Chapter 690

Book 1 Chapter 690

Ooooom—!

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

Ooooom—!

The jarring blare of a war horn resounded from afar.

The behemoths serving as the vanguard of the army advanced in perfect synchronization.

“W-what in the world is that!”

Ar cried out, completely taken aback.

‘The Giant Knights.’

Demons come into the world possessing abilities that dwarf those of the mortal races.

Because of this, they never deign to learn from the denizens of the world.

In their eyes, mortals exist solely to be eradicated.

Those clinging to survival and those driven by annihilation can never find common ground.

Furthermore, a rigid caste system governs demons from the moment they are born.

The greater a demon’s station, the more deeply they look down upon the mortal races as lesser beings.

‘Which is precisely why that faction is such an anomaly.’

The Giant Knights are a bizarre assembly of demons who chose to replicate and emulate the ways of mortals.

Position within the Giant Knights has nothing to do with inherent power.

It is earned solely through exploits on the battlefield.

Consequently, they forged themselves into the premier fighting force within the Giant King’s army.

‘Are these the original Giant Knights from the ancient era? Or… have they endured all the way from the Age of Calamity?’

Half a millennium has slipped away since the Age of Calamity drew to a close.

Much like how the Giant King rarely materialized during that immense span of time.

Given the deeply reclusive nature of these fiends, historical accounts of the Giant King during the Age of Heroes following the Genesis remain sparse.

Nevertheless, in the epoch preceding the Genesis—the two-thousand-year span known as the Early Heroic Age—a vast amount of documentation was obliterated.

This devastation occurred because the Chronicles of Heroes sustained severe damage when the Genesis Heroes moved to imprison the shards of Erebus.

The Early Heroic Age was plagued by numerous massive conflicts.

Particularly after the curtain fell on the Age of Calamity.

There was also the scorched-earth campaign launched by Tartaros to fulfill his ancient yearning for global annihilation.

‘It is highly plausible that Belchia wiped out the Giant Knights during that grand conflict.’

The nature of the Giant Knights diverges sharply from the military groups serving other commanders.

For instance, the Undead Legion, commanded by the Funeral’s Archduke Artkhan under the Necromancer King, remains legendary for its horror.

It represents the definitive identity of the Necromancer King’s forces.

Yet the Giant Knights operate differently.

Mirroring their cautious and evasive sovereign, the Giant King.

They ensure their identity remains shrouded in complete obscurity.

This is why the current generation remains oblivious to the Giant Knights.

The strategy required to combat them shifts drastically depending on whether these are relics from the Age of Calamity or a hidden remnant that survived the subsequent 5,000 years.

As Leo scrutinized the approaching Giant Knights, his eyes locked onto a demon perched upon the shoulder of the leading titan.

‘The Order’s Commander, Nareda.’

A figure widely recognized as the left hand of the Giant King.

Her temperament stood in stark contrast to Giganto, the vanguard assault leader and another primary subordinate of the Giant King.

Giganto is a brute who hurls himself into the fray, blinded by his own raw might.

On the other hand, Nareda’s personal combat prowess cannot match Giganto’s.

Even so, she embodied the true essence of the Giant King.

‘Wary and cloaked in shadows.’

A tactical mastermind who studies her adversaries to formulate endless maneuvers.

Within the realms of Tartaros, the title of strongest belongs to the Necromancer King’s forces.

That reality has stood unchallenged through millennia of conflict.

Yet during the Age of Calamity.

The faction responsible for toppling the greatest number of kingdoms was none other than the Giant King’s host.

‘The most exhausting adversary to face.’

Leo clicked his tongue in irritation.

Swish—!

“Brother Leo!”

Chelsea descended upon the parapet, riding a sudden gale.

“Chelsea, prepare yourself. Going forward…”

“Brother Leo! Moving forward, our objective is to obliterate the records of the army!”

“Excuse me?”

Leo stared at Chelsea, thoroughly perplexed by her statement.

Ar’s jaw dropped.

“What exactly does that imply?”

“Precisely what I uttered.”

Her expression unyielding, Chelsea bit her lip and met Leo’s gaze without flinching.

“……”

Leo returned her stare for a silent moment before closing his eyes.

“So, my role is to hold the line while you execute this plan?”

“…Correct.”

Answering with visible effort, Chelsea lowered her gaze.

“Forgive me… Brother Leo. We…”

“Save your apologies,” Leo interrupted resolutely. “You speak the truth, Chelsea. The error was mine.”

He had simply faltered in resolve.

Whether dealing with allies of days gone by or those of tomorrow.

When measuring their worth, one cannot choose one over the other.

‘Had Lysinath been here, she would never have permitted such a misstep.’

Instead, she would have called him out for taking the incorrect path.

Precisely as Chelsea was doing now.

“Ar. You will remain by my side.”

“Understood.”

Ar offered a bewildered nod.

As Chelsea turned to depart, stealing one last glance at Leo.

“Chelsea.”

“Yes?”

“I am counting on you.”

“Leave it to me! Please take care as well, Brother Leo!”

With a firm nod of agreement, Chelsea vanished from the battlements.

Leo gripped his mantle, casting his eyes toward the sky.

“The mantle of leadership carries a heavy weight.”

“Naturally, it does.”

Ar folded his arms, humming as he agreed.

“Which is why you should share that burden with me when things get brutal! That’s what comrades are for!”

“What I bear is exceptionally heavy, you know?”

“I am the one chosen to inherit Arion’s legacy. I can certainly help keep you upright!”

Ar puffed out his chest, radiating confidence before taking a step forward.

“Besides, you aren’t fighting this alone. Look at all the allies you have! Black Rabbit. You don’t need to shoulder everything by yourself!”

A memory surfaced from the distant past.

Leo gave a nod, watching Ar, whose stance mirrored someone who had once infused him with resolve long ago.

“You speak the truth.”

Thump—

Stepping up beside Ar, Leo unsheathed his blade.

Shhh—!

Posteritas.

The weapon carrying the moniker “Future” manifested before the world.

“I do not walk this path alone.”

“Move, everyone! Head for the sanctuary immediately!”

Enniha barked out urgent directives.

The task of slipping inside had been given to Arhi’s squad.

The inhabitants native to the Hero’s World are barred from reaching the heart of the labyrinth.

Upon discovering this restriction, Enniha resolved to hold back the Giant King’s army alongside Kania.

Prior to that, the defenseless citizens of Ivaldi had to be relocated to a secure zone.

Guided by Enniha, the non-combatant populace of Ivaldi quickly began retreating toward the sanctuary.

“Kania! Assemble the apprentice warriors!”

“U-understands, my lady!”

Answering Enniha’s call, Kania, who had been assisting with the evacuation, quickly veered into the moving crowd.

A short time later.

Kania reappeared at a run, flanked by Dit and the gathered apprentices.

Enniha tightened her fist as she regarded the trainees.

She herself had served as the instructor for these young prospects.

To Enniha, they were her own pupils.

She always recognized that such a day would arrive.

Yet she had prayed it would be delayed as long as possible.

‘This signifies that our borrowed time has expired.’

Steadying her faltering voice, Enniha addressed them.

“Children.”

“Yes, Lady Enniha.”

“…Are you prepared to face your end?”

Could any duty be more heart-wrenching than an adult posing such a query to the young?

Kania and Dit, who had remained quiet during Enniha’s question, hoisted their weapons high into the air.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

As they roared, the apprentice warriors behind them joined in a collective battle cry.

Waaaaaaaaah—!

Enniha took a deep, stabilizing breath amidst the reverberating shouts, then turned her back to them.

“Advance!”

“Yes!”

Enniha, the young trainees, and ultimately the entirety of Ivaldi’s fighting force assembled atop the fortifications.

Observing their deployment, Nareda, perched upon her massive demonic mount, let out a soft laugh.

“This promises to be quite entertaining. Slaughtering once more the very lineages we erased 5,000 years ago.”

“It will be an enjoyable slaughter.”

“Undeniably.”

Nareda tapped the shoulder of the behemoth she rode, casting her gaze back to the defensive wall.

“Those two are Leo Plov and Ar Tune, rumored to carry the legacies of the lone survivor and the valorous one.”

Nareda had already thoroughly mapped out her opponents’ details.

Having initially scrutinized Ar with casual amusement, Nareda shifted her focus toward Leo.

The instant her gaze locked with Leo’s, Nareda’s expression hardened.

“No, hold on a moment.”

A young man marked by snowy hair and crimson eyes.

Tracking his progress since he first emerged as a prominent candidate, she was well-acquainted with his likeness.

Even so, this marked their first face-to-face encounter.

Because of this, she detected an aura that contrasted sharply with the projections she had observed via scrying arts.

A lingering skepticism surfaced.

Even if the adversary they needed to crush was Dweno, one of the Great Heroes.

This conflict was one they had secured victory in long ago.

Naturally, taking him alive was the objective, but she questioned the necessity of mobilizing the army’s absolute elite.

Yet she dismissed those reservations.

The commands of the army’s supreme master demanded absolute compliance.

Skepticism had no place here.

“…Could it truly be?”

Yet in this moment, the explanation for her skepticism stood right before her.

Whshhhhh—

Leo, who had been observing the Giant King’s forces from the battlements, looked down at the wall they stood upon.

Confronting an overwhelming army that offered zero prospects of victory, not a single defender betrayed a hint of terror.

“Ahem! Excellent! Then perhaps it is time for me to take center stage?!”

Leo tugged at Ar’s tail as the latter cleared his throat to move forward.

“Hold on.”

“What for?”

“Your battle cry does more than just force beastmen into their primal states.”

“And that means?”

“It serves to instill courage in your allies when their spirits begin to waver.”

“Then shouldn’t I unleash it right now?”

“Looking at our people, do you truly believe their spirits are wavering?”

At his prompt, Ar glanced back at their own ranks.

“Ah, I see your point.”

“Your battle cry is a decisive card meant for the moment the scales of combat begin to tip.”

“A d-decisive card?”

Amused by Ar’s fascinated expression, Leo smiled and continued.

“What we require right now isn’t an injection of bravery.”

“Then what? Do we just start swinging?”

“No, not quite. There is a singular concept we must etch into our foes.”

“And what is that?”

Leaving a bewildered Ar in his wake, Leo stepped to the edge of the parapet and gave a curt reply.

“Terror.”

“Huh?”

Ar looked entirely lost.

By all objective measures, the current theater of war was drastically unfavorable to their side.

How could they possibly spark terror in their adversaries under these conditions?

‘Even for the Black Rabbit, surely that is an impossible feat?’

Whshhhhh—

A chilling wind swept through, tossing Leo’s hair.

Standing upon the battlements with a cold, unreadable gaze, Leo stared down the Giant King’s legions.

Granted, even for someone of Leo’s caliber, striking terror into the entirety of the Giant King’s host was impossible.

However.

‘Among their ranks, there must be veterans who endured since the Age of Calamity.’

If that held true, leveraging those individuals to spread panic was entirely achievable.

Just as Erebus represented an object of profound malice and absolute dread to the mortal races.

For the fiends who had walked the earth since the Age of Calamity, there existed an equal beacon of horror.

An individual who had harvested an ungodly number of fiends, leaving mountains of demonic carrion in his wake.

Rumble—!

As Leo extended his hand, a dull ash-colored magic circle materialized in the sky.

The visage of a demonic titan among the Giant Knights lost all color upon witnessing it.

“Th-that is…”

“What grips you?”

A demon who had only recently earned a place among the Giant Knights looked on in confusion, watching an ancient veteran tremble with sudden fright.

“To allow oneself to be paralyzed by fear over a solitary spell circle. One who has carried the title of ‘Giant Knight’ for millennia displays such pathetic weakness.”

In the distant past.

A titan who had never witnessed that specific sorcery scoffed.

Neither the ancient fiends nor the demons of the contemporary era truly understood.

They recognized him merely as a defiler who had brought down a deity.

For that reason, they could only offer him malice.

To the demonic survivors of the Age of Calamity, he was an entity of supreme hatred and a terrifying shadow whose very moniker was perilous to utter.

“The Vanguard Hero… Kyle!”

Crack-boom—!

Every demon and beast caught beneath the magic circle was utterly pulverized.

Vivid crimson remnants of flesh and gore splattered the field.

The marching columns of the army ground to an abrupt halt.

Their own allies stood frozen, completely stunned by the spectacle unfolding before them.

Whshhhhh—

The wind howled across the plain.

Every soul present on the field of battle focused their gaze on the white-haired figure.

“Oh?”

The Giant King, stationed at the absolute rear of the host, let out an amused chuckle, his lips curling into a grin.

Fixing his gaze upon the Giant King, Leo spoke.

“Your overextended existence concludes here, Gias.”