Oh! My God (1)
Kiiirik?!
Ian's sword and mine intertwined, scattering the snowflakes hanging in the air.
Kakakakang—!
A pure contest of skill without using mana.
Unlike me, who combined techniques Ian had already shown before, Ian's swordsmanship took on completely unfamiliar forms every time we sparred.
'Just how many sword techniques has he crammed into his head?!'
I could see the paths of his blade.
Reproducing them wasn't impossible either.
The problem was the sheer number of techniques.
"Where do you think you're looking away?!"
Kakang—!
Ian's sword cut in through an unfamiliar trajectory and hooked my hand.
A bizarre sword technique incorporating weapon-disarming arts from the southeastern desert regions.
A sharp sting shot through the back of my hand, and the sword slipped from my grasp.
"Well, failed again, didn't you?"
Ian grinned mischievously at me.
The assignment he had given me for these sparring sessions was to use two completely different sword styles as though they were one.
I had wracked my brain trying to execute a move, but as expected, the result was total defeat.
"Ha...!"
"I'm speechless. How many sword styles did you just use in a single spar?"
The knights watching our duel let out sounds of admiration.
Various weapons were planted throughout the training grounds where Ian and I stood.
Broadswords, bastard swords, sabers, two-handers, scimitars.
There were even shields and spears mixed among them.
"Tomorrow we should try using two short spears. Want to use a rapier?"
"Why the hell would I fight a spear with a rapier? I'm bringing a shield."
I wiped the sweat from my forehead while playing along with Ian's teasing.
Four days had passed since I rose from the sickbed after receiving treatment from Pion.
Maybe it was because I had nearly died and survived, but my physical condition felt far better than before.
'My stamina keeps improving, and my body feels much lighter.'
As much as I hated admitting it, Ian's teaching methods were helping me tremendously.
The ability to perfectly reproduce a sword technique the moment I saw it.
Because of that, I was absorbing the countless styles Ian displayed every day like a sponge.
'If I had mana, I really might've conquered the continent...'
The thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head.
'No... impossible.'
At that moment, the scene from two hundred years ago resurfaced in my mind.
Berkel Leinrant.
And the twelve knights who followed him.
Their blades carving straight through the war machines I had painstakingly created.
No matter how many times I recalled and tried to reproduce the swordsmanship of those thirteen warriors, I couldn't even imitate it.
'Is it because I can't use mana? Or is there something else...?'
Just as I was sinking deeper into thought—
"Hey! Over there at Watch Post Thirty-Two!"
"What the hell is that?!"
The uproar of the soldiers made me lift my head.
The towering iron Wall stretching endlessly into the distance.
Shocked voices rang out from one of the watch posts built upon it.
"What is it? Did undead get inside?"
"The reactions seem different from that, though."
Seeing the soldiers' pale faces, I headed toward them.
After the previous incident, the Great Raven Knights were avoiding me.
Thanks to that, I could move around among them while drawing comparatively fewer hostile stares.
Krrrrrrr...!
The iron gate connecting the Wall to the outside slowly opened, and the source of the soldiers' horror gradually revealed itself.
"This is..."
Pushing through the gathered soldiers, I looked at the thing loaded onto the cart.
Grrrk?! Grrrr...!
The mangled bodies of two men grotesquely fused together.
Their corpses had been chopped apart, stitched together, and then revived as undead.
"U-Ugh?!"
Several soldiers couldn't endure the horrifying sight and hurriedly turned away.
'The stitching marks are obvious. This undead was artificially created.'
As I thought that, I recalled the conversation between the knights I had overheard back in the temporary infirmary.
Unusual forms.
Numbers increased more than fivefold.
Their concern had been that the undead assaulting the Wall were multiplying.
"Miller! Varid!"
As I examined the undead remains, a voice full of shock and grief rang out behind me.
"Ah... Aaaah...!"
Elite soldiers of the Wall clad in black cloaks, armed with crossbows and daggers.
The Watchers—those who ventured beyond the Wall to search for threats.
"Who... who did this?!"
One man collapsed while clutching the drooping remains of the undead.
A comrade who had shared meals and hardships with him returning in such a state.
The shock must've been unimaginable.
"It wasn't the Empire."
"How can you be sure?"
When I questioned Ian after hearing his remark while looking at the undead, he frowned and answered.
"They may use the same corpses, but Imperial necromancers are soldiers. They wouldn't waste bodies like this."
"...True."
Listening to Ian, I released demonic energy toward the undead remains.
A black aura undetectable to the living wrapped around the twisted corpses.
The reconstructed structure of the bodies.
The modified areas.
Even the alterations in their skeletal frames.
'They weren't constructed through formulas or mana. The corpses were literally sewn together by hand.'
Disgust rose naturally within me.
This was nothing more than a lump of flesh forced to move while barely clinging to life.
Something that couldn't even truly be called undead.
It was the grotesque hobby of a murderer.
Creak!
I forcefully suppressed the murky emotions surging upward.
An insult to the dead.
A blasphemy against necromancy.
But more than that, what truly fueled my anger was the intention behind sending this thing to the Wall.
'They deliberately turned the Watchers' corpses into undead and sent them back here.'
My lips twisted on their own.
Those Watchers must have reached their enemy's stronghold and been captured.
And the ones who created these undead had sent a warning.
If anyone interfered in their affairs, the same thing would happen to them.
And at the same time...
"What is the meaning of this commotion?!"
As that thought crossed my mind, knights finally pushed through the gathered crowd and appeared.
"This is...!"
It wasn't the vice-captain I had seen before.
This man was far larger in build, and the sword he carried was a military blade personally bestowed by House Leinrant.
"Captain Corax!"
The soldiers called out his name.
Corax.
Captain of the Great Raven Knights and supreme commander responsible for defending the Great Wall.
"The Watchers... they've returned as undead!"
"What in the world happened?! Just what exists beyond the Wall...?!"
The Watchers were the finest elite troops of the north, capable of traversing the snowy plains as though they were their own backyard.
Seeing such men return in this horrific state left the other soldiers unable to recover from their shock.
The fear budding among the crowd would only continue to spread until eventually it swallowed the entire Wall.
And if that happened, it would be over.
A soldier without a weapon could still fight.
But a soldier without will could not.
"Do not fear—!"
Just as I thought that, a thunderous voice shook the entire Wall and dragged the soldiers back from their terror.
"If you feel fear upon seeing the corpses of your comrades, then that is precisely what our enemies desire!"
Corax shouted toward the gathered soldiers.
"What you should feel is not fear! It is rage!"
A charisma that overwhelmed the chaotic crowd.
And a fighting spirit that did not waver even an inch.
The trembling of the soldiers who heard his voice gradually ceased, and strength returned to the hands gripping their weapons.
Boom—!
The sword Corax carried slammed into the ground.
He was the leader of the knights who had defended this Wall for decades.
The guardian of the Wall itself.
"All forces prepare for invasion! Let the entire continent know that even after thousands of years, this Wall shall still stand firm—!"
As though answering his roar, thunderous cheers erupted across the Wall.
Soldiers and knights moved in perfect unison.
As I watched them with inward admiration, heavy footsteps approached me.
"Young Master Klein Leinrant."
Corax's voice called my name.
When I raised my head to meet his gaze, eyes like those of a giant statue looked down upon me.
'What the hell? What does he want?'
I stared back at him in confusion.
After the incident before, I had never imagined he would approach me first.
But that thought lasted only a moment.
"I am Corax, captain of the Great Raven Knights. As ordered, I have presented myself."
"...As ordered?"
"Yes."
Corax said something utterly unexpected and gestured behind him with his massive steel-like arm.
"...!"
There stood Vice-Captain Boran, stiff with discipline and clearly unsure what to do.
'Wait a second. Don't tell me...?'
Seeing Boran standing at rigid attention, I finally remembered the words I had casually thrown out during our confrontation four days earlier.
"Get every bastard above you and below me here immediately."
I let my guard down.
He spoke well, and the atmosphere around him was serious enough that I thought maybe, just maybe, a proper knight had finally appeared.
That assumption had been my mistake.
'The idiot was me for believing there'd be exceptions...'
I pressed a hand to my forehead while recalling the saying passed down through the family.
Just as my ancestors had always said—
There wasn't a single normal captain in the Leinrant knight order.
"My subordinate Boran committed a grave offense. Please forgive him."
After explaining the situation, the first to lower himself was Corax.
Despite his enormous build, his movements were disciplined and precise.
He was the very image of a flawless knight.
'I thought I'd be hearing complaints instead.'
Thinking that inwardly, I waved my hand dismissively.
"It was my fault for failing to control my temper. There's no need for you to concern yourself so deeply over it, Captain."
"I am grateful for your generosity, Young Master."
If he were merely the captain of an ordinary knight order, his standing would be comparable to Dunkel's.
But as the commander overseeing the entire Wall, I also had to show the proper respect befitting his position.
'Besides, things are already awkward enough after that fight. There's no benefit in escalating things further here...'
While I thought that, Corax nodded stiffly before speaking again.
"However, Young Master Klein. There is something I wish to make absolutely clear."
A cold, inorganic statement.
Before I could even respond, Corax's military blade swept horizontally across the floor.
Kagagagak—!
The frozen stone ground split open, carving a line between Corax and me.
Do not cross this line.
Unlike the vice-captain's emotional hostility, this was calmer—but it was still an unmistakable rejection.
"...I believed the resentment between myself and the knight order had already ended."
"It has. None of my subordinates will make an issue of that incident anymore."
Corax looked directly at me as he continued.
"There will be no more forceful measures like before."
"That's good to hear."
"During the two months you remain here, we will provide every convenience possible."
"I appreciate that as well. I was in desperate need of a research space."
"Therefore."
"Therefore?"
When I urged him to continue after his brief pause, the face that had resembled carved stone finally twisted into a frown.
"Please refrain from interfering in any battles or missions from this point onward."
As I silently stared at him, Corax drove the point home.
"This Wall is not a playground where a necromancer like you can roam freely."
After hearing those words, how much time passed?
Corax stared at my face, silently pressing for an answer.
And then, with a smile on my face, I clearly replied:
"I refuse."