Reborn As Noble

Chapter 554: Beyond Fear ( 554 )

Javier’s voice dropped to a deadly, cutting tone, sharp as a blade unsheathed.

“And let me tell you one important thing.”

His eyes, hidden beneath the oni mask, burned with a fierce light.

The wind stilled—an unnatural silence blanketed the battlefield, even Buddy quieted, sensing the gravity of Javier’s words.

“No matter what you do…”

“…how strong you are…”

“…how great you think you are…”

His voice echoed through the tense air like a cursed decree.

“Never. Ever. Make fun of someone’s family.”

He raised his hand again—slow, deliberate, commanding.

“Especially…”

A pause, a sinister grin behind the mask.

“…when that person happens to be me.”

His voice rang across the battlefield, cold as death itself—a final verdict.

“How do you feel? When you can’t move… and my knights will slowly behead you?”

Calmly, Javier dismounted Buddy. His armored boots clanged softly as he hit the ground, standing tall like a silent executioner behind the mask.

“I gave you all a chance to retreat. To live.”

He took a few measured steps forward, the weight of his words pressing down harder than the gravity spell just moments ago.

“And now?”

The halfling commander, trembling and bloodied, spat out defiance.

“Y-You’re not a man! If you were truly one, you’d fight this war with honor—with an army! Not this cheap magic trick!”

Javier tilted his head slightly, the smile behind his mask unbroken.

“Oh?” he said lightly.

“So what you’re saying is…”

He paused, savoring the moment.

“…I should face this like a true commander? A real fighter? You want a proper war?”

No mockery. Just quiet amusement and deadly intention.

Then.

Smirk.

He raised his hand.

The oppressive pressure dissolved instantly.

The halfling soldiers gasped for air, some collapsing from exhaustion, others shakily finding their footing.

“I will give you time,” Javier announced, stepping back toward Buddy.

“We’ll fight like warriors. Like soldiers. With honor. But hear me now—”

He paused mid-step, his gaze locking with the halfling commander’s behind the mask.

“There will be no prisoners of war.”

“I accept your challenge as a true commander. And I am not bound by any pact, treaty, or mercy.”

“This is total war.”

Climbing once more onto Buddy’s back, Javier’s cape fluttered ominously behind him.

His presence, no longer shackled by gravity, felt even heavier—an unstoppable force of devastation.

“So go. Prepare yourselves…”

“…and say goodbye to everything you love.”

Buddy squawked loudly, echoing across the battlefield. An ominous announcement.

With that, Javier rode away to regroup with his puppet knights, leaving chaos and despair in his wake.

The dwarven soldier sprinted down the stone rampart, the clinking of armor echoing with urgency. Bursting into the war chamber, he gasped for breath, eyes wide with concern.

“Leader!!” he shouted, desperate for attention. “The magic… it’s gone!”

The dwarven leader turned slowly, their gaze sharp and unyielding. “I know.”

“Then… are we going to attack? Should we help that oni-masked guy in weird armor? That… Javier something?”

The leader’s expression remained unreadable for a moment, then he looked back down at the battlefield.

Across the scorched field, the aftermath of Javier’s display was unmistakable: thousands of halfling soldiers staggering, trying to regroup after being crushed by an invisible force. In front of them, the mysterious commander—still atop his Pekko—had just declared total war, the air thick with tension.

The leader’s hand tightened around the window ledge.

“No…” he said decisively, voice heavy with resolve.

“We don’t attack.”

The young soldier blinked in confusion. “Sir?”

“Hold all our attacks for now,” the leader commanded. “Tell every captain, every squad leader. Do not engage. We wait.”

The soldier hesitated but nodded firmly. “Yes, sir!”

The leader continued, voice low but commanding.

“Inform the men. Fortify the walls. Reload the ballistas. Make everything ready. But we stay still. We do not move until we see what they do next.”

“But what if they—”

“If that masked boy is truly from Armand,” he interrupted, “then we’ve seen a glimpse of their power. And if he’s something else entirely… we must be prepared either way. We watch. We wait.”

He exhaled slowly, steeling himself.

“And if that boy falls…” he looked down at his worn gauntlets, clenched tight, voice almost a whisper.

“…then it’ll be our turn next.”

The room subsided into quiet determination. Outside, the activity hummed. No horns of assault sounded yet.

The dwarves would hold. They would observe the oni mask’s move, waiting for the inevitable clash, and ready to strike when the moment was right.

Javier sat tall atop Buddy, his Pekko mount. The beast stood steady, sensing its rider’s solemnity. Before him, twenty thousand knights in gleaming mithril armor stood at rigid attention. Swords and shields at the ready. Crossbows gleaming with enchantment. Rows upon rows, a sea of silver, silent but proud.

The wind blew gently across the battlefield.

Javier lifted his hand.

Mana surged from his body.Visible, burning, white-blue. His cloak snapped behind him, and his oni mask gleamed under the rising sun.

Then he spoke.

“My knights!” His voice echoed, carried by magic so all heard it clearly.

“Today, we march not as mere shadows of men. But as the unshakable wall, the crashing storm, the blade that ends all doubt.”

He looked across the horizon, at the vast halfling army preparing for retaliation.

“Before us stands an enemy greater in number, arrogant in strength, but blind in faith. They believe that numbers win wars. They believe that fear can crush resolve. Let us show them they are wrong.”

He held his hand up to the sky. White mana flared around him, casting a glowing aura.

“We are not of their world. We are Armand’s fury. I forged you from my will, bound by no fear, no fatigue, no death. You are knights born of my mana, shaped by my hands. Today… you are my sword.”

The knights stomped once in unison. A metallic quake shook the ground.

“We do not fight for glory. We do not fight for pride. We fight to protect the balance. We fight for those who cannot raise a blade. We fight so that tyranny, from halfling or human, never takes root again.”

He pulled his katana from its sheath and pointed it toward the enemy army.

“Today, we carve our mark into the earth. Today, our enemy will remember the name they mocked. And when they fall,one by one,they will know:

That we were not just knights.”

“We were justice.”

“We were judgment.”

“We were Javier De Armand’s wrath.”

The puppet knights moved in unison. Shields raised, swords lowered, bows cocked,each motion synchronized with a mechanical precision that echoed like thunder.

A rhythm. A war drum made from steel. The ground itself seemed to tremble under the weight of their march.

( End Of Chapter )

Sorry for the late update.