『The eternal sun of the Eastern Continent, the great “Khan,” unified the Great Steppe and spread his glory to the ends of the earth. Having established a Great Empire, the Khan stained the vast continent with blood. After tasting an age of endless war, he departed for the heavens to remain unburdened by the secular world, in accordance with the Laws of the Swordmaster. Yet, though the first Khan had departed, the “Khan” did not vanish.
The Khan is the sun that never sets.
The warriors of the Great Steppe, who inherited his will, desired to hang their banners upon every scrap of land across the vast continent. But it was no easy task. The long passage of time fractured the “Great Land.” Due to clashing ideologies, conflicting interests, and countless circumstances, the Great Empire entered an era of chaos. The Great Land was no longer ruled by a single Khan. It operated like a series of grinding gears, driven by dozens of feudal lords and figurehead kings who possessed no absolute power.
In this age of confusion, a certain Great Warrior appeared, claiming to be the descendant of the Khan. The lords laughed at him. They mocked the Great Warrior for coming from a family without a pedigree and ridiculed him as an uneducated, ignorant fool. Emboldened by the lords’ arrogance, others followed suit.
But the tide did not stay in their favor for long. The descendant of the Khan slaughtered every one of the dozens of lords in the Great Land and impaled their heads upon the banners once held by the ancient Khan. Watching him roar beneath those blood-stained flags, the warriors of the Great Steppe trembled with excitement.
“The Khan has returned.”
The fractured power coalesced in an instant. From the beginning, this was the land where the children of the Khan lived—a gathering of those who worshipped strength and conquest. And here was a Great Warrior who had split the heads of the high and mighty with pure strength, without political squabbles or dirty tricks. In the eyes of the steppe dwellers, this Great Warrior was the God of War reborn, no different from the Khan descending to the mortal realm once more.
Thus, standing in a position akin to a god, the descendant of the Khan spoke. He would hang the Khan’s banner on every piece of land across this vast continent. By doing so, they would reclaim their past glory and establish their era.
With those words, the descendant of the Khan declared war.
The conquest army of the Great Land possessed no navy, and their shipbuilding technology was abysmal, so they turned their sights toward the Eastern Continent. The “Conquest War” that followed proceeded with overwhelming force. The numerous nations of the Eastern Continent, which had been steeped in peace since the end of the war era, tasted once again the nightmare of the “Great Land” they had only known through history books.
Six nations were engulfed in flames and turned to ash; women, the elderly, and children alike were returned to the earth. The conquest army of the Great Land always offered only a single negotiation: surrender. If that offer was rejected, they refused all further talk and resorted to total destruction. Faced with the terrifying violence unleashed by the Great Land, the nations of the Eastern Continent were forced to surrender without even trying to fight, simply to survive.
The Great Land had the descendant of the Khan.
Furthermore, their conquest army was the strongest land force on the continent, the only one capable of rivaling the “Sky Empire.” Consequently, every nation except for one fell under the rule of the Great Land. The country that resisted until the very end was a very small and insignificant one.
A country with a territory shaped like a tiger.
A peninsula on the outskirts of the Eastern Continent.
Han.
When the conquest army of the Great Land arrived at their doorstep and demanded their surrender, the King of Han, dressed in his dragon robes, gave a simple and short reply.
“Fuck off.”
It was an answer no one expected.
People said the King of Han had gone mad under extreme tension. But the truly unexpected event happened afterward. Han managed to block the conquest army of the “Great Land” three consecutive times. Thus, the curtain rose on the longest war fought in the last century.』
* * *
The conquest army of the “Great Land,” recreated in the spiritual world by the witches, could not fully embody the legion recorded in history, but it was still sufficiently powerful. Yet, at this moment, the vanguard of the great conquest army could not hide their bewilderment.
“What the—”
What Han had put forward against the advancing conquest army was a single swordsman wearing a helmet. And this swordsman, who had appeared out of nowhere, was tearing through the battlefield alone. With every stroke of the swordsman’s blade, the heavens and earth shook as winds whipped about. Brave cavalrymen were thrown from their horses, their necks snapped in death. As the momentum of the vanguard faltered, the soldiers in the rear were overcome with panic. To think the pride of the great conquest army was being wounded by a single person. It was impossible…
“That man! Kill that dog-like bastard first! Cut off his arms and legs, and hang his head on a banner!”
The fury of the conquest army focused on the lone swordsman. Instead of spearmen on horseback, a swarm of skilled infantry rushed in. Among them were those who had made names for themselves.
However.
“Urgh—”
When nine skilled soldiers were annihilated in less than seven seconds, the soldiers present instinctively realized something was wrong. The swordsmanship wielded by the swordsman of Han was strange. The first strike was as vicious as a spiteful female swordsman; the next was as silent as an assassin raised in the back alleys; and the final strike was as seasoned as a knight from the West.
One soldier spoke, his voice trembling.
“A ghost.”
It was exactly as he said.
“To win the war, Han has finally summoned a ghost…”
It was a situation that defied normal logic.
“It is a haunted blade. A Sword Demon! A Sword Demon is blocking our path!”
Dozens of spear tips and dozens of sword points were being toyed with by a single blade. Beyond the rising dust, the helmeted swordsman looked like a phantom.
Well.
“As I thought, fighting at the very front was a stupid idea.”
If they had known what nonsense the swordsman was muttering to himself right now, they wouldn’t have been so afraid.
“This is damn exhausting. I’m going to die from running out of stamina before I get stabbed by a sword.”
「Haha, but isn’t it fun?」
“Shit…”
「I’ve told you time and again, stop after the ‘S’—」
…Truly.
* * *
The conquest army of the “Great Land” was a powerful legion. But just because they were a powerful army didn’t mean every single individual was strong. No army in the world could be composed that way. I aimed for that point. As a result of looking through Doubt , the vanguard of the conquest army was poorly composed. Their muscles were sufficiently developed, the spears and swords in their hands were sharp, and their warhorses were excellent. Their charge would be incredibly powerful.
However, there were naturally weaknesses.
The conquest army boasted immense numbers. To maintain those numbers, they would have chosen a training method that could produce a hundred capable soldiers in a week rather than spending decades painstakingly raising a single swordsman of the century. Thus, while the basic level of the conquest army was high, my Doubt concluded that the number of soldiers at a truly high realm would be small.
In fact, you could tell just by looking at the fact that most of the cavalry in the vanguard were carrying mass-produced spears.
Besides, even if there are experts, there’s no way they’d place them at the very front. There’s no reason to take unnecessary risks when they already have more than enough soldiers.
On a battlefield, you never know what might happen.
No matter how skilled a swordsman is, the battlefield is a place where one can lose their life to a stray arrow or a haphazardly swung blade.
Master had said:
In a place like a battlefield, even a “Sword Runner” can be killed by a “Sword Beginner.” The battlefield is a place where a famous swordsman can die at the hands of a mother enraged by the loss of her son.
Those words were correct.
“Encircle him! Hold him so he can’t tear through the formation!”
The battlefield was different from any fight I had experienced so far.
Arrows poured down. When I dodged the arrows, spears and swords were already there. Cold weapons fired with pure physical strength, unable to even handle mana. Yet, they were threatening enough.
I read the Path and dodged with difficulty. I moved as if dancing, spinning again and again. But there were spots I simply couldn’t avoid. Surrounded in a circle, long spears aimed for me. One of the spears touched my body. A spear fired from my blind spot made contact. With a ting , a clear sound rang out. Thanks to Dwight’s gift, the mithril armor, I escaped the crisis.
The lightweight armor forged by the dwarf craftsman did not allow a spear made of ordinary iron to wound its master. Frowning, I cut through the spear shaft and instantly thrust my sword, killing one cavalryman. The Path extended through my body, granting me superhuman strength—a power that could instantly crush the spears thrust by dozens of ordinary soldiers.
But even with that much strength, I couldn’t block every direction. Furthermore, what is an army? An army is not just a group that swings spears and swords. Their goal is not a glorious victory, but simply “victory.” For the sake of victory, a legion can mobilize every violent means at its disposal.
“Bind him!”
From far away, I heard an incantation with a bizarre pronunciation.
An Eastern language? No. That was not a language for communication; it was a starting word to trigger a Mystery . As soon as the starting word was uttered, I saw a wriggling Path in my eyes. Shamanism? Magic? I couldn’t tell what it was, but it was certain that a Mystery was about to occur.
I have to cut it down.
I had once learned how to counter magic while fighting the black mage Jerry Selfit, the uninvited guest who had come to my estate. If my Doubt and the blood of steel were combined, a technique to intercept magic even with a Sword Walker’s blade could be perfected. I just had to do the same this time.
However.
“Throw your bodies! Block him! If you hold out, we can bind him!”
The commander, with his vast experience, had an excellent intuition.
He seemed to have read something ominous in my unfaltering attitude. He predicted that I, who did not retreat in the face of the impending Mystery , must have a way to overcome the situation. Shook , spearheads poured in violently. It became a situation where I couldn’t swing my sword freely.
Should I use Gale ?
No, if I can’t secure enough space to swing the sword, I can’t create a whirlwind. Then should I just trust the mithril armor and take it with my body? Mithril is famously resistant to Mystery . It might be able to withstand three or four spells easily…
No, that’s not it.
I shook my head as I thought that.
That wasn’t the best option. My Doubt applies to everything. Naturally, if my own judgment is wrong, Doubt pours onto that as well. Then what is the best option?
Countless Paths unfolded before my eyes.
At that moment, a powerful voice rang out from behind.
“Sword Demon! Liam! This way!”
Behind the voice came the sound of galloping hooves. Turning around, I saw a woman on horseback. A woman with hair that resembled a swaying horse’s tail. It was Valkyrie Maia. A true northern barbarian warrior, a wildling whose horsemanship was second to none, even among the warriors of the “Great Land”…
“It was a glorious battle! But why try to fight a war alone? A war is fought together!”
Valkyrie Maia reached out from her horse and snatched me up. In an instant, I was pulled by Maia and mounted onto the horse. Meanwhile, instead of her thick greatsword, Valkyrie Maia held a very long spear. The spear was rotating in a circle in Maia’s hand.
“From now on, let me show what I can do too!”
“Wait, Maia. Magic is coming. No, I don’t know if it’s magic or shamanism, but anyway—”
“I know that too! My blood-red skin is telling me that a sinister Mystery is approaching.”
“Then…”
“Don’t worry, Sword Demon! Do you not even know the maxims of the ancients?”
And then.
” Mystery can only be countered by Mystery .”
Valkyrie Maia.
Beneath her hair swaying left and right, a faint shimmer of light appeared near her back. The next moment, the shimmer became a pair of wings. Blood-red wings, like the tattoos engraved on her body.
She murmured as if singing.
“The Winter Who Never Sleeps shall be with me.”
At the same time, Valkyrie Maia leapt from the horse. While countless enemies aimed their spearheads, Valkyrie Maia’s body did not fall to the ground. Instead, she floated in the air, her brilliant wings shining. Like the battle angels appearing in the continent’s creation myths.
Like a true “Valkyrie”…
「The dance of a Valkyrie… it’s been a while.」
Liam murmured joyfully.
A moment later, an angel appeared above the legion roaming the earth. An angel of death, holding a greatsword in one hand and a long spear in the other.
* * *
『Name: Valkyrie』
『Among the barbarian warriors living in the northern part of the Iron Kingdom, it is a name bestowed only upon the greatest female warriors. It is a title modeled after the battle angels that appear in the continent’s creation myths.』
