434

Episode 434 It's okay to just keep going like this (1)

Amelia snorted, not hiding her displeasure.

"Huh, you're going to lead the Northern Army and attack here?"

If he doesn't help, Jiselle will probably abandon the northern fortress and fight the barbarians first, so she can focus on fighting the rift.

If that happens, the damage to Ferdium will certainly be significant. Perhaps even the northern part of the territory, except for the area around the castle, could be eaten.

But if we bring in the Northern Army, we may be able to eventually close the cracks even if we suffer damage.

Then that crazy bastard would come and hit this place for not listening to his demands. He would do that all the time.

Amelia closed her eyes and brushed her hair back.

'bouncer.'

My stomach was seething.

You shouldn't be with Jiselle yet. That would only be doing good things for the Duke.

So, wasn't that why you were preparing to move east a long time ago?

Even now, helping him as Giselle requested was the best way.

I know that, but… … .

'You dare threaten me?'

Even though you know it's not right, it's human nature to want to hit someone on the back of the head.

Now Giselle was being forced to choose between fighting the barbarians or the northern army.

The justification was sufficient. Jisel was the commander of the Northern Army. He had negotiated with the royalist faction and left them alone, but this meant that he could no longer do so.

Amelia's eyes narrowed. This was the first time in her life that she had been threatened twice by the same guy.

As the atmosphere grew cold, Dark stammered and opened his mouth.

"Excuse me… I have something else to tell you."

I heard that Amelia's mood would definitely get worse if she saw the letter. There was a message to tell her afterward.

"What is it?"

Dark glanced at Amelia's words and said.

"Are you going to play along as Raul intended? … . Don't you have something else you want anyway? … . He said that if we get through this safely, he will give us strength when we move to the east."

Amelia's face hardened. It was clear that Giselle knew of her ambitions and plans. I don't know how she found out.

But it wasn't a bad deal. If you want to move east, you'll eventually have to use force. Even if you negotiate with the royalist faction, the other nobles won't stay still.

Dealing with each of them one by one is extremely tiring.

'… … You know me so strangely well.'

I guess he knew that if he just suffocated, he would think differently. How can he know himself so well?

Amelia's questions could not be answered since she did not know that Giselle was a regressor.

Amelia closed her eyes again. She needed time to gather her thoughts.

'Phew... ... '

I took a deep breath and calmly assessed the current situation. It felt bad to help Giselle, but it was dangerous to play along with Raoul's intentions.

'You can't just act based on your emotions.'

Raoul must have been convinced that he would not move, or that even if he did, he would not be able to stop the savage with his own abilities.

From the duchess' point of view, she was just a lucky woman who had acquired the land thanks to Harold.

'It's about time I showed it to you.'

Even though she succeeded in usurping the throne, there was still a prejudice that she was just a noble daughter. Most nobles still looked down on her.

I was trying to build my reputation from the Eastern Front, but it wouldn't hurt to start a little early.

And the second reason.

'All cracks must be dealt with.'

He himself had no intention of owning a post-apocalyptic world ruled by monsters. He had no intention of joining hands with some crazy Salvation Church.

In order to close the gap, the Northern Army will ultimately have to be more active.

'I can't help it.'

Amelia, who had gathered her thoughts, opened her eyes and spoke to Dark.

"Tell Giselle."

"yes."

"I'll dance with your sword just this once."

"What do you mean? Are you coming or not? If you're dancing with swords, do you mean you're going to fight our master? Tell me straight."

"… … ."

It seemed that this spirit was lacking in many things, including sociality.

Amelia gestured sideways with an annoyed expression.

"map."

As one of the men brought the map, Amelia pointed to a spot and spoke to Dark.

"Watch carefully and tell them. I will be holding back the barbarians here. This is the entrance to the northern territory."

"yes."

"… … I'll hold them off, so tell them to send a small force to attack from behind. I don't intend to suffer any losses by going it alone. Do you understand?"

Giselle didn't tell Amelia any strategy, because she believed she would know what to do.

Amelia quickly visualized the situation in her head and formulated a strategy. She thought that if she just said this, Giselle would understand.

Although the two people did not get along well, it was possible because they recognized each other's abilities.

Dark nodded. If he just relays what I say, his job is done.

The negotiation was successful. Dark broke free of Bernap's grasp, bowed his head, and put some distance between them.

Dark slowly approached the door and shouted.

"You insolent bastards! I will definitely curse you! Just wait and see! Especially you, cat! Know that I will definitely avenge today's humiliation!"

Hah!

"hi!"

As Bastet stood up, Dark said goodbye and quickly left.

"… … ."

Everyone in Daejeon, including Amelia, fell into silence.

A guy who blackmailed his fiancée into giving him money, a strange general who took a bribe of 1 gold each, even a crazy spirit. In any case, there were no normal people in Fenris.

It's still hard to believe that those guys swept through the kingdom and took the title of strongest in the North.

Amelia sighed, stood up, and spoke to Conrad.

"Get moving right now. I think time is running out."

"All right."

The Leipold Army was already prepared to move at any time. It would not be difficult to go out immediately.

Amelia decided to take this opportunity to finish the internal work she had been neglecting.

She gave separate, secret instructions to the leader of the lynx smuggling ring, Caleb.

"Take care of it. Got it?"

"Please leave it to me."

Kalev smiled bitterly and lowered his head.

Amelia let out a small sigh. She felt a little better after making the decision. She was still uncomfortable, but she had no intention of moving from the board that Raoul had laid out.

"I need to get some air."

My head started to hurt a little, whether it was because Dark was talking too loudly or because he was thinking too much.

Amelia came outside and turned her head to look at the northern sky.

For a very long time.

* * *

Zwalter looked serious as he watched the blue fog approaching the fortress from afar.

Fog filled the horizon. There was no end in sight.

"How can it grow so big?"

I've heard that the more abundant the energy of Mother Nature is, the faster the cracks expand.

The land in the north has few artificial structures and little natural damage, so the energy of Mother Nature is probably more abundant than in other places.

But the expansion rate was so fast that it was incomprehensible even though we knew the reason.

And the area of that rift would soon cover this place.

Zwalter spoke to Randolph, who was standing next to him.

"The barbarians will not miss this opportunity."

"Yes. When the battle with the rift begins, we will definitely take a detour and go north."

"That guy did something crazy."

"What a crazy kid. To do something like that while joining hands with the Salvation Church."

"Is this how it ends up?"

Zwalter made a bitter expression. Waroka's greed had brought about something out of the ordinary.

How many tribesmen were sacrificed to create that rift? What good was the power gained through that?

Zwalter couldn't understand that lust for power and could only shake his head.

"What about Giselle?"

"I will be there soon."

"Yeah. We need to close that crack to clear out the savages."

Ferdium has become much stronger than before.

Food and equipment were produced in abundance, and the number of knights and soldiers increased greatly. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is now at the level of a great territory.

Still, the crack could not be stopped. Eventually, Giselle's army would have to come to stop the crack.

"Did the savages say Amelia would stop them?"

"Yes, news just arrived that troops have been moved from Leipold."

"Thank goodness. That kid can move on his own."

It was true that relations had become quite strained after Count Leipold, who had been their ally, was ousted from his position.

After Amelia rebelled, talk of marriage was dropped. The vassals insisted that they could not allow such a fearsome woman to become the daughter-in-law of the Ferdium family.

So we barely had any communication, but I never thought we would take action in this crisis.

"Yeah, that kid is from the North too. That's right."

I don't know how Giselle convinced him, but Zwalter, who had been watching Amelia since she was a child, was happy to help.

"We must do our best to deal with the rift. It won't be easy for Amelia to stop that many savages on her own."

The battle with the rift is the priority. Amelia just needs to hold out while the rift is dealt with.

Ferdium had already gathered all his troops and prepared. The 10,000 reinforcements and weapons sent by the General of Fenris had also arrived.

Because the distance was not far, they were able to arrive faster than the mobile force in the west.

The blue fog was advancing towards the fortress by the second. At this rate, it would cover the fortress in less than a week.

All the troops in the fortress just watched tensely. Unfortunately, there was not a single person here who had experience fighting cracks.

'Damn, rumor has it there's 500,000 in there... ... .'

'Can we really stop it with our own strength?'

'If that much sleep were to just fall on us, wouldn't the fortress collapse?'

'They say this is all because of Skoban... ... That kid was a bit uneasy.'

Everyone was a little scared because they had heard so much about the dangers of cracks.

The unknown enemy is scary. Everyone was slowly becoming consumed by fear.

It was dangerous for morale to drop before a battle, but Zwalter didn't bother to encourage his men.

'Fenris' eyes are different.'

Unlike Ferdium, who looked a little scared, Fenris seemed to be expecting something.

Of course, they were also very nervous, but their fear was not great.

Zwalter also waited quietly because he knew the reason.

Indeed, the atmosphere changed completely a few days later when Jiselle arrived.

"The Archduke has arrived!"

"Our lord has come!"

"The Fenris Mobile Force has arrived!"

Clank, clank, clank.

As Giselle and his entourage and the mobile force entered the fortress, people's faces lit up with joy.

Fenris was an undefeated army. Giselle, who led them, could be called an undefeated monarch.

Since he had already removed numerous cracks, my morale naturally went up.

"father."

Giselle stood before Zwalter and bowed her head slightly. Zwalter looked around at his son and his entourage with a pleased smile.

Belinda slightly lowered her eyes to avoid Zwalter's gaze. Her ambition to leave herself behind and make her son the Archduke of the North was not so blatant.

Zwalter said, putting his hand on Giselle's shoulder.

"Please take command."

"All right."

The conversation was short. Zwalter had no intention of stepping forward to lead the action himself as before.

The son has already proven his abilities more than enough.

If it were a different situation, it might be different, but the fight against the cracks should be led by Jiselle. Everyone would want that.

Jiselle climbed up to the fortress and raised her hand.

And he spoke to everyone in a powerful tone.

"All troops, prepare for battle."

"Wow!"

Even though it was just that one word, the soldiers cheered.

The belief that you can win. That was the most powerful strength that Giselle gave me.

The soldiers took their positions. Fenris's forces placed 100 galvanium catapults on the fort.

Squeak… … .

Dozens of catapults prepared by Ferdium were also placed behind the fortress walls.

The two territories scraped together everything they had built so far. This was enough to instantly burn down any territories.

Knock knock knock.

The ten large ballistae atop the fort finished loading.

The 100 magicians and 80 priests who followed the mobile force also took up positions in a safe place on top of the fortress.

By the time we finished preparing, the blue fog had already come quite close.

It may be a bit far to see with the naked eye, but it is close enough for a catapult attack to reach.

Kaaaah!

The screams of the Crackers could be heard from all directions.

The soldiers swallowed dry saliva and waited for orders with tense expressions.

Jiselle also had no intention of waiting for the blue fog to cover this place and for the Crackers to cling to it.

He stretched out his hand and gave an order.

"Shoot."

"Shoot!"

As the knights repeated their orders, the catapults fiercely hurled stones.