Future Knight

Chapter 87

The next day, Kang Chan woke up from his drunken stupor, looking around with a puzzled expression, wondering, ‘Why am I here?’

“Where is this?”

It was an opulent room he had never seen before.

“Why am I here…?”

When he stepped outside, he saw Zikyon sitting on a giant sofa in the living room.

“You’re awake?”

On either side of Zikyon, four maids were giving him a massage.

Seeing how naturally he acted, it seemed he was very accustomed to such treatment.

No, he looked incredibly comfortable as if this were his own home.

“Where are we?”

“Edelene’s secondary palace.”

“Secondary palace? How do you know that?”

“I know because I’ve lived here before.”

“Huh? You’ve lived here?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I see…”

Edelene was in a good mood.

The emperor had been immensely pleased when he heard that she had hosted a Dragon and a rogue Sword Master in her secondary palace, praising her for the achievement.

The emperor hurriedly sent high-ranking officials to try and win over the mysterious Sword Master.

However, Edelene strongly opposed this.

She feared that such actions might offend him.

Moreover, knowing that the Dragon with him was the infamous marauder G. Zikyon, even the emperor of the Visman Empire felt a twinge of fear.

Edelene told the emperor that they simply wished to rest undisturbed, and he respected her opinion.

“Then I leave this matter to you. We must win over the Sword Master. Understood?”

“Yes, Father. Don’t worry.”

For the first time in a while, everyone felt at peace.

Erika enjoyed a forest bath after a long time, and Loki played with the guard dogs in the vast garden.

Zikyon indulged in various treatments from the maids, feeling quite refined.

But Kang Chan was different.

This tranquility only made him think of Jaina more.

The more he thought of her, the more his heart ached and felt empty.

Kang Chan believed that the only way to shake off these thoughts was to return to the battlefield.

Even though he was on leave, he was still mentally on the front lines.

‘I need to go back…’

So, Kang Chan returned to his post after just three days, unable to complete his leave.

Erika didn’t particularly mind.

She shared similar feelings to Kang Chan.

Being an Elf who shared Kang Chan’s pain, she understood.

Additionally, she disliked how Edelene kept trying to get close to Kang Chan.

Loki had no particular thoughts.

Just being in the human world was a new experience and adventure for him.

The most dissatisfied was Zikyon.

He had just returned to a lifestyle befitting his status, only for Kang Chan to insist on leaving quickly, which annoyed him.

However, Zikyon didn’t oppose it strongly.

He knew that the only reason they were on this leave was because Kang Chan had considered his comrades.

Besides, Kang Chan never dragged anyone into his revenge.

Everyone had followed him voluntarily.

In fact, they were the ones holding him back.

And so, their first leave ended.

* * *

Finally, the day arrived for the reinforcements from the Eastern Kingdom to reach them.

Duke Lumiel von Sachsen, who led the troops to welcome them, couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What the… How could this be?”

Contrary to the Eastern Kingdom’s promise to send an army of 300,000 and 150 of the latest Gigantes, the arriving forces seemed barely 150,000 at a glance.

Moreover, the soldiers looked like defeated remnants, their morale utterly depleted, with dark circles under their eyes like corpses.

‘I heard they were attacked by Dark Elves, but to think they’d suffer such immense losses… Are the Dark Elves truly this powerful?’

Duke Sachsen had received reports of continuous enemy attacks on their way here. But he never imagined that an army of 300,000 would arrive in such a state.

Daist, the seasoned veteran of Terbia, greeted Duke Sachsen.

However, the top Sword Master of the East looked no different from the soldiers.

In fact, he appeared even more haggard.

“Sir Daist, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Commander, I am ashamed…”

“What happened on your way here?”

At Duke Sachsen’s question, Daist’s face contorted in pain as he recalled the nightmare days.

“We need to hurry…”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we must act as quickly as possible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If we delay, we have no chance of winning. We must launch an all-out attack immediately.”

“No chance of winning if we delay?”

In a grave tone, Daist continued.

“We lost 150,000 troops and 80 Gigantes to the Dark Elves in just one month on our way here…”

“H-how could that happen!”

An army of 300,000 was no small number. Even against a similar-sized force, it would take months or even years to fight it out.

Moreover, the 150 latest model Gigantes they possessed were comparable to the Visman Empire’s Gigantes, the strongest on the continent.

To lose more than half of such a tremendous force in just one month… it was an unimaginable situation.

“Are you saying the Dark Elves are that strong?”

Daist shuddered at the mention of the Dark Elves.

“Because of those cursed bastards, our soldiers barely slept for a month.”

Duke Sachsen was shocked to hear that they hadn’t slept for a month.

Humans begin to feel lethargic and their memory and judgment deteriorate if they don’t sleep for even a day or two.

Indeed, the soldiers of the Eastern Kingdom looked like zombies, dazed and hollow-eyed. Some stumbled while falling asleep, while others were sleepwalking.

‘What on earth happened to them for a month?’

“Let’s discuss the details in a safer place.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Move out!”

“Prepare for movement!”

Bwooooooo~

As Duke Sachsen raised his hand to give the order, his aide instructed the soldiers to move out.

“Prepare for movement!”

Signalers waved giant green flags to signify movement.

Then, the lead Gigantes owner shouted.

『Move out! Prepare to move in dispersed formation!』

『Dispersed formation! Prepare to move!』

As the lined-up Gigantes started to move again, the ground rumbled as if an earthquake had struck.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Allied Gigantes, which had been on standby just in case, began to escort the reinforcements from the Eastern Kingdom to the Allied camp.

* * *

Duke Lumiel von Sachsen and Urkanta were deep in thought inside the conference room.

“Snore… snore…”

Daist, having exhausted his last bit of strength, had recounted the harrowing hardships they had faced and fallen asleep as if fainting.

The remaining two were racking their brains on how to proceed with the operation.

“How could this happen…”

“Growl…”

From Daist’s detailed account, Duke Sachsen anticipated that the Green Elves would now rely on large-scale frontal assaults by the Dark Elves and instead conduct night guerrilla warfare.

The night guerrilla warfare conducted by the Dark Elves, as described by Daist, was that effective and efficient.

That was possible because they were Dark Elves, a race of darkness.

They had the power of Blind Hide, a boon granted by the darkness.

There was nothing they could do to effectively defend against the terror they would inflict.

It was virtually impossible to predict and block sudden attacks using giant centipedes moving underground.

It was also impossible to completely block Dark Elf assassins from infiltrating the camp using Blind Hide, even with detection magic.

If they infiltrated the camp, it was certain they would assassinate soldiers, contaminate water and food supplies, and set countless traps.

Chaos seemed inevitable.

“Just as he said, we must launch an all-out attack. What do you think, Urkanta…”

“Growl! That’s welcome news to hear. Our Orcs are always ready. Grrrr.”

“I’ve also contacted the Dwarves. It’s uncertain if the Elves, who have already suffered near-annihilation, will join the war, but the Dwarves will have no choice but to send troops.”

“Grr! We don’t need those cowardly weaklings anyway.”

“True, but right now, every hand counts.”

“Grr…”

“It is now time to fight the final war that will determine the fate of the continent, Urkanta.”

“Grr, I’m looking forward to it. Heh heh heh.”

The next day, an all-out war was confirmed for all forces.

All the human and Orc troops began to concentrate on the front lines.

* * *

“The humans and Orcs seem to be preparing for an all-out war.”

Nemitz said to Green as he looked over the real-time intelligence report.

“That’s the right choice. It’s what we wanted.”

Green’s expression was full of confidence.

“Then we shall also launch a full-scale offensive from now on.”

“Yes, the true conquest of the continent that will decide the future of our two races is about to begin.”

“For the bright future of our two races…”

“For the future…”

When Nemitz raised his glass, Green also raised his and lightly clinked them together.

After downing the wine in one gulp, Nemitz stood up and called his disciples.

“Merkles! Keremion!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Gather all the Arc Shadows immediately!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Yara!”

“Yes, Nemitz.”

“Summon the heads of the families right now; it’s time for a full-scale offensive!”

“I have been waiting for this command.”

“Prome!”

“Yes, Nemitz.”

“How many Black Centipedes ready for deployment do we have?”

“Counting those that are currently transforming into adults, we have a total of 80.”

“Prepare all of them for deployment.”

“Yes, Nemitz.”

After those who received Nemitz’s orders hurried out of the conference room, he muttered softly.

“There is no turning back now. The arrow has left the string.”

Keremion, who was busily moving in response to Nemitz’s orders, had become entirely different from the past.

After rescuing Yara and stepping into the world of the Dark Elves with her recommendation, he became Nemitz’s disciple. Now, as one of his top disciples, he had earned Nemitz’s complete trust with his outstanding skills.

Amazingly, his skills had reached the upper level of Sword Expert.

Having passed the intermediate Sword Expert test a year ago, he was now on the verge of becoming a Sword Master.

The intense anger that transformed him into a Dark Elf was the driving force behind his current self.

Keremion, who had reached adulthood this year, was growing at a much faster rate than Nemitz did in the past.

His sole wish was to kill Kang Chan and eventually to kill all humans.

‘I will never forgive you for taking the light away from me. Wait for me…’

Someone held Keremion’s hand, which was filled with anger.

It was Yara, the head of the Black Lion family.

“Yara.”

“Keremion…”

They shared a deep kiss in the dark hallway, where nothing was visible.

“Please stay safe!”

“You too.”

“I love you, Keremion.”

Yara, who was as fierce as a wildcat, embraced Keremion.

Since meeting in the Elven forest, they had become deeply in love.

Although there was a 400-year age difference between them, age had no meaning for Elves or Dark Elves.

This was because they were guaranteed youth for 800 years.