Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Abduction
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On a dark night, where even the moon had hidden behind the clouds, leaving not a speck of light to be found.
A single carriage sped down the road. Dozens of guards surrounded it, matching its pace, but their movements were clearly tense.
It wasn't just that they were racing through the dead of night; they were also constantly scanning every direction—front, back, left, and right—as they rode.
“How much farther to our destination?”
“About an hour.”
Even at this speed, it was still an hour away.
“Increase the pace.”
They had to reach their destination as quickly as possible. He didn't know how *they* had discovered their movements, but while all of them could die, the person inside that carriage had to survive.
“Damn those Northern Alliance bastards. To think they’d deploy wide-range communications jamming.”
That was something they hadn't anticipated at all. Wide-range jamming was classified as a state secret.
“The carriage must reach its destination. No matter what.”
No one misunderstood the meaning behind those words. It meant they had to get it there, even if it cost them their own lives.
“Understood.”
A steely resolve was visible on the soldiers’ faces.
“Enemies spotted to the rear.”
“Confirmed.”
A quick glance back revealed dozens of figures on horseback chasing after them.
“Dammit.”
The situation was decidedly not good. Most of their available forces were deployed elsewhere.
They were trying to capture Van Helsing, the Empire’s number one enemy and highest-priority target. And that location was a significant distance from here.
It was difficult to expect any immediate, significant support.
A part of him was annoyed with the person in the carriage for venturing out at a time like this, but that was a complaint he could never voice.
Who would dare express dissatisfaction with the Empire’s Minister of Finance?
Perhaps someone of similar or higher rank, but not them.
They just had to make it to their destination. There were defensive forces there.
No, they just had to get close.
Besides, he had already sent a swift subordinate ahead. If they were lucky, reinforcements might arrive from the city.
“Squad two, hold them off.”
There was no inflection in the voice that gave the command. And the subordinates who received the order turned their horses as if it were the most natural thing in the world, launching an indiscriminate attack on the pursuing enemies.
The enemy, as if they had been waiting, split into two groups. One group drew their swords against Squad Two, who blocked their path, while the rest quickly pursued the carriage.
“Ahead—!”
A subordinate riding beside him shouted, but he had already felt it. An aura more powerful than any he had encountered before.
It was an opposing energy that could never coexist with them: holy power.
“Halt.”
The fact that they had formed such an encirclement meant they had been dancing in the palm of the enemy’s hand all along.
The Northern Alliance must have set up the encirclement to lure them in this direction from the start.
*Whoosh—*
A fierce wind raged, and a colossal wave of holy power began to pour down from the heavens.
“Prepare for battle—!”
The enemy was thoroughly prepared.
“Van Helsing.”
Did that mean Van Helsing was one of the Northern Alliance’s cronies?
“Assume defensive formation!”
They had been completely had. He’d never imagined Van Helsing would be in league with the Northern Alliance.
No, it wasn't that there hadn't been talk of it. He had simply trusted the intelligence sources that said Van Helsing, while similar in action, was on his own path.
But if they were allies, it all made sense. Van Helsing appearing far from here. The Imperial forces flocking to that location. And the trap.
“We’ve been had.”
The carriage stopped, and the soldiers formed a circle around it.
“Do you have any idea who is in this carriage that you dare block our path!”
They all already knew each other's objectives, but it started with a bluff.
However, the enemy didn't even bother to reply, instead amplifying their holy power.
His skin tingled, and it felt as though the slightest wrong move would get him sliced to ribbons.
“Judging by that reaction, it seems we found the right person.”
Their appearances were varied.
Mercenaries, knights, mages, and even priests.
An explosive burst of demonic energy erupted from the carriage, and at the same time, the priests unleashed a torrent of holy power that seemed to blanket the world.
As if to declare they would not be pushed back.
“Does the Northern Alliance wish for war!” he shouted hoarsely, crouching low against the holy power. They couldn't be ignorant of what it meant to abduct Fritz Schäfer now.
Yet, to carry out such an abduction meant they must have already finished their preparations for war.
The intensity of the holy power grew stronger, and Fritz Schäfer, unable to bear it, unleashed his demonic energy and screamed from within the carriage.
“Aaargh—! Stop it—! Stop this at once—! Turn it off!”
“Stronger!”
As the man began to reveal his true form, the priests poured even more holy power into their assault.
“So this is the one Kratos mentioned.”
Mike Hoare stepped forward from the back and pointed his sword.
“The demonic energy of Avarice.”
“Just as I heard, a wretched-looking bastard.”
Fritz Schäfer spewed demonic energy, attempting to transform into a demon, but Mike Hoare, as if refusing to allow it, swiftly severed his arms and legs.
“A mouth is all you need to extract information.”
***
“Ptui—”
My mouth was filled with the taste of blood. The thick dust and dirt refused to settle, instead drifting and spreading farther.
“What a mess. A real mess. Hey—how could you do this to a city? It was you guys, not me, okay? Don’t try to pin it on me.”
I rested one foot on a pile of stones that had once been a house, catching my breath, but I didn't lower my hammer.
There were still more soldiers pointing their swords at me than there were corpses littered around.
“Wow, look at you, glaring like you want to kill me. That won’t work, you know.”
If looks could kill, I would have charged straight into the capital and glared the Emperor to death.
The one who appeared to be the commander among them listened to something and his face contorted into a deep scowl.
“You. Are you in league with the Northern Alliance?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why bring up the Northern Alliance all of a sudden?”
I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from creeping up into a slight smile. The fact that he brought it up meant the mission was a success. Otherwise, those words would never have left his lips.
There was no turning back now anyway. I’d come too far to waver.
That was why I had offered the Mercenary Nation card to Mike Hoare and handed over various documents to Hattie Shaw.
In my past life, I would have been the strategist, controlling everything from behind the scenes, but not in this life.
In this life, I intended to lead this war not as a strategist, but as a general on the front lines.
Of course, I had no intention of being swayed by the opinions of those above me, which was why I had secured a position and influence of my own. After all, there was nothing more disastrous than some clueless idiot trying to enforce orders from the top during a war.
“Let’s see. The abduction seems to have been a success.”
Spiritual Power surged, causing the stones to tremble. As the power grew, so did the scope of its movement.
Of course, that's just how it would look to them.
In reality, I was controlling my Spiritual Power with extreme detail. Strand by strand, I enveloped everything around me.
Once the battle began, all of it would become bullets aimed at the enemy.
It was a hair-trigger situation. Like a showdown in a Western.
The dust settled.
*Plink—*
The moment a raindrop fell from the sky, like a gunslinger in the Old West drawing and firing wildly, we all unleashed our attacks in every direction.
Arrows, magic, and sword strikes that paid no heed to allies.
All of it poured down upon a single person.
The war had begun.
***
The abduction of Fritz Schäfer. It was an unspoken declaration of war.
And it was a declaration sent by the smaller Northern Alliance to the Empire that occupied most of the continent.
Simultaneously with Fritz Schäfer's abduction, the Northern Alliance concentrated all its forces in Rzhev.
The mercenaries, who were now soldiers of the Mercenary Nation; the paladins and priests of the Holy Kingdom; and the soldiers and knights of Rzhev.
However, the Empire showed no particular movement. Of course, publicly, they issued statements calling the Northern Alliance inhumane and making all sorts of irritable pronouncements.
No, to be precise, they *couldn't* make a move.
“Dammit! What the hell is this!”
Ludwig Brandt’s hand slammed down, and the desk, one of the few things in his office that had remained intact, split in half and crashed to the floor.
“Report again.”
“The capture of Van Helsing has failed.”
“They’re all idiots. Nothing but a bunch of morons. They fail to capture Van Helsing, get our forces wiped out, and that bastard Fritz Schäfer gets himself kidnapped by the Northern Alliance while screwing around at a time like this.”
It was obvious that his rivals would seize this opportunity to start giving him shit.
“Van Helsing’s location?”
“He has escaped the encirclement and is on the move, but his exact location has not been identified.”
He collapsed into his chair. Now they couldn't even track the bastard who got away.
What was with these imbeciles? Had the military always been this incompetent?
Once the military was in his hands, he had returned the intelligence agency, which had been like his own limb, to its original duties: intelligence gathering, espionage, and assassination.
It was the natural thing to do. Each organization should do what it does best to be effective. The military was, by its very nature, a force of arms.
But putting that aside, the intelligence agency had also failed to do its job. They were too late in realizing that Van Helsing was with the Northern Alliance.
By the time they figured it out, everything had already blown up.
Who the hell was he supposed to trust with anything? Should he send an intelligence agent to command the military?
“The intelligence agency is in pursuit, but the problem is his disguises. We can't get a positive identification on his appearance.”
“Find him, no matter what it takes. He’s the key. You must find him.”
“We have a general direction, at least. We will pursue him to the end.”
That man was the crucial key to reaching the final stage. That was why he absolutely had to be captured.
Eight ruins had already been plundered. They hadn't even been able to determine what he had obtained from them.
How on earth did he get inside?
Inside the ruins of the Venatio species, which had long since been wiped out.
“Unless the bastard is one of the Venatio…”
Ludwig cursed his own stupidity. Although it had only been a few years since he learned the true nature of the ruins, the idea that the species was extinct was so firmly ingrained in his mind that it had created a blind spot.
“What if they weren't wiped out? What if one of them survived?”
Then, everything made sense. His immense strength, his regenerative abilities, his strange powers.
“Of course. That bastard Prometheus. He left a survivor in one of the Empire’s most important wars?”
It was painfully obvious. During that war, the Chancellor must have spared an enemy survivor. Whether his conscience got the better of him at the thought of complete annihilation or his sense of humanity kicked in, who knew.
“Yes, he’s the key.”
He wasn't just talking about opening the ruins. The man himself was literally the key.
All they had to do was capture and dissect him.
A reason had emerged to gather the personnel who were scattered here and there for the great cause into one place.
“Issue a full mobilization order.”
“To what extent, sir?”
“Everyone. Even those who are scattered.”
“We will crush the Northern Alliance, and we will capture him. Van Helsing.”
And while he was at it, he would sweep away those thorns in his side, too.
Enough failures. Any more would surely spell disaster for him as well.