A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Let me be honest, there are more demons here than when they invaded my Snowwind Fortress." There were only about a hundred demons when they invaded Snowwind Fortress.

There are over a thousand here, and in terms of both quantity and quality, they are on a completely different level.

Even if Dorothea were to wipe out these demons, it would be a very difficult task, and she might even get injured if she wasn't careful.

Lacking a wide-area killing capability, it would be even less likely for Bray to handle so many enemies.

Bray was exhausted before he could finish.

“I know, I’m just doing my best.” Bray sighed. No one knew his limits better than him.

Facing so many demons, Bray would be exhausted, and so would Carlogaris.

---

Carlogaris drew a perfect circle on the ground with his two greatswords.

The blade, propelled by inertia, swept across the mountain-like belly of the demon.

"Aaaaaah!!!" Kalogaris roared as he sliced ​​open the demon in disbelief, then sliced ​​open another demon after slicing it open.

The seemingly powerful demon was killed in just two or three sword strikes.

“How many more are there—” he gritted his teeth, staring at the demons who showed no sign of retreating.

He appeared insane, yet his eyes held a chilling calm; he knew many more enemies awaited him. Though two greatswords, in Carlogaris's hands they moved with the swiftness of daggers.

Without exception, all those arrogant demons fell to his twin swords.

In this era, Carlogaris was one of the strongest swordsmen.

Most importantly, he is only in his twenties now, and in just ten more years—he will be the pinnacle of Second Era swordsmanship.

He is very hardworking and talented; calling him a prodigy wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Even so, he was still powerless when facing the Bronze-level beings.

Two thousand people, who were vibrant lives just a quarter of an hour ago, are now dead.

Some were lucky, but they only fell in a pool of blood.

But some people are unlucky; they get eaten or broken up.

Even though Carlogaris was so powerful, he was powerless to stop these things from happening.

He was simply fighting, and he gave it his all.

Protecting others is so difficult, so very difficult.

"Carlogaris, it's time to retreat!" Nimitz shouted. The battle was going well, and everything was still according to plan.

Normally, Carlogaris would have followed Nemesis's advice and obediently retreated, waiting for an opportunity.

But this time, Carlogaris did not listen.

"We can't just back down like this!" Carlogaris retorted.

“Our people are all dead! Enough demons have fallen! Enough, that’s enough!” Nimitze could see Carlogaris’s resentment, but that was no excuse for his willfulness.

"Kalogaris!!! We can take a break and then deal with all the demons!" Nimize was calmer than Kalogaris. He knew that as long as Kalogaris rested, he could easily take care of the remaining demons.

During the battle, he discovered that besides Carlogaris, Bray and Dorothea were also unexpectedly strong.

With just the three of them, they killed hundreds of demons in a short period of time.

There's no need for Carlogaris to exhaust himself here.

The remaining part can simply retreat and fight again.

Their combat strength is absolutely sufficient.

“One day, none of us will be able to retreat, Nimitz!” Kalogaris roared, his greatsword cleaving through the enemy before him.

Carlogaris, already drenched in sweat, took a heavy step.

The ground sank deeply because of this step.

“You’re already too tired, don’t strain yourself! You’ll exhaust yourself!” As Carlogaris’s friend, Nimitzer knew exactly what he was trying to do.

He wanted to unfold his mental world.

The Black Iron species possesses the resources to rival the higher species, including the Mental Image World.

Of course, theoretically, even bronze beings can use the mental image world, but no one has ever seen Tian use it.

Therefore, the unfolding of the mental image world is basically the Black Iron race's ultimate weapon.

However, once users have fully engaged with the world in their prime, they become quite exhausted.

Carlogaris is clearly not at his peak right now, and trying to use his Heart to the World again would be a joke on himself.

“Once this wave is over, the demons won’t be able to launch any more attacks! Right, Nimitzer?” Kalogaris looked at Nimitzer with a determined gaze.

According to Carlogaris, as long as they can stop the demons' army this time, Horp can enjoy a period of peace again.

Therefore, being tired is fine, as long as the city can be peaceful for a few days.

And most importantly—

"This time, I want to take their bodies back with me..."

“…” Nimitzer finally shut up; he knew he couldn’t persuade Carlogaris.

Carlogaris took a deep breath.

The next moment, the surrounding scenery was covered by yellow sand.

The dilapidated buildings are buried deep in the mud and sand.

Countless corpses and weapons were scattered all around.

This is a world filled with a chilling atmosphere.

"Come again, battlefield at dusk."

A phrase that seemed to exist in everyone's ears, yet also seemed not to exist, echoed.

“Come again, battlefield of twilight…” Bray murmured unconsciously.

It's been so long since I've seen my own familiar mental world.

It turns out that "Beers" already existed at this time.

Carlogaris's mental world is more than twice the size of his original one.

He possessed two greatswords, one was "Beers" which Bray inherited, and the other was "Dilus" which went with his master.

Two swords, two separate wills, yet they resonate with a world of mental images.

The twilight battlefield is only complete when both swords are present.

"What an exaggerated mental world." Dorothea squinted. This projection of the mental world was not just a fleeting moment, but had been continuously displayed until now.

Moreover, this image gave Dorothea a feeling of boundlessness.

"These demons are finished." The Queen casually uttered this sentence before putting away all the weapons she had released.

“Hmm…” Bray had to agree with Dorothea’s statement.

Carogaris carried two greatswords as he walked along the broken brick and mud road.

All the demons were pinned down by something, unable to move, and had no choice but to fight back.

Some demons tried to use magic to interfere, but were astonished to find it completely ineffective.

Apart from spells that cause direct damage, most spells cannot be cast at all, as if the spell formulas for these spells never existed.

Unfortunately, even if a spell that deals direct damage is cast, Carlogaris will simply cleave it in two with a single sword strike.

It's a true split, shattering the nodes along with the magic.

One sword strike, and a demon falls; no second strike is needed.

Kalogaris didn't know how many times he swung his sword; all he knew was that, after a long time, he finally delivered the last blow.

"He's as strong as a monster," Dorothea aptly described Carlogaris.

She wasn't wrong; Carlogaris was indeed as strong as a monster.

Even dealing with hundreds of demons would leave her exhausted...

However, it should be noted that she is not a normal Dark Iron type, while Carlogaris is a Dark Iron type, a genuine Dark Iron type.

“Calling someone a monster is very rude,” Bray reprimanded.

"Hmph." Dorothea snorted coldly, quite dissatisfied with Bray always saying no to her.

---

“Alright, Carlogaris, you’re right.” Nimize sighed heavily and came over to help the unsteady Carlogaris to his feet.

Even if a single sword strike can execute a demon, not everyone can withstand hundreds of sword strikes.

"We really don't need to retreat."

“But you can’t do this every time, do you understand?” Nimitz paused and said to Carlogaris.

“I’ve always said that you are our last hope. If you fall, we will have no hope left,” Nimitra said earnestly.

Carlogaris won this time, but what about next time?

"You should be more mature and steady in the future."

"I'm sorry, I was too impulsive," Carlogaris murmured, feeling utterly exhausted and drained.

Nimitze fulfilled Carlogaris's wish and had those who died in battle transported back.

However, this was only possible because there were no demons lurking nearby.

Otherwise, the people responsible for transporting the goods would be hunted down before they even reached their destination.

“It’s quite comforting to send them back occasionally.” Nimiter took a deep look at the victims who were about to be cremated.

They couldn't even bury these victims, because the Bronze Age had many spells that desecrated corpses.

No one would feel good seeing their former kin rise from the graveyard to fight them.

"..." Kalogaris stared blankly at the victims being gradually engulfed in flames, his feelings incredibly complex.

So many people died again this time.

The effort and the reward were completely disproportionate; the deaths of these people only brought temporary peace to the city.

They barely managed to hold on again. How many times had they barely managed to defend against an attack? Carlogaris himself had lost count.

“I want to go back,” Carlogaris sighed and said.

“Go back, I won’t stop you anyway,” Nimiter said casually.

"If you want to go back and act cute, then go back."

"..." Carlogaris paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile and left.

"Hey." After Carlogaris left, Dorothea called out to Nimiter without any politeness.

Nimitri looked at Dorothea with a hint of speechlessness.

"Is there something you need?" Nimitz asked, suppressing his inner turmoil and responding as politely as possible.

There was no way around it; the other side had contributed a lot in the previous battles.

It's rare to see a force capable of defeating a Bronze-level opponent, so Nimitze will just have to bear with it.

Otherwise, Nimiter would have already thrown out a "I" at him.

"Do you always fight against so many Bronze-level enemies?" Dorothea asked Nimiter with interest.

In the last battle, the number of demons was unimaginable, and their quality was also unimaginable.

Perhaps it was because the demons at this time were at the peak of their race? Both in quality and quantity, they were exceptionally superior.

After an era, the demons could no longer muster that much fighting power.

Moreover, bronze specimens of the same rank from this era are significantly stronger.

“Every time?” Nimitz laughed.

"If that were the case, our Horp would have disappeared from the map long ago."