Chapter 96: Ghostly Shadow (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96: Ghostly Shadow (6)
Edwin Hector spoke.
[I will not deny your words. The Hector Kingdom is indeed suffering from a severe famine, just as the world knows, and our ability to borrow money from the outside has reached its limit. That is why we attacked the Cairo Kingdom. To break free from this endless cycle of debt, we had no choice but to make a decision.]
"Are you asking for my understanding?"
[No. I am simply explaining just how desperate we are. The fate of the Hector Kingdom rests on this war. We do not have enough provisions. As you said, once three months pass, our food supplies will run dry and we will inevitably suffer. Even so, we cannot retreat. Even if we have to forage for wild greens in the mountains and chew on the flesh of our dead comrades, we have no intention of quietly backing down until we get what we want.]
It was a chilling declaration.
Edwin Hector's resolve was so absolute that he openly spoke of cannibalism—a boundary no human should ever cross.
Sometime in the past, Edwin Hector had gone on an inspection tour of his lands. The state of the Hector Kingdom was truly disastrous.
The fields, once dyed in golden hues, were cracked and barren from a severe drought. Children with their ribs clearly showing sat on the ground, staring blankly at the dirt. When they spotted Edwin Hector, they held out their skeletal hands and begged for food.
How did it come to this?
As a descendant of the royal bloodline, Edwin Hector agonized over this tragedy every single day. From that moment on, he began planning the invasion of the Cairo Kingdom.
It was exactly as Roman had predicted.
His words had pushed the Hector Kingdom to the edge of a cliff. But the truth was, even without this war, the Hector Kingdom was destined to fall off that cliff sooner or later.
[Since you know my plan, you must understand our resolve. Convey this to the Cairo royal family: if they do not accept our proposal, we will fight to the bitter end until we get what we want. Do not think that time is on your side. If we cannot gain anything from this land, we will scatter the corpse poison we obtained from a necromancer in all directions and turn this entire region into a land of death.]
He had turned the situation around.
The words meant to back him into a corner were countered with a threat of mutual destruction. From the very beginning, Edwin Hector had absolutely no intention of returning empty-handed.
[My name is Edwin Hector. As a prince of the Hector Kingdom, I am prepared to do whatever it takes to save my people. Roman Dmitry. What choice will you make? Will you plunge off the cliff alongside the cornered Hector Kingdom, or will you seek a future through a reasonable compromise?]
To Cairo, he was an atrocious villain.
But that didn't matter.
Doing whatever it took for his kingdom was...
[The choice is Cairo's to make.]
...the true duty of the royal family, or so Edwin Hector believed.
* * *
His opponent had finally revealed his name.
Edwin Hector.
The man known as Hector's Star.
It was a name Roman had heard often while investigating the Hector Kingdom.
'Unlike his incompetent father, he is a man of outstanding ability who grew to become the backbone of the Hector Kingdom. He has been involved in state affairs since childhood, resolving countless crises. Those who marveled at his capabilities dubbed him Hector's Star. Even amidst their severe famine, various nations like the Kronos Empire desired a political marriage with him, proving he is a talent recognized both at home and abroad. And such a figure is holding the commander's baton in this war.'
It was just as he expected.
He never thought an ordinary person was commanding this war. The systematic and bold decisions made even Roman acknowledge his opponent's capabilities.
The duty of the royal family.
His justification was firm.
Roman knew they would never back down, but Roman Dmitry was also far from an ordinary man.
Puuk!
"Aaaaargh!"
[What do you think you are doing?!]
Roman had plunged his sword into Thompson's thigh.
Having cast a sound-blocking barrier, there was no way the other Hector soldiers would hear the scream. Roman pinned down Thompson's writhing body as he thrashed in pain, slowly twisting the blade to wring out another agonizing shriek.
"What am I doing, you ask? As you can hear from the screaming, I just stabbed this guy's thigh with my sword."
[Just kill him! Even if he is an enemy, why must you resort to torture?!]
"Why resort to torture? What a sentimental thing to say. I don't care in the slightest about the circumstances of the Hector Kingdom. Whatever your reasons, you crossed the border and slaughtered innocent soldiers of the Cairo Kingdom. Yet you cry like a coward just because of a little stab to the thigh? Do not be mistaken. Just as you cherish the soldiers of the Hector Kingdom, my people are important to me as well. So why should I show mercy to the enemy? The war has already begun. And you, who crossed the line first, cannot expect me to show human decency."
Edwin Hector was gravely mistaken.
Roman Dmitry was not a conventional man.
No matter what choices his opponent presented, he only did what he believed was right.
Crunch.
"Argh, aaaaargh!"
Thompson thrashed wildly. Amidst the bone-shattering pain, he reached out pitifully, as if begging to be killed right away.
Roman did not know this man named Thompson. He held no personal malice toward him. But simply because he stood on the opposing side of the battlefield, Roman tortured him without a shred of hesitation.
In a world where the strong preyed upon the weak, this was only natural.
It didn't matter what values they held or what justice they pursued. From the moment they recognized each other as enemies and bared their fangs, they could do absolutely anything to bring the other down.
That was all there was to it.
Roman did not overcomplicate things. Since he had no intention of backing down even under Edwin Hector's threats, he tortured Thompson right where Edwin could hear it.
Blood splattered, drenching Thompson's face in crimson. Roman, his eyes cold and murderous, grabbed the soldier by the throat.
"Just as you fulfill your duty, I will do what I believe is right. So, make sure you are never captured by me. I will kill every single one of you I encounter in agonizing pain. I will not spare a single soul. Even if you choose to raise a white flag and flee, I will pursue you to the ends of the earth and drive a blade into your backs. My name is Roman Dmitry. I do not need a grand justification like yours. For the sole reason that you laid hands on my people, I will make you pay the price."
He spat out his naked hostility.
The Hector Kingdom probably didn't know. From the very moment they crossed the border, they had provoked an enemy they should never have touched.
The Hector Kingdom had already burned their bridges. Since they would not choose surrender, Roman, in turn, infected his opponent with sheer terror through the communication device.
Puuk.
"Gurgle..."
He drove his blade into Thompson's throat.
The sickening sound of a life fading away traveled through the communication device, leaving Edwin Hector utterly speechless.
Thompson's head slumped. Roman brought the communication device back to his mouth.
"If you choose to fight to the death... we will meet soon."
With those final words...
Click.
He cut the connection.
* * *
The communication ended.
Contrary to the anger threatening to explode inside him, Edwin Hector's expression was freezing cold.
'Roman Dmitry. He is a far more dangerous man than I thought.'
A move of mutual destruction. An ordinary person would have had no choice but to shrink back. A declaration to die together was something an average heart could not handle, yet his opponent's reaction had been even more extreme.
He had killed Thompson. Deliberately, just so Edwin could hear it.
Even knowing Edwin Hector's desperate circumstances and resolve, Roman had hacked Thompson's body to pieces just to send a warning. He was a chillingly dangerous man. Knowing that retreating even a single step would mean losing momentum, Roman Dmitry did not allow a single moment of vulnerability.
He was the exact type of person one would never want to meet as an enemy.
The sole variable in his perfect plan was ballooning in a direction Edwin Hector dreaded to imagine.
"...What do you plan to do?"
It was Jackson.
From beginning to end, Jackson had listened to the conversation. Especially during Thompson's torture, he had been unable to control his emotions; his face looked as if it would explode at any moment.
Edwin Hector spoke.
"If we had not made a decision and let time pass as before, we would have slowly withered away and eventually lost our meaning as a nation. That is why I made this choice. I mobilized all available funds and gathered warriors willing to sacrifice their lives for the country. Jackson. There is no turning back for us. For the people remaining in Hector right now, the spoils we bring back will be far more important than our survival."
It was a harsh reality.
But that was the burden Edwin Hector carried. Even if countless soldiers died, the survivors would inevitably feel relief at being alive rather than gratitude for the sacrifice.
Such was human nature.
Even knowing this, Edwin Hector shouldered the burden. Taking full responsibility for the war, he had departed for the battlefield in place of the kingdom's king.
Therefore...
"We cannot return empty-handed. Mobilize the troops immediately and form a perimeter around the location where Roman Dmitry appeared. And if we capture him alive... to avenge Thompson, who died in agony, I will personally carve off Roman Dmitry's flesh piece by piece."
He spoke with venomous determination.
Feeling Edwin Hector's absolute sincerity, Jackson nodded.
"I will obey your command."
Even if the end of this war was death, Jackson would not regret for a single moment having been Edwin Hector's man.
* * *
They changed their strategy.
Hector's Aura Swordsmen took the lead.
"Follow me."
Ten minutes ago, the order had come down from Edwin Hector.
"We can no longer be swayed by the remnants of Cairo. From now on, we will eliminate the entities hiding in the darkness, even if we must prepare for sacrifices. The Aura Swordsmen will take the lead to light the way. The moment they are attacked, the soldiers in the other zones must climb the mountain all at once. This is a battle of overwhelming numbers. We will give up our flesh to take the enemy's bones."
He had made his decision.
The Heavenly Net.
The moment Roman Dmitry revealed himself through a single attack, the forces boldly charging up the mountain would block all of his escape routes. It was a strategy that inevitably demanded sacrifice. Edwin Hector had hoped to achieve maximum results with minimal damage, but after facing Roman's sheer hostility over the communication device, he changed his mind.
He acknowledged his opponent's threat.
He judged that to catch a monster, he needed the decisiveness to push his own soldiers into the jaws of death.
Flash!
A bright aura of light erupted from the Aura Swordsmen at the front.
It was a magic artifact. It emitted light in response to mana, and any enemy touched by this light would be temporarily exposed by glittering fragments. It was a trap designed to maximize the effectiveness of the Heavenly Net.
Although it was difficult for an Aura Swordsman to exert their full power while channeling the magic artifact, someone had to risk their life to tie a bell around Roman's neck.
Therefore, Hector's swordsmen risked their lives. Even knowing they might die as bait, a fierce desire to lead this battle to victory shone in their eyes.
"Clear ahead! Follow slowly!"
An Aura Swordsman lit the path.
With him in the lead, Hector's troops marched forward in a swarm. Confidence returned to their faces. Now certain that they had a countermeasure against the unknown terror in the dark, the sluggish search operation gained momentum once more.
However, that confidence was premature.
The moment they stepped into a space they were certain was empty, the air warped, and something reflecting the light flashed.
Slash!
Blood splattered.
The Aura Swordsman's eyes widened, and he collapsed on the spot, foaming blood from his mouth.
Beyond him, the Cairo soldiers—who hadn't shown a single hair just a moment ago—appeared like a mirage and charged all at once.
"Attack!"
"Attack the enemy!"
The owner of the sword, Chris, shouted, the veins in his neck bulging.
From the moment they first entered the mountain, Roman Dmitry had already anticipated that things would turn out exactly this way.