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Chapter 107: A Feint Operation (5)

“I see…”

As he looked at Risha’s pale neck and protruding tongue, Benedict muttered in a low voice with a dark expression and sharp eyes. Benedict quietly picked up the messenger’s head by its neck.

“That’s right.”

Sizzle.

The head caught fire in an instant and disappeared without a trace. Dropping the ashes from his palm onto the sand, Benedict said in a self-mocking voice, “I was too complacent.”

Crackle!

“...!”

As Benedict scattered the ashes with a calm voice, orange flames engulfed his whole body, but his expression was still dark. “The fun ends here.”

Benedict pulled out his swords, and the flames began to flow to the swords.

Sizzle!

The flames grew even bigger. Von’s expression grew hard, and he started to feel nervous.

‘The solar sword…’

The solar sword was one of the powers of La. La’s spiritual power was notorious for creating flames that could burn anything.

‘Now it’s getting real.’

In the past, Von was a level higher than Benedict when it came to skill. However, Von hadn’t been able to defeat Benedict because of the sword. He blew Aura on his sword and spoke in a quiet voice to Terion, who was beginning to gain his composure.

“Count.”

“...Yes.”

“Benedict has drawn the solar sword. I can’t guarantee a victory against him. Please get out of here with Count Oscar.”

“...Alright.”

There wasn’t anyone more useless than an archer with a broken hand or a spearman with a broken shoulder.

Realizing his position, Terion threw away his pride and nodded quietly.

Von’s Aura started to grow even thicker around his body.

“I’ll start.”

Boom!

The two rushed at each other at the same time. Two great forces collided, creating a huge explosion that could rupture eardrums. The grains of sand under their feet scattered in a gust of wind.

‘Fuck, as expected…!’

Von’s youthful appearance had made him careless. But now, the real fight was about to begin.

Von blocked the swords heading towards him like the fangs of a tiger.

It was a massive power. When Benedict pulled out the solar sword, he not only received the flame of La, but also the blessing of La, which increased his power by a great amount.

In a sarcastic tone, Benedict said, “How ridiculous.”

Boom!

A huge explosion occurred between his blades as they met.

‘This crazy…!”

Von was tossed into the distance. Fortunately, thanks to his Aura, he didn’t suffer any burns.

However, the flame of La was so powerful that even the highest-level swordmaster’s Aura was shaken. Von got rid of the Aura around him to extinguish the flame of La and put the Aura back on afterward.

‘This is why I think he’s annoying.’

Benedict was La’s chosen one, with power granted to only one warrior of the desert. As long as he wore that power like armor, Benedict was like a winged tiger to Von.

“Are you tired already?”

The situation had reversed. Benedict had been driven out of Von’s circle, but now he was the one driving Von out. Von was in a hurry to block Benedict’s attacks. No matter how thick his Aura was, the flame of La kept eating away at Von’s Aura so he had to keep removing and returning his Aura again and again.

Boom!

There was another giant explosion from the swords.

Benedict took advantage of the moment Von removed his Aura and shot the flame of La at him.

‘Damn it!’

Von hurriedly took off his breastplate. Although he managed to avoid catching fire, he had no choice but to discard his breastplate. Only then did Benedict smile and said, “You look like a mouse running away.”

It was humiliating. Von had been training his physique and swordsmanship without even a single day of rest since his prime years, but despite decades of hard work, it was frustrating that he couldn’t defeat Benedict or even compete against him.

‘I guess even the things I hoped for won’t work?’

Von knew his limits and he was aware that he wouldn’t win against Benedict. It would only be pathetic of him to keep hoping that he would win.

Von quietly sighed and took out a scroll that Henry had given him to use if he needed more power while fighting Benedict.

“What tricks are you planning to use this time?”

Benedict\'s dark expression brightened a little.

Von shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

Even Von didn’t really know what the scroll was. All Henry had said was to use this if he felt that he wasn’t strong enough to fight Benedict. Von tore the scroll apart.

Voom!

Oong.

The torn scroll quickly turned into powder and disappeared with the wind. With a faint sound, a small magic circle appeared in the air. Soon, a small ornament fell out of the magic circle.

‘Huh?’

Von carefully picked up the ornament from the floor, but Benedict instantly panicked.

“How do you have that?”

“...?”

“Fuck!”

Boom!

Along with a curse, Benedict extinguished the fire around them and stomped forcefully.

Swoosh!

Wind began to blow from all directions so loudly that it hurt his eardrums.

Swoosh!

The wind turned into a whirlwind, and the whirlwind soon turned into a huge sandstorm that began to devour the entire area.

‘Damn it!’

The sand obstructed Benedict’s vision.

Von couldn’t open his eyes, but he still tried to look through the gap between his arms.

Zap!

But just as he was about to open his eyes, the sandstorm disappeared like a mirage.

‘It’s gone?’

Benedict also disappeared.

‘Did he run away?’

The sky turned clear, and Benedict was nowhere to be seen.

‘...Can it be? Was it because of this?’

As soon as Benedict saw the ornament, his expression had grown dark before he disappeared.

“Henry, what in the world did you give me?”

Although he didn’t know that it was, Von had avoided a possible crisis, but just then…

Honk!

From the other side of the battlefield came the horns of his allies.

It was good news.

“It seems like they succeeded.”

Even if the damage to the subjugation army was severe, this was a somewhat predicted victory since Shaha’s army joined the forces late.

Even if the damage to the subjugation army was severe, victory was still in their hands as Shaha’s army joined in the battle midway.

“This part seems to be over… I wonder if the Sultan’s done?”

Von had completed his mission and started heading towards the subjugation army, wiping his sweat.

* * *

After taking Von, Hagler, and Viram over the mountain, Henry finally finished all the preparations and sent the Shonan army to war.

Thump!

Unlike the regular army of 10,000, the 1000-strong Shonan army could reach Sultan much faster with Henry’s protection.

When they were close to Sultan, Henry patiently waited for Benedict, but he never showed up.

‘As expected.’

Benedict had made his way to Caliph, where there were 10,000 soldiers of the regular army.

Knowing that Benedict would not show up, Henry slowly advanced with the Shonan army to the Sultan palace.

Honk!

When the Shonan army appeared, the Sultan palace blew a horn to notify them that their enemy was present.

The Shonan army was on full alert.

“Sir Kale,” said Henry.

“Yes, Lord Henry.”

Kale appeared and took off the protective sun gear he was wearing. All of his disciples also took off their gear and dismounted.

“Sir Kale, I will leave it to you.”

“...Alright.”

Kale gritted his teeth and answered with difficulty. The counts weren’t allowed to receive help from the imperial palace for this subjugation, but Kale was different and had volunteered to help Eisen. The Magical Spire had already granted permission to him.

‘That despicable bastard!’

Wizards were reluctant to move if the environment was harsh. However, Kale had offered to support the Shonan army because of the Narwarm in his heart.

‘I can’t take care of you for a while because of Shahatra’s subjugation, so if you want to be supplied with mana, look for me.’

Although it wasn’t a direct order, its meaning was very clear.

Kale had made a ridiculous excuse like exploring the desert and came out to support the Shonan army. Filled with mana, Kale walked forward with his disciples, sweating profusely.

“Let’s start.”

The wizards raised their hands. A huge magic circle started to form around Kale.

Rumble.

Lightning Kale and his disciples united and cast a spell. Dark clouds started to form in the sky of Shahatra, a place that usually suffered from drought.

“Lightning?”

“What do you mean lightning?”

The Sultan people were shaken.

Magic and lightning were foreign things to people of Shahatra.

Herarion said to Henry, “Even though I can see it for myself, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable.”

“Isn’t that what war does to everyone? Even if the war ends, those who betrayed Your Majesty must be punished anyway.”

“Alright.”

Although he had become quite tough, his true personality was still the same.

After the spell was complete…

“...Start.”

Thunder!

Giant thunderbolts started to strike the Sultan’s palace.