How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

35.

As several wizards synchronized their breathing for a long-prepared spell, the impact of the magic raining down upon the demons was formidable.

A massive fireball suddenly appeared in the air and plummeted towards the ground, emitting scorching heat that turned the surrounding demons into ashes.

A temporary empty space was created around the point where the magic landed.

As the heat prevented the demons from gathering, Count Gustaf, with heightened strength, dashed forward with all his might.

“This might be our last chance.”

Defeat was already certain, but they had to try to save as many knights and wizards as possible.

For the kingdom’s sake, for the Count’s sake.

The energized knights began to fiercely push back the demons.

While seeking a path forward at the vanguard, those at the rear were facing a hellish situation.

“Kalen! Hurry!”

“Teness, ugh, I, cough, I’ve, ugh, made a mistake already.”

“No, if you stop, you’ll die!”

“You go first, go ahead.”

“Damn it, I thought there wouldn’t be any danger…!”

Teness, glancing back at his hesitating comrade and the horde of demons relentlessly chasing from behind, eventually turned his head back and resumed running.

“Sorry, sorry. Damn it, damn it! Why am I always… in such places…!”

A soldier of Izell Castle, Teness, cursed silently to himself.

It wasn’t about hiding it in case someone heard; he simply didn’t have the energy left to even curse out loud.

It had been over a decade since he had served as a soldier.

He had participated in occasional skirmishes against goblins and trolls, and recently experienced a siege at Prielle Castle.

Having been through various battles, he thought he would return safely this time as well.

But that was Teness’s arrogance.

He had always looked down on dark wizards, but he never imagined there would be so many gigantic demons appearing.

The path he had fled through was now filled with demons to the extent that the rear was no longer visible, and the knights, dispatched to clear the way, had all moved up ahead, leaving no one capable of facing the large demons behind.

In what could be deemed the worst situation, the soldiers had only two choices.

Either run desperately to catch up with the leading knights, or abandon the escape and face death in battle.

Of course, most soldiers chose the former, and the formation collapsed in an instant, turning into chaos.

In war, the highest casualties occurred during retreat.

Not only in battles between humans, but also in battles between humans and monsters.

Especially when defying orders and fleeing just to survive, it was even more so.

Retreating from open ground was not easy, let alone soldiers maintaining a dense formation on narrow mountain paths retreating in an instant.

In the confined space, running together naturally led to tripping over each other, and it was not uncommon for someone to get injured by another’s weapon.

Some soldiers tripped over each other as they fled, causing others to fall, and there were even those who abandoned their weapons because they hindered their escape.

It was truly a scene of chaos.

“Argh, aaah!”

Tenes, who witnessed his comrade Kalen being crushed by a troll’s fist, screamed continuously.

It was an act that consumed his already scarce breath even faster, but Tenes no longer had the rationality to think to that extent.

Due to fear and lack of oxygen, his cognitive abilities plummeted rapidly, and his exhausted body was gradually losing strength.

Nevertheless, to Tenes, who was somehow still moving his legs, a dark emotion he had never felt before surged.

‘I’m going to die here anyway. But why should I die alone?’

“Ugh, ugh, unjust, it’s unfair, I can’t be the only one to die!”

Amidst his escape, Tenes suddenly drew his sword and swiftly stabbed the side of a soldier running beside him.

“Splk, you, you…”

The sword deeply pierced the soldier’s abdomen, severing his organs, and the wounded soldier lost his life in an instant and collapsed to the ground.

Due to the relatively vulnerable area and the fact that he never imagined his longtime comrade would attack him, the soldier suffered a fatal blow.

Although he killed a comrade he had spent time with like family, Tenes did not stop his actions.

“Splk!”

Another comrade, who was too busy fleeing to look back, was impaled by the sword carrying Tenes’s weight, and another soldier, witnessing Tenes’s deeds, fought him and met his demise.

Tenes ended the lives of as many as three soldiers and soon faced death attacking soldiers from another unit.

But Tenes was not alone.

Dark magic that stealthily infiltrated various parts of the battlefield amplified the negative emotions of the soldiers, leading to those consumed by madness wielding weapons against their comrades.

Hell had broken loose.

The ground was dyed crimson with blood, and the scent of death spread in all directions.

It was around this time that figures cloaked in black robes appeared among the monsters.

Duke Gustaf, who was cutting through the chaos, suddenly felt a fluctuation in mana and turned his head.

A distinctly different aura, foreign to what usual wizards emitted, was spreading across the battlefield.

‘Black magic…!’

Soldiers possessed by dark magic began killing each other, and the magic that absorbed the energy of the fallen soldiers and monsters fueled an even more vicious cycle of evil.

With external attacks overlapping internal turmoil, the soldiers were now suffering casualties akin to a massacre.

Over half of the soldiers transformed into corpses, and just as the monsters blocking the retreat seemed to reach their end.

Now, even ordinary soldiers could feel the dense, looming darkness of magic swirling fiercely in the midst of the battlefield.

“Damn, what is that…”

“sh*t…”

Countless lifeless bodies twisted and rose up, blood flowing from their bodies gathering in the air, forming a single point.

A massive mass of blood had taken on a grotesque form, hungrily sucking in the corpses gathered around it.

Squelch—

The eerie sound of bodies being crushed echoed incessantly, revealing a giant made of corpses and blood in no time.

There was no fierce aura, no grandeur.

Yet, at first glance, its size, seeming to be dozens of times that of large beasts, and its grotesque appearance alone instilled terror.

The giant, a mix of demon and human body parts, swung its arms wildly, instantly shattering dozens of soldiers.

An absolute power that could not be matched with the feeble martial arts of the soldiers.

As if a colossal tower had come to life, the soldiers completely lost their formation at the sight of the moving figure.

Knights rushed in from the sides, brandishing their swords, but they couldn’t muster enough strength to overcome the giant’s overwhelming size and force.

In the blink of an eye, the attack of the three corpse giants that appeared decimated the forces to near annihilation.

“Just a little more…”

Even the forefront, where most of the forces were concentrated, was in jeopardy.

Count Gustaf was facing the recoil of his exertion, while other knights were showing signs of exhaustion nearing collapse.

The situation was dire for the wizards; no magic potent enough to strike the demons was being cast anymore.

The only consolation was that the reinforcement spells were still holding.

“Just a bit more, just a bit further…!”

Count Gustaf’s face was filled with determination.

It seemed as if all the demons of the Talun Mountains had been gathered; their numbers were beyond imagination.

On the other hand, the allies, including the Count, were exhausted.

There seemed to be no hope of surviving alone now.

A profound sense of despair, unfamiliar since becoming a knight, engulfed the Count.

Most soldiers were already dead, and the knights who had fought with all their might were falling one by one, unable to rise again.

In the face of the worst circumstances, the Count continued to wield his sword.

Even if there was no glimmer of hope left, he was a nobleman and a knight of the kingdom.

Even if he were to die here, it was his duty to bring down the kingdom’s enemies even a little.

He swung his sword with the last of his strength.

As the Count made that vow, beyond the waves of demons, radiant beams of light poured from the direction of the Talun Territory.

Even those without faith could understand what it meant to be sacred; the radiance covering the sky was overwhelming, and the demons struck by the beams of light fell apart in an instant.

Even the corpse giant, boasting an overwhelming size, could not prevent itself from being riddled with holes and staggering.

“Arnisian…!”

In the magic akin to a symbol of the sect worshiping the god of light, the Count exclaimed.

Those who usually set political opposition against the king and the nobles, those who disdainfully sought refuge in the guise of the god’s followers, found themselves unable to deny that at least for now, the Count felt more sacred, noble, and welcome than anyone he knew.

After a large-scale holy magic swept the battlefield once, the holy knights charged towards the undead demons.

The dark magic that reinforced the demons against the holy light greatly diminished, and the holy knights cut down the disoriented creatures like a scythe through wheat.

“As expected… of the sect…”

Just like the dark sorcerers and demons, the sect possessed overwhelming power against beings whose origin lay in darkness.

Feeling the light of hope shining down, Count Gustaf felt a deep sense of relief.

At least the kingdom’s knights could prevent the futile deaths now.

For the Count at least, political matters could be dealt with later; it was not too late for that.

Taking advantage of the moment when the evil spirits were weakened, the survivors of the punitive force gathered their last strength, brandishing their weapons, and finally, the holy knights revealed themselves in front of Count Gustaf.

It was the moment when the kingdom’s first punitive expedition ended in failure.

Upon returning to Izell, Rohan felt a deep sense of fulfillment each passing day.

Under the rigorous training with the Izell Viscount, his skill proficiency was rapidly increasing, and occasionally, he strolled through the back garden of the castle with Sophia, engaging in light-hearted conversations.

Thinking he had acquired a certain level of basic knowledge, and with the decrease in teachings other than martial arts, it was significantly contributing to the improvement in Rohan’s quality of life.

On the other hand, the Izell Viscount was deeply troubled.

“Should I wait a bit longer? Or would it be better to bring up the topic now?”

What troubled the Viscount was his daughter Sophia’s marriage issue.

She was still, in the Viscount’s eyes, a young girl who seemed not to cause any pain just by looking at her.

A girl with a beautiful appearance that anyone could see, coupled with a gentle heart.

Yet, the time had come for her to start preparing for marriage.

Noble children usually undergo coming-of-age ceremonies and marry within 2 to 3 years, so it was appropriate to consider her of marriageable age.

Of course, Rohan was the one being considered as Sophia’s prospective husband.

Having lived as a noble and seen various human characters, even to the Viscount, Rohan’s existence was a mystery.

He never imagined that the clueless boy brought in just to serve as a soldier would possess such remarkable talents.

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Moreover, not long ago, he could barely hold a sword, and now he had developed skills that even the Viscount himself could not underestimate.

It was a pace of progress that went beyond common sense, reminiscent of the great heroes that appeared in legends.

Furthermore, beyond being ignorant, unlike the typical rustic villagers who could be described as barbaric, he possessed a gentleness that made people feel at ease.

Perhaps Sophia enjoyed Rohan’s company due to this aspect of him.

Glancing down at the two walking through the garden together, the Viscount nodded.

“Yes, if that’s the case, he is a suitable match.”

From a young age, the Viscount had been decisive once he set his mind on something.

After making his decision, the first person he sought out was his wife.

Though he was a lord and a nobleman, discussing with his wife was an unavoidable process, especially concerning the marriage of their only daughter.

To the Viscount’s surprise, his wife expressed enthusiastic agreement.

“If the suitor is Rohan, then I approve. His talent is undeniable, you praise him every day until your mouth hurts, and Sophia is already deeply infatuated with him. They are of similar age, and his character is excellent, isn’t it? At the very least, he won’t resort to violence towards Sophia…”

While Rohan stayed at the castle, the Viscount’s wife naturally observed him.

She listed several of Rohan’s strengths, but what appealed to her the most was his gentle nature.

Even noble-born women couldn’t avoid being somewhat subservient to their husbands after marriage, and in cases of abusive or violent men, it was a concern.

Just the fact that such worries didn’t arise gave him a considerable advantage, and with his exceptional skills to the extent of receiving a direct knighthood from the king, his humble origins were of little concern.

With both in agreement, the next step was Sophia.

That evening, after returning from a date with Rohan, the Viscount called his daughter to have a conversation.

“Sophia, what do you think of Rohan?”

At the Viscount’s question, the girl’s cheeks blushed.

The shy girl, hesitating in embarrassment, finally spoke under her serious father’s gaze.

“I… I like him. My heart beats fast when I see him, and I keep wanting to see him.”

‘Hmm…’

Although he already knew this in his head, hearing it directly from his daughter’s mouth made his heart ache anew.

Suppressing the urge to intervene even now, the Viscount asked again.

“Alright, then how do you feel about marrying Rohan?”

“Me, really? I like it. No, I think I would dislike it if it weren’t Rohan Kye.”

As expected, Sofia’s answer was acceptance.

No, rather, the Marquis began to urge it.

Sofia was aware that she had reached the marriageable age and was conscious of her feelings for Rohan. Above all, she thought that marrying him was the most advantageous choice for herself.

If Rohan and Sofia were to marry, both would live their lives based on the Isel Estate.

For Sofia, the idea that she wouldn’t feel lonely entering a strange noble family was welcoming enough.