The night when the blessing of darkness descended.
A chilly night without even moonlight enveloped the walls and the plains; it was a dreary hour when even wild animals and monsters held their breath.
The tightly closed gate opened silently.
Within the castle, which had already beco the realm of the dead, a group of shadows slowly erged onto the plain.
Glowing red eyes stared silently into the darkness.
They were on guard against uninvited guests.
“…”
But nothing was visible around them. Only then did the group of ghouls begin to move quickly, keeping their presence quiet.
They had only one purpose.
It was to repay the humiliation suffered by God and make Him the complete master of this world.
The Everan Kingdom’s army’s position was captured in the eyes of the ghoul leader.
As he gave instructions with a gesture, those who followed him split into several groups and dispersed silently.
So of his subordinates followed him.
‘Tonight is the night…’
They would utterly eliminate any foes daring to stand in their way and pave the path forward to the next stage.
The area he was in charge of was gradually getting closer.
Even though they were getting quite close, the enemy stronghold remained eerily quiet. It seed they hadn’t yet noticed the surprise attack.
“The darkness is on our side. Never make a mistake.”
With a command that rang out like clashing steel, he drew a magic stone etched with summoning spells from within his cloak.
They were helpless last ti, so this ti too, they would be powerless and trampled by the power of darkness.
Just when he was about to be certain of victory…
Sothing sparkling in the darkness caught his eye.
‘What?’
At that mont, he frowned slightly.
Thud!
Without warning, a heavy arrow flew through the air and pierced the leader’s head
Crash.
As his skull shattered instantly and he collapsed lifelessly, those who had been following him froze in shock and confusion.
“What, what happened?”
Even if his head exploded, his body wouldn’t die. His body, seemingly resentful of losing its head, clenched its fists and tried to raise its torso.
However…
“Pathetic. Just a bunch of sluggish rejects.”
A silvery frost as cold as the voice that suddenly rang out swept across their vision.
That was the last mont the miracle soldiers could rember.
As soon as the enemies froze, Arthur and Richt’s swords naturally followed, flashing with the gleam of moonlight.
Clang!
Before they could trade even a handful of blows, the enemies had already turned into shattered blocks of ice, falling to the ground with dull thuds.
As he sheathed his blade, now covered in pale frost, Arendt exhaled sharply.
“What a pathetic joke.”
The narcissistic darkness takes no one’s side.
Only the stronger one would win.
“These are the magic stones used for summoning.”
Richt, who was rummaging through the ice shards, picked up a magic stone. There were five magic stones recovered in total. It seed each person had one.
Arthur, who had gathered up all the remaining ones, looked at Richt.
“I think this is all.”
“How underwhelming.”
Arendt kicked a piece of ice that was rolling on the floor.
“Let’s head back. They must be quite confused, too.”
His gaze was directed towards the castle gate visible beyond the darkness.
The necks, shriveled and withered, swayed helplessly in the cold night wind.
First, Salem uses spirits to locate the enemies, then the first strikes are from Llewellyn’s artifact and Shekhinah’s magic, and then the waiting knights and warriors finish them off.
It was a perfect match.
Ludwin was speechless watching those who had annihilated the lord’s forces and dealt a heavy blow to the reinforcents who had attempted to oppose them fall helplessly.
And the knights who perford such miraculous deeds were calm.
“It seems they haven’t yet figured out that the Empire has sent reinforcents.”
Arendt, who had returned, shrugged.
“It looks like they were planning to approach stealthily and release ghouls around here… If they had known the leader was here, they wouldn’t have resorted to such a sloppy move.”
“…”
Ludwin was dumbfounded as he watched Arendt speak calmly.
If they had been even just one day late, Ludwin’s forces might have been trampled without rcy.
Thinking about it made his spine tingle, but the fact that the outco had changed so much just because reinforcents from the Caerleon Empire had joined was so absurdly disheartening.
‘Captain Laius didn’t even co forward.’
It was such a difference.
It was so absurd that he felt like he would fall into a sense of helplessness if he let his guard down even for a mont.
But Llewellyn seed to be used to this situation.
“By the way, those guys showed up with sothing strange again.”
Llewellyn clicked his tongue as he looked at the magic stones inside the box.
Shekhinah warned them.
“I’ve applied a sealing spell in a hurry, but it could be dangerous, so I advise against touching them. It would be better to transport them to the Count’s laboratory as is.”
“If I activate this, all the ghouls will co pouring out at once, right?”
Shekhinah nodded at Llewellyn’s question.
“Yes. They’re engraved with a large-scale summoning spell. These aren’t ordinary magic stones; they appear to have been crafted in a similar way to the fake spirit stones.”
Unlike ordinary magic stones, these had a bright red glow.
Salem nodded, frowning slightly.
“Yes. These sll bloody too. Luna and Ray also find them unsettling.”
“Can they be destroyed?”
Shekhinah showed an ambiguous expression in response to Laius’ question.
“Well… it’s uncertain. If we act rashly, the summoning magic might be triggered, but it might be possible to destroy them with the Holy Sword.”
“Since there is always a one in a million chance, isn’t it better not to take unnecessary risks?”
As Salem spoke anxiously, Laius nodded.
“What Lord Salem says is correct. If so, let’s store it within the barrier created by Count Stadler and dispose of it safely later. Arendt.”
“Yes. As soon as the eting is over, I will set up a barrier with my seniors.”
Arendt nodded dryly, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Brother.”
Ludwin, who had been listening blankly, suddenly ca to his senses at the sound of Llewellyn’s voice calling him.
“Oh, yes. I’m listening.”
“I would like a place to store those items. Preferably sowhere separate from the soldiers’ living quarters, just to be safe.”
Llewellyn, who had no way of knowing Ludwin’s thoughts, asked innocently. Only then did Ludwin regain his composure and nod.
“Let’s do that. I’ll empty out a warehouse. I might need it later.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Laius bowed.
Then Llewellyn brought up the next topic naturally.
“By the way… As Arendt said earlier, the enemy is too weak. There’s no way they wouldn’t have anticipated the arrival of support.
“Rather, it is more likely that they rushed it.”
Then Arendt answered bluntly.
“It looks like they were planning to first attack this barrack with a minimal force, then seize the surrounding territories before reinforcents arrived. But we arrived much sooner than they expected.”
“The main force is probably still inside the castle, preparing for the attack.”
Laius also nodded slightly and added.
“They were planning to head straight for the next territory, but… if they soon realize that sothing has happened here, they’ll probably advance towards our base.”
“…Then, will you fight here?”
As Ludwin’s face hardened, Laius answered calmly.
“Yes, we will. We will face the enemy and fight.”
“But if the enemies know that the captain is here, they will also be cautious.”
Arendt nodded at Laius.
“There’s probably no one on the other side who can stop this man right now. And it wouldn’t be a very appealing thing for the enemy to completely deplete their homunculi.”
“You gesture at the captain like that in front of the prince, Arendt.”
“From what I’ve seen, it seems like it takes quite a bit of work to make a homunculus.”
Arendt continued to speak, completely ignoring the captain’s remarks.
“But if they run off in all directions, it’ll only be a bother to us…”
“If possible, it’s better to lure them this way. You know what I an?”
Llewellyn took Arendt’s words and said:
“No one worthy of being called a commander has appeared yet, but Jiklin will surely appear sooner or later… It’s better to resolve this before then. Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“Well, you got about half of it right.”
Arendt shrugged.
“But it’s not a hassle to lure them on purpose, and there’s no need to waste ti waiting.”
“…There’s still so ti left until the sun rises.”
Laius, who had been listening quietly, checked the ti. He had already figured out what Arendt was trying to say.
“Prince Ludwin. How many troops are available for imdiate action?”
“Huh? That’s… I’ve supplented my troops since I ca here, and since we haven’t engaged in a proper battle yet, you can assu we’re in good shape.”
Ludwin, who had been absentmindedly following the conversation, gave an answer in a daze. Arendt nodded indifferently.
“Good. Then let’s move at sunrise. There’s still a couple of hours left, so shouldn’t that be enough ti to prepare for deploynt?”
Arendt looked back and forth between Ludwin and Laius.
“Perhaps this is our last chance. I’m only an apprentice knight, so the decision is up to you two, the commanders.”
“Last chance? Ah.”
Ludwin, confused, suddenly realized sothing and let out an exclamation.
“If we don’t do it now, we may not be able to rescue the survivors inside, brother.”
Llewellyn spoke forcefully, as if to confirm his guess.
After all, from the very beginning, Arendt and them were talking with the rescue of the survivors inside as their top priority.
Shekhinah added more.
“The mont the mbers of the Sword of the Broken Heart join, it will beco sowhat difficult to carry out the rescue operation.”
“Okay.”
Ludwin nodded with a stern expression. As the conversation flowed, Salem cautiously stepped forward.
“Well, then I’ll send Luna and Ray back to inspect the castle again. Of course, with the permission of Captain Laius and Prince Ludwin.”
“…”
Laius just looked at Ludwin, as if he didn’t need to be told twice.
Things were progressing at breakneck speed. If Ludwin himself simply nodded, they would imdiately begin the operation to rescue the people of the territory.
“…I will prepare the soldiers and knights.”
“We must deploy within two hours. We’ll launch a surprise attack here before the main force moves.”
Laius gave a strong command.
“Lady Shekhinah and Prince Llewellyn, please move together, focusing on providing cover. I will leave the placent of the elf archers to Lady Shekhinah.”
“Understood.”
As Shekhinah nodded, Laius directed Arendt.
“And Arendt. You, Arthur, rush inside with Richt and rescue the people. I will lead the knights and deal with the enemies.”
“Yes.”
“And while we are digging inside, Your Highness, please move your soldiers to surround the castle and intercept any who try to escape.”
Following Arendt’s dry nod, Laius spoke to Ludwin.
“And when Arendt rescues the people and get them out, Your Highness would imdiately protect them. Is that possible?”
“…”
Ludwin fell silent for a mont.
At this point, he had no choice but to admit it.
These were geniuses he couldn’t compare to, and they clearly had the qualifications of being heroes.
And his youngest brother, who was considered a fool and a rascal, blended in with them naturally.
He himself dared not order Llewellyn to step down.
“Of course, Captain Laius.”
A sowhat stiff voice ca from the prince.
It was a mont of awakening.
He realized that it was not Llewellyn, but rather himself, who might beco a burden.
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