The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 157 – The Imperial Army (4)

The wind was blowing toward the west.

Juan stood outside the city at the base of the Magic Tower and observed the direction of the wind flow.

At this point in time, Barth Baltic’s Imperial Army was so close that they could be seen from the Magic Tower. The countless number of flags filled Juan’s sight.

The Magic Tower was almost as big as a city, but its walls and security forces were only at the level of security service guarding the ordinary public places.

Their allies included roughly three thousand soldiers from the Eastern Army, eight thousand undead from the Order of Huginn, and two thousand soldiers from Hiveden; Nienna’s Northern Army had yet to arrive.

On the other hand, the enemy forces consisted of three hundred thousand Imperial soldiers who were fully armed and had abundant supplies.

Juan’s troops would be no match for them even if they didn’t draw out their swords. The Magic Tower was likely to collapse if the enemy used their siege weapons.

“But we have Your Majesty on our side… so it will be alright, right?”

Juan smiled upon seeing Anya’s nonchalant attitude.

“There’s no way we will be able to win. If I had reasonably judged the situation, I would have ordered you to retreat immediately.”

Everyone who gathered at the table grew perplexed at Juan’s words.

Horhell, Hela, Anya, Dilmond, and Haild were with Juan, but Sina was nowhere to be seen. They had set up war strategies and formation with only fifteen thousand soldiers outside the city at the base of the Magic Tower, but they all wondered if it would even mean anything against three hundred thousand enemies.

Horhell asked in a low voice.

“But I thought Your Majesty might have some kind of a genius strategy to…”

“No matter how good my strategy is, there’s no way it will work against a force that is almost thirty times larger than ours. Such a genius strategy only works if our enemy is either a chick or a puppy. If you have a genius strategy that can take us to victory against three hundred thousand troops, then let me know,” Juan answered in a firm voice.

“...We have the dragons and General Nienna will be arriving soon as well, right? The enemy might not be a chick, but I think we are good enough to…”

“Entalucia will not be fighting with us.”

The voice came from Haild this time. Everyone’s gazes turned toward him, since Entalucia was absent.

“She had made a promise to not get involved in the reckless killing of the empire’s humans. That was the reason why she didn’t kill anyone back in the Yult Mountains. I’ve been keeping it a secret until now, since I thought that it would only bring our morale down if the information was leaked out.”

“But didn’t she attack humans when the Templars attacked us at the Magic Tower?”

“She had no choice but to attack, since we were the ones who were attacked first. But it’s hard to expect her to actively participate in a full-fledged war. And I do not want the dragons to be labeled as the Evil Beast responsible for mass genocide by the people of the empire.”

Haild was adamant.

At the same time, Horhell made an expression that showed that he somewhat sympathized with Haild.

However, most of the allies, especially Hela, looked quite dissatisfied.

“None of that would matter if everyone here dies in the war.”

“She said that she is willing to help those who decide to run away.”

But of course, there was no one who intended on running away from the war.

“I heard that the Northern Army would either arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest. What is taking them so long?” Hela asked with her hand on her forehead.

“Apparently, one of the nobles that was discharged from the Order of the Capital knows how to fight a pretty messy battle quite well. It is said that they never allowed their enemy to leave despite suffering from terrible damage once they got into a fight.”

Everyone commented words of concern.

“Nienna is doing well. I don’t want her to join the battle right away when she and her troops are exhausted from the harsh march. I also had no choice but to stay with the Order of Huginn. Everyone is doing well, but it can’t be helped that the enemy we are dealing with is too strong,” Juan said.

“True. I wonder if the Northern Army’s arrival would even have any value, considering the scale of the troops gathered by that horned cow. So our plan to pressure the enemy from three directions of the empire has gone down the drain… who would have thought that the Regent would be able to instantly gather almost one-third of the Imperial Army?”

Everyone exchanged glances with a somber look on their faces upon hearing Hela muttering.

“What’s the Magic Tower doing anyway? They’re also our allies.”

“Preparation of supplies and providing accommodation for soldiers to eat and sleep. There is only one magician who would be able to join the battle, so I rejected their help,” Juan replied.

Juan decided to accept the alliance with the Magic Tower, but he no longer wanted Dane to intervene in whatever he did. However, none of the magicians except Dane Dormund were able to properly demonstrate their magic skills on the battlefield, since they were banned from using magic for forty-eight years.

Hela sighed as she had no choice but to follow Juan’s decision.

“Then I guess we have no choice but to rely on Your Majesty. Do you have any other plans?”

Juan tilted his head toward Hela.

“Besides mass massacre?”

“I mean, it will be difficult to exclude mass massacre from our options if we are in a desperate enough situation. No matter what anyone says, the lives of my colleagues and I are the most important to me. But, is mass massacre even possible?”

Juan laughed in a low voice.

“I’m sure that you have heard many stories about the emperor. A question would have naturally occurred to all of you after hearing that the emperor was so strong. ‘If he is such a strong being, does he even need an army?’ Just try and deny it.”

Everyone made an awkward smile, since they had all had that thought at least once. The emperor’s achievements and his powers that they learned about from the epics and the history books were so mighty that it was quite hard to believe. But it was also true that everyone thought that he might really be as strong as described when considering what Juan had shown them so far. They couldn't help but wonder whether they were even necessary for the battle.

“To answer your question, the answer is ‘yes.’ Of course, an ordinary army made up of ordinary soldiers can’t stop me. The formation would immediately collapse as soon as they are hit by the heat emitted from my body as I move closer to them. But I can’t stop everyone by myself, since I only have two hands. What would be the point of killing ten thousand enemies while the enemies kill all of my allies? Besides, we can’t let our guard down against one of the opponents among our enemies.”

‘Barth Baltic.’

Hela frowned.

“Is that horned giant that strong?”

“Barth Baltic was a difficult opponent to deal with before I was completed as the emperor. He couldn’t beat complete gods, but he was strong enough to beat half-gods or quasi-gods. His physical abilities were superior to mine as well. I can’t imagine just how much stronger he has gotten by now,” Juan said as he glanced over everyone’s faces. “If it’s hard for you to imagine just how strong he is, think of him to be as powerful as Nigrato who appeared in Hiveden. Nigrato was a half-god who failed to become a complete god. However, neither fire nor magic work on Barth Baltic.”

“...So we have no choice but to hold out until General Nienna arrives here.”

“From a strategic point of view, we will have no choice but to either retreat or seek a comeback later on. But…” Juan said as he swept his hair. “…whether Nienna arrives in time or not, I will move when the Imperial Army starts to move. At that time, everyone should stay back if it seems like we are about to crash into each other. I will take care of it.”

“But Your Majesty…”

“Quiet, Hela,” Juan glared at Hela. “I have come here to dish out punishment, not to fight a war. But if I have to go to war, I will no longer show any mercy.”

Everyone fell silent.

At the same time, Hela looked around to search for Sina.

‘Sina has always been the one to say something to Juan in situations like this… I kind of miss her.’

But Sina was nowhere to be seen. Hela had a hunch that Sina might have left so as not to see what was about to happen.

Then the Imperial Army began to march around noon.

***

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

The footsteps of the Imperial soldiers slowly advancing were quite loud. It was also the first time for the soldiers to see an army of this size march at once. It looked like the ground was melting down, and the soldiers felt as if they were out of breath for some reason. The soldiers’ hearts were beating fast with overwhelming energy.

But the soldiers were somehow feeling nervous. They didn’t know why they were so nervous even though their numbers would overwhelm their enemy.

As they knew that the purpose of their march was battle this time around instead of just the movement of forces, the soldiers began to search for their enemy. They could see a small group ahead of them but couldn’t be sure if it was the enemy or not.

“The right wing is marching too fast. Slow down.”

The flag bearer promptly waved the flag in his hand at Barth Baltic’s short command. The slightly distorted formation was quickly and neatly organized again.

Barth looked down at the battlefield with decrepit eyes. He had never thought that he would have such a large-scale battle in his life ever again.

However, he didn’t think it would be a waste if the opponent really turned out to be the emperor.

‘The emperor… huh?’

Majority of people were still doubtful about whether the opponent was the real emperor or not, but Barth Baltic had a hunch that his opponent really was the emperor. Barth could tell even though he had not yet met the man—he had already instinctively felt it several times.

The huge battlefield in front of him, the smell of the wind, the sensation of his sweaty hand touching the handle of his sword, the sweet taste in his parched mouth, and the loud footsteps of the soldiers all moving toward one thing.

‘The emperor. The emperor. The emperor.’

The soldiers were already terrified by the warm air being carried over by the wind—it was an instinctive fear of going against something that should not be opposed. Meanwhile, the officer-level knights were excited, since they misunderstood the fear of the soldiers as them being excited for the battle.

Barth Baltic couldn’t tell how many of them would be able to survive until the end.

‘I have no idea why he’s leading an army instead of coming at me directly.’

Barth Baltic grit his teeth so hard that they almost shattered.

The flag bearer turned back with a perplexed look on his face upon hearing the gruesome sound.

‘Today is the day I finally kill the emperor. If I can’t kill him, then I will turn him into a criminal who killed three hundred thousand humans with his own hands.’

Barth Baltic knew that the people of the empire would never be able to accept a man who was involved in the carnage of three hundred thousand humans as their emperor. Fear may hold them back for a while, but the hatred will not disappear that easily.

The Imperial Army gradually encircled the Magic Tower. The soldiers could now see the enemy’s troops gathered in front of the Magic Tower. The distance between the soldiers and the enemy was less than four hundred meters.

The soldiers were perplexed at the sight of the undead, but none of them stopped marching. Marching in such a large group gave them the courage to push through even if they knew that death was right in front of them.

There were less than two hundred meters left. The soldiers noticed some human soldiers standing in line in between the undead who were giving off a terrible smell. Their figures forming a line with the undead looked somewhat strange and eerie. The soldiers suspected that those might be pale-faced necromancers.

However, the enemy’s soldiers looked just as frozen and nervous as themselves.

Then the march came to a sudden halt.

“Archers!”

The archers walked out in unison from among the soldiers, and knocked an arrow on their bows. The soldiers even felt sorry for their enemies, looking at the countless arrows that would soon fall upon the enemy’s heads.

“Get ready to shoot when…”

“Stop!”

The moment the order to shoot was about to be shouted, a sudden suspension order came out of nowhere. The suspension order was then spread by the soldiers shouting in unison, causing the archers to hastily put down their bows.

At first, the knights were perplexed; they thought the suspension order had come from Barth Baltic or Pavan Peltere. But it didn’t take too long for them to find out that no one from their side had given such an order.

“Who was it? Who ordered the suspension!?”

One of the knights angrily shouted from atop his horse. He wondered if the enemy was playing a prank on them.

However, for some reason, the voice that gave the suspension order was hard to resist.

‘It was almost like following the order was the right thing to do…’

The knights couldn’t waste more time looking for the culprit. As soon as they were about to order the archers to shoot again, a voice was heard once again.

“Stop! Stop the battle!”

It was a knight who was holding a blue flag and riding a horse toward the soldiers. The knight was approaching at a furious pace from the right side of the Imperial Army while shouting.

“What the hell? Who even is that lunatic…?”

The knights from the Order of the Capital were perplexed by the sudden intrusion, but they could see why their soldiers didn’t try to stop the knight. The knight was wearing neat armor and held a neatly embroidered flag. The knight was perfectly following the standards of an Imperial Knight.

However, the symbol engraved on the flag was unfamiliar to the knights from the Order of the Capital.

“Who are you!?”

The knights from the Order of the Capital immediately stepped up to block the approaching knight’s way. But the opponent ignored them and drove their horse straight toward Barth Baltic. The knights from the Order of the Capital almost bumped into the knight and almost succeeded in making the knight fall off the horse. Nevertheless, the knight desperately crawled and tried to approach Barth Baltic.

“Stop the battle, Regent! You are breaking the Imperial Army system right now!”

Pavan felt no need to put up with the knight anymore. He immediately drew his sword and swung it twice to split the opponent’s helmet.

The face of a blonde woman was revealed through the split helmet.

Pavan frowned upon seeing her face.

“Who even are you?”

“I’m Sina Solvane, the Captain of the Order of the Blue Rose. Please stop the battle! Your opponent is His Majesty, the Emperor of this empire. I ask you to stop this unjust battle, return the army to where they came from, and return your right to command to His Majesty!”

Sina Solvane shouted while tightly clutching a flag embroidered with blue roses. Her eye was not directed at the knights holding her arms and legs, or at Pavan who was holding a sword in front of her. Her eye was only directed toward Barth Baltic, who opened his eyes wide behind the knights.

Pavan felt that he shouldn't keep this female knight alive for a long time. However, the moment he hastily raised his sword to end her life, he heard Barth Baltic’s voice from behind.

“Pavan.”

Pavan closed his eyes tightly; he realized that it was too late.

“Bring that knight to me.”