Awakening the Great Chapter 100

Chapter 100: The Blade that Divides Truth

Lunos's hooves slamd hard into the earth. At the end of a charge driven to the extre, the compressed force of impact converged upon a single point. Calix, clad in silver armor, hurled himself into the defensive line made of tangled human bodies.

Crackle-crack-crack!

Red hues spread across the plain. A soldier flew through the air without so much as a scream. Blood and shards of iron erupted upward.

The rear ranks thrust their shields forward to block, but Lunos brought his front hooves down and simply trampled straight through. Defense was aningless. The armor tore like paper, bones shattered, and a horrifying burst of sound rang out.

[Maintaining Reality Acceleration 2.9x]

Simultaneously, mana surging from the core condensed along the blade. Srna trembled lightly, and soon Falling Fire blood wide.

With a single swing, shards of iron and flesh split apart as if lting. Nothing remained but blood and screams in every direction.

And behind him—

A thousand cavalry ca flooding in.

Gregor, dwarf Basim, and Volga carrying the standard ford a triangle, and flanking them on both sides, the tal tusks of the Rockboars glead. A perfect wedge formation.

"Ah, ah……."

It scarcely allowed even a despair-tinged sigh.

Lightning struck.

Crash-crash-crash-crack!

Thrusting spears and raised shields ant nothing. The first rank vanished in an instant, those in the middle were cut down or crushed, and the very last rank did nothing but look back at the face of their commander.

"R-reform ranks! We must regroup……."

Reflexive orders were issued, yet not a single soldier responded properly.

Where the Mountain Rabbits had passed, nothing remained. It was as if space itself had been torn away whole. Only blood and corpses. Three infantry units had collapsed in a single charge.

Thud-thud-thud-thud.

They pressed forward in a straight line without slowing. Calix shook the blood from his blade and gazed ahead. In the far distance, a wide plain ca into view. Not a single human figure could be seen.

It ant they had reached their destination.

"The rear has been broken through!"

"The command post is in danger!"

The enemy's numbers were still not small. With infantry units alone numbering roughly 2,500, there was no room for carelessness. However, the chain of command was clearly beginning to crumble.

"Fall back! Hold the command post!"

Lower-ranking commanders fell into confusion and began making independent decisions. The rear units that had been stretched in a line started retreating at will.

That was, in other words, a movent that exposed their weak point.

'The enemy's command post has been neutralized. The objective has already been achieved.'

An incomplete retreat provoked fear, and confusion led directly to defeat. Rather than forcing his way through to target the commander, Calix changed direction. It was more effective to show what had already crumbled than to destroy sothing further.

"Zahira, Airien! Lead the elven cavalry and swing right! Start with the ones whose formations have collapsed!"

"Got it!"

"Basim! We move separately with the Rockboar cavalry! Follow !"

"At last, the ti to dance wildly has co!"

The Mountain Rabbits split in an instant into two groups. One was the elven cavalry; the other was an assault unit composed mainly of Rockboars. Each would have their own strengths and weaknesses, but the gaps were ones Calix would fill personally.

Zahira aid from a distance at units that were isolated and unable to receive aid from allies.

"Watch your backs!"

"They're coming this way! Close ranks! Form up!"

Even in obvious crisis, the Imperial soldiers attempted to resist to the last. But in that very mont, the Rockboars ca charging in from the flank. The timing of each charge was staggered so they would not overlap, crossing in an X with exquisite intervals between them.

Even after that, every ti the hooves advanced, entire units fell silent. The Niboria Imperial Army, which prided itself on superior military power, was steadily lting away.

It was at precisely that mont.

Flutter.

The banner symbolizing the Empire moved.

Back. Further back.

The enemy commander was departing from the battlefield.

"……They've abandoned us."

Soone's softly murmured words spread out across the entire battlefield.

The head had abandoned the body and fled.

And so, the true collapse began.

Thud.

The tip of a spear touched the ground first, and a shield followed. The soldiers turned their backs and ran in utter panic. Thousands of troops scattered in an instant like a flock of birds. The front-line commanders did nothing but stare blankly at the sky.

'What hope is there in running from cavalry.'

Yet Calix lowered his blade and watched the scene in silence. He did not pursue the fleeing enemy, nor did he drive the broken ranks to the very end.

Instead, he re-ford the cavalry line and said briefly,

"This battle is over."

A declaration marking victory and defeat.

But it was not yet finished.

"From here, we must bring order to the chaos."

Soldiers at the very front had not properly learned what had occurred at the rear. Therefore, they had to go and tell them themselves.

That Calix had pierced the enemy's heart—and that all the killing would stop with it.

* * *

The noise of the battlefield had quieted considerably. After a full two hours of battle, both sides had reached their limits. Calix looked deeply into the situation at the front line.

Remarkably, the center had grown more stable. No—if anything, it seed the allied forces held the upper hand. It appeared that Commander Royce had withdrawn troops from the right flank of the battlefield and struck with them.

And above all, Vice-captain Marik's performance had been imnse.

Bang!

A thunderous sound erupted from where he stood. Purple mana surged as sparks flew. The pulsing mana ford a distinct shape, and red petals were embroidered across the air. At last, he had shattered the shell that had once confined him and risen a full step higher.

Falling Fire.

All would call it by that na, yet the person himself called it differently. Liberation of the mind's image. He felt freedom for the first ti. Rather than being intoxicated by power, he was savoring a joy that ca from refined understanding.

Still, the ti had co to bring that to an end as well.

When Calix gave a glance, the dwarf cavalry commander drew out a horn and blew it loudly.

Bwooooo—!

The flow of the battlefield broke in an instant. By unspoken agreent, both enemy and ally turned their heads in the sa direction. The first thing anyone noticed was the sound of hooves. It was not light. It was a heavy tread that stabbed at the ears, as though coming across earth soaked in blood.

A thousand cavalry were returning to the front line.

Clop, clop, clop.

Even as he felt the gazes pouring toward him, Calix did not hurry at all. Slow yet orderly, he led the Mountain Rabbits forward.

No more charges. No intimidation, no use of force was necessary. Weapons were sheathed, and only the blood-dried cloak billowed in the wind. No emotion could be read in his blood-sared face. Yet his eyes alone knew there was no one left on this field to fight.

The Mountain Rabbits following behind him also crossed the battlefield in silence. Without a war cry—with silence alone, they took command of the field.

'Why are they returning from the direction where the Imperial Army's main camp was located?'

No one opened their mouth, yet enemy and ally alike felt the sa thing. One action spoke far more than a hundred words.

The fact that this man had ended this battlefield.

The Imperial soldiers all bowed their heads at once. Legs gave out beneath them and they sank—to the ground, leaning on their blades and gasping for breath. They stopped resisting. They had understood instinctively that victory and defeat had been decided. Their neural accelerators had long since overheated, and not even the strength to flee remained.

"……The Mountain Rabbits."

"They actually did it."

And the allied forces also saw them. The cavalry of Kalahim, the troops of Viale, and even Royce and Marik who remained on the field. All of them raised their heads and stared at a single point.

The Mountain Rabbits were advancing in formation, slowly drawing near. Ancient iron armor let out creaking sounds, and the noise of hooves cutting through blood-soaked earth rang out and echoed. Iron-clad Rockboars and swift warhorses raised in the forest were mingled together. It was a sight both incongruous and unified, exuding a solemn dignity all its own.

In that mont, Calix's gaze turned toward the Kalahim side. Yet not a single one t his eyes. They averted them, staring at so aningless point elsewhere.

At this, a vein suddenly bulged at Volga's temple.

"What in the hell, have those bastards eaten sothing wrong again? Why are they reacting like that?"

Beside him, Zahira added softly:

"That is…… A way of showing respect to a warrior of high renown. They form their ranks and avert their eyes. It is a custom unique to the desert."

Even with a weary expression she gave a faint smile, and the large young man's face turned red. War or no war, there was nothing to be done when it ca to the woman he admired.

And soon, the gazes of Calix and Serylion Belrnar t. His entire body was stained with blood, yet his bearing alone had not lost its dignity. He placed his right hand over his chest and bowed his head.

An expression of respect with proper formality—and genuine admiration within it.

Ha—

In that mont, soone exhaled through the silence. That single breath spread in every direction at once. The blood-stained plain was covered by a current of wordless agreent.

Only then did everyone accept the reality.

Calix, the Mountain Rabbits, the allied forces—

They had won.

* * *

Yet Calix was not swept away by the atmosphere. There was a separate reason he had not charged on horseback. The Imperial Army had lost, yet those who could not accept defeat still remained.

Sure enough, the flow of the air suddenly changed.

The sll of death remained thick, but that was nothing more than lingering heat. Yet amid that cooling scent of blood, a wildfire surged.

Clank, clank—

From the left side of the battlefield, from a place set far apart, the sound of footsteps drew near.

The noise of iron mass that could pierce even heavy sand. For Imperial soldiers, it was a familiar sound. Regular and restrained steps. The presence of those who feared not even death—those who obeyed only the Emperor's command remained still.

The emblem of a black cross and an inverted scale.

Richterkreutz.

'They were unhard after all.'

It was not one or two. A thousand Inquisitors crossed the battlefield like a funeral procession. Hostility was thick in the air.

Clearly, around the sa ti, they would have broken through one axis of the enemy line. Yet the Mountain Rabbits had harvested the fruit, and they had lost everything. Simply because they had been a little too late. Cold, icy fury ca out carried on their mana.

Soon, two groups stood in opposition with the Mountain Rabbits at the center.

It was then that, suddenly, two or three elders from the Kalahim camp ca rushing over in great haste. They were the elders who had been under Baraah's command.

"Noble warrior! That man is Helmut Barben. He is the Knight Commander of Richterkreutz and a being who has reached the supre wall. Even the valiant Barakh allowed a single blow—you must not face him directly."

"Kagracha! Only give the word. We will gladly follow."

Hadiya, who had by now returned to the main force, snorted in disbelief.

"These insane old n——what on earth are they……"

While Basim openly furrowed his brow, Volga whispered quietly:

"What's Kagracha?"

"An eagle that devours shadows. It appears in desert mythology—just that kind of nonsense."

"……Damn it. That's actually pretty cool."

"……."

Calix himself paid no heed to the title. Kalahim urged for continued battle, but he assessed the current situation with a calmness no one else could match.

'The enemy knight order numbers 1,000; our side is at minimum 3,500 or more. We would win if we fought. But more important than numbers is asking whether it is truly necessary.'

Rather than making a decision imdiately, the answer had to be found by confronting the enemy directly.

"We must not respond recklessly. Do not move under any circumstances."

* * *

The center of the battlefield. The allied forces and the Richterkreutz troops instinctively stepped back, forming a circle. Under unspoken agreent, space naturally opened up before two n.

With the banner of the black cross and the banner of the Mountain Rabbits in opposition, Calix and Helmut Barben faced each other.

[The level of the hostile target is high]

[Mana discharge in progress]

Along with the neural accelerator's warning, the core at his heart's center drew out power in a fierce surge. Before any words, mana clashed first.

The ground trembled under taut equilibrium, and tendrils of mana collided multiple tis as if probing each other, testing their strength.

Crack.

The space between the two warped under pressure. The dust that had once been scattered by hooves did not dare rise—it simply lay flat on the ground.

A silence of barely ten seconds or so.

Yet in that mont, Calix conveyed a clear intent. Lunos suddenly stepped forward by one pace. He had gained the upper hand in the contest of presence through sheer overwhelming mana.

Behind his back stood the allied forces in formation. A thousand-so Mountain Rabbits, drenched in blood, waited for an order to fall.

And so—

'Fall back.'

Calix urged them to depart. It was a cold warning. The outco had already been decided, the difference in strength was plain, and so this was a fight that could not stand.

Yet the opponent did not step back.

"His Imperial Majesty commanded that the northwestern front must be held without fail."

Helmut Barben's golden eyes stared directly at him. His voice was composed, yet sothing was boiling at the bottom of it.

"Now I understand. You are a threat to the order of the Empire. A far too dangerous existence."

Calix answered quietly.

"Being different is no cri."

A brief silence passed.

In that instant, the middle-aged man let out a low, short laugh.

"No cri?"

Shhring.

The Knight Commander draws his blade. His dry voice rang out, crumbling like sothing finely fractured.

"Foolish commoner—His Majesty's word is truth itself."

Calix let out an unavoidable sigh. There was no need to take things to an absolute conclusion between them. No——it should not co to that. As the forces of darkness were drawing near, the day might co when they would have to join hands with them.

But one reply closed every way out.

"He does not err, and so if there is sothing wrong……. It is the world that is mistaken."

He read the other man's convictions with his mind's eye. Helmut Barben believed in a person. He revered Emperor Caracal like a religion. And for that reason, he would not flee—and he would do everything in his power to hold the allied forces in place.

'There is no longer any choice but to see this through.'

In one sense, he understood the man's feelings.

Calix, too, believed in people. Commander Royce had taken him in; Vice-captain Marik had staked his very life. From Hadiya he had learned how to find his path, from Zahira he had received teachings on various weapons, and Gregor had stood steadily at his side.

All of them—his people.

In this way, the two n shared the sa face. Just as the Knight Commander raised his blade for the Emperor's sake, Calix too would willingly stake his life for the Mountain Rabbits.

Yet there was also a clear difference. The man harbored not even a trace of doubt in the Emperor's directives. He was not walking alongside him—he was simply chasing after him.

Shhriing.

And then Calix, too, slowly drew his blade.

'What is belief? What on earth is it, that it is at once the sa and yet so different?'

And so it was. He had to retrace his own path and confront what made it different from the other man's. And at the end of that—he would co to know which of them had been right.

Soon, in the heart of the battlefield, the convictions of two n collided.

It was the final overture.