Chapter 274 – Chapter 274 ― Like a Shotgun (3)
Episode 274 ― Like a shotgun (3)
“What is that?”
“I really wanted to tell Roan♡”
Eleanor collected his magic.
At that moment, as if he had entered another world, all of Roan’s abilities returned.
Roan felt dizzy at the abundant presence transmitted through the five senses.
After closing her eyes for a moment, Roan woke up and glared at the magic stone Erenia held in her hand.
“Have you been making this in the lab?”
Erenia held Roan’s hand instead of answering. Erenier said, placing a small magic stone on Roan’s palm.
“I couldn’t bear to hand this over. It’s for Roan♡ Magic stones can’t be passed on through birds, and they still work only with my magic.”
Roan looked at Elenir with a smile. A chill flowed from the emperor, enough to make Turko, who was standing next to him, tremble, but Erenia smiled kindly, just like he did in the castle.
**
It was gloomy weather, but it doesn’t look like it will rain. The clouds were so thick that it was impossible to tell whether the sun had risen or not.
At the edge of the forest just out of dawn, the refreshing scent of trees and the smell of earth mixed with the beast’s unique body scent.
Roan took a deep breath. He was refreshing
“Good weather, Your Majesty.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. Kerr doesn’t like sunlight very much.”
The head of Dyurahan Turko, the vice-captain of the Central Knights, was in its place, which was rare, and his head was placed where it should have been if it were a creature.
The armor made for battle was made to hold the helmet worn on the head over the shoulder even in intense situations.
Thanks to this, Turko was able to use both hands, and fought with his beloved halberd.
Roan looked at the distant horizon outside the tense forest.
It was Evirgio’s army who first prepared the battle lines and showed the will to fight.
The soldiers of the Southern Black Spirit stretched along the plains of the border lined up to drive out the Merde army.
The flags of lords and knights gathered from all over the Southern Black Ridge flew everywhere.
Their number is about 8,000.
It was an unbelievable number to suddenly gather as soon as the first human provocation began after the armistice.
It would have been difficult for him to gather such an army if the emperor had not given orders to the Southern Black Spirit and the Western Blood Spirit to move his troops in advance before the summer began. Here, the 1,000 knights led by the emperor brought absolute superiority in firepower.
Such an overwhelming number was beyond the expectations of the Meridians. The one who started the fight first was Merde. The first human attempt to push the border further east by destroying the Dark Forest and raiding the border failed due to Evirgio’s numbers.
Currently, the number of Merdegun is 5,000.
In the battle a few days ago, he lost about 400 at a 1 discount, but it was because there were soldiers and knights gathered from distant domains in the meantime.
Of course, they don’t have enough troops.
The longer the war, the more disadvantageous people are. This is because humans cannot eat demons instead of grain, even if they are desperate.
So, the lords leading Merde’s army were in trouble. And Roan and the Grand Duke of Darkness knew this well.
So, the ending they wanted was different, but Roan and the Grand Duke of Darkness agreed to settle this battle anyway, and the current operation was established. The outline was quickly established, but the detailed plan was slightly changed due to the items Elenir brought.
So Roan was looking at the battlefield now.
“It’s my first time using a demon’s bow, is it okay?”
Aina muttered.
She was riding Kerr with Helen and Urtellia.
Aina was unfamiliar with the current situation.
She came out of the forest in anticipation of change, but she did not imagine her fate of being surrounded by demons and standing in the middle of a battlefield between demons and humans riding a witch beast.
The only consolation for Aina now was Helen and Roan, and the forest surrounding her back.
‘I have to come to my senses.’
It’s a fight to keep. I’ve lost in the past, but I won’t the second time.
Aina shook her head and inspected her thighs and the quiver on her back.
“Once the fight starts, you won’t mind.”
Helen smiled slightly. To think that she could laugh when the tension in front of her on the battlefield made her skin tingle. After all, she is a veteran when it comes to fighting.
“Shall I write you a blessing?”
“Oh, no. I think it’s better to save a little bit of her holy power.”
“I agree. Helen.”
Roan spoke.
“Ai, I’m giving her a thumbs up. A little bit of tension in her is not a problem.”
“… Joy.”
At Roan’s mischievous words, Aina snorted at her and deliberately looked away from her.
The emperor, who wore black armor, did not wear a helmet or gauntlets besides the armor. He was so light and simple that it was hard to believe that he was going out in the middle of a battlefield.
Behind Roan, Urtellia and Aina will stand. What they rode was the well-trained Kerr of the Southern Dark Spirit, a military aircraft raised in the best mountains.
Yurtalia defends against long-range projectiles with her magic. I, her wide-sighted child, will see her ahead and cut her hazards with her magic and bow.
Helen was seated in front of Roan.
A place to pierce the emperor’s path and cut off those who stand in his way. And it was planned to block magical attacks based on magical powers with divine magic.
At the center of the triangular formation formed by the three of them, Roan, who had the most unprotected abilities, settled down.
The 20 elite members selected from the Central Knights wrapped up a wedge-shaped party consisting of 4 people, which would have been natural in a game.
Among them, Turko of the Central Knights was in charge of the cutting edge. He reads the flow of the battlefield, quickly judges, and leads the detached troops, including the emperor, to the right path. That’s why a heavy responsibility was erased from Turko.
Still, Turko opened his chest.
It has been over 20 years since I joined the Knights.
The banner with the golden pattern of the Knights Templar was always near him, but it was the first time he had ever fought with the current Emperor’s banner on his back.
The torso of the intertwined vines looks like eyes, the pattern of an emperor who sees through everything. This flag has never been flown on a battlefield. I won’t turn such a majesty’s first battle into a defeat.
That instilled courage in Turko.
Roan was feeling the slightest movement of his.
It was a strange feeling.
The skill ‘detection’ when first nested in the demon king’s body was at level 0 and was not properly captured. I was tired because I had to accept the emotions around me uncontrollably, but the range was not wide.
However, even after mastering the skill control, it was the first time that Roan felt the presence of people and objects close to her with pure intuition.
“I’m a bit weird too, Your Majesty.”
Aina spoke to her while watching Roan roll the magic tool that Elenir had activated in her hand.
“I guess so. You are a forest fairy.”
Even the children and themselves do not know, but usually the forest fairy’s skill is similar to ‘detection’ and Roan’s ‘detection’. Forest fairies’ unique sensitivity and ability to see the truth often became their skills.
There were many cases where magic or skills that raised agility were attached to it, so maybe I could feel that her body is heavier than usual.
“But the enemies will feel more pressure. You never would have thought that something like this would exist.”
As if comforting Roan and Aina, Urtellia spoke. That statement is also true.
The magic tool, a magic stone product made by Erenier, was an object that blocked the power of skills within a certain distance.
More precisely, it was not to prevent the skill from emanating, but to prevent its effect.
Currently, Roan is unleashing his skills without any restrictions, just like Roan did in the past, but the people and monsters within the range of the magic stone are not affected by his skills.
Roan himself is of course also affected by it. So, Roan couldn’t know how far the skill was spreading or how someone reacted.
It was fortunate that he could sense his surroundings much more sensitively than other knights because his heightened senses through training were able to play a similar role to ‘detection’.
So, the number of knights protecting the emperor’s surroundings was limited to twenty. The magic tool’s range of motion was that much. Beyond that range, the skill the Emperor exudes feels normal. Conversely, enemies who came within that range would be taken aback by the fact that their abilities, which they usually unconsciously and consciously unfold, were blocked.
‘Why am I thinking of such an absurd thing?’
Roan took a look at the magic stone engraved with Erenia’s handwriting and put it in his pocket.
Although it is certainly powerful enough to change the world of war — like Helen, strong knights and lords often rely on their own abilities — it is still incomplete that it is difficult to turn it on and off unless it is Elenia’s magical power.
But the idea ends here.
The promised time is approaching.
Although the sun was not visible, a flag was visible over the horizon indicating that they would soon advance.
“Do not take up arms yet. We must conserve our strength.”
Turko’s low voice passed behind the knights.
Unlike the Merdegun, which are mostly infantry, the percentage of Evirzioen cavalry is higher. Unlike horses, witches grow well in rough terrain and eat anything well. Horses only eat grass, but witch beasts can also eat humans if need be. Because it’s omnivore.
So, both sides of Evirgio were occupied by the central knights who rode witches and the knights of the lords of the Southern Dark Spirit.
In the middle, there were foot soldiers gathered from all over the Southern Black Territory, with Hajak’s soldiers at the center.
On the other hand, Merde’s battle line against him was not long. It was because there were fewer of them than Evirgio in the first place, and if the front line was stretched according to the ranks of the demon army, the thickness would be so thin that it would be difficult to receive the demon’s attack.
“Merde’s forces will think that Evirzio’s forces are aiming for a siege. They will definitely hide some of their troops elsewhere and think of a diversionary operation.”
At the meeting of the lords, Grunent had said so.
And the Southern Dark Spirit replied coldly.
“Our numbers are not good enough. In order to afford a siege, the power difference must be much more overwhelming than it is now.”
Due to the nature of the vampire race, the face of the Southern Dark Spirit was always cold.
Even now that the Emperor’s human concubine had intervened in the strategy meeting, no matter how much she was acting as her decoy and handing over information about her enemy, the human, the conservative man showed no signs of hiding her discomfort.
It is difficult to easily trust other races,
The Southern Dark Spirit has yet to fully accommodate humans. Because it didn’t have to be.
So Roan decided to observe his words and actions.
“If we foolishly launch a siege, the humans will mobilize knights to attack from within and without.”
“Where do you hide those knights?”
“Isn’t the largest forest on this continent to the north, Your Majesty?”
The plain that will be the battlefield for today is to the south of the Dark Forest. However, even at the words of the Grand Duke, Roan smiled faintly.
“If we intend to surprise, we can use the northern forest. But humans have nowhere to hide. They will be like in the middle of the plains.”
The Grand Duke’s eyes narrowed as he understood the meaning of Roan’s words.
I know that the emperor came across the dark forest with the forest fairy by his side, but making the forest fairy join the war by siding with the demons is another matter.
No demon had ever done such a thing. And on the basis of such uncertainty, the Grand Duke did not want to sacrifice his lords and his troops.
But Roan was confident.
And the time has come to check the results.
For an instant, Aina swallowed her breath.
Wriggling, the rows of demons moved and made a path in the middle.
And Merde’s command, which was watching the front of the Evirgio army from afar, and the officers leading the front of the Merde army couldn’t hide their surprise.
The one who appeared across the empty space in the middle of the demons was a princess who was said to have been taken to the country of the demons.
The Merdegun opposite him could be seen visibly buzzing.
No one wielded a knife
The battle has already begun.
