Chapter 61
At that instant, hundreds, thousands of monster crow flocks came flying from the distant sky.
White Knight Order Captain Belkuan drew the sword from his waist and muttered.
"Prioritize protecting Yelsnada-nim in the rear!"
But right then.
She, holding a large crossbow, shot an arrow toward the crow flock in the sky.
After one fluid movement.
Dozens of magi crows fell to the ground simultaneously.
"Nonsense."
Yelsnada Ortejo, also called the Iron-Blooded Empress.
Mother of the current Duke Ortejo and overall commander of the northeast monster borderlines, she stepped forward.
Red hair faded white in places from the winds of time.
Over fifty, yet her eyes remained sharp.
Her pitch-black eyes were emotionless, but the aura in those black pupils burned fiercely.
"We will definitely return."
Those were her only words.
Yet her single phrase held the power to save even those eroded by magi.
*'Can't die on the frontlines!'*
The Iron-Blooded Empress, Yelsnada, aimed her crossbow again at the oncoming monsters.
Thanks to Yelsnada's exploits, countless magi crow corpses quickly piled up on the ground.
*'......Too easy?'*
Suddenly, unease flooded Yelsnada's mind.
And her premonition was spot on.
Magi began rising from the dead crow flock corpses.
Until now, slain monsters simply returned to the demon realm.
Monster corpses spewing magi like this had never happened before.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Yelsnada-nim! Are you alright?!"
As Yelsnada's crossbow and the White Knight Order's blades halted.
A massive magi storm raged wildly from the piled corpses on the ground.
Pitch-black magi enveloped countless bodies.
The moment Yelsnada's bolt pierced the magi, a chill like cold magi burrowed into her heart.
The White Knight Order's elite knights, ten in total, suffered the same.
It was sudden darkness.
* * *
Beep beeee.
With tinnitus ringing in his ears, White Knight Order Captain Belkuan opened his eyes.
He was lying on a bed.
*'What on earth happened? Clearly......'*
He remembered throwing himself into the pitch-black magi to save his liege, Yelsnada-nim.
He urgently sat up.
"What is this....... Is Yelsnada-nim safe?"
"Captain!"
His vice-captain, Kellin, who had been by his side, came running with tears and snot streaming.
"Captain, are you okay?"
He looked around. About ten elite knights were in the tent.
"Where is this? What's with all this white? Where is Grand Duchess Yelsnada? Why is everyone gathered in this tent-like place?"
Kellin, slightly intimidated by the barrage of questions, said.
"Captain, this is the village next to Ortejo Castle for now."
"We survived then."
"Yes, thanks to the Blue Knight Order that came right when they saved Yelsnada-nim, we barely escaped the magi."
"How on earth did the Blue Knight Order......"
"......Captain, your news is really slow."
"Why, what is it."
"The northern seas are now guarded by the spirit beast. So the Blue Knight Order with some leeway came for rear support. Perfect timing."
"Fortunate. How is Yelsnada-nim's condition?"
"Fortunately, thanks to you protecting her with your body, she's healthy. Just in deep sleep."
"Truly fortunate......"
"They say she'll sleep deeply for about four days."
"Then we'll report then. For now, shall we head to the training hall and loosen up? Gotta train."
As he rose, the vice-captain's expression darkened.
"V-Vice, Captain, we can't train anymore."
"What? Why? Training is a knight's life."
"Well......"
The moment he saw Kellin's worried expression.
The sight of the other knights sitting powerlessly entered his view.
And finally, Belkuan felt nausea surging from his gut.
Something boiling in his stomach refluxed through it.
He unwittingly vomited it out.
And he saw the pitch-black mass he spewed dissolve without form.
It was magi, reeking of rotten monster stench.
"We're dying. Within four days."
* * *
Belkuan heard the full explanation from them.
The pitch-black magi that suddenly emanated from the monsters.
That magi had dyed their entire bodies.
"But it doesn't seem that powerful."
"Yes, exactly. A 1-star purification sorcerer could have purified it. Normally."
But there was something even more despairing.
"The magi is unique; it keeps circulating through our bodies, destroying them. And when we die, our corpses become the magi itself. Completely turning into insane monster-level......"
"Can't purify, and corpses cause harm, is it."
"Yes. Dying as knights we can accept. But this death is hardly honorable......"
"If that's what you want, die honorably like knights. Without becoming a burden to the family."
White Knight Order Captain Belkuan grinned, pulling a cube from his pocket.
"Subspace of Dissolution. Someone gave it to me long ago, saying it'd be needed someday, and it's used like this?"
He tossed the cube upward with a grin.
A door large enough for one adult man appeared before them.
"Come on, enter and let's all dissolve instead of dying!"
They were comrades who'd shared over ten years together.
"Yelsnada-nim survived, fortunate. Right?"
"Of course. An honor."
About ten adult men crammed into the roughly 20-pyeong subspace.
After a few days, this room would take their lives and completely dissolve.
"Alright, now lie down."
"Pardon?"
"Couldn't even lie down guarding monsters all this time; gotta lie peacefully once before dying, right?"
The vice-captain's eyes reddened.
"......Well, sure. But the floor's really hard. Should've brought a blanket if I knew. My mom always worried I'd catch a cold without one."
"Ah, that's a shame."
Chattering voices.
Breathing sounds.
Occasional coughing from vomiting filled the room.
About three days left until death.
They just wanted to die honorably as knights.
* * *
The White Knight Order had given up their lives, but the Ortejo Family was different.
After first confirming the safety of former Grand Duchess Yelsnada.
Declan summoned Haroz and Martin to check the White Knight Order's survival.
"Possibility of full recovery for all White Knight Order members?"
"None. Honestly, even clinging to life until three days is a miracle. And they've all entered the Subspace of Dissolution, wanting an honorable death."
He too knew one woman who, afflicted by Magi Stasis Syndrome, sought honorable death.
