Episode 194 Crisis of the Empire (3)
“Aww…!”
He healed the wound on his thigh.
Fortunately, the wound is not deep.
At this level, it seemed that it would be okay to continue the battle.
As Gregory gripped his sword again and tried to slash at Lilith, a loud voice rang out from one end.
“stop!”
His voice filled with mana stopped the chaotic battlefield.
Lilith tried to shake her hand, then turned her gaze to where the sound came from.
Standing there was a young man who had previously climbed their mountain range and made a bold request.
Ray looked around and stuck out his tongue.
The imperial castle, which had been in good shape until just a moment ago, had collapsed devastatedly, and the remains were burning and emitting thick smoke.
The beautiful garden is all burned down, and all that remains is ashes.
He asked Lilith, who was standing in awe, as if not understanding why.
“Have you not signed a contract? You mean you’re going to break the contract?”
She, who knew how to make excuses for something, smiled viciously.
“Digira… well? As far as I know, you humans were the first to abandon the contract.”
It wasn’t just Ray who was taken aback by her words.
The knights of the Empire who were listening to the conversation between the two frowned.
“What are you talking about! I swear we were not ordered to attack you! Stop making silly excuses!”
At their fierce protest, Lilith shook her head slowly.
“Blood only washes away with blood. The guilt of taking the lives of my fellow countrymen and killing their children is not light.”
When she sent a war doctor, Ray hurriedly stopped him.
“Calm down and wait a minute. The empire broke the contract first? Are you sure of that?”
“Otherwise, who has a group that can secretly attack us right behind the imperial castle? Looking at what went unnoticed by us, it seems that there were a small number of them, and since they were mainly 4th circle magic, they are quite high circle wizards. I have never heard of a group of humans who can gather such mages in my life.”
“…”
Ray couldn’t open his words.
Her words were clear.
No matter who thinks, it is certain that the empire is the culprit.
It would have been great if a giant organization called Proxia had been alive, but now that his hands have been completely shattered, the only organization that can do such a thing is the Empire.
However, if that happens, the current situation becomes quite strange.
Apparently, he handed over the contract written with the Wyvern Lord’s mana to the emperor.
No matter how much you think about it, there is absolutely no reason for the empire to attack the wyverns unless the emperor has dirt in his eyes or is not crazy.
‘I think there’s something I don’t know…’
While he was thinking deeply, even the knights of the empire were surprised to hear her story.
They wondered if His Majesty the Emperor had ordered them to attack the Wyvern Mountains without their knowledge.
But if that had happened, there was no way it wouldn’t have reached Gregory’s ears.
No matter what anyone says, he is the sword master of the empire and he has a good relationship with the emperor.
Of course, all of that has nothing to do with the Wyverns.
The Wyverns were attacked and the culprit was concluded as the Empire.
Because of this, he only wants to avenge the empire with blood.
There was no room for him to intervene in that straightforward process.
* * *
The emperor, who took refuge in the mysterious explosion, broke the handle of the chair sitting on the messenger’s horse.
Kwaaang-!
“What! Are you saying that now!”
In response to the Emperor’s wrath, the messenger could only tremble and continue talking.
“The wyverns I just mentioned are attacking the imperial castle.”
“I never gave an order to attack the Wyvern Mountains!”
“Ha-hana Wyverns are claiming to have been attacked. The Imperial Guard Knights, the 1st Knights, and more than a dozen other magic corps are deployed to form an equal number, but it seems that it will reach its limit after a while.”
At those absurd words, the emperor collapsed into his seat.
“Huh… How could this happen…”
Since the castle was destroyed from the inside, there is no jaw to fight properly.
I had to come up with a strategy, whether it was a defense or a surprise attack, but there was no way to do anything because they were blindly destroying the imperial castle.
The emperor could not understand the sudden attack of the wyverns.
Contracts made of mana cannot be violated carelessly.
If that happens, it is because it can be rejected from the mana that makes up the atmosphere.
At the time when the Wyverns who made the contract attacked the Empire, it means that they did not violate the contract.
If so, it would mean that Lessian really attacked the Wyverns, but since he had never given such an order, he was on the verge of going crazy.
However, he did not earn his reputation as an iron-blooded monarch in the battle.
There is no physical evidence, but there are some if it is psychological.
‘The Central Nobles are held by me. Then, did the local nobles even form an alliance? no no no No matter how united they are, there will be insufficient military funds to create a strike force comparable to the imperial power.’
Of course.
It is true that the central nobility is wealthier than the provincial nobility.
No matter how much they unite and form a coalition, how can they think of building an army when it would be difficult to fund the military.
It was not an ordinary unit, but a small elite strike force.
The thought went on and on and on and on.
After thinking about it for a moment, the emperor muttered, frowning slightly.
“Are you using the imperial family?”
It makes sense if you think that he used the imperial family.
Just as the central aristocracy has a lot of money, the imperial family also has a lot of money.
What if someone in the imperial family still stole it bit by bit?
If so, there will be enough funds to pay for the military.
If the funds of the local nobles were gathered to some extent, it would be possible to create a small elite strike force.
The emperor hurriedly rose from his seat.
“Let the prince and princess gather in Daejeon right now! And call the saint as soon as possible! Not much time has passed, so you probably haven’t left the border yet!”
The messenger immediately lowered his head at the emperor’s urgent order, which he had never heard before.
“All right!”
“Tell them that this is an official request from the Empire!”
At the end of his words, the messenger rushed out with great speed.
Left alone in the great battle, the emperor’s cheeks trembled.
“How dare you do something like this… Foolish bastards who don’t even know they’re tightening their leash!”
He couldn’t hold back his anger and filled the throne with mana.
Kwaaang-!
The handle broke again.
It seems that the empire will have to fix not only the castle but also the throne when everything is over.
* * *
Rey nodded at Lilith’s request not to interfere.
Even if he thought, she did enough.
Not only did he agree to not touch humans, but he even made a contract with his own mana.
The one who broke it first was the Empire, not her.
If you look at how Hwangseong is being destroyed like this now, it seems like cause and effect.
That doesn’t mean I stopped thinking about the grotesqueness of the current situation and the menace of this affair.
‘…Things are going strangely.’
The questions continued to bite their tails.
Who the hell would have attacked the Wyverns for what benefit?
To put it simply, whoever benefits from this will be the culprit.
If you think about everything one by one, the opponent who meets the conditions will be caught.
Ray was looking at them all at once.
Those who benefited more than expected came out simply.
‘This prince and the third prince.’
In the case of a prince, there was no need to do such a thing because the succession level was high anyway.
However, those two are figures who can plan a rebellion if the empire is ruined by the attack of the Wyverns.
Since the succession rank is relatively lower than that of the first prince, there are two that become disadvantageous over time.
If Prince Oh had been alive, he might have kept an eye on each other and kept things in check.
In order to reverse it, it was necessary to take the risk.
Perhaps that led to the attack on the Wyvern Mountains.
There was no way to know what the empire’s finances and military situation were like, but he probably used them by conciliating nobles for a long time.
It is not easy to build a small elite army.
Only a handful of elites are trying to save only one unit after decades of hard work.
As much as that, the effect is amazing, so you can do big things like now.
No matter what the process was, it was certain that the empire was in chaos, so it couldn’t be said that there was no harvest.
The knights of the Imperial Army and the Magic Corps battled the Wyverns in the imperial castle.
Kwaaaang-!
Blood-!
As invisible blades of wind and countless chunks of ice poured down from the sky, Wyverns could not just fly in the sky.
However, it cannot be rushed down to the ground.
There, the knights of the empire were aiming their swords with their eyes open.
At first glance, the Wyverns were being pushed back, but Lilith was by their side.
With one wave of her hand, all magic was swept away without holding its form.
The magic was forcibly scattered with overflowing mana.
Seeing this, Ray restrained the mana of everyone except Lilith.
“Hold.”
Stop-
A single word stopped the movement of countless soldiers in an instant.
Gregory was appalled by the majesty of a saint who could make his body stop without a single gesture.
‘Is this the current saint?’
It was the same when they held the heart of the dragon they had seen in the past, but now they were literally holding their lives in one hand.
It would be more correct to say that he is already a one-man army.
Lilith looked at Ray with a puzzled expression.
“Are you helping me?”
“no. There is something suspicious about it, so I want to point it out.”
She objected to his words.
“It doesn’t matter who the culprit is. It may look different to humans, but we all look the same whether we are members of the Empire or not.”
“Oh who said what? It doesn’t matter if you attack the empire or the kingdom. From what I can see, the victim is on your side. But… what I want to say is that the current situation is too contrived.”
“…”
She didn’t say anything as if her understanding matched.
Rey, who was encouraged by that, continued talking.
“If you look at the current situation where you get beaten up in a tough place and take out your anger somewhere else, the evil beast will have a lot of fun, right? It’s because you’ve been hurt by a human you think is a lower intelligence.”
He said it indifferently, but the Wyverns’ pride was considerably damaged by it.
Lilith said while frowning her sweet army.
“Then what do you mean? You mean to catch the beast and lead it to us? Are you all human beings?”
At her sarcastic words, Ray grinned as if he had waited.
“huh. I will hand over every single one of them.”
