How frightening is a Magivore?

The average human cannot stand a chance against an aggressive Cadre 1 Magivore. However, most Cadre 1 Magivores are non-aggressive.

The real challenge starts from Cadre 2.

Normal humans cannot defeat these things without Potions, Armaments, Spells, and so on.

This is why experts like Hunters and Knights exist.

They specifically target these beasts by honing their skills and utilizing the mystical properties of their special tools to stand on equal footing with the Magivores.

However, the higher the Cadre, the further the gap widens between man and Magivore.

At Cadre 5, this gap has stretched to the extreme.

It would take an entire squad of Royal Knights—who are peak-level humans—wielding a minimum of B Grade Armaments and at least one A Grade Armament to defeat the weakest Magivore in this Cadre.

Some of them—like the Throneback Behemoth—require even more.

The Ironbloom Empress and the other Magivores under this species are not like the Throneback Behemoth. Although their bodies are tough like metal, defense is not their strongest trait.

Instead, it is their elusive nature and expertise in aerial combat.

They also possess frightening speed.

Dustin takes note of all these things as he steps out of the room and approaches his steed.

—The Raven Stallion.

It is a rather fortunate thing that he has a Magivore that can fly.

This means he won’t be completely helpless in the realm of aerial combat.

However, to say he will be able to put up a fight against these masters of the sky with his sole Cadre 2 Magivore would be naive of him.

For one, the Raven Stallion is a transport type of Magivore.

It isn’t built for combat.

As such, although it possesses an impressive travel speed record, it is incredibly lacking in battle. Its defenses and offensive capabilities are also very low. Although it possesses camouflage and scouting abilities, these are only effective at night.

For this battle, it is almost entirely useless—with the sole exception of taking Dustin to the air.

’I’ll have to protect its body and mine in this battle...’

Strengthening his resolve, Dustin tightens the reins of his Magivore and glares at the hundreds of opponents that stare at him—no, at the whole village.

Death...

... It is right in front of him.

Yet, he does not flinch even the slightest.

"If I defeat these guys, I’ll get Ironheart Petals. I can use those to make proper armor for myself and my steed. I could also sell the excess and finally resolve my financial problems..." Dustin begins to say impossible things to himself.

Why?

Why does he utter all of these words when he knows he won’t make it out of this?

Even he does not have a clue.

Still—

"Hehe! That’s not a bad idea!"

SHING!

He unsheathes his blade, revealing the sleek weapon, which is coated in a fog of darkness. The thick mist of pitch black flows like incorporeal water around the weapon, and its inky surface dances steadily around him.

Seeing the Trace Elements, as well as the Special Trait of his weapon, causes a strange kind of strength to course through his body.

In the end, this is the true essence of a Knight.

First, their trust in their convictions.

Their own strength.

Their Martial Techniques... as well as the skills and experiences they have accrued over their lifetime.

Then, their trust in their comrades.

However, since Dustin is alone, he has no need to make such considerations.

After, their trust in their blade and their noble steed.

Their Primary Armament.

Their Magivore Mount

Finally, their trust in Potions and other kinds of supplementary Armaments.

Dustin knows he has all of these covered.

He trusts himself.

He trusts his weapon—Nightfall

He trusts his steed—the Raven Stallion.

He has utmost faith in the ones he left behind—in the fact that they will live on and will strive for a better life after this tragedy.

Doubt tries to creep into his mind, but he banishes such thoughts without hesitation.

"I can do this...." He exhales, his shaky breathing finally ceasing.

His body is completely still.

Calm.

Then—

"Fly!"

WHOOOSH!

The Raven Stallion darts into the air, its gleaming black body staining the evening sunset like an ascending aberration in the world.

’I can’t utilize my Silent Night Martial Technique to its full capabilities in the air, but I’ll still try my best to whittle down their numbers a little. I may have to ground them at some point, though...’ Right as he begins to have these thoughts, multiple metal spikes suddenly burst out of the swarm of enemies.

Like pieces of shrapnel numbering thousands, they all dance around Dustin and his mount.

’So many....’

Although his eyes widen for an instant, he quickly narrows them and brandishes his blade.

SWOOSH!

He strikes the air in multiple smooth arcs, causing the inky darkness around Nightfall to stain everything around him and his steed.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Sparks fill the evening sky as he defends himself from the seemingly endless barrage of iron petals. Even when he deflects these projectiles, they simply bounce away, only to return for another round of attack.

’Shit! They can remotely control these petals... which means they’ll continue to harass me with the existing one while creating new ones. It won’t be long until I’m overwhelmed!’

Realizing that he cannot continue like this, Dustin commands his steed to descend while he continues to defend the two of them.

"Rahhhhh!!!"

Even as their numbers multiply, he maintains his defensive flow.

While doing this, his mind is in overdrive.

’In the air, I’m surrounded on all sides, even below, but if I ground myself, I don’t have to worry about attacks from below. That reduces the burden on my defenses. However, how will I be able to attack them if they keep launching so many projectiles?’

Even to Dustin, defending this endless barrage is already his limit.

How can he make a counterattack?

The answer is obvious.

—Potions!

’I didn’t think I’d have to resort to them so early in the battle, but... I suppose that was naive thinking.’ Gritting his teeth while increasing the speed of his swings, he quickly uncorks a few vials and gulps down their liquid content.

The effects are instantaneous.

A rapid surge of energy begins to flow throughout his body, granting him an unreal level of vitality.

His mounting exhaustion practically vanishes into thin air.

But that isn’t all.

His body begins to glow with that appears to be dark crimson—like flickering flames drowning in a layer of dark ash.

This will give him improved defenses, reducing impact and burning off weaker attacks.

His eyes also glow brilliant yellow.

This is to grant him extra perception, not only in his eyes but spread throughout his senses.

In addition to these boosts, his strength has been greatly amplified.

The level of destructive power has increased nearly threefold thanks to the combination of all kinds of concoctions working in conjunction with one another.

When consuming Potions, synergy is important.

Certain Potions amplify the effects of other Potions while also granting their own unique effects.

By stacking Potions in a certain sequence, one can gain ’bonus’ effects that could go a long way in life-or-death battles. By exploiting this benefit, Dustin has been able to exceed what his few Grade 2 Potions would have been able to offer him normally.

"I feel amazing!" Dustin grins with slightly crazed delight. "Let’s do this! I don’t think I can lose now!"

Hubris is a Knight’s greatest enemy.

After traveling and experiencing so many hardships, even Dustin is aware of this.

As such, saying such words could be considered dangerous.

However, it isn’t as though Dustin is being blindly confident despite the clear odds stacked against him.

No, it’s quite the opposite.

Against impossible heights, one must possess an irrational belief in victory.

That is the only way to overcome the paralysis that comes with being overwhelmed by a far greater force.

This irrational belief goes by countless names.

But there is one that rings true the most.

—Hope!

Some may call it delusion, but it remains the true essence of humanity.

Of living!

And right now, Dustin embodies it.

He once again ascends to the deadly heights that nearly claimed his life and starts to swing even faster and stronger like a crazed lunatic.

"Come on!"

He is able to even cut through the petals that he could only deflect before, severing their connection to the Ironbloom Magivores.

This solves the problem of becoming overwhelmed by the endless spawning of petals.

However, Dustin cannot celebrate yet.

Every Potion has a duration period, and so this newfound strength is only temporary.

He is in a race against time here!

SWISH!

He cuts through the storm of petals and charges at the crowd of Cadre 2 Ironbloom Soldiers in front of him.

After only a few seconds, he reaches the first one.

Without sparing any effort—

WHOOSH!

—He strikes down at the creature, cleaving it in half with one swing.

"Next!"

His steed kicks against the air and takes him to his next destination, pairing him with another opponent whom he repeats the same movement against. Just like this, he begins to move expertly through the battlefield, protecting himself and then slicing through his adversaries.

Within only a few minutes, he finds that he has taken down nearly a hundred Ironbloom Soldiers.

Such a noteworthy accomplishment...

"But something is off!"

Although Dustin has been cutting through his enemies, taking them down with the finesse and expertise of a Knight, the pressure on him has not reduced even for a moment.

In fact, it seems to be increasing.

The rate at which he is taking down these monsters seems disproportionate to the rise in difficulty, and he does not understand why.

That is, until he takes a good look around him... and he sees the truth.

"N-no way...."

Do his eyes deceive him?

Why are there more Ironbloom Soldiers present than there were just moments before?

Shouldn’t the number have reduced?

Amidst this confusion, he witnesses a sight that answers this question.

Among the Cadre 4 Ironbloom Lords, there is something akin to a fission going on.

It is one of their Special Traits.

—Propagation!

The ability to reproduce through cellular division, creating new life from an existing body.

Cadre 4 Ironbloom Lords use this to create Cadre 2 Ironbloom Soldiers, while a Cadre 5 Ironbloom Empress can create Cadre 3 Ironbloom Champions.

There is also no limit to this ability as long as the progenitors possess sufficient nutrients and are stationary while this is happening.

What does this mean for someone like Dustin?

Despair!

He watches this biological process occur before his very eyes.

The enemies multiply rapidly without end.

To an insurmountable degree!

This despairing sight frightens him, causing him to shudder almost immediately.

However, before he can even react, several more shards spread across the aerial battlefield, overwhelming his fierce defensive struggles.

Unable to fight back this horde of attacks, they finally penetrate his defenses.

SQUELCH!

Several projectiles pierce the body of his mount, creating countless holes in the poor creature’s body. Within seconds, the Raven Stallion is mutilated on all sides and descends without even a hint of struggle.

"Damnit!"

Now hundreds of feet in the air, seated atop a collapsing Magivore, desperation wells up in Dustin’s features.

He recognizes how dangerous his current predicament is.

As his descent continues, he is headed straight for his doom... unable to stop it.

"Is this... how it really ends?"

From the corner of his eye, he watches the villagers still trying their best to escape, but it is clear they won’t have much time to do so.

Besides, he can see the Ironbloom Soldiers surrounding them from all sides.

Their numbers are simply too great.

It appears all of them are going to die at this moment.

"Skrieee!"

In a last surge of strength, the glorious Raven Stallion screeches aloud and regains consciousness.

It sweeps through the air and lands on the ground with the last of its energy before collapsing and dying on the spot.

It had used the last of its strength to save its master from death.

"You... Thank you..." Dustin’s eyes tear up as he stares at the corpse of the noble beast.

But he does not even have the time to mourn.

Countless more petals are fired towards him, and it takes all of his power to deflect all of them. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Unable to even think about the mutilated corpse of his steed, or the lives of the villagers, he can only dance with his blade as countless sparks dance around him.

Even then, his body begins to break down.

The Potions effects are wearing off.

He’s getting slower.

The petals keep firing, and he is unable to keep up with most of them any longer.

Some pierce his arm.

Others slice through his hips.

A few cut through his face, barely missing his eyes.

Time seems to slow down.

Yet the end rushes forward, seemingly ready to collide with him at any moment.

Already short on breath, while standing atop the pool of his blood, he realizes the futility of each swing. He reckons that this final wave will likely be his last.

He can no longer struggle.

Death... It has finally come for him.

’In that case...’

Although he knows it will do very little—if not nothing—to alleviate his current pain, he still brings it out of his pouch.

The Grade 3 Potion.

The golden liquid sloshes inside like an elixir of miracles, but Dustin’s blurry sight can barely make out the color. In his lightheaded state, the most he can do is quickly consume the Potion and thrust the vial aside.

For a moment, nothing happens.

The Potion does not grant him any kind of special ability or unique trait.

It is simply... ordinary.

Then, the barrage of attacks descends upon him.

Once again, Dustin fights with all his might, the inky darkness seeping from his blade doing its best to destroy and deflect as many projectiles as possible.

Unfortunately, all of this is useless.

Before long, his body begins to be skewered by the countless, unlimited petals of destruction.

His breathing is stuck for a moment.

The time has come.

He will die...

... Right here... and right now...

But then—

WHOOOOM!!!

All of a sudden, a vast gust of wind manifests, sweeping all of the petals away and dissolving the last remnants of death that would have claimed his life.

The swirling storm spreads all over, but it does not affect him in any way.

As he stands at the center of this swirling blizzard of unquantifiable might, he stares at the man who has suddenly appeared in front of him.

He wears a dark cloak, having raven black hair that dances with the tune of the free winds.

His sleek, tall body fills his vision.

Although Dustin can barely see at this moment, there is no way he could ever mistake this entity.

He recognizes him instantly.

"Evernight..."

The man stares back at him, his face not shrouded in a mask.

Yet Dustin does not see him.

He cannot.

After all, his vision has gone completely blank, and his body slowly collapses on the ground.

However, he has no worry left in his heart.

No fear remains.

Because he knows the truth.

He is fine.

Everyone is fine.

Now that the Dark Knight of Justice, the great Evernight, has arrived... all will be well.

"Haha..." Dustin lets out one final chuckle before losing consciousness.

The Potion Instructions were correct!

Salvation has come!