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Chapter 219 - The Beginning (1)

Killive, St. Hall, Faesiling, Musereal, and the Aenia Empire troops.

The original plan was to have the wizards of the Magical Spire, who had declared neutrality, join and complete the forces of the empire, but unfortunately, they had become the worst kind of criminals, overthrowing the empire.

Besides that, Henry Morris, the official apprentice of the former 8th-Circle Archmage Henry Morris, was known to be their leader. Arthus hadn’t officially announced it yet, but he had his eye on him as the worst criminal in the empire.

Arthus considered that he had given them enough chances. He thought the same for the former allies of the empire, with whom he had thought he could form good relations once again. However, not only had they rejected his offer, but they shamelessly formed their own alliance called the Allied Powers, thus making the worst possible mistake.

Because of that, Arthus no longer thought he had to tolerate or show them any mercy. The only thing he thought they deserved now was for them to pay the price for their wrong decisions.

Arthus looked down at the best military groups of Aenia, which had gathered for him from all parts of the continent. He wasn’t completely satisfied with the groups, but his personal preference didn’t matter as long as they were the best troops on the continent. Seeing the size of his army, he believed he had achieved his intended goal.

Arthus then shouted at the top of his lungs, “Listen up, proud warriors of my empire!”

There were tens of thousands of troops gathered, and despite their huge numbers, Arthus was imposing enough to grab the attention of every single soldier.

“We are very angry right now!” continued Arthus, his assertive voice echoing throughout the open space. He proceeded to deliver his speech, his tone full of anger, “We are angry because the Eurasian Empire, which had maintained order and peace on the continent for a long time, was brought down at the hands of the arrogant wizards of the Magical Spire!”

Arthus started off by explaining the reason for his anger and the reason for his plan to conquer the continent.

“And now, those wicked wizards are trying to coax our once allies, who used to be vassals of the empire, to harm the Aenia Empire!”

Arthus then went into detail on the enemies they had to defeat.

“They are no longer wizards! They are heinous war criminals who should be beheaded at the guillotine!”

War criminals.

They were people who either caused wars or those who threatened the peace of the continent.

Arthus made his third point by officially designating the wizards and the former allies of the empire, who had refused to join the Aenia Empire, as war criminals.

“Warriors of the proud empire! Are you ready to fight for your brothers and sisters?!”

“WAAAAAA!!!"

With that, Arthus wrapped up his speech. He explained the reason for conquering the continent while giving the troops a sense of honor and duty. All the main points of his speech ultimately served to stir up the anger within the soldiers, making it their driving force for battle.

“We will bring judgment to the ungrateful!”

“Waaa!!!”

With that, the departure ceremony for the continent conquest had ended. Arthus’ speech boosted the soldiers’ morale and ignited their fighting spirit. Arthus then gathered the corps commanders of each army, about ten of them, to issue his final orders. Arthus uniquely called his corps commanders ‘generals.’

Among the generals he called in, there were a lot of familiar faces; for instance, the members of the newly formed Imperial Ten Swords.

After looking at each of them, Arthus made a slightly disappointed face. He reacted like this because he had wanted Balak to be one of the ten generals, but because the Punishment King still hadn’t returned for the ceremony, Arthus was forced to quickly find a replacement for him.

Despite his preference for Balak, Arthus knew that he still needed a general to take command.

As the ten generals gathered in front of Arthus, the leader of the Imperial Ten Swords, Kington, saluted him as the representative.

“Your Majesty, the Imperial Ten Swords are at your service.”

As Kington greeted him, Arthus hid his disappointment with a satisfied smile. Even though Balak wasn’t here, the generals in front of him, regardless of what anyone had to say, were the strongest men on the continent.

Among the generals, there were members of the current Imperial Ten Swords, the mercenary king of Faesiling, and Sun Warriors from St. Hall.

“Let me inform you of the mission and responsibilities that each military branch will have from now on.”

With that, Arthus began his full-scale conquest.

* * *

Nosco was a small town located in the north of the continent, and because of the overall harsh environment of that region, it wasn’t as well off as the towns from southern regions, where the environmental conditions were more favorable.

However, this small town had been exempted from tax under the migration policy that Golden Jackson had implemented.

Moreover, the Noscons were the kind of people who were content with a modest life, appreciating the small things in life. The empire’s supplying them with daily necessities had played a big role in forming their life philosophy.

Because of their lifestyle, the Noscons were known for their optimistic and friendly attitude and for how well they got along with their neighbors.

Before anyone had noticed, it was evening.

The Noscons had a custom called Sukamu, where they regularly ate together, and that day was their day for Sukamu. There were about one hundred and twenty people. Although they didn’t have enough people to call Nosco a proper town, their small numbers allowed them to eat together on a regular basis.

The Noscons gathered in pairs or in groups of three at the center of the town with dishes they had prepared, just as they would normally do. They made a large campfire by stacking logs on top of each other and started a potluck with the food they each brought.

Although they didn’t have much, they had drinks and meat included in some of the dishes. So, the Noscons shared the drinks and the food they brought, sang songs, and danced the night away.

It was truly a night where music and joy came together.

After a while, when most of the townsfolk were one drink away from getting massively drunk, the Noscons started singing a traditional folk song that had been passed down through generations to wrap up the day of Sukamu.

It was a night to remember for the Noscons.

Given that this town had been established shortly after the Eurasian Empire had been founded, along with its new migration policy, its history was as old as that of the empire. Everyone in this town believed that the history they had been holding onto would continue in the future.

Following the collapse of the Eurasian Empire, the Noscons had thought that their supply line would be cut off, but Arthus had come to the rescue and continued to support their town.

Their singing peaked. Everyone in the town, men and women, young and old, sang happily into the moonlight.

Among the townsfolk, there was one girl who was particularly popular. Her name was Mireulren, and she was the youngest girl in Nosco. Mireulren sang the traditional folk song to match her childish dance moves.

Everyone at the gathering laughed and cheered at her cute moves. They were all grateful for the blissful joy of the moment. They were happy.

But at that moment...

Shoom!

A rushed, hissing sound made its way through the streets of Nosco. It was like a sonic boom. However, the sound was too low to even be noticed as a sonic boom. It just fainted into the background as the townsfolk kept on singing.

Shoom!

The sonic sound lasted for even longer. However, despite the persistence of the sound, the drunken people continued to sing, oblivious to what was happening to them.

Shoom!

“Hmm?”

Eventually, one person finally picked up on the sound, but it was already too late.

Crack!

A long skewer flew out from the middle of nowhere and pierced Mireulren right in between her eyes as she was dancing.

“Huh...?”

“Mi-Mireulren...?”

The skewer that pierced her rotated with great speed. The way her fragile body spun along with the skewer as it dug deeper into her head showed just how powerful this thing was.

Mireulren’s corpse spun clockwise in the air as it made its way toward the ground, blood spraying from her head all over the place.

“Mi-Mireulren!”

Her mother, who belatedly realized what had just happened in front of her eyes, wailed as she held her daughter in her arms. Then, her father picked up the wooden stick that he had brought to use for the campfire and, as if he had lost his mind, yelled at the top of his lungs, "WHO DID THIS?! WHO THE HELL DID THIS?!”

With that, the glee and happiness of the gathering quickly devolved into fury and despair. However, before it all went away, another sound that resembled a sonic explosion was heard.

Shoom!

Crack! Crack! Snap!

If the sound had been faint at first, now it came from all directions.

“Aaaah!”

“Run! Run away!”

“Ghaaaa!”

Skewers emerged all over the town, but the thing was, they weren\'t exactly skewers. They were more like the horns or thorns of a monster, spinning clockwise. Whatever these things were, one thing was clear.

They were slaughtering the people of the peaceful town of Nosco.

The thorns continued to appear everywhere. As more and more people died, the townsfolk scattered in all directions in a panic, desperately trying to survive.

However, at that moment, the ground shook.

Thud!

Thud!

“Uh, uh, uh!”

The townsfolk thought an earthquake had struck Nosco. Some people even fell down to the ground and got injured as they tried to run on the shaking ground.

And then, at that moment...

“Wh-what is that?”

It was completely dark, but one person who was running away noticed a giant silhouette appear in front of them and screamed in terror.

It was a looming figure, so big that one might’ve thought it was an ogre, or even a hundred-year-old tree.

The townsfolk, all shocked by the appearance of this ominous figure, gradually made their way up with their eyes to see what they were looking at. Once their eyes were set on where the head of the silhouette was supposed to be, they saw something unexpected, something out of place.

That part didn’t seem to match the rest of the figure, and it didn’t seem like it was part of an animal, either.

They just saw a single eyeball, looking down at them.

“Mo-monster?”

The pupil was moving, so it was most certainly a living being. However, since none of these people had ever seen or heard about any beast that looked like this, they naturally assumed it was a monster.

Shoom!

The sharp, sonic sound pierced through the air again. Then the thorns attacked the town once again, slaughtering everything that drew breath.

With that, every single inhabitant of Nosco had died.

The monster scanned its surroundings, checking whether there was anyone still alive. After confirming that all the Noscons had died, the monster opened its eyes in a half-moon shape and let out a roar.

“GRRAAAA!”

It was a roar of joy, which kept going for some time. After it died out, strange noises, which sounded like laughter, could be heard coming from around the monster

“KHAHA!”

“KIKIKI!”

“GHAHAHA!”

There wasn\'t just one monster around, and those sounds were definitely not the laughter of a human or a beast.

“Get them.”

Someone, a man, had given the monsters an order, and right after that, the monsters stopped laughing and picked up the corpses of the Noscons and moved them somewhere else.

“Hold it.”

As the monsters were busy moving the bodies, the man stopped the monster carrying Mireulren’s corpse. He then lifted the girl, her head gruesomely pierced, and then examined her as if he were a customer trying to check out his product before buying it.

The man smirked before letting out a laugh. He seemed overjoyed, like a miner who had just discovered a precious gem.

“You’re one lucky girl.”

The man pulled out the thorn stuck in her head. He then ignited a flame at his fingertips and touched the puncture wound between her eyes.

Crackle.

The smell of searing flesh dispersed into the air. After he stopped her bleeding with his flame, the man grabbed her head and chanted a spell.

Mutter, mutter...

After a while, he was done with the chanting. Then, purple magic made its way from the man onto Mireulren, completely enveloping her. As the magic was doing its work, a strange, eerie sound came from Mireulren.

Crack, crack.

Her twisted neck jerked, and her limbs contorted in a grotesque manner. Then, a strange flower with purple petals bloomed from the hole in her face.

-Shishishishi...

The flower let out a bizarre sound, almost like a cry, and soon after, the flower bud bloomed, and a berry grew in its place.

“Good.”

The man picked up the purple fruit that bloomed from the flower. It was a little smaller than an apple. He then took a quick bite from it.

Slurp!

It had a rich taste, and it was juicy. Crimson juice, which looked like blood, dripped from the fruit. After finishing the fruit, the man wiped his mouth, looking quite satisfied.

“Good, very good...”

This mysterious man was none other than Dracan Rotique.