Chapter 387: The Second Continental War (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 387: The Second Continental War (10)
Outside the Outer City, the Elves launched the counterattack.
Stepping to the forefront, they unleashed a unified volley.
Swoosh!
Arrows blotted out the sky.
The Kronos Imperial Army couldn't react in time. Already in chaos from their siege on Dmitry Castle, they failed to form a proper shield wall before the barrage descended.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Aaargh!"
"Ugh!"
Screams erupted from all directions.
The Elven arrows pierced solid armor with lethal ease. Soldiers struck between the eyes collapsed without a sound. As the relentless rain of arrows continued, a portion of the Kronos Imperial Army pivoted, realizing that holding their ground meant catastrophic casualties. Seizing the moment, the soldiers of the Northeast Association and the Luna Kingdom charged.
"All forces, advance!"
"Attack!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
It was a magnificent, terrifying spectacle.
The moment the charging Dmitry Alliance clashed with the Kronos Imperial Army, the battlefield devolved into a gruesome meat grinder.
Slash!
"Argh!"
"Die!"
The two armies became hopelessly entangled. If an Alliance soldier decapitated an Imperial troop, an Alliance head would roll a moment later. It was a brutal, endless cycle of slaughter. In an instant, the earth was drenched in blood and paved with corpses. Refusing to yield an inch, soldiers from both sides trampled through crimson puddles to lunge at one another.
Among the vanguard, the non-humans of Arcadia stood out as absolute terrors.
Having thrown their lot in with this war, they displayed physical prowess that utterly shattered human limits.
"Grrr!"
A Werewolf.
White-and-grey fur bristling wildly, it tore into the throat of an Imperial soldier blocking its path. Blood sprayed in a violent geyser of ripped flesh. Crushing the man's windpipe, the Werewolf lunged deeper into the dense Imperial ranks, its claws flashing in a frenzy.
Following close behind—
Boom!
Rumble!
A Yeti trampled Imperial soldiers beneath its massive feet.
Driven to near-extinction by the Kronos Empire, the handful of survivors were finally unleashing their pent-up fury against their oppressors. Wielding a colossal club suited to its monstrous frame, the Yeti swung with devastating force. Dozens of Imperial soldiers were swept away at once, their bodies bursting like overripe fruit in a gruesome display of raw power.
However, the non-humans were not invincible.
As the Empire's Aura-wielding knights stepped up to pick them off, the Aura Swordsmen of the Luna Kingdom refused to stand idly by.
Rumble!
Splurt!
"Follow me!"
Caden and Jairo.
They were the premier Aura Swordsmen of Luna.
Charging into the fray, they carved through the vanguard of the Imperial army. Though the swordsmen of the Northeast Association fought valiantly beside them, Caden and Jairo exuded a uniquely dominant presence. Forged in the grueling fires of Arcadia's crisis, they had grown immensely in both mind and body. Roman Dmitry's teachings had guided them into an entirely new realm of power.
Flash!
Slash! Slash!
Jairo's sword swept through his surroundings like a tempest.
Felling every Imperial soldier he encountered with a single stroke, his eyes burned with fierce conviction.
"This is our chance to repay our debt to Lord Roman Dmitry! Prove to these heinous bastards that the continent of Arcadia and the Luna Kingdom know how to return a favor! Today, we die for Dmitry!"
They fought with a desperate, venomous fury.
In the darkest hours of Arcadia and Luna, Roman Dmitry had been the hero who delivered them from ruin. For the sake of their savior, Jairo's followers threw themselves into the meat grinder, treating their own lives as if they were nothing but dust.
At that very moment, an unexpected turn of events was also unfolding within Dmitry's Inner Castle.
* * *
Creak.
The gates of the Inner Castle swung open.
Led by Fernando, the inner garrison poured out. Upon spotting the Shadows running rampant through the streets, their eyes flared with murderous intent.
"Clear the city. Eliminate every threat to our citizens, and then we march to the Outer City."
"Understood!"
The purge commenced.
Fernando's Royal Guards—a handpicked unit of elites—moved swiftly to assist the Special Unit and the Hao Sect in exterminating the Shadows. The assassins were utterly helpless. Their leader had already fallen to the combined exploits of Lucas and McBurney. Now, facing overwhelming numbers, the skirmish rapidly devolved into a one-sided slaughter.
Thud!
Sssss.
The Shadows dissolved into smoke.
Fernando's presence on the battlefield had grown immense.
Though once mocked as the "gatekeeper of the top 30," he had evolved into an entirely different beast since swearing loyalty to Roman Dmitry. The battle against Sven—the devastating day Henderson died and Kevin was critically injured—had driven Fernando to push himself to the absolute brink. He was determined never to let the tragedies of the past repeat themselves.
His relentless drive had birthed remarkable growth.
Having finally stepped into the 5-Star Realm, every flash of Fernando's blade tore the Shadows to shreds.
"Grrr..."
"Aaargh!"
Every Shadow in his path was mercilessly slaughtered.
Yet, as Fernando charged forward with terrifying momentum, the figure following closely behind him was entirely unexpected.
It was none other than Romero Dmitry.
The King of Dmitry had taken up arms.
Wielding a massive axe perfectly suited to his bulky frame, he snuffed out the lives of the Shadows. He couldn't use mana, but by channeling the power of artifacts, his strikes were lethal.
Crunch!
"Die!"
People often thought of kings as greenhouse flowers. Noble figures who only knew how to issue commands from safely behind the lines, entirely out of place on a blood-soaked battlefield. But King Dmitry's roots were different. Having spent his youth toiling in iron mines and roaring blacksmith forges, he was intimately acquainted with grueling physical labor. His heavily muscled physique possessed a monstrous strength that far surpassed that of an ordinary man.
He simply couldn't use Aura.
Aside from that, he was a hardened veteran who had weathered countless hardships.
Following their King's lead, the blacksmiths of the forge also joined the fray, swinging their heavy hammers and tongs with complete disregard for the Shadows' attacks. Naturally, casualties began to mount. No battle in the world was entirely safe, but the blacksmiths refused to stand idly by and watch Dmitry fall.
It was truly a sight to behold.
King Dmitry wearing a steel helmet instead of a crown as he cleaved through enemies with his axe, and Fernando fighting fiercely to protect his flanks.
Together, they swept through the city.
They carved their way toward the Outer City, clearing out the remnants of the Shadows. When the Special Unit and the rest of Dmitry's soldiers spotted them, they were utterly stunned.
"...W-what in the world?"
"The Inner Castle garrison opened the gates!"
"His Majesty King Dmitry is fighting in person!"
They were stunned.
This was not part of the plan.
The Royal Guards were supposed to be safely protecting the King inside the Inner Castle. Yet here they were, plunging into the bloodshed alongside King Dmitry himself. The sight ignited a sudden, explosive surge of raw emotion. Witnessing their King sharing life and death on the front lines, one soldier couldn't hold back. He roared at the top of his lungs:
"His Majesty has taken up arms for us! Protect the King! Fight for His Majesty! We will win this war!"
"For His Majesty!"
"For Dmitry!"
A fierce, contagious passion rippled through the ranks.
The soldiers raised their heads, their eyes blazing as they took in the sight.
Filled with the absolute conviction that Dmitry would emerge victorious, they violently unleashed their resolve against the encroaching enemies.
The arrival of reinforcements.
The unyielding resolve of King Dmitry.
In an instant, the tide of a war that had seemed so grim completely turned.
* * *
One variable after another.
At first, Mystic had actively participated in the battle.
He had swept through Dmitry's soldiers with his magic, but as time passed, he realized the situation was rapidly deteriorating.
"Damn you, Dmitry."
He was bewildered.
This operation was supposed to be flawless.
With Roman Dmitry away in Valhalla, deploying a powerful weapon like Ares should have made crushing a backwater like Dmitry an effortless task. Yet, nothing went according to plan. Ares's identity was exposed before they could even strike, and Dmitry's swordsmen pressed him so relentlessly that even as a 6-Star Swordsman, he couldn't make a significant impact.
That wasn't all.
The Shadows had successfully infiltrated the interior.
Yet, even without the Outer City forces pulling back to defend, Mystic received the infuriating signal that the Shadows had been completely wiped out.
From start to finish, everything was an absolute mess.
Despite the thorough preparations Mystic had made following his previous defeat, the sudden arrival of reinforcements and King Dmitry's aggressive counter-offensive had dragged the situation into the abyss. At this rate, hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers would be slaughtered in the blink of an eye. While Mystic didn't particularly care about the loss of mere foot soldiers, the real problem was Emperor Alexander's wrath.
'...If I fail this time as well, Emperor Alexander will have my head.'
It was a devastating prospect.
Consecutive defeats.
He would undoubtedly be held accountable.
To salvage the situation, he needed to at least preserve enough forces to fight another day.
"Dmitry... If you think this is the end, you are sorely mistaken," he muttered, gritting his teeth. "This is merely a single battle. Though I concede defeat and retreat for now, when I return, I will slaughter every last one of you."
Now was the time to take a step back.
Mystic roared to his soldiers,
"Retreat! Fall back and reorganize our ranks!"
* * *
The sun began to set.
The enemy was retreating.
Watching the Kronos Imperial Army scramble backward, Knight Commander Jonathan roared, the veins in his neck bulging.
"Kill them! Leave none of them alive!"
This war wouldn't end just because they won a single battle.
The Kingdom Alliance was currently under attack on all fronts—the Southern Three Kingdoms, Hector, and Cairo were all besieged. Jonathan knew they needed a decisive, crippling victory while they had the momentum. Dmitry's soldiers pursued the enemy relentlessly. Charging through the wide-open gates, they chased down the fleeing Imperial troops, driving blades through their backs.
However, they couldn't pursue them indefinitely.
As the remnants of the Imperial Army finally faded into the distance, Dmitry's soldiers erupted into deafening cheers.
"Waaaaaaah!"
"We won!"
"We defeated Kronos!"
At last, they had survived the crucible.
A wave of triumphant joy washed over the bloodstained forces.
Kronos had prepared thoroughly for this assault, but Dmitry had been ready. They had succeeded in securing victory even without Roman Dmitry. However, they couldn't afford to indulge in celebration. King Dmitry immediately summoned the leadership. They gathered in the conference room, their armor battered and faces stained with soot and blood.
Once everyone was assembled, King Dmitry spoke.
"The war is not yet over. The Kronos Empire managed to escape with a significant portion of their forces, and they are highly likely to prepare a second assault. Tell me your thoughts on our current situation. Is it wiser to repair the walls and brace for the next attack, or should we pursue them immediately and crush them?"
As the ruler of a nation, King Dmitry viewed reality with cold rationality.
Though the wounds he had sustained during the fierce melee stung fiercely, he showed no sign of pain as he scanned Dmitry's leadership.
At that moment, Flora Lawrence stepped forward.
"May I speak, Your Majesty?"
"Speak."
"The Kronos Empire carried out this attack using a mysterious power that allows them to travel through space. However, I do not believe that power is limitless. If they had the ability to continuously teleport hundreds of thousands of troops, they would have used spatial teleportation magic during their retreat just now, or summoned fresh reinforcements to turn the tide of the battle. But they didn't. Furthermore, seeing how they only sent a small number of Shadows to infiltrate Dmitry's interior, there is clearly a strict limit to the enemy's capabilities."
It was a hypothesis, yet Flora Lawrence's tone was resolute.
While hasty judgments on the battlefield could invite disaster, she knew that sometimes one had to be bold to achieve definitive results.
She trusted her own intuition and experience.
A judgment rooted in battlefield observation could never be called hasty.
"We must send a pursuit squad as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow. What the Kingdom Alliance needs right now is not just a hopeful report that we survived a crisis. We must completely annihilate the enemy to prove to the rest of the Kingdom Alliance that this war is winnable."
The heavy silence in the room lent immense weight to her words.
This was a war without Roman Dmitry.
Yet, even in his absence, Dmitry chose to follow the exact path he would have taken.
King Dmitry nodded.
"I agree with Flora's assessment. Our goal in this war is not merely to survive, but to bring down the Kronos Empire and restore peace to the continent. Order the soldiers to rest and receive treatment until dawn. As soon as the sun rises, we will eliminate the remnants of Kronos."
Dmitry had bared its ferocious fangs.
* * *
It was exactly as Flora Lawrence had predicted.
The Kronos forces had established a camp not far away.
Although he had ordered a retreat to salvage a collapsing situation, Mystic fully intended to preserve his remaining forces and plot another counterattack.
'I must wait until my mana recovers. If I can open the Gate of the Demon Realm just one more time, I can summon the power to sweep away those Dmitry insects. Endure, Mystic. I cannot disappoint Emperor Alexander any further.'
He intended to see this war through to the bitter end.
Knowing there would be no second chances, Mystic ordered his exhausted soldiers to rest.
Meanwhile, Ares had quietly separated from the main army.
Mystic had confidently declared that Dmitry would never dare pursue the Kronos Empire, but Ares, who had experienced Dmitry's madness firsthand, thought otherwise. Even without Roman Dmitry, Dmitry was fiercely aggressive. After witnessing today's battle, he knew that if they simply sat around, the main army would be slaughtered.
For that reason, he deserted the camp.
While Mystic stalled for time, Ares set his sights on a different objective.
'Dmitry must be drunk on the joy of victory right now. When they organize their forces and send out a pursuit squad, I will seize the opportunity to infiltrate the castle once again. This time, I will succeed. I will sever King Dmitry's head and show them what it truly means to oppose the Kronos Empire.'
During the battle on the walls, Ares had barely saved his own life by throwing himself off the ramparts.
Irritation boiled in his gut.
He was furious that he hadn't made the impact he expected, and disgusted that the Kronos Empire had been forced to retreat. Ares had already chosen to side with Emperor Alexander. To prove that his choice was the right one, he had to win this war.
He hid himself in the thickets near the castle.
Conserving his body heat, he silently gathered his strength.
Finally, dawn broke.
After confirming that Dmitry had dispatched a massive pursuit squad, Ares made his move, carefully slipping past their marching path.
However, right before he could reach Dmitry Castle, he encountered an unexpected figure waiting in the brush.
"We finally meet."
A fiercely distorted, bloodthirsty face.
The Evil Ghost of Dmitry.
It was Kevin.