How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

58.

“aaargh!”

With a battle cry that sounded like a scream, Arghen struck down a huge monster.

Gasping for breath, he struggled to raise his sword towards the next target.

The momentary respite had somewhat restored his stamina, but it had been depleted for a long time, and Arghen, along with his awakening, was now showing signs of exhaustion.

The fight, which had begun with the sacrifices of the priests, was so intense that it was difficult to express in words, with humans and monsters entangled, drenched in each other’s blood.

Since neither side easily gained the upper hand, the battle became even more desperate.

What broke the tense balance were the elves who appeared alongside the king.

With the sudden increase in reinforcements, the momentum of the monsters was instantly broken.

Sealing the victory in this favorable battle was a man well known to Arghen.

A sudden flash of purple light illuminated the night sky, and a giant dragon fell as if in a lie.

Though it was a short time, the figure reflected in Arghen’s blazing aura was clearly Rohan’s.

Whatever feat he had accomplished above the dragon’s head, it matched the extraordinary qualities he had shown.

‘…Isn’t this too fast?’

In Arghen’s eyes, Rohan’s aura was clearly taking the shape of flames.

At his young age, he had reached the status of a top-tier knight.

Considering the time Rohan had spent learning the sword, it was truly an unbelievable talent.

As the lifeless body of the dragon collapsed and the soldiers, witnessing the surreal sight, gasped in awe, the heavy sound of falling bones echoed, signaling the demise of a formidable foe, prompting the kingdom’s army to collectively roar.

“aaargh!”

Arghen, too, raised his voice among them.

The body, which seemed to have exhausted all its strength, began to move once again at a new stimulus.

“Just a little more…”

With gritted teeth, Arghen, forgetting the pain, swung his weapon once again.

“…Have they already fallen?”

The sudden death of the corpse dragon not only surprised the kingdom’s troops.

Unable to express his shock, Harken was equally astonished.

Although it was a corpse dragon that had not achieved perfection, he never expected them to fall so quickly to those who were not even masters.

In an unexpected turn of events, Harken felt deep anger.

“It’s all because of these vermin-like scoundrels.”

Despite having killed a considerable number, many elves were still pouring elemental magic at him.

Each elf, living for centuries compared to humans, possessed much more magical power than human mages of similar caliber.

No matter how much of a lich he was, in a state of taking a significant blow from the master’s sword, he couldn’t continue the battle against the elves.

Looking back, the sudden appearance of the elves was the biggest flaw in Harken’s plan.

If they hadn’t shown up, even if the fortress was fortified, the baronial castle would have fallen soon enough.

Harken, unable to overcome his rising anger, expended a considerable amount of dark magic to tear apart several elves.

Where Harken’s magic had passed, holes remained, but those gaps were soon filled by other elves.

The demonic forces suffered near annihilation, the death knights and corpse dragon losing momentum and crumbling.

The original Harken would have felt some sense of humiliation and fled to plan another day in such a disadvantaged situation.

However, the lich, now bound to the devil not only in flesh but in soul, made a completely different decision.

“They all must die.”

The residue of the demon embedded in his heart gave Harken a power beyond human, but it was not given without any cost.

The moment he connected with the demon to gain power, Harken allowed the devil’s interference in his body and soul for eternity.

Dark emotions long harbored in a corner of his heart swelled in the devil’s grasp, fueling his growth in a gruesome and cruel process, from the betrayal when those he trusted had cast him into the abyss, to the years of suffering as a dark mage where he could never completely let his guard down.

The pain and anger Harken, as a human, had suppressed all his life burst forth, overriding his reason.

Some of the gems circling the lich shattered, and a vast amount of dark magic gathered around Harken’s gesture, rushing into the void.

Consuming even the pouring magic, the mass of dark magic swelled, finally igniting into flames of hell.

As if devouring light, the darkness deepened and lightened in sync with the flickering of the black flames.

Sensing an instinctive dread from the ominous form, the elves tried to distance themselves from Harken, but the fully developed flames were already changing form.

The flames, now as large as a house, trembled once before splitting into hundreds of pieces that flew towards the elves.

Terrified by the approaching flames, the elves fired spells, but the burning flames, mixed with dark magic and the devil’s aura, did not easily extinguish.

Despite the efforts of the surrounding elves to bring down the flames, a considerable number of them eventually caught fire and burned to death.

“aaargh!”

In a pain never before experienced in their long lives, the features of the elves contorted in agony.

It wasn’t just a part of their body burning; it was a pain that seemed to extract and burn the very essence of life, tormenting their whole being.

In one attack, dozens of elves lost their lives, falling alongside griffins.

Before the elves could unleash their anger at the tragic sight, the dark magic gathered once again above Harken’s hand.

“No!”

As the mass of dark magic grew once more, Anaskin, having somewhat recovered his strength, shouted in protest.

‘It can’t go on any longer.’

With numerous kin already meeting their demise at his hands, it was imperative to prevent any further tragedies from occurring.

After a brief conflict, flames once again ignited in Anaskin’s hands as he shook off any lingering attachments to life.

“Fuel.”

The elderly elder called out to his spirit with a trembling voice.

His companion for over two hundred years.

Suri, with feathers made of burning flames, revealed herself next to Anaskin.

Fuel, sensing Anaskin’s determination, continuously shook his head.

Yet Anaskin’s resolve was firm, his heart unwavering.

“I appreciate everything, Fuel.”

Anaskin, pushing even the vital mana necessary to sustain life into the fuel of burning flames, struggled to convey his final words.

The hesitant spirit, in the end, unable to overcome Anaskin’s stubbornness, seeped into the flames.

At the very end of his life, the elder produced the most massive flame of his lifetime.

The majestic waves of fire surged towards Riche like a tidal wave, sweeping away the mass of dark magic that had been swelling.

The elderly elf, watching the dark magic threatening his kin being swept away, rested his head on Griffin’s back with a worried expression.

“Elder!”

The surrounding elves, sensing his impending death, wailed, but Anaskin made no further movements.

As the waves of fire passed, Riche now revealed himself beneath the now visibly fading veil.

Still possessing formidable power, Riche no longer displayed the same dominance he once did, casting spells without restraint.

Though he still emanated the aura of death upon the land, the diminished dark magic no longer held the same potency as before.

Furthermore, with Rohan’s group having brought down the Corpse Dragon, it was now clear that Harcan had no path to survival in Riche’s proximity.

“Huh…”

As Harcan’s demise drew near.

Finally, the demonic grip that had bound Harcan’s soul loosened.

Harcan, feeling his suppressed reason returning, let out a sigh tinged with bitterness.

Overwhelmed by the satisfaction of overpowering strength, he only now realized that he had been clinging to the demon’s grasp.

Regret, anger, hatred, and resentment intertwined, consuming Harcan’s mind.

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At the end of the long battle, all he possessed was the dark magic composing his body and a few gems.

In the grim situation, Harcan felt the malicious intent of the demon mocking him until the very end.

The demon had presented Harcan with an inevitable choice until the end.

The black energy entwined in Harcan’s eyes scanned the approaching humans and elves, sensing the end of the battle.

Knowing that the end of his life was near, Harcan could not extinguish the flames of burning hatred.

After years of accumulating hatred, it had long become his very essence.

Feeling the humiliation of offering everything to the one who had mocked him, Harcan devoted himself entirely to the demon.

His soul was completely under the demon’s control, and his body began to function as the vessel of the demon.

“What, what is this?”

“Don’t just stand there!”

“Attack! Attack!”

As the elves and Rohan’s group, drawing their swords and rushing forward, saw Riche’s body begin to transform once again, they roared in protest. The remnants of the demon embedded in Riche’s chest began to pulsate as if infused with life, while the blackened bones expanded in size.

The advanced knights, who squeezed out the last of their strength, assaulted the demon relentlessly, but even the deep wounds they inflicted were swiftly healed, leaving no trace behind.

“This is insane…”

Despite not completing its transformation, the entity that seemed to corrode the air made one knight curse.

Amidst the onslaught raining down like a storm, just as the grotesque figure was taking shape, a thunderous voice made the senior knights, who were swinging their swords frantically, pause.

“Dodge!”

Upon hearing the warning from the duke, the knights hastily sheathed their swords, and as the duke confirmed their evasion, his hand, once again, gripped the sword hilt.

Knowing his aged body would struggle, he couldn’t prevent the looming catastrophe. The sword, absorbing the duke’s aura to its fullest, slowly descended vertically.

As the duke’s will enveloped the world, everything in the path of his sword was effortlessly cut down without the slightest resistance.

Before a strike that disregarded even physical resilience, the demon’s form, which was nearing completion, couldn’t withstand and was cleaved in half.

Now, the remnants, taking the form of a complete heart, were cut lifelessly, banishing the demon’s consciousness back to hell.

Harken’s body, now void of the demon, returned to a fractured skull form and rolled lifelessly on the ground.

In the suffocating silence, the sound of Harken’s severed skull rolling was the only thing filling the desolate battlefield.

“Is it… over?”

A cautious question, whose origin was unknown, marked the beginning.

A wave of excitement spread among the survivors, soon erupting into triumphant cheers.

Age, status, or race could not overshadow the current joy.

Warriors who endured the fierce battlefield, unknown to each other, laughed, shouted, embraced, and shared the joy of victory.

“It was truly, truly tough.”

Like them, Rohan also felt deep elation.

Feeling joy amidst the countless deaths on the battlefield felt awkward, but considering the battles fought, it seemed acceptable to forget any guilt for now and smile.

Staring blankly at the traces of battle for a while, Rohan snapped out of it when a hand tapped his shoulder.

“You, truly remarkable. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Fortunate to have someone like you around.”

“Until we meet again.”

The giants who couldn’t be faced before the war now approached Rohan first to greet him.

Despite any great deeds he may have done, Rohan’s social status didn’t rise to their level, so he responded to their greetings with as much politeness as possible.

After the three men left, pleased with Rohan’s greeting, Rohan’s eyes, now completely out of reverie, began to scan the surroundings.

With the battle over, there were people he needed to look after.