Chapter 646: 649. Powerlessness
Lann answered no Kuhorn’s questions with composure.
He even took out an oiled cloth from the alchemy pouch at his waist and gently wiped the broad blade of the "Turbid Stream," cleaning it thoroughly.
"You seem to... not intend to kill ."
no Kuhorn spoke woodenly, as if he had lost the ability to express emotions. Not nervous, not angry... just wooden.
"Lann of Sintra, I destroyed your country. So? Aren’t you planning to do sothing?"
The Demon Hunter’s hand paused in its wiping motion, but then resud smoothly.
"I initially wanted to explain that I’m not from this country, that the na was initially just for convenience. But then I thought, I’ve done much for this country, and legally, I even hold a title here, so the na seems appropriate."
"But you say ’I’m not planning to do anything’?"
The Demon Hunter’s cat-like eyes shifted slightly, scrutinizing the Niflgaard Marshal kneeling on the ground.
"I’ve already defeated you; your war has essentially failed. What’s left is just to complete the process of defeat."
Lann slowly raised the "Turbid Stream," its blunt tip nearing no Kuhorn’s helt.
The sword was so broad that even its slow movent stirred a faint whooshing sound.
With a ’click,’ the tip of "Turbid Stream" rested against the Marshal’s helt, and Lann eased up slightly, so that part of the sword’s weight forced no Kuhorn’s head to bow low.
Even in his numbed state, the Marshal’s body began to shiver instinctively.
His mind might have been temporarily shocked into abnormality, but his body rembered... it rembered what this sword had done!
His bodily response was beyond ntal control.
"Yet I will spare your life and allow you to return to Niflgaard, Marshal no Kuhorn."
The Demon Hunter calmly declared his decision.
And the mont this was announced, no Kuhorn stopped trembling.
He mustered all his strength, the grating sound of tal as he defiantly pushed up against his helt, inching the tip of "Turbid Stream" upward, locking eyes with Lann.
"You wish to humiliate ? Humiliate my honor?!"
His eyes were no longer wooden but bloodshot with fury.
"If you send
ho burdened with infamy, you’d do better to kill
here! Do it!"
He appeared almost furious enough to leap from the ground and charge at Lann.
No matter how he struggled, Lann’s steady hand kept the "Turbid Stream" pressed against his helt.
As his grip relaxed, no Kuhorn was again forced to bow his head.
"I didn’t ask for your opinion, loser."
Lann gazed down at the body shivering under the weight of a massive helt.
"It’s not out of mockery or so damned noble sentint that I’m sparing you. You should understand: I’m sparing you because I hope you’ll be of use."
"Don’t misunderstand, I’ve never expected you to be so spy; that would be a waste for soone like you."
"It’s kind of funny, really. I’m sparing you only because you’re one of the rational few left in the Niflgaard Army."
"What are you talking about?"
no Kuhorn seed to understand, yet did not want to. He asked incredulously.
"Look at the corpses scattered around. What choices did they wish to make in life? They gambled with fifty thousand of your Empire’s lives hoping for a glorious future!"
Lann said coldly.
"Going rogue, losing control, usurping power... whatever you call it. Your army is bordering on madness, no Kuhorn. What won’t the high-ranking officers do for rit, for status?"
"I know the expansion of the Niflgaard Empire won’t stop, and I know it’s delusional to think of toppling a stable empire in a short period."
"But now I’m letting you go, hoping that you, one of the few sane ones, will lend so sanity to your army when it’s needed. At least when they want to do things less human... you can use your status and prestige to temper them."
"Or at least, you should exert your influence at ho and tell them... I’m watching, and what I’m capable of."
The weight pressing on the helt was lifted.
no Kuhorn raised his aching neck, strained by the burden, trying hard to glimpse the figure gradually fading away into the withered woods.
"And what about our n? Fifty thousand! Fifty thousand families!"
"It’s up to their luck. If they can survive the rout, so be it; if they die, they die, that’s all. You live because you’re useful, they were just criminals in war. Besides, to talk about family when facing punishnt for their deeds... it’s absurd, disgusting. Don’t make
puke, Marshal."
no Kuhorn’s iron-gloved fingers dug deep into the ground’s humus, unwilling yet afraid.
He had one more question.
Wasn’t Lann worried that after he returned, bringing this brand new communication system into the army’s upper echelons, he would beco a troubleso enemy?
The potential of this communication system, though it had only co to him less than a day ago, he could already sense, thanks to his war instincts, the limitless possibilities within it!
Wasn’t Lann afraid he’d realize this potential, backed by the whole empire’s system and foundation?
Yet as the words ford, no Kuhorn opened his mouth, but never spoke them, even as Lann faded into the withered woods.
Because he knew the answer within; he just didn’t want to admit it.
That Demon Hunter only wished for him to maintain discipline and operational style in the future operations of the Niflgaard Army. And the subsequent increase in combat effectiveness...
He didn’t care at all!
Even if the Niflgaard Army grew stronger, it seed of no consequence to him.
"It wasn’t supernatural powers that led him to the command post... it wasn’t... didn’t relate to those things..."
no Kuhorn knelt on the ground with his head bowed, murmuring vacantly.
He mumbled a truth he had just realized.
As the top strategist and tactician of the Niflgaard Army, he could still maintain basic logical thinking.
Just now, the Demon Hunter said, "It wasn’t hard to deduce your retreat path."
Based on this, aligning with the Demon Hunter’s bizarre performances in the previous battles, he concluded—
Lann’s tracking ability had nothing with the so-called supernatural; it was pure, terrifying battlefield intuition!
But this answer was more despairing for no Kuhorn than supernatural powers.
Supernatural abilities could still be countered, confronted; but how could one target intuition, based on a person’s fundantal skillset?
Unless your intuition was stronger than his! Significantly stronger!
In the past few hours, he had used the communication system he built to toy with two seasoned, talented Northern Kings like children!
But simultaneously, that Demon Hunter was turning their entire command post into a playground with severely limited information!
no Kuhorn realized... the unparalleled gap, and the powerlessness it birthed.
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