Chapter 571
Don’t Let a Single One Escape. (2)
Half of the Atrodean Army’s mages had already perished, falling victim to Vanessa’s magic.
As the enemy's magical barrier weakened, the other Fenrisian mages began to join the attack one by one.
Kwaaaang!
Flames and lightning rained down while stone walls erupted from the ground.
And then, even Ghislain joined the fray, slaughtering the enemies.
“Arghhh!”
The Atrodean soldiers could do nothing but scream as they died.
The order to retreat had already been given, and even those who had intended to fight to the bitter end had lost their will to resist.
Their only objective now was to deliver this dire news to their allies. However, the enemy’s assault was so relentless that they couldn't even escape.
They were completely surrounded. The Atrodean Army crumbled in an instant.
Count Zyrus could only stand there, trembling as he watched the massacre unfold.
“Ugh, uhh….”
He had no way to escape either. Raging flames surged all around him.
He had made a grave mistake. Even if it meant arriving late, he should have waited for the Second Legion.
The Fenrisian Duke and the Ritanian forces he had encountered firsthand were nothing like the rumors.
He had heard they were strong, but he had never expected them to wield such overwhelming power.
Dagdak, dagdak, dagdak.
A black horse, exuding an ominous aura, galloped toward him.
The Duke of Fenris.
His army had been utterly annihilated. There was no one left to protect him.
The few survivors were barely clinging to life, only moments away from death.
There was no escaping death.
Realizing his impending fate, Count Zyrus steadied his nerves.
If he was going to die, he at least wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
“Duke of Fenris, why are you here?”
He should have been fighting in another region. How had he even known they were here?
Ghislain gave a sly smile and replied.
“Why? Am I not allowed to be here?”
“…….”
“You came up with quite the elaborate strategy. You planted spies, even deceived your own allies. No matter what choice I made, you had set the board so you could trap me. Isn’t that right?”
“…….”
The Duke of Fenris was correct.
If he hadn’t responded in time, they had planned to escape the Kingdom of Grimwell and spread chaos across the continent.
That way, the war would turn into a prolonged conflict, making it increasingly unfavorable for the allied forces.
However, such chaos would also cause divisions within the coalition, buying them time.
They had already prepared a new strategy for that scenario.
But, of course, their best option had always been to eliminate the Duke of Fenris here.
Even if it required taking risks, as long as they could destroy the Duke of Fenris and the Ritanian forces, they were confident they could still win, even if the war dragged on.
Thud.
Ghislain rested the shaft of his spear on Count Zyrus’s shoulder and spoke.
“But there’s one thing you all misunderstood.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“You’re slower than me.”
It was an incredibly arrogant statement, yet Count Zyrus couldn't refute it.
The Duke of Fenris had laid traps everywhere, ensuring there was no choice but to be dragged along. And yet, he had moved ahead of them and arrived here first.
How had he figured out their strategy? What means had he used to get here? They had no way of knowing.
"Did you really think I'd just let you lead me around? I just had to charge ahead and destroy everything first."
"How… how did you know?"
They had crafted their strategy with multiple layers of deception, preparing countermeasures for every possible enemy movement.
Yet, the enemy had seen through all of it and rushed straight to this location. If he had made even a single mistake, another front could have been wiped out instead.
Ghislain slowly shifted the shaft of his spear to the side.
"Because I know Count Biphenbelt well. You wouldn't understand, of course."
Count Zyrus bit his lip. It was widely known that the Duke of Fenris had a knack for spouting nonsense.
Feeling mocked, Count Zyrus glared and retorted,
"You sound so confident. But don’t you think that if you're here, others will be in danger? It looks like you've overexerted yourself just to get here."
No matter how he thought about it, there was no other way to explain the current situation.
The Duke of Fenris was infamous as a war fanatic. It was highly likely that he had ignored whether his allies lived or died, disregarded the possibility of the coalition breaking apart, and simply charged straight at the main enemy force, seeking battle.
With the arrogant belief that he could kill them all by himself.
Ghislain smirked and slightly widened his stance with his spear.
"Sure. If that helps you feel at peace, go ahead and think that."
"Don’t act so relaxed! The remaining legions are different from us! Your arrogance will be your undo—"
—Thud!
The spear shaft, engulfed in a crimson glow, smashed through Count Zyrus’ neck. It wasn’t even the blade, just the shaft, and yet his neck burst apart.
—Boom!
As the corpse hit the ground, Ghislain muttered to himself,
"They're all going to die anyway."
Because he would make sure of it.
Ghislain glanced around. The battlefield had been completely cleared.
Not a single Atrodean soldier had escaped.
"One is finished. Just as I expected."
Ghislain had been certain that Count Biphenbelt would target him and Julien, knowing they were part of the pursuit force.
That man excelled at throwing enemies into chaos and taking them down one by one.
"But he won’t have seen this coming."
Instead of merely chasing, Ghislain had moved to strike the Atrodean main force directly.
It was a move his enemy could never have anticipated.
Because it required Ghislain to sacrifice far too much.
They would assume he had abandoned his allies and charged in alone, just like Count Zyrus had.
However, Ghislain hadn’t simply abandoned everything and fled. He had devised a strategy and moved in an unexpected way, contrary to the enemy’s predictions.
Just as Count Biphenbelt had done, Ghislain also needed to think and act faster than his enemies.
Summoning Dark, Ghislain spoke.
“Dark, follow the path these guys came from. There must be more legions ahead.”
The recently annihilated Atrodean army alone would never be enough to stop him. The real force meant to fight him must be on its way.
Dark nodded and slowly began to ascend.
“What about Julien?”
“He’s moving in the direction you mentioned, Master.”
“Good. Let me know immediately if anything changes. It’s fortunate that Julien can maintain your duplicate. Really, you’re quite the impressive one.”
“Oh, I know, right? It’s honestly fascinating. But don’t worry, I won’t betray you, Master. I prefer staying with you, after all. You know that, right?”
“……”
“Agh, Julien is so quiet, though. He comes off as cold and heartless.”
“……I get it, just hurry up and go.”
Dark winked with one eye, then spread his wings wide and took off.
Ghislain planned to wait here and take care of the remaining legions as well.
“Count Biphenbelt, Gartros, Aiden, Leonard… So none of them were here.”
That meant at least one of them had to be with the next legion he would face.
A cruel smile flickered across Ghislain’s face.
“It’s time to take down some big names. Hopefully, it’ll be Aiden.”
Ghislain and his mobile corps retraced their steps, intending to wait closer to their main camp and take some time to rest.
And the commander leading the Second Legion approaching them—
As Ghislain had hoped, it was Aiden.
* * *
Aiden had been ordered to join forces with the Fourth Legion.
He hadn’t thought it would be particularly difficult. Two legions combined would be more than enough to eliminate any detached pursuit forces.
Be it the Duke of Fenris or the Prince of Turian.
“Finally, some action. I was getting bored.”
Aiden smiled in satisfaction. He didn’t care what the strategic objective of this war was.
The Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian had recently been gaining immense fame. Parniel, who had fought alongside the Ritanian forces for a long time, was no different.
All he had to do was kill them and claim their fame for himself. That was Aiden’s only goal.
“Still, I hope it’s the Duke of Fenris. I’d better be heading in his direction.”
He licked his lips. The Duke of Fenris had the highest renown, and he didn’t want to share that glory with anyone else.
Aiden immediately began to move the Second Legion or rather, he tried to.
Ziiiiing—!
At that moment, the space before his eyes suddenly wavered.
Sensing something amiss, Aiden immediately drew his sword and struck down.
Kwaaang!
A fierce storm of mana erupted around him. However, there was no damage.
The weak had already withdrawn to a safe distance, and only the Order of the White Hawk remained by Aiden’s side.
The knights braced against the impact, retreating slightly under its force.
Aiden frowned as he looked at the figure that had appeared before him.
“What the hell are you?”
“Ah, my name is Jerome. I just have some business here for a moment.”
“What? Business? You arrogant bastard.”
Aiden twisted his lips into a sneer. Did this fool really dare to appear alone in this place?
But Jerome had no interest in Aiden. His only goal was to stall for time while he played around here for a bit.
“Well, before you head anywhere, why don’t you play with me for a while?”
Having already wreaked havoc in the First Legion, Jerome had appeared in the Second Legion the moment he recovered his mana.
His intention was to cause further delays here as well.
However, Aiden’s face contorted in anger as he swung his sword without hesitation. How dare this man, who had clearly come to assassinate him, spout such nonsense?
It was nothing less than an insult to his noble self!
Kwaaang!
Thus, their battle began.
Of course, Aiden, who wasn’t particularly fond of one-on-one duels, immediately called for reinforcements.
“Kill this bastard at once!”
Four priests and the Order of the White Hawk joined the fray.
As he fended off their attacks, Jerome clicked his tongue.
The First Legion’s Gartros and its priests had been formidable opponents, but this fight was even more troublesome.
Aiden’s swordsmanship was remarkably refined, and the knights' coordinated assaults were nothing short of deadly.
Bang! Bang! Kwaang!
Jerome wreaked havoc for a while before ultimately escaping.
Of course, he didn’t manage to flee completely unscathed.
Having already fought in the First Legion, he wasn’t in peak condition.
Though he had been recovering his mana whenever possible, his exhaustion had not fully dissipated.
In the end, Aiden’s sword slashed a long gash across his chest, forcing him to flee while bleeding.
“You bastard! Where do you think you’re running?!”
Disheveled and furious, Aiden shouted as he watched Jerome escape.
His rage was uncontrollable.
Not only had the man brazenly intruded upon his domain, but now he had even managed to get away.
Never in his life had Aiden been treated like this. The humiliation shook him to his core.
“I won’t move an inch until that bastard is dead! Bring me the mirror!”
Though the mage had fled by crossing through space, Aiden was confident he could track him down.
As long as he could determine the direction, he would be able to pursue him relentlessly such was his level of skill.
All he needed to do was trace the residual mana left behind.
The fool had fled while bleeding profusely, so there were bound to be bloodstains marking his trail.
The flow of mana had to be pursued before it scattered and vanished. No, even if it disappeared, it didn’t matter. No matter what, he would track him down and kill him.
Even in the midst of it all, Aiden straightened his clothes, tidied his hair, and mounted his white horse.
"What are you all doing? Hurry up and get ready to chase!"
The strategists hurried over and bowed their heads.
"Commander, you mustn’t. We’re in the middle of an important operation."
"We need to capture the Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian first."
"He’s from the Ritania army anyway. We’ll catch and kill him eventually."
Despite their attempts to dissuade him, Aiden glared at them.
"You’re telling me to just let the bastard who humiliated me walk away?"
For the first time in his life, he had been shamed in front of so many people. It was an unbearable disgrace.
At this moment, Aiden wasn’t thinking about the operation at all. Preserving his pride was more important.
As he ground his teeth in frustration, the vice commander of the Order of the White Hawk approached him.
"Commander, if this operation fails, it will greatly damage your reputation. The Duke of Fenris will only become more rampant."
Aiden stared at the vice commander for a moment before letting out a deep breath.
"Haa..."
This was his first time experiencing something like this, and he was extremely agitated. But deep down, he knew what was more important.
If the operation failed, the Duke of Fenris’ fame would only grow, while his own would plummet.
That would be an even greater disgrace.
"A chair."
The waiting maids rushed to bring a chair.
Aiden plopped down and spoke.
"Bring me some cold water. I’ll calm myself down before we depart."
Aiden was self-centered, but he wasn’t stupid.
His subordinates waited patiently until his mood improved. The entire legion had come to a halt because of his temper.
No one was overly concerned. Since the Fourth Legion had already set out ahead, they believed they could hold the enemy off long enough.
Besides, the Second Legion was considered the elite among the Atrodean forces. If they decided to move at full speed, they could reach the battlefield in no time.
After some time, Aiden finally got up from his seat.
"Let’s go. We need to catch up to the Fourth Legion, so we must leave now. If we push the pace for half a day, we should be able to catch them."
Now that he had regained his composure, Aiden mounted his horse once again. Of course, he still intended to track down that mage, Jerome, and kill him.
The Second Legion began to move. Aiden sent a few scouts ahead.
"Find the Fourth Legion first and tell them to wait. It would be better to move together."
If that mage reached the Fourth Legion, they would likely suffer considerable damage. That bastard was strong enough to cause trouble.
The scouts set off, and the Second Legion increased their speed.
They had been solely focused on traveling when suddenly, one of the scouts who had gone ahead came rushing back in a panic.
He had pushed his horse so hard that the beast was panting heavily.
"C-Commander! It’s terrible something terrible has happened!"
Hearing the scout’s urgent cries, Aiden frowned.
Could it be? Had that mage already reached the Fourth Legion and wreaked havoc?
"Tch, has that mage already appeared? How bad are the casualties?"
The Fourth Legion wasn’t as strong as the Second, but they still had four priests and a good number of knights. Not to mention their sheer numbers.
There would be losses, but nothing catastrophic. Especially since the mage was already wounded.
However, the message that came from the scout’s mouth was beyond shocking.
"The Fourth Legion has been annihilated! Every single one of them was found dead! Not a single person survived!"
"……."
The news was so unbelievable that Aiden’s eyes momentarily went blank.