Chapter 234: The Realm of Myths (3)
“That’s incredible.”
There were people who were watching the clash between the Imperial and Republican troops from a distance quite away from the battlefield - Jerome Taker and Bianca Cornelius. Bianca was using her magic so that they could see the war from far away.
This was a lucky break, no, it was an opportunity for Jerome. He had been able to watch the battle between two of the greatest warriors of this world from beginning to end without missing a single thing.
“Who knew… Ah never thought Ah would ever see a human being join the astral plane. Ah’ve been told it’s theoretically possible, but…”
Bianca seemed to be greatly admiring them for it.
The fight between Duke Schweiker and General Barron impressed the two of them, but both the duke and the general had joined the realm of myth now. For the people still living on earth, the most important thing for them right now was the result of this war.
“The Empire won, but they’ve also suffered considerable damage.”
Jerome nodded at Bianca’s words before responding.
“On top of that, both Duke Schweiker and General Barron are gone, too. That’s the best result Count Sabian ever wanted.”
“That’s right. That boy’s quite a monster, too.”
Bianca was genuinely awed.
The conflict between the Empire and the Republic. This very situation had been a part of Count Sabian’s plan.
Just as Antras had seen, the Lester Kingdom had retreated by crossing the river using a s.h.i.+p that had been previously stashed away upstream when they had made their camp with the river behind their backs.
But Count Sabian had one more trick. He had deliberately left traces to lead the Imperial Army northward while he left the Lester Kingdom’s army to Jerome.
From the perspective of the Empire, the joining of the Republican Army and the Lester Kingdom’s army had to be stopped. And for it to be stopped, that meant that the Imperial Army had to move in that direction. And Antras had done that in reality. He didn’t have any choice.
And so, like Count Sabian wanted, the Republic and the Imperial armies clashed. From the Lester Kingdom’s perspective, both the Republic and the Empire were their enemies. The reason the Lester Kingdom and the Republic couldn’t lead their armies together, even though they had a temporary alliance, was for the same reason.
That was why Count Sabian’s plan had been to have the Republic and the Empire fight each other to reduce the power of both nations at the same time. Even though it wasn’t the army that Siegfried led, Count Sabian believed that the 100,000 men led by General Barron, the strongest man in the Republic, wouldn’t easily be defeated by the Empire.
In fact, in this battle, the Empire suffered tremendous damage. Not only had they lost more than 150,000 men, but they had also lost Duke Schweiker, the strongest warrior in the Empire. General Barron of the Republic was also gone.
This was big.
With Count Sabian’s one strategy, the Lester Kingdom was given a great advantage in the fight between the three countries. Now, the reality was that the continent’s strongest man was either Jerome or Siegfried’s man, Jake. And counting both the officially and unofficially known Masters, there were currently five Masters in the Lester Kingdom. Even based on the number of Masters, the Lester Kingdom had a significant advantage over the other countries.
Something equally important was added to this.
“Marquis Taker, there’s a carrier pigeon from the Grand Duke, sir.”
“Bring it here.”
Jerome quickly read the report.
“What’s it about?”
“It says that they’ve caught up and fought with the enemy.”
“Really? And they were successful?”
“Yes. I believe we can meet up with my Lord now.”
Jerome smiled as he folded up the report.
‘In the end, everything was a success.’
***
While Jerome had been luring the Imperial Army, Milton had moved south with 100,000 men in order to stop Lucas Florian, who had been heading towards the Lester Kingdom with a separate army.
Antras had moved quickly when he found traces of the Lester Kingdom’s army heading north. However, the Lester Kingdom’s army had in fact split at that time. Jerome had led 150,000 men up north while luring the Imperial Army… while Milton immediately went south with 100,000 men.
Of course, he left no traces behind since he used the large s.h.i.+ps that had been used during the retreat as his transportation. Milton and his men rode the s.h.i.+p south and blocked Lucas Florian.
At first, Lucas Florian had been fl.u.s.tered when he saw that Milton had double the men he had, but this young tiger didn’t know the meaning of defeat, and of course, the thought of retreating never crossed his mind.
“All troops, advance!”
“Oohhhh!!”
Lucas Florian looked fearless as stood at the front of the charge. But, based on his experiences with war…
“He’s still young.”
Milton’s mouth hinted at a smile as he turned towards Count Sabian.
“I’ll leave the army in your hands.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Good. Southern Knights, take the field!”
“Oohhhhhh!!”
Milton personally led the Southern Knights and met Lucas Florian on the battlefield.
***
“Die!”
“Ack!’
“d.a.m.n it… guh…”
The two armies collided and the tide of the battle quickly leaned towards the Lester Kingdom. Not only did they have more than twice the soldiers Lucas had, but the difference in the quality of soldiers was even greater.
Lucas Florian believed in the fact that he was a Master and made a reckless attempt to break through the enemy, but...
That was a serious misjudgement.
If the decision to break through succeeds, then it has a powerful effect. But if it fails, then he would only be isolated.
Because Lucas Florian believed in his own strength, he didn’t think that would happen, but…
“Are you tired already?”
The enemy in front of him right now was Milton and he wasn’t being pushed back in the slightest. Milton was blocking him and the Southern Knights were overpowering his knights. Because of this, Lucas Florian couldn’t break through.
“Guh… Milton Forrest!”
Lucas Florian was overcome with rage and attacked Milton, but Milton didn’t shrink back and met his attack.
‘He’s still young. He has the talent but he’s lacking experience.’
When Milton looked at Lucas Florian’s stats with his ability, Lucas’s Strength was at 94. Since Milton’s current Strength was at 93, you could say he was a bit worse than Lucas, but even with that, Milton didn’t feel the slightest hint of danger.
That’s because besides Strength, there was a big difference in their level of experience. Since the time he had been an Expert, Milton had fought in the Western Front of the Strabus Kingdom and had been forged in war. Compared to him, Lucas Florian had lived peacefully within the Empire and devoted himself to the discipline of swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Lucas might have a higher Strength stat than Milton, but that was it. It wasn’t like he had the years of experience like Duke Sebastian did, nor did he have a specialty like Marquis Baker Gotham’s Spiritual Eye. There was no need to even compare him to a monster like Duke Schweiker.
Milton felt like he could last through hundreds of exchanges like this. And as long as Milton held out against Lucas Florian, then he had basically won this battle. Why?
“Completely destroy the enemy’s right flank. Don’t fall behind. Keep up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Along with the unidentified Master who had covered his face with a helmet…
“Let’s go! I’ll personally kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who fall behind!”
“Yes, Grand d.u.c.h.ess!”
Violet had let loose and was rampaging. The two of them had spread out on either side and were destroying Florian’s 50,000 men.
The longer it took, the more relaxed Milton became and the more nervous Lucas Florian became. And as time pa.s.sed, the more his men were pressed, but Lucas Florian didn’t give them the order to retreat. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t, it was that he couldn’t.
On the inside, he felt like if he managed to chop off Milton’s neck right now, then he could flip everything. He clung to Milton with that justification, but truthfully, he was being stubborn. He didn’t want to lose to Milton when they were almost the same age.
In the end, he completely missed the opportunity to retreat as Violet and the iron helmeted knight joined Milton after dealing with the left and right flanks.
“Lucas Florian!!”
“I suggest you quietly surrender.”
“If you don’t, you’re gonna get f*cked!”
“...Please quietly surrender…”
Surrounded by three Masters, Lucas Florian gritted his teeth before shouting at them.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
He gave it his all, but the outcome was obvious. He wasn’t Duke Schweiker so how could he win against three Masters? In the end, Lucas Florian was captured and his army was destroyed.
***
“Keugh… Just kill me!”
After the battle, Lucas Florian had his arms and legs shackled. He clenched his teeth as he spoke to Milton.
“It’s not up to you whether you live or die, now. Losers should shut up like the losers they are.”
“How dare you… Guh!”
SMACK!
“Dare? Who the h.e.l.l do you think you’re talking about ‘dare’ to?!”
Outraged, Lucas Florian charged towards Milton when Violet kneed him in his abdomen and he collapsed. Then, she grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up to her eye level.
“Just try acting up again. Then, I’ll cut off your limbs, gouge out your eyeb.a.l.l.s, and cut off your tongue…”
“......”
Lucas Florian turned pale when she listed off the threats. Seeing her temper, it really seemed like she might actually do it. No, it seemed like she might’ve actually done it before.
‘What on earth is wrong with this woman?’
For Lucas, who had grown up sheltered as the heir of a duchy, Violet was a strange creature he saw for the first time in his life.
“...Who… who are you?”
At his question, Violet answered him proudly.
“I am Violet Forrest, the Second Grand d.u.c.h.ess of the Lester Kingdom!”
Lucas shouted back.
“Lies! There’s no way there’s a grand d.u.c.h.ess like y… keugh!”
Lucas got smacked again.
“You’re just asking to die, aren’t you. Fine, fine. I got you, I’ll kill you today…”
Just as Violet was about to get violent…
“Violet.”
“Yes, honey~”
Violet changed her tune instantly.
“You called me?”
She let go of Lucas’ collar and scampered over to Milton and smiled shyly at him. He gently embraced her as he cajoled her.
“I’ll do the interrogation. Why don’t you go and rest now?”
“All right, I’ll do as you say.”
She smiled bashfully at him before withdrawing. Milton turned to look at Lucas Florian awkwardly.
“My wife has a different sort of charm.”
“......”
“It’ll be best to watch your mouth. At least for the sake of peaceful captivity.”
“I’ll do that.”
It seemed like a good idea to listen to him.
***
The moment he found out that Lucas Florian had been captured and the separated army had been destroyed, Antras realized something.
“I lost.”
It was only then that he realized he had fallen for a trap. It had already been a difficult situation when the Imperial Army suffered tremendous damage from the Republican Army led by General Barron, but it only got worse when he learned that the situation had all been caused by the enemy.
“Antras! What on earth happened?! We followed your plan, so why is my son captured?!”
Duke Florian was enraged when he learned that his son had been captured.
“Calm down, Duke Florian. Are you saying you didn’t know that the outcome of a battle could always be reversed?”
“Are you really saying that right now? Because we’ve followed that foreigner’s plans, the Empire is currently in danger, isn’t it?!”
“We were able to push the Republic up till now because Antras is here! Surely, you realize that?”
“You’re one of a kind, Duke Sebastian. Even those your disciple is no better than a fool who turned himself comatose, you sure are cold-hearted.”
“What did you just say?”
It seemed like there were flames of anger in Duke Sebastian’s eyes.
“Enough!”
Marquis Baker Gotham stepped in as he shouted at them when it looked like the two of them were about to fight. Unlike his usual gentle personality, he was truly expressing his anger right now. That was how precarious their current situation was. The two dukes were shocked at Marquis Gotham’s genuine anger and shut their mouths.
“If we tried to blame each other and separated, then only the enemy would benefit. We have to be cold and logical about this.”
Marquis Gotham was right and the two backed down and reined in their murderous intent.
Marquis Gotham turned to look at Antras.
“Silver Sage, putting aside the current results, we all acknowledge your wisdom. Please tell us the best option we could take in this situation.”
Marquis Gotham’s remarks were intended to give Antras a chance to redeem himself.
Antras could not be any more grateful than he was for that.
Seeing how he was no different from an intruder,[1] the worst possible decision Antras could make was to use his authority and forcibly press down Duke Florian, And since Duke Sebastian was his close friend, it would seem like he was taking sides if he stepped in. But because the neutral and highly admired Marquis Gotham was giving him another chance, Antras was just barely able to stay in command.
“I will think about it. Please give me a day.”
“I understand.”
Antras left the meeting room and locked himself in his barrack.
1. The raw used the same rock idiom to describe the situation between Violet and Sophia where a rock comes along and pushes out the original rock from its position.