Regaleon: The Forgotten Knight

Surprisingly, the first person to burst into motion wasn’t any of the combatants; instead, it was Caelestra, the failed Merchant.

The moment she saw the pack descend upon their position, she didn’t panic. There was no hesitation in her movements, nor any trace of the apprehension that had characterized her before her breakthrough. She simply raised one hand and calmly manifested her Duke Tier Treasure Chest.

The monetary Soul Essence was not a weapon in the conventional sense, but Caelestra had no intention of wielding it as one. Instead, she calmly channelled Aether into the Soul Essence.

A flash of silver light immediately erupted from the Treasure Chest; then, with a soft metallic resonance, the lid of the chest opened.

What lay within was utterly incongruous with its almost mundane appearance.

Rather than an empty interior, the Chest contained what appeared to be a boundless celestial firmament. Countless points of silver light shimmered within its depths, resembling distant stars suspended within an endless galaxy. The interior seemed far deeper than the physical dimensions of the Chest should have permitted, as though a fragment of some vast cosmic expanse had been folded into the confines of the Treasure Chest.

And then the first Coin emerged. It was followed by another... Then another.

One after another, gleaming silver Coins began flying out of the Chest, each of them considerably larger and more ornate than they had been when the group first encountered them.

The Coins were no longer simple pieces of enchanted metal.

Their surfaces were engraved with intricate patterns that seemed to shift whenever they caught the light. Fine lines resembling miniature constellations traversed their faces, while unfamiliar insignias adorned their edges. Silver radiance flowed across their surfaces like liquid moonlight, giving each Coin an almost ethereal magnificence.

They were beautiful but there was something distinctly intimidating about that beauty because every single one of them contained power.

Actually, all of Caelestra’s Coins had been destroyed during the battle against the monstrosities back at the Breeding Nest. At the time, the others had been worried that such devastation might severely handicap Caelestra’s combat capabilities.

But it turned out they had been worrying over nothing.

Caelestra had once explained to them that her Treasure Chest was responsible for the creation of her Coins. As long as she possessed sufficient Essence Crystals to feed the Soul Essence, she could continuously recreate them.

It was precisely because of this ability that Valmyr had nearly used Caelestra’s Treasure Chest as justification for his avarice toward the gleaming Crystals they had discovered inside the cave.

However, there had been another detail Caelestra had revealed. The Coins she recreated would be one tier higher than their predecessors.

That was precisely why the failed Merchant had not regarded the destruction of her Coins as a misfortune. On the contrary, she had considered it an opportunity.

Her previous Coins had been Count Tier but the Coins emerging from her Treasure Chest now were Earl Tier.

And that single advancement represented a qualitative transformation in her combat potential.

The difference between Count Tier and Earl Tier was not merely a matter of classification. It represented an entirely different magnitude of strength, durability, and Aetheric potency. Every Coin that now hovered around Caelestra contained power that its former incarnation could never have possessed.

Immediately after manifesting, the Coins began revolving around Caelestra.

They moved in graceful, orderly trajectories, some circling close to her body while others revolved farther away, forming several enormous rings of silver that continuously shifted and interlocked around her.

The sight was magnificent.

Caelestra stood at the center of that silver constellation, her long hair gently stirring beneath the currents of Aether generated by the revolving Coins. The cold radiance reflected upon her features, lending her an almost otherworldly beauty.

For a moment, she scarcely resembled the failed Merchant they had known. Rather, she looked like the sovereign of an army forged from silver.

And the pure, almost celestial aura radiating from her only intensified the impression.

There were already hundreds of Coins revolving around her alone, and more continued to emerge from the Treasure Chest without interruption.

Veyrath stared at the spectacle with unconcealed shock and a trace of incredulity.

”How many Coins does she have now?”

The failed Alchemist’s amber eyes widened as he watched another stream of silver Coins pour from the Chest. There was a distinct mixture of envy and astonishment in his expression.

He knew that the mere existence of these Coins was enough to elevate Caelestra’s combat capability considerably.

But now that those Coins had become Earl Tier... Aetherium alone knew how powerful she had become.

And this wasn’t even the extent of it.

The moment the Coins had finished assembling around her, Caelestra wasted no time in activating one of her Essence Runes, ”Coin Legion.”

The moment the Essence Rune was engaged, the hundreds of floating Coins suddenly erupted with silver radiance.

Their surfaces trembled... Then they began to change.

One after another, the Coins elongated and distorted, their circular forms dissolving into streams of silver light. The light gathered, condensed, and gradually took shape...

Within moments, the countless Coins had transformed into an entire legion of spectral warriors.

Some took the form of heavily armored knights, clad in silver plate and wielding swords and shields. Others manifested as archers, their spectral bows already drawn and shimmering with condensed Aether. There were spearmen, swordsmen, warriors wielding enormous axes, and other martial figures whose forms differed according to the Coins from which they had been created.

Every single one possessed an unmistakable military bearing.

Moreover, they weren’t mindless apparitions.

They stood in immaculate assembly around Caelestra, their silver bodies radiating an austere brilliance that illuminated the darkness surrounding them.

The Nether Lands had always possessed a suffocating atmosphere and a ever-present sensation that something terrible was lurking just beyond the limits of one’s vision.

Yet the Coin Legion seemed almost antithetical to all of it.

Their silver radiance washed across the clearing, piercing the crimson gloom with a brilliance so pristine that it seemed almost irreconcilable with the darkness of the Nether Lands.

Hundreds of spectral soldiers stood in absolute silence, resembling an army awaiting the command of its sovereign.

Then Aureleah raised her hand. Her cold eyes swept across the charging pack before she pointed directly toward the wolves.

”Go.” That single word was enough.

The next instant, the entire Coin Legion surged forward...

Like soldiers released from restraint, the spectral warriors advanced in perfect formation, their movements synchronized with almost unnatural precision.

Knights lowered their shields and raised their weapons while archers moved behind them, already preparing their spectral bows.

The wolves were still lunging forward when the two forces finally collided; silver warriors crashed into fur and claws, swords descended, shields slammed into monstrous bodies and spectral arrows tore through the air.

The clearing instantly erupted into violence.

And honestly, Caelestra’s Coin Legion alone was almost sufficient to overwhelm the wolves because the difference in numbers was simply too substantial.

The pack might have possessed superior coordination and terrifying Impulses, but they were now confronting an army that numbered several times their own.

It wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that the group could simply stand aside and allow the Coin Legion to finish the battle on their behalf.

But they weren’t about to simply sit back and watch the battle unfold from the sidelines.

If Aelric truly intended this confrontation to force them to become accustomed to their newfound strength, then participating wasn’t merely advisable; it was mandatory.

For that reason, the moment the Coin Legion crashed into the wolves, Regaleon raised his Halberd and pointed it toward the battlefield.

”Go!” His voice was cold and decisive.

Without hesitation, the others surged forward behind him.

They followed the spectral warriors into the fray, using the Coin Legion as their vanguard...

Meanwhile, Sylveris’s eyes shone with excitement as she watched the battlefield from the branch where she sat beside Aelric.

The young girl couldn’t hide her happiness for Caelestra. She had watched the failed Merchant struggle after losing her Coins, and seeing them return in such overwhelming numbers was undoubtedly gratifying.

”It seems she finally recreated her Coins,” Sylveris said. ”And that also means she’s gotten stronger.”

Aelric didn’t answer as he simply continued staring at the battle below. For once, however, the usual languid indifference in his emerald eyes had diminished.

Honestly, the green-eyed youth couldn’t deny that he had been caught off guard by the magnitude of what had just occurred.

The Treasure Chest itself had been unexpected; the sheer number of Coins was even more so. But the Coin Legion... That was something else entirely.

This was the first time Aelric had witnessed Caelestra’s peculiar Soul Essence with his own eyes. He had heard fragments about it from the group, but descriptions were ultimately incapable of conveying the true spectacle of seeing hundreds of Earl Tier Coins emerge from a Treasure Chest before transforming into an organized spectral army.

Information could explain an ability but it could not reproduce the impact of witnessing it firsthand.

For that reason, when Aelric watched the Coins manifest and subsequently witnessed Caelestra activate Coin Legion, even he found himself genuinely impressed.

He had heard of House Auricrest of Valoria before. Like the other Great Houses, it was a name that carried considerable weight.

But hearing about a Great House and witnessing the capabilities of one of its members were two entirely different experiences.

This was the first time Aelric had seen what a member of House Auricrest was truly capable of. And he had to admit... He was thoroughly impressed.

The Coin Legion wasn’t just powerful, it was versatile. And for a Merchant who had originally seemed to possess one of the least directly combat-oriented Soul Essences among the group, Caelestra had suddenly revealed a frightening degree of battlefield potential.

Aelric’s gaze shifted toward her.

The silver-haired woman stood behind the advancing legion, her expression remarkably composed as she continued controlling the battlefield through her Soul Essence.

The impression Aelric had formed of the group had already been considerably different from when he had first encountered them.

At first, they had appeared to him as little more than a collection of inexperienced outsiders who had somehow managed to survive in the Crimson Forest.

And now, one by one, they were beginning to reveal capabilities that were far more substantial than their origins suggested.

Aelric’s lips curled into the faintest smile.

This group was beginning to turn out to be far more interesting than he had initially anticipated...