Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 175 - Carnwennan

The only warning had been a single flash.

As Medrauta and Viviane struggled to hold back the tide of cannonspawn that were steadily advancing toward the human army's position, a single incredibly bright flash of light spread through the air behind Medrauta.

In the following instant, a pillar of light had burst through the behemoth's chest. A pillar of light so great that it towered over the Spire itself, bathing the great beast's colossal body in a shower of unstoppable radiance that spread rapidly through the whole of the battlefield.

Both Medrauta and Viviane winced at the luminous explosion, momentarily blinded by the abrupt advent of searing light. Likewise, the cannonspawn they had been fighting for the past fifteen minutes had stopped completely, almost as if they were gazing upon the heaven-piercing pillar with reverence or fear despite their lack of emotions.

"W-What the hell is that?" Medrauta blinked rapidly, clearing her vision before the cannonspawn began to move again.

Viviane stared at the heaven-piercing beam of light that had burst through the air so abruptly. It shone with unfathomable radiance, compensating for the shadows cast by the waning rays of the setting sun. As the ochre light in the sky dwindled, Viviane could feel there was something she was missing.

Indeed, she quickly realized that what she was gazing upon was not a pillar of light, but an impossibly long blade that stretched to the sky and beyond. Her mouth hung agape, staring at the weapon in awe and disbelief. A blade so large should never be able to exist, yet there it was, cutting through the rapidly reddening sky and the very air she breathed.

Stretching from behind the behemoth all the way to the heavens and beyond, the blade held the behemoth in stasis, its titanic blades no longer in its hands. Its massive weapons had fallen to the ground as its mountainous body was being lifted up by the gleaming blade. The titanic beast remained silent and still, unable to even struggle as it hung in the air helplessly, suspended by an impossibility even greater than it.

Though its body still remained largely intact for the moment, the behemoth's fate was clear to both Viviane and Medrauta who could only marvel at the sight from afar.

So long as the blade remained impaling the behemoth's chest, it was as if time had stopped. But just as quickly as it had appeared, the colossal blade vanished from sight. The behemoth fell from the air, no longer suspended. The earth trembled with a great thud as the beast landed, its slowly dissolving corpse remaining the only proof of the unfathomably large blade's existence.

"Did that—" Medrauta ducked instinctively even before she registered her body's movements, narrowly avoiding the first shot of a rapid cannonball volley directed her way. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, failing to even finish her question before she was quickly reminded that she was still engaged in combat.

"Medrauta! I think it's time for us to start regrouping with the army!" Viviane shouted from the slope of the mountain. "They're beginning to advance into the pass!"

Medrauta acknowledged her lady's words with a quick nod as she flicked her blade through the air several times, its glowing steel screeching as it deflected cannonballs from their intended path. "I'm pulling back, then!"

Both Medrauta and Viviane began retreating, the noblewoman sticking to the safety of the mountains while Medrauta rushed toward her lady's position. Through their efforts, a large portion of the cannonspawn had been slain, but a sizable number still remained, their cannonfire enough to endanger Medrauta the further she distanced herself from their formation.

"Take my hand, Medrauta!" Viviane exclaimed as her knight drew closer. She flinched as several explosions of cannonfire struck the terrain beside her, causing her to shy away from the blast area. Still, she held strong and continued reaching her hand toward Medrauta, adjusting her pace so that the knight could quickly catch up.