Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Backstab (3)
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“Tomorrow at dawn.”
“Confirmed.”
A clandestine conversation passed between the guards. Not all of them, just a select few.
“Hoo…”
The news had been discreetly spread to a significant number of people. The day of the uprising was tomorrow, at dawn.
His stomach felt empty, perhaps from the tension, and he habitually brought a cigarette to his lips.
He exhaled the smoke toward the sky, which was nothing but clear.
Whether tomorrow’s sky would be the same as today’s was anyone’s guess.
“Stop smoking so much! Anyone would think there’s a fire!”
“Finish up and come to the mess hall. Let’s grab a beer!”
Passing comrades chuckled and joked as they saw him smoking in a corner.
Comrades who were like family. No, perhaps he had spent more time with them, closer than with his own family.
His heart was not at ease. After all, by dawn tomorrow, he would have to kill those very comrades with his own hands.
“Ah, you guys go on ahead. I’m going to see the Captain first.”
The man stubbed out his cigarette with his foot and headed for the Captain’s office.
*Knock, knock—*
“Come in.”
Upon entering the Captain’s office, the increasingly irritable-looking Iscario’s eyes lit up as he saw the man.
“Have you told them all?”
“Yes. The message has been spread to everyone.”
Iscario, also tense, habitually clenched and unclenched his fist to ease his nerves.
“Tell them to be thoroughly prepared. This won’t be easy. Steel yourselves.”
“Is this… is this really the right thing to do, Captain?”
At the man’s question, Iscario’s irritable expression twisted, and he grabbed the man by the collar.
“What, you want to back out now?”
His voice turned chilling. It was heavily implied that if he backed out now, he wouldn’t be left alive.
In fact, they had already silenced those who tried to back out with death.
If word got out to the wrong person, the entire uprising would be ruined.
“But they’re family. We’ve been together for over a decade.”
“Family, family, family! Right, that damn family!”
Iscario repeated the word ‘family’ a few times before shouting in frustration.
“They cast aside the family they’ve been with for over a decade to make some outsider who just waltzed in the Commander? Is that how you show respect to family?!”
Iscario slammed his fist on the desk, spewing his rage. It all started with that bastard, Kratos.
He was an eyesore. He had smoothly worked his way into the mercenary corps, gradually gained their trust, and eventually rose to the rank of Commander. All in less than a year.
“The reason I’m doing this is all because of that damn Kratos! That bastard! That disciple of Prometheus!”
No matter how much the mercenary corps prioritized skill, what about the time and effort the other members had put in?
Was it because they were less skilled than Kratos? Because their mission completion rate was lower? Because they lacked ability?
Yes, that bastard’s very presence here was a mistake.
“What’s so great about this Prometheus? What makes that damn Prometheus so special!”
What was so special about that damned Resistance? He couldn’t understand why they would go against the tide and stand against the Empire.
Iscario justified his actions this way. It was all because of Prometheus and Kratos; he had been cornered and left with no other choice.
His once-neat hair was disheveled, and the documents on his desk fluttered to the floor, scattered by his explosive anger.
Then, a communication device rang from a drawer. Iscario roughly swept his hair back and answered the call.
“……”
- Three teams will be dispatched for support tomorrow at dawn.
A monotone voice flowed from the communicator.
“Three in the morning.”
- I will send the signal after two-thirty.
“We will open the gates from the inside.”
- Do not disappoint me. He is watching as well. Failure means death. However, if you succeed, that region will be entrusted to you.
“That won’t happen.”
The communication ended, and a long silence filled the room. There was no turning back now. No do-overs. There was no way but forward.
Back out now? The three support teams would surely become grim reapers coming for his head.
“Check on the men again. Tell them not to talk nonsense or have any second thoughts. And tell them this: support is coming from the Empire. If anyone wants to back out, they should say so now.”
“……”
“So I can kill them first.”
Iscario informed his subordinate, who stood there with a dazed expression, and then waved his hand dismissively.
*Creeak—*
“There’s no turning back. The only way is for me to become the leader of the White Mercenary Corps and set everything right.”
As the man left, Iscario’s chilling mutter followed him out.
.
.
.
.
.
“Hwaaaah— It’s been quiet lately, no monster attacks.”
In the dead of night, the mercenaries on watch yawned as they stared blankly into the pitch-black perimeter.
“Yeah, it’s quiet. Heard they’re busy clearing out monsters inland.”
“By the way, I heard things are a mess over in Rzhev. The monster wave there was supposed to be insane.”
“Well, they’ve got Captain Luther and Kratos over there.”
There was still over an hour until their shift change.
“You slackers. Are you even keeping a proper watch?”
A fellow mercenary, not on the rotation, suddenly approached in the dead of night. The guard tilted his head in confusion but welcomed his comrade.
“Got a smoke? Ugh. Can’t even smoke on guard duty, it’s killing me. What are you doing up at this hour anyway?”
“A smoke? Yeah, I’ve got one. Ah, I just couldn’t sleep.”
There was no sense of caution. Why would he be wary of a comrade, a family member?
As he took out a cigarette and moved closer to light it for him.
*Thwip—*
Instead of a flame, a dagger plunged into the guard’s neck.
“Gurgle— Why…”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
He stepped over his comrade, who was coughing up blood and reaching for him with eyes full of resentment, and threw the headquarters’ gates wide open.
Then, he took a nearby torch and drew a large circle in the air—a signal for the approaching Imperial forces.
*CLANG— CLANG—*
But suddenly, the sound of a bell echoed from the center of the headquarters, alerting the entire mercenary corps.
“What’s going on—!”
The incessant, urgent ringing of the bell woke every mercenary, and at the same time, flames erupted from all corners.
“Look at these incompetent fools, can’t even handle a simple job like this.”
The soldiers from the Central Intelligence Bureau, who had already reached the entrance, clicked their tongues as they witnessed the chaos at the mercenary headquarters.
The fact that a surprise attack, meant to be carried out in secret at this hour, had been discovered showed just how sloppily they had prepared.
“Wipe them all out! Spare the ones with black bands on their arms!”
The men from the Empire began to tear through the headquarters, their demonic energy flaring. They killed every comrade in sight, again and again.
“I… What have I done?”
The mercenary who had opened the gates lowered his head in belated regret, but time could not be turned back.
***
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
Iscario cursed as he saw Ren, standing before the now-silent bell, spitting blood with a smirk on his face.
His one remaining hand still clung firmly to the bell rope.
“Trai…tor…”
It was a shitty situation. Iscario had planned to create chaos from the center of the headquarters to coincide with the attack.
If he could assassinate the captains in the process, even better.
But why wasn't that bastard asleep at this hour? How did he sense the attack from the commotion, and how in the world did he know that he was the one leading it?
“Fuck. Just my damn luck.”
Flames shot up from all over the headquarters. The screams of people filled the air in a dizzying chorus.
He touched the black cloth tied around his left arm, just in case, and headed toward the main entrance.
“Grab your weapons! Get a grip!”
“What the…! What is happening!”
At the entrance, the mercenaries who had come to their senses were in a state of panic. It was understandable. They had woken up to what they thought was an attack, only to find that their attackers were their own comrades.
“Isca—!”
He cleanly sliced the throat of the Captain of the 2nd company, who was rushing toward him.
“Iscariooo—! You bastard—!”
Glen Pendley, who had witnessed the scene from behind, screamed and charged at Iscario.
“I’ll kill you. Kill you! I’ll kill you!”
Glen Pendley’s sword lunged wildly.
“Heh. This is all your fault. You created this situation.”
“Bullshit!”
Glen Pendley swung his sword fiercely, but he couldn’t ignore the chaotic situation unfolding outside.
The fire had spread throughout the headquarters, and with friend and foe indistinguishable, the members were dying in vain.
“Retreat! Everyone, retreat! Fall back! Anyone with a black band on their arm is considered an enemy!”
Then, from a high point in the headquarters, the voice of Peri Batoni, trying to manage the situation, rang out.
“All surviving members, to the north gate! Gather at the north gate! We’ll form a defensive line there!”
Iscario looked up toward the source of the voice and met the eyes of Peri Batoni, who was staring straight at him.
“Vice-Captain! Peri Batoni must be killed at all costs!”
He shouted urgently to the support troops from the Empire. If Peri Batoni lived, all of this would be for nothing.
He would be the one to take command in place of the Commander, who had lost contact in the southern mountains. He would be the rallying point for the mercenaries.
“Can’t even handle one thing on your own. What kind of work can you do with these pathetic bastards?”
The men unleashed their demonic energy and leaped upward.
Yes, they would be able to kill the Vice-Captain.
“Damn it! Everyone listen to the Vice-Captain! We’re escaping through the north gate! Senior mercenaries, remember your duties in an emergency!”
Glen Pendley, jolted to his senses by Peri Batoni’s words, parried an incoming sword and did what he had to do in the current situation.
“Burn all the confidential documents!”
“Stop them! You bastards, stop them!”
He couldn’t just take over an empty shell. There were two important things Iscario needed to secure from within the mercenary corps.
The first was confidential information, especially documents related to the Resistance. That was the greatest contribution he could offer the Empire.
The second was people to form his foundation. If everyone died and he was left alone, what kind of mercenary corps would that be?
For the future, more of the mercenaries on his side needed to survive.
“Kill them all!”
Iscario shouted fiercely as he watched the backs of those who were once his comrades scatter in all directions.
Looking back now was a luxury he couldn't afford. It was time to only look forward.
***
“Iscario…! Iscario! You goddamn bastard!”
Glen Pendley stared at the blazing mercenary headquarters and roared Iscario’s name in fury.
It had all happened in an instant. Iscario had staged a rebellion with his own unit and the members he had secretly recruited and unified.
It was unbelievable that the number of members who joined the rebellion was well over two companies.
He had thought of them as comrades and family, through thick and thin.
Because he thought of them as family, he never imagined the enemy could be within.
Iscario’s rebellion, for which he had not noticed any signs and for which he knew no reason.
The sudden internal rebellion in the dead of night had consumed everything the mercenary corps had. They had even brought in outsiders. He was certain he had seen many unfamiliar faces during the fight.
“Why… No, since when…”
Hundreds of members were dead or injured. Their base was in flames, and everything they had built had crumbled.
Peri Batoni had been severely wounded by an outsider during the battle and was unconscious. There was still no contact from the Commander.
Batoni’s last word was just ‘north.’
“We need to get out of here as fast as possible. For now, to the north. We head north.”
Leading the surviving members, Glen Pendley shed tears of blood as he led his men away.
“It’s the Empire.”
One of the members, covered in blood, muttered grimly.
“Iscario sold us out to the Empire!”
Glen Pendley gritted his teeth and thought about what to do next.
He desperately wanted to charge back in there and take Iscario’s head, but that would be throwing away the lives of the few remaining survivors.
“Did you leave an emergency message for the Commander?”
“Yes. We also burned all the confidential documents. They won’t be able to salvage anything from the base.”
“Good work.”
The documents related to the Resistance, in particular, were burned first. Nothing good would come from them falling into enemy hands.
“We’re heading north. To Rzhev.”
The north that Peri Batoni had mentioned. The only place associated with that direction was Rzhev.