21st Century Archmage

Chapter 187: Death Knights and Death Wyverns

‘At last, the Empire!’

For the first time, I was crossing over onto Laviter Empire territory. There was that one time when I carried out mental education on the 2nd Prince brat who was harassing the beastmen in the Kovilan Mountains, but this was my first time actually going over the mountains into Laviter proper.

‘So there are plains here, too.’

As we went from the enormous majesty of the Kovilan Mountains’ peaks to the utterly flat plains of the Empire, my heart thumped, and I let out a whistle of admiration in spite of myself.

We were upstream of the Yukane River, at what was called one of Kallian’s four great plains. Unlike the plains of Nerman, it was dotted with quite a few mountains, and a river was snaking through the land. Before long, I saw castles, buildings, and people.

It was early morning. We departed from Nerman in the middle of the night, and after taking two breaks, we crossed the mountains and waited. Then, when dawn broke, we began our invasion of the Empire, heading straight for the castle of Yanovis von Vermillion, which wasn’t all that far from the mountains. Farmers working busily at the crack of dawn and soldiers stationed at the fort and castle to watch for monsters swarming out of the Kovilan Mountains froze at the sight of us.

As people of the Empire, who would have ever imagined that such a day would come? We quickly flew past the heads of the shocked Laviter soldiers and civilians, heading for our destination.

“All flight leaders, hear me.”

“As you command!”

The shouts of Skyknights resounded in my ear in response to my command over the communication line. I could tell from the vigor in their voices that they were boiling over with morale, not fear.

“The goal of this attack is not the annihilation of the enemy, but to unleash a blitz attack. When the command to retreat is given, move to Nerman without delay. I permit you to fly in individual flights rather than as a unified whole.”

“As you command!”

We were flying openly in the air, so the enemies would know about our invasion before long. However, I wasn’t afraid.

‘It’s nice and large here. Should I go for some territory expansion while I’m at it?’

Even from above, the Laviter Empire’s enormous land went on without end. For a moment, I entertained the thought of seizing the land as a Nerman colony.

* * *

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“A-All hands to emergency stations!”

“Enemies incoming! The Nerman bastards are coming!”

For the Nerman invasion that was put into effect by imperial command, unlike the wyvern flight stationed at the Havis Kingdom borders, there was a specially assigned flight in the Yanovis Duchy that would jump into Nerman as soon as the war started. A fort that guarded against the Kovilan Mountain monsters had just sent them emergency contact, saying that hundreds of Nerman wyverns had invaded Empire territory.

“Kyre…!”

It was still early in the morning. Unlike the soldiers, as long as they weren’t in a state of emergency, Skyknights had fairly free reign over their waking times. At the sound of the emergency bell of Vermillion Castle, a sound that hadn’t echoed in a truly long time, the Skyknights hastily jumped out of bed, armed themselves, and scrambled to their wyverns. Even for a duchy, the castle itself could not house all 500 wyverns, so a temporary covert had been built outside the walls.

“Your Excellency, I believe it must be Count Kyre…”

An adjutant approached and carefully mentioned Kyre’s name to the Duke, who had risen early in the morning to hone his swordsmanship. The adjutant was aware of how embarrassing a situation his lord, Duke Yanovis, was put into by Kyre. The Emperor commanded the Duke to remain under house arrest in the duchy, and Prince Alskane didn’t come to visit, not even once. Filled with the desire to recover his bent and smashed pride, Duke Yanovis was chomping at the bit to stand on the front lines in the Nerman invasion.

“I know.”

“We await your commands.”

“This is the land of the Empire and my household! Sortie all Skyknights!”

“As you command!”

Duke Yanovis had taken considerable damage from his failed invasion of Nerman. Two thirds of the duchy’s Skyknights had bravely perished, leaving just 70 Skyknights under the Vermillion banner. Thankfully, there were many Skyknights dispatched from the neighboring territories and the Empire’s corps, so they had the forces to engage.

“Tell Count Lainke to follow me.”

“As you command!”

Count Lainke, the Empire’s greatest summoner.

‘Kyre, I won’t be as easily defeated this time!’

Because of his large, bull-like eyes and his bulk, Duke Yanovis was once called the Mad Cow. He loudly gnashed his teeth towards the enemy who dared to come knocking.

* * *

‘They’re pretty fast.’

There were around 50 km to fly from the Kovilan Mountains to the Duke’s castle. This operation was a blitz in name, but I didn’t think of it as a cowardly surprise attack. Duke Yanovis was the one who had come with the Prince to attack Nerman. I wanted to sound the prelude of war with the Empire by defeating the man who was called the Mad Cow.

And before long, I saw them. The moment I glimpsed the castle far in the distance, I also saw 500 wyverns flying over in a triangular attack formation. No matter how many times I saw it, seeing a full battalion of wyverns was quite a spectacle, though somewhat worrying since they were my enemies.

‘They won’t go down without a fight.’

Despite knowing my skills, The Laviter Empire’s Skyknights were charging towards me. I heard that the Empire had developed new Blessed Spears, but they wouldn’t be a match for Nerman’s spears yet.

“All forces, switch to attack formation no. 3! I will take the lead!”

“Yes, sir!”

We had a total of three attack formations. Among them, no. 3 was a charging formation pivoted around the lead. We called it Spearhead.

Flap, flap flap flap.

The territory wyverns following me began to line up behind me. This was the 1st Flight, which could in some ways be called Nerman’s ace. The Skyknights of the flight that was made up of former mercenaries, just like their flight leader, Cedrian, let their rough spirits blaze unfettered in the air.

This wasn’t my first or second battle, so I felt no nerves even upon seeing the steadily approaching mass of enormous wyverns.

Right now, it felt like we were about to begin a round of an enjoyable game.

It was a sense of relaxation that only a 7th Circle mage could enjoy.

* * *

‘Foolish bastard!’

The Lord of Nerman who always liked to fly at the lead was a strong person, a terrifying person to meet in battle, even with 500 wyverns.

But he picked the wrong day. His opponents today weren’t just Duke Yanovis and ordinary, regular Skyknights. Count Lainke, the Empire’s strongest high summoner of wind, and 20 summoner Skyknights were participating this time, too.

‘As long as you die, your underlings are nothing!’

According to their intel, Nerman’s Skyknights were mostly made up of a mishmash of rabble knights who hadn’t gotten proper elite education. Their skills were practically nothing compared to that of the Laviter Empire’s Skyknights.

Flash!

Whoooooooosh!

‘Oh! It’s finally here!’

The trump card Duke Yanovis had been waiting for was here. Count Lainke summoned a high spirit, Djinn, and the summoner Skyknights under his command followed by summoning their respective intermediate spirits, Shuriels.

‘I will personally slice off your head!’

Because of Kyre, and Kyre alone, his pride and the pride of his house was dragged through mud. Blinded by murderous intent, Duke Yanovis flew vigorously behind the spirits.

And then, he saw it—

The Djinn and Shuriels whizzing through the air towards Kyre at an incredible speed.

* * *

‘S-Spirits!’

I expected magic at most, but to my shock, I sensed the presence of spirits.

‘A Djinn!’

While I was raising my spear and thinking about which spell I would cast, a door to the Spirit Realm opened and spirits popped out. Among them was even a high spirit of wind, a Djinn.

It was an emergency. There were only approximately 3 km between us and the enemies.

‘Who do you jerks take me for!’

I was flustered, but this turn of events wasn’t anything to run away over.

“Djinn, please come out~!”

I, too, had a high spirit of wind.

Flash!

Djinn responded immediately to my call. It appeared in the sky with a flash of blue light.

“You called?”

Unlike Shuriel, Djinn was capable of conversation.

‘Obviously, since you came,’ I wanted to say, but there was no time for idle retorts.

“Block that Djinn flying over.”

“Hm… It’s a whelp who hardly measures up to my little toe.”

‘Geh… little toe.’

I did hear that summoned spirits possessed a certain degree of the summoner’s will. Clearly under my influence, the Djinn scoffed at the other Djinn flying towards me.

Whoosh!

And then, it flew as commanded towards the less-than-its-little-toe spirit like a ray of light.

Baaaam!

‘Argh! Are these guys fucking sumo wrestlers or something?! Why are they crashing into each other?!’

Someone once said spirits were eco-friendly summons you’d be happy to see even in your dreams, but that was bullshit. The Shuriel and high spirit I’d experienced were so clueless even an engineering student would have to bow to them. I told Djinn to block the other spirit, but the goddamned spirit actually went and collided with the other Djinn in midair. Like sumo wrestlers, the two of them went shoulder to buff shoulder with every ounce of strength they had.

Kioooooooooooooo!

Meanwhile, Shuriels came whizzing towards us, brandishing their fierce claws.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Bebeto gave an ear piercing roar, enraged by the advance of the fearless spirits. To me, it looked like a battle of ragtag roosters preparing to squabble.

‘You little shits, what do you think you’re playing at?’

Feeling absolutely dumbfounded, I raised the spear I liked to use in place of a mana staff at the horde of wind chickens flying towards me.

“Violent Wind Spear!”

Flash!

A hundred wind spears formed in the air at my ringing incantation. These spears were worlds apart from the 4th Circle Wind Spear. As soon as they took form, each individual spear began to rotate fiercely, exuding a violent aura.

“Go!”

Fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip!

The silver eagles of wind, Shuriel, had quickly drawn near.

Boom! Boooooom!

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!

Screaming piteously at the ruthless blades of wind that punched through their bodies, the Shuriels were forcibly sent back to the Spirit Realm.

‘They’ve probably shat themselves in blood. Heh.’

With the spirits in such a state, I could imagine what the summoners were going through without even seeing them. Blood was probably surging from their noses as they fell unconscious and started crossing the River Lute.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

“Guh…!”

He knew that Kyre was strong. He knew, but he didn’t think Kyre would be able to instantly handle a high summoner, an existence that could be counted on one hand on the Continent.

But unfortunately for Duke Yanovis, that was just his wishful thinking. As soon as Kyre saw a Djinn get summoned on their side, the Lord of Nerman summoned a Djinn of his own, and the two spirits were now colliding in midair.

That wasn’t all.

Flying next to him was Count Lainke, who was concentrating on his mana. He was clearly pushed to his limits, but Kyre had the leisure to cast magic and de-summon the intermediate spirits with ease.

‘We… can’t win.’

The memories and fear of the previous defeat that he had desperately wanted to forget came surging up within him. Duke Yanovis could feel that his hands were unconsciously trembling.

Booooooooom!

“Guaaghh!”

A terrible scream came from next to him. The Empire’s greatest summoner, Count Lainke, screamed from the pain of forced de-summoning and crumpled over his wyvern’s back. Not just him, but all of the summoner Skyknights who had followed the Count in battle were either unconscious or slumped in a daze, the reins of their wyverns flutteringly loosely in the air.

“Haha, hahahahahahaha!”

One man’s laughter dominated the sky, reaching the ears of all on the battlefield on the wind.

“Wind Stooooorm!”

And as soon as the laughter ceased, a resonant spell incantation filled with mana rang out.

Flaaaaaaaaaaaash.

The gleam of sparkling magic came racing towards Duke Yanovis in the front and the Skyknights next to him.

Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Whooooooooooooosh!

While Yanovis was standing in a daze, the 7th Circle spell Wind Storm began to whip and whirl in his vicinity, gathering a tremendous amount of mana from the air.

“Gugh…”

Cutting blades of wind came crashing into him. In that moment, terrible pain wracked his body, and he saw the world around him being shredded into red.

And then, he could no longer see or hear anything.

Everything was wind, only wind.

* * *

“Arghh.”

In his entire life, their lord had suffered only two defeats.

As they collected the torn remains of Duke Yanovis’ body, the surviving retainers of the ducal House Vermillion wept tears of blood.

What they had just experienced could not even be called a battle. The moment the summoner Skyknights they had put their faith on were struck down, the assault of 7th Circle magic and new-model Blessed Spears began. The men of the high-flying imperial ducal household and the reinforcements were hurled to the ground like leaves before a storm.

Everything was over so quickly. The summoners collapsed and magic was cast, a barrage of spears fell upon the panicking and horrified imperial Skyknights, and afterwards, the screams of knights and wyverns filled the sky.

And that was the end.

By the time the survivors recovered their senses, the Lord of Nerman and his Skyknights were gone. They had collected most of the Blessed Spears they had fired, as well as the spears in the packs of the crashed imperial wyverns. The 100 or so surviving Skyknights and knights and soldiers of House Vermillion worked to clean up the battlefield they left behind.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

“!! Wy-Wyverns have appeared!”

“…”

Upon seeing a group of wyverns fly in from the east, the knights and soldiers stood frozen in a daze. The Lord of Nerman had disappeared into the west, but this group of wyverns appeared from the east.

“Skyknights of the Imperial Guard…”

The battle was over, but the Imperial Skyknights appeared only now. It wasn’t just them. Hundreds of gray wyverns appeared with them.

Flap, flap flap flap flap flap.

100 Gold Wyverns landed, bearing the gold-embroidered insignia of the Imperial Family and the crimson cloaks of their riders fluttering proudly in the air. The gray wyverns landed behind them.

“I come bearing an imperial command! From this moment on, the Imperial Guard will handle this battlefield, so all men are to return to their respective military camps and stay on standby! You are forbidden from removing a single body or object from this battlefield!”

An imperial command fell from the lips of the Imperial Skyknight who was first to land.

“I am a retainer of the Vermillion ducal house, Count Davesyen. I don’t understand the imperial command. As a retainer, how could I possibly leave the body of Our Excellency the Duke who bravely perished here? As well as the bodies of the loyal knights of House Ve—”

Schwip! Bam!

“Gugh…”

Davesyen, a retainer noble of the duchy, began to utter words of protest towards the Imperial Skyknights who had suddenly appeared. However, before he could finish his protest, he groaned. 

Without any warning whatsoever, one spear had flown through the air and punched through Count Davesyen’s airplate, burying itself deep into his heart.

Thud.

Davesyen collapsed, having died instantly from the spear through his heart.

“Does anyone else wish to defy the imperial command? If you do not make yourselves scarce at once, everyone will bear the crime of defying the immerial command!”

A thunderous roar burst from the lips of the Imperial Skyknight who killed the Count with one strike.

“A-As you command!”

There was no conceivable reason for such a command. It was incomprehensible, but an imperial command was an imperial command. Knowing the value of their lives, the knights and soldiers began to depart from the battlefield using whatever they could to leave quicker.

And within moments, a deathly silence descended upon the battlefield littered with the corpses of wyverns and Skyknights. Several hundred wyverns should have been crying out noisily to one another after landing, but not a single sound disturbed the utter silence. The Imperial Guard and the Skyknights riding the gray wyverns were equally silent.

“Huhuhu… The ingredients are all prepared.”

A man laughed in satisfaction as he gazed at the corpses of wyverns that had crashed down after being pierced by spears or were ripped apart by magic. Standing atop a gray wyvern, he removed his helmet.

“The more resentment and fear they felt before death, the mightier they become when they are reborn as knights of hell. You will all receive the abundant blessings of Lord Kerma along with darkness mana and be reborn… as Death Knights and Death Wyverns. Kuhahahahaha!”

Clunk, clunk.

As his laughter rang out, the people on the gray wyverns jumped down, removing their helmets, and ran towards the corpses.

“Umbadrakaina…”

Szzzzzzzz.

The high level priests of the Evil God Kerma and high level black mages sprayed holy water of death as they uttered black magic and sacred incantations.

Whoooooooooooosh.

The moment they began to do so, black auras appeared above the corpses of the wyverns and knights, and a cluster of clouds rolled in to block the shocked eyes of the sun from seeing the resurrection ritual of darkness unfolding in the brightness of day below.

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