novelraw Chapter 69 : Chapter 69
Chapter 69 : Chapter 69
Chapter 69. An Unjust War
At the same time.
On the other side of the Dragon Mountain Range.
Across the vast frozen wastelands of the Demi-Human Empire.
An enormous army stretching beyond the horizon was advancing slowly yet steadily toward the Northern Territory of the Astrelia Kingdom like a black tide, braving a wind so cold it seemed capable of splitting bone.
The dark mass of military banners twisted into savage shapes in the wind, snapping loudly.
Countless heavy iron boots stamped across the frozen earth, producing a dull, monotonous crunch that merged into a steel symphony that made the heart tremble.
The soldiers wore thick furs and armor.
Their faces were purple from the cold, and their eyes were tired and numb.
The Regent had given the reason for war as “punishing Prince Alectos for fleeing to the human kingdom and attempting to split the Empire,” but for these lowest-ranking soldiers, that reason was too distant and too hollow.
They only knew that they were about to march onto the battlefield and die for a charge they did not care about.
A grim killing intent filled the world.
The storm was about to break.
In the center of the army, inside a massive mobile command tent, the brazier burned brightly, completely shutting out the bitter cold outside.
A cultist cloaked from head to toe in a black robe of corruption was urging two heavily armored demi-human legion commanders in a voice as hoarse and unpleasant as a night owl’s cry.
“Too slow! Too slow!”
“All the ‘seeds’ inside Winter City have been uprooted!”
“Not a single one remains!”
“This is blasphemy!”
“This is a provocation against our Lord!”
“We must move faster!”
“We must reach Rime Valley as quickly as possible!”
“We will wash away this humiliation with their blood!”
“We will please our Lord with their deaths!”
His voice was filled with an extreme craving for death and a fanatical madness, as if he could already see the “beautiful sight” of tens of thousands wailing and dying on the battlefield.
And yet the two legion commanders before him showed no reaction at all.
One of them was an absurdly massive bear demi-human, the commander of the Fifth Legion’s Bedrock Corps, the “Fist of Fury,” Ulzok.
He snorted out two thick streams of white breath, and his bronze-bell-like eyes were full of impatience.
He slammed a hand down on the table and roared at the cultist,
“Get the hell out of here!”
“This is the army, not your filthy excuse for a church!”
“If you dare tell me how fast my troops should march again, I will rip your head off right now and use it as a chamber pot!”
The other was a tall, calm-faced white wolf demi-human, the commander of the Third Storm Legion, the “Silent Shadow,” Kane.
He was much smoother in temperament.
He raised a hand to stop the furious Ulzok, then turned toward the cultist, who had been stunned by the roar, and forced a smile onto his face that held no warmth whatsoever.
“Sir Envoy, please calm yourself.”
Kane’s voice was steady.
“We will naturally obey Regent Remington’s orders and arrive at the designated location on time.”
“But when a great army moves, provisions and supplies all require time.”
“General Ulzok is also thinking of the soldiers.”
“I ask that you show some understanding.”
Though his words sounded placating, the depths of his ghostly green wolf eyes flashed with a piercingly cold killing intent.
A rat who hid his face did not deserve to give orders to a commander of the Empire’s legions.
The cultist seemed to understand that he had no power to command two legion commanders who held heavy military authority in their hands.
He cast a venomous look at the hot-tempered Ulzok, then another at Kane, whose smile concealed a blade, and in the end could only let out a cold snort.
“I hope neither of you generals has forgotten His Highness the Regent’s instructions.”
With that, he turned, lifted the tent flap, and vanished into the snowstorm.
The moment he left, the fury inside the enormous command tent was no longer concealed.
BANG!
A massive hand like a slab of rock smashed down onto the marching map, making the candle flames on the table tremble violently.
The face of Ulzok, the bear demi-human commander of the Fifth Legion, was full of rage.
“What the hell is that madman Remington trying to do?!”
His roar nearly lifted the tent itself.
Ulzok jabbed a finger at the only red arrow marked on the map.
That arrow pointed straight at a narrow mountain pass called Rime Valley.
“All because of some ridiculous charge of ‘the prince’s treason,’ he wants us to smash three legions into Rime Valley?”
“Does he think that place is a plain?”
“The Dragon Mountain Range is a natural border, and Rime Valley is the only passage through it!”
“In a place like that, forget three legions—even if you threw thirty legions into it, if the other side held the pass, all you would be doing is handing them our heads!”
“It has been almost ten years since the Demi-Human Empire and the Northern Territory last fought a national war!”
“The last one was over trade route disputes along the eastern sea coast!”
“And now he suddenly starts a national war and sends my brothers to die?!”
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
His chest rose and fell violently, and two streams of hot white breath burst from his nostrils.
He had heard some things about Prince Alectos.
He was a righteous and gentle young man, and Ulzok simply did not believe he would betray his country.
This war had reeked of absurdity from the very beginning.
Compared with Ulzok’s fury, the other legion commander, Kane of the Third Storm Legion, was much calmer.
He sat upright, his long fingers lightly moving across the map, while his ghostly green eyes were filled with coldness.
“Ulzok, everything you said is correct.”
Kane’s voice was steady, but it carried a tone that made the heart turn cold.
“Which is exactly why this may not be a war launched for the sake of victory at all.”
Ulzok froze, his thick brows knitting tightly together.
“What do you mean?”
“This looks more like a purge.”
Kane spoke each word slowly and clearly.
“Since Regent Remington took power, his foundation has been unstable, and there have been quite a few voices of opposition within the country.”
“Starting a pointless foreign war is the best way to divert those internal conflicts.”
“And at the same time... he can use the enemy’s hand to eliminate some military commanders who are not quite so obedient.”
The temperature inside the tent seemed to plummet.
The rage in Ulzok’s chest was doused as if by a basin of ice water.
Thinking of something, he cursed bitterly.
“Speaking of disobedient, what about Leonard of the First Legion?!”
“The Empire’s ‘Heavenblade’ Legion, our most elite force!”
“They actually stopped halfway through the march!”
“That old lion of a commander claims he is ill and needs rest, but I think he is just a coward!”
“He is not a coward.”
Kane cut him off.
He glanced at the entrance of the tent to make sure no one was listening, then lowered his voice.
“Ulzok, this is not as simple as you think.”
Kane leaned in closer and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“General Leonard’s ‘illness’ is deliberate.”
Ulzok’s bronze-bell-like eyes widened.
“Just before halting his army, he contacted me in secret.”
“He made it very clear that this war is ‘an unjust war.’”
Kane’s expression turned extremely grave.
“The general suspects that Prince Alectos’s ‘treason’ was, from beginning to end, a conspiracy planned by Regent Remington in order to usurp the throne.”
That news left Ulzok completely stunned.
His mouth hung open, yet for a long time he could not say a single word.
Royal conspiracies and traps for seizing the throne were things far too distant—and far too dark—for a soldier as straightforward as him.
Kane repeated what Leonard had said at the time.
It had been the pained admonition of an old general.
“‘I, Leonard, will never allow the soldiers under my command to shed their last drop of blood on foreign soil for the ambition of a usurper.’”
“He also warned me to be careful of the black-robed figures planted inside the army.”
Kane’s gaze grew deeper.
“He said those people reeked of corruption.”
“Leonard’s final meaning was that, if we can keep up appearances, then we should keep up appearances for as long as possible.”
“There is no need to throw away our brothers’ lives in that hellhole called Rime Valley for some utterly worthless objective.”
Ulzok fell completely silent.
He leaned back in his chair, feeling as though all the strength had been drained from his body.
The fire of rage had already died out, leaving behind only a great shock and a sense of helplessness.
At last, he understood Leonard’s reasoning.
That highly respected old lion general had been resisting in his own way.
But what Leonard could do, he and Kane could not.
Kane saw through his thoughts and gave a bitter smile.
“General Leonard is one of the Kingdom’s only three Seventh-Tier powerhouses.”
“He commands the strongest First Legion, the Heavenblade Legion, and his prestige within the army is unmatched.”
“He has the capital to ‘fall ill,’ and the Regent has no choice but to swallow it.”
“And us?”
Kane pointed to himself, then to Ulzok.
“Our foundations are still too shallow.”
“If we dare disobey orders now, we will be stripped of command on the spot tomorrow.”
“We... have no choice.”
He let out a long sigh.
“The arrow is already on the string.”
“It has to be loosed.”
A deathly silence filled the tent.
A long while later, the two legion commanders walked out of the tent one after the other.
Outside, the freezing wind carried snowflakes that cut across their faces like knives.
The fury in Ulzok’s eyes had vanished, replaced by resolve and a grief so deep it seemed bottomless.
He raised his head and looked south, toward the endless snow-covered mountains shrouded in wind and storm.
Rime Valley was there.
Drawing on all his strength, he gave a hoarse command.
“The whole army will continue advancing!”
The black tide began to move once more.
Against the howling cold wind, it marched slowly yet steadily toward that land destined to be dyed red with blood, toward the abyss.