Chapter 166: Blood Princess (1)

The castle gates roared shut. What remained from the five hundred men were safe within the castle walls.

After entering the castle, the reinforcements were immediately greeted with the overwhelming cries of relief from the supply route’s garrison.

“God did not abandon us!”

“And they’re even skilled enough to beat the Lion’s Mane… ”

They weren’t expecting any reinforcements to come.

The outsiders had employed a tactic where the minority used the majority as the bait.

The supply route garrison had all but given up. Once they realized what the Outsiders had done, they knew the supply route was as good as lost. High command wouldn’t realize and their lives would be forfeit.

But when reinforcements had arrived miraculously, the soldiers who were drowning in their hopeless situation felt an overwhelming surge of relief.

But as soon their bodies began to grow slack from the tension of the situation fading, an angry roar resounded throughout the castle’s halls.

“Everyone, take your position and hold down the fort! There is still an enemy in front of our eyes!”

The man who let out the angry roar was an old man with a long, white beard.

Desir felt extremely large amount of powerful flow of mana circulate within the old man. He was a competent Fifth-Circle magician.

After the garrison’s commander gave the order, he approached Colonel Yuta and saluted him.

“Thanks to you, we’re saved. I am Commander Gereon, and I’m leading the unit here.”

Like all the other soldiers, Commander Gereon was extremely exhausted, but a resolute smile spread across his face.

“I’m Colonel Yuta. If we hold out a little longer, the main force will soon arrive as well.”

“That’s a relief.”

Gereon’s sigh of relief was cut short, however, when a spell was launched at the castle and immediately demolished a few of the surrounding buildings.

There was no time to have a leisurely conversation.

“Our unit will be under your command and we will follow your orders.”

Geron reported to Colonel Yuta in detail and, after being briefed, Colonel Yuta gave the combined force their new orders and positions.

The Imperial Army moved like a perfect machine.

Of course, the students of the Hebrion Empire weren’t just resting. They offered their assistance wherever it was needed, since they were volunteers within the Imperial Army as well.

The Imperial Army steadily began reconstructing the line of defense.

The garrison wouldn’t be able to shift the tide with just their increase in numbers. After all, the Outsiders still had more troops in the first place.

It was because even though the number of reinforcements was smaller than average, the troops that had arrived were vastly superior in quality.

Above all else, one could say that a unit consisting of the Hebrion Academy’s parties – which contained less than one hundred people – was an elite unit within the Imperial Army.

* * *

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[Ice Flower]

[Fire Bolt]

The Imperial Army was completely able to turn the tides. They had gone from being crushed to subtly gaining the upper hand. When Desir’s reinforcements arrived, they completely annihilated the Lion’s Mane Magic Corps – the Outsider’s main force.

[Giga Tryce]

Desir continued to unleash a volley of spells until he ran out of mana. He would then pull back, recuperate, and rejoin the defense. With his assistance, the Outsiders were completely blocked from assaulting the ramparts.

The Imperial Army slowly moved into a higher gear and the Outsiders, who were attacking without hesitation, began to drop in numbers even faster.

However, Desir judged that they should not lower their guard just yet.

‘There are still too many of them to get comfortable. The troops we’re fighting with now have just come from the front line and are exhausted, it won’t be long until we’re forced to slow down our assault.’

Right now, the Imperial Army was high in spirit as a result of their reinforcements joining them, but war was not a beast fickle enough to be won by spirit alone.

If the Outsiders regrouped and decided to turn the siege into a battle of attrition, the situation would quickly become grim.

Desir, who was gauging the battlefield in front of him, suddenly realized one thing.

Raden, the King of Mountains.

He was not seen anywhere.

Desir frowned in concern when the greatest military asset the Outsiders currently had leading their siege, was nowhere to be found.

‘Where did he go?’

Raden was one of the most dangerous pieces on Desir’s mental battlefield. If he couldn’t be monitored, the situation could become dire at a moment’s notice.

Unfortunately, it was at that moment…

A messenger rushed to kneel in front of Gereon, nearly stumbling, and gave his report while still gasping for breath.

“Commander! I believe the rampart at the harbor will soon be lost!”

“Report! What is the situation?”

“I’m unsure what the reason is, but the soldiers who were responsible for guarding the ramparts have devolved into an internal conflict. The Outsiders assaulting have taken advantage of the situation and there’s no one stopping them from climbing the ramparts.”

Colonel Yuta’s face turned deadly pale.

“Did you just say we’re losing the harbor… to an internal conflict?”

Internal conflict.

At a time when they were locked in a critical fight against the Outsiders, the men stationed there had chosen to pick fights with each other.

Colonel Yuta could not believe this was happening.

“It’s imperative we find out what’s going on down there, immediately. If it’s true that there’s a conflict, suppressing that takes the utmost priority.”

He was evidently flustered at the absurdity of the situation, but he organized the unit and took action with the calm composure you could expect from a veteran.

Desir spoke to Colonel Yuta.

“I’m worried about what’s going on down there. My party and I will head towards the harbor as well.”

After Colonel Yuta thought for a brief moment, he nodded soon after.

“Understood. Then, I’ll leave you in charge.”

The Starling Party went towards the harbor with approximately 70 soldiers that had been quickly organized by Yuta.

They were able to acutely feel the horrors of the war as they were heading towards the city center. At the city, which probably used to be a place full of vitality, only darkness was present.

‘We need to end the war without a moment’s delay.’

It was not long before the Starling Party reached the inner part of the city and were able to witness the internal conflict that the soldier was talking about.

Before them were two large groups of soldiers, wearing the same armor, fighting with each other in the center of the city.

‘What the hell… ’

It was not what one could typically consider an internal conflict.

“W-Wait!”

“Stop! It’s me!”

One side was still rational and tried to make a conversation, but the other side seemed to have gone totally mad.

Those who were attacking their allies didn’t just lose their ability to reason. Rather, it was as though they had lost their humanity, as though they had been reduced to bloodthirsty beasts.

“Kraaaarghh!”

They were extremely powerful. They easily crushed the ironclad pieces of armor that their fellow soldiers were wearing.

“Is that the price one has to pay for grasping power in their hands?”

Whenever they moved, whether they simply took a step or tore apart steel plate with their bare hands, the blood vessels within their bodies burst out in response to the pressure.

Despite the enormous amount of bleeding, the rampaging soldiers seemed to show no signs of stopping. They ignored the soldiers attempting to stop them and continued to rampage like madmen.

It was simply impossible for normal soldiers to resist those who were exhibiting a power above their limits.

What remained of the rational Imperial Army was seized up in a state of confusion, and as a result, was slowly retreating.

But there was another problem.

A soldier, who had rolled his ankle while retreating, fell down and began crying out while desperately dragging himself across the ground, trying desperately to get away from the approaching monstrosities.

“H-Help me!”

However, it was impossible for his cry to be heard by those who had lost their faculties of reason. A mad soldier gnawed on his ally without any hesitation.

“Ahhhhh!”

The soldier, who was being gnawed at, struggled for a while as he cried out for help. Moments later, he stopped moving just like a marionette who suddenly had its strings cut..

Then, the Starling Party witnessed a horrifying sight.

“Kurghhh! Kuurrghh!”

The face of the gnawed soldier started to become a bloodshot face. Then, instead of shouting for help, he let out a horrible shriek.

When he stood up on both of his feet, he was in a mad state just like the one who had gnawed on him.

* * *

It was infectious.

This unidentifiable condition was contagious and was spreading throughout the impromptu battlefield.

Romantica, bewildered, murmured to herself.

“… Is this magic as well?”

Never had she seen a spell able to exert such a powerful influencing effect. Not even Desir had ever encountered this kind of magic.

A man, who was an ally a moment ago, began to attack others in order to infect them and eventually get killed by his own friends. How many soldiers would be able to keep their wits in this mysterious situation?

The Imperial Army was under attack from their very own forces, without being able to properly take action and the number of soldiers losing their rationality was increasing exponentially.

Desir shouted towards those who were panicking.

“If possible, suppress them instead of killing them! If it is a spell affiliated with mind control, then we should be able to break it by destroying the channel or demolishing the magician’s spell.”

He ended his command by invoking a spell.

[Bind]

The restriction spell that Desir invoked was aimed at some soldiers who were preoccupied, attempting to infect a group that was still sane.

Those who had been resigned to just watching the disastrous scene absent-mindedly started to move as well. The soldiers paired up. Then, they started to face those who were tackling them. Pram was the first person to take the lead.

He held his rapier and headed towards the back of the mad soldiers.

A mad soldier noticed Pram’s existence and ran towards him with a spear, rushing forward at near-literal breakneck speed. This kind of speed was impossible for any normal soldier.

*Swish*

But he wasn’t good enough to keep up with Pram, who had refined his skill and speed in order to reach the Rook Class.

Pram quickly read the trajectory of the spear, dodged it, and then kicked the soldier, bringing him to his knees. He then hit the scruff of the soldier’s neck with his hilt, with the intention of knocking him out.

*Wham*

“Kruuaaarrgh!”

However, it was no use. The soldier tried to skewer Pram once again.

The soldier straightened up while Pram backed off to dodge his attack. He wasn’t affected in any sort of way.

‘He doesn’t even pass out. This is difficult.’

If it was difficult for a Rook Class like Pram, then it would be even more difficult for the regular soldiers.

‘Then there is only one way… ’

Pram gave Desir the look.

After Des1r caught his eyes, he sighed and nodded as if it was inevitable.

When Pram got his answer, he turned to look at the soldier in front of him. The soldier was running up towards Pram just in time.

“I am sorry.”

Pram got in position, as if strengthening his resolve. He then sliced down towards the legs of the soldier running towards him.

*Crrraaack*

A terrifying sound echoed everywhere.

Pram broke the legs of the mad soldiers without a moment of hesitation.

Romantica’s response was the same. After controlling the power of the spells, she only aimed at the legs.

*Baang*

“Kraarrghh!”

The soldiers, having lost their legs to Pram and Romantica, let out horrible shrieks as their movements were forcibly halted.

Within the Starling Party, the one with the best ability to handle issues in this kind of situation was Adjest.

Her Ice Magic was very suitable for restraining her opponent’s movements.

[Frost Fog]

Chilly fog was spread everywhere.

Under Adjest’s control, the fog froze all of the soldiers who had gone mad.

The soldiers around her began to freeze, starting from their legs before it spread to their lower half, before totally freezing them.

Under the expert direction of the Starling Party, the situation in the city center was quickly resolved.

—-

Chapter brought to you by The Patrons.

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ED2: Purplemen101

TLC: N/A (this could be you!)

QC: Nhan