Episode 568: Would you like to play with me for a bit? (1)

Julian quickly discovered the 5th Legion of the Arthrodians, who were also coming this way to link up with the 6th Legion.

No words were needed. Julian, as always, rushed in alone and began slaughtering his enemies.

Swish!

"Kwaaah!"

A priest confidently charged in and was beheaded.

Julian turned his head. In his experience so far, there was no way there could be only one priest.

however....

Boom!

A priest was running away at an incredible speed. He was moving so fast that he had already gained a considerable distance.

He was Flaccus, who had fled from the Kingdom of Ruthania.

Flaccus recognized Julian the moment he saw him, and made his decision in a matter of seconds.

'He's rumored to be on par with the Duke of Fenris. I can't win if I fight him now!'

Since his ordeal in Ruthania, Flaccus had become familiar with the portraits of his fellow superhumans and had memorized information about them.

The information helped him make rational decisions.

'Count Palant and Count Balzac of the Kingdom of Ruthania were also killed by the Duke of Fenris. Why should I fight someone of their equal? Someone like Lord Gator should come.'

He rationalized it that way. He briefly considered fighting, but no matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible.

The fact that we had encountered the enemy here meant that something was wrong. The number of troops was also much smaller.

It would have been better to run away and spread the news.

Flaccus ran as fast as he could, only turning his head briefly to check.

'Shit! I knew it!'

The friendly priest's head was cut off with a single stroke. He decided not to look back anymore.

I decided to run forward unconditionally and never look back like a man.

Count Poleno, commander of the 5th Army Corps, looked incredulous.

"What, what is this…...."

They were moving to link up with the 6th Army Corps, to seize the enemy supply route and intercept additional troops.

But then I suddenly had to fight an army that appeared. At first, I didn't think much of it.

I just thought I had caught the tail by chance.

Although the number was smaller, there were superhumans on this side, so they were confident enough.

But one of the two priests who were running forward suddenly turned around and started running away.

This is a priest who always acted confidently and made fun of his enemies.

As he watched with a bewildered expression, the remaining priest's neck fell off with shocking ease.

And then the massacre began.

Swish!

"Eww!"

No one could stop the one who was approaching. Everyone who rushed at him was knocked out.

Count Poleno, who was supposed to be in command, was already out of his mind. He was so confused that he was wondering if he was dreaming.

Do strategy and tactics make sense in the face of such overwhelming force?

'Oh, no. We can't do this. Stronger superhumans need to come. We need more troops.'

We lost the superhumans too quickly. We had few troops, and we couldn't win without the superhumans.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As the enemy cavalry followed suit, the 6th Corps of the Arthrodites fell with astonishing ease.

Count Poleno had to watch his men die.

And then, suddenly, a man appeared in front of him.

Looking at that expressionless face, I thought I knew who it was.

"Turian's…...."

Slash!

Before he could finish speaking, Julian's sword cut off Count Poleno's head.

With their commander dead, the remaining troops of the 5th Corps scattered in all directions and began to flee.

The battle was over in a flash, thanks to the absolute power of Julian.

To really stop him, it would take more advanced superhumans and more troops.

"Next...."

Julian let out a shallow sigh.

It was extremely rare for him to let out a sigh. It was the result of a tremendous march, with no effort spared to reduce the casualties of the allies.

In fact, he had lost quite a bit of mana. If anything, his strength was that it never showed on the outside.

Julian asked, looking at Dark who had grown steadily stronger.

"What about Ghislain?"

"He is moving."

"I've taken care of everything. What do I do now?"

Then Dark closed his eyes and remained still for a moment. He was talking to Ghislain through his consciousness.

Soon Dark whispered something to Julien. Julien nodded after hearing Dark's words.

"Okay, let's do that."

The troops that followed Julian rested for a day and then began to move somewhere again.

***

Count Biffenveld, commander of the 1st Corps of the Artrode Army, was in a dilemma.

"I haven't heard from them regularly."

Although the legions were divided to increase mobility, in reality, two legions were assigned to one area and were moving together.

The 5th and 6th Corps, the 7th and 8th Corps, the 9th and 10th Corps.

These three groups of legions spread out as widely as possible and moved.

Their mission was to cut off enemy supply lines and intercept additional troops.

The hidden mission is to receive information from spies and reduce the Allied forces' strength and morale.

"It was definitely going as planned in the beginning…...."

Just recently, he received word that the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Corps had destroyed two Allied corps.

It's been quite some time since then. Their new message should have arrived by now.

He had them constantly send out messengers to inform them of the strategic situation while moving. They sent them even when nothing happened.

So, even though it was a little late, he was trying to figure out what was going on.

"But I haven't heard anything…...."

Information comes in very slowly on the battlefield, so you have to guess and judge based on the current situation.

Count Biffenveld, who had been pondering, suddenly laughed.

"We got hit."

He was rather waiting for the contact to be lost.

I heard that the Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian had begun their pursuit. If they had actually moved, it would have been natural for contact to be lost.

Count Biffenveldt couldn't stop laughing.

"This strategy is finally coming to fruition."

The battlefield that the Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian headed to was quite far from the main Ruthanian force.

This was exactly what he had hoped for.

In fact, even blocking the supply route and blocking additional troops was a deceptive operation. He deceived the strategic objective in order to use even his own forces as bait.

To Count Biffenveldt, it was only important that the two men move away from the main force.

Because the real goal of this war was to separate them both from the main force and kill them.

For that purpose, the remaining four legions were just waiting in other areas.

But one question still remains.

"Why were three places affected?"

There was no contact whatsoever from the 9th and 10th Corps. Not even regular contact, let alone news of the battle.

It is impossible for the Duke of Fenris or the Prince of Turian to have dealt with these two legions. This means that these two legions were dealt with by others.

But as far as he knew, aside from the Ruthanian army, the only remaining legion was the one led by Margrave Gideon of Turian.

"Marquis Gideon isn't a bad commander, but…...."

Margrave Gideon cannot afford to sustain the 9th and 10th Legions without the Turian Prince.

So who the hell was dealing with them?

Count Biffenveldt was again troubled. The spy had never mentioned any other Allied legions.

But what if the Duke of Fenris discovered the spy's true identity during the first battle and launched a counterattack?

'You already figured it out ...Does that mean he was suspicious from the beginning?'

That's most likely. They would have dealt with the 9th and 10th Corps that had been caught in the counterattack.

The question is who did it.

"no way...."

Count Biffenveldt, who had been pondering, came up with an answer.

"The Ruthanian army has moved!"

It is certain. The Ruthanian army is now divided into two.

Even though they were split in half, their fighting power was enormous. It was clear that one of them had moved.

So whichever way the Duke of Fenris moves, he can take care of one thing.

"The best move in this situation is…...."

Count Biffenbelt thought long and hard before making a decision. It was a very bold move, slightly altering the existing strategy.

"Contact the remaining legions."

His orders began to be relayed quickly.

"The 3rd Legion, go to the area where the 5th and 6th Legions were. Find the Duke of Fenris or the Turian Prince somehow and buy us time. Kill them if you can."

"The 2nd and 4th Legions, go to where the 7th and 8th Legions were. There will be the Duke of Fenris or the Prince of Turian here too. They must be killed."

"Contact the spy. His identity has been discovered, so he must join our side."

Count Biffenveldt said with shining eyes.

"We will attack the Ruthanian army headquarters as quickly as possible."

Originally, he planned to move with the 3rd Legion, as he was determined to kill either the Duke of Fenris or the Prince of Turian.

But strategies need to change depending on the situation.

"The current situation is the best that could have been expected."

Either the Duke of Fenris or the Prince of Turian must die. The pursuing force alone cannot possibly defeat two legions.

The remaining main force now has at least four superhumans in each legion, as they have called in priests from other regions while attacking the Kingdom of Grimwell.

Aiden and Leonard, who were with them, were also stronger superhumans than anyone else.

"No matter how strong the Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian are, they won't be able to withstand that."

The same was true for the Ruthanian army. There were quite a few known superhumans besides the two, but if the Ruthanian army itself had been divided into two, the superhumans would have been divided as well.

Split in half, they could never stand a chance against Gathros and the Proests, which was the largest in number.

There were six priests in the 1st Legion that he led, including the most powerful priest, Gatros.

If you join the army led by the spy, you can gain an advantage in terms of troops.

"If that happens, half of the Ruthanian army will disappear. The Duke of Fenris and the Prince of Turian will also disappear."

With the remaining troops, we can no longer face this side. If we confront them head-on, we will be able to win an overwhelming victory.

The enemy took the bait properly. It was a fight they could not afford to lose.

You must move before the pursuing enemy forces rejoin you.

"Get ready! We're going out right away!"

The 1st to 4th legions were comprised entirely of elite cavalry. They were faster than any other legion.

You're a fair distance away from the battlefield, trying to coordinate the situation, but if you run at full speed you should be able to get there in no time.

It was easy to predict where the stationary Ruthanian army's stronghold was.

"Those closer to the area where the 9th and 10th Corps were must have moved. Then there's only one place left."

Just as the four legions were about to depart according to orders.

Suddenly, the space in front of Count Biffenveld began to shake violently.

"hmm?"

"It's dangerous!"

Gatros, who was standing next to him, extended his hand to block the front of Bifenbelt.

At that moment, someone jumped out of the space and unleashed a powerful magical force.

Boom!

The magical power that collided with Gatros's aura spread out in all directions. It was as if the magical power was deliberately aimed at the surrounding area.

The superhuman priests easily blocked the magical power. The high-level escort knights were pushed back with a considerable amount of shock, but were not seriously injured.

But the weak staff members could not withstand the sudden attack.

Thud!

The unprotected staff members simply burst into flames and died.

Gatros frowned. A young man appeared and was grinning brightly.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, my name is Jerome. I work for the Ruthanian Army ...no, I'm an advisor to the Magical Corps."

Jerome, who had briefly shown a gloomy expression, quickly smiled again. It was better to quickly forget the difficult memories.

Those nearby opened their eyes wide. Just as they were about to attack the Ruthanian army, a wizard from that side appeared.

Gatros said with a sneer on his face.

"Your mana circle is quite high. To be able to use spatial magic to this extent."

"I'm a bit of a magician."

"You have great confidence. But you chose the wrong place."

As Gatros nodded, the knights around him retreated far behind, taking Count Biffenveld with him.

The remaining troops surrounded him. All the magicians in the 1st Legion unleashed their magical power and created a magical field.

Immediately after, six priests also came to Jerome's side, radiating energy.

Gatros smiled again and said:

"Even the Duke of Fenris would die if he came here alone. Are you prepared to die?"

Jerome looked around. He would certainly have to risk his life to take on all of them alone.

But he himself did not come here to die.

Slash―!

A giant mana blade rose from Jerome's hands.

He said with a leisurely smile.

"It looks like you're going somewhere in a hurry…...Would you like to hang out with me for a bit?"

I really didn't come here to die not a little bit.

I just came to disturb you a little.