Side Story Chapter 81
The western rebels really couldn’t pull themselves together, especially Count Andes, the acting commander in lieu of Marquess Turtler.
“We just received a report from the first scouting party at the headquarters. They scoured the mountain, but the guards were nowhere to be found.”
“The report from the second scouting party is the same. They haven’t arrived at their destination, but they can’t find a single trace of life in the mountain!”
“W-We received an urgent report! One of the scouting parties located what seems to be Lord Turtler’s head…”
Andes interrupted the reports by slamming his desk angrily. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure… That’s what the report says.”
“Shut your damn mouth! You call that a report? Nothing has been confirmed, so keep that under wraps! Other people might hear you.”
“I-I apologize.”
Andes huffed and puffed. The other five officers in the tent were left wordless in the face of the incomprehensible reports.
“Fuck. Don’t all of you think the same? We’re talking about the Lord Turtler, so what in the world are those scouting parties looking at…?” Andes shook his head.
“Lord Andes, shouldn’t we at least make some preparations?”
“Viscount Hoothe, don’t tell me you believe that nonsense.”
“But the scouting parties wouldn’t say such nonsense in a situation like this unless they were crazy.”
“Enough!” Andes’s scowl returned. “If you all are trying to mess with me right now, cut it out.”
“Lord Andes…”
“It’s not even funny. I think it would be funnier if you said that the Emperor has come back after over a decade,” Andes said.
He was joking, but it came true.
A fierce tiger’s roar made the rebels instinctively cower, their eyes wide.
“I-Is this…?”
“W-We’re under attack!” a guard shouted.
“An attack…?”
“Enemy forces are estimated at thirty thousand, and they’re led by Ranger, the Imperial Knights’ vice-commander, and the Combat Emperor!”
“They only brought half of our numbers? Cain de Harry must be out of his mind! He should know his place…!”
“A-And there’s one more person. It’s unbelievable, but one of the scouts reported…”
“What is it?”
“...Umm… The man… His Majesty… I’m s-sorry. I received a report that the scouts witnessed a man who appears to be the Martial God.”
In a fit of rage, Andes cut off the head of the messenger.
“Urghh…” The soldier coughed up blood for a moment and then collapsed to the ground with a thud like a rotten tree.
“L-Lord Andes…”
“The world must be going crazy, hahaha—or did I go crazy? Why is everyone saying bullshit?” Andes mumbled.
“W-Why don’t we make some preparations though?” Hoothe suggested, mustering his courage. “No matter how hard I think about it, something’s wrong…”
Andes did not listen.
“Prepare? Prepare for what? Prepare for the fantastic nonsense about how Lord Turtler is dead and the Emperor showed up?” Andes shouted, his voice growing with every word.
“Well, there’s always a possibil—”
“Then let me ask you. Supposing the news is true, are there any preparations we can make?”
He was answered with total silence
“This is the Emperor. I’m talking about the Joshua Sanders. The Martial God stopped an army of a million soldiers on his own, so how are we supposed to stop him? Isn’t that the real bullshit? So I’m telling you: all of this is a scheme by those damned loyalists.”
“Scheme…?”
“The undeniable reality is that the mere mention of Joshua Sanders makes us tremble. It’s an instinctive response.” Andes clenched his fist and used his other hand to lift up the tent door. He could already hear the ground shaking under the galloping of horses.
This war had gone on for two years. Several major battles had taken place during that time, but so far they had been neck to neck with the enemy. However, a false rumor suddenly spread and their enemies were launching a large-scale attack. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.
“Get ready. There’s a high chance that the ‘emperor’ that the scouts saw is fake, but even if it’s the real emperor, I will deal with him myself.”
The rebel officers eagerly nodded along to their acting commander’s decision.
“Oooooh!”
The fact was, he was the most powerful swordsman in the western rebel army, comparable to Turtler. As if to prove his reputation, a vivid layer of aura appeared on top of Andes’s sword.
“Let’s go,” he ordered. “Lord Turtler may be away right now, but this war in the west will finally come to an end today.”
Aside from the fake emperor, the Combat Emperor, the strongest man on the continent, was present, but Andes was confident that the Combat Emperor was nothing if Andes used his recently acquired authority.
“The old has-been monster will die by my sword,” Andes muttered to himself.
* * *
Ranger could feel his heart pounding. Even though he was riding his horse right next to his idol, he still couldn’t believe that it was real. If Ranger was feeling like this, it was obvious how the enemies would respond.
“I don’t have to do anything, yes?” Joshua asked.
“Of course. You can sit back and relax. Just stay by my side,” Ranger confidently answered, pounding his chest.
“I don’t really feel like doing that.”
“Hahaha! To be honest, if it weren’t for the battle, I’d want to spend all day hugging you, Your Majesty.”
“Do you want to be punished for lese-majeste?” Joshua joked.
“Come on, calling that lese-majeste is too harsh. We survived a lot of life-or-death situations together.”
“Even if I don’t do anything, the Queen Consorts won't sit by.”
Ranger’s expression turned grim. “…I don’t know about the others, but I’m actually terrified of Her Majesty Icarus.”
“You aren’t the only one.”
“Have you already met her?”
“I met her on my way over here. She gave me a death glare,” Joshua recalled.
“That’s understandable. You didn’t even tell them before you disappeared over a decade ago.”
“Yeah, so I held my tongue.”
“At times like this, I think you’re a real devoted husband in your own ways, Your Majesty.” Ranger chuckled.
“Me?”
“Most of my acquaintances would yell at their wives in that kind of situation. ‘Men are trying to work here…!’”
“Mercenaries… If they continue to disrespect their wives like that, they’ll starve to death when they’re too old and weak to pick up a spoon.”
“You’re the only emperor in the world who worries about that kind of stuff.”
It was hard to think that this conversation was taking place between men who were going to war. Nevertheless, Ranger was calm. The enemy leader was dead, and Joshua was here with him; Ranger was so happy that he felt like he could take on the entire continent.
“I see they’ve already sent their welcoming committee.”
“Oh?”
They caught sight of the enemy. There were about thirty thousand soldiers in the national army while there were about fifty thousand rebels, almost double that of the national army. Despite the clear disadvantage in numbers, the national army didn’t choose to hunker down their camp, and Ranger intended to show the rebels exactly why that was.
He began by unleashing the White Tiger’s authority, letting a tiger’s roar rip over the plains.
“Ohhhhhhhhh!”
“His Majesty is with us!”
“Those sons of bitches are all dead meat now!”
“Let’s die here today!”
“Yes! Let’s die here today!” Ranger shouted, the corners of his mouth rising. “I can die here right now without any regrets!”
Joshua couldn’t help chuckling. This was his first large-scale battle since his return, and yet, it didn’t feel awkward. In fact, he finally felt like he was alive.
When Ranger and his army got closer, they could hear the rebels encouraging each other.
“Kill them! Kill them all and take back our country!”
“Let’s stop those arrogant princes’ power struggles with our own hands! There will be no more civil war in Avalon!”
“Don’t be fooled by that phony! Lord Andes himself will deal with the Combat Emperor!”
Ranger laughed. “To my ears, it sounds like they’re so terrified of the Martial God that they’ve gone delusional. They think they can take on the Combat Emperor. What do you think, Sir Cain?”
“Those rascals,” Cain muttered. His golden aura rolled over his surroundings like a tidal wave. “Then I’ll show them how deluded they are.”
“Hehehe. Those damned rebels woke up the sleeping giant.”
“Why don’t you stand down, Your Majesty? I’ll take the lead in this battle.”
Joshua quietly shook his head. “Let me give you a hand.”
Cain and Ranger’s heads swiveled around.
“Your Majesty, you don’t have to go through the trouble—”
“I’m doing it for the knights and soldiers behind you, not for you guys,” Joshua said.
“Pardon…?”
“We have to minimize our casualties if we can. It looks like they believe that I’m a phony, so won’t their morale decrease drastically once that belief is shattered?”
“Well, that’s true…”
“Then it’s decided.” Joshua nodded. He slapped his black horse’s bottom without waiting for an answer, sending the horse charging forward in surprise, neighing in protest.
“Y-Your Majesty? Oh, no!” Ranger, taken aback, hastily followed Joshua.
However, Ranger’s shock couldn’t be compared to Cain's.
“W-Why is he acting so reckless!” Cain stammered. He was the only one there who was aware of Joshua’s state. Joshua was as delicate as fine china at the moment. Every ability he used was a one-time thing, and even if he used mana from the environment, he basically became an ordinary person afterward.
“Hiya!” Cain also spurred his horse forward, preparing himself for anything.
Cain could see at least one thousand rebels, and half of them were knights, but Joshua was riding his horse right toward them on his own.
“Your Majesty!”
Cain’s loud shout shook the rebels. His superhuman senses allowed pick out the enemy’s voices from a distance.
“‘Yo-Your Majesty’?”
“I can see that now. It’s really His Majesty!”
“Shouldn’t w-we withdraw, then?”
“Nonsense! We never received any orders to retreat, so keep on running. You all know how vital the vanguard’s role is, don’t you?”
“B-But…”
“He’s a phony, he only looks like His Majesty. Or maybe he used an artifact! With Queen Consort Iceline’s ability, that’s a piece of cake!”
“Y-You’re right…”
“It doesn’t make any sense for the Emperor to suddenly return after over a decade.”
Cain's eyes widened as Joshua suddenly leaped up high in the air.
“Yo-Your Majesty!”
“Magic Spear Art Level 4,” Joshua said, adding mana for everyone to hear.
Mana turned into a bundle of rays of aura, and then those rays harnessed energy. A cloud of lightning floated into the air to pour down on the ground.
“Lightning Rain.”
Laying Cain’s concerns to rest in spectacular fashion, Joshua elegantly whirled his spear and cast a rain of lightning bolts upon the rebels.
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