Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 75

Suppressing the Momentum

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The horse thundered across the plain.

The knight spurred his horse onward.

He tucked his lance firmly under his arm, aiming it forward.

At the tip of his lance’s aim, stood hundreds of soldiers.

Facing the charging knight and the thousands behind him, they formed a thin wall with their ranks.

“Increase speed!”

“Maintain formation!”

The knight’s order shouted, their voices filled with adrenaline.

Knights gathered in response to Duke Thurdret’s call, a mix of armaments and crests united under his banner.

“Faster! More speed!”

The horses’ pace quickened, a gradual surge of power.

Thousands of horses surged forward, raising a cloud of dust like an approaching tidal wave.

As the thinly spread line of soldiers grew closer, the knights recalled their lord’s command.

– Don’t collide, just intimidate.

Someone scoffed, the sound barely audible over the deafening roar of hooves.

They all shared the same memory, the same rebellious thought.

‘Easy.’

‘I could just ram right through them.’

The knights chuckled, a dangerous glint in their eyes.

The hundreds of soldiers before them seemed insignificant, too small a group to be considered a real threat.

What good was glittering armor against a tidal wave of thousands of horses? Armor was no different from paper.

“Split up on signal!”

The shout of the knight commander at the front pierced through the din.

“Split up on signal!”

The knights following behind echoed the command.

However, their intentions were far from obedient.

‘Let’s hit them!’

‘Let’s push them over!’

‘I can just say it was a mistake.’

The rough wind against their skin fueled their exhilaration.

Reason was suppressed by the thrill of the charge, their minds dominated by primal urges.

The cavalrymen grinned, baring their teeth inside their helmets.

Let’s break through that wall.

Let’s crush these fearless fools who dared to challenge Thurdret.

As silent laughter echoed within helmets, a lone figure stepped forward from the center of the enemy line.

“······.”

A woman with short, dark blue hair, not even wearing armor.

She placed her left hand on her waist, gripping the scabbard of her sword.

“Crazy bitch,” someone muttered.

She walked forward, step by step.

Approaching the charging knights, completely exposed.

It was nothing short of madness.

“······.”

But she was calm, her expression devoid of emotion.

Breathing evenly, she gripped the hilt of her sword with her right hand.

Leaning her upper body slightly forward, she slowly closed her eyes.

And as soon as she opened her eyes, she drew her sword.

Kwang———!

A deafening roar erupted.

And an explosion of energy washed over the knight order.

“What!”

The horse at the front, startled by the sudden blast, reared up on its hind legs.

The knight desperately tried to calm his mount, but it was too late.

The formation collapsed as the horse, running at full speed, faltered.

The horses behind collided with the stopped horse, a chaotic pileup of flesh and steel.

Urrrr——

A thunderous crash echoed across the plain.

Half of the thousands of horses went down in a tangled mess.

“Ugh!”

“Damn it!”

The fallen knights cursed, scrambling to their feet.

Shame burned on their faces, quickly replaced by rising anger.

“Those goddamn bastards!”

They were only supposed to intimidate, but they dared to attack?

Shame and anger warred within their hearts.

“Get up!”

“Kill them all!”

The fallen knights abandoned their lances and drew their swords and axes.

The enemy who had humiliated them was just a few dozen steps away.

They gritted their teeth and charged forward.

Bang! Bang! Kwang——!

However, the second attack came even faster from the enemy.

Stones, launched from some unseen contraption, flew towards the struggling knight order.

A round boulder, larger than a man’s head, slammed into a knight’s body.

The knight was sent flying back dozens of meters.

Tung, tung, tung!

He bounced four times on the ground like a skipping stone, his body twisted into a grotesque shape as he met his end.

The knights who witnessed the gruesome sight stared in stunned silence.

“Wh, what…”

“Magic? No, I didn’t feel any magic—”

Kwang!

Another explosion ripped through the air.

The same stones flew, but this time, no one was directly hit.

Instead, the stones shattered upon impact with the ground, sending fragments scattering in all directions.

“Cough!”

“M, my eyes!”

Most of the fragments were deflected by armor, but there were simply too many.

The scattered shards found their way into the gaps in the armor, tearing into exposed flesh.

Some who had removed their helmets were struck in the necks, eyes, and heads.

“That’s it! They’re shooting stones with that thing!”

A knight shouted urgently, pointing towards the enemy line.

The knight order followed his gaze and belatedly noticed the long, unnatural line etched into the ground before them.

“······!”

The ground was cut as if a giant had drawn a sword across it.

The reason the horses had stopped in surprise wasn’t just the sound of the explosion.

It was because they had instinctively avoided the invisible blade that had cleaved the earth.

The knights, realizing the truth, widened their eyes in disbelief.

Before them, stood the woman, Calliope, sword in hand.

“N, no way…?”

The knights recalled the moment she had drawn her sword.

They had been distracted by the explosion and hadn’t seen the result.

Now, they understood: the cut ground before them was the result.

“······.”

Her gaze swept over the knight order.

The knights felt their hearts skip a beat under the intensity of her stare.

Too cold and fierce energy emanated from her eyes.

But they quickly regained their composure and shouted.

“Don’t be afraid!”

“We are the knights of Thurdret!”

The knight order surged forward, surrounding her, attempting to overwhelm her with their numbers.

Flash!

“Ugh!”

However, the difference in power was too vast.

The gap between her and the knight order could not be bridged.

There was a chasm that numbers alone could never overcome.

“······!”

Her movements were simple, almost casual.

She simply waved her hand as if swatting away a buzzing mosquito.

Then, a powerful gust of wind erupted, followed by a fountain of blood.

It wasn’t just one life lost with a single swing of her sword.

With one gesture, the group before her was torn apart and sent flying.

“Heo-eok!”

The knights who were showered with the blood and flesh of their comrades gasped for air.

The carnage was like a volcanic eruption of gore.

How could this be described as a sword fight?

She stood, a whirlwind of destruction, obliterating everything around her.

Thousands of knights were being overwhelmed by a single warrior.

“M, monster!”

Stumbling, the knight order broke formation and retreated.

Only a few minutes had passed since the initial encirclement.

More than a hundred knights lay headless on the ground.

Would they even comprehend that she was suppressing her true power?

Even without knowing that fact, the knight order trembled with fear.

“Next?”

There was no answer.

She swung her sword in the air, flicking the blood from the blade onto the ground.

The knights flinched, fearing another deadly strike.

She gave the blade a brief glance and said simply.

“Attack.”

Then, her vassals charged forward.

“Don’t lose to Callie!”

“His Majesty the Emperor is watching!”

The hundred vassals, who had been standing idly by while Calliope decimated the knights and the conscripts fired cannons, now surged into the fray.

Even though throwing their bodies into the knight order without any formation seemed like suicide, it was the knight order that was being ravaged.

“What kind of power is this—!”

It was like releasing a lion into a pack of hyenas.

The vassals rampaged, swinging knights around like ragdolls.

Since the majority of the vassals were larger and stronger than the knights, the knight order was being slaughtered without even putting up a fight.

“Advance!”

The conscripts followed close behind the vassals.

They abandoned their overheated cannons and picked up their long spears.

The spears were made by connecting two poles, their length exceeding the height of three adults lying end to end.

Unlike the chaotic charge of the vassals, the conscripts spread out in a long, thin line and advanced in formation.

“For the Father!”

Shouting their battle cry, they took a few steps forward and thrust their spears.

The force of their combined weight pierced through the armor of the knights.

The knight order, already disoriented by Calliope and the rampaging vassals, was caught completely off guard.

“Wh, what! Don’t come!”

In their panicked state, the knight order couldn’t distinguish between the vassals and the conscripts.

In their eyes, they were all the same enemy, just wielding different weapons.

However, the sight of the conscripts, more numerous than the vassals, advancing in formation while shouting slogans, instilled an even greater sense of dread.

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”

If they had assessed the situation calmly, they would have realized the truth.

With thousands of knights, how could a few hundred conscripts be a threat?

Moreover, the conscripts were mostly weak, newly freed slaves.

All they did was extend their phalanx in a long, thin line, take a few steps, and thrust their spears.

However, the knight order perceived this paper-thin line as an impenetrable fortress and began to falter.

“Run away!”

That shout marked the beginning of their collapse.

The knight order crumbled.

“L, let’s go together···!”

“Let go! Get out of here!”

The knight order scattered, each man for himself.

They abandoned their comrades, discarded their weapons, and threw off their helmets, shedding everything they could to increase their speed.

They ran with all their might towards Duke Thurdret’s main force, desperate to escape the carnage.

“Stop.”

The vassals did not pursue them.

They reorganized their scattered formation and stood their ground.

Blood and corpses were scattered under their feet, but none of them were their own.

###

“What the hell is this···.”

Duke Thurdret, Svein, glared in disbelief.

Before him, he saw his elite knight order fleeing in utter terror.

‘What the hell happened!’

The question he couldn’t bring himself to voice seethed within him.

Svein couldn’t comprehend the scene unfolding before his eyes.

He had explicitly instructed the knight order when he sent them.

Don’t engage, just threaten.

‘I told them not to fight, so why are they fighting!’

No, the battle itself wasn’t the core issue.

He had anticipated that a skirmish might occur.

He even expected the knight order to disregard his orders.

Because Edar’s forces were so small, the knights’ arrogance would get the better of them.

‘Yes! They must have engaged in a “mistake”! The opponent is only a few hundred strong. If I told those guys not to fight against such a small group and just intimidate them, their pride would be wounded.’

Could he, a seasoned commander, not have foreseen this?

In fact, he secretly hoped they would disobey and slaughter Edar’s soldiers.

That bastard who dared to bare his teeth at his father and then return.

He wanted to crush the upstart’s rebellion.

He even smirked when the clash began.

‘Why did they lose?’

But they had lost.

Three thousand knights had been routed by a force less than half their size.

Moreover, the enemy wasn’t even cavalry, but a mere band of infantry.

‘Why!’

Three thousand knights.

Their armaments and affiliations varied.

It was simply a collection of knights who had answered Thurdret’s call.

From the outset, he hadn’t expected any real organization or cohesion.

But wasn’t the number three thousand?

‘Three thousand heavily armed knights. It was a fight that couldn’t be lost.’

Infantry holding against the charge of five times their number in knights?

The Duke asserted that it was impossible.

At least, it was impossible for humans.

But they had done it.

And not only had they done it, but look at the corpses scattered across the field.

There were more knight corpses than there were soldiers in Edar’s entire force.

“······.”

Shame washed over him.

He gritted his teeth and glared.

The damage inflicted by the knight order’s humiliating defeat was significant.

Even if he annihilated Edar’s soldiers today, the rumors would persist.

Because the fifty thousand soldiers he had mobilized and the nearby city were witnesses.

The tale of how thousands of knights were defeated by a few hundred infantry would spread far and wide.

‘Edar··· you bastard···!’

“Duke.”

The old retainer, Helmut, standing beside him, addressed the Duke.

The Duke didn’t even glance at him, let alone respond.

The old retainer raised his voice, undeterred.

“Are you going to let this stand?”

The retainer slammed his clenched fist down hard.

“We must counterattack!”

Only then did the Duke acknowledge his retainers.

Their faces were flushed red, and they were panting with rage.

They were all glaring, baring their teeth, and twitching their noses.

They shared the same burning desire for revenge as the Duke.

“We can’t let this go unpunished!”

“We must drive them back!”

“Punish those cowards!”

“Give us your orders!”

The Duke nodded.

“Yes. I know. We must punish that unfilial wretch.”

With that decision, he raised his hand.

His vassals gripped their reins.

Thud— Thud—!

The drums echoed.

The Duke’s hand was about to descend.

But Edar’s soldiers moved faster than the Duke’s hand.

Hand raised, the Duke frowned and glared straight ahead.

The soldiers in front were approaching, beating drums.

Not a single soldier was mounted, except for one man riding at the head.

“Edar.”

The Duke squeezed his eyes shut as soon as he saw him.

For a moment, it was as if he were staring directly into the sun, blinding him.

‘What is this?’

When he opened his eyes, the light had vanished like a hallucination.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“······!”

And then he was astonished to see Edar again.

It was as if a mirror had been placed in front of the Duke.

The Duke’s eyes widened at the sight of the son he had abandoned.

It wasn’t just the Duke who was shocked; all the vassals opened their eyes in surprise.

The older they were, the greater their astonishment, some even gaping.

“···He resembles you.”

One of the vassals muttered.

The Duke almost nodded unconsciously.

He truly resembled his younger self.

Not just resembled, but it was as if that younger self had come back.

No, he had even more dignity than he had back then.

How could a person change so much?

The old, cowering, dog-like demeanor was gone.

“Have you been well, Father?”

Flinch.

The vassals trembled.

Unbeknownst to the Duke, even his voice was the same.

The vassals who had been with him their whole lives reacted more strongly.

A voice the Duke, now old and hoarse, could no longer produce.

Edar scanned the surprised vassals one by one.

“Ernst, Helmut, Winfried, Bloom···.”

The vassals trembled again.

Their bodies unconsciously mistook it for the Duke calling them.

Edar smiled at their reaction.

“You’ve brought all the pillars of the household except for my foolish brother, Eirik the priest. Don’t you hate me too much?”

He laughed, ha ha.

The Duke frowned.

“What face have you to return with?”

“Don’t you know? I’ve come to retract your words, Father.”

“What are you saying?”

“You said, ‘From this day forward, I banish you, stripping you of your inheritance rights and the family name. Until I permit it, you may not set foot in the main house.'”

A gasp was heard.

“The flesh and blood you abandoned has returned. I, whom you cursed as not being of your seed, have returned. To make you retract your words and reclaim the name of Therdret.”

Edar placed his right hand over his chest and smiled brightly as he spoke.

“Now, what will you do? Will you acknowledge that I am the rightful heir of Therdret? Or will you try to kill me?”

Only the sound of the wind was heard on the plain.

A cataclysm was coming.

The vassals gasped.

Edar’s words were too audacious.

Duke Svein of Therdret even let out a hollow laugh.

“You want to return home with me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“It means you’re accepting me back into Therdret.”

The Duke of Therdret had declared banishment and severance with Edar.

This meant stripping him of the Therdret name and the right to inherit the family.

But, the Duke would retract his words and bring Edar back?

That would mean returning the stripped name and inheritance rights.

The Duke’s beard twitched as he asked.

“Knowing that, you dare say such a thing?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Is that all you can blather!”

The Duke roared.

His voice contained immense magic.

His anger was so intense that the ground trembled.

The vassals had never seen him so angry.

Pale as ghosts, they shrank back and watched the Duke’s expression.

But Edar smiled and met the Duke’s gaze.

“······.”

It was as if the old Duke and the young Duke were facing off.

“You have already been punished for your sins! Have you forgotten that!”

Sin.

The direct cause of Edar’s severance.

The Duke recalled the day he decided on the banishment and severance.

There were so many letters of accusation that they filled a box.

The contents were so diverse and malicious that none of them overlapped.

The Duke, who had hated Edar from the start, accepted the letters as justification and decided to sever ties with him and banish him.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“Didn’t I already tell you? That it wasn’t me who committed those acts.”

Edar chuckled.

“Should someone who aspires to the throne be blinded by love and manipulated by lies?”

The Duke trembled and took a deep breath.

He had realized what Edar was saying.

“How dare you! Are you blaming your sins on your mother again!”

“I was merely stating the truth.”

“Shut up!”

He drew his sword.

His rage boiled over, and he momentarily lost his reason.

If Edar had been any closer, he would have been cut down immediately.

Calliope stepped in front of the Duke, who was gripping the reins as if to charge.

“······.”

The Duke glared, wondering who dared to stop him.

He flinched as he met her deep blue eyes.

A sense of foreboding reacted to the emotionless eyes.

She was no ordinary person, she was dangerous, it screamed.

Gritting his teeth…

But his anger boiled over more than his intuition.

His anger pushed aside his intuition and screamed that the unfilial wretch must be punished.

Just as the Duke was hesitating between intuition and anger,

“Lord Svein.”

The Duke turned his head.

The vassal he cherished most was shaking his head.

“No, you mustn’t. Please, restrain yourself.”

He was the Duke’s foster brother, Helmut.

The Duke, who had been hesitating between intuition and rage, bit his lip.

His anger quickly subsided, and reason returned.

He sheathed his sword and glared at Calliope.

She simply stared back at him.

“The existence of sin is not important.”

Edar said.

“From the beginning, did you care whether my sins were true or false? What mattered was getting rid of me. Isn’t that right?”

The Duke swallowed his words.

Edar’s words were true.

Whether he had committed a sin or not, it didn’t matter.

He just needed an excuse to get rid of Edar.

The accusations were a timely excuse.

The Duke knew this well, but he didn’t admit it.

To admit it would mean that he had made a mistake, and that Ivella, whom he loved so dearly, had deceived him with false accusations.

Blinded by love, he decided not to admit it.

And seeing his attitude, Edar smiled.

“If the reason I was abandoned wasn’t because of sin, then it seems there’s no reason why I can’t return.”

“You are inferior to your brothers! When your younger brothers displayed their talents, you couldn’t do anything.”

“Talent? Do you think I’m inferior to my brothers?”

“Yes. You are inferior. That’s why you were abandoned.”

Edar smirked and gestured with his chin.

The soldiers lined up behind him moved.

From among them, a woman walked forward, and behind her, a young man was dragged in, bound.

The Duke’s eyes widened when he saw the young man.

“Harald!”

The young man was Ivella’s second son, Harald Therdret.

Harald’s hands were tied, and his mouth was gagged.

He twisted and turned, making sounds as he saw his father.

The subordinate holding him released him, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The Duke of Therdret frowned at the unsightly sight.

“Why are you…?”

His voice was filled with bewilderment rather than anger.

He had never dreamed that Harald would be in the Marquisate [territory ruled by a Marquis].

Being a troublemaker, the second son was always wandering around, and he hadn’t shown much interest when discussing a marriage with the daughter of Marquis Roesene.

But now, he appeared from the Marquis’s territory, bound and with injuries on his hands, so bewilderment was greater than anger.

“Now, who is inferior?”

Edar twisted his lips into a sneer.

The Duke looked at the woman who had come with Harald.

Julia Roesene, the only daughter of Marquis Roesene.

Edar’s former fiancée and the woman who was to become Harald’s fiancée.

“What is this···.”

The Duke frowned and looked at her.

She showed no reaction even after seeing the bound second son.

Judging by her attitude, it seemed she had led the capture.

From the fact that the Marquis, who should have stopped Edar at the border, had allowed passage, even on a small scale, was suspicious.

‘There’s no way Marquis Roesene doesn’t know about the relationship between Edar and me.’

The Duke was certain that the Marquis had chosen Edar over him.

As if reading his thoughts, Edar smiled.

“Roesene is mine.”

Julia Roesene simply glanced briefly at those words and remained silent.

“Lord Duke, am I still inferior to my brothers?”

“······.”

The Duke was speechless.

And seeing that, Harald, whose gag had just been removed, shouted.

“Father! That bastard is the son of a whore! He was born between a human and livestock! How can you compare him to us!”

“Harald···.”

“How can you compare him?”

Edar laughed.

“Because my appearance proves the blood of Therdret more than anyone else.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“No matter how much you deny it, the truth is the truth. Look.”

He held out his palm, touched his face, and looked at the vassals.

“Ernst, Helmut, Winfried, Bloom. Look at me. Look closely. Who do you see?”

The vassals averted their eyes.

His appearance was too similar to the Duke in his youth.

Unconsciously, their will was drawn to follow him.

‘The Duchess said that Edar is not the Duke’s son, but wherever you look, it’s clear that his blood is mixed in.’

If that appearance was created by chance.

There is nothing in the world that cannot be achieved by chance.

‘Except for being born from livestock in the first place… he resembles the Duke more than anyone else.’

That’s why he was kept alive despite his talent being worse than a bug.

That’s why he was kicked out, disappointed by his talent being worse than a bug.

Because Edar’s appearance was the same as his, his clumsiness felt like his own clumsiness, and the rumors circulating about him felt like rumors circulating about himself.

The vassals swallowed silently.

“Did you see? Their reaction proves my lineage.”

“Do you think you’re qualified just because you look alike!”

“Then what other qualifications do I need?”

Edar spread his arms wide.

“I expanded the Great Plains. I conquered Northern Wallachia. I was kicked out without receiving a single coin, and yet I have accomplished so much. Is that still not enough?”

“Kuh···.”

Harald gritted his teeth and glared at Edar.

Edar sneered at the glaring gaze.

“What about you, Lord Duke? Do you feel I am lacking as a son?”

“Why are you trying to come back?”

“Because the blood flowing through my body desires it.”

“······.”

“I want to be the rightful heir of Therdret. Just as you want to become the King of Germania. I also want to be Therdret of Germania, not a vassal of Wallachia. Do you need another reason?”

The Duke did not answer.

He closed his mouth tightly and glared at Edar.

The rage that had been boiling so strongly subsided.

The son who resembled him but was inferior had returned.

And now he says he wants everything he has.

“······.”

Thud— Thud—

The sound of drums was heard.

The sound of drums that Edar’s soldiers had made.

But the soldiers lined up in front did not move.

The sound of drums was echoing from behind the Duke.

“What’s going on!”

A soldier rushed over in a panic.

“Soldiers are approaching from the rear!”

There was no need to ask whose they were.

Edar’s 6,000 soldiers stationed at the border.

Who else would be targeting the Duke of Therdret from behind?

‘6,000 men. The number isn’t much, but…’

What if they are the same level as those who slaughtered the Knights?

‘Damn it… where did he find such a group…’

The Duke glared at the Marquis’s only daughter, Julia Roesene.

“Why did you open the border?”

“I made a promise.”

“What promise?”

“That if I cured the Emperor’s curse, you would let him pass.”

Cure the Emperor’s curse?

The Duke and his vassals were all shocked.

Wasn’t the Emperor’s curse an incurable disease?

“How?”

“Therdret has also been suffering from the curse recently.”

Edar took out a letter from his pocket.

The letter was passed to the Duke by a soldier.

The Duke read the letter, his eyes widening and his hands trembling.

The letter contained information about the recent activities of the Wolf Sect [likely a cult or religious group].

Spreading the Emperor’s curse, brainwashing believers to incite uprisings, and seizing families by seducing the heir of powerful families, etc…

The Duke’s eyes were filled with disbelief due to the extreme content.

“This bastard… how dare you spread such lies—”

“I wish it were a lie, but it’s the truth.”

Edar looked at Julia.

Julia, who knew the contents of the letter, answered resolutely.

“The letter is real. It was in Bishop Bowler’s study.”

“…Is the Horbid Church [likely another religious organization] really spreading the curse?”

Edar gestured to Sister Rachel.

Rachel brought the oak barrel that had been stored in the carriage.

“What’s this?”

Edar opened the oak barrel.

A foul smell and a disgusting truth were revealed.

The Duke’s expression hardened, and he clenched his fist.

Edar picked up a larva and placed it on his hand.

“This is the truth of the curse.”

The Duke glared at the larva.

Edar looked at the Duke with a faint smile.

“I heard that there are quite a few people suffering from parasites under your command, Father. I would be happy to treat them if you wish… but that’s strange, didn’t you know?”

“What are you talking about?”

He frowned.

“I told you that the Emperor’s curse was deliberately spread by the priests of Horbid. But the curse is also spreading around you, Father. What do you think is the reason?”

The vassals’ gazes turned to the Duke.

“Father. Haven’t you always boasted? That there is no one who is more loyal to their master than the people of Therdret.”

The Duke, receiving their gazes, erased his expression as if trying to appear calm.

“But why. Why are they releasing parasites in your territory and not even mentioning it to you, Father? Could it be that you’ve been abandoned?”