Their goal appears to be the 4th Flight Covert.”

“Send the paladins! They will be an enormous help.”

“We can’t! The paladins have gotten orders from the priests to stay put!”

“Those fucking bastards!”

The furious knights in charge of the communication line spat vulgar curses. My helmet was made to command the entire battlefield, so its reception range was very wide. Through it, I was able to grasp the general gist of what was happening during the flight.

‘Those who don’t listen need to be hit first.’

Nerman was not their playground. Bastards who should be working their butts off if they came to help were sitting around at their leisure. I had never liked the temples and the kingdoms to begin with, and today, I would educate them once and for all.

‘There’s still no word of the border fort being attacked. Since that’s the case, let’s handle the monsters first.’

There wasn’t enough time to smack sense into the paladins right now. If we continued on our current flight path, we would reach Dalphoia in 30 minutes.

Unbeknownst to our enemies, the Temir warriors and I were speeding across the heart of Nerman to rain down retribution.

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