How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 244

Episode 244 – The Dagger of the Dead (2)

Lyon Martrein.

Once a knight fad as Kal’s blade, he was now dreaming.

In the dream, he t Arcane of Fate.

More precisely, he was recalling a mory of speaking with Arcane in the past.

[Arcane, why can’t I beco the master of a Divine Na?]

He had finally reached the long-desired 5-star level.

He was granted the ancient artifacts, the Frost Blade and Frost Armor, by his lord.

But while he watched Rengua, who had joined later, awaken to a Divine Na, he had no choice but to simply observe.

Though he didn’t show it on the surface, watching Rengua’s teoric rise had stirred deep feelings of inferiority within him.

Why had he not been chosen by the gods?

Curious, he had once gathered the courage to ask during a mont alone with that mysterious man.

[If you seek the reason for your fate in yourself, you’ll only trouble yourself. Why you weren’t chosen—only the heavens know.]

[That’s... disheartening.]

[Would you lay down your life for the Lord of Blyer?]

[Of course.]

[Then live that life. And you will live according to your fate.]

[Live according to fate... But who decides that fate?]

[That is...]

Arcane’s figure had begun to fade.

What did his face look like again?

The only thing he rembered clearly was a pair of ornate earrings.

Just as he realized it was a dream, Arcane’s final answer ca back to him:

[Your master, Kal Blazer.]

When he opened his eyes, there was no one around.

A damp underground chamber.

Only the occasional sound of dripping water broke the silence.

Lyon turned and looked behind him.

Floating above a pedestal was the object of his current mission.

The Dagger of the Dead, corrupted and foul.

Crafted from a lightning-struck blackwood tree, it had taken the form of a small dagger.

Most striking was the heart-shaped jewel at the end of the hilt—almost the size of a fist, completely disproportionate for a dagger.

But since it was not a weapon, but a ritual tool, its appearance didn’t matter.

Wuuuung!

Hovering in the air, the dagger was drawing sothing in.

Though Lyon couldn’t see it, he knew what was happening: the dagger was devouring wandering souls.

If any witch had witnessed it, they would have been horrified.

The sight of hundreds—no, thousands—of souls being sucked into the jewel on the hilt was so ghastly, even hell would pale in comparison.

“Looks like sothing’s happened to Rengua.”

Rengua hadn’t co in person. That ant sothing had gone wrong outside, and the responsibility of retrieving the dagger had fallen to him.

He checked his body for a mont.

When he exhaled, white frost escaped his mouth.

But his heartbeat—

He could not hear it.

The Heart of the Frost Lord. Frozen solid, it did not beat. It simply sustained his life in a death-like state.

He gripped the Frost Blade, drawing up the chill from his heart, and felt his body slowly begin to freeze.

As expected, it was incomplete.

Even soone with an affinity for cold like himself couldn’t withstand this brutal frost.

It wasn’t sothing that could be controlled with training or ti.

He could only endure. Until his body shattered.

[The Dagger of the Dead is essential to the Lord’s grand design. Avoid combat if possible. You’re precious too, after all.]

The dagger was precious—but so was he.

He didn’t like being treated like an object, but since this involved his lord’s grand plan, he had to give it his all.

“Still not yet?”

He didn’t know the exact situation outside, But he knew when to leave.

The entire chamber was covered with ritual glyphs carved by Rengua.

Until those glyphs lost their light, the dagger could not be retrieved.

He would guard this place.

And when the process was complete, he would deliver the dagger to his lord.

[Live your life. Then you will live according to your fate.]

He recalled Arcane’s last advice.

He was told that his fate would be led by his lord.

Then he only needed to follow.

“Even if that end is death...?”

Taking his eyes off the dagger, Lyon grasped the hilt and stood before the only exit.

If anyone interfered, he would simply kill them.

This was a damp underground space—Beneath the walls of Beneta.

Dooom— dooom— dooom—

***

From outside the walls, heavy drums thundered.

As the sound grew louder, colorful banners appeared on the horizon.

Monts later, a massive army erged, flooding the land.

Kal’s main force had arrived at Beneta.

Dooom—

The massive army encircled the castle, resembling an endless swarm of black ants.

Their overwhelming numbers radiated crushing pressure.

“It’s ti to divide the spoils!”

“Uwaaaaaah!”

They did not pause their march, nor did they set up camp.

They rely stepped forward in sync with the drums, following the lords’ banners.

No envoys were sent. No declaration of surrender.

As if the answer was already decided—When they reached the castle gates,

Fwooooouuuu—!

A long trumpet blared.

Uwaaaaahhh—!

Kill them all!

Everything is ours!

With a thunderous war cry, they attacked Beneta without rest.

Dust billowed from outside, shrouding the castle walls.

The second wave had begun.

“Damn, they’re really coming like roaches.”

The enemy numbers outside the wall were beyond counting.

For Beneta, which had just barely finished battling a 10,000-strong cavalry unit, this was an overwhelming fight.

But this was a battle tied to survival. It couldn’t be avoided.

To live, they had to defend.

“Fight from behind the barricades! Do not fall back!”

Knight Commander Natone swung his blunt weapon and roared.

Following Arthur’s advice, wooden barricades had been set up to fill the gaps in the collapsed wall.

Thanks to that, they were able to hold back the enemy charging in like a stampeding herd.

Crack—

“Don’t let them break the wood!”

“Stab them with spears!”

Shouts and screams.

Kal’s main force and Beneta’s soldiers clashed on opposite sides of the thick barricades.

Shield-bearing infantry charged fiercely to break through the gaps in the collapsed wall.

Once they blocked the arrows and split open the line, knights from various houses surged in with weapons raised.

Their auras pressed hard against Beneta’s defenders, who quickly fell, bleeding.

The knights had arrived.

Natone smashed the head of one with his mace and took the frontline.

If they lost ground here, it was over.

He staked his life on the defense.

“Dwarf Knights! Hold the line!”

In the broken space, knightly orders clashed.

The humans outnumbered them three to one, but Beneta’s troops were vastly superior in both skill and equipnt, so they weren’t easily pushed back.

In fact, because of the tight quarters, the Dwarf Knight Order led by Natone held the advantage.

It looked like they might hold out, but at a signal, the enemy knights quickly retreated and were replaced by waves of spear-wielding infantry.

Human wave tactics.

The enormous army of nearly thirty thousand began pouring through the cracks.

Natone cursed instinctively.

Too many.

He gritted his teeth and picked up a shield from the ground.

Due to the earlier surprise assault, Beneta had fewer than ten thousand troops able to fight.

He and the knights were injured, but without them, there would be no holding the line.

“H-Hold them back!!!”

Natone let out a scream that was almost a cry.

“No ti to breathe... seriously.”

Watching the brutal battle unfold, I drew my bow tight.

From atop the wall, I fired arrow after arrow without rest.

Bang! Bang! KWAANG!

Screams and explosions erupted in red smoke.

Though I was cutting down enemy numbers near the broken wall, eventually knights with shields stepped in to suppress .

I beca their sole target.

Their losses began to decrease.

To deal more damage, I had to summon even more arrows.

Two, three, four arrows at once—but only for a mont.

My vision spun, and my head throbbed with pain. My consciousness blurred.

“Damn... I’m reaching my limit.”

I cursed and released the tension in the bowstring.

From the cavalry wave until now, I’d been running the Ring of Bloodsucking nonstop.

I was using the Heart Ring and Ring of Desire to recover stamina, but the ntal and physical strain was mounting fast.

“There’s no ti left for just suppressing them…”

Scanning the area around the wall, I let out a low groan and began running along the ramparts.

I raced forward, cutting ropes and toppling ladders.

Beneta’s walls were steep and high, a natural fortress—But only when properly defended.

Because of Terremor, corpse bombs, and the Blood explosion, the broken section of wall was gaping wide.

Only a massive force could defend it now, and Beneta could barely spare any troops.

They were so focused on the breach that they weren’t watching the walls themselves.

aning it was up to a small force—and .

“Shit, there’s too many of them!”

The enemies scaling the wall alone seed to number in the tens of thousands.

They packed the outer walls, climbing with ropes and ladders—just watching them filled with crushing pressure.

Should I really use Burst Strike...?

Then—

Ssssss—

A crimson blur flashed as dozens of ropes snapped in an instant.

Screams echoed from outside.

Those who made it up were ambushed by black shadows and quickly fell.

Shadowy figures kicked down ladders.

A mont later, one of them rushed toward .

“We’ve regrouped.”

Karl Bastain.

Along with the Specters and Lochter.

Lochter, who had severed all the ropes on one side of the wall, arrived late and sheathed his twin swords.

I greeted them with relief.

“Is everything at the lord’s castle resolved?”

I already knew the answer from their arrival, but I still needed to hear it clearly.

This was that important.

“Everyone is safe.”

“Was it Harkman Oleve?”

When Lochter nodded, I returned the nod and gave him a thumbs-up.

Harkman was one of the most renowned knights even in Hell Gri.

If Lochter had taken him down, it ant he’d far exceeded my expectations.

He had truly grown stronger with those twin swords.

I asked about Dorneth’s condition.

“He was badly wounded, so we left him behind.”

“That’s a relief. At least we avoided the worst.”

Up to this point, everything had gone perfectly.

Now we needed to move on to the next stage—but this place was the problem.

With Kal’s main force tying us down, we couldn’t leave.

We didn’t have nearly enough strength to face the main army, so we couldn’t abandon the wall.

As Lochter and the Specters pushed back the climbing troops again, I scanned the area and fell deep into thought.

There had to be another way...

As I wracked my brain for a solution—

“Listen, everyone!!!”

A booming shout made turn my head.

Toward the lord’s castle.

Atop a distant spire, a familiar dwarf’s silhouette appeared.

Wasn’t he injured?

Beneta’s Lord, Dorneth Gader, raised his voice like a battle cry, unleashing his energy.

“As the head of the Gader clan who built Beneta, I declare!”

He raised his shield as he spoke.

His voice, carried by aura and wind, spread across all of Beneta.

“All non-human races of Beneta, co forth and fight!!!”

Perhaps it was his call—The city stirred, and black shadows began crawling out through the streets, one by one.

Dorneth descended from the tower and mounted his horse.

His shout was not yet over.

“Risk your lives! Defend Beneta!!!”

Uwaaaaaah!!!

The beastkin howled as they began to transform.

Giant beasts began to rally behind Dorneth.

Their numbers surged.

“The vanguard—will be led by , Dorneth!”

He appeared wielding a weapon none of us had seen before—The weapon that would be known as the Shield of Tobaron.

The Shield of Vow.