Chapter 313 New Hierarchy -13
Chapter 313 New Hierarchy -13
"W-Wait! What is this?!"
"Stop them!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
The elves panicked, shouting in chaos.
The army they had believed was their ally—Jiha's forces—had torn through the outer edge of their formation and driven straight in.
An act beyond all common sense, and their own commander was leading it.
They couldn't grasp the situation, and this was no bloodless show of force either.
Shik! Shiiik!!
Before Jiha as he advanced on horseback, any elf who hesitated lost their head without exception.
Daham might have been beaten by Jiha, but he was still a warrior strong enough to represent his own clan.
The elves attempting to block the path were nothing but Normal Grade rabble. Cutting them down was no different from mowing weeds.
Blood caked with every stride, but Jiha didn't so much as blink.
"Urrgh..."
"Everyone fall back! Don't block the way—get clear!!"
Only after losing more than thirty did the panicked elves begin to understand the situation.
If this had been a massacre or an ambush, they would have drawn weapons and fought back with everything they had. But only Daham was wielding his Hand Blade.
The elven soldiers looked to their officers for orders, and the officers sought direction from higher up.
While that was happening, Jiha and his army advanced in silence, reaching the very center of the elven force.
The elves, too flustered to grasp what was happening, had simply let the penetration happen.
"......"
Arriving at the command post, Jiha surveyed the area from atop his horse. The elven army's formation had been completely wrecked by his advance.
The numbers were the same, but the momentum was not.
The dark elves, having tasted elven blood, were surging with morale, while the elves had fallen into chaos and didn't know what to do.
"What... what is the meaning of this?"
"Why are you doing this to us?! Chief!!"
The majority of this elven force consisted of elves from Waris who followed Jiha.
They had seen and heard how he had crushed Quority's tyranny. They dared not even think of raising a blade against him.
No—the moment they drew swords, it would be annihilation.
Jiha's thrust had scattered the elven formation entirely. Meanwhile, those following Jiha had entered in perfect order, formation tight.
A knife at the throat of a careless enemy: the instant Jiha's forces drew their swords, the elves would be butchered without any real chance to respond.
The soldiers, the frontline officers, all realized this and stayed frozen. Trying to reform their ranks would take longer than Jiha simply giving the order.
"You said you would refuse to obey?"
Jiha's voice carried through the dust-laden air. Four thousand men held their breath and listened.
"I came to hear the reason."
This was no jest.
Reading his intent, the elves' faces turned ashen.
Jiha was fully prepared to slaughter them all.
"Ch-Chief!"
"Please, calm yourself!"
The elven officers rushed forward and hastily bowed their heads.
The ones who had been preparing to receive Jiha were going into shock now that their Chief had arrived at the head of an army, trailing blood.
Jiha found Guason's face among them and spoke coolly.
"I'm perfectly calm. It's you lot who can't get your heads straight."
"Chief!"
"If you hear our explanation, you'll understand! We would never dare defy you!"
Jiha had now pinned the elven force flat and neutralized them.
The strength of an army comes from collective action. No matter how many men you have, a broken formation cuts its power in half.
"Did you not know that a return march without my permission is no different from rebellion?"
"......"
There was nothing to argue.
A return march without authorization from the command post, from Jiha, could be punished as rebellion.
"N-No, that's not..."
"We weren't—"
They had never imagined Jiha would respond like this. No—even if he got angry, they never dreamed he would charge in ready to massacre everyone from the start.
Even so, this was a force of two thousand. It was self-destructive, and besides, it would mean losing elven support in the future.
But Jiha's pronouncement was absolute:
I have no use for anyone who disobeys, not even two hundred thousand!
Grasping his resolve, the elves were horrified.
Jiha truly meant to bury every last one of these two thousand elves in this wasteland.
Right now, Jiha's army—the dark elves—hadn't drawn their weapons, but once it began, they would.
Then the elves with their shattered formation would be slaughtered.
Desperate, the elves' eyes darted around. Their darting eyes finally settled on a single woman.
Leticia.
"Y-Yormun!"
"You have to step forward and soothe the Chief somehow!"
"Aren't you in a male-female relationship with him?! Hurry!"
It wasn't just the elven officers. Even the soldiers stared at Leticia with pleading eyes.
Their last hope, now, was the woman they had ignored all this time—that she, as a woman, might somehow cool Jiha's anger.
"......"
Troubled as she was, Leticia stepped forward. She knew all too well that Jiha was not a man to let personal feelings override something like this.
But she couldn't tell where his intentions lay.
Under the expectant gaze of her kin, Leticia forced herself to approach Jiha.
Mounted on his horse, Jiha gazed down at her calmly.
"...Chief."
After a flicker of hesitation, Leticia addressed him by his title.
The dark elves were watching.
The elves were aghast. They had sent Leticia out to resolve this as a woman, so why was she acting so oddly?
But after thinking it through, Leticia saw no other way.
She would do as Jiha had told her: stand tall—even if it meant dying right in front of her sworn enemies, the dark elves.
As an elf, as the Unique representing elves, that was her pride.
"I apologize for causing this disturbance. I will accept any punishment."
Leticia knelt on the spot and bowed her head.
She had, quite literally, bared her neck.
"Wh-What..."
"What are you doing?! Yormun!!"
"Quiet."
Leticia answered sharply.
The elves' faces twisted, now with a different kind of shock.
Leticia was a Unique, yes, but she was also a woman. In elven society, a woman couldn't speak recklessly to a man.
"Yormun! What did you just say?!"
"Has this woman lost her mind..."
"From where I stand, it looks like you're the ones who've lost yours."
At Jiha's words, the elves who had been glaring furiously clamped their mouths shut.
They had a blade at their throats.
Once the noise had died down, Jiha spoke again.
"Leticia. What was that?"
"For disobeying orders and acting recklessly—on behalf of my kin who have disappointed you, I apologize. Truly, I am sorry."
Leticia's voice was calm.
Now that she was prepared to die, the words came freely.
Standing tall—that was the conclusion she had reached after dwelling on the words Jiha had left her with the night before.
"I will accept whatever punishment the Chief decides."
"Your Unique says that."
Jiha swept his gaze across the rest of the elves.
"What about the rest of you?"
"...W-We will accept it!"
"We will accept the Chief's judgment!"
If they fought now, it would be annihilation. The only truly reliable combat asset, Leticia, had unconditionally surrendered.
The elves had no choice.
"With words alone?"
"......"
In a scramble, the elves discarded their weapons and knelt on the ground.
Fully disarmed, they could only await Jiha's judgment.
The dark elves watched with astonishment at the skill with which he had subdued two thousand elves without spilling a drop of friendly blood.
Having been enemies for so long, the dark elves knew precisely how proud and difficult to handle elves were.
And yet this human Chief had, with absurd ease, seized the leash around their necks.
From the dark elf leadership down to the lowest ranks, a realization sank in: Jiha was not a man to be crossed.
Fear and admiration for his skill flowed together.
A commander who was terrifying, but one you wanted to follow.
"They're all asking to be killed. How should I handle this?"
"......"
When Jiha asked the empty air, his subordinates only exchanged glances. Everyone found him equally difficult.
After the silence, a fair-faced young person spoke up.
"Pardon my presumption, Chief, but although these men have committed a grave crime, I think it would be best to give them one more chance."
"Oh?"
It was not a man, but a woman—Bran.
Now serving as a unit commander, she had joined this campaign alongside Jiha.
"Yes. Elves are a race that understands honor, so wouldn't it be good to grant them a chance to wash away their sins on the battlefield?"
"......"
She had spent time as Narsha's escort and picked up a few things. She knew exactly what to say.
Jiha didn't actually want to turn all two thousand elves into crow food either.
That would be an excessively cruel measure, one that would unsettle their other allies.
"That's what she says. Do you lot have any intention of washing away your sins on the front lines?"
"Yes!"
"Please, just give us one chance, Chief!"
The elves shouted as one.
They had never imagined things would escalate like this. Everyone was desperate.
"Even so, disobeying military orders can't just be overlooked without any punishment. How is something like this normally handled?"
"The commanding officer is... executed."
Bran hesitated before answering.
The overall commander of the two thousand elves was, on paper, Leticia.
"I see."
"......"
Leticia bit her lip hard.
The other elves were stunned into silence.
They had ignored Leticia all this time, but her death was an entirely different matter.
What had allowed the elves to hold their heads high in Purple, and what would allow them to maintain their standing in the Red Union going forward, was the fact that they had a Unique.
Everyone knew that the treatment of an entire race changed depending on whether or not they possessed one.
"Ready the execution."
"Ch-Chief."
The dark elves' faces turned ashen right along with the elves'.
They considered the elves enemies, yes, but they had never imagined executing a Unique.
More than that—weren't they all eating from the same pot now?
"Ch-Chief. Isn't this going too far?"
Daham, unable to stand by any longer, stepped in to dissuade him.
His body filthy with elven blood, he addressed Jiha.
"An elven Unique will be a tremendous asset in the coming battles. Executing her over this seems like a terrible waste. Please, I beg you, show leniency just this once."
"...I share that opinion. The rules may say execution, but seeing that she and her army did not resist, it seems clear this was a matter of foolishness and stupidity, not treachery. I hope the Chief will take that into consideration."
Bran also stepped in to support the plea.
When Jiha didn't immediately give his verdict, a man among the elves jumped to his feet.
"I-It was my fault. I will take responsibility and die."
It was Guason, one of Jiha's hands among the elves.
He had assisted Leticia and handled the practical side of this military action. He knew Jiha might actually go through with it.
"As second-in-command, I failed to stop what I should have prevented. What's more, the blame for causing this disaster lies heavily with me. Chief, please execute me instead."
Even Guason must have valued his own life, but losing a Unique meant the downfall of the entire race.
The other elves, watching helplessly, floundered—and then one more rose.
"No. It's my fault for acting far too rashly. I was the first to voice the opinion of returning. Please punish me."
"No! It was me! I was the one running my mouth and caused all this!"
Caught in the psychology of the crowd, burning with the need to protect Leticia at all costs, the elves scrambled over each other to stand up.
Jiha raised a hand, and hundreds of elves instantly fell silent.
He delivered his sentence.
"So many of you are dying to be punished. I'd better give it out generously. But killing you all wouldn't be fair, so we'll split Leticia's punishment among the whole lot of you. Do you agree?"
"O-Of course!"
"Thank you, Chief!!"
"We'll take whatever punishment it is!"
The elves felt relief and cheered.
They had saved Leticia, so all was well. How bad could a punishment really be?
Jiha smiled.
"All of you, bow your heads."
The same thing the dark elves had endured.
Now it was the elves' turn.