Chapter 168: The Meaning of Protection

“Counterattack!”

Hank roared as Fleshrender swept out in a streak of crimson light, cleaving an allied soldier and his shield cleanly in half.

Under Hank’s command, Second Division smashed into the enemy’s chaotic formation like an iron hammer.

The counteroffensive had already been going on for some time. The violent frenzy brought on by the Dragon Blood’s Oath potion was gradually fading, replaced by something steadier and far more profound. Hank could clearly feel a powerful force circulating through his body in a self-sustaining cycle.

So this… was the Gold rank?

The thought crossed his mind.

Back when he had still been Silver rank, every ounce of strength spent was gone for good. His bursts of power had been formidable enough, but intense combat exhausted him quickly, forcing him to rely on long rest and potions to recover. 

Now things were different. Every swing of his sword, every exertion of force, no longer drained him heavily. Instead, it felt as though battle itself was tempering his body, refining that power into something denser and easier to command.

The stimulation from the Dragon Blood’s Oath potion seemed to do more than simply unleash latent potential. It had somehow awakened the newly formed cycle of power within him. For the first time, he could distinctly sense strength gathering from deep inside his body and flowing into the blade every time he attacked. That level of bodily control was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. The precision of his movements had raised his endurance in prolonged combat to an entirely different level.

Maybe this was the effect of the Fountain of Potential mixed into the potion?

Hank neither understood nor cared about all those mysterious alchemical theories. He only believed one thing: anything Nolan considered worthwhile had to be exceptional. That was enough.

“Push forward! Don’t give them room to breathe!” Hank shouted, raising his sword.

The soldiers of Second Division surged ahead with soaring morale, following closely behind their captain like a moving wall of steel as they relentlessly crushed the enemy heavy infantry still trying to resist.

Then suddenly, Hank’s heart jolted.

A terrifying presence erupted from the direction of the Somme River, overflowing with icy fury and murderous intent. Its target was unmistakably him.

Hank halted instantly and looked up.

And not just him. Everyone on the battlefield saw the horrifying sight.

A gigantic blade of ice more than ten meters long formed above the river out of nowhere, glowing with a ghostly blue radiance as it slashed violently toward Second Division’s position.

The air itself froze along its path, leaving behind a trail of icy mist.

The allied soldiers still struggling in confusion nearby did not even have time to scream before being caught in the attack. Their bodies were severed instantly, frost spreading over the wounds in an instant as they transformed into shattered statues of ice.

Fast. Terrifyingly powerful.

With Hank’s current speed and reflexes, he could easily dodge it if he wanted to. A few quick steps to the side would be enough to avoid the strike entirely. Behind him, however, were the soldiers of Second Division, the Black Armored Legion warriors who had only just begun to display their brilliance on the battlefield. They did not possess his Gold-rank strength. Faced with an attack of this level, they would not even have time to react, and even if they did, they could never stop it.

In that instant, Hank understood. The true powerhouse within the enemy ranks had finally made a move. And this attack had been launched in pure rage, without the slightest restraint. Blocking it head-on was unquestionably foolish. 

The corner of Hank’s eye caught the young faces behind him, soldiers who trusted him and followed him without hesitation. They were the future of Coldsteel City. The future of the Elfin Kingdom. As an old soldier of the kingdom and captain of Black Armored Legion Second Division, protecting them was his responsibility.

He planted his feet firmly in place.

“HAAAAA—!” Hank unleashed a thunderous bellow and poured every ounce of strength in his body into Fleshrender. The greatsword rose high overhead.

Buzz!

The jagged blood-red magical glow erupting from the blade exploded violently outward. Since the beginning of the battle, the vicious weapon had feasted on countless lives, and the accumulated blood energy now surged nearly four meters beyond the blade itself.

In the next moment, Hank unleashed the strongest Blood Lion’s Fang of his life.

The crimson sword aura was denser and more savage than ever before, like a true bloodthirsty lion roaring as it charged toward the massive ice blade.

BOOM—!!!

Blood and ice, red and blue, collided violently in midair as two utterly different powers crashed together with a deafening explosion that silenced the entire battlefield.

The raging shockwave swept outward in every direction, hurling corpses and mud high into the air.

His Blood Lion’s Fang had succeeded.

But not completely.

The gigantic ice blade was carved apart by the crimson sword aura, more than half of it obliterated under the relentless assault. Yet even the remaining fragment, only several meters long now, still carried terrifying momentum as it broke through the sword aura and continued hurtling toward Hank.

A full-force strike from a mid-Gold-rank expert truly was not something a newly advanced low Gold-tier fighter like him could completely withstand.

After unleashing that earth-shaking attack, the circulation of power inside Hank’s body faltered for an instant. A wave of weakness washed over him, exposing his lack of mastery over his newly gained strength.

But staring at the still-lethal ice blade rushing toward him, his gaze did not waver in the slightest.

He lowered his stance immediately, right shoulder forward, holding Fleshrender horizontally before him. He prepared to rely on his heavy Raven-Type officer armor and the last remnants of his strength to withstand the deadly remainder of the attack head-on.

The ice blade had been weakened greatly, but so had he.

Whether he would survive… even he did not know.

“Captain Hank!”

“Captain! Move!”

Several nearby Black Armored Legion soldiers saw what was happening and shouted anxiously. One young soldier even rushed forward, trying to pull Hank away by force.

But Hank stood unmoving, like a mountain rooted to the earth. He could not retreat. Behind him stood all of Second Division. If he failed to stop this attack, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Suddenly, he remembered the final words of his old regiment commander. The man had suffered fatal wounds during the Mandala War after being surrounded by several Black Knights, yet he had refused Hank’s attempt to drag him back to camp.

“Protecting the weak is meaningless, Hank. The strong survive by their own strength. The weak deserve to be eliminated. Dying on the battlefield is simply the law of survival of the fittest.”

Hank had never accepted those words. Not in the past. And after meeting Nolan, even less so.

Even if it cost him his life.

“To protect… is itself meaningful,” Hank spoke calmly and firmly without turning around.

That was his conviction as a soldier, and his promise to the future Lord Nolan had envisioned.

Everything happened far too quickly. The remaining ice blade had already reached him, the freezing cold nearly solidifying the blood in his veins. Hank braced himself for the agony of being torn apart.

Then, at that exact moment, a brilliant golden flame descended from the sky and instantly enveloped his entire body.

From the distance came Nolan’s steady, unmistakable voice. “Well said, Hank.”

Radiant Sun Charge had arrived.