Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Dreihart Rebellion Suppression Battle
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That day had arrived.
The rebels and the suppression forces met on the plains in front of Dreihart's castle.
In truth, suppression battles like this often turned into sieges.
The rebels would naturally hole up inside the castle, where defense was advantageous and they held the position of defenders.
The fact that they had come out of the castle to engage in open battle meant they were confident they could defeat the suppression forces head-on.
Hadem looked positively thrilled at the idea that they dared to challenge him directly.
"Those rebel scum may be useless at everything else, but I like their spirit. To think they'd dare a frontal assault against me."
Hadem burst into a gleeful laugh as he gazed at the rebels.
Jeras let out a sigh, looking utterly exasperated.
"In my view, we should be angry that they've underestimated us. It infuriates me that we're being treated with such disdain because of some brute. Hohoho!"
"There is one frail little fly buzzing around, after all. Kra ha ha ha!"
It went without saying, but Hadem's Lion Family and Jeras's Silla Family were bitter enemies.
They were rivals who worried more about friendly fire from each other than the rebels during wartime, forced to fight together only by orders from above—but given half a chance, they'd stab each other in the back without hesitation.
The council knew this well, which was why they had dispatched an overseer.
Rakyu, the War Situation Overseer watching their bickering, sighed and addressed them both.
"My lords, as you're already aware, this battle is being fully recorded. Please do not forget that."
"To think we'd pull all sorts of stunts over some pathetic slave rebels. Got it!"
"Understood, Overseer Rakyu. Hohoho!"
The War Situation Overseer was a sort of referee dispatched by the Platinum Council to manage the war.
His warning was to prevent them from backstabbing each other or doing anything that would tarnish the imperial family's reputation.
The two men heeded his words and moved to their positions to prepare for the suppression battle.
I watched it all unfold from the hill alongside everyone else, when Noah asked,
"Do you think the rebels will lose, my lord?"
"By all common sense, against those two? Yes... but Dreihart has 'him'."
"'Him'?"
I was probably the only one here who knew about him right now.
He wouldn't officially appear in the world until the rebellion event triggered.
But I had experienced that rebellion event—and even gotten utterly crushed by him once, despite it being just a game.
That's why I couldn't easily predict the outcome of this war.
Hadem bellowed, and the war began.
His knights followed their madly charging lord on horseback, thundering forward in a frenzy.
How did that sight appear to the rebels?
Like hundreds, thousands of lions charging straight at them—a vision that would normally inspire terror.
Yet the slave soldiers among the rebels showed no fear.
Because they had 'him'.
Dreihart's Colosseum champion and descendant of the dragonkin race. He is the ultimate SSR warrior character, obtainable only through the Dreihart rebel army event.
In short, he was World Archive's Spartacus.
Like Spartacus, he had been a slave who rose in rebellion, smashing countless suppression armies sent by players according to the story—and delivering shock and awe in the process.
Of course, I was one of the recipients of that "gift."
Trusting in Zarha, the slave soldiers felt no fear, and the man at their forefront, Zarha Legion, drew a massive two-handed sword.
Then he shouted for all to hear.
As Zarha charged, the slave soldiers followed right behind.
Lions thirsting for war and enraged slave berserkers collided in the heart of Dreihart's plains.
Kwang-!! Kwajik-!!!! Kwajijik-!!!
Flesh sprayed, bones shattered, and blood poured from the clash of the two forces.
In that chaos, he shone the brightest.
Kwajik-!! Pajik-! Pajijik-!!!
Hadem swung his axe like a madman, massacring the slave soldiers.
His form, reaping the muscled slaves like a harvest, was none other than the locust of the imperial court—Lu Bu himself.
Just when it seemed Hadem might slaughter every last slave soldier single-handedly, an interloper stepped in.
Chaeng-!!
"What!?"
Hadem's axe was blocked by Zarha's sword.
Startled, Hadem dismissed it as luck and unleashed a barrage of axe strikes at Zarha.
But every attack was parried by Zarha's twin blades, shocking everyone.
With Hadem stalled, the Lion Knights' charge lost momentum, allowing the slave soldiers to regroup and fight properly once more.
As a worthy opponent emerged, Hadem wore an amazed expression and asked,
"You... you're strong. What's your name?"
"Zarha Legion."
"I see, warrior Zarha. Just asking, but would you consider surrendering and becoming my subordinate?"
"I figured as much."
Hadem dismounted and tossed aside his helmet.
The Lion Family knights paled at the sight.
In that instant, fur began sprouting from Hadem's gleaming bald head.
His already bulging muscles and frame swelled even larger.
This was why Hadem was called the "Lion of Hell"—his blessing, Beast King.
Its effect was simple.
He transformed into a lion beastman and became insanely strong.
The problem was that in this state, Hadem...
...lost his reason.
Now a lion berserker, Hadem lunged at Zarha.
The axe swings of a berserker were several times more powerful than his human form.
And yet... Zarha blocked that axe with his bare hands.
Chaeng-!!!
Blue scales began emerging across Zarha's body.
As his blue horns grew and scales covered his face, the true form of a dragonkin revealed itself.
This was Zarha's power—the dragonkin-exclusive special ability, Dragonkin Transformation.
The red lion and blue dragon clashed.
Monsters began battling right in the middle of the war.
Meanwhile, my retainers and I watched the battle unfold in real time through the Eye in the Sky that Sharen had set up.
Not that I should say this, but... it was honestly way too entertaining.
People turning into monsters and fighting in the middle of a war? How could it not be fun?
I silently cheered Zarha on a thousand times in my mind, urging him to crush Hadem.
And while I wasn't sure about the others, my retainers couldn't tear their eyes away either. Before I knew it, Rana was munching on hardtack while enjoying the Eye in the Sky.
"Incredible. So there really are people who can transform into animals."
"This is my first time seeing it in person."
"Mine too."
"First time for me as well."
Noah and Sharen chimed in that they had never witnessed such abilities before.
I had known from the game that Hadem's power involved turning into a lion, but this was my first time seeing it with my own eyes here.
No wonder he could pull off the insane stunt of coming alone without escorts.
I felt a pang of sorrow once again at the fact that I had no blessing whatsoever.
"What happens to the war now?"
Noah's question made me ponder deeply.
Zarha blocking Hadem was impressive, but it wasn't enough to win the war.
Because Viscount Jeras was still out there.
He might just blast both Hadem and Zarha away with magic at once.
"Simply put, Viscount Jeras might strike from behind and clinch the win."
"Now that you mention it, I don't see Viscount Jeras."
"Huh! You're right..."
Indeed, Viscount Jeras was nowhere to be seen.
Where the hell was that guy fooling around?
I manipulated the Eye in the Sky using the method Sharen had taught me, adjusting the view.
And there...
"What the—!?"
There was Viscount Jeras, surrounded by black-hooded assassins and in dire peril.
Viscount Jeras was covered in wounds from brutal attacks, and his escorts around him seemed mostly dead.
What in the world was going on?
To Viscount Jeras, it all felt like a nightmare.
Just moments ago, everything had seemed to be going according to his plan.
Watching the slave soldier block Hadem and their fight intensify, he had thought he could cast his magic there to wipe out Hadem and the slave, then send in his knights to end it all.
The moment he declared victory and began advancing...
They appeared out of nowhere.
Swish-!
"Huh?"
It started with the necks of his escorts before his eyes being sliced clean off amid black smoke.
At the sudden upheaval, Jeras reflexively cast a protective barrier.
"A... Aegis!!!"
⟨ Aegis ⟩
As Jeras deployed his barrier, his escorts outside it had their heads severed one after another in an instant.
Their bodies falling like autumn leaves made Jeras doubt his own eyes.
And the chill of realizing that if his barrier had been even a moment slower, he'd have joined them ran down his spine.
Unable to just sit there, Jeras unleashed his magic.
"Lamina Unda!!"
⟨ Lamina Unda ⟩
Blades of water formed at Jeras's incantation, shredding the surroundings.
Blood sprayed into the air from his magic's hits, revealing the assailants who had ambushed him.
Five assassins in black masks stood there.
They wore the exact same outfits as the assassins who had infiltrated Cron.
Furious at them for butchering his precious escorts so swiftly, Jeras demanded,
The apparent leader in the center replied as if granting mercy.
After that, the fight was one-sided.
The moment assassins close the distance, a mage weakens dramatically.
Of course, Jeras wasn't fool enough to be unaware of that, which was why he traveled with escorts—but these foes had sliced through them like butter.
Dodging Jeras's spells while spreading out and striking at openings, they reduced him to rags in under a minute.
Then Jeras felt the assassins' final blow aimed at his vulnerability slicing toward his neck.
Was this how he died?
Dying like this would get him an earful from Ein...
As his life flashed before his eyes...
A savior appeared.
Chaeng-!
A knight suddenly appeared, blocking the fatal strike with his shield.
"You... you're...?"
As expected of Cron's Silver Dragon!
He was worthy of receiving the same gift from Her Highness as I had!!
In that moment, Jeras sincerely thanked Calix from the bottom of his heart.