He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 80

“Crossbowmen, fire at will!”

“Fire!”

Thwack! Swish, swish, swish!

A female elf firing arrows from atop an Elven-style house was struck by a volley of bolts from the Imperial soldiers and fell.

Beside her, the bodies of those who had fallen to the attacking Imperial army were scattered everywhere.

“Surrender! Everyone else has already surrendered!”

“If you surrender, we will spare your lives!”

While the Emperor faced the Elven army and the Spirit King alone, the Imperial army, led by the Commander of the Guard and Stella, invaded the territory of the Elven United Kingdom.

Their only order was to ravage as many Elven villages and cities as possible.

“Commander of the Guard, they are starting to surrender.”

“Good. Completely disarm them and gather them in one place. Then, release them all at once.”

The Commander of the Guard issued orders to the officer-level knights, but he was not at ease.

Naturally, it was because of the guilt of not being able to assist the Emperor.

“I wonder if His Majesty is safe…”

“His Majesty will be safe, Commander of the Guard. Not only safe, but…”

Stella, who was next to the Commander of the Guard, looked in the direction where the Emperor was presumed to be.

“…He will achieve what he desires and return. So, we must only do what we have to do.”

Fortunately, they were carrying out the Emperor’s orders very well.

No, it was impossible to fail.

There was no reason for the Imperial army not to destroy places that were practically empty houses without an army or a powerful superhuman like the Spirit King.

There were elves organizing small self-defense forces or guerrillas to resist, but such crude resistance was quickly crushed.

“That’s right, Archbishop Stella. Now, we must trust His Majesty and do what we can.”

After saying that, the Commander of the Guard turned to the officers and soldiers waiting.

“What is the status of resource requisition?”

“Yes, food requisition is more than sufficient. Although our food is very different from theirs, we have enough weapons and armor. However, there is a shortage of bolts [crossbow ammunition].”

“It’s understandable since elves don’t use crossbows much.”

The Imperial army, having crossed the Elven lands, could hardly expect supplies from the mainland as they expanded their occupied territories.

However, the Commander of the Guard had no intention of wasting the opportunity the Emperor had created.

To make his dedication worthwhile, he had to burn down even one more village, one more city.

Strictly speaking, there was no need to occupy them. Supplies were procured locally through looting, and depending on the size, appropriate forces were sent to destroy only.

If the defense was strong, they would scorch the surrounding area and retreat.

Those who surrendered were not killed but were given only minimal food and deliberately released.

They would become refugees and spread chaos and anxiety among themselves.

The goal was to spread the maximum disaster to the elves.

“For now, replace as many as possible with those who can use bows.”

“But that will reduce the crossbowmen’s strength.”

“Increase the heavy infantry strength instead. Release all the captured spare armor and weapons.”

“Yes, I will implement it immediately.”

The soldiers smiled at the Commander of the Guard’s order.

The soldiers’ morale was high, and their eyes were all shining.

This was because they were given good weapons and armor without reservation, and they were allowed to loot the elves without limit.

All of them had lost comrades, family, acquaintances, and friends to rebels or elves.

They were not only increasing their wealth but also achieving revenge, so their morale was bound to be high.

“There are Elven guerrillas resisting nearby.”

“Go there immediately! Knights, follow me!”

“I will follow you too, Commander of the Guard.”

Not only the soldiers but also the knights were the same.

Of course, the knights, who were relatively wealthier than the soldiers, were not motivated solely by greed.

Their motivation was more of fanaticism.

“This is an opportunity that His Majesty has created. Let us punish them with His will.”

“Long live the Emperor!”

The Emperor is facing a great threat alone.

The knights are carrying out his orders here, unable to protect him.

Even while they burned dozens of villages, the Elven army did not even show its face.

Neither the army nor the mighty Spirit King appeared.

It was proof that the Emperor was holding them back.

The knights were burning with fanaticism just from that fact.

The empire, which had been helplessly declining, had been looked down upon by other races for hundreds of years.

But the Emperor was writing a legend that reminded them of the first Emperor.

Being on such a scene, those who were not boiling with blood as knights of the empire were not knights.

“For the Empire!”

A forest where guerrillas were ambushed in rough terrain such as bushes and trees.

The knights fearlessly rode their horses towards the forest, even though it was dangerous terrain for a mounted charge.

The elves shot arrows, but the knights, even when hit by arrows, charged at them, chanting for the empire.

Thud! Thwack!

“Die, you cursed elves!”

“Kuaaaak!”

Elves were impaled on lances and died from the javelins thrown by the knights.

Even those who fell from their horses and were injured were burning with fighting spirit and getting up to fight again.

“Their resistance is quite fierce.”

“Push through! All those who resist must be eliminated.”

If they surrendered, they would only be disarmed and released to become refugees, but instead, those who continued to resist were killed without exception.

It was a means to spread more fear to them.

“Look there!”

At that moment, Stella shouted, pointing to one side of the sky.

When the Commander of the Guard looked in that direction, a pure white light was approaching from the night sky.

The light flew more fiercely towards the battlefield where the knights were fighting.

Whoa-ang!

Soon, it fell there like a shooting star. No, it was closer to a descent than a fall.

Because a silver-haired man with wings of pure white light was descending there.

“His Majesty has come!”

One of the guard knights among them shouted.

Their legend, the supreme being of the empire, the living guardian deity of the empire.

The Emperor has returned.

“You are doing well according to my orders.”

Emperor Franz stood up and looked around.

The knights enthusiastically raised their swords to the Emperor, and the elves were overwhelmed by his majesty that appeared before them.

“D, die!”

Swoosh!

A brave elf tried to draw his bow, but the eerie shadow blade cut off his neck first.

Swish, swish, swish!

Besides him, several elves were pierced and killed by shadows in turn as examples.

“Will you resist more? Or will you surrender here?”

The overwhelming difference in power.

The elves froze like mice in front of a snake at the Emperor’s words, asking with a cold smile.

Everyone began to throw away their weapons.

“Wise choice, your king abandoned you a long time ago.”

“L, lies… T, the Spirit King will surely c, come to save us.”

Although he surrendered, an elf who still had some rebellion protested against Franz’s words.

The knights were furious and immediately tried to cut him down, but the Emperor raised his hand to stop them.

“Does it seem like a lie? Then why hasn’t he come to save you yet? Why is there no news of his army coming?”

“That’s…”

“Your great king was defeated by me in a disgraceful manner. He begged for his life and ran away.”

Of course, the Spirit King did not beg for his life.

But Franz mixed in some lies appropriately.

From the beginning, he didn’t kill the Spirit King for this reason.

“He didn’t try to protect you even though he knew my army was advancing on you.”

But the following words were all true.

These were things that would be known to be true even if they were released and investigated a little.

“He tried to defeat me by sacrificing you. But he lost miserably.”

“Lies…”

“Believe it or not, it’s your freedom. I just feel sorry for you for having such a king.”

“……”

At the Emperor’s words, the elf lowered his head with a confused look.

Soon, confusion spread like an epidemic to the other elves.

When the knights, who had been fighting fiercely until just now, disarmed them and released them with a mocking attitude, they soon began to scatter to other villages and cities.

Franz smiled at the sight and returned to the Commander of the Guard and Stella.

“Your Majesty, I am glad you are safe.”

“It was a bit close, but it worked out well.”

“Did you kill the Spirit King?”

“No, I didn’t kill him. It turned out I didn’t have to.”

Franz also did not think of the Spirit King lightly.

Although he had been drawing this picture from the beginning, he could not be sure how strong the Spirit King would be.

If he could not defeat him, he had considered retreating without hesitation.

But fortunately, the best result came out.

Although he was not overwhelmingly superior in strength, he succeeded in defeating and suppressing him.

“I thwarted his plan, and his power was greatly weakened. The Elven army suffered devastating damage.”

“Well done. But wouldn’t it have been better to kill the Spirit King?”

“No, that could have united the remaining elves.”

The existence of a king alone becomes a totem that raises the morale of the allies, but strangely, if he dies, the effect is doubled.

Especially if he dies valiantly while fighting the enemy.

“But what if he lost disgracefully and fled, and even abandoned his people?”

“……The elves will cause internal strife.”

This time Stella answered.

“That’s right. Unlike me, that guy has tyrannical tendencies.”

“……”

“……What? What’s with that look?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Well, anyway, there must have been complaints because he was such a guy. And it will explode this time.”

They must have thought he was a tyrant but a capable and scary guy, so they put up with it until now.

But now he has become a tyrant but just an incompetent guy.

Moreover, the army and the spirit world have been damaged, and they have lost a lot of power to protect themselves.

Isn’t it just the right time for a rebellion? If they put up with this, they are not even human beings. Oh, elves are not human beings, though.

“We need to add more fuel to the fire.”

Burn more villages and plunder wealth.

Instead of just destroying and killing, we create refugees and displaced people to create a burden on the remaining cities and villages.

Even if they want to increase the number of soldiers in a hurry, it won’t be easy, right? Because the economic burden will be no joke because of the refugees.

“Won’t they arm the refugees and turn them into soldiers?”

“The troops created that way will most likely be a disorganized mob.”

Even if they are elves who are naturally strong, the difference in combat power will be great unless they are warriors who have already been made into soldiers.

It was obvious that an army made up of such people would be much easier to deal with than before.

“Besides, where will the resources to arm them come from? There is a limit even with the spirit magic that supplies resources.”

A vicious cycle that is difficult for them to escape will be created.

Moreover, we are thinking of burning down as many villages and cities as possible without stopping here.

We were also planning to create looting parties periodically to prevent reconstruction from time to time.

“The rebellion in the east has been suppressed with this. So, Stella.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Now you are no longer the Prince Elector of the East.”

Although the west has become Shadow’s territory, it has already been pacified, and the east has also been secured.

Now the rebels have lost more than half of their forces.

“Now there are no Prince Electors in the Empire. You are now the Governor-General of the Eastern Territory.”

Not a medieval feudal Prince Elector, but a Governor-General of the Emperor’s imperial province.