At first, the news that Roman Dmitry had been attacked spread like a rumor.
“Does that make sense? This is Valhalla. What insane bastard would attack Roman Dmitry in the territory of our empire? It is clearly a misunderstanding. I heard that people are following Roman Dmitry, so there must have been trouble regarding that.”
In the empire, who would dare touch the warrior whom Valhalla respected? People from the same Valhalla wouldn’t do such a thing, and if they had to, it would be the work of another nation.
It made no sense, even if it was the Kronos Empire. It was practically impossible to move their troops to kill someone in the territory of Valhalla. How would they cross the border? Valhalla wouldn’t just stand by.
However, the rumors flared up. The people who watched it happen presented clear evidence by showing videos along with specific testimonies.
“The ones who attacked Roman Dmitry must be those shadows of the Kronos Empire. Fucking retards. After announcing their intent to assassinate Roman Dmitry, they now step into the lands of Valhalla and try to kill him. Everyone, watch this. Inside, the events of that time have been clearly recorded.”
The way to check the video required a magic tool, so many people couldn’t check it directly. However, what happened to Roman Dmitry quickly began to spread through the mouths of those who had confirmed the video.
The video showed the reality as it was. A procession followed Roman Dmitry, and when assassins suddenly attacked him, Roman Dmitry raised his voice and made the people evacuate.
Seeing that happen, the people were amazed. In a situation where he was being attacked, it was touching to see him prioritize the lives of the people of Valhalla.
And, of course, it was what Roman Dmitry intended.
The reason he allowed the people to walk with him and save their lives was so he could use them as witnesses by pushing them a little far away from the battlefield and recording what had happened in a video.
It was obvious that Valhalla wouldn’t directly reveal their intent to kill him. If they attacked Roman Dmitry, who was at the festival, the foundation of the nation would collapse, so their only option was to stand on the sidelines. That was to say that what Valhalla didn’t want was to spread the blame for the series of events onto them.
There was an uproar. The people expressed their anger at the attack on Roman Dmitry, and it seemed like they wanted war, saying that Kronos clearly disregarded Valhalla.
Everyone raised their voices to help Roman Dmitry. It would be a different thing if the truth hadn’t been revealed. If Roman Dmitry was now being threatened by Kronos, they had to help him return safely.
The people said,
“Roman Dmitry is the person who showed us what the pride of Valhalla is. If such a person is killed by the empire while he is still in Valhalla, we can never talk about the pride of our nation. People of Valhalla, let us rise. We need to lend our strength so that Roman Dmitry can return safely.”
The number of people began to grow, and all their eyes turned to the imperial family. And in response to those who urged them to help, Valhalla had to express their intention to move their troops naturally.
But a day passed.
And then two days.
A week passed.
The Valhalla imperial family did not send any troops to Roman Dmitry.
The Valhalla imperial family. They never went against the trend. While angered by the actions of the Kronos Empire, they created an unavoidable reason not to help Roman Dmitry.
“The shadows of the Kronos Empire are attacking key figures in Valhalla other than Roman Dmitry. Apparently, by drawing attention by attacking Roman Dmitry, it is clear that they have other purposes. People of Valhalla, do not cause havoc now. They have shown hostility towards our empire, and the imperial family will not allow them to have even a single victory.”
That was the position of the imperial family in Valhalla, and there was not a single truth to it. There wasn’t any truth to the statement that a key figure in Valhalla had been attacked, but that was enough to prevent more questions.
There were people who claimed to have witnessed shadows in other regions of Valhalla too. It was a ploy to divert attention away from Roman Dmitry and the right justification for them not to send troops.
So if Roman Dmitry died, they could escape being held responsible. But rather than openly saying that, they chose a way to calm down people’s anger through false rumors.
Valhalla was clever. Contrary to what people called the nation of warriors, they knew how to use rumors to their advantage. Actually, if the Kronos Empire invaded Valhalla’s territory, it would have led to a direct war.
However, Valhalla allowed it, and they later intended to finish it by asking Kronos to take full responsibility. It was a well-made plan.
It was a deliberate move. While expressing their anger at not being able to help, Roman would get further attacked.
On the first day, the shadows attacked openly. And from the second day on, they attempted to attack from a distance at night, and whenever Roman’s troops rested, they would come. It was a warning for them never to rest.
And if there were a well in the vicinity that they could use to drink water, the shadows would poison it and block it from being used. Their intentions were made clear at that moment.
They didn’t want to kill Roman Dmitry right away. They wanted to use the permission that Valhalla had given them and take advantage of the one month’s time.
On the 10th day, Valhalla gradually sent troops to prove they were helping Roman. Well, they had no choice but to.
However, they used the reason that the Warp Gate was closed as an excuse for Roman Dmitry, and the situation was becoming more violent.
Everyone’s eyes were on Roman Dmitry. The people of Valhalla paid attention to Roman Dmitry’s actions to the extent that they couldn’t concentrate on their daily lives.
And during that time, there were some people who found Roman Dmitry. They weren’t the people of the royal family, but the group behind Sanchez.
The guards of Valhalla and Kronos’s attack,1 Sanchez was furious. After hearing about it from Morales, he went to the people who followed his teacher and raised his voice.
“We need to help Roman Dmitry. If Teacher were alive, he wouldn’t have watched Roman Dmitry die in Valhalla after defeating Barbossa. The Valhalla imperial family is being absurd. In the end, instead of trusting and waiting for them, let us show the pride of Valhalla.”
Valhalla was a country of romance. Even though it had been tainted by reality and changed, the people who followed Morales had a flame burning within them.
They formed an army. It took them some time to form a group, starting on the eve, and hundreds of troops followed Sanchez to find Roman Dmitry. Their strength wasn’t something that could be evaluated with just numbers.
The people under Morales were mostly beast men or those skilled in combat to the extent that they had lived on the battlefield all their lives.
By the time the sun went down, Sanchez said, looking at Roman Dmitry,
“Roman Dmitry. We will help you from now on.”
They were sincere words. Sanchez put his life on the line. Through this incident, he was going to go against the strong, but after following Morales, he wasn’t concerned with power and position. He was born a warrior. Rather than wealth and fame, he wanted a righteous death.
However, Roman’s reaction was not what he had expected.
“I will thank you for the thought of helping me. But do not have false hope that you can do something. The Kronos Empire had expected patriots like you to step in right from the start. What I mean is, your decisions will drive you and the others to your deaths.”
“…It is fine. If we had wanted to live, we wouldn’t have come all this way.”
“Idiots.”
Sanchez and their warriors. They weren’t looking for profits. Despite Roman’s warning, they showed their stubbornness. But Roman Dmitry knew that they didn’t have much influence.
“It is already too late to make a choice. Still, the fact that you took this risk on your own is fortunate.”
It was already too late to say that. He made clear sense. The moment Roman drew his sword, lightning fell from the sky, which threw the darkness aside.
Flash.
It brightened the land. Even though the darkness had been pushed back, the bushes around still seemed to be stained in darkness.
Hundreds—no, there were more shadows than that, and they all showed their murderous intent.
It was different than the first day. At the same time, the shadows rushed forward, and powerful dark mana rose behind them.
“Dark Lightning.”
Grrrng!
Kwakwakwang!
The sky shone brightly. The dark lightning struck, and the beings who were under it got taken down at once.
They were a branch of the shadows, the demons of the abyss. Since they were using magic now, Roman Dmitry’s men had to move in perfect order.
“It is the enemy!”
“Take a defensive stance!”
The moment the lightning struck, Roman Dmitry’s soldiers formed a magic defense. Ever since the Phoenix Magic Tower joined them, they had been training against mages.
The moment Roman Dmitry was aware of the enemy’s presence, he told his men to prepare for the attack, and Roman’s men didn’t even think for a second and acted right then. It was then that the shadows rushed in from all sides and attacked at once.
Kang!
Kakang!
The battle began. The shadows attacked the soldiers, and they pressed three or four people at a time. It was a shocking sight. When two shadows blocked a soldier’s movement, another one would use him as a stepping stone and move forward.
Over their heads, another shadow fell. The shadow that was enveloped in darkness gained momentum and cut off the breath of a soldier with a dagger at once.
Even if they knew how to attack them, the shadows were not easy opponents. In addition, there weren’t just one or two mages that were constantly using magic spells from behind the shadows.
“Dark Flame.”
Wheik.
Wheeik.
A fire broke out. The demons’ magic tore down the soldiers, penetrated through the gaps, and slashed the surroundings.
After ten days of preparation, Roman Dmitry’s soldiers didn’t seem to be affected much, but their stamina must have been draining.
And when the situation was reaching its climax, the shadows, regardless of the presence of Sanchez and his men, decided that this was the time to attack.
Despite that, Roman Dmitry’s soldiers were not weak. They formed a group of three and appeared to compensate for each other’s weaknesses as if they had been perfectly trained for them. They responded so orderly, without panicking.
However, even though the attacks of the shadows were absurd, the experience Roman had given his men was better.
But Sanchez and the others panicked. Unlike those who were experienced in going against the shadows, they had no such thing.
Slash.
“…?!”
The body moved like air, and Sanchez was taken aback. He hurriedly retrieved his sword to block the attack, but the other warriors died in vain.
“Kuak!”
“Kuak!”
It was a one-sided slaughter compared to Roman Dmitry’s soldiers, and only then did they realize that they couldn’t have a false hope that they could do anything here. Roman wasn’t giving them a wake-up call. He just meant that they couldn’t do much.
‘…How?’
Sanchez’s eyes widened. He couldn’t see the soldiers fighting against the shadows. He stood at the crossroads of life and death, unable to handle a single shadow, but when he saw them not retreating, he was shocked.
What kind of life did Roman and his soldiers live to act like this? In Valhalla, even against the Demons of Kronos, they didn’t show any signs of getting pushed around.
But the situation wasn’t good. The problem was those black mages. Even the magic formation for defense couldn’t block their attacks. It was then…
“Stay in formation!”
It was Roman Dmitry. He moved. The shadows rushed and tried to stop him, but the aura around him violently tore them apart.
Even if they attacked in groups, the abilities of the shadows didn’t seem to work. Their bodies, which were about to scatter in the shadows, turned pale, and they coughed up blood as their mana link was severed.
At that moment, the eyes of the black mages focused. Appearing from the darkness, they almost reached them, and simultaneous magic spells were aimed at Roman Dmitry.
However, they didn’t know that Felix and the mages went against Roman Dmitry. And as they laid on the ground, they acknowledged how great Roman was.
“I can assure you, our Lord is the natural enemy of mages.”
Rrrng!
Grrrrnggg!
Magic rose from the side, and Roman Dmitry rushed towards the whirlpool of magic.
