Chapter 68

A single Death Knight was slaughtering the bandit alliance’s guards stationed there.

‘It’s still not enough.’

Dale’s Death Knight was no crude, makeshift Death Knight wielded by mere black mages.

In the past, it was the ultimate sword technique that even felled the Divine Sword, once called the continent’s finest blade. For it was the very embodiment of that sword—the Sword’s Proxy. Therefore, Dail had two objectives for his Death Knight.

Purely reviving the hero’s sword, allowing it to be reborn as the true ‘Sword’s Proxy’.

Furthermore, much like AI deep learning, to have his Death Knight endlessly swing the sword, learning every process and accumulating data.

The development of the 「Automatic Formula」.

When the Death Knights finally broke free from Dale’s control and could wield the ‘Sword of the Hero’ on their own.

Ultimately, to the thousands of Death Orders slumbering within the duke’s castle, project the hero’s swordsmanship as an “automatic formula”—one that requires no individual control… overlaying the hero’s blade upon thousands of black swords.

By projecting the hero’s sword onto their blades, he envisioned the scene where thousands of Death Orders would be reborn into their ‘ultimate battle form’.

Death Knights clad in armor of ideology.

The army of the god of death… Anubis.

For that purpose, he was desperately refining and refining the Death Knight’s sword techniques, automating that information.

It was an act only possible because he was a master capable of bringing even the world’s divine swords to their knees.

The toll station guards finally began to fight back, heavily armed.

Yet before the blade of the Death Knight piloted by Dale, they were merely living sacrifices, mere lambs to be slaughtered for data accumulation.

Hamburg City Hall.

“Intelligence indicates the Robber Barons, led by Count Robert, are moving their forces ahead.”

Spreading a map depicting the surrounding terrain across the table, the mayor cautiously spoke.

“Furthermore, it appears the mercenary company they hired has also begun their campaign alongside the Bandit Alliance…”

“We’ve already burned down the toll stations ahead and cleared away all the chains.”

Dale nodded as if he’d expected it.

“They’re feeling anxious and moving ahead, I suppose.”

When the battle takes the form of a siege rather than open warfare, the advantage lies with the defenders.

At least so far, things were unfolding exactly as Dale had anticipated.

Moreover, what mattered most to Dale now was not victory itself, but how cleanly he secured it.

Mercenaries and bandit alliances have no mages. Needless to say, mages are a scarce resource in this world, and such a scarce resource would never pledge loyalty to mere mercenaries or lowly nobles.

The only one we need to guard against is Dale, and no matter how you slice it, Dale is only at the third circle. Even if Dale is putting up an absurdly impressive performance, they probably think they can overwhelm him with sheer numbers.

“There’s no need for concern.”

Beyond the reach of imperial law, a battle raged without a shred of rule. In this clash between men, it was time to test the achievements Dale had built up until now.

Though not comparable to the Black Mage, Blood Mage, or Holy Knight, how far could he, as an ‘unconventional powerhouse,’ influence the course of battle… and how much could his individual strength reshape the battlefield landscape?

How much of a hellscape could Dale create with the ‘mass destruction magic’ he was about to unleash?

The sheer curiosity about that fact was unbearable.

Against Black Armor Company, the only tactic the Bandit Alliance and mercenary companies could employ was one.

Surround the Imperial Free City of Hamburg and force a swift surrender.

This was due to the chronic supply issues plaguing this world.

Therefore, as he observed the enemies encircling Hamburg’s city walls, Dale thought calmly.

‘Using the city walls for a siege battle wouldn’t be so bad.’

Besides the Black Armor Company’s forces, Hamburg City itself maintained a considerable military presence.

However, the opposing side has no mages. The quality of their soldiers, including mercenaries, is no better than that of minor lords.

‘Pushing a bit harder shouldn’t hurt.’

Watching the scene, Dale thought calmly.

There was nothing wrong with basking in the spotlight, and above all, it was a decision he could make because, as the captain of the Black Armor Company, he trusted his men.

“Lord Yones.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Dale addressed Sir Yones, the deputy commander standing by his side.

“Shall we go out and see the sights with the kids?”

Against the enemy’s large force of roughly 2,000 men encircling the city. With only a hundred heavily armored infantrymen.

It was suicide by any measure.

The leader of the Bandit Alliance and commander-in-chief of the forces commanding the three great mercenary companies… Count Robert could think of it no other way.

He never doubted the enemy’s strongest force, the Black Armor Company’s heavily armored infantry, would barricade themselves inside the city and defend it. But for them to open the drawbridge and provoke a ‘fair and square’ fight!

They had barely a hundred men, and their only cover was the archers on the city walls.

‘Are they determined to die?’

No matter how invincible their defense seemed through their dense formation, numbers always prevail.

Yet, within that formation, guarded by a hundred heavily-armored infantrymen, stood the very being they protected. The infamous ‘Black Prince’ was there.

The mercenary captain of Black Armor Company, heir to the Black Mage Tower. A monster hailed as the empire’s greatest genius in swordsmanship, magic, and even military prowess.

Within that impenetrable defensive posture, he surely understood the significance of the mage’s presence.

Nevertheless, it is nearly impossible for a mere third-circle mage to cast ‘mass destruction magic,’ a spell permitted only in the conflicts of high lords.

Indeed, even among the feats Dale demonstrated as captain of the Black Armor Company, mass destruction magic was not included. Though they couldn’t grasp the principle behind the ‘sniper rifle’ Dale displayed, to their eyes, Dale’s feats amounted to little more than ‘bolt magic possessing formidable lethality’.

Not mass destruction magic, but merely a single bolt spell.

Unaware that it was all due to legal constraints, and furthermore, unable to even imagine the feats Dale would perform in a battle where the law had no place intervening.

‘So he was nothing but a naive child after all.’

Convinced that this was merely the recklessness of a child, Count Robert shouted.

“The enemy is merely a hundred heavily armored infantrymen!”

“Break through their dense formation!”

“To march out to their deaths on their own two feet—how utterly foolish!”

The mercenaries also raised their voices in a chorus of jeers and encouragement. As if trying hard to forget the presence of the Black Armor Company’s captain, the ‘Black Prince’, within their tight formation.

There wasn’t really any other way. The battle had been calculated from the start to handle the actions of a single third-circle mage.

“Charge!”

“Crush those Black Armor Company bastards!”

“For the Golden Lion Mercenaries!”

The assault by the Bandit Alliance and the mercenary units began.

“We’ll die right here!”

“For the Black Armor Company!”

Chanting their battle cry, a hundred heavily armored infantrymen solidified their defensive stance amidst the enemy’s assault.

An unbreakable formation.

Protected within that very formation, the commander of the Black Armor Company raised his head. Unlike usual, he wasn’t engaging the enemy in close combat.

True to the archetype of a mage, he stood protected by the heavy infantry, coldly calculating the distance.

“Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).”

Dale murmured softly, paying no heed to the empire’s laws.

However, it was not a mass-destruction ‘magic’. A weapon. It was, above all, a process of self-suggestion to clearly conjure the image in one’s mind. In other words, it was the wizard’s own 「spell」.

An act of self-suggestion to build a clear image and amplify the destructive power of magic based on an understanding of its mechanism.

Weapons of mass destruction. Typically, that term refers to nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and biological weapons, including radiation. But tracing back a bit further, the archetype embodied by that term had another form.

Human history is the history of war. Human history rolls forward solely as the wheel of war.

And in the history of that war, the first weapon of mass destruction they ever acquired.

“『Gatling-type』, 『20mm』.”

An incantation from another realm, unknown to the people of this world, was chanted.

Behind Dale, a swirling mass of shadows coalesced into the shape of barrels. Black barrels. And the number of those barrels was never just ‘one’.

Those very black barrels opened their maws toward the advancing enemy forces.

“The ones before me.”

Dale murmured softly.

“Split left and right immediately.”

“The commander’s order! First row, second row! Split to the sides!”

“Split to the sides!”

Simultaneously with the commander’s order, the heavy infantry in the front ranks of the dense formation shouted in unison.

Dale’s men. While this designation meant they were soldiers who could move according to their own will, its greater significance lay elsewhere. It referred to ‘custom-made soldiers’ whose movements were premised on supporting Dale’s actions.

An organizational structure meticulously tailored to Dale’s combat style from top to bottom.

At Dale’s command, the heavily armored infantry in the front ranks swiftly began to split apart.

‘Are those bastards out of their minds?’

In the face of a cavalry charge, the heavy infantry in the first line of the close formation split to the sides?

The enemy commander within the formation was exposed, and Count Robert couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

He knew that Dale of Saxony, commander of the Black Armor Company, wielded ‘projectile magic with high lethality’.

But facing this overwhelming cavalry charge, suffering the loss of a few horsemen was within acceptable limits.

What we must fear is the terror of death spreading like a plague, and as long as we are prepared for that, there is no need to fear the commander of Black Armor Company.

Before the battle, Count Robert endlessly impressed this truth upon his soldiers, and thus the mercenary cavalry charges, prepared to die, with a desperate resolve.

“So in the end, even the ‘Black Prince’ of the realm was nothing but an ignorant youngster who knew nothing of the world.”

This is a battle we can win. Moreover, with the enemy’s own blunder added to the mix, there was no doubt it would be a crushing victory.

As someone from this world, there was no way Dale could have known what “Gatling-style” and “20mm” meant.

Behind Dale, black gun barrels opened their mouths.

And understanding the meaning of ‘mass destruction’ spewing forth from them was not particularly difficult in any world.