Chapter 454 – 130. Keiatic Gate Permafrost (2)
“Beasts of the North. Your sharp claws are still aimed at the hearts of your enemies! I, in the name of the Margrave of Essenmund, have confirmed again.”
It wasn’t a cry so loud that the surroundings echoed.
But like a lion’s roar.
Towards the thousands of soldiers lined up in front of the Marquis. The dull echo of those words swayed directly toward the mana heart.
Wilhelm von Reinhardt, the first in the Empire.
So, in every word of the Grand Duke Saja, there was a sense of coercion like a mountain.
‘As expected… Her Highness Wilhelm’s weight is on a different level.’
Leaf became a Knight of the Midnight Sun. He was thrilled inwardly.
Leaf, who was the 3rd seat of the Pantheon Battle Order, has now become a member of the Midnight Sun. The same was true of Fabian and Eric, who occupied seats 4 and 5 side by side.
Pantheon, the best academy in the empire. They were three people who temporarily graduated with outstanding skills there.
The three were already put into the battlefield as members of the Midnight Sun in recognition of their skills and a letter of recommendation from Count Julian, who was a motive of the Pantheon.
So even though I had already seen Marquis Wilhelm in person a few weeks ago.
Seeing him again like this, I couldn’t help but feel that my whole body trembled in awe of the Marquis.
‘The best in the empire. And the best knights in the empire.’
It was more than the white night that Riff had imagined.
The appearance of a perfect knight, possessing both strength as a knight and strict discipline. But they were also powerful and apex predators.
They also had the opportunity to be strong.
Even close to permafrost where comrades die every day. The word despair was far from the people of Essenmund.
Rather than bowing my head in despair over the death of my colleague.
Their way is to create more enemy corpses at least once, and quickly wish the souls of their comrades peace.
That was the long-standing tradition of the Essenmund Elite Army, handed down from the era of Atlin the Sword Master.
‘Even though there are so many type 1 monsters here…’
And the reason why the perfect skills and morale of knights and soldiers were created.
That, of course, was due to the lioness in front of her, Wilhelm von Reinhardt.
Absolute obedience and reverence for him. The belief that even if they die, their lord will surely avenge them.
That same faith made the warriors of Essenmund the strongest in the empire.
Clap-
The knights of the midnight sun all bowed toward their master. The hand on his chest collided with the breastplate, making a loud sound.
Leaf follows them and greets them together.
I recalled in my head the Lion Heart Sword of the margrave who had transcended humanity that I had seen a few weeks ago.
‘The White Night of the Lion Heart Sword. Among knights who have mastered the Lion Heart Sword, only His Highness Wilhelm can reach the ultimate state.’
Leaf also watched as dozens of type 1 monsters were slaughtered at once in the midnight sun. It was a huge natural disaster itself rather than a human being.
In the meantime, Prince Wilhelm, who was greeted, nodded his head.
“Everyone, take it easy!”
And representing the knights and the elite army, Michael, the leader of the White Night Knights, finished the salute.
Captain Michael approached the Marquis.
“Did nothing happen to you, Your Highness?”
Right at that moment.
The eyes of all the soldiers gathered here turned to the young man standing next to the Marquis.
“Yulian-nim came with you too.”
Fabian, standing side by side, whispered softly.
And now both Fabian and Eric felt the same way as Leaf.
– Finally, Count Julian stands in front of the midnight knights!
He became a Knight of the Midnight Sun and swore allegiance to Marshal Wilhelm.
Although I sincerely respect the lord. In the hearts of the three of them, there was already someone who was more deeply seated.
The successor of Marquis Wilhelm, Julian von Reinhardt.
And the 13 month fortress. At this outpost that exists at the very front of Essenmund.
It was Count Julian who had been the biggest topic of discussion in the past few days.
– Count Julian won a great victory in Harsen!
News from the rear of Essenmund came from here, too.
Although, they were the elite Essenmund forces fighting in the forefront.
They knew very well that the Byrea Mercenary Corps in the west was a formidable enemy. And the known troops of Harsen Castle are absolutely inferior.
Even the Keithic Gates of the West. Even the Apostle of Phaludis was said to have taken part in the siege.
The apostle itself is a transcendental type that surpasses a type 1 monster. Even the High Knights of the normal Knights were powerless in front of them.
‘But Count Julian was different.’
Unbelievable news that it was a 21-year-old, fledgling count’s major was also delivered here.
The great victory in the Battle of Harsen was created by Yulian himself as the lord of that castle.
‘Even the Midnight High Night… Were surprised by the news.’
Not only as a swordsman, but as a commander. And he did it all perfectly as a lord.
Also right before. The messenger who regularly goes to and from the White Lion Palace and the 13 Month Fortress also brought another news.
– It is said that Count Julian used Sunoh’s Polar Night in a sparring with His Highness!
And, that event had a bigger ripple effect than the news about the Battle of Harsen.
‘They said that Seonoh’s polar night is a state that only three people can achieve even in the midnight sun.’
Riff heard from his senior knight.
First of all, Wilhelm Marquis. Since he had already reached the ultimate stage of the White Night of Oh, he was naturally a user of the Polar Night of Sun Oh.
And following that, the people who reached the realm of the polar night were Captain Michael and Vice-Captain Pavel.
Those two were already Aura Masters. The level of the people Leaf watched was no longer human.
The two of them were able to stand face to face while enduring the demon power of Greiel, the Apostle of Permafrost.
‘In the first place, there are few knights in the Empire who can deal with type 1 monsters alone…’
A master is a level that is only evaluated as possible when you enter the 10th seat of the empire.
Of course, Michael and Pavel are strong men who proudly rank on the 10th throne of the Empire.
However, Count Julian is a young swordsman who is only 21 years old.
And that a novice who had recently completed an academy had reached that level.
Even the main character in a chivalrous novel would be scolded for being absurd. It was beyond common sense.
‘Most of the people here know it well.’
That Count Yulian had barely awakened mana only half a year ago.
Putting aside the fact that he was known as an idiot until then, Count Yulian was just an ordinary person who couldn’t even use mana in the first place.
That’s why Count Yulian used Sunoh’s Polar Night. And of course, the people here couldn’t believe that they had lasted one minute against Wilhelm with that extreme night.
I could hear the elite soldiers whispering in low voices.
“Is the rumor really true?”
“No matter how much you are His Highness’ heir… I really can’t believe that you endured that much against Your Highness.”
Even Julian was a pretty young man who could be mistaken for a woman.
“But we know. That the rumors about the Count must be true.”
Fabian next to him whispered.
And Riff nodded as well. So did Eric.
The three people who were the motives of the count and the battle group. And it was these three people who directly observed the extraordinary achievements made by Count Julian.
‘It’s absolutely not a rumor.’
That young count standing side by side, not at all discouraged even in front of the great Lion Grand Duke. Leaf and the others knew better than anyone how strong the swordsman was.
“Then let’s return to our respective platoons!”
The voice of the High Night came.
In this way, the elite soldiers who directly witnessed the successor of their master returned to their original state.
***
The air in the fort was cool.
Although it was August, the season was summer. This is the northern part of Ireland.
In particular, this place where the 13th month fortress is located was also a high mountain in Essenmund.
The fort was also installed at a fairly high place, and when I climbed the wall, the view of the huge mountain beyond it was amazing.
‘It’s a landscape that seems to be overwhelmed.’
A huge, sheer mountain. And the top of the mountain was full of ice caps.
Its presence felt so huge that it did not feel like reality.
At that time, the person standing next to me on the top of the wall turned his head.
In Essenmund, no, in the Empire, a hero with a greater presence than those gigantic mountains in front of his eyes.
Wilhelm the Lionheart, my maternal grandfather spoke to me.
“Julian. Do you know why this place is called the Thirteenth Month Fortress?”
“I heard that around here… Northheim has very long winters. That’s why December feels like there’s one more month, so I know it’s called the 13th Fortress.”
“Yes. I know you well.”
After saying that, the maternal grandfather was silent for a moment.
Right now, there were only me and my maternal grandfather on the wall.
Do you have any stories you want to share with your successor? My grandfather briefly bit the soldiers standing guard nearby.
‘It’s full of magical spirits everywhere.’
I felt it while going north from Reinheim to this area called Northheim.
The demon’s power grew thick enough to pierce his entire body.
If you go two more days north from Northheim, you will find the worst Keitic Gate in Island. There is permafrost.
“That Graiel was resurrected as the Apostle of Permafrost. I already told you As a person of Reinhardt, you should be well aware of the most evil beast in history.”
“That’s right.”
Perhaps I knew more about Greiel than my grandfather could have imagined.
Roia’s ordeal.
As a swordsman, that special quest that brought me to a new level.
Through the experience of so many deaths.
I quickly mastered Sunoh’s polar night state, which was impossible for me at the time, to the extent that it was close to cheating.
‘Well… A normal person would not have been able to endure experiencing so many deaths.’
Erti, who was able to perfectly reproduce the lion heart sword after the sword.
He died over a hundred times while receiving Erti’s teachings. And in the end, while dealing with Greiel, he experienced countless deaths again.
– Well, you can be proud. If you were an ordinary person, you would have gone mad before reaching half of the death you experienced, Julian.
In fact, at that time, in order to pass the ordeal, she took off her mother’s rosary as well.
So, I overcame the fear of dealing with Greiel, the angel of death, with my sober mind.
“Aren’t you afraid of this magic power? This terribly bizarre and unpleasant smell of magical spirit power is proof that Greiel has recovered that power.”
The maternal grandfather continued to speak.
Just like I grew rapidly through death.
Even Greiel, who was killed by Atlin after the sword. Now that he has been resurrected, he has become stronger than he was 100 years ago.
‘And the Apostle of Knoia…’
Even if they are apostles of the same Keiatic Gate, their strength is vastly different.
Knoia, who was a demon in the first place, and the seal created by dividing her body is the source of the Keiatic Gate.
Although the Corrupted Dwarf Star, which was Knoia’s Mana Heart, was defeated.
Even that corrupt dwarf was only a part of the old man’s malice.
And the two apostles who shared Knoia’s greatest malice the most.
It was the resurrected Graiel and Duke Pedro.
‘Unir said that one of them was stronger than the other two Keiatic Apostles combined.’
In other words, Lamiarna, who has already been defeated by me, the Apostle of the East Gate. It meant that he was much weaker than Greiel or Pedro.
It seems that I, who had been silent for a moment, trembled without realizing it.
The maternal grandfather, who misunderstood the meaning, spoke again.
“As much as you have Reinhardt’s blood, you must feel the terrible ties between Graiel and our family. It wouldn’t be strange if you were afraid of that gigantic magical power…”
“No. Could it be that?”
I put my hand on Siertia’s sword handle and said.
“I’m very excited to think of him dying at Reinhardt’s hands once again. If you’re that strong of a guy.”
At that, the grandfather laughed out loud.
“Haha!! Julian. After all, you must have been born with the blood of a lion. Yes. Reinhardt’s blood is like that. No matter what kind of strong enemy is in front of you. Even if you subconsciously felt fear, eventually your blood boils. With the thought of surpassing that formidable enemy.”
My grandfather was right.
On the wall, the two shared the excitement that only Reinhardt’s blood could relate to.
In front of that fierce hatred that wants to destroy Essenmund.
Grandfather, who had been laughing so heartily, suddenly spoke in a different voice.
“But Julian. This old man has something to tell me now.”
And I had a hunch that the next words were the reason my maternal grandfather brought me to this wall.
“What are you talking about?”
“Another blood flowing through you. About blood other than Reinhardt.”
At the same time as he said that, my maternal grandfather’s eyes met mine.
However, the mother-in-law was soon unable to speak. Then, as if he had finally made up his mind, he grabbed my shoulder and said.
“Julian. In fact, your father is Lucifer, the ruthless demon lord.”
