Chapter 467
Chapter 467: Something Feels Off. (1)
Bang! Bang! Bang! BANG!
The catapult attacks continued relentlessly. It was hard to even guess how many stones were prepared.
Even as they were crushed and buried under the falling stones, the Delphine Army rushed towards Ereness.
“Waaah! Kill them!”
“As long as we can kill the elves!”
“Don’t back down!”
The Delphine Army was doing everything in their power just to kill Ereness. The allies that had already rushed towards the Northern Army had given up.
“Hmph.”
Ereness swept away the charging enemies and surveyed her surroundings.
She had summoned high-level spirits and was already exhausted from deflecting the catapult attacks from her allies. The heavy stones falling down were stronger than any ordinary knight’s attacks.
It was tough, but she was used to it. She had fought alongside her comrades at the forefront in wars long ago.
Looking around at the sea of corpses stacked high, she muttered.
“This should be enough.”
She had done much more than Claude requested. Nobody would complain upon returning.
Even though the Delphine Army had given up on the charge and was all rushing towards Ereness, she began to retreat on the wind.
“Come on, catch her! Hurry and catch her!”
Count Mathes shouted in desperation. They couldn’t let that elf get away after suffering such losses.
The archers of the Delphine Army fired arrows wildly, but it was hardly enough to catch her.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The catapult attacks were still ongoing. The flying stones crushed the Delphine Army. All those who had rushed to the front were already dead.
The formation had completely fallen apart long ago. The soldiers, having lost sight of their target Ereness, were at a loss for what to do.
Count Mathes seemed dazed by the unbelievable reality.
A blood-soaked deputy shouted urgently.
“Commander! The elf has escaped!”
“……”
“You need to give orders!”
“……”
“Commander!”
“…… Retreat.”
It was too late to charge again. Morale was one thing, but there was no way to defeat a superhuman enemy.
To charge now would be sheer death.
Just glancing around, more than half had died. And that was without achieving anything, just getting pummeled.
‘To think a hundred thousand strong army would crumble so easily.’
Despite all the preparations and reconnaissance, nobody had grasped the strength of the Northern Army.
Bang! Bang! BANG!
With the grotesque continuous catapult attacks making retreat difficult, the Delphine Army hurriedly fled, dodging the flying stones in their disheveled formation.
Watching them, Claude gestured to the person beside him.
“Ascon, show us today as well. The true power of an elf! Show us that mouth cursed by nature!”
Ascon stepped forward with a serious expression, using the mage’s help to shout loudly.
“Hey! Damn it! Duke Faction fights like shit! And yet you act like you’re so good at fighting, huh? You’re not the kingdom’s greatest, you’re the kingdom’s trash! You just came and got your asses beat, right? What can you even do, you worthless bastards? If you’re bold, try coming at us again!”
It’s always most fun to taunt after winning. That’s an unchanging truth.
Hearing Ascon’s mockery, the Northern Army cheered, while the retreating Delphine Army wore humiliating expressions.
As she returned to the ranks, Ereness, upon hearing Ascon’s words, closed her eyes and simply turned her head away.
Being of the same race was too shameful.
*
The battle ended in a complete victory for the Northern Army.
Everyone believed they would win without a doubt. The only issue was how little damage they could sustain while winning.
However, Ereness surprised everyone with an impressive performance, allowing them to win more easily than expected.
As Ereness, now blood-soaked, released her armor, it transformed back into vines and sank into the ground.
Now, that armor would naturally recover, drawing strength from the earth.
Ereness looked at Claude and said.
“It turned out as you thought. I’ll give you a little credit.”
“……”
Claude had no words. In truth, all he had hoped for was to confirm how many superhumans there were and, if lucky, take one down before coming back.
When the enemies charged, he planned to reduce their numbers with the catapults, leaving the remaining foes for Tenant to deal with.
But there was no need to go that far.
‘This isn’t how it was supposed to be… It feels just like when the Lord charged all alone?’
Thinking about it, it really did feel similar. There weren’t many things he could do even when with Ghislaine.
Everyone was looking at Ereness as if she were a monster. The first to break that awkward atmosphere was Alfoy.
“Great Chief! It’s me, Alfoy! Do you remember? The 6th Circle Mage, the man who defeated a god!”
Alfoy introduced himself with fanfare, bringing fresh, clear water. It was water purified and cooled by a 6th Circle Mage.
“……”
Ereness took the glass with a very uneasy expression. While she was strong enough not to be affected by common poisons, the sight of the one she mistrusted made her particularly wary.
Still, she couldn’t ignore the goodwill, so she drank it. Then Alfoy rubbed his hands together and said.
“Shall I massage your shoulders?”
“…… I’m fine.”
“Hehe, just call me if you ever need it!”
Alfoy, like a pesky fly, continued to rub his hands as he backed away. He couldn’t hide the rising corners of his mouth at the thought of catching the Great Chief!
‘I’ll charm the Great Chief and escape from slavery!’
He looked way stronger than a lord. With the right persuasion, he thought he could nullify the slave contract.
Even with Alfoy acting like a fool, the awkward atmosphere didn’t dissipate easily.
Tenant nervously clenched and unclenched his fists multiple times.
‘The world is really vast. I never thought there would be such a figure aside from Count Penris.’
While he too had ascended to superhuman status, he doubted he could fight like that.
He would probably barely manage to tussle with one opponent and end up battered and bruised. Even if it were regarding skills, the High Priest of the Salvation Society would surely be much stronger.
Claude, who had been arrogantly sitting at the front, hurriedly came down and said.
“Would you like to sit instead?”
“…… I’m good.”
“Come on, you can sit if you want.”
Claude was buttering up, while Kaor turned his head and muttered.
“Hmph, just wait! I’ll fight you again later!”
He had planned to train more and seek revenge quickly, but seeing the situation, he thought even if he became a superhuman, he might not win.
He was fuming inside, yet he was also afraid to challenge her. He didn’t want to admire her due to pride.
Ascon, who had openly clashed with Ereness, couldn’t even meet her gaze and turned his body away. He instead mumbled while looking in another direction.
“Shit, she fights really well. Did she just live hunting in the forest? She’ll probably conquer the world at this rate.”
Ereness shook her head as she watched those people.
‘It seems like all the lightweights in the world are gathered here.’
What kind of person could Count Penris be? It must be hard to find someone who could gather such fools.
Even Count Penris was amassing a tremendous record with these guys. They were truly curious beings.
Unlike the tense upper echelons, the soldiers of the Northern Army couldn’t hide their delight at this perfect victory.
“Waaah! We won!”
“The Delphine Army is nothing special!”
“Great Chief, you’re amazing!”
Especially, the elves who followed Ereness wore proud expressions.
To them, Ereness was like a god. If Ghislaine was the source of confidence for the Northern Army, then she was that very being for the elves.
Ereness smiled slightly and waved at the Northern Army soldiers.
Even if she had lived only in the forest, she had that level of sociability.
“I need to rest now.”
“Ah, then I’ll help you recover! It’ll be beneficial!”
Piote approached, but Ereness shook her head.
“I’m fine. I just need to rest a bit.”
There weren’t any major injuries; she had just overexerted herself.
Receiving divine power would speed up her recovery, but she declined.
Ereness had always felt uncomfortable with divine power. Even though it wasn’t energy of opposition, she still felt that way.
‘I don’t want to feel that energy any more than I have to.’
Every time she came in contact with divine power, it made her uneasy.
The power used by a long-lost comrade. And the one that caused this situation…
‘Enough, don’t get caught up in the past anymore.’
Wanting to erase those thoughts, Ereness shook her head vigorously.
Leaving Piote, who had been rejected and was awkward, behind, Ereness headed towards her tent. She wanted to rest today without any thoughts.
Her face looked more tired and darker than usual. It wasn’t just because the battle was tough.
Watching Ereness’ retreating back, Claude chuckled to himself softly.
When Wendy glanced over, Claude showed her three fingers and moved his lips to say.
‘30 years.’
“……”
Claude was immensely pleased at the thought that such a powerful force could be used for 30 years.
Then he suddenly remembered Ereness was an elf.
‘Ah… I should have said 300 years.’
He realized his mistake. If it’s 30 years, his chances of still being alive were high. Ereness would naturally still be alive too.
What if in 30 years, he returned to dust due to the wrath of an angry Ereness?
“Eh, whatever. I’ll think about it then.”
He was far too optimistic to worry about what would happen in 30 years.
Honestly, who knows when one might die in a war? So it would be fine to think about it after the war was over.
‘How can I extend the contract? Should I make him a gambling addict?’
While Claude was lost in his ambitious thoughts, the Northern Army began checking their supplies and entered a state of alert.
One shouldn’t let their guard down just because they won once. The Duke Faction’s armies were moving around various locations and the situation was not looking good for the kingdom.
“Hmmm, I wonder how things will turn out,”
Claude scratched his head while looking at the map.
This battle only blocked one of the Duke Faction’s advance paths. He had no idea what was happening in the other two locations.
The results from those areas hadn’t come in yet.
The eastern armies were said to have suffered numerous defeats and only barely formed a defensive line, thanks to the hastily moved coalition forces.
It was difficult to provide support to the other side, as they had to assess the situation, but information wasn’t coming through properly.
Days later, Dark came to see Claude.
“Yo, Claude! You held up quite well this time too! I knew you would!”
“…… You’re here. Where’s the lord?”
“He’ll be arriving shortly. He sent me ahead to assess the situation.”
“What about Perdium’s affairs?”
“Everything was excellently held off. It’s all thanks to me.”
Dark boasted, feeling great for having delivered Ereness’ messages to Perdium. That alone seemed impressive to him.
“Alright… Well, the rest will be managed when the lord arrives.”
Before long, Ghislaine and her crew arrived. Ghislaine was very pleased to hear the reports of the battle.
As expected, even without him, everyone had excellently defended against the enemy’s assaults. Particularly, Ereness had made a significant impact.
‘She’s truly amazing.’
Those in their past lives who were called the seven strongest on the continent were extraordinary beings. Ereness displayed power worthy of that name.
Perhaps the Duke Faction was fully aware of Ereness’ presence and would be in agony trying to strategize again. However, they wouldn’t expect that the Northern Army still held even greater potential.
He too would soon create five cores and be able to recover his powers from his past life.
‘Of course, it’s still too early to push myself.’
He couldn’t expand the cores carelessly as he never knew when he would join another intense battle.
This war would still be manageable with just three cores. For a short time, with Dark’s amplification abilities, he could unleash power close to that of five cores.
But he intended to make attempts whenever the chance arose.
“What happened to the coalition forces?”
“They’ve been sending the kingdom’s troops and moving towards the east, but… we haven’t produced proper results yet.”
They couldn’t expect much combat power since they hadn’t sent their main forces from each kingdom.
But numbers themselves held power. With their presence, defensive lines could be established in various locations.
Claude carefully offered his opinion.
“The Delphine Army currently marching east has been halted by the kingdom and coalition forces. The other two legions are likely to be engaged in battle with the kingdom’s forces too.”
“Hmph, right. I should send Dark to figure out the situation. With no news coming in, it seems there’s been a problem.”
One hand alone couldn’t block ten. Even if the Northern Army had won here, if every other area lost, it would become a headache.
If they went to help one side and the other broke through, they could lose the capital.
“What if we charge directly into the south instead? Wasn’t there originally a plan for that?”
Claude was right. Ghislaine had contemplated that as soon as the Northern Army had successfully blocked one attack, they would launch a surprise offensive into the Duke Faction.
Before meeting Melchior, that was the aim.
While Ghislaine was tapping her temples, pondering, she finally said.
“No. We were going to do that, but something just feels off.”
“What about?”
“I don’t know why, but it just feels off.”
“……”
The major strategy Ghislaine had laid out was as follows.
As soon as the Northern Army had the opportunity, they would invade the south and strike the Duke Faction. Then other legions would return to stop them.
At that time, the kingdom and coalition forces, along with the Northern Army, would combine their strengths and encircle them from above and below.
To facilitate that, hadn’t they even persuaded the former Count Mobray to promise to lend them a road?
But now, doubt had crept into that strategy.
“I have a feeling they won’t come back. Instead, they’d just take the chance and directly seize the capital.”
“Then the Duke Faction would be destroyed, right? Wouldn’t losing Duke Delphine be a bad thing?”
“They probably have confidence that the last line of defense won’t be breached. After all, the Kingdom’s Greatest Sword and the 7th Circle Master haven’t made a move.”
They were the last bastions protecting the Duke Faction. Only the superhumans of the Salvation Society were stepping into the war.
That was what was causing Ghislaine’s headache.
There must be at least one superhuman mixed in with the other legions of the Duke Faction. The kingdom and coalition forces would be facing them without any superhumans.
“It’s hard to deal with superhumans, whether kingdom or coalition. In the end, it means we’ll have to resolve this ourselves… The problem is that the main forces of the Duke Faction are still stationed in the south, protecting Duke Delphine.”
“If we go south and the situation gets stagnant or takes a long time to seize, well… other areas might end up completely finished.”
“Right. Honestly, at first, I thought it wouldn’t matter that much. I thought killing Duke Delphine would end everything. I was planning to take down the rest one by one afterward.”
Ghislaine paused for a moment before continuing.
“But it feels like that might not be the case.”
Maybe the Duke Faction and the Salvation Society were hoping the Northern Army would indeed strike south.
That way, the other legions could survive and take the capital.
