21st Century Archmage

Translator: Lei

Proofreader: Imagine

"Kuaaaaaaaaghh!"

Craaaaaash. Clatter.

After abandoning his knights and evacuating with teleportation magic, Poltviran arrived on an underground magic array in Fort Central, the base of operations for the Empire's Central Corps located about 100 km from the battlefield. They teleported using coordinates only the Imperial Magic Tower Masters knew.

As soon as Poltviran arrived at the fort, he went on a rampage, destroying everything inside the room.

He was ambushed in his sleep. Because it was Bajran territory, he had relaxed in preparation for the battle ahead, but that rat bastard crossed over the Rual Mountains and attacked him. Having been on the unfortunate end of such an unexpected tactic, Poltviran's heart was on the verge of exploding in rage.

Silveron spoke carefully, glancing at the Emperor to check for his reaction. "Your Majesty, we still have an opportunity."

"What do you mean by that," Poltviran gritted out, fixing Silveron with pupils gleaming with madness.

Under his murderous gaze, Count Silveron trembled like a leaf. "No matter how fast he flies, it will take at least half a day to cross the Rual Mountains and reach Denfors. Since our brave Bajran knights fought a decisive battle with the bastard, he will likely face a headwind in the Rual Mountains, he won't be very fast. Now is the time to use them."

"Them…?"

At Silveron's words, Poltviran instantly regained his composure.

"We will use the Three Kingdom Coalition stationed at the Havis Kingdom borders to attack Denfors. The force this morning looked to be about 200 wyverns. There is no doubt that Kyre came with the entirety of Nerman's wyvern force. If we strike while the house is empty…"

"Ohhhhhh! Such a good plan was available to us!"

He was resentful that he'd suffered this humiliating attack, but as long as he could have his revenge, his blazing rage would subside. Poltviran smiled, as if his rampage earlier had never happened.

"If the emergency communication channel is used, we can contact them immediately. Will Your Majesty make the order to attack at once?"

"Of course! Give Duke Ormere in the Coalition the order to attack right this instant!"

"By your will!"

Due to the Emperor's absolutely insane rage, only Silveron remained in the room. He bowed his head and received the Emperor's command.

Misfortune begets fortune.

If things went well, they would be able to transform their bad luck to good fortune.

* * *

"A-Advance the attack on Nerman right now!"

The Three Kingdom Coalition being coerced by the Bajran Empire was assembled on the Havis-Nerman border. Duke Ormere, the Bajran noble dispatched to command the Coalition, gave the order to attack. He was so flustered that he stumbled on his words, but he was doing his utmost to conceal his emotions.

"Was the lumikar that flew in just now bearing the command of His Majesty the Emperor?" Duke Hardaim asked, hiding his taut nerves.

Everyone was more on edge than before. If Kyre failed, they would truly have to attack Nerman. Moreover, the Kerpe Kingdom army had crossed the Bajran borders and was probably seizing Fort Davincion around now.

"Naturally. His Majesty ordered us to attack Denfors at once."

"Denfors, right now? I thought the order to attack would come tomorrow morning, is that not so…?"

Even as he spoke, Hardaim felt his blood boiling. He might be a battle-tested hero, but it was impossible to not feel tense in a mentally taxing situation like this.

"According to the missive from His Majesty, no one is in Nerman at the moment. The knights of the Three Kingdoms will follow His Majesty's orders at once and seize the central city of Nerman, Denfors. The Empire's knight orders will follow suit posthaste."

Duke Ormere had lived several decades in the political world. He could sense that something was off about Duke Hardaim's probing words.

The Eastern Corps fort received a magic transmission and sent the Emperor's attack order in top-secret with a lumikar. It was also written that the Nerman traitors had crossed the Rual Mountains and attacked, dealing enormous damage to the Emperor's camp. In order to counterattack, they were to attack Nerman immediately. Ormere was briefly stunned by the news of defeat, but he snapped back to his senses upon hearing Duke Hardaim's query.

'These bastards…'

It wasn't just Hardaim who was acting strangely. The generals of the Andain and Kuviran Kingdoms were also unusually tense. Something was up.

"His Majesty said that he is crossing the Rual Mountains in advance because all of the preparations are complete, so the loyal Three Kingdoms Coalition should follow suit!"

After recovering his usual composure, Duke Ormere ordered the Three Kingdoms to obey the Emperor's command. However, there was something he had forgotten, and that was the fact that the three dukes in front of him had tussled as much as he had in the political scenes of their individual kingdoms.

"Huhuhu…" Duke Hardaim gave a dark chuckle.

"W-What is the meaning of that laugh! Do you find His Majesty the Emperor's command funny?!"

"Hahaha, hahahahahahahaha!"

At Duke Ormere's indignation, Hardaim burst out into an unrestrained guffaw.

"How laughable."

"W-What did you say? Did you just say laughable?!"

The two might bear the same duke title, but a duke of an empire was around the level of a kingdom's king. So when a duke of a kingdom dared to call him laughable, Ormere grew enraged.

"Let me ask you one thing. The Emperor you claim is crossing the Rual Mountains right now to attack Nerman is aware that no one is in Nerman? Are you saying that the Lord of Nerman and his knights all fled out of fear of His Majesty?"

Stiffening for one moment, Ormere stuttered, "T-That's…"

He had accidentally spoken contradictory words in his momentary daze. Ormere felt a flush of panic.

"Shall I give you the answer to that question?" asked Hardaim with a wide, mischievous smile. "My guess is that the mighty Emperor of the Empire suffered a blow from the Lord of Nerman, Kyre, and is licking his wounds while holed up in some fort. I bet he intends on making up for his defeat by ordering the clueless Coalition to attack. Is that correct?"

When Hardaim revealed the exact truth of the situation, Duke Ormere drew in a sharp breath, his face losing all color. The latest development was something he only found out by reading the urgent missive. He had swiftly burned it immediately after reading it, so these people shouldn't know, but they clearly did.

"Y-You bastards…"

Ormere was no fool. Unless they had conspired with Kyre, they wouldn't know about this.

"Huhu…"

A low laugh rang out.

Baaaam!

"Guh!"

In the midst of his mental shock, Ormere was suddenly attacked. The long spear that never left Duke Hardaim's side punched through Duke Ormere's airplate and into his right leg, the shaft glowing with mana.

"Y-You dare commit treason… argh…" Even as his face twisted with agony, Ormere looked straight at Hardaim.

"What treason? We merely recovered our rights. This is simply our resolve to live as masters of our kingdoms rather than dogs of the Empire." Hardaim met Duke Ormere's eyes with a frosty look. "I won't kill you. Go and relay my words clearly to your Emperor. It's time for you to pay the price for your madness…"

It was an obvious declaration of war.

Speechless, Duke Omrere screwed his eyes shut.

The kingdoms had rebelled in full force. If it were him, he would have done the same.

If one was slated for death, it was human instinct to squeal before the slaughter.

* * *

'Hm?'

The plains where we had stomped Poltviran and the Empire's pride, his Skyknights, was an utter mess. Scattered around were wyverns that had lost their lives to three or four spears without even being able to spread their wings and the remains of half-crushed wyverns that had crashed down.

The intense smell of their blood made me grimace. The fishy reek of blood was still hard for me to get used to. Spears were being recovered from the dead wyvern corpses, and their armor, as well as the airplates of the dead Skyknights, were stripped off. My knights didn't have to move a finger. We ordered the trembling, submissive Bajran soldiers to do the work. Other than the knights running patrols just in case, all the Nerman knights were resting on the ground, and the crashed wyverns and knights from our side were given holy water as an emergency measure.

'Enemies?'

We were taking a quick breather when suddenly, I spotted a group of wyverns in the distance. They weren't imperial troops, and worse yet, they weren't Nerman knights.

"Enemies are approaching!" came a shout from the patrol leader in my helmet.

"All forces, emergency flight!"

"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!"

'The rest of the knights haven't returned yet!' I had sent the 1st and 2nd Flights to pursue the fleeing wyverns. Right now, I only had the smallest flight with me, the 50 wyverns of the 3rd Flight. 'I-It can't be, is it the magic towers?'

The wyverns flying towards us weren't in a uniform flight formation, and there were around 100 of them. I suddenly thought of the magic towers that were said to be participating.

Bebeto kicked off the ground, and with a quick flap of his wings, we surged into the air. The enemies were about 7 km away. The Nerman knights rapidly formed a triangular shape, assuming a variation of the defense formation.

I felt cold sweat run down my back. Thinking about it now, our plan had been a truly risky venture. If the magic towers had appeared in the middle of the battle, we would have been soundly routed.

'Will they have a 7th Circle Mage…?'

I might have 7th Circle-level mana, but I was still solidly stuck in the 6th Circle. There was no doubt that the magic tower wyverns were all familiar with magic attacks.

'Fine, come. Since we're bound to clash anyway, I'll milk you guys now rather than later!'

I had cast my fear to the wind long ago, and the Skyknights of Nerman were just as fearless for their lives.

In the short moment while I was thinking, the distance between us greatly shrank.

A spear went up in my right hand. Mana was vibrating in the air, an indication that the mages flying towards us were preparing to attack as well.

'What's going on?!!!!'

After receiving word from some noble that Emperor Poltviran was enraged that the aid of the magic towers was late, the Allied Forces of the Magic Towers hastily departed before sunrise. They were commanded by the Vice-master of the Ildorian Magic Tower, Trevelyan. Although he wasn't a Tower Master, he was a 7th Circle mage capable of rising to the position of a Tower Master in another tower or becoming a palace mage. He was able to stand at the front because his skills were the most outstanding out of all the mages participating in this battle.

'T-That person, can it be???'

Now that the sun's powerful rays had completely dashed away the darkness, he could see clearly ahead. This was definitely still Empire territory, but traces of a battle could be seen everywhere, and the ground was littered with the corpses of Black Wyverns, the symbol of the Bajran Empire. A group of wyverns were facing them in battle formation, and among them, one wyvern stood out. It was a wyvern that matched the appearance of the hybrid wyvern belonging to the Lord of Nerman who had become famous over the continent, Kyre.

'My god!'

He was dubious and couldn't believe his eyes, but then they were within 4 km of each other in what felt like a blink of an eye. At that point, as if to confirm they weren't imperial troops, the other side raised spears in their hands. Trevelyan felt his heart sink with a jolt. He was a 7th Circle mage, but a battle of this nature was a first for him. For the past few decades, the continent hadn't had any real wars to speak of, and the mages of the magic towers lived a cushier life than ever before. No one on the continent dared to offend the magic towers.

'Dammit…'

He couldn't turn around and run either. If they turned their wyverns now, their backs would be to the enemy. When he turned slightly to discreetly look around, he saw that the other mage Skyknights had read the mood and were preparing for battle.

'Even if the range of their spears is high, they won't be able to pierce through Shield magic and wyvern armor. Plus, we outnumber them.'

Among the mages, only the most aggressive of them were chosen to become Skyknights. In that respect, the mage Skyknights possessed just as much fighting spirit as a knight. In particular, the people that made up their force were powerful mages of at least the 5th Circle or higher. They were more than capable of repelling spears with Shield.

Unable to flee this battle, instead of raising a spear, Trevelyan raised his mana staff. As the mana core of a 7th Circle mage activated, the surrounding mana began to swell towards him.

* * *

'Woah!'

I could clearly see a whirlpool of mana ahead. The enemies before us were definitely mage Skyknights from the magic towers, and they were finishing up their preparations for battle.

'Impressive!'

In a few moments, they would be coming into range. They felt qualitatively different from other Skyknights I had faced. Unlike regular wyvern flights that had mages and summoners mixed in at a 1 to 10 or 20 ratio, the group ahead was purely made up of upper-circle mages. When their mana cores activated, enormous mana waves billowed off from the area surrounding them as they flew, an effect that was especially pronounced for the group of mages at the front.

'A 7th Circle mage!'

To my surprise, 7th Circle mana levels were surging around, as if a tower master was participating.

'They're aiming for me.'

The 7th Circle mage was making a beeline towards me, clearly focusing his mana on me.

'Come then, this elder will give you a proper nosebleed today!'

I wasn't one to huddle down in fear, even in front of a 7th Circle mage. Rather, I wanted to experience what it was like. That was the 7th Circle, a realm I couldn't reach with the 8th Circle magic knowledge in my head. I wanted a full-body experience of the strength of a mage who had achieved enlightenment before I did.

'Bebeto, if you mess up today, you'll lose your skin.'

Bebeto possesed balls of steel and was just as fearless towards the approaching danger. He flapped his wings hard, bravely surging ahead.

'Now!'

And before I knew it, we were in range. I hurled the spear in my hand towards the enemy with all my strength.

Flash!

The spear vanished with a trail of light.

Schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip.

The spears of the Nerman Skyknights whizzed off behind it.

Craaaaash! Cla-cla-cla-cla-clang! Ruuuumble. Sch-sch-sch-sch-sch-schwip.

'Holy!'

After throwing my spear, I waited for the result, thinking that even upper-circle mages would be hard-pressed to deal with a concentrated volley of spears.

However, an unbelievable sight met my eyes. The fierce onslaught of spears crashed into a hundred opaque, milky Shields and whistled off in every direction, leaving the mages completely unscathed.

'We're fucked!'

Meanwhile, the distance between us and the enemies had closed considerably. We had flown straight at each other, so there was only 2 km between us. I swiftly pulled out another spear. As long as those mage Skyknights were worth their salt, I could assume their wyvern armor and airplates, both of which were equivalent to their lives, were armed with various spells. And since they were from magic towers, they wouldn't have skimped on magic crystals or other materials.

"Flight leaders, fire one round of spears and then break off to the sides with Shield active and form back up in the rear! Hasifor, cast Shield and buy some time!"

If things went wrong, we could suffer a crushing defeat at this rate. I immediately made a judgment call.

"As you command!"

Nerman's strengths were different from that of other empire or kingdom Skyknights. The communication channel with the flight leaders, the core of our complex attacks, was a weapon that could enable quick judgements and changes to our formation.

Schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip schwip.

Many of the mage Skyknights had spears as well. After the Nerman Skyknights fired off their second round, the opposite side fired back.

"Shield!"

Behind me, the beastmen secured our position with Shield, drawing the attention of the enemies.

"Shield!"

I also activated the Shield on Bebeto's wyvern armor.

Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrr!

Just in case, I had installed a Grade 2 magic crystal into his armor. With the addition of my mana, it created an opaque Shield that could protect a 20 meter radius.

Flash. Cla-cla-cla-cla-cla-clang. Baaaaaaaaam.

'Ugh!'

2 km was nothing compared to the speed of a Blessed Spear. It was just enough distance to see a spear coming and turn your wyvern a few degrees to just barely dodge. In such a dangerous situation, I had to block all the incoming attacks with a single Shield, something I hadn't had to do in a long time. The mages on the other side also cast Shield to avoid spears.

It was a battle I hadn't even imagined we would be signing up for.

Kweeeeeeeeek. Cla-claaaaaang.

After firing their spears, the Nerman wyverns immediately swerved to the left and right. I heard the agonized cries of wyverns behind me as several wyvern Shields and armor were broken.

'These bastards!'

Of course, a few of the mage wyverns became hedgehogs under the concentrated salvo and were crashing down as well.

'We're gonna punch right through!'

The distance had shrunk to 1 km in no time. Still maintaining Shield, Bebeto and I charged directly towards the enemy center.

However, a close-ranged fight was a bad call in every way. This brief lapse in judgment, caused by the fact that this was my first fight with a wyvern flight made up purely of mages, would come back directly to my neck.

'What're you looking at, bastard?! Have a taste of this!'

The mage at the front was definitely preparing a nice and toasty 7th Circle spell for me. I raised spears in both hands, aiming them right at the guy flying over on his shielded wyvern.

Ziiiiiing.

Because I couldn't fire my spears while Shield was active, I briefly recalled the spell, a very dangerous decision. Thankfully, there was a gap in their throws, as if they had been ordered to fire at regular intervals, and I threw my spears using that opening.

"Shield!!!"

Of course, I recast Shield immediately after sending off the spears.

'Alright then, gimme a taste of 7th Circle magic!'

The beastmen were battle nuts who would rise from a dead sleep if fighting was involved. They followed their brute-force master and plunged into the widespread enemies. Meanwhile, the territory's Skyknights made wide turns to reassemble further away.

"When the flight leaders are in position, fire spears while maintaining the maximum distance away! Continue fighting in your individual flights rather than a united defense formation! Flight Hasifor, control your speed to increase your distance from me."

Clumping together would definitely be inviting death. I urgently relayed my commands.

"Yes, siiiir!"

Despite the urgency of the situation, the territory's knights replied with a vigorous acquiescence, unaware that their liege was charging into a pack of dogs.

* * *

'This lunatic!'

The man who was definitely the Lord of Nerman, Kyre, rained a concentrated salvo of spears on them in a short period of time. And then, he flew forward with his Shield active, heading straight into a place with 100 mage Skyknights.

'I'll send you to hell along with those other crazy bastards.'

Flying behind the Nerman Lord were five Skyknights. Curiously enough, they were riding Gold Wyverns, the symbol of the Laviter Empire.

'Huhuhu…'

Once they came into magic range, Trevelyan made an ominous smile. The Lord of Nerman, a pain in the ass for the empire and the one who had slighted Ildorian, was truly asking for death today.

Whirr.

Trevelyan deactivated his Shield. Then, raising his mana staff, he shouted out the chant for the magic he had memorized, aiming it at the Lord of Nerman only 500 meters away.

"Wind Stoooooooorm!"