Chapter 288

Chapter 288 - Downfall (1)

The constant scratching paid off. The Emperor stepped forward as if determined to tear Eugene apart.

-What about Gaius's personal combat prowess?

-Since he is of royal blood, he must have received the best education, but I haven't heard that he is an outstanding knight.

-What about as a magician?

-If he had a talent for magic, the Emperor himself would have spread the rumor to the whole world.

According to Valda's advice, the Emperor was merely a harmless powerholder. Furthermore, he was currently barehanded. Yet, the reason Eugene couldn't underestimate him was due to the otherworldly aura the Emperor exuded.

'It's not an artifact.'

When it came to smelling out this field, Eugene had a dog's nose. He could feel a powerful aura moving in rhythm with the Emperor's breathing. Artifacts emit mystery in a circular shape from one spot; they do not circulate through the body like that.

"If you wish to harm His Majesty, you must step over our corpses first!"

The first to move were the royal guard knights.

"To avenge Sir Geist!"

"I am Kenneth, serving the House of Duran! I will avenge my family's grudge!"

The knights did not lose their courage even while attacking Eugene, who seemed like the embodiment of death.

'I've built up quite a few grudges too.'

Eugene's achievements were also built by stepping on others. Having constantly opposed the Emperor's faction and established major military merits, it was natural that he had several enemies.

He was only safe because Eugene was constantly surrounded by clan members and had lived based in the Moving Castle. If he were an ordinary great lord, he would have welcomed an assassin or two long ago.

"Protect the Lord!"

Arrows passed by Eugene from behind but failed to strike down a single royal guard knight.

They were all world-class knights wearing top-tier armor. Since they never left the Emperor's side, their warhorses also wore full barding, so mounted archery couldn't even inflict a scratch.

"The Count has no knights to fight alongside him!"

"Let's aim for a two-pronged attack!"

The royal guard knights confirmed that Eugene was the only heavy cavalry in the raiding party.

"I will take the front!"

While an old knight volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb, the remaining knights circled around to Eugene's flanks.

'Not having a shield is annoying.'

He had just left his large shield behind to cross the river. Aside from the best knights attempting suicidal attacks, the Emperor was a concern. While Blackout was the best for butchering, it wasn't particularly suitable for blocking magic.

Thud!

Eugene's decision was to let go of the giant axe.

"He discarded his weapon?"

"What?"

The act of voluntarily giving up his most threatening weapon. Doubt filled the eyes of the royal guard knights, which soon turned to shock.

Srrrng.

In his right hand, Last Autumn.

Shurrrng.

In his left hand, the King's Agony.

The two AAAether Swords shone brilliantly in the sunlight. The ultimate luxury, which no one had been able to wield since the 1st Age, wrapped around Eugene.

"..."

The leading royal guard knight hesitated despite the urgent situation. As a single swordsman, he was overwhelmed by Eugene's visual, which seemed to stand at the pinnacle of knights.

The price for that stiffness was death. With a lightning-fast thrust, the royal guard knight grabbed his heart and collapsed.

"You must fight as a commander, not a knight! The Count alone is not the issue right now! Hurry and order the soldiers to..."

"You bastard?"

The Chief of Staff's shout, squeezing out his last ounce of strength, was cut off by a tribal warrior's fist. Meanwhile, the royal guard knights attacked simultaneously from the left and right, but Eugene responded with a sword in each hand.

Last Autumn, taking the main attack, deflected the right knight's sword and blew off his head in one motion. The King's Agony, taking the support, flowed away the left knight's sword.

"What kind of strength..."

The royal guard knight's entire body tilted just from having his attack flowed away. As Might turned in the opposite direction of that tilt, he exposed his flank and rear to Eugene in the blink of an eye. It was an agility impossible for a horse.

Thwack!

Last Autumn dug into the flank of the knight frantically turning his horse's head. It tore through the chainmail, pierced through the ribs like tofu, and impaled his heart.

"Die!"

The royal guard knight who acted as bait charged, intending to die togAAether, but his sword was caught by the AAAether Swords crossed in an X shape.

Clang!

When Eugene applied fOrce, the sword was chopped into pieces as if caught in a cutter.

Slash!

As if that wasn't enough, the two blades crossed, cleaving from the knight's arms through his chest. The cleanly severed upper body, rendering his iron armor meaningless, rolled sideways.

Similar feats could be done with Blackout, but the difference was the perfect cut surface. It was cut so sharply that for a moment, not even blood flowed.

Even amidst this, Eugene had been constantly mindful of the Emperor, and he finally received his reward.

"Magic!"

"Be careful!"

Before the tribal warriors behind him could shout, Eugene felt a rapidly approaching heat. A mass of flame the size of a well-grown pumpkin was pouncing on him.

'This isn't magic.'

The fireball had dark red streams flickering in all directions like a solar flare, resembling snake tongues. Eugene sensed a sticky malice from the burning tongues.

This was not a flame that pyromancers could summon. Eugene thrust out the King's Agony from his left hand, which emitted a strong aura of protection.

Fwoooosh.

The AAether blade did not destroy the hellfire. It guided it according to the movement of Eugene's wrist and flowed it away.

"He flowed away magic?!"

"I've never heard of such a thing."

Against the backdrop of the royal guard knights' exclamations, the fireball that fell on a tent scattered like dozens of fire snakes. In an instant, the entire tent was engulfed in flames.

[Shaaaaa-.]

[Shiiii-.]

The two fire snakes remaining on the blade struggled as if to bite off Eugene's hand, but it was useless. The powerful protective fOrce emitted by the King's Agony did not let the snakes go.

Pzzzzzt.

The two fire snakes shriveled and vanished like embers dropped on a block of ice.

'I see the difference between the two swords.'

Last Autumn is a sword given to a knight. It emits a destructive fOrce that cuts down all enemies blocking the path.

On the other hand, the King's Agony is a sword given to a king. What the ruler of a nation needs is not the power to kill unconditionally. It is the flexibility to brush off danger with minimal risk.

"Insolent wretch! How dare someone like you wield the sacred relic of Roman!"

The Emperor trembled looking at the royal treasure in Eugene's hand.

"The fire you just used is not a power a human can wield through honest means."

Eugene ignored the Emperor's words and looked at the knights.

"Honorable knights. Rumors are widespread that your liege gathers suspicious individuals and conducts wicked rituals. You must have witnessed at least a part of it by the Emperor's side."

"..."

The knights could not refute Eugene's words. The Emperor's madness to find the Moving Castle flowed in a different direction the moment he realized it was a futile dream.

To become a royal guard knight, skill is one thing, but honor is also required. There was no way such individuals would have no complaints about a liege who worshipped sinister powers.

"If you are a knight, you should be able to stop your liege with loyalty when he is walking the wrong path."

"Shut up! I am sick of having my things stolen from me now!"

The Emperor pointed his finger at Eugene.

"You bastard snatched my castle, my sword, and even my advisor! And now you are trying to steal even my last remaining loyal knights?!"

"Y-Your Majesty!"

There was a resonance in the Emperor's shout that shook the knights' hearts. The knights, who had been momentarily swayed by Eugene's logical argument, raised their swords with resolute faces.

As if they were willing to fight and die for the Emperor, even if they were cursed as those who ruined the country while serving a tyrant.

'As expected, he doesn't play tyrant purely on bloodline alone.'

Eugene clicked his tongue looking at the royal guards who rejected logical approaches and armed themselves solely with emotion.

"I sentence the traitor to burning at the stake!"

A ripple occurred in the space beside the Emperor. What appeared from there was a red, flickering spirit. At a glance, it resembled the shape of a human wearing a mage's robe.

[Now... It's not hot... My research, peacefully... as I please...]

The moment he heard the spiritual voice, Eugene instinctively realized. It was the soul of a mage from the distant past who burned to death after failing to control pyromancy.

In front of the burning soul, the fireball that had flown earlier was generated. It's rare to find an entity as violent and willful as a fire spirit, but the Emperor was conTrolling it perfectly.

'Is this also a secret art offered by the summoners?'

The fireball flew in with burning heat, but Eugene once again flowed it away with the King's Agony and charged.

"Absur... Uwaaaagh!"

A royal guard knight who blocked the path to protect the spirit screamed. Two fire snakes crawled out through the gaps in his burning armor.

[□□□□□!]

The fire spirit, feeling threatened by Eugene, randomly shot out streams of fire, naturally without distinguishing friend from foe.

"I will grant you mercy."

Eugene beheaded the knight struggling with fatal burns and then charged at the burning soul.

Swoooosh-!

Swoosh-!

The scattered fire snakes were torn to shreds in front of the two swords wielded in dual wield.

As Last Autumn flashed, the fire spirit, sliced diagonally, twisted a few times and vanished.

Eugene rode the momentum and charged at the Emperor. The knights who had stepped aside due to the fire snakes hurriedly ran over, but only two immediately blocked Eugene's path.

"Keuak!"

"Keoheok!"

Facing the bloody swordplay, the knights couldn't last even a moment.

Grrrrr-!

Might bit the head of the warhorse one of them was riding.

Crunch!

The struggling horse went limp with the sound of its skull crushing.

Might spun his entire body while biting the dead horse and threw it. He threw it so hard that the horse's neck tore, unable to withstand the load.

Three knights collided with the horse corpse flying out of nowhere and tumbled.

"Jump over it!"

"Uwaaak!"

As several obstacles suddenly appeared, the knights running behind fell in a heap. By that time, Eugene had already reached the Emperor.

"Pay the price of the sacrifice!"

With the Emperor's shout, a ripple occurred in front of him again. A spirit in the shape of a hand made of ice pounced on Eugene. It was large enough to easily squeeze a person.

As the blade of Last Autumn passed by, the ice hand split in two. The two blocks of ice that fell to the ground sprouted new fingers from the cut surface and tried to chase Eugene but soon stopped.

Because the spiritual body destroyed as the AAAether Sword passed through did not recover at all.

[Kyaaaaa-!]

With a short scream, the spirit vanished and became ordinary blocks of ice.

"Block the front!"

"Protect His Majesty!"

Meanwhile, the additionally arrived royal guards desperately blocked Eugene. However, Eugene stopped. Because a faint whistle seeped into his ears.

Swoosh!

An arrow flying with an unusual piercing sound passed through the gap between the knights and pierced the Emperor's thigh. It was so powerful that it even pierced the horse he was riding.

Hihihing-!

The Emperor's groan was buried in the horse's scream.

As the horse bucked, a nearby knight immediately chopped its neck, and another knight caught the Emperor from the falling horse. It was an improvisation prepared in case the Emperor was crushed, but they were in perfect sync as if they usually trained for it.

Everyone looked up at the arrow that flew from an impossible angle.

Creak.

Homi, standing on top of a certain tent, was aiming a longbow crafted from monster flesh and sinews.

"Raise your shields!"

"His Majesty is severely injured!"

The royal guards surrounded the Emperor and retreated frantically. The fire was already spreading out of control.

Everywhere, Imperial soldiers dying from arrows and flames, and deserters fleeing in all directions appeared one after another.

"Lord. Any further is dangerous."

"Judging by where he was hit, he must have injured a major blood vessel. He won't live long even if left alone, so we must get out quickly."

Eugene scanned the ground where the Emperor retreated. The scattered bloodstains were definitely not an ordinary wound.

"Homi!"

When Eugene gestured, she climbed down the tent like a squirrel and hopped onto the back seat.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't kill him."

"No. Aiming for the lower body was a good judgment. He was definitely wearing artifacts protecting his upper body like Magnus. Even if you aimed for the heart or head, you wouldn't have been able to kill him anyway."

"..."

Homi hugged the waist of Eugene, who read her mind exactly.

"The Emperor is fleeing over there!"

"Chase them! Don't get too close!"

The sounds of the horse archers, divided into several units and executing swarm tactics, chasing the Emperor could be heard. Eugene steered his horse in that direction.

"Lord. We don't have many arrows left. With our armaments, we can't do anything about those guys..."

The tribal warriors spoke as if dying of frustration. Since they came for the purpose of checking the enemy, everyone was lightly armed and even brought tools to start fires. Their combat sustainability was bound to be short.

"The Emperor suffered a severe injury to his thigh. Just keep following and annoy them. He will be in excruciating pain just from riding the horse as the wound opens."

"Leave that to us!"

Eugene looked at the main battlefield. Amidst the burning surroundings, the sight of the royal guard knights fleeing with the Emperor's standard delivered the decisive blow.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"If the Emperor dies, what happens to the promised land?"

"Insolent fool! His Majesty will not die! Just ignore it and think about getting out of here first!"

Regardless of whAAether they were Imperial faction nobles or mercenaries, they began to desert the battlefield.

* * *

However, the retreat of the Imperial army was not smooth. It was a battlefield where a massive army of nearly 100,000 from both sides was tangled.

Lords and mercenary captains who had only fought small to medium-scale battles in the countryside or provincial cities faced massive confusion when giving retreat orders as usual. Because all means of communicating with the soldiers broke down.

"My ears hurt!"

"Stop beating the fucking drums!"

With nearly 1,000 drums beating retreat orders, they all mixed togAAether, making it impossible to understand the commands. The same went for trumpets or the shouts of commanders.

"Look over here!"

It was useless for a certain mercenary captain to vigorously wave a retreat signal flag on horseback. Because there were hundreds of similar flags waving within his sight.

"You idiots! It's not that way! Where are you going?!"

Watching his subordinates move to the wrong units, the mercenary captain tore his hair out as if going crazy.

The only ones retreating in an orderly fashion were the Shadow Legion.

"You may cut down anyone blocking the path!"

Under the command of the centurions, the entire legion retreated as one body. Glaring fiercely with spears and swords pointed, regardless of whAAether they were allies or not, the other Imperial soldiers also got scared and stepped aside.

Retreating while maintaining formation naturally made the speed slow. However, there were no Allied fOrces aiming for the Shadow Legion.

"Can they run carrying all that heavy stuff?"

"If you want to live, take off everything you have and run! Hahaha!"

Since they just needed to aim for the backs of those fleeing in disorderly chaos, they had no desire to fight a bloodthirsty legion. Historically, retreat wasn't solved just by being fast.

The legion prioritized occupying the rearmost area first and then filed out from there. Therefore, as the retreat progressed, the nobles and mercenaries pushed aside by the wall called the legion were thrown to the Allied fOrces. The legion used them as human shields to escape safely.

"Those guys, it's not a skill from doing this just once or twice?"

"Indeed."

Eugene and Homi, watching the fire from across the river, admired them purely.

Fighting well is important, but one cannot always win. If the situation is bad, it is also important to retreat while preserving fOrces. A glimpse of the secret to how the Shadow Legion maintained its powerful fOrce while carrying out countless battles as the guardians of Roman was seen.

"..."

"..."

Eugene and the Shadow Legion looked at each other across the river. Not a single legionary harboring hostility could be seen. Even though it would be normal for at least one to aim an arrow upon seeing a big shot of the Allied fOrces.

In a bizarre silence, Eugene saw off the legion's march. Reaching General Magnus and the Black Knights guarding the rear, he only shouted one phrase.

"Save yourselves!"

No one responded to the words of the enemy ringleader. However, quite a few Black Knights could be seen quietly placing their fists over their hearts.

* * *

Eugene moved north with the horse archers, boarded a large flat-bottomed boat, and returned to the battlefield.

"Kneel, you bastards!"

With the river behind them, there were more captives than in a normal battle.

"This guy is a lost cause. Let's send him off comfortably."

"No! I can live! Please spare me!"

The swords of mercy fell upon the mercenaries panting with severe injuries everywhere.

"Eugene!"

Valda ran over and hugged Eugene tightly. Her face looked like she was both angry and joyful.

-N-No! Why did that crazy man suddenly?!

-Calm down, Countess! He must have a plan for everything he's doing...

Shock and anger at the stunts he pulled while running out like a madman. Respect and pride for her husband who became the main contributor to victory by chasing away the Emperor. A complex face mixed with both.

In this defeat, the blow to the Imperial army was incomparable to what the Southern army suffered in the previous failed river crossing operation. There were more than a few captured nobles and knights, and the story that the Emperor was severely injured spread widely.

However, these were nothing compared to the urgent news from the capital, Roman.

"A rebellion broke out?"

"Yes. The royal palace has already been occupied, and all city gates of the capital are closed and strictly conTrolled. The main instigators of the rebellion haven't been revealed yet, but it is said that the imprisoned nobles were all released and led the rebel fOrces from the start. The related families are also highly likely to have joined."

Valda nodded at the messenger's report.

"What was bound to happen simply happened. The Shadow Legion was the strongest fOrce, but also an insurance policy allowing Gaius to leave the capital. After sending them to the battlefield and losing an all-out battle..."

"It's the perfect opportunity for the suppressed ones to raise their banners."

The Emperor could not return to the capital and fled to his family's direct territory. Apart from his physical injuries, his political death was also approaching.

"Let's hurry and prepare the pursuit!"

"We must not give Gaius time to recover! If by any chance the Shadow Legion joins..."

"There's no worry about that. Since the capital fell to the rebels, the main supply route is cut off. Have you ever heard of a starving army winning?"

A sigh of relief flowed among the nobles. One of them wiped his sweat-drenched face and spoke.

"If you put it that way, won't our supply be difficult too?"

"To finish Gaius, we'll have to cross that river and deploy the army."

Looking at the contemplating nobles, Eugene thought of the Moving Castle. It seemed it was time to hammer the stake further inland.