253th Chapter
A dark wave surges.
The few mages who had been trying to maintain the boundary that the students entered have finally abandoned control of the barrier.
Thus, the barrier that the students entered has entered a collapse sequence.
When a barrier collapses in this manner, casualties within are inevitable, but given all the students are at Expert Level, none will likely perish.
Even if there are fatalities, it would be an unavoidable circumstance.
Beings imbued with malevolent energy continued to increase.
Despite being at a clear disadvantage, the Empire’s knights and instructors did not retreat.
In response to their unwavering belief, just before the battle began, the royal mobile strike force arrived.
Kuung!!
Elementalists who had contracts with wind spirits descended from the sky and deployed the mobile strike force into the center of the battlefield.
The mobile strike force, upon landing, advanced towards the enemy as they unfolded their armaments.
“Annihilate the enemies of the Empire.”
As the command was issued, blades, claws, and magic were swung at each other.
Flashes of light began to erupt in the heart of the Empire.
*
Black liquid falls from the sky.
Worshipers of demons tread upon the soil of the Imperial Capital.
It was a sight no one could believe.
Even if humanity faced extinction, everyone believed that the Imperial Capital would stand firm as the final fortress.
Beneath this unimaginable scene, the Empire’s legions revealed their fury.
Though misfortune compounded and allowed for an unexpected invasion, the Empire did not waver.
This kind of raid could easily be crushed.
This place was not the Demonic Realm but the heartland of humanity.
For the demons and demon creatures to set foot here was akin to placing their own necks into a noose.
All available forces within the Imperial Capital began to move.
Jjak!!!
A blade infused with sword energy bisected a demon.
Glison, the battalion commander of the 15th Defense Battalion of the Imperial Capital Defense Army, looked around with blazing eyes.
The 15th Defense Battalion consisted of 150 elite soldiers capable of enhancing their bodies with mana, twenty knights, and mages, and currently, about 70% of them were fighting alongside Glison.
Though the battalion was small, almost at company level, Glison’s battalion swiftly pushed back against the enemies. Moreover, there were several more defense battalions like this in the Imperial Capital.
“Take not a single step back!!! Push forward!!”
While driving his sword into the neck of a demon, Glison repeatedly shouted.
“To crush those who dare to defile this sacred land!!!”
Kkadddok!!!
The battle continued.
Ordinary demons could be handled by the elite soldiers.
Specialized or enhanced demons were dealt with directly by the knights and mages on the front line.
Amidst the cacophony of howls and bloodshed, additional high-level forces of the Empire joined the fray.
There were members from other units, and some were instructors from Izhise.
Ignes, a royal mage who occasionally served as an advisor at Izhise, also joined the fight of the 15th Defense Battalion.
Ignes incinerated demons with magic but then frowned.
“This is problematic…”
The current battlefield was in the urban area.
It was a residential district, so powerful attacks couldn’t be used indiscriminately.
Should civilian casualties be accepted while high-tier magic bombarded the enemies?
If this weren’t the Imperial Capital, perhaps… the battle might have proceeded despite civilian losses.
However, this was the Imperial Capital.
Every citizen residing here, regardless of status, held significance.
They couldn’t treat them like ants and proceed with the battle carelessly.
Thus, Ignes couldn’t freely summon higher spirits and instead focused on supporting the knights’ combat. The other mages were in a similar position.
Still, the situation wasn’t dire.
After a brief period of confusion at the start of the battle, the 15th Defense Battalion, worthy of its reputation as an elite unit of the Empire, bravely began cutting down the demons.
The united forces of the Empire pushed back the disorganized demons.
However, the real problem was that enemies kept raining down from the sky.
Kwaang!!
A massive demon landed.
One soldier from the defense battalion was crushed under the demon’s weight.
Another soldier, a comrade of the fallen, reflexively tried to attack the demon.
But a knight intervened, kicking the soldier aside and launching a sword aura at the demon.
Ddjak!!
The knight’s sword aura split the demon’s shoulder.
However, in the next moment, the severed shoulder transformed into a sticky liquid and reattached itself.
In the blink of an eye, the healed demon swung its fist like a whip towards the knight.
Cceekk!!!
“Kghh…!!”
The knight, who swung his sword against the punch, was overpowered and thrown back.
Corrosive acidic fluid covering the demon’s body splashed onto the knight, dissolving both the protective barrier cast by a mage and the knight’s armor.
The knight groaned in pain, stood up briefly, but soon collapsed to his knees. Continuing the fight was impossible.
With the fall of one knight, all firepower concentrated on the demon.
Sword auras and magic rained down, slashing at the demon.
However, the demon regenerated like a ghost without substance.
To kill a demon with such abilities, a certain radius needed to be obliterated with overwhelming firepower.
The mages prepared high-tier magic, resonating circles, ready to accept civilian casualties.
However, the demon didn’t wait idly.
Kwaang!!
The demon leaped off the ground and charged towards the mages preparing the high-tier magic.
Knights moved to stop the demon, but demons acted as meat shields, obstructing the knights.
Elite soldiers who weren’t knights were torn apart by a single kick from the demon.
“Tsk…”
Ignes clicked his tongue as he summoned a superior spirit.
A superior fire spirit shaped like an eagle, Korcor, spread its wings and unleashed flames.
However, the fire wasn’t enough to stop the demon.
Breaking through the flames, the demon approached Ignes and swung its fist.
Ignes, even while casting defensive magic, instinctively realized his survival was unlikely.
“Guess I shouldn’t have come.”
Kwaddeok!!!
A single sword blocked the demon’s fist aimed at Ignes.
Ray appeared behind Ignes, revealing himself while twisting and pulling the sword embedded in the demon’s forearm.
Ddjak!!
The demon’s forearm was half-severed, and corrosive fluid splattered onto Ray and Ignes.
However, the demon’s acidic fluid couldn’t penetrate the cold emanating from Ray.
As the demon attempted to retreat to reorganize, Ray immediately charged forward.
A startled Ignes shouted.
“Don’t chase it, fall back!!!”
Cutting alone wouldn’t disable this demon.
Several knights had attacked in coordination, but no matter where they slashed, they couldn’t deal fatal wounds.
High-tier magic capable of devastating an area was necessary to kill this demon.
The demon, aware of this fact, twisted its lips grotesquely as Ray approached.
Seeing this, Ray asked coldly.
“Laughing?”
From Ray’s left hand, a sword emitted a stream of sword energy that pierced into the demon’s leg, holding it in place.
With the demon immobilized, Ray raised the sword in his right hand towards the sky.
The space around the sword warped.
An upper-dimensional sword fixed in reality emitted a flash of light.
The sword, inheriting Harshia’s wish, descended upon the demon’s head, beginning to shatter its soul.
A scream echoed.
That terrible roar continued until the demon’s body was completely bisected.
The gazes of those remaining on the battlefield converged on Ray.
Holding two swords amidst the chaotic battlefield, Ray’s figure evoked fragments of myths read in childhood.
However, there was no time to dwell on memories.
Enemies still remained, and more were pouring in.
At that moment, five artifacts floating in the air spun like a storm, slicing through approaching demons.
Saria, wielding multiple artifacts, personally cut down a demon as she joined the battlefield.
Students from Izhise and other instructors followed Ray and quickly wiped out the remaining demons.
As the temporary battle ended, Ray strode toward Ignes.
“Who’s in charge here?”
Before Ignes could answer, Glison stepped forward.
“I am Glison, battalion commander of the 15th Defense Battalion of the Imperial Capital Defense Army. Thank you for your assistance.”
“When will you close that damn gate? Is there no other communication from higher-ups?”
“That… until now…”
“The Warp Gate is powered by the Golden Tower. We need to destroy the Golden Tower to stop the Warp Gate’s operation.”
“That’s not a wise choice.”
Ignes interjected.
Turning his head irritably, Ray received Ignes’ explanation.
“The five towers currently powering the Warp Gate are among the most critical facilities of the Golden Tower. If we destroy them without securing control, there’s a risk the entire Imperial Capital system will shut down.”
If that happened, everything from communication breakdowns to most systems related to the defense of the Imperial Capital would halt.
The higher-ups of the Empire were also worried about this and hadn’t ordered the immediate destruction of the Golden Tower.
Upon hearing Ignes’ explanation, Ray irritably questioned.
“So you’re just going to let these bastards keep pouring in? Fight a war all day in the middle of the Imperial Capital?”
“That…”
Ignes struggled to respond when a mage from the defense battalion suddenly shouted.
“Higher-ups have issued an alert!! Brace for the aftermath of bombardment!!”
Ray didn’t fully understand the mage’s words.
He couldn’t grasp what kind of alert was issued or what “the aftermath of bombardment” meant.
However, further inquiry wasn’t necessary.
Not long after the mage warned of the aftermath, a massive beam erupted near the pyramid-like Imperial Capital.
The giant beam shot from the Imperial Capital struck the Warp Gate in the sky.
Huaaaaaack!!!!!!
The flash exploding in the sky momentarily obscured even the sun.
An ear-splitting roar accompanied the sky turning stark white.
When the sky gradually returned to normal,
The Warp Gate in the sky, hit by the massive beam, began to collapse, unable to maintain its form.
As a portal connecting spaces, it might have withstood ordinary firepower, but the beam fired from the Imperial Capital far exceeded the Warp Gate’s endurance limit.
Energy from the collapsing Warp Gate surged back, causing an overload in the tower where Dragon Hearts were installed.
This stopped the tower’s functions, and the Warp Gate in the sky was completely erased.
Soldiers watching the sky with half-closed eyes erupted in cheers bordering on screams.
“Uaaaaa!!!”
The Warp Gate disappeared.
Now, only the enemies who had infiltrated the Imperial Capital remained to be dealt with.
Although it wouldn’t be an easy task, with the destruction of the Warp Gate, victory was assured.
Just as Ray was about to exhale a sigh tinged with relief, another change occurred on the battlefield.
Tsuuzuk!!
“…?”
Ray, who could precisely perceive the flow of mana, was the first to turn his head.
Those who detected the abnormal situation followed Ray and turned their heads.
Alpha 21. Right at the location where the incident initially began, a massive hemispherical barrier was forming.
The opaque barrier quickly enveloped the entire vicinity of Alpha 21.
Ray stared at the massive barrier visible in the distance and turned to the mage.
“Did our side create that barrier?”
“…I can’t confirm that with certainty.”
The mage swallowed hard.
“It doesn’t seem so.”
“Looks like it.”
Ray coldly sneered.
Guardian (5)
