He burned even the last remaining undead.
‘It looks like they do not have Life Force Vessels. Were they hastily made Liches?’
The two Liches had nothing like Life Force Vessels.
Then again, they could not have created proper Liches while they had lost their reason.
‘The damage is extensive.’
Solacius looked around.
Everywhere was filled with half-burned ash that appeared to be from the undead.
The other surviving Subjugation Force members shuffled about listlessly as they cleaned up the battlefield, while the priests prayed for the dead with expressions that had lost all will to fight.
The Second Subjugation Force had suffered losses close to annihilation.
Even with Sun Abilities, it was impossible to save everyone in such a chaotic melee.
Just protecting those who had set out with him from Oski had been difficult enough.
WHOOOOSH!
Then, the side effects began to wash over him.
Solacius urgently summoned Rina with a gesture.
As though she had been waiting, Rina unleashed every cold spell she had prepared beforehand onto Solacius.
“Sir Knight.”
“Knight Roan.”
Several people cautiously approached Solacius as he received cold compresses (?).
There were members of Oski’s Subjugation Force and war merchants, including the head of the Kalt Merchant Company, but the surprising ones were the priests.
“Knight Roan Shalut.”
They no longer addressed Solacius as “Sir.”
Instead, they called him “Knight,” an honorific given to knights.
“Ah...... The return of Great Emperor Maha!”
Every surviving priest from the Church made the sign of the cross before Solacius.
Beginning with that, everyone in the Subjugation Force knelt and paid their respects.
The merchants of the Kalt Merchant Company, who had formed a bond with Solacius since Oski, also knelt as though worshipping him and bowed their heads.
“Huh? Huh?!”
As she used cold magic, Rina awkwardly bent at the waist while watching to see whether she should kneel as well.
Even so, she continued casting her cold magic.
“......”
Solacius did not find the situation particularly awkward.
‘Back on Earth, I held a similar position.’
Earth’s strongest EX-rank Hunter.
The inaugural Chairman of the World Awakened Association.
The Guildmaster of the world’s strongest Sword Dragon Guild.
A Hero and Savior who had saved Earth.
There had been quite a few people on Earth who had fanatical admiration for him, so Tae Gwang-hwi—now Solacius—remained calm.
“Ooh!”
And his composure made the halo surrounding him all the more radiant.
“The return of Great Emperor Maha?”
Meanwhile, the title the priests had bestowed upon him bothered him.
Great Emperor Maha was the founding ancestor of the Maha Empire, which was currently collapsing into ruin.
“That is correct! A Magic Swordsman who wields Aura and magic freely! Your prowess surpassed even the Empire’s founding myth. If you are not the return of Great Emperor Maha, who could you be?!”
“Roan Shalut! Our only hope, our noblest royal! Save the continent! Rebuild the Empire!”
Cries praising him filled every direction.
It was difficult to believe that this was a Subjugation Force that had nearly been annihilated.
It was ironic that this was happening in Luhan, which despised the Empire and imperial royals in the first place.
That was how astonishing Solacius’s prowess had been, even in this other world of medieval fantasy.
“......!”
Solacius furrowed his brow at the situation.
‘All of a sudden, it feels like they expect me to found a country.’
Founding a nation.
A throne.
Tae Gwang-hwi had retired and gone into hiding on Earth because he hated such things.
‘You would be better off cursing at me.’
For a man who only wanted to defeat the Demon King and return to Earth as soon as possible, it was more horrifying than any curse or condemnation.
‘How do I get out of this?’
Solacius turned the matter over in his mind.
“Quiet.”
After organizing his thoughts, he filled his voice with mana and commanded silence.
The prayers and shouts praising him instantly fell quiet.
His voice, which blended the accent of the high Imperial language with the Fairy language, proved a status nobler than any identity plaque could.
“I am still far from sufficient. You know how evil the Empire’s Evil Empress is. Some of you have faced the Empire’s Dark Legion. You know how numerous and powerful they are. All of you have heard of the unbelievable martial might of Dark Grand Duke Doom and the Black Crown Prince.”
Solacius’s voice swept through the devastated camp.
“Even with this power, I am still far from sufficient. I still have a long way to go. I must grow stronger.”
The golden-haired, golden-eyed wandering knight’s every word.
Everyone listened with fanatical eyes.
Even Rina, who was casting cold magic beside him, seemed to have become enthralled by Solacius’s speech.
“So keep what happened today secret until I am complete. I will kill the Evil Empress, pierce Dark Grand Duke Doom’s heart, and cut off the Black Crown Prince’s head. But not yet.”
His short and forceful speech came to an end.
Everyone was moved.
“I will swear a Mana Oath!”
“I will swear a Divine Oath!”
“I will protect this secret at the cost of my life and soul!”
“No matter what trials come, no matter what threats we face, I will protect Knight Roan Shalut!”
The knights who could use mana swore Mana Oaths.
The mercenaries who could not use mana swore Divine Oaths with the priests’ help.
As they made their oaths, they thought—
Ah! This moment would be remembered and remembered, becoming a myth in the distant future.
Like the story of Great Emperor Maha.
Even if they died, they would remain in the myth and sing of eternity.
The person who would become their myth stood before them.
Light unfolded in the minds of those making the oaths.
Everyone swore through their tears.
Solacius did not go out of his way to stop them.
‘I have to defeat the Demon King anyway. As for the Empire...... I will let them handle it themselves.’
The less people knew about him, the better.
Until he dealt with the debuff caused by the Demon King’s Curse, it was best to remain as cautious as possible.
“Um...... Do I have to swear a Mana Oath too?”
Rina, still using cold magic beside him, asked quietly.
Separate from how drawn she was to Solacius’s charisma, she seemed deeply uneasy about making a Mana Oath.
“Just keep doing what you are doing.”
“Yeah!”
Solacius checked his condition as he looked at Rina casting cold magic.
‘It is still hot.’
Rina was mercilessly pouring cold magic onto him.
An ordinary person would have already suffered frostbite severe enough to require amputation, but Solacius was different.
‘Should I use the magical device Ice Boom?’
He turned his gaze toward an empty clearing.
If he used the magical device there and received additional cold magic from Rina, it seemed it would work.
‘Later.’
But he soon dismissed the thought.
‘It is not over yet.’
He looked in the direction Necromancer Isabel had fled.
“Where do you think your master would have run to?”
He asked Rina, who was casting cold magic.
“Probably the workshop.”
Rina answered with a gloomy expression.
WHIIIT!
Hearing her answer, Solacius called the black horse Manhattan Cafe with a whistle.
As though it had been waiting, it ran to Solacius’s side.
“Lead the way.”
“Yeah!”
After mounting the horse, Solacius lifted Rina and sat her in front of him.
“You all remain here and clean up the battlefield. I will go finish off the Necromancer.”
Before leaving, he spoke to those who looked up to him.
“We will come with you!”
“We can fight!”
The knights, mercenaries, and priests all tried to step forward.
“No, that is unnecessary. Stay here and guard against the possibility of more undead rising.”
Given the situation, Solacius’s manner of speech had become authoritative.
But everyone present accepted his words as though they were only natural.
‘If possible, I have to keep Isabel alive. To do that, there cannot be any witnesses.’
Even if they joined him, they would only get in the way.
“Rina, lead the way.”
After leaving those words behind, Solacius urged the horse onward and disappeared quickly.
Everyone watched the back of the newly born hero with burning eyes.
They wanted to immediately tell a bard this tale of valor and spread hope throughout the continent.
But they had sworn to remain silent.
With both regret and excitement in their hearts, they waited for dawn.
***
Inside the cottage where Rina and Isabel had once lived together.
Grrrrnnn......
Something like the groan of a wounded beast leaked out.
A woman with tangled, disheveled black hair was moaning in a corner.
The witch who had turned Tobes Viscounty, one of Luhan’s small territories, into a land of death was sobbing in pain and loss.
The entire undead legion had turned to ash in a single night.
Even with the Shadow Core’s power, Isabel had lost too much power in too short a time to remain unscathed.
Moreover, she had suffered a large wound on her back.
Sizzle.
The sound of flesh cooking still came from her back, along with heavy smoke and the stench of burning flesh.
It was a severe wound, with not only flesh missing but part of her spine visible.
The Shadow Core’s black flames were healing it, but perhaps because of the opposing power of light, they were not doing much.
“Master!!”
Then, a girl’s voice could be heard outside the cottage.
“!!”
Hearing the voice, Isabel’s shoulders flinched.
For a moment, she forgot even her pain and held her breath.
“Master!!”
Once more, the familiar and beloved voice rang out.
“Ri......na? Rina......?”
A human voice emerged from Isabel’s mouth for the first time in a long while.
Her reason had temporarily returned because of her immense pain and the Shadow Core’s dispersed power.
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
With her reason restored, Isabel shed tears in streams.
Though it had not been her will, she knew well the tragedy she had caused.
She hurriedly looked around.
Then, she spotted a magical dagger in the workshop.
She gripped the dagger tightly and brought it to her neck.
Gasp, gasp, gasp.......
Sobbing.
As she let out ragged breaths and sobs at once, Isabel chose suicide.
Before she died, she wanted to see her beloved disciple’s face.
But she feared that doing so would shake her resolve to take her own life.
Inhale.
Isabel held her breath and pressed the dagger’s tip into her neck.
Her flesh was pierced, and blood began to flow.
If she pushed it only a few centimeters farther, she could die.
It was the end of a life that had always been lonely, briefly happy, and utterly desperate.
—Not a chance.
“!!”
But the Shadow Core’s will once again filled the mind of the woman who had stabbed the dagger into her neck.
Clang.
The strength left the hand gripping the dagger, and it soon fell to the floor.
—Do you desire freedom? Do you desire rest?
The shadow of the abyss coiled within Isabel’s inner world asked.
Amid pain and despair, Isabel nodded blankly.
—Your body is no longer useful. It is weak, diseased, and has suffered a great wound. If you offer a new body to me, you will enjoy freedom and rest.
The Shadow Core’s whisper.
“......!!”
Realizing what the new body it spoke of was, Isabel firmly shook her head.
‘No! Never Rina!’
The Necromancer refused.
She resisted.
—It is already too late.
But her resistance was meaningless.
“SCREEEECH!!”
Isabel’s entire body was covered in black flames.
—A new body. A fresh body. And the part of me that was taken away.
The Shadow Core, red light spilling from its eyes, stepped outside the cottage.
Saliva began to pool in its mouth.
***
“SCREEEECH!!”
Isabel’s scream came from inside the cottage.
“Master!”
Rina looked ready to rush into the cottage at any moment.
But Solacius caught her robe and prevented her from running forward.
“Please, please....... Save my master......”
Rina fell to her knees before Solacius and begged.
“Please, I beg you. I will do anything. Anything...... Please......”
The young girl pleaded with tears and mucus streaming down her face.
“......”
Solacius could not say anything as he looked at Rina.
‘It is more serious than I thought.’
A massive darkness could be sensed inside the cottage.
“Stay as far away from here as you can.”
That was why he could not give the young witch a definite answer.
“I will prepare cold magic, every cold spell I can use...... Please! Please save our master. Our master is truly pitiful. She is truly a kind person! If you only save her, she will spend her entire life atoning. Please...... Please!”
“......I will try.”
Solacius forcibly placed the Rina who would not leave his side onto Manhattan Cafe and sent her far away.
BOOOOM!
Soon, the cottage exploded, and a massive mass of black flames burst out.
[SCREEEECH!]
The monstrous cry of something that did not seem to belong to the material world erupted.
“Huuuu......”
Solacius let out a long breath as he watched.
On the way here, he had received the full force of Rina’s cold magic.
Even so, perhaps because he had used his abilities so extensively, his body was hot.
“......”
Honestly, he did not want to use it.
If he used that in his current state, he might even die.
He might suffer irreversible side effects.
‘But.’
Even so, he strangely wanted to help the witch named Rina.
Unable to understand the feeling, Solacius—Tae Gwang-hwi—let out a sigh.
―――――!
A moment later, light erupted alongside a massive wave of heat.
A full suit of armor made of light formed over Solacius’s body.
It was the skill Tae Gwang-hwi had used on Earth when he defeated the Demon King.
The ultimate Sun Ability.
Descendant of the Sun activated on the land of Luhan for the first time.