RPWS Chapter 102

Screams erupted from everywhere.

“Aaaah! The monsters…!”

“Aaaah!”

In an instant, their surroundings became chaotic. The monsters howls echoed throughout the sky, like thunder, covering the people’s screams, and Elaine stood rigid, staring at the scene before her.

What happened? For a brief moment, a thought crossed her mind. The fire engulfed the entire mountain in just a few minutes without anyone noticing, it would be difficult for such a thing to occur naturally.

And at a time when someone’s evil deeds were about to be revealed to the world.

There was only one person who would do something like this.

“… The king.”

Ash said through clenched teeth.

The monsters, surprised by the flames that invaded their habitat, saw it as a threat and instinctively began attacking Killiard, the human habitat closest to the nest.

As soon as he saw it, he knew.

He knew whose work this was.

The strange silence was due to the fact that they’d been plotting this from behind the scenes.

The huge flames were probably caused by magic. He didn’t know how they did it, but they must’ve done something terrible to create such powerful fire magic over the entire mountain.

He wanted to destroy Ash first, the one who knew the secret that could lead to his destruction.

To bury all witnesses and evidence together with Killiard.

He gritted his teeth, but he didn’t have long to think.

He turned to his vice captains, Lowell and Hilaire, and quickly gave his orders.

“Lowell, you must first activate the resistance shield and evacuate the territory’s residents into the castle. Hilaire and I will lead the knights to the western wall. We need to buy time until as many people as possible can evacuate.”

“Yes!”

” Understood.”

Lowell saluted and hurried off, while Hilaire summoned the Knights of Philres to an emergency meeting.

Just then, the waves of monsters that were pouring down crashed into the shield surrounding the outer castle.

There was a loud noise, and the translucent shield shook so violently that it looked as if it might shatter at any moment.

Killiard’s barrier boasts great durability. It was a miracle that the shield was not broken by an attack of that scale, but the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.

Everywhere, monsters penetrated through the areas weakened by the barrage of attacks. Winged creatures that broke through the shields in the sky attacked the houses with screams.

“Ugh!”

“It’s a monster. Run away!”

“Save me, save me!”

The manor was completely overrun.

People fleeing in terror, children falling and crying, livestock breaking free of their pens. Fear encroached everywhere, as if the world had been turned upside down.

Ash ordered Philres’ 3rd and 4th divisions to deal with the monsters that’d infiltrated the territory. While the 3rd and 4th units worked with the garrison to keep the monsters at bay, the guards evacuated the panicked residents into the inner castle where the duke’s residence was located.

Ash led the remaining troops to the front line where monsters were flooding in.

Riding swiftly, he reached the western ramparts, where a frantic, echoing alarm assaulted his ears. The ordinary soldiers guarding the castle walls were desperately trying to block the monsters that were crawling up. Nevertheless, the monsters that could not be stopped broke through the shield and attacked the soldiers.

“Aaaah!”

“Strengthen the shield further!”

“It’s already at the highest level!”

“Grind more magic stones!”

“When will the knights arrive…”

There was no way that ordinary soldiers who couldn’t use mana could properly deal with monsters. When the knights arrived, there’d already been several casualties.

“The Duke!”

The soldiers who’d spotted Ash and the Knights shouted with a mixture of desperation and hope. Ash gave orders to each unit of his soldiers and knights.

“Knights, kill the monsters climbing the castle walls. All able-bodied soldiers, carry the wounded and support the knights from the rear.”

“Yes!”

The city was overflowing with all kinds of monsters, from those resembling beasts to others so bizarre it was hard to guess what they were, some familiar and some unheard of.

If the front line here was breached, the swarms of monsters would rush in and attack the city.

They must be stopped at all costs.

The Philres knights fired sword energy at the monsters below the walls. An archery unit made up of regular soldiers assisted by shooting magic arrows.

Kieeek!

The monsters screamed as they were struck by the barrage.

Then Ash swung his sword. A large, amplified bolt of purple sword energy flew out, scattering light like the Milky Way.

With that blow, the waves of monsters clinging to the castle walls were swept away in an instant.

Kyaaa!

With screams of pain, the creatures’ bodies were torn apart.

A destructive power that alone exceeded that of a single unit. It was truly a force worthy of being called the strongest on the continent.

With the added power of Elaine and Hilaire, the monster was wiped out even faster.

The monsters’ attack seemed to slow down for a moment due to their incredible momentum.

But it was only for a moment. The empty space swept away by the  attack was quickly filled with a horde of new monsters. If they wiped it out, it would refill, and even if they wiped it out again and again, slaughtered and destroyed, the monsters never stopped coming.

The piles of corpses alone formed a mountain, and the monsters continued to climb over them.

“Damn it, there’s no end in sight!”

“I’m running out of mana…!”

“Ugh, I can’t keep going like this for much longer!”

As time passed, they gradually approached their limit.

Injuries were piling up. Even the Philres knights, trained to deal with such crises, couldn’t hide their despair.

Only Elaine, Ash, Hilaire, and a few other knights were able to still draw mana.

Elaine looked at Ash, who was still swinging his sword nonstop, his power undiminished, but his shallow breathing and sweaty hair showed that he was exhausted. Hilaire was no different, gritting her teeth and continuing to fight.

‘What should I do?’

Elaine bit her lip impatiently.

If things continued like this, the front line would soon be breached. If that happened, there would be no telling how many victims there would be.

Is this the only option?

Elaine strengthened her hand holding the sword and thought of the only way to end this battle.

‘But that…’

At that moment, a low, long cry that seemed to pierce the air rang out from somewhere far away.

A chill ran down her spine. When she looked up, she saw the mountain shaking. Something huge was slowly rising from the depths of the ground beneath the mountain.

The head was larger than the peak. It was a golem whose head, torso, and limbs were all made of solid rock.

If it had been an ordinary golem, it wouldn’t have felt so eerie.

Someone muttered in confusion.

“Agractus…?”

A legendary golem, written about only in texts from hundreds of years ago. A giant of overwhelming size, said to destroy cities with a single step and bring down mountains with a wave of its hand.

Some jokingly said it might be sleeping under a monster’s nest.

Those words became reality.

When the legendary giant opened its eyes for the first time in hundreds of years, a landslide occurred and all the surrounding monsters were crushed. The monster’s head rose endlessly as if it would touch the sky.

Everyone’s faces were stained with deep despair.

Elaine watched in a daze as the monster stood up.

Then she turned her head and saw Ash standing a few feet away.

Ash.

The reason she was still alive and the reason she continued to live. The light that saved her from her despair, the one she had to protect.

She was here to protect him, so there was no reason to hesitate.

Elain turned her back on the city wall and left the battle line to avoid people’s eyes. No one noticed, too caught up in the hopelessness of the scene.

Stealthily, she leapt over the wall and began to run through the lush forest, that is, the monster’s nest.

The monsters nearby discovered the human and rushed at her all at once. Elaine cut down everything that stood in her way and continued to run, quickly dodging some.

‘A little deeper.’

She had to go deeper. To a place where no one could see. What she was about to do from this moment on must never be seen by anyone.

‘Can I do it?’

Suddenly the question appeared in her mind.

She’d never tried before, not even once, because it would bring back the nightmares of that day, making the guilt in her chest, the weight of her heart, all the more vivid.

She wasn’t sure if she could do it properly. But still…

‘I must.’

At some point, Elaine stopped running.

In the middle of a dense forest of tall trees, she slowly raised her head.

She could see the golem casting a dark shadow, and beyond it, the walls of Killiard. Countless monsters rushed at her from all directions, obscuring her view.

Kyaaaaa-!

She closed her eyes tightly. Her slender white hands did not grip her sword, nor did she form sword energy; she simply breathed steadily, unmoving, focused on something else.

The monsters roars grew closer. Elaine still didn’t move. A rush over her head, down the back of her neck, across her back and shoulders, and in front of her nose. A current in the air. The moment she felt it, Elaine opened her eyes without a sound.

There was a hint of blue in her light green eyes.

A blazing blue flame engulfed the swarm of monsters that threatened to tear her apart.

Witch’s Flame.

Like the flame that haunted the nightmare that day 20 years ago, a searingly blue and hot flame rose, this time to burn away the despair.