Night of the Soulless Heathens – 487



#488. Only humans… 3

The morale of the soldiers was sky-high.

They were on the verge of being separated from their families but they avoided that fate and witnessed the emperor’s miracle right before their eyes.

We also saw evidence that the new covenant promised by the Emperor was not merely a lie but was real.

There is no way that fraud will not increase.

Until just now it felt like they were being dragged to the slaughterhouse but now everyone is voluntarily praising the Emperor and Empress and willingly heading to the battlefield.

“Thank you for your effort.”

Ismail apologized to Captain Lizhen who had suddenly taken on the role of a villain.

“No I don’t need to apologize. By the way what on earth did the Empress do?”

“Actually I wasn’t hurt in the first place. It was a lie to say I was attacked by an assassin.”

“I know that too. He deliberately released the soldiers and told them to catch them like rats.”

When he heard the Empress’s orders to deliberately harass people while conscripting Legion soldiers he knew that this was intentional.

But the problem is what happens after that.

As the empress raised her sword a light appeared and those who truly used white magic appeared among the refugees?

“We planted knights among the refugees in advance to create a wind catcher. The light of the miracle is the light of the royal flower. It must have been taken care of by His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Oh you planted it in advance. Oh then that’s right. Still it’s amazing. To act like this so openly.”

Even though he was fooled Legion was impressed by Medium’s generosity.

Azadin also uses bluff and trickery but Medium goes one step further than Azadin.

For one reason or another Azadin was somewhat embarrassed about selling miracles to gain people’s favor.

Even though I knew that this was a good thing I had always been reluctant to use deception and trickery whenever necessary.

So I don’t take the final step.

But Medium took the last step that Azadin was unable to take.

“Your Majesty a man who knows nothing about hegemony wondered why he took a woman from the Jeonryeong clan as his wife. It was indeed so. If an individual is that outstanding bloodline is not a big issue.”

Ismail was offended by the Rijen’s remarks that dismissed Azadin and Midiam’s marriage as a mistake but he was also impressed.

‘I thought he was a scoundrel mercenary but he’s actually smart. Well you can tell from the way he trains his soldiers as a captain. He’s definitely not easy.’

The region continued to ask questions.

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“So what about Assander?”

“I put a scorpion in.”

“What about supplies? Can we feed these refugees?”

“We have requested supplies from Asander. And the northern crops planted by Aranggi and Banreung Rescue Knights are being harvested. Once they are harvested Your Majesty will have some spare time.”

Currently Azadin was expending enormous energy fighting the cold until the crops he had planted could be harvested.

But once it’s harvested and people are evacuated there will be some leeway to reduce the area that needs to be protected from the cold.

“Then we must quickly defeat the Nagas and end this battle. Is the end in sight? We will win.”

“Yes if I can defeat the Nagas.”

Ismail turned to see the region speaking hopefully.

Hope was spreading like wildfire.

That would certainly be a good thing but….

Will the Emperor and Empress be able to shoulder the weight of this hope?

Ismail wondered about that.

*********

“It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”

Empress Medium was calming herself as she rode the sled and marched with her soldiers.

Although it was a staged play it helped to reduce some of the burden on Azadin by preaching to people and making them believe that the New Testament is truly the true teaching.

But the nights are getting longer and the cold is still intense.

Even now protected by the light of the King’s Flower a fierce wind was raging across the land.

Thanks to that the sled flew along the ground as if it was flying but there were also many injured and stragglers.

Some people were separated from the group because their sleds broke or capsized.

However instead of slowing down the march Medium formed a rearguard unit to pick up those people and did not slow down the main force’s march.

Because it was more dangerous to slow down in this strong wind.

Thanks to that the line gets longer.

It was a risky gamble as if the enemy appeared and launched a surprise attack there was a risk of suffering great damage.

Fortunately they were able to reach Kaspar a trading city of the Chitai nomads in a week without encountering any enemies.

But just as they were approaching Kaspar the wind suddenly died down.

“uh?”

“what?”

The wind that had been blowing so fiercely until then suddenly stopped.

“Is the wind gone only here?”

But that didn’t seem to be the case.

Suddenly the snowstorm stops and the clouds disappear.

A very transparent clear sky suddenly spreads out over the meadow.

And one particularly bright star was shining in the night sky.

“Jupiter?”

Someone recognized the star.

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And when the snowstorm cleared the road before them was covered in blood.

The inhabitants of Kaspar were slaughtered and hung from cartwheels and in the middle of the road made of their corpses was the death knight Lord Sok riding on the back of an undead wyvern.

*********

While Emperor Azadin was in control of Chitai the Southern Expeditionary Force led by Lord Jecht and Lord Astartair succeeded in destroying the floating islands of the fish-people thereby destroying their base for appearing in the southern sea routes.

With this they were able to gain control of the southern sea route receive reinforcements and supplies from various places and focus all their efforts on Naga.

The Nagas descendants of the Naga Empire that once enslaved humanity possess overwhelming power and magic so that ordinary humans do not dare to be their opponents and even veteran soldiers who have gained combat experience in battles against the fish-people fall like autumn leaves before the Nagas.

However Jecht spared no expense in sacrificing the lives of his soldiers.

At the same time they also used sorcery such as necromancy and nether magic so no matter how great the Nagas were they had no choice but to continue to strategically retreat.

In addition the knights of the New Testament began to gradually emerge.

As those who believed in Azadin’s new medicine and used white magic appeared the number of refugee soldiers who were thrown in with the intention of being crushed began to increase and come back alive.

Eventually the Nagas gave up the old Bthuma territory and entered the city of Nagasra Nagasrin Nagabandhu their old city located in the jungle relying on the three city walls.

Jecht and Astartair were using the reclaimed Btuma Palace as their headquarters replenishing supplies through the port and regrouping.

The victory of humanity is at hand.

*********

“Oh yes. That’s great. His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress are truly wonderful.”

Lord Jecht who was in charge of the Southern Front clapped his hands absentmindedly when he heard the rumor that Empress Medium had appointed the refugees as the Knights of the New Testament and performed miracles.

“This is a won battle. Long live His Majesty the new Emperor…”

As he spoke Zect’s eyes were not smiling at all.

Such a quest was currently taking possession of one of the mansions of a wealthy merchant in Bthuma and making it his residence.

It is a residence where soldiers rest and stay while reorganizing their units during ongoing battles.

The status of Jecht and Astartair was subtly revealed as Jecht took over the merchant’s mansion and Astartair took over the palace of Bthuma.

No matter how many achievements Jecht had made on the battlefield he could not be appointed commander-in-chief of the army because he used sorcery.

The commander-in-chief was Astarte the king of Tarasar and Jecht was given a separate residence as his adjutant.

And inside that temporary residence a group of elves had entered.

“I heard that Your Majesty… has been promised the throne of Bthuma.”

Those who called themselves elf merchants had come to find Jecht.

Half of these elves had sharp vertical pupils and Jecht knew that they were not true elves but naga disguised as elves.

“Hmm? Where did you know that? That seems like a rather irreverent thing to say?”

“I’m sorry. I acted out of line.”

“And it’s not Bthuma it’s Korrasar.”

“Oh was it Corazar?”

“yes.”

“Then Your Majesty you will soon ascend to the throne as King of Korasa. Congratulations in advance.”

“….”

“Those of the soldiers with the right faith will awaken as knights and all the kingdoms of mankind will be united as one. The great deeds of His Majesty the Emperor will be remembered forever in history and His Majesty as a meritorious subject will become the king of Korasaar so my joy will never end.”

“I guess so.”

The face of Zect who answered like that was not smiling at all.

“So what have you come here for you traitors? If you wish to make a plea to me it must be something more valuable than the usual sugar-coated offerings.”

Zect turned his smiling face towards the elves.

The face was smiling but the cold air seemed ready to cut down the elves at any moment.

“General. The Nagas are considering surrender.”

“Surrender?”

Jecht was startled when unexpected words came out of the elves’ mouths.

“Yes. I wish to surrender on the condition that I can give the two cities of Nagasrin and Nagabandhu to Your Majesty the Emperor who cannot guarantee the survival of the race as it is and only the autonomy of Nagasra can be recognized. I wish to surrender on such terms.”

“…….”

Zect was shocked to hear that.

Although the Nagas have been pushed back into the jungle giving up the Bthuma Ridge the remaining Nagas are mostly truly powerful Naga nobles. They are by no means easy enemies.

But they gave up fighting and surrendered.

Even if it was for the sake of preserving the Naga race it is surprising. A race that once raised humans as food would bow its head and surrender to humanity?

Of course the hardliners might still use this opportunity to exterminate the Nagas… but perhaps the Emperor will accept their surrender.

The war is over.

If Azadin achieves great deeds that will be remembered forever in this land as the Emperor and if Jecht is not defeated by the Tosagu he will become the King of Korasaar and be rewarded for his hardships.

It’s definitely good news but…

Zect felt like there was a hole right in the middle of his chest.

Is this how it ends?

The troubled times ended when the young man from the herald clan who was called a soulless blasphemer became the emperor and Jecht who surrendered to him became the king of Korasa.

That would certainly be a happy ending to a children’s storybook.

Actually Zect wasn’t happy at all. Well if you think about it when was he ever happy?

Jecht suddenly asked the elves.

“What if the surrender is not accepted anyway? Is there a solution?”

“Then the Nagas will use this sword which they received from the Nether gods by giving up ten thousand of their lives.”

The elves said so and showed a sword.

It was a strange object to be called a sword.

The pitch-black liquid was rippling in the shape of a sword.