CHAPTER 11
BEYOND BELIEF
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Despite its size, Armin had a strong military. There were more than 50 thousand soldiers all over the nation. However, as a feudal kingdom, their troops were scattered in each of the nobles' territories. And the latest information said that the Walker nobles secretly gathered tens of thousands of troops without the knowledge of the king. The information was too shocking. And they did something beyond belief.
Bam!
“What did you say?”
“Yes, my lord. They didn't send any troops.”
A marquis was furious after learning the bad news. When his troops were fighting for life and death, the Walker nobles did not provide any help. Even though they had quite a lot of troops. Their behavior clearly triggered the native nobles who was fighting on the front lines. Twelve thousand dragon army subjugation troops had been halved on the third day in Dragona Cave.
“This is unacceptable!”
“They have shown their true face!”
“We've been framed! They are deliberately subverting us!”
It was too late to question their loyalty. Since an embarrassing incident six years ago, native nobles have lost their respect for heroes of the gods. Particularly to heroes who became nobles. Their real faces were revealed. They weren't worthy of gaining authority and wealth. Thinking about them was a pain in the ass. As the general of subjugation, the marquis had no time to waste.
“My Lord, the next wave is about to come out.”
The marquis stood up among his knights. He saw the war conditions that were getting harder on the third day. They could survive because their enemies were monsters driven by instinct. The dragon army had no idea about formation or strategies.
Or, that's how it should be.
“My Lord! Our lines were breached! They are about to flank us!”
“What?”
The marquis was surprised when he saw something unbelievable.
On the left side of the battlefield, the troop formation was a mess. The marquis couldn't believe his troops overwhelmed. The velomodrakes, which previously attacked blindly, were now diligently lining behind the bigger monsters. They waited for ankylodrakes to breach the line.
“This is can't be happened ...”
The Velomodrakes somehow became more intelligent. Whenever they saw an opening, they rushed off to the line of archers protected by the vanguard. They were clearly using tactics. The marquis felt something amiss with their behavior.
“Search for a leader! Assassin, hunter! Search for their leader! There must be some unique monster among them!”
“My Lord! We saw a strange minion!”
Marquis suspicion was proven. Among the velomodrakes, he found a velo with a long tassel that kept hissing. Its behavior was obvious. And the appearance was distinctive. The marquis knew that the unique monster was the leader. However, the unique velo positioned itself in the rearguard, which was hard to reach. It was impossible to kill it. To make matters worse, when they could not even retaliate, another species crawled out of the cave.
“Moving fort! Moving fort!”
Armin's troops were getting nervous when they saw several monsters as big as houses. The monster's skin was literally made of stone. Arrows were useless against them, let alone swords and spears. The new species was more like a walking fortress than a mere savage monster.
“Ice Mage! Freeze them!” The marquis was unfazed. He real enemy was the time. “Hold them off! Trust me! I would never fight in a war I couldn't win! Do not be afraid!”
“Uwooooo!”
Guarded by swordsmen, a line of blue-robed mages took action. They were the natural enemies of the moving fortress, or Magnaterra in the dictionary of the earth. The stone monster had a fatal weakness that was easily mitigated. They were actually gigantic versions of clams. Their outer skin is indeed too tough to penetrate. However, their core was a soft mollusk that was sensitive to temperature.
“Ooo Mighty Hiemza. Bestow me your grace! Show them how cold your anger is. Gelida Columna!”
Crack!
Several human-height piles of ice emerged along the path toward the monster. Magnaterra was a slow, six-legged monster. They had no offensive abilities except their size and toughness. As soon as their bodies were touched by the ice, they stopped moving. The stone monsters were nothing more than random boulders that decorated the battlefield.
“Holy Maiden is arrived!”
”Uwoooooo!”
Their morale came back when they saw a golden carriage.
***
“Don't be afraid! Our victory is certain!”
Amidst the senseless battle, a marquis tried his best to lead the troops. Two thousand soldiers had died within hours. There were only four thousand troops left. The morale fell further because there were too many monsters. Their numbers were inexhaustible. The species were becoming more diverse, which gave terror to the eyes of the soldiers. They bet their lives on impossible odds. The recent waves were not even five percent of dragon army's true scale.
Craaawwwwww!
“What was that?”
“I feel something dangerous incoming.”
“Don't be swayed! Just fight!”
A sinister screeching echoed loudly from the cave. Armin's troop started to tremble when they heard the sound of flapping wings and the silhouettes of flying creatures. The legend appeared. The soldiers showed given-up looks after knowing what the monster was.
“Wyvern! Wyvern!”
There was no mistaking it. It was a smaller version of the dragon. They flew out of the cave and grabbed the soldiers as if nothing had happened. They took them into the sky and threw them away. The wyvern attacked like a flock of hawks. Dozens of soldiers fell like rain. The terror was even more pronounced because the wyvern was almost impossible for them to fight.
“This isn't a war, it's a massacre ....”
Several soldiers became deserters. They chose to flee rather than face the winged monsters. The war had become impossible. Their weapons were useless against the various types of dragon families, let alone against wyverns. There were dozens of them, and killing one was impossible when they were in the air. The arrows would bounce off. Even magic was often missed. Only ballistas are able to fight back, although the chances of hitting them are almost zero.
The marquis, meanwhile, smiled calmly and knelt before a mysterious woman.
“Your Holiness, please bless me, a poor soul who needs Lumina's embrace.”
In front of him, a young, beautiful woman in religious attire nodded. Her face was unrealistically gorgeous. Even though her eyes were covered by a piece of cloth. The woman, known as the Holy Maiden, didn't sway at all when a flock of wyverns approached. So did the marquis who calmly unsheathed his sword.
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Clank!
A wyvern cried when its leg disintegrated. The marquis wasn't nervous at all. He fought like a man. Every swing of his sword carved fear into his foes. His fighting aura was overwhelming. The soldiers, who were previously in despair, now have the will to fight them back. They cheered when they saw a holy woman behind their general.
“Don't lose hope! Resist their movement!”
“Preparations are almost complete! Hold back a little more!”
“Woaaaaa! Long live holy maiden!”
The marquis knew that the battle was impossible. Nonetheless, he was not fighting for no reason. The Armin Kingdom had a weapon that was being prepared from the start. And that weapon was a magic circle drawn using expensive crystals. There were probably thousands of them. In the center of the circle was a beautiful black-haired woman who was dancing while chanting various forms of incantations.
“O great Lumina, I offer this blessing to you. I exchange this world for a ray of your light.”
A pillar of light rose high into the sky. Right in the center of the circle, the dance was more exquisite. Her fingers moved lithely, creating a beautiful scene that was in line with her looks. She pointed her index finger at the mouth of the cave as she cast the last spell.
“Imprison them to the eternal dimension, O Lumina. Keep the calamity away from us, poor souls.”
The ray was getting wider and wider. The evening battle became brighter than midday. As if the sun had descended. Everyone closed their eyes at the blinding light. The holy maiden snapped her finger as thousands of expensive crystals were burned into the air.
“Summalux porta!”
Flash!
All the monsters were gone.
***
Lumina Grand Cathedral, Crocosela City
Between the toll of the cathedral's bell and the hundreds of pious devotees exhausted looks, the healing spell was cast everywhere. The wounded kept rising. The death toll was countless. Some priests panicked when the Saintess kept chanting high-level spells.
“Your Holiness, please take a rest. It's been two months of your hard work. Wait for Holy Maiden.”
Lumiere smiled softly, though her lips were tiredly gasping.
“Please, Your Holiness. Please wait for your daughter's arrival. She is on her way from Dragona Cave.”
Lumiere shook her head once more, busying herself with casting tons of healing magic into her surroundings. The bell continued to ring. The victims kept arriving, increasing the number of dead bodies brought to the courtyard of the cathedral.
“Take care of the funeral.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
The priests ran around after Lumiere gave the order. They went back and forth in the backyard of the cathedral, a spacious place with a thick requiem nuance. All the priests chanted prayers over the bodies of the soldiers. There were thousands of them. The saintess led the prayer of release, following the Order of Lumina, the main religion in the Kingdom of Armin.
“Show your smile, my child. Accept Lumina's embrace. Stay by her side for eternity.”
Flames soared as the bodies burned to ashes. Leaving sadness for the survivor, Saintess's tired face was getting worse. Her energy had been drained after two months of healing thousands of people. The middle-aged woman nevertheless breathed a sigh of relief after the soldier delivered important news.
“Holy Maiden has arrived!”
All the priests cheered, as did the soldiers and the people of Crocosela. They knelt down along the main road to await the arrival of the hero. The holy woman, who had been the ultimate weapon that wiped out all monsters in the blink of an eye, had arrived in the city.
“Long live Her Holiness Holy Maiden!”
“Your Holiness Holy Maiden, please bless us!”
The cheers grew louder when a golden carriage pulled by a dozen horses was clearly seen from afar. It was a carriage with a black-haired woman showing her beautiful face. Emitting a warm glow as her figure came into view, her charm gave a comfortable sensation to all who saw her.
“O Lumina's devotees, you are now free from the misery.”
The voice was too graceful, just as elegant as her attire. She was wearing a long white dress embellished with gold threads. The female hero also wore a luxurious crown studded with rubies and sapphires, covering her black hair that shimmered with holy light. Her delicate face was emitting a faint glow. Even though her eyes were covered by a cloth, she was so beautiful that any man would die if she asked for it.
“Your Holiness, the Saintess is exhausted. Please help her.”
Her beautiful face was replaced by worry. The Holy Maiden got off the carriage and ran down the aisle of the cathedral. Everyone was kneeling before her. Some were even prostrating, showing how enormous her dignity was.
“O Mother, forgive me.”
The Holy Maiden was the number one person in the Order of Lumina. It could be said that she was the incarnation of the goddess herself. However, no matter how high her rank, she was subject to the rank of a mother. The Holy Maiden panicked even more when she saw the figure of a woman in her 50s. As quickly as possible, she prostrated herself in front of Lumiere and kissed her feet.
“Mother, please forgive me for coming late. Please take a rest. Leave the rest to me.”
The Saintess nodded slowly with a smile, asking her to stand up. She then embraced her daughter and said, “I miss you.”
“Ah—yes, I'll be back. Please wait for me.” The Holy Maiden nervously bowed.
The most beautiful lady turned around. The holy maiden ran along the hallway until reaching the front yard. Thousands of soldiers were waiting for her. The woman casually snapped her fingers and recited an incantation.
“O Goddess Lumina, bestow your grace on this poor soldier. Summacura!”
Flash!
Slowly, a pillar of light encompassed the front of the courtyard. The light widened to illuminate the soldiers' fragile bodies. Slowly, their wounds closed, and pain suddenly disappeared like a joke. With just one spell, the Holy Maiden had healed thousands of people. Her skills were beyond the human realm.
Of course, she was an SS-ranked hero and the third-strongest walker in the world.
***
Dragona Cave
“Damnit! Give me a break!”
In the dimness of the cave, Count Vardant looked tired. His jobs had been stacked because a crazy guy had ordered him around. His felonies were unforgivable. Sabotaging shamanic rituals, driving junior walkers to their death, provoking hatred, and even assassinating the king. Count Vardant would certainly be hanged if his crimes were found out. And now, the CEO of Walker Association has asked him to go back to the damned cave.
“Why are you here?”
Questioned by the count, several people in black robes looked confused. They raised their shoulders as an answer.
“Baron Frederick asked us to hide here. He said that young walkers revolted. They asked us to send them home.”
“What?”
It turned out that the black-robed guys were mages, or, to be specific, Janus mages who were supposed to open portals for other walkers. Count Vardant had asked them to hide in his castle, so the young walkers had no choice but to fight in the front. He had no idea why they gathered in the cave with some crates of suspicious crystals and mana potions.
“What the fuck does he want this time?”
Flash!
Just after he swore to someone who ordered him around, a communication crystal flashed brightly.
“Your Highness, why I'm here. And why you asked portal boys to hide here?”
“They aren't hiding. They will do something important for us.”
“Important what?”
“I've replaced some holy crystals she used with defective ones. The seal she made is unstable. Do your job before she realizes something is wrong.”
Count Vardant could help his trembling. With all of the crazy nutjobs he had done for the CEO, today was out of the question. The mad politician asked him to do something impossible.
“So, the dragon army will be unleashed? And you asked me, someone who knows shits about portal, to fix this out? Are you lose your mind?”
“Can you see it yourself? I think the dragon army will be released within minutes.”
Craaawwwwww!
Everyone gulped when they heard the screeching noises of the flying lizard. The CEO didn't lie about sabotaging the holy maiden's sealing ritual. To make matters worse, Vardant and Janus Mages saw a black dome with red edges, the highest level of the Monster Portal. They would definitely die if they did nothing.
“After everything I've done, you wanted to kill me, huh?”
“No, I want you to give me a simple favor.”
“What?”
“Ask Janus Mages to open portal to earth.”
Between several people in black robes, Vardant stood stiff, like someone who gets a heart attack. The CEO asked him to commit a crime beyond belief. He didn't mind killing the ethereal inhabitants. They were just NPCs. However, killing earthlings was a completely different story.
“You asked me to be a mass murderer?”
“I ask you save yourself.”
“This is ridiculous! A portal break will happen. And I will be shot to death if the Indonesian government finds out.”
“And you will be a random velo's dinner if you waste more time. Be wise, young man. Time is ticking.”
Count Vardant had no choice but commit the biggest crime.