Chapter 206: Catch ‘em by Surprise (2)

Milton moved immediately to seize the rare opportunity in front of him.

‘I have to kill him.’

Now that Siegfried fell for the trap, Milton had the chance to completely kill him. If he missed this chance, he’ll most likely deeply regret and resent the missed opportunity for eternity.[1]

‘As long as he dies, we can deal with the rest of the Republic slowly.’

Even if they couldn’t protect the Meichi Castle, it was fine. No, even if they weren’t able to annex the western regions of the Valence Kingdom, it would be fine. As long as he could cut off Siegfried’s head, it would be considered winning.

Milton swung his sword wildly around him as he went to attack Siegfried. Jerome cooperated from next to him as he simultaneously attacked Siegfried.

“Keugh…”

Even if Siegfried was a Master, that didn’t mean he was good enough to win against two Masters. Not to mention, even if Milton wasn’t, Jerome was stronger than Siegfried in terms of pure skills. Somehow, Siegfried had managed to continue defending himself, but he was slowly getting pushed into a corner.

“Protect the Commander-in-Chief!”

“Waaaaah!!”

The Republican soldiers in the vicinity tried to help him, but it was impossible. They were being blocked by a group of Iron Wall soldiers that Shawn had sent out to cover Milton and Jerome’s backs. 

“Die!”

Wheee!

Jerome’s attack flew towards Siegfried.

“Guh…”

‘Can’t block it.’

Siegfried barely avoided the blow that was aimed at his waist, but he had moved too far and Milton took the chance to attack him next.

“Why don’t you die!”

Milton roared at him as he tried to strike Siegfried’s head.

“Hup!”

Even with his lower back in pain, Siegfried gathered all his strength to strike away Milton’s sword. No, he tried to strike it away. But…

Whoosh!

Just as Siegfried was about to strike away Milton’s sword, it cut through the air instead. Milton had smoothly moved out of the way just before their swords had collided. By this time, Milton’s face had smoothed out the harsh lines and became calm and composed instead.

‘I lost.’

Siegfried saw Milton’s cold expression and realized that he had been caught but by then, it was too late. One step quicker than himself, Milton shoulder checked him in the chest. 

Bang!

“Keugh!”

A scream escaped Siegfried’s mouth. For a second, the sounds of his ribs breaking could be clearly heard. He had collapsed after being pushed back a couple of meters, but now, he staggered up after spitting out blood.

“Cough… damn it…”

‘Are my lungs pierced? Damn…’

Even breathing was difficult for Siegfried after Milton’s attack. The wound on his leg wouldn’t stop bleeding and he had minor injuries all over his body. He had also consumed a large amount of Aura and the blow he had just received was fatal. In other words, things were getting desperate for him. 

In this situation, it seemed like no one would be able to save Siegfried.

‘But you never know with that bastard.’

Milton rushed straight towards Siegfried without letting down his guard. He wasn’t nice enough to let Siegfried leave behind his dying words or will. From Milton’s point of view, Siegfried was a monster of their era. What kind of mercy was necessary for a monster like that? It would be more troublesome if that monster came back to life because he wasted time with nonsense like mercy.

“Die.”

Milton swung his sword, preparing to kill Siegfried with one blow.

“W… wait…”

Siegfried tried to say something, but Milton didn’t see any reason to stop his sword.

Skruk.

A clean blow. With a flash of light, Siegfried’s head fell cleanly to the floor. 

“Ah… finally.”

Milton let out a sigh as he felt both relief and satisfaction at the same time. He finally did it. For Milton, Siegfried’s mere existence was like a wall that stood blocking his way of life and he had finally dealt with that existence. 

‘Bye, if there’s a next life, let’s never meet each other.’

Milton sighed in relief as he said a brief prayer for Siegfried’s soul. But then…

“My Lord, it’s dangerous.”

Just as Jerome was calling out to him urgently, Milton felt a shockwave exploding beside him.

BOOM!

“Keugh…”

Milton could feel his ears ringing from the sudden shockwave.

“What on earth… huh?”

Milton was shocked. Right in front of his eyes was Siegfried looking at him with a very regretful expression on his face.

‘What? How?’

How was Siegfried still alive when he had just cut off his head?

Jerome shouted at Milton when he realized Milton was just standing there staring blankly in confusion. 

“My Lord! What are you doing! How can you stand there dazed in the middle of a battle?”

“I’m standing here dazed?”

Milton couldn’t understand the situation. Looking at Jerome’s urgent expression, it really seemed like he had lost his mind. But how could that be?

‘How could I suddenly lose my… huh?’

For a moment, he could feel himself getting muddled again. He consciously spread out his Aura throughout his entire body to clear his mind.

“Hap!”

Milton felt his head clearing up as something treacly wrapped around him falling apart. 

“Tsk, guess it won’t work twice?”

At a Republican base a bit further away, Eliza clicked her tongue in regret. She had seen from afar that Siegfried was in danger and so had used a special magic spell to help him out.

Usually, it was difficult to cast a spell on a strong person without proper preparation, especially if that person was a master. But at that time, Milton had been so excited at the thought of killing a great monster like Siegfried that he had completely lost his cool.

Thanks to that, Eliza had been able to cast a simple magic spell.

“I’ll give you what you wish for. Come to the world of sweet dreams.”

Because of her magic, Milton believed the illusion of him cutting off Siegfried’s head with his sword was real. But the reality was different. He had suddenly stopped attacking and stood there dazed. 

Taking advantage of his befuddlement, Siegfried had tried to aim for Milton’s neck, but Jerome had thankfully blocked it. 

“No matter how I look at it, twice is impossible. He’s just gonna have to escape on his own…”

This was all that Eliza could do. From here on out, whether he lived or died depended entirely on Siegfried.

***

“Damn it, Siegfried. Is this one of your subordinate’s work?”

Having broken the illusion, Milton gritted his teeth. Siegfried replied while breathing heavily.

“Who knows. I certainly don’t.”

Of course, Siegfried knew. But he was speaking nonsense in order to buy a little bit of time.

“F*cking bastard…”

Siegfried’s bluff worked on Milton.

‘Is it a Magician? Did someone like Bianca play a trick?’

Milton began making guesses. If you looked closely at the elixir the Ghosts used and the traces left behind in the previous battle, there were definitely signs of Magicians around Siegfried. And Milton knew very well that the mere existence of a Magician was a scary thing since you never knew what they would do. 

‘Maybe that Magician will try that illusion again on me? How should I respond?’

While being cautious was one of Milton’s strengths, being too cautious could be a weakness at times.

Currently, Siegfried was such a mess that it looked like he would collapse at any second. With his injuries, there was no way he would be able to run away, let alone attacking Milton first.

That was why he was currently trying to stop Milton with a relaxed smile and pithy remarks. At that moment, Jerome rushed forward from his position by Milton’s side.

“Shut up and die, Siegfried.”

‘Damn…’

While it might have worked on Milton, the bluff didn’t work on Jerome. Siegfried could only clench his teeth and quickly raise his sword to block Jerome’s attack, but his sword didn’t have any Aura left. 

‘Is this the end?’

Even if he was the one and only Siegfried, he couldn’t help but wonder whether he was going to die. But then...

“Jerome Taker!”

A giant fell from the air.

That giant was Jake. He had jumped off the Meichi Castle walls with his massive 2 meters long two-handed sword.

“Guh…”

CLANG!

Jerome could have taken Siegfried’s head, but Jake’s murderous aura was so intense that he unknowingly retreated. The exact spot Jerome had retreated from now had a large crater as if a boulder had just fallen.

‘That primitive bastard. Did he really jump off the wall?’

The stairs leading from inside the walls were blocked by Shawn’s Iron Wall troops. Milton would’ve known if Jake approached head-on, but seeing how he suddenly appeared, it could only mean that he had recklessly jumped off the walls. It wasn’t completely impossible with his Master’s physical abilities, but how could he just throw himself into the middle of the enemy camp? From Milton’s point of view, nothing could be more annoying and frustrating.

“What motherf*ing bastards are these…”[2]

Milton’s blood pressure rose and it felt like his blood vessels were going burst. In order to utilize Jerome’s powerful abilities like a Joker card, he had just barely managed to create a trap that was completely separated from the battle. Thanks to that, an opportunity to take Siegfried’s head plopped right into his lap. But for there to be another interruption at this time?

“Damn it! Do you really think I’ll give up!?”

Milton was desperate and determined to use this opportunity to take Siegfried’s head and rushed forward once more. Jerome rushed forward with him. 

‘My Lord is too stimulated but it’s too good of a chance to stop him.’

Jerome was more level-headed than Milton and because he didn’t feel the same sense of urgency Milton felt towards Siegfried, he continued to remain relatively composed. 

‘Since it’s already like this, it’ll be better if we can take Jake’s head at least.’

With that in mind, Jerome and Milton tried to attack Jake. Since Siegfried was incapacitated, they had a 2:1 numerical advantage. But then…

“Save the Commander-in-Chief!”

“Long live the Republic!”

It started raining over Milton and Jerome’s heads. To be more precise, it started raining people. Disregarding their own lives, the Republican soldiers and the Ghosts were throwing themselves over the walls onto Milton and Jerome.

“Psychotic bastards.”

Milton was momentarily stunned. Since Jake had a Master’s physical abilities, Milton was willing to gamble. But what was he to do about them?

‘They’re not even Japan’s Kamikaze unit…’

Seeing the Republican soldiers falling towards him with their arms wide open, Milton hurriedly swung his sword up towards the sky.

CLANG!

“Keugh!”

“Gah!”

The Republican soldiers and the Ghosts let out screams of agony, but they didn’t give up. They continued to jump down onto Milton and Jerome and hindered their movements. Using that time, Jake left the front line with Siegfried. Once that happened, a trumpet played the sound for retreat. Siegfried was severely wounded, but in all other aspects, the Republicans were undoubtedly winning. However, they had given up their victory to give priority to Siegfried’s safety and had retreated.

“Don’t let them escape! Chase after the enemy!”

Milton climbed up onto Leonard’s back and led his entire army in pursuing the Republican Army. Truthfully, he wasn’t chasing after the Republican soldiers; he was trying to capture Siegfried.

However, in order to save Siegfried, the Republican soldiers and the Ghosts continued to hinder his movements.

“Long live the Republic!”

“See you in paradise, brothers!”

Milton swung his sword at the soldiers in front of him without hesitation.

“Move you, bastards! Move!”

Milton and Jerome worked as one to break through the enemies with their unstoppable power, but perhaps the Republican soldiers’ tenacity was greater than Milton and Jerome’s?

In the end, the Lester Kingdom’s army took on a lot of damage and had to stop pursuing the Republican soldiers. Siegfried had escaped.

“We won!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“Never come back, you Republican fanatics!”

From the top of the Meichi Castle walls, the Lester Kingdom’s army shouted in victory. Since they had won the siege, the Lester Kingdom had won the battle. Despite such cheers, Milton couldn’t hide his disappointment.

‘I don’t know when such an opportunity like that will come again…’

Milton found it really regrettable. 

1. 한으로 남을 것이다. Here, 한 is the Chinese word 恨 for hate and regret. It’s used when you regret or resent something with all your heart

2. 이런 썩을 새끼들이 진짜 DT would be more along the lines of what kind of rotten bastards, but I thought this was more fitting