leonardwarren Chapter 177 : Chapter 177
Chapter 177 : Chapter 177
Chapter 177
- Tututung!
In a fleeting moment, the Sword Demon’s sword deflected the axe three times.
“That’s truly the realm of magic.”
To succeed in parrying three times in a row at that distance, isn’t that true magic?
‘If that were possible, one could even see the ending solo.’
What was more surprising was the Tyrant pouring out a barrage of attacks even while being parried.
- Kuaaaack!
Even though three attacks failed, the Tyrant didn’t give up, and his axe struck towards my neck.
“Young Master!”
Jeremy let out a shrill scream, and the Sword Demon, unable to react in time, hurriedly threw himself, but the bastard’s axe was faster.
For a moment, I wanted to parry coolly like the Sword Demon, but seeing the fighting spirit dyeing the axe bright red, I cleanly gave up.
If I failed, it wouldn’t end with just a finger or an arm.
‘Can’t be helped.’
I decline gambles.
The more perfect the strategy, the less luck is involved.
Instead of dodging with my insufficient ability, I thrust my left shoulder forward and threw a dagger at the Shaman.
‘Giving a bone to take the flesh.’
If I were a normal human, it would be incomprehensible behavior.
However, just before the Tyrant’s axe split my arm.
— Tat!
The bastard, confirming the dagger, twisted his body to protect the Shaman.
The dagger loaded with mana bounced off without even cutting his skin, but that wasn’t important.
“Jeremy! Snap out of it and target the Shaman first!”
What was important was that he tried to save the Shaman.
“Kuhahaha! Impressive, quite impressive!”
The bastard’s eyes, laughing as if amused, had sunk coldly enough to be chilling.
“It doesn’t matter if a mere Shaman like this exists or not. It’s just that I, the King, haven’t permitted death yet. Isn’t protecting the subjects the duty of a King!”
Bullshit.
The 50,000 troops he drove into a deathtrap are still running towards Moner right now.
He’s just trying to deceive us with cunning words.
“Back off when I give you the chance. It’s not common for me, who follows the path of a great warrior, to acknowledge defeat.”
The red fighting spirit rising like haze from the Tyrant’s body spread out as if eroding the surroundings—
And the King standing at the center declared.
“With your swords and magic, you can never defeat me.”
* * *
Neither Jeremy nor I opened our mouths.
No, we couldn’t open our mouths.
The Tyrant’s fighting spirit was suppressing us.
“Kuhuk…….”
Jeremy was struggling not to bow his head, veins popping on his neck.
‘As expected, a King is a King.’
If I hadn’t fed him the World Tree leaf beforehand, he wouldn’t have even been able to lift his head.
‘Since it’s materialized fighting spirit, this is a problem for us too.’
The fighting spirit flowing from his body was eroding the surroundings with vivid color like Mireska’s mana.
Possessing materialized fighting spirit meant he was a strongman comparable to Mireska.
I had only decided to retreat due to a misconception; the Orc in front of my eyes was the King of a clan and one who stood at the apex of warriors with a single axe.
He scoffed, bursting into arrogant laughter.
“Bow down, and I will forgive your mistake.”
As the bastard took a step, the Sword Demon stepped forward as if to protect Jeremy.
“If you hand over that golem, I will let both of you go alive.”
When his voice rang out from above our heads.
I hurriedly sent a signal to Jeremy, who was lying down as if crawling.
‘Now, now!’
Jeremy, barely receiving the signal and lifting his hand, grinned and said.
“Fuck off.”
【Multi-casting: Air Bullet 5】
Five magic bullets shot from Jeremy’s hand flew precisely targeting the Shaman.
“These bastards dare!”
As the enraged Tyrant’s shout rang loudly through the forest, his fighting spirit wavered.
‘As expected! I knew there would be a limit!’
Common sense dictates that if he could use such suppression skills, he would have killed the Sword Demon first while using the suppression skill.
Taking advantage of the moment the fighting spirit barrier wavered, I grabbed Jeremy with one hand and threw myself.
“Wow! How did you know this again?! I thought we were dead meat!”
“I knew it from the moment that bastard started flapping his gums pretending to be solemn.”
The words are cheap, but this is a precious life lesson.
“The really strong guys don’t flap their gums.”
As we escaped the barrier eroded by his fighting spirit, the enraged Tyrant’s roar rang out noisily.
- Kuaaaaa! All, I will chew all of you up!
At the shout that made my heart sink, Jeremy, pale-faced, stammered and asked.
“Y-Young Master, are we really able to beat that monster?”
Ian, pondering how to answer that question, opened his mouth.
“It’s not ‘can we win’, but ‘we must win’, because there’s no tomorrow if we lose here.”
It’s impossible to win against a Legion possessing reason, and as long as the Tyrant is alive, his Royal Guard will fight blindly with reason.
“Still, rather than fighting such a monster, wouldn’t it be better to fight his Royal Guard…….”
“Even if Heaven helps and the Moner army barely wins, the Tyrant will realize first. That we don’t have much more than he thought.”
“Ah…….”
Our strategy is a bluff.
A pure and confident bluff.
All we have is the Special Mission Unit that just shed its rustic look and the Black Noble Troop, which is embarrassing to call a Knight Order.
If the Tyrant realizes this situation, sooner or later, he will target Moner again.
“It’s difficult even with just the Royal Guard, but with him too, there is no future.”
“I guess so…….”
Jeremy, sniffing, nodded with a resolute face.
“Then I’ll give it a try.”
“I’ll say it again, our role is to create opportunities. As long as he is protecting the Shaman, openings will appear.”
And I trust the Sword Demon.
If he holds out, eventually the Sword Demon will surely aim for an opening and succeed in attacking.
“Just ten times, we only need to succeed ten times like that.”
There wasn’t a bit of ease on Ian’s face as he said that.
* * *
Around the time Ian and the Moner army chose all-out war, the Royal Army surrounding Obsol faced a serious problem.
“General! Obsol, Merchen, Lyt are all empty!”
“Not a blade of grass, not a single dog remains in the farms and markets!”
“General, it’s a big problem! The food to supply immediately……!”
They only found out after arriving that Obsol, Merchen, and Lyt, which were supposed to handle supplies, were empty.
“How could this happen……!”
It was a huge blunder by the Royal Army.
Not only did they not inform the three domains beforehand to hide the fact that the Royal Army moved, but they didn’t even pack supplies properly to form the encirclement a day sooner.
“Send messengers to nearby domains!”
The General, grasping the situation, hurriedly sent messengers to nearby domains, but among the northern domains, not a single one opened its gates to the Royal Army.
The nobles who had to decide on the domain’s affairs had all gone to Moner for the expedition, and they had taken most of the surplus food as supplies.
The messengers who arrived at the northern domains through the cold north wind and snowstorm had to return with similar answers.
“General, Trianga says their heart to help the Royal Army is worth a thousand gold, but since all surplus troops and food went to Moner, they cannot help…….”
“Damn bastards!”
It was fortunate if they could even deliver words.
“We delivered the Royal Family’s letter to the Gort family, but they said they couldn’t open the gate because the master was absent.”
Following the message left by the nobles beforehand, most of the northern domains had locked their gates.
“These guys dare!”
“We must invade their domains immediately and show a lesson to those who ignored the Royal Family!”
“To not cooperate in a matter where the Royal Family’s fate is at stake, they deserve to be punished as an example!”
At the demands of the commanders unable to hold back their anger, the General, crumpling his face, shouted.
“Show a lesson? Punish as an example? Good! How do you plan to do that? With soldiers clutching their bellies from hunger, wading through snow to wage siege warfare?”
“Th-That is…….”
The General, sighing deeply at the commanders’ hesitant behavior, hit the desk and shouted.
“Also, where is the justification to threaten the northern domains? Like they said, aren’t the northern domains the ones who supported soldiers and food before the Royal Family? That support was insufficient? Have you thought about what will happen if that word spreads to the south?!”
At the fierce General’s roar, the commanders swallowed their words, shrinking their necks.
“Useless things! Even if we wage siege warfare right now, there is no guarantee we can get supplies when we need them, and even if we get supplies by threatening, it will remain as a stain on the Kingdom! Yet you suggest moving the Kingdom’s soldiers simply relying on power? And you call yourselves commanders of the Kingdom!”
Although the General didn’t explain separately, the commanders knew that the Royal Army gathered here solely for justification.
The justification that the Royal Family did their best to help Moner, but unfortunately couldn’t make it in time.
“We, we apologize.”
“But immediate supplies…….”
“Quiet! Stop talking nonsense and go out immediately to find a way!”
At the General’s fierce shout, the intimidated commanders left the tent as if fleeing.
The General, sitting in the empty tent, muttered quietly.
“Damn it, did the Moner family anticipate the Royal Army’s movement…….”
Laughing despondently, the General read the report once more.
“Unless they did, there’s no way they would have taken everything without leaving a single dog behind.”
From the moment he saw empty Obsol, he intuitively felt this mission had gone terribly wrong.
The fact that Obsol, which is geographically further south than Lier, evacuated to the more dangerous Lier meant they assumed an enemy more dangerous than Orcs might come up from the south.
“Hah…….”
And in the south lies the Royal Family.
“They were wary of the Royal Family from the start.”
Whether it was the choice of the three Count families or Moner, their choice was correct.
The Royal Army, including tens of thousands of cavalry, arrived to exterminate Moner and the three Count families.
“Nobles fearing the Royal Family more than the Orcs in front of them, and the Royal Family dispatching troops to kill such nobles…….”
Thinking this is exactly the typical appearance of a ruined kingdom, the General quickly shook his head to shake off the thoughts.
To him, the sword and shield of the Kingdom, thoughts were meaningless.
Even if it’s the wrong path, if his King wishes, he only walks silently.
‘Food is the immediate problem. Even if we request help from the Royal Family, we won’t be able to receive supplies in time.’
The General’s gaze, pondering for a long time while looking at the map, turned to the city, Lier.
The southernmost city of Moner, and where the three Count families are hiding.
‘Do we have no choice but to ask Lier for help?’
Since the three Count families are there, they would have stockpiled overflowing food.
‘Even if they are wary of us, they won’t be able to ignore us as long as we hold the Kingdom’s flag.’
The next day after the General made the decision.
The Royal Army surrounding the three Count families marched toward Lier.
It was the day Ian and the Moner army started the all-out war that they arrived at Lier.