Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Duke Burman's Fall
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***
“Burman Duke has fallen!”
“What?”
Ruan’s face filled with shock.
He had appeared at the noble assembly alongside Grand Duke Natarsian after several years, displaying strength that rivaled even Marquis Tano.
In truth, Ruan had believed Duke Sazana alone could more than fill the void left by Marquis Tano.
Yet he had sent Burman Duke to the border precisely to show the Namshar Empire a lesson this time.
But his expectations had been proven wrong.
‘Who the hell stepped up to take down both of them?’
As Ruan’s eyes shook violently,
“Your Majesty!”
A knight burst into the office.
He hurried to Ruan’s side, dropped to one knee, and reported.
“Atishan is heading for the capital!”
“……!”
Ruan shot up from the throne in an instant.
This was truly beyond anything he had anticipated.
He never imagined the man would step forward from the start.
Sazana and Burman must have fallen to him.
It seemed he had resolved to conquer the Oscar Empire this time.
“What of the Central Guardian Knight Order?”
“They’ve been silent for two days now.”
“Inform Jangjarban of this immediately and summon Altros.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights rushed out.
Ruan sat back on the throne, his expression grave.
The situation was dire.
Even at full strength, the Oscar Empire couldn’t guarantee victory against Atishan.
And now, nearly half their forces had been lost to Valtre’s rebellion.
Moreover, key assets like Marquis Tano and Marquis Mandora were tied up fighting Valtre.
Above all, with monsters invading for over a month, the empire’s strongest, Jangjarban, was effectively pinned at the western border.
If Atishan struck the capital then, and the monsters surged again……
The imperial palace’s fall would be only a matter of time.
But there was Grand Duke Natarsian, their final bastion.
If he and his massive army joined, the tide could turn.
Even with this force, if they fell to Atishan, Ruan would have no choice but to step in himself.
That battle with Atishan would usher in a new phase.
He wondered how everyone would react.
On one hand, facing the worst-case scenario made nitpicking seem absurd.
From that point, friend-or-foe identification would be unnecessary.
Anyone not following him would simply be an enemy.
Still, he was slightly rattled that Atishan had moved faster than expected.
But the moment the Oscar Empire fractured, Atishan’s invasion had been inevitable.
“I need greater power.”
Ruan flashed a chilling smile, opened the hidden door behind the throne, and stepped inside.
***
“Huff, huff.”
In a field soaked with corpses and blood, one man knelt on a single knee, leaning on his sword.
It was Marquis Tano.
His armor hung in tatters, and one arm had been severed.
Blood poured from the stump, and thick crimson dripped from his mouth.
Yet his eyes blazed with murderous intent as he glared at Valtre.
Valtre’s armor was equally ragged, blood dripping from the hand gripping his sword.
But he hadn’t lost an arm or knelt.
He stood tall, gazing down at Marquis Tano, with Hoan and the surviving knights behind him.
Marquis Tano, one of the empire’s top two powerhouses, had crumbled.
“Such tenacious life.”
“Not yet…….”
Marquis Tano summoned every ounce of strength to rise slowly.
He staggered, nearly collapsing, but steadied himself and aimed his broken sword at Valtre.
“……I’ll kill you.”
He squeezed out every drop of mana.
A deep red aura flickered along the blade, but it no longer enveloped the sword with its former intensity.
Valtre sneered mockingly at the sight.
“Go on, thrash about if you don’t want to die.”
“Shut up…….”
“Unleash everything you’ve got. That way, you won’t have regrets even in death.”
Valtre gathered his mana, bracing for the attack.
As mana infused his Explosive Sword, a frigid aura like ice rose, sparks flying.
Its momentum swelled, as if ready to erupt at any moment.
‘I’ll obliterate you without a trace.’
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by grim resolve.
Marquis Tano knew this was his final strike, his expression a mask of eerie ferocity.
‘The you who killed my wife and child…… I’ll never forgive you, even in death.’
He drew forth every scrap of mana, even his life force.
With each surge of life force, agony tore at his heart like it was being ripped apart.
He endured the pain, fueled by venomous rage at memories of his family burning alive.
For a moment.
Murderous intent surged from his eyes.
Suddenly, Tano’s eyes flashed as he unleashed his aura.
He drew his sword back like hurling a spear and threw it with all his might.
Grans Third Form!
Sword of Massacre!
He unleashed the strongest of his ultimate techniques.
The broken blade, wreathed in flames, shot forth like lightning.
“That pathetic attack…….”
Chill filled Valtre’s eyes.
A cold aura enveloped his sword, reshaping it into a long spear.
“Shatter!”
He swung with full force.
Bam-!
With a deafening roar, the ice spear aura blade surged wildly.
Whirling like a tornado, it seemed poised to destroy everything.
It soon clashed with Marquis Tano’s sword.
Boom-!
The impact shook the air, shattering Tano’s blade to pieces.
Valtre’s aura blade, undiminished, pierced Tano’s chest and detonated like a bomb.
Boom!
An enormous earthen wave erupted.
As it threatened to engulf Valtre, Hoan swiftly erected a wide-area barrier.
Thanks to him, Valtre and the knights escaped unharmed.
When the wave subsided, the area was a devastation.
Nothing remained intact; even the scattered corpses had been swept away.
Marquis Tano was gone, of course.
“Whew-.”
Valtre exhaled deeply and sheathed his sword.
Having poured all his mana into fighting Marquis Tano, he felt no berserk surge—only utter exhaustion.
Valtre turned, surveying the surroundings.
They had started with countless knights, too many to see the end of, but now barely half remained.
A fitting title: Slayer of the Battlefield.
But now, only Ruan’s inner circle stood in his way.
Altros and Jangjarban!
No word yet from Camel, who had gone to deal with Marquis Mandora.
It should have been over by now.
An ominous feeling crept in just then.
A horse approached from afar.
The knight atop it swayed limply side to side, then tumbled off.
“Damn it!”
Valtre dashed forward like a shot, Hoan close behind.
Reaching the knight, Valtre laid him flat and checked his condition; Hoan immediately cast a heal.
On the brink of death, the knight barely clung to life.
“Y-Your Excellency…… The Busta Knight Order has been annihilated.”
“What!”
Valtre’s eyes widened in fury.
“Cough-.”
The knight spat blood and struggled to continue.
“The captain fought to the end…… against the Namshar bastards…… ack.”
“……!”
Valtre’s eyes flashed.
Hoan cast another heal on the knight and shouted.
“What? Namshar bastards?”
The knight’s face paled as he whispered faintly.
“Burman Duke too…… fell to Atishan…….”
The knight breathed his last before finishing.
Valtre and Hoan stared at him gravely, unable to look away.
“Atishan…… has moved…….”
The unexpected variable stunned Valtre.
Even with Marquis Tano’s rage exploding, he would have prepared countermeasures against the Namshar Empire before acting.
‘Yet they crossed the border anyway—taking advantage of the Oscar Empire’s division……!’
Now he knew who had attacked Israten Castle.
‘It was Atishan.’
He had enraged Marquis Tano, clouding his judgment, then used stratagems to deceive him.
Now the reason the border had fallen so easily made sense.
Atishan would march straight to the Kristen capital for a showdown with Emperor Ruan.
Ruan’s forces were a shadow of their former selves, and the empire’s guardian deity, Jangjarban, was tied down by monsters.
That left only two he could rely on.
Grand Duke Natarsian and Altros.
But events ahead would plunge him into utter shock.
Objectively, Atishan held the overwhelming advantage.
The outcome seemed decided.
Atishan’s next target was Valtre himself.
He had to abandon vengeance against Emperor Ruan and find a way to protect Tomoya Kingdom from Atishan.
The man aimed to conquer the entire Oscar Empire—he wouldn’t spare Tomoya.
The same went for that brat.
“Hmm…….”
Valtre pondered gravely, then said to Hoan.
“We’re pulling back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hoan nodded respectfully, signaled the knights to retreat with a gesture, then turned back cautiously.
“You plan to leave Emperor Ruan be?”
“What are you implying?”
“How about using this chance to eliminate both Emperor Ruan and Atishan? You’ll have to cross blades with His Majesty someday.”
“Take out Atishan first, you mean?”
“He hasn’t made his move yet, so Emperor Ruan won’t know. And no one knows better than him how dire the situation is. If His Majesty reaches out, he’s likely to accept.”
“Not a bad idea. But wouldn’t that brat be a better target than him?”
“But His Majesty has already…….”
“I did strike from behind. But he’ll know Atishan has moved. And that the survivor between Atishan and Emperor Ruan will target him next.”
“You’re fine with not handling Emperor Ruan yourself? It was your lifelong grudge.”
“It was.”
Valtre’s face twisted with vengeful resolve as he continued.
“But getting hung up on that bastard could doom Tomoya Kingdom. We must judge rationally now more than ever.”
“As expected of Your Excellency.”
“Even if he dies, vengeance can be had other ways.”
“Understood.”
Hoan bowed deeply.
Valtre gazed toward the Julius Kingdom with a sinister smile.
“You know it too. To survive, you’ll have no choice but to join me.”
***
At that moment.
Aria, who had returned from Anscent Kingdom, entered Grada Castle with over a hundred priests.
After briefing Skevin on the imperial situation, she dispatched the priests to the border where the Death Knight Order was stationed.
Meanwhile, the first wave of migrants from Vulcan Territory had arrived in Shangrni Territory.
Composed of various artisans, they met Ban immediately and joined the castle wall construction.
As the Oscar Empire floundered in chaos, piling up corpses and staining itself with blood, the Julius Kingdom moved forward flawlessly according to Arthur’s plan.