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Chapter 106: A Feint Operation (4)

Rumble!

The blue sword flashed like lightning and swung at Benedict like a giant whip.

“Damn it!”

Just as Von’s sword Aura was right in front of Benedict’s nose, he instinctively realized that something was wrong.

Bang!

Benedict drew two swords from his waist and protected himself. Von’s sword Aura cut some of his hair off, but he managed to avoid being swept away.

‘What the hell…!’

It was an incredibly destructive power.

However, as soon as he lowered the swords, anger, surprise, and shame began to hit him at the same time.

‘That was a close call.’

If he had continued to act in a leisurely manner and not pulled out his sword, he would have been seriously injured.

Von smirked while looking at Benedict. It was funny seeing Benedict rush to protect himself.

With a cold expression, Benedict said, “You’re more fun than I expected.”

These words were very meaningful.

“If you keep looking for fun, you’ll be humiliated again,” said Von.

“Our little game will end here. I admit, you’re better than these two.”

“Of course.”

“I shall show you.” When Benedict held his swords properly, the air seemed to change. He never used his swords except to defend himself.

‘Let’s see how much you’ve grown.’

In the past, Von’s skills had surpassed Benedict’s, but many years had passed since then and neither had neglected their training even for a single day. The results would be unpredictable.

Von’s stance made it clear that he was ready to duel.

Two murderous Auras clashed, seeming to cool the burning air around them.

“Here I come.”

Benedict moved first, proof that he was truly angry. He moved so fast and with such agility that he didn’t even leave footprints on the sand as he quickly covered the distance between him and Von.

As Von took the basic imperial swordsmanship stance, he drew an invisible circle on the ground.

It was a Circle Step.

‘Dual swordsmanship focuses on offense rather than defense, therefore it’s more convenient to deal with him by keeping the distance between us close.’

The two had already fought many times before; of course, Benedict had no way of knowing that. It was clear that Von’s youthful appearance would dupe him, and Von decided to take advantage.

When Benedict entered Von’s circle…

Schwing!

Von swung his sword first. He drew a horizontal line with his sword and at the same time, showed off his skill in lengthening the blade.

‘...!’

Attack was the best defense, which also happened to be the weakest point in dual swordsmanship. Benedict had no choice but to quickly turn his body. It was very shocking because the fact that Von knew to attack first meant that he understood how to gain the upper hand against a dual-sword fighter.

As soon as Benedict turned away, he put his hands on the ground to create more distance, but Von had no intention of giving Benedict any leeway.

Schwing!

Benedict managed to keep his balance but had to retreat from the flurry of attacks. Von continued to draw his circles and maintained his distance, and right then…

Slice!

It was a close call. Benedict dodged but Von had succeeded in cutting him.

‘Argh!’

Benedict raised his right foot and tried to kick Von, but Von also raised his left foot and reacted in the same way. The two feet collided.

Thud!

The impact of the clash of Auras forced them to widen their distance from each other.

“Ha…”

As he continuously swung his sword, Von focused very hard to avoid giving Benedict the slightest advantage. Von wiped the sweat off his jawline and returned to his stance, pointing his sword at Benedict.

As he looked at his torn clothing and his cut forearm, Benedict smiled bitterly and said, “Not bad, kid.”

“I’m flattered.”

Although he was angry, he hadn’t entirely lost his temper. Also, just because Benedict had said that he would stoop to Von’s level, it did not mean that he would go easy on him.

However, he hadn’t expected Von to know how to deal with dual swordsmanship with such ease.

‘It looks like I was completely wrong about him.’

Benedict had no choice but to admit his complacency.

“Ha…”

Benedict let out a sigh with complex feelings.

‘The fun will have to end here.’

The unpredictable attacks had cooled Benedict’s interest and he didn’t want to waste any more time. Making up his mind, Benedict raised his swords and tried to unleash the true power of La, but just then…

“Arghhhh!”

“Get in line!”

It was a familiar voice speaking from a distance: Shula. There was a deep sense of urgency in Shula’s voice, even though he was supposed to be having the upper hand.

‘What the hell?’

Benedict believed that Von’s appearance was the only unexpected factor on the battlefield, and he quickly used the desert’s eyes to see where Shula’s voice was coming from.

‘That’s…!’

He saw Shaha’s soldiers, but they should have been defeated by this point.

* * *

As usual, Risha, the messenger of the forces surrounding Shaha, departed for Khan to report the situation in Shaha. The content of the report was the same as before. It stated that Shaha’s leaders were still holding up, but it seemed that they would soon surrender. Benedict expected that to happen as well.

After delivering the report to the capital, Risha immediately returned to the besiegers. The siege was the safest place to work on the battlefield, and he wanted to return as soon as possible and rest.

‘I can kind of see it now.’

As Risha got closer to Shaha, he could see the silhouettes of the besiegers still encamped in a fan shape. He kicked the hump of his camel to speed up.

Clop clop clop!

Risha finally arrived at the siege. He tied up the camel and headed to the barracks to greet the army captain. “I, Messenger Risha, have returned from my mission.”

“Good work.”

The captain briefly praised Risha. He got up from his seat and unsheathed his sword.

Shring.

“...Captain?”

“Don’t worry about it, this is just a reward.”

Slice!

As the captain\'s sword swung horizontally, Risha’s head fell to the floor.

Spew!

Risha’s decapitated corpse fell to its knees and spewed out blood…

Shhh.

The surroundings suddenly distorted and Shaha’s palace appeared.

“As expected of an illusion. I never expected that the messenger would willingly come to me…!”

The environment wasn’t the only thing that changed. The man who looked like the captain just a moment ago was none other than Von. Von brushed Risha’s blood from his sword, feeling amazed.

One of the palace priests said, “Now that the messenger is dead, the besiegers are basically destroyed too.”

“As long as nothing unusual happens, they won’t find out that the besiegers have been annihilated.”

“...Will we really be able to fool Benedict’s eyes?”

“Haven’t we been replacing the besiegers wiped out by the illusion barrier for several days already? The fact that the messenger came alone means that Benedict wasn’t interested in Shaha in the first place.”

It was just as Von said. Upon reaching Shaha, the first thing Henry did was eliminate the rebels besieging Shaha and as expected, nothing happened.

‘It’s said that people don’t pay attention to the fish they’ve already caught.’

After the subjugation started, Henry organized a detached unit consisting of Von, Hagler, and Viram and moved them to Shaha. They eliminated the last problem by killing the messenger who returned at the right time.

“As I have mentioned before, I will leave the illusion barrier in your hands, priests. In the meantime, we will take over Caliph and return.”

Unless Benedict was a fool, he would surely defend Caliph, and Henry decided to use this logical decision to his advantage. Henry also knew that the army led by the two counts would never be able to defeat the rebels.

“Of course. Please don’t worry about this and save Shahatra.”

As agreed, Shaha’s priests handed all of Shaha’s remaining soldiers over to Von. Although it was a small number compared to the rebels or the subjugation army, it was enough to attack the rebels who had their guards down.

The Shaha army left Shaha and the priests cast their illusion barrier as if nothing had changed. The news that Shaha had been captured could not be leaked.

* * *

As soon as Benedict confirmed Shaha’s military, he instantly started to scan the surrounding area.

“This…!”

He couldn’t help but swear.

Shaha’s soldiers had broken through the back of Caliph\'s palace and were slaughtering his own soldiers.

‘But how?’

It was totally unexpected. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how Shaha’s soldiers could move without him noticing.

“You finally noticed?” Von said.

“What?”

“You seemed so relaxed, but it was as I expected. Oh yes, and this.”

Von threw a small bundle from his back toward Benedict.

Thud.

The bundle rolled on the sand and spilled out its contents: Risha’s head.

Benedict’s eyes widened in an instant.

“Shaha is already in our hands and Sultan will soon be too. Why don’t you surrender already? Oh, by the way, Khan said to let you know that if you surrender, he will spare your life.”

It was a sharp warning and mockery at the same time.

Benedict’s face began to darken.