The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 251 – Warriors of the North (3)

Bekelt could not understand what Anya was talking about.

However, he felt a shiver down his spine when he heard what she said. Emotions such as countless regrets, contemplation, and anguish he thought that he had long forgotten surged inside of him like a tide.

However, Bekelt quickly shook off his lingering feelings when Urkel swung his sword.

“Don’t even think about it!”

What happened in Arbalde was shocking, and the Order of Lindwurm and Gerard had to spend years trying to get over what had happened to stand up again no matter what.

“You know nothing! We lived and suffered all these years to reflect on what we have done, and we eventually overcame the suffering!” Bekelt shouted.

“Reflect?”

A strange voice echoed right next to him. One of Urkel’s skull heads had spoken right under Bekelt’s nose.

“If you have reflected, then your head…!” a skull head shouted, and the remaining skull heads attached to Urkel frantically shouted, “Give me your head! Head, head, and head! Give me your head!”

***

There was a rare phenomenon in which individuals would sometimes get into the flow and start looking at everything around them objectively. It was a very rare phenomenon, but Pavan would always experience it whenever he was hyper-focused on something.

The noises sounded distant, and he felt like he had a bird’s eye view of the battlefield.

In accordance with his thoughts, his subordinates moved as if they were his limbs. They moved to fill in the gaps, take advantage of enemy weaknesses, and alternate between attack and defense.

In other words, they were incessantly moving throughout the battlefield.

The troops’ movement seemed haphazard, but they were actually moving together.

The entire army was now a saw blade that constantly whittled the enemy forces down.

Pavan was currently in the flow, and his subordinates seemed to be in the same state as him. Pavan would perform a simple hand gesture, and the entire army would move accurately, even though Pavan hadn’t given them any specific instructions.

‘Strong resistance to the right… casualties around twelve to thirteen people. Send three knights to subdue the enemies. Incapacitated soldiers from the Capital Eleventh Division are expected to increase in thirty seconds…’

’The Fourteenth Division—back out to the rear and close the gap as you retreat. The Eighth Division—continue pushing from the third quadrant of the left flank—push a bit further until they’re a bit closer to the fire, which will make them start panicking.’

Pavan didn’t even speak to pass down his orders because Deputy Kilt instantly understood what he was trying to do, and he spread Pavan’s orders to the troops.

The Order of the Capital was already moving before they even received Pavan’s orders, but it wasn’t really strange because they had been working with Pavan for a long time now.

Right now, the knights of the Order of the Capital were moving like Pavan’s limbs.

Pavan was invigorated by his current state, as it was every commander’s dream. However, he was also a bit afraid. After all, he was currently fighting with all his might with his life at stake.

He couldn’t help but think that he might never get to command on a battlefield like this again.

‘Well, it’s a battle for the history books, anyway.’

Pavan thought that protecting humankind by preventing the destruction of the world was an achievement worthy of comparison to the emperor’s achievement.

With that thought in mind, Pavan came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t regret anything even if he were to go all out, so Pavan decided to spread his troops out even more.

All of a sudden, Pavan felt a tingling sensation. Pavan turned and managed to dodge an arrow that had come from somewhere in the front line by a hair’s breadth. However, the tingling sensation was still there.

This time, it was coming from multiple directions.

A dagger swiped at Pavan’s neck, and without caring for his image, Pavan threw himself to the ground. It was an attack that Pavan couldn’t have avoided if it weren’t for his sharp senses today.

The attacker stared at Pavan with surprised eyes.

“Wow, Captain of the Order of the Capital. I heard you were good, but I didn’t expect that you would be able to dodge my attack, even though I’m wearing this robe,” said an assassin with a look of dismay.

Pavan stood up and took on a stance.

He instantly recognized the face beneath the hood of the assassin.

“Igel Ilde?”

The surrounding knights finally discovered Igel, and they quickly moved to surround him. However, an arrow flew and disrupted the knight’s encirclement. Pavan realized that the archer was the source of the tingling sensation that he could still feel even now.

“Your sister must be the archer.” Pavan pointed out.

“I thought at least one of us could finish you off for good.” Igel shrugged.

Pavan knew about the Ilde siblings, and he had heard that they had been helping the Ilde Family with merchant work rather than being affiliated with a group. Pavan had also heard from Ivy that the siblings were Aruntal, but he didn’t expect to stumble upon them on this battlefield.

Pavan kept his eye on Igel rather than on Ioshiff. Aruntal’s robe allowed the wearer to become invisible, but its effect was now meaningless because Igel had already revealed himself.

However, it seemed that Igel himself didn’t want to rely on the robe as well. Of course, there had to be a reason behind it.

“You must be looking down on me. You’ll have to bring at least Lenly if you want to fight me,” Pavan said.

Igel’s expression changed ever so slightly at the mention of Lenly.

Naturally, Pavan didn’t miss that opportunity.

“The Captain of the Imperial Guards should stand by His Majesty to protect him, don’t you think?”

“You must be joking.”

Pavan knew that there were monsters and men stronger than Lenly based on the powerful energy that he could feel in the distance.

Therefore, it didn’t make sense that Lenly would be the one acting as Gerard’s bodyguard. It was also questionable whether Gerard even needed protection when he was arguably an absolute being.

“I don’t know what your plan is, but just two kids won’t be able to turn the situation around. Furthermore, I am currently in the flow. While I’m in this state, it is very hard for me to lose.”

Pavan’s strategic sense even allowed him to create presumptions on who would win or lose, and he had predicted that the Imperial Army would win at this rate, even if the Imperial Army would suffer some damage in the process.

Igel frowned at Pavan’s words, but he didn’t deny them.

All of a sudden, Pavan’s sensitive intuition was triggered once again.

Pavan deflected the dagger flying toward him and kicked Ioshiff away in the torso.

Ioshiff flew backward and staggered up while holding her side.

“It is meaningless to fool around like this is,” Pavan said.

“You seem to have improved. You’ve shown prowess that is drastically stronger than what we remember,” Ioshiff grumbled.

Pavan smirked. “I must admit—it was a bit of a struggle.”

“But…” Igel took on a stance with a sword. “You still haven’t changed. It seems that you still aren’t good at grasping the situation because you still haven’t realized that it is us who will emerge victorious.”

Pavan was about to scoff at Igel.

However, a roar erupted from where the Crack was located.

Everyone turned toward the Crack.

The indistinct figure of something massive covered in the purple mist of the Crack slowly rose. Only the figure’s silhouette could be seen, but Pavan could tell that it was as huge as the giant tentacles that engulfed Juan.

Tentacles of such size appeared in quick succession, and their appearance shook the mountain ranges as they danced, seemingly in an attempt to split the sky itself into two.

However, that wasn’t the end of it.

There was something else wriggling in the Crack. It emitted an energy that was so enormous that it made the massive tentacles look trivial in comparison.

It wriggled, seemingly preparing to move away as if the Crack that had covered the horizon was too small to house it. The tentacles that engulfed Juan seemed nothing more than strands of hair in comparison to that monstrosity.

“What the…”

A tentacle flew at Entalucia. Entalucia dodged by a hair’s breadth, and she frantically flew even higher. The tentacle missed, but the wind it carried with it made Entalucia stagger in the air as if she were a fly.

Meanwhile, Pavan felt that the pressure had become even heavier as the enemies grew even more numerous.

Pavan’s strategic sense was still active, and he was still in the flow as well. Therefore, he could feel from his tingling skin that their chances of winning were plummeting.

It wasn’t really strange because the number of enemies was quickly growing to the extent that the Northern Army would inevitably find themselves unable to deal with the overwhelming numbers.

Honestly, Pavan reckoned that even the entire Imperial Army wouldn’t be able to deal with so many enemies.

***

“Entalucia, drop me off!”

[How preposterous, Haild. That beast wouldth crush thee like an ant!]

Entalucia was an ancient being, but even throughout her long life, it was her first time seeing such a monstrosity.

Entalucia decided to run away from the battlefield, and she couldn’t really be blamed because the tentacle attack from earlier filled her with a heavy sense of dread. She felt like the tentacles were capable of swatting her like a fly.

In the end, she had no choice but to escape—afraid for Haild’s life.

“I have to help them! That’s the least I can do! At this rate, everyone is going to die!”

Haild had a bird’s eye view of the entire battlefield. In just ten minutes, he saw multitudes of monsters crawling out of the Crack, and their sheer numbers threatened to flood the allied troops.

Haild could also see that it was just a matter of time before the overwhelming number of enemies crushed everyone to death.

“Entalucia, please…!”

Entalucia gnashed her teeth and refused to answer Haild.

Haild had yet to recover, so dropping him off meant killing him. Haild wasn’t only her friend, but he was also the son of her benefactor. Even if it meant that Haild would resent her for life, she still couldn’t let Haild die.

Haild was frustrated—he was frustrated, and he tried his best to think of a way to help everyone rather than just watch as the monsters rushed toward everyone like a deluge.

Only one person came to his mind, and that person was the only one who could help everyone.

‘Just where are you right now, Your Majesty?’

***

Pavan tried his best to command the soldiers while fending off Igel and Ioshiff’s attacks.

The knights of the Order of the Capital tried to help him, but they had no choice but to retreat when Pavan shouted at them to kill the monsters instead of helping him.

Honestly, it wasn’t too difficult for Pavan to hold out against Igel and Ioshiff, but Pavan was concerned about the rapid increase in his army’s casualty rate.

In addition, they would eventually end up as monster feed if the rate of monsters coming out of the Crack wasn’t abated.

Unfortunately, the chances of that happening were low, and Pavan could also feel that he only had a handful of troops left compared to the multitude of monsters in front of them.

At this point, Pavan could already see his defeat.

‘I’m going to lose? Against such trivial beings…?’

The thought was so ridiculous that Pavan gnashed his teeth. He believed that he had become a greater man than before, and he was also confident that he could climb greater heights.

If he couldn’t achieve those, then he was hoping that he would die a glorious death, at the very least. Pavan thought that he wouldn’t have any regrets if he died at the hands of Gerard Gain.

“Do you really think that I’m going to let myself be killed by your hands?!”

Pavan slashed Igel and Ioshiff’s swords. The two were dumbfounded to see that their weapons had split into two after Pavan’s powerful strike. However, they quickly composed themselves and picked up a weapon from the ground.

Pavan’s breathing started to get rough as his mind worked overdrive in an effort to find a way that would resolve the ongoing crisis.

‘Everything looks hopeless, but I’m sure there is a way. There is no way that someone with a good eye like His Majesty would have made the mistake of pushing such a great talent like me to a vain death.’

Pavan was approaching the limits of his physical body, but the cogs in his mind still tirelessly worked to find a way out of this situation.

Igel and Ioshiff exchanged glances when they saw Pavan standing around doing nothing. They thought that Pavan was trying to lure them into attacking, but the openings were simply too many that there was no way this could be bait.

Without a word, Igel and Ioshiff simultaneously charged at Pavan.

***

Entalucia’s eyes flashed.

The Northern Army was currently surrounded by a multitude of monsters. To be exact, they were falling apart into small pieces as if the army was a tiny boat on a tumultuous ocean.

Entalucia initially thought that there was no hope, but she suddenly felt something unusual. On the battlefield of despair, something seemed to be going against the flow.

Entalucia was ignorant of human strategies, but her instincts were crying out at her. She was looking down at the battlefield from above, and she saw a lighthouse shining vividly amidst the darkness of the battlefield.

And the lighthouse was calling for her...

Entalucia spread her wings and answered the call.

Haild had no idea what was going on, so he blankly stared at Entalucia flying toward the battlefield without warning. While staring at Entalucia, Haild seemed to have briefly clapped his eyes on an orangey hue in Entalucia’s eyes.

***

While Igel and Ioshiff were mid-charge toward Pavan, a gust of wind suddenly swept across the battlefield.

The gust of wind was so strong that the soldiers staggered, while the ones who got caught off guard were thrown to the floor. The source of the wind was Entalucia; she was currently flying at a low altitude, close to the battlefield.

The twin siblings were also thrown aside.

When the wind swept past Pavan, his eyes burned brightly in orange, and their previous dark blue color could no longer be seen. Pavan’s fiery eyes now resembled the color of melting iron.

Igel and Ioshiff froze when they met Pavan’s gaze. They flinched at the thought that they had given Pavan an opportunity to attack them, but they couldn’t have expected his next course of action.

Pavan turned his back on them and ran away.

Igel was dumbfounded. “What the heck?”

While he was running, Pavan thought that he was out of his mind. He didn’t really run away because it was part of his strategy; rather, it was a decision that was spurred by his instincts.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it.

However, he couldn’t help it. He was sober, but the flow of the battlefield, the strange energy, and even his instincts were crying out at Pavan.

In the end, Pavan shouted at the top of his lungs. “Everyone! Immediately join the left flank!”