Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Demonic Realm (1)
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The moment I heard the news that the White Mercenary Corps had fallen, I felt my blood run cold.
“To what extent?”
“Completely. They said all the survivors have evacuated to Rzhev for now... What do we do?”
I took the communication device from a trembling Seamus. Reinhardt’s expression was incredibly tense.
The White Mercenary Corps was their home, their family. Of course, they would be worried.
After a short series of beeps, the communication device connected. A low, hoarse voice came through.
“This is Kratos. What happened?”
- Iscario. That bastard joined hands with the Empire.
I had a bad feeling about him from the start. In the end, he caused trouble. Damned big trouble at that.
“Glen. Is that you, Glen?”
- Yes.
“Damn it.”
The fact that Glen Pendley was answering instead of Peri Batoni meant that Peri wasn't in any condition to take the call.
That meant the situation was truly dire.
“The Captain. No, is the Vice-Commander alright?”
- The Captain is out of contact in the southern Shadow Mountains. The Vice-Commander is unconscious after fighting the Empire's men. For some reason, before he passed out, he told us to find you. Said you were our only hope in this situation.
“The only hope? Me?”
Our only hope. What could that mean? I hadn't been in separate contact with the Vice-Commander, so I had no idea what he meant by that.
Why would he say that? When the Captain was away, the Vice-Commander led, and when the Vice-Commander was away, Glen had always led the mercenaries well.
- Yes. You said you were in the Demonic Realm, right? I need you to return to Rzhev immediately. The corps collapsing is no small matter. We need to handle this right away.
“...”
It was a moment of decision. Return to Rzhev now, or continue to reclaim the Demonic Realm.
But my mind remained unchanged.
“...Even if I return to Rzhev now, I don't think there's anything I can do immediately.”
- What? Did you just say you can't come back? You-!
Glen Pendley's sharp voice cut through the communication device. I could fully understand how he felt. No, Seamus and Reinhardt felt the same way.
The White Mercenary Corps was their home and family. Who wouldn't react this way if that family had been torn apart by betrayal from within?
- The White Mercenary Corps has fallen and is in complete shambles! In this situation, the Vice-Commander called you our only hope! He said we had to find you! Are you saying the work in the Demonic Realm is more important, that you're pushing the corps' matters aside?
Iscario joined hands with the Empire and devastated the mercenary corps. That was the important part. *Joined hands with the Empire.*
“There won't be another chance for the Demonic Realm if not now. And think about it differently. There's nothing I can do immediately even if I go there, but dealing with the Demonic Realm is vengeance for the corps.”
- How is that vengeance for the corps! The corps has been decimated!
Iscario just needed a pretext, and the Empire must have provided it. That's how they always operate, isn't it?
They sidle up, pretending to scratch an itch, and gently coax you. All so they can get what they want.
“Do you think Iscario approached the Empire first? With the intention of selling out the corps from the beginning?”
In this case, what they wanted was to strike a blow against the White Mercenary Corps. And in the end, we did take a huge hit. After all, the White Mercenary Corps' base was completely ransacked, and many mercenaries were killed or injured.
“The Empire must have approached him first, tempted him, and created this mess.”
- ...That's possible. As much of a traitor as Iscario is, he probably wouldn't have contacted the Empire first to offer his betrayal.
“And today, I captured Ivan Pons. No, I killed him.”
- The Empire's Commander-in-Chief, that Ivan Pons?
Only after hearing that Ivan Pons had been killed did Glen Pendley swallow his anger, take a deep breath, and fall silent to listen.
The fall of the mercenary corps was certainly a major event, but so was taking down the Commander-in-Chief of the Empire's military.
Moreover, he was one of the Empire's powerhouses, reputed to have reached the level of an intermediate Sword Master.
“In that situation, the White Mercenary Corps was suddenly stabbed in the back. This was deliberate.”
We've traded blows, that bastard Ludwig Brandt and I. But am I supposed to be satisfied with this and go back?
For all I know, Ludwig might have been the one who pushed that bastard Ivan Pons into a deadly situation.
If so, I can't let this end as a simple exchange. I have to land a punch on his jaw. No matter how urgent the situation is, there won't be another chance for the Demonic Realm if not now.
“Perhaps that bastard Ivan Pons was just a sacrifice. A diversion to draw our attention. The current triangular alliance against the Empire consists of the Holy Kingdom, the mercenary corps, and Rzhev. He's shattered one of its pillars. That bastard.”
- What are you planning to do?
“I'm going to smash the Demonic Realm. It's one of the Empire's most important strongholds.”
I hadn't thought about what to do after completely purifying the Demonic Realm. I figured the act of purification itself would be enough to tear off one of the Empire's arms.
But now, a use for it came to mind.
“After clearing out all of the Empire's bases in the Demonic Realm, I will make it the new base for the White Mercenary Corps.”
- What?! The Demonic Realm?
The suggestion was so out of left field that Glen Pendley suddenly coughed as if he'd choked on something.
Their base was in the Ashar region. Of course, that bastard Iscario had betrayed them. But the Demonic Realm, all of a sudden?
“My reason for purifying the Demonic Realm was to tear off one of the Empire's arms anyway. Besides, it's difficult to purify it completely all at once. The monsters will still be there. It will take time to cleanse it.”
Besides, there's no one else who can purify the demonic energy in this realm. I will reclaim it, purify it, make it a land fit for people to live in, and then I will claim ownership of this Demonic Realm.
To whom? To that Pope bastard and the Lord of Rzhev. Judging by their characters, they aren't the types to object. If anything, their underlings would be the ones to oppose it.
A purified Demonic Realm. What a tempting prize.
Besides, after the monster wave, and Niceta's incident... after throwing all this hard work at me, they won't even give me this much of a reward?
If that happens, well, I'll just have to go my own way. If I do, those two factions will be the ones to regret it, not me.
“Because for the complete purification of this Demonic Realm, I am indispensable.”
- Do you... do you think that's possible?
Mercenaries may be wanderers who take on missions here and there, but there is a significant difference between having a base and not having one.
And this isn't just a mercenary band. It's a corps. A large corps, not a small band. There's no mercenary corps without a base.
Having a base means you can continuously carry out missions in that area, meaning you'll never starve for lack of work.
That's also why a corps is larger and attracts more people than a band.
If only that were possible.
If only it were possible.
Many of the problems that had been causing so much worry would disappear at once.
And making it possible is my job.
“For now, regroup in Rzhev. With both the Captain and Vice-Commander out of commission, you, Glen, are the only one the members can rely on. I will crush the Demonic Realm as quickly as possible and then head to Rzhev.”
I have to take hold of both the White Mercenary Corps and the Demonic Realm. This is not a situation where I can let go of either.
“And...”
I know. The strength of the White Mercenary Corps doesn't lie solely within the corps itself.
How could I not know? I created this corps, served as its captain, and established many of its traditions.
“There is something I need you to do, Glen.”
Just because they've collapsed like this doesn't mean the entire corps will crumble like a sandcastle.
Glen also seems to be in a state of panic, unable to think clearly.
The White Mercenary Corps still has its underlying strength. Plenty of it.
***
“The Demonic Realm as our base?”
Glen Pendley stared blankly at the communication device after the call ended, utterly bewildered. He had been completely convinced. Normally, he would have insisted that Kratos come to Rzhev immediately.
On top of that, Kratos said he would speak to the Holy Kingdom and arrange for the injured to be cared for.
“The Demonic Realm...”
It seemed absurd, but it wasn't an entirely impossible idea.
The White Mercenary Corps was at a critical juncture. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say their future depended on how they overcame this period. If they collapsed now, they might not even get a chance for revenge.
The Resistance? The Empire? That's all well and good. They had worked together because they agreed with the ideology and its substance.
But the foundation, no matter what anyone said, was the White Mercenary Corps. The Resistance existed because the White Mercenary Corps existed. And now, that corps had been brought down by an insider.
And hadn't Peri Batoni said it? That Kratos was their only hope. Had he foreseen this situation? Or did it mean that Kratos's choice was the right one under the current circumstances?
He couldn't know.
“How many of the guys are fit for duty?”
Glen Pendley asked his subordinate.
“About two hundred members are ready for combat.”
About a hundred joined Iscario and betrayed us. Around five hundred are stationed at liaison offices or on external missions across the continent. About two hundred are missing with the Captain in the southern Shadow Mountains. Three hundred are dead, and two hundred are injured.
Compared to the corps' total size, their numbers had shrunk to an unbelievable degree.
However, there was a reason the White Mercenary Corps was counted among the top few, even when other corps boasted up to ten thousand members.
The White Mercenary Corps operated with twelve units. Below them were apprentice mercenary posts, which served as a training ground for selecting official members. This was the basic structure of the White Mercenary Corps.
So, what happened to the countless mercenaries who had passed through the White Mercenary Corps?
Even though being a mercenary meant putting your life on the line, what about all of those numerous mercenaries?
“We need to set a clear course before that bastard Iscario does anything else stupid.”
It was simple. They had gone independent. As their own mercenary bands, corps, or as individual mercenaries.
The White Mercenary Corps was lenient in that regard, so many mercenaries who left had formed their own factions, but they had consistently maintained their relationships with the corps. It was a kind of tradition.
“Kratos is right. But how does that guy know all this? It's not information you can easily come by, even if you've recently become a Captain.”
That bastard Iscario must know this too. But he reached out to the Empire, and it will surely take him quite some time to get the Ashar region under control. He must be thinking it will take us a considerable amount of time to regroup as well.
His mind snapped into focus.
“This is no time to be spacing out.”
Glen Pendley slapped both his cheeks hard enough to make a sharp sound, trying to clear his head. The corps was in crisis. This was no time to be dazed just because the Captain and Vice-Commander were both gone.
Rather, he had to show them when they returned that he had handled the situation without issue, despite everything that had happened.
At a time like this, he, the Captain of the 1st Unit, had to be the one to keep his wits about him.
“Contact all our brothers. The White Mercenary Corps is in a state of emergency. Summon everyone to Rzhev. Shut down all liaison offices. Explain the full situation. Tell them the time for choosing has come. Or if not that, the time to repay their debt has come.”
But it didn't just end there.
“Reorganize the corps. Gather those who can fight and head to the Demonic Realm. We will help Kratos there. The corps can't be left out of the corps' business. Absolutely not.”
Glen Pendley rapidly issued orders to his men.
It had become a race against time.
He thought he understood why the Vice-Commander had sought out Kratos. The man remained composed and clear-headed even in a situation like this.
The guy who joined last, yet acted more like the Captain than anyone else.
“Anyway. What a ridiculous guy.”