How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

41.

“Well, I heard this morning as well… Seeing the merchants in a panic, it doesn’t seem like a lie.”

“Arden…?”

The shock Rohan felt at the news of the capital collapsing was immense, unlike the Earl’s indifferent attitude, clearly accepting the fact. Arden, a town where highly skilled knights and wizards guarded a fortress so massive and sturdy that it was incomparable to Ezel.

During his visit to Geon-gukje, the capital, Roan was deeply impressed, so it was natural that he found it hard to easily accept the sudden collapse of the capital.

“A demon suddenly appeared in the heart of the capital. We may not know exactly what power it holds, but it’s definitely a formidable entity.”

With the taste of his food suddenly losing its appeal, Roan momentarily set down his fork.

It was indeed a fact that he had dreams of social advancement after acquiring the possibility of a skill window.

To achieve great success coming from a commoner background, Roan knew that besides skill, riding the currents of the times was essential.

However, the trials and tribulations Roan had envisioned did not approach him on such a grand scale.

“Apparently, Arden Kingdom has been peaceful for decades…”

If he had continued to maintain his status as a common freeman, Roan might not have known, but as a knight under the Earl, he bore the burden of duty.

Merely refusing to raise a sword in the face of the nation’s crisis was enough to make one a target of disdain among the people.

Or rather, even if he had not received the knighthood, there would have been no way to avoid fighting under the Earl of Eizel.

The viscount he had encountered so far was definitely not a man to shirk noble obligations.

Suppressing a sigh that almost escaped involuntarily, Roan grasped his fork again.

He had gone too long without eating to give up his meal just because his appetite had waned a bit.

Even after emptying all the dishes in front of him, the viscount did not leave his seat.

He simply gazed at the empty plates with a slightly vacant look in his eyes.

Although he carried on conversation nonchalantly, it was evident that the viscount, too, was feeling perplexed.

As Roan’s meal neared its end, Atem also emerged from the room to join them at the table.

Like a seasoned knight, Atem quickly grasped the change in the viscount’s demeanor just from Roan’s brief account of the situation.

Atem ate silently, deeply lost in thought, while the viscount seemed preoccupied.

In the uncomfortable silence, Roan appeared to be the only one boiling inside.

Fortunately, the silence did not linger for long.

Having experienced battlefields multiple times, Atem’s eating pace was definitely not slower than that of the ordinary soldiers, which was a relief.

Once Atem finished his meal, the viscount finally seemed to make a decision, opening his mouth as if to announce it.

“For now, let’s stay here for a while. Even if we are fine, the soldiers may not have fully recovered yet. Some of the missing soldiers may return. Besides, isn’t it more advantageous to receive any new information here?”

As it was a conclusion they had secretly anticipated, both of them nodded without much difficulty.

With their stay in Taloon Territory confirmed for the time being, there was no reason to confine themselves to the inn.

The three of them, leaving the dining table, each set out to attend to urgent matters they believed needed their attention.

Roan went to visit the injured soldiers, offering them some additional silver as a small consolation, while Atem provided a detailed account of the situation in the capital and the Taloon Mountains to Eizel.

Lastly, the viscount waited for news among the many nobles who were still present in Taloon Territory.

The news of Arden’s downfall had long been an established fact among them.

The mere fact that Arden had fallen into the hands of dark sorcerers was close to the worst-case scenario, but the tales told by the nobles and merchants who had escaped from Arden and arrived at the castle were even more dreadful.

In the city streets, no matter how much they were cut down, the demons, endlessly spewing out gigantic blood structures, had taken root, and to make matters worse, a dragon from the south flew in, emitting a malevolent aura.

The members of the expeditionary force who heard the accounts easily realized that their testimonies were incredibly close to the truth.

The situation had become clear, and there was no longer time to delay decisions.

With numerous victims falling into the hands of demons, the power of the dark sorcerers was growing stronger by the day.

While they hesitated, Duke Carl had left Taloon Castle long ago, declaring there was no time to waste.

The nobles who led the expeditionary force could not help but be deeply troubled.

Under the name of the Kingdom Army, they were gathered, but fundamentally, the expeditionary force was a coalition of forces drawn from each territory.

From the lowest soldiers to the command ranks consisting of knights and nobles, it was a diverse formation of people from various regions, each with their own power bases.

With each one’s power base originating from different regions, it was inevitable that differences in opinions would arise.

The hierarchy of nobility clearly exists, but nobles are fundamentally independent beings.

With the king, the central figure, missing, it was impossible for even the powerful Duke Frederick and Marquis Carlton, as grand nobles, to ignore the opinions of other nobles.

Making the situation worse was the fact that the lands of these two individuals were adjacent to Arden.

Given that the areas where dark sorcerers had shown their power were the most likely targets, it was evident that these places should be the first to deploy troops, objectively speaking.

However, the human heart does not operate solely on objective facts.

Considering the significant damage caused by dark sorcerers thirty years ago, few were unaware of their power.

With the resurgence of their influence, there were few nobles willing to divert resources and troops from protecting their own lands to risky areas.

Naturally, discussions were faltering.

Without openly revealing their true intentions, nobles from regions far from Arden displayed noticeably reserved attitudes.

Despite heated debates and even physical altercations, a proper conclusion remained elusive.

As precious hours slipped away, the nobles gathered under the banner of the punitive force were divided into two factions.

One faction, led by Duke Frederick and Marquis Carlton, prepared for a showdown with dark sorcerers near Arden.

Returning to their respective lands for additional recruitment and training to bolster their forces, another faction aimed to draw in other factions like the clergy or different races to confront the dark sorcerers.

In the face of survival concerns, the existing factions split into three no longer held significance.

The northern territories represented by Frederick and Carlton had mostly decided to close ranks before the dark sorcerers’ influence grew, while the southern territories beneath the Talun Mountains sought to minimize any losses to their own lands, even if it meant drawing in other factions.

The gap between the two factions was insurmountable, and the meeting ended with the northern nobles seething in anger.

The next day.

The hastily prepared northern forces began departing for the Talun territories one by one.

With the uncertainty of when dark sorcerers might invade their lands, there was no time left for hesitation.

Having had a few days of rest, the knights and soldiers had somewhat recovered their strength, which was a small comfort in the face of the sudden departure.

The abrupt farewell also came for Rohan’s group.

“Master, perhaps reconsidering now…”

Overnight, Rohan once again detained Viscount Ezel, who was ready to depart.

“No, this is a noble’s duty. Do not detain me any longer.”

“But Master. Isn’t this too, too dangerous?”

“In such circumstances, if we do not draw our swords, who will acknowledge the honor of Ezel in the future?”

“Lord Athem. Please, even a word of advice.”

“Lord Rohan. Are we not sworn to serve? Allow me the opportunity to elevate honor.”

As Rohan suspected, Viscount Ezel never abandoned his sense of noble duty.

However, it wasn’t solely out of a sense of duty that the Viscount made this choice.

Having spent the day among nobles, he listened closely to both sides and easily recognized the alignment of Southern nobles’ opinions with his own interests.

Of course, preserving wealth and troops would bring immediate gains.

But once the chaos subsided, the Northern nobles would never forget this grudge.

It wouldn’t be easy for them, who had turned the yoke of dishonor into a badge of honor, to be considered true nobles.

If his only heir were Sophia, the Viscount might have hesitated to head North.

But with Rohan, a reliable heir who had reached a level equal to his own genius within three years of taking up the sword, by his daughter’s side, he could make the decision without fear.

And so, Viscount Ezel, Athem, and the six soldiers promised a reward, joined the forefront of the troops heading North.

Knowing Viscount Ezel’s resolute decision, Rohan, unable to detain them any longer, gazed wistfully at their retreating figures.

The nobles in the south wouldn’t just be idling around. They would try to gather various forces, not just the Byungbaek-gwa Temple, to defeat the dark sorcerer. Wait for the right time, Rohan. And… take good care of Sophia.”

The last words left by the Viscount lingered in Rohan’s mind.

“…I can’t just stand by.”

Rohan, who had been staring blankly outside the castle gates for a while, began to walk briskly again.

After the battle in the Taloon Mountains, when the surviving punitive expedition members gradually arrived at the Taloon Castle.

Harqen, who had finally succeeded in destroying the capital of the kingdom after decades of patience, felt deep anger.

Resurrecting the corpse dragon based on ancient records, using thousands of monsters and humans as sacrifices, including withstanding the abominable temple’s magic, the strongest weapon capable of resisting even that.

Succeeding in summoning the corpse dragon mentioned in records from centuries ago.

When he was hunting down surviving humans after overcoming the knights’ strong resistance.

Upon seeing the gigantic form of a dragon approaching from the south, Harqen felt deep elation.

He felt that he had finally obtained the power he had dreamed of for ages.

However, when the bone remains of the dragon settled on the shattered royal palace, joy quickly turned into puzzlement, and puzzlement turned into anger.

The dragon, who should have exuded a transcendental power by gathering the energies of the deceased monsters and punitive expedition members in the massive battle, possessed a feeble power that could barely sustain his own body.

Of course, even that alone would be a disaster impossible to stop for ordinary knights or sorcerers, but it was a completely different outcome from what Harqen had envisioned.

“Why on earth…”

In just a few days, Harqen, who had gained a notorious reputation, prodded the corpse dragon, even speaking in disbelief.

Despite the passage of many years, the skeleton, befitting the supreme species, showed no signs of even a slight crack.

Even the scales clinging to the rotten flesh maintained a strength overwhelming steel.

However, Harqen’s gaze was fixed not on the dragon’s body but on the black crystal attached to its skull.

The black crystal embedded in the dragon’s head, boasting a solidity incomparable to steel due to the condensed energy, formed an imperfect shape as if shattered by a shock.

Unbelievable.

The black crystal embedded in the dragon’s head right now, with its immense energy condensed, was the dark crystal, boasting an unparalleled solidity compared to steel.

“To shatter the magic already crystallized…”

In Harqen’s opinion, there was only one person in the entire kingdom capable of such a feat.

“Karl… Karl! That fool has ruined everything in the end…”

Thirty years ago, when Harqen had just started to be recognized as a dark sorcerer.

Count Karl was already a skilled warrior at the time, on the brink of becoming a senior knight.

Numerous dark sorcerers fell by his sword, and countless monsters turned into flesh.

Such a monster, instead of dying despite the passing years, had risen to even higher levels and was now wreaking havoc in his realm.

“I will tear him apart and kill him without fail.”

The eyes of the enraged dark sorcerer were filled with thick veins.