The high-ranking battle priests gathered around the saint to offer their prayers.
“The looming veil is bound to lift before the radiance, and unclean souls are destined to burn like torches before the light…”
The holy knights, chosen from among the numerous devotees of the God of Radiance, protected them from the approaching infiltrators.
“Not a single one shall pass!”
“Fight bravely!”
“We will boldly knock on the gates of heaven!”
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
“Woooah!”
A fully mutated infiltrator charged in with a roar, swinging its gigantic fist, which was as huge as a cart, at Holy Knight Angeros.
Thunk!
Angeros was sent flying like a kicked ball, and even though he wore heavy full-body armor, every bone in his body shattered.
However, having already finished his battle prayers and received the blessing of light, the recovery ability of the high-ranking holy knight was beyond description.
Crack!
Before the writhing on the ground could stop, his bones reattached, flesh healed, and blood surged back.
“Lord! Strike harder! And grant me the strength to not falter!”
Boom!
The holy knight regained his stance, rushing forward enveloped in a glimmer of light.
Bang!
Like a lumberjack chopping wood, Angeros’s sword struck the infiltrator’s ankle.
Thud!
The infiltrator, as large as a four-story building, sank to the ground.
Valencius watched the scene, flanked by Sererassie, Tenitia, and Rudi.
Just then, Matheos recited the last line of the prayer.
“Grant them the treatment they deserve!”
Woosh!
A pale white light spread outward like a raging fire.
The wave of divine flames reached every corner within the walls of Silentalouon, sweeping through even the darkest alleys of the imperial streets.
Even the infiltrator hiding in a trash can could not escape the flames.
“Eeek!”
A total of over 20,000 infiltrators writhed in agony as their flesh sizzled.
From the darkness, they seemed to blaze like living white torches.
The mass, nearly 1 km in size, writhed in agonizing pain as it rubbed against the nearby building.
At a glance, it seemed as though all the infiltrators had been incinerated in one blow.
However, Matheos knew that this prayer would not inflict a fatal wound.
He gasped for breath, filled with exhaustion from purifying an entire metropolis.
‘Aside from making myself more visible, it has truly only incited anger. What on earth is Duke Valencius thinking…?’
The saint’s worries became reality.
“Ah!”
“T-These things!”
In fact, defenders and elite troops battling across the city began to be pushed back by the infiltrators, who were going insane from pain.
And Matheos’s patience reached its limit upon seeing the devotees who had come to protect the grand cathedral succumb to the rampaging infiltrators.
“Duke Valencius! Tell me now! What on earth were you thinking when you ordered this prayer? Aside from making us more visible, there’s effectively no benefit at all!”
Valencius turned to Matheos, lowering his visor.
“There was a reason for being more visible.”
“What do you mean?”
Matheos felt an instinctive sense of unease.
His intuition as a saint was quite accurate.
“The Blue Knights were patrolling over the encampments of the great lords, monitoring their movements, and while patrolling the central region, they were silencing the suspicious movements of the infiltrator cults as the high nobles gathered in the capital. They must be finishing up their troop replacements soon.”
Kaaak!
From the west came a roar, eerily similar yet slightly different from that of the infiltrators.
Matheos gazed at the 50 shadows taking flight over Wyvernfit.
“The knight order is a formidable force, but this situation cannot be resolved by merely deploying one more knight order, can it?”
“It’s a matter of perspective. It’s about what you carry and how much collateral damage you can tolerate.”
“…They emerged right in the middle of the city, and the evacuation of the residents has not yet finished.”
“At this magnitude of mental wave, they would already be as good as dead if hit at close range.”
Matheos spoke with indignation.
“I can heal them!”
It was a child’s voice filled with unwavering conviction.
Valencius did not look away as he replied.
“That is the biggest problem. It becomes a matter of choice, not capability. Yet I am still too weak, and I know of no other way to bring down 20,000 infiltrators.”
“Duke.”
“And the moment they adapt to their altered forms and begin to emit mental waves, 20,000 will turn into 40,000, and 40,000 will become 100,000. Then this city will fall, the prestige of the imperial court will plummet, and the great lords will begin to fend for themselves. Engaging in mad invasions against each other.”
“…”
“Naturally, the ones who’ll suffer the most will be the powerless citizens, and wicked evil gods will swarm in to answer their cries.”
“So that makes it a reason to not save them…”
Matheos struggled to find words.
Valencius was gazing at the magical realms pierced in the sky.
His eyes revealed an indescribable sense of loss.
He too had received reports that the emperor had flown into the magical realm.
With a voice echoing with both self-loathing and pride, Valencius spoke.
“I will make her the true emperor, and under her, I will bask in glory. For that, this city must stand firm. Many still survive. It is a sad thing to kill fewer lives to save more, but this praised duke title was bestowed for that very purpose.”
Matheos heard a voice far more sincere than usual.
Valencius did not seem to be donning a frivolous mask, nor did he appear to have the energy to do so.
“Valencius!”
“My responsibility does not allow me to ignore the situation and the solutions while relying entirely on the miracle you will create, nor does it allow me to apologize to you. So—”
Under the night sky bathed in turquoise light, amidst the distant roars of the infiltrators and the flapping of wyvern wings,
before Saint Matheos stood, the boy duke who had always acted like a reckless fool, spoke as though he were the brother who had lost his other half twice before him.
“I’m sorry, Matheos. This is my way.”
In the next moment, dozens of grand magic-grade magic tools rained down toward the ground.
The spear-type magic tools used by the Blue Knights were one-time use and far too expensive for only a single deployment.
To create even one spear inscribed with the ‘Flame Wave’ spell required a blacksmith, a woodworking craftsman, high-quality metal that could hold mana, delicate silver circuit, a large quantity of reagents for inscribing the spell onto the item, and the expertise of a top-tier magician.
Moreover, the stronger the spell, the more resources and effort were required for the enchantment, making grand magic-grade magic tools practically as valuable as gold for each and every shot.
Too many resources, too much mana, too much intellect were poured into creating an item that would cause destruction only once and vanish.
Even the wealthiest nation in the world, the Solletarass Empire, could only produce them at the imperial level.
However, past emperors had never ceased their production, including the 47th emperor, Jeilliris.
Instead, she entered the workshop personally to reinforce the schematics along with the magicians.
The expensive destruction tools created in this manner only showcased their true value when held by the Blue Knights mounted on wyverns.
The knights donned ultra-expensive armor, received hefty salaries, and dedicated themselves solely to training without engaging in any productive activities since childhood.
Wyvernfit was a massive structure with a diameter of hundreds of meters, and its annual maintenance cost alone surpassed thousands of gold coins. Even during famine, when people starved to death, the wyverns within feasted on meat.
Many felt a sense of irony and frustration at the fact that what had been created from the gold of the living people’s blood and sweat was merely a destruction tool.
Even bureaucracy working within Wyvernfit had individuals with similar thoughts, which held its own kind of truth.
However, the true value of insurance could only be felt in times of disaster.
“It’s Lord Valencius’s command! Drop it!”
“Give those monstrous bastards the reception they deserve!”
Following the order of the Blue Knights’ commander, 50 Blue Knights dove down towards the ground.
In the darkness, the infiltrators burning with white light were incredibly visible.
Bang!
The spear, imbued with the strongest killing magic, fell where the light was most concentrated.
Whoosh!
A wave of flames over 30 meters high spread out in a circular motion, reaching a diameter of 500 meters, incinerating everything in its path.
The thousands of degrees of rising heat scorched wood, melted stone, and caused steel beams to boil.
“Eeek!”
There were still monsters that survived in that chaos where steel and stone melted and bubbled.
They were infiltrators immune to the heat itself.
That particular creature blazed like a volcano.
Of course, the Blue Knights had other magic tools as well.
Bang!
Crackle!
A spear inscribed with Sererassie’s expansion-penetration spell was shot forth.
“Kikiririric!”
“Eeek!”
The infiltrators that didn’t catch fire shriveled and met their deaths.
“Keep throwing from the sky! The remnants will be dealt with by the ground knights!”
“Maintain altitude!”
“Burn them all!”
The Blue Knights’ commander ensured that the knights did not descend below a certain altitude.
This was partly to avoid mixing with the infiltrators trying to ascend from the ground, but also because they were aware that there might still be living people in that sea of flames and that they could potentially make eye contact with them.
Each grand magic-grade magic tool burned a radius of 500 meters.
The population density in the heart of the empire was embarrassing to mention, and no matter how many died or were infiltrated, there could only be an equal number of injured and survivors.
Of course, they were potential risk factors as long as they were near the infiltrators, and it was highly probable that they would become enemies tomorrow or in a few hours.
‘Your Excellency.’
But viewing those who had only an hour ago been loyal subjects as potential risks was not an easy task, even for knights burdened with the sins of slaughter.
‘Originally, one should not carelessly show the upper ranks cutting down the lower ranks for a greater good. The other lower ranks will fear they might be cut down too.’
The Blue Knights’ commander recalled the command given by Valencius conveyed through five messengers.
‘Use grand magic-grade magic tools where the infiltrators cluster. We must reduce their numbers as quickly as possible. I will take responsibility for the collateral damage.’
‘Why would someone who knows all that say such things?’
The Blue Knights’ commander took a moment to reflect, arriving at the single most important word from that command.
‘I.’
This was not an order from Emperor Jeilliris but rather from Duke Valencius.
‘All the families of the knights are in the imperial palace. That means our knights, too, have no choice but to comply with the duke’s unreasonable orders for the sake of their families.’
The Blue Knights’ commander recognized that, as the highest-ranking figure in the empire, Valencius was not merely a reckless fool, and he knew where his power came from.
‘If Emperor Jeilliris is a god, then he is a priest. Even if pointed out by the whole world, as long as he is not abandoned by His Majesty, his authority remains unchanged.’
Thus, he would gladly be a target of scorn.
He would disregard all grievances and resentment sent forth by the world.
‘That is an impossible task.’
Even as the Blue Knights’ commander moved through the darkness with extinguished white light, he thought.
‘That is not something a human would do.’
‘Such a person is rare even among the martyrs of the Radiance Church.’
‘That frivolous person could not possibly live with such a mindset.’
As the clustered white light nearly faded away, the Blue Knights’ commander turned towards the last infiltrator.
“Drop it!”
Dozens of powerful magic tools crossed the sky, causing a massive explosion.
“Kruuaah!”
Yet the infiltrator, standing at a height of 960 meters, remarkably resisted.
Hellish flames, chilling cold, lightening illuminating the sky, thorns bursting from the ground, and fierce gusts rained upon its form.
“Damn it!”
“It’s recovering again!”
The vortal creature resembling an eight-legged whale sent nutrients through its tentacle-like vessels to heal itself.
While it could penetrate the skin, breaking through 30-meter layers of fat was impossible.
Instead, it groaned with a disdainful expression before regurgitating bizarre creatures from its massive mouth.
“Kaak!”
“Kaak!”
This being, resembling a seagull rotting for about ten years, had wings.
The Blue Knights’ commander felt a strong intuition that this battle would be extraordinarily long and exhausting.
