Chapter 80: Too Incompetent (2)
Normally, when a civil war broke out in a nation, it was customary for it to beco a conflict between bloodlines.
Or, if there was an outstanding noble within the country, most cases flowed into treason under the na of revolution.
However, the civil war currently taking place in the Kingdom of Daon was of a different kind.
“Family Head, the Ragnar Family has moved.”
The head of the Tyless Empire First Legion, who had recently returned from the border of the Kingdom of Daon.
And Duke Luna, the Family Head of the wealthiest Luna Family, sat languidly in a chair.
With a captivating deanor, he ran a hand through his damp hair.
“The Continental Battlefield will fully support the Ragnar Family, Chief Administrator.”
“……I have never once doubted the Family Head’s decisions. However, this ti, I honestly do not understand. Ragnar is a family on the verge of ruin.”
There were many on the continent who did not know of the Ragnar Family.
To those who lived hand-to-mouth, ancient history was aningless knowledge, but not to nobles or mbers of royal families across nations.
Duke Luna let out a faint chuckle at the words of his Chief Administrator, who was also the Vice Master of the Continental Battlefield’s rchant guild.
He did not know.
What kind of monster was holding the line in Ragnar.
‘The idea that Master would be pushed back by the Daon royal family is nonsense. But there’s no need to go out of my way to tell him that.’
Duke Luna, who had been drying her dripping wet hair, stared straight at the Chief Administrator.
There was no need to reveal Kyle’s identity.
No matter what happened, Duke Luna had no intention of ever putting Kyle in a difficult position.
“Just follow.”
“……Yes, Family Head.”
The fact that news of the Ragnar Family’s movent had reached Duke Luna ant that it had also been conveyed to the imperial court.
There was a high likelihood that the imperial family would not move.
However, there was no chance that Emperor Adrian would remain still.
‘His Majesty will surely seek a way to aid Master, one way or another. He is not soone who fails to understand that, in order to deal with those who follow darkness, Master’s family must grow.’
The nesis of those who followed darkness was Ian Kylers.
That was a truth no one could refute.
The man who once stood at the pinnacle of the Tyless Empire was gone.
Now, only the ergence of a new radiant star remained.
“Do not question my decision.”
“I apologize.”
It was not known who truly owned the Continental Battlefield.
In the first place, the reason the Continental Battlefield was founded was because Ian Kylers created it to stop those who followed darkness.
Before anyone realized it, it had swallowed up the entire continent’s comrcial sphere.
Though the Luna Family currently managed it, they were not its owners.
The man called the Chief Administrator could not even et Duke Luna’s sharp gaze and lowered his head.
“Chief Administrator.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“Do not forget. The owner of the Continental Battlefield is not the Luna Family. We are rely agents entrusted with its managent.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
The Chief Administrator bowed his head and exited the room where Duke Luna was staying.
And at the sa ti that news of Ragnar’s movent reached the Luna Family.
Emperor Adrian also received a report.
“Your Majesty, it seems the Ragnar Family has moved.”
“Is that speculation, or certainty.”
“At present, it is speculation.”
At the report of the man wearing silver armor engraved with ornate patterns, Emperor Adrian’s gaze changed.
“Tell
why you ca to such a conclusion.”
“There is news that a massive monster army, numbering roughly sixty to seventy thousand, has descended upon the northern boundary. Who else could lure that many monsters?”
“They are not ordinary monsters, but monsters from the Monster Mountain Range.”
“It is said that the mountain range monsters are more than twice as strong as those that live in the continent’s interior. However, I believe even that is an underestimation.”
At his words that they were underestimated, Emperor Adrian nodded.
It was sothing evident even from the historical records preserved by the imperial family.
As a hegemonic empire of the continent, the Tyless Empire had desired to conquer the Monster Mountain Range, which had never once been subdued.
A massive force of five hundred thousand entered the mountains, yet only a few thousand managed to return alive.
After that incident, the Tyless Empire had no choice but to abandon its dream of subjugating the Monster Mountain Range.
“Twice? Ridiculous. The monsters of the mountain range are creatures that possess the innate ability to instinctively handle mana.”
“The Daon royal family will never be able to stop it. They will pay the price for forgetting the past and disregarding the Ragnar Family.”
At his words, Emperor Adrian rose from his seat and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Marquis Caschin.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Dispatch a portion of Silence to the Kingdom of Daon. Without anyone knowing, as discreetly as possible. That should be feasible, correct?”
“Of course.”
“Tell them to proceed without sparing any effort so that public opinion will fall into Ragnar’s hands.”
Silence was an organization composed of those assigned to special missions, usually deployed for reconnaissance or as spies within various nations.
At Emperor Adrian’s orders, he bowed his head.
Marquis Caschin was one of the very few individuals who, along with the Emperor, knew who Kyle truly was.
And in the empire left behind after Ian Kylers and Seros vanished, he was also a Master who had ascended as the foremost sword.
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
“The nesis of those who follow darkness, Kyle Ragnar, must completely seize control of the Kingdom of Daon.”
A faint smile spread across Emperor Adrian’s lips.
Deyra checked the state of the battle as she bound the sword’s hilt to her hand with cloth, her hands trembling.
Though an additional thirty thousand troops stationed in the rear had joined, the battle situation spiraled toward the worst.
Frankly, it was a miracle they were holding out at all.
‘Against monsters like these, Ragnar has guarded the North like an iron wall all this ti…….’
It was enough to make her lant.
Even the knights dispatched from the Royal Knights Order could not regain their footing.
‘What am I even doing right now…….’
Before Kyle Ragnar appeared, the greatest knight of the Kingdom of Daon had been Deyra herself.
The fact that an Exford top-tier knight could do no more than stall for ti against a wave of monsters was devastating.
“……We retreat.”
At the very least, they had to prevent the remaining forces from suffering catastrophic losses.
They needed to preserve as many troops as possible, if only to prepare for a proper siege within a fortress.
“Retreat! We can no longer hold!”
Only a single day had passed since they had held the Northern Boundary Line.
At Deyra’s decision to retreat, so of the forces that had been drawing the defensive line and holding out began to fall back.
As the troops withdrew one by one, Deyra did not retreat until the very end.
“Commander!”
As the troops were withdrawing in sequence, knights rushed urgently toward Deyra, who showed no intention of moving from her position.
However, they were blocked by monsters and could not advance forward.
“Save as many troops as possible while I hold them back!”
Swinging her sword at blinding speed, Deyra cleaved two Orcs in a single stroke.
Though she was struggling, she was not weak.
It was just that Kyle and the Special Operations Unit were absurdly strong.
While Deyra calmly executed her swordsmanship and held out against the monsters surrounding her on all sides, the retreat proceeded for all but a portion of the troops.
“You must withdraw for now! We’ll buy you ti to retreat!”
The ten knights who remained until the very end finally broke through and rushed to Deyra’s side.
At present, the only person capable of commanding the forces and planning for what ca next was Deyra alone.
The knights who had barely reached her side exchanged looks and nodded.
They had to take Deyra with them, even if by force.
If Deyra were to be injured in the current situation, there would be no future to plan for.
“Make sure the Commander survives, no matter what.”
“Let go of ! That’s an order!”
Ignoring Deyra’s command, two knights grabbed both of her arms and dragged her away.
In the anti, the remaining knights swiftly filled the gap.
“We fight to the very end! Do not retreat!”
The knight who had always assisted Deyra at her side shouted at the top of his lungs.
The Aura imbued in his sword flared fiercely.
Even if this place beca the end of his life, he felt no regret.
He had t a good commander.
The man who had given the only opportunity to soone who had nearly failed to beco a knight due to his status.
If he could end his life for that man, that was a knight’s pride and honor.
Deyra looked at his back with sorrow and shouted.
“Slo!”
Deyra tried to reach out with her trembling hand, but having exhausted all her strength, she could not shake off the knights gripping both her arms.
“You must live. That is what Adjutant Slo wanted!”
“Commander! If you insist on staying here, Adjutant Slo’s sacrifice will beco aningless!”
The knights tried to persuade Deyra, who was stubbornly holding on, their eyes bloodshot.
As Deyra was helplessly dragged away like that, Slo, who remained in her place, poured all his strength into swinging his sword.
While small monsters surrounded the knights and engaged in battle, a Troll as large as a house approached from behind, causing the ground to tremble.
At the sight of the blue-skinned Troll approaching, Slo gripped his sword with both hands.
‘The reason we were pushed back so badly…….’
No matter how nurous the monsters were, it made no sense for forty thousand regular troops to fail to hold out even for a single day.
The reason the Royal Army was pushed back was not because of the small monsters.
It was because of the large monsters that revealed an overwhelming presence among the small ones.
“……Do not be afraid! There’s no way the Commander will let our sacrifice be in vain!”
With those words, Slo kicked off the ground and charged toward the Troll.
The knights also advanced toward the Troll without fear, trying desperately to create an opening for Slo.
However, their movents did not work on the Troll.
The Troll raised the corner of its mouth as if mocking them and swung the tree it held in its hand.
“A tree like this is nothing!”
Slo swung his sword, pouring Aura into it.
Cutting down a tree was nothing to him.
His level was at the very end of Exford Beginner, and if his Aura reserves supported him, he was a capable warrior who could soon reach Exford Interdiate.
But instead of the sound of wood being cut, there ca the noise of tal colliding with tal.
Kka-gang—!
Not only did he fail to cut the tree, but Slo, who had been launched high into the air, was soon driven straight down into the ground.
“Khk……!”
Spitting out blood, Slo staggered as he tried to rise.
But the Troll moved faster than he could regain his senses.
Shiiiiiik—!
At the sight of the tree falling from above his head, Slo tightly shut his eyes.
Just before the tree swung by the Troll could crash down onto Slo’s head.
An arrow flew in from the sky, tracing a parabolic arc.
The arrow, which brushed past Slo’s side, pierced straight into the area around the Troll’s heart, where even Aura had failed to leave so much as a scratch.
Thud—!
The Troll, its heart pierced through, collapsed like an old tree.
From the arrow that claid the Troll’s life as a signal, a portion of the cavalry charged fiercely at the monsters from the direction of the northern land.
“Do not retreat—advance straight ahead!”
Behind the moving cavalry, Kyle set down his bow and revealed a cold gaze.
It was absurd.
Seeing those called knights unable to deal with even a single Troll was pathetic.
“To think they tried to subdue Ragnar when they can’t even handle one Troll.”
Harte, standing beside Kyle as he muttered, also shook his head.
He could not gauge exactly how much anger Kyle was feeling right now, but it seed greater disappointnt than rage.
“Great General, it seems the Royal Army has completely withdrawn.”
“I can see that myself. Have they still not realized that with fewer than a thousand troops, they can’t even buy ti?”
“……I believe it is a lack of experience.”
“This is not a lack of experience—it has gone beyond pathetic. To think they wear the crest of the royal knights with that level of skill.”
Even so, Kyle had expected them to hold out for at least a week.
But seeing them retreat after rely two days forced him into an uncharacteristic internal conflict.
“Great General…….”
“I’m wondering if we should just go back. Is this not a nation not even worth saving?”
“I would like that as well, but the mobilization of northern forces is already more than halfway complete.”
Kyle placed a hand on his forehead, shook his head, and started walking.
He had already made his decision and could not turn back.
“Too incompetent—far too incompetent.”
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