The Last Charge

If a bard had been present, he might have composed the most satisfying piece of his life from it.

One of the most classic, even clichéd, scenes in fantasy adventure stories—"knights against a dragon"—was unfolding at that very moment.

The Aura Shield Wall formed by several shields shattered thunderously under the Undead Dragon's charge.

Even so, it had successfully blocked the dragon's attack this time.

"Fire!"

More than a dozen arrows, drawn and charged for longer, whistled toward the Demon Dragon again, forcibly driving back its follow-up attack.

It leaped into the sky once more, clearly intending to make a fourth dive.

"Again!?"

Even Knight Commander Taren, who had remained calm as he directed the battle, was confused now.

Even if the Demon Dragon was already undead and might have lost its original spellcasting abilities,

it still possessed overwhelmingly powerful physical capabilities. It could have fought this group of hastily assembled intermediate knights in close combat with ease.

Yet it had not chosen close combat to end the battle quickly. Instead, it kept attempting diving charges over and over again.

One had to know that undead creatures could not heal their injuries.

An undead warrior whose arm was cut off would lose that arm forever. By the same logic, the Demon Dragon could not recover from damage sustained during diving charges either.

Though its attacks were powerful, repeatedly crashing into hard, weathered rock would soon leave it battered beyond recognition.

Havent had also noticed the Demon Dragon's strange method of attack.

Using its physical advantages for direct attacks was the Demon Dragon's only means of offense.

Such violent diving charges would severely wear down its physical advantage, making them far less worthwhile than direct close combat.

The Demon Dragon seemed to be carrying out a "suicidal" assault.

"Second squad, nock arrows! First squad, form the shield line!"

Knight Commander Taren gave another order.

Standing at the edge of the battlefield, Havent turned his gaze toward the territory.

White aurora burst forth from within the city walls, flashing in a steady rhythm.

The teleportation had begun.

Havent let out a breath. If their battle could not buy time for the residents to evacuate, then all their efforts would have been in vain.

Fortunately, the territory had noticed in time and activated the Teleportation Array at the same time as the battle here began.

The Church of Death's Undead Army had gradually awakened, clearly realizing that a large-scale transfer array was being activated within Hailan Territory.

They would not allow those "conversion materials" to escape just like that, so the Undead Army of several thousand was driven toward the city walls.

It was fine.

As long as their group could hold back the Demon Dragon, the knights remaining in the city could fully withstand the undead assault.

They had to hold out until dawn.

The Demon Dragon's fourth dive had finished building momentum, and the shrieking sonic boom rang through their ears again.

Havent himself was only a low-level mage. He could not do much in this situation.

He could only watch the Demon Dragon crash into the knights' reformed shield wall, repeating the same pattern: driven back by charged arrows, flying into the sky, then preparing another dive.

It was practically fighting without regard for its life.

Yes. In Havent's eyes, the Undead Dragon had chosen a strategy that maximized its own losses.

Though it might have been inappropriate to say so, that dead Demon Dragon seemed as though it was "unafraid of death."

No.

Havent suddenly noticed the key point.

His gaze fixed on the dragon's battered body in the sky, and he thought of a possibility.

Perhaps it was trying to "seek death"?

Dark green molten fluid flowed from the wounds in its body. The dragon, which had already radiated a dangerous green glow, now looked even more twisted.

Its eyes.

Havent finally noticed the anomaly hidden in the Demon Dragon's eyes.

Beneath the folds, a golden eye with a vertical pupil turned!

Thinking of the undead whose every opening glowed green, a powerful intuition suddenly shook Havent's mind.

It was not undead!

At the very least, not completely!

The Church of Death's complete undead conversion ritual would fill the converted object with green deathly aura.

The deathly aura would flow through every part of the body, especially the places where the elements converged most closely.

Obviously, the eyes were one of those places.

In other words, as long as it still retained golden pupils, the Demon Dragon's consciousness had not died. It was still a living dragon!

So that was it...

So the Demon Dragon was attacking them under the control of a Death Cultist, but it itself desperately wanted to die!

Havent understood the key to it all.

Just then, the Demon Dragon came diving down once more.

Although Knight Commander Taren had already switched the two groups of knights, this impact was clearly even more violent.

The knights, hastily shifting formations, had not had time to pour more aura into the shield wall.

"Boom!"

The shield wall, not yet fully formed, was smashed apart.

The archers behind them, who had likewise failed to finish charging their arrows, could only scatter quickly. Three or five of them were caught by the dragon's sweeping strike.

A linked shield wall required at least ten knights channeling aura into it, but only seven or eight knights on the field still had the ability to fight.

After crashing into the ground, the Demon Dragon rose into the sky again.

Havent knew they were finished this time.

"We swear to serve the lord until death!"

"Until death!"

"..."

The remaining knights, having lost their linked skill, shouted as they drew the longswords they wielded best.

With their sword tips pointed at the Demon Dragon in the sky, they prepared for their final battle.

Watching it all, Havent was overwhelmed by a deep sense of helplessness.

"It's all right, my lord."

Taren's voice rang out.

"We admire your wisdom and kindness. You have already done more than enough."

Havent opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but held it back.

There was still a long time before dawn. This amount of time would not even be enough to evacuate half the residents.

"I'm sorry. My command was not skilled enough."

Knight Commander Taren continued, "I should have had them endure a few more hits instead of rushing to replace the front line, only to create this situation."

The sonic boom came again.

For some reason, Havent was beginning to hate that sound.

He looked at Knight Commander Taren and the other knights, standing or lying on the ground. His tightly furrowed brow suddenly relaxed.

"It's all right, knights. You have done more than enough too."

The Demon Dragon's dive was almost upon them, and the knights launched their final charge.

Just then, Havent caught sight of a figure standing in the distance from the corner of his eye.

The other person wore a long hooded robe, the distinctive attire of a Death Cultist.

He was the priest responsible for controlling the Demon Dragon.

So you were here.

Havent silently memorized his position.

He stared intently at every movement on the battlefield in that instant, wanting to remember more details.

But at that very moment, the dragon directly slammed several knights standing in front of him to death.

With a deafening crash, Havent's five senses abruptly ceased.

It's all right. You truly did very well.

A voice rang out within Havent's Mental Space.

It was his own voice.

The first Mental Space battle simulation had ended.

My knights, this will not be your last charge.

Next time, I will do better.

Until I lead you to defeat those damned bastards—and that dragon.