Chapter 400

Raon walked up to Dorian while sweeping back his sweaty hair.

"You have more holy water, don't you?"

Dorian had an obsession with buying a large amount of supplies.

He'd said that he had bought a lot more holy water because he ended up using all of it when he was saving people from the Black Tower's attack.

"I do have more—but shouldn't we be saving it?"

"No, we have to use it right now."

Raon shook his head while looking at the undead army. They couldn't approach because of the holy water and the wall of fire, but their advance was bound to resume soon enough.

"We can't last until morning anyway."

"Whaat?"

"The castle is going to collapse before sunrise at this rate."

He wasn't trying to frighten him. Since everyone was exhausted from five days of battle, it was impossible to stop the huge swarm of undead.

"Th-then are we giving up on the reinforcements?

"We can't wait forever."

"I guess…"

Dorian took out the remaining six holy bottles and gave them to Raon, his hands trembling in fear.

"Those are all I have."

"Thank you. Take the money from my savings."

"I-I'm not a bank…"

Raon clapped his hands, ignoring Dorian and his complaints about being turned into a bank when he used to be a pocket.

The Light Wind squad had gloomy expressions on their faces as they gathered around him.

"Lady Wendy and Sir Prica, please come here too."

He also called the two people since they were leading the Amber Blade division and the rangers.

"You should be aware, but we've reached our limit."

Everyone bit their lips without saying anything. Even Martha couldn't say anything, which implied that everyone had accepted reality.

"That's why we are going to use the last method available to us."

"Last method?"

"What is that?! Say it already!"

Burren and Martha took a step towards him at the same time.

Raon slowly opened his mouth while meeting everyone's gazes.

"We are going to open the gate and go outside."

"Op-open the gate?"

Prica's chin trembled.

"What do you mean?! There are still so many enemies!"

He shook his head violently while looking at the undead army that was slowly surrounding the castle even though they couldn't advance.

"It's impossible for us to last until morning. The castle will collapse before sunrise, and the slaughter will begin."

The castle's protective ability had been blocking the energy of death, but it was going to disappear once the walls collapsed.

It wouldn't just be the families—even the rangers were going to collapse, and there was no way they could deal with the enemies.

"The only way we can reverse this situation is to charge through that army of undead and defeat the archlich."

Raon looked at the Light Wind squad, Mark Goetten, and Wendy Arianne.

"The Light Wind squad, Lady Wendy, and I will be going out. The undead should follow us, but the others should stay here to protect the castle just in case."

Since most of the Amber Blade division members were novice Experts, they weren't going to be helpful.

It was necessary to bring a small number of elites to break through the wall of corpses as quickly as possible.

"Understood!"

Wendy nodded while slamming the left side of her chest with her right hand. The look in her eyes said that she would follow him anyway even if he didn't bring her.

"I leave it to you, Prica."

She smiled faintly while holding Prica's shoulder.

"It seems unreasonable. Is it really going to work…?"

Prica sighed heavily in worry.

"Alright! I like it!"

Martha slammed the castle wall with her palm.

"It was getting frustrating because I had to keep shooting weak aura blades, but it's finally time to shine!"

She gave a toothy smile, saying that she could finally show her skills.

"I agree."

Burren nodded in agreement. It was a rare sight that he agreed with her.

"I was getting tired of watching from above."

He glared at the undead while catching his breath.

"Let's finish it quickly and eat some ice cream."

Runaan rolled her lips into a slight smile while blinking her blank eyes.

"We should've gone out earlier!"

"Those damn undead, you are all dead to me!"

"Watch out for your heads, you corpses!"

A frightening pressure emerged around the Light Wind squad as they clenched their swords. They also seemed to be frustrated by what had been happening.

"Dorian."

Raon called Dorian's name and shook his hand at him.

"Take out the Blue Cultivation Pills."

Blue Cultivation Pills weren't elixirs. They were similar to a healing potion and were extremely efficient at recovering the aura.

"Yes!"

Dorian put his hand into his belly pocket and took out as many Blue Cultivation Pills as the number of people and handed them out.

"Take the Blue Cultivation Pill and cultivate for two hours before you return."

"Two hours?"

"Even if you spread the holy water, it will dry up in an hour."

"How are you planning to defend on your own in the meantime?"

"Even for the vice squad leader, you can't do it alone!"

"I'm not alone."

Raon shook his hand towards Yua, who was quietly watching the seniors behind Runaan.

"I have the Mad Dog squad's secret weapon with me."

"We aren't Mad Dogs…"

* * *

Wendy Arianne opened the door to her room, which she hadn't returned to in a long time. It had only been five days, but she felt like a year.

"No…"

Her body tried to spontaneously move towards her bed, but she stopped herself and sat on the ground.

'I can't betray his expectations.'

Raon was still fighting on the castle walls. If she wanted to follow him, she had to recover her aura and stamina as much as possible instead of sleeping.

'I can only admire him the more I see him.'

She was already aware of the fact that Raon was amazing even before he came to House Arianne. There was no way she wouldn't be since he was the youngest Master and was given the admirable alias 'White Sword Dragon'.

However, that was only about his might.

No matter how talented he was, Wendy thought that he would still be inexperienced because he was young.

'I was completely wrong.'

On top of his astounding might, he also had excellent wits, mind-reading abilities, and an understanding of the battlefield.

He wasn't an inexperienced swordsman. He was a warrior who was nearing completion. It was the first time she had met a warrior worthy of her admiration—even if he was way younger than herself.

"Haa…"

Wendy briefly sighed while fiddling with the Blue Cultivation Pill.

'It will be hard. We might not be able to reach the end.'

Even if she cultivated to recover her aura for two hours, she couldn't even get half of her full power back. On the other hand, the number of enemies was increasing all the time.

It was probably impossible to reach the end of the Swamp of Death through the army of undead.

However, she had a feeling that she could create that miracle since Raon was with her.

Wendy unraveled the piece of cloth covering the Blue Cultivation Pill and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and started to cultivate, and her lips smoothly curled into a smile.

One hour passed after Raon covered the castle walls with the three remaining holy waters.

Once the holy water's effect had worn off, the undead unleashed even more energy of death and resumed their advance.

"Sir Raon!"

Prica ran towards him while screaming.

"Th-they are coming!"

He bit his lip while pointing at the arrows that his family had made for him.

"We should shoot the arrows at least…"

"Save them for later."

Since there weren't many arrows and javelins left, they had to be used when they broke through the formation. It was necessary to use another method to defend for instance.

"Yua."

"Yes!"

Yua came towards him with a smile. It was a forced smile, but it still managed to brighten the mood.

"Do you remember how I played music with my sword when we were training with Sir Roenn?"

"Ah, yes!"

She nodded, saying that she obviously remembered.

"We will be using the same method. I'll be playing music with my sword, so you should sing a song accordingly."

"A song?"

"It doesn't matter how you sing nor which song you choose. You just need to sing while thinking about protecting the people in the castle."

"I-I'll try!"

Yua nodded, with her twin tails fluttering in the air.

"Thank you."

Raon patted Yua's head and went to the front.

Rumble!

It looked like the land was trembling because the countless undead were moving at once.

Since the holy water had dried out and the fire was extinguished, they were advancing without the slightest fear.

"S-Sir Raon!"

"They are coming!"

"W-we need orders!"

Prica and the rangers hurriedly shouted.

Raon shook his hand at them to tell them to stop worrying about it and drew the Blade of Requiem from his waist.

Cring!

He stroked the Blade of Requiem while enjoying the clear sound of sword draw despite being a possessed blade.

'I leave it to you.'

Whir!

The Blade of Requiem created a small sword resonance, trying to reassure him.

"I'm going to start."

He signaled Yua with his gaze before pouring the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's energy into the Blade of Requiem.

Whir!

The Blade of Requiem turned red from the heat and created a majestic sword resonance.

The auspicious cry with the willingness to save people instead of resentment slowed the advance of the undead.

"Yua, follow this flow."

"Yes!"

Yua stepped forward and put her hands together before closing her eyes.

"The name of Habun protects the gray walls of the north…"

She chose a military song—Habun Castle's military song.

'I can understand why.'

The song of protection for Yua must've been the military song she'd heard ever since childhood.

Whir!

The Blade of Requiem and Yua's resolutions to save people interlocked with each other in harmony to create a huge resonance to twist the darkness.

Whaaam!

Once the melody of aura spread around, the swarm of the undead became unable to move. Their bodies were trembling as they tried to move, but they couldn't even take a single step forward.

"Aaah…"

Prica clenched his right arm where goosebumps were rising. Just like Raon had reassured him, the undead were unable to move because of the song.

"H-how could a melody create such a miracle…?"

He'd heard of the legend where a warrior managed to stop an advance of thousands of soldiers on his own with melody, but he'd never imagined he'd witness it. His body trembled from the thrill.

"Hmm."

Yulius stood next to Yua with his mouth tightly closed. His serious expression showed his resolve to protect Yua no matter what.

Raon smiled gently and controlled the ghastly energy emerging from the Blade of Requiem even more naturally.

Whir!

Just like when he used the Blue Rain, the flow of sword resonance connected like a river to spread Yua's song even further.

Cring!

The song of resolution became a sharp blade to push the undead back. They stepped back while swaying and collided against each other as they fell.

Hey.

While Raon was controlling his sword resonance according to Yua's song, Wrath emerged from the bracelet.

Are you really going out?

'I have to, since I have no other way.'

The leader of the undead is baiting you. You must be aware of this fact since you are a snake.

Wrath frowned, asking why he didn't realize that fact when he was the nastiest human being in the world.

'I know.'

Raon nodded casually.

'I don't know if it's the archlich or someone pulling the strings from behind, but they are pretty smart.'

The undead attacked at the worst possible moment, as if they knew the situation in House Arianne, and exhausted their stamina and willpower with a war of attrition instead of attacking with powerful undead. Considering how smart they were, they were definitely baiting Raon to come outside the castle like Wrath said.

Then why are you still going despite knowing that fact?

'Because I also have a secret weapon.'

A secret weapon?

Raon raised his finger to point at Wrath.

Is the King of Essence your secret weapon?

'Yes. The archlich is being careful about me, who has been fighting for five days straight. They must want me to be unable to even create an astral blade because of how exhausted I am. However…'

Raon clenched his fist, with his eyes covered in coldness.

'I can at least recover my might if you help me.'

His mind would be further devastated if he traded with Wrath, but his aura and stamina would recover.

Other people wouldn't be able to endure, but he was confident he could since he'd experienced his life as a shadow and a death in the past.

'I even have holy power.'

Raon was confident he could defeat whatever he had to face in a single strike if he used the divinity in his strike after his aura and stamina were recovered.

"Climb the mountain through the icy wind of the northern ocean…"

Raon closed his eyes while listening to Yua's song. Once he opened them again, crimson lightning sparked from his eyes.

"They will regret doing this while I'm here."

* * *

Thanks to the time Yua bought for them, the Light Wind squad, Mark Goetten, and Wendy Arianne managed to recover enough stamina and aura before they returned.

Raon looked around while standing in front of the gate. He could feel blade-sharp pressure from the Light Wind squad and Wendy Arianne lined up behind him.

'And their minds are also ready.'

The reason he gave them the time wasn't simply to recover their stamina and aura.

He wanted them to harden their resolve for the final battle, and it was effective enough.

"The real battle is about to begin."

Burren smiled while turning his wrists.

"Warm yourselves up."

He relieved the tension while examining the Light Wind members one by one.

"It's best to shatter the skulls directly instead of using aura blades."

Martha clenched her fist with a cold smile on her face.

"I'm going to destroy the archlich's head."

She licked her lips, saying that it belonged to her.

"Are you okay, Raon?"

Runaan took a step towards Raon and raised her head.

"You never slept."

She tilted her head, eyes bloodshot from the lack of sleep.

"Can you even follow us, vice squad leader?"

"I know, right? He might be the only one to fall behind."

"We will leave you behind if you are too slow!"

"You should say that to Krein instead."

Raon pointed at Krein, who wasn't saying anything.

"Oh, right!"

"Krein is always the first one to fall behind!"

"It's Krein's specialty!"

"This swordsman specializes in being eliminated!"

The Light Wind squad giggled at Krein.

"That's not true! I was just unlucky!"

Krein shook his head, his face turning red.

"You can't blame luck during a competition!"

"That's right, it's a skill issue!"

"Resign from the team leader position if you fall behind again!"

The Light Wind swordsmen were joking with each other even though they were facing countless undead.

Raon looked at the Light Wind squad, his gaze full of trust.

"Krein will lag behind, but the Mad Dog squad doesn't abandon our companions."

The smiles from the Light Wind squad deepened upon hearing him. It felt like their confident smiles were removing the gloominess of the situation.

"But we aren't the Mad Dog squad…"

"The plan is simple. The Mad Dog squad will charge from the center in the Great Light Wind Formation, and Sir Mark and Lady Wendy will support from both sides."

Raon raised his finger while ignoring Burren.

"What about Raon?"

Runaan tilted her head while looking at Raon's hand.

"I'll open the path from the front."

Raon tapped on his scabbard. Speed was the key to victory. The goal was to quickly break through the siege and arrive at the end of the Land of Death where the pillars were located.

"I'll be running at full speed. Catch up to me no matter what."

"Yes!"

The Light Wind squad shouted loudly in unison.

"We will follow until the end."

"I'll be counting on you."

Mark Goetten and Wendy Arianne also nodded while clenching their fists.

Raon smiled and soaked everyone's bodies in holy water with the watering can.

The effect wasn't going to last for a long time, but it was going to be helpful while it lasted.

"Now…"

When Raon was about to open the gate to leave, he noticed a presence.

'They are…'

The families of House Arianne were gathered together. They bowed while praying for success even though their bodies were trembling from the evil energy from above. The fact that they weren't saying anything made their sincerity even clearer.

"Sir Raon! They are climbing the hill!"

Prica's voice could be heard from above the castle walls.

"You have to go right now!"

"Haa."

Raon caught his breath in front of the gate. Once the energy of death reached its peak, he shouted towards the top.

"Open the gate."

"Open the gate!"

The gate opened with a creaking sound that echoed throughout the castle.