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Chapter 222 - The Beginning (4)

The flames grew larger and larger, and soon became as big as the forearms of a giant.

"Shit! Out of all times...! Why now?!”

Looking at where the fire was, Rockefeller could tell that it was the supply barracks that had caught fire. As he saw the fire escalate, he thought about what to do. He couldn’t decide on whether to stop the battle right away and secure the remaining supplies or give up on the supplies to take down the castle.

Regardless of what choice he made, Rockefeller knew that both options had ups and downs.

“Commander!”

As the smoke got thicker, his aides-de-camp also became more anxious, which was why they pressed Rockefeller to quickly make a decision.

‘Fuck...!’

Each passing second felt like a year. The sight of black smoke billowing from the burning barracks and soldiers fighting ceaselessly pressed down on Rockefeller.

In the end, he was forced to stop pondering and make a decision.

“Retreat...!”

“Retreat! Orders to retreat!”

“All troops retreat!”

Huuummm!

The retreat signal from the horn echoed throughout the battlefield. Some of the soldiers looked dumbfounded as they heard the sound, while others were glad to hear it. However, Rockefeller was bitter.

‘Damn bastards...!’

He was furious. It seemed like if they had pushed the enemies a bit more, they could’ve taken them down in no time, but he himself hadn’t been completely certain that they could manage that. At any rate, Rockefeller decided not to go back on his choice.

Nobody could foresee the outcome of a war, and because of that, it was only right that Rockefeller had made the safest and most certain decision.

‘It’s only the first day, and we’ve already pushed them this much. If we secure the rear guard and launch an all-out attack the next day, we’ll most certainly win!’

That was why Rockefeller had ordered the retreat.

Soon, the imperial troops pulled back, and the city troops of Vivaldi cheered as they watched the soldiers retreat like an ebbing tide.

“They’re retreating!”

“We’ve defeated the imperial army!”

“Haha! Those imperial bastards, they’re no biggie, huh?”

Although Rockefeller’s retreat had been beneficial for his army from a strategic standpoint, it was a huge success for the city troops of Vivaldi. After all, the city troops were essentially a ragtag group, and they had managed to fend off an attack from the empire’s well-trained elite army.

“I-I did it...?”

Vant was also overjoyed. He had never once held a sword like everyone else; he had only ever fought on the chess board, the chess pieces being his only weapons. Therefore, to someone like him, winning his first real battle against a formidable enemy like the imperial army felt extremely satisfying and special.

“What are you doing?”

“Sir Henry!”

Henry appeared next to Vant, who was savoring the victory at the highest point of the castle wall. Vant welcomed Henry with a big smile on his face.

“Did you see what just happened? I did exactly as you told me and we’ve won the battle!”

“What, did you think we were going to lose? I told you we’d win as long as you listen to me.”

"Yes, of course! Please continue to guide me, Almighty Archmage! I have the utmost respect for you!”

“Enough with the fuss. I just stole half of their military supplies. I even set some of their barracks ablaze, so it’ll take them a couple of days to fully retreat.”

“Do you really think so, Sir Henry?”

“Of course. I’m also going to deploy the engineers and wizards to repair the damage of the castle walls as soon as the sun sets. In the meantime, you just keep an eye out for any attacks over the next few days. I’ll make sure to instruct the wizards on what they have to do

"What? Regardless of how many wizards are here, if you, Sir Henry, are not here, then...”

“This isn’t the only place going through a war. I came here first because it was the closest location and because it seemed like war would break out here. But that doesn’t mean I can just hang around here over the entire duration of the war, right? Don’t worry too much, I’ll leave someone behind who’ll replace me.”

“Someone to replace you, Almighty Archmage?”

“Yeah. At the very least, we need someone who can fend off that arrogant Rockefeller and his pesky sword strikes in my place, right?”

"Ah! I knew it! You were the one who blocked his attacks earlier, right?”

“Duh, who else could’ve done it? However, the problem is that if I continue to repel his sword attacks, the enemies will most likely think that there are high-ranking wizards gathered here. If they keep suspecting that, they’ll most certainly bring more imperial troops here, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want that to happen, or do you?”

Vant already thought that it was difficult to deal with the imperial troops, so the possibility of having to defend Vivaldi against the entire imperial army terrified him. Just picturing all of them here gave him goosebumps.

Henry then snapped his fingers. With that, a rotating circle of light appeared out of thin air and slowly descended on the floor.

“Alright, let me introduce the wizard that will replace me here. He’s Maker Swarth, the 6th-Circle Archmage who currently serves as the head of the alchemy school at the Snow Spire.”

Soon, Maker Swarth emerged from the magic circle.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Archmage.”

“Maker, please take care of this place for me while I’m absent. As I said before, the primary goal of Vivaldi Town is to maintain absolute defense, to become an impenetrable fortress. Don’t go on the offensive.”

"Of course. I will remodel the walls here so that Vivaldi becomes the ultimate fortress that you expect, Archmage.”

“Good. I trust you with this place, Maker.”

After Henry handed over full authority to Maker, he went over to Ten\'s mansion. Once he arrived in the front yard, he started to unload all the military supplies he had stolen earlier.

Ten greeted him and asked, “Sir Henry, where did you get all these?”

“I stole them.”

"What?"

“I sneaked into their base and plundered their supply barracks while the troops were fighting. We’re done looting for now. The first battle will probably be over before we go through all of the military rations.”

"Uh, what...?”

“You don’t need to know the details. It’s trivial stuff. I got places to be, so I’ll get going.”

After placing all the supplies he had stolen in front of the mansion, Henry used teleportation and disappeared.

Ten stared in amazement at where Henry had been just a second prior, quietly admiring his ability to get things done.

"Huh, he did get the wheat... Even though he stole it.”

Regardless, Henry had kept his promise, but still thought he hadn’t been able to take full advantage of the situation. He was disappointed that he had only managed to loot their supplies once during their battle to secure their military rations.

The reason for that was simple.

Henry had known that the imperial troops would never assume that their enemies had only stolen half of their supplies; they would rather assume that half of their supplies had been consumed by the fire.

If Henry had stolen more than that, more than the fire could’ve destroyed in that short amount of time, the enemy troops would’ve suspected that someone from Vivaldi had sneaked in and stolen them.

‘But most importantly, I left them a tiny shred of hope so that they’ll put in everything they’ve got in the next battle.’

Henry believed that military spirit was one of the most useless things in the world. Of course, he admired the mindset of soldiers who fought and risked their lives for their country. But what Henry hated the most was the extremely obstinate, blind patriotism that old-fashioned commanders would try to force-feed to others.

On that note, Henry knew that Rockefeller himself was nothing more than an old geezer with a condescending, stubborn mind. He was the perfect example of an old man who lived in his own world and enforced that absurd military spirit that Henry detested.

* * *

The ten generals each received orders from Arthus.

After giving them the orders, Arthus immediately summoned Terion.

“Terion.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The full-scale conquest of the continent has begun, so you must go to Deucekain right away and pass on my message.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Terion, the messenger in charge of Deucekain. After being on hold for so long, his time to work had finally come.

After receiving the orders from Arthus, Terion made his way out of the capital. Once he was no longer in the vicinity, he immediately tore up the caller scroll Henry had given him.

“What’s up?”

“Sir Henry!”

Henry appeared shortly after Terion tore the caller scroll. He then quickly took Terion over to Salgaera lest anyone saw them together.

After they arrived, Terion quickly rubbed his hands together and said, “Sir Henry, he finally gave me orders for Deucekain.”

“Okay, what did Arthus say?”

“He requested Deucekain to immediately stop their succession ceremony and attack the nearby Amaris.”

“Amaris?”

"Yes, Amaris. Arthus instructed me to tell the Deucekains to teach those bratty Amaris bitches a lesson with their magic sticks.”

“Is that really what Arthus said...?”

“I might’ve added some unnecessary parts...”

“I knew it. There’s no way Arthus would say something like that.”

“But it’s true that he’s ordering them to occupy Amaris. He even allows them pillage and rape.”

“He sure seems to be crossing the line. Or... what did Amaris do to get themselves in his dog house? What’s causing Arthus to hate them so much?”

After they had refused Arthus’ request to side with him, it had initially seemed impossible for Amaris to continue its legacy as a kingdom exclusively of women. However, even with Deucekain receiving support from Arthus, the alliance with Henry eliminated that bleak prospect.

Thus, unless Arthus caught lightning in a bottle, there was no way that things would go according to his plans.

“Sir Henry, what do you plan on doing now? Deucekain hasn’t made an alliance yet, has it?” asked Terion.

"No, you’re right. Even if we form an alliance with them, the Chowan will most likely turn their backs on us if they feel like they have to.”

“Then what should I do?”

“What do you mean? What else should you do with those who don’t listen but punish them? I already sent some messengers there that’ll take good care of the Chowan tribe.”

“...Messengers to Deucekain?”

The Chowan tribe was a group of dark-skinned bandits. Although they were born to fight, they lacked honor; they had no clear foundation and betrayed others every so often.

Thus, in order to properly control them, it was absolutely necessary to appoint someone who could firmly impose strict policies and who couldn’t care less about making logical decisions like their king.

As he had just told Terion, Henry had already sent someone who was a good fit, an appropriate messenger for this specific role.

Terion cocked his head, unable to guess who Henry was talking about.

“Let’s get going. Things should be sorted out by now. You also need to know exactly what’s going on so you can falsely report to Arthus.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

Henry cast Teleportation to Deucekain to check on the messenger he had sent.

* * *

Rumble!

With one swing, the ground shook tremendously. It seemed as if there were an earthquake powerful enough to split Mount Meeca in half.

“Now catch it! Hurry up!”

“There’s only one enemy! What are you doing!”

"Look out!"

Rumble, rumble!

Mount Meeca shook again.

Deucekain had dozens of tribes besides the Chowan tribe, and all of them were currently working together to stop one intruder.

However, the intruder was too powerful for them. Every time he swung his weapon, he knocked down dozens of warriors, causing an earthquake that seemed like it would split the earth in half.

“Where’s the leader?”

The intruder was none other than Balak.

Balak, who had been on the brink of death after using the Giant God Warrior’s Condemnation against Valhald, currently wore a larger and better armor than his previous one and was swinging the Black Punisher at the warriors from the tribes.

It was a devastating massacre.

Balak didn’t avoid any of the Deucekains that challenged him. In response to their offensive, Balak deliberately increased his range of attack and destroyed their imperial palace. He had already been damaging the palace for the last two hours.

More than half of the Chowan warriors were already dead, and the weaker warriors from other tribes had already surrendered.

Jusagang, the king of Deucekain and the leader of the Chowan tribe, eventually dropped his great spear, which was the symbol of the king, on the ground and bowed to Balak.

“I, king of Deucekain, officially surrender. Tell me what you want...!”

The Deucekains were natural-born fighters, but they also knew where they belonged. They knew that they had to live to fight another day in order to exact their revenge.

Balak looked down at Jusagang and firmly asked, “So you’re the leader, right?”

“Yes.”

“You stubborn idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were a Central Power, so why didn’t you join the Allied Powers?”

“W-what? What do you mean by the Allied Powers?”

“You’re pretending not to know. You know the price of lying, right?”

“No, no, wait a minute! I’ve never heard of the Allied Powers! I swear!”

“It’s too late.”

“Shriek!”

Jusagang was actually telling the truth. Deucekain hadn’t received offers from Henry to join the Allied Powers. Just when Henry was about to propose an alliance to Deucekain, he came across Terion, changing his plan to kidnapping Terion and making him his spy.

That moment, Balak raised the Black Punisher again.

"Enough!" shouted someone from behind.

A familiar voice stopped Balak.

It was Henry.

Seeing Henry, Balak lowered his head slightly and apologized.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t manage to get an answer from them regarding the alliance.”

“No, you’re good. I’ll take care of the situation from now on. You just wait a moment.”

Henry went past Balak and approached Jusagang, who had his head sagged.

Seeing how this man got Balak to stop with just a single word, Jusagang instinctively knew that he had to be an incredible adversary, someone who was infinitely more powerful than Balak himself.

“You’re Jusagang, right? Shall we talk for a moment?” proposed Henry.

With that, the devil latched onto Jusagang’s shoulders.