Tale of the Fake Hero

Chapter 31 – The Slaughter of 3,000, Kerknude Evacuation Plan (6)

“This is a piece of equipment called a ‘suppressor’.”

Kaisen recalled a moment from just before he left the Imperial Court in Haraldoniki, a moment in time where the abyss had not yet overcome the embrace of spring.

“Wear it on the wrist that is most comfortable for you. If you turn the central pin like a key and pull it out, the power of the dragon spirit will be released.”

In other words, it was the day the investiture ceremony ended.

Stan, the chief blacksmith of the Holy Workshop, held out a sphere that gave off a dull glow.

“What happens when the pin is in place?”

“By controlling the dragon spirit within the body, it helps stop it from accidentally awakening. The pin can be remade with mana, so it doesn’t matter if you lose it. After pulling it out, feel free to throw it away.”

It was said to have been made from dragon bone, the hardest yet lightest material in the world, and it was designed not to disrupt the Fake Heroes in battle.

“Thank you, elder blacksmith,” Kaisen had said.

“What do you mean? I’m sorry that this is all I can give you. Keep in mind that a sudden, explosive power will hit your body. Even three minutes is long. Depending on how you use it, it might be shorter. You may lose consciousness.”

“So you mean it’s a race against time. Thank you.”

* * *

The Fake Warriors longsword cried out while glowing with a bloody red light. It looked more wicked than holy—as if the sword thirsted for blood.

Why would its owner’s eyes be any different? Longing for death on an endless battlefield, those golden eyes shimmered quietly.

“How are you alive?” Ranikikan asked. A blue-black miasma swirled from the tip of the uruk’s staff.

Mind-obscuring insects were ancient creatures that burrowed into the brains and spines of living things to take control of their bodies, and the uruk shaman utilized them in his suicide bombers.

Thump, thump, thump—

The female mind-obscuring insects in the bodies of the Tahuf Clan bombers writhed, and countless uruks charged forward.

Whoooooonnnggg一

Aradamantel sang, sending a crimson lotus tearing through the air.

Claaaaaannnnngggg一!

The upper bodies of dozens and hundreds of madmen caught in its trajectory were torn to pieces.

It was fast.

By the time the madmen exploded, the Fake Warrior had already advanced far ahead, to the point where the enemy only saw a red wheel rotating and moving forward.

‘Fast…’ Lia expressed nothing but admiration at what unfolded in front of her. ‘What did he do?

Uruks died by the hundreds in a split second. At the same time, Kaisen gulped and suppressed the pain in his heart, which felt like it could burst at any moment.

Dragon spirit liberation suffused him with a golden wave that went beyond the limits of the physical and subconscious abilities of a human and reached the level of a Sage Dragon.

The aftereffects of that absolute power spread to every corner of his body.

He had to end it in three minutes.

Every time Kaisen stepped forward, a wave spread out from his footsteps, and the Tahuf uruks who saw the waves of power spread from him suddenly felt their world go spinning.

When the spinning stopped, their gazes focused on the ground, and the last thing they saw as their visions darkened were their headless corpses staggering around.

A chill ran down Ranikikan’s back when he saw the surreal sword dance. ‘It’s not a simple slash. What is it? I think it’s different from when we met earlier.’

He knew Fake Warriors strengthened themselves with the powers of dragons and converted their vitality into power. Still, what he was seeing was different.

‘There’s no way a dragon spirit stone engraved by a mere wyvern could produce such overwhelming power…’

He had more than 3,000 uruks with him. Was the Fake Warrior really cutting right through them all as if they were ants?

Claaaaannnnggg—!

Kaisen ran in a straight line, cutting down everything in his way to create a path of corpses and blood.

“Kaisen Alter Aradamantel has broken through the enemy lines!” an observer watching the situation through binoculars blankly reported.

“The Tahuf Clan is helpless… they can’t even react. Fake Warrior, keep going forward!”

Krauzan, who was trembling at the rapidly changing war situation, raised his hands and shouted, “Take cover! Help the Fake Warrior get to Tahuf chief! Don’t spare your bullets!”

At Krauzan’s command, the soldiers watching in fascination returned to their senses. Although they were extremely weak compared to the holy sword, the barrage of bullets was enough to disturb the uruks’ defensive formation.

There was no need to worry about the fake hero being hit—he was so fast that even bullets couldn’t reach him.

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Following the sound of trumpets, the guns aimed toward the square emitted steam.

“First line, fire! Second line, standby, fire!”

The gunmen waiting on the roof pulled their triggers in unison.

As soon as the smoke cleared, the Black Rose Corps’ cavalry rushed out.

Amid urgent shouts, a bloody battle began with the uruks who were trying to surround Kaisen.

“Hüller!” Ranikikan shouted. Unlike the ordinary suicide uruks, Tahuf Hüller were royal guards armed with ancient bronze weapons. They wildly rushed forward, spewing eerie black light from all over their bodies.

Cross Sword Style – 10th Form…

Kaisen held his sword and scabbard in a cross formation and blocked one of their attacks.

一Cross Decapitation.

The uruks’ bodies fell into four pieces in an instant, and before even the first drop of their blood even touched the ground, he was already moving forward again.

‘Even the Tahuf Hüller, who have a hundred female mind-obscuring insects in their bodies…?’

Just then, the witches’ barrier covered the city and stopped the maddened uruks concentrated there from leaving.

“Tahuf!” The Black Rose Corps cavalry collided with the maddened uruks trying to ambush Kaisen from behind, causing an explosion.

“What are you doing? Get rid of that guy!” Ranikikan shouted.

Great Holy Sword Aradamandel resonated with its proxy wielder’s will. The sword’s cry cut through the wind, and a brilliant red lotus burst from the blade.

A pillar of light erupted forth, staining the world red like a haphazard artist’s stroke of paint across a canvas.

The brilliance of the explosion was bloody, terrifying… and aloof. Every living thing before Kaisen was overcome with death and decay.

Shudder—

Ranikikan’s eyes trembled. Fear overwhelmed his reason. ‘Who are you?’

Amidst the dazzling, blazing light and billowing smoke, a shadow rushed out. ‘Who the hell are you?’

Ranikikan’s staff sensed the crisis and cried out.

‘The stigma of the Balkrush Clan, this guy can’t be… the one who took down Kiral’s brat?’

He didn’t even have time to think. Black light poured out of Ranikikan’s eyes; waves of power rippled through the surrounding air.

His final secret technique was to activate the 1,000+ mind-obscuring insects he’d implanted in his own body and use them to explosively increase his physical abilities.

Kaaaaang一!

Blades of light and darkness collided, and a low, ear-shattering sound reverberated over the battlefield.

“Kaisen…”

A red line stretched out like a spiderweb in Kaisen’s field of view. It was a line of bloodlust and conviction created under the guidance of his holy sword.

“How do you want to use this?”

‘Faster…’

‘I need to go ever faster…’

Amplified by the dragon spirit within, his perception slowed, and his body sped up.

‘Oh…’ Sharon couldn’t help but watch with her mouth agape.

A cold shiver of wonder ran down her back. Kaisen’s blade was hard to follow—only an afterimage of the weapon sweeping through the world remained; red lotus petals bloomed in its wake.

‘That ruthless fighting style really resembles Kamila’s… ‘

Was it just a coincidence that she vividly imagined her dead friend overlaid on Kaisen? Her eyes turned hazy with longing.

Cllaaaaannnnggg—!

* * *

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* * *

The impact against Kaisen’s sword was enough to make it feel like his wrists were about to break.

Blood splattered across his vision.

Pain throbbed through his cooling body. Even so, he did not let go of his sword.

‘What do you bastards think of life?’

The chapel on the other side of the square collapsed under the pressure of the extraordinary amount of heat released by the holy sword.

‘…Of everyday life.’

The moment Ranikikan flinched under Aradamantel’s pressure, his right arm was cut off, and blood splattered out.

‘What do you think about people’s lives?’

Aradamantel roared after cutting deeply into Ranikikan’s left foot, limiting his mobility.

‘How noble is your will that you kill, steal, and trample on humanity?’

Kaisen’s scabbard clashed against the uruk’s staff in an impact so violent that the staff slipped from the chief’s grasp and flew through the air.

‘You do it as if it’s natural to you. Is it only natural for you to steal and trample on us because we are weaker than you?’

Ranikikan was wide open. Kaisen guided Aradamantel into its scabbard and unsheathed it in a flash as he swung it in a two-handed downward cleave.

The ancient saying engraved on Aradamantel’s blade burned with brilliant light.

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

The day his mother died in his stead, the words his heart wailed resonated with the will of the holy sword.

Cross Sword Style – Quick-Draw Technique: Chopping Firewood.

The final slash was so picturesque that he looked like an artist cleanly dividing the world for his masterpiece.

Anyone watching found themselves spellbound.

Red lightning pierced the dark clouds of volcanic ash, turning the horizon black and white as it struck the battlefield.

Half a beat later, a strong shockwave swept past, and a beat later, Aradamantel cried out in a last flash of lightning-like brilliance before its power faded.

Only one person remained standing in the aftermath of the thunderous strike—Kaisen Alter Aradamantel.

The bolt of lightning had Ranikikan and crackled over the Tahuf uruks, who’d piled themselves together to protect their master.

Such numbers meant nothing against true power, and not a single fragment of their bones remained.

‘Sword aura…’

Lia’s eyes widened.

Sword aura went further than building a magic blade with Mana Chain—it was about expressing that power in other forms.

‘It’s a sign of the pinnacle of swordsmanship…’

A dazed cheer flowed from the mouths of the soldiers who’d witnessed the fight from start to end.

“We won…”

“He cut off that Tahuf chief’s head all by himself…?”

“It isn’t the time to be amazed! They’re running away! Shoot them!”

That was it. The mind-obscuring insects who had lost their master ran rampant inside the bodies, and the surviving uruks screamed and scattered.

Krauzan gave an order, “Stop! Let the other uruks get confused. Reorganize the defense line. Defend the fifth line as much as possible and complete the evacuation!”

The small uruk clans and the maddened uruks who were retreating entangled in a chaotic manner, and their bodies exploded…

All the soldiers had to do was shoot down the few uruks that occasionally broke through the defense line.

That was all Kaisen could confirm through his hazy consciousness.

“Three minutes…” He used the scabbard of his sword to support his body and stop himself from collapsing as his mortal body suffered the backlash from using the tempestuous power of a Sage Dragon.

“That was close…”

He desperately clung to consciousness in an effort to protect his soul.

“Kaisen!”

A warrior must not show weakness to anyone—just like Kamila.

“Wake up, Kaisen!”

“Miss, what are you doing?!”

“Kaisen is acting strange! What is it? All his strength is leaving his body! It’s like all of it was just a mirage.”

“We’ll cover you!”

That moment seemed like an eternity. As soon as Lia rushed over to support him on her shoulders, he went limp. Still clinging to consciousness, he only remembered fragments of what happened next.

“…it will be morning soon…”

“What is the status of the evacuation…?”

“It’s the last one. The garrison was also told to withdraw…!”

“Uruks are coming from all directions…”

“I will stay. We need a suicide contingent of about 1,000 people…”

“Your Excellency, how…?”

“Hurry! Aren’t the nagas about to break through the witches’ coastal barrier…?!”

“No. I will stay. The life Kaisen gave me may have been for this moment…”

“I, Isla, am the strongest in the world! I will block everything…!”

“That’s right. The giants cannot board a ship unless it’s a dedicated transport ship, so we…”

Everyone wanted to be the ones to make a last stand and fight.

The Kerknude coast had shallow water, so the frontline could only be held by pontoons. It was necessary to use fishing boats to transport people to military ships floating in the ocean.

The nagas broke the barrier and reached the shore, where they then sank the human ships.

“Withdraw, withdraw…!”

When Kaisen finally regained consciousness, the world was filled with despair and fear. The first thing to register in his mind was the dawn.

No, was it really dawn? What kind of dawn could be heralded by such clear cries?

Rather than a dawn, it was the brilliance and roar of a dragon. Truly, it was more beautiful than any dawn could have been.

He had never heard such a pure sound before. It was as if a quiet lake were unfolding before his eyes.

Kaisen didn’t have the strength to raise his head, so he only moved his eyes carefully and looked up at the sky.

The sight was dazzling. For a moment, it seemed as if the first dawn had risen over a terrible night of volcanic ash.

Lia muttered, “It is His Excellency, Mirngadia, the White Dragon of the Heavenly Castle.”

Mirngadia of the Heavenly Castle was one of the Three Heroic Dragons, a miracle left on the land by Dragon Sage Rain Ludwig, who’d heralded the Age of Silver.

Even from a distance, the dragon’s appearance was so noble and majestic that it made his heart tremble.

「Kal (open).」

「Gurs (on both sides).」

「Oufari (water).」

「Diale (ripe).」

Mother Nature bowed to the white dragon’s shout, and the sea churned.

The supernatural phenomenon was a godly power humans could never evoke. It embodied a light of hope in the world the gods had left.

First, the sea split into two down to where the military ships were located. A violent storm arose from the split and swept the nagas away.

The water foamed and formed into a tidal wave that struck the incoming uruk army. In the end, the enemy was too busy trying to escape being drowned to continue their advance.

“It’s His Excellency, the Heavenly Castle!”

“His Excellency came.”

“His Excellency, destroy them!”

The white dragon glided through the sky and cried again; rocks piled up one by one and created a path to the deck of the primary military ship.

People cried at the sight of the miracle, happy to have hope.

In those final days of the Age of Dragons, the greatest dragon appeared at a miraculous moment.

* * *

The evacuation fleet arrived at Thalia Island amidst favorable winds.

Nagas persistently tried to follow the fleet, but they were stopped by the Heavenly Castle and the witches.

“Nearly 80% of the garrison troops defending the city died, but thanks to their sacrifice, as many as 2.3 million people were able to escape from the clutches of the abyss.”

The Kerknude Evacuation Plan was considered one of the great victories that preluded the end of the ‘Red Summer’.

“Humanity’s counterattack could finally begin after one more battle to bring the ‘Red Summer’ to a close… the ‘Battle of the Red Mountains’.