Chapter 123
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: All-out War
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For nobles, war was diplomacy.
It was merely one of many tools used to facilitate negotiations with a rival family.
But it was also a business.
It required a massive investment; success brought a windfall, but failure meant ruin.
In that regard, Urk was an excellent businessman and a gambler.
He had started as a low-ranking noble and, after two hundred years of steadily building his power, had finally staged an uprising to become a high-ranking noble.
But even for someone like Urk, this war was not easy.
Unlike the incompetent former lord of Nakrang Castle, Lar Arga was a formidable enemy, and the Demon Ghoul Clan was a terrifyingly powerful force.
Nevertheless, he did not give up.
He held the bridal contest.
Gathered money and information.
Persuaded other nobles.
Secretly contacted the Martial Duke.
Lured Lar Arga into a trap.
And even formed a grand anti-Demon Ghoul alliance.
After countless schemes and efforts, he had finally declared war on the Demon Ghoul Clan and gained the upper hand.
Though it was partly due to good fortune, everyone marveled that it was an achievement possible only for a crafty hero like Urk.
But in this very moment.
The face of Urk, the man who had achieved this legendary feat, was hardened like stone.
“What were my orders?”
“…You ordered us to engage the Giam Knights without overextending ourselves while you were away.”
“Correct. It was by no means an unreasonable request. In fact, it should have been easy.”
The clan members gathered in the tent could not refute Urk’s words.
No matter how strong the knights were.
They were not Super-Awakened, so they could have been overwhelmed with sheer numbers.
Especially since he had provided the near-equal Nakrang Knights and numerous High-Awakened, Urk’s command was anything but difficult.
So while he had been inwardly suspicious of how the Giam Knights had caught up to him so quickly…
The story he heard upon his return was beyond his wildest imagination.
“Then how in the world did you manage to lose Gowon Manor and get the Nakrang Knights half-destroyed?!”
*Rumble!*
The massive high orc kneeling on the floor.
Hulak, his ears ringing from the deafening roar, spoke urgently.
“I-I was only trying to catch the bastards who were chasing you, Grandfather.”
“You attacked them from behind as they retreated, and our Nakrang Knights were utterly defeated?”
“That’s because they had cowardly set an ambush! If we had fought them head-on, we never would have lost!”
“An ambush?”
Hulak cried out, as if wronged.
But looking at his grandson, Urk’s face twisted even further.
“An ambush that wasn’t there when I passed suddenly sprang up the moment they started chasing me?”
“They were hidden so stealthily that…”
“You’re telling me you threw away the knights because of a small ambush that even I couldn’t detect?”
“…”
“You caused this mess, blinded by your lust for glory! You imbecile!”
Urk ground his teeth.
He knew exactly what had happened without needing to see it.
Unable to control his greed to seize this chance to capture the Giam Knights and earn merit, he had acted recklessly.
The result was falling into Lar Arga’s trap, losing both the knights and the territory.
Even if that old monster was recuperating from an injury, his cunning, honed over a longer life than Urk’s, would not have vanished.
Of course, Urk knew this and had prepared countermeasures, but…
“I left command in my absence to Pandora. Did you move with her permission?”
“…*Hmph*. How can one achieve victory on the battlefield by asking for permission for every single action?”
“You dare speak so boldly after losing territory through your own arbitrary tyranny.”
Urk’s eyes turned red.
He already knew, having received a report before coming here.
That Pandora had immediately sent a messenger to stop Hulak the moment he showed signs of a reckless pursuit.
But Hulak had ignored her command, instead taking the manor’s forces with him to finish the job, only to lose them all.
It was a truly outrageous atrocity.
Both in moving the territory’s forces on his own authority.
And in openly defying the orders of Pandora, who was not just his adopted daughter but the strategist of the anti-Demon Ghoul alliance.
It was a crime worthy of death ten times over; even if he had been lucky enough to annihilate the Giam Knights, his faults would have far outweighed his merits.
And on top of that, he had lost the battle.
If Hulak weren’t his own flesh and blood, Urk would have had him beheaded without even hearing an excuse.
But…
“Even so, it’s just one manor lost!”
“…Just one manor?”
“Give me the same troops and territory as the White-Masked Young Master! Then I can achieve even greater deeds than him!”
Even the White-Masked Young Master, who had started with nothing, had acquired five territories with just the one manor Urk had given him.
He was certain he could acquire ten, even twenty, of those measly manors.
So Hulak boldly demanded that this minor misstep be forgotten and that he be given another chance.
After staring blankly at his grandson.
Urk nodded.
“Yes, just a manor.”
“That’s right, so…!”
“Even if, just twenty years ago, that one manor was all the territory our family possessed.”
“…”
“And even if, about a hundred years ago, we were low-ranking nobles living as mercenaries because we didn’t even have that one manor.”
High orcs.
Born with a 3-star class.
Nobles regarded as a powerful, top-tier species due to their orc-like high fertility.
But because of their characteristic dullness and greed, they would fall into discord and fight amongst themselves without a strong leader.
The very man who, after the last Orc Lord died, had united the scattered clan living like barbarians and raised them to the status of high-ranking nobles.
Urk looked down at Hulak with his sunken eyes and continued.
“But no matter how small a manor is, only I, its lord, can dismiss my territory as ‘just’ anything.”
“…”
“And it is certainly not a word to be carelessly uttered by a defeated general who has lost that very territory.”
All the territories of the Cortell family, including Nakrang Castle, were what he had earned by sacrificing his blood, sweat, and life.
Though the clan may have a stake, deciding who gets what share was entirely up to the family head.
In the end, all the territory was his.
Not Hulak’s.
He had no right to speak.
Coldly declaring this to one of his many grandsons, Urk finished his words in a low voice.
“Reflect on your actions in prison. I will deliver your punishment after the war is over.”
“But…! Are you saying you won’t even give me a chance to atone for my failure?”
“Be grateful you are my blood. Otherwise, I would have beheaded you on the spot.”
“…”
“Take him away.”
Perhaps because they sensed the chilling killing intent in Urk’s voice.
Hulak, wearing a wronged expression to the very end, was dragged away, and the other kinsmen, sensing the mood, also withdrew.
Left alone, Urk had a maid bring him a tray of alcohol.
And instead of his favorite drinking cup, made from the skull of the previous lord of Nakrang Castle, he picked up the entire wine jar.
*Gulp, gulp!*
Ten gulps.
Twenty gulps.
Thirty gulps.
And so, only after finally draining the large jar in a single breath, as if it were the only way to survive.
*Huuu*.
Urk let out a deep breath and threw the jar.
*CRASH!!!*
“…That imbecile. Asking for a chance, not even understanding what ‘punishment after the war’ means.”
Urk let out a hollow laugh.
This must be what they mean when they say one becomes calm when anger passes its peak.
The very act of postponing the punishment meant he had no intention of letting this matter slide.
He had only delayed the execution to avoid provoking his clan’s resentment during the war, yet the fool saw it as an opportunity and acted out.
It was so ridiculous that it was more laughable than infuriating, considering that even an idiot like him was one of the more useful members of the clan and had been given an important position.
“…Truly, they are too different.”
That was why.
The reason he had inadvertently lamented while thinking of the boy he met on the battlefield.
Just today.
‘Are you serious? You’re saying you won’t claim a stake in the territory we went to the trouble of capturing?’
‘You did all the work anyway, Orc Ahjussi. It’d just be embarrassing to insist on getting credit for this.’
‘In truth, aren’t you just trying to dump it on me because taking care of another wrecked territory is too much of a hassle?’
‘Hey, a noble shouldn’t be dropping truth bombs. This is when you’re supposed to say you’ll repay me even more handsomely, even if it’s just lip service, right?’
‘Khuhu, I understand. In that case, I will make sure to reward my Gongja handsomely for his contributions in other ways.’
‘Yep, that’ll do.’
Not only had he been the first to rush to the collapsing front line and aid the retreat of his allies.
The moment Urk appeared with reinforcements, he had immediately turned the tables and provided support.
As a result, he had played the biggest role in repelling the Giam Knights and capturing the territory.
Remembering the boy who had spoken so nonchalantly, as if one little manor was nothing, Urk couldn’t help but sigh.
“Is this the difference in bloodline?”
His own kin, who babbled about being able to acquire any number of manors, yet was envious and greedy over a single one.
In contrast, there was the White-Masked Young Master, who collected payment for every single request and achievement, yet readily gave up a valuable territory, even one that was half-destroyed.
Their caliber.
Their depth.
Their talent.
As he grew gloomy over the all-too-clear gap, he lowered his head, and his bandaged wounds came into view.
It was the price for charging into the enemy lines alone time and again, fighting with valor.
He had rampaged on the battlefield like a wolf among sheep, but the nobles were undeniably beasts with fangs, and not even a Super-Awakened was invincible.
The successive battles against numerous High-Awakened were steadily carving wounds and fatigue into his body.
But there was only one reason he had to keep running across the battlefield, even while covered in wounds.
Because he had to.
Even though he had barely seized the upper hand.
The Demon Ghoul Clan was still a mighty force.
To close that gap and maintain their advantage, he, a Super-Awakened, had no choice but to push himself harder.
This was even more true because, unlike the great nobles from storied families like the Baekdaesega, he lacked reliable kinsmen and vassals to whom he could entrust tasks.
‘Khuhu. The wall of the great nobility is truly high.’
He had overcome the wall of the Super-Awakened.
And risen to the rank of a high-ranking noble.
He had spent his entire life running, always looking up, yet the distant gap still made even an old general like Urk…
No, it was even more frustrating because he was an old general with not many days left to live.
“…I suppose there’s no other way.”
That was why.
After long deliberation, Urk decided to use his final measure.
He had originally intended to use it only at the very end of the war, when attacking Giam Castle, as it was too dangerous…
But that was when his knights were still intact.
With the Nakrang Knights half-destroyed, the advantage he had fought so hard to build had vanished completely, leaving him no room to hold back his cards.
All the more so since he didn’t know when Lar Arga would recover.
“Send word to Pandora.”
Thus, he gave the order.
The card that would decide the outcome of the war.
The biggest reason he had been able to confidently declare war on the Demon Ghoul Clan.
“Tell her to prepare to enter the battlefield.”
* * *
“So, the time has finally come.”
When she received Urk’s message.
Pandora accepted it calmly rather than with surprise.
It was only a matter of sooner or later; now that the war had begun, this was inevitable.
In fact, thinking she had waited long enough, she quietly left the tent.
With no armor.
And no weapon.
Wearing only an ominous black dress like a mourning shroud, her eyes covered by a blindfold as always.
Urk’s most trusted adopted daughter and…
…the deadliest weapon he was most wary of, thus accepted her fate.
Just as she had when she ended the life of the previous lord of Nakrang Castle, as Urk had commanded.