He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 45

“Hold! Hold with your shields!”

“Thrust your spears through the gaps in the shields!”

“Unleash the ballistae!”

“Enemy cavalry approaching from the flanks!”

The battlefield was a chaotic clash between the Imperial Army and the Karstein forces.

Both sides were evenly matched.

However, both Guard Captain Ulfman and General Gordon, leading their respective armies, found the current state of the war unexpected.

“Strange, shouldn’t they have completed the ambush and joined us by now?”

The Guard Captain had planned to ambush and destroy the enemy’s detachments, then crush their main force.

But he couldn’t understand why Jack’s troops, who had been ordered to set up the ambush, were late.

“What happened to Robert? Why hasn’t he joined us yet?”

Similarly, General Gordon couldn’t understand why Robert’s monster unit, which he had secretly ordered to stand by, was late.

If there hadn’t been an ambush by the Imperial Army, they should have arrived already, and even if there had been an ambush, news should have reached him by now.

“I don’t know the reason, but as it stands, we have no choice but to push through! For the Empire! Charge!”

“Fight back, soldiers! Do not yield to the Emperor’s oppression!”

Both sides had employed similar tactics but were unaware of whether their plans had succeeded.

In that situation, the best they could do was to gain the upper hand in the main battle.

“We will break through the enemy lines with all our might!”

“Everyone, follow the Guard Captain!”

The Guard Captain, leading the Guard, the elite of the Imperial Army, charged forward himself.

“The enemy commander is moving. We will stop him!”

“Protect the General!”

In response, General Gordon also used elite knights to block them.

“Long live the Emperor!”

“For Karstein!”

They exchanged lance charges without stopping for a moment.

Even as they fell from their horses like madmen, the trained knights immediately rose and clashed swords again.

Clang!

“Are you the lackey of the traitor Karstein?”

“You seem to be the Emperor’s watchdog.”

Guard Captain Ulfman and General Gordon also began to clash swords, disregarding their bodyguards.

As the Emperor and Duke Karstein each entrusted their safety to them and favored them, their skills were considerably high.

They were both skilled enough to be called Sword Masters [highly skilled swordsmen, often leaders or champions].

“You’re quite skilled for a traitor’s lackey.”

“You’re not all talk either.”

After dozens of exchanges, the outcome was still undecided.

Both men had to acknowledge each other’s skills.

“Guard Captain! An unidentified army has appeared from the forest on the left!”

“General, look over there!”

But what decided the outcome of their battle was not one of their swords, but the army that appeared from the forest.

It was still unknown whether they were Imperial or Karstein forces.

Since their identity would determine the victory or defeat, both sides were focused solely on identifying them.

Whoosh!

And victory smiled upon the Imperial Army.

A knight in black armor charged into the Karstein forces like a shadow.

Soon after, massive aura explosions began to occur frequently in the Karstein formation.

“Aaaagh!”

“W-What is this! Are they the enemy!”

“Where did our allies go!”

The Karstein forces could not withstand even the black knight’s violent attacks, and with the Imperial Army attacking their vulnerable flanks, they had no choice but to collapse.

The outcome was decided.

“It’s over. Your defeat is at hand. Surrender peacefully, enemy commander.”

The Guard Captain watched the Emperor, who had concealed his identity in the form of the black knight who was collapsing the enemy lines, then turned his gaze to Gordon and spoke.

Since defeat was already certain, he was advising surrender according to military tradition.

“I’m sorry, but I refuse.”

“Was the Duke such a good lord that you must die for his sake?”

It was a question from the Guard Captain that could be somewhat provocative, but General Gordon was surprisingly not angry.

“He is not a good man. But he was still my lord. I do not wish to bear the disgrace of betraying my lord.”

“Foolish. You and we are all Imperials. The only true lord of all Imperials is His Majesty the Emperor.”

General Gordon recited his loyalty, but to the Guard Captain, it only seemed like he was unable to escape feudalistic stubbornness.

However, since they pursued different values, they would not have drawn their swords in the first place if words could persuade them.

They were merely paying each other their last respects as knights.

“……I ask for lenient treatment for my subordinates.”

“I will try to be as lenient as possible.”

Thud!

The long battle came to an end as the Guard Captain’s sword beheaded General Gordon.

* * *

“Indeed. So that’s why you weren’t with the main force.”

“I could have told you in advance, but I was worried it would cause confusion. I hope you understand.”

After defeating the monster unit and joining the main force to crush the Karstein forces, the remaining enemies surrendered without even attempting to retreat.

With their commander killed and realizing that the monster unit, the power they had the most faith in, had been destroyed, they had no way to resist any longer.

“Of course, I understand, Your Majesty. I am only ashamed that my strategy was flawed.”

However, even though he had won the battle, the Guard Captain was blaming himself for his miscalculation.

It was typical of his character not to blame others, but I shook my head and patted him on the shoulder.

“No, anyone would have thought that in that situation. It’s just that the enemy commander was astute enough to see through our deception.”

Of course, that enemy commander also failed because he didn’t anticipate the wildcard that was me.

“Anyway, it would be good to finish off Karstein now, but… we’ll have to postpone the advance for a while.”

“Why? We must advance swiftly right now to delay Karstein’s response.”

The victory or defeat of the war had already been decided at the point when Karstein’s main force was annihilated and taken prisoner.

But if he wasn’t subdued quickly, it could become somewhat troublesome.

He could fortify himself behind the walls, or try to defect to another power.

“I know that. But the scattered monsters are causing trouble. It’s difficult to leave without dealing with them.”

After killing the knight named Robert, the crystal ball that controlled the monsters was also destroyed, so there was no possibility of the monster unit regrouping.

But that meant that the remaining monster remnants were not under any control.

“I can’t let those guys appear in nearby towns or cities. Even if it takes time, I’ll eliminate as many as possible before advancing.”

I had already eliminated at least half of them during the battle, so it was estimated that there were roughly 400 to 800 left.

The monsters were scattered, probably attacking each other, so it wouldn’t be difficult to defeat them individually if troops were deployed.

Still, a small number might be missed, but mercenaries or adventurers would naturally be able to deal with them.

“Your Majesty’s intentions are truly noble, but I am concerned that we might miss Karstein in the process.”

The Guard Captain regarded my decision as noble, but on the other hand, he was concerned about practical issues.

“Ah, about that. I’ve already prepared a countermeasure.”

But it wasn’t like I didn’t know that.

Of course, I didn’t anticipate this specific situation of the monsters scattering.

But I had fully expected that Karstein would not surrender easily even if the army was subdued.

“I’ve already set a trap in the rat hole he’ll try to escape through.”

I had sent someone who wanted to catch Karstein more than anyone else, so there was no need to worry about missing him.

* * *

“My army is annihilated! Gordon! What have you done! Give me back my army, Gordon!”

Duke Karstein lost his mind and screamed even as his vassals watched.

The news of the crushing defeat that he had heard in the midst of his confident victory was enough to shatter his reason.

“What happened! What happened that caused this to happen!”

“Y-Your Grace. It seems that we were deceived. All the intelligence we were shown was actually a deception.”

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

The vassals, sweating profusely, spoke at the Duke’s angry scream.

Because the Duke, who originally had a bad temper, was now out of his mind, it wouldn’t be strange if he tried to kill them all.

Even though he was defeated and his downfall was already certain, his vassals were in the same boat as him, so they couldn’t even resist.

“The spy! Where did that spy go! I will kill him!”

Fortunately, Karstein’s anger was directed not at his vassals, but at the one who had deceived him.

It felt pathetic to have to be relieved by that fact now, but the vassals hurriedly stopped him.

“Your Highness! He has already disappeared! We don’t have time to chase him, so please flee quickly.”

“Where can I flee to? The Emperor’s army will trample my territory!”

“There are many places to turn to.”

The empire’s fortunes were still shaky, and the Emperor had many enemies.

Even if all the lords were not on the same side, there were many who sympathized with separatism [the desire for a region to become independent].

In particular, there would surely be someone among the seven elector-counts [powerful nobles who elect the Emperor] who would accept Karstein’s defection.

“You will be able to rely on them. They will also need a justification for claiming territory in the central region.”

“T-That’s right. Who would be good……. The stiff northern Archduke or the Stella Bishop would be difficult……. Okay, then let’s go to the southern territory.”

In the southern territory was Duke Orlant, the most skilled in political maneuvering among the elector-counts.

He was the father of the Empress Dowager [the Emperor’s mother], so he was related to the Emperor by marriage, but in reality, the Duke and the imperial family were known to have a strained relationship.

So if he relied on him, he would surely protect him.

Even if the Emperor had a bad relationship with his maternal family, attacking them would be politically burdensome.

“I’m worried about Duke Orlant’s sinister intentions, but… I have no choice but to endure the humiliation now, even if it costs me dearly later.”

Karstein, who had barely regained his reason and calmed down, decided to endure the humiliation for the sake of his future recovery.

He and his vassals were about to secretly leave the capital of Karstein.

Thud!

“Aaaagh! What’s going on!”

Karstein, who was being carried away in a carriage disguised as a suitably shabby merchant caravan, fell inside as the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

“Y-Your Highness…… it seems…….”

“What’s going on!”

Karstein urged him on as the vassal, who had turned pale, was unable to tell him the truth, but soon a man appeared.

“It’s been a while, Duke.”

“Y-You are?”

“Do you remember me? Well, you probably don’t. I was just a low-ranking vassal whose face you wouldn’t remember.”

Karstein felt confused when he saw Hendrick, who was sneering and had become the field commander of the Emperor’s intelligence agency.

As he said, he didn’t immediately remember who he was, but he was someone who was somehow familiar.

“Y-You are!”

“Do you remember me now?”

But Karstein, who was desperately trying to remember, soon recalled his identity.

He remembered that he was the one who had once proposed a looting strategy against the Emperor.

“How dare you betray me and side with the Emperor!”

“Hey, aren’t you ashamed to talk about betrayal when you didn’t even care about me?”

Hendrick laughed at his former lord’s ugly appearance.

“To be honest, I’m not proud of betraying you either, but the difference between your caliber and His Majesty’s is so great.”

“Y-You bastard!”

Thwack!

Karstein, enraged, rushed at him, but Hendrick’s fist struck his abdomen, and he fainted on the spot, wetting himself.

“I was going to take you nicely, thinking of our old friendship, but it turned out like this. Well, it doesn’t matter since we won.”

Karstein was captured without even being able to escape, as Hendrick’s former looting gang members laughed along with Hendrick.

Thus, the small war with Karstein came to an end for the time being.

Although it was destined to be the beginning of another matter.