War Chronicles of the Land of Twilight

Title : Gorda the demon sword

At the signal of the commanders from both sides, the battle begins.

The 50-strong cavalry unit from Izun and the 200-strong Rising sun country knights become a mass of black and silver, thundering across the great plain, causing the earth to shake.

Before the vanguards of both sides collide, arrows fired by the Rising sun country knights’ archers reach the Izun cavalry. The fierce sound of the arrows slicing through the air brushes past the ears of the Izun cavalry. Some of the black knights hit directly by the arrows continue to advance without hesitation, thanks to their sturdy armor, but a few are struck through the gaps in their armor and fall on the spot.

Dodging the rain of arrows, just one step away from the Izun cavalry’s sword range, come the long spears of the Rising sun country’s spear unit. Several more black knights fall before the spears thrust horizontally without hesitation. Some are hit in the legs, lose their balance, and are attacked again while downed. Others are impaled with additional spears while suspended in the air, pierced through their armor by the first spear.

By the time the sword range is finally reached, the Izun cavalry has lost one-fifth of its forces.

The difference in strength between the two sides is 1 to 5, making the Izun cavalry overwhelmingly outnumbered. However, the situation changes drastically once they engage in close combat.

The Izun cavalry, without shields, far surpasses the Rising sun country knights in terms of mobility in close combat. Furthermore, their characteristic sharpness of their swords is terrifying. The archers and spear soldiers who were forced into close range were cut down without even having time to switch weapons.

The Rising sun country knights, relying on heavy armor and sheer numbers, and the Izun cavalry, manipulating their mobility and skill, engage in a fierce battle of advances and retreats in close combat, contrary to Demirov’s expectations.

“Indeed, it won’t be easy. Fighting with just one eerie single-edged sword and no shields. They are quite different from the rumors.”

Demirov uttered words of praise mixed with admiration.

“That’s impressive. I’ll make sure to tell everyone about your words later,” replied Gorda in a calm voice.

In the midst of the chaotic battlefield, Demirov and Gorda faced each other with their respective weapons, a mace and a sword, and carefully gauged each other’s distance. There were no crude soldiers foolish enough to lay a hand on either of the two generals. In particular, the cavalry of the Izun side seemed completely uninterested in the enemy generals and only had eyes for the knights of the rising sun nation, occasionally directing their blades towards them as their top priority.

” ‘Tell everyone later’? You have quite the confidence, General,” said Demirov, slowly closing in on Gorda with his mace and large shield held in front of him.

“You seem quite nervous, despite all that heavy armor. Are you still uncertain?” retorted Gorda, holding his sword at his side and watching his opponent’s movements closely.

“Uncertain? This is caution!” exclaimed Demirov. As soon as he locked eyes with Gorda, Demirov quickly launched forward, swinging his mace downwards. Gorda narrowly evaded the attack, dodging to the side. The mace struck the ground with a dull thud, leaving a large dent in the earth.

Taking advantage of Demirov’s failed attack, Gorda swung his sword at Demirov.

“Hmph.”

With the powerful voice of Demirov and the movement of his shield, he barely managed to block Gorda’s slash. The rough sound of metal colliding echoed through the air.

“Oh,” Gorda exclaimed while receiving the impact in his hand.

After the exchange of a single flash of offense and defense, Demirov and Gorda retreated again to a safe distance. “I thought you were just a heavily armed knight relying on brute strength, but you move surprisingly well. And…”

Gorda looked at his own sword. “Your equipment seems to be peculiarly made.”

The sword that Gorda had just used to strike Demirov’s shield had a chipped blade. “Hmph, I couldn’t tell how sharp that strange blade of yours was,” said Demirov, mixing a triumphant tone into his voice.

“In front of this blue steel, even that blade won’t pass through,” he added, referring to the rare and expensive high-hardness steel known as blue steel.

Gorda was amazed, “Blue steel… super high hardness steel? You’ve prepared quite an expensive equipment…”

“If you had invested the materials spent on that equipment into the entire army instead, you could have increased your military strength by 20%,” Gorda said with a surprised tone.

“However, by investing those resources into the equipment of one person, we can obtain this overwhelming advantage.”

With the confidence of having nothing to fear anymore, Demirov turned his shield to his back and switched his mace to a two-handed grip. With a battle cry, Demirov leaped towards Gorda.

The force of the mace in his two-handed grip was far greater than before. The sound of the mace slicing through the air, barely missing Gorda’s head, could be heard constantly.

“Take this!” Demirov’s powerful blow struck the ground, leaving an opening that Gorda seized to strike at Demirov’s helmet with his broken sword.

The sound of the clash and Demirov’s triumphant voice could be heard. “Hahaha! Your weak attack couldn’t even scratch my armor!”

Once again, Gorda was struck by the mace. Unable to dodge with his posture after his previous strike, Gorda could only take the mace with his sword.

Like Demirov’s shield and armor, the mace was also made of blue stone steel. Gorda’s sword couldn’t withstand the overwhelming force of the mace’s strike.

With a loud crack, Gorda’s sword snapped in half. The impact that he couldn’t block sent Gorda flying several meters back.

“Izun’s cavalry general, defeated!” Demirov shouted in triumph, having claimed victory.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Inspired by Demirov’s dominant one-on-one, the chaotic situation around them began to show signs of the rising sun’s Order’s cavalry overpowering the Izun horsemen with their superior numbers.

“I had heard in literature that the Izun horsemen were the fiercest in the land of twilight, but is this all they have? Pathetic!” exclaimed Demirov, his excitement rising.

“I see. So that’s how it’s told in the land of rising sun. The deceased must have left accurate records,” murmured Gorda, standing up in a calm voice.

“What?” asked Demirov suspiciously.

“Berukuto!” Gorda ignored Demirov and called out the knight’s name, turning his gaze towards the battlefield.

“What?” replied Berukuto, appearing by Gorda’s side, as if he had slipped through the battlefield undetected.

“What time is it now?” asked Gorda.

“It’s 5:30 pm, sir,” replied Berukuto, checking the time on his pocket watch.

“Good, we have enough time. Berukuto, my sword broke. Can I borrow yours?” requested Gorda.

“Of course, sir,” replied Berukuto smoothly, sheathing his own sword and handing it over to Gorda.

“May the best man win.” (Tl : or Goodluck)

“I’m sorry.”

As Gorda accepts the sword from Berukuto, he speaks in a congratulatory tone.

“It’s nothing,” Berukuto humbly responds.

In the next moment, a knight from the kingdom of rising sun charges at Berukuto with a longsword aimed at his back.

Without even turning around, Berukuto swiftly dodges the longsword’s strike. He then displays an acrobatic movement that defies belief, twisting and turning with feline-like grace to maintain his distance from his opponent. Suddenly, he strikes the side of the rising sun knight’s head with a spinning kick, causing him to collapse from a concussion.

“There’s no problem,” Berukuto coolly remarks.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

“Lord Demirov, did you say that your country’s literature mentions ‘Izun’s cavalry is the strongest in the country of twilight’?”

With the sword he received from Berukuto in one hand, Gorda turns to Demirov.

“That’s right. We are the strongest army of the ‘Four Lords,’ who serve under His Majesty, the Abyss King, who rules the demon territory. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Gorda, the Dark Knight Gorda. I am the commander of the ‘Izun Cavalry,’ the guardians of the East, also known as the ‘Demon Sword’.”

Despite the situation in favor of the country of rising sun, Gorda’s bold attitude was putting considerable pressure on Demirov. Demirov felt the sweat on his face under his helmet.

“How foolish… Even if you change your lazy ways, your ‘Demon Sword’ is powerless against my blue steel. You must understand that, general Gorda.” (1)

Demirov raises his voice to show he’s not inferior.

“That’s true. With our swords, we can’t penetrate that blue steel.”

Gorda puts his hand on the handle of the sword still sheathed in its scabbard. He then lowers his stance and shows his stance for unsheathing his sword.

“However, I don’t need to break your helmet to take your head.”

Gorda’s fighting spirit surges forth, making Demirov involuntarily swallow his breath.

“Have you lost your mind, General Gorda?”

“Lord Demirov, your bravery was magnificent. To show my utmost respect, I will demonstrate the essence of my ‘Demon Sword’ for you.”

Gorda then tells Demirov:

“For you, this next strike will be your last in this lifetime. Face it with no regrets and give it your all.”

Tension fills the air. Demirov realizes that he’s being mentally overwhelmed by Gorda’s words. At the same time, he feels the excitement of a warrior boiling inside him, an experience he has never felt before, coursing through his body.

“Very well.”

Demirov raises his two-handed mace and lets out a warrior’s roar.

“Now, let’s fight like true warriors!”

Demirov charged with fierce momentum, quickly closing the distance between him and Gorda. On the other hand, Gorda remained still in his stance with his sword unsheathed. He calmly repeated his controlled breathing, gazing steadily at Demirov’s charging form without even blinking. His sword still remained in its scabbard.

Demirov, who caught Gorda in the range of his mace, put all his strength into both arms and swung his most powerful strike. At that moment, the thought of victory flashed through Demirov’s mind.

“Magic Sword Set: Armor-piercing Helmet!”

After a moment of contact, silence fell.

Demirov’s full-power blow missed its mark, and the tip of his mace dug into the ground.

Gorda was standing behind Demirov. His sword had already been unsheathed, and there was a small amount of blood on the blade.

Demirov’s blue steel armor remained unscathed.

Gorda quickly shook the blood off his blade, sheathed it, and made a crisp metallic sound.

Demirov remained motionless, still in the position with his mace dug into the ground.

After a while, red-black blood began to overflow from the cracks in Demirov’s armor. The blood flowed incessantly, creating a large and deep pool of blood at his feet in no time.

Without turning towards Demirov’s corpse, Gorda took out his pocket watch, opened the lid, and checked the dial.

“Five o’clock, three-quarters past four. No overtime.”

Ignoring the lifeless body of Demirov, the Dark Knight “Gorda of the Demon’s Sword” withdrew to the fortress.

1 )「蒼石鋼あおいしはがね……超高硬度鋼か」(Aoi shiage, a super-hard high-grade steel), describes the type of steel being used for the equipment. The phrase 「超高硬度鋼」(chou koukodo hagane) means “super-hard high-grade steel. As mentioned, in chapter: ‘The blue steel.”