Excalibur Chronicle of Raidorl - Chapter 235: Delusions of Grandeur

‘Foolish….. I, this knight of war, will be defeated……?’

Neferte’s attack cuts his head in two, and Garbolus’s huge body slowly collapses.

The blow with the holy sword is a fatal wound even for Garbolus, who is supposed to be an immortal. Death is inevitable.

In his fading consciousness, all that comes to mind is his master, Osman.

‘I am a close associate of Queen Osman. My defeat is the defeat of Queen Osman. I must not bring shame to the great Queen. I mustn’t…..!’

Garbolus was the oldest of the  『Four Horsemen of Apocalypse』 and a loyal subject who had served the Osman for more than a thousand years.

For Garbolus, it was unforgivable to be defeated for failing to fulfil the orders entrusted to him by his master. It was a humiliation greater than death.

“I won’t allow it! I won’t allow it,Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Garbolus, who should have died, exerted his last strength, motivated by his bottomless loyalty to Osman.

His collapsed and crumbling body overflowed with magical power like a waterfall.

“No one leaves alive! All of them, all of them, dieeee!!”

“MU……!”

“Eeeh…?”

Justy and Neferte, who were witnessing Garbolus’ final moments, change their expressions at the same time. An impossible power flows out of the giant, which should be a dead body.

“Where did this power……come from, it’s disgusting!”

“You’re too slow! Brat!”

Before Justy could finish him off, Garbolus activated his magic.

The last magic power produced by burning the souls of the 『Four Horsemen of Apocalypse』, who are supposed to be immortal, is injected into the undead that were being used.

“「「「「「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」」」」」”

“「「「「「Katakatakatakatakatakatakata!!」」」」」”

“Guwaah?!”

“What? Suddenly this guy got stronger and……gah!?”

The undead, filled with the life and soul of Garbolus, as well as hatred and obsession, suddenly increased their fighting ability.

Their power and speed increased across the board, and they began to fight back against the soldiers of the Zain Kingdom Army, who had been pushing them.

“Kuhh…..these undead soldiers are growing in strength……!”

The battle situation was reversed, even though the enemy general had been defeated.

Originally, looking at the number of soldiers alone, the undead soldiers were much larger. The Zain Royal Army was able to gain the upper hand in the battle because its soldiers were well-trained and well-equipped.

However, that premise has now collapsed.

The undead soldiers who have received the enhancement effect of Garbolus’ souls have dramatically improved their abilities and are now overwhelming the Zain Royal Army.

Although the soldiers of the Zain Royal Army were still superior in terms of individual strength…..here, the difference in numbers began to greatly affect the war situation.

The 100,000 undead soldiers have turned into elite soldiers at every turn, and the soldiers of the Royal Army are now forced to fight an uphill battle.

“No, we can’t continue to fight like this……!”

Neferte, flying on wings of mist, pales.

[I have to support them] Neferte said, readying his dagger, but the next moment the wings on his back shook.

“Aa……!?”

The wings of mist dissipate and disappear. Neferte’s body, which has lost its buoyancy, falls headlong towards the ground.

“Look out! Neferte-tono!”

Immediately, Justy slides into the fall and catches Neferte’s body.

“Ugh….. sorry, Justy-dono…….”

“I’m glad you’re safe. More than that…..”

“Damn it……pathetic. I never thought I’d run out of magic here…..”

He tried to put magical power into the holy sword Mistilteinn, but not even the strength of his fingertips came from his body.

No matter how much he is the chosen hero of the Holy Sword, he is still a human being. He does not possess infinite magical power.

Furthermore, Neferte has only been a holder of the Holy Sword for a short time and is inexperienced both physically and mentally. He used up all of his magical power when he wielded the power to kill one of the witch Osman’s aides with a single blow.

“Do not overdo it. If you use too much magic, you will wear out your soul……like that.”

Ahead of Justy’s gaze, the huge body of Garbolus turns to dust, and the magical power that overflows from it is increasingly absorbed by the undead soldiers.

The last desperate attempts to literally put his souls on the line have transformed the tangible undead into the most elite force against the living.

“Katakatakatakatakatakataka”

“Mun!”

Justy crushes the head of a skeleton that jumped at him with his spear at agile speed. The speed is incomparable to what he had just done.

“Commander Justy! We won’t last long here either!”

“There are too many enemies! We can’t keep this up……!”

A soldier under his command says impatiently as he returns fire on the undead soldiers.

The decisive death squad led by Justy was being surrounded by undead soldiers in an ongoing battle. Until a few minutes ago, they could have managed it due to the difference in their skill level, but in front of the……strengthened undead soldiers, they are being crushed every second.

“…… I will do my best to buy time. Let Neferte-sama alone escape.”

“Justy-tono!?”

Neferte’s eyes widened at Justy’s instruction.

Ignoring Neferte’s violent resistance, Justy throws his body to the young knight.

“I’ll make a breakthrough. You must let His Highness Neferte escape and join His Highness Raidorl.”

“Commander……understood!”

The young knight nodded.

He really wanted to refuse to run away on their own, but he saw the unwavering colour in Justy’s eyes.

There was no time for questions and answers. The knight took Neferte in his arms and gripped the reins of the horse.

“No, no……Justy-tono, if you want to run away, come with me……”

“Your Highness Neferte. My life weighs differently from yours.”

Justy replied calmly to Neferte who was clinging to him.

“Even though I am the Commander of the Thousand Horsemen, I am only one knight. Even dying is part of my mission. But……you are different.”

“………!!”

“You have a mission to survive and restore the Kingdom of Athena. The loss of His Highness, the holder of the Holy Sword, would be a loss to humanity. It is not a good thing!”

“But…!!”

“Come, this is a knight’s battlefield! Let us risk our lives to settle this place and see it through!”

Justy slams his spear into the ground. The ruptured pieces of earth cleave the undead soldiers and make way for them.

The knight carrying Neferte runs along the path of life that has been built. Justy does not pursue.

He simply draws the undead soldiers around him and continues to fight a desperate battle. The knights under his command do the same, wielding their weapons alongside their commander.

“Come, let us fight! Let it be known that Justy Oigist, Commander of the Thousand Horsemen, is here!”

“Justy-tono…..!”

Neferte, held by a knight, reaches out his hand.

However, the hand does not reach Justy. Tears spill from Neferte’s eyes.

‘I’m useless again…..I can’t protect anything at the crucial moment…..!’

Like when he lost the Kingdom of Aeterna. Like when he lost his father. Like when he lost his friends.

Once again, something precious was about to disappear from Neferte’s hands.

“Justy-tono…..”

Neferte hangs down in his arms.

It is no different when he becomes the holder of the Holy Sword. Even if he has been avenged,he is still the same.

In the end, he was still the weak Neferte.

“……!”

But immediately after….there was a roar.

Lightning raining down from the sky. A flash of light burned the eyes of everyone present.

“Wha…!”

“What…?”

As if time had stopped, the soldiers of the Zain Royal Army freeze.

They are in the middle of a battle, but they have all frozen in a state of ineptitude.

“This…don’t tell me…”

However, the undead soldiers did not take advantage of the opportunity to attack.

Because……only for a moment. In the small amount of time it took for the flash to run through, the undead who had engaged the Zain Royal Army disappeared in large numbers.

“It’s all right, You’re all in safe hands!”

And then, delayed by the thunderbolt, an out-of-place, bright voice rings out.

“Because I’m here! The Imperial Princess, the new Adventurer Celia,Has come!”

She said proudly, and a beautiful woman with blonde hair – Celia Von Arslanian – laughed cheerfully.