Dark Blood Knight

Though they were afraid at first, they still tried to attack. Relying on their numbers to close in, they still could not inflict the slightest damage on the Light Spirit Swordsman's armor.

After all, they were only first- and second-tier swordsmen. The knight who had pursued Wellington back then had been their leader, and only he had possessed the power to harm the Light Spirit Swordsman.

Now, the Light Spirit Swordsman only became serious and struck a fatal blow when a knight tried to flee.

The first knight to run had been Arisa. The man, who was mild-tempered but turned into a drunken lunatic after drinking, had his head separated from his limbs in an instant. After seeing it twice, everyone understood it clearly even if they did not want to, so no one dared to run.

Their attacks were useless, and trying to escape meant death.

That left them with only one path. They would either be played to death, or Lord Valen would arrive with reinforcements.

But everyone knew perfectly well that although this operation was ostensibly meant to gather resentful souls, that was not its real objective. Reinforcements would not come.

They all wore full-face helmets, so no one could see the expressions beneath them, but each of them probably understood his own fate. The cries of grown men, like the sobbing of children, rang out around them. Those who had always preyed on the weak had finally realized that they, too, could end up like this.

"God, please save me..."

"God..."

Hearing several men choke back sobs as they begged God for protection, Cassido nearly collapsed to his knees as well, ready to curse aloud or pray for divine blessing.

"Y-you bastards, hurry up and stop that monster!"

As the knights who had realized their fate began to pray, a grating sound like an out-of-tune hymn rang out.

The one who said it was the knight standing beside the Light Spirit Swordsman. Trying to get even a little farther away from his companion's body, split in two, he stood on tiptoe and trembled nonstop. The sight was utterly ridiculous.

Cassido frowned at that pathetic display. With the full-face helmet hiding the man's face and his voice distorted by fear, it was difficult to tell who it was. But there was only one person who would speak in that tone: Kasin, the vice-captain of this operation.

Cassido's expression twisted.

For the sake of his filthy desires, he had violated a village girl. After clashing with her father, he had sought help. Once they pulled him away, he vented his rage everywhere, repeatedly swinging his sword at the girl's father and taking pleasure in murder.

But he was the descendant of some noble, and had joined the unit merely to gild his credentials.

It was because a man like this had been made vice-captain that this operation had turned so ill-omened.

"I'm not someone who can just die here! Buy me time, now! Use your bodies as shields and protect me!"

No one moved. Though he bore the grand title of vice-captain, he had no prestige at all. If the captain who had gone off in pursuit were here, perhaps it would be different—but who would sacrifice his life for a man like this?

Only the Light Spirit Swordsman reacted to the enormous volume, slowly turning toward Kasin.

"You're annoying!"

Being able to shout so loudly while standing beside the Light Spirit Swordsman was impressive, at least in that one respect.

As Cassido found himself admiring that strange point, he heard Kasin let out another shrill cry of terror.

"Money—I'll give you money. A hundred gold coins! No, five hundred gold coins!"

The bounty he offered was a huge sum, but at a time like this, it was like promising a reward to someone who could survive a leap from a five-hundred-meter cliff.

"By bloody sacrifice, evil triumphs over justice, and my lord's heart is displeased..." A knight recited the incantation, his body trembling. Many of his companions heard his voice and could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Death Sacrifice—using one's own life and the blood nearby as offerings to summon the Blood Archduke's elite force, the Dark Blood Knights.

The previously indifferent Light Spirit Swordsman instinctively raised his head. Seeing the knight wreathed from head to toe in dark energy, he moved at once in response to that nauseating power.

Light and darkness had always stood in eternal opposition.

"Ugh... ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh..."

The knight's entire body was covered in dark aura. Blood spilled from his mouth as he made sounds that could not be called speech. Black mist also surged from the corpses of the dead knights on the ground, gathering toward him.

"—Aahhh!"

The surrounding knights and the villagers watching from the side all stiffened involuntarily, their scalps crawling.

The black mist billowed endlessly, wrapping around the knight's body. He looked like a human being swallowed by slime. Completely engulfed by the liquid, the knight began to twist and deform, letting out agonized howls.

A few seconds later, the black mist receded, revealing a true Dark Blood Knight.

He had grown to roughly two meters tall, and his body had become much larger. He no longer looked human; calling him a beast would have been more fitting.

In his left hand, he held a round shield bristling with thorny barbs. In his right, he carried a greatsword covered in serrated teeth. Compared to the saw-toothed swords wielded by the other knights, the Dark Blood Knight's weapon was more fittingly called an iron saw.

The massive sword, nearly one hundred and thirty centimeters long, had originally required two hands to lift. Yet the huge Dark Blood Knight raised it effortlessly with one hand. A terrifying red-black mist seeped from the iron-saw sword, throbbing ceaselessly like a heartbeat.

The full armor covering his enormous body was forged from black metal, with red patterns resembling blood vessels running across it. Sharp spikes jutted out everywhere, making him the very embodiment of violence. Demonic horns rose from his helmet, and beneath it, his face could be seen. It was a horrifying, rotting visage, its empty eye sockets gleaming with red light filled with hatred and killing intent.

A tattered red cape fluttered in the wind. The Dark Blood Knight parted his mouth slightly and exhaled a breath of black vapor.

"The human world truly is wonderful!"

"Filthy creature from the abyssal hell." The Light Spirit Swordsman suddenly spoke.

"Hmph!"

White light and black light began to clash without end. The knights who had barely managed to remain standing rolled miserably across the ground one after another. It was not that they were incompetent—the battle between those two was simply too explosive. A careless brush from either side would make being chopped into three or four pieces seem trivial. One knight reacted too slowly and stood right between their attacks, instantly turning into a mist of blood.

"Calm down!"

Cassido's roar stopped the terrified wailing. The scene fell silent in an instant, as if time itself had stopped turning.

"Retreat! Send the signal immediately—call the horses and mounted archers over! The rest of you, buy as much time as you can before the horn is sounded! I don't want to die like that. Move!"

Everyone sprang into action at once.

Gone was their earlier helpless panic. They began moving together in perfect coordination, their momentum like a waterfall crashing down.

Mechanically obeying orders and ceasing to think had created something like a miracle. Such flawless, orderly movements would probably never appear a second time.

The knights confirmed their respective tasks with one another. They had to protect the knight responsible for sounding the horn and establishing contact.

The knight who had retreated several steps lowered his sword and took a horn from his pack.