The continent's strongest knight.
Kagagagak—!
Only after some time had passed since the knights and undead were cut down did the explosive sound finally ring out.
Kiiiiii...!
The watchtowers and houses all around, unable to withstand the aftermath of the technique, began collapsing one by one.
Wooden pillars, stone walls, even the steel frameworks scattered throughout the area.
Every building Heinkel had cut displayed a perfectly clean diagonal cross-section.
Boom—!
'This is insane... seriously.'
It was my first time seeing his swordsmanship in actual combat.
Even among the collapsing buildings, the route of entry we had originally planned remained completely intact.
That meant that while cutting them down, he had already calculated the direction the buildings would collapse.
"Do not fall behind."
After saying that, Heinkel charged toward the inner fortress where Helian was waiting.
With a single strike, he had slaughtered over a dozen knights, yet there was not the slightest sign of exhaustion on him.
"Heinkel Leinrant!"
"Stop him! Don't let him approach Her Grace the Grand Duchess...!"
The knights and undead who had joined the battle late rushed to block his path, but—
Slash—!
Before they could even defend against Heinkel's sword, their limbs were severed, spraying blood across the stone walls.
"Aaaagh?!"
"W-What?! I clearly sensed the mana...!"
A horrifying sight—arms and legs flying off before they even realized what had happened.
And the ones who ended the panicked survivors were Dunkel and his Crimson Chariot Knights following behind.
'That damned old man Ian... how the hell is that supposed to be "ordinary talent"?'
Delline's swordsmanship was the embodiment of overwhelming force through sheer mana output.
That was why his blade specialized in collapsing enemy formations and carving paths through battlefields.
Heinkel's swordsmanship, on the other hand, was the embodiment of compression.
He compressed the mana within his sword beyond its limits, producing a divine technique that severed everything it touched.
Sparring matches, duels, demonstrations of swordsmanship.
Watching the techniques Heinkel displayed there, people could not help but marvel.
His momentum was like a raging tidal wave.
His sword path never deviated by even an inch.
And his sword dance resembled a masterpiece.
Yet all of them secretly harbored the same thought deep in their hearts.
'Still, in real combat...'
'Still, on an actual battlefield...'
If enough skilled knights fought him at once, surely he could still be subdued.
But those who thought that way failed to understand the weight carried by the name Leinrant.
Leinrant—the Empire's sword.
They were knights thrust into the most hopeless battlefields by imperial command.
The monsters infesting the Great Eastern Forest.
The undead pouring in from beyond the wall.
Gallamur's rangers defending the southern continent.
And the countless evils that constantly grew in strength, threatening the Empire itself.
Whenever such calamities stirred, it was always them standing at the Empire's vanguard.
And when the fighting finally ended, the ones still standing at the very end were always the Leinrants.
One of the Empire's Three Great Dukes, Heinkel Leinrant was the man who led the Leinrant family.
Even now, worn down by political strife and conspiracies...
He remained the continent's strongest knight.
"It's unexpected to see His Grace acting this aggressively."
Dunkel said that as he drove his sword into the neck of one of the knights.
"He's usually not like this?"
I recalled hearing that Dunkel had fought beside Heinkel back when he was still an ordinary knight.
As I asked, Dunkel nodded.
"Most of the time, he leaves things to us. We need battlefield experience, after all."
The other knights also looked tense, as though they too found this unusual.
'Is it anger? Hesitation? Or both?'
A contributor to the family.
The head of the collateral branch.
An enemy she had opposed for decades.
No matter how one framed it, Helian was still blood family to Heinkel.
There was no way the road toward killing his own sister could feel easy.
'He told me to leave it to him... but I can't relax just yet.'
Heinkel. Delline.
The common weakness shared by my family was affection.
The compassion that noble and righteous heroes inevitably possessed.
If he hesitated, then I would have to step in.
Kakakak—!
The enormous iron gate leading into Paul Wyvern Fortress's interior.
The moment Heinkel's sword touched it, the thick iron gate was sliced into dozens of pieces and collapsed in place.
"U-Urgh?!"
Perhaps the assault had come faster than expected, because I spotted one of our targets—the Count of Pensta.
"And who is that?"
"He is the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army."
"Then escort him respectfully."
At Heinkel's words, I immediately activated the summoning gate.
Chwarrrrk—!
"...!"
Ten Death Knights appeared around him simultaneously and pointed their swords at his throat.
—Don't kill him. He's an important figure.
When I said that, the Death Knights all nodded together.
—You heard the contractor. Be grateful you're alive.
—Would cutting off one limb still be acceptable?
Black smoke leaked out from between their dark armor.
Faced directly with the Death Knights' glowing eyes, Count Pensta could only look at me in terror.
"Y-You dare...!"
"It's been a while, Count Pensta."
But only for a moment.
At Heinkel's chilling voice, he flinched violently and shut his mouth.
"D-Duke Heinkel...!"
The emotion on his face was unmistakable fear.
He had clearly never expected Heinkel himself to come here in person.
"I-It's been since the Southern Front that I last saw you...!"
"The Empire clearly declared that it would not directly intervene in this civil war."
Ignoring the man's rambling, Heinkel growled lowly.
Without sheathing his sword, he stepped closer until their faces were nearly touching.
"Then why is the Imperial Army—and you, its Supreme Commander—cooperating with Helian?"
"T-That is...!"
Blood dripped steadily from Heinkel's sword.
Pensta, whose strength barely amounted to that of an ordinary knight, could be killed with a single finger.
"Answer me, Count Pensta Landen."
"Hhk...!"
The killing intent emitted by the continent's strongest knight.
Count Pensta trembled so violently it looked as though he would stop breathing at any second, and Heinkel questioned him once more.
"Is this His Majesty the Emperor's will? Or yours?"
"Y-Your Grace, I...!"
It was while Heinkel's interrogation continued that—
"Whose will would it be? Naturally, it's mine."
A uniquely overbearing female voice echoed throughout the fortress hall.
Step. Step.
Along with the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, she slowly revealed herself.
A crimson dress and extravagant accessories, as though she were attending a grand banquet.
"Helian...?"
The eyes of Heinkel and the knights widened simultaneously upon seeing her.
"So you've decided to stop calling me Sister now, have you, Heinkel?"
"...!"
"T-Those knights...!"
"Aren't those the ones we dealt with earlier?!"
Schwaang—!
The knights instantly drew their swords and guarded the area around Heinkel and me.
"Grrrrr...!"
Helian's body—despite being several years older than Heinkel—had become that young.
Their eyes looked upon her not as a person, but as a genuine monster.
And on top of that—
Chwarrrr—!
From Helian's sides and rear—
and even from the gate we had just broken through—knights began pouring out.
"T-Those knights...!"
"Aren't those the ones we dealt with earlier?!"
Schwaang—!
The knights immediately drew their swords and guarded the area around Heinkel and me.
"Grrrrr...!"
Helian's body—despite being several years older than Heinkel—had become that young.
Their eyes looked upon her not as a person, but as a genuine monster.
And on top of that—
Chwarrrr—!
From Helian's sides and rear—
and even from the gate we had just broken through—knights continued flooding out.
The same dozen or so knights Heinkel had cut down when we first stormed the castle.
And the countless knights we had encountered on our way here.
"You Leinrant bastards won't die peacefully...!"
With beast-like growls, they pointed their swords at us.
One had two right arms.
Another had fangs protruding from his forearm.
Their grotesquely twisted appearances.
As far as I knew, there was only one method capable of mutating the human body like that.
"You injected them with Holy Blood and regenerated them."
"...!"
The existence of Holy Blood was highly classified.
The moment the words left my mouth, Helian frowned.
"How do you know about that...?"
"Why do you think?"
As I spoke, I pulled a glass vial from my coat and showed it to her.
"You bastard, that's...!"
"Didn't you ever wonder why the delivery was taking so long?"
I sneered while curling the corner of my mouth upward, and Helian ground her teeth together.
"Kill them all! Don't let a single one survive!"
At her command, the knights surrounding us charged all at once from every direction.
Undying knights.
Monsters twisted beyond recognition.
It was a sight that would have made any ordinary person faint on the spot.
"Knights, prepare for battle!"
And yet, there was no fear in the eyes of the knights surrounding Heinkel and me.
'It's not like I can just stand around either.'
Thinking that, I immediately released demonic energy and activated the summoning gate.
—Kiiiiiiiiii—!
Skeletons rose from the void and formed ranks with their shields raised high.
"Hah! Ridiculous!"
"You think summoning trash like this will help?!"
The knights under Helian's command slammed into the skeletons all at once.
Kuwaaaang—!
Even reinforced with heavy armor, skeletons were still skeletons.
There was no way they could withstand hundreds of charging knights.
'But at the very least, they can stop their movement.'
The moment I thought that—
"The Young Master's undead have pinned them down!"
"That's all we need!"
The knights instantly realized my intention and charged forward.
"Kraaaagh?!"
"You damned Leinrant bastards!"
Their vision blocked by the skeletons' shields.
From the gaps between them, blades shot out, severing the limbs of the knights surrounding us.
Guruk! Gururuk!
But only for a moment.
"This is insane...!"
The moment a severed arm was reattached, blood vessels sprouted from the wound and wrapped around it, restoring the limb.
"Yes! That's it!"
Helian burst into laughter as though she found the sight unbearably delightful.
"We received Holy Blood and gained eternal life! Now trash like them are nothing—!"
Helian rambled as though she had become a god herself.
And the knights, seduced by that absurd promise of immortality, licked their lips greedily.
Watching them...
It was utterly pathetic.
"Immortality? I don't think so."
As I spoke to them, I slowly drew the sword hanging at my waist.
Ssssss...!
Not Nordvind, but a new sword brought from the main house.
It had been forged into the shape of a blade from the Snowflower Crystal that had slept beneath the Ice Fortress.
Kwachik—!
At that moment, one knight broke through the skeletons' defenses and charged straight at me.
"Klein Leinrant! I'll rip the breath from your throat first—!"
Heinkel and the others were occupied dealing with the endlessly regenerating knights.
Toward the knight who had reached me unhindered, I swung my blade.
"A sword made of glass?! Are you joking right now?!"
The knight shouted arrogantly upon seeing my weapon.
What I wielded looked less like a sword and more like a decorative glass ornament.
The moment it struck the steel armor covering his body, it should have shattered into pieces.
"The principle behind Holy Blood is consuming the soul to increase the body's regenerative power."
But I continued moving the blade.
Twisting the trajectory from the side—straight to the front.
Ssswk—!
As though the armor didn't even exist, the transparent crystal blade pierced through his body.
"W-What?! Why is the blade...?!"
His eyes widened instantly at the bizarre phenomenon he had never seen before.
"Then what do you think would happen if the soul itself—the source of that regeneration—were cut apart?"
With those words, I swung the crystal sword embedded in his body upward.
Slash—!
The blade pierced through him and tore upward.
Yet strangely enough, there wasn't a single wound on the knight's body.
But at that very moment—
Thud!
The knight collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Huuuaaaagh...?!"
Clutching his chest in agony, the knight gasped dryly.
Crack! Craaack!
His hair turned white.
His skin shriveled and withered.
His movements gradually slowed.
And in the end...
The knights under Helian watched their comrade die.
And Helian's eyes widened as she witnessed it.
"T-This...!"
For the first time, an emotion surfaced in her eyes.
Fear.
To someone guaranteed eternal life, the arrival of death was more terrifying than any other kind of death.
Crumble!
Like a plaster statue falling to the ground, his body shattered into pieces.
"W-What was that...?"
"U-Uh...!"
The knights under Helian watched their comrade die.
And Helian's eyes widened as she witnessed it.
"T-This...!"
For the first time, an emotion surfaced in her eyes.
Fear.
To someone guaranteed eternal life, the arrival of death was more terrifying than any other kind of death.
Crumble!
Like a plaster statue falling to the ground, his body shattered into pieces.
"W-What was that...?"
"U-Uh...!"
"K-Knights! What are you all doing?!"
"Attention, all knights!"
At the exact same moment Helian shouted, Heinkel's voice thundered through the hall.
Both of them looked at me simultaneously, issuing completely opposite orders.
"Stop Klein! Take that sword from him and destroy it—!"
"Protect Klein! That sword is the key to victory—!"
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