Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 131

퓨쳐나이트 131

At Kang Chan’s words, Sachsen spoke in an even gloomier voice.

“But the main force has already been annihilated. What good will it do to divert only the Knights? It’s only a matter of time before they swallow the continent. So, it’s better to just stay here and fight to the end…”

At Duke Sachsen’s words, which sounded as if he had given up, Kang Chan urged him.

“No! It’s not time to give up yet! There is a way to fight them. So, save as many knights as possible and retreat towards the Elven Forest.”

“Th-then what about the Empire? Are you telling me to betray my country?”

“This is not betrayal. It’s waiting for the right moment. If you lead the Knights back to the Visman Empire, the enemies will definitely strike there first to eliminate any knights who could pose a threat to them. If that happens, there will be no counterattack or anything.”

Duke Sachsen obediently followed Kang Chan’s opinion in a somber tone.

“I understand. I will follow Kang Chan’s judgment.”

“You’ve made a good decision. I’ll see you in the Elven Forest. I’ll take care of the rear.”

Kang Chan once again soared into the sky with Levitation and hurled Aura Blades at the fighters.

Duke Sachsen, looking up at Kang Chan, gathered mana and shouted in a loud voice.

“All troops, rapid retreat!”

At the words ‘rapid retreat,’ the infantrymen’s faces turned pale.

This was because rapid retreat only applied to the Gigantes [large, powerful warriors] and cavalry.

It meant abandoning the infantry and fleeing at maximum speed.

The Zvezda members were very excited.

They were looking at the corpses of the dragons they had hunted.

To them, who had only hunted easy prey, the existence of dragons was like a welcome rain after a drought.

Dragons were powerful enough to be worth risking their lives to hunt.

Moreover, they were so cool that any man would fall in love with them.

“It’s a shame we missed the other ones…”

“So what? Just because they run away, are they going to another planet? When we conquer this planet, let’s all go dragon hunting together.”

“That’s a good idea, hee hee hee.”

While they were laughing and chatting, Honghakmae cut off the dragon’s head with a high-frequency blade. Then, Lebedev exclaimed in horror.

“Hey! What are you doing? The head is mine!”

“What are you talking about? Finders keepers.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! I’ve been eyeing it since earlier!”

Honghakmae ignored Lebedev’s screams and admired the dragon’s head.

“It’s really cool looking, isn’t it?”

The name of the beheaded dragon was K. Kellion.

He was an ill-fated Black Dragon who received Ziegion’s retreat order immediately after all the Allied forces retreated and attempted to teleport, but his chest was pierced by Garipjapo before the teleportation could even be completed.

His corpse was a treasure trove of materials worth an enormous amount of money that could not be converted into money, but to the humans of Earth who did not know such things, it was just an unknown beast caught in the African savanna.

Tears of blood streamed from Ziegion’s eyes as she watched their atrocities from afar.

“Ziegion…”

A total of three dragons lost their lives in today’s battle.

As a dragon clan with only 16 members, it was a painful sacrifice.

Kang Chan couldn’t do anything for Ziegion.

He could only silently hold her shoulder.

* * *

The news that the human-orc allied forces had been defeated by the green elves spread rapidly throughout the continent, and all the races living on the continent fell into a state of shock.

Who will stop them now?

While all the races of the continent were trembling in fear, the green elves, who had joined hands with the invaders from Earth, advanced even more relentlessly inland.

They advanced with weapons made with technology transferred from Earthlings.

No one could stop them.

Everyone was losing day after day and was busy running away into the interior.

The green elves, who continued their winning streak day after day, had now reached Bellaren, the capital of the Visman Empire, located in the heart of the continent.

But there was nothing that could stop them now.

This was because the Royal Knights led by Duke Sachsen had disappeared after the battle on the Arjan Plains.

The procession of millions of refugees residing in Bellaren stretched out endlessly.

They didn’t know where to run to be safe, but they couldn’t just sit and die, so they started running south unconditionally.

Helainer Dean Fromfel III, the emperor of the Visman Empire, watched the long refugee procession with a look of resignation on his face.

“Father, hurry.”

“Edeline…”

He had already completed all the preparations to defect to another kingdom, but the emperor’s legs would not move easily.

There was no way to stop them on the continent, so how could he escape their grasp by fleeing to another kingdom?

With that thought, the emperor slowly sat down in his office and said in a somber tone.

“Where can the emperor of a country run away to, abandoning his own country?”

“But, Your Majesty… the enemies have already crossed the empire’s borders. It’s only a matter of time before they storm the imperial palace. Your Majesty! First, take refuge in the Sorpen Kingdom and plan for the future…”

At Edeline’s words, the emperor scoffed.

“Hmph, plan for the future? Even the dragons couldn’t stop them, so how can I, a mere human, stop them?”

“But…”

“Edeline.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“It’s a pity I won’t be able to see you get married.”

“Your Majesty!”

Edeline was startled and shouted because she realized what the emperor meant.

“I will remain the emperor until the moment I die as Helainer Dean Fromfel III, the emperor of the Great Visman Empire.”

“Your Majesty! No, Your Majesty!”

At Edeline’s cry, the ministers beside her knelt down and opposed the emperor’s decision.

“Your Majesty! Please reconsider.”

“Your Majesty!”

While they were persuading the emperor, the ceiling of the inner palace collapsed with an explosion.

Kugugugung!

The huge inner palace was filled with dust, and assault boats and Zaids [robotic soldiers] appeared through the dust.

“Who are you!”

“How dare you come here!”

The few remaining imperial guards tried to fight the enemy by emitting Aura Swords. However, the droids that jumped out of the assault boat fired railguns indiscriminately, turning them into unrecognizable chunks of meat.

“Kyaaaa!”

All the ministers in the inner palace lay flat on the floor, trembling in fear and begging for their lives.

“P-please save me. Just save my life.”

As their desperate voices echoed in the inner palace, the door of the assault boat opened and a group of men and women walked out.

“Hmph~ Is this the imperial palace of the most powerful country on this planet? It’s magnificent as expected.”

As the leader of Zvezda stepped into the inner palace, Green and Nemitz also stepped into the inner palace behind him.

They seemed to have a different feeling.

This was because the dream they had hoped for a year ago had finally come true.

“You are…”

The emperor of the Visman Empire recognized Green, a green elf, and Nemitz, a dark elf, and spat out a word full of anger.

“So we finally meet. Are you the emperor of the Visman Empire?”

“…”

“You’re much more handsome than I heard?”

The emperor’s face contorted with anger at Green’s mockery.

“How dare you set foot here…”

“You can’t let go of your pride even though you’re the emperor of a defeated empire. You won’t live long if you do…”

Green’s whip flew towards the emperor in an instant, and the emperor’s head flew into the air.

“Kyaaaaa! Father! Father!”

Edeline’s screams echoed in the vast inner palace as she looked at the emperor, who had suddenly become a cold corpse, but no one moved for her and the emperor.

“With this, this place is now our territory.”

At Green’s words, Benzilla slowly nodded and approached Edeline, who was holding the emperor’s body and crying.

Then, Edeline, who was lost in sorrow, was startled and stepped back when she heard someone approaching her.

Then, she took out a dagger she had prepared for self-defense and threatened Benzilla.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Benzilla stopped for a moment and silently looked at Edeline. Then, he said in a dry tone.

“I like her. I’ll take this child.”

Two years after parting with Kang Chan.

Edeline’s appearance was not the young 18-year-old Edeline of the past.

She had grown into a very beautiful woman.

Like someone said, a woman in love becomes beautiful.

But tragically, her beautiful figure stole Benzilla’s heart.

“Hmph! Who said you could? I’ll kill myself if you come any closer!”

When Edeline put a small dagger to her neck, Benzilla stopped walking for a moment.

However, in the blink of an eye, he grabbed the hand holding Edeline’s dagger and lifted it high into the sky.

Then, Edeline’s small and delicate body was dangling in the sky, led by his rough hands, and the captured Edel groaned in pain.

“Aah! It hurts!”

While Edeline, who had been subdued in an instant, complained of pain from his rough touch, Green and Nemitz looked at Benzilla with surprised eyes.

This was because he, who could not feel any mana, showed the top-level movements of a Sword Expert.

However, they had no way of knowing that it was a product of science through physical modification like Kang Chan.

Benzilla snatched the dagger from Edeline’s hand and threw it away.

Then, the dagger pierced through the solid marble and disappeared.

It was a terrifying power.

Benzilla, who was taking Edeline into the assault boat as if she were a trophy, said coldly.

“Kill the rest.”

“Yes, we’ll do that even if you don’t tell us to.”

Green’s tone was a bit prickly, as if she didn’t like the idea of saving Edeline, but she didn’t show it outwardly because the other party was Benzilla.

Green, who was holding the whip that killed the emperor again, licked her lips.

It was a habit she showed before killing.

When the news that the Visman Empire had fallen into the hands of the green elves reached the dwarf kingdom, Kang Chan’s expression darkened rapidly.

This was because it meant that there were no more countries to oppose them.

Even the Visman Empire, which had the strongest military power on the Arcanador continent, was destroyed in just one night, so there was no way the other remaining kingdoms could do anything about it.

It was only a matter of time before they ruled the Arcanador continent.

Kang Chan sent magical communications to the remaining kingdoms through Arteon.

He said that further resistance was meaningless.

Kang Chan told them to rather hide in the deep mountains and wait for the right time together.

Those who received Arteon’s communication also had the same thought as Kang Chan.

This was because they all knew very well that what they wanted was not surrender.

Currently, a bloody purge was taking place every day in the green elf-occupied territories.

The nobles were unconditionally hanged, and wealthy merchants were also put on the gallows.

They were called bourgeois [middle-class citizens] who sucked the blood of the people.

It was not the green elves or Zvezda who put them on the gallows, but ordinary commoners and slaves.

This was because Zvezda had transferred that right to them.

It was a sweet talk for them to stabilize the occupied territories, and it was a foundation of communism.

One month later.

Green and Nemitz, who had successfully conquered the entire Arcanador continent and returned, entered the imperial palace of Bellaren, sounding the victory.

Green, wearing brilliant silver armor, looked like a holy knight.

Nemitz, walking side by side with her on a horse, looked like a magician or a priest because of the robe he wore to avoid the sun.

Humans who welcomed them enthusiastically.

They were smiling with their mouths, but they were shedding tears of blood inside.

But they never showed it.

The only way to survive in this world, which had already become their world, was to show them as much as possible.

With fake smiles, they generously sprinkled the flower petals that the children had worked hard to pick from dawn on their heads.

The gate of the huge imperial palace opened, and Green and Nemitz, who entered the imperial palace, sat on the emperor’s throne and conveyed the victory to Benzilla, who was greeting them with an indifferent expression.

“Benzilla-nim, as you said, we have completed all the occupation of the eastern kingdom.”

“The southern kingdoms have also been completed. This continent is now yours.”

Even with Green and Nemitz’s victory report, Benzilla’s expression did not change. As if it were natural.

“Everyone has worked very hard. I have prepared a welcome banquet for you, so come inside.”

As Benzilla headed to the banquet hall with his subordinates, Green and Nemitz, who followed them, also moved behind them.

Then, they exchanged glances with each other secretly.