Chapter 77: The Road to King (17)

“General!”

“What’s happening?”

“It seems the search party has found the King of Lunan!”

Fran scratched his cheek in the garrison’s commander’s pavilion at the report of his men. The King of Lunan, if he kills the King of Lunan, he’ll be doing exactly what he wants.

Fran was convinced that Erhin had his eye on the throne. So, killing the King of Lunan would give him a good reason. Even so, he couldn’t just find the king and not kill him, because it was the order of the King of Narja to kill the King of Lunan.

“Bang!”

Fran slammed his forehead hard against the table. What does it matter if he wants the throne? It has nothing to do with prestige or cause.

The goal of the upcoming war is to win against Erhin. If they won the war against him, they wouldn’t care about him needing a reason to take the throne.

There was no way he could fight Erhin properly and win if he was still afraid of him. Shame on you Valdesca Fran! He laughed bitterly.

The number of troops mobilized for this great conquest was a whopping 300,000. Of that number, 200,000 were deployed in Lunan.

This was the number of troops that would march on the southern countries as soon as they occupied Lunan. The number of troops in Lunan was not that large. He could only move 50,000 troops at most. It was an overwhelming difference in strength.

There are also the ten warlords who had great strength. If this is not enough, then he will never win.

“Bang!”

Fran smacked his forehead again. He didn’t care about his intentions. He will kill the king of Lunan and destroy Lunan in his own way.

The plan to occupy Aintorian, Erhin’s stronghold, was already perfectly planned. The army that will conquer Lunan will not only consist of the first, second, and third armies that he has led. There was also a trump card in the form of the Fourth Army.

“Capture the King of Lunan.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Having made his decision, Fran eventually arrived at the place where the search party had surrounded the king. Fran nodded, and in an instant, the Guards were massacred. The King of Lunan’s Guards were no match for Fran’s elite army.

The king was quickly escorted out of the carriage and made to kneel on the ground.

“King of Lunan.”

In front of him, Fran looked down at the king with a cold expression.

“Please spare me!”

The king immediately began to beg for his life. He had no pride to begin with.

“I’m going into exile in the Kingdom of Narja. I offer you Lunan. I surrender!”

“That’s not good. His Majesty will allow you to surrender before the battle, but not after. If you had intended to surrender, you should have given up your country before our troops crossed the border. Is that clear?”

”I’ll offer you the whole Lunan now!”

Fran shook his head at the pathetic king. The king was even more foolish than he had been told.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you live. It was a mistake to foolishly escape through the main road.”

“I am King Tutanka of Lunan, a member of the most highly respected royal family on this continent. Don’t make me laugh! I want to meet the King of Narja!”

The King of Lunan offers himself as a prisoner of war in order to stay alive for a while.

“Kuh-hah-hah!”

Fran laughed out loud in front of him.

“I am Valdesca Fran! I am the heir to the Valdesca family. I have never once thought that my Valdesca family was inferior to the Lunans.”

“Va……Valdesca……? You’re a Valdesca? That’s ridiculous…….!”

The King of Lunan shook his head in disbelief. Valdesca was one of the twelve families of the continent. There was absolutely no way that its rank would be lower than his family.

“Can we stop this ugly charade now? Lunan is finished. Therefore, Your Majesty, I think you deserve to meet your end.”

Fran nodded to his subordinate, Lamp, and then Lamp’s sword went for the king’s neck.

“No, no, no…….Save me! Stop! Guaaaah!”

The king went mad to the end, but soon his head flew up into the sky.

“Waaahhhh!”

In front of him, the soldiers shouted in a battle cry. The end of the last king of the Lunan Kingdom, which had been a great power, was as vain as ever.

“I will send the King’s head class to His Majesty. Please prepare to send it to the Herald front line.”

“Yes, sir! General!”

At the same time, the King of Narja, Kashia, was running a campaign of his own. He was more interested in the Herald Kingdom, which bordered on the east with Narja, than in Lunan, because there were rumors that in the Herald Kingdom an S-class warlord like him existed.

So, from the beginning, Lunan was not in Kashia’s sights. Even in the history of the game, Lunan was a land that could be easily obtained.

“All troops march on the vacant Lunan Castle.”

Fran gave the order.

This was the moment when Lunan Castle, with its long history, fell into Fran’s hands.

***

In the morning the battle between Istin and Elheat resumed. Their fight was still the same as yesterday. They were still fighting the same way they did yesterday, as they both wanted to kill each other to achieve their true intentions. However, in the afternoon, the situation suddenly changed. Another army appeared on its way to the barrier. Lucana sighed heavily when he saw the troops.

“Damn it, why is he here……?”

It was the third army, almost as large as the second army led by Istin. And with the appearance of that third army, a crack appeared in the battle between Istin and Erhin. This was because there was a man who intervened in the battle by leading the third army and riding his horse at full speed.

“What are you doing here Istin?”

It was Kediman, the captain of the third army, the fourth in the order of the ten warlords. Kediman shouted and attacked from behind Elheat who was fighting with Istin. At that moment, the balance of the battle was completely destroyed.

Elheat spurted blood from his back and collapsed to his knees from the attack. Istin’s greatsword, which had already been attempting to attack, struck fiercely at Elheat’s neck as his defensive posture collapsed.

“You miserable bastard, you could have taken him out with one shot if you did this. Let’s get this over with and move on!”

Elheat was still bleeding from his back.

“Is this Narja’s one-on-one fight?”

As he shouted this, he thrust out his spear, ready to give up his head. Even if the head flew off, it would break the enemy. With that thought in mind, he swung the spear instead of avoiding the body but at that moment, the movement of the great sword stopped.

Seeing this, Elheat also stopped moving his spear and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

Istin shook his head when he saw Elheat standing up without wobbling on his feet with a fatal wound in his back. He then glared at Kediman with a deadly glare and stepped back.

“I’ll be your opponent!”

Kediman swung his sword at Elheat. The battle between Kediman and Elheat had begun. And from behind them, Kediman’s troops charged. They had no intention of watching the confrontation like Istin.

“Retreat, sir? Wait a minute, sir! Captain!”

Istin’s troops retreated. Of course, it didn’t mean that they withdrew. In any case, it was true that Istin’s troops would also have to cross the barrier and join up with Fran.

Istin, however, had no intention of sympathizing with Kediman. He wanted to kill him just for interfering with his one-on-one battle, but he couldn’t turn on an ally in the middle of a war. If it had been a subordinate, he could have executed him for defying the law, but since it was an equal he couldn’t do so.

Istin’s body trembled as he tried to control his anger. He was a man like himself so he wanted to kill him with his own hands. And that savage Kediman had taken it away from him.

Lucana could not say anything when he saw him. He was just relieved that he was not the one who had intervened in this fight.

If Istin had been at a disadvantage, he would have intervened then. Then, his anger would have been directed directly at himself. When he thought about it, he felt rather grateful for Kediman’s presence. Of course, he didn’t like Kediman much either, because he thought he was a savage.

Elheat had to fight Kediman, and Kediman’s soldiers charged the barrier at once. It was too much for him to take on Kediman, since he was badly injured in the back and couldn’t use his full power.

“Protect His Excellency!”

Elheat’s vassals shouted as they dealt with the Narja soldiers pouring over the barrier. His arms and legs got more and more injured the more he fought and in the end Elheat drove his spear into the ground.

“You’re giving up? I’m surprised that such a person is the best warlord in Lunan.”

Kediman sneered at Elheat as he sidestepped Istin’s prey like a hyena. At that moment, Elheat’s vassals broke the siege and jumped down in front of Elheat.

“Sir! We’ll take care of the rest! Your Excellency, please go up to the barrier, treat your injuries, and protect Lunan. We’ll buy you some time!”

“I’m not going to abandon you guys just to save myself. You guys have to go up to the barrier first, not me. I’ve already been badly injured. I gave up my life a long time ago.”

Elheat activated the skill [Demon Spear] with the last of his strength while bleeding from all over his body. Kediman, who had been looking at him, started laughing.

“Interesting, I didn’t know there were guys like Istin in Lunan.”

“My Lord!”

At that moment, two men, vassals of Elheat, leaped in front of Kediman. They were no match for him, of course, but they were able to block one of his attacks.

“Are you going to let us die in vain? I’ll buy you some time so you can get to the top of the walls! You’re the kind of power Lunan needs right now!”

Seeing this, Elheat stood up again. He brought his spear back up and glared at Kediman with a look that said he would never let this go. The rest of Elheat’s vassals looked at each other. If they hid it any longer, their Lord would be dead. They nodded at each other and shouted at Elheat.

“Forgive me, my lord! I’ve actually been hiding something from you. His Majesty has……already abandoned Lunan Castle. It is said that he turned away from the people and fled Lunan Castle first. It seems that His Highness Ronen also abandoned Lunan Castle without waiting for……Your Excellency. There are no soldiers fighting in Lunan Castle…….The castle is empty. Therefore, please leave it to us and retreat!”

The vassals had said this because they wanted Elheat to live. These words instantly quenched the zest that had been burning in Elheat.

“Is that true?!”

Elheat sat up as he spat out blood, his body shaking with anger.

How could he escape so easily? He had served Ronen because he was the only person in the kingdom who made an effort to protect Lunan. He was disappointed about the slavers, but he did not feel betrayed.

But this time it was different.

“Kuh-hah! That’s what your king is like! You realize that now, don’t you? Meaningless loyalty. Well, it’s a fitting end for a creepy bug. Lunan Castle has already fallen into the hands of our general! Just shut up and die, I hate boring people.”

The moment Kediman’s sword finally pierced Elheat’s chest. At that moment, Elheat grabbed the sword that had pierced his chest with his bare hand and glared at Kediman. Suddenly, a large number of arrows began to pour down from the sky towards Kediman’s troops.

“What?”

Kediman’s troops, made up of infantry, looked to the rear in surprise at the surprise attack. At the top of the barrier, Elheat’s soldiers rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

“Ah, that’s……!”

One of Elheat’s soldiers pointed in surprise. There, in blue military uniforms, inscribed with the Aintorian crest! With the momentum of trampling Kediman’s troops, the Blue Iron Cavalry, rode off towards the battlefield.