NOVPUBA heavy silence fell over the battlefield.
In mere moments, Ghislain had killed the five strongest knights in this area.
No one had expected a 5-on-1 fight to end so quickly.
The Cabaldi soldiers, their faces pale, staggered backward in terror.
To call him a monster was an understatement.
Who could this man possibly be, with skills so immense that he’d stormed into their fortress?
After dispatching the Cabaldi knights, Ghislain gave a small wave forward, as though speaking was a waste of time.
Immediately, one of the Fenris knights shouted out with gusto, “All right, let’s wipe out the rest of them!”
While the enemy was paralyzed with fear, the Fenris knights wore faces full of pride.
The moment Ghislain gave his signal, they unleashed their mana and resumed the attack.
“Haha! Our lord never ceases to amaze!”
“It’s incredible every time I see it!”
“The best! The best! I’m going to try to match that!”
Inspired by Ghislain’s heroics, the Fenris knights surged through the battlefield like fish in water.
The Cabaldi soldiers tried desperately to hold their ground, but it was no use. Despite their numbers, their defenses crumbled helplessly.
Zamon, watching the battle unfold, closed his eyes in resignation.
*Is this the end?*
There was no way he could handle an enemy of this caliber.
Even though they had been caught off guard, he hadn’t expected near-annihilation within minutes of the fight beginning.
All he’d managed to do was hold out for a short while, enough time to swing his sword a few times.
And he didn’t even realize how significant that achievement was.
For the moment, they weren’t being attacked from outside the fortress since Fenris lacked archers, allowing them a brief reprieve.
But now that, too, was over. The enemy infantry was already on the move.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
With the walls fully secured, Fenris’s drums sounded, and their left and right flanks began advancing.
It seemed they had even prepared ladders.
Soon, the soldiers outside would scale the walls, and the gates would inevitably fall.
At that moment, a loud cheer echoed from a distance.
“Waaaaaaah!”
Recognizing the sound, Zamon’s eyes snapped open.
It was their allies. Reinforcements were on their way. The loud cheer was a signal for them to hold on just a little longer.
*If we can just hold out, we might be able to drive them back.*
It would take some time for the enemy to scale the walls, so if their allies arrived before the Fenris soldiers could breach, they could fight back.
For that to happen, they had to keep the gates shut at all costs.
If the gates opened and the full force outside poured in, even the reinforcements would be doomed.
*Just a little longer... If we can hold out...*
An idea flashed through Zamon’s mind as he looked at the gate mechanism in desperation.
It was a solution he had only just thought of due to the dire circumstances.
"The gate! Destroy the crank for the portcullis! Make it so they can’t open it easily!”
The main gate of the Cabaldi fortress was incredibly thick, with an additional heavy portcullis installed as a defense against battering rams.
Thanks to the northern region’s rich iron deposits, they had spared no expense in fortifying it with steel.
To lift the portcullis, four cranks had to be operated simultaneously.
If those cranks were destroyed, the gate couldn’t be opened through conventional means. Even from inside, they’d have to break it down.
It would be costly to repair later, but it was better than letting the fortress fall.
*Crash!*
The knight leading the defense at the gate immediately smashed all the cranks upon hearing Zamon’s command.
That was his final act.
*Slash!*
“Damn.”
Ghislain clicked his tongue, narrowly missing the knight before he could destroy the cranks.
His body was drenched in blood from the enemies he’d cut down.
"The enemy commander has some wits. I didn’t expect such quick thinking."
Though Ghislain had briefly clashed with the knights, it had only been a matter of moments, given how rapidly he’d driven them back.
And in that short time, the enemy commander had shifted his forces from the walls to the gates, stalling their advance.
Typically, a force ambushed like this would be in chaos or trying to flee. For an enemy, Zamon’s swift judgment was commendable.
"It’ll take time to break through now.”
The gate was designed to be nearly impossible to open from outside.
Even if the Cabaldi forces arrived and the Fenris soldiers eventually managed to open it, the main forces would have to enter gradually.
This would nullify the advantage of having such a large army.
Ghislain surveyed his surroundings.
The ambush had been successful. Their forces had taken minimal losses, while the enemy was nearly decimated.
Their precision strike had been extremely effective, with only a small elite force deployed.
"Hmm, is this as far as we go?"
But their endurance was reaching its limit.
In this short time, his knights had exhausted almost all of their mana.
The glow on their swords was starting to fade, and they looked visibly fatigued.
If they pushed further, they would collapse from overexertion.
There was no way they could fight the reinforcements in such a state.
Ghislain turned back to the walls.
His troops were scaling it quickly, but Cabaldi's main force would arrive before they all made it over.
*Too slow. We’re still not fully prepared.*
With soldiers cobbled together from various units, it was clear they hadn’t received proper training.
Of course, they could continue fighting as reinforcements trickled in through the walls, but that would result in casualties.
Ghislain needed to preserve his forces as much as possible; sustaining heavy losses here wasn’t ideal.
The best approach was to open the gate quickly, establish their formation, and push forward with overwhelming strength.
"Well, as tiring as it is, there’s no choice."
Ghislain chuckled softly.
Even without opening the gate, victory was within their grasp.
Even if the Cabaldi forces arrived, they wouldn’t be able to overcome Fenris’s army. But there was no reason to risk unnecessary casualties when a safer option was available.
While he felt some respect for the enemy commander, this situation was already one of the scenarios Ghislain had anticipated.
Perhaps there were more refined or efficient methods, but in his view, this was the best course of action.
"Everyone, step back."
Ghislain motioned for his knights to fall back and raised his sword.
* * *
Zamon, anxiously watching the gate from the wall, felt a surge of relief when he saw the Fenris soldiers stop moving.
"Good! This should hold until reinforcements arrive!"
The reinforcements were moving faster than he had hoped. Indeed, the Cabaldi soldiers deserved their reputation as the northern elite.
"They won’t find it easy to open that gate."
Even if all the attackers wielded mana, it would take hundreds, if not thousands, of strikes to break down both the portcullis and the gate.
That should buy enough time for their allies to arrive.
Of course, even if they held the gate, they’d have to contend with the soldiers already inside, and the power disparity made victory uncertain.
*Victory may be unlikely.*
But if there was any chance to increase their odds, that was the path they had to take.
And that was as much as he could do.
"I suppose my time has come."
Zamon muttered to himself with a resigned smile.
The opportunity to flee had long passed. Fenris’s forces were breaching both walls, and the defensive forces had been wiped out.
He had sent the last of his escorting knights down to defend the gate, leaving him alone at the command tower.
If he had planned to flee, he should have done so at the start of the battle.
But if he had fled, his forces would have been wiped out even faster, and the gate might have already been breached.
"This was the best I could do."
As a commander, he had done everything within his power. The enemy was simply far stronger than anticipated.
Holding them off, even briefly, was an accomplishment in itself.
Letting out a sigh, Zamon drew his sword and turned around.
"Is it my turn now?"
Standing before him was an assassin, face hidden by a black mask and body cloaked in dark robes.
With a defeated tone, Zamon asked, "Can I at least know your name?"
"..."
"I’d like to know the name of the one who kills me."
"Belinda."
“It’s an honor to fall to someone of your skill.”
Belinda paused for a moment before speaking.
"It looks like you’re the commander here. How about surrendering? You seem capable, so they might spare you. Thanks to you, we’re a bit behind schedule."
“I’m afraid I cannot.”
"Refuse, and you’ll die here."
"To fear death would make me unworthy of a knight’s title. My only regret is that I cannot continue serving my lord."
With a resolute expression, Zamon readied his sword.
*Shing.*
Belinda, without a word, moved in with the shadows.
She had made the offer, thinking he might be useful for stabilizing the fortress after the battle, but his refusal left no further room for negotiation.
Once Belinda decided on a course, she never hesitated.
*Slash!*
With a single swipe, blood spurted from Zamon’s arm.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Belinda’s relentless attacks forced Zamon to keep retreating, blocking as best he could. As a knight and commander, his skills were impressive, but he was outmatched against Belinda, whose prowess had reached new heights.
Clang!
As Zamon barely managed to block another of Belinda’s daggers, her robe fluttered, and several more daggers shot out from within.
Thud! Thud!
“Gah!”
That was the end of the fight.
With his body pierced by daggers, Zamon fell to his knees, blood pouring from his wounds.
As his vision blurred, he whispered his final words.
“Because of Baron Fenris... the North will fall into chaos...”
And with that, his life ended. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
In this era, the term “Master” was more of a title than a defined rank. There were no clear standards for what made someone a “Master,” and so, even those deemed to have reached that level varied in skill.
People generally granted the title based on reputation, feats, and demonstrated skills.
However, in ancient times, there was once a standard for achieving the level of a true Master—though almost no one knew of it now.
Vrrrr.
Ghislain poured his mana into his sword.
As his mana gathered, the blade began to tremble, glowing with a vibrant red light.
This was the famed “Mana Blade,” a mark of a true knight.
Vrrrr!
But Ghislain didn’t stop there. He channeled even more mana into the sword.
The trembling intensified, and the light grew brighter, spilling outward.
The knights nearby watched with awe as the glow expanded around them.
Vrrrr!
The light spread further, then began to shrink, growing even denser.
Compressed mana fought against itself, threatening to burst outward, but Ghislain held it in place through sheer concentration.
The force continued to compact, becoming smaller and more intense.
At this point, the red glow on Ghislain’s sword was no ordinary light.
It was as bright as the sun, forcing the onlookers to shield their eyes and step back.
Ghislain remained steady, his expression hardened like stone.
This wasn’t a technique one could use simply by channeling a vast amount of mana.
It required mastery of control, a deep understanding of one’s power, and an unwavering resolve to manifest one’s will into the world.
Vrrrrrrrrr!
And Ghislain possessed all of these qualities.
What he had lacked was simply the amount of mana.
Now, however, he was able to access this technique, albeit briefly, thanks to the Blood Python venom that had amplified his mana, and years of training his body to withstand such force.
The compressed mana began to take on a new shape.
Fwoosh!
The light transformed. It was no longer a faint glow on the blade; it extended far beyond, like a burning ray of light.
The watching knights gasped in shock.
“What... What is that?!”
“The mana... It’s stretching out like that...”
“It looks... like it’s burning!”
The light, once a gentle shimmer, now surged out in a massive, blazing form, extending several times the length of the blade.
It was brighter and hotter than the sun, radiating an aura so intense that no one dared to approach.
This was a blade that could cut through anything, the pinnacle of refined power.
A manifestation of one’s will, bound and redefined by mastery of mana.
The Aura Blade.
Each era had called it by different names, but the most famous was the one used by the ancient empire.
In the ancient empire, only those who could wield the Aura Blade were acknowledged as true Masters.
“Haa...”
Ghislain gripped the mana-infused sword with both hands and slowly pulled it back.
As the sword moved, countless particles of light scattered, like stars in motion, captivating all who watched.
Leaving the enraptured onlookers behind, Ghislain took a deep breath and swung the blade toward the fortress gate.
Fwoooosh!
A burst of light blinded everyone momentarily.
And as the light faded...
Boom!
The gate, split cleanly in two, slowly began to collapse.
