Yesterday's Enemy Is Today's Friend (1)
"Foldring? Never heard that name before."
Perhaps he hadn't noticed the reason for my shock—Jill merely narrowed his eyes in confusion.
But only for a moment.
"Well, whatever. It's not that important anyway."
As he said that and stretched out his hand, the undead under his command immediately assumed battle positions.
"Krrr…!"
Not to be outdone, I instantly drew up demonic energy and formed summoning gates.
Ten skeletons carrying tower shields.
The rest were equipped with the crossbows they'd been using just moments ago.
"Hector!"
Even if the sight before me was unbelievable, the situation already unfolding couldn't be helped.
I had to clash against it, analyze it, and break through it somehow.
Chaeng—!
With the clear ring of a blade, Hector's spirit body drew its sword, and I too unsheathed the blade at my waist.
'If he's one of Berkel's Twelve Knights, breaking through that is impossible. I have to kill the caster!'
The moment I finished judging the situation, I gave Order 1 a command.
"Target the caster. Fire!"
Pshushushuk—!
Ten quarrels tore through the air with piercing whistles.
But at that very instant, the Death Knight that appeared before Jill—Raven—slashed through the air with his sword.
Kakakakang—!
Alongside the sound of metal colliding, all ten quarrels were instantly deflected.
The moment I confirmed it, I immediately changed the order.
"Front line, keep aiming at the caster's head and fire alternating shots every two seconds! Tie down the Death Knight!"
— Kiiiii!
The skeletons understood my command at once and adjusted their firing intervals.
Pushuk! Pushuk!
One bolt after another traced precise trajectories toward Jill's head.
"Hah! You think such petty tactics will work?!"
But only briefly.
The moment he gave an order to the undead waiting behind him, Jill's undead army began charging toward me.
"Shield line, advance! Second line, hold back the undead!"
At the same time the staggered firing toward Jill continued, I barked orders at the remaining skeletons.
"Kwaaaaargh?!"
— Kiiiiii—!
The shield-bearing skeletons raised their tower shields toward the rushing undead horde.
Kuwaaaang—!
Heavy masses of flesh slammed into the shields, forcing the skeletons back several steps.
"Good, now's my chance!"
My eyes gleamed as I seized the opening.
Just as expected, the skeletons reinforced with heavy armor were holding the undead back without much trouble.
Now all I had to do was charge in there and collapse the undead formation…!
"It's certainly impressive, but compared to his power, it's pitifully insignificant."
"What?!"
The instant Jill's voice struck my ears, I immediately threw myself backward.
Kwakwakwakwak—!
A devastating blow crashed down exactly where I'd been standing moments ago.
Death Knight Raven had charged straight at me.
"Damn it, what about the crossbowmen?!"
As I shouted and checked the summoning formation, a single thought surfaced in my mind.
"They got completely wrecked in that short time…!"
Once a skeleton was destroyed, it took at least two minutes to fully restore it.
But that insane Death Knight had wiped out nearly thirty percent of my undead in just two seconds.
"Goddammit!"
I immediately unleashed Meteor Sword toward Raven.
Kiiiiing—!
A sword path perfectly reproducing Heinkel's technique.
…?!
But Raven simply tilted his head aside to evade it, then seamlessly linked into his next movement and pressured me.
At least there was one fortunate thing.
A large portion of his swordsmanship followed the same style as the Great Raven Knights.
"Well, technically it'd be the other way around."
Kaaang—!
I barely diverted the upward slash, but a numbing sensation immediately spread through my wrist.
'Fuck, what kind of monstrous mana is this…?!'
But thanks to that single exchange, his rhythm faltered for a split second.
I sent Hector charging through the gap, then used him to unleash Meteor Sword once more.
You're asking if I don't have any other techniques?
Do you know how many days it took me just to reproduce this one?!
Kiiiiii—!
This time, unlike my incomplete imitation that only copied the sword path, Hector's attack was a complete technique imbued with mana.
With a blinding flash, Hector's blade grazed Raven's shoulder.
'Good, it landed—!'
But only for a moment.
Bam.
"Guh?!"
The dull pain exploding through my abdomen nearly made me lose consciousness.
Kwaang—!
With the impact, my body flew several meters and rolled across the freezing ice floor.
"Fuck, he's on a completely different level."
Forcing myself to endure the agony, I immediately pushed myself back up.
The battlefield was already dead even in terms of numbers.
If I let that bastard run free in this situation, our entire front line would collapse instantly.
'If only Hector can hold out a little longer…!'
Kaaang—!
The moment that thought crossed my mind, Raven's sword immediately exploited Hector's opening.
What determined a Death Knight's capability was the quality of the soul used as its foundation.
And unlike Hector, a rookie who had only just begun to bloom with talent, Raven had been one of the legendary Twelve Knights.
In other words, the mere fact that Hector had endured even a single exchange meant he had already far surpassed his own limits.
Kuwakwakwaang—!
Hector's spirit body was sent flying far away before crashing down right beside me.
Kigigigak…!
Hector's distorted and shattered spirit body twitched in several places, but it looked incapable of moving any further.
"He's seriously disgustingly strong…!"
Without even a scratch on him, Raven had completely overpowered both me and Hector.
Holding his sword aloft, he slowly began walking toward where I stood.
'You can't win with the sword. The only real option is the caster…'
It was in that brief instant, as I desperately forced my brain to work while observing Jill, that I noticed it.
'Wait a second… that…?'
The obsidian ring on his right hand.
As I stared at it, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
'The demonic energy coming from that ring is mine. Then…'
Just as every knight possessed a different mana wavelength and every mage had different mana circuits, a necromancer's demonic energy also carried its own unique wavelength.
Once demonic energy was accepted into the body and accumulated, it naturally developed a unique signature.
But the demonic energy Jill wielded wasn't his own.
It belonged to the ring.
Demonic energy bearing Archimond's wavelength.
In other words, it carried the same wavelength as mine.
Then maybe I could…
'Not like I've got any other options left. Guess it's all or nothing.'
The only method that came to mind.
Honestly, it wasn't even worthy of being called a tactic—just an absurd stunt bordering on insanity.
But what choice did I have?
If I wanted to survive, I had to pull it off.
"Hoo…"
After exhaling a dry breath, I tightened my expression and gripped my sword.
"Oh? You still have strength left to resist?"
Jill looked at me with mockery and issued an order to Raven.
"Missing an arm or a leg is fine, but bring him back alive."
A knight turned into a puppet after being overwhelmed by demonic energy.
And the fact that he had once been Berkel's comrade only strengthened my resolve further.
Step. Step.
The Death Knight slowly approached me with heavy footsteps.
A former knight who could do nothing but unleash sword strikes after losing his will.
After watching him for a moment, I immediately charged straight at him.
Kaaang—!
"This seriously hurts like hell!"
Grumbling, I redirected Raven's sword path and instantly unleashed Phantom Sword.
Kakakakak—!
A technique of the former duke, Rudel Leinrant.
Even for a knight who had stood beside Berkel, grasping such an unfamiliar sword style would take time.
…!
Just as expected, his response was half a beat too slow.
In an instant, my blade seized control of three sword paths and left several wounds across Raven's body.
"Wh…?!"
For a fleeting moment, Jill's expression stiffened at the sight of me toying with Raven's swordsmanship.
But only briefly.
Once he realized the wounds were nothing more than shallow scratches rather than meaningful damage, relief returned to his face.
"Death Knight! Hurry and capture him! Bring me Archimond's knowledge!"
Receiving the caster's command, Raven pressed in on me once more.
'Bring him alive. Don't kill him.'
That order from the fanatic obsessed with knowledge was my only ray of hope.
Shrrrack—?!
The Flower of the Other Shore sword path spread from his right hand.
Dozens of scratches carved themselves across the old armor.
Yet Raven paid them no mind and swung his sword head-on.
Kiririk—!
Twisting my footing, I hooked the hand holding his sword and drove my reverse-gripped blade toward the back of his head.
The reverse-grip assassination sword art used by Gallamur's killers—Stingray Pierce.
Sensing danger behind his head, Raven immediately hurled my body away, but by then my sword had already carved seven slashes into the back of his skull.
"Huff…! Huff…!"
Panting heavily, I forced myself to focus.
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and tightened my grip on the sword.
"What are you doing?! You can't even catch one brat, and you call yourself—!"
No matter what Jill shouted with his brows furrowed, I didn't stop advancing.
Shrrrk!
This sword path came from the front.
The Shadow Strike that thrust vertically twisted grotesquely and carved a massive wound across Raven's chest.
And the very next moment—
Crack—!
Raven grabbed the blade with his gauntlet and smashed the sword hilt into my solar plexus.
Half-swording in close quarters.
The impact was so overwhelming that my vision nearly turned white.
Baeok!
An even greater impact than before launched me upward.
Once again, my body was sent flying and rolling across the floor.
"Kuheok…?! Guh…!"
Pain so intense I could barely breathe ravaged my entire body.
Yet even so, I could still feel it.
Leinrant.
This body gifted to me by Berkel's bloodline…
…was absurdly durable.
"This is the end, Young Master Klein."
"Yeah. It is."
Jill slowly walked toward me as I barely managed to raise my upper body.
That face intoxicated with victory.
The face of a thief wielding power that was never his.
"Come quietly. If you hand over the knowledge you possess, I may even accept you into the Order—"
"What the hell have you been babbling about this whole time, you lunatic?"
Forcing my blurry vision back into focus, I stretched out my hand.
And at that same moment—
Wooooong—!
Responding to my demonic energy, it began glowing blue.
"Light? What trick are you trying this time—?!"
"I told you already. This is the end."
"What?"
The instant Jill turned around in confusion at the unexpected situation—
"Uh… uuaaah?!"
Jill could no longer speak.
The countless scratches engraved across Raven's body.
The blue light reacting to my demonic energy had finally revealed their true form.
"Runes…?!"
Geometric characters covered Raven's body.
The moment I confirmed them, I drove my sword into the ground and spread my demonic energy throughout the area.
Pajit—!
Black demonic energy stained the blue glass floor, then became lines that connected the runes engraved across his body according to my will.
"No way… You engraved such complicated runes and spell formulas during combat? And with the tip of a sword at that? Something that ridiculous can't possibly—!"
"But I did it. Wasn't even that hard."
I cut Jill off with a single arrogant remark.
Kuuuuuuu—!
The contract seal engraved onto Raven's body shone brightly, awakening his will from the corrupted energy consuming him.
Tuhwak—!
The dazzling light faded away, and when he appeared once more, he was no longer a decayed corpse but a black spirit body.
By granting him a new Death Knight body, I had severed the connection to his previous contractor.
"Ah…! Aaaaah…!"
"You screwed up, you damn cultist bastard."
Looking at the still-confused Jill, I raised my thumb to my neck just as I had once done to Berkel.
"Forget bringing me back alive. You should've gone for my throat the moment this started."