Assaulting the Apocalypse

Ingis Empire, Hailan Territory.

The wilderness outside the city.

The sky was about to break, but it was still dark, with clouds obscuring the moonlight.

A troop of knights clad in Ayemi Alloy light armor rode their loyal steeds along the country road.

The knights had quietly emerged from a side gate of the city walls, silently heading towards a battle that would decide the fate of Hailan Territory.

They had to kill the Demon Dragon before dawn.

Or, they would fight with all their might until after dawn.

This was a silent "surprise attack."

Although a "sneak attack" that began from a side gate of the city walls was not a glorious battle in the eyes of the knights.

However, the knights of Hailan were now forced to carry out such an attack, which went against the spirit of knighthood.

"Hailan Territory is on the verge of collapse."

Knight Commander Taren couldn't help but have such thoughts.

About eight kilometers from the walls of Hailan Territory, in the wilderness, an army of several thousand people organized by the "Church of Death" had gathered.

Hailan Territory's defensive forces were reduced to less than five hundred knights, and the towering spire on the city wall – 'Bornez'.

That was the place providing a casting platform for the only high-level mage in the entire Hailan Territory.

Although the enemy's army mostly consisted of undead and low-level Death Cultists, this was not an insurmountable challenge.

Knight Commander Taren, as a top-tier intermediate Flame Knight, was confident he could plunge his sword into the chest of any low-level Death Cultist and then use his well-honed command skills to lead the knights in wiping out this "hodgepodge" force.

But the Church of Death's preparations went far beyond this army of thousands—

They had brought a dragon!

A decaying, undead Demon Dragon wreathed in eerie green flames!

Initially, no one believed the fools from the Church of Death could launch such a large-scale invasion in the northern reaches of the empire, even advancing triumphantly and taking several territories.

But when the enemy truly appeared before their eyes, everyone finally understood why these Death Cultists, who were originally insignificant, had suddenly become invincible.

They had transformed a dragon with death sorcery!

A dragon that could be commanded at will, a dragon that was almost invincible against mid-to-low-tier challengers!

The ground was littered with corpses left from the day's battle with the Church of Death.

An atmosphere of dread quietly spread among the knights.

Knight Commander Taren knew this was not a good omen.

Although his heart was also filled with unease at this moment, he had to say something to stabilize the knights' resolve.

Yes.

Stabilize their resolve, not their confidence.

They had no chance of defeating the Demon Dragon; the best outcome would be the honor of dying in loyal service to Hailan Territory.

"Lift your heads,"

The Knight Commander lowered his voice.

"Cheer up, lads!"

Such comfort had little effect; the faces of the young men were filled only with a calm silence.

The Knight Commander felt he should say something more, but a hand clad in exquisite vambraces rested on his shoulder.

"No need to force them."

A voice came from beneath the exquisite armor.

It was "Havent Hailan."

He looked up at the moonlight obscured by the clouds and waved his hand, signaling the Knight Commander not to rack his brains trying to encourage the young knights.

During a night march, sources of sound should be minimized.

Havent knew that the Knight Commander's words were largely meant to encourage himself as well.

But such encouragement yielded minimal results.

He was acutely aware of how terrifying the dragon controlled by the Church of Death was.

The main purpose of this sortie was not to assassinate the Demon Dragon.

They were merely there to cover the evacuation of the city's populace.

Before departing, he had already communicated with Solis, the only high-level mage in the territory, asking him to double-check the Teleportation Array.

Once the Church of Death was disturbed by their surprise attack, the Teleportation Array within the city would be activated immediately.

The rest of the Hailan Family and the citizens would be transferred to a safe location by the array before dawn.

Before dawn.

The knight squad must hold out until dawn.

Otherwise, the violent magical fluctuations generated when the Teleportation Array activates will spread into the Church of Death's camp.

Those fanatics will immediately unleash the Demon Dragon to attack the city walls, preventing the citizens, who could be turned into an undead army, from escaping.

Havent did not want to see such a scene.

Although his previous life was on Earth, he was reincarnated into this fantasy world as a fetus.

The windmill turns, and winter snow flies.

He had already lived here for fifteen years as the eldest son of the lord of Hailan Territory.

In a way, Havent Hailan was a native of this world.

He didn't have any deep connections, but he didn't want to see the citizens who greeted him every day turned into walking corpses.

Havent took out a blood-red gem necklace from under his armor and pondered.

This was a secret treasure passed down through generations of the Hailan Family, and only the lord of each generation could wield it.

When danger approached, the lord would infuse their imprinted mental power into it and then activate it.

The surging magical elements contained within would pour out the moment it was activated.

"If only it were a powerful elemental bomb," Havent sighed.

But contrary to his wishes, the pouring magical elements would not cause a world-shattering explosion to pierce the enemy's defenses.

Instead, those elements would flow into the bodies of their own people.

This secret treasure was actually a gem that temporarily boosted one's realm.

It would elevate a mid-tier Hailan Knight of level 20+ to the peak high-tier level of 59 for a short period.

When Havent activated it, the thirty White Lion Knights within a fifty-meter radius would all be promoted, and the effect would last for six hours.

This was his trump card for daring to lead a squad of mid-tier knights to resist the Demon Dragon.

Otherwise, with only the strength of mid-tier knights, they would likely be wiped out by the Demon Dragon in the first encounter.

As long as they could hold out until dawn, even if the promotion effect ended, the people in the city should have been mostly evacuated.

In that case, they would have achieved their objective.

With this thought, Havent put the gem necklace back into his armor.

"Knights!"

He stopped his horse and turned to look at the people behind him.

Seeing Havent speak, the knights immediately put away their dispirited demeanor and stood ready.

They admired this young heir.

Just as the lord appreciated them, these young knights.

The moonlight cast a sliver of light through the gaps in the hazy dark clouds.

Havent's voice was lowered, but in the quiet atmosphere at this moment, it reached every knight's ears.

"We are charging towards the apocalypse."

The horse beneath him seemed to sense the gravity of the atmosphere and kept making panting sounds.

Everyone had expected the lord to give them a passionate pre-battle speech, but they never expected him to say only such a short sentence.

Charging towards the apocalypse!

Regardless of what they thought, when Havent felt that sense of despair where death was the only outcome, only this one thought kept emerging in his mind.

"Even if it is the apocalypse, we will swear our lives to your loyalty, Lord Havent."

Knight Commander Taren held his sword horizontally across his chest.

The other knights also lowered their voices.

"We swear our lives to your loyalty, Lord Havent."

"..."

Under the faint moonlight, Havent led his knights on a march towards death.

This was their first charge, —within Havent's Mental Space.