Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 167

167.

When Lilian attended the general meeting, the Riverhill family’s wizards showed fierce resistance, but I cleanly ignored them.

As both Commander and Crown Prince, my authority forced the Riverhill family’s wizards to accept Lilian as my subordinate.

‘Their opinions don’t matter. The fact that Lilian is my subordinate is undeniable. The rumors can be dispelled gradually.’

The Riverhill family’s wizards were plotting to put me in a difficult position with the rumors about Lilian.

We were able to move past it because of the war, but when we return to the Imperial City, numerous nobles, including Duke Austin, will launch a political offensive against me for accepting Lilian.

At least, our soldiers didn’t look at Lilian as if she were a bug.

Rather,

KWAH-! BANG-!

When the fortress walls crumbled from Lilian’s Meteor spell, they cheered.

“WAAAAAA!”

“Amazing.”

Even the commanders who were displeased with her were amazed.

One 8th circle magic spell is more powerful than siege weapons.

Lilian replied briefly to my admiration.

“It will be difficult to use magic anymore tonight. The 8th circle Meteor can’t be called a true meteor, but casting it once puts so much strain on me that my heart circle aches.”

I nodded.

She had just cast a spell that devastated the main gate and surrounding walls of the Kaila Southern Fortress, so asking her to cast another large spell would be too much.

I gave Lilian time to rest and used Silpenn’s wind to amplify my voice.

“The walls have been breached! Everyone, advance!”

Lilian naturally headed to the rear of the formation, and I advanced to the front lines with Olivia.

Jilpung ran at a terrifying speed.

Silpenn followed faithfully beside me, as if he couldn’t be outdone by Jilpung’s speed.

The spirits’ advance, which had now become a characteristic of my battles, was magnificent.

Silpenn, running at tremendous speed with his massive body, Ignis, flying as if to cover the sky, Ellaime, fluttering and appearing as the goddess of the battlefield, and Klaim, stomping the ground as he walked, inspired high morale in the soldiers following me and instilled fear in the enemy.

Ignis cast a curtain of fire first.

Klaim used Earth’s Roar near the collapsed walls.

KWAH-! BANG-!

Enemy soldiers were already seen fleeing.

They had lost their will to fight after just one of Lilian’s Meteors.

With no interference from the magic corps’ mages, Lilian cast her spells in a comfortable state, and the Pyreon Kingdom’s southern fortress fell like straw.

The knights, led by their commanders, also kept pace with my speed, passing through the collapsed walls and entering the fortress.

“Spare those who surrender!”

I tend to try to take as many prisoners as possible. The Pyreon Kingdom is destined to become part of the Empire, so there was no need to kill innocent soldiers.

‘But the Pyreon royal family must be completely exterminated.’

In the end, the outcome of a war depends on who takes the head.

I focused my skills on the enemy commanders once again, urging the soldiers to surrender.

It didn’t even take half a day to break through the southern fortress, which we had arrived at in the morning.

It was hard to believe how quickly we had broken through the capital’s defensive fortress, which the enemies had defended with desperate determination.

The battle was completely over by the time the sun was high in the sky.

Ken approached me and said.

“Now we just have to wait for Riorden, David, and Gail to show their prowess.”

“They’ll do well.”

Riorden was in charge of the western fortress, David the vacant eastern fortress, and Gail the northern fortress.

Riorden and Gail would cross the rugged Mille Mountains.

The western fortress was likely to be unguarded because the enemies were relying on the Mille Mountains. Once they crossed the mountains, the two would easily be able to occupy the western fortress.

Once the western fortress was occupied, Gail would head straight to the northern fortress.

The northern fortress was north of the capital, so there was no route to advance except through the western fortress, making the occupation of the western fortress essential.

“I’m not too worried about the east, but the key is the west. If we blockade all the fortresses in the east, west, south, and north, the Pyreon capital will be completely isolated.”

“But they won’t surrender for a while.”

Ken smiled.

“They won’t surrender until they run out of food. They will bitterly regret their habit of not stockpiling food, relying only on the granary.”

Ken’s plan was to starve the capital.

When he first brought up the plan, many commanders opposed it. Starve the capital of the Pyreon Kingdom, which has the largest granary on the continent?

It was a hard plan to believe.

But Ken based his plan on information.

The Pyreon Kingdom did not stockpile abundant food, but instead supplied a certain amount to the Kingdom Alliance and sold the rest.

It was a seemingly reasonable policy. Food is difficult to store for long periods of time, so it was a way to quickly dispose of inventory.

‘If they had supplied it to the people at a low price, the Pyreon Kingdom’s finances would have been much healthier and its national power would have been stronger.’

The Pyreon royal family did not supply food to the people at low prices, but sold it to outsiders.

They even sold it to the Empire’s local lords, who could be considered enemies. They received more than the market price, but the fact that Pyreon Kingdom food was being distributed in the Empire was unbelievable.

The Pyreon royal family and nobles enjoyed luxury with the profits earned from selling food to the enemy.

They also spent a considerable amount of wealth on bribes, not bribes, to solidify their relationship with the Kingdom Alliance.

It was perhaps natural that the Pyreon Kingdom collapsed so easily in the face of my father’s advance.

‘It’s amazing that there were even guerrillas.’

I shook my head as I looked at the soldiers who had little loyalty.

The Pyreon Kingdom, which had established itself in a region with more favorable conditions than any other region on the continent, was collapsing so pathetically.

“Send a messenger to Father and the Imperial Palace and organize the fortress.”

Ken bowed his head at my command.

“Yes, Commander!”

* * *

“We can surely stop the Imperial Army if we just defend the western and northern fortresses.”

“They say the bratty Crown Prince is the commander. It’s not the same as when the Emperor came himself.”

“They will never be able to enter the royal palace.”

As the ministers all spoke disparagingly of the enemy’s attacks, King Repio of the Pyreon Kingdom sighed.

‘Hoo, the royal family’s honor is falling to the ground in my generation.’

The ministers still lacked a sense of crisis, and the princes were still giving strength to the words of the nobles who had connections with them.

Repio sensed the kingdom’s demise.

“Gorden is dead. Lilian has joined the Imperial Army! So how are we supposed to stop them?”

He spoke as if demanding countermeasures from his ministers, but Repio’s words fell on deaf ears.

“I knew that evil witch Lilian would mess things up someday.”

“Gorden was the weakest of the Kingdom Alliance Sword Masters. Even those around him ridiculed the fact that he was a Sword Master.”

Repio finally slammed his fist hard on the throne.

“Countermeasures! Countermeasures! So what are the countermeasures! The enemies are right in front of us! They’ve killed a Sword Master and made an 8th circle mage betray us, and they’re destroying the fortresses one by one, so is this the time to be idly disparaging them?”

The ministers and princes fell silent.

Repio had a throbbing headache.

“Send more defensive forces to the western fortress. It’s already too late for the eastern fortress, and if we just defend the west, we can block the road to the northern fortress, so the capital won’t be isolated. If the capital is isolated, it’s over. Do you understand?”

The ministers rolled their eyes.

Those who usually had so much to say about the dignity of nobles were now mute when it came time to fulfill their duties.

“Each noble must conscript private soldiers and dispatch troops to the western fortress along with the capital defense forces, and nobles with territories in the provinces must somehow send messengers to target the enemy’s rear. This is an order. I will not accept any objections.”

The ministers nodded reluctantly.

Repio once again felt that there was no hope.

‘We must maintain the royal bloodline, at least. We must prepare a way for the princes to go to the Kingdom Alliance.’

Repio glanced at one of the many nobles.

The man, who met Repio’s eyes, nodded silently.

As Repio gestured for them to leave, the ministers left the main hall like a receding tide.

Only the ministers who had made eye contact with the princes remained in the main hall.

“I will flee to the Kingdom Alliance before the northern fortress is captured.”

“Your Majesty!”

Some of the princes widened their eyes in surprise.

Repio clicked his tongue.

“Follow my words if you want to continue the royal lineage, at least. Do you think we can maintain the kingdom even after seeing that spectacle?”

Repio turned his gaze to Marquis Daret, the only minister he could trust.

“Marquis, is it possible?”

“We must hurry. The Imperial Army’s momentum is formidable. They intend to blockade the capital, and they have probably already deployed troops to the western fortress.”

“The western fortress is surrounded by the Mille Mountains, so even the most valiant Imperial Army will not be able to capture it. Right now, it is important to gather the royal family’s assets without other nobles noticing and head to the Kingdom Alliance.”

Repio sighed in relief at the Crown Prince’s words.

‘He’s somewhat sane, at least.’

Marquis Daret opposed the Crown Prince’s words.

“There is no time to take the royal family’s assets. It is difficult to dispose of assets in a wartime situation, and taking treasures will naturally slow down the march.”

“If we go to the Kingdom Alliance empty-handed, nothing will change. We must take something with us for the Kingdom Alliance to accept our royal family’s exile.”

The Crown Prince was certainly facing reality.

King Repio also agreed with the Crown Prince’s opinion.

“The Kingdom Alliance has been trying to bring our royal family into their alliance since the past. They coveted the granary and the assets that our royal family has preserved for a long time. But now we have lost the granary, and if we lose even the remaining assets, they will mistreat us.”

Daret also mentioned other problems.

“If the fact that the royal family is fleeing to the Kingdom Alliance becomes known, a rebellion may break out.”

The Crown Prince replied.

“We can quickly escape using Lilian’s magic circle. We cannot guarantee the loyalty of the capital defense forces, so we must first issue orders to the troops to resist, and then secretly escape.”

Daret clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘The royal family is truly hopeless. They are only thinking of escaping, unable to trust even the Royal Knights and the capital defense forces under their command. What have I been loyal to until now?’

Nevertheless, Daret did not reveal his inner thoughts. Even he was feeling a surge of hatred for the royal family, so there was no way the soldiers would have any loyalty.

How did the Pyreon Kingdom come to this?

Daret swallowed a sigh.

‘Things started to go wrong when I got involved in cursing Iriel.’

Daret said calmly.

“How far does Lilian’s magic circle extend?”

“To the ruins that the traitor was investigating. She installed the magic circle to make it easier for her to travel from the royal palace. Those who helped Lilian with her investigation often used it because it wasn’t a particularly difficult magic circle to activate.”

Daret saw a glimmer of hope for a safe escape in the Crown Prince’s answer.

While hating the royal family, who had no will to resist, Daret also felt that there was no hope for the Pyreon Kingdom and was no different from King Repio in that he was also thinking of escaping safely.

‘The ruins that Lilian was investigating are close to the northern fortress. If we can just go to the ruins using the magic circle and then enter the northern fortress, the path to exile in the Kingdom Alliance will be secured.’

“How do you plan to explain His Majesty’s visit to the soldiers at the northern fortress?”

Repio answered Daret’s question.

“I will leave that to you to devise. I believe that you will find a way for them to welcome the king without betraying us.”

Daret was dumbfounded, but nodded for now.

“I will try to find a way. Your Highness, please gather the royal family’s wealth and move it to Lilian’s residence. Oh, and you must use people you can trust.”

The Crown Prince replied briefly.

“Yes.”

While Arun was capturing the southern fortress and Riorden and Gail were crossing the Mille Mountains, the Pyreon royal family was plotting their escape.

The war had entered a race against time.

Whether the Empire would capture the royal palace first, or the Pyreon royal family would flee to the Kingdom Alliance first.