He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 184

“You bastards! How dare you start a rebellion!”

“Shut up! You were going to use us and then throw us away!”

While the fortress burned, the battle between the garrison forces intensified.

With about 30% of the garrison forces turning to Drakal, the fight was no longer one-sided.

As the Rangers sniped enemy generals and commanders, and Drakal efficiently commanded the soldiers, they were overwhelming the superior numbers with their skill.

However, the numerical disadvantage remained, so the task of capturing the fortress ultimately fell to me.

Clang!

“Human! What the hell are you!”

“Why don’t you take a guess?”

“You…!”

Thud!

“Uwooooo!”

I was engaged in a one-on-one battle with the Orc commander in the fortress headquarters. Now that the orc shamans and elite guard warriors who had been guarding him were defeated, it was purely a one-on-one fight between him and me.

The commander, proving that he was both a general and a warrior, skillfully pressured me by unleashing his overflowing aura [magical energy].

I had blocked his axe several times to ‘match his level,’ but if I were truly at the same level, he wouldn’t have been an easy opponent.

But still, he couldn’t beat me.

Slash!

“Kugh!”

“It’s over. You were decent.”

“……Finish it.”

“I will.”

Thwack!

The commander dropped his axe and readily admitted defeat.

Like a true warrior, he didn’t beg for his life. I respected his end by beheading him swiftly.

“Commander… why did you participate in such a thing? Foolish.”

From behind, the Greenskins watched the final duel without interfering.

Drakal muttered quietly as he looked at the beheaded commander. He seemed to have respected him as a superior.

“Honor ultimately comes from victory. It’s not strange to use any means necessary to win.”

Whether it is a sin or not depends on whether you are the winner or the loser.

Of course, there are things that are inherently evil, like the Demon race’s human experimentation, but even this would be justified if the Demon race were to win in the future.

As someone from Earth, I had to admit it. Even Earth has a history of using poison gas against each other and developing terrible biochemical weapons that would make even the Demon race take a step back.

“In the end, even honor only exists if you win, Drakal.”

“……No, I refuse that logic. Honor is something that doesn’t waver even in defeat.”

“If that’s your belief, then don’t forget it.”

Garun Fortress fell. It was accomplished by a handful of soldiers infiltrating.

“The plague has been burned. The researchers… I didn’t bother killing them.”

“I beat them to a pulp and tied them up. I’ll hand them over to the Northern Army to use as witnesses to the crime.”

“Are you going to surrender to the Northern Army?”

“At least I can’t go to the Southern Army… not anymore.”

Drakal said bitterly. No matter how right he was, the fact that he betrayed his allies did not change. It seemed to bother him.

Of course, on a larger scale, he didn’t betray the Greenskins, so he should take comfort in that.

“But there’s a problem. There weren’t many plague samples left in the fortress. A significant amount of production has already been sent to the front lines.”

“Damn it! We have to chase them down immediately!”

“Of course. But we can’t take infantry, they’re too slow. We need to move with only the cavalry. The rest… will have to leave on their own or join the Northern Army.”

The fortress garrison, who had surrendered or defected, could no longer deny that what we said was true.

They felt a great antipathy toward the Southern Army’s leadership, and most of them decided to join the Northern Army.

“This… after the war, Golak won’t have any more internal strife. The authority of the tribal chiefs will fall to the ground.”

Originally, Golak was trying to establish authority by purging with force, but with this, there was no need to do so.

If it becomes known that the tribal chiefs, who are the leaders of the Southern Army, tried to use ‘cowardly’ means, even sacrificing their own allies, it will be difficult for anyone to revolt against Golak.

Of course, the North-South conflict may still remain.

“Then let’s move without delay! Rangers, follow me!”

“Yes, for the Empire!”

* * *

“So, you’re saying you won’t participate in the battle?”

“That’s right. We are an artillery unit that came under orders.”

“Artillery… but there are no cannons. Just those old-fashioned catapults?”

The Southern Army general felt doubtful as he looked at the strange support unit sent from the upper command.

First of all, they introduced themselves as a supply unit and an artillery unit.

The supplies were brought properly. But there was something a little questionable about them being artillery.

Because, they were now operating magic-triggered cannons, moving away from primitive levels like catapults or relying on magicians.

The Southern Army occasionally used demon realm cannons that were of somewhat lower quality than those made in the Empire, but anyway, what they brought were not those cannons.

All they had were crude, small catapults that they might have used occasionally in sieges in the past.

“These catapults won’t be of any help. I’m afraid stones will fly into our allies’ backs.”

“Well, we only came as ordered, so we don’t know the details.”

“Hmm… well, fine. Do as you please. Anyway, you don’t have many soldiers.”

There were some suspicious points, but the general decided not to care.

He had no time to worry about other things as he was about to face a major battle with the Northern Army.

The old-fashioned catapults didn’t seem to be of much help, but he thought it would be better than nothing.

“All troops, advance!”

This battle was a clash with the main force of the Northern Army.

However, the Southern Army’s forces were not elite troops. Nevertheless, the general was under ‘order to defend’.

The general also suspected that something was strange about this. The Southern Army was certainly inferior in terms of armament and weapon quality, but it had quantitative superiority, such as an excellent warrior group.

But strangely, the higher-ups had refused such support.

“They only said that reinforcements would come if we bought time, but was that the reinforcements? Ridiculous.”

The general, who was not of that level, had no way of knowing what kind of story was going on in the leadership.

He was just trying to do his best because it was certain that buying time here would be advantageous on other fronts strategically.

“Charge!”

Puh-bub! Bang!

Bang! Tat-tat-tat!

Shu-shook! Shook!

“Uwoooooooo!”

“Long live the Southern Army! For honor and glory!”

“Long live the Northern Army! Long live King Golak!”

No sooner had the general’s thoughts passed than both sides began to clash.

Artillery and riflemen spewed fire, and warriors charged bravely even at the flying shells and bullets.

Crossbows and ballistae, which had not yet been completely pushed back by guns, sometimes turned charging warriors into hedgehogs, but the Greenskin warriors still shouted and fought bravely until they died.

“Hmm! This is it! The honor of the Greenskin lies on the bloody battlefield!”

Civilization had clearly given them abundance. They quickly learned civilization.

But the general thought that civilization couldn’t be everything.

What good is it if civilization castrates their tradition or their soul, their bellicosity [aggressiveness]?

Even a weak goblin feels the desire for blood on the battlefield, but it’s absurd for an orc like that to forget it and live.

Puh-uck!

“It was a great battle, warrior. I hope we meet as friends in the next life.”

“Kuh, Krrr… for the Greenskin.”

“……For the Greenskin.”

The general personally knocked down a Northern Army warrior and showed respect for his honor by paying his respects at the end.

Of course, the battle situation was gradually being pushed back. The opponent was an elite force, while his own forces were conscripts or new warriors, so it was natural.

“General! We must retreat at this point!”

“Yes, there’s no need to die today! You’ve fought well enough!”

Still, it was a close battle, and it was possible to retreat in an orderly manner. The opponent would also retreat rather than risk even more damage.

The general was about to issue a retreat order.

“General! Something’s wrong! The allies in the rear are sending something at us!”

“What?”

That’s when it happened.

Something green flew from the Southern Army camp. If you look closely, it was a green substance in a clear glass jar.

Hundreds of them flew towards the battlefield, and soon they hit the ground and broke, creating a poisonous green smoke.

“Cough! Cough, Kr, Kuaaaack. Sa, save me…….”

“I, is it poison? The Southern Army is poisoning…… Cough……!”

The smoke quickly covered the battlefield. It attacked both the Northern and Southern armies, and they coughed up blood every time they inhaled.

The smoke itself was strongly acidic, but at the same time, it was a powerful plague.

After coughing up blood, blisters invariably covered the body and pus dripped down. Blood began to flow from all the holes in the body, including the eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Cough, wh, what’s going on…… the warriors…….”

The sturdy Greenskin warriors were dying in vain. Even the enemy Northern Army shouldn’t die like this.

The general could finally guess the identity of the suspicious unit that had come earlier.

The leadership had used them as disposable pawns.

“Cowardly bastards…….”

The general staggered and tried to walk towards the rear where the unit was. His guards, of course, his subordinates were dying.

Even if he couldn’t save them, he had to kill those bastards and get their blood price.

“Kuaaaaack…….”

But soon the general ran out of strength. He too began to die, kneeling down.

“I’m a little late.”

“……?”

Someone appeared in front of the general, whose eyes were gradually closing. He felt like he was sitting in front of a warm campfire. He had temporarily forgotten the pain of the plague.

Whirr-rrr-rrr-rrr-

“Were you alive? You’re lucky.”

When the general opened his eyes, there was a blazing flame there. Even the person who controlled the flame looked like a flame, no, like the sun.

It wasn’t an expression that a Greenskin would use, but the silver-haired man looked like a saint of the sacred flame.

“Are you the general?”

“Wh, who are you……?”

“I’m the one who came to save you.”

The silver-haired man, the Emperor, raised his hand and pointed behind the general.

The general, who had recovered cleanly, turned around and saw Greenskins regaining consciousness one by one in the flames.

The flames of purification were reviving them.

The sight was so overwhelming that there was something that even the Greenskin was moved by.

“Savior……!”

The general muttered to himself without realizing it. He suddenly turned back again, but the man was no longer there.

He was flying far away, with wings of light that seemed to burn the sky.

He seemed to be going to punish those who had thrown the plague at them from the rear, but the general was overwhelmingly impressed by that sight as well.

That day, the general’s army surrendered to the Northern Army as it was. Along with a small legend about the burning savior.