Chapter 171 – Struggle for Dominance (10)
As soon as the signal flare exploded, Lochter emerged.
His sword hung loosely at his side as he approached, his expression heavy.
His mind must have been in turmoil.
A place he once sought to protect, now a site he had to destroy—one filled with both love and hatred.
And the blood he had spilled here… had been in none other than Blyer.
"How’s the situation?"
"It was a success. The others are leading the people toward the mines."
There was no real concern; the plan had almost no chance of failure.
"You don’t look well. Did something happen?"
"Fewer people moved than I expected."
Lochter had shouted himself hoarse as he ran throughout the territory, pleading for salvation. Yet, few of the residents had responded.
Only those who had followed the former lord or those who had lost loved ones to Kamel took action. The rest simply shut their doors, watching in hesitation.
I had expected as much, so I simply shrugged.
"They’ve adapted to Kamel’s rule of terror. This is still their home, after all."
"But they’ll always be sacrificed like tools."
"They believe they won’t be the ones. And the burden of action must have weighed on them."
Leaving this place to start anew somewhere else?
For some, the fear of change was greater than the fear of Kamel. They would rather keep their heads down and wait for the storm to pass.
"We don’t have time to convince them one by one. Let’s move on."
Lochter nodded.
And yet, he was surprised by how easily he accepted it.
Perhaps he, too, had begun to let go of Blyer and grow accustomed to his new home in Hunt.
Lochter glanced around.
Karl and five others were busy moving corpses. From a distance, they dragged bodies and dumped them in what seemed like marked areas, forming what Lochter perceived as a designated boundary.
Lily was leaning against a rock nearby, inspecting a necklace. Unlike usual, she looked quite serious.
Beside her, a small dog had buried its head into the ground, whimpering as if deep in thought.
"I saw the witch in the castle."
"I entrusted her with an important task, and it seems she handled it well."
The elimination of Kamel’s spies—his eyes and ears.
Not only that, but it appeared she had also taken care of the Black Market contacts that relayed messages to Kamel.
If Lily had severed all communication within the castle, then by now, Kamel must have been growing anxious.
When desperation sets in, mistakes follow.
And I planned to exploit those mistakes.
"I don’t see any enemies nearby. Why did you fire the signal early?"
"We’re setting a trap."
"A trap?"
"Yes. I need your help, Lochter."
"Speak."
"Lyon Martrein."
The moment I mentioned that name, Lochter’s brows furrowed slightly.
Lyon Martrein—the deputy commander who had played a crucial role in helping Kamel wipe out his bloodline and seize the family.
A man tied to Lochter by a bitter and inescapable fate.
"Can you defeat him?"
Lochter let out a hollow chuckle at my question.
It was a blow to a knight’s pride. But Lochter himself must have known the truth.
For nearly a year, he had been on the run. Meanwhile, Lyon, under the full support of the regressor Kamel, had been growing stronger at an incredible rate.
There was no telling how powerful he had become.
"If he were the same as before, I could say yes with confidence, but…"
"A five-star Blooming Trait user who wields ice, equipped with at least two ancient artifacts."
At this point in the story, Lyon should possess Nemesis’s Ice Shield and Frost Blade. But given Kamel’s rapid and unrestrained growth, that was likely the bare minimum.
He undoubtedly had more.
Rengua had become the master of a Divine Spirit.
To balance the scales, Kamel would have given Lyon equivalent artifacts.
"If only I knew what they were…"
I would soon find out in battle.
An unknown ancient artifact.
It could be a major variable, so minimizing that risk made Lochter’s role all the more important.
Lochter looked down at his equipment.
Four swords.
Ordinary weapons forged from steel.
How many strikes could they endure against Lyon’s artifacts?
Lyon was fully armed with ancient artifacts.
Until now, Lochter had dismissed artifacts as hindrances to true growth, avoiding them whenever possible.
But as I continued explaining, he finally realized—some level of equipment was necessary.
For the first time, he felt a desperate need for better weapons.
[Can you defeat him?]
Lochter smirked bitterly and met my gaze.
At that moment, he seemed to grasp the true meaning behind my question.
That’s right.
I never expected Lochter to win. I knew that was too much to ask.
"As long as I hold out, that’s enough. The real one to watch is… you, isn’t it?"
The moment I nodded, Lochter stiffened and hurriedly drew his sword.
His body had reacted instinctively to the suffocating bloodlust.
He glanced at me with momentary confusion before sighing, lowering his weapon.
And then, right before his eyes, something familiar began to unfold.
Woooom—!
A golden aura began to envelop my body.
Divine Hunter – Target: Lochter Felice
At my choice, Reto voiced his concern.
[This could be a foolish decision. The choice you make today may one day become a blade at your throat.]
"Enough. Just tell me how many Burst Strikes I can use."
[Eight shots. But with more uses comes twice the recoil. Use them wisely.]
I nodded slightly, focusing on the transformation.
Burst Strike: Eight shots.
With my vessel expanded, I could now handle more than the previous five shots.
Energy amplification.
Eyes Opened.
Divine Spirit effects enhanced.
With my awakening, my overall abilities surged.
If Lyon had awakened a Divine Spirit, he would have been the ideal target. But he had yet to achieve that.
By awakening my power through Lochter, I would be revealing some of my Divine Spirit abilities, but if it meant eliminating Lyon, that risk was worth it.
"Lyon is Kamel’s sword."
As time passed, it wasn’t Kamel himself who grew stronger—it was his blade, Lyon.
If I could remove the top executioner here, I wouldn’t just gain the advantage; I’d seize victory itself.
I had placed my bet on a massive gamble.
"He’s here?"
Lochter turned his gaze.
The others followed suit.
Though thick ash blurred the view, the ground trembled with the rough pounding of hooves.
Dudududududu—!
Lyon Martrein.
He had arrived.
At my signal, the group moved into action.
The trap was set. Now, it was time to lure the prey into it.
Summoning the Ring of Blood, I looked at Lochter.
"You have five minutes. We will end this within that time."
"And my role?"
"Be the bait."
The hunt had begun.
***
"...Damn it."
When Lyon reached the outskirts of Blyer, he muttered a curse under his breath at the sight before him.
Thick smoke billowed from both sides.
The lord’s castle and Wailing Hill—both engulfed in flames. It was an unbelievable sight.
He had expected the place to be ransacked, but this was far worse than he had anticipated.
“Any contact with the secret stronghold?”
At Lyon’s question, the shaman following him put away the communication orb and shook his head.
By now, they should have received a transmission from the secret stronghold confirming their rendezvous with the Blyer cavalry, but the line had gone completely silent.
Staring at the burning hill, where only ashes swirled in the air, Lyon felt certain—
Something had happened to the stronghold.
And to the Blyer cavalry as well.
“...What is going on here?”
A commander leading the Etor cavalry approached with a troubled expression.
This man, a noble vassal of a viscount, commanded three thousand cavalrymen. Since Etor lacked proper knights, someone of his influence had been entrusted with leadership, though in truth, he simply followed Lyon’s lead.
“This is Lochter’s doing.”
“What? How could he possibly—”
“Same way it happened in Etor. He used the madmen.”
With Etor having already suffered greatly, the noble had no choice but to believe Lyon’s words.
From that moment on, Lochter was firmly etched into the noble’s mind as an enemy who must be punished.
Lochter—the sworn enemy of both Blyer and Etor.
“We need to track him down.”
Lyon ordered the cavalry to search the surroundings and report any findings immediately. The information was promptly relayed to Kamel via the communication orb.
[Beneta’s flag on the walls?]
“Yes. Could it be a surprise attack from Beneta…?”
[No. It’s likely a ruse. There’s no sign of troop movement from either within Beneta or along their borders.]
“I’ll check inside the territory.”
[Contact with our inside informants has been cut off. It could be a trap. Send part of Etor’s forces as scouts first, but keep the elite troops on standby.]
“Understood.”
[Start by finding traces of the shamans from the secret stronghold and our cavalry. There’s no way the enemy could have wiped them all out. If any have survived, regroup with them.]
It had been Lyon himself who ordered his men to rendezvous with the Blyer cavalry at the secret stronghold.
If any traces remained, they would be at Wailing Hill, where the stronghold had been.
Lyon dispatched a hundred cavalrymen toward the castle as scouts and led the rest toward the hill.
Beyond the thick haze, a massive, charred hill came into view.
The smoke from the night-long blaze still lingered, turning the midday sky into a murky gray.
Clicking his tongue, Lyon split his cavalry into ten squads of fifty and ordered them to scout the hill’s surroundings.
A total of five hundred cavalrymen scattered into the dense haze.
Moments later—
“What? Vanished?”
“One of the squads hasn’t returned.”
“Where did they disappear?”
The noble pointed toward a section of the hill, and Lyon immediately sent another two hundred cavalrymen in that direction.
This time, there was a response.
A desperate shout pierced through the foggy air.
“E-Enemy attack!”
“…Aura Sword!”
And then—
A name was shouted.
“L-Lochter Felice!!!”
Lochter.
Muttering that name, Lyon spurred his horse forward.
Ignoring the limited visibility, he charged at full speed. Behind him, his officers, the shaman division, and thousands of cavalrymen followed.
They galloped for what felt like an eternity—
Until corpses began to appear, strewn across the ground alongside fallen horses.
Etor cavalrymen.
Their throats were cleanly severed, their deaths so swift they likely never even realized they had been struck down.
Among them were other unfamiliar bodies.
Soldiers who had perished on the hill?
Looking around, Lyon spotted surviving cavalrymen encircling a lone figure, clashing against him.
A flickering blade.
A silhouette he knew all too well.
Lochter Felice.
One by one, the cavalrymen fell under a single stroke.
It was an expected outcome—
But even for someone of Lochter’s skill, it was impossible to cut down fifty cavalrymen without a single scream.
‘The number of dead cavalrymen…’
The moment a new scream rang out, Lyon reached the battle.
Yet, of the two hundred cavalrymen he had sent in, nearly half were already either incapacitated or dead.
Lochter couldn’t have done this alone.
Just as Lyon became certain that there were reinforcements, five arrows shot through the fog, aiming directly for the shamans.
The arrows carried an ominous aura—
A chilling golden hue.
“A-Alex is here!”
Recognizing the aura, the shamans’ faces turned pale with fear.
The officers drew their swords and slashed at the incoming arrows.
The arrows shattered into dust upon impact.
At the same time, a suffocating killing intent flooded toward Lyon.
“LYOOOON!!!!”
“Ugh…!”
The sheer intensity of the presence made the officers falter for a moment.
During that brief hesitation, Lyon dismounted, the corners of his mouth lifting in a fierce grin as he charged forward.
From the opposite direction—
A lone man dashed toward him.
A man who had instilled a lifetime of inferiority in him.
“Lochter Felice!!!”
Lyon’s sword flashed like lightning as he unsheathed it.
Ssssss—
The moment his blade cut through the air, a bone-chilling frost spread outward.
Ancient Artifact – Frost Blade.
At the same time, the bracelet on Lyon’s forearm flared with brilliant light, summoning a transparent square shield.
Nemesis Ice Shield.
A frigid aura, so intense it could freeze even its wielder’s breath, poured forth.
And upon that shield—
“GRAAAAHHH!!!”
Lochter’s Aura Sword came crashing down.