READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 75: The Road to King (15)
Chapter 75: The Road to King (15)
For those who read the old version start from chapter 71, that’s where the new content begins.
***
The news of the fall of Linon Castle has reached the Royal Castle in Lunan. Linon Castle had been recaptured by Erhin in the last war, but this time it could not hold out for even a day. When the king heard the news of the fall, he became frightened and decided to flee.
“We’re heading south! Are we really that short on manpower? How can we let them get through so easily? When will the troops in Bridget return? Let’s go to Bridget! We’ll move the royal capital there!”
He had no intention of fighting here. Even if Erhin had been here, he would have hidden himself away and let the Lunan army defend the capital.
“We’re going to Bridget. I’ll send Erhin there, too. Guards, protect me!”
The king said this and slipped out of the royal castle.
When the king walked out of the castle without any warning, the people began to plead with him. It would have been better if he had escaped quietly, but since he had announced his escape in a fancy carriage, it was only natural that there would be confusion. The Guards added to the sense of fear by cutting down the people who approached in procession.
“I’ll kill anyone who comes out of Castle Lunan!”
It would have been faster to ride a horse directly, but the old king hurried the Guard in a carriage even under such circumstances. In this way, the king succeeded in escaping from Lunan Castle and fleeing in the direction of Bridget.
“Get out of here! Hurry up!”
Lunan Castle, the tallest castle on the continent, became an empty castle without a master.
***
Ronen also slipped out of Lunan Castle. He thought about struggling in Lunan Castle, but he decided that the king had a point and it would be wiser to flee to Bridget.
Of course, he was a little different from the incompetent king who had fled with only his guards. He had already assembled his army and they should have arrived by now.
About a third of the army had been sent to Bridget, but there were enough troops left, so he planned to join up with his own army on the way. Ronen slipped out of Lunan Castle and started to flee in a different direction from the king.
“Your Highness, what will you do with Lord Elheat?”
“Throw him away, we don’t have time to wait for him. Besides, he’ll make it out alive on his own.”
For now, it was important to combine their forces far away from the enemy army that was gaining momentum. He could have escaped to Bridget long ago, considering the time he would have spent struggling with the enemy to get Elheat to join him.
“Your Highness!”
A large number of soldiers rushed in front of him. Ronen was frightened and wary, but he soon breathed a sigh of relief. There were 3,000 troops rushing towards him, it was the territorial army that belonged to Hayna.
“It’s Hayna!”
“Your Highness, I’ve come for you!”
“I knew you were a smart one, unlike those useless people. You’ve really done well!”
Ronen was so pleased to have Hayna join him that it made him think that he had never treated her badly in the past.
***
Leaving the capture of Linon Castle to the second and third armies, Fran reached the front of Lunan Castle at breakneck speed. Without Erhin’s interference, he was going to take Lunan Castle and occupy the center of Lunan.
“We will spend the day here in a large camp, flaunting the might of our army, but as in the past, looting of the Lunan people is forbidden.”
With the castle of Lunan in sight, Fran gave the order to the first army he had led. This was the frightening thing about Fran, he was a man who considered the people’s will to be important, believing that this was the only way to achieve supremacy in the world.
Not only did he possess superior intellect, but he also had high fighting prowess through the use of the Mana Formation, and the commanding power that came from his reputation and personality as the head of the Valdesca from the Twelve Families of the Continent. This man could be said to be perfect, but even so, he was always humble.
“Your Highness!”
Of course, there are drawbacks. Even now, he almost fell to the ground trying to get off the horse. Getting on and off a horse was something he had done on a daily basis since he was a child. It was not difficult for Fran to do it, the only problem was that he was quite careless in real life.
“I’m fine.”
He said to Patrick, his immediate second-in-command and vassal, who had rushed over, and straightened his posture to look at Lunan Castle, the Lunan Castle, which he had been unable to acquire during the last war.
The sight of that Lunan castle filled him with a sense of emotion. However, he was still quite curious about Erhin’s movements. The fact that he made no movements was rather troublesome.
“Bang!”
In the end, he did what he always does when he is troubled. He hit his forehead hard on a nearby tree.
“Your Highness! One of these days your forehead is going to split!”
Patrick and the soldiers rushed over, but Fran signaled with his hand as if to tell them not to come.
“Don’t worry about it. Has there been any movement in Aintorian?”
“According to the information I have received, there is no movement at this time, Your Highness.”
Fran found it troublesome that the war was going well, but there was a presence that made him uneasy.
“Well, that’s fine. Let’s go……put everything else aside for the Lunan Castle. Perhaps, by my estimation, the castle will be empty tonight.”
The reason why Fran had dared to set up camp right in front of Lunan Castle was to give the king time to escape. There is no need to shed blood. If the king escaped, Lunan Castle would be as good as defenseless. So, in the morning, Lunan Castle would be Fran’s.
***
He was tired of living his life as a count with a fiefdom, his interest was solely in the military. Only on the battlefield could he show his prowess. He was 15 years old when he first took up a sword and stood on the battlefield and defended the country for 27 years.
Demasin Elheat moved to the last barrier to the royal city of Lunan. He wanted to stop the enemy at the border and die, but the Royal Army of Narja moved south from several roads.
He waited for the king’s order as he could not get anywhere if he only stayed to the border, but when there was no news until the end, Elheat had no choice but to move his troops. He stopped at a barrier on his way from Linon Castle to the royal capital.
Although Fran had not participated in the fall of Linon Castle and had taken a large detour toward Bern Castle from the beginning, this barrier was the quickest way for the Second and Third Armies, which had been entrusted with the fall of Linon Castle, to reach Lunan Castle. In other words, the Second Army, which was responsible for the fall of Linon Castle, needed to break through this barrier.
In order to ensure a smooth and unhindered supply route, the Narja forces had to make sure that they had this barrier in their hands. Quick supply is the most important thing on the battlefield. For this reason, Elheat stopped at the barrier just as the enemy was about to attack Linon Castle.
“My lord, would you rather fight at Lunan Castle?”
Elheat shook his head at the retainer’s question.
“If His Majesty and His Highness are struggling at Lunan Castle, I won’t let them have an easy supply route even if I die here. If we can hold off the rest of Narja’s soldiers here, we should be able to delay the fall of Lunan Castle. If we do……he’ll be there! That’s why we’re going to die here!”
Elheat was relying on Erhin in a different way than the King of Lunan. That was why he was willing to take a stand and hold his ground here. However, that thought started with a ridiculous guess that the King of Lunan and Ronen would fight in Lunan Castle. At the words of Elheat, all five of his vassals, who had always traveled with him on the battlefield, fell to their knees.
“My Lord, what are you saying? If anything happens to you, Lunan is truly finished!”
The retainers stopped him, but Elheat shook his head even harder.
“All right, shut up and rise. If the soldiers see us like this, what will happen to their morale? The only thing we should think about is the enemy soldiers in front of the barrier.”
In the end, the vassals had to give up trying to persuade him because of his resolute attitude. They all drew their swords, there was no other way but to protect the master whom they had served all their lives and die themselves.
***
It was Narja’s second army that targeted the barrier guarded by Elheat. The captain of the second army, Istin, was a powerful warlord ranked third in the Ten Warlord Order. The vice-captain of the second army was Lucana, the seventh-ranked warlord.
Unlike the last time, the ten warlords were all participating in the war. It was only natural to do so in order not to make the same mistake as last time.
The second army was large, reaching 50,000 troops.
“That’s where Lunan’s barrier is. Ho-ho-ho.”
Lucana burst out laughing, delighted at the easy battlefield.
“Captain! Let’s quickly capture the barrier and join His Highness’, no, the General’s, main army.”
Istin made no mention of Lucana’s words. Istin was a silent man, or rather a taciturn man, famous even in Narja. When an order was given, he devoted himself to carrying it out, so much so that no soldier had ever seen him speak while fighting with him. Lucana, who had fought with him in many battles, was naturally used to this and just kept talking to himself.
“I heard that the guy who defeated the general in the last war is not here? I wanted to see what kind of guy he was…….Speaking of His Highness Prince Fran, he is a person that all of us ten warlords respect, huh? He just got lucky? Well……that’s what I sometimes think.”
Istin just looked at Lucana, but Lucana laughed to himself.
“Come on, soldiers! That’s the barrier! Let’s get through it!”
At Lucana’s order, 20,000 elite Narja soldiers with a training level of around 90 assaulted the barrier at once. Naturally, the remaining 30,000 took their turn when the 20,000 began to show signs of fatigue.
This is the strategy that Istin uses when attacking a small wall. If the wall is not large enough anyway, there is no point in jumping on it with all of them, because there is a limit to the number of ladders.
Rather, it was possible to attack for 24 hours if the troops were divided. The battle began according to Istin’s strategy but as time went on, Lucana shook his head.
“It has never taken me more than half a day to conquer……a barrier, so what is it?”
He asked Istin, who was still standing there saying nothing, but of course he didn’t answer.
“Hmmm……I guess that’s where I come in.”
He said this and looked at Istin. He still didn’t get any response, just a look, but that was exactly the signal he needed. Lucana drew his favorite sword and mounted his horse.
“Change! I’m with you on this shift!”
As soon as Lucana shouted this, the 30,000 troops that had yet to cross the city walls turned their backs on the enemy, it was time for the 20,000 troops that had been resting to come in. But at that moment a man jumped down from the top of the barrier wall as if he was aiming for the moment of change.
A man holding a huge spear, it was Elheat. He used his Mana Skill Demon Spear against the troops who had turned their backs to him.
A black shadow struck the soldiers of the Second Army of Narja. At that moment, hundreds of heads soared into the sky. They had taken a serious hit from Demasin Elheat’s skill. In a sea of flowing blood, Elheat thrust his spear into the ground and stood in front of the barrier.
“What’s that?”
Lucana stared at him with a furrowed brow.