"Block them!"
A tall female knight who held a massive longbow shouted to the imperial garrison soldiers on the fortress walls.
Every time she drew her bow, the monsters that climbed the barrier walls screamed and fell.
Daria Calvi, a knight of the Inmagung, scanned her surroundings with cold eyes.
"How dare these filthy monsters..."
The imperial garrison camp on the outskirts of the Ghetto Region came under attack from monsters.
Beside her, Second Prince Leo encouraged the soldiers.
"Everyone, hold strong! Those wicked monsters cannot surpass the banner of the Sacred Wolf!"
Daria, who had been dispatched to protect the second prince, bore the duty to escort him safely back to the empire no matter what.
The problem lay with the monsters that encircled the entire camp.
"The imperial mages assured us monsters couldnʼt reach this far..."
The imperial mages had boasted that their special magic circle would prevent monsters from approaching the garrison.
That was why the second prince, first in line for succession, had been able to visit for inspection.
But from the day her legion arrived at the fortress, dark clouds had suddenly gathered in the sky, fog had blanketed the area, and countless monsters had begun swarming endlessly.
Daria fired arrows at the monsters while she shouted to her vice captain.
"Prepare the knights! Weʼll go out and sweep them away ourselves!"
No matter how numerous the monsters were, they posed no match for wellarmed knights.
The vice captain bowed to Dariaʼs command.
"Understood, legion commander."
The vice captain descended the walls and called out to the knights who waited below.
"Go and wipe them all out!"
The Inmagung Knight Order, armed with bows and spears, mounted their horses and charged out of the garrison fortress.
Thud thud thud thud!
Unlike other imperial knight orders, the Inmagung knights consisted of commonerborn knights.
They specialized in bows, which most regular knights did not handle.
Originally the most persecuted and discriminated against among the thirteen legions, they had seen their treatment improve significantly since the exceptional female knight Daria Calvi became their commander and racked up major achievements.
Even so, the Inmagung Knight Order still faced dismissal as a commoner knight order within the empire.
As a result, the Inmagung knights remained utterly loyal to their commander, Daria.
Swoosh!
Inmagung knights loosed arrows at the monsters, and the ones struck fell in unison.
With the knight order deployed, the atmosphere shifted immediately.
The black horde of monsters hesitated and began to retreat.
From the walls, Daria Calvi watched, and her eyes narrowed sharply.
"Somethingʼs off."
Clearly, thousands of monsters seemed to surge toward the garrison, but the number actually attacking appeared far fewer.
Daria Calvi nocked an arrow in her longbow and fired it toward the monsters beyond the wasteland.
Whoooosh!
The arrow, infused with aura, flew deep into the wasteland.
Boom boom!
It exploded on impact.
From the sound of the blast, Daria Calvi inferred the situation around where it landed.
"No monster death cries. Itʼs illusion magic."
She pierced through Biscoʼs bloodline ability illusion and instantly realized that the monster numbers had been inflated.
But even so, she could not fathom why the monsters headed for the garrison instead of the Ghetto Region.
She turned to the nearby garrison officer.
"I heard the Red Lion Sword is here. Even if the responsible party, Morgan Buffon, is missing, the Red Lion Sword should know about this situation. Find him quickly."
garrison officer, well aware of Daria Calviʼs sharp temperament, nodded with a
pale face.
"Y-yes, understood, legion commander."
While the garrison officer went to fetch Abel, Daria spoke to Leo beside her.
"Your Highness, these monsters will be subdued soon. Why not head inside without worry?"
She knew Leo possessed exceptional talent as a knight, but the battlefield always remained perilous regardless.
Even skilled knights often fell to stray arrows.
At Dariaʼs words, Leo drew his sword instead.
"Legion commander, how can a lord flee first while knights and soldiers risk their lives?" Daria usually admired Leoʼs sense of justice, but in this situation, it did not help.
If Leo died there, the empire would surely erupt in succession strife again.
Recalling the recent fierce disputes between the first princeʼs and second princeʼs factions that had rocked Rom, Daria said to Leo,
"A lord must value his life above all else. If Your Highness falls, the entire empire will..." But then.
Something approached from the sky.
Rumble!
It pierced the thunderous dark clouds as a massive dragon with four pairs of wings flapped toward them.
Roooar!
draco lich, with black horns and ferocious red eyes, let out a roar that made even
the monsters tremble in fear.
Daria furrowed her brow and gripped her longbow.
Leo, startled, tightened his hold on his sword.
Blue lightning crackled from his Hercion.
"Legion commander, if my eyes arenʼt deceiving me... thatʼs a dragon, isnʼt it?" At Leoʼs words, Daria replied calmly.
"The enemy is mixing monsters and illusions to sow chaos among us. Thatʼs likely an illusion too..." Roooar!
Suddenly, a massive black flame erupted from the draco lichʼs maw.
Boom boom boom boom!
Black flames poured toward the garrison walls.
Fwoosh!
The black flames melted not only the soldiers on the walls but also the sturdy stone.
Seeing this, Daria gritted her teeth.
"...It seems real after all. Less a true dragon and more a dragon-like monster." The draco lich suddenly veered toward where Daria and Leo stood.
Roooar!
Black flames erupted from its maw once more.
Daria raised her bow and fired at the draco lich.
Swoosh!
Her arrow struck true and embedded in the draco lichʼs eye.
Rooooar!
The draco lich screeched and ascended higher into the sky.
Daria watched it circle overhead and grabbed Leoʼs shoulder.
"Your Highness, itʼs dangerous to stay high when flying monsters appear. Letʼs head down first."
At Dariaʼs words, Leo nodded.
"Very well."
As Leo and Daria descended the walls, the soldiers had already set up anti-air weapons.
They immediately fired ballistae and mana cannons at the draco lich.
Boom boom!
Mana cannon shots and ballista bolts flew skyward.
But the draco lich circled gracefully in the air and evaded the attacks.
Atop the draco lich, Zeke and Richmond stood and surveyed the imperial garrisonʼs situation.
"The Tyrant, head over there."
Zeke had given the draco lich, once the balrog hornʼs owner, the name of its former master.
The draco lich, summoned by Richmond using the blood tear stone and dragonspecies-altered balrog horn and fangs, had been reborn as a powerful summon that rivaled its original form.
With The Tyrant at his side, Zeke had used Biscoʼs bloodline ability and High-Rank
Nightmare Demon Panʼs realm of illusions to create the illusion of a monster horde that
swarmed, pressuring the imperial garrison.
'Daria Calvi of the Inmagung knights.ʼ
In his previous life, Zeke had faced Daria Calvi directly.
She was a rare imperial knight who had earned her position through her own merits.
'I recall she and Abel had a bad falling out when he became the imperial armyʼs supreme commander.ʼ
When Abel committed ruthless massacres and atrocities, Daria Calvi criticized his actions and even deserted the battlefield, refusing to follow orders.
The northern allied forces, where Zeke had served, had tempted her to defect from the empire with various offers, but she rejected them outright.
She had defied Commander Abelʼs orders, not betrayed the empire.
Zeke pondered whether Daria Calvi would make the same choice even if she knew all the empireʼs atrocities.
'Perhaps I could pull a major force from the empire.ʼ Zeke circled the imperial camp on The Tyrant.
That was when.
"Master! Somethingʼs coming!"
A black swarm of winged magical beasts appeared in the sky.
Zeke stroked The Tyrantʼs neck as he eyed them.
"The Tyrant, go show them your power."
Growl—
At Zekeʼs command, The Tyrant flapped its wings vigorously.
Harpy-like magical beasts flew toward The Tyrant.
Soon, The Tyrant opened its maw and unleashed black flames upon them.
Fwoosh!
The beasts engulfed in the flames scattered as ash.
The surviving magical beasts, which the flames had spared, began to retreat slowly under The Tyrantʼs momentum.
But The Tyrant did not let them escape.
Roooar!
It swiftly pursued them, tearing them with sharp claws and fangs.
The magical beasts became mere prey for The Tyrant.
Zeke nodded in satisfaction at The Tyrantʼs prowess.
'The skies can be left to The Tyrant.ʼ
Zeke said to Richmond,
"Richmond, keep pressuring the imperials from here."
"Understood."
Equipped with his Hercion, Zeke leaped from The Tyrantʼs back.
With his stealth skill active, Zeke remained invisible to others.
He infiltrated the imperial garrison camp undetected.
*
"Where is the Red Lion Sword?"
When the officer failed to find Abel, Daria stormed into his barracks herself.
The guarding knights blocked her path.
"You cannot enter here."
At that, Daria stepped forward.
"Ridiculous. This is an imperial camp. As legion commander, no place is off-limits to me."
The knights could not withstand the intensity of the black knight who stood before them.
Sweating coldly, they stepped back hesitantly.
As Daria and the Red Lion knights faced off, the barracks door opened.
"The Inmagung knights have arrived." Abel emerged, his red hair flowing.
With Abelʼs appearance, the knights finally retreated.
Daria looked at Abel and said,
"Red Lion Sword. I demand an explanation for this situation." Abel smirked.
"As the legion commander said, this is an imperial camp. But why ask me about it?" Daria furrowed her brow at Abelʼs words.
"I know you and Morgan Buffon of the Sagyeon Palace are in charge of the Ghetto Region. With Morgan Buffon missing, youʼre the only one who would know about this." Abel sensed the hostility in Dariaʼs gaze.
'She doesnʼt know we unleashed the monsters, but sheʼs caught on that somethingʼs happening here.ʼ
Morgan Buffon had handled the empireʼs dirtiest work alongside Intelligence Agency Room 13.
It was natural for Daria, a commoner-born knight who valued chivalry, to despise him.
Abel said to Daria,
"Iʼm not sure what you want to hear. Are you curious why monsters that wouldnʼt attack the empire are raiding us?" Dariaʼs eyes widened at his words.
She continued steadily.
"The mages said monsters couldnʼt approach our side. Yet someone is using illusion magic to deceive our eyes and deploying dragon-like magical beasts to attack the imperial army. This is clear provocation against..."
"The empireʼs legion commander talks too much."
At Abelʼs words, Daria Calvi scowled and raised her bow.
"Abel Draker. Even as guardian knight of Draker, insulting the empire is...!" Daria could not continue.
Rumble!
Abelʼs overwhelming presence pinned her in place.
Her fingertips trembled faintly.
Abel looked down at Daria and said,
"Move even a little... and you die, Daria Calvi."