Necromancer Of The Black Bible (156)

Horun’s earnest, blunt advice changed part of the operation.

Originally, Margrave Valbern was to command the ambush force, but his immediate Swordmaster, Sir Horun, was to take his place instead.

Then the sound of a horn rang out.

Pwooo-

The signal that they had encountered the enemy.

Seeing that, Valbern realized there was not much time left.

“Move now!”

When the Margrave gave the order, Horun quickly rose to his feet and went down below the castle wall.

Valbern ordered his adjutant to organize an evacuation unit outside the castle.

Even so, he did not give up the last shred of hope.

‘If it’s Rietta’s martial prowess… could she not even win a straight fight?’

Previously, he had personally watched a martial tournament held in the Imperial Palace.

The martial prowess Rietta Carmain had shown then was truly impressive.

He had not expected much because she was a woman, but her martial prowess in facing Swordmasters larger than herself drew the eyes of even those who knew little about swords.

The reason she had only taken second place was not because she lost the match, but because she had been injured in the previous fight.

A sublime sword technique that toyed with opponents as if dancing, twin blades in hand.

Having seen that with his own eyes, Valbern had no choice but to place his hopes in Rietta.

In the end, he entrusted everything to his adjutants and remained alone on the wall to watch the battle unfold.

Soon the south gate opened, and a thousand defenders marched out of the castle, led by Rietta in red armor.

At the same time, the north gate opened, and the civilians began to file out in a procession.

Below the wall, soldiers stood ready with the Margrave’s horse.

Margrave Valbern looked down over the battlefield, not even noticing the snow piling up on his helmet.

By then, the approaching enemy filled the entire plain.

Roughly twenty thousand.

A number that would not seem threatening if the enemy were ordinary.

If the 50,000-odd soldiers here began a siege defense, they could even defeat an army of 500,000.

But seeing the undead army advancing steadily through such a blizzard made one part of his heart turn cold.

It felt as if an unfathomable fear and vagueness were pressing down on both his shoulders.

Valbern could not even begin to guess what Rietta felt as she faced them directly.

And then.

The enemy commander appeared.

Valbern produced a telescope from his chest and looked at him.

A knight gripping a long spear.

His appearance was familiar as well.

‘Isn’t that… Sir Kael?’

Kael was also a knight who had taken part in the martial tournament.

He had shown excellent skill, but his opponent had been too strong, and he had been eliminated early.

Walter Reinhardt, known as the continent’s greatest swordsman, was his opponent.

Walter won that tournament and was appointed captain of the Imperial Guard.

That was why, in Valbern’s eyes, Kael was a promising young Swordmaster.

‘That Kael became undead?’

Valbern’s feet seemed glued to the spot.

It was because he was so curious about Kael and Rietta’s duel.

He watched the two through the telescope.

Kael came out alone, calm despite commanding a great army, and Rietta also came toward him without hesitation.

The bloody clash between the two knights once called the Empire’s promising talents was just beginning.

Kael faced Rietta calmly.

The blizzard blew fiercely, but it had no effect on him.

Only the flapping cloak was getting in the way, so he loosened it at once.

Flap-

The cloak fluttered once in the air before disappearing into the distant sky.

Now that the nuisance was gone, moving felt much easier.

Then a voice came from in front of him.

“Kael. Is that you, Kael?”

“Yes. It’s me, sis.”

Rietta was Kael’s senior at the academy.

She was three classes ahead of him, but because her promotion had been delayed, she was assigned to the unit at the same rank.

Thanks to that, the two were close.

But the feelings from their former lives had grown faint, so Kael felt nothing.

Rietta’s gaze, on the other hand, was strangely wavering.

She studied Kael closely before speaking.

“I saw your fight in the last battle. Is he here?”

“No.”

There was no need to answer, but Kael answered anyway.

Because Damian had already told him that Rietta would join them anyway.

This time, Kael asked,

“Was this your choice, sis?”

“Choice…?”

A bitter smile brushed past her lips.

“Yes. I chose it. Directly, for the first time.”

Rietta slowly circled to Kael’s left as she continued.

“That voice wasn’t the voice of an irresistible demon. It simply asked me whether I was fine like this. Strangely enough, that person knew all of my past. Once I knew that, I felt at ease. What I want to know now is whether you are the same.”

“Me?”

Kael smirked.

Many hours flashed before his eyes, but he did not want to voice them.

Instead, he threw her a single sentence that could speak for all of it.

“I am satisfied.”

Rietta seemed to understand Kael’s words.

She slowly nodded, then drew the pair of swords she had carried on her back.

“I’ve always wanted to spar with you.”

“We’ve done it a lot, haven’t we?”

“No.”

Rietta answered, shaking her head.

“You never gave it your all, not even once. No matter who you faced, you hid your true skill. But when you fought the ghost knight last time, you were different. You fought better than ever. And still lost. I want to fight the you who gave everything back then.”

Rietta knew.

That Kael had been hiding his strength all along, ever since his academy days.

If he showed his skill clumsily, he would likely end up on the bad side of the children of powerful families, so Kael had no choice.

-Someday, when I become stronger than anyone else, I’ll show you then.

Rietta remembered that conversation from long ago, spoken over drinks.

Kael’s smile deepened as he recalled that time.

Then he looked at Rietta and spoke.

“There’s no need to hide my skill here. No one can look down on me.”

“That’s good.”

“You’ll understand once you come here too, sis. What I’m talking about.”

Rietta’s pupils wavered for a moment.

Then she opened her mouth with a resolute expression.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Really? I heard from that person that you came all the way here for that.”

“I already followed that person’s words. But for me to stand on your side, one important condition remains.”

“What is it?”

“You have to break me.”

Kael’s smile disappeared, and Rietta continued.

“That person said you gained immortality and that your skill had also improved. He also said that someone even superior to that ghost knight belongs there. If that is true, I want to join you too. And if that person’s words are really right, then you should be able to beat me.”

“If I can’t beat you, sis, what will you do?”

“I’ll just die here. That person allowed it too.”

A bleak wind passed between them.

Kael could now clearly understand why Rietta had come here.

‘She wanted to stand at the pinnacle of martial skill.’

She had always lamented being born in a woman’s body.

She had lamented the reality that she had no choice but to lose when she hit that limit.

Immortality might not mean anything to her after all.

Because what she truly wanted was the ‘pinnacle of martial skill.’

Kael met her with a tender gaze and said,

“The pinnacle of martial skill. If you come here, you’ll be able to confirm it. I haven’t managed it yet, but I think you will, sis.”

“Then show me.”

After speaking briefly, Rietta spurred her horse on.

Though exposed to the terrible cold, her horse began to race as usual, and Kael rushed toward her as well.

As Rietta had said, her momentum was extraordinary.

It felt as if a killing intent unlike anything he had ever felt was piercing straight through him.

[Strong momentum should be blocked with softness. Even if you are stronger, it is better to block it that way.]

Recalling the lesson he had once received from Verdin, Kael received the killing intent.

Then a gap naturally appeared, and he thrust his spear into it.

Clang-

With a sharp metallic sound, the two passed by each other.

It had been only one exchange, but the two of them were now very different.

Rietta looked shocked, while Kael stared at her without any change in expression.

‘So this is how it’s done.’

With that one exchange, Kael confirmed how much he had grown.

In the past, he had never blocked Rietta’s strike like this.

He had always barely dodged or blocked it, and even then he had still suffered considerable shock.

Rietta must have felt it too, because her expression hardened even more.

Kael did not stop.

He rushed at Rietta in a single bound and unleashed a triple strike combo.

His triple strikes, having grown immensely, was on a completely different level from before.

He anticipated his opponent’s movements and stabbed in, making it very difficult for Rietta to defend.

She barely blocked the second attack, but had to give up the third.

“Tch!”

The spear pierced Rietta’s left shoulder and returned to its place.

That blow let Rietta gauge Kael’s skill.

That was why she could not retreat.

If they dragged this out like this, she would lose helplessly.

Rietta discarded the sword she had been holding in her left hand. Then she channelled all her energy into the sword in her right hand.

A fierce flame aura burst from the blade.

A superheated flame aura that seemed as if it would melt even a decent sword with the slightest touch.

It was the technique that had carried her to runner-up in the martial tournament.

Rietta gritted her teeth, closed in, and swung her sword at Kael.

Once

Twice

Three times

Unlike Kael’s triple strikes, hers did not even come close to grazing him.

But she did not give up.

The more she did, the more she drew out all her strength and kept attacking.

Heat began to radiate around the two of them.

The Flame Aura of the Eckhart line was even melting the snow piled on the ground.

As she swung her sword, Rietta could feel it.

Kael was no longer at the level he had once been when he fell short of her.

He had reached a realm she could not fathom. And it even felt as if he was still advancing further.

At last, a smile appeared on Rietta’s lips.

A smile that meant she would accept and understand everything.

No words passed between them.

Seeing that smile, Kael knew what she was feeling.

He nodded toward Rietta, who had come to a stop before him, and Rietta rushed in for her final attack.

This time, Kael did not evade it.

And so the two charged at each other, and in an instant the match was decided.

Kael’s spear pierced Rietta’s heart precisely, and her body crumpled.

At the same time, a cry rose from the defenders she had led.

“The knight is down!”

“Run!”

“Retreat!!!”

A truly pitiful sight.

Without expression, Kael looked back and forth between them and Rietta collapsed on the ground.

‘Sis faced death head-on, but those ones are trying to avoid it.’

If you go through war a few times, you learn.

That you cannot avoid death that way.

Kael looked toward the castle and shouted.

“Advance.”

His heavy voice, filled with aura, rang out across the world.

Together with him, the 20,000-strong undead legion advanced toward the empty Graneum Castle.