Chapter 118
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 118
Disaster struck abruptly in the dead of night.
Every available soldier rushed forth to confront the monsters.
Knights clad in white armor and azure cloaks wielded holy blades, while Holy Priests channeled sacred power to support the Knight Order.
The spectacle of holy light piercing through darkness was so magnificent it naturally stirred the soul to faith.
It appeared as though any wickedness would be effortlessly repelled, yet the reality was far different.
The sacred power meant to purify evil lost half its potency before the monsters.
With their abilities proving far less effective than usual, they could barely manage defense, let alone purification.
Those who had attended the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony also joined the battle with their personal soldiers, but their contribution remained negligible.
The Holy Empire had imposed strict limits on the number of personnel allowed within its borders.
Even if all ninety-nine participants scraped together every soldier except for minimal guards, their numbers barely reached the hundreds.
Against the countless monsters whose numbers defied counting, struggle was inevitable.
Samid, who had attended the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony as the guardian of Princess Aran of the Skaya Kingdom, had also led his mercenaries forward with great confidence to exterminate the monsters.
Yet Samid now starkly realized how utterly ignorant he had been.
His contemptuous assumption that monsters were merely savage beasts proved to be perfect arrogance.
Samid stared at the monster before him with eyes wide with terror.
Beings that defied nature's order instinctively repelled him, paralyzing his limbs with revulsion.
When his body refused to obey and he floundered, the monster seized that instant and attacked without mercy.
Even the elite mercenaries that the Skaya Kingdom had lavishly hired with its overflowing wealth could only flounder before these creatures they had never encountered, unable to mount any effective offense.
After swinging his blade frantically, Samid came to his senses only to find himself separated from his mercenaries.
Completely surrounded by monsters, Samid's face drained of all color.
His sword hand trembled violently.
A voice choked with terror escaped his throat.
"Gasp, gasp... P-please... save me..."
He turned his eyes toward where sacred power flickered with his last shred of hope.
Yet they were too occupied with the monsters bearing down upon them to spare any aid.
Since even the Holy Empire could not repel the evil, no one remained to save Samid.
It was absolute despair.
Samid finally dropped his sword, and the monster lunged as if it had been waiting for this moment.
Sensing death, Samid squeezed his eyes shut.
He braced himself for the terrible agony that would follow.
Yet strangely, nothing happened.
Instead, warm blood sprayed across his face with a sharp sound.
Drenched in the monster's black blood, Samid cautiously opened his eyes.
A blade black as night itself came into view.
The wielder of that dark sword was... hauntingly beautiful.
He already knew who this figure with those crimson eyes was.
There had been an incident before the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony that had entangled him with the man's house.
But even without such an encounter.
Samid would have inevitably come to know of this man.
From the moment the man first revealed his face in the Hilderd Holy Empire, everyone became curious about him.
It took less than a day for all those who attended the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony to learn his name.
Samid unconsciously murmured his name.
"Kieran Basilian...."
At that, his long eyes narrowed sharply.
The brief meeting of gazes was quickly severed.
Count Basilian leaped forward lightly and swung his sword.
The monsters that Samid, the mercenaries, the Holy Knights, and the Holy Priests had all desperately fought against were swept away like toys beneath the Count's blade.
With each swing of his sword, the monsters were brutally annihilated.
Count Basilian felt no fear.
He did not freeze at the monsters' shrieks; instead, he laughed aloud as he wielded his sword.
Samid, who had been gazing at the Count as if entranced, was startled by the boy who suddenly appeared before him.
"Are you alright?"
The boy holding a deep navy sword extended his hand to Samid, who sat collapsed on the ground.
He was the eldest son of House Basilian.
As Samid grasped his hand without thinking, the boy lifted him up with one hand while thrusting his sword straight forward with the other.
"Shrieeeek!"
The monster screamed and was sliced apart.
After skillfully dispatching the monster, the boy gave Samid a cold command.
"Step back."
He meant that lingering about trying to help would only be a hindrance, so Samid should retreat.
"Th-thank you."
Samid found himself bowing respectfully to the boy without realizing it.
But the boy had already vanished among the monsters before Samid could finish speaking.
Several others who had acted recklessly like Samid were saved from the brink of death.
House Basilian was accomplishing what the Holy Empire could not.
Samid, who had been watching the scene in a daze, finally began to flee in a panic.
It was then that he was trying to find the relatively safe rear where Princess Aran was hiding.
"...?"
Suddenly, something strange occurred.
All around became silent.
The monsters that had been shrieking abruptly fell quiet.
The monsters that had been raging fiercely and charging indiscriminately froze in place as if someone had stopped time.
Then they all turned their gaze toward something.
Even as their bodies were severed by holy power and their skin was cut by blades, they did not care.
Without any reaction, they simply stared while enduring the humans' attacks without resistance.
Samid hesitantly turned around, following the direction of the monsters' gaze.
There stood a large man and two boys.
A baby cradled in the arms of a pretty boy caught his eye.
The object of the monsters' gaze was the adopted child of House Basilian.
Chesa Basilian.
***
At Chesa's words, the Twins froze in place.
They creaked like arrows caught mid-flight, unable to escape their trajectory.
In the end, the Twins found themselves heading toward the battlefield where monsters raged alongside Chesa.
It was a decision tinged with a hint of competitive pride.
As members of House Basilian, they had grown weary of facing monsters since childhood.
They were more versed in monster lore than anyone, and both had recently undergone rigorous training to hone their skills.
"Besides, the two of us can certainly protect one younger sibling."
"Well... I suppose that's true."
"And we have Theo as well."
Moved by Chesa's words about family, Ishuel stepped forward with renewed enthusiasm to persuade Karha.
He even included Theo, whom he usually dismissed like a stuffed bear, as an ally and spoke passionately—and so they bravely ventured into the heart of the battlefield.
The situation unfolded exactly as Chesa had anticipated.
The Holy Empire could not properly contend with the monsters.
Hailon was pushing his holy power to its limits, even deploying the Chains of Condemnation just to hold the line.
Without him, the Holy Sanctuary of Hilderd would have been overrun by monsters long ago.
'Hailon should be at the front lines. But where are Kieran and Belzeon?'
Cradled in Ishuel's arms, Chesa craned her neck frantically, searching.
But all around was nothing but monsters—she could see nothing beyond them.
A monster that sensed their presence let out a guttural sound and turned toward them.
Karha drew both his swords in one fluid motion and spoke curtly.
"Incoming."
Following Karha's battle stance, Theo—dragged along reluctantly—drew his own blade.
Karha glanced at Theo, who was trembling with tension, and spoke.
"Security Chief. Support me."
Then he lunged forward.
Blades crossed and gleamed beneath the moonlight; the charging monster was cleaved in two.
Having obliterated the monster in a single strike, Karha rolled swiftly and dispatched another nearby creature just as efficiently.
Chesa momentarily forgot the situation entirely and gasped in admiration.
His skill had improved dramatically compared to when he faced the Slave Hunters in the Underworld before.
Theo also played an excellent supporting role, matching Karha's ferocious movements.
"Hey! Find out where Kieran and Belzeon are!"
Karha shouted while cutting through monsters.
At his casual invocation of the Count's name, Theo flinched and nearly had his arm slashed by a monster.
Karha swept the creature away from Theo.
"Watch your older brother use magic, little one."
Wanting to show off his prowess to Chesa, Ishuel announced his intention and summoned his magical power.
He was deftly tracing a magic circle when—
"...What?"
Ishuel let out a bewildered exclamation.
Chesa's eyes widened in surprise as well.
A soft luminescence enveloped Chesa, and a delicate flower suddenly bloomed in the empty air.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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