Chapter 316: Alliance (8)
He couldn’t find any words. Standing still with his mouth closed, Aived Fon Persion stared at Roan Lancephil, Ma.n.u.s Fon Persion, Peid Neil and Aerea Britz. None of them avoided his eye contact and kept a firm, rigid stance.
‘Could friendship also protect the kingdom…’
Somewhere deep within his heart, despondency bloomed but at the same time, he felt proud and glad.
‘Ma.n.u.s. If it’s you, you would be able to become a good monarch.’
Aived let out a deep sigh.
“In any case, the king of this country is none other than you, Ma.n.u.s.”
Walking off to the side of the throne and creating the way for Ma.n.u.s, he then gave a faint smile.
“I will stand back.”
After a slight bow, he carried his feet before disappearing behind the throne.
“Your Majesty Ma.n.u.s. I would have to talk a little with the former king…”
Roan wanted to quickly chase after Aived as there were many things he wanted to ask and check. However, his feet were forced to a stop due to a knight that appeared while shoving the doors of the throne room open.
“Your Majesty! T, there’s a messenger!”
His loud voice echoed in the room as Roan, Ma.n.u.s, Peid, Aerea as well as the n.o.bles all turned towards the knight. Feeling the gazes being gathered onto him, the knight gulped before kneeling down on one knee.
“There’s a messenger from the Rite Kingdom!”
Kung!
A heavy shock stormed through the room.
‘The Rite Kingdom?’
They all frowned.
The relationship between the Persion Kingdom and the Rite Kingdom was very strange. The Rite Kingdom was a kingdom founded after occupying half of the original land of the Persion Kingdom. The biggest cause in bringing the Persion Kingdom down to the level of a weak country with limited territory was the founding and the independence of the Rite Kingdom.
It was because of this that the monarch of a nation, Aived, had to hide his ident.i.ty while trying not to stand out in the eyes of the surrounding nations.
From the circ.u.mstances it would seem that the Persion Kingdom would think of the Rite Kingdom as a sworn enemy but in fact, their relationship was not bad. There was a complicated history behind the reason.
In the past, the Persion Kingdom which conquered the northeast region of the continent repeatedly had incompetent kings as rebellions continued throughout the country. In the end, the country was divided into dozens and hundreds of small and large nations.
Suddenly, a wise king, Clyde Fon Persion appeared and after conquering tens of kingdoms, he founded the current Persion Kingdom. The greatest general at the time and the closest subordinate of King Clyde was Maddison Rite.
Heeding to the royal command, he went out for a conquest over the northeast region of the continent but just before a complete conquest over the surrounding nations, King Clyde who had been fighting at another front died in battle.
The problem came after that. The first child of King Clyde who succeeded him, Sudin Fon Persion attempted to kill the loyal subject Maddison to strengthen his authority. With his five brothers, Maddison barely escaped the Capital City Altus and returned to his headquarters in the northeast region. Afterwards, he gathered his regiment in retaliation.
Before long, the war had ended in a one-sided victory of Maddison and his five brothers, the Rite family. However, without killing Sudin, Maddison returned to the northeast region and founded the Rite Kingdom before rising to the position of the king.
Soon, he did not spare physical and emotional supports to the Persion Kingdom which had been ruined and in front of his consideration and goodness, the citizens of the Persion Kingdom were greatly moved.
‘After that, although there were some large and small battles between them, there is still a recognition that they are sister countries with the same bloodline flowing within them.’
Organising his thoughts, Roan stared at the entrance of the room. Even though the relationship between Persion and Right wasn’t bad, it didn’t mean that a visit during this period of time was welcomed.
‘Did they come because of the crusader case…’
A bitter smile appeared on his lips. It was then that a youth around the age of Roan appeared through the wide-open gates of the room. With his skin as white as snow, he was slender and gave off the aura of a tomgirl.
Seeing him appear, Roan as well as others were inwardly quite surprised.
‘Alone…?’
‘Did he come alone without any knights?’
There was no-one appearing behind him and it meant that while visiting a foreign country that might be an enemy, he came without any protection. Standing before Roan, Ma.n.u.s, Peid and Aerea, the youth bowed his head slightly.
“It is an honour to meet you.”
It was unclear who the greeting and his words were for, and due to that, it appeared like he had given enough respect to both Roan and Ma.n.u.s at the same time. The youth grinned and showed off his white teeth.
“I am…”
His smile deepened.
“Duke Marino Pelburn of the Rite Kingdom.”
Kung!
Once again, there was a shock within the room.
“D, duke?”
“Did he say he was a duke?”
“That young guy is that famous Duke Pelburn?”
The n.o.bles couldn’t help but make noisy comments. They weren’t expecting a duke of the Rite Kingdom – and more importantly, that Duke Pelburn who had many rumours about him to be a young youth. However, Roan, on the other hand, had a slight frown on his face as he felt something strange from Marino.
‘They’re not at all similar… and yet why…’
His eyes flickered in light.
‘Why does he have a similar aura to Clay?’
Roan slightly tilted his head but there was no way of him knowing that Marino was, in fact, the second step-brother that had been studying together with Clay…
***
“Now is the time for a true revenge.”
Viscount Colbee Rodor of Byron Kingdom swung his large greatsword and formed a vicious smile.
“Viscount Rodor. Control yourself.”
From the side, Viscount Gelio Porgetti frowned and rebuked with a low voice. Although the two were both viscounts, Gelio was a lot older so Colbee could only lower his head with an awkward smile.
It was then.
“There’s no need to kill his mood like that.”
A gentle yet powerful voice was heard. The owner of the voice was the beautiful youth standing beneath the tall flag. He was Count Noel Carward, the Grand Commander of the Byron Kingdom military that were sent in reply to the call for the crusade.
Noel Carward.
He was the hero of the nation that re-stabilised the country that was on a decline after the battle with the Rinse Kingdom. Afterwards, he attacked the Persion Kingdom with Peid Neil of the Istel Kingdom and during the war for the throne of the Rinse Kingdom, he had supported the North Rinse Kingdom as well.
Although he had risen up to the position of a Count at a young age thanks to his significant abilities, due to a continuous defeat in the consecutive battles, his authority was being questioned.
It was then that the final opportunity arrived before him.
‘Gathering of the crusaders.’
Receiving the royal command, Noel once again gathered a great force and left personally on the battle. Their destination was the Amaranth Kingdom.
‘We must take over the Capital Castle Mediasis before other countries.’
He was planning to spread his name to every end of the continent with that. Fortunately, thanks to a rapid advance, he was able to reach the borders of the Amaranth Kingdom before the Istel Kingdom and the Diez Kingdom let alone the Estia Empire.
“We can see the border fortress!”
The scouts ahead screamed as Noel raised his right hand up high in response while organising the complicated thoughts in his head.
‘Right now, the forces of the Amaranth Kingdom are distributed to all parts of the kingdom.’
The reason was unknown but as if they were subjugating monsters, they moved nonstop without rest. But thanks to that, there was a hole in their border control.
‘We will breakthrough at once.’
He couldn’t be stalled from a mere border fortress and its shabby walls. After crossing the borders, he was planning to form their own camp within, before destroying the entire northern region of the Amaranth Kingdom.
“Blow the warhorns.”
Noel commanded with a solid, powerful tone.
“We will break through the borders!”
A fierce light appeared in his eyes and soon,
Booooooooo!
The roaring noise of the warhorns awakened the beast called battle.
“Charge!”
“Charge! Break the fortress!”
“Show them the might of the Byron Kingdom!”
“Show the heretics the greatness of G.o.d Devesis!”
Knights and hors.e.m.e.n bellowed while keeping their ranks. And at the same time,
Dududududududu!
Horse hooves sounded rowdily as the ground trembled. The central force, as well as the right and the left forces, dashed in with fierce speed and their overwhelming number resembled raging ocean waves.
On the other hand, the border fortress of the Amaranth Kingdom appeared weak and frail like a candle before a storm.
But suddenly, the gates of the fortress were widely opened as horse carriages painted in red and black started pouring out. The carriages were shaped in rectangles and were so small that it could barely even fit four to five people. The sides of the carriages were covered in steel and seemed like it would be extremely heavy but there were only single warhorses pulling each carriages.
The warhorses were covered from head to toe with strange armours that had never been seen before and dashed at a fearsome speed as if there were no loads behind them. Dozens and hundreds of horse carriages dashed directly into the soldiers of the Byron Kingdom that were approaching in wide ranks.
“Foolish! Horse carriages in a battle? Not even chariots?”
“Die!”
The knights of the Byron Kingdom at the front poured mana into their swords and slashed down at the necks of the warhorses with red armours. He could already foresee the blade cutting down but,
Kaaang!
A clear clashing sound echoed away as the blade bounced off. In that instant, a blue light flashed along the armour.
“A s, shield?”
The knight that had swung the blade widened his eyes with surprise but then, it happened.
Paat!
A steel rod protruded out from the carriage that was pa.s.sing by.
Stab!
In that sudden turn of events, the knight couldn’t even think of avoiding it.
“Kuuk! Impossible…”
Unfortunately, his words were forced to a stop. The second row of carriages approaching after the first smashed directly at his head and exploded it.
That knight wasn’t the only one suffering it.
Kwagagagagang!
The horse carriages with the insignias of the Amaranth Kingdom kept their ranks while forcing the battlefield into devastation.
“d.a.m.n! Aim the wheels! Stab your spears through the spokes of the wheels!”
Generals and knights stood their ground and calmed down the agitated soldiers. Once again reorganising themselves, the Byron Kingdom soldiers threw their bodies into the approaching carriages.
Tadat!
Spreading to the sides, they aimed at the wheels of the carriages but,
“T, there are no spokes!”
“The sides of the wheels are flat!”
There were no gaps for them to pierce their spears into. And in that flash of fl.u.s.ter,
Sphat! Stab!
Long steel rods shot out of the carriage and pierced through the bodies of the soldiers. Then, their bones were crushed by the following round of carriages and instantly died.
“d.a.m.n! Break through! Ignore the carriages!”
“We will go attack the fortress and the walls directly!”
Kicking their horses forward, the knights consciously ignored the carriages before them and attempted to charge through the long ranks of carriages as is.
But then, things changed.
Dudududududu!
The horse carriages that were approaching in ranks reorganised their formation into a zig zag. It was a sequence of formations that made it so that even if they could break through the first row, they would be halted by the second, the third and the fourth rows.
“d.a.m.n!”
Spewing out profanities, the generals of the Byron Kingdom were upset but it was too early to give up and despair. Horse carriages tend to be slower than horses in changing directions and were unfit for quick changes.
“Detour! Go around to the sides!”
“Avoid the horses and charge towards the fortress!”
The commanders quickly gave following commands but as if they had been waiting for that, a new squad of cavalries appeared before the walls while fluttering flags of the Amaranth Kingdom.
Boooooooo!
The warhorns once again resonated across the battlefield as the flags fluttered in wind.
[Amaranth Northern Army]
[Fides Regiment]
Next to those was another flag of the general in command.
[Austin Fides]
It was the appearance of the special-grade contributor of the founding of the Amaranth, the Commander of the Northern Armies, Austin Fides.
‘The Bledd Carriages are demonstrating their might.’
A smile appeared on Austin’s lips.
The Bledd Carriages were one of the magic carriages made for war while basing them off the Lebbis carriages, created by the Amaranth Technical Department, the Magic Department and the Alchemy Department.
Using the magic stones that were being mined in huge amounts from Mount Montea, the Bledd carriages incorporated lightweight, shield and other magics. Due to the short period of time they had, the Bledd carriages were smaller than they desired but they were great new weapons that could turn the tide of war in an instant.
‘Of course, there was the problem that after receiving continuous impacts, the magic circles would break apart but…’
The shields on the armours of the warhorses and the carriages would lose their magic after taking in around six strong hits.
‘However, that doesn’t mean they’re useless.’
Confidence filled Austin’s two eyes and raising the sword up, he hurried the horse forward.
“We must fight the ones approaching around the Bledd carriages!”
“Yes sir!”
They answered as one. The super elite forces directly under Austin were mostly Taemusas that were near the level of knights.
“Visors on!”
Touching the forehead section of the helmet, Austin brought it down towards his chin.
Click!
The visors flashing in red stopped at around where the nose was and covered his two eyes. These visors which were originally developed to avoid Armour Light and Lumasa, went through the researches and improvements of the Amaranth Technical Department, the Magic and the Alchemy Departments to be reborn as new magic artifacts with added effects.
‘Indeed, my vision isn’t impeded and is not affected by dust either.’
In addition, he could see the situation unfolding within the battlefield clearer than before. Thinking back on the efforts of the technicians, alchemists and magicians who tried their hardest without sleep for the past months and years, Austin reached out with his sword.
‘So that your efforts aren’t deemed meaningless…’
Power surged into his fist unknowingly.
‘This battlefield; this battle – we will reign over them!’
His solid resolution filled him up to his throat as he bellowed from the bottom of his lungs.
“Charge!”
As soon as his command fell,
“Charge!”
“Wahhh!”
The knights, Taemusas and soldiers separated into the left and right wings with war cries and started dashing forward.
Dududududududu!
Sounds of horse hooves resonated rowdily.
The Amaranth Kingdom versus the crusaders.
In the midst of the danger faced by the Middle World, a new battle had begun. The start of the battle was marked by the Amaranth Northern Armies and the Byron Kingdom soldiers.
End.
Translator: Lunargrasp