Chapter 432 – Buying Time
The entire fortress shook.
It was a tremor on the level of a natural disaster, yet despite being exposed to such force, the northern citadel remained unshaken.
The buildings visible outside, within the clan, did not collapse, nor did they even suffer minor damage.
It could not be explained merely by saying that the dwarves' architectural skills were superb.
'This feels less like an earthquake… more like the fortress is reacting to something.'
The Sword Saint, Fribalt, cast a glance at the faces of those around him.
"Why did the Red Volcano suddenly…? The sustaining device was fine. Was there any sign of an earthquake in this area?"
"Never heard of such a thing."
"This is my first time too."
"From the looks of it, the source isn't outside but underground. Hm, I don't know. The fortress alarm system hasn't triggered either."
The dwarf elites muttered in confusion, while Arkul, clan leader of the Red Volcano, whispered the name 'Gharun' under his breath, wide-eyed as he looked down at the streets.
The Oath-bound Knights were observing the dwarves' reaction.
They seemed to be pondering how to respond.
Though their helmets concealed their expressions, their surprise was obvious.
Fribalt extracted the clues.
Then, without even needing logic, he applied his own personal manual to the situation.
First, the Empire doesn't know.
Second, the dwarves don't know.
Third, the Oath-bound Knights don't know.
Officially, none of the powers gathered at Red Volcano seemed to be the culprit.
It wasn't even a natural phenomenon.
In other words.
'A third party has intervened.'
A calm conclusion.
From the beginning, the Empire had accounted for the possibility of forces other than the Oathkeepers appearing. The Empire was thorough.
But to slip past the surveillance network of the Arnak Empire… and even surpass the barrier of a dwarf fortress, long thought impossible to infiltrate—this was beyond expectation.
A dangerous variable.
Unlike the Oathkeeper Knights who acted openly, this was an enemy whose name was unknown.
In such mounting chaos, the proper course of action for a Sword Saint, one of the Empire's Lords, was obvious.
"…?! Where are you—"
Arkul's voice trailed behind as Fribalt leapt out of the citadel's window.
The important thing was to guard the Empire's borders.
The meeting between transcendent forces could be postponed. Eliminating an unknown intruder came first.
Tak.
Landing on the dwarves' main road, he immediately infused his senses with qi.
Pāin.
A martial technique learned from the Empire's Transcendent, allowing him to perceive external waves.
At once, he pinpointed where the abnormal phenomenon—already fading—had originated, and felt the path that led to the source.
He had read the terrain through seismic waves.
If he had mastered it further, he could even discern the objects within the ground, but he had not reached that level yet.
In an instant, Fribalt set his direction and kicked off the ground hard.
"What the hell?!"
"Damn bastard! Didn't you see us here?!"
The dwarf miners, hauling carts of ore, cursed with colorful tongues, but he paid them no mind.
The residential district receded behind him.
Before long, he set foot into the fortress's mid-layer, passing through the silent, massive passage that was its core.
And there, something was waiting.
Slowing his pace, Fribalt came to a halt and stared ahead.
'That is… what?'
An unfamiliar figure standing in the middle of the road.
Judging from its form, it was not a dwarf. It seemed human, but that was all he could make out.
He could not discern the face at all, not even whether it was male or female.
It was as if it was hidden by the shadows of the world, perceived only vaguely.
Regardless.
'There's no doubt this intruder is the one causing the disturbance.'
Srrng.
Fribalt gripped his sword, drawing its cold blade slowly.
"Who dares trespass into the Empire's domain?"
Had a dwarf heard this, they would have cursed and flown into a rage. But in the end, Fribalt's meaning was the same.
To cooperate with the Empire meant being under its protection, and preventing interference from external powers—like a national border.
"..."
The intruder did not reply.
Instead, they bent their arm and spread their right hand.
Fragments of earth formed in the air, clustering together until they shaped into a long spear.
'Magic?'
It was unmistakably a magical phenomenon, yet he could not be sure.
No magic power was detected at all, though it should have been.
Was it a kind of Mado, or perhaps an artifact?
Unable to tell, he saw the intruder suddenly point the spearhead at him and flick it up and down.
A wordless provocation.
Understanding the gesture, the Sword Saint of the Empire was briefly taken aback.
Fribalt judged not by improvisation, but by his manual, adhering strictly to principles, never compromising with the enemy without direct orders.
It was no wonder the world called him extreme.
Such an inflexible man was, naturally, very prideful.
His gaze hardened.
His grip tightened on the hilt, his decision made.
'Capture them alive, no matter what.'
The silence of the opponent meant they had entered Red Volcano with impure intent.
Thus, uncovering the inner workings of this third power was the way to serve the Empire.
He was not provoked.
Fribalt, fully battle-ready, charged head-on.
***
The Arnak Empire and the Oathkeepers, both eyeing the Red Volcano Clan.
The latter in particular used the Second Prince assassination incident as an excuse to reveal their ambitions, yet from the viewpoint of a third party like Verden, their intervention was absurd.
'To interfere in Imperial affairs on the grounds that the daughter of a Transcendent might take the Second Prince as a fiancé—no, not even a fiancé, but a possible betrothal—what nonsense is that?'
It was practically unreasonable.
Had a noble used such words to covet another noble's domain, they would have faced criticism and curses from all sides.
'And yet, the Empire deemed it a real threat, sending a Sword Saint in person.'
No matter that the Empire was a superpower with a Transcendent, it could not take lightly the forces led by another Transcendent.
This was the power of "strength", to make even absurd claims sound plausible.
And that, too, applied to Verden now.
To forge his own weapon, he had urged Gharun to break free from prison, and now he boldly stood within the fortress, blocking the path.
'Even if my reasoning is more valid than the Oathkeepers', to the Red Volcano Clan and the Arnak Empire, I'll appear the same as them.'
Verden was fully aware of his own selfishness. Thus, he had no intention of running wild.
There was no need to deliberately make enemies of the dwarves, the Arnak Empire, and the Oathkeepers all at once.
'Besides, if my realm is exposed, the Transcendents of each side might intervene.'
That would be troublesome.
Unless Gharun's weapon could be completed within a day or two.
For now, Verden's goals were 'stalling for time' and 'misdirection'.
He needed to buy time for Gharun to make preparations, while also deceiving the enemy about his true strength.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Fribalt advanced, intentionally stirring the air with waves.
Auditory interference.
Then, from the dull blade gleamed flashes of green light.
'The sword is heavy, but the steps are light. He wants to gauge my level first, does he?'
Verdan, having seen through the intention, stepped forward with his left foot and rotated to the right.
The great arc drawn by the spear of earth aimed precisely at his opponent.
The Sword Saint did not evade.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword from top to bottom, diagonally, pressing the enemy with successive strikes rather than a single blow. That was his way.
But there was one thing Fribalt had overlooked.
The spear in Verdan's hand was not merely in the form of a weapon.
It was maximized in durability and weight by compressing magic control and Mado
The shock released from it was comparable to a boulder, hardened and massive, rolling down from a cliff.
Claaang!
Verdan and Fribalt clashed.
The heavy resonance shook the corridor, filled with earth, stone, and metal.
"...!!"
Overwhelmed in the direct clash, Fribalt's eyes widened as he was thrown back. Using friction with the ground, he managed to brake.
Heavy.
The weight carried by the spear was extraordinary. An ordinary swordsman's wrist would have snapped just now.
No matter how strong, to swing that so lightly was not normal.
'It's highly likely an artifact.'
Aside from its weight, what other functions it held remained unknown.
Therefore, he had to find out.
With his sword light shining even brighter, Fribalt moved again.
Kwaaaang! Kwang! Claaang!
Each time they crossed, tremendous sounds erupted.
Unlike the first exchange, Fribalt was no longer blown away. Carefully dispersing the impact, they traded attacks back and forth.
As a Sword Saint, Fribalt did not specialize in offense or defense. If anything, he was equally proficient in all directions.
It was not that he lacked strong points—he was simply exceptional in every aspect.
Pursuing flawlessness as a swordsman, that was Fribalt's ultimate goal.
Shwick───!
Unlike ordinary master swordsmen, Fribalt did not scatter techniques and sword aura. He confined his qi within his blade, unleashing a relentless assault.
Focused solely on swordsmanship.
Verdan, twirling his earthen spear in dazzling maneuvers, countered, but the hastily forged weapon began to show small cracks.
'He is worthy of being called Sword Saint.'
Though his speed did not reach Adrian's, his fundamentals of swordsmanship surpassed him, and every strike carried added weight.
At times, his intuitive movements resembled those of Legrit, one of the Wardens and a War Lord of the Empire.
Were Verdan not a Transcendent, he would not be able to match this close combat without unleashing elemental magic.
…And yet, what is a mage without magic?
Whoosh!
Lifting the spearhead, he reversed its rotation and struck upward from below.
Fribalt stepped back to evade, then drove his sword deep, while Verdan barely deflected it aside and retreated two steps.
Fribalt gradually pressed the attack.
Yet even while holding the advantage, his expression was not bright.
Verdan gazed down at the Sword Saint within.
'Confused, isn't he?'
At present, Fribalt could not sense the vast magic power operated by
He could not tell what kind of force Verdan wielded.
Too strong in close combat to be a mage, yet too laced with magic to be a pure swordsman, and no trace of qi could be felt.
Of course, divine power was out of the question.
Perhaps feeling frustrated, Fribalt's eyes flashed.
The resounding name of his sword.
The green aura wrapped around his blade surged like waves, producing strange vibrations.
With a force unlike before, he cleaved downward in a vertical strike.
Craack.
The spear of earth split halfway.
Verdan leapt back at once, pretending to be surprised, gathering his breath, and then restored the broken spear slowly with Mado.
Fribalt spoke.
"That artifact's performance is nothing but abnormal weight and self-repair, it seems."
"...?"
"If you surrender now, I will treat you as a lawful prisoner of war. Resist further, and I shall destroy your weapon and sever one of your hands."
The sword imbued with waves grazed the ground.
Though shallow, the hard surface split almost without resistance.
Human flesh would be cut like tofu.
'A peculiar sword aura. Likely learned from a Transcendent. As for the artifact… did he misunderstand?'
It seemed so.
Indeed, Verdan had not openly displayed magic, so to assume him a warrior with an artifact was reasonable.
'All the better if things continue this way.'
If the Sword Saint raised his level further, Verdan could do the same.
Everything was going smoothly.
But…
'My fight with the Sword Saint ends here.'
Verdan glanced to both sides.
At that moment, two armored figures—one man, one woman, clad in full plate—burst forth from concealment, charging in from left and right.
Clangclangclangclangclang!
In an instant, dozens of exchanges rang out.
Oath-bound Knight, Bender, aimed his sword at Verdan and moved his lips.
"Fly away."
Boom──!
Power erupted from his voice.
Without resisting, Verdan was forced back, halting some distance away.
Then, objects arced through the air, exploding into choking smoke and scattering metallic dust. Verdan vanished from sight.
A loud command pierced their ears.
"Volley! Fire!!"
The dwarf elites, positioned farther away, fired their crossbows in staggered timing.
The first line's bolts pierced the smoke without leaving gaps, the second line's bolts exploded mid-air, raining countless metal needles and devastating the inside.
The third line repeated the tactic of the first and second with a delay.
Arkul muttered.
"…Is it done?"
At last, the smoke cleared.
Betraying all expectations, Verdan emerged completely unharmed.
He casually brushed the dust from his body.
Oath-bound Knight, Solia, lowered her twin swords, fixing him with a sharp gaze.
"He noticed us even before we revealed ourselves. And the dwarves' offensive didn't leave a scratch. But that's a human, right?"
"Probably. He seems to be using some means to interfere with our perception. And to exchange blows with a Sword Saint for minutes… he could even be a Lord-level powerhouse of the Empire."
Their vigilance heightened.
They had no idea where such a warrior had appeared from, nor what group he belonged to.
Among them, the one most enraged was Arkul.
"Intruder!! Reveal yourself!!!!"
The dwarves' pride, their fortress's barrier, had been breached with ease.
It was nothing short of humiliating.
As clan leader, as a dwarf, Arkul had to restore his honor.
"..."
Yet Verdan maintained silence.
There was no choice.
[Ainber]'s
"Prepare to fire!!"
Enraged by Verdan's silence, Arkul was about to order another volley.
Kwooooom───!
The ground trembled.
The corridor floor shattered, overlapping and thrusting upward in jagged spikes.
Everyone within range quickly leapt away.
"Well, well, it sticks nicely to the hand even after all this time."
From the direction Verdan had been guarding, a dwarf emerged.
Gharun had returned from the clan's storeroom.
One hand gripped a massive hammer, the other carried a large pack.
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