Dragon Poor

The cavalry’s momentum was qualitatively different from that of ordinary infantry when they ran. 

They were determined to destroy whatever was in front of them; that was a cavalryman’s combative spirit and determination.  

And there wasn’t just one, but tens of thousands of them had the same resolve.

On top of that, it was the fierce Northern Cavalry, who considered the elite cavalry of kingdoms as mere children.

They were more fierce and had a more combative spirit than that of a refined elite cavalry of a kingdom. Their spirit resembled the ferocity of wolves who were biting into their enemies’ next.

And that fierce spirit gathered together with Kim Seon-Hyeok at the front.

It felt like tens of thousands of spears were poking him in the back, and that if he dilly-dallied, then those spears would stab him in the back before they could even reach the enemy.

But, he overcame that pressure calmly.

One of the ironclad rules of the cavalry is to not have someone unqualified at the vanguard. The Northern Cavalry was merely asking him a question.

Do you really deserve to be there?

It was a familiar situation. After all, it was something he had already experienced once. There was a period where he didn’t know anything, but he had taken the vanguard and the members of the Central Cavalry had acted exactly as the Northern Cavalry were acting right now.

Like them, the Central Cavalry had questioned his qualifications for the position and he had finally been able to prove himself.

It was the same this time. He answered the questions asked by the fierce cavalry from the north.

He elevated his control over his ability as he brought out his attribute. And the moment the wind’s power reached its peak, the strong wind blowing from the front disappeared as if it had never been there.[1]

The sound of the horses’ hooves reverberating all around them slowly faded away. And soon, not even the slightest footsteps could be heard.

He couldn’t even hear the creatures roar that had been ripping his eardrums apart.

All he could hear was his pounding heartbeats. His lips parted in this strange world where even his notion of speed had disappeared.

“Wind Piercing.”

This was his answer to the tens of thousands of cavalry’s question.

***

The old knight’s expression stiffened as he watched Kim Seon-Hyeok and the Northern Cavalry riding forward.

“Are they really planning on charging straight in?!”

The sight of tens of thousands of cavalry racing forward like one body was so awe-inspiring that he shuddered. But the opponent wasn’t easy.

Even with the added weight and speed, the demonic creatures were strong enough to withstand the assault of the cavalry as if it was nothing.

The old knight believed it was nothing short of suicide to attempt such a typical charge against such creatures. 

Even if the person leading the charge was the Indomitable Duke, the old knight’s belief didn’t change. But that was a hasty judgement.

Kaaaaaaaaa.

The wind, sounding as if tens of thousands of creatures were crying out violently, completely drowned out the noise of the battle, and at that moment, something usual happened.

Craaaack.

The world split in half.

The clear sky shattered and everything that existed beyond it was crushed into dust.

Whether they were covered with a hard epidermis or they were the soft squishy undead, they were all equally helpless in front of him. Even the powerful demons in front of him couldn’t withstand the Indomitable Duke’s blow and their limbs were torn apart.

‘“Ah…”

The old knight let out a sound that wasn’t a sigh or a groan. None of the old knight’s usual solemnity remained as he lost his composure. 

But no one could fault him for that. 

The thousands of soldiers stationed on the wall all had the same expression as the old knight.

Who could’ve ever imagined this? Who would ever dare imagine that a single blow could contain this much power?

They were completely mesmerized by the sight before them.

“They’ve, they’ve broken through, sir!”

The people finally came back to their senses after the Indomitable Duke broke through countless lines of demons.

The old knight stared at the battlefield with bloodshot eyes.

All that remained on the battlefield where the Indomitable Duke and the tens of thousands of the cavalry had passed by were the demons torn and scattered around beyond recognition.

In a single charge, the 100,000 strong army of demons and creatures had been completely destroyed. 

But the surprise didn’t end there.

The Indomitable Duke turned around and led the cavalry back into the black waves after he had completely penetrated through them. 

And the same scene happened in front of their eyes again.

The attack that probably wouldn’t have been believed even if the knights said they had gathered all their strength to attack once in their lifetime, was happening over and over again. 

Countless demonic creatures and the world shattered into pieces again.

Once, twice, thrice...

The Indomitable Duke and the cavalry continuously charged and the demonic creatures were continuously swept away. At some point, the cavalry that had merely been following the vanguard spread out and herded the creatures. 

The sharp spears became dull clubs that beat the demons.

Kiahhh!

The demons shrieked. Even when they were the last ones standing, the demons had never shown such defeat, but now, they were scattering in fright.  

Then, the hunt began.

Some of the tens of thousands of cavalry who followed the Indomitable Duke and separated, trampled on the demons that had fallen away from the herd. 

“What on…”

The surprising thing wasn’t just the power of the Indomitable Duke.

The Holy Kingdom’s knights had underestimated the Northern Cavalry. They believed that no matter how good the Northern Cavalry were, they were still barbarians. But now, the knights saw that the Northern Cavalry were actually hiding more strength than the country had ever imagined.

“Oh my God. All of them are at least stronger than a knight.”

A sharp-eyed Templar Knight groaned as he watched the group of Northern Cavalry who had separated from the rest. 

“No, it’s not just them. There are a lot of strong people in the main group who are following the Indomitable Duke. Look. Even those in the rear are as strong as our knights in training.”

The commanders had been focused on the Indomitable Duke, but once they began looking beyond him and at the entire battlefield, the true face of the Northern Cavalry was revealed.

“Those who came with the Indomitable Duke aren’t mere cavalrymen.”

The old knight’s deputy gulped.

“All of them are knights.”

An order of 40,000 knights held a tremendous power that could wipe out a single kingdom without leaving behind a single cornerstone.

The command’s faces turned hard when they realized that such a power had been inside their territory without their realization.

They looked at the Northern Cavalry slaughtering the demonic creatures as if they had been possessed by God.

The Northern Cavalry was dealing with the demonic creatures so easily that it put to shame all the trouble that the Holy Kingdom had done through dealing with them.

Roar!

Just as the command was watching the performance of the Indomitable Duke and the Northern Cavalry, they suddenly heard a roar that seemed to tear their eardrums apart. 

“It’s, it’s the high ranking demons!”

In a series of attacks, the large army of demonic creatures had been divided into eight large groups. Amongst them, unusually large and ferocious demons popped out. 

The real monsters, who had been hiding their existence in an insidious manner, had finally shown themselves. 

“The demons are coming this way!”

Deviously, dozens of demons were running towards the base instead of dealing with the Indomitable Duke and the Northern Cavalry.

They seemed to have judged that the troops at the base were easier to deal with than their immediate enemies. 

“How dare they!”

The old knight glared furiously. He seemed infuriated that the demons were looking down on them.

“There’s nothing more to be afraid of, so the priests and the mages should show zero hesitation in intercepting them!”

Perhaps he felt competitive after seeing the amazing performance of the Indomitable Duke and the Northern Cavalry. The old knight commanded that they give it their all to fight the demons.

That vague order was quickly delivered to the priests and mages waiting on the walls of the base, and those people quickly began reciting their best spells and holy spells of their own. 

The Templar Knights had also climbed up onto the walls and drawn divine power to their sword so that they could fight at any moment in time.

But, in the end, they didn’t have a chance to use their magic or cross swords.

Like a thunderbolt, something fell down from the sky, and suddenly crushed the King Dire Wolf right in front of the walls. 

“It’s the Indomitable Duke!”

The Indomitable Duke had the King Dire Wolf speared on the end of his lance.

Until a moment ago, the Indomitable Duke had been struggling with the demons far away from the soldiers at the base, so how did he arrive so quickly in such a short period of time?

The people quickly found out how.

Flap flap.

A pair of milky white wings that matched the white coat flapped gracefully. It looked very similar to the Pegasus that appeared in legends.

“Huh.”

They couldn’t bring themselves to feel surprised any longer.

The Indomitable Duke’s battles were a series of amazing scenes for even the Templar Knights, who had proven the existence of God with their mere existence. 

In the time they spent looking at the Indomitable Duke blankly, the heavenly horse spread its wings and flew up.

Kya!

Dozens of demons changed their directions and rushed towards the heavenly horse. 

The knight with golden armor riding atop a white-winged heavenly horse, and the demonic creatures — it was like a scene from a mural in a temple. 

The greater demons were indeed powerful.

If their poisonous teeth and toenails, and their deadly demonic energy, were to touch the humans’ bodies, they would instantly melt down and become a puddle of blood.

On top of that, the grotesque cries of the demons were powerful spells that could call down flames or blizzards.

Roar.

A rain of fire fell from the sky while the earth became frozen solid. Somehow, the sparks and the chunks of ice melted down the hard walls of the Panthea base.

However, such demonic feats were no match for the Indomitable Duke who was on top of the horse. He flew through the sky like the wind and fought the demons. Every time he charged, one demon fell with a spray of blood.

But even with all that, the battle did not end easily. The demons were persistent. They tried their best to tear the Indomitable Duke’s body apart. They spat out deadly poison that could even melt the walls of the fortress and snapped their teeth as they constantly rushed towards the Indomitable Duke. 

But like in all legends, the demonic monsters had no choice but to return to the bottomless pit they came from. 

Thump.

When the greater demon was skewered from the bottom of its chin to the top of its head, there wasn’t a single greater demon alive on the battlefield. As the greater demons who had been leading the demonic groups collapsed, the remaining demons scattered throughout the battlefield, engaged in combat, began to retreat. 

“We, we won!”

The soldiers who had watched the whole scene from atop the wall shouted out in victory. Although all they did was run from the rain of fire and ice, their hearts were pounding for some reason. 

And they let loose that excitement through their shouts.

“Long live the Indomitable Duke!”

“Long live the Draheen!”

In the midst of the soldiers' cheers, the heavenly horse slowly flapped its wings as it landed on the wall.

“Indomitable Duke!”

The old knight and the commanders of the base ran towards the Indomitable Duke. 

“You’ve defeated 100,000 demons, sir! It’s no exaggeration to say that all the demons around here have been wiped out by you!”

Any competitiveness the old knight felt towards the Indomitable Duke was gone. Now, he was genuinely paying tribute to the legendary knight’s bravery.

“Now that so many greater demons have fallen, no matter how innumerable the demons may be, they dare try to take the Holy Kingdom. You have truly something admirable, sir.”

The usually solemn old knight who’s always kept his composure repeatedly congratulated the Indomitable Duke on his victory with a usually excited face.

“Is that so?”

However, the person who had obtained a legendary victory after defeating an army of hundreds of thousands of demons and tens of thousands of greater demons, did not look even the slightest bit happy.

He just stroked the heavenly horse’s mane with a sad face.

“Indomitable Duke?”

The old knight questioned the reason for his sorrow, but he didn’t answer.

“You’ve done well.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok hugged the heavenly horse’s neck as he whispered softly. At that moment, the heavenly horse folded its legs and collapsed onto the floor. As it lowered its neck, the Indomitable Duke knelt down to match its height.

“I’ll never meet someone like you ever again in my life. You’ve worked hard all these years, Stella.”

Neigh.

The heavenly horse blinked a couple of times and buried her head into her master’s arms. Then, she never raised her head again.

“Goodbye, Stella.”

The intermittently flapping wings stopped and then, as if it had never existed in the first place, disappeared completely. 

“Thank you, Atiya.”

They had no idea what the hell was going on. The old knight and the commanders looked puzzled at the unapproachable atmosphere surrounding the Indomitable Duke.

“A group of troops is approaching from the west, sir!”

A knight, who had been watching the demons retreating, pointed towards the west as he shouted.

“Adenburg! It’s the missing Adenburg troops!”

Kim Seon-Hyeok, who was still hugging Stella’s neck, looked beyond the walls. He saw Darun and the cavalry running to greet the expedition troops who had returned from the barren lands. 

He saw the two-handed broadswords man Lee Soo-Hyuk looking dirty, but uninjured, and the emaciated Choi Min-Young, along with other foreigners. 

They met up with Darun and looked up towards the wall after exchanging a couple of words with him. 

After shouting something with tearful faces, they started racing towards the base.

They’re back. 

After watching them, Kim Seon-Hyeok turned back to look at Stella. His beloved horse looked serene.

Plop.

Pure white drops fell on the white coat. The drops fell slowly until soon, they covered Stella’s body.

“Ah, it’s snow.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok looked up at the sky. As if honoring Stella’s death, snow as white and fine as Stella fell down upon them. 

It’s time to go back now. 

With the first snowfall, and the emergence of the northern winter wind and the missing Adenburg foreigners, Kim Seon-Hyeok’s war had finally ended. 

1. The raw used ‘lie’ but I unraveled it a bit more for contextual understanding.