Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 85 : Those Who Follow the Darkness (1)

Chapter 85: Those Who Follow the Darkness (1)

A kingdom known as the desert kingdom of the western continent.

A secret eting was being held in the underground of the royal palace of the Kingdom of Byros.

The one wearing a black mask, seated at the highest position, tapped the table with his finger.

“We went through great trouble to brainwash him in order to keep the Ragnar Family in check. We cannot simply throw him away without even making use of him.”

“That’s right. The mont the royal dynasty of the Kingdom of Daon changes, the Ragnar Family will gain a foothold to advance into the continent.”

Tap tap tap—

The man in the black mask, who had been moving only his fingers, nodded his head.

As his subordinates said, it did not seem right to discard the Daon royal family without using them at all.

“If an heir of the Frostfire has appeared, then restraint will be necessary. Send four Dark Knights to the Kingdom of Daon. No matter if he is the successor of the Frostfire, he won’t be able to deal with four of them.”

“Yes, understood, Leader.”

With that, the eting held beneath the royal palace was dissolved.

When nearly ten people vanished at once, the man in the black mask remained behind until the end and shook his head.

“Eliminating Eric Light and taking control of this kingdom was a good move, but the problem is that we don’t know the whereabouts of the White Devil.”

At his low mutter, a masked man who had been hiding in the darkness revealed himself.

He brought his hands neatly together and bowed his head.

“He is definitely alive. We must never let our guard down.”

“I know. He’s the one who drove us to the edge of the cliff. But just where on earth has soone like that hidden himself….”

“……He may have been involved with the Ragnar Family. Kyle Ragnar, who raised a family that wouldn’t have been strange to collapse to this extent, is suspicious.”

“Hm.”

“He must be soone clearly connected to Ian Kailers. This is just my intuition, but…… there is a need to confirm it.”

The man nodded at the masked figure’s words and rose from his seat.

“You will personally lead the Dark Knights and move to the Kingdom of Daon. You must return after confirming it for certain.”

“I will do so.”

The masked man bowed his head and vanished from his place.

“Ian Kailers…… others aside, you and that reaper-like bastard—I will never let you slip away.”

Ian Kailers and Seros.

They were dangerous individuals who must never be allowed to escape, and targets that absolutely had to be eliminated for the sake of the newly reborn organization.

After all, those two had utterly shattered the organization he belonged to.

The problem, however, was that he still had not grasped where they were.

“……I will definitely find you and erase you with my own hands.”

The man in the black mask sat back down and closed his eyes.

Among the cities of the Kingdom of Daon, the one closest to the North.

In the large city of Darin, a fierce battle of offense and defense was unfolding.

The opponent was monsters, and they were a force massive enough to surround an entire tropolis.

“Hold them back! Knights must defend the top of the wall at all costs!”

Daira, who had been endlessly swinging his sword while urging on the soldiers until his throat went hoarse, bit his lip hard.

They were being pushed back.

With small monsters climbing up onto the walls one by one, even the knights were struggling.

Moreover, the monsters did not need siege weapons.

The large monsters themselves were already playing the role of siege weapons.

They not only hurled small monsters onto the walls, but also took on the role of smashing the walls apart with brute force.

‘We have to deal with the large monsters first, sohow. If we don’t, this fight is over.’

But he could not tell whether he should throw out a reckless move or endure as they were.

There was only one thing Daira knew for certain.

If they failed to deal with the large monsters now, the walls would be breached.

Having finally made his decision, he gripped his sword tightly with both hands.

“Commander! Going down there now is suicide!”

“If we can’t take out even one large monster, it’s the end. It’s better that I move myself.”

“No, Commander!”

As Daira tried to throw himself down from the wall, the knights nearby desperately grabbed onto his body.

If Daira went down from the wall here, it was obvious without even looking that he would be caught in the monsters’ encirclent and never make it back out.

The only reason they were holding out at all was because of Daira’s encouragent and command.

There was no way the knights did not know that an army that lost its commander would eventually beco nothing more than a rabble.

As the knights desperately restrained Daira like that, a thunderous shout suddenly rang out from the rear.

“……Reinforcents?”

“It seems so, Commander! We just need to hold on for now!”

Daira’s movent, as he tried to shake off the knights and go down from the wall, finally stopped.

Hiiiiiing—!

The cry of a horse was heard from the front of the wall.

The only forces that could move from that direction right now were troops belonging to the North.

Before long, a detachnt of cavalry, all mounted troops, entered Daira’s field of vision.

‘……Why is the Ragnar Family here?’

The flag held in the hands of the cavalry at the very front.

Recognizing from afar that it bore the emblem symbolizing the Ragnar Family, Daira let out a low groan.

He was so shocked he was left speechless.

Above all, the most astonishing sight was a man riding atop a blue wolf, his white hair fluttering, as he drew a red sword.

“Ragnar Knight Order!”

Kyle’s powerful voice flowed through the ranks following behind him.

At that, the Ragnar Knight Order swiftly dismounted and pulled steel bows from their backs.

“Exterminate all monsters!”

With those words, Kyle spurred the frost beneath him and charged forward.

The monsters that had been assaulting the wall turned their heads when they heard human voices from behind.

Krrroooar—!

The monsters let out a loud roar at the sight of Kyle appearing in their rear.

But then, so of the monsters, upon recognizing Kyle’s face, jerked their shoulders in shock and recoiled in terror.

The very man who had driven them out of the mountain range.

A human who had fearsoly emanated the Ice Dragon’s energy, one of the absolute rulers of the range.

Grrrk— grrk!

Thrown into sudden chaos, the monsters desperately rushed toward the wall, trying at all costs to distance themselves from Kyle.

Although he was not currently releasing the Ice Dragon’s energy, Kyle had already beco an object of terror to the monsters.

While Kyle charged toward the wall atop the frost, the Ragnar Knight Order remaining in the rear drew the strings of their steel bows.

“Aim!”

Akun, standing at the front, gave the order.

At that, part of the Northern Army aid at the monsters and prepared to fire their arrows.

“Provide cover for the Grand General! Fire!”

The ten thousand troops deployed behind the Ragnar Knight Order released their bowstrings simultaneously at Akun’s shout.

Although the roughly fifty thousand strong Northern Army had been split apart, there was no problem.

Srrrng—

Those within the Ragnar Knight Order who were not carrying steel bows.

Denny, Taro, and Zero drew their swords at the sa ti.

“Hyah!”

Denny spurred his horse first, charging swiftly toward the monsters trying to cling to the wall.

Right behind him, Taro and Zero stuck close, staring at the monsters with eyes filled with fervor.

Daira, who had been watching the entire scene, clicked his tongue and then turned his head.

“Block the monsters climbing the wall!”

The exhausted troops, buoyed by their commander’s thunderous voice, began to draw out their strength once more.

At the sa ti, arrows that precisely pierced the monsters climbing up onto the wall greatly aided those defending atop it.

No sooner had the rain of arrows ceased than Kyle reached the monsters’ rear.

At that sight, the mbers of the Ragnar Knight Order slung their bows back onto their backs and mounted their horses again.

“Leave no monster alive—hunt them all!”

The Ragnar Knight Order and the ten thousand troops surged toward the monsters like a tidal wave.

As the Northern Army revealed itself not only from the front but from all directions, the tide of battle began to change rapidly.

At the ranks of the Northern Army charging in from all sides, the soldiers atop the wall let out cheers.

Clenching their teeth with the thought that if they held out, they would win and survive, they fought the monsters climbing up the wall.

Duke Zaira, watching the Northern Army from the rear, was left speechless.

He had long known that the army of the North was strong.

However, the royal forces were no small matter either, so he had believed there was enough chance of victory.

Had it not been for the monsters, he thought the civil war would have tilted toward the royal family, but that had been nothing more than a foolish notion.

“……So this is what it ans to be a Master.”

Duke Zaira, who had been keeping his mouth shut, lanted as he followed Kyle’s movents.

At the sight of monsters charging in from all directions being cut down by overwhelming force, goosebumps rose all over his body.

Recalling the ti when Kyle had co to the royal palace, Duke Zaira shuddered.

“……Was he holding back all this ti?”

The problem of the mountain range and the lords joining forces.

And the fact that Kyle had prioritized the growth of his family—Duke Zaira had not known.

That Kyle had restrained himself from clashing with the royal family until now had also been to buy ti.

Not knowing that, they had given ti to the Ragnar Family, and putting forward a fool like Count Henson had been the greatest factor in their defeat.

They had not even fought yet, but the outco of this civil war was already visible.

Even the operation of their troops was efficient.

The soldiers who had been firing arrows until Kyle entered their range switched their stance.

They charged straight forward, pressing the monsters whose formations had collapsed.

“Your Grace, the martial prowess of those three following behind Kyle Ragnar is no small matter either.”

In particular, Taro’s movents—cutting down large monsters in a single stroke with just one sword—were overwhelming.

“No matter how much their strength has weakened, Ragnar is still Ragnar.”

“……The Kingdom of Daon is finished now. If you take the lead in opening a new dynasty even now, Kyle Ragnar will take it into consideration.”

Duke Zaira silently nodded at the knight’s words.

But even if Daira could live, he felt certain that he himself would never be spared.

Or else, after the civil war ended, he was sure he would be pressured and completely driven out of the political sphere.

When Kyle Ragnar had frozen the Temporary Grand Hall, Duke Zaira had felt that Kyle was not the sort to show rcy to his enemies.

No—if he had been soft-hearted to begin with, he would never have allowed the monsters to spill into the Kingdom of Daon.

‘This makes it certain that the one who moved the monsters was Kyle Ragnar. It would be the optimal way to crush the royal family’s montum and gain the support of the kingdom’s citizens.’

Kyle’s choice might have been ruthless, but Duke Zaira had no desire to criticize that decision of mobilizing the monsters.

All he could do was admire it.

He also seed to understand why Kyle had given him a chance to choose.

‘All that needs to be done is to strike down the royal family and the nobles who follow them. If the civil war drags on, the suffering of the kingdom’s citizens will only grow. The reason he gave

a choice must have been to reduce the citizens’ suffering.’

Duke Zaira, who had been lowering his head and letting out a low hum, finally made his decision.

“Support the Northern Army and exterminate the monsters. Issue the order to prepare for an all-out attack.”

Even if they approached Kyle pretending to be allies and struck him from behind, they could not win.

Not all of the Northern Army had rushed to Darin, after all.

So troops had been deployed to the rear, already prepared for an attack by Duke Zaira’s forces.

At Kyle’s terrifyingly thorough situational judgnt, Duke Zaira finally raised both hands in surrender.

‘King Clover will never be able to stop the Ragnar Family and Kyle Ragnar. For the Zaira Family to survive, there is no choice but this.’

Only by directing the kingdom’s citizens’ bla toward the royal family could his house survive.

Moreover, since King Clover had abandoned the Zaira Family first, he judged that there was no need to uphold any loyalty toward him.

The desperation to save his family outweighed the misery of having to witness the end of the Kingdom of Daon with his own eyes.

After all, he hoped that even his son, Daira, might live on while being acknowledged.

‘Loyalty to the kingdom is no longer necessary. If my son and my family can survive, I can beco a traitor as many tis as it takes.’

As the Duke Zaira Army was advancing toward Darin like that.

From their rear, Acacia cast a sharp gaze.

Then, the one who should have been at Chaplin Castle—Seros—revealed himself together with the additional ten thousand troops sent by the Ragnar Family.

“So that decision just now saved the Zaira Family, Acacia.”

Acacia nodded at Seros’s words.

“Lord, even so, we must not let our guard down.”

“He’s a snake-like man, so of course we mustn’t be careless. Still, he doesn’t seem like one who would make a foolish choice.”

If Duke Zaira had chosen to attack the Northern Army from the rear, Seros would have rcilessly cut off Duke Zaira’s head.

Letting out a faint chuckle, he instantly changed his expression and raised his hand.

“From this mont on, we join our lord.”