Tale of the Fake Hero

Chapter 47 – All-out War, Capturing Aurelinople (5)

February 1698 AD, the 7th year of the Red Summer, the start of the great counterattack.

Humanity, facing the abyss’ onslaught north of the Red Mountains, tried to turn the tide.

“Everyone knows that the battle to mark the beginning of this counteroffensive was the battle to recapture Aurelinople.”

For both sides, the strategic value of the Purple City, Aurelinople, was indescribable.

“Why is that? Graham Paige, you answer.”

“Because the waters of the Great Belisor River, which connects the southern part of the continent, diverge at Aurelinople.”

“That’s right. Humanity wanted to use the Belisor River to connect a supply line and use the southern part of the continent as a winter forward base. As for the abyss… they intended to protect the city and use it as an inland base to control the territory of the old empire and as a staging ground to prepare for a northern advance.

“The battle might seem like it was a siege over a single city, but based on the scale of troops available to both sides, it was an all-out war that would change the course of history.”

The Old Nobles had been present in Aurelinople, along with a group of beings that had a legendary reputation in ancient times, ‘Roten’s Force of the Eternally Damned’. They were the bodyguards of one of the , the King of Lizards, Neigalas, and there were a hundred of them.

“Since they all share the same power, facing all one hundred of them simultaneously is the same as facing an Old Noble.”

When picking the worst army to fight among the demon races, they were definitely among the top three.

“It is said that all reptilians, or lizardmen, aspired to become members of the Force of the Eternally Damned. I think that shows just how powerful they are.”

In order to subdue Roten’s Force of the Eternally Damned, Mirngadia deployed an overwhelming force with three Fake Warriors: First Seat Loveris Alter Schirpin, Second Seat Gorgothia Alter Zierda, and Third Seat Kaisen Alter Aradamantel.

It was evident that the outcome of humanity’s counterattack would be determined by the performance of those three Fake Warriors.

“Once the news was announced, the historical counterattack began during the summer of February 1698 on the southern front.”

* * *

Sand crumbled into powder, grinding over itself in a hollow shifting sound as the 29th ‘Roten’s Force of the Eternally Damned’ scattered like sand on the blade of Aradamantel.

Could it be that the scattered sand was the seed of life? The 30th, 31st, and 32nd members of the Eternally Damned rose to life again.

“What the hell are these guys?! They keep coming!”

Were they made up of sand?

Sand writhed within the bone armor of the ancient reptiles. They all used a ‘reaper’s scythe’ that harvested the soul of their target and inflicted fatal wounds with the slightest scratch.

“Your Excellency, this is Loveris! The Force of the Eternally Damned continues to rise. Each and every one of them has the strength of a normal daemon!”

Their transcendent souls tried to drown the mortal consciousnesses that dared to face them, dragging them into the sand.

「Be careful, Fake Warrior!」

The hero party was able to face the Force of the Eternally Damned without any mental damage because Setsunen protected their minds with the Electrical Reverberance Formation.

The reptilian eyes shimmering from inside the skull helmets did not invade their consciousness.

[There are a total of 100. You must weaken them. Once they reach their limit, they will merge into one.]

“Ha! I was wondering why a high-ranking Noble had such ill-manners. So that’s why!”

“You idiot, is this the time to run your mouth?”

For the Force of the Eternally Damned to merge… no, to make them merge…

Kaisen took a deep breath as he thought. Didn’t they have to cut down the 99th member of the Eternally Damned before everyone got too tired?

“Your Excellency, I guess that’s when we can use the Bright Sword,” Kaisen said.

[Yes. Right now, the Old Noble’s soul has been split into 100 pieces, so we shouldn’t use the Bright Sword.]

“I will make them merge. Do I have permission to release my dragon spirit?”

As soon as he received an affirmative, the sound of the Divine Dragon’s power filling his mortal body roared over the shifting vortex of sand.

Raging Thunderstorm…

Like lightning within a heavy thunderstorm, countless remnants of surging electricity were engraved in the sandy ground.

1st hit, 2nd hit, 3rd hit…

Following the sound of thunder, the Old Noble’s body scattered as the sand beneath the bone armor was neatly cut.

「…?」

And when the next member of the Eternally Damned stood up from the sand, its body crumbled before it could even finish standing up.

「…!」

A red flash ran through the battlefield; the transcendental light left traces where it passed countless times in just a moment.

Above those traces were the ancient forces of the Eternally Damned that broke helplessly into sand and scattered.

“He’s fast. To the point the forces of the Eternally Damned don’t even have time to stand up…!”

The draconic power deep inside Kaisen’s body and soul increased his perception of time to unrealistic levels—his optic nerve was overloaded, and the world before his retina gradually grew colorless.

In other words, he reached transcendence. Each time his enhanced legs made contact with the ground, the air distorted, and a deep pit appeared in the sand.

「…!」

Eventually, the 100 scattered members of the Eternally Damned gathered into one form amidst a sandstorm, giving rise to their final form, the captain of their force, who had the power of an Old Noble.

All 100 scattered scythes were replaced by two scythes, one held in either hand of the Eternally Damned captain.

“Step back, Kaisen. You’ve done enough. Gorgothia, Mern. We’re going to hinder its movement. Secure an angle for the Bright Sword to hit it!”

“No, we can’t use the Bright Sword yet. First, we have to peel off the soul’s shell! It would be difficult without my help,” Kaisen argued.

“We are on our last dregs of stamina. Long-term battles are a disadvantage for us!”

Panting, Kaisen checked his body’s condition. Though he felt as if he would break into pieces, his dragon spirit was still active.

He simply had to swing his sword until he no longer could. ‘Right? That’s what I should do.’

A memory of Kamila’s back as she held Aradamantel flashed through his mind. He wondered if she had reached a similar resolution as she carved her way out of the battlefield.

“…Aradamantel, you can still fight, right?” As if answering him, the red energy from Aradamandel’s blade burned even brighter.

“Okay, let’s go.” He only had a few more seconds before the power pushing him beyond the human realm and into transcendence completely faded.

He leaped off the ground once more.

The fierce whirling force in his body multiplied the power in his leg several times and instantly launched him forward.

“Kaisen, you…!”

The scythes whistled through the air, the souls on its blade screaming.

The left scythe appeared in the sword’s path and blocked its strike while the right scythe prepared for the subsequent killing blow.

‘If you want to do it like that…!’

Aradamantel met the scythe, and an ear-splitting sound followed.

Claaaaanng—!

Both of Kaisen’s knees bent as he slid over the sand and avoided the other scythe.

一shlink!

Even with Kaisen’s calculations, the feeling of death passed right by his face… making his lips tremble.

As expected, it was not an easy opponent.

Though he only had a moment, such a moment was like an eternity when transcendent beings fought.

Kaisen’s concentration further accelerated, and his physical abilities soared again. Thunder roared as his blade sliced through the gap created and cut off his enemy’s forearm.

Fast…

Faster…

It didn’t matter. With a swirl of sand, the severed arm regenerated almost immediately.

The goal was not subjugation but a reprieve. In the midst of the myriad flashes of red lights, as time itself worked differently at that moment, an endless series of sword strikes rained down.

[Don’t overdo it, Kaisen! Take a step back. I’m going to cut off my connection with the Electrical Reverberance Formation for a moment and use the power of a lightning strike.] Setsunen conveyed the message directly to Kaisen’s mind.

“I… can still do more!” He wielded transcendent power at that moment and could unleash power that no Fake Warrior in history could measure up to.

Of course, there was a limit, so he had to accomplish everything the others could do with leisure in mere minutes.

“Stand back, Kaisen! The Lightning is going to strike that bastard. You know that every time you push yourself like that, you’re wasting years of your life!” Loveris reprimanded.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t want to live a long life to begin with, and he didn’t want such an unreliable life. It was alright to die early.

After cutting down everything that he could, if he could go back south, to his mother…

‘I will bow before her grave and die willingly.’ As if in response to his determination, Aradamantel cried out. The transcendental power of the Divine Dragon shot out in the form of a chain and wrapped around the blade.

He leaped off the ground and twisted, spinning as he brought the chain-wrapped blade down with all of his power.

“ 一slash!”

As if he were cutting through the world itself, noise itself died for a moment, and at the end of that silence, the holy sword cut through a scythe and ripped the Old Noble in half, exposing its soul.

“!”

“!”

Gorgothia and Mern didn’t let the opportunity pass. An arrow of divine power and the Bright Sword, a sword-shaped collection of the most powerful Psalm in the Seven Books of Genesis, shot forward.

The power of creation boasted an absolute ability to bind beings that deviated from the providence of creation and banish them to outer space, beyond the true world.

It was known to have been lost with the death of the old priestess, Tureina, but Mirngadia of the Heavenly Castle somehow restored its power.

Perhaps it was just a replica, but its power, which originally could only be activated by countless chants and was rather impractical, concentrated in the form of a sword, creating a total of 28 special weapons for dealing with Old Nobles.

There were a total of 16 Bright Swords remaining, but production of more was impossible. The very light of the arrow crossed through the Old Noble’s core.

In an instant, all the light in the world was sucked into the monster; cracks of light spread out like a spider web from its core.

The light gradually intensified, spreading out in all directions and binding the Old Noble’s body.

「一!」 The Eternally Damned lost its senses and writhed, but its resistance was futile.

This power it faced was the authority of the God of Creation, the power of the creator’s providence, which far surpassed even the , captured the soul, and banished it.

「Everyone, hurry and get on my back. We have to get of here before the Old Noble’s garden collapses.」

Boom boom boom—

The sandy plains of the city’s inner castle, the heart of the desertification, and the former residences of the Old Noble, began to collapse.

“Yes, Your Excellency, what about Kaisen?”

“Well, he collapsed over there.”

“You guys overexerted yourself, I’ll bring him back!”

Gorgothia swung Zierda, and the bow folded itself and took the form of a sword once more. Sheathing the sword on her back, she picked up her fallen junior Fake Warrior.

It was amazing that he still had fighting spirit and was able to hold on to Aradamantel with one hand.

“It’s over. Sheathe your sword.”

“I… I…”

“Hey, you’re really awesome. I’m convinced that you really defeated the Mauna Roa after seeing that.”

“Gorgothia, hurry up! We don’t have time!”

“Got it! I’ll leap up as high as I can, so go ahead, Your Excellency!”

Just before the Old Noble collapsed, Setsunen flapped her wings and flew into the sky. That was when the problem arose.

As Gorgothia prepared to leap, the ground under her feet cracked and collapsed, taking away the strength of her jump.

“Shit…!”

In addition, the weight of Kaisen and Aradamantel caused her leap to lose even more strength. The ground completely collapsed, opening a hole to swallow them both up. At that very moment, smoke caught their bodies.

“Alidona, nice!”

The monstrous strength of Teval and Guren (a member of Piljung Corps’ hero party) lifted the two people onto the dragon’s back.

Loveris let out a sigh of relief, and Setsunen flapped her wings more vigorously and soared into the sky. “This is Loveris. We defeated Roten’s Force of the Eternally Damned. You can now start purification.”

「Everyone did a great job. This is Mirngadia of the Heavenly Castle speaking to all units. The floating castle will settle deep in the city and begin purification. You may bring the injured to the relevant areas for treatment.」

Gorgothia whistled. “Woah, he’s going to do purification and wide-area healing at the same time? As expected, he does everything artistically.”

“Yes, even if I die and reincarnate, I won’t be able to reach that level.”

“He’s a dragon. after all. How long has he lived?”

Alidona smiled somewhat resignedly at Teval’s words. “Well, it is said that the Heavenly Castle already mastered all the knowledge of the three worlds before he was 10 years old. It’s only natural that he received direct teachings from Dragon Sage Rain Ludwig and the water dragon, Yericelica.”

“Oh, my God. I can’t even remember a single book I read.”

“Let’s stop talking about such things. The battlefield fireworks are about to begin.”

The floating castle passed by and headed straight for Aurelinople. A beam of blue light poured down from the bottom of the floating castle, which hovered precisely in the sky above the collapsed castle.

That light brought life back to the land that had turned into a desert.

A miracle…

Yes, it was a miracle.

Just watching brought a sense of reverence to everyone. In that light, the desert ended, and brown soil spread out again.

Water flowing from afar was heard as if the river itself were restored. Starting with that, the water of the Bellisor River, which had been completely dried around Aurelinople, flowed along the canal again.

“I feel this every time I see it, but I really want to take a picture. I just feel sorry for the imperial bastards who never get to see this.”

Gorgothia looked at Loveris and said, “Yeah, I think so, too. It would be great if I could show this to my brothers.”

The relief of having survived the fierce battle and the thrill of leading the first battle to victory intersected in their locked eyes.

“Loveris, by the way, Kaisen is really something, you know? Please lend him to us sometimes.”

“No.”

“What?”

“The Heavenly Castle will probably not approve.”

“Hehe, look at this guy? Is that really the only reason?”

“Of course一”

At that very moment, all the hair on Loveris’s body stood up, and she became speechless. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was like a great dream suddenly degenerated into a nightmare.

She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t do anything but inhale sharply.

Alidona muttered blankly. “Wh-what the… th-the abyss…”

In an instant, a lizard’s arm rose up from the collapsed inner castle, but it was no ordinary arm.

“Y-your Excellency! Th-that’s…!”

Souls… Souls sighing bitterly and screaming… Strangely twisted and tangled, they took the shape of an arm…

[Mir, get out of there right now, Mir!]

The moment their brains became aware of that overwhelming presence, the primitive fear engraved in their very genes filled them.

[No. How can this happen…?]

First, the world trembled and bowed low as an evil change permeated heaven and earth.

Heat that far exceeded the human boiling point burned the sky.

[I never saw a future like this一]

The three suns trembled in fear and disappeared into the darkness… A king was released from his eternal prison…

An ancient king, forgotten in the oblivious fear of the world’s long history… He grabbed the floating castle with his arm made of madness and frenzy, crushing it into rubble.

[Your Excellency, Heavenly Castle, this is the Black Rose Corps. Reptilians and lizardmen have suddenly invaded the city!]

No history book could realistically describe the screams, chaos, and madness of that moment.

The ruler of terror that distorted all providence and matter, the miserable master of the Reptilian Kingdom, had awakened.

[This is Iron Castle, the madness… Her Excellency’s Electrical Reverberance Formation cannot withstand this insanity! The soldiers’ heads are suddenly explo—]

[Your Excellency, this is Marshal Melvin, the damage to the 1st Field Army can’t be described. The reptilians’ large army…]

[Heavenly Castle, half of the members of the 1st Fighter Wing suddenly exploded into a pool of blood…]

[2nd Field Army, the mountain suddenly turned into a volcano and exploded, and lava is pouring down… aaaargh…!]

Only the frantic rush of death and fear across the vast battlefield gave them a vague idea of ​​the despair that day.

The Howling Destruction…

The King of Lizards, Neigalas…

When on earth did the absolute nightmare, who received the power of an Old King from the master of the abyss, awaken from its eternity of sleep?

‘No…’

Should they have expected it from the time they saw Roten’s Force of the Eternally Damned, the royal guard among the Old Nobles, guarding the city?

No, was it a joke?

Who on earth could have predicted such a nightmare? Loveris barely got herself together enough to speak.

“His Excellency the Heavenly Castle is no more.”

[What?]

“This is the Iron Cross, urgently disseminating Her Excellency Thunder’s order to all troops. Neigalas appeared! King of Lizards, Neigalas, has appeared! Everyone, get out, prioritize survival. Get out of the battlefield immediately!”

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