Chapter 443
Chapter 443: I Knew You Would Succeed (2)
The plains were stained with blood. The river was completely blocked by the piled corpses of fallen barbarian warriors.
The grand army of sixty thousand was thus annihilated here.
“Woaaa! We won!”
“Indeed, it’s the lord!”
“Long live Raybold!”
Even the Raybold Army, who fought with seemingly no emotions, raised their weapons and cheered at this moment.
For them, Amelia was truly the greatest commander.
It wasn’t that some specific figure had taken down thousands of enemies in a stunning display; it was literally the ordinary soldiers executing her strategy and tactics that led to this great victory.
Thus, they had no choice but to feel proud.
However, next to them, a slightly different cheer echoed.
“Woaaa! We did it!”
“North’s strongest!”
“Our Penris is the mightiest!”
If there was anyone as proud as Raybold’s army, it was Penris. They yelled even louder in response to Raybold’s cheers.
The following Perdium army joined in the cheers as well. After all, since Ghislaine would inherit Perdium, it made sense for them to side with Penris.
When both sides began to shout like that, an awkward atmosphere suddenly hung in the air. There was something quite irritating between them.
Soon, the two factions glared at each other across the bodies of barbarian warriors.
Kaor, lazily twirling his twin swords on his shoulder, opened his mouth.
“What? Why are you staring? Should I wipe out Raybold here today?”
Ulfkan, a large figure, bared his teeth and laughed fiercely.
“You cocky redhead. Should I toughen you up a bit?”
“You’re a bandit, right? I’ve heard your name before. I was going to catch you, but here you are, lucky you.”
“I don’t know you. I don’t want to know weaklings.”
“Hah, this punk will need to face death today.”
One side was composed of mercenaries while the other consisted of bandits. Both were famously hot-tempered, so their words didn’t come out gently.
The knights from both sides wore grim expressions, bringing their hands to their weapons.
Neither thought they would lose in a fight.
Ulfkan flared up with fierce momentum.
“Are you relying on your lord and acting cocky? But can you still fight well now?”
No matter how much Ghislaine was a master, she had just fought against the Rift and arrived here. Her strength would surely have diminished significantly.
In addition, their lord, Amelia, was no ordinary strategist. If they fought now, while damage would be great, their capital was larger, so they didn’t seem likely to lose.
Of course, Penris felt the same way about losing.
Kaor, holding swords in both hands, smiled cruelly.
“Wanna test it? Do you even realize what kind of fights we’ve been through?”
Raybold, holed up in the North, had significantly less experience than them. They were the invincible army.
Especially with a lord around, they felt they could just push through and win.
“Want to fight right now, you pathetic mercenary?”
“Sure, you big, useless bandit.”
As the biggest troublemakers on both sides stepped forward, everyone drew their weapons. They were truly prepared to fight without any command.
“Stop.”
As Amelia rode up, the Raybold army immediately stepped back. Her commands were absolute.
Only the furious Ulfkan remained, sulking.
“Oh, my lord! This punk started it first!”
“Step back.”
At her cold command, Ulfkan glared at Kaor for a moment, then stepped back.
Kaor cheerfully threw degrading gestures at Ulfkan, but was soon caught off guard by Ghislaine, who approached on her Phantom Steed.
“Ah! Why did you hit me! Yo!”
“You really can’t read the atmosphere, can you?”
As Kaor was about to get angry, Gillian pulled him away. Alfoy clicked his tongue from the side.
“Ugh, such an uncultured guy.”
Although they avoided an immediate fight, the atmosphere remained delicate.
Ghislaine and Amelia stared at each other in silence.
It wasn’t the sentimentality of meeting an old fiancé after a long time. It felt more like two people who didn’t want to see each other but were forced to.
Ghislaine contemplated while looking at Amelia.
“I knew you would succeed.”
Thanks to Amelia, they had managed to minimize their losses and swiftly stave off the barbarian threat.
She had magnificently faced an overwhelming number of enemies far superior to herself. It could be called a battle worthy of history.
No, it would definitely be remembered in history. The barbarian warriors that had troubled the northern Ruthania Kingdom were entirely wiped out.
One must acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged. Ghislaine smiled faintly and finally spoke.
“Thanks to you, we could deal with the Northern headache all at once. I’ll just say thank you this once.”
“Wasn’t it something we both needed? You seem to know what I want.”
“Yeah, I know well. That’s why I’m leaving it alone for now because it helps me.”
At that, Amelia snorted.
“You’re quite confident. How long do you think you can run around doing as you please?”
“Even if it doesn’t go my way, it’s better than trying to destroy the world, right? Isn’t it?”
Amelia had no rebuttal to that remark.
The Salvation Society truly was composed of genuine lunatics. It was better to rule oneself than to have monsters unleashed everywhere by them.
As they fell silent again, the awkward atmosphere returned.
Amelia shook her head. It seemed better to just finish the main topic and leave quickly.
“This time the spoils and the East….”
Before her words could finish, Zvalter rushed in, shouting.
“Amelia!”
Amelia also stopped her horse, placed a hand on her chest, and bowed her head slightly.
“It’s been a long time. Marquis Perdium.”
“Thank you, really, thank you.”
Zvalter spoke with a tearful yet ecstatic expression.
Having lived all his life in the Northern Fortress, never having a moment to rest, he had only thought about how to fend off barbarians and bring peace to the North.
The ancestors of his family had all borne such responsibilities. Zvalter, too, could not escape that chain.
“Because of you, the territory residents could fulfill the wishes of the North without suffering.”
The reason they had been unable to subjugate the barbarians until now was that they lived too far apart in tribal units.
Ghislaine had also been unable to conclude a pact due to such issues at that time.
But this time, for the first time, the barbarians had gathered on their own, and that grand army was annihilated. Now, the only ones left in the North were the elderly, women, and children. The warriors were all gone.
Those who offered everything to the victors would soon integrate into the Ruthania Kingdom.
While Ghislaine’s strength was great, the greatest merit could truly be attributed to Amelia.
Thus, he kept expressing his gratitude to her.
Amelia understood Zvalter’s feelings too. However, she couldn’t accept that gratitude purely.
“I did it because I needed to as well….”
In truth, she had no interest in what the northern barbarians did. She thought she could always eliminate the barbarians whenever she wanted.
She hadn’t cared about the poor Perdium either. It had never been significant to her.
This time, too, she merely followed Ghislaine’s threat-like offers because they served her ambition.
So she couldn’t look directly into Zvalter’s pure gaze.
Zvalter was one of the few individuals she acknowledged. Knowing his sense of responsibility and integrity, her discomfort only grew deeper.
“No, I did it out of necessity as well.”
“No, no. No matter how much necessity there is, who would dare summon the courage to confront such a massive army? Thank you, truly thank you. And to have achieved such a great victory, how splendid!”
If it had ended here, the atmosphere might have concluded warmly. But Randolf, feeling too good, blurted out something ridiculous.
“Wahaha! Now that I see it, the young lady—no, Count Raybold, you also have excellent military capabilities. How about proceeding with the engagement again now that it’s like this…？”
At those words, Ghislaine and Amelia glared at Randolf with terrifying looks. The oblivious Randolf felt the heat of their killing intent and turned his head.
“No, what… I was just joking… If you don’t want to…。”
He had no idea what he had done wrong, but he knew something had definitely gone wrong.
As the atmosphere became utterly chaotic, Amelia shook her head. She wanted to leave this uncomfortable gathering quickly.
She brushed off Zvalter’s insistence to rest at the castle, turning to Ghislaine.
“You will keep your promise, right? Half the spoils. And your support when I migrate to the East.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about that part.”
“Hmph, as if I’d be worried about anything. Let’s go back.”
Right as Amelia turned her back, Ghislaine suddenly remembered something and asked.
“Can I take whatever’s left for the East?”
Amelia answered, her face full of a mocking smile.
“Do as you please. I’ll just take it back anyway.”
At those words, Ghislaine smiled similarly.
Once something comes into her hands, she has never let go of it easily.
If she wanted to take it back, Amelia would have to bet a lot.
As she glanced back at Amelia, preparing to turn around, she suddenly stopped, whipped around, and pointed her finger at Ghislaine.
“About your Chief Officer.”
“Hmm? Why Claude?”
“When sending people for spoils distribution or transactions, I would prefer if you could avoid meeting our people as much as possible.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s really annoying to have to peel off 1 gold each time. Is that considered a bribe?”
At those words, Ghislaine facepalmed and laughed.
It seemed that there was someone else besides herself who annoyed Amelia.
*
At the eastern edge of the continent lies the Lombars Kingdom.
And at the western edge of that kingdom is a land known as the Land of Death.
No one approaches that place. Even the royal family of Lombars avoids it and does not intervene.
It is precisely because of one very famous individual living there.
Shuffling, shuffling.
Clad in a tattered dark gray robe, that individual emerged from that land.
Around his neck hung a necklace made of skulls, and he wore various accessories infused with some magical meanings on his body.
His deeply pulled hood concealed his face in darkness.
“…How wonderful.”
Using some kind of magic, his voice reverberated ominously. Still, it was clear that he was genuinely pleased.
He strolled leisurely, admiring the surroundings.
After a while, he arrived at a city and took a deep breath.
“…Fragrant.”
People afflicted by the plague were dying. Corpses littered the surroundings.
This city was abandoned. No, other cities were the same.
Unlike the Ruthania Kingdom, other kingdoms suffered severe blows from the plague and rifts.
The world was hurtling toward destruction. The stench of death wafted up from everywhere.
He loved this atmosphere too much.
“…I wish there were more materials like this sooner.”
He smiled at the sight of the corpses and continued on his way. Though it seemed he was walking slowly, his body moved swiftly ahead.
There was a reason he suddenly accelerated.
“…The rift.”
He was going to see the disaster that had struck the entire continent.
He spotted a group of soldiers and stopped his stride. It was the Lombars Royal Army trying to halt the rift.
They looked exhausted, like defeated soldiers. They were continually pushed back without being able to stop the rift.
The soldiers on guard noticed him and approached.
“This is a dangerous place, so please step back.”
“Hmm.”
He tilted his head. The soldier halted as he attempted to stop him again.
Worn gray robe, skull necklace, various accessories, and a face cloaked in darkness.
This was a figure he had heard about repeatedly since childhood.
“C-could it be…?”
The soldier trembled and stepped back. This was someone exceedingly famous in the Lombars Kingdom.
Even those who had never seen him knew his visage, as everyone in the kingdom could recognize him.
No one dared to imitate him. No one would even dare to speak his name.
He was that horrifying.
“What is it? What’s the matter?”
The captain of the guards and other soldiers also approached. But they, too, froze.
They all instinctively felt fear and drew back. Thus, he easily entered their camp.
“Is that person…?”
“Is it true he came from the Land of Death?”
“Why… could it be…?”
Not only the captain but the soldiers recognized him and flinched.
They all wore expressions lined with fright, avoiding even eye contact.
They didn’t want their souls to become slaves if captured.
He ignored the terrified ones and continued walking. Though it had been a long time, this situation was familiar to him.
Sluuurt….
As he approached the rift, an ominous aura began to seep up from beneath his feet.
And when he arrived at the misty realm filled with blue haze.
Kaaaarrrk!
Countless Rift Beings rushed toward him.
“…It seems a lot of amusing ones have shown up.”
He murmured to himself as he surveyed the surroundings.
The bodies of countless soldiers who had fought against the rifts were visible.
He waved his hand as he observed the tide of approaching rift beings.
Crack, crack, crack.
Then, the corpses around him began to rise one by one, creaking as they moved.
Ggrrrrr!
The corpses emitted mournful and soul-crushing screams.
Soon, they started to march forward, wielding their weapons as they had in life.
But that wasn’t all.
Thud thud thud!
The buried corpses also began to claw up from the ground. They were the remains of countless people who had perished on this land.
Rotting corpses, skeletons stripped to the bones, all stood up and advanced toward the rift beings.
Ggrrrrr!
Kaaaarrrk!
Boom!
The corpses and the rift beings clashed in battle.
The corpses fell easily. The sheer number of rift beings was overwhelming, and each entity’s strength varied significantly.
Yet he didn’t mind.
As long as his magic power existed, the corpses would not die and could continue to rise.
Still, the number of rift beings was too many.
“…I’m glad I came out. It’s amazing that so many of these things exist. Isn’t this truly the time of endings?”
He waved his hand again.
Gggrrrrr!
Dozens of dark holes filled with thick darkness appeared around him.
Paat!
From those holes emerged knights clad in black armor, riding steeds swirling with dark energy.
Death Knights and Phantom Steeds.
These were the finest undead that only high-level necromancers could command.
Boooom!
As dozens of Death Knights joined the fray, the battle dynamics began to shift.
Behind him, hundreds, thousands of corpses continued to rise, charging toward the rift beings.
Ggrrrrr!
Zombies, ghouls, skeletons, all manner of cursed entities continuously appeared and fought against the rift beings.
Thud thud thud!
From the ground, massive beast bones entwined and rose, forming a seat for him. It was like a throne made of bones.
Sitting there, his eyes glimmered in the darkness.
He looked at the rushing rift beings and uttered a significant remark.
“Indeed, you cannot become my followers. Your souls are bound to another.”
This being was the one dubbed the ‘Lord of the Undead’ in the past, counted among the seven great powers of the continent.
‘The Lord of the Undead.’
