Chapter 748
Anna arrived at the promised meeting place.
It was far from an open space, more like a narrow mountain ravine. A terrain well-suited for hiding, perfect for a secret meeting.
Anna composed herself as she waited for Richard. She smoothed down her hair and straightened the wrinkles in her clothes.
She kept becoming conscious of herself, her heart threatening to burst from excitement.
This isn’t right.
She knew she shouldn’t have such feelings.
As a Saint, she was doing something that would earn her nothing but reproach. She might even be remembered in the history of the Holy Federation as the worst Saint in its history.
And yet, when Richard sent her a letter first, proposing to destroy the Sealed Letter, her heart had leapt with joy.
He too felt disillusioned with the war, and instead of trying to win it, he wanted to stop it.
The fact that he shared her thoughts, the fact that he had chosen her as his accomplice above all others, filled Anna’s chest with emotion.
“Ah.”
From afar, the sound of footsteps and the presence of someone drew near.
Anna suppressed the urge to run forward immediately, placed her hand over her chest, and took a deep breath.
Soon, a man appeared, blue hair, smooth beard, and a mischievous, crooked smile.
“Richard.”
Even the sound of uttering his name was sweet. Anna smiled, holding down her fluttering hair.
Richard, approaching, scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin.
At last, the two were reunited.
“I am glad to see you again.”
“M-me too.”
Her face flushed red beyond control, her hands and feet fidgeted like a nervous habit. She looked no different from a girl in love.
But this was no time for such things. The lives of millions were at stake. Anna straightened her expression and asked seriously,
“Are you truly planning to destroy the Sealed Letter?”
“Yes.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“If the Sealed Letter falls into either side’s hands, a dreadful catastrophe will occur. We cannot allow needless sacrifices any longer.”
“I feel the same.”
A war that would never end unless one side was annihilated.
That was why they had to stop the war, and bring peace back.
Catching her breath, Anna spoke softly,
“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll help in any way.”
“Thank you. I’ve already secured the Sealed Letter, so come this way….”
Richard extended his arm, and Anna nodded as she walked over.
The two walked slowly along the path, a cool breeze brushing past them.
“...Say,”
“Yes.”
“On the way here, I thought about it a lot.”
Her heart pounded loudly.
In truth, she had wanted to say this from the very beginning.
She was afraid that if she waited too long, once they achieved their purpose, they might part without her ever speaking the words.
“You’ve shown me that this world is far more beautiful, and worth protecting.”
Speaking gently, Anna then shut her eyes tight, and forced the words out with determination.
“S-so, I also…!”
Puuk.
The dreamy, pink-hued flower field collapsed.
A ruin drenched in blood spread over her.
Anna staggered to a halt, her head trembling as she looked down.
She saw a stranger’s hand protruding from her own body.
That hand was soaked in her blood.
The sound of her racing heartbeat vanished. Her pupils trembled, and her body lost strength as though in denial.
“I suspected, and suspected, and yet…”
From behind her came a chilling, somber voice.
“So the Elder Council’s paranoid delusion was right after all.”
Richard pulled his arm back.
Anna crumpled to the ground, a gaping hole in her chest.
“Despair in the futility of reality, and die.”
Richard turned his back and began to walk away.
But sparks lit in Anna’s eyes, and she forced forth holy magic with the last of her strength.
Fwaaaaaah—!
Blinding layers of white rings spread outward from her body.
Richard hastily raised both arms, casting a defensive spell. But his barrier shattered instantly, and he rolled across the ground, coughing blood.
“Haa, haa.”
Anna clutched her chest, panting, her hands unleashing one supreme holy spell after another.
<Aureola> <Restore> <Divine Protect>
Layer upon layer of advanced recovery magic mended her pierced heart and restored her shattered organs. Richard, watching this, gave a laugh of disbelief.
“...Alive even with your heart pierced? That’s no human, that’s a monster. Now I truly don’t know who is closer to the undead.”
Despite Anna’s surprise counterattack, Richard was also badly wounded, bleeding heavily.
Anna shouted in a sharp voice,
“You…! You’re not Yona.”
“That’s right.”
Wooooong—!
Richard’s form peeled away, revealing a middle-aged man with an unfamiliar face.
Supreme Commander of the Dresden Southern Front, Tragan.
He had begun his career in Keyzen Headquarters’ Intelligence Division, a master of transformation magic.
“Pathetic. One should have suspected at least a little, but blinded by emotion, you erased even the act of doubting itself? Saint of Miracles.”
Anna’s complexion was ghastly pale.
Even as she poured holy magic into herself, her condition showed no sign of improving.
“The moment I pierced you, I used the alliance’s highest-level curse and poison together. That you haven’t died instantly is astounding. Truly, perhaps your title of ‘Miracle’ has some truth after all.”
Anna steadied her fading vision and glared at him.
“Even in this state, I can still defeat you.”
“Oh, of course you could.”
Tragan raised his arm like a signal.
Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Chuk!
From all directions, soldiers surged forth. From below the hill, above the gorge, across the valley, troops of the Dark Alliance revealed themselves.
And this was not even the whole of Tragan’s Dresden Southern Front.
From the north, west, even Carlos, Shahed, and Baldwin’s forces.
The entire army of the Dark Alliance was gathering here.
“Of course we wouldn’t face the famed ‘Miracle’ without preparation.”
“Ghhk!”
Anna raised her arm toward Tragan, but he lowered his hand.
“Fire.”
Shooookaaaahhhhhh!
Black magic rained from all sides. Like paints dropped onto a clear blue canvas, thousands of varied spells merged together, surging with the sole intent to kill Anna.
A bombardment vast enough to reshape the terrain.
Tragan, standing back, raised his hand to give a cease signal. The attack stopped, and through the thick smoke, a white shield gleamed.
“Even with my own eyes, I can’t believe it.”
<Heaven’s Gate>
Anna stood unharmed.
A brilliant barrier radiated from her. Alone, she had blocked the combined assault of thousands of necromancers.
Tragan closed his eyes, sighing.
“No wonder we cannot push the front lines while she stands.”
Then his eyes opened wide.
“But this will be the end. We shall break the ‘Miracle’, seize the Sealed Letter, and then erase every trace of the Goddess and faith from this continent!”
Fwoooooooosh!
A sudden gust cut his words short.
A black cloak fluttered to his side, and Tragan smirked.
“You’ve come, Yona.”
From the blue sky, a cloaked figure descended like a thunderbolt. Beneath the cloak, his body was clad in Feer’s Bone Armor.
As his raised collar slowly fell, the man opened his eyes.
—Gyaaaaaaaaaaak!
—Kiiiiiiiiiii!
The wails of the dead rang out. The Dark Alliance troops tightening the encirclement flinched and drew back in shock.
From ground, sky, and cliff, the Legion’s undead burst forth, filling the area more densely than the allied army itself.
“Yona’s Seventh Legion has arrived!”
“We’ve already won!”
Cheers erupted from every direction. The Seventh Legion’s fame and infamy were more widespread than any other.
A symbol of destruction and victory, knowing no defeat.
The most certain guarantee of triumph within the Dark Alliance.
Yona! Yona! Yona! Yona!
With the cries of the dead, soldiers shouted his name in unison. Richard lifted Feer’s helmet with his fingertips, revealing his face.
“...Richard.”
Still behind her barrier, Anna stared at Richard, her pupils trembling.
Richard gazed at her with indifferent eyes, then turned his head away as if to deny her.
Anna understood rationally, but her heart throbbed in pain as if being cut apart.
“Welcome, Yona, hahaha!”
Tragan approached, patting Richard’s shoulder. Richard’s voice fell low and calm.
“What happened here?”
“Our skilled spies located the Saint of Miracles, and we succeeded in surrounding her with an army.”
Tragan spread his hand.
“To defeat the famed ‘Miracle’ and claim the Sealed Letter as well, fortune truly smiles upon me in my final years! Now, the tide of war belongs to our Dark Alliance!”
“......”
“But on such a day, when we should be celebrating, you don’t look pleased, Yona.”
Though Tragan’s mouth still smiled, his eyes were half-lidded and watchful.
“You are aware of the concerns from the higher-ups, aren’t you?”
“...What are you trying to say.”
“You will kill her.”
Tragan pointed toward Anna, who was holding up her barrier.
Richard’s pupils trembled.
“You will take the life of that ‘Miracle’, and in doing so, relieve the higher-ups of their worries. I am yielding to you, the honor of killing the Saint.”
“......”
“What, can’t you do it?”
Srrrng!
Richard, provoked, pulled his arm from beneath the cloak and gave it a rough shake, and in his hand appeared a dazzling white Greatsword of Destruction. Cheers erupted from all sides, and Tragan smiled deeply.
Step.
Richard, holding the Greatsword of Destruction, began to walk toward Anna.
Anna still waited, her barrier intact.
“......”
She gazed at Richard.
Then, she gave the faintest of nods, and shut her eyes tight.
Richard sensed the change.
‘The strength of the barrier weakened.’
Having faced the Saint of Miracles many times on the battlefield, Richard could tell. Anna had lessened the holiness she was pouring into her barrier.
If he swung the Greatsword of Destruction now, the barrier would shatter in a single strike. With the next blow, he could sever Anna’s head.
It was as if Anna had brought her own neck to his blade. She didn’t even dismiss her barrier, maintaining it so that later, people would say Richard himself struck down the Saint.
Richard ground his teeth hard.
‘Even in death, she thinks of others.’
“What’s wrong, Yona?”
From behind, Tragan’s impatient voice urged him.
“There’s no time. The Saint of Miracles plans to drag this out, to hold until the Holy Federation’s reinforcements arrive. With your blade that can cut her barrier, you could shorten that time.”
“Yes.”
Puuuuuk!
With the sickening sound of flesh splitting, Tragan’s mouth fell open.
“And shorten your lifespan too.”
Richard was suddenly standing right before him, his arm piercing straight through Tragan’s chest.
“Guhaak!”
Blood spurted from his mouth. His eyes shook wildly in disbelief.
Richard, his face expressionless, pulled his arm free.
“W-why...!”
Thud.
Tragan collapsed, his face pressed into the dirt. Scarlet blood pooled around him, spreading across the ground.
Then, in the silence, cries erupted like screams.
—T-the Supreme Commander!
—He was slain by Legion Commander Yona!
The battlefield descended into chaos.
What was happening, no one could grasp. Necromancers and soldiers muttered in panic.
Then Richard raised his greatsword high.
Kwooooom!
And drove it into the ground.
The area was drowned in silence.
“You thought I wouldn’t know you cursed my weapon to lure the Saint? Even if you are my superior, I cannot forgive one who stabs me in the back.”
Flutter!
His cloak billowed as he turned back toward Anna.
“Feer.”
At Richard’s word, the Bone Armor that had been worn upon him split away, Feer reverting into a skeleton and falling back.
Richard lifted the Greatsword of Destruction himself, and swung mightily.
Kaaaaaang!
Like shattering glass, the barrier broke apart. Anna staggered, barely managing to stay standing. She could not counterattack, busy sustaining the holy magic repairing her heart.
“Anna Cross.”
Chok.
At last standing before her, Richard spoke with a cold face.
“Why did you come.”
Anna forced a weary smile.
“Because Richard called me.”
“......”
Still.
Still, such a foolishly kind woman.
Richard gripped the greatsword tighter.
“A vile trick gave you a mortal wound. That is a disgrace upon the name of Yona. Strike me in return.”
She shook her head.
“No. Because that wound did not come from you.”
“Then break through those troops, and return home.”
“No. I disobeyed orders, and came here. I have no home to return to.”
“This no, that no. Then what do you want?”
Anna answered only with a smile.
That sorrowful smile tore Richard’s heart apart. The pain was so great, he wished he could cut out his heart entirely.
“Yona! Kill the Saint of Miracles this instant!”
From afar, a great voice thundered.
It was Richard’s fellow commander of equal rank, Kin Moore.
“Do it, now! It’s your only way back! I, of the Moore family, will take responsibility for the rest!”
“I beg you! Kill the Saint of Miracles!”
“Tear her apart, kill her, and return to us!”
Kill her!
Kill her!
Such voices echoed everywhere. Anna’s shoulders shrank at the sound.
“They don’t know their place, barking orders. Damn it all.”
Richard gave a mischievous grin, glancing around.
“Since birth, I’ve been a rebel. If I’m told not to, I want to do it, and if I’m told to, I don’t want to.”
“R-Richard?”
Richard stepped closer to her.
“From this moment, I solemnly swear. For you—”
His voice sank low. His strong arm pulled Anna into his embrace.
And then,
“I will throw everything away.”
He kissed her, with all his strength.
──────────!
Shrieks of horror, roars of outrage, explosions of noise.
Groans.
Shocks.
Fury.
Hatred.
Awe.
Amid all the whirlpool of madness.
At the very eye of the storm, there was nothing but quiet.
Peace.
Anna, eyes widened in shock, slowly closed them. A glimmer of dew formed at her lashes. Relaxing her body, she placed her hand on his chest, and rose on tiptoe.
Their lips clashed, parted, and clashed again, again and again. As the multitudes gaped in disbelief, only the two of them embraced, pouring their emotions into each other.
In the centuries of history between the Dark Alliance and the Holy Federation, such a thing had never happened.
‘I am alive.’
Richard laughed like a madman. The undead of his Legion, bound by thought, roared with excitement.
‘No, I live, for her.’
Anna, pulling back her lips, smiled shyly.
“Now, we’ll be remembered as the worst priest and necromancer in history, won’t we?”
“Let them chatter however they please.”
Richard chuckled darkly.
“Even if I were born again, I would make the same choice again and again. I will never regret it.”
Like mocking the world, he raised his middle finger to the sky, then clenched it into a fist.
[Seventh Legion!]
Richard’s Absolute Order.
At his cry, the Legion’s undead, already half-mad, responded with even wilder frenzy.
“Everyone, listen! With the Supreme Commander dead, the army will now be led by me, Commander Kin Moore!”
Leaping forth, Kin Moore shouted loudly.
“All forces, kill the Legion Commander and the Saint now!”
The Allied forces, ten times the Legion’s size, began to move swiftly. Richard smirked, giving his own order.
[From now on, I will give only one command!]
He turned his madness-filled eyes upon Feer. For a moment, his gaze seemed ready to falter.
[Krrrk! Don’t hesitate. The Legion is the Commander’s will.]
Feer was laughing, just like Richard.
No—like a monster even more so.
[The will you are about to unleash is the strongest I have ever witnessed! I do not regret serving you! Move the Legion now, to fulfill your will!]
Richard squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
[Seventh Legion, clear the path! Any who stand in the way—]
His mouth opened wide.
[In the name of the Legion, erase them without a trace!]
Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
From the bodies of the undead, black smoke erupted.
The Legion Commander’s ultimate technique, a forbidden art among all taboos.
A technique that drives the undead into madness and chaos, in exchange for the very contract of the Legion.
<Legion Skill – Demonic Contagion>
The Legion of Betrayal bared its fangs.
No comments yet. Be the first to leave a review!