Ruttenhale Barony, Woster County.
Although they were teleported not that far from the place where they had been before—the distance between BA-32 and Woster County was roughly 120 kilometers—the amount of people Goap had teleported was not small.
He had teleported 4,000 people without breaking a sweat and any preparation at all. It also had happened in a blink of an eye, and it was really bewildering to Edward and the Royal Army in spite of their experience.
After all, unless one had already prepared a [Checkpoint], which was usually a large scale Rune that would react upon a [Teleportation] Spell casting, such a thing wouldn't be possible.
Even with a [Checkpoint] ready, the Mana consumption would be so large, one person wouldn't be able to handle it—not even Seventh Circle Mages after exhausting their Magic Circles, which was the reason why it was baffling.
"He didn't trick us..." Edward looked at the equally baffled and elated soldiers behind him in astonishment. "He really teleported all of us intact ... That Monster is dangerous."
Edward had never underestimated Goap's prowess even once; as soon as he felt Goap's presence, he knew Goap was the real deal. Still, he couldn't help becoming more alarmed after what Goap had done.
He, although had always taken Goap seriously, didn't consider Goap's word about taking over the Kingdom to be a promise after all. He believed it was nothing more than a boast, so he was anxious currently.
With that kind of power Goap had just displayed, he was sure Goap would be able to not only take the Kingdom down, but also take over the world. No one knew about it yet, and he felt compelled to tell them.
"Commander Aaron..."
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Relay every single thing that has just happened to us to the public," Edward ordered calmly. "I want you to exaggerate the threat level of that Monster, but make it in a way that it won't cause a commotion."
"... Wouldn't delivering it as is still works, Your Highness?" Aaron asked carefully.
"We haven't seen the cards he is hiding up his sleeves yet. Who knows what else he is hiding from us?"
Upon hearing Edward's words, Aaron's eyes darkened at the same time Edward's eyes did.
Aaron had initially wanted to say that telling how much dangerous Goap was or what he was capable of doing was enough, but as soon as he heard what Edward said, he immediately realized what Edward was worrying about.
No matter what part of the world it is, there is, after all, one idiot that will not believe what people say before seeing whatever they have heard about by themselves.
In other words, there was still a chance that there would be people who would not heed Edward's warning and think Goap was as manageable as the other High Class Demons. This would bring nothing but a disaster, so it should be prevented at all cost.
By exaggerating the threat level of Goap and what he could do, they would be able to make people think twice before underestimating Goap, and thus would prevent some idiots from overestimating themselves.
Of course, since the public was the target, they had to announce it in a way it wasn't going to cause a panic. Their effort to keep everyone on high alert would be useless, if many of them were too scared to fight.
They hadn't seen Goap's full power yet, but thinking that they would fight such an abomination in the future already made them weary. Surviving wouldn't be an option if they didn't gather as many people as they could to fight Goap together with them.
"I have relayed the news, Your Highness." After a few minutes of silence between the two, Aaron finally opened his mouth again. "What should we do next, Your Highness?"
"We are going to head to Woster County—I have someone I want to meet." Edward glanced at the soldiers behind him. "But first, let us summon the rest of our soldiers."
"I understand, Your Majesty."
Edward, who had known his brothers were up to something in advance, had made a precaution to reduce the casualties from their stupid competition.
He had put 4,000 of his soldiers "on hold" in his way to BA-32. He had ordered the 4,000 soldiers to hide themselves in the forest that was just 10 kilometers away from BA-32, and wait for his order to get out.
Now that Edward and the Legions under him were already away from BA-32 due to what Goap had done to them, he needed to summon the 4,000 soldiers he had hidden in the forest.
He was glad he had made a choice to hide some of his soldiers in the forest, and none of his brothers had really paid any attention to him.
They had only paid their attention to him and his soldiers when the battle began, but at that time, due to the intensity of the battle, all of them had ridiculed him instead of getting suspicious of him when they noticed he had the least soldiers amongst them.
"I have notified the rest of the soldiers. They are on their way now."
"Thank you for your work, Aaron."
"Your Highness..."
"Yes?"
Edward looked at Aaron with a quirked eyebrow as Aaron looked at him hesitantly. He honestly already had an ide about what Aaron was going to talk about, but he waited until Aaron opened his mouth.
"About the other Princes... And our comrades—are we just going to leave them behind?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Edward smiled calmly at Aaron.
Aaron's eyes widened as he thought about how he should answer the question. "I... Honestly don't know too."
"Surviving doesn't make you guilty, Aaron." Edward put his hand on Aaron's shoulder. "It is the proof of your competence and luck. You shan't be ashamed for that."
"I just can't bring myself to turn a blind eye to what is possibly happening to them currently..." Aaron sighed forlornly as he gazed at his fellow Legion Commander beside him. "Although we are in a different Legion, we are still a family after all."
"Don't worry," Edward responded reassuringly. "I don't want to let my brothers die either. We will ask for reinforcement as soon as we arrive at Woster County."
Aaron widened his eyes in surprise. "Is that why... Very well, Your Highness."
As the 4,000 soldiers Edward had hidden in the forest rushed in their way to regroup with them, Edward turned his gaze to the east, where he could sense an uncountable amount of Mana signatures overwhelming the air.
He was looking at the battlefield where humans achieved their first victory—the place where the person he wanted to meet was at.
...
Wisselton, Woster County (60 kilometers from Ruttenhale Barony).
"Basil Pacifer!"
"Shout his name loudly—Basil Pacifer!"
"The Hero Pacifer!"
"Long live our Hero!"
"Hurrah!"
Basil was being cheered at on his way back to the camp, and he didn't look amused by that. The battle had just finished a couple of minutes ago, but the news of their victory had reached pretty much everyone's ears fifteen minutes before it.
He didn't blame them though; it was already apparent at that moment they were going to win the battle, so whoever spread the news earlier didn't make a mistake. Because of it though, many people were expecting him upon his return.
If they had announced their victory only after they returned to the camp, the people greeting him upon his return wouldn't be this many. He preferred that way as he didn't like people crowding around him.
Looking at the people genuinely looking at him in gratitude, he could only click his tongue bitterly. Most of them were the less fortunate citizens of Woster County, who couldn't evacuate from the County because they couldn't afford to.
Many of them had lost their lives as they had been caught up in the battle, so they were really thankful someone had finally put an end to the battle.
"How funny," Basil remarked silently. "I was once someone who believed in their smile too... Until they betrayed me when it was convenient for them."
Basil scoffed disdainfully as he turned his head away from the people and focused his gaze on his front. He had carried the burden—he had forcefully been titled a Hero in the past, and he didn't want to go down the same path.
He had bled and cried for the people only for them to leave him behind in his past life. Those had been the same people, who had genuinely said they would always be there for him when he needed him.
Words, however, are sweeter than sugar; all of them had immediately turned their back on him the moment the Church labelled him a Heretic in his past life. His status turned from Hero to the greatest sinner in a day.
He knew many of the people weren't actually bad in nature. He knew they had done what they had done to him because they didn't want to make an enemy of the Church.
They, after all, were powerless—they had nothing on them to protect themselves. Given the guarantee of staying alive just by shunning the person who had saved them, they did it without thinking twice.
This was the reason why Basil would never ever become a Hero again. Being a Hero means having to carry the soul of thousands of weaklings on his back, and he didn't want to do such an unbeneficial act anymore.
The only weaklings he would carry on his back were his loved ones, and therefore, no one whom his eyes decided not to see should receive his help.
"Hear me out, the people of Woster!" Basil exclaimed as he ordered Deacon carrying him to stop walking. "You standing here in this moment is due to your luck. I have done nothing for you!"
Some people wanted to protest, but Basil stopped them as he raised his hand. "I wouldn't have contributed to the war, if I wasn't given a responsibility. Thanks your luck for I was, and stop calling me a Hero. I am but a killer—a hero, I am not."
Deacon resumed walking as soon as Basil stopped speaking, alas, contrary to Basil's expectation, the crowd cheered even louder than before.
All of them had misunderstood him greatly.
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