Chapter 197. The Prelude to a Counterattack (2)

The appearance of Harashin of the Seven Stars.

Although he was a late addition, his one step shook the balance of the battlefield.

The imperial army, which had not considered his existence, was thrown into confusion, and for the allied forces who had been cornered, hope of survival finally bloomed.

“Harashin is here!”

“Waaaaaaah!!!”

The biggest dilemma for the allied forces until now was that they had no strong warrior to face Robern's Knight Order.

However, a being who could solve that problem had appeared.

In the desperate situation of the war, a faint thread of hope blossomed into reality.

“Let's drive out the Empire!”

However, the allied forces, and Harashin himself, knew well.

That for that hope not to be extinguished, each of them had to fulfill their roles at this very moment.

The imperial army was still intact, whereas the allied forces had merely been holding on.

‘I should have noticed when they sacrificed Varkanon so easily. ……Damn that emperor, so there was a reason he declared war on the three kingdoms.’

No matter how much the Empire held hegemony over the continent, they needed more than necessary strength to face the alliance of three kingdoms.

At first, I thought they declared war because the number of Seven Stars matched, but the reality was that they started the war because they had a secret trump card called Robern’s Knight Order.

‘That also means that if we can somehow take these guys out, there's a real possibility we can bring down the Empire. It will be difficult, though.’

Harashin’s gaze immediately sought out the one he had to face.

If someone had to stop Robern's Knight Order, it would eventually have to be him; it was a confrontation he couldn't avoid from the moment he arrived.

‘This one in front of me, and I see at least two more of similar strength. But the iron mask is nowhere to be seen. Is that a relief, at least?’

He had sufficiently confirmed the approximate strength of those called the Five Swords of Robern a moment ago against Blackthorn.

Although it was brief, he had grasped their general level through him, who had taken his attack.

‘If it had been a direct hit, it would have been over. But that bastard twisted his body in an instant to minimize the impact. If I hadn't grabbed his arm, he would have completely deflected it.’

Dodging his attack was a response utterly impossible with just a moment's reflex.

Nevertheless, Blackthorn twisted his body to halve the force of the kick, preventing his internal organs from rupturing.

From this, Harashin intuited.

That Blackthorn had avoided it because he had prior knowledge of the technique he used.

‘On the other hand, I know nothing of their techniques. It must be based on Robern's swordsmanship, but they must have added their own colors to it.’

Just looking at the jagged, saw-like sword he held proved it.

It was a completely different form from the typical sword Robern used.

The swordsmanship must also have been differentiated to match the form of the sword.

‘Still, I must stop them. The current allied forces have no one but me to face them.’

Having made his decision, Harashin did not delay any longer and charged towards Blackthorn.

The luxury of time was not with the allied forces, so he had to seize the momentum of victory in one go.

—Tat!

The moment Harashin charged, Blackthorn gritted his teeth and gripped his saw-toothed sword.

“You son of a bitch!”

He, who had been on the ground, plunged the saw-toothed sword deep into the earth and used the rebound to lift it upwards.

Harashin dodged the sword by a paper-thin margin, his hair almost grazing it, and immediately stomped his foot down.

‘First, I’ll neutralize one like this…….’

Just before the tip of his foot reached Blackthorn's skull,

—Thump!

A heavy metallic sound echoed as a huge greatsword suddenly intervened and blocked the blow.

Harashin, thrown back by the impact, pushed off the greatsword as a lever while in mid-air, spun his body, landed, and created distance.

‘……So he interferes after all. A pity. I was trying to subdue the one with the saw-toothed sword before he got the mind to join in.’

The one standing before Harashin was the Third Sword, Ironveil.

He had stepped in personally to help the cornered Blackthorn.

“Hahaha! Justia too, everyone gets in over their heads by stepping up unnecessarily.”

When Ironveil offered a hand, Blackthorn roughly slapped it away and stood up on his own.

“Who asked for help?”

“If it weren't for me, your head would have exploded.”

At Ironveil's sharp remark, Blackthorn growled.

“It's my head, not yours. Don't worry about it.”

“Haha!”

Blackthorn raised his saw-toothed sword again, and Ironveil lifted his heavy greatsword.

The gazes of both men were directed at Harashin.

“Let me say this in advance, I'm the one who will kill him. I need to repay the debt from before.”

“Hahaha! You talk big.”

“Shut up!”

With his words, Blackthorn indiscriminately swung his saw-toothed sword, sending out sword auras.

Ironveil raised his greatsword to block them but did not get angry or protest.

It was as if this kind of clash was already familiar and natural.

‘……These guys might be more troublesome than Varkanon.’

Harashin rotated his throbbing ankle once to loosen it and got back into his stance.

And in his mind, he earnestly repeated a single wish.

‘While I hold these guys down…… I hope everyone stays safe.’

* * *

Meanwhile, the inside of Benked Castle was a scene of utter chaos.

The allied forces, who had been cowering until now, finally regained the courage to fight back against the imperial army upon hearing the news of Harashin's arrival.

“Let's drive the Empire out of the castle!”

“They've opened the gates and come out! Let's wipe them all out before their reinforcements arrive!”

However, the imperial army, led by the Second Sword Justia, was still steadfast, although small in number.

The two sides clashed fiercely, but in terms of actual casualties, the losses on the allied side were much greater.

“Keuak!”

“Keok!”

As long as the indiscriminate slaughter carried out by Justia and the knight order did not stop, it was clear that the morale they had barely raised would soon be broken.

“The vermin don't stop their desperate struggles.”

At the center of the imperial army was Justia.

Before her, no one in the alliance dared to even point a sword.

“Damn it! Someone has to step up and stop that damned woman!”

As the chief of staff laid bare the reality, the other two commanders replied with bitter smiles.

“Who doesn't know that? If there were such a person, it would be like having an army of thousands.”

“Just wait a bit. I also need time to prepare myself. If I charge in this state, it's obvious I'll die a hundred out of a hundred times.”

Omar and Luise sensed that there was no one else to step forward but themselves.

They controlled their breathing and watched Justia’s movements.

The moment they saw even the slightest opening, they intended to jump in, risking their lives.

At that moment when no one dared to approach the woman of iron and blood, Justia, there was someone who threw themselves in before the two commanders.

A single dagger flew from behind Justia.

It was Mei’s.

—Clang!

“Insolent……”

Justia, who deflected the dagger and turned her head.

In the meantime, a woman with red hair charged through the gaps between the soldiers.

It was Jaina Vaberin.

“Over here!”

As Jaina's sword strike flew in, Justia instinctively swung her sword to block it.

However, another dagger that flew in again interfered with Justia’s trajectory.

“So you were hiding there like a rat.”

Justia leaped up and brought her sword down directly towards Mei, who was hiding among the soldiers.

Mei barely managed to cross her two daggers and block the blow.

—Clang!

“There you are~”

Justia, face to face with a ghastly smile.

At her overwhelming presence, cold sweat flowed down Mei’s forehead.

“Ugh…… how many times the extra fee should I charge for this……”

She muttered it like a joke, but in reality, it was a life-or-death situation, let alone money.

Nevertheless, she did not back down and confronted Justia.

At that moment, as Justia’s gaze was completely fixed on Mei, Jaina took the opportunity and unleashed the Ritual of Bloodstorm.

A storm-like sword aura that seemed to swallow the battlefield rushed towards Justia’s back.

However, despite the clear threat approaching, Justia didn't even give it a glance.

She was only pressuring Mei in front of her, crushing her with her sword.

Mei gripped her trembling daggers tightly, keenly feeling the unfathomable gap between herself and her opponent.

‘She's completely ignoring the sword aura Jaina unleashed? ……That’s how confident she is.’

If it was arrogance, it was arrogance, but Mei felt it was not a bluff.

The pressure that didn't even allow her the leeway to pull out a single dagger, even though she was desperately blocking with two.

In contrast, Justia, while pressing down on Mei with one hand holding a sword, grabbed her by the collar with the other hand.

“Ugh!”

Mei’s body was lifted by the ox-like strength and thrown backwards.

It was just before Mei would be hit by Jaina’s raging storm of sword aura.

“Ah!”

Jaina's eyes flashed, and she jumped in, trying to forcefully scatter her own sword aura, but it was already too late.

—Swish, swish, swish!

The sharp sword wind violently slashed Mei’s back.

Drops of blood scattered as she tumbled to the ground.

“Keok!”

As Justia nonchalantly kicked the fallen Mei, Jaina’s eyes blazed with anger.

She kicked off the ground splattered with blood and dirt and swung her sword down fiercely.

—Clang!

The sword rang from the intense impact, but Justia twisted her wrist and received it lightly.

Then, a sneer formed on her lips.

“Just the two of you think you can defeat me? You should have called the ones who cut down the twins.”

Even at the moment their blades clashed, Justia’s eyes were coldly calm.

In contrast, Jaina gritted her teeth, enduring the throbbing pain in her wrist.

“No……. I will be the one to defeat you. I have to.”

Her voice was cracked, but the light in her eyes was not extinguished.

“Someone like you is nothing compared to Evan!”

To one day defeat Evan, or if not that, to at least step on his shadow, she thought she had to overcome the strong enemy before her eyes right now.

“You? Sorry, but this isn't a swordsmanship school.”

Justia sneered and swung her arm, and sword aura poured out from the blade as if exploding.

Jaina’s vision was filled with white light without even a moment to react.

—Pabak!

A continuous barrage of sword strikes that raged like a storm despite being swung lightly.

For a moment, numerous memories flashed through Jaina's mind like a revolving lantern.

‘Is this how it ends so futilely…….’

But right at that moment.

—Chaeng!

The sound of a dazzling metallic clang erupted.

Mei threw herself in front of Jaina's vision and deflected Justia's sword aura with her two daggers.

Blood started to flow again from her ruined back, but a smile spread on her lips instead.

“The Vaberin family…… you'll have to pay me danger money for this too.”

Mei, smiling as she spat out blood mixed with her breath.

Jaina’s eyes wavered before hardening firmly.

“……Of course!”

Thus, the two women stood side by side and glared at Justia.

Amidst the scattering drops of blood and the sound of metal tearing through the air, the desperate bloody battle of the two women against the woman of iron and blood was just about to begin.