It’s very common to taunt the enemy on the battlefield to break their morale.
Evangeline considered that weight jibe to be that kind of attack as well. So she tried to brush it off without much impact.
‘I’ll beat the crap out of all of you, you monsters…’
Her fighting spirit was burning even more fiercely.
However, this scale play by the black knight commander was not a simple taunt.
Right after the giant scale ‘judged’ that Evangeline was heavier.
Clank…!
With a heavy sound like chains being dragged, Evangeline suddenly staggered.
“Ugh…?!”
Her whole body feels as heavy as cotton soaked in water.
Stumbling and grabbing the castle wall, Evangeline gritted her teeth.
‘What is this, my body…?!’
Then the black knight put a new subject on the scale and said:
“A day’s wages for a person is sufficient with one quart of wheat and three quarts of barley, a little olive oil and wine.”
“…?!”
“Sins that exceed this become piled upon the soul, acting as a weight that drags that soul to hell.”
Two subjects were placed on the scale.
One was Evangeline, and on the other side was a calf.
Clank!
Evangeline was heavier.
The pressure of weight on Evangeline’s entire body also increased. Unable to withstand the suffocating pressure, Evangeline fell to one knee on the ground.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
In succession, the weight of Evangeline’s sins was compared to numerous other beasts. And Evangeline’s sins were heavier than any of those beasts.
“You have committed numerous killings. Your sins are far heavier than any beast.”
The black knight commander slowly extended his hand, pointing at Evangeline.
“I shall take away your life accordingly.”
The scales spun around in circles, with the water-formed image of the young knight positioned in the center.
An ancient powerful curse was loaded.
Now when the black knight waves his hand, it will tear away as much life from Evangeline’s body as judged.
“Sins, you say…?”
At that moment, overcoming the pressure of the curse, Evangeline opened her mouth.
“Who are you to play judge of my life…?”
Crack!
Instead of dispelling the curse with magic, Evangeline endured it with brute force.
Against the curse pressing down on her from all directions, she tightened her abdomen and managed to raise her body. Then she roared.
“I am Evangeline Cross! Daughter of Charles and Elaine, eldest daughter of the Cross family, and heir to the Margrave of the Everblack Empire!”
Thud!
Evangeline, gripping her spear and shield, stared straight at the enemy commander.
“I killed enemies to protect my people. Since I swore to defend this land, I have not been ashamed of my actions for a single moment.”
“…”
“Don’t judge my life by your standards, monster!”
The black knight commander silently completed the curse.
Clank-!
Countless execution devices made of iron chains appeared in the air around Evangeline and fell towards her.
Evangeline raised her shield with all her might to block all those curses.
Clang! Claaang-!
Evangeline’s shield glowed brilliantly white, recognizing the incoming curses as ‘enemy attacks’ and absorbing them all.
“And above all… don’t you dare comment on my body weight!”
After completely absorbing the black knight’s curse with her endless [Damage Save] capacity, Evangeline transferred that curse to the tip of her spear.
“My motto is ‘eat a lot, work a lot’! As long as I eat well and stay healthy, that’s all that matters!”
And she shot the gathered curse forward with all her might.
“I’m not going on a diet, you bastards-!”
Kuwaaaaang-!
The curse returned in reverse through [Damage Payback] and exploded among the black knights. The black knights hit by the attack fell like autumn leaves.
“Haa, haa…”
She perfectly nullified the enemy’s first curse attack.
The pressure that had been weighing down her entire body disappeared. Evangeline lightly bounced in place with her lightened body.
“Whew, I’m already hungry after doing this once.”
An extreme hunger assailed her, perhaps as an aftereffect of withstanding the curse.
As she quickly stuffed the supply snacks tucked inside her shield into her mouth, Verdandi, standing next to her, carefully called out to Evangeline.
“President.”
“Yes? What is it, Sister Verdandi?”
Then Verdandi nodded with a serious face.
“I think it’s cuter to have a little belly fat.”
“…”
“Really. Especially for our race, since we have a constitution that doesn’t gain weight easily, the chubbier ones are considered more aesthetically beautiful.”
“…”
“You look really good right now, President. If anything, I’d like you to gain a little more weight and restore those round cheeks from three years ago…”
“…”
“Anyway, let’s keep it like this!”
Then she flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs up.
“…”
After looking incredulously at this Elven king who seemed unlikely to worry about dieting, Evangeline shook her head. And she muttered.
“I’ll have to ask that old man later which he prefers…”
Well, whatever that man’s preferences are doesn’t matter.
After all, she’ll live as she just declared.
Eat as much as she wants, and work hard at her duties.
There’s no way such a process of life could be sinful.
“Now, come on in!”
The entire black knight unit raised their scales to place a curse on the entire Second Forward Base.
Granting the [Final Fortress] effect to everyone in the forward base, Evangeline shouted.
“I’m going to crush all of you and eat until I burst for dinner tonight-!”
***
Whiiing-
A desolate wind blew in front of the First Forward Base.
“Huu, huu, huu…”
“…”
Torkel, roughly catching his breath, and the giant burning centaur standing before him.
The match between the red knight commander and Torkel was not easily decided. Both were brave warriors with incredible innate toughness.
Every time the red knight commander stomped the ground with his hooves, flames erupted, and gales of heat and fire poured from the greatsword he wielded, but.
Torkel was a man who had even withstood the Night Bringer’s breath attack with his body before. He could laugh off attacks of this level.
Of course, he didn’t just defend. Torkel swung his mace in between to attempt strikes on the red knight commander.
While he didn’t possess extraordinary attack techniques, Torkel’s brute strength was not to be underestimated.
The mace Torkel wielded carried enough power to easily crumple steel plates.
But the red knight commander’s martial prowess was impressive. Even when Torkel thrust out his mace like an ambush, he would easily deflect it with a swing of his greatsword.
It was a repetition of the red knight commander unleashing fierce attacks, Torkel firmly defending and sharply counterattacking, and the red knight commander perfectly receiving those attacks.
After dozens of exchanges, realizing that the match wouldn’t be decided this way, the red knight commander changed his pattern.
Whoosh!
The raised greatsword was engulfed in fierce flames, and soon a fire tornado shot up with enough force to pierce the sky.
The red knight commander then brought down this flaming greatsword.
“…!”
Torkel knew he should dodge, but the forward base was right behind him.
If he couldn’t defend against that terrifying attack, the forward base would be destroyed.
“Hnngh-!”
Without hesitation, Torkel activated [Man is not Made for Defeat].
He even threw away his shield and received the red knight commander’s flame sword with his body.
Kuwaaaang-!
It was a sword strike powerful enough to easily split and burn down any ordinary fortress, but Torkel had withstood even greater attacks several times before.
Torkel, who charged head-on while splitting the flames with his whole body, gripped his mace with both hands.
The red knight commander couldn’t move as he was using all his strength on this flame greatsword. Victory flashed in Torkel’s eyes.
‘Got you!’
Zheeeok-!
The mace was swung fiercely, aiming for the red knight commander’s head.
But the mace didn’t crush the red knight commander’s head. Instead, it sliced through the air and smashed the ground below.
“…!”
This was because another red knight who had intruded on the battlefield grabbed his commander and quickly pulled him back.
Flames flowed like blood from the head of the commander who narrowly avoided the mace.
Pushing their commander back, the rest of the red knights surrounded Torkel in a circle.
“Interfering in a duel between commanders…”
Torkel clicked his tongue.
“Friends who don’t know honor.”
The red knights didn’t respond.
They just raised their greatswords, preparing to charge at Torkel all at once.
Torkel slowly looked around and gripped his mace again. True to their cavalry nature, the encirclement was swift and perfect. There was no gap to escape through.
‘I’m not taking damage now, but soon…’
Once the effect of [Man is not Made for Defeat] ends, the enemies will rush in at once. How long will he be able to hold out then?
As he thought this and adjusted his grip on the mace…
Thwack-!
With a refreshing impact sound, a part of the encirclement collapsed.
A man who had flown in from the castle wall delivered a descending kick from midair, crushing the back of a red knight’s head and sliding down like a sled.
“Hey there, Torkel.”
The muscular man with flowing red hair tied back was Kuilan.
“You didn’t come here as a mere warrior, but as a commander, right?”
On either side of the grinning Kuilan, Crossroad’s melee combat unit poured out through the now-open forward base gates.
“Then trust your comrades a bit more. I’m saying to use us in the right place at the right time.”
Thud! Thwack! Boom-!
Kuilan’s penal unit swung their weapons in an instant, pushing back the red knights.
Kuilan, in particular, overwhelmed the red knights in the area with his tremendous breakthrough power, unleashing brutal fist techniques.
Realizing it was difficult to maintain the encirclement, the red knights broke the formation and retreated to one side. Kuilan and the warriors who had come to rescue Torkel gathered behind him.
“…Well, this is embarrassing.”
Torkel smiled awkwardly.
“Since it’s my first time leading so many people in this position, I made such a mistake.”
“It’s alright. You were cool. You stalled for time well. And most importantly…”
Kuilan grinned and nodded towards the red knight commander regaining his stance on the other side.
“You won.”
“Haha…”
“They’re the ones who lost the one-on-one fight ungracefully and sent out their subordinates first.”
Kuilan picked up Torkel’s shield that had fallen to the ground and handed it to him.
“Our commander-in-chief appointed you as the commander here for good reason. Live up to those expectations.”
“…”
Torkel silently received the shield and equipped it on his left arm.
“Now then! Commander Torkel of the First Temporary Forward Base!”
Kuilan clashed his two fists in front of his chest with a thud! and asked.
“Give us your orders! How shall we crush those bastards?”
Torkel quickly grasped the situation of his allies across the battlefield with his equipped helmet, the Nightmare Slayer [Original Sin].
And he nodded.
“There was a way to fight honorably, like warriors. But since they broke the excitement of the duel first…”
Torkel slowly turned his body to look towards the forward base.
“Let’s go for the dirty approach too.”
There stood Junior, holding her staff.
Inside the opened forward base, mages could be seen spreading out a joint magic circle and gathering mana together.
During that time, the mages had been gathering mana and transferring it to Junior, and now that process was complete.
“A duel between commanders has its romance, but…”
Junior smiled bitterly as she raised her staff.
“This is what ‘modern warfare’ looks like.”
Flash-!
A dazzling light gathered on Junior’s staff [Rod of Crimson], then shot towards the sky above the red knight unit.
And the next moment, an incredible amount of dark clouds gathered at that point and…
The counter to the red knights’ ‘fire’ attribute.
And Junior’s innate attribute of ‘water’—
Poured down furiously.
Rumble!
Fierce lightning and overwhelming gusts accompanied by torrential rain mercilessly struck the red knight unit.
–TL Notes–
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