The Founding Monarch Became the Mastermind

Chapter 53

Si-on had lived as a mercenary in this world for a long time.

For the first few years after his arrival, he joined a mercenary group, but after gaining a certain level of skill and meeting his mentors to enter the realm of superhumans, he mostly formed temporary parties or participated in large-scale battles on an individual basis without staying long in any particular group.

He chose to fight alone because there was always the risk of his immortality being exposed.

However, when the Dark Dragon Derkios began rampaging in earnest, forcing numerous kingdoms and hundreds of territories to halt their conflicts and unite, the situation changed.

In battles involving hundreds of troops, a single person could change the tide.

But when the numbers reached thousands or even tens of thousands, it became much more challenging.

No matter how well Si-on fought on his own, if other units fell and the top commanders were killed, it was a lost battle.

Si-on knew his own limits.

On Earth, he was a company commander.

In this world, a centurion.

Si-on understood that the largest unit he could directly command was roughly around 200 men.

Thus, he fought with a force of about 200 men.

Even after he was granted land and became the ruler of the Si-on Duchy, he continued in the same manner.

He strategically placed skilled tacticians among the knights his wife brought with her.

Like a president holding supreme command, he only retained the highest authority, leaving general military matters to real strategists.

However, when it came to small-scale battles, Si-on was still an expert.

An undefeated master of small-unit warfare, with decades of experience and not a single defeat to his name.

This was why Si-on swiftly and simply devised the plan for today’s raid.

It was enough to make even Yonas and Longlive, who had long gone without experiencing proper combat, feel somewhat uneasy.

* * *

‘Is this really right…?’

Yonas swallowed his thoughts, unable to voice them to the revered Founder. But when Si-on first laid out the plan for the night raid, he couldn’t help but think that.

– The elf warriors would take out the night watchmen, then reduce the enemy’s numbers by circling from the north to the south of the campsite in a crescent formation.

– Once they reached the southeastern part of the camp, Yonas, Longlive, and the Paloma forces would fully move south and wait.

– At that point, the elves’ path of silent assassinations would either have reached the inner camp or would likely be detected by the enemy.

– Si-on would then take the shortest route to eliminate the enemy commanders, drawing the awakened enemy forces toward him.

– While Si-on and the elf warriors engaged the oncoming enemies, Yonas and the Paloma forces waiting in the south would strike from the rear.

It didn’t seem plausible and hardly felt like a viable plan.

It was too simple, and Yonas doubted the enemy would fall for it unless they were complete fools.

But those concerns were needless.

“There, over there!”

“Damn it! Kill those bastards!”

“Aaaah!”

“Is this really…?”

Hearing the shouts and screams, Yonas finally spoke aloud what he had been thinking.

But his words didn’t carry the same doubt he felt when he first heard the plan.

The situation was unfolding exactly as Si-on had planned, without the slightest deviation.

It genuinely felt unreal.

The sight of countless torches flickering all around and the mercenaries, frantically running after being jolted awake, confirmed that everything was going according to the Founder’s plan.

‘Then it’s time for me to do my part.’

“I’m not so foolish as to mess up a meal served on a silver platter. Everyone, advance!”

Ha!

With a low but firm shout, the Paloma soldiers raised their shields, formed their formation, and advanced.

In stark contrast to the panicked mercenaries running around like wild animals confronted by hunters.

The Paloma soldiers moved in an organized manner, pushing forward like a machine, driving into the backs of the mercenaries rushing toward the camp’s center, where Si-on was.

Slash! Slash!

“Aagh! Gah!”

Every time two swords flickered between the torches, flashes of steel and screams erupted.

While Friel and Yonas knew Si-on’s true identity, the others did not.

Si-on knew they might sense something strange, so after unleashing his killing intent at the beginning, he faced the mercenaries with pure martial skill.

Si-on had surpassed even the exceptional mentors who had once been the top in their fields.

That skill, combined with decades of real combat and physical abilities beyond human limits, made him confident that unless a “User” with a unique skill appeared in this world soon, he would be the strongest.

Even if such a User did appear, Si-on didn’t think he would lose, not with his long years of combat experience.

Moreover, this current situation was a battle involving hundreds, something he was most adept at.

And with a perfect surprise attack launched at night, the mercenaries had barely managed to arm themselves properly before rushing out.

‘I could handle this alone, honestly.’

Yet he chose to involve the elf warriors and Paloma troops in a coordinated raid.

Because sometimes the reason for fighting matters.

And that reason becomes a cause, and those who fight together under the same cause become ‘comrades.’

The Paloma soldiers, aside from Yonas and Longlive, were unaware of what their master, Gede, had done.

So they believed they were fighting for the Si-on Duchy against enemies who had invaded, not for Gede.

And they were doing so alongside elf warriors they had lived near for years but seldom interacted with.

The same went for the elf warriors, excluding Friel.

Regardless of tribe, they shared the same feeling.

Although elves rarely showed their emotions, it wasn’t because they had none.

So the elf warriors were also experiencing the rare occasion of fighting alongside the Duchy’s soldiers to defend their home, the Si-on Duchy.

‘Only a few rotten heads.’

Si-on wanted everyone involved in this fight, which he could have handled alone.

And the process was perfect; he had no doubt the outcome would be satisfactory.

The results were unfolding before his eyes.

“They’re at the rear! Enemies are behind us, too!”

“It’s the Duchy’s forces!”

“These… damn it!”

Though Si-on and the elf warriors had already taken down over a hundred, even with torches lighting the area, the mercenaries were unable to clearly see or understand what was happening on this dark night.

Amid the chaos, the Paloma soldiers flawlessly ambushed the mercenaries who had blindly rushed toward the screams and the sounds of clashing weapons.

“They’re here too, damn it!”

“Over here! Aaargh!”

Dozens more fell, spraying blood, and some mercenaries turned to face the Paloma troops.

However, most mercenaries, who had run out in their undergarments with just their weapons, were no match for the soldiers wearing double-layered quilted armor reinforced with multiple layers of linen and chain mail, equipped with shields.

Even if the mercenaries had been fully armed and clashed as a group, they would have been at a disadvantage. But in their current state, ill-equipped and facing a perfectly disciplined military formation, they had no chance.

“Hraaah!”

“Gah!”

It was a complete massacre.

Though most of the mercenaries hired by the Count Pamel family were fairly experienced, they were now reduced to the state of conscripted peasant soldiers.

And they were under attack from both directions.

Ultimately, there was only one choice left for the mercenaries.

“R-run away!”

At someone’s shout, the remaining mercenaries who were still alive all turned to flee.

The escape route was obvious.

The northwest, where Si-on and the Paloma forces were not present.

Dozens of mercenaries, clutching their weapons, sprinted through the forest in the dead of night.

Of course, most of them would likely be killed by beasts or monsters before they could escape the deep forest, but none of them thought that far ahead, with their lives hanging by a thread.

If they didn’t run now, they would die.

Consumed by that single thought, the mercenaries ran.

Swish! Swish!

Awaiting them was a barrage of arrows from the Duchy’s elf warriors, who had silenced the watchmen among the outsider elves.

Though not as sharp-eyed as Si-on, the elf warriors possessed excellent night vision and shot arrows comfortably from high in the trees.

The elf warriors, who had identified the escape routes when Si-on first devised the night raid, had already positioned themselves, and more than half of the fleeing mercenaries fell, ambushed by the elven archers and collapsing onto the damp forest floor.

In the end, only about twenty managed to escape the camp.

Of course, it was uncertain how many would actually make it out of the Forest Without Echoes.

The stench of blood from the night’s slaughter had already drawn beasts and monsters, all converging toward this spot.

* * *

Groooan…

The campsite, with its burning tents and tarps ignited by the torches, looked like a devastated wasteland.

Corpses and severely wounded mercenaries lay scattered everywhere, with the survivors writhing or crawling like insects.

“Kill everyone except the commanders. Behead them all.”

“Yes, sir.”

Following Si-on’s command, Yonas relayed the orders to Longlive, and the soldiers moved through the camp, stabbing the injured mercenaries and repeatedly beheading the dead.

The screams and groans gradually died down.

The elf warriors were busy putting out the fires that had spread to the trees.

Though the damp forest was unlikely to burn easily, it was the natural thing for them to do.

Soon, silence settled over the camp, save for the sound of a few burning tents.

Once all the tasks were completed, and the troops naturally formed a line, everyone’s gaze turned to one place.

Si-on, who had devised the perfect strategy—initially thought to be clumsy—and directly put himself in the most dangerous spot to achieve unbelievable results.

Longlive and the Paloma soldiers looked at him as if they were staring at a monster, and the elf warriors, who had witnessed Si-on’s feats up close with their sharp night vision, also showed rare signs of deep emotion.

However, Si-on paid no mind to these stares, glancing instead at the hundreds of severed heads piled grotesquely like a tower.

He then signaled Yonas with his eyes.

“Ugh… Aaaah!”

“Ugh!”

Knight Sanders, whose right thigh had been shattered by Si-on’s punch, and the two mercenary leaders whose Achilles tendons had been severed, were dragged out, howling like beasts.

Aside from the few mercenaries who had fled north into the forest, these three were the only survivors.

“Aaagh! Agh!”

Si-on grabbed Sanders by the hair and hoisted him up.

“Do you know who this is?”

“Yes, Gide Sanders, a knight of the Count Pamel family and one of the Count’s nephews.”

Although Yonas didn’t know every member of the Count Pamel family, he had seen some of the Count’s close relatives a few times, and he confirmed Sanders’ identity.

“Guh… Sir Yonas. What is the meaning of this? How can you do this to me…?”

Thud!

“Aaaaaargh!”

Sanders, who had been whining through his pain, let out a piercing scream as Si-on kicked his thigh.

“Shut your mouth. Do you know why you were spared?”

“Ugh… I am a knight of the Count’s family and the Count’s kin. Treating me like this… do you know what kind of consequences you’ll face…? Ugh!”

With a swift motion, Si-on yanked Sanders’ head up to meet his gaze.

“You don’t know why you were spared? You’re living proof.”

“The Count Pamel family is a noble house of the kingdom. We were just here to exterminate monsters in the forest.”

This was an excuse prepared in advance in case the plan went awry.

The Count Pamel family was the in-laws of Gede Si-on, one of Si-on’s highest-ranking direct descendants. If pushed, it was an excuse that could certainly be believable.

“It’s not too late… yet…”

Si-on pulled Sanders’ head close to his own face.

Sanders’ breath caught in his throat, suffocating even amid the pain, as he looked into Si-on’s eyes, which seemed to flicker with a cold, blue flame.

“You’re right. It’s not too late.”

“…Then…”

“I had always planned to deal with your family properly, and it seems now is the time. It’s a good thing it’s not too late.”

“……!”

For a brief moment, Sanders processed Si-on’s words, and his eyes widened in terror.

“You’re lucky. You get to see firsthand what happened to your family’s ancestors when they crossed this forest long ago—what happened when they faced Duke Si-on.”

“Huh… Huhhh…”

Sanders had always mocked and sneered at the elders of his family, who would tense up at any mention of the Si-on Duchy.

But today, he finally understood why those elders, whom he had dismissed as overly cautious, had shown such fear.