Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Appearance of the Eclipse
The battlefield had already descended into chaos.
The knights had been fighting without pause, their formation slowly being pushed backward by the sheer number of undead pouring from the western territory. Broken weapons and shattered armor littered the ground, while wounded soldiers struggled to retreat behind the defensive line.
"Hold the formation!"
The knight captain raised his sword and shouted over the roar of battle.
"Don’t let them break through! Protect the wounded and maintain the rear line!"
Several knights answered with exhausted voices.
"Yes, Captain!"
But even as they responded, another wave of undead emerged from the darkness.
Then something enormous appeared behind them.
A massive undead creature stepped through the ranks of the dead.
It was far larger than the others, towering over the battlefield with a body covered in rotting armor and distorted flesh. Several enormous horns protruded from its skull, while dark mana poured from its body like smoke.
The surrounding undead instinctively moved aside.
The creature raised one massive arm.
The knights closest to it froze.
"Captain!"
"There’s something behind us!"
The captain turned.
His expression changed immediately.
"What in the..."
The creature brought its arm down.
Then—
A flash of violet light appeared.
It was so sudden that several knights didn’t noticed it.
A single violet spark flickered in the air.
Then the light expanded.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive wave of violet energy tore across the battlefield.
A woman stood in its center.
Her entire body was concealed beneath the black attire of the Eclipse Order, while her face remained hidden beneath a hood.
She held a sword in one hand.
The blade was already glowing with an intense violet radiance.
She swung.
The resulting force was overwhelming.
A gigantic crescent of violet energy erupted from her sword and tore through the undead creature before it could even complete its attack.
The creature disappeared instantly.
Not merely defeated.
Erased.
The violet force continued forward, ripping through dozens of undead behind it before finally crashing into the earth.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The ground split apart.
A massive cut stretched across the battlefield, carving a deep trench through the earth for dozens of meters.
Dust and shattered stone were thrown into the air.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The knights stared.
The captain slowly lowered his sword.
"What... just happened?"
The woman remained standing at the edge of the enormous cut she had created.
She calmly lowered her sword.
The captain finally recovered from his shock and stepped forward.
"You!"
His voice was cautious.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked toward him.
The captain’s expression hardened.
"Who you are and where you came from."
The woman didn’t immediately answer.
Instead, she looked toward the battlefield.
"The undead army is larger than your current forces can handle."
The captain’s eyes narrowed.
"You knew about this?"
"We have been observing the situation."
The captain’s expression changed.
"Observing?"
He looked around.
Only then did he notice something.
There were other figures standing beyond the battlefield.
Dozens.
Figures dressed in the same black attire stood scattered throughout the surrounding area, their faces hidden beneath hoods and masks.
Some stood among the trees.
Others waited along the hills.
Several had already positioned themselves behind the undead army.
The knights stared in disbelief.
"When did they get there?"
"There are so many..."
"Who are these people?"
The captain’s expression became increasingly serious.
The captain looked around again.
The black-clad figures were beginning to move.
His instincts screamed at him that these people were not ordinary soldiers.
There was something about their presence that made even experienced knights uneasy.
"This is..."
The woman slowly raised her sword.
The violet light surrounding the blade intensified.
"We are the Eclipse."
The words carried across the battlefield.
The figures behind her spoke together.
"When light meets darkness, neither shall prevail—for we are the shadow that devours them both."
The final words echoed across the battlefield.
Then the woman lowered her sword.
Every black-clad figure moved at once.
The battlefield changed instantly.
The undead army surged forward.
The Eclipse members met them head-on.
A knight watched as one of the black-clad warriors stepped directly into the path of an undead soldier.
The undead swung its massive weapon.
The Eclipse warrior raised one hand.
CLANG!
The attack was stopped.
The warrior’s sword flashed.
One strike.
The undead was cut apart.
Another creature rushed from the side.
The same warrior turned.
Another strike.
The undead collapsed.
The Eclipse members advanced as though the thousands of undead before them were nothing more than obstacles standing in their way.
"Don’t let them break through!"
The knight captain suddenly shouted.
Several wounded knights were still lying across the battlefield.
"Don’t just stand there staring! Help the wounded!"
His voice snapped the others out of their shock.
"Move!"
"Get the injured to the rear!"
"Assist the healers!"
The knights immediately began moving again.
But even while carrying their wounded comrades away, they couldn’t stop watching.
An Eclipse warrior swung his sword.
BOOM!
The force alone crushed ten undead creatures standing directly in front of him.
Another warrior leapt into the middle of a group of undead.
His sword descended.
CRASH!
The impact shattered the ground beneath his feet and sent several undead flying.
A third figure moved through the battlefield so quickly that the knights could barely follow him.
One moment he was surrounded.
The next, the undead around him were already falling apart.
The captain stared.
His hands tightened around his sword.
"Such power..."
He had fought countless battles.
He had seen elite knights, powerful mages, and even magical swordsmen capable of destroying groups of enemies alone.
But these people were different.
They weren’t struggling.
They weren’t being pushed backward.
They weren’t even slowing down.
They were advancing.
Straight through the undead army.
A knight beside him swallowed hard.
"Captain..."
"What?"
"Even you..."
The captain remained silent.
The knight hesitated before continuing.
"Even i couldn’t do that,"
The captain stared at the battlefield.
Another massive group of undead charged toward the Eclipse members.
Several black-clad warriors moved forward together.
Their weapons flashed.
Violet, crimson, silver, and black light erupted across the battlefield.
BOOM!
The undead were thrown backward.
CRASH!
Another section of the battlefield was cleared.
The knights could only stare.
"So strong..."
"Just who are these people?"
"They’re not ordinary mercenaries."
"No..."
The captain’s eyes narrowed.
"They’re something else."
Another knight looked toward the woman who had destroyed the massive undead creature.
She was still standing calmly among the chaos, her violet sword glowing faintly.
"That woman..."
The knight’s voice trembled.
"She destroyed that monster with one attack."
The captain didn’t answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the black-clad figures cutting their way through the undead army.
The knights had barely recovered from the appearance of the Eclipse when another disturbance erupted farther along the battlefield.
A cluster of undead had gathered around one of the knight formations, forcing the soldiers to retreat several steps.
"Hold your ground!"
"There’s too many!"
"Don’t let them surround us!"
The undead pressed forward.
Then—
A brilliant flash of cimson light appeared above the battlefield.
Several knights looked up.
"What is that?"
The light suddenly expanded.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive pillar of energy descended from the sky and struck the center of the undead formation.
The earth shook violently.
A tremendous explosion swept outward, swallowing dozens upon dozens of undead in an instant.
The shockwave forced several knights to shield their faces as dust and fragments of stone were thrown into the air.
When the light finally disappeared, a massive crater remained where the undead army had been standing.
At its center stood another figure wearing the black attire of the Eclipse, it was Bianca.
Her long hair moved gently in the aftermath of the explosion.
She lowered her hand.
"That should clear this section."
A nearby knight stared at the destruction.
"She... destroyed all of them."
Another knight looked toward the crater.
"How many were there?"
"At least fifty..."
The captain’s expression became increasingly serious.
"Another one..."
The Eclipse member turned slightly toward the knights but said nothing.
She simply walked forward.
The undead that had survived the explosion immediately rushed toward her.
She raised one hand.
A second burst of light erupted.
BOOM!
The remaining creatures were swept away before they could reach her.
The knights watched in silence.
"She’s not even using a weapon..."
The captain narrowed his eyes.
"Don’t underestimate any of them."
But even he couldn’t hide the astonishment in his voice.
These people weren’t simply strong.
Their methods of fighting were completely different from anything the knights had encountered before.
Before the captain could say anything else, another group of undead suddenly broke through the western flank.
Aoda and Valentine had already moved toward another section of the battlefield.
Valentine raised her weapon.
Crimson light spread around her.
The air filled with glowing petals.
Countless crimson petals exploded outward.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The undead were pierced from every direction.
One after another, they collapsed.
A knight standing nearby watched in disbelief.
"Those are petals?"
Another undead attempted to attack Valentine from behind.
She disappeared.
A moment later, she appeared several meters away.
The creature fell apart behind her.
The knight captain stared.
"She didn’t even turn around."
Valentine continued forward without looking back.
Another wave approached.
She simply raised her hand.
The crimson petals gathered together.
Then—
BOOM!
A concentrated crimson blast tore through the undead formation, clearing an entire path across the battlefield.
The knights could only watch.
"Unbelievable..."
But the situation became even more overwhelming when another figure appeared on the opposite side.
Aoda stepped forward.
Several hundred undead were approaching her position.
She slowly raised her sword.
The black blade began radiating Eclipse Power.
The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Aoda swung.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A colossal wave of power erupted from her sword.
The undead army disappeared beneath the attack.
The force continued forward, carving through the battlefield until it finally struck the distant ground.
A massive trench appeared across the earth.
The knights stared.
"Another one..."
"How many monsters can these people destroy with a single attack?"
The captain couldn’t answer.
Then something even stranger happened.
The undead began surrounding another group of Eclipse members.
Five figures stood together.
Their weapons were completely different.
One carried a massive sword.
Another wielded twin blades.
A third held a pair of enormous axes.
The fourth carried a long weapon wrapped in chains.
The final figure rested a large black coffin against one shoulder.
The knights stared.
"What are those weapons?"
The undead charged.
The five Reapers moved.
The first swung his massive sword.
BOOM!
The force crushed the undead directly in front of him.
The second disappeared between the creatures.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Three undead collapsed almost simultaneously.
The third raised both axes.
He spun once.
The weapons released a violent wave of power that swept through the surrounding undead.
CRASH!
Bodies were thrown across the battlefield.
The fourth Reaper released the chains.
They shot forward like living serpents, wrapping around several undead before violently pulling them together.
He tightened his grip.
BOOM!
The creatures were crushed against one another.
The fifth Reaper remained still.
An undead creature charged directly toward him.
The black coffin on his shoulder suddenly opened.
Darkness spilled from within.
The knight closest to him froze.
"What..."
Black tendrils erupted from the coffin.
They wrapped around the undead creature and dragged it inside.
The coffin closed.
Silence.
The knight stared.
"...Did that thing just swallow it?"
The Reaper said nothing.
He simply continued walking.
The remaining undead charged.
The five Reapers advanced together.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized.
Every attack created another opening.
Every opening became another fallen undead.
The battlefield around them seemed to collapse under their advance.
The knight captain watched all of it.
His expression had become completely serious.
"These people..."
He slowly tightened his grip around his sword.
"How many of them are there?"
One of the knights beside him looked toward the surrounding hills.
"We’ve counted several groups."
"Several?"
"Yes, Captain."
The knight swallowed.
"And we still haven’t identified all of them."
The captain looked toward the battlefield again.
The undead army had originally seemed unstoppable.
Thousands of creatures had poured across the western territory.
The knights had been fighting desperately simply to prevent themselves from being surrounded.
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