Chapter 289
- Stories of Others (2)
#3 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Kingdom
“Caw!”
“The city walls have been breached!”
“Stop the monsters from entering! If they get in, it’s over!”
Screams and shouts started to rage.
The city walls had been breached. It meant having to fight face-to-face with the evil god forces that were strong and wicked.
“Kaaak!”
“Lord Bekepe!”The knight who had been the only hope of the city began to fly in the sky.
It was not by his own power.
He was an ordinary knight.
While he could use simple magic, he could not use magic to fly in the sky.
The knight was sent flying by an orc’s blow.
And something sent flying like that is bound to fall eventually.
“Kaaak!”
The knight who had flown a long way crashes to the ground.
Seeing he does not move after a very short, intense scream, he must be dead.
Despite the thick armor that allowed him to withstand even the blow of that evil-possessed orc, in this situation, it was merely poison.
“Damn! Even the knight got hit!”
“Oh no o…. We, we have to run away!”
“But where? Is there even a place we can escape to?”
“We have to try to stay alive first!”
With the only knight dead, this city was finished.
The soldiers of a small city in a small kingdom like this did not have the power or will to fight the evil god forces.
The soldiers who started running away, took up arms one by one.
Although the commanders shouted trying to stop the soldiers, they could not be stopped.
In the first place, most of the people who could be called commanders had already escaped.
With only the few remaining commanders left to defend the city, there was no way they would be able to command all the soldiers.
More and more soldiers continued to flee.
As the number of vacancies increased, the burden on the remaining soldiers could only increase.
In this situation, they were mostly soldiers who had been forcibly brought in, not well-trained regulars.
Enduring the increasing burden was virtually impossible.
As time went by, the number of dying and fleeing soldiers started to increase.
And so another city collapsed before the evil god forces.
“Already?”
The supreme commander of the Futuredean Kingdom frowned after receiving the report.
He had received a report of one city’s destruction 2 hours ago, and now he received another report of a city’s destruction.
“What did the lord of that place do?”
“Marquis Lodut fled afterwards, and his two knights stayed behind trying to defend the city, but it was beyond them.”
“What happened to the knights?”
“It is said they fought to the end to defend the city.”
“Damn…! They were knights unworthy of Marquis Lodut.”
In a situation where every fighting capacity was important, the death of a knight was an extremely painful loss.
No matter how small a city those knights were defending, a knight is a knight.
Knights with professional training and ability to use magical power were worth more than 100 soldiers depending on how they were utilized.
“Damn! At this rate, the evil god army will be swarming into Count Hersch’s territory. We have to stop them before that.”
Count Hersch’s territory was like the heart of this kingdom.
Connected to all the roads in the kingdom, Count Hersch’s territory was a logistics hub.
Its fall meant not only an enormous loss of supplies, but also tremendous disruption to transporting provisions thereafter.
“The moment Count Hersch’s territory collapses, the kingdom collapses. Does the royal family not know that?”
The evil god forces, twice as strong as ordinary monsters, could not be defeated by ordinary soldiers.
The minimum requirement was apprentice knights. Even then, the condition was that they must be able to use magic power, even if their skills were inadequate.
The moment even ordinary goblins were possessed by evil, their skin would become so tough that sword blades would become dull when striking them.
If that was the case for goblins, how much thicker would the hides of orcs and ogres be?
Unless they were siege weapons or magic swords made by dwarves, they had to be able to use at least swords to defeat the evil god army.
But the royal family did not move.
For their own safety, they summoned the kingdom’s major knights’ orders to defend the royal castle, and commanded the supreme commander to conscript soldiers to stop the evil god army.
“Damn it!”
It was an impossible order.
The supreme commander of the Futuredean Kingdom realized it after fighting the evil god forces several times.
“The enemy’s numbers are not large. It’s not a number that can be called the evil god forces! Why does the royal family not know that!”
The supreme commander was right.
The evil god army that appeared in the Futuredean Kingdom did not exceed a hundred. No, that was the number they came to possess after increasing over time.
If you use when they first received the report as the standard, then probably thirty.
It would not have exceeded fifty at most.
“Damn!”
Blood trickled from the corners of the supreme commander’s mouth which he had clenched tight, an attempt to restrain his anger.
“General….”
His subordinate looked at the supreme commander with pity.
To him, the supreme commander was like a treasure of this country.
As the eldest son of a prestigious family, he entrusted his family to his younger brother and devoted himself to the military to protect the country.
He did not discriminate between nobles and commoners, and thought of all his soldiers equally.
The noble officers who were defiant at first were also captivated by his charisma and started following his will.
Even now as the country was collapsing, the reason soldiers kept gathering was because they all trusted the supreme commander.
But the supreme commander was still human.
No matter how outstanding he was, he was alone.
He lacked the power to defeat the evil god forces. It was regrettable.
It was not devoid of hope. No, the probability of defeating the evil god army was actually higher.
If the royal family sent out all the knights defending the royal castle right now, or even half, the supreme commander would have been able to defeat the evil god army.
But the royal family did not move. The royals and nobles did not want to be in danger themselves.
They wanted to use the public as a shield, and make the supreme commander who did not follow their orders a scapegoat.
Without even knowing that could bring about the demise of the Futuredean Kingdom.
“Even now….”
“Do not utter foolish words. There are still citizens remaining.”
Let’s flee for now.
If the supreme commander and his soldiers requested asylum, all the surrounding kingdoms would welcome them with open arms.
His subordinate could not say anything more at the supreme commander’s words.
“No matter how hopeless it seems, there is something we must protect. That is a warrior’s discipline.”
“General.”
His subordinate lowered his head at the supreme commander’s words.
“I’m sorry.”
He felt ashamed.
While his superior had not yet given up on the country, he was the first to give up.
“It’s alright. I know you said that because you were worried about me.”
The supreme commander warmly embraced his subordinate who had lowered his head.
“Don’t give up. We still remain. And citizens who believe in us still remain.”
“Yes….”
Clap, clap, clap!
Someone clapped seeing those two.
“Who’s there!”
Certainly, this place was a space where no one else was present besides the supreme commander and his subordinate. The sudden sound of applause in the supreme commander’s room!
The supreme commander and his subordinate quickly drew their swords and aimed at where the sound came from.
“Hmm…. To think there was still a noble like this who loves the citizens left in this rotten kingdom… How beautiful.”
Clap, clap, clap!
The man who briefly wiped his eyes started clapping again.
“Beautiful. I surely thought this country would be ruined! I thought it was already as good as ashes! To think such beautiful embers were burning vigorously amid those ashes!”
The man spread his arms wide, gesturing exaggeratedly as he pointed at the supreme commander.
“Ah… O you the last remaining hope and embers of this decayed kingdom. Do you want to save this kingdom? Do you want to rescue this kingdom?”
“You… Who are you?”
It was clownish behavior.
His voice felt like the voice of a devil, and even just watching his behavior was unpleasant.
But the supreme commander and his subordinate could not move. It was because they were afraid.
It was not that they were weak.
The supreme commander was the only sword master of this kingdom, and his subordinate was his bodyguard.
If you had to pick the strongest person in this kingdom, the supreme commander would be first, and his subordinate would be third or fourth.
The strongest warriors in a kingdom.
The odd aura the man in front of them gave off made them, the strongest, unable to move easily.
“Excuse me?”
At the supreme commander’s words, the man tilted his head.
“Hmm… How should I say…? For now, I’m a low-ranking soldier in an unnamed reconnaissance organization that plays the role of scouting?”
That couldn’t be. There was no way someone like that could be low-ranking.
Judging so, the supreme commander glared at the man as he clenched his teeth.
“If I’m looked at with such fiery eyes, I get shy, you know?”
“You’re loud! Who the hell are you! Can’t you speak properly!”
The man leaped in surprise at the supreme commander’s shouts.
“Oh my, if you say it like that, it’s scary.”
Hunching his shoulders and slightly avoiding eye contact seemed like the behavior of someone truly scared.
But the supreme commander and his subordinate started to feel an even stronger pressure.
‘This is….’
It was not an opponent he could defeat alone.
If he took him on together with his subordinate?
One of them would probably lose his life in this world, and he could not be confident the other would come out unscathed.
“Hmm…. You don’t have to look at me so scarily. I really am just a low-ranker. It’s because I got demoted recently for making a mistake. I used to be more of a mid-boss.”
“Mid…?”
His words that there were several who ranked as high as him at the very least.
And there would be someone ruling over them.
‘I can’t win.’
He wasn’t even confident he could win against just this guy, and now there were others who acted with him.
The supreme commander sensed this was the end for the Futuredean Kingdom.
“What is your purpose? This kingdom?”
“Yes.”
“Huh?”
While he had spoken confidently, he had never imagined his opponent would answer so readily.
“Exactly as I said. Our boss has been looking for one person, but he felt limited only acting in the shadows. So he’s trying to secretly absorb a few collapsing kingdoms amidst the turmoil caused by the evil god army, but….”
The man looked at the supreme commander with a strange gaze.
“For a kingdom with such an excellent person, it would be a waste to just gobble it up.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Will you not become the king?”
“What?”
For a moment, the supreme commander did not comprehend what he had just heard.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“I mean it literally. We were trying to secretly absorb collapsing kingdoms troubled by the evil god army, but we don’t particularly need honor or power. We’re just moving around to make it easier to find one person.”
The supreme commander could not understand it.
Occupying a kingdom was no child’s play, and saying they would occupy not one, but several – and all to find someone!
“Just who the hell are you bastards!”
“Uh… Um….”
At the supreme commander’s words, the man made a troubled expression.
“That is….”
It felt like his mask had been stripped off in an instant.
Looking at the opponent acting genuinely troubled, the supreme commander and his subordinate felt an inexplicable strange emotion.
‘What is this?’
‘Is this fool…?’
Not even paying attention to how the two stared at him, after mumbling for a long time, the man introduced himself like this.
“We are the collective of all evil organizations, as well as a group forcibly assembled to find one person. We are the League of Evil, Naran.”
“The League of Evil, Naran?”
“Yes, that’s right. By the way, the person we’re trying to find is Naran too.”
“What on earth…. ”
They were completely absurd words, making him feel like he was being mocked.
But the man’s following words made the supreme commander unable to retort.
“Ah, looks like the royal family got wiped out.”
“What?”
“The Futuredean royal family got suddenly blown away. It seems they were attacked by the wicked evil god army. How tragic.”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
A blue sword glow started gathering on the supreme commander’s sword.
“You bastard!”
The moment the supreme commander’s powerful strike tried to slice through the entire room,
“Now, now, don’t get so angry.”
The man drew his sword and blocked the supreme commander’s sword.
“Kuh!”
Seeing his sword blocked and the dozens of magic circles that appeared in the surroundings, the supreme commander broke out in a cold sweat.
“A swordmaster who is also a magic swordsman….”
Where did this monster suddenly pop out from?
The supreme commander felt his vision darkening.
“Anyway, wasn’t the royal family useless, unable to help at all? Our boss handled business fantastically, and killed only the royal family and nobles hiding there. So the capital is in great chaos! It would be a perfect situation for you to lead your army, settle that chaos, and establish the country as its new king.”
It was the voice of a devil.
They were words not even worth listening to. If it wasn’t a situation where the evil god army were invading!
“Are you telling me to abandon the citizens?”
If he pulled out his troops now and returned to the capital, Count Hersch’s territory would be destroyed at the hands of the evil god army, and countless citizens would be slaughtered.
But if he did not go to the capital, what atrocities might those wicked fellows commit?
The man assured the worried supreme commander.
“There’s no need to worry. It’s better for finding someone if there are more people. If the general helps with what we’re doing…. we’ll neatly take care of the evil god army as promised.”
It was a deal the supreme commander had no choice but to think hard about.
Right now, he was unable to stop the evil god army.
But what if this was their scheme? What if the royal family hadn’t actually been destroyed?
How would the royal family think of him leading his army to march on the capital?
And what would happen to Count Hersch’s territory if they did not offer assistance?
“Tch….”
While thinking of hundreds, thousands of different thoughts, the supreme commander started looking for the best path he could choose.
And in the end,
“Fine… I accept.”
He chose to believe the words of the man before his eyes.
“A splendid decision.”
At the supreme commander’s words, the man formed a beaming smile and introduced himself.
“My name is Verul, Verul Raik. A low-ranking member of the League of Evil, Nalaan, as well as the master of the evil organization Darkness. In my name and the name of my master, I vow – The moment you help us… We shall become your ally forces.”
And on that day, all the evil god army in the Futuredean Kingdom disappeared and a new king was born.
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