A total of 50 soldiers were riding through the grasslands. Each of them was muscular, vigorous, and attention-grabbing. These men could only be described with the word "robust". Even dressed in armor, one could see the muscles underneath.
A man, in his 30s, with skin tanned from sun exposure, short hair, and black eyes sharp as a sword, looked at the man behind him.
"Marshal, we are approaching the first village."
"I know Captain."
Axel Halheimer, the Hero of the Sword, Wielder of the King Soul, the Grand Marshal of the Kingdom of Lothal, was traveling in the direction of the shadowy mountains of the southern region of the Duchy of Riverland.
The duchy of Riverland was the duchy that was in the east of the Kingdom of Lothal, this duchy shared a border to the East with the Empire of Kaleth (with which the Kingdom of Lothal was at war).
Suppressing the anxiety he felt, Axel prayed that his horse would be able to maintain a steady pace.
Although the current speed shouldn't tire the horse, he had to take into account that they were riding from the capital of the Duchy of Riverland, Riverheim.
Tiredness builds up little by little and penetrates the body. Even a horse would be tired after the long journey so he could not allow himself to tire the horse any more.
"I hope it's not too late yet."
The Captain's words had an air of unease. Axel shared the same thought as him. The king, who ordered the trip, begged Axel to investigate the sighting of invaders near the edge of the Kingdom's border in the shadowy mountains.
If he found the invading force, Axel must subdue it quickly.
Initially, since his objective was outside the city of Riverheim, sending troops from there would be faster. However, considering that the enemy was unknown, doing so was unreasonable.
In the conflict against the Empire of Kaleth, the only soldiers from the kingdom of Lothal who could be a match for the empire's elite knights, the Praetorian Guard, were the soldiers under Axel's command. As such, the task of suppressing the incursions of the Imperial forces fell on the shoulders of the King's sword, Axel Halheimer.
One could have mobilized soldiers to protect the villages before Axel arrived, and doing so would be enough to withstand the attacks, giving Axel more time. And although there were a thousand other possible methods of resisting the attacks, nothing had been done ... no, the thing is that nobody could do anything.
Axel, knowing exactly the reason for this situation, was uneasy. He was trying to calm himself but his hands were tightly holding the reins of his horse. It was certainly difficult to suppress the burning sensation that tormented his heart.
"Marshal, it is inconceivable that no one began a search before we arrived. Not only that, why didn't they send anyone else besides us? For example, they were able to hire mercenaries or even adventurers. They too could have sought out the invading force. Why was nothing like this done?"
"... Enough Captain, if Imperial forces appeared in the Kingdom's territories in broad daylight, the situation would be much worse."
"Marshal, there is no one near us. I hope you can tell me the truth. "The Captain, showing a bittersweet smile, said dismissively. "It was the decision of the nobles, right?"
Axel didn't answer, because it was the truth.
"Those bastards dare to use people's lives in their power games! Not only that, since this territory is under the control of the King, they cannot miss the opportunity to make a fool of him!
"... Not all nobles are the same, an example is Baron Zahradnik."
"Maybe the Marshal is right, there are nobles who live for the good of the people, like Baron Zahradnik, another example is the Silver Prince. Yet they are very few and far between... If we could only centralize power like they did in the Empire, then we could oppose those damn nobles for the good of the people, don't you think?"
"But if we act carelessly, maybe that could lead us to a civil war, that would tear our country apart. Even now, our Kingdom is facing the expansionist ambitions of the Empire. A civil war would not only be a national problem, it would be a complete calamity."
"I know but...."
"Let's leave this for now....."
Suddenly Axel lowered his voice and looked straight ahead. A column of smoke rose behind the small hill in front of them. They all knew what that meant.
Axel couldn't help but click his tongue. As he rode up the small hill, the scene he greeted him was exactly what he expected. The entire village at the base of the mountain was completely burned and destroyed. Some of the burned debris looked like tombstones erected on that ruin.
Axel said in a firm voice, "Everyone back down. We have to act fast."
The village was completely razed and the remains of the houses were unrecognizable. Walking through the ruins, Axel smelled a faint but recognizable smell of blood.
Axel's face looked calm, as if he didn't feel any emotion. But if one were to look closely, he could see his true disposition. The Captain who walked next to him had the same expression.
Axel had been to many battlefields, he did not need to see the corpses to know what had happened in this place.
More than two hundred people, each of them had been ruthlessly murdered. Without distinguishing between women, children or even newborns, all the same.
"Captain, send 10 soldiers to search for survivors, the rest will continue."
"After looking for survivors, do I order you to follow our route?"
"No, the soldiers escort the survivors back to Riverheim."
"Mister. Wait a minute, do I consider our current situation?"
"Yes, especially under these circumstances, we must protect them."
Riverland is one of the territories controlled by the King. It would cause the King a lot of trouble if the survivors were left here. One could imagine factions of the aristocracy using this opportunity to stir trouble and weaken the King's influence.
"Please reconsider. We do not know if there are any survivors. We discovered the existence of an invading force. That was the order the King gave priority to. I think we should take our men and quickly retreat to Riverheim. We need to prepare properly to counterattack.
"Not."
"Marshal! It should be clear to you that this is a trap, it cannot be a coincidence. Those brutal acts are meant to attract us. This is clearly a trap."
"I know this devastation was planned to entertain us searching among the ruins for survivors. For that reason we must divide our troops to encompass all possibilities."
"Marshal, knowing this is a trap, you won't intend to continue, right?"
"I will continue."
"Are you serious?! Marshal, I cannot deny that you are very strong, and even if you were to face a unit of the Praetorian Guard, you would definitely win. But the Empire has a Wizard capable of level 7 magic. If that old man is among the ranks of the enemy, it would be dangerous even for you."
Axel listened quietly as the Captain continued to speak intensely
"Not only that Marshal, there are also the four Judges, the pride of the Empire, if there is a Judge among them, I cannot say who would win the battle, but sir, if there is more than one Judge..." Swallowing with difficulty, the captain continued "I don't want to imagine what would happen. Please, I beg of you, let's walk away for now. For the sake of the Kingdom, sacrificing a few villages is not comparable to the loss of your life. "
"I know, but we must, if there are survivors, do you think they would resist the trip to Riverheim?"
The Captain was speechless, because he knew that the possibility of survival was almost nil for the survivors. If they did not send soldiers to protect them and escort them to the safety of the city, they would be killed in a few days.
"... Marshal, your life is the most valuable, it cannot be compared to the lives of the villagers."
Axel fully understood the pain of the Captain's decision, that's why he had let him continue saying such things. But even then, she couldn't agree with him.
"You and I were born commoners."
"Yes, but most soldiers enlist because of their admiration for you, Marshal."
"I remember you were born in a village."
"Yes, I..."
"Life in a village is not easy and people die easily in them. Monster attacks are common, right?
"...Yes."
"Against a monster, even a normal soldier would be in trouble. If there is no money to hire adventurers specialized in facing monsters, the villagers could only wait helplessly for death."
"...Yes."
"So you, finding yourself in a desperate situation and knowing that the nobles won't lift a finger, wouldn't you wish no one would help you? Who would have the strength to do that?"
"... They would be fooling themselves if they thought someone could help them, because no one ever really helps. The aristocracy would never give money to the affected villages. "
"That being the case... Let's show that reality is not like that. I want to help the villagers."
The Captain lost his words after recalling his own experiences.
"Good friend of mine, let us show the villagers what it means to face danger even risking our lives, let us show that the brave will come to the rescue and that it is true that the strong help the weak."
Axel and the Captain looked at each other and shared a number of emotions. The Captain finally relented and replied in a weary and exhausted tone.
"... Then let me go and take the lead of the men. There are many who can replace me, but no one can replace you, Marshal."
"Do not be silly. There is always the possibility that a person with great talent or special ability will emerge; who knows, maybe the following sword of the king could be a child who dreams at this moment of being a knight. Also we are not going to die, but to save the people of the Kingdom."
The Captain wanted to open his mouth several times, but finally decided to keep quiet.
"Choose some soldiers quickly and start the search, the rest will accompany me to the gloomy mountains, our objective is the town of Gelhorn."
The Silhouette wandering over the rocky slope was barely recognizable as a man. Drooling, glassy-eyed, he muttered to himself.He walked stiff-legged like a sleepwalker, and his joints moved like a puppet.His mind was blank. He did not see anything of the landscape that surrounded him, he did not hear the wind, he did not feel the cold or the rain. He knew nothing of the people below the mountain who saw him from a distance.They locked their doors and scared their children with ghost stories in the gloomy mountains.He occasionally he remembered something. Not completely, just loose bits of the past. Sometimes he saw the beautiful smooth bones of those who had followed him, the eye sockets turned toward him with obedience and love.Sometimes he remembered how they chased him, how his eyes widened and his stiff legs tried to walk trying to escape from a dungeon.Most of the time, he knew that he had been betrayed, that everyone was in contr
In the amphitheater Zark was preparing to cast a spell on a scarecrow in a corner.In his arsenal of spells, he possessed all the spells on the Wizard, Sorcerer, and Cleric list; having at his disposal all the schools of magic (Abjuration, Divination, Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation), with such magical ability it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the quantity.As if that weren't enough, even when Zark used a simple low-level magic damage spell, since his class was a full caster, his spell's damage was automatically increased due to other effects that added extra damage. As a result, a simple damage spell did vastly more damage than normal.Zark looked to the side and saw that he was under the scrutiny of Frey and Nyos's curious eyes. His heart felt a little pressure, as he wasn't sure he was living up to his expectations.Zark sighed and looked back at the scarecrow.His eyes were looking at the scarecro
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Other than the scorched earth, nothing else was left standing."Ohhhhh ... so that's the power of 10d6 fire damage" Zark thought.Nyos and Frey looked puzzled and couldn't help but laugh out loud in front of Zark."... Frey, prepare a new scarecrow.""Ah. Yes, I will do it immediately! "Frey advanced holding another scarecrow, and placed it next to the ashes of the previous one.Zark walked in front of the scarecrow, looked at it, and cast a new spell."[Lightning Bolt]"A new magic circle of similar design emerged for this time of a sky blue tone, Immediately after completing the spell I did not activate it, instead it kept waiting, approximately every 6 seconds another magic circle appeared in front of the previous one.He continued to wait until a total of ten magic circles emerged. Suddenly a column of lightning was released heading vertically towards its chosen target wit
With movements fluid like water and light as wind, Nyos unsheathed his rapier and immediately proceeded to take a strange starting posture.Nyos slowly changed his posture. He bent his knees and rests his left hand on the floor of the amphitheater, at the same time that he positioned his weapon in such a way that the point was ready to perform a lunge.Nyos' stance resembled a sprinter's starting position, but he was still standing, so it was slightly similar to the starting stance used in football so it was a bit strange to see him in a match.Nyos stared at his opponent as every muscle in his body tensed.Discerning Nyos's strategy, Frey opted for a more defensive stance, drew his imposing sword of almost two meters, brought it close to his body while keeping the point in the direction of Nyos.He anchored his feet firmly to the ground, tightened his grip on the hilt of his weapon and mentally prepared himself for the dressing of his friend.
Zark was surprised at the combat that happened before his eyes.Although the combat was relatively short, it was full of action.Watching as Frey extended one of his hands to Nyos, they both approached walking; From Zark's point of view, it was surprising that Nyos was able to stand up, though without much thought, he attributed all of this to his new reality."In a world of magic and fantasy everything is possible" was his thought.As he watched as Nyos stumbled closer, another thought arose in his mind."What should I do now?"He should gather clues, although it was not clear to him how this world worked, for the moment Zark was simply an ignorant traveler. He had to exercise caution and gather information very carefully."But how should I do it… ..?"Zark's lonely words echoed through the air.When Frey and Nyos were far enough apart, Zark uttered "truly exciting… the two of them… did really well.
"I'm fine, I'm not thirsty."Nodding in response, Zark picked up the two cups and dispelled the magic that had created them.Suddenly a voice was heard."They seem to be having fun, could I join in?"The one who spoke was a young girl, and the way she spoke was quite mature and polite."My lord, my only ruler, whom I love, who saved me when I was just a little baby, my dear father"She had a short one-piece black dress, which was tight to her body leaving little room for the imagination, extended from her breasts and descended pinkish her skin, the section that extended from the waist had the shape of a mini skirt Overall, this dress from an aesthetic point of view had a smooth and elegant appearance.In the upper part of the torso she had a black long-sleeved blouse which extended to the wrists, the fabric of the blouse was transparent so it gave the appearance of being light and very comfortable, on the back of her blouse, precisely
Although some Dragons are capable of taking on a humanoid form; being in that form, they retain all their abilities from their dragon form, which means that in their humanoid form they possess their racial dragon class.But this does not happen with Ingrid, in her Dragonic form she uses her racial dragon class and in her humanoid form she changes all her levels to a character class (which cannot be changed), in the case of Ingrid in her humanoid form she She is a Necromancer.Indeed, Ingrid is a character with two classes, but these do not affect her maximum character level, since she is not using the multi-class system.Ingrid parted her tender lips, showing her wet, reptilian-like forked tongue. She licked her lips once in a circle. A fragrant smell came from her mouth.Although she was a glamorous beauty and could identify as such, due to her apparent age people couldn't help but smile at the contrast. Her height was not enough, even if she wanted to r
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