NOVEL WEB Chapter 472
Chapter 472: If I Say So, It Works. (2)
Bang! Kwang! Kwaaaang!
Countless flames, ice, and lightning rained down on Ghislaine’s location. The Delphine Army soldiers charging at him were also struck directly by the magic.
“Uaaaaargh!”
“Save me!”
“It’s magic! Dodge!”
The soldiers had no idea where the magic was cast from. In the midst of a sudden ambush, they couldn’t distinguish whether it was their allies or enemies.
The magic’s effect was undeniable. The soldiers clinging to Ghislaine either exploded or were torn apart, and those charging in met the same fate.
Despite casting a magic with minimal range, its destructive power was utterly immense.
So powerful that even the Penris Mobile Army, who were slaughtering the Delphine Army, halted momentarily.
Pah!
Out from the blazing flames and smoke, a dark figure emerged and shouted.
“Don’t stop!”
“Waaaaargh!”
The Penris Mobile Army roared and continued their assault.
Indeed, he was a lord. Unfazed even by such an overwhelming attack. I felt a bit guilty for having hesitated for a moment.
In contrast to the cheers of the Penris Mobile Army, the Delphine army’s wizards murmured with pale faces.
“Wh-what kind of monster is this…?”
The wizards poured all their mana into their spells. Hit by this level of magic, even a superhuman should be reduced to rags.
Yet Ghislaine approached, seemingly unaffected, with dark energy swirling around him.
Instead, the soldiers surrounding him had vanished, allowing him to run even faster.
“B-block him! We have to kill him!”
At Count Fogren’s command, the wizards strained to draw up their remaining mana, scraping together whatever little they had left.
Kwah! Kwah! Kwang!
Pillars of fire erupted from the ground. The earth crumbled. Countless lightning bolts fell from the sky, encircled by ice.
Ghislaine gripped the reins of the Black King tightly.
He dodged everything he could. What he couldn’t evade, he bore through by channeling his energy.
Hiiiiiing!
The Black King endured alongside Ghislaine, growing ever angrier.
While the dark energy was shielding him, there was no way it could prevent all impacts. Nevertheless, he pressed forward, exuding a wild ferocity—truly a horse that resembled its owner.
Crack!
Ghislaine bit down hard. Indeed, the attacks from dozens of wizards were powerful.
Though obscured by the dark energy, blood trickled from his lips. Dark amplification pressed heavily upon his body.
Still, Ghislaine smiled and advanced.
Though he could pick and choose his fights, what was necessary against the enemies now was overwhelming “fear.”
Paah!
In the hellish storm of mana, Ghislaine burst forth with the Black King.
The expressions of those witnessing him turned to terror.
The wildly surging dark energy seemed to be grinning.
The red light emanating from his eyes appeared like flames of a demon.
The Black Demon.
There were no other words to express it.
“Kill him.”
Count Fogren repeated the same thing, but a question arose in his mind.
How?
How on earth do we kill him?
No matter how superhuman he was, after taking a beating like that, he should be dead. If not dead, he should at least be severely injured and fatigued.
There was no way he could stand confidently like that. That was common sense.
Everyone shared Count Fogren’s feelings. Therefore, even after the command was issued, nobody moved.
Even if they were elite troops trained under harsh conditions, they couldn’t withstand the rising terror from their instincts.
And then, Ghislaine moved.
Paaaang!
“Uaaaaargh!”
He pierced through the soldiers surrounding Count Fogren first.
The soldiers blocking his path didn’t even dare to thrust their spears and were simply cut down.
“B-block him!”
The knights guarding Count Fogren swung their swords.
Despite being engulfed in fear, they moved like true knights. With all their might, they unleashed blue mana toward the approaching Black Demon.
But their swords had no real intent behind them. They were merely flailing in panic.
The practiced techniques they’d long honed disappeared, leaving only the useless slashing of common folk.
Kwaaaang!
“Graaaagh!”
The knights met their end emptily, unable to display their true capabilities.
Kwang! Kwang!
With each swing of Ghislaine’s spear, enemies were swept away like autumn leaves.
Who would call these the kingdom’s strongest elite soldiers? They were no different from still-standing scarecrows.
The wizards, having depleted their mana, stood dumbfounded. They could only gaze in fear at the advancing Ghislaine.
Weaker in will than the knights, they had already given up.
Just as Ghislaine intended. The multitude of wizards had become ensnared by the presence of just him.
“Ki-kill him… quickly…”
Overwhelmed by such power that it transcended common sense, Count Fogren couldn’t even think of fleeing. He merely stood there, dazed, watching as his comrades fell.
Hiiiiiing!
“Step aside!”
At Ghislaine’s thunderous shout, everyone instinctively retreated. Their fighting spirit evaporated.
Thud thud thud thud!
The Black King charged through the ranks of the Delphine Army. Count Fogren could only stare blankly at the approaching Ghislaine.
Pah!
Ghislaine’s spear glided effortlessly past Count Fogren.
Kuwung!
Only the body fell from the horse, leaving the head behind.
Those nearby remained frozen, unable to take any action.
A stark contrast to the soldiers on the outer edges still screaming and fighting.
Clop, clop.
Ghislaine leisurely turned his horse’s head and speared Count Fogren’s head up high.
It was time to declare victory.
Just as he was about to shout loudly, Ghislaine paused.
“What was his name again?”
In his rush, he hadn’t gathered proper information. The face looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall it from his previous life.
Ghislaine turned to a soldier trembling beside him, gripping his weapon.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes? Yes?”
“Who was your commander?”
“C-Count Fogren.”
“Right. Now I remember.”
Ghislaine grinned and shouted loudly.
“Count Fogren is dead!”
The shout infused with mana spread widely across the battlefield. The Penris Mobile Army echoed the same cry.
“Count Fogren is dead!”
“Drop your weapons and surrender!”
“Surrender, and you will be spared!”
The soldiers, suddenly ambushed and bewildered, instinctively raised their heads, seeking confirmation of their commander’s death.
Their gazes turned toward the command post.
The soldiers were seen dropping their weapons and lying flat on the ground.
Once the trigger is pulled, the atmosphere of the battlefield can change swiftly. With their morale already shattered from being slaughtered, the Delphine soldiers, without exception, discarded their weapons.
The wizards also flung themselves down to the ground. Being selfish individuals, they held no aversion to surrender.
Only a few knights held out till the end but lost their lives to the hands of the Penris Mobile Army.
One knight who had guarded Count Fogren asked,
“What do you intend to do if we… surrender?”
Ghislaine looked at him as if to say, “Isn’t that obvious?”
“Everyone will be reintegrated into the Kingdom Army. We’ll have to fight the Duke Faction again, but isn’t it better than dying here?”
“B-but does that make sense?”
The Duke Faction was no longer just a threat to the Ruthania Kingdom but a public enemy across the continent. The Salvation Society had dragged the four major religions into the war.
Anyone associated with the Duke Faction was already branded a heretic. The church would likely seek to kill them to maintain their authority.
Hence, the Delphine knights and soldiers had no choice but to fight with the resolve to perish. Naturally, they thought their foes would grant them no mercy.
However, Ghislaine answered indifferently.
“If I say so, it works.”
“……”
“It’ll be a win-win situation; the Duke Faction’s army will decrease while ours increases. We just need to kill the top brass.”
“……”
That was an astonishing statement. It meant he would ignore the opposition from other nobles and the churches.
He was truly someone who would stop at nothing to win.
Having released the dark energy, Ghislaine smiled slyly and added,
“What are you doing? If you’re going to attack, do it quickly. If you’re going to surrender, then do it properly.”
The knight looked around with weary eyes.
Those who had struggled were all dead. Most of the soldiers had tossed away their weapons and were lying flat.
It was a complete defeat. I could never have imagined such a battle being possible.
Looking at Ghislaine, the knight said,
“You’re amazing. To come here and ambush us in such a short time.”
“My specialty is pursuit, ambush, and annihilation.”
There was no argument to be made. Indeed, his prowess was as rumored.
The knight set down his sword and knelt.
If the Duke Faction hadn’t been entangled with the Salvation Society, he would have fought to the bitter end for them.
However, the Duke Faction had already lost its justification. They had colluded with heretics and killed countless innocent people.
After recognizing that the Salvation Society was the root cause of the Rift Incident, the knights had already been gripped with disillusionment. Those who had lost their object of loyalty easily crumbled at Ghislaine’s offer to surrender.
Having completely suppressed the enemy, Ghislaine surveyed the area.
“Quite a few have survived. Very good.”
There were nearly twenty thousand prisoners.
Perhaps due to the lightning-fast ambush, more had survived than expected.
Now they would join the Kingdom Army and lend their strength against the Duke Faction.
Ghislaine smiled in satisfaction.
Honestly, he hadn’t been feeling well after pushing himself a bit too hard. He couldn’t remember how many times he swallowed the blood that was rising in his throat.
But he had to endure. He needed to show them that it didn’t bother him.
Because that way, everyone would fear him.
Ghislaine raised his spear high and shouted.
“We won again!”
“Waaaaaah!”
The Penris Mobile Army roared and raised their weapons.
Though they were in a dreadful state from their strenuous efforts, that declaration washed away all their fatigue.
These were the ones who had followed Ghislaine since the inception of the mobile army. Their pride was no longer mere morale; it had become something more.
Beneath the flag of Penris, the word “defeat” did not exist.
Therefore, they had developed a steely resolve to fear nothing.
For they considered themselves an invincible army.
*
The fortress from which Maurice led the Kingdom Army’s retreat was filled with a gloomy aura.
Caw! Caw!
Near the half-collapsed fortress, there were corpses and crows everywhere.
Count Fogren, having succeeded in the occupation, had just taken a brief rest and moved on, abandoning the place.
In the desolate space where no people were to be seen, someone emerged, leaning on a cane.
“Hehe, he…”
An old woman smiled benignly, her back hunched.
It was the fortune-telling old woman whom Maurice treasured and kept by his side.
The old woman glanced around and muttered to herself.
“Good for you, Maurice… Stop believing in superstitions… It’s not entirely my responsibility… But thanks to the respect you showed me, life hasn’t been too bad.”
As if finding something amusing, the old woman continued to mutter.
“There’s luck in this, huh? That child arrived just in time to save me. That must be your destiny…”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The old woman, leaning on her cane, gazed northward as she stepped out of the fortress.
She suddenly stopped walking.
“Ghislaine Perdium. Truly remarkable. To make this Ruthania Kingdom the center of battle and lead the war as you wish.”
The old woman kept murmuring to herself, with no one listening.
“To carve destiny to this extent—there hasn’t been a figure like you in a thousand years. Even ‘we’ didn’t foresee it.”
Indeed, Ghislaine was like a storm. The Salvation Society, which had been preparing and building up power for a long time, was taking blows left and right.
The once weak existence, the heir of the impoverished border count, was now becoming an entity no one could approach.
“That too must be due to your efforts and capabilities. I cannot help but admire your unwavering determination and the passion that keeps pushing you forward.”
The old woman, lost in thought, smiled brightly.
“Ereness will meet you first. That means you’re getting closer to the center of this war. The child who just arrived will meet you as well.”
The old woman’s body gradually transformed into light and began to disperse.
Amidst the particles of light spreading out, a hazy form briefly appeared. It was the figure of a woman with gigantic wings.
Though made of light, her form was not distinctly visible, yet the majesty radiating from her was overwhelming enough to crush the world.
A faint voice echoed from the light.
“Ghislaine, I hope that child helps you… ‘We’ can’t…”
The woman’s last words scattered into the air.
Her form, made of light, faded as if being blown away.