Chapter 530
Chapter 530 It’s Been a While. (1)
Kaaaaak!
There were a lot of Cracked Beings. Most of them burst from Elena’s hammering, but a few that survived clung to her body.
Kwaaaang!
But even those were sent flying by the swing of her hammer. Not a single scratch marked Elena’s body.
Having divine power meant that the density and structure of her muscles were different from those of a commoner. As her divine power increased, her physical durability grew stronger.
With her mastery of the Mana Circulation Method, the Cracked Beings couldn’t even manage to inflict a proper wound on her.
“Uaaaah!”
Elena didn’t want to master delicate techniques. Strangely enough, she didn’t have much talent for that area.
She was already aware that her body was quite special. So, she merely took hits while swinging her hammer.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Every time her massive hammer was swung, the Cracked Beings exploded and flew away like crazy.
It didn’t even feel out of place, like the path of a destruction tank.
Even the seasoned Knights of Penris couldn’t help but admire that marvelous destructive power.
“I’m releasing some stress!”
As Elena roared fiercely, the knights guarding her around looked utterly shocked.
Regardless, Elena smiled slyly at Arel.
“How is it, sis? Isn’t it cool? Super strong?”
Arel averted her eyes, taking a slight step back. It was a bit scary.
Day by day, Elena’s fighting style was beginning to resemble Parniel’s. Parniel smiled with satisfaction at her.
Belinda shook her head while watching Elena.
“Anette didn’t fight like that.”
It seemed that while divine power had gone to Elena, combat sense had gone to Ghislaine.
If one person had received both, they would truly have become the strongest in the continent. That part was quite regrettable.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaaaang!
As always, the Ruthania Army easily shoved aside the Cracked Beings. As Elena grew stronger, so did the overall power of the Ruthania Army.
When the battle ended, the Knights of Penris surrounded Elena, shouting.
“Destruction Princess! Destruction Princess!”
“Don’t call me that!”
Elena shouted back with a fierce expression, causing everyone to flee.
She had always dreamed of being an elegant lady. But now, she was far from that dream, with a weird nickname to boot.
Instead, that elegance had been claimed by Rachel.
Gillian’s daughter was no longer the sickly little girl she once was. After several years, she had grown into a remarkable knight.
Dressed in shining white armor, her fighting form resembled a graceful swan.
Thus, her nickname became ‘Knight of the Swan.’
It was a name that truly suited her, given her upright character and always calm smile.
“Knight of the Swan! Knight of the Swan!”
The knights shouted again, looking at Rachel. She laughed awkwardly and waved her hand in dismissal.
Seeing that, the ‘Destruction Princess,’ Elena, pouted and lowered her gaze.
Unlike Elena, Rachel didn’t have divine power. So, she had to compensate for her lack of strength with technique.
As a result, Rachel devoted herself even more to training. Fortunately, she seemed to possess talent in flexibility, allowing her to acquire quite impressive techniques.
“Wow, she really is her father’s daughter.”
Ghislaine was immensely pleased with Rachel’s prowess.
Rachel’s skills continued to grow. While the environment played a role, her passion and talent made it possible.
Ghislaine freely imparted advanced swordsmanship and the Mana Circulation Method to Rachel. Her father, Gillian, also provided guidance whenever he had time.
Ghislaine shook her head while looking at the sulky Elena.
“Goodness, what a hopeless case. Who did she take after?”
Elena’s ability to learn techniques was the worst. However, oddly enough, this was producing a bizarre synergy with her divine power.
By simply swinging her weapon without a thought, her sheer power almost rivaled that of Parniel, the Saint of War.
Thinking too much never slowed her down. She would just swing it and think later. Her superhuman body allowed her to do that.
Facing an enemy of a higher level might be difficult, but there was no better advantage for large-scale massacres.
“Destruction Princess! Destruction Princess!”
“Knight of the Swan! Knight of the Swan!”
The entire Ruthania Army cheered their nicknames. It was a shout of praise for their performance and a celebration of their growth.
Not just Elena and Rachel, but the knights and soldiers were also becoming stronger with each battle.
And as they grew stronger, their cruelty increased.
As they exterminated the advancing enemies without leaving a trace, the foes began to refer to the Ruthania Army as the army of demons.
Kwa-zik!
“Crkrrk…”
Ghislaine’s axe cleaved the throat of the rebellion leader.
In this kingdom, priests of the Salvation Society were hardly visible. In fact, the rebellion’s forces were gradually dwindling too.
Brushing her hair out of her face, Ghislaine muttered.
“What are these fools thinking?”
She had a rough idea that the priests of the Salvation Society were preparing to consolidate their strength. The reports sent by her spies confirmed that.
However, it didn’t make sense that their rebellion forces were lessening. While the Salvation Society gathered their main forces, ironically, the rebels had to endure.
The Allied Forces found it easier to consolidate their strength as they reclaimed the areas occupied by the rebels.
Even now, the movements of the Allied Forces were speeding up. As the Salvation Society and the rebels dwindled, the Allied Forces found it much easier to end the civil war as they headed towards other regions.
“Could they be aiming for a short-term decisive battle?”
That wouldn’t be easy either. Given the global scale of the situation, one or two victories wouldn’t end anything.
Now, withdrawing all forces just because they were slightly disadvantaged would only invite unfavorable outcomes. They would end up needing to reclaim viable strongholds once again and establish supply lines.
It would be better to let the rebels endure while concentrating their main forces to support another region.
“Hmph… They’ll surely pull some tricks.”
Originally, Ghislaine was in a position to challenge them using information about the future.
But now, the future had changed. The ones who had suffered a major defeat at Ghislaine’s hands had become the challengers.
This time, it was Ghislaine’s turn to thwart their schemes.
“We’ll move to the next kingdom. Let’s sweep away the remaining ones a bit faster.”
Not knowing the enemy’s intentions yet, the best option was to eliminate as much of the Salvation Society’s power as possible.
By gathering the Allied Forces, they could strike a significant blow against their stronghold.
The increasingly powerful Ruthania Army moved swiftly, sorting through the rebels across various kingdoms.
And surprisingly, the Turian Kingdom Army, thanks to Yulien’s efforts, was also moving at a pace no less than that of the Ruthania Army.
*
The Sardina Kingdom was also in a crisis, pressed hard by the rebels. Being a kingdom close to the center of the continent, the Salvation Society had taken considerable notice of it.
In the midst of this, Ghislaine’s Ruthania Army struck the rebels from behind.
The rebels, who had set their frontline to avoid the rifts, were left defenseless against the Ruthania Army that had emerged through the rifts.
The Sardina rebels ended up gathering in one location to escape the Ruthania Army.
Marquis Aldred, the leader of the rebellion, was furious.
“I was almost there to profit! Who would have thought those madmen would come bursting through the rift!”
Although the superhumans of the Salvation Society had suddenly withdrawn, he thought it was no big deal. After all, his forces had been the strongest in this kingdom.
However, being focused on the civil war meant he was unaware of the news around him. He heard rumors that the Ruthania Army was going wild but took them lightly.
The result was devastating. Every front was pushed back in an instant, and now only a small fortress remained.
“My lord! You must retreat!”
“We have received news that the Salvation Society is calling us to the Kingdom of Atrode!”
“With our current strength, we cannot hold back the Ruthania Army!”
Hearing his advisors, Aldred decided to flee. Although 80,000 troops remained, he absolutely did not dare to fight the Ruthania Army.
There were far too many superhumans on the opposing side. One superhuman that Aldred had with him couldn’t possibly stop them.
He made a bold decision.
“I will take 10,000 elite troops and escape this kingdom. The remaining forces will hold off the Ruthania Army here.”
He decided to sacrifice a staggering 70,000 troops to ensure his own escape.
If those 70,000 hold at the fortress, it would buy him time to get away. He thought to himself that it didn’t matter what happened to others as long as he survived.
Completely clueless, the 70,000 troops remained at the fortress, while Marquis Aldred slipped away under the pretense of intercepting the enemy.
Dududududududu!
They galloped hard to evade the Ruthania Army emerging from the east.
Fortunately, the Kingdom of Atrode lay to the southwest of Sardina. After passing through a few kingdoms, he should be able to arrive safely.
One day after Aldred fled, the Ruthania Army surrounded the fortress.
“Just destroy it.”
Ghislaine issued the command without hesitation. Soon, stones began flying from hundreds of catapults.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
The catapults of Penris boasted incredible range and power. The enemy inside the fortress could hardly respond and was too busy defending.
It didn’t stop there. The wizards of the Ruthania Army relentlessly poured magic.
Since Aldred had escaped with the wizards, they could use no magic to defend.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
“Uaaaaagh!”
Inside the fortress, the screams of the enemies echoed incessantly. They couldn’t even dare to fight back outside and were getting pummeled unilaterally.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
The stones and spells raining down caused the fortress to crumble in an instant.
But Aldred, leading the rebels, did not return.
Soon, a white flag rose above the fortress.
“Hmph, cease the attack.”
At Ghislaine’s command, the assault stopped. Moments later, the castle gates opened, and all the troops remaining in the fortress came out disarmed.
Realizing they had been abandoned, they completely lost their will to fight.
While Ghislaine thoroughly crushed the enemies, that was only for those who continued to struggle until the end. Those who surrendered were carefully checked for identity, and if there were no issues, they would be welcomed into the ranks.
Those who had just surrendered would likely be reformed into the Sardina Kingdom Army if there were no significant issues.
“Send a messenger to the Sardina Kingdom Army. Tell them to investigate the prisoners and take them with them.”
Ghislaine didn’t need to take care of them all. She only needed to keep watch until the Sardina Kingdom Army arrived.
Thus, while Ghislaine spared those who surrendered, some would never be spared, no matter what.
Those were the leaders of the rebellion who had allied with the Salvation Society.
“I’m going to catch Marquis Aldred.”
Upon hearing that Aldred had already slipped away from the fortress a day before, Ghislaine led the mobile army in pursuit.
There was a time difference of about two days. The enemy would be moving quite quickly, so a considerable distance would have been created.
“Speed up! We must capture and kill them before they cross the border!”
Dududududududu!
At Ghislaine’s urging, the mobile army galloped with all their might.
As Ghislaine had predicted, Aldred had fled quite far thanks to his audacious decision.
At this rate, they would soon cross the border. There was also a force allied with the Salvation Society in that kingdom, so once they crossed over, he could breathe easier.
But he didn’t know. The rebels beyond the border had already been completely subdued.
And coincidentally, Aldred ran into 20,000 troops of the Turian Kingdom Army, who were regrouping and marching toward Sardina.
The two armies, unable to tell friend from foe, found themselves in a standoff.
Marquis Aldred stepped forward and shouted.
“Who are you! This is the territory of the Sardina Kingdom! Reveal your identity!”
Marquis Gideon of the Turian Kingdom Army also stepped forward and shouted.
“We are the Turian Kingdom Army that has joined the Allied Forces! Which side are you on?”
At Gideon’s words, Aldred frowned. It would be troublesome if they started fighting here and got caught up in something.
The enemy had more soldiers than his own. So, he lied.
“We are the Sardina Kingdom Army! We are urgently chasing after the fleeing rebels, so please clear the way!”
Saying that, he moved his troops without giving the other side time to think.
Gideon, flustered, tried to pull his forces back. That was because the opposing troops were pressing forward too recklessly.
At that moment, Yulien suddenly rode up and burst forward.
Dududududududu!
“Huh? Huh! Yulien!”
Gideon shouted in surprise. The Turian soldiers were also bewildered.
Regardless, Yulien continued to charge forward with a cold expression. His sword was already glowing with a chilling blue light.
“Stop, you madman!”
At Aldred’s command, a knight beside him dashed out.
He was the only superhuman among the rebels. Feeling Yulien’s fierce momentum, he jumped in.
The two rushed toward each other. The rebel superhuman leapt from his mount, unleashing an aura blade.
“Die!”
It was an attack intended to kill the enemy in an instant. So intense that the air around the aura blade warped visibly.
However, Yulien didn’t show any particularly special moves. He merely swung his sword gracefully once from atop his horse.
Slic!
Kuwung!
The body of the superhuman charging at Yulien was split in half along with the sword and dropped to the ground.
