Chapter 6. Burken Fortress (6)
Before I opened my eyes in this Burken Fortress.
That was, back when I was an ordinary office worker in South Korea, I happened to see a video.
「Chelyabinsk teor Aerial Explosion」
It was a video of a teor shower falling in a region of Russia.
The sky gradually brightened, then the teor flashed and exploded.
The scenes of school windows and factory doors being blown away by the impact still lingered in my mind.
At the ti, the teor's mass was reportedly a whopping 10,000 tons, with an explosion equivalent to a small nuclear weapon.
According to reports, one factory was destroyed, and there were four-digit casualties.
In terms of damage scale alone, it was much smaller than a tsunami or typhoon.
But for , watching the video gave a different kind of intimidation throughout.
It felt similar now.
Rumble rumble…!
The sky turned dark red.
The blazing heat of mana scorched the atmosphere and cast shadows on the ground.
Both armies, who had been fiercely clashing until monts ago, stopped fighting and blankly looked up at the sky.
Above their heads.
Toward the red star swelling in the air.
“What is that…”
“[Infernal teor]?”
Creak! Crack!
I could almost hear the murmurs of the living and the dead up here on the spire.
The defenders, who had been resolute in their determination, all fell into panic.
It wasn’t sothing to bla Chief Olif’s leadership for.
The enemy’s spell that had been destroying the walls hours ago now appeared right above their heads.
Crack! Snap!
Groan-?
Of course, the Vampire Archduchy side wasn’t any different.
No, they seed even more flustered.
As evidence, the undead serving as the necromancers’ eyes were all staring at the sky.
By now, their exclusive trait, the consciousness-sharing space [Bloodline], must have been in chaos.
Tap tap tap! Tap!
That dark red shooting star was definitely their spell.
Yet none in their ranks had cast it.
“Phew, heh heh…”
This was why I beca a mage.
On the spire, even as I gasped for breath, the corners of my mouth curled up.
A single spell drawing the attention of thousands—that was the authority of a high-level mage.
Of course, the price for coveting that authority without qualification was harsh.
Crunch!
My entire body convulsed.
Drip. Drip.
Blood stread from my eyes, nose, and mouth.
Thump. Thump.
My heart seized, and my vision flipped.
“Urghh…!!”
Even though I had prepared myself, the agony was so intense that even groaning was difficult.
I instantly understood why forcing high-level spells through mana overload required a significant ntal fortitude trait in the ga.
Enduring the twisting of my organs to complete the spell—how many mages could do that?
It felt more painful now, casting the spell, than when I was hit by [Infernal teor] earlier.
Gulp. Gulp.
Gritting my teeth, I chugged a regeneration potion.
It flowed down my throat, burning like fire—my insides must have been wrecked.
It felt like pouring boiling spicy fish stew down a raw throat.
Like swallowed fish bones tumbling in a dryer, rcilessly scraping my stomach walls.
“Urgh. Ugh.”
If it were the old .
Before falling into this world, I would have passed out already.
[Deploying [Lord’s Unyielding Mind].]
But this balance-breaking trait kept going again.
Grinning madly, I grabbed a potion bottle with trembling hands.
This ti, a mana potion.
Whoosh—!
The ebbing mana pool.
Refilled just before depletion, it sustained the spell.
Continuously chugging mana potions, I poured mana into the spell without pause,
And forcibly held my collapsing body together with regeneration potions.
“Gurgle. Cough.”
Liquid—blood or potion, I couldn’t tell—stread down my chin and neck.
At this point, I couldn’t distinguish if I was drinking or pouring into an open throat.
The stench of blood and the potion’s sharp scent filled my head.
Enduring and focusing like that for a while.
[Deploying [Infernal teor].]
A notification appeared in the center of my reddened vision.
Rumble rumble…
At the sa ti, the growing teor slowly began its descent.
The spell casting itself was successful, but…
‘…Just a bit more.’
Holding onto my fading consciousness for a mont.
With shaking hands, I chugged another potion.
The core of this plan was simple.
Gather the undead with the concentrated aura of the living.
And annihilate them in one fell swoop with overwhelming firepower.
‘Just a bit.’
In the battle that served as the basis for this plan, the artillery’s massive bombardnt had swept up allies too.
After the battle, the troop status showed only a third remaining.
A pyrrhic victory in na only.
I didn’t know it then.
But now I did.
‘You can never win playing like that.’
A happy ending where no one dies—impossible in a blood-soaked battlefield.
I knew well that war was where distinctions of good and evil blurred more than anywhere.
Looting and arson beca minor cris.
A place where human lives turned into numbers.
Stabbing your superior to survive.
Sending subordinates to their deaths for glory—all too common.
[Deploying [Lord’s Unyielding Mind].]
Having resolved to survive in this world.
Turning a blind eye to its ugliness would be a luxury.
But.
‘Because I decided to survive in this ugly world.’
Surviving in this blood-stenched world wasn’t sothing I could do alone.
Thus, to ensure my own survival above all, I wouldn’t sacrifice allies like that ti.
Well, Lieutenant Terren and the bandit-bearded guy might haunt my dreams otherwise.
Swallowing the tallic taste in my mouth with a faint smile.
I gripped my staff as if it might break and moved it.
[Deploying [Infernal teor].]
As I’d experienced several tis, skills from [Warrior’s Insight] hit max proficiency imdiately.
And 100% spell control proficiency allowed twisting even a falling teor’s trajectory.
Creak…!
Pointing my staff at the undead army.
With my tattered body, I channeled mana to set the target.
The slowly descending teor suddenly accelerated.
Gracefully altering its original path, heading straight for the center of the undead army.
‘It worked…’
My vision tilted.
[Deploying [Warrior’s Insight].]
[Skill acquired.]
[Spirit Shield (Level 5)]
A notification appeared.
“[Spirit Shield]-!”
A gray shield from a hidden vampire necromancer blocked the blazing teor.
Crash!
The teor shattered the shield and fell into the midst of the undead army.
My vision flickered like cut film fras.
My swaying body finally hit the ground with a dull thud.
Hidden by the spire’s battlents, I couldn’t see anymore, but the distant cheers and heat spoke volus.
A perfect success.
“Their magic fell on their own heads! Now’s the ti!”
“All forces attack—drive out those corpse-diggers!”
Cheers and trumpets echoed in my ears.
A 100% proficiency [Infernal teor].
Several tis larger and more powerful than what vampires dropped on walls or execution grounds.
Firepower that turned the remaining three thousand undead into straw before a torch.
“Reinforcents! Archduke Gabir’s reinforcents have arrived!”
“Rooooar! For His Majesty!”
Right.
Co to think of it, there were rumors of reinforcents.
In Imperial Year 1023, Archduke Gabir would be patrolling the borders with his army.
His forces would greatly help mop up the undead remnants.
“…Cough!”
Anyway, my insides felt flipped.
Not dying-painful, but bloated.
Hmm, no pain might an it’s more serious?
Anyway, I could rest now.
Olif would handle the rest.
Whooo…
A cool breeze brushed my face.
The boiling mana had subsided.
Gazing at the sky where the red hue slowly faded…
I closed my eyes.
***
“…So. Thinking the gate had to be held, you led half the garrison against an undead army five tis your size?”
“That’s correct.”
“And while you held, an enemy mage mistakenly dropped a battalion-level tactical spell on their own troops?”
“I’m not versed in magic, so I can’t confirm that part. My apologies, Archduke.”
The lord’s castle in Burken Fortress.
An uncomfortable silence settled in the forr baron’s office.
Two people were in the room.
The white-haired chief of staff, head bowed in rigid posture.
And the middle-aged man sunk into the forr baron’s ornate chair.
“What a remarkable coincidence.”
Archduke Gabir Maraz.
He was known by many nas.
The emperor’s proxy. Southern army supre commander.
Border fortress inspector. The Frost-Eyed Judge.
But if one had to pick, everyone would highlight the last.
‘…The Frost-Eyed Judge.’
The ability to read not just expressions and gazes, but emotions and thoughts.
When Archduke Gabir’s blue eyes glead, no lie could escape detection.
Even Baron Burken, the fortress’s lord and Olif’s superior, couldn’t evade those eyes.
Three days after [Infernal teor] annihilated the undead army, and the archduke’s reinforcents drove back the Vampire Archduchy’s additional forces.
On the morning of the third day, Baron Burken, who had sucked the fortress dry for ten years, vanished like dew on the execution ground.
The charge: ‘Disloyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, endangering the empire’s borders.’
“Raise your head, Chief. And speak honestly. Why did you do it?”
Olif lifted his head.
The archduke stroked his brown beard slowly.
The question omitted the subject, but Olif understood.
Why commit half the garrison to the shattered gate.
What drove a veteran commander like him to such a reckless operation.
“…….”
Olif swallowed dryly.
The archduke’s eyes glead faintly.
A lie would an death.
But telling everything might harm him.
The rcenary who saved him from the necro ogre.
A mber of the imperial secret knight order.
The true hero who saved the fortress.
“As I said… because the gate had to be held.”
“Even if all the soldiers died?”
“I planned to die first.”
“Did you know [Infernal teor] would fall on the undead?”
“…No.”
“I see.”
The gleam in his blue eyes slowly faded.
Olif inwardly sighed in relief and bowed again.
It wasn’t a lie.
The resolve to die.
And about [Infernal teor].
‘…But.’
For a high-tier knight, it was foolish.
Testimony deserving reprimand for incompetence, even revocation of knighthood.
‘Yet, Sir Ash. I haven’t forgotten your grace.’
Still, Olif felt relieved.
At least he hadn’t betrayed the vows he took upon knighthood.
He had remained loyal to His Majesty, who extended rcy to this remote fortress.
And hadn’t forgotten the grace of the one who saved his life.
“There was a standout rcenary in this battle.”
“…Pardon?”
“The rcenary who also served as a commander. The deceased Baron Burken ntioned him several tis.”
“…Did he?”
A chill ran down his spine.
Olif hadn’t felt this in years since becoming a knight.
“Anything suspicious?”
“He showed loyalty to the empire and His Majesty.”
“I see.” The archduke chuckled lowly.
His fingertip tapped the armrest twice before he stood.
“Where is that rcenary now?”
***
The scent of dry wood.
The heavy warmth of a wet cloth on my forehead.
A cool breeze tickling my face amid the humid air.
Compared to the intense battle before losing consciousness, the atmosphere was too peaceful.
“…….”
…Except for the straw poking my back from the bed.
It stung like hell.
Still, intact sensation was good news.
“…….”
With eyes closed, I carefully wiggled my body.
Fingers. Toes. Limbs to neck and jaw.
All moved fine.
No missing parts.
‘…I survived.’
Relief ca first.
Then pride and a bit of anticipation.
[Battle Victory Achievent! Won a siege defense!]
[Battle Victory Achievent! Won an extrely difficult battle!]
[Battle Victory Achievent! Single-handedly defeated ten enemies!]
[Battle Victory Achievent! Single-handedly defeated a hundred enemies!]
[Battle Victory Achievent! Single-handedly defeated a thousand…!]
[Battle Victory Achievent! Cast high-level magic…!]
[Achievent…!]
“Good heavens! The corpse is awake! Honey! Honey! He’s alive!”
Crash!
…Or not.
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