『When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.
They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.』
***
Third Forward Base.
In this half-frozen, collapsed ruin, Lucas was barely standing, covered in blood.
"Haaah..."
As he exhaled a long breath, the white mist that extended froze instantly.
This wasn't a phenomenon occurring due to low winter temperatures.
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It was because an evil so cold and powerful that it could freeze even the soul was lurking before him."..."
The fourth and strongest unit of the Apocalypse Knights.
The blue knights of Death.
These centaurs, with their blue capes fluttering, were clad in armor made entirely of blue ice.
Especially the one at the front had ice proliferated and amplified all over his body, looking almost like a giant ice statue.
The icicles spreading in all directions looked like a monster's horns.
His face too was covered in massive ice, as if wearing an upside-down crown made of ice.
Around the monster were the corpses of Crossroad soldiers who had frozen to death just moments ago, with cold still being extracted from those corpses in real-time.
Saaaah...
Wrapping himself in the cold extracted from death, a faint laugh flowed from the ice-covered face of the blue knight.
"Knight, why did you remain alone instead of fleeing?"
"..."
Lucas didn't bother to answer and gripped the two swords in his hands.
Originally, the Third Forward Base had been holding out firmly against the blue knights, but.
When the enemy commander broke through a part of the frontline and the first casualty occurred, it collapsed rapidly.
The blue knights absorbed the cold from the first death, and strengthened by that absorbed cold, they unleashed fierce attacks causing more casualties...
In this way, the collapse of the frontline happened too suddenly and explosively.
Originally, there was a prepared method to systematically retreat troops when the frontline was pushed back, but in this situation, a safe retreat became impossible.
In the end, Lucas chose to stay behind alone to face the blue knights and buy time while evacuating all the remaining survivors.
It was an action born from confidence that with his combat ability and mobility, he could sufficiently buy time and then retreat, but.
'Kuk...'
Lucas looked down at his legs.
They were frozen.
No, not just his feet. The entire area of ground was completely frozen white.
Even the great Lucas couldn't exert his usual mobility in this place where the entire ground was frozen and trembling with cold.
He succeeded in evacuating all the surviving allies, but Lucas himself was in a dilemma, tightly surrounded by blue knights.
"Prepared for your own death to save your comrades... That spirit is admirable."
Sring-
The blue knight commander approached, spinning his giant scythe.
"But you must pay the price."
At that, Lucas's frozen lips curled up with a sneer.
"What? Prepared for death?"
The blue knight commander showed a puzzled expression at the clear mockery.
Between Lucas's white-frozen golden hair, which he had briefly lowered, blue eyes colder than the snow and ice surrounding the area were revealed.
"Don't make me laugh, monster."
"What?"
"I'm going to live."
Gooooh...!
Golden currents began to swirl behind Lucas's back.
"I sent my comrades away because their survival increases the chances of winning this war. And to win this war..."
A faint warmth suddenly brushed across Lucas's blue eyes, which had been swirling with cold hostility.
"...a world where my precious people can live happily will come, and I want to live to see that."
"..."
"That's all there is to it. I never prepared for death."
Lucas's gaze had long since left the dark cave.
He too was envisioning the peaceful scenery beyond the flag led by his lord...
The blue spring sky that would unfold beyond.
"And there's something else you're mistaken about."
Lucas slowly overlapped the two swords in his hands.
And he activated the new gimmick he had requested Kellibey to add to the two swords.
Click-!
[Bestowed Sword] is a special sword with only a hilt and no blade. It's special equipment where a blade of light erupts from the guard position, and when the light blade isn't activated, it's just a guard and hilt.
This sword with only a hilt attached to the lower part of [Excalibur]'s hilt with magical sparks flying.
At the same time, the separated guard parts also moved up along [Excalibur]'s hilt with magical sparks flying, attaching to [Excalibur]'s guard.
Now [Excalibur] had a hilt twice as long as before, and a guard twice as long.
And...
Whoosh-!
Along the white and blue blade of the holy sword, golden light currents surged.
Enveloping [Excalibur]'s blade, [Bestowed Sword]'s blade of light erupted massively, swirling around.
After combining the two longswords into one greatsword, Lucas pointed the tip of that greatsword towards the enemy commander.
"I'm not running away. I'll take all of you down right here."
A special transformation combination gimmick that was possible because both swords are holy (聖) and light (光) attribute weapons.
This weapon, where two SSR-grade legendary weapons synergize, too powerful for mere humans to wield, is named - [Ad Astra].
It was an EX-grade weapon that could only be used for a limited time that the two longswords and Lucas himself could withstand.
"This power is so strong that it's hard to use when allies are around."
While deploying [Ad Astra], Lucas also activated his ultimate skill [Divine Descent] simultaneously.
Saaaah...
The ice around Lucas, enveloped in swirling light, began to melt.
Surrounded by dazzling light, Lucas readjusted his grip on the giant sword of light.
Both the weapon and its user had undoubtedly touched divine might, but.
Lucas's deep blue eyes still hadn't lost their human warmth.
And that gaze, no longer containing any beastliness, darkness, or regret - stared straight at the enemy commander.
Meeting that gaze, the blue knight commander muttered in a chilling voice.
"...For a human in this twilight age where everything decays, you're quite something."
Dark blue ice crackled and clung to the blue knight commander's scythe, expanding the already long blade to an even more massive size.
"Yet all that resistance is futile. In the end, destruction will come soon, and everything in this world will turn to dust and disappear beyond time."
"What a tired story."
Lucas smirked and slowly pulled back his greatsword.
"I've already realized the preciousness of all those moments that have passed."
The process of the past 3 years flashed through his mind.
All those days of pain, sorrow, regret, and forgiveness.
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Looking back, there wasn't a single moment in this long journey that wasn't precious. Even if they had flowed away and turned to dust, they were all beautiful.
And now the end of this journey is right before us.
"The days to come will eventually pass by in vain and turn to dust in memory. But I'll cherish those too."
So, he will live.
He will definitely live to see it.
The end of the grand battle his lord has led.
And...
"I will see the day when the child born after my lord marries Lady Serenade calls me Uncle Lucas...!"
"...?"
The confused blue knight commander paused for a moment. What did he say?
But Lucas, ignoring this, quietly murmured his next wish.
"...And, my own happiness too."
His own happiness as Lucas, which he had disregarded until now.
He will obtain it.
Lucas gripped the greatsword with determination.
"Well then, here I go."
"...!"
The next moment.
Flash-!
Lucas swung the sword of light fiercely, and all the blue knights who charged towards Lucas simultaneously plunged their ice scythes.
Dazzling light and bone-chilling cold erupted simultaneously from the Third Forward Base.
***
The moment we arrived at the Third Forward Base, an immense light and cold burst out simultaneously from inside the forward base.
"Whoa!"
"Everyone hold on tight!"
Evangeline, who had jumped to the front of the train, raised her shield to protect the magic train.
Kuwaaaang!
As we charged into the forward base interior, what we saw was... the scene of all the blue knights surrounding and charging at Lucas being cut in half by Lucas's slash of light.
The sight of ancient ice knights being completely torn apart amidst the swirling light particles, and all the ice covering the area melting away, was truly mythical. Everyone's jaws dropped.
But I knew. Now is not the time to let our guard down!
"Lucas!"
I shouted with all my might.
"Get out of there-!"
"...?!"
Lucas seemed convinced that he had taken down all enemies with this one strike, but at my words, his eyes widened, and he hurriedly moved away.
And my instruction was accurate.
"Aaaaah-!"
The commander of the blue knights.
This centaur, whose entire body was covered in ice like an ice lord, has the ability to extract cold from death.
In other words,
He can extract cold even from the deaths of his own subordinates...!
Crack! Crackle!
The blue knight commander, his entire body covered in white ice, swung his now almost house-sized scythe, but Lucas had already moved away after hearing my instruction.
Zheeeok!
Winter bloomed where the scythe struck. A terrifying cold shook the area.
"Finish it!"
Lucas, who had retreated far, tried to charge at the enemy commander again, but.
"Okay, that's enough!"
Tat!
Driving the magic train to Lucas's side, I snatched Lucas onto the train, then turned north.
"Let's retreat! To Crossroad's main castle!"
"What?!"
"You've taken down all of his subordinates, that's enough! Now let's defeat their final phase with the method we prepared at the main castle!"
Lucas tried to voice a different opinion, but,
"Ugh..."
Perhaps due to the aftermath of unleashing that terrifyingly powerful light attack just now, his ultimate skill [Divine Descent] was forcibly canceled, and the two combined longswords also separated as if bouncing apart.
"Aaaaah-!"
The blue knight commander, transformed into a giant ice monster, tried to chase us, but he was slow due to the excessive ice clinging to his entire body.
We were able to safely leave the Third Forward Base behind him and head north.
I patted Lucas's back as he caught his breath roughly.
"Well done."
"...We lost soldiers."
"That's my responsibility as the commander-in-chief. You did your best as the on-site commander. Thanks to you buying time, the rest of the personnel were able to retreat safely."
The deaths of allies are heartbreaking, but there's enough time to dwell on the sorrow after the defense battle is over.
In the end, all four forward bases succeeded in blunting the enemy's spearhead. This defensive battle is being carried out according to plan.
As I was thinking about the enemy's remaining course of action and how to deal with it, Lucas suddenly said.
"...My lord."
"Yes?"
"When this war is all over."
"Yes."
"You must be happy."
I blinked.
What's with this sudden nonsense?
Lucas showed an inexplicable smile.
"Because I'll be happy too."
Then Lucas glanced at Evangeline beside him.
Evangeline, who had been brushing off the frost powder stuck to Lucas's armor, blushed in embarrassment and said one thing.
"Old man! I have something to ask too!"
"What is it?"
"Do you prefer having a belly or not having one?!"
"It's fine either way."
"That's the right answer-!"
Evangeline rejoiced and pounded Lucas's armor even harder. Lucas left Evangeline alone with a bitter smile.
"..."
Listening to the two knights' incomprehensible conversation, I just gaped blankly.
I really can't follow the kids' conversations lately.
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Is this a generation gap...?
--TL Notes--
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