21st Century Archmage

“K-Keep them from going over the walls!”

Thud! Thud!

“Defend the castle gate to the very end! Attack the ogres!”

No matter how many they killed and killed, the monsters’ onslaught had no end. Not even one hour had passed since the battle’s begin, but the mages were out of mana, and the knights had run out of Blessed Spears.

The battle became a siege. Despite not having a single ladder normally required in a siege, the monsters used the corpses of their allies as ladders to clamber up the walls.

Kuaaaaaaaa! Chwiiiiiiik!

Moreover, the monsters were able to leap to the top of the walls in no time using their characteristic leaping ability. The large monsters like ogres and trolls were smashing away at the walls using massive hammers they had procured from who knows where.

“Maintain your positions! If this place falls, the people within the city will lose their lives!”

With the establishment of administrative divisions, quite a few territory residents were shuffled around. One day before the battle’s start, everyone evacuated to take refuge in the castle. They numbered a staggering 30 thousand. It wasn’t much compared to other territories, but for Nerman, which suffered from a dire lack of population, 30 thousand was an extremely meaningful number. That was almost 1/20 of their entire population. With the soldiers added to that number, nearly 50 thousand lives depended on this castle. It could not be allowed to fall.

“Huhuhu, they’re finished now. No one out there can help you.”

The black mages snickered as they controlled the demon beasts commanding the monsters from within the darkness. Because the demon realm was once their home, demon beasts instinctively craved dark mana. Even though their original abilities were watered down after thousands of years on the Continent, the instinct passed down in their blood made them easy prey for the black mages. And now, the tamed demon beasts were commanding the monsters to swiftly carry out the siege. At least 100,000 monsters had died over the span of less than one hour, but there were still a good 300,000 monsters left. 

Today, the Goddess of Victory was smiling not at the Nerman soldiers, but at the monsters.

GUOOOOOOO! Kauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

‘Hm?’

Through the black merchant group, the Dark Empire had already become familiar with Nerman’s military structure. In order to divide the 4th Flight, several thousand monsters were attacking the other castles in addition to the main force here. Therefore, there were only about 50 wyverns flying in the sky over the battlefield, resorting to dangerous swoops with their wyverns because they had run out of spears. So why was there a chorus of energetic wyvern cries coming from the distance?

Alarmed, the black mages squinted into the dark sky.

“Gasp!”

“Th-That’s—!”

And then, they saw them—hundreds of wyverns appearing under the faint starlight.

Sch-sch-sch-sch-schwip. Fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip.

Hundreds of shooting stars fell upon the heads of the monsters fiercely attacking the castle.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam. KWEKK! SQUEAAAL!

A huge hole was ripped into the crowd of monsters attacking the castle gate.

“MY BELOVED SOLDIERS OF NERMAN! I HAVE COME! YOUR LORD HAS COME!”

And then, the black mages heard a voice filled with an incredible amount of mana.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

“THE LORD HAS COME! OUR LORD HAS COME!!!!!”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

An ear splitting roar came from the flagging soldiers of Dalphoia Castle. The feverishly attacking monsters stopped, shocked by the magnitude of the cheer.

“RAG! NA! BLAST!”

And then, the black mages clearly heard the 7th Circle AOE fire spell incantation.

An inverted pentagram magic circle 200 meters in diameter instantly appeared at the feet of the black mages, demon beasts, and monsters standing by at the rear.

“…!!”

Because they were mages, they were well aware of the 7th Circle Ragna Blast’s destructive power.

After sucking in the atmospheric mana it needed almost instantly, the massive magic circle flashed with a red light.

BOOOOOOOOOOM! FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

With an earth-shaking explosion, red flames surged up within the inverted pentagram magic circle, shooting 50 meters into the air.

And all those within disappeared before the scream could even leave their throats, leaving nothing, not even a tiny shard of bone, like there had been nothing there in the first place.

* * *

“Fire Storm!”

After Ragna Blast, I followed up with another 7th Circle AOE fire spell.

Whoooooooooooooosh. Fwooosh, fwooosh, fwoooooooosh.

A storm of magic flames covered the earth, sweeping not only over the monsters clinging to the walls, but also over the thousands of monsters lingering in the rear like cowards.

SQUEAAAAAAL! KAUUUU!

It was hell on earth. The Fire Storm imbued with my powerful mana had a range of 500 meters. The densely clustered monsters within the scope of the magic flames melted away, and the monsters lucky enough to be outside of its range fled desperately away from the flaming debris.

‘You wicked-black-dung-fly bastards.’

Even from the air, I had clearly sensed the impure yin-attribute mana below. I could feel that the black mages were controlling the monsters using mana gathered through various wicked means instead of walking the path of a pure black mage like Tarkania. I fired my spells using the black mages as a locus.

“KUOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Uhoo uhoo, uhoo, uhoohoohoo!”

They only got to rest a few times on the flight here, but the Temir warriors were still full of energy. They were howling wildly while hurling spears like crazy.

‘Sigh, I told them not to worry about the spears, but they’re seriously going all out.’

Nerman’s spear reserves were considerable, so I told them to attack without restraint. That  excited them, and they were even wasting spears on orcs.

“My liege!”

My helmet rang with the happy voice of Janice, the leader of the 4th Flight.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“N-Not at all, my liege.”

Her voice was tearful. In my opinion, there had been something more between Janice and Ryker. She must have suffered a shock because of Ryker, who shed his knight position like an old shoe. A monster attack as hopeless as the one today must have wounded her pride as a Skyknight, too.

“Have your flight land in the covert and resupply. Once the monsters are repelled, mobilize the soldiers to collect the spears.”

“As you command!” Janice chirped, apparently so happy to hear my command that she responded as briskly as ever despite being close to tears. But after a pause, she quietly called my name again. “My liege…”

“Speak.”

“Thank you. For loving Nerman this much… thank you.”

“…”

Nerman was Janice’s homeland. I felt my heart warm at her words. I could feel that she sincerely loved Nerman as much as I did.

“Work hard for a little longer. Once this war is over, I’ll go grab that rascal Ryker and make him kneel in front of you.”

“Hohoho, understood. I am counting on you to make it happen, my liege.”

Her voice was full of happiness, as if she had never cried at all.

Kugehhh. Kuraaaaa. Ruuuuuuuuumble.

After the black mages and a majority of the demon beasts commanding from the rear burned to a crisp, the monsters returned to their senses. They turned, fleeing desperately towards their home, the Kovilan Mountains.

‘Just wait! The Lord of Nerman, Kyre, is coming!’

Once the monsters fled, I immediately turned towards Denfors. The wretched souls who dared to sit around putting on airs on Nerman soil were really in for it today.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

Altakas, the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction, arrived in the camp using Warp Gate. The camp housed the Hell Soldiers who, having lost their souls, stood stock still instead of maintaining the weapons that should be as important to a soldier as their life. There were also the Death Knights commanding those soldiers. A mana net had been cast over the camp, and with the darkness of the night, it was turned completely invisible.

Once their master appeared, the Death Knights bowed their heads. In the air, all of the Death Wyverns were maintaining stationery flight, as if they never tired.

“All of the preparations are complete. We await thy command.”

The waiting black mages and priests of Kerma awaited Altakas’ command. The monsters amassed in the Kovilan Mountains were already attacking Nerman’s cities. Wearing a smile of satisfaction, Altakas focused his gaze on one part of the fort.

“That bastard must be the rookie named Aidal.”

He called the 200-year-old Aidal a rookie. If Altakas’ first love had not ended in failure, Aidal would have only been as old as his great-grandchild. He looked past the mana net and stared at the white-haired man standing in one of the watchtowers.

Bzzt.

Feeling Altakas’ gaze, Aidal turned his head. With several kilometers between them, their auras clashed in midair.

“He smells like delicious mana.”

Only the 8th Circle magic swordsman Altakas could smell that sweet scent of mana. Though his lips curled into a smile, his eyes were filled with cold bloodthirst.

* * *

‘Eurgh!’

Because they were under the cover of a mana net, nobody else could see the movements of the Dark Empire soldiers. Only the 8th Circle mage Aidal could see through it. He recognized that the man he’d been dreading had just arrived. Even if he hadn’t seen it with his eyes, the mana would have told him.

‘Who do you think you’re winking at?! This fucking perverted black dung fly.’

They were several kilometers apart, but Aidal had felt Altakas’ aura clearly. It felt like he returned to the times when he used to have fistfights with the neighborhood boys as a kid. When he reached the 8th Circle, no, even from the 6th Circle onwards, no one dared to belittle Aidal. That was even more pronounced when he ascended to the 8th Circle, and he played with the world as if it were his oyster. The provocation of another lion playing with a sleeping lion’s whiskers made his heart thump wildly.

‘Fine, I’ll make you fucking pay today.’

He suddenly recalled how the Italian mafia sent him the same kind of provoking look several decades ago, and how he buried hundreds of their number deep in the Alps. With Altakas’ gaze still on him, Aidal slowly raised his right hand.

And then, he vigorously flipped up his middle finger.

‘Eat this!’

He displayed a magnificent ‘fuck you’, one of the biggest curses on Earth.

And with that provocation, the battle between 8th Circle mages, a battle no one could help with, was already fiercely underway.

* * *

Crash!

As soon as I landed in Nerman Castle Covert, I went straight to the Temple of Neran, rage filling me from head to toe. 400 temple wyverns had taken over the covert that my knights and wyverns should be resting in. Some of them even had the gall to be fully stretched out while sleeping despite the current situation. When I kicked open the door with nearly enough force to destroy it, the priests inside the temple turned in unison to stare open-mouthed at me.

“Ah…!”

“L-Lord Kyre!”

They looked at me in shock as if I were some ghost crawling out of a grave.

I strode towards the priests, my eyes blazing.

“Stop right there. This is the sacred Temple of Holy Neran. You may be the lord, but—”

Two paladins blocked my way.

Bam! Bam!

“Gugh…!”

“Kek!”

“FUCK OFF!”

Two right kicks landed mercilessly on their lower halves.

“Wh-Why are you doing this?”

“L-Lord Kyre, what is going on? What is with the sudden violen—”

There were dozens of priests inside the temple. One guy I remembered seeing before even called my actions violence. At that moment, my right arm went flying out.

Bam!

“Gugh!”

Taking a hit from the gauntlet that was a part of my airplate, the priest crumpled, reduced to having to live on soup for the rest of his days from the brutal hit.

“Kneel.”

My quiet, cold voice echoed in the temple.

“…”

The priests glanced at each other, refusing to kneel.

“Huhuhu…”

A dark smile appeared on my lips. In the very next moment, I surged forward.

Swoosh. Ba-ba-bam, ba-ba-bam.

My merciless fists and feet hurtled towards every human target they could find.

“Gaaaaagh!”

“Gugh!”

Screaming, the priests fell over like bundles of straw.

“S-Spare us!”

“UWAHH! I beg you… please stop!”

A priest desperately clutched my leg.

Crunch.

I immediately stomped his back into the ground.

“DO YOU BASTARDS SEE NERMAN AS A PLAYGROUND?!” My shout bristled with cold bloodthirst. “The Dark Empire threatening the Continent is camped outside, yet you dare to put on airs?!”

“This is a misunderstanding!”

“This is a misunderstanding. We were just waiting for your orders.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right! We were waiting for you to come and lead us!”

The priests blabbered excuses with their bloodied faces.

“Keep fucking bullshitting.”

Vulgar Earth words burst from my lips. The priests closed their mouths, as if unable to comprehend what I had just said.

“This is your last chance. Go out right this instant and take the paladins to the border fort. If… anyone dares to be late, I will turn you into fertilizer for Nerman.”

I raised my hand and made a gesture of squeezing someone’s neck.

No further words were necessary. The priests who claimed they had been waiting for my command hastily scrambled out the temple.

‘Seriously, those useless fools.’

I had no patience for idiots who were still droning on about formalities at a time as critical as this. They were evildoers that Nerman could do without.

‘I need to go right away, too.’

I sent the Temir warriors ahead to the border fort. Their warrior spirits were on a completely different level from the priests and Kingdom Coalition living with rotten attitudes.

From now on until my death, I will remember them as the good guys.

* * *

Upon their arrival, the priests started using the Temple of Neran like they owned it. As kind as Aramis was, their rotten actions angered her. She retreated into her quarters within the temple and distanced herself from the priests. Even within the sheltered temple, Aramis could feel the direness of the situation. But the priests were wasting time with age-old scripture disputes and useless verbal sparring when victory was dubious even if everyone joined forces.

Of course, a few priests said they should help Nerman, but most of the priests refused. They were under the conviction that they had done something great simply by coming here. Aramis was angry at them, but she could not hate them. They, too, were pitiful children of God. She immersed herself in repetent prayer in their stead.

But then, she heard screams. Rushing outside, Aramis was able to catch sight of a man just as he kicked open the door. Kyre’s fists and feet rained down on the priests, who had never seen the terrors of the world. The priests steeped in arrogance and self-righteousness instantly bowed their heads in fear before Kyre’s overwhelming charisma, which none could hope to match.

This time, Aramis didn’t stop him. It was because she realized that there were sometimes people who needed to be hit to come to their senses.

‘I can’t stay idle either.’

Kyre had already left. As she watched his retreating back, Aramis pledged to herself to never stop loving him.

And then, she walked outside. Paladins appeared silently behind her, protecting her.

—-

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