Ximengsi Continent’s southern region, outside Steinbeck Fief, Peacock Forest Area, the place where Cromwell Principality’s expeditionary army was stationed
Because the supply center was on fire, the frontline was thrown into chaos. In addition, the over 20,000 mercenaries defending Evan Fort were frightened by tens of thousands of undead who had disguised themselves as an armed force, making the battle-hardened veterans choose to retreat. When they withdrew, the fort next door lost the chance to engage in mutual support.
Cromwell Principality’s Commander Eric had just woken up due to the outside noise. He then walked out with a large group of dead-drunk high-ranking military officers. After walking outside the commander tent and taking stock of the scene, he saw that soaring blue flame behind the field of tents from a cursory glance. He paused before realizing that location was where the supply center was. Eric’s complexion suddenly became very unsightly. No matter how mediocre he was, even he knew that once the supply center was burned, he would have already lost the majority of the war.
“What’s going on? What’s Jenny doing? How come that fire still hasn’t been extinguished? Those mercenaries, quickly send them out!”
“Your Excellency Eric, the rear area is cursed. Faint blue flames have ignited our army provisions’ supply center. Those mercenaries have already begun to withdraw, saying the opposite camp has over 100,000 troops, and they have nothing to do with the matters present here.”
“What 100,000 troops! Steinbeck Fief has only 5,000 or so people. Those lowly mercenaries are thinking of taking advantage of the occasion to drive up the price!”
After Eric saw those faint blue flame soaring in the distance, he also felt that something was strange and wished to have more support. Regardless of a curse or not, the most important thing for him now was to retain those 50,000 troops in his hands. If these troops suffered heavy losses, then when he returned, he certainly wouldn’t be able to report to Duke Krend about any trace of success in his task. As for those mercenaries, those over 20,000 people of the various mercenary groups weren’t even within his considerations. Even if all of them perished here, simply compensating the Mercenary Guild would be enough.
As for the over 30,000 rear-service personnel in the rear area, Eric similarly didn’t intend to aid them in any way. The rear-service personnel couldn’t be considered as part of the regular army, and their positions were similar to that of mercenaries, and it didn’t matter if all of them were lost. As for Miss Jenny, they were not biologically related brother since they were born of the same father but a different mother. In addition, Eric didn’t like this younger sister who threatened his superiority; therefore, he decided not to care about Jenny.
One year ago, Jenny’s action of forcing Princess Natalie to withdraw her troops had truly stolen the limelight. For a moment, it had overshadowed the other young masters and misses. On the surface, Eric had said nothing, but in fact, he had already hidden many thoughts in his heart. This time, taking advantage of the occasion to kill her by proxy seemed to have no issues and would allow him to escape any punishment. Thinking this, Eric immediately transmitted his orders.
“Seal off all of Grey Fort’s entrances and exits, guard them tightly until the daytime. Now, we cannot see clearly the situation inside. Regardless of who approaches the fort, shoot without exceptions.”
“Your Excellency Eric, like this… Isn’t Miss Jenny still outside?”
“Does what I say count here or what Jenny says? I am the commander-in-chief! All other opinions can wait until daytime.”
Eric rudely refused the other high-ranking military officers’ suggestions. He ordered to seal off the entire Grey Fort and hold their positions until tomorrow to make better plans. Because all moonlight and starlight was covered by a dark mist, the night visibility was very low, so even retreating was unwise here. If the opponents pursued them and attacked, then they would suffer heavy casualties. Holding fast without going to battle was a sensible alternative even if somewhat heartless, nothing more. Through these actions, it could be determined that Eric had given up Jenny and those over 30,000 rear-service personnel. As for the mercenary groups, he hadn’t even considered them.
Evan Fortress’s over 20,000 mercenaries weren’t as lucky as Grey Fort’s troops. If they weren’t flurried and properly defended Grey Fort, as long as they persisted until dawn, it would all be fine. However, the few commanders of the mercenary groups, each did things in their own way. Other than running away, they didn’t have other unanimous opinions. They were all afraid of the others trapping them; thus, Evan Fort was directly discarded.
“Eric, that fellow seems to have some strategy. Unfortunately, you all will not be able to hold on till the dawn.”
Clyde appeared on the outskirts of Great Fort beneath the cover of the night. After seeing the firm fence of Grey Fort, he praised Eric’s intellect. In the next moment, a black energy ball gathered in Clyde’s palm. In this dark night, this black energy ball was practically invisible.
Clyde gently flicked the black energy ball towards the entrance gate of Grey Fort. With a burst of light, a big explosion occurred at Grey Fort’s entrance gate. The black energy ball blasted a hole in the big entrance gate. After the explosion, the mercenaries who had originally been fleeing all around in confusion because they were unable to find the correct path in the middle of the night crazily flocked towards Grey Fort regardless of anything else after seeing the light since they knew sticking to the larger army was their best hope for survival.
“Stop, this place is restricted for you lot to enter. Scram back to where you came from.”
“We are friendly forces. Don’t attack!”
“Fart, friends! This father will attack you so-called friendly forces, or else, scram!”
“Where’s my sword? Humiliating this father?”
The regular army of Cromwell Principality looked down on those mercenaries, and at this time, the contradictions only intensified. Both sides directly entered a chaotic battle at the broken entrance gate of the fort. The mercenaries grouped together upon being collectively humiliated. Soon, a large number of mercenaries rushed over and supported the mercenaries who had initially began the conflict. Cromwell Principality’s troops were also unwilling to be outdone, so they concentrated their troops here to suppress the riots. The entrance gate area of Grey Fort suddenly turned into a battlefield with glints and flashes of daggers and swords.
As for the backstage manipulator of this chaos, he didn’t pay any attention to the matters of this entrance gate. He changed his direction and quietly entered Grey Fort from the side entrance since everyone’s attentions were diverted by the loud battle on the other side. No one took notice of Clyde, this infiltrator. Clyde carefully concealed his traces all along the way and finally found Eric’s commander tent.
Before arriving at the commander tent, Clyde had in passing dealt with a mercenary and snatched his armband. Outside the commander tent, Clyde put that mercenary’s armband on his right hand before donning a grey cloak and using a cotton cloth to block half of his face. After disguising himself, Clyde openly entered the commander tent.
“What’s going on? Those mercenaries actually dared to rise in rebellion… Kill them all. Those who dared to enter the fort; don’t let even one off.”
“Your Excellency Eric, we can make space…”
“Shut up, those petty and low mercenaries are not worthy of this fort made for our noble troops. There should be no magicians among them. How exactly did those peasants blast our fort’s entrance gate?”
In the commander tent, Eric grumbled to high-ranking military officers under his command. That golden short-haired youth, although his attractiveness index was not bad, appeared extremely frivolous. He basically didn’t hear any suggestions from his subordinates. Those senior military officers most likely knew that Eric would turn a deaf ear to their advice and would simply act arbitrarily, much like his father Duke Krend; thus, they only symbolically suggested a few sentences and shut up. Surviving was more important than loyalty.
At that time, screams came from outside the door. Those several soldiers guarding the door were quickly killed by Clyde. He had cut them in two with a few swings of his sword. Clyde didn’t use any magic, he simply used a heavy sword to cut through his obstacles like a true warrior. Relying on his superior physical strength, the heavy sword that originally had to be carried with two hands was easily hefted in one. The weapon he now used was the same heavy sword that Princess Natalie had used to use when she had still been a berserker swordswoman.
“How did a mercenary run over here? Guards!”
Facing Clyde who had intruded here all by himself, the senior military officers were flustered. These high-ranking military officers under Eric’s command weren’t courageous. The combat powers of most of them were on the same level as that of a mediocre soldier, basically not presentable considering their ranks. Clyde quickly rushed over and instantly killed three senior military officers who blocked his way. Upon seeing this, the other military officers were so scared that they scattered in all directions and gave way to Clyde.
“You all! These good-for-nothings, quickly stop him for me!”
Eric pulled out a saber, but looking at his fleeing subordinates, he couldn’t help but lack in confidence. Although he had martial skills, Clyde had gotten rid of three senior military officers in a second. His combat power was clearly above his. Clyde didn’t prepare for the prince’s attack and simply walked straight towards Eric. Eric used all his strength and stabbed, aiming at Clyde’s heart.
Clyde didn’t act, and Eric was secretly delighted, thinking the other party had just gotten lucky a moment ago and that his true combat power was actually not much. Mentally patting himself on the back for daring to challenge this fake warrior, his sword plunged forward. However, in the next second, he was dumbfounded. That high-grade saber forged with essence iron, when it was not far away from stabbing Clyde’s chest, seemed to have been stuck into an air wall. No matter how much he exerted himself, the saber didn’t move at all. At that time, Clyde raised the huge sword in his hand.
“How can this be? You… Wait, we can properly discuss a price! I, however…”
Clyde didn’t feel like speaking nonsense. His hand swung down, directly killing Eric before the commander seat. Eric was cleaved into two, and his red blood splashed all about on the spot. The commander tent was dyed red. Those senior military officers on the scene were thoroughly frightened. Like they had gone mad, they ran outside the tent. Not to mention avenging Eric, they just wanted to save their own lives now, nothing more. Normally, they would be worried about returning to their nation, but this was a special case.
Eric was not the only son of Duke Krend. If he died, there were still quite a few more who could take his position. It was not worthwhile to put their lives on the line to avenge him. In the blink of an eye, only Clyde was left in the command tent. The situation outside the command tent was still chaotic. The chaotic battle between mercenaries and Cromwell Principality’s troops was still ongoing. Before, stopping this battle would have been possible, but with the death of Eric, it was basically impossible for peaceful negotiation between these two parties.
“Sure enough, I still overestimated this fellow.”
Clyde sighed and began to ransack the command tent to see whether there was anything valuable. Previously, Bishop Nichols had swept away tens of thousands of gold coins from him, not finding a place to recoup that loss would be no good. After killing the commander, Clyde was the only one who would still dare to arrogantly plunder spoils of war from the other party’s command tent. He was confident that those senior military officers wouldn’t dare to come for revenge. That was indeed the case. Until Clyde completely looted the place, not a single senior military officer returned. He didn’t even see a single soldier. The other side was already so scared that they didn’t even dare to pretend to put up a front against him.
However, that fellow Eric still had some valuable things. Clyde found many pure gold ornaments. He estimated that he could sell them for money, so it was better than nothing.
