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Chapter 214 - Rally (5)

A storm was brewing across the continent.

Everyone was preparing in their own way for the imminent bloodbath: the Aenia Empire led by Arthus, the Allied Powers created by Henry, as well as the three free cities that had declared independence.

The people of Deucekain were driven by self-interest and had ambitious goals, but they knew nothing about what was at stake.

The most imposing force out of all was certainly Arthus’ imperial army.

“Have you heard the rumors? The Aenia Empire will initiate a full-scale contest of the continent.”

“I heard that the Holy City of St. Hall and the Mercenary City of Faesiling have already sent reinforcements...?”

“Who said that?”

“The son of a blacksmith in our village told me he saw the paladins marching.”

“The paladins of St. Hall must be the Sun Warriors. To have them join the conquest... This might just write a new chapter in the history of the continent.”

Rumors spread like wildfire across the entire continent. This news had also reached Vivaldi, Enkelmann, and Monsieur, the cities that had declared independence.

“Continental conquest?”

“Damn it! That means this place is no longer safe either, right?”

“Hmm, but I heard from a friend of mine that the Aenia Empire is conscripting soldiers like crazy.”

“Well, that was expected, so it can’t be helped.”

“Yeah, but I guess we’re better off here, ‘cause I heard that over there they only serve hard, unsalted cornbread.”

“Damn...”

That was the current situation.

As the prices soared and food became scarce, many people had chosen to relocate somewhere where they could have better meals as they had already given up on their lives.

Thus, the support for Vivaldi’s city army, which had been expected to decrease based on how fast the imperial army was being mobilized, increased by the day, the number of soldiers constantly growing. This was the same for Monsieur and Enkelmann.

“Is everything going well?”

“Ah, Archmage!” exclaimed Vant.

A few days after the Allied Powers meeting, Henry checked up on all the things he had prepared so far and then returned to Vivaldi. There, he made the final preparations by assessing the performance of the assembled city army and inspecting the reinforced walls.

“How many soldiers for the city army do we have?”

“As you’ve mentioned, if we go based on the scale that ten men form a platoon, a hundred men a company, a thousand men a battalion, and ten thousand men a corps, we’ve got a total of about eight battalions so far.”

“Eight battalions? That’s a lot more than what I was expecting. I thought we’d have around five battalions.”

“At our current pace, we should be able to assemble a corps in a few days.”

“It\'s probably not a good idea to accept a bunch of random men all at once, but who cares... They\'re about to go into battle anyway.”

“Battle...?”

“What, you think I\'ve recruited a city army to do some charity work? You\'ve heard the news about the empire, right? If I’m not mistaken, they’ll first attack Vivaldi, not Monsieur or Enkelmann.”

“What? Why would they go for Vivaldi first? I heard that Monsieur and Enkelmann haven\'t even gathered four battalions yet.”

“That’s exactly why they’re going to strike here first. If the strongest city falls, the other cities with smaller armies will naturally surrender on their own.”

“...”

As he listened to Henry\'s explanation, Vant realized that he had been completely mistaken about this. He had expected Vivaldi to be safe from the empire’s first attack thanks to the large number of troops gathered, but instead, the strength he had built had only become poison.

Vant looked downcast.

“Don’t be so glum. You think I\'m going to let this place fall?”

“But...”

“I’ve already connected the teleportation gates. If we lose the battle, I’ll help you escape, so hold on as long as you can. That’s your job here.”

Vant had no intention of running away. If he fled before the war broke out, Henry would obviously track him down and catch him in no time. If he tried to flee during the war, he would be chased by the empire. Vant really had no choice but to fulfill his duty.

“Alright...” replied Vant in a feeble voice.

Henry patted Vant on the shoulder a couple of times before going to see Ten.

“So, how’s the business going?”

“Haha, by business, you mean charity?”

“Charity? It may seem like we’re just giving away food for free, but you know how important supplies are in a war.”

“Of course. We’re distributing food as efficiently as we can... But with the city\'s army growing by the day, we’re quickly running out of food.”

“Hang in there. It’s going to be three days at most, and if war breaks out within these three days, there’s going to be plenty of ways to get food.”

“...Alright.”

Ten had absolutely no idea as to how Henry was going to get the supplies, but if Henry, out of all people, said he could do it, Ten would have faith in him, as he had never gone back on his word before.

Henry then went to Enkelmann and Monsieur in order to inform them about what the imperial army would do in the near future and what course of action they should take after the war broke out.

“Alright, this should be good enough for the free cities, at least for now... Then all that’s left is to wait for the fish to take the bait.”

The preparations were more or less complete.

Henry returned to Salgaera as there was still some unfinished business before the war broke out.

* * *

Somewhere in the snowy mountain range of Salgaera, Henry had carved out a giant hollow inside a mountain. In the center of the hollow was a large magic circle, radiating an emerald glow that looked like Henry\'s mana.

At the center of the circle was a creature of a murky, viscous substance, tangled and bound in chains of mana.

Henry appeared at the center of the hollow, and the creature entangled in the mana chains called out to him in a dry, feeble voice, “Master...”

“Are you okay?”

“I think... I’ve reached my limit... Argh!”

The creature wrapped in chains was none other than Klever. He looked like he was about to die, and he let Henry know of his distress.

Henry frowned as he thought to himself, ‘Is there not enough mana?’

The spell that Henry had cast inside the snowy mountain was a sealing magic circle. It was a type of sealing magic meant to enhance Klever’s Chest.

The reason for creating such a magic circle was simple - inside the Chest, Balak had awakened from its frozen state and was trying to tear his way out. Because of that, Klever was in excruciating pain.

However, with war on the horizon, the idea of unleashing the Punishment King upon the world was a huge burden. After all, Balak had sworn allegiance to Arthus, and because of his own beliefs, he would follow Arthus’ orders no matter what. That was why Henry wanted to use Klever’s Chest to trap Balak for as long as possible, but Balak was much stronger than he had thought.

Henry had been taking proper measures ever since Klever started complaining of pain a few days before, but even that had reached its limits. At this rate, Henry couldn\'t guarantee that Klever would survive. He had no choice but to take special measures.

Snap!

Henry snapped his fingers.

A faint light flashed on either side of Henry, revealing a bunch of familiar silhouettes.

“Is this it?”

“Your preparations are wild.”

“Oh wow...”

Four people had emerged from the flash of light, namely Von, McDowell, Valhald, and Ronan.

The reason he summoned them was simple. Balak was just as strong as Valhald, which was why Henry wanted to bring in as many skilled individuals as possible in order to properly restrain Balak.

“Henry, is Balak really sealed inside Klever?” asked Von.

“Yup, he is. I’m giving Klever as much mana as I can to keep him sealed somehow, but... I’ve reached my limits.”

“How did Arthus even get the idea to use someone like Balak?”

“That’s not important. Right now, all we have to do is restrain him, right Valhald?”

“Yes.”

“But is it okay for this kid to be involved in the middle of us fighting? He hasn’t even mastered an ultimate skill yet, so Balak’s going to be too much for him to handle.”

“I’m sure Ronan will be able to support you. After all, the goal is to restrain Balak, not to kill him.”

Trying to restrain him was much harder than trying to kill him. After giving them the instructions, Henry said, “I’m going to break the seal now, so please get ready.”

“Alright.”

At Henry’s sign, everyone unsheathed their swords.

It had been said that when it came to raw strength, Balak came close to Valhald, but that was just a rumor that Valhald himself had denied. Of course, he wasn’t denying the fact that he was stronger, but he had denied the rumors because they had never had a proper fight to actually confirm who was stronger, which proved Valhald’s integrity.

Everyone soon nodded, and Henry cast a spell.

Oong!

Emerald-colored mana filled the entire space inside the mountain as Henry cast the spell, which was followed by a massive roar.

As the concentration of the mana grew stronger, Klever’s groans grew more intense.

Rumble!

The entire hollow shook. Emerald-colored sparks flew everywhere, and the more intense the vibrations got, the harder everyone gripped their swords.

Boom!

Just then, thick smoke filled the area, and slime splattered in all directions.

It was Klever.

“Ha...”

A soft groan of relief was heard, and then...

Swoosh!

Something heavy flew from within the smoke.

Boom!

“...!”

Ronan was the target. Unable to withstand the sudden impact of the object, Ronan was blown away into the distance, slamming into the wall.

“Ronan!”

Swoosh!

The object was none other than the Black Punisher, which shattered Ronan’s armor before returning to its owner’s hand.

The enraged Punishment King, released from the powerful seal, emerged from the smoke, letting out a tremendous amount of murderous aura.

“Was it you guys?” asked Balak. It was merely a rhetorical question, and instead of asking anything else, he merely stared at the familiar people before him, grasping the situation.

“Damn, you still have a good sense of things,” replied McDowell with a bitter smile, admiring Balak’s mettle.

Even though he had just been released from the seal, Balak had still managed to quickly determine who was the weakest among them and strike him down first.

His attack had worked perfectly, as Ronan had barely been able to withstand the destructive force of the Black Punisher the moment it hit him.

This could only be described as a Balak having great intuition.

“There are many who deserve to die, I see.”

With the Black Punisher in his hand again, Balak looked around. Then, in accordance with his personal values, he quickly made a decision.

Death.

Whatever his past connection was with those in front of him, it was already bad enough that he had been kidnapped and sealed away. However, all of them stared at him with killing intent, gripping their swords.

This alone was reason enough for Balak to kill them all without any hesitation.

“Henry?” asked McDowell.

“Yes?”

“Do we have to keep him alive?”

“Yeah, I’d very much prefer that.”

“Why?”

“Because it would be a waste to kill a talent like Balak.”

“...Talent, my ass,” McDowell cursed in response to Henry’s demands.

However, Henry wasn’t wrong. Balak was a formidable warrior, and it would be great if they could somehow get him on their side.

“Let’s go.”

Sonic McDowell decided he would make the first move.