Chapter 764 - Thornbriar Fortress
Neither Rem nor Ragna had any real intention of fighting each other.
If they did, Enkrid would have stepped in immediately.
"The air of the Demonic Domain is nothing."
Rem muttered this as he looked at Ragna. When he was younger, he had experience trawling through the Demonic Domain of the Western Region.
This much didn't faze him at all.
In fact, his sorcery power was well-suited for withstanding hostile environments or oppressive pressure like this.
After all, everything here was more or less a kind of curse.
He circulated and spread his sorcery throughout his body. He just had to keep doing this.
The trick was to saturate his surroundings with his own energy.
It was simple yet difficult, and difficult yet simple.
To put it plainly, he let his sorcery flow outward, transforming the unsettling air around him into a familiar form.
It might sound easy, but it was something Will couldn't pull off.
Thanks to this, whether he was inside or outside the Demonic Domain, he could move in much the same state.
Of course, some of his sorcery always had to be expended for this, so when it came time to cast larger spells, he'd suffer a bit of a limit—but that was a reasonable penalty.
"Hm."
Ragna, though different from Rem, was doing something similar.
The sword in his hand, Sunrise, was both an Engraved Weapon and a magic weapon.
The Will, which had been dwelling within Sunrise for generations, communicated with Ragna's will and repelled the ominous air around him.
He couldn't cover the entire area, but it was enough to move freely himself.
But honestly, this wasn't entirely necessary either.
Ragna was already adapting in real-time by adjusting his senses.
Of course, Rem was doing the same thing.
As the two of them faced off, a massive figure moved silently between them—its quietness surprising for something so large.
The soft tapping of its feet on the ground sounded almost delicate.
"If you two intend to keep fighting, then The Lord's humble servant will go on ahead."
When it came to wielding holy power, Audin was considered the greatest on the Continent.
Overcoming the hostile air of the Demonic Domain was nothing to him.
Bathed in a white radiance that flowed over his whole body, he stepped forward.
He was wearing a simplified version of the Holy Radiance Armor.
Seeing Audin approach, a monster more fit to be called a tree giant than a tree monster swung its branches at him.
The way the branch flew seemed almost a reflex.
Audin looked at it and raised the edge of his hand.
A pure white light formed along his hand, rising straight and true.
The light along his hand resembled a blade—not just in shape, as he immediately demonstrated.
Slice!
It didn't sound or feel like anything hard being cut; it was as if he were slicing through tofu.
The living, dark brown branch was severed cleanly by his hand, almost effortlessly. Sap sprayed in all directions from the severed branch.
A few drops even splattered onto Audin's cheek, but the white light wrapped around his body instantly scorched them with a hiss, sending curls of smoke into the air.
"This really does drain one's strength quite a bit," he remarked.
He had managed to reproduce, on a smaller scale, the edge of Will's blade that Ragna had shown earlier.
And even that, he could only manage to bring forth the edge just at the moment he struck the branch.
Still, it was a remarkable feat, even if the blade was short and less impressive in scale.
Doing something like that—not with a sword, but with your bare hand?
Audin smiled, lowered his hand, and curled it into a fist.
"But I have to say, I prefer this way, brothers."
As he finished speaking, he lifted his fist, taking up a stance with it raised in front of his face and stepped lightly toward the tree trunk.
His approach was measured and restrained, much like before, emphasizing precision and composure.
He was fast and nimble, lowering his body and pushing off the ground as he suddenly closed the gap with the hostile tree.
With his right foot sliding out to the side, he swept his left hand across, swinging in from the outside.
A fist, curving inward, not unlike an uppercut.
In that left hand, the white radiance was condensed into a round shape, almost like a mace.
His footsteps were light as a butterfly, but his striking fist was as quick and sharp as a bee's sting.
Of course, his blows were in a whole different league from a bee sting.
His fist, packed with condensed power, struck the tree's bark.
Bang!
The blow didn't just shatter the surface—it burst the entire trunk of the tree.
The wood bent awkwardly, and dark fluid sprayed from the ruptured spot.
The black sap splattered and flew in all directions.
A few drops even landed at Enkrid's feet.
Just how hard do you have to hit something to make that happen?
Only Audin himself could know the answer.
"Father Lord! I send these servants who will attend upon You!"
He shouted.
With his cry, the light erupting from Audin's whole body shone even brighter.
At the same time, his movements became lighter, almost weightless.
Streaks of light trailed behind him as he slipped between the trees.
Bang! Boom!
And with each blow, another tree monster collapsed, spraying black sap outward like a bursting firework.
It was a diligent act of conversion, sending each monster to The Lord's side with a single strike.
Of course, whether the monsters themselves grasped the deeper meaning behind those punches remained to be seen.
In truth, after receiving such a blow, contemplating any meaning would have to happen up above, in Heaven.
Would they even have time to notice anything but the pain in that final moment, sent to Heaven in a single blow.
Bang!
In that moment, another arrow shot toward them—but Rem and Ragna struck at it simultaneously.
Even before the arrow had come flying, both of them had snapped their heads forward, sensing it.
It was an incredible instinct.
The arrow's path seemed as though it was meant to skewer the two of them together.
Not long ago, they'd been bristling with hostility toward one another, but now their axe and sword cleaved through the front and back of the arrow, splitting it apart.
Crash!
With a loud clang, the steel arrow snapped in the middle and the pieces ricocheted to both sides.
"I'll deal with you after this is over, you crazy lost cause," Ragna said.
"We can settle it right now," Rem replied.
Neither was willing to back down, and they scattered to either side.
Sounds like crunch, splinter, and crack quickly followed—proof they were purposefully hacking and smashing the tree monsters.
"It's amazing that you managed to lead a unit like this as an Order of Knights," Luagarne remarked, genuinely impressed.
It was remarkable, she thought, that such a group of misfits had come together at all.
"They couldn't be controlled from the start, so they got lumped into the same squad—and that's how I ended up as their squad leader," Enkrid answered.
Because that's the truth.
But if it hadn't been for him, everyone would've gone their separate ways, just doing their own thing
More than that, maybe they wouldn't be living like this now.
Rem would probably still be smashing in the heads of noblemen, and Ragna might have lost his way and ended up somehow as Aspen's knight or an Imperial Knight
Or maybe he would have been hired out in the Southern Region.
Anyone who'd seen his skills would have wanted him.
Audin might have gone on living, sealing up his divine power and haunted by visions that only made him resent himself.
But now, all of them were here, in this very place.
At the center of all their experiences and every change… was one lunatic.
"Let's sweep them up," That lunatic, with striking black hair and blue eyes, spoke while looking ahead
"Yes. And if more arrows come flying, just ignore them. We can handle that much. Understood?"
Fel grumbled a bit and trudged forward, while Ropord simply lowered his head and moved off in the other direction
Sssh-ack
Watching the two of them, Luagarne drew her whip as well
"Looks like it's my turn to have some fun too"
Frogs were not as fierce as giants, but she was no less spirited in the fight.
It was just that her curiosity outweighed her aggression.
Luagarne, for the first time in a while, let her whip ignite with flames.
The fiery whip—if she remembered right, she'd learned it from watching a Beelrog fragment fight.
Enkrid stepped forward to shield Shinar.
"Are you alright?"
Shinar looked worse than ever before.
She'd drawn her Leafblade, but honestly, there was no need for her to push herself here and waste energy.
"You can rest if you'd like."
Enkrid said this.
Shinar took several shallow, quiet breaths.
Then she lifted her head and, gazing past the tree monsters to the thick forest still looming like a wall, replied,
"So gentle, aren't you."
"Sorry?"
"I think I'm falling for that gentleness all over again."
Honestly, Enkrid wanted to admit defeat.
"Haven't you had enough of those jokes by now?"
The demon that tried to seize the City of Fairies was dead.
Or, more accurately, the thing that nearly became a demon.
So, there were no more burdens for Shinar to carry.
There were no obligations anymore.
Even though there was no one left demanding her hand in marriage, Shinar didn't stop with the jokes that had become a habit.
"Do you really think I'm joking?"
Shinar asked, her expression utterly serious.
She turned to look Enkrid straight in the eye with her green gaze as she spoke.
"Let's just say you aren't. Either way, just stand back and watch."
Enkrid gave up.
Maybe it was his turn to tease this old fairy a bit.
As he spoke and stepped forward, he raised his sword—its blade still untouched and flawless.
Baaang!
Arrows occasionally flew through the air.
They were as deadly as ever, but no one was getting hit anymore.
It was probably because of something Rem had said a moment ago:
"Anyone who gets hit by an arrow loses!"
So now, everyone was that much more desperate.
The Madmen Knights dodged the occasional flying arrows and kept fighting fiercely.
Off to one side, Teresa, wielding sword and shield, let out a wild scream.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
The blood of the Half Giant was starting to boil just enough.
The number of tree monsters was dropping rapidly.
Enkrid didn't even need to step in.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Their force alone could be considered the military strength of an entire nation.
Even a single Knight could be a disaster, and here, there were nine of that caliber.
'Even without me, Shinar, and Jaxen.'
That left six.
Just those six could easily topple a country—more than enough.
[TL here: They seem to consider Luagarne a knight. Not a lot has been said about her prowess so I will not comment. That is what the text says, so that's how it is, Luagarne is a knight]
Crash, boom! Clang!
Amid the strange cacophony, only black sap was splattering everywhere.
No one was bleeding red blood.
Well, there was one exception.
Fel, caught up in the excitement, dove in between three tree monsters.
While dodging an incoming arrow, his forearm got grazed by a branch shaped like a blade from one of the monsters.
Luckily, he was wearing bracers that covered his entire forearm, so he didn't suffer a major wound.
It was just a bit of bad luck.
The bracer itself hadn't been pierced.
It was made from three layers: harpy and troll leather stacked together, with a thin iron plate from Noir Mountain sandwiched in between.
However, the joints had to be made thinner, sacrificing some durability for flexibility, so that part got scratched and drew a few drops of blood.
Still, it was only a minor scrape.
"Fel, you lost."
Ropord said this as he ran over, dodging the sharpened, spike-like roots of a tree monster.
His reaction was even quicker than a human-faced dog that hadn't eaten for three days.
He was nimbly avoiding attacks from the tree monsters coming at him, moving with almost acrobatic skill.
At this point, even the word "madman" suited Ropord perfectly.
If his old comrades from the Order of the Crimson Cloak saw him now, they would hardly believe he was the same person.
He was risking his safety just for a chance to tease Fel.
The cautious Squire Ropord was long gone.
"That doesn't count! I wasn't hit by an arrow," Fel protested.
"Getting cut bad enough you'd need to be sent to the rear doesn't count?"
It was just a scratch, with a single drop of blood splattering after the hit and no more bleeding after that.
Maybe if you squeezed it, you'd get a few more drops.
If he had to be sent to the rear for that, then anyone who twisted their ankle would be considered on the verge of death.
"Did you get some monster's sap in your eye or something?" Fel shot back.
Ropord just answered with a little laugh and moved away again.
"Idiot," Rem scolded Fel.
"Everyone faces setbacks," Ragna offered, trying to comfort him.
But that felt even more unpleasant.
Fel was now convinced that he absolutely needed more training in defense.
He took out his frustrations by cutting down the crowd of tree monsters.
Just then, as a streak of black lightning shot past and disappeared, Jaxen popped out from the front of the forest—a place that had looked like an impenetrable wall.
Black sap covered the ground and, for some reason, the sunlight filtering through the Demonic Domain's forest now seemed almost gray.
The light was dull and lifeless.
Still, everyone acted as if nothing was wrong.
There were still some among them who struggled with the oppressive atmosphere of the Demonic Domain, but that was just a matter of slow adaptation.
In any case, black sap was splattered all over everyone.
Only Jaxen emerged unscathed.
Rem was about to say something about it, but Jaxen spoke first.
"I've cleared a path over here. And there's something 'interesting' up ahead."
That was the way both Rem and Jaxen tended to phrase things.
So, in other words, there's something dangerous ahead?
But if they described it as 'interesting,' that meant it was probably all the more dangerous.
"Let's go," said Enkrid.
He didn't wait for everyone to finish acclimating to the Demonic Domain's air.
After all, that's what the enemy would be hoping for, and there was no reason to go along with their plans.
Even the arrow volleys had paused for the moment.
"They can't use teleportation to shoot hundreds of arrows filled with Will all at once."
Rem said this as he took the lead.
He himself knew how to use similar tricks, but to fire arrows with that kind of power would take some serious preparation.
Following Jaxen's lead, the group hacked their way through with swords, clearing a path on all sides.
They didn't need to walk far—the wooden barricade was thin.
And right beyond it, a true wall finally blocked their way.
Guoooooo—
It was a wall—no, a castle wall—with human faces carved into it and irregular clusters of thorns jutting from around those faces.
This was the Outpost of the Demonic Domain, known as Thornbriar Fortress.
"I get what the 'black lightning' was about, but what are those things?"
Rem scratched his head with the handle of his axe as he spoke.
At the same time, he glanced up: above the Thornbriar Fortress Wall, and even higher atop a towering tree shaped like a sharp spire, stood beings holding bows.
Their ears were pointed, their hair a dull gray that reached below their waists, and their skin was a deep navy blue.
The sharp eyes and high-bridged noses gave away their race.
"Fairies?"
Ropord spoke, not really asking anyone, but rather out of surprise.
"Wrong. Those are nothing more than rotten potato sprouts."
"They're Corrupted Spirits—rotted and decayed to the point that their forms have completely changed."
Shinar answered, her eyes now holding a murderous intent that hadn't been there before.
A fairy, its irises tainted violet by Demonic Energy, blinked a few times.
The wall was high, and the outpost above even higher.
They weren't close enough for a face-to-face showdown, but Enkrid's pupils narrowed as he locked eyes with the enemy.
And the enemy, in turn, stared straight back at Enkrid.
"Not a bad-looking face."
The fairy muttered under its breath.
Enkrid quietly judged the distance, then pulled out the rod slanted at his hip and gave it a sharp flick in the air.
Thunk.
The rod extended, and a spearhead snapped out from its end.
In the same motion as he drew and flicked the rod, Enkrid used his right hand to reveal the spearhead while plunging Duskforged, gripped in his left, deep into the ground in front of him, anchoring himself.
Next, gripping Duskforged's handle with his left hand, he spun his entire body with his Will, his right hand launching the javelin he held.
It was a throwing spear technique that incorporated the sword style Vortex—a technique from heavy swordsmanship.
Technically, he'd thrown a javelin, not a sword, but the principle was the same.
Really, who could have predicted someone would do something this wild the moment they locked eyes?
Enkrid's actions happened in the blink of an eye.
It was a move that shattered everyone's expectations.
Bang!
Crash!
The thrown spear tore through the air like a bolt of light, striking the tall wooden outpost above.
It wasn't as if Enkrid had really expected to kill the fairy, and indeed, the fairy did not die.
Startled, the fairy simply tumbled to the side.
What actually deflected the spear was the figure next to the fairy—a hulking mass clad in pitch-black armor.
The figure wore a helmet with a visor snapped tightly shut, its entire frame wrapped in iron plate.
In its hand, it wielded a morning star, which even from a distance was clearly coated in black soot or something darker.
Anyone could tell, even without being told, that it was a magical weapon.
This figure gripped its weapon in its right hand and a shield in its left; it was the shield that had blocked the spearhead.
The impact made a tremendous noise, but it didn't hit its intended target.
Deflected, the spearhead shot up into the sky before thunking down to the ground about halfway between Thornbriar Fortress and Enkrid's group.
"Too bad."
Enkrid spoke, his right leg still half-raised from putting his entire strength into the throw.
He straightened up, regathering his stance.
Screeee—
The imprisoned souls constituting the Thornbriar Fortress Wall let out a shriek, and it seemed even they were shocked.
What the—why is he throwing things the moment he arrives?
Those people are scary!
Aren't you scared?
Well, I wonder if that's what they would have said to each other?
Though honestly, I doubt they're even capable of expressing surprise at all.
"It's only polite to return a gift when you receive one," Enkrid said again in his usual flat tone.
Just think how many arrows their group had blocked up to this point.
"You're not wrong," Ragna agreed.
The others seemed to share pretty much the same reaction.
***
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