Chapter 564
Chapter 564: If I Run Now, I Can Live. (1)
“Hehehe…”
A Priest of the Salvation Society laughed while wiping the blood off his face. Surrounding him were countless corpses of soldiers.
“Phew! I didn’t expect them to be this weak. Wasn’t this a bit too easy?”
The priest with a friendly impression was named Placus. He had previously attended to the last king of Ruthania, Berhem, providing treatment at his side.
When Ghislaine seized the capital, he had fled and was now active in the Army of Atrode.
This time, he and his legion had ambushed one of the allied forces’ legions during their movement, achieving victory.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
Count Poleno, the commander of the fifth army, approached Placus in armor.
“Well done. I’m thinking of moving to the next location now.”
“Ooh, where are we heading next?”
“For now, we plan to go to the promised place and wait. We need to receive information. News of our ambush must have reached them; they’ll likely make other movements.”
At this point, the enemy would realize that information had leaked out. Naturally, they would eliminate the traitor and rework their strategy, so they had to come up with a new plan as well.
Placus chuckled.
“Hehe, as long as it’s not the Ruthania Army, they’re nothing to worry about.”
“That’s right. However, we need to reduce their numbers thoroughly before confronting the Ruthania Army.”
“Of course, of course. If the allied forces take care of everything, what can the Ruthania Army do alone?”
Placus exaggeratedly belittled the Ruthania Army, but in reality, the opposite was true.
The top priority order given to every legion was to avoid encounters with the Ruthania Army as much as possible.
The ultimate goal of this strategy was to capture all the allied forces and isolate the Ruthania Army. Engaging the powerful Ruthania Army head-on would bring no benefit.
Placus tried to cover up his disgraceful memories of fleeing by belittling the Ruthania Army.
“Most of those guys are just riffraff integrated from the Kingdom Army. A bunch of lucky rabble following Duke Penris. They’re just a lot of bodies.”
“I see, is that so? With the superhuman priest here, we’re not worried at all.”
Count Poleno smiled and brushed it off lightly. After all, they weren’t going to fight the Ruthania Army right now.
In truth, they already knew where the Ruthania Army was located. So everyone was maneuvering to avoid that vicinity.
Someone approached Count Poleno, who was smiling.
“Quite a pity. They’ve run off a lot.”
The speaker was Count Throok, the commander of the sixth army.
The Army of Atrode was moving together with two legions at a certain distance maintained between them.
They were communicating with the nearby legion to swiftly encircle and ambush the allied forces.
Count Poleno nodded.
“Indeed. They turned out to be more spineless than expected.”
Though they achieved victory, they couldn’t completely annihilate the enemy, as more than half had fled when the tide turned against them.
They wanted to chase them down, but they showed incredible patience. A wrong step could ruin their grand strategy.
Count Poleno smacked his lips and said,
“For now, we have to be satisfied with this much.”
“Without the Ruthania Army, they’re nothing at all. Just swine in numbers.”
Though it was regrettable they couldn’t wipe them out at once, one shouldn’t dwell too much on minor setbacks to achieve the greater goal.
As long as they continued to diminish the allied forces’ strength and morale, this operation would be a success.
They had the capability and patience to do so.
Count Poleno mounted his horse.
“Let’s move now. The enemy will expand their scouting range.”
“Indeed. We need to scatter again and prepare for the next operation. I’ll have the infantry wait at the promised location.”
“We’ll do the same.”
While the Army of Atrode divided into many legions, each legion was still about 20,000 to 30,000 troops, which could be considered a significant force.
Moreover, since more than half of them were infantry, moving quickly was a challenge.
Thus, in reality, it was the cavalry, about 5,000 to 10,000, that were to act.
The infantry were digging traps or setting up temporary defenses at expected battle points to support the cavalry.
For them, infantry were merely expendable. The real deal was the surprise attack led by fast mobility and superhumans.
Count Throok also mounted his horse and said,
“We can’t find food in nearby areas. We’ll need to widen our range.”
They had come equipped only with dried rations to move quickly, which left them short on food.
So they were raiding different places to plunder supplies. This also had the effect of disrupting the vision and information of the allied forces.
Count Poleno waved his hand lightly in farewell to Count Throok.
“Understood. Be careful. I’ll contact you soon again. You’ll receive more messages from other legions as well.”
The remaining legions of the Army of Atrode were planning to target one of the moving allied army legions by blocking the supply routes provided by Ghislaine.
It was a complex and challenging strategy. But the commanders of the Army of Atrode had the capability to execute it.
One of the reasons the Army of Atrode was confident of victory was the relatively slower speed of the allied forces.
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
The fifth and sixth legions of the Army of Atrode quickly made their move. They would now gather new information and determine their next target.
Other legions of the Army of Atrode were moving similarly. One of the allied force’s legions had already taken a hit.
To the allied forces’ eyes, they could only see that the Army of Atrode was moving at a tremendous speed.
This was partly due to the disruption of the allied forces’ vision and information, but also largely thanks to the advance reconnaissance the traitor had provided, allowing them to set traps as they moved.
And that traitor was slightly troubled in the camp.
“Hmm… moving to another base again? Is this a trap?”
Duke Penris had issued a new command; it appeared information had leaked out, and the order was to coordinate secretly with another legion.
It was also commanded not to tell his subordinates or knights about the troop movements.
“From this perspective, it seems the enemy hasn’t caught on yet…”
Detailed strategies had been laid out. Until additional troops arrived, they were to close the distance with nearby legions for coordination.
Duke Penris and Yulien were also said to be moving to chase the enemies.
“It appears they haven’t pinpointed us completely yet.”
It wasn’t just the legion commander who could be a traitor. Lower-ranking commanders, knights, and soldiers could also play the part.
In fact, some of his own forces were acting as double agents.
Thus, Duke Penris wouldn’t know exactly who the traitor was when he issued such commands.
“Alright, I can’t let this opportunity slip by.”
If the legions united, it would be tough for the Army of Atrode to handle them. The current moment in which they were moving to close the distance was their chance.
He secretly summoned his trusted aide to convey this.
Soon, additional troops disguised as scouts left the camp.
*
Count Deproden from the ninth legion of the Army of Atrode was conversing with a knight deep in a dark forest.
“So, they’re moving to another base now?”
“Yes, two of the legions suffered losses, so new orders came down.”
“What about the main Ruthania forces?”
“They haven’t changed. They’re probably sticking to the supply routes and bases they were guarding.”
Count Deproden pondered for a moment and then asked again.
“Have Duke Penris and the Turian prince moved as well?”
“Indeed. They both started to pursue. It’ll likely be on the rear where ‘we’ were attacked.”
“Hmm, I see. That area should be where the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth legions were stationed… So, we won’t run into them. I’ll contact the tenth legion to strike the moving allied forces.”
“Understood. I’ll take my leave now. I must hurry back under the pretext of my scouting duties.”
“Which route will you take?”
The knight pulled out a map and pointed to a location.
“We’ve been ordered to move to this spot. We’ll move as slowly as possible, so you need to strike before we do.”
“I got it. I’ll send our scouts to the next meeting point from our side. Make sure to confirm the marks you left nearby.”
“Understood.”
After the knight departed, Count Deproden mounted his horse.
“Let’s move at full speed. The infantry will march at night and follow behind. Set up a barrier line in preparation for the enemy’s pursuit near the target point.”
The ninth legion of Count Deproden started to move. Their target was the moving allied forces.
Originally, they had intended to block the supply route set out as a bait by Ghislaine and intercept additional troops. However, since the allied forces had changed their route to be closer, they’d decided to strike there first.
Count Deproden checked the enemy information once more as they moved.
“Marquis Gideon of the Turian Kingdom. They have about 40,000. Since the Turian prince is out, we can manage.”
Though they had fewer troops, it didn’t matter. The cavalry of the tenth legion would soon join them, and there were already more superhumans in the ninth legion than the enemy.
He confirmed that the main Ruthania forces weren’t moving yet. Engaging against the allied forces, which were deficient in superhumans, would assure their victory.
“Move quickly! We must strike before the enemy reaches the stronghold!”
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
The ninth legion of the Army of Atrode raced ahead.
Running so openly, it was likely they would soon be spotted by enemy scouts, but it didn’t matter. They planned to use their speed to strike hard and withdraw quickly.
After continuously running for a day, they arrived at a small forest near their target point.
“Check the surroundings. The enemy will likely pass through here. Contact the tenth legion as well.”
The scouts of the ninth legion spread out widely. Since they knew where the allied forces were moving, it wasn’t hard to find them.
A day passed again, and the scouts returned with news.
“We’ve spotted the enemy. They are moving at a slow pace.”
“What about the tenth legion?”
“They are a bit far away as there isn’t a suitable hiding spot around. They say they’ll depart soon.”
“Understood, we’re moving out immediately.”
Count Deproden led his troops out of the forest. They had enough time to rest while searching for the allied forces.
As long as they could block the path, the tenth legion would arrive as well.
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
The ninth legion of the Army of Atrode galloped energetically. Before long, they caught sight of the allied forces.
Count Deproden smiled broadly.
“Fools, this is your grave.”
Knowing the enemy’s route was a huge advantage.
It was regrettable that such an opportunity couldn’t last. If they were caught this time, the enemy would move more cautiously.
But by that time, the strength of the allied forces would already have diminished.
“Block them!”
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
The Army of Atrode blocked the front of the allied forces. They wouldn’t initiate battle immediately, as they needed to wait for the tenth legion to arrive.
The allied forces, mostly composed of infantry, quickly prepared for combat. They couldn’t escape from cavalry anyway.
Seeing their readiness, Count Deproden scoffed.
“Do they think they can fight us just because they outnumber us? They’ll regret not fleeing right away.”
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
As they blocked the way and waited, soon the tenth legion appeared on the enemy’s flank. Now they just needed to charge and wipe out the enemies.
Count Deproden turned to two priests next to him.
“Please take the lead in breaking the enemy formation. I will follow right behind. I’ve confirmed they don’t have any superhumans on their side.”
Superhumans were a rarity, with only one or two per kingdom. Naturally, most of the allied forces’ superhumans were protecting their own king.
On the other hand, the Army of Atrode, even with half their strength, had enough superhumans to deploy across every legion. Moreover, their commanders were quite capable.
That was how they could achieve victories even against larger numbers.
The two priests nodded enthusiastically and moved ahead.
Boom!
As the priests charged, two priests from the tenth legion also sprinted forward.
The battle was about to start.
Count Deproden raised his hand and shouted.
“Everyone! Charge!”
“Wooaah!”
Clomp, clomp, clomp!
Cavalry from the ninth and tenth legions of the Army of Atrode all began their charge. They would crush the enemy with overwhelming combat power.
Count Deproden, who believed this, suddenly sensed something odd.
‘Too… calm, aren’t they?’
The determination of the allied forces was different from what he had seen until now. There was no sign of fear.
They couldn’t stay so collected just because they outnumbered them. Until now, even when they outnumbered them, they had always been at the mercy of the superhumans of the Salvation Society.
Especially the Turian Kingdom, which had been pushed back by the rebels until Yulien showed up. Marquis Gideon from that place should know the power of the Salvation Society well.
Furthermore, according to the information from the traitor, Yulien was supposed to be absent right now.
Count Deproden frowned.
‘Has he gotten cocky since teaming up with Duke Penris? What an arrogant bunch.’
What confidence they had, he didn’t know. But if they were hit again, the fear they had long forgotten would resurface.
The advancing priests shared the same thought.
‘Do they think mere soldiers can stop us?’
The soldiers, holding up their shields and forming ranks, looked remarkably solid compared to those they had faced until now.
Additionally, the soldiers in formation were armored, which wasn’t typical for infantry.
However, they believed that once they charged in and swung a few times, they would collapse easily.
That’s how it had always been, so this time wouldn’t be any different.
At least, that’s what they thought.
Boom!
Suddenly, someone jumped out from the opposing ranks.
A woman of colossal stature, nearly towering over an ordinary human. She held a massive mace that matched her size.
The priests momentarily froze. Someone who shouldn’t be there appeared.
“Could it be… this army…?”
Confusion filled the priests’ eyes as they stared wide-eyed. Saint Parniel smiled chillingly.
“There really was a traitor. No, they must never have been on our side to begin with, so they aren’t a traitor.”
In an instant, she reached Placus and swung her gigantic mace.
“Ugh!”
Shock-stricken, the priest raised his arms in an attempt to block her attack.
Those who met Parniel for the first time uniformly reacted this way. They had never experienced firsthand how powerful she truly was.
Boom!
“Gyaaah!”
Crack!
Placus’s arms twisted grotesquely and shattered.
