Chapter 42: White Knight (1)

At that moment, in front of Rivera Citadel.

“Captain! The Goblin Army is charging! They’ll reach the citadel any moment now!”

Twenty Knights and fifty guards.

A total of around seventy able-bodied men stood ready, weapons raised, waiting for the battle to come.

“Ugh…”

“H-Hang in there… We can… we can win…”

“…We’re all going to die.”

“God, please save us.”

The soldiers’ eyes were filled with raw fear and dread.

Some were so terrified they couldn’t even properly grip their weapons.

Yet no one on the battlefield dared call them cowards.

Rivera was a citadel located at the southern edge of the Kingdom of Franz.

A peaceful region where no one in their lifetime had even seen a single monster’s hair, most of the soldiers had almost no real combat experience against monsters.

To make matters worse, the difference in numbers was overwhelming.

Rivera’s entire force numbered barely seventy men.

Meanwhile, the Goblin Army exceeded four hundred.

Seventy versus four hundred.

A practically impossible numerical disadvantage.

Each soldier would have to kill more than five goblins just to break even.

So it was only natural that the soldiers trembled with fear in such a situation.

“Raise your weapons high and form ranks! Shields in front, spearmen behind them! Archers at the rear! Lift your heads and face the enemy straight on! If we fail to hold this place, death is the only fate awaiting us! Hey, you there! Stand up straight and hold your weapon properly!”

The Deputy Commander of the Rivera Knight Order relentlessly pushed the terrified soldiers without pause.

But he himself was only shouting louder to suppress the fear creeping into his heart.

Then—

“Bwooooooo~!”

The Captain of the Knight Order blew his whistle, drawing everyone’s attention.

Instantly, the gazes of the knights and soldiers turned toward their captain.

The captain, wearing a seriously grave expression, finally spoke.

“…If there is anyone here afraid of the enemy, afraid of death, then I say this: You may lay down your weapons and run away right now!”

The shocking words from the captain made the knights and soldiers blink in disbelief, swallowing dryly.

Among them, a few particularly frightened soldiers looked around nervously, hesitating as they tried to lower their weapons.

At that, the Deputy Commander glared fiercely and strode toward those soldiers.

“You scoundrels! If you so much as drop your weapons, you will be deemed deserters! Desertion during wartime is a heinous crime! I will execute you here and now as an example!”

But the captain quickly grabbed the Deputy Commander’s shoulder to stop him.

Then, in a loud, clear voice, he continued.

“I swear on the honor and duty of the Knight Order Captain that anyone who drops their weapons and flees will face no punishment or harm! However…!”

The captain scanned the men before him, then bellowed with vigor.

“Remember this! The fear and terror you are feeling now—if you are fine with your family, your friends, and your loved ones in Rivera suffering the same emotions… then you may flee this very place!”

…

The heavy silence that weighed on the battlefield.

Gradually, one by one, the soldiers gritted their teeth and lifted their weapons again.

“No. That must not happen…”

“My daughter… I cannot let my daughter tremble with fear!”

“Mother, I will return alive. I swear it!”

“Fight! Even if we die, we will protect Rivera!”

“Let’s win! Let’s survive and return to our families!”

The gloomy mood on the battlefield, suffocated by fear, suddenly ignited into burning morale.

The captain’s brief speech proved far more effective than the Deputy Commander’s constant shouting.

The Deputy Commander lowered his head in respect as he looked at the captain.

“As expected of you, Captain! I will fight alongside you until my last breath!”

“Deputy Commander, survive. This battle is for survival. Now then, you will take the left wing formation!”

“Yes, sir! I will defend the left flank at all costs!”

Given their numerical disadvantage, the greatest threat was being surrounded by the enemy.

Thus, the captain had the battlefield encircled with pointed wooden barricades, funneling the enemy’s approach into a single entrance.

Inside the barricades, the Rivera Army’s formation resembled a sheepfold.

Meanwhile, the formation chosen by the Rivera forces was a V-formation.

By limiting the numerous enemies to enter through one point and using the V-formation, they planned to encircle the goblins instead.

At last—

“Captain! They’re coming!”

The Goblin Army, over four hundred strong, finally appeared.

The goblins shouted loudly and charged toward the barricades.

“Now! Fire!”

Under the captain’s command, the soldiers simultaneously shot fire arrows.

Their targets weren’t the goblins, but the ground a short distance away from the barricades.

Flare~! Crackle~!

As the fire arrows fell, flames erupted from the oil spread on the ground.

The fire spread like a fuse along the oil to the buried oil barrels.

Boom! Kaboom!

“Kyaaaah!”

“Gyaaah!”

As the oil barrels exploded violently, dozens of goblins leading the charge were thrown far away.

Yet the sheer number of enemies pouring in remained daunting.

Shortly after, goblins flooded through the only open path in the barricade.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! Knights and soldiers of Rivera, raise your swords! Fight back!”

The captain’s shout echoed across the vast plains.

Then, the captain and deputy commander, standing on either wing, raised their swords high and charged forward.

“For the Kingdom of Franz!”

“For Rivera!”

Clang! Ching! Ching~!

In front of Rivera Citadel, the sound of metal weapons clashing rang out nonstop.

Minutes, tens of minutes, perhaps hours.

No one could tell how much time had passed since the battle began.

—Clash!

“Kyaaaak!”

The deputy commander, having felled a goblin blocking his way, panted heavily, thinking,

‘At this rate, we’ll be wiped out.’

Goblins were originally insignificant low-level monsters.

But when they came endlessly like this, the situation was entirely different.

Moreover, there was a reason these mere goblins moved so systematically.

“Deputy Commander! Look over there! That’s the Goblin Lord!”

In the center of the Goblin Army.

A burly goblin wearing a black cloak strode forward.

With a steel helmet on its head, a cloak draped over its shoulders, and a strangely shaped sword in hand.

The Goblin Lord’s gear was undoubtedly loot taken from fallen adventurers.

The deputy commander clenched his teeth and muttered.

“Goblin Lord! So it’s the Goblin Lord who’s leading them!”

The Goblin Lord was an individual far superior in stamina and intelligence to ordinary goblins.

While already a terrifying monster alone, the most troublesome thing was its exceptional leadership.

The goblins under its command became fiercer, craftier, and fiercely relentless—even to the point of embracing death.

At that moment, two brave knights charged at the Goblin Lord with fierce determination.

“Die, monster!”

“For Rivera!”

The Goblin Lord chuckled and flicked a glass bottle from inside his cloak.

Clink! Screeeech!

The glass shattered, scattering a black, murky liquid everywhere.

Immediately, the weapons and shields of the knights touched by the liquid began to melt away.

Goblin blood and saliva had corrosive properties that eroded metal.

The glass bottle the Goblin Lord threw was filled with concentrated goblin saliva and blood.

The Goblin Lord bared its yellow teeth, chuckling cruelly.

Muttering something, the Goblin Lord then swung its sword at the disarmed knights.

Attacking for a moment’s sadistic pleasure.

It was pure demonry incarnate.

“…Goblin scum! How dare you!”

Looking at the fallen comrades, the deputy commander ground his teeth in rage.

If they could just bring down the Goblin Lord, the subordinate goblins would fall into chaos without their command structure, and the formation would collapse.

If that happened, the unfavorable tide of battle could be turned completely around.

“W-Where is the Captain…?”

The Goblin Lord was a powerful foe only the deputy commander and captain could defeat together.

But the captain was far away, surrounded by goblins, struggling fiercely.

“If I don’t… rush to help… even the captain… Ugh…”

The deputy commander grimaced and clutched his side.

The wound from the goblin’s stab was bleeding red.

He gasped and slowly scanned the battlefield.

Fallen soldiers, scattered weapons, shouts, screams.

It was pure massacre.

“God… If You truly exist, please save Rivera… save us…”

The knights and soldiers had already reached their limits.

Their morale had long since broken.

But—

‘…I will fight and die for Rivera until my last breath.’

As the deputy commander resolutely raised his sword—

“Oooaah—!”

Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from the eastern forest.

Militiamen armed with weapons fiercely charged toward the goblin army’s right flank.

“What the hell is this…?!”

And that wasn’t all.

From the north came a piercing shout.

“Damn it! It’s either death or collapse! Everyone, chargeeee!”

A bandit gang was attacking the goblin army’s rear.

Their faces were full of terror.

But what shocked the deputy commander most was something else.

Bwooooooong!

Soaring through the wide sky, a huge stag beetle appeared majestically in the center of the battlefield.

The Owner of the Verdant Dungeon, the Ashura Beetle.

“A-Ashura Beetle? How did it get outside the Verdant Dungeon…?!”

The Ashura Beetle landed, crushing goblins beneath it, then mercilessly sent enemies flying with its massive horns.

“All right!”

“Deputy Commander! The Ashura Beetle is attacking the goblins!”

“A monster attacking another monster?! How is this possible…”

“The bandits are attacking from the north, and the Sanctuary militia from the east!”

“The goblin formation is collapsing, Deputy Commander!”

Just as the knights of Rivera were stunned into silence—

Thud!

Someone jumped off the Ashura Beetle’s back.

As the clouds blocking the sun slowly parted, the figure of a girl standing tall on the battlefield came into view.

Shining in radiant pure white armor and wielding a strangely shaped longsword.

Her golden hair flowed like waves of light.

Then, the pure white knight raised her sword high and shouted.

“Rise and fight! Today, we will protect what is ours! Our home! Our Sanctuary…!”

The Saintess, Jan d’Arc.