Future Knight

Chapter 100

The green elf’s mace shattered the head of a Federation soldier, blocking a halberd with a shield.

*Thud!*

“Aaaargh!”

As the battle between the soldiers grew increasingly fierce, Green’s Phoenix revealed its majestic presence.

And around it, Nemitz and the Arc Shadows appeared together.

Today, they seemed intent on joining forces to face the Federation Army’s Sword Masters.

The mouth of Duke Sachsen, who had been laughing merrily at the appearance of the Phoenix, shut tight.

“Gasp! Ph- Phoenix!”

It was because, for the first time in his life, he witnessed the legendary Phoenix he had only heard about in myths.

But his astonishment soon turned to horror.

An enormous flame burst from the Phoenix’s mouth and headed straight for the command center.

“Damn it! Run!”

“Everyone, evacuate!”

Moments later, the Phoenix’s breath exploded in the command center, followed by a massive explosion.

*Boom!*

The unbelievable power of the Phoenix’s breath instantly devastated part of the Federation Army’s formation, including the command center.

As expected of the Fire Spirit King, Phoenix’s destructive power was unparalleled.

Green felt she had made the right choice in selecting the Phoenix today. Though Ariel’s attacks were no less potent, the Phoenix was definitely a unique presence that instilled terror in the enemy.

As the command center’s location turned into a pit of burning lava, the morale of the Federation Army plummeted as if doused with cold water.

They began to retreat in fear as the Phoenix continued to hurl fireballs at them, setting the surroundings ablaze. The screams of soldiers burning alive echoed ceaselessly.

However, there was one problem. One of the Phoenix’s drawbacks was that it couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

Therefore, many green elves were also among those screaming.

As the battlefield turned into a sea of fire with the Phoenix’s appearance, hundreds of Gigantes emerged around the now burning command center.

Unlike yesterday, they tried to charge in from the flanks but were forced to reveal themselves due to the Phoenix.

Though humans couldn’t survive in the inferno, the massive iron golems, Gigantes, could still fight.

Leading them, as yesterday, were six Sword Masters, the symbols of the Federation Army.

Duke Sachsen, who had been ambushed by the Phoenix’s sudden attack, was also unscathed.

Green bit her nails nervously.

Meanwhile, Kang Chan, who had infiltrated the enemy camp last night and achieved great feats, also joined the battle.

Despite concerns and worries, Kang Chan was not one to heed such voices.

There were no traces of the cracks that had formed on his Gigantes the previous day.

This was because he had entrusted it to the Dwarves for repairs.

Kang Chan also learned why the joints of the Elven Knight had cracked.

According to the Dwarves, the cracks were not due to defects in the Elven Knight itself but because the joints were overstrained beyond their durability.

In short, the problem was activating combat mode.

For someone like Kang Chan, a Sword Master’s movements already pushed a regular Gigantes to its limits. When he moved several times more intensely, it caused the breakdown.

Kang Chan had to avoid elevating combat mode to level 3 or higher in future battles.

‘Will that be enough to face Nemitz?’

Nemitz, the swordsman who once swept the world with his dual blades, was a formidable opponent that even Kang Chan struggled to face without maximizing combat mode.

Eventually, Kang Chan had no choice but to leave Nemitz to Duke Sachsen.

『Today, I ask Duke Sachsen to handle Nemitz.』

『Of course. You must be very tired. I will take care of Nemitz. Please deal with the other Sword Masters.』

『Thank you.』

Duke Sachsen showed consideration for the fatigued Kang Chan after continuous battles.

『Loki, you handle the green elf soldiers instead of fighting here.』

In fact, it was more efficient for Loki to fight them than the Gigantes.

The Gigantes were much larger than Loki, and their pilots were also geniuses in swordsmanship.

Moreover, unless it was a significant attack, there was no concern for the pilot getting directly injured.

However, Loki was different.

No matter how tough the Ogre Loki’s skin was, it was fragile before an Aura Sword.

Hence, Kang Chan removed Loki from the entry.

Despite Zikyon healing him, Kang Chan didn’t want to see Loki fighting covered in blood like yesterday.

Loki understood Kang Chan’s feelings well and ran off to assist the humans against the green elf soldiers without a word.

And then, the Phoenix’s piercing cry continued.

“Kiaaaah!”

Simultaneously, Gigantes from both sides charged, shaking the ground, and the Phoenix poured feathers imbued with the power of hellfire onto the Gigantes.

As a result, massive explosions occurred everywhere, sending the limbs of the Gigantes flying into the air, their bodies melting beyond recognition.

However, once the battle turned into a melee, the Phoenix could not easily unleash its fiery attacks on the enemies.

So, the Phoenix descended to the ground and attempted to attack directly with its beak.

It was like a fight between a rooster and a dog.

But soon, the Phoenix, overwhelmed by the Aura Swords and Aura Blades of the Gigantes, soared back into the sky, cursing.

“Argh! That hurts like hell! Damn it!”

The Phoenix had underestimated the Aura Swords of the Gigantes and got severely hurt.

Against 180 Gigantes belonging to the Federation Army, led by six Sword Masters, the Dark Elves responded with 31 Gigantes and 60,000 Troll Elves.

Just the previous day, the number of Troll Elves had exceeded 100,000, but their numbers had nearly halved in just one day.

Their attacks were more challenging than the three-unit Gigantes formations from the previous day.

When dozens of Troll Elves, unafraid of injury, threw themselves to hold down a Gigantes, the Arc Shadows would pierce the chest of the enemy Gigantes from behind.

Unlike the Troll Elves’ axes, the Aura Swords of the Arc Shadows penetrated armor like paper.

It was a series of intense battles.

Sachsen’s Agni also fought fiercely against Nemitz’s Hellenic.

Duke Sachsen’s skills were indeed remarkable, representing the pinnacle of human capability, but he was gradually being pushed back by Nemitz.

Indeed, Nemitz, who had ruled as a supreme swordsman for centuries, was a step above him.

‘Ugh! As expected from someone who caused a sensation 500 years ago. But Agni has a trump card!’

『Breath of Fire!』

When Duke Sachsen activated Agni’s hidden technique, Breath of Fire, flames began to ignite from the red crystals embedded all over Agni’s body.

Then, an intense heat, rivaling the Phoenix’s, began to threaten Hellenic.

‘Ugh! Damn it!’

With Agni now protected by flames, even the superior Nemitz found it challenging to face him.

The intense heat from Agni was enough to affect Nemitz inside Hellenic.

Nemitz inside Hellenic sweated profusely, his mouth drying up.

『Damn it! Dark Sphere!』

Nemitz deployed the Dark Sphere again.

But once again, it was useless against Agni’s flames.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to abandon the Dark Sphere and fight bare-handed.

Kang Chan, watching from a distance as Duke Sachsen battled Nemitz to a standstill, felt satisfied.

‘He’s holding his own well. As expected, he lives up to his name.’

He had been worried, but it turned out to be unfounded.

The Agni he rode showed exceptional power against Nemitz’s Hellenic.

It was truly the might of an ancient giant possessed by the Visman Empire, the world’s strongest nation.

Seeing Duke Sachsen, Kang Chan continued to clash swords with his opponent.

His opponent was slightly inferior to Kang Chan, allowing him to maintain an advantage with just combat mode level 3.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix, driven away from the Gigantes battle, charged at the infantry like an enraged bull.

It had no place in the battle between Gigantes.

The Phoenix would have preferred to sweep them all away with one breath.

However, Green had strongly opposed it, so the Phoenix started venting its frustration elsewhere.

In the midst of this, Arteon chose to use a fast-casting 7th Circle area attack spell instead of a 9th Circle spell to block the Phoenix, targeting the enemy infantry instead.

“Fire Wave!”

A small flame from Arteon’s hand turned into a massive wave of fire, engulfing the green elves.

Hundreds of green elves screamed in pain and burned to death, followed by a 4th Circle Chain Lightning spell that split into dozens of streams from her hands.

Her Chain Lightning, ten times more powerful than a regular one, swept through the enemies.

It was indeed the prowess of a 9th Circle user.

“Ah! Witch!”

“The White Witch!”

The green elves, descendants of the Green Witch, started fleeing, calling Arteon the White Witch, while she relentlessly unleashed powerful spells on their heads.

Her unhesitating attacks were a stark contrast to her usual kind and calm demeanor.

Seeing her, the Phoenix let out an angry shout.

“What? That’s the one who hit me with Hellfrost before?”

The Phoenix stopped burning the Federation soldiers and suddenly breathed fire at Arteon.

Arteon quickly canceled her spell and deployed a Blink.

As the Phoenix’s breath swept through where Arteon had been, it incinerated more soldiers.

But unfortunately, those soldiers were allies, not enemies.

“Argh! What are you doing, Phoenix?”

“Damn it!”

Seeing Arteon appear a short distance away, mocking him, the Phoenix launched dozens of homing feathers at her.

But even those were easily evaded by Arteon’s Blink, scattering aimlessly and colliding with each other before disintegrating.

Arteon shrugged, as if to ask if that was all the Phoenix had. The Phoenix let out a furious cry and charged at Arteon.

“Argh! You wretched woman! How dare you mock me! I won’t let you get away with this!”

With its fiery temper, the Phoenix chased Arteon all around, unleashing powerful attack spells.

However, there was no way the Phoenix could catch her, who had even evaded Ariel, the Spirit King of Wind, known to be the fastest among the Spirit Kings.

Indeed, the level of a 9th Circle mage was not something achieved by mere tricks.