—ROAAAAAR!
The wyverns’ monstrous roars tangled chaotically throughout the North’s southern cliff region.
Black smoke and clouds of dirt continued to rise between the ravines, while wyverns darted wildly through the air between them.
The situation was little different for Walter and the knight order racing beneath the cliffs.
“Wyverns ahead! Three in total!”
Walter, standing at the vanguard, shouted a warning.
At once, the knights behind him raised their shields in unison and assumed a defensive formation.
Then Walter clenched his fist without the slightest hesitation.
—KABOOOM!!
He struck the face of the wyvern flying toward him with all his strength.
Its jaw twisted with a sickening crack, and the wyvern lost its balance and slammed into the ground.
It writhed and thrashed, but the knights behind Walter immediately pushed forward with their shields and swiftly dispatched it.
“Good grief. No matter how many times I see it, it leaves me speechless.”
“Tell me about it.”
Several knights let out hollow laughs and muttered among themselves.
Ordinarily, shieldbearers stood at the vanguard.
And the commander usually occupied the very rear of the formation.
But the northern knight order was a little different.
Walter always stood at the vanguard.
And his guard knight, Lenin, was always beside him.
“Lenin! Two ahead, one on the left!”
“Understood. I will take the one on the left.”
Walter caught an oncoming wyvern by the back of its neck with his bare hand and smashed it into both sides of the cliff.
—CRUNCH...KABOOM!!
At the same time, the instant Lenin drew her sword with a sharp ring, a silver flash burst forth.
SLASH—
The wyvern’s wing was severed, and it staggered before dropping helplessly.
Thanks to them, most of what the knights behind them had to do was hold up their shields and finish off the wyverns the pair had shot down at the vanguard.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been an absurdly inefficient strategy.
But through the overwhelming might of Walter and Lenin alone, the northern knight order was breaking through the cliffs faster than any formation on the continent.
Then again, His Grace had always been like this.
Not once had he ever retreated on the battlefield.
He always stood at the very front and raised the knights’ morale.
He possessed an innate genius for martial combat.
His strength and charisma carried an almost demonic power that always overwhelmed everyone around him.
And the present was no exception.
“First-rank shieldbearers, spread out!”
“Yes, understood!”
At Walter’s command, the knights in the rear quickly raised their shields and split to the left and right.
—CLANK!
A wall formed across the middle of the cliff path.
Walter judged the timing, raised his shield, and shouted.
“Second rank. Attack!”
—STAB! STAB! STAB!
The knights in the second rank thrust their spears forward in unison.
The formation resembled an ancient Greek phalanx.
The low-flying wyverns beneath the cliffs were impaled upon the sharp spearheads, opening the path in an instant.
“Continue the advance!”
With Walter at the lead, the knights charged along the newly opened path.
Their momentum was unstoppable, like a blade splitting bamboo.
How much time had passed?
Just as Walter and the knight order were nearing the end of the cliff path—
—STEP.
Walter glanced up toward the top of the cliffs.
An iron net had already been spread above, leaving the wyverns tangled together.
It seemed the knight order led by Von had succeeded.
Thanks to them, most of the wyverns were trapped above, leaving only a relatively small number below where Walter stood.
At this rate, breaking through the cliffs and joining the main force would not be particularly difficult.
But then it happened.
SCREEECH!
Directly above Walter’s head—
As the panicked wyverns flew about wildly, several collided with one another, lost their balance, and fell.
There were five or six of them at a glance.
Worse, the impact caused the nearby cliff to collapse, sending a massive pile of rocks pouring down over their heads.
—RRRUMBLE...!
Walter clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow.
“Everyone, pick up the pace!”
I’ll clear the way.
At the same time, a blue haze began shimmering along the blade of Walter’s sword.
It was the energy commonly known as sword energy.
The blue haze grew steadily denser.
And just before the rocks came crashing down—
Walter gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands and swung.
‘Levior Sword Art, First Form. Snow Wave.’
—KABOOM...!
A surging wave of blue energy erupted all at once along the path of Walter’s sword (sword trajectory).
Sword energy spread outward like a massive wave.
The attack struck not only the falling rocks, but also the wyverns plummeting after losing their balance.
—THUD! THUD...CRASH! THUD!
Their trajectories were twisted aside, and they crashed down narrowly beside the knight order.
Thanks to him, every knight except Walter safely broke through the cliff path.
But one man still remained.
Walter.
And as though things were not already bad enough—
Grrrrrr!
A particularly large black wyvern that had been hidden behind the falling rocks and the other wyverns charged fiercely toward him.
“Lord Walter!!”
Lenin hurriedly ran toward Walter.
Or rather, she tried to.
But she was already one step too late.
Then, at that moment—
A resounding voice shook the cliffs.
“Get away from His Grace at once!”
—RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
A black-armored knight riding a black mountain goat raced past Lenin and charged toward the wyvern.
His bold courage showed not the slightest trace of hesitation.
The wyvern flying toward Walter flinched at the knight’s momentum and faltered.
“Got you, bastard!”
—CLANK...!
Walter grinned, seized the opening, and raised the sword in both hands in an upward slash.
SWISH—
The sharp blade left a long wound across the charging wyvern’s right eye.
The injured black wyvern hurriedly beat its wings and retreated.
“Your Grace, take my hand!”
At the same time, the black-armored knight drove the mountain goat onward and reached toward Walter.
Walter seized his hand.
—WHOOSH!
The black-armored knight pulled him up, safely seating Walter behind him as they escaped the cliff path.
No sooner had they cleared it than the rocks came crashing down and blocked the route behind them.
Had they been even slightly later, they would have been trapped inside the cliffs with no way out.
Before long—
“Whoa, whoa.”
The knight calmed the mountain goat and looked at Walter.
“Your Grace, are you unharmed?”
Then he removed his helmet.
He was none other than Sir Von Bayern.
The Knight Commander of the North, who had led the main force there.
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’m safe.”
Walter smirked and sheathed his sword.
He had known he could rely on him.
Then Walter draped the black fur coat Von handed him over his shoulders—the symbol of the Grand Duke of the North.
“So, what is the current state of the battle?”
Von bowed his head and answered at once.
“Yes. Your plan worked perfectly, Your Grace. As you can see, most of the wyverns are trapped helplessly within the cliffs and cannot form a proper formation. Once we locate and eliminate the leader, the remaining wyvern group should be easy to suppress.”
“Was the one from a moment ago the leader?”
Walter recalled the black wyvern whose right eye he had wounded just before escaping the cliff path.
Come to think of it, that bastard had been particularly large compared to the other wyverns.
Most likely—
“Yes, precisely.”
“Then what about the former leader?”
The leader of the original faction.
Considering it had not shown itself even amid all this commotion, it seemed to be hiding somewhere even now.
Von slowly opened his mouth.
“We believe it is currently in a ravine some distance from the southern cliff region. We are keeping watch on that area.”
Immediately after Walter, who had infiltrated the nest, detonated the bombs—
They had confirmed that several wyverns immediately left the cliffs and fled toward the ravine.
That was most likely the group belonging to the former leader that had lost the struggle for power.
“Good. Then we’ll leave that side alone for now and focus on subjugating the current leader.”
“Yes, understood.”
Walter, Von, and the rest of the knight order quickly moved out.
Their destination was the upper section of the cliffs, where the main force was positioned.
***
Atop the southern cliff region—
The knights of the main force were gripping the iron net with all their strength, preventing the wyverns from escaping.
“Hey! Pull harder on the right!”
“Damn it, I’m already pulling as hard as I can!”
Fortunately, they had succeeded in spreading the iron net before the wyverns could escape the cliff region.
But the greater problem began now.
It was a fierce tug-of-war between the wyverns and the knight order.
—CREAAAAK...!
Even now, the wyverns repeatedly slammed their entire bodies against the net and tore at it with their claws and teeth as they struggled to escape.
—GRIND, GRIND! CRASH! BANG!
Each time, the iron net jerked and shuddered violently.
Had it not been specially made by the Magic Tower, it would have snapped long ago.
“Damn it....”
The palms of several knights had already split open, and red blood flowed from them.
Just how much longer did they have to hold on?
The knights clenched their teeth and glanced down beneath the cliffs.
Fortunately, His Grace appeared to have escaped with Knight Commander Von.
We have to at least earn the meat we ate at the banquet.
With that thought, they tightened their grips even further.
But then it happened.
—KABOOM!
A tremendous impact came from ahead.
The men holding the net hurriedly turned their heads.
And there—
—KABOOOM!!
A particularly massive wyvern repeatedly slammed its body against the net.
More importantly, there was a long sword wound across its right eye.
It was the leader of the wyvern group.
“Damn it! Hold tighter!”
“Fuck, you think I don’t know that?!”
The knights were already gripping the net with all their strength.
The wyvern group’s resistance was simply too fierce.
Then, in an instant—
—SNAP.
Their resistance stopped.
Is it over?
The knights had barely begun to breathe sighs of relief when—
ROAAAAAR!
At the leader’s monstrous roar, the other wyverns slammed their bodies into the net in unison.
—RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
“Damn it!”
The impact caused several knights to lose their grips and tumble backward.
The leader did not miss the opening.
—SHWOOOOOSH!
The leader shot upward from below at tremendous speed.
And before long—
—KABOOOOM!!
It struck like a massive missile being launched.
A deafening blast rang out, and the iron net surged violently.
The impact was incomparably greater than any before it.
“AAAAARGH!”
The knights holding the front of the net were sent flying along with it.
At last, the leader broke through the encirclement and soared into the sky.
—FLAP...!
It immediately began fleeing the cliff region at great speed.
But then—
—RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
Someone riding a black mountain goat raced across the clifftop from behind.
And that man was none other than—
“Y-Your Grace?!”
Walter, the Grand Duke of the North.
“Hyah!”
Walter drove the mountain goat faster and fiercely pursued the leader.
The black mountain goat.
Because of the North’s harsh environment, its people had chosen mountain goats instead of importing warhorses.
And when it came to cliff terrain in particular, there was no monster capable of matching the speed of a black mountain goat.
Walter rapidly closed the gap between himself and the wyvern.
But at this rate, the edge of the cliff lay directly ahead.
The wyvern had wings, so that posed no problem for it.
Walter was another matter.
Yet Walter accelerated instead of slowing down.
He intended to settle the battle before reaching the end of the cliff.
—RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
Then, suddenly, a familiar voice called to Walter from behind.
“Lord Walter!”
It was Lenin, his guard knight.
She threw something wrapped in white cloth toward Walter.
“Sir Bayern told me to give you this...!”
It was an object Sir Bayern had asked her to deliver to the Grand Duke.
Could this be...?
Walter caught the object and gave a small nod.
If his guess was correct, this was the perfect weapon for the present situation.
At the same time, just before he reached the cliff’s edge—
Walter kicked off the black mountain goat’s back and hurled himself toward the wyvern.
—WHOOSH...!
The white cloth that had covered the object unfurled and scattered through the air.
And what emerged from within was a sword of piercing white.
More importantly, the blade was engraved with House Levior’s emblem and words in the ancient language of the North.
<At last, an end is proclaimed to the endless winter.>
The Winter.
It was the famed sword passed down through House Levior, and the second symbol of the head of the house after the ring.
Walter drew up every last trace of mana remaining in his mana heart.
—HISSS....
The letters engraved upon the blade began to shine, and frost formed across its surface.
The one who inherited the Heart of Winter.
Those words were not merely a metaphor for the Grand Duke of the North.
They referred to the secret cultivation method passed down through House Levior (House).
It was a secret technique for the Leviors—one that only a Levior could wield.
In response to Walter’s mana heart, The Winter’s blade shone pure white.
—HISSS...ROAAAAAR!
The sword energy was as flawlessly white as the North’s eternal snow.
At the same moment—
—SQUELCH!
Walter’s sword pierced directly through the leader’s heart.
And then—
—CRACK...CRRRUNCH!!
The sword pierced through the wyvern’s heart in a single strike and embedded itself in the cliff behind it.
But most astonishing of all were the dozens of sharp ice thorns that erupted along the pure-white blade.
The sight was the very image of an ice flower blooming in winter.
At last, an end would be proclaimed to the endless winter, and when it ended, spring would come and flowers would bloom.
This was the secret technique passed down through House Levior.
Flower of Ice Thorns.
Pure-white ice crystals scattered around Walter.
“Lord David, are you watching.......?”
The sight before them was that of the true master of the North, the one who had inherited the Heart of Winter.
Sir Von Bayern, a retainer (vassal) who had served House Levior since Walter’s father’s time, smiled faintly and murmured.
“At last, the North’s true master has been born.”
At the very edge of the southern cliff region—
Walter’s sword finally ended the leader’s life.
It was the signal announcing the conclusion of the battle to reclaim the North Road.