Chapter 248 : Chapter 248
Chapter 248
The treasure of the Debius family, ‘The Steel Nest’.
A special power resided in this armor that had been passed down for a thousand years.
‘The Steel Nest’ pulled in all surrounding attacks.
Whether a rain of arrows or a baptism of magic, it did not permit attacks to head elsewhere.
It was a treasure that made itself the nucleus of the battlefield.
However, the power of ‘The Steel Nest’ went only as far as pulling in attacks.
Enduring the pulled-in attacks was purely the wearer's burden.
In other words, the fact that he was enduring the magic the West was pouring out (enough to destroy several mountains) was solely because Deballo Debius was that sturdy.
“Hmm.”
Deballo Debius endured.
He pulled all sorts of magic pouring from the stone wall to himself and simply endured.
Yet, he was at ease. He was standing still, taking in the magic.
No matter how much ‘The Steel Nest’ was made of outrageously thick steel, it was an unbelievably surprising thing.
The mage on the stone wall, Heindel, was dumbfounded.
He had just finished pouring out thirteen Five-Star magic spells.
Storms and sulfur struck Deballo, and bizarre creatures rose from the ground to assault him.
But Deballo Debius merely smiled.
The old general received the attack of the entire West with his lone body.
Even so, his two feet, standing firm, never wavered.
“There is definitely an incredible strategist in the West. His situational judgment is excessively fast.”
He muttered from within the flames.
The mages of the West had reached one conclusion.
They decided not to let their magic collide and cancel each other out, but to cause only the most basic property changes so that their magic would become one.
Like that, hundreds of mages began to spew out the most powerful flames they could muster.
Flames, flames, flames.
The colors were all different, making it brilliantly iridescent.
The most powerful flame was, as expected, the one shot by the Five-Star Mage Heindel.
The flames mixed together and tried to incinerate Deballo Debius.
The ground melted. The stone couldn't become liquid and disappeared as steam. Soot settled all over, even dozens of steps away. In the midst of such flames, Deballo opened his mouth.
“Eu-eum.”
He was nonchalant.
He wasn't even using an Ars, yet he was smiling amidst the flames of scorching heat.
“It feels good, being heated.”
He muttered as if he were a person soaking in warm water.
Heindel was so dumbfounded he clicked his tongue.
While clicking his tongue, Heindel saw mages rushing out from behind Deballo.
It meant that what Shion had warned about had finally happened.
Deballo glanced sideways.
“Is it over already?”
The Cordis Empire's magi-soldiers all placed their hands on their chests.
Then, without any particular technique, they discharged all the mana they held in every direction, as if exploding it.
A shockwave occurred.
Blood flowed from the magi-soldiers' noses and eyes.
A shock so intense that even those who couldn't sense the presence of mana could feel it followed one after another.
At first one person, then two, and finally hundreds…. The internal mana collided with the external mana and disappeared.
To be precise, it didn't disappear, but it couldn't function as mana for a certain time.
Heindel's face turned completely white.
When a large number of mages collide their own mana with external mana, a special phenomenon occurs.
This phenomenon negates all kinds of mana.
It was also the biggest weakness of the West's sturdy stone wall.
“…‘Blanking’…!”
Heindel said in a heart-wrenching voice.
It was the same for Shion, who was watching the situation.
The shocks of mana followed one after another.
The small shocks, like a child splashing in water, quickly turned into a tidal wave.
Those hundreds of Imperial mages were too skilled at unifying their mana.
The tidal wave of blankness swept over.
Through the cracks in the stone wall, to the mages hidden there maintaining the sturdy wall.
Even if only for a moment, the mages temporarily ceased to be mages.
Mana lost its power.
I spat out a curse.
“…This is dogshit.”
Even though the magic's power disappeared, the stone wall didn't collapse with a Rumble.
This was because the weight of the piled stones supported each other.
If there was time, it could be repaired.
However, Deballo Debius had no intention of giving them that opening.
The steel lion suddenly dashed forward.
The magic he had been receiving was also swept up in the blankness and disappeared.
No one could stop him.
Deballo muttered softly.
“It’s been a long time since I fought, I wanted to enjoy it a little more.”
Deballo clenched his fist.
It was no ordinary fist.
The weight of the steel wrapped around his arm alone was heavier than four or five adult men.
When he thrust out such a fist, a Koo-woong-, a roaring sound, erupted.
Like that, Kung, Kung, and only then did it, Rumble, collapse.
The West's stone wall collapsed.
***
“It collapses so easily.”
Deballo Debius snorted.
“No matter how outstanding the strategist is, he must still be young. The moment ‘Blanking’ was activated, he should have come to stop me.”
If Shion had heard, he would have found it unfair.
He had already sent the two most outstanding people to Deballo.
It was just that Deballo's actions were too swift, and his fists were too powerful.
“What are you doing, Cordis-!!!”
Deballo roared in anger.
His voice, unbecoming of a man over eighty, reached the Imperial Army.
“How much longer are you going to let this old man raise a fuss!”
As soon as the words fell, a group of cavalry charged.
At the vanguard was Secundus Debius, the Three-Mi Grand General.
Two hundred cavalry, his close attendants, stuck to him.
Secundus ran toward the collapsed stone wall with a complicated expression.
It wasn't just them.
The elites of each legion, including Marina Debius, rushed in at a terrifying speed.
The West could only watch their approach, stamping their feet.
‘Blanking’ had erased the West's magic.
Furthermore, the collapsed stone wall had instead become an obstacle blocking their own sally.
Fear clouded the soldiers' faces.
“Charge!”
“Catch and kill all the arrogant Western bastards!”
“For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!”
The essence of war is, unavoidably, cruelty.
It doesn't change no matter how you package it.
Thinking of the slaughter to come, the soldiers hurled curses and shouts.
Secundus's expression became utterly complex.
But he couldn't stop his horse, so he continued to ride toward the West.
Thousands of cavalry charged toward the collapsed stone wall.
The Western soldiers couldn't even tidy their ranks and just trembled in fear.
“……”
I, Shion Pollinglight, just watched all of this unfold.
It wasn't because I was lacking as a strategist. It wasn't that I failed to cope with the sudden situation, either.
It was simply because I had already finished all preparations.
“…I’ll have to ask.”
“I already told you, Mr. Shion.”
The man said as he gulped down his liquor.
Because he was a drunkard.
“From the day I came out of the Underworld, my life was already yours.”
The man stroked his chin.
The beard he had once shaved off completely was beginning to grow again.
But he would never return to how he was before.
He had forgotten everything and couldn't remember what a miserable state he had been in.
So how could he return?
However, that time was not in vain.
The long-continued, fruitless hardship had clearly left behind a benefit.
The single sword in the man's hand proved this.
The sword's name was ‘Grayish-white Nobility’.
“Cordis.”
Obro Denoebang spoke quietly.
And yet, everyone heard his voice.
The reason could not be known.
“You shall not pass this place.”
Obro Denoebang swung his sword.
Even though the motion was like sweeping with a broom, a slash swept from that side to this, from one end of vision to the other.
No one died.
However, well over two hundred horses were struck dead and collapsed.
The cavalry that had been charging so terrifyingly all came to a halt.
“So it’s you.”
Deballo Debius bared his teeth and smiled.
The old man slowly began to take off ‘The Steel Nest’.
‘The Steel Nest’ was an item for enduring attacks from a multitude, not suitable for fighting one strong individual.
Deballo did not hide his anticipation and threw off the heavy armor.
“White Lord!”
“I do not like that name.”
Obro Denoebang lowered his sword.
At the same time, he became invisible to anyone's eyes.
It was because his movements were too fast.
“As it is a title far too grand for a mere drunkard.”
There was the smell of liquor.
Obro Denoebang was still thoroughly drunk.
The scars left by life were vivid, so liquor was still his medicine.
There were still days that were hard to endure without drinking.
Regardless of that, his sword was sharper than before.
“…Oh, ooh!”
Deballo Debius let out a cry of admiration.
Obro Denoebang was swinging ‘Grayish-white Nobility’ right near him.
Deballo, lacking a proper weapon, faced him bare-handed.
Blood flowed every time his fists met ‘Grayish-white Nobility’.
Seeing his own blood, Deballo burst into a mad laugh, as if he couldn't believe it.
“Eu-ha, euha-ha-ha! Marina, Marina, where are you!”
“I’m coming, Dad!”
“Look at this, my daughter!”
Deballo raised his voice.
He didn't know how to stop laughing.
“I’m bleeding! This bastard is making me bleed!”
“Do you think that’s all, Grand General?”
Obro Denoebang's voice was frigid.
From the sunken voice, Deballo realized.
Obro Denoebang was not yet going all out.
A hiccup sound was heard.
The throat of the drunken Obro Denoebang went hiccup, and his feet lost balance.
It was a bizarre thing, that a staggering step produced the sharpest sword strike.
This slash made even Deballo feel a chill.
“…Eueueu-eum!”
The sword struck down.
Deballo hurriedly raised both hands to block.
His two fists crossed to block the sword, but blood flowed and bone was glimpsed.
It seemed even this would not last long.
Obro Denoebang continued to press down on Deballo, and Deballo was not confident he could shake him off.
“…Obro! Obro Denoebang!”
The old general laughed heartily.
“Why is there no one like you in the Empire!”
“You talk too much, Grand General.”
“I didn't know I would get this excited! I have clearly realized. You are stronger than me at this moment!”
Obro frowned.
For a moment, it seemed Deballo Debius had a lion's head.
It looked as if he were competing not with a human, but with a lion walking on two feet.
But when he blinked once, Deballo returned to being human again.
Perhaps it was just an illusion.
Only a sense of aversion remained.
“You wouldn't know, Obro Denoebang. What it means, what it signifies, that you are stronger than the me of this moment. It's an incredible thing. You are an incredible man! You, while being human, how….”
“It is thoroughly difficult to understand.”
“Eu-eum!”
Obro Denoebang kicked Deballo in the stomach.
While doing so, he retrieved his sword and struck upwards again.
It was with the intent to sever Deballo's neck.
However, an interference cut in from the side.
A thick long spear protected Deballo and was cut off in a chunk.
Marina clicked her tongue and pulled out a new spear.
“It’s a pity, a real pity….”
Deballo muttered.
“A man like this should rightly be faced alone… but the situation does not permit it.”
“……”
Obro Denoebang gripped his sword.
He faced the three Debiuses.
They were figures that would make even Obro nervous.
Deballo Debius, the Grand General.
Marina Debius, the former Seven-Forged General.
Secundus Debius, the Three-Mi Grand General.