Chapter 23

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 23

Myuria’s gaze trembled.

With death right before her eyes, only one person came to mind.

‘Reinag.’

The man who had taken her in when she was an orphan with no one in the world.

Who had placed a sword in her hand.

And who had one day suddenly disappeared.

To Myuria, he had been a master.

And also a father.

The back alleys of Noxis, where strength was power.

To survive there, she had to do anything.

She had taken up a sword with her small hands.

And if someone tried to harm her, she took their life without hesitation.

Then one day, while living like that.

- Myuria.

Someone appeared who called her name for the first time.

It was Reinag.

He took Myuria in.

He gave her food and provided her with a place to sleep.

Born and raised on the streets, Myuria experienced that kind of warmth for the first time.

And.

Reinag taught her how to kill people even better.

- Dagger techniques suit you.

Learning dagger techniques.

- Join the Black Dawn Knights.

Joining the Black Dawn Knights.

- Secretly take in and raise the apprentices trying to enter the Imperial Magic Tower.

Gathering mages in secret.

- Learn how to handle familiars there.

Learning how to control familiars.

...All of it had been the path Reinag pointed out.

Myuria had never questioned it even once.

If he told her to go, she went. If he told her to kill, she killed. That was how she had lived.

But one day, Reinag suddenly disappeared.

As though he no longer had any use for her.

As though he had discarded her after she had fulfilled her purpose...!

‘Where did you go?’

She had wondered countless times.

Why he had left her behind.

Why he had given her no explanation.

That was also why she had built such infamy within the knight order.

‘Because I thought then you would come find me.’

If her fame grew.

If she became strong enough to stand as his equal.

Perhaps the day would come when Reinag sought her out.

But for it to end like this...

Crackle―!

“Ghh...!”

Her insides twisted.

Pain like her organs were being torn apart directly.

But Myuria’s gaze was fixed somewhere other than her wound.

A short distance away, the brat who had driven this damned power into her had collapsed as though his strength had run out.

The moment she looked at his face, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

She had lived upon the path Reinag had laid out.

Then.

‘Could that child too... even my death.’

Have been part of his plan?

She wanted to know, but there was no one who could answer her.

That was all.

Fweeeeng-!

With the sound, Myuria vanished without a trace.

____________

FWEEEEENG―!

Pure white light swallowed the area.

“What―”

Before anyone could even scream.

BOOOOOOM―!

A tremendous explosion filled the gorge.

The Noxis soldiers positioned around the mage were engulfed by it.

People were blown away and smashed into the ground.

Those closest vanished without a trace.

Myuria also disappeared from that spot. Not even a trace remained.

But the aftermath of the explosion did not end there.

Rumble―!

The entire gorge shook.

“...!”

Craaaack―!

Long cracks spread across the cliffs on both sides.

The shock created by reverse rotation had shaken even the surrounding rock walls.

Bang! Starting with one falling boulder.

Rrrrrrumble―!

Dozens of rocks began pouring down one after another.

“Dodge!”

“Falling rocks!”

The surviving soldiers shouted urgently.

Boulders from the collapsing cliffs slammed into various parts of the gorge.

One of them fell toward a corner of the gorge.

Directly toward where Rohan lay collapsed below.

Even then, Rohan did not move in the slightest.

He had already lost consciousness from the impact that sent him flying along with the explosion.

Just as the enormous rock was about to fall on Rohan’s head.

Flash―! A figure rushed toward him.

In an instant, the figure kicked off the ground and snatched Rohan’s body up.

BOOM―! By a hair’s breadth, the boulder crashed into the place where Rohan had been lying.

“Private First Class Rohan.”

Mushurin’s voice rang out.

The person who had escaped while carrying Rohan was Mushurin.

From the very beginning, she had kept paying attention to the direction Rohan had gone.

Even after falling under the hallucination.

While doubting everything she saw and heard, she had never let the direction where Rohan had disappeared leave her mind.

‘You carried out your mission extremely well.’

And the moment the magic broke, an explosion erupted from the front.

Mushurin did not hesitate.

She immediately ran toward where Rohan was.

“...”

Mushurin looked down at Rohan in her arms.

His face was covered in blood and dust, but he was still breathing.

That was as much attention as she could spare for Rohan.

“Company Commander!”

A soldier shouted from far away.

Mushurin turned her head.

A short distance away, the White Wolf Knights and the Noxis army were fighting.

And the situation was completely different from moments ago.

While the magic remained active, the White Wolf Knights had been pushed back.

The soldiers could not properly distinguish friend from foe.

Whether the person before them was an enemy, an ally, or a dead family member.

Thanks to Mushurin warning them about the hallucination beforehand, they had avoided the worst-case scenario of swinging swords at each other.

‘But that was all.’

They hesitated every time they extended their swords.

Because they had to confirm whether what they saw before them was truly an enemy.

That hesitation had gradually broken down their battle line.

Then the hallucination suddenly vanished.

“The hallucination is gone!”

“Those bastards are the enemy!”

The White Wolf Knights’ movements changed.

Clang―! A soldier who had only been pushed back moments earlier blocked a sword strike.

Meanwhile, confusion spread across the faces of the Noxis soldiers.

Their rear.

The place where the mage had been was completely gone.

Most of the troops positioned around it had also disappeared.

Only corpses and broken armor littered the ground.

“Where is Lady Myuria?”

“Where’s the commander!”

No answer came.

The rear forces, the mage, and the commander.

All had vanished in an instant.

That fact rapidly spread throughout the entire Noxis force.

“...”

One soldier stumbled a step backward.

That small movement was the beginning.

“Retreat! The operation has failed!”

“Maintain formation! Who ordered a retreat!”

Orders became mixed.

They no longer even knew whose command to follow.

The chain of command collapsed.

Meanwhile.

“Fourth Company, advance!”

Mushurin’s voice echoed through the gorge.

The White Wolf Knights were different.

The anger from being beaten back one-sidedly moments ago still remained vivid.

The difference appeared instantly.

Slash-! Slash-!

The sounds of flesh being cut and screams began filling the gorge.

In the end, the Noxis soldiers threw down their weapons and chose to retreat.

Some surrendered, but the White Wolf Knights had no intention of accepting them.

It was truly a scene of slaughter.

______________

The long battle ended.

Niagara Gorge had become a complete scene of carnage.

Broken swords and shields were scattered everywhere.

Blood flowed like small streams between the rocks.

Mushurin looked around.

“Report our casualties!”

A short while later, a soldier hurried over.

“Forty-three dead! Seventeen critically wounded! We’re still counting the lightly wounded! Two wagons were destroyed, and we lost six horses!”

Mushurin’s expression hardened.

The losses were by no means light.

They had known about the mage in advance.

And even prepared for the hallucinations, yet they had still suffered this much.

If they had entered without knowing anything, the casualties might have increased exponentially.

Mushurin looked at the soldiers.

“You have all done exceptionally well.”

The soldiers turned their gazes toward her.

“We won.”

A brief silence.

And then.

“Waaaaaaaaah―!”

Cheers shook the gorge.

The soldiers raised their swords and spears high.

They struck their shields and grabbed each other by the shoulders.

The atmosphere of victory spread in an instant.

That was when it happened.

“Rohan!”

An urgent voice cut through the cheering.

Mushurin turned her head.

It was Creed.

Not only Creed, but Kaisen, Johanna, and the other squad members were gathered in one place.

Rohan was still lying on the ground.

His face was twisted severely, as though something was causing him tremendous pain.

Mushurin immediately approached.

“Sergeant Creed.”

“Yes.”

“Is the reason Rohan is like this. The same as last time?”

Creed’s expression hardened.

After a brief silence, Creed nodded.

“Probably.”

“...”

“No. This time, it’ll be much worse than then.”

Creed looked around.

The rear where the explosion had occurred.

Countless corpses lay among the collapsed rocks and across the floor of the gorge.

Those who had been caught in the explosion Rohan himself created.

There looked to be at least a hundred.

“The enemy soldiers that bastard killed alone... must number over a hundred.”

Mushurin let out a short breath.

Then she immediately called a soldier.

“Lloyd.”

“Yes!”

“Go bring the phantom beast egg.”

The soldier’s eyes widened.

“Yes?”

“I said bring the egg.”

“But Company Commander. If something happens to the egg...”

They had gone through all this trouble to protect the egg.

The mood among the surrounding soldiers sank instantly.

Mushurin looked around.

“Who do you think is the reason you’re alive right now?”

“...”

“If Private First Class Rohan hadn’t dealt with the mage, we would still be trapped in hallucinations, doubting each other.”

Mushurin pointed toward the rear.

“And Private First Class Rohan took down most of the rear forces, including the enemy commander, in a single strike.”

The soldier could say nothing.

Mushurin spoke with a firm expression.

“That means he’s a talent we have to keep alive no matter what. Besides, the phantom beast egg didn’t break last time either. If the symptoms are the same, there’s a possibility the same method will solve them.”

“...Understood.”

The soldier hurried away.

A short while later, two soldiers carefully carried over the phantom beast egg.

The enormous egg was placed beside Rohan.

“...”

Nothing happened.

Everyone had seen what happened last time, so they looked down at Rohan with tense expressions.

Kaisen frowned.

“There’s no reaction?”

And before anyone could stop him, he lightly tapped the egg with his hand.

Mushurin immediately scowled.

“Kaisen-! You...”

That was when it happened.

Sssss―

Creed’s eyes widened.

“Rohan!”

Black energy began flowing from Rohan’s face.

The same symptoms as last time.

At first, it rose like thin smoke.

But soon.

Whoooooosh―!

The black energy surged upward all at once.

“Everyone, back away!”

At Mushurin’s shout, the soldiers hurriedly stepped backward.

The black energy rose above Rohan’s head.

It was not a single strand.

Dozens... hundreds.

The sinister energy tangled like balls of thread and was being ripped wildly from Rohan’s body.

Sssssssss―!

Even the surrounding air grew cold.

Several soldiers backed away in fear.

“What the hell is that...”

“Gods above.”

The black energy tangled in the air for a moment.

Whoooosh―!

Then the black energy stretching through the air changed direction.

Toward the phantom beast egg.

“...!”

Creed swallowed hard.

Sssssssss―! The black energy was continuously sucked inside.

All the remaining energy disappeared into the egg at once.

The surroundings fell silent.

And then.

Thud, the strength left Rohan’s body and he went limp.

His previously twisted face also returned to a peaceful expression.

“Huh?”

At that moment, one soldier made a strange sound.

Everyone turned toward him.

Then they all cried out in shock.

Trembleee-.

The egg was shaking.

“Everyone, back away!”

At Mushurin’s order, the soldiers stepped backward.

Then, crack.

A faint sound rang out.

“...”

A thin crack had appeared on the surface of the egg.

Craaaack―!

In an instant, the crack spread far.

Craaaaack―!

The fissures rapidly began spreading across the entire egg.