SWNOVELXO Chapter 568
Chapter 568: Shall We Play a Little? (1)
Yulien quickly spotted the 5th Corps of Atrode. They were also headed this way to coordinate with the 6th Corps.
There was no need for words. As always, Yulien charged in alone and began to massacre the enemies.
Swish!
“Graaah!”
One priest charged confidently only to have his head severed.
Yulien turned his head. Based on past experience, there shouldn’t just be one priest.
But then….
Boom!
At an incredible speed, a priest was fleeing far into the distance. He was moving so fast that quite a gap had already formed.
It was Flacus, who had escaped from the Ruthania Kingdom.
As soon as Flacus saw Yulien, he recognized him. Within a brief moment, he made his judgment.
‘This guy’s rumored to be on par with Duke Penris. I can’t win by engaging him now!’
Ever since enduring hardship in Ruthania, Flacus had memorized the portraits and information of superhumans.
This information helped him to make rational judgments.
‘Counts Palantz and Balzac from the Ruthania Kingdom were also killed by Duke Penris. So why should I fight against someone comparable to him? Someone like Gathros should come instead.’
He rationalized it that way. Though he briefly considered fighting back, he ultimately decided it was too risky.
After all, encountering an enemy here meant something had gone wrong. The troop numbers were significantly fewer on their side.
Fleeing and informing others was the better option.
Flacus sprinted away with all his might, just turning his head for a brief check.
‘See! I knew it would happen!’
An ally priest had his head taken off in one stroke. Flacus resolved to never look back again.
Determined to run forward like a man, he pressed on without looking back.
The 5th Corps Commander, Count Poleno, wore an expression of disbelief.
“What… what is going on…?”
He was in the process of moving to coordinate with the 6th Corps, aiming to occupy the enemy supply line and intercept additional troops.
But suddenly, they found themselves fighting an army. At first, he thought little of it.
He merely assumed they had inadvertently caught their tail.
Sure, the number was less, but they had a superhuman on their side, so he felt confident.
However, one of the two priests sprinting toward them suddenly turned and started to flee.
That was the priest who’d always acted so cocky, looking down on the enemy.
While he was watching with a baffled expression, the remaining priest’s head fell off absurdly easily.
And then the slaughter began.
Swish!
“Uuuaaaah!”
No one could stop those who approached. The attackers went down left and right.
Poleno, who was supposed to command, was already in a daze. He was even starting to wonder if he was dreaming.
In the face of such overwhelming force, did strategy and tactics even matter?
‘Ah, no. This won’t do. We can’t win without stronger superhumans. We need more troops too.’
They had lost their superhuman too quickly. With fewer troops, there was no way to win without them.
Clop, clop, clop!
As the enemy cavalry pursued them, the 6th Corps of Atrode crumbled pathetically easily.
Poleno was forced to watch as his allies perished before him.
And then, a man appeared right in front of him.
Seeing that expressionless face, he had an inkling of who it was.
“Turian’s…”
Swish.
Before he could finish his words, Yulien’s sword severed Count Poleno’s neck.
With their commander dead, the remaining soldiers of the 5th Corps scattered and fled in all directions.
The battle ended so quickly it felt bland. Thanks to the absolute power of Yulien.
To truly stop him, a higher-level superhuman and a larger number of troops would be essential.
“Ha…”
Yulien let out a shallow sigh.
It was quite rare for him to sigh like that. The result of a rigorous campaign to minimize allied casualties.
In reality, he had depleted quite a bit of mana. It was one of his strengths that it didn’t show outwardly.
He glanced at Dark, who had grown progressively more imposing.
“Where’s Ghislaine?”
“He’s on the move.”
“I’ve taken care of everything here. What should we do next?”
At that moment, Dark closed his eyes, conversing with Ghislaine through their consciousness.
Soon, Dark whispered something to Yulien. After hearing Dark’s words, Yulien nodded.
“Understood. Let’s proceed that way.”
The troops that followed Yulien rested for a day before promptly moving again.
*
The commander of the 1st Corps of Atrode, Count Bifenbelt, was deep in thought.
“No regular communication has come.”
He had split the corps to increase mobility, yet in truth, the two corps were moving together in one area.
The 5th and 6th Corps, the 7th and 8th Corps, and the 9th and 10th Corps.
Grouped into these three teams, they spread out wide to move.
Their assigned mission was to cut off enemy supply routes and intercept reinforcements.
The hidden mission was to receive information from spies to reduce the allied forces’ strength and morale.
“It was definitely going according to plan in the beginning…”
Not long ago, he received word that the 5th Corps and 6th Corps, as well as the 7th Corps and 8th Corps, had annihilated two enemy corps.
However, quite some time had passed since then. Fresh communication from them should have arrived by now.
Even while moving, he had ensured messengers were constantly sent to update the strategic situation. Regardless of the situation, they were to send messages.
Thus, even if delayed, he could grasp how things were progressing.
“But no communication whatsoever…?”
Information in battle travels incredibly slowly. Hence, he had to speculate and make judgments based on the current situation.
As he was pondering, Count Bifenbelt suddenly grinned.
“I’ve been played.”
Strangely enough, he had been waiting for the connection to be lost.
He had heard that Duke Penris and Prince of Turian had begun pursuing. If they were indeed moving, it was natural for communication to cut off.
Count Bifenbelt couldn’t suppress his laughter.
“At last, this strategy is coming together.”
The battlefield toward which Duke Penris and Prince of Turian headed was significantly far from both of their main forces from Ruthania.
This was precisely the situation he had been hoping for.
In reality, cutting off supply routes and intercepting reinforcements were diversion tactics. He intended to use his own troops as bait to mislead their strategic goals.
Everything was focused on ensuring those two moved far from their main forces and eliminate them.
To achieve that, the remaining four corps had merely been waiting in other areas.
Yet one question lingered.
“Why did three units fall?”
There had been no communication from the 9th and 10th Corps. Neither battle progress reports nor regular communications had come.
Given the distance, Duke Penris or the Prince of Turian could not possibly have handled them. This meant that these two corps were taken down by someone else.
However, as far as he knew, aside from the Ruthania Army, the only remaining corps were led by Marquis Gideon of Turian.
“Marquis Gideon isn’t a terrible commander, but…”
Marquis Gideon wouldn’t be able to manage the powers of the 9th and 10th Corps without Prince Turian around.
So who the heck dealt with them?
Count Bifenbelt lost himself in thought again. The spies had never mentioned anything about other corps in the allied forces.
But what if, during the first battle, Duke Penris uncovered the identity of the spy and launched a counter-operation?
‘If they already figured it out… That means they were suspicious from the start.’
That’s the most likely scenario. They would have dealt with the 9th and 10th Corps caught in counter-operations.
But the real question was who had done that.
“Could it be…?”
While contemplating, Count Bifenbelt arrived at a singular conclusion.
“The Ruthania Army is on the move!”
It was clear. The Ruthania Army was currently split into two.
Even though they were divided in half, their combat power was still immense. Surely, one side had moved.
That meant regardless of which direction Duke Penris took, one would be taken care of.
“The best move in this situation is…”
After much deliberation, Count Bifenbelt made his decision. It was a bold adjustment to the existing strategy.
“Contact the remaining corps.”
His orders quickly began to spread.
“3rd Corps, move to the area where the 5th and 6th Corps were. Find either Duke Penris or Prince Turian and buy time. If you can kill them, do it.”
“2nd Corps and 4th Corps, go to the area where the 7th and 8th Corps were. There’s bound to be either Duke Penris or Prince Turian. You must eliminate them here.”
“Get in touch with the spies. Their identity has been revealed, have them join me.”
With a glint in his eye, Count Bifenbelt declared.
“We strike the main force of the Ruthania Army as quickly as possible.”
Originally, he had planned for the 1st Corps he commanded to move alongside the 3rd Corps. He intended to ensure that one of either Duke Penris or Prince Turian would be killed.
And yet strategies must shift based on the situation.
“The current situation is the best possible scenario we could have expected.”
Whether it was Duke Penris or Prince Turian, one of them would definitely fall. A pursuit alone could never be enough to defeat two corps.
The remaining main forces had at least four superhumans in each corps. During the assault on the Kingdom of Grimwell, he had also summoned priests from other areas.
Aiden and Lennard, who were with them, were also incredibly strong superhumans.
“No matter how strong Duke Penris or Prince Turian may be, they wouldn’t be able to endure this.”
The same went for the Ruthania Army. While there were indeed several known superhumans aside from those two, if the Ruthania Army was divided, then surely the superhumans would be split as well.
Divided in half, Gathros and the priests wouldn’t be able to handle the largest force among them.
He had even filled the 1st Corps he led with as many as six priests. And among them was the strongest priest, Gathros.
If they merged with the corps led by the spy, they would surely have numerical superiority.
“If that happens, half the Ruthania Army will vanish. And one of either Duke Penris or Prince Turian will surely disappear too.”
At that point, the remaining forces would no longer be able to stand against them. They would overwhelmingly win even in a frontal clash.
The enemy had taken the bait perfectly. It was a fight they could not possibly lose.
They had to act swiftly before the pursuing enemy corps regrouped.
“Get ready! We’ll depart immediately!”
The 1st to 4th Corps were all composed of elite cavalry. Their speed was unmatched by any other corps.
Even though they were maneuvering quite far from the battlefield, they could quickly reach their destination with their power.
Predicting where the stationary Ruthania Army would be was also easy.
“They likely moved closer to where the 9th and 10th Corps were. That leaves only one place.”
Just as the four corps were about to set off at his command.
Suddenly, the space in front of Count Bifenbelt began to shake violently.
“Huh?”
“It’s dangerous!”
Gathros, who was beside him, raised a hand to block Count Bifenbelt.
At that moment, someone emerged from the space, exuding powerful mana.
Boom!
The mana that clashed with Gathros’ energy burst out in all directions. It was mana that seemed to deliberately target the surroundings.
The superhuman priests withstood the mana with ease. The high-ranking guard knights were somewhat pushed back by the shock but were not heavily injured.
However, the weak staff officers couldn’t endure the sudden attack.
Boom!
The unprotected staff officers burst and died instantly.
Gathros frowned. A young man appeared, grinning cheerfully.
“Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Jerome. I’m in charge of the magical troops for the Ruthania Army… No, I’m the mage commander, to be precise.”
For a moment, Jerome exhibited a downtrodden demeanor but quickly reverted to a smile. It’s best to forget the hard memories swiftly.
Those around him widened their eyes. Just as they were about to strike the Ruthania Army, a mage from their side had suddenly appeared.
Gathros, with a face full of sarcasm, responded with a smirk.
“Your magical prowess is quite impressive. Using spatial magic to this extent, I see.”
“I have a decent understanding of magic.”
“Your confidence is commendable. But you’ve chosen the wrong spot.”
With a gesture from Gathros, the nearby knights fell back, taking Count Bifenbelt with them.
The remaining troops surrounded them. All the mages from the 1st Corps unleashed their mana, creating a mana barrier.
Soon after, six priests also gathered their strength and approached Jerome.
Gathros smiled again.
“Even Duke Penris would die if he came here alone. Are you prepared to meet your end?”
Jerome looked around. It was evident he would need to gamble his life to face all of them alone.
But he had not come to die.
Zing—!
A massive mana blade surged forth from both of Jerome’s hands.
With a relaxed smile, he declared.
“You seem to be quite in a hurry… Shall we play a little before you go?”
He certainly wasn’t here to die.
Just a little bit.
He was merely here to cause some disturbance.