Chapter 466
Chapter 466: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (4)
“Cough…”
Dentarion, his heart pierced, fell and began to vomit blood.
The black energy he emitted focused on his heart, trying desperately to heal it.
But he couldn’t restore a heart that was completely shattered. Even though the black energy tried to take its place, the force that had pierced through it was in the way.
“Th-this power….”
Ereness’s energy was the natural force that comprised the world. Although it wasn’t divine power, it had the effect of disrupting the black energy, which was against the rules.
‘That elf….’
In his fading consciousness, Dentarion finally remembered who that elf was.
‘Guardian of the World Tree….’
There were few elves capable of wielding such power. In fact, there was only one elf who used such a massive bow.
The Guardian of the World Tree had been fighting against the Salvation Society for a very long time. If Dentarion had recognized the elf’s identity even a moment earlier, he wouldn’t have chosen to confront her like this.
‘How on earth….’
Even though she was a long-time nemesis of the Salvation Society, there was a reason Dentarion couldn’t realize it right away.
He knew that their king had placed a ‘curse’ on Ereness, which meant she could not leave the World Tree.
Because of this, Ereness had only sent her elven followers to fight until now. The Salvation Society was aware of this and had not paid attention to her movements until now.
But now, she appeared among the Northern Army.
‘I need to let them know….’
If they had realized that Ereness was out in the world, they would have formulated a new strategy. At the very least, Gathros, who led the Salvation Society, should’ve come.
And yet, another variable emerged. Just how many variables were there beside Count Penris?
Boom!
Dentarion’s body crashed to the ground, shattered. The black energy could no longer protect him and scattered throughout the world.
“Dentarion!”
“How dare you!”
The remaining two priests were flustered yet furious. It was only natural that a comrade, with whom they had spent a long time creating a new world, had died.
It was also true they had begun to feel fear at the power displayed by that elf.
To avoid countless attacks and still attempt such an assault… And that bow…
“C-could it be…?”
“Guardian of the World Tree?”
The two priests, high priests of the Salvation Society, finally caught on to the elf’s identity.
“Huff…”
Ereness exhaled deeply and got back up. The black energy surrounding her gradually faded.
A moment ago, when she shot the arrow, she had failed to dodge or block the priests’ attacks and had taken a direct hit.
Even if she was a half-breed superhuman, a superhuman couldn’t withstand such strong force and was knocked back.
From the perspective of someone like her or Ghislaine, she was merely a half-breed, but to others, her power was incredibly formidable.
However, it wasn’t such a catastrophic injury.
“Well, you’re doing quite well for a so-called superhuman.”
WHOOSH!
Ereness pulled back her bow once again, concentrating energy to create an arrow of light.
The inexperienced priests of the Salvation Society hesitated for a moment, bewildered.
‘Uh, what do we do?’
‘According to the texts, we can’t win against this opponent.’
‘But our attacks did work, didn’t they?’
‘Should we fight? Can we win if we both attack together?’
The two of them struggled to quickly decide whether to fight or flee.
And that indecision became their critical mistake.
WHOOSH!
“Kuhak!”
Once again, a priest’s heart was pierced. It happened so fast that he couldn’t even block or dodge in time.
“My recovery… it’s not working properly….”
The priest clutched his chest, writhing in pain before collapsing.
They didn’t die easily due to the black energy. Even if their organs were destroyed, as long as their breath didn’t stop immediately, the black energy would temporarily replace their organ functions and help them recover.
Because of this, they had overly relied on their powers, and that had become a habit. Even witnessing their comrade’s death, they couldn’t make a quick decision.
Boom!
The lifeless body of the fallen priest hit the ground. The remaining priest saw Ereness draw her bow again and was startled into turning away.
In the distance, Count Mathes of the Delphine Army yelled.
“Attack! Quickly save the priest…”
But someone moved even faster.
“Everyone, attack!”
WHOOSH!
With Claude’s shout, hundreds of rocks shot toward the Delphine Army from the Northern Army’s camp.
Claude had already completed all preparations and was just waiting for the right timing.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Uwaaaah!”
Hundreds of stones rained down on the Delphine Army. Before they could even move, the rocks began to dismantle their formation.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
What made the Galbarium catapult from Penris so fearsome wasn’t just its mobility. It also had a loading speed several times faster than ordinary catapults, which was a crucial factor in the tide of battle.
While waiting for the Delphine Army, the Northern Army mercilessly launched their stones.
Wendy, standing next to Claude, looked worried and asked.
“Isn’t the Great Chief in danger as well?”
“He’ll manage to dodge just fine.”
“…”
“And the more he’s up front, the more it disrupts the enemy’s formation! He’s not someone who’s going to die, so don’t worry too much about it! Hahaha!”
“True, he’s not someone who would easily fall to a catapult attack…”
Even high-level knights would suffer critical injuries if they took a catapult hit directly. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for them to die if luck didn’t favor them.
No matter how much she was Ereness, if hit properly, her mana would be significantly depleted. After all, it was not a weapon that just smashed castle walls.
While there had been no prior agreement, Claude believed that Ereness would skillfully dodge or block the attacks.
Or not.
Count Mathes was taken aback, shouting as the stones poured down like rain.
“Run! Quickly, run!”
It was an anticipated assault, but experiencing it firsthand was far more powerful than he thought.
He had brought three superhumans to avert this crisis, yet two were dead, and one had retreated.
“Come back! Come back and attack the enemy!”
Even as Mathes shouted, the priest busily turned around and fled.
And Ereness chased after that priest.
BAM!
Nonchalantly swatting away a massive rock flying towards her with one hand, she glanced at her allies’ ranks.
‘I didn’t say I was going to throw stones.’
Each time she knocked away the approaching rocks, her energy was drained to the point her hands felt numb. With so many stones raining down, even she couldn’t dodge them all.
‘That guy is really….’
Ever since she joined the Northern Army, her composure had been strangely unraveling.
Ereness resolved that she would definitely say something when she returned and redirected her focus. For now, capturing the Salvation Society priests was her priority.
WHOOSH!
As Ereness chased the priest into enemy territory, she drew another light arrow.
Count Mathes spotted Ereness charging toward him and screamed.
“Kill her! Kill that elf first! Hurry!”
To win this battle, eliminating that opposing superhuman was a necessity.
It appeared he was intent on chasing down the fleeing priest, but they had to kill her, even at the cost of sacrificing many of their own.
Numerous knights and soldiers charged toward Ereness.
Clang, clang, clang!
The swords swung by the knights began to chip away at her armor bit by bit. Indeed, they were high-level knights from the South.
Among them, there appeared to be several knights of at least high rank.
Ereness had already consumed quite a bit of energy fighting the priests. In particular, the ‘Elven Serenade’ consumed an unbelievable amount of power.
Regardless of being a superhuman, facing numerous enemies while exhausted would be challenging. Moreover, that damned Claude was continually hurling enormous stones.
Continuing on like this was not a wise option.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Corpses exploded and screams filled the air. Attacks from all directions were coming in.
Eventually, Ereness could no longer chase the priests and sent an arrow flying.
WHOOSH!
The priest of the Salvation Society, who had already run quite far away, sensed a powerful surge of energy shooting toward him.
He had already witnessed two of his comrades die before his eyes. Gathering all his strength, he barely managed to twist his body away.
THWACK!
“Kuhraaa!”
The priest’s shoulder was completely shattered, and his arm fell off with a scream. Thankfully, he had avoided a fatal blow.
With all his might, he fled the battlefield. As someone with superhuman strength, his escape speed was astonishing.
“Tsk.”
Ereness clicked her tongue in disappointment and turned her body. It was time for her to retreat.
Initially, the Delphine Army charged forward while enduring the catapult attacks, but a portion of their forces had to divert to catch her, causing their formation to shatter.
It seemed that Claude had anticipated this and started his assault.
While it was good for the Northern Army, it was a nuisance for Ereness, who was now surrounded by tightly packed knights and soldiers brandishing weapons.
She grimaced and opened her mouth.
“Endlessly swirling wind, heed my call.”
WHOOSH!
The winds began to gather, forming the shape of a colossal gray woman. It was the advanced wind spirit, Shilairon, who surrounded her in a swirling vortex.
As Shilairon circled around Ereness, a powerful storm spread outward.
WHOOSH!
“Uwaaaaah!”
With the sudden onslaught of powerful winds, the knights and soldiers who were charging in were all knocked back or sent sprawling to the ground.
They were cut and bled by the razor-like winds.
Ereness didn’t stop there; since she had already used her power, she decided to expend a bit more.
“Eternal flames, bring your fire here.”
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, flames began to gather from thin air, soon taking the form of an enormous fire lizard spirit, Selaim.
As the flaming lizard opened its mouth, flames shot out, beginning to incinerate everything nearby like a raging beast.
“Kraaaak!”
Out of nowhere, soldiers in the ally’s ranks were set ablaze and fell. The fire began to spread further and grow larger.
Knights capable of controlling their mana could extinguish or ward off the flames, but the incoming soldiers were unable to do so.
“Get back!”
“Spread out!”
Chaos erupted due to Ereness encroaching before they could even properly charge.
Count Mathes shouted anxiously.
“Magicians! What are you doing? Quickly block it! I said block it!”
But even the magicians were at a loss. They were too busy trying to contain the overwhelming magical power raining down from the Northern Army.
“It’s impossible! We’re busy blocking the magic of ‘Alfoy’ attacking this place!”
The Northern Army wasn’t just Vanessa. Many other magicians were also present.
Excluding the magicians left behind for territorial defense, over a hundred magicians had come to this place.
They were all launching their spells, and the Delphine Army was scarcely able to defend against the magical assault.
Fortunately, because the Delphine Army also had many high-level magicians among them, they managed to hold off the Northern Army’s magicians, who included seventh-circle casters.
“I-I can’t….”
Count Mathes was at a complete loss for what to do. His trusted superhumans had two dead, and one had run away.
Rocks flew incessantly, killing his soldiers, while that insane elf was laying waste to their ranks.
Some cavalry had even reached the Northern Army’s vicinity, but too many obstacles in the way had rendered their numbers insufficient. Their formation lay in ruins.
Meanwhile, the Northern Army had formed a solid defense with their shields standing tall. Every knight was set to fortify their defense.
At this rate, charging forward would be futile.
‘What do I do…?’
While Count Mathes faltered, the Northern Army was calmly preparing for the next assault.
Tenant, who had been waiting, spoke to Claude.
“Now, it’s my turn to go.”
“Good. Don’t let on that you’re a superhuman. Just act like a high-level knight. Got it?”
“Understood.”
Although it differed from the initial plan, Tenant understood Claude’s thinking. With victory or defeat tipping in their favor, there was no need to reveal another card.
Kaor, turning his shoulders casually, spoke.
“Wow, the results are turning out better than I expected. Originally, it was supposed to be a case of checking how many superhumans they had, killing only as many as necessary, and retreating. If things got tough, we were supposed to come out. Was this expected too?”
Though he spoke leisurely, the sweat rolling down Kaor’s back was cold.
‘What the hell, damn it! What is that elf? Is she crazy? Why is she so strong? Is she really an elf? Or a dragon?’
The last time he charged in, he had gotten a sharp hit, but he didn’t expect her to be this strong. Yet, out of pride, he didn’t want to show it.
Claude arrogantly smiled and replied.
“Well, since she’s called the Elf Great Chief, I figured she’d be capable of this much. So, I told you to kill a number that can be killed.”
‘What the hell… What is that? I’m scared….’
But Claude was also soaked with cold sweat. He truly had no idea she would be this formidable.
To anyone looking, Ereness was a monster. She alone had killed two superhumans, and the one who had fled was left without an arm.
That alone was astonishing, but now she was summoning spirits from within the enemy ranks and conducting a massacre.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she was blocking the allies’ catapult attacks while fighting. She was truly a monster worthy of being called a lord.
That was why Ghislaine had been known as one of the Seven Greats of the continent in her previous life, but they couldn’t have known that.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Uwaaah!”
“Break through somehow! Make a path!”
“Hit the elf first! I said hit the elf first!”
The tides of battle were increasingly turning against the Delphine Army. As conflicting orders came from all sides, chaos began to ensue among the soldiers.
Naturally, chaos erupted with Ereness wreaking havoc in the middle.
Those who barely reached the Northern Army after evading the catapults couldn’t even breach the ranks properly. They were instead met by shields and busy dying thanks to Kaor and Tenant.
Count Mathes felt a twitch under his eyes.
‘I can’t believe it has come to this….’
Defeat was certain now. He could only hope that another contingent would reach the capital to seize it.
Despite bringing the largest army to eliminate the Northern Army, he was suffering unexpected losses due to various variables.
He gritted his teeth.
‘I can’t turn back like this.’
If he retreated now, he could save a substantial number of soldiers since he had brought so many.
But what good would it do for someone who had brought three superhumans to return defeated? Punishment was a secondary issue. His own pride and honor were tarnished.
He had to take revenge on the one who led to this fiasco.
“Stop the charge! Everyone kill that elf! Cease the charge! Kill the elf!”
Count Mathes shouted numerous times, giving new orders.
Even though he was having a hard time with Count Penris, he couldn’t allow such a strong elf to remain by his side. That suspiciously powerful elf had to be eliminated somehow.
Even if it meant the complete demise of everyone in the Delphine Army.
