Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 139

As the Red Mas’s [a massive, heavily armed spaceship] shoulder armor disengaged, Kang Chan, who had been inside, tumbled forward.

Sylphiris caught him and gently flew down, landing on the ground with Kang Chan cradled in her arms.

Zekeon, who had transformed back into her human form, rushed to Kang Chan and anxiously checked his condition.

“Hey, Chan! Are you okay?”

His breathing was shallow, his pulse weak, and his complexion pale; he looked terrible.

The only thing keeping Kang Chan alive was Sylphiris’s healing rune [a magical symbol that provides healing energy].

Zekeon, exhausted from the long-distance space travel and repeated uses of her power, squeezed out the last of her mana to heal Kang Chan with the most potent healing magic she could muster.

“Wake up! Open your eyes!”

Kang Chan, his health instantly restored by Zekeon’s healing magic, slowly blinked his eyes open.

“Wh-where am I?”

“Where else would you be but home?”

“How did I get here?”

Just before losing consciousness, Kang Chan had been sure he was going to die.

He’d felt that if he closed his eyes, he’d never open them again.

But when he opened them, he was alive.

He couldn’t believe it.

He had survived using the final battle mode not once, but twice.

“Did you think I’d let you face this alone?”

“You saved me?”

“Yeah, you idiot…”

Zekeon collapsed against Kang Chan’s chest after saying those words, startling him.

“Hey! Zekeon! What’s wrong? Zekeon!”

As Kang Chan struggled to sit up, Sylphiris reassured him.

“It’s okay; she just used too much mana and fell asleep for a bit.”

“Are you sure she’s okay?”

“She’ll be fine after a short nap. Don’t worry.”

“Okay…”

Kang Chan took a shaky breath at Sylphiris’s words.

But soon, he grabbed Sylphiris more urgently and asked, “What about the Master? What happened to the Master?”

“He’s safe too. He’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”

“Where is he now? I need to see him with my own eyes.”

As Kang Chan tried to get up, Sylphiris gently pushed his forehead.

“Why don’t you take care of yourself first?”

“But!”

Sylphiris cut him off and used her magic to float him and Zekeon into the air, carrying them toward a nearby barracks.

“Hey! Let me go! I need to see the Master!”

“Get some rest first. Then we’ll talk.”

“Let me go! I said let me go!”

“Who do you think you are, trying to take care of others when you can’t even break free from this simple binding? Go to sleep! Sleep!”

Kang Chan gradually succumbed to Sylphiris’s Sleep spell.

It was a spell that wouldn’t normally work on a Sword Master-level expert, but Kang Chan was too weakened to resist, especially with a dragon casting it.

Sylphiris had many questions about the tremendous abilities he had displayed, but she decided to postpone them until he had regained his strength.

Kang Chan opened his eyes exactly two days later.

Even though Zekeon had completely healed his body, the mental exhaustion was considerable.

Fortunately, Kang Chan seemed no different than before, which he found astonishing.

Before coming to this planet, he had seen countless comrades who had undergone physical modifications like him die on the battlefield after using the final battle mode.

Their whole bodies swelled up, displaying tremendous power, and then they aged rapidly in an instant.

But he had used such power twice and survived unscathed.

No matter how lucky he was, he couldn’t have survived twice.

Kang Chan couldn’t help but wonder why.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on it now.

There were too many things he had to do.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he summoned the representatives of all races.

The time had come to start a full-scale war.

He had to strike at the enemy’s heart before the weapon production facilities and fortresses he had risked his life to destroy were restored.

49. The Final War

The Continental Allied Forces, reorganized on the Laksha Continent, began to move to the mainland through a huge space 이동 magic circle [teleportation circle].

A powerful army of 1 million soldiers armed with modern weapons and magical enhancements, along with a vast amount of weapons and military supplies.

The place they arrived at was the Elf Forest, where the Red Mas was hidden.

As the Continental Allied Forces began to gather around the Red Mas, the Red Mas also began to prepare for battle.

As the Red Mas’s engine roared to life, emitting full power, an anti-gravity magnetic field formed, and the massive Red Mas began to slowly rise.

Kugugugugung…

It was the moment when the sleeping giant battle fortress was resurrected.

As the enormous hull pulled itself free from the cliff, the cliff face crumbled, and the assembled Continental Allied Forces soldiers cheered wildly at the magnificent sight.

They gazed at the alien battleship that would become their reliable ally.

The resurrected Red Mas’s main computer began to run diagnostics.

-Pluton reaction. Clear.

-Anti-gravity magnetic field. Clear.

-Weapon control system. Clear.

-Energy shield. Clear.

-In-ship life support system. Clear.

-Communication system. Error.

The Earth’s communication system was still damaged because the dwarves hadn’t been able to restore it, but the ship was equipped with a magical communication system as a backup.

Having completed its self-diagnosis, the Red Mas determined it was ready for battle.

-All clear. Battle possible. Launch preparation complete.

“Good.”

Kang Chan clenched his fist.

The battleship, which had seemed like nothing more than scrap metal, had miraculously resurrected.

As the battleship slowly moved forward, rising into the sky, the soldiers who had gathered also began to move, following it.

The place they were heading, under the escort of the Red Mas, was Bellaren, the capital of the Visman Empire.

It was where the Zvezda [another spaceship] was lurking.

As the Red Mas began to move, an emergency was declared on the bridge of the Zvezda.

The appearance of the Red Mas, which had been impossible to find, had triggered the alarm.

-Warning! Warning! Enemy battleship detected! Enemy battleship detected!

“No! Where the hell was it hiding?”

The Zvezda members looked panicked.

The enemy battleship they had been most worried about had appeared.

They didn’t know where the enemy battleship they had been searching for had suddenly appeared, but they knew they were in trouble.

If it was a battleship from Earth, they couldn’t afford to be careless.

“Is everyone gathered?”

“Yes, Captain.”

The nine Zvezda members, fully armed, gathered on the bridge and looked at Benziller.

“I’m sure you’re all shaken by the sudden appearance of the Red Mas, but as you all know, the enemy battleship is inferior to us in every way! So there’s no need to panic. What was our purpose in coming here in the first place?”

At Benziller’s words, all the Zvezda members answered in unison.

“Destruction of the enemy battleship that departed first! And the imperialization of Neo Earth!”

“That’s right; only the order has changed. Nothing else will change. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Captain!”

Benziller, as the leader of the team, calmly reassured the members and boosted morale.

The news that the Continental Allied Forces were leading the army north again towards Bellaren soon spread throughout the continent.

Then, the nobles of each kingdom, who had been hiding and waiting for the right moment, began to join the Continental Allied Forces with their troops.

Although the troops they led were small, the ranks of such nobles swelled, and the army of the Continental Allied Forces began to grow considerably.

In addition, as the kings of each kingdom, who had been hiding and closely cooperating with the Laksha Continent, began to join with their troops, the number of the Continental Allied Forces exploded.

Even in the midst of this, large and small battles continued to occur.

Both sides were armed with modernized weapons, but the Continental Allied Forces’ weapons were far superior in performance to the green elf’s weapons, so they were able to continue their winning streak day after day.

They had guns and armor that had been upgraded with powerful performance, and Gigantes [giant robots].

The Continental Allied Forces, armed with such new weapons, advanced towards Bellaren with unstoppable force.

Saxen, who was watching the advancing soldiers from the bridge of the Red Mas, asked Kang Chan.

“Everything is going smoothly.”

“Yes.”

“But I’m worried. I feel like we’re walking into the enemy’s trap.”

“I feel the same way.”

A moment of silence passed between them, and Duke Saxen spoke again, sipping his usual coffee.

“Do you think this war has a chance of winning, in your opinion?”

“I’ve never thought about the odds. It’s a war we have to win no matter what.”

“That’s the same for me. I’ll fight to the end even if there’s no chance of winning. I just want to know as a commander.”

“……”

Kang Chan knew very well that this war with the Earth Forces had no chance of winning at all.

There was a military disadvantage between Neo Earth and the Earth Forces that could never be overcome.

But he never gave up.

He was just trying his best without giving up until the end.

But it was difficult to tell Saxen that.

He was currently the leader of a race and the core of the Continental Allied Forces.

There was no point in letting him know that the Earthlings had thousands more ships like the Zvezda.

They needed hope right now.

“If we can capture the enemy battleship, the Continental Allied Forces will definitely have a chance of winning. But if we can’t capture the enemy battleship, the victory of the ground forces is meaningless.”

Saxen knew that well even if Kang Chan didn’t say it.

He had been badly hurt once before.

No matter how powerful the soldiers were armed with new weapons, they couldn’t stand up to the monster-like enemy battleship flying in the sky.

The Continental Allied Forces, which had recovered the stolen Sorpen Kingdom and Philips Kingdom, established logistics bases there and began the final advance towards Bellaren.

But then the display on the bridge of the Red Mas turned red, and the warning lights came on.

-Warning! Warning! Enemy battleship detected! Garipja [powerful energy weapon] reaction!

The enemy launched a strong counterattack at the border, as if they would not allow the Red Mas to approach Bellaren.

“Maximize energy shield output! Respond! Garipja charge!”

Although it was smaller, the Red Mas was not easily defeated.

A huge stream of energy like light struck the Red Mas head-on, and the split stream of light caused a huge explosion in all directions.

The explosion was so powerful that it could melt a small mountain in an instant.

But the Red Mas, protected by a powerful energy shield, immediately responded to the enemy with its own Garipja cannon without sustaining any damage.

As the Garipja cannon fired from the Red Mas flew beyond the horizon, another huge shock shook the earth.

Kugugugugugung…

It was an aerial battle of tremendous power that made even a dragon’s breath seem weak.

The countless soldiers watching the battle between battleships on the ground were speechless.

They watched the unbelievable otherworldly battle.

-The enemy battleship is increasing its altitude.

“We also increase our altitude.”

-Yes, Captain.

The two battleships flew close to the atmosphere.

A moment of silence passed between them.

“What’s the scheme? Why aren’t they attacking?”

Kang Chan wondered, looking at the enemy battleship that was not attacking even though it had superior firepower.

While a heavy silence weighed down the bridge, suddenly a communication came from the enemy battleship.

-A communication has come from the enemy battleship via hotline. Shall I connect you, Captain?

The facilities for communicating with the solar system far away in space were destroyed, but these short-range communication devices were still intact, so communication with them was possible.

“Connect it.”

-Yes, connecting the communication.

Everyone paid attention to the enemy’s communication, and a man’s face appeared on the huge main display on the bridge.

It was a man Kang Chan knew well.

It was Benziller, the leader of Zvezda, Red Mas’s long-time rival.

『Long time no see, Captain Kang Chan.』

“Yes, it’s been a while, Benziller.”

『To meet again like this in this vast universe… I guess we really have a connection.』

“It must be a bad relationship… Anyway, what are you doing here?”

『Kekeke… Why? Can’t I come here? Aren’t you and I pursuing the same goal anyway?』

“……”

Kang Chan flinched at Benziller’s words.