The general stationed at the empire's border was none other than one of the former Three Great Knights of the northern lands, Wharheit's grandson.
As the new generation's Three Great Knights, Ludwig was praised as surpassing his predecessors, exceeding both his father and grandfather.
This middle-aged man, who looked to be in his thirties, carried a massive bow as tall as a person on his back. He gave off a stern, unsmiling impression. As the strongest among the current Three Great Knights, he was also a well-known border military noble of the empire.
After receiving intelligence early on, he had kept watch at the city gate all night. When he saw six signal flares rise in the distance, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly without him noticing.
"From this moment on, full army advance!"
His voice, amplified through a magical device, spread out, and the densely packed armored soldiers below the walls moved in unison, advancing forward in an orderly manner according to prior drills.
At the same time, countless small openings appeared in the barrier ahead, allowing large numbers of soldiers to file out.
In this pitch-black night, the well-trained imperial soldiers moved like ghosts of the dark, silently and quickly advancing toward the checkpoint on the horizon.
Under the faint glow of moonlight, their armor shimmered with a cold and mysterious luster. Every slight movement came with a subtle and unique sound.
It was the fine friction of metal rubbing against metal, like the whisper of a prelude to death, delicate yet rhythmic. In the silent night, the dense and numerous sounds of friction were especially clear.
Only the elite at the very front were different. Their armor was engraved with ancient runes, and they held magic weapons gleaming with cold light. Every piece of metal on their bodies contained ancient power and wisdom. Indeed, that was literally the case.
Separated from the main force and walking about five hundred meters ahead, this thousand-man unit had an extremely faint presence. Their armor not only made no sound at all, it even seemed to distort light and shadow, making them almost invisible in the night. Every step they took seemed to tread on the boundary between reality and emptiness, silently closing in on the enemy's checkpoint.
Each of their swords and shields carried the wisdom of their ancestors and the power of magic.
And those "ancestors," to be precise, referred to the magical progenitor revered by the empire, Flamme, and these were works bestowed by her.
Though not originals, only high-quality replicas, they were still enough to allow ordinary soldiers to contend with regular demons one-on-one on the battlefield.
Fighting demons one-on-one might not sound impressive, but for ordinary humans who usually relied on numbers to win, it was far from simple. It could be said this was a decisive force built at great expense.
As long as such a unit got close… and then mages blasted open the city gates, they could quickly tear open a breach, giving the following forces a major advantage in capturing the checkpoint.
Ludwig, along with his family's mages and knights, also blended into the formation, waiting to tear through the checkpoint together and charge straight in.
That's right, Ludwig, the commander-in-chief, had personally taken the field.
Because military nobles in this world were quite different from those in Ash's previous world. They always charged at the very front, establishing their status through strength. Though they held supreme command authority, much of the overall coordination was often handled by others.
———
[On the Kingdom's Side]
Originally, Ash had planned to find the mages hiding among them and eliminate them directly. At the same time, he had deliberately withdrawn the defensive forces guarding the barrier core, trying to bait the enemy and see if he could resolve everything in one go.
After all, with both himself and Solitar present, letting the enemy come out of the barrier and then wiping them out in one stroke would be much more convenient. At the very least, it would minimize their losses.
Maybe there wouldn't be any losses at all. They would only need to analyze the barrier and then occupy it, at most costing him some extra magic power.
"Thinking about it carefully, the Holy Wand Court and the Magic Special Forces also rushed over here. That's probably false intelligence, right? Released to cover the Shadow Warriors' actions. Those mages were likely just disposable pawns used as a distraction."
Having already had Linie hide the beast swarm above the canyon near the primeval forest, Ash stood atop the city wall, gazing into the distance, contemplating the current situation, and quietly waiting.
At this moment, night had fallen deep, and everything was silent. The glow of the barrier had gradually faded away.
Only the dense stars remained, flickering across the black sky, adding a sense of depth to the tense and silent night.
On the city wall, the defending soldiers, clad in heavy armor, stood like silent statues around him. The mages had their ears perked up, trying to catch any movement from the distant enemy, even the faintest sound.
Everyone waited nervously for the enemy vanguard that could appear at any moment. The air was thick with tension.
With every breath, it felt like a storm was about to arrive.
Occasionally, a gust of night wind would pass, bringing a slight chill and briefly easing their strained nerves.
But this calm didn't last long. Ash and Solitar both noticed the vanguard at the horizon, concealing themselves with magical equipment.
He raised his hand slightly, and the soldiers immediately tensed up again, preparing for anything. The mages also prepared combined military magic, but Ash stopped them. Using it now would just be blocked later and waste magic. Better for him to break through first.
So he, Solitar, and Linie all rose into the air together.
The three of them headed in different directions. Solitar and Linie went to the rear to cut off the enemy's retreat, while Ash carried five compressed stone spheres over three meters in diameter, prepared in advance and reinforced with various protective spells by mages, and flew straight into the sky.
All of this happened under the dim cover of night, and the advancing enemy vanguard remained unaware.
Before reaching this final stretch, the soldiers had already rested. They maintained their formation, spacing themselves perfectly, not only facilitating coordinated combat but also allowing flexibility.
The faces of these elites were hidden in the shadows of their helmets, but their eyes gleamed with a desire for victory. Their grips on their weapons tightened as they gradually saw the bonfires atop the distant city walls.
Even so, the entire formation produced only faint footsteps and occasional breaths, nearly blending into the quiet night.
"Their barrier has disappeared. Mages, get ready, before they notice us, eliminate—", Ludwig's voice conveyed orders to the mages beside him. But before he could finish, one of them suddenly pointed at the sky in panic.
"L-Lord Ludwig! In the sky… there's a strong magical fluctuation!"
"What? Is this a magical att—meteors?"
Ludwig instinctively looked up. His pupils shrank sharply as the once calm sky suddenly became grotesque and terrifying.
Six meteors, like demonic eyes breaking free from the abyss of the stars, tore through the silent, dark sky, roaring with the fury to destroy everything, wrapped in flames and trailing long fiery tails as they fell.
One of them was heading straight for the vanguard. Its speed was so fast that one could almost believe it would land on their heads in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, Ludwig didn't care about exposure anymore and roared hoarsely, "Intercept it! Stop it immediately!"
There was no need to say more. Faced with this instinctively terrifying falling object, all the mages activated their magic circles at nearly the same time.
Beams of light shot into the sky, weaving together to form a massive magical net, trying to destroy the meteors.
However, these abnormal meteors were not ordinary rocks. The power attached to them far exceeded their imagination.
Especially the one leading the fall was... Ash.
Though the beams were dazzling and destructive, they seemed soft and powerless before the unstoppable impact of this abnormal "meteor."
The moment the beams collided with the compressed meteors reinforced with protective spells, the magic attached to them shattered like striking thin ice, easily breaking apart the attacking spells.
All efforts were like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis. Everyone could only watch helplessly as the terrifying mass grew larger.
"Full defensive magic deployment!", Looking at the meteor about to bring destruction, Ludwig felt endless despair and powerlessness surge in his heart, yet he still changed his command with all his strength.
But it was already too late.
As layers of defensive magic unfolded around him, in that brief moment, the meteor had already struck the ground in the distance.
The air seemed to freeze. All sound was swallowed by the sudden catastrophe.
The instant the meteor slammed into the crowd, it felt like time itself was torn apart, and heaven and earth changed color.
BOOOM!
A deafening roar tore through the sky. Then a powerful shockwave spread out from the point of impact.
The earth trembled violently. Stones and debris were swept up by the shockwave like leaves in a storm, scattering everywhere.
Ancient magical armor, ancestral wisdom, everything lost its meaning at this moment. All defensive magic was as fragile as paper.
Even more terrifying, blazing flames spread outward, engulfing the soldiers thrown into the air.
At the moment the six meteors hit, six mushroom-like clouds rose into the sky. The shockwaves sent countless soldiers flying like leaves in a storm.
Just one strike like this was enoug. The vanguard hadn't even achieved anything before collapsing into chaos.
———
Each impact of the six meteors brought earth-shaking force.
The areas where they landed were completely devastated. Flames raged, and rocks melted into strange shapes under the heat.
Before this terrifying natural disaster, every survivor felt indescribable fear, their own insignificance and helplessness.
The forces at the rear fell into chaos. Among the vanguard, only Ludwig's knights and family mages had not collapsed outright.
Several layers of defensive magic shields had managed to block the spreading shockwaves, but the desire for victory had long vanished, replaced only by deep fear.
From full confidence to utter despair, it all happened in an instant.
Amid the chaos, some even saw a figure emerging from the flaming crater where the meteor had struck.
That unfamiliar figure, illuminated by firelight, looked like a demon. With a raise of his hand, he released invisible impacts that easily sent nearby soldiers flying, then walked straight toward them.
"Lord Ludwig! Retreat now!"
A knight stepped in front of Ludwig, drawing his sword and facing the approaching figure, urgently urging his lord to fall back.
"How could I retreat like this! If this continues, everything will be over!", Ludwig pulled out the massive bow from his back and drew the string to its limit.
"That guy has already used a technique of this level. There's no way he can repeat it in a short time. The energy consumption must be enormous. This is just a bluff!"
Ludwig showed no intention of retreating. Three massive arrows were released in the next moment, flying toward Ash from different directions.
Their trajectories were unpredictable, and their speed even surpassed ordinary magic. Fast enough to pierce a mage before they realized they needed full defense.
More than a dozen knights at the front also gritted their teeth and charged forward during this gap.
But Ash didn't slow down at all. He simply stepped lightly on the ground, and an invisible repulsive force expanded from him.
BANG!
The invisible force spread like a circular shockwave. The three arrows were deflected instantly, and the charging knights were sent flying back at even greater speed.
"So fast… did he calculate the timing beforehand? That's why it feels like he can fire instantly?", Ludwig's eyes widened. While retreating, he forced himself to stay calm, convincing himself this was just the enemy's final bluff while exhausted.
"What are you even talking about? Isn't this normal?"
"Impossible! The moment you touched the ground, the shockwave appeared. There wasn't even the slightest delay, I see. Activation can be instantaneous, but the condition is contact with the ground, right?"
As he analyzed, he continued retreating and once again drew his bow to full.
Six arrows shot out, accompanied by the mages' spells, raging winds, flames, ice, and the simplest yet most effective basic attack magic.
However… with just a casual wave of his hand distorted gravitational lightning appeared around him. Whether it was matter-manipulating magic or energy attacks, everything collapsed instantly. The arrows were also pressed down to the ground.
"I've seen you in intelligence reports… you're Ludwig, right? One of the Three Great Knights."
"Who are you? State your name!", Under Ash's playful gaze, Ludwig drew his bow again but didn't fire immediately, instead issuing a warning, "Stop right there! Otherwise—"
"What 'otherwise'? Surrender. I can give you a chance at 'rebirth.'"
Before he could finish, Ash interrupted him, and a powerful pressure filled the air.
It felt as though the entire space was being compressed mercilessly. And this wasn't just a feeling, it was literal.
Even as the mages beside Ludwig struggled to resist with their magic power, their bodies trembled under the force.
Their breathing became rapid and difficult, as if the air in their lungs was being squeezed out. As Ash stepped closer, the pressure in the air kept increasing. Soon, two of them couldn't hold on and collapsed to the ground.
"Lord Ludwig!"
"Run!"
"We'll hold him off!"
Compared to warriors, the five mages who remained standing, more clearly aware of the gap between them, exchanged glances and activated full defensive magic at the same time.
Translucent pale-blue hexagons formed a massive dome, protecting everyone inside, including themselves and Ludwig, bearing the pressure of gravity in their place.
But maintaining full defensive magic consumed enormous magic power. Ordinary mages couldn't last more than a few seconds.
The two surviving knights beside Ludwig seized the moment of reduced pressure and hurriedly tried to escort him away.
However… with a sharp "crack," the defensive barrier began to fill with fractures as the pressure increased with Ash's approach.
The sound, which should have been crisp, felt like deafening thunder. The mages' eardrums felt like they would rupture under the sudden increase in pressure. Their minds became muddled, their thoughts and judgment severely affected.
Even so, they didn't give up.
They gritted their teeth, forcing themselves to endure, hoping to buy enough time for their lord to escape the range of the gravity. Their eyes remained fixed on the figure approaching like death itself.
Even though the defensive magic blocked the pressure, they knew that if they released it… even if their magic power could buffer the sudden impact, they would still be crushed to the ground. So they had to counterattack the moment the barrier broke, or everyone would die here.
But did they really have a chance to counterattack?
The magic he used was unheard of, unseen. There wasn't even a magic circle, something all mages should have when casting spells.
Was it some kind of matter manipulation magic? But such magic should have some mechanism or limitation as a method of directly driving magic power. Yet they couldn't figure it out.
What was it? Where was the flaw? There should be a chance to win… there had to be. But… no, in the end, could a mage's body even withstand the impact of suddenly falling from high altitude?
For a moment, no one could figure it out. Too many questions turned their already muddled minds into a mess.
And in the next instant—
Crack!
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