Chapter 558
Will Permit It. (2)
The officers of the Atrodean army turned pale as they watched their conscripted soldiers collapse.
"W-What are you all doing?! Get up! Get up and fight!"
The enforcement unit moved, weapons in hand, ready to strike. They intended to threaten the conscripts into compliance.
However, the moment they advanced, the conscripts scurried away as if crawling on the ground. Instead of standing their ground, they hid behind the Ritanian forces.
The Atrodean command was thrown into disarray. This turn of events had never even crossed their minds.
"…T-This can't be happening."
"This isn't some peasant revolt we’re trying to suppress…"
"What do we do now?"
At first, everything had seemed to be going well. They believed the enemy was playing right into their hands.
No matter how weak conscripts were, if their numbers reached the thousands no, tens of thousands even knights could be overwhelmed.
That was the power of sheer numbers. They had planned to exploit that power.
Even if all the conscripts perished, as long as they inflicted casualties on the Ritanian army, it would have been worth it.
But their opponents had shown the luxury of sparing their enemies. Confronted with an insurmountable gap in strength, the conscripts surrendered of their own volition.
Ghislain strode forward with a fierce grin. There were no more conscripts left to stand in his way.
"What’s wrong? Were you expecting me to slaughter them all, just as you wanted?"
On the battlefield, no one was more resolute than Ghislain. He never let anyone who stood in his way go unpunished.
Because that was war.
But if he could end a battle quickly by eliminating the commander, or if he could make the enemy surrender, he always chose to do so.
It reduced casualties on his side and added to his forces at the same time.
That was why he was sparing them now because he could.
And because he despised the thought of playing into the enemy’s hands.
"If I were to commit a massacre here, you’d just keep throwing more people in my way, wouldn’t you?"
The Atrodean army was already short on troops. Even if they lost here, it wouldn’t be a terrible outcome for them as long as all the conscripts perished.
They would have an excuse to keep feeding their kingdom’s people into the grinder under the justification that refusing to fight meant certain death.
To begin with, the Salvation Church placed no value on human lives. Hadn’t they already sacrificed countless people to create rifts?
"I have no interest in killing the weak."
Especially not when that was exactly what the enemy wanted.
He needed to make it clear that their little scheme wouldn’t work on him.
"All of you, get up immediately and clear the way. You’re in the way of my advance. Run I will permit it."
Though his voice was quiet, Ghislain’s words carried a firm command.
The conscripts scrambled to their feet and rushed aside, as if they were all citizens of Ritania to begin with.
The path was now completely open. The Ritanian forces gathered and reformed their ranks.
Even the Ritanian troops waiting in the rear began to move forward at a steady pace.
Hiiiiiing!
The Black King let out a long howl as it charged forward. Ghislain immediately leaped onto its back, drawing the lance attached to the saddle.
"From now on, anyone who stands in my way dies."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The knights and the assault troops discarded their maces and drew their swords. The Mobile Corps rotated their spearheads back into position on their shafts.
The Atrodean Army could do nothing but stand by and watch.
The remaining armed soldiers of the Atrodean Army numbered only twenty thousand. The overwhelming difference in power had struck them with fear.
The mass surrender and flight of their own conscripted troops had also dealt a major blow to their morale.
Thududududu!
Ghislain spurred the Black King into a gallop. Behind him, the superhumans and the Ritanian Army followed in pursuit.
In the Atrodean Army’s command center, commanders from various fortresses had gathered. The highest-ranking among them, Marquis Taboc, shouted out.
"Hold the line! Fight to the death!"
The very man who spoke those words turned on his heels and fled. His escorting knights followed closely behind.
Seeing this, the other fortress commanders and mages also began to flee. They had realized that victory was impossible.
The soldiers who had been preparing to charge looked on in shock. Their morale had already plummeted, and now even their commanders were abandoning them!
They weren’t even the kingdom’s elite troops. The seasoned soldiers had already left for the Kingdom of Grimwell. These men were barely better than conscripts, lacking both experience and training.
As they wavered in confusion, Ghislain bellowed.
"If you don’t want to fight, then step aside!"
Fwoooosh!
Ghislain’s lance became engulfed in a crimson glow. From this point forward, anything that stood in his way would be cut down.
The Atrodean soldiers immediately leaped aside. Their commanders had fled there was no reason left for them to fight.
The ranks of the Atrodean Army split apart, forming a path.
Thudududududu!
Ghislain charged straight through it.
"Capture the prisoners and stand by!"
At his command, the Ritanian soldiers behind him halted immediately. They surrounded the Atrodean Army and began disarming them.
Only Ghislain continued forward, chasing after the fleeing commanders and mages.
"Kong, it's been a while since we had a full sprint."
Fwoosh!
Without any mana amplification, Ghislain’s aura radiated a pure crimson hue. That mana surged outward, enveloping the Black King’s body.
Tututututu!
The Black King’s hooves thundered against the ground. Transformed into a streak of red light, Ghislain and his mount shot forward like a bolt of destruction.
Kwaaaaaang!
It was the return of the Crimson Demon who had once ravaged the northern savages.
Marquis Taboc, who had been the first to flee on horseback, glanced back and paled in terror.
A figure wreathed in crimson energy was closing in at a terrifying speed. It was like the incarnation of a blood-drenched demon.
Who had ever dared to call the Salvation Church the true demon?
The one who had brought down countless fortresses and was determined to destroy this kingdom.
What he saw before him was nothing short of a true demon.
"Block him! Stop that demon!"
The fleeing mages and knights quickly realized that there was no way to shake off their pursuer.
However, thanks to the combined forces of multiple fortresses, the total number of knights and mages was close to a hundred.
Even the bodyguards of the fortress commander had all gathered.
Unfortunately, their magic circles were low, so they couldn't use high-circle spells. Still, there were at least twenty mages among them.
The mages were the first to unleash their full magical power toward Ghislain.
Fwoooosh!
Fireballs erupted from their hands. They didn’t expect the attack to actually work slowing down the enemy was all they hoped for.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
But Ghislain didn’t evade. He took the attacks head-on.
Naturally, his speed remained unchanged, and not a single wound appeared on his body.
“H-Hiiik!”
The mages recoiled in terror.
No matter how much of a superhuman one was, taking magic attacks head-on should at least cause some impact.
Yet their opponent was still charging forward, completely unfazed.
If it were just the man, that might have been understandable. But how could even the horse withstand such an assault?!
“He’s catching up!”
At someone’s desperate cry, the knights finally turned their horses around and drew their swords.
The commander’s bodyguards clenched their teeth and charged at Ghislain.
Their opponent was a superhuman, but they had numbers on their side. That was the only hope they could cling to.
Ghislain’s red eyes gleamed as he swung his spear in a wide arc.
Kwaaaaang!
“Aaaaargh!”
The knights screamed as their bodies were torn apart.
Even though they were knights, the ones who remained at the fortress were hardly elites. Most were low-ranked knights, and at best, their captain barely reached the intermediate level.
There was no way they could withstand Ghislain’s attack.
With a single strike, more than half of the knights were dead.
Yet Ghislain didn’t stop. He continued his charge.
The surviving knights, having been left behind, felt a twisted sense of relief and scattered in all directions, trying to flee.
Fwoosh!
Until Ghislain summoned spears of mana and fired them in all directions.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Urgh….”
The knights and mages who had attempted to escape were all impaled by the spears of mana and fell lifelessly to the ground.
Thududududu!
Without even glancing back, Ghislain kept running.
Despite having started far ahead, the commanders found themselves caught in the end.
“Huff…! I-I surrender!”
Slash!
“Please spare me!”
Slash!
“W-Wait—!”
Slash!
Ghislain swung his spear, severing the commanders' heads one by one.
In the end, the only one left was Marquis Taboc.
As Ghislain closed in, the marquis immediately leaped off his horse.
“U-Uwaaaah!”
Thud!
Marquis Taboc rolled on the ground. It was an act driven purely by fear.
“Duke! I am a high-ranking noble of the kingdom! Stop! Let’s talk! Let’s negotiate!”
Ghislain glared at him with a savage grin.
“You dare try such tricks in front of me? Did you think throwing those soldiers at me would make any difference?”
Ghislain loved war. He relished battles where he staked his own life on the outcome.
But that didn’t mean he enjoyed massacres. On the contrary, he despised the act of slaughtering those who had nothing to do with war.
In his past life, Ferdium had been massacred men, women, even the elderly and children who couldn’t fight.
Ghislain had seen their corpses with his own eyes. He still remembered the pain and rage as if it were yesterday.
And now, this man dared to force him into committing such atrocities.
Marquis Taboc couldn’t understand what Ghislain was saying. He groveled, desperately pleading for his life.
“I—I was just following orders! I was only defending the kingdom! That’s how war works! Show me the respect due to a noble!”
Ghislain looked down at Marquis Taboc with cold, piercing eyes.
What did these people even think this war was?
Did they still believe they could survive by clinging to aristocratic customs?
“So, your war is about driving the weak to their deaths.”
Ghislain raised his spear high.
“My war is about annihilating the Salvation Church and everyone who stands with them.”
“W-Wait—!”
Splat!
The spear, shrouded in a crimson aura, split Marquis Taboc’s head in half.
And with that, the battle was over.
It was a fittingly empty, meaningless end for someone foolish enough to try a petty trick to slow Ghislain down.
When Ghislain returned, he found that the Atrodean soldiers had already been disarmed and taken as prisoners.
“Send them to the rear with a portion of our troops to be reorganized.”
The soldiers were merely following orders, knowing nothing of the greater schemes at play. Those who survived would be repurposed for maintaining security and rebuilding efforts.
The Ritanian army resumed its march. There was no one left to stand in their way.
The allied forces were also advancing without difficulty. From the start, the difference in strength had been incomparable. The Atrodean army had only been delaying the inevitable.
Now, only the capital’s remaining defenses had to be eliminated.
Ghislain turned his gaze toward the direction of the Kingdom of Grimwell.
‘The relic… is that truly more important to you than this war?’
He still couldn’t understand it.
Why were they so obsessed with the relic, even at the cost of taking a weaker strategic position?
That thought weighed on Ghislain’s mind.
It felt as if there was still some secret he had yet to uncover.
Without realizing it, he reached for the Saintess’s necklace.
* * *
“Kuhuhuhu….”
In the royal hall of Grimwell’s capital, Gartros stood drenched in blood, laughing.
The remaining two of the kingdom’s three pillars had been incredibly strong.
But even they had been powerless against the overwhelming might of the Salvation Church and the Atrodean army.
In the end, they stormed the royal castle and successfully captured the king.
“If only you had talked, I could have given you a painless death.”
Gartros muttered as he looked down.
Lying before him was the corpse of the King of Grimwell, his stomach pierced through.
But Gartros didn’t spare the body a single glance.
“Yes… This is it. This is how it should be.”
His eyes were filled with an almost ecstatic light as he gazed at the bracelet in his hands.
It was an unremarkable-looking bracelet.
And that only strengthened his conviction.
After all, he had already seen the necklace in the Ritania Kingdom.
There was no way something so ordinary could be the royal family’s treasured heirloom.
And yet, the Kingdom of Grimwell had safeguarded this item as if it were their most precious possession.
“If this really is the Saintess’s bracelet…”
Then they would finally be able to find the true king who led the Salvation Church.
No if they failed to find him, the king would come to them instead.
That was the nature of the relic’s calling.
But first, they needed to verify whether it was real.
If only they had the Holy Grail, they could confirm it instantly. But that had already been taken by the Duke of Fenris.
Gartros’s bloodshot eyes burned with intensity as he shouted,
“Bring me the sacrifices at once! I will awaken the relic’s power with the blood of ten thousand!”
He barely managed to contain his surging excitement.
Ever since his failure in Ritania, he had been in a constant state of unease.
But now, he had finally obtained an object that could be the relic. His heart refused to settle.
Of course, there was also the nagging fear that it might not be genuine.
Expectations and anxiety warred inside him, clashing endlessly.
“No kill everyone in this capital! Leave nothing behind! Not even an insect that breathes! Gather every last drop of blood!”
His crazed voice filled the royal hall.
Soon, the priests of the Salvation Church began inscribing a massive magic circle in the heart of Grimwell’s capital.
And then—
A massacre began.
A slaughter that would claim the lives of every last person in the city.