SWNOVELXO Chapter 557
Chapter 557: I Will Allow It. (1)
Upon hearing the news, Ghislaine shook her head.
“Run away, I say.”
Just before the Union Army was about to split due to Helgenik, Ghislaine sent word to the Kingdom of Grimwell.
Thus, they had ample time to escape.
However, Ghislaine did actually expect that they wouldn’t run away.
“They’re far too proud for that.”
The Kingdom of Grimwell was a military powerhouse, rivaling the Ruthania Kingdom. At its core were the superhumans known as the three pillars of the kingdom.
“Sure, they are strong… but…”
The Salvation Society is stronger. Even excluding the half-baked priests, there are many superhumans known as strategic weapons. Among them is Aiden, who would later belong to the continent’s seven great powers.
But even more terrifying was—
“The tactical genius, Count Bifenbelt.”
Thinking of him made Ghislaine’s mouth feel slightly bitter.
When the hidden Kingdom of Atrode collaborated with the Human Alliance in her previous life, Ghislaine had admired Count Bifenbelt’s prowess time and again.
Of course, Count Bifenbelt also could not hide his admiration for Ghislaine’s battles. They recognized each other as comrades.
Initially, she had considered recruiting him upon her return, but once she realized Atrode’s connection with the Salvation Society, that idea became impossible.
“One of them must die for this to end.”
Ghislaine shook off her bitter feelings.
The commander, superhumans, and elite troops—all of it meant the Kingdom of Grimwell stood no chance against the Salvation Society.
Ignoring the warning, they fought and, as expected, the Castle of Grimwell was captured, and the king himself was taken prisoner.
Following that, a messenger delivered the news.
“The entire territory hasn’t been completely occupied yet! The Army of Atrode only moved toward the royal castle. The local lords are gathering their troops in various places.”
Ghislaine nodded. Perhaps others would have a hard time grasping the Salvation Society’s strategy.
This war was a battle between humans and the Salvation Society. Capturing the king wouldn’t be the end. There was a need to completely occupy and annihilate their opponent, to the point where justification was unnecessary.
But Ghislaine already knew why the Salvation Society was in such a hurry.
“The Sacred Relic.”
I wonder if Gathros managed to obtain the Sacred Relic as he wished? Besides this necklace, what other relics could there be?
Suddenly, Ghislaine recalled the vision of the saint she saw in a dream.
“Right, surely…”
The saint was wearing the necklace she possessed.
And another thing. On her praying wrist hung a bracelet, plain yet very much like the necklace.
“Could it be that?”
She couldn’t be sure, but it sure seemed like it. She brought back the chalice the saint used; she was curious about how to confirm that.
Lost in thought, Ghislaine suddenly chuckled.
“I’ve been having some weird dreams. Thanks to those guys, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
In the past, she might have simply ignored it. But strangely, this time, she couldn’t shake it off.
There were too many bothersome details unrelated to her. So she found herself preoccupied.
“That rival of mine… Looks incredibly strong. Could he be the king the Salvation Society speaks of?”
He seemed very similar to her, amplifying his power using Dark. But conversely, before obtaining Dark during her mercenary king days, she didn’t have such power.
Does that mean he possesses something akin to Dark?
She couldn’t be certain, as she didn’t know what Dark truly was.
And the more she dreamed, the stranger she felt. It felt like something was lost.
“I keep getting drawn into that dream.”
Ghislaine shook her head, brushing aside those thoughts. Losing focus was not a good thing.
Whether it was a dream or the Salvation Society’s strategy, she needed to stick to her duty without being swayed.
“We’ll crush the remaining forces. After that, we’ll advance to the Kingdom of Grimwell. Tell the remaining lords of Grimwell not to fight recklessly.”
Ghislaine moved again as per the original plan.
Since the Ruthania Army was large, their pace was slow, but the time taken for battle was brief. As a result, the Ruthania Army advanced faster than other legions.
The Union Army also steadily captured their strongholds. The strongest fortresses were already in the hands of the Ruthania Army, so it wasn’t difficult.
Receiving news from Dark and the messenger regularly, Ghislaine maintained a relaxed demeanor.
“It won’t take long.”
Since the main force of the Army of Atrode had retreated, they posed no threat to the Union Army. The enemy surely knew this.
Nevertheless, they were holding fast because they needed to protect Atrode to supply their main forces attacking Grimwell.
If the Kingdom of Atrode was completely captured, the main forces would have a hard time fighting in Grimwell.
Count Bifenbelt wouldn’t be ignorant of that.
“They’ll take as much as they can here and procure resources locally.”
It was likely that the Kingdom of Grimwell would soon start being plundered to the point of not being able to recover.
The Ruthania Army advanced at a slow yet strangely quick pace.
And at the fortress they encountered, Ghislaine noticed something strange.
“…Did they run away?”
The fortress was empty. Clearly, they had heard the news and deemed they had no way to win against the Ruthania Army.
But they wouldn’t have completely abandoned the fight. Their mission was likely to endure, allowing as many supplies as possible to be moved to the Kingdom of Grimwell.
Indeed, the Army of Atrode was emerging with somewhat different tactics than before.
Whether the Meteor Strategy had been unveiled to the enemy was unclear, but all forces at the strongholds along the Ruthania Army’s advance route had gathered in one place.
It appeared they had vacated the fortress to consolidate their forces.
Seeing this, Ghislaine couldn’t help but smile.
“…Well, I understand this much.”
For them, this was the best course of action. Instead of getting beaten without retaliating, it was better to gather and at least make a stand.
The gathered forces numbered around 100,000. While it was said many soldiers from various fortresses had gathered, this was not a scale the Army of Atrode could muster under current circumstances.
Looking closely, it was clear that not all 100,000 soldiers were in good condition.
Detecting their true identity, Ghislaine shook her head.
“Conscripts.”
In a situation where the main forces were absent, the Army of Atrode was only holding the fort with the few remaining troops they had for defense.
Yet because of the Meteor Strategy, they had to abandon the fortress and fight.
Against the Ruthania Army, the disparity in numbers was too great, so they filled the gaps with conscripts instead of fully armed soldiers.
No matter how wealthy the Kingdom of Atrode was, it was impossible to fill 100,000 as regular troops under the current situation.
Ghislaine frowned as she surveyed the conscripted soldiers.
“…Did they really think this would be possible? Pathetic fools.”
Most of the front lines consisted of young boys and old men. Their equipment was pitiful, and their faces showed sheer terror.
Proper soldiers and knights were actually behind them. They intended to use conscripts to tire out the Ruthania Army.
“Waaaaaah!”
Suddenly, the Army of Atrode charged with a shout. With their lack of mages, all they could do was take the offensive.
They had to rush in before being hit by magical attacks.
Ghislaine quietly watched the approaching enemies from a distance.
They tried hard to muster the courage to shout, but that was all. The fear of death was already settling heavily on their faces.
“…”
The clumsy charge was embarrassing to watch. It appeared they hadn’t received any training, as their formation quickly fell apart.
A certain young soldier was running in tears, and an old man stumbled and was trampled by his own allies.
Ghislaine looked sympathetically at the pitiable conscript soldiers.
“War is like that.”
Most were dragged out against their will, according to the whims of those in high places.
They had no power to choose their way of life.
Knowing this, Ghislaine still wouldn’t let those who blocked her path slide. In war, if you don’t kill your opponent, you’ll die instead.
But at least for now, Ghislaine had the power to choose which direction this war would take.
“…Prepare yourselves.”
Ghislaine said quietly.
Clank, clank, clank.
Suddenly, the knights dismounted and raised their shields. Kaor and the vanguard squad moved with the knights as well.
Gillian, Tenant, and Belinda naturally approached Ghislaine.
Ghislaine looked at Parniel and said.
“If you help with Divine Power, things will get a bit easier.”
“How about calling Jerome?”
“In the current situation, it’d only confuse the enemies more. And that friend has work to do. He’s quite busy, you know. He also plans to train the soldiers after a long time.”
“Understood. I also felt uneasy.”
Ghislaine dismounted from the Black King and motioned towards the mages and priests behind her.
“Let’s begin.”
Boom!
As the Army of Atrode came rushing in, a massive stone barrier rose up.
Vanessa and the mages focused on blocking the path instead of directly attacking the enemy.
There was only one gap available in the middle.
“Whaaaaaat?”
The charging Army of Atrode was thrown into confusion. There was no way these conscripts could overcome or destroy a massive stone wall.
The allied mages needed to help, but they were only concerned with protecting the higher-ups.
“Move, move!”
“Go that way! Over there!”
“Don’t push!”
With their charge blocked, the vast number of soldiers quickly became intertwined. They all seemed unsure of what to do.
Ultimately, the conscripts had no choice but to rush into the one gap.
Watching them, Ghislaine stretched out her hand, and a knight handed her a Galbarium cudgel.
Wham!
Divine Power radiated from various places within the Ruthania Army. Piote and the priests blessed their allies at the front.
Ghislaine held the cudgel forward and declared.
“All troops… ‘Suppress’ the enemies.”
As soon as the words finished, Ghislaine surged forward.
The superhumans, knights, and the vanguard squad quietly trailed behind her.
They too drew the Galbarium cudgels they had strapped to their waists.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the stone wall that had been blocking the enemies disappeared. The enemy formation was left in total disarray.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The mobile troops in formation raised their shields and separated the spearheads of the Galbarium Spear to form sturdy cudgels.
Ghislaine grinned at the approaching conscripts.
“I won’t do what the Salvation Society wants. Just the opposite, you could say.”
Parniel, standing right next to her, also smirked before planting her massive mace firmly into the ground.
Boom!
The ground shook, causing the conscripts to topple over. In the meantime, Ghislaine dashed through.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Ghislaine expertly swung her cudgel, knocking down the enemies. Of course, she was careful to control her strength so that they wouldn’t die.
Boom!
The superhumans who followed suit did the same. As they floored the conscripts, the knights pushed back the soldiers swarming from the side with their shields.
Even so, the sheer number of conscripts allowed them to push back. Yet, those were being knocked down by the vanguard squad, constantly creating a path.
Ghislaine laughed heartily as she knocked down the advancing conscripts.
“Consider this a tough training exercise today! Opportunities like this don’t come around often!”
At a glance, the number of conscripts had almost reached 80,000. They seemed to have gathered everyone from the surrounding towns.
No matter how many they were, and even though they were conscripts, Ghislaine intended to carry on with this strategy.
In her head, this was not a battle but truly a ‘suppressive training.’
The knights and the vanguard squad grumbled as they pushed the enemies back with their shields and swatted them with cudgels.
“Ah! No wonder the fortress felt so easy!”
“When are we going to finish knocking them all down?”
“Well, it’s not like we’re just beating them up.”
Subduing someone is harder than killing them. Had they simply charged on horseback, they could have crushed the conscripts in an instant.
Of course, from a training perspective, this was excellent. In real combat, they could die, so they had to exert just enough strength not to kill the enemy.
Such situations are hard to create. Thus, Ghislaine called it training.
Parniel didn’t get involved directly. She focused solely on observing the allies around her, radiating Divine Power.
After a short while, the conscript soldiers could no longer charge at the vanguard squad.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
As soon as the mobile troops arrived, they pushed through broadly with their spears against the conscripts.
No matter how much these conscripts swung their weapons, the Ruthania Army stood intact. Everyone was clad in Galbarium armor, so the attacks did not reach them.
It was impossible for the conscripts to break through with their meager strength.
“My weapon isn’t getting through!”
“Push with your bodies!”
“What are we supposed to do to kill them!”
The conscripts who charged headlong were knocked down by the spears one after another. Those who fell groaned in pain but were at least not dead.
Only then did they realize.
That the opponent was showing them ‘mercy.’
An old man who had fallen grabbed a young soldier trying to stand up beside him.
“Just stay down.”
“Huh?”
“Just stay down. The Duke of Penris is watching right now, you know.”
Snapping back to reality, the young soldier quickly lay flat on the ground. As he looked around, everyone else also lay groaning, not getting up.
“I… I made it.”
The young soldier curled up, calming his trembling heart. He thought he was surely going to die.
Having been so tense that he hadn’t seen his surroundings, he could now see. Indeed, the Ruthania Army was merely knocking down their allies.
Others began to catch on to what was happening.
Since they were supposed to die anyway, they had gritted their teeth and charged, but this situation changed everything.
They were ordinary farmers, after all. But at least they knew their enemy was not an invading force.
They were also aware that the true evils of this continent were the Salvation Society.
Now, conscripts began falling without even being directly hit. They realized they could survive by just falling down.
Finally, the atmosphere Ghislaine desired began to form.
Feeling the moment had come, Ghislaine stomped heavily on the ground.
Boom!
The earth split open, and the conscript soldiers who had rushed in fell to the ground.
Simultaneously, Ghislaine shouted loudly.
“Get down! Only those who lie down from now on will be spared!”
His voice echoed across the battlefield like thunder.
At this point, the conscript soldiers had seen all those who had rushed at the Ruthania Army fall. And those who had fallen were not dead.
They could fully grasp that their opponent was showing them mercy. Moreover, the enemy was issuing a final warning.
The opportunity to live was now.
One person dropped their weapon and lay down. Then the next person did the same.
Soon all the conscripts of the Army of Atrode began to drop their weapons and lay down as if they were collapsing.