Chapter 26…
“Report! Outpost 23 is under attack by an ogre!”
“Orc army sighted at Outpost 51! Estimated numbers: around 20,000!”
“Outpost 22 is also requesting emergency support! Half the barrier has collapsed!”
Chaos.
Reports poured in without rest, and the commanders of each unit had no time to breathe as they scrambled busily.
And yet, they still looked composed.
“Send Stillein and three squads of heavy infantry to Outpost 23.”
“Would eight squads of light infantry be enough against the orc army?”
“Call Windgale. Tell them to head quickly to Outpost 22.”
Tak tak tak—
With each order, pins were stuck into the map’s coordinates.
The movements of hands that had repeated this hundreds, thousands of times before.
It had already been three years since the monster waves began.
In that time, the Grand Duchy had adapted to facing enemies.
No—they had no choice but to adapt.
Otherwise, they would have gone insane long ago.
“Today seems quieter than usual.”
“Well, there was a major battle yesterday. Their forces aren’t infinite either—they’ll need to hold back a little.”
“If only every day were like today.”
A faint chuckle could even be heard.
But only for a moment.
The tent flaps burst open as another urgent report rushed in.
“Behemoth sighted at Outpost 99!”
Bang!
A Behemoth?!
The once-calm commanders immediately shot up to their feet, eyes wide.
“Damn it, what the hell all of a sudden?!”
“What’s the closest knight order to Outpost 99?”
“Shadow Bloom, sir!”
“…Of all things!”
The Behemoth was calamity incarnate.
A single appearance was enough to erase tens of thousands of troops in the blink of an eye.
Only elite knight orders could even stand against it.
But Shadow Bloom specialized in assassinations and covert ops, not direct combat.
They were the worst possible matchup against a Behemoth.
“What about the other knight orders?!”
“None, sir! They’re all already deployed!”
“Then send Shadow Bloom anyway, for now!”
This was dire.
Shadow Bloom and mere soldiers could never stop a Behemoth.
To face such a monster, they needed a knight order of far greater strength—
Just then.
“Report! The Acrasion order is returning to base!”
“Send them to Outpost 99 immediately!”
A light descended.
The absolute hope that was the Knight Order Acrasion.
The rhythmic sound of hooves often brought a strange sense of calm.
Especially not during a charge, but on the return march, it was even more so.
Dante closed his eyes, quietly savoring the sound ringing in his ears.
“Hey, are you even human?”
Until someone ruined the moment.
With a sigh, Dante opened his eyes.
One of the knights riding ahead had turned, smiling at him.
“If you’ve got something to say, say it straight.”
“Nah, it’s not that.”
The knight—Jionhark—shrugged his shoulders.
“I was just admiring your skills, as always.”
How frivolous.
“You’re laying it on thicker than usual today.”
“I’m not exaggerating. Do you even know how many drakes you took down by yourself today? Five. Five! What kind of twelve-year-old kid can do that?”
“Thirteen.”
“Same difference.”
Jionhark gave a dumbfounded laugh.
“At your age, normal kids don’t even know how to hold a sword properly. But you? You slice through drakes like they’re steak. And without breaking a sweat.”
Dante didn’t respond.
He simply leaned back into the rhythm of the horse, as if to close his eyes again.
But Jionhark wasn’t about to leave him alone.
“Be honest. You’re not human, right? Maybe you’ve got elf blood in you, or dragon blood or something.”
A joke? Perhaps. But his face didn’t look like it.
“Considering who your father was, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“Sir Jionhark.”
“I told you, just call me Jion.”
“Fine. Sir Jion.”
“I already know what you’ll say. Something like, ‘I was just lucky,’ like some old man trapped in a kid’s body.”
Dante was at a loss for words.
Because he was right.
“What do you think, Milleon?” Jionhark’s gaze shifted to another rider.
Milleon, who had been silently guiding his horse beside Dante, shook his head.
“Please, don’t be rude to Sir Dante. He is not someone we should dare to judge.”
Three years had changed Milleon too.
The boyishness had faded, replaced by the maturity of a young man.
But some things never changed—his unshakable trust in Dante, his composure, and his stubborn sincerity.
Those things would remain unchanged not just for three years, but three hundred.
“Well, that’s true. He’s not someone for the likes of us to evaluate.”
Jionhark scratched his head awkwardly.
“Anyway, thanks to you, today’s battle ended easily. I appreciate it.”
That was what he had wanted to say all along.
The rest had just been filler. That was simply the kind of man Jionhark was.
Then suddenly—
“Hm?”
Dante turned his head.
He sensed something rushing toward them at great speed.
In the distance, a lone rider kicked up dust, racing frantically closer.
“A messenger.”
Jionhark narrowed his eyes.
“Judging by the irregular hoofbeats, it must be something urgent.”
Sure enough, the messenger was charging recklessly, as if he didn’t care if he collapsed after delivering the report.
The horse foamed at the mouth, and its rider’s hair was wild, his chest heaving with ragged breaths.
Signs of merciless overexertion.
“Halt.”
Jionhark raised a hand.
The messenger yanked the reins, forcing the horse to stop, and bellowed:
“Behemoth sighted at Outpost 99! Requesting immediate reinforcements!”
Exhaustion was etched into his face, but he forced himself to speak.
“Shadow Bloom deployed, but insufficient!”
He panted as if he might collapse at any moment, but still pressed on.
“Southern wall has collapsed completely! Remaining forces are less than thirty percent!”
Dante’s expression hardened.
He had expected something urgent, but this was far worse than he imagined.
Jionhark let out a heavy sigh.
“Damn, I thought we’d finally get some rest. Trouble again.”
The reluctance was plain on his face.
But despite his words, his hands were already on the reins, preparing to ride.
“So…”
Jionhark looked at Dante.
Not only him—Milleon, Elaine, and all twelve knights waited for Dante’s word.
“What’s your command, Captain?”
The Acrasion Knight Order—one of the Grand Duchy’s strongest forces, existing solely to slay calamities like the Monster Waves.
Its commander, Dante, gave his order.
“Change course. Objective: Behemoth extermination and survivor rescue.”
The voice was quiet, but carried a weight of conviction and undeniable authority.
“All Acrasion knights—ride.”
The command fell, and horses thundered across the plains.
They had fought for five sleepless days straight and were finally on their way back to rest.
Of course they were exhausted. Of course they longed to collapse into their beds.
Yet not one knight voiced a complaint.
They merely steadied their breathing, tightened their grip on the reins, and spurred their mounts forward.
Black armor and red cloaks—the emblem of Acrasion—tore through the land.
“Left flank.”
At the deputy commander’s order, the Shadow Bloom knights shifted silently in the darkness.
Grrrrroooooaaaaaar!
The Behemoth’s roar reverberated close by.
Flinch.
Their bodies shrank instinctively.
The cry carried a power that paralyzed all beings of reason.
“Don’t stop.”
They could not afford to freeze.
Defeating the Behemoth was impossible, but saving survivors still was not.
There was no time to cower at mere noise.
“…Survivor sighted.”
One knight raised his hand and whispered.
“How many?”
“One.”
The deputy commander fell silent.
Originally, at least fifty soldiers should have been stationed here.
But only one remained.
How many had that accursed beast slaughtered?
Rage boiled within him, but he suppressed it.
“Secure them. The rest, move to the next location.”
No reply.
But none needed to be spoken.
Shadow Bloom never wasted noise. They slipped through the dark in silence.
“Aaahhhhhh!”
Suddenly, the half-conscious survivor screamed.
“Shhh!”
A knight quickly covered his mouth—
But it was too late.
Thump… thump… thump…
The monster was coming.
“Prepare for combat! Squad 3, escort the survivor away! The rest, hold the Behemoth back!”
The deputy commander knew better than anyone—it was impossible.
Even their own captain had been killed instantly by the Behemoth in the very first clash.
Now, with their strength even weaker, there was no chance.
Still, they would not retreat.
Not if even one more life could be saved.
Even if they died here, someone else would take their place.
“Form ranks! Focus everything!”
Suppressing his trembling heart, the deputy commander drew his sword and roared.
“All blades, ready! Attack!”
Shhhht!
Every remaining knight charged the Behemoth in silence.
That was Shadow Bloom. Even in death, quiet as shadows.
The deputy commander spurred his speed—
Doooooooom!
The ground shook violently from afar.
“W-what is that?”
Faint, but certain.
A blood-red storm dominating the battlefield.
“Acrasion has arrived!”
At the deputy commander’s cry, hope returned to every face.
For if it was Acrasion—
Even a Behemoth was nothing but prey.
