Chapter 185. Robern’s Knight Order and the Iron Mask

Going back in time a little, to when Evan had not yet woken up.

The Allied Forces of the three kingdoms of Manoa, Solaid, and Remshait had defeated the main forces of the Empire on the central front and were advancing towards the heart of the Empire, riding the momentum of victory.

Thanks to the miserable failure of the imperial army's flank attack on the Solaid Kingdom, the initiative of the battlefield had completely shifted to the Allied side.

However, the Empire’s territory was vast, and the resistance of the still-remaining imperial forces was also formidable, so the speed of their advance naturally had to slow down.

At this, the Remshait Kingdom, separate from the main Allied army, sent their elite troops further south, to first seize the high ground of the imperial capital.

They had crossed the rugged mountain range that separated the Empire and Remshait, and although they were small in number, they broke through the imperial fortresses one by one with their powerful magic and advanced rapidly towards the imperial capital.

“Commander, at this rate, it seems we will be able to reach the imperial capital before the Allied Forces. But it is uncertain whether we can break through that iron fortress with our strength alone.”

As a mage expressed his concern, the commander of this expeditionary force, caressing his long beard, answered calmly.

“Don't worry. Karin will join us soon.”

“Lady Karin? But isn't she in the center with the Allied Forces?”

“I have sent her a separate message. I made a proposal to join us and seize the imperial capital first, so she will also come this way soon.”

“Won’t it get noisy if the Allied Forces find out about this later? The Divine Archer of the Manoa Kingdom has already fallen in battle, and Solaid has not even sent Harashin.”

“So isn't that all the more reason for us not to have a justification to send one of the Seven Extreme Stars? In any case, the Empire has now lost all of its Seven Extreme Stars. The Allied Forces will no longer need her either.”

The existence of the Seven Extreme Stars, who were called the core power of this war, was a decisive factor that would determine the flow of the battlefield.

The Empire was the only one on the continent to possess three of the Seven Extreme Stars, but now they had all fallen in battle.

On the other hand, on the Allied side, the Great Mage Karin of Remshait and the Fist King Harashin of Solaid were still alive.

The Remshait Kingdom intended to use this advantage in power to get ahead of the other two kingdoms and firmly seize the initiative.

“If Karin joins us, there will be no problem even if the capital is an iron fortress, so we must push the imperial army as much as possible before she arrives.”

“Understood. I will relay that to everyone.”

As the mage disappeared via teleportation, the commander stared at the imperial fortress visible in the distance.

In five battles already, the imperial army had been pushed back helplessly, and it seemed they had little strength left to resist.

‘Even without Karin, we could probably break through with our own strength…… but to ensure a certain victory, we must minimize the variables.’

Thus, the Remshait Kingdom’s army, this time too without wavering, advanced towards the imperial fortress visible in the far distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, the main Allied army, which was advancing through the center, was continuously being slowed down by the desperate obstruction of the Empire.

The imperial army was buying time by cutting bridges or collapsing cliffs as they retreated.

But every time they did, the morale of the Allied soldiers rose even higher.

“Haha! Those bastards, they must really be at the end of their rope now!”

“That’s right! This time, let’s fix the bad habits of those devil-like bastards!”

For those who had suffered under the Empire for a long time, this war was a golden opportunity to repay that grudge.

In particular, the Manoa Kingdom, which formed the core of the Allied Forces, was seized with anger and a desire for revenge for the death of their hero, the Divine Archer.

“We will never stop until we have avenged Lord Elaine!”

“Let’s go!”

But the situation was a little different for the Remshait Kingdom.

Since they still had the Great Mage Karin, one of the Seven Extreme Stars, their forces were fully preserved.

Such a Remshait was quietly looking for an opportunity within the Allied Forces.

“Lady Karin, when do you plan to depart?”

“I should get going soon, right? If I’m too late, our commander will start whining again.”

“But not right now. The Manoa Kingdom side keeps looking for you, Lady Karin, so it would be best to wait until tonight before you move.”

“I agree with that opinion. My beautiful appearance is quite conspicuous, you see, so if I leave now, they’ll notice at once, right?”

“……”

“Why, no words?”

The Great Mage Karin.

A genius who graduated from the Mage Tower at the age of 16, and rose to the rank of Seven Extreme Stars at the age of 24 by succeeding in the subjugation of the monster Leviathan, which had terrorized the northern seas.

Black hair and pale skin.

Despite her rather dark circles, she still possessed a beautiful appearance.

But her presence, even apart from her appearance, was so great that her absence would be immediately noticed.

“Don’t tell me, you don’t think I’m pretty?”

“No, ma'am. Of course you are beautiful.”

“That’s more like it.”

There was no one who could hold her back with skill, but for the sake of the kingdom’s honor, she decided to wait until nightfall to slip away quietly.

“Anyway, I can just sneak out in the evening. What are they going to do even if they find out later.”

And when night finally came, Karin teleported from the Remshait tent through a magic circle to the location where the commander was.

“……What?”

The coordinates had already been clearly confirmed.

It couldn't be the wrong place.

Therefore, the brutal scene she was now facing was not a dream, but reality.

“K-Lady Karin……”

The sight that unfolded before her eyes was hell itself.

The commander and the elite mages of Remshait were lying on the ground as corpses, a horrific scene of carnage where blood flowed like a river.

“What…… what on earth happened? Why is the commander down?”

"In the blood-soaked, brutal battlefield, Karin’s voice echoed hollowly."

“We were defeated. By those people……”

The surviving mage pointed with a trembling hand at the figures standing in the distance.

They were knights clad in golden armor, holding longswords.

Though they were a small group of only about a hundred, they exuded an overwhelming presence and had slaughtered the elite mages of Remshait.

“They call themselves Robern’s Knight Order, but I didn't know that knight order was still active.”

Robern’s Knight Order, a group that had naturally disbanded with Robern’s death.

But not only their appearance, but also the skill with which they had overwhelmingly defeated them was clearly theirs.

“I won’t forgive you……. I’ll kill you all!”

A sense of guilt that this tragedy had occurred because she had not arrived in time weighed heavily on her heart. As if to shake off this feeling, Karin immediately raised her staff and unfolded a magic circle.

—Woooong!

From the giant crimson magic circle, dozens of huge serpents made of lava poured out.

The serpents, like starving beasts, charged straight at the golden knights.

Seeing this, the knights responded calmly without panicking.

“Disperse.”

Moving in perfect unison like a single body, they then aimed their swords in the same direction, and swung simultaneously.

—Hwik!

In a single blow, all the lava serpents were precisely split in two and disappeared.

But the remnants of the disappeared serpents, the hot chunks of lava, still rushed forward like a tide, and the knights in the back, as if waiting for it, unleashed their sword aura and sent the lava flying back towards Karin.

Karin struck her staff down, repelling the lava with a shockwave.

“What? What are those things? There were guys like that in the Empire?”

“Lady Karin…… please run away.”

“Be quiet! I haven't even recovered the commander’s body yet, and you’re talking about running away!”

Karin left the injured mage behind and stepped forward.

At that moment, the knights, not missing the opportunity, all charged at once, but an invisible defensive barrier protected her, deflecting all attacks.

—Kakang!

“Foolish bastards! Did you think you could win just by getting close? If so, why would I be called one of the Seven Extreme Stars!”

Karin, in an enraged voice, struck her staff on the ground once more.

Then, an ice magic circle activated under the knights’ feet, instantly trapping two knights in ice. Following that, she swung her staff and shattered them, ice and all.

“I will kill every single one of you!”

She immediately struck down the knights following behind with lightning.

—Kwarreureung!!!

The surviving mage marveled at her overwhelming power, freely wielding the three elements of fire, ice, and lightning.

‘As expected, the fame of the Great Mage is truly amazing the more I see it. If only she had arrived sooner, a tragedy like this would not have happened…….’

But the moment he felt relieved like that, something as sharp as the wind suddenly passed by Karin’s side.

And a stream of blood shot out from Karin’s shoulder as she collapsed.

‘Lady Karin……?’

It was an attack where he couldn't even tell when it had happened.

At that moment, the golden knights who were in a standoff all stepped back at once, opening a path.

Through that path, a man in an iron mask slowly walked out.

—Step, step.

Facing the man in the iron mask, Karin felt a chilling fear for the first time in her life.

A premonition of death that she had not felt even in battles with other Seven Extreme Stars, nor when she faced the monster Leviathan, crept over her entire body.

‘The sword aura that just cut me was unleashed by that human. It pierced through my ten-layered barrier in an instant……. Is this really human swordsmanship?’

A technique that could precisely pierce through a defensive barrier, aiming only for Karin in the midst of a chaotic battle.

Such a precise swordsmanship was practically close to impossible.

But the opponent had clearly made that impossibility possible.

“Who…… what are you?”

“……”

“I see. You’re the captain of these bastards, aren’t you?”

“……”

The man in the iron mask did not answer.

Feeling a sense of foreboding, Karin immediately rose into the air and deployed a dozens-layered defensive barrier to protect herself.

‘That man is dangerous……. I don’t have the luxury to test his skills!’

She cast her secret magic without hesitation.

The entire sky turned red, and soon, a meteor large enough to shake the entire continent fell from the sky.

‘It’s a magic I’ve never used except for the time with Leviathan because of the damage to our side. If you can block this, then try!’

Karin’s Meteor, which had caught the monster Leviathan.

A meteor the size of an island fell, casting a shadow over the entire area.

The man in the iron mask, without any agitation, briefly looked at the meteor with his sword still in its scabbard.

And then he slowly drew his sword.

—Seureung!

That was all.

There was no momentum, no wind pressure.

But.

“H-how…… even my barrier……”

The dozens-layered magic barrier shattered futilely in the empty air, and Karin’s body was also split into two pieces and fell to the ground.

The giant meteor was also precisely split in two from the sky and fell to both sides.

—Kukukung!!!

Along with an impact that shook the axis of the earth, a huge cloud of dust rose.

The man in the iron mask, as if nothing had happened, swung his sword once more, and the dust was instantly cleared and disappeared into the sky.

Taking that opportunity, Karin, with her body cut in half, squeezed out her last strength and cast a teleportation magic on the only surviving mage.

“You must…… tell them of this……!”

“Lady Karin!”

The man in the iron mask, seeing this, ran without delay and plunged his sword into her neck.

But the magic circle was already complete and had begun to shine.

“……”

The man in the iron mask stared blankly at the mage disappearing through teleportation.

Then, as if it were no big deal, he pulled out his sword, slowly sheathed it, and turned around.

When he turned around, his severed ear was clearly visible, and the mage, engraving that sight into his eyes, disappeared along with the magic circle.