Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 357

Timothy frowned as the wind carried the sudden, sickening stench of blood, turning his stomach. The vanguard cavalry rode ahead, their Burgos flags stained with the blood of Clifford’s people.

Recognizing Timothy’s wavering focus, the Burgos general, the supreme commander and decision-maker of the current army, shouted,

“Sir Timothy! Is there a problem?”

“No, no.”

“Let’s not get distracted. We don’t know when ‘that thing’ behind us will go wild. We can’t afford to relax. Clifford’s forces have also begun to move, so we must advance even more vigorously!”

The general gestured with a hearty laugh. The military band, boosting morale, blew their trumpets with all their might.

Boo-oo, boo-oo. The continuous sound seemed to shake the heavens and the earth. Birds hidden among the leaves took flight, and animals, large and small, disappeared into the forest.

The loud, heavy reverberation was deafening. Timothy felt his mind grow hazy.

“Sir Timothy!”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“How can you be like this before a great undertaking? When we return after completing our mission, the King will bestow great rewards upon us. I envy you. Haha! So, let’s do our best to live up to that honor. Thousands of soldiers are following us, aren’t they?”

The general gestured for Timothy to look behind him, unaware that it was only further unsettling him.

‘Why am I in this position?’

As a diplomatic envoy, Timothy was essential for stating Burgos’s position, gaining justification, or reaching diplomatic compromises at the border.

However, he couldn’t understand why he was riding alongside the general. Sometimes, he even found himself ahead of the general. Wouldn’t this make it seem like he was the one leading thousands of soldiers?

Clatter, clatter!

Neigh!

The merits of war were a sensitive issue for warriors. There was nothing more important than being recognized for missions where they risked their lives and receiving the rewards. Above all, securing troops was a warrior’s power and honor. Sharing their soldiers with others was not easily understood.

But the man beside him was doing just that. He welcomed Timothy’s advance and actively accepted his orders and suggestions.

Everything was going well, but an unknown unease kept disrupting his thoughts.

‘Take care, dear.’

And above all, his wife’s farewell lingered in his ears. It was just another business trip, but was it because the purpose was war? His wife and child, embracing him so dearly, weighed heavily on his mind.

Clatter, clatter!

The general glanced at Timothy, recalling his secret meeting with the King before the departure.

‘Are you saying to put Sir Timothy at the front? He is not a soldier.’

‘I know. But isn’t it a given that he will accompany us? It’s just a matter of moving him to the front.’

‘Your Majesty, may I ask the reason? I am sorry, but being at the forefront means taking responsibility for the war. If I cannot convince my subordinates, the efficiency of the battle will decrease.’

‘Putting Timothy at the front will minimize the damage.’

‘What? What do you mean by that…’

‘You will know when you go out there. Do not mix in any noise. All the credit will go to you.’

He couldn’t understand the King’s intentions. The look in his eyes was so clear that he couldn’t ask any further. Well, since he was promised everything he needed, he had no reason to object.

Frankly, it was a strange arrangement, but there was nothing wrong with it. Who knew? Maybe, as the King said, Timothy would take the arrows for him.

“A small city is visible! Once we pass that, we’ll be in the central outskirts of the capital!”

At his subordinate’s shout, the general raised his telescope. He could see a defensive wall. It was as tall and thick as the one at the border, and soldiers were moving on top of it. It must be another company besides the Clifford forces that had attacked the rear.

Moreover, the nearby houses were empty. It was clear that an evacuation order had already been issued in preparation for the attack.

“How many Baekgak [a type of large, monstrous centipede] are left?”

“Five.”

Since each one was close to dozens, they would be able to easily break down the wall this time as well. The general ordered his subordinates to slow down.

“We’ll release them all at once. Prepare.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Those centipede bastards, they’re just creatures, they don’t move as we want. Don’t you think so, Timothy?”

How nice it would be if they all gathered and exploded at once. As if they were not monsters in the shape of insects, they always moved wherever their feet took them, making them troublesome in many ways.

Timothy nodded in agreement, then suddenly paused.

Swoosh.

While everyone was looking at the wall, Timothy raised his telescope and looked up at the sky. A tiny speck. He wondered if it was a passing bird, but its movement was unusual.

Timothy soon realized it was in the shape of a person and told the general,

“They’re mages!”

* * *

“Whoa. Seeing it like this, it’s really swarming.”

“Ugh, it’s heavy. Beric, did you gain weight?”

“No? I’m the same?”

“The stuff in his belly alone weighs more than a person. Be careful not to drop it.”

“Okay! If I drop it, I’m dead! At this height, I’m really dead!”

Just like Timothy, Ian used his telescope to scan the entire army. Prince Noah’s resistance was quite effective, as the scale seemed to be half of what he had heard. It was probably the vanguard company.

Seeing that the right and left wings were clearly divided, it was clear that a general with war experience was leading them.

“Sir Ian, shall we go down further?”

“No. Wait.”

Usually, the right wing held weapons and the left wing held shields, so the right wing was in charge of attacking and the left wing was in charge of defending. Of course, in the era when Emperor Ian lived, military tactics had already evolved further through numerous war histories.

In any case, judging by the situation, it seemed clear that Damon’s intention was to use this incident not just as a test, but as a starting point.

‘It would be good to know who the general is, but the message from the border only mentioned Timothy.’

Was it Damon’s strategy? A strategy that anticipated that he thought of Timothy as special. He had foreseen it since he contacted the traitor when he entered Clifford, but no matter how he thought about it, Ian didn’t have many options.

‘…For the sake of the future Naum.’

Because of his existence, there were parts of history that were twisted, but from a macro perspective, it hadn’t deviated from the big picture yet. As long as Timothy didn’t die, he had the opportunity and future to be naturalized into Bariel, which meant that the possibility of Naum’s existence also remained.

There was a hundred-year gap between Emperor Ian and the illegitimate son Ian. From God’s point of view, it was a very short time, but from the perspective of humans living in history, a fleeting moment had to accumulate into countless eons.

And that fleeting moment was enough time to change fate and life.

“Sir Ian! That’s it! The one I told you about! Do you see the huge carriage in the middle of the procession? It’s behind that!”

“Look, look at me too!”

“Don’t wiggle, you’ll really fall?”

Following the mage’s fingertip, Ian adjusted the angle of the telescope. Among the carriages that seemed to be carrying supplies, he saw a strange creature.

“Ah…”

“Do you see why I couldn’t explain it? I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

‘Sir Ian must know, right?’ The mage’s eyes sparkled without a hint of doubt. He clenched his fists as if to urge him to give an answer.

But Ian’s answer was unexpected.

“I’ve never seen it either.”

“Yes? Really? Are you joking?”

“No joke, really.”

He looked dumbfounded as if he had heard something absurd. Ian chuckled and put the telescope to Beric’s eyes, and he frowned as he looked at the strange creature walking among the soldiers.

“Huh? Huh? That’s it, that’s it!”

“It’s a monster created by necromancy.”

“Yeah, that’s it!”

“Beric, can you shut up instead of pretending to know?”

“No, I know too. I’ve seen it before. When we passed through Karenna Village, Hasha was a person, but he was a dog? But they said it was because he died. Ian, right? I’m right, right? Answer me quickly!”

What nonsense.

The mages frowned and seriously considered letting go. But Ian smiled as if he was impressed and nodded.

“Yes. I’ll tell you about what happened in Karenna later when I have time. First of all, what you need to know is that it was created by necromancy. Let’s see, what did they put together…”

The soldiers leading the monster all had their noses covered with masks, as if it smelled rotten. The body of a bear the size of a carriage, a lizard’s head, and its outer skin was covered with sharp thorns.

Ian muttered,

“Judging by the way it walks, the body is presumed to be a Bergman [a large, bear-like creature], the head is a Tiefe [a large lizard-like creature], and the thorns seem to be weapons coated with poison.”

“Bergman, ah! I know! Isn’t it a reddish-brown bear?”

“How did Burgos catch that? It would have been a bit difficult with just soldiers.”

“Or they might have just found the corpse. That’s how necromancy is, right? There are rumors that they dig up graves if they need to.”

“But if it’s crawling so slowly, isn’t it useless? Shuba, we’re in the sky right now!”

Beric playfully kicked into the air, causing the two mages to stagger and hold on tightly.

“We’re fine, but Clifford is different. You’ve never seen a Bergman, have you? It’s very fast even if it looks like that.”

“You haven’t either.”

“Of course not! Bears tear people apart.”

“I can tear people apart too.”

“…What can I say to you? Never mind.”

The mage warned Beric, emphasizing the danger, but he didn’t seem to take it seriously at all. The mages asked Ian,

“Sir Ian, what should we do? Wouldn’t it be better to stop them before they reach the wall? Clifford’s king has also officially requested help, and I don’t think unnecessary conflict is meaningful. Let’s just kill them all.”

It was right to wipe out the Burgos forces that had already advanced, and unnecessary conflict here meant the damage to Clifford’s side.

Ian watched the army’s procession slowly slowing down and asked,

“…It seems everyone only knows about Bergman, and not Tiefe.”

Ah. He hit the nail on the head.

They were trying to pretend to agree and move on.

Beric burst out laughing as he looked at the mages’ faces.

“Hehehe, you fools. You got caught.”

“That’s it. Beric. I’m letting go.”

“Sorry, ahhh, sorry!”

The Tiefe used its long tongue freely to catch its prey. It could leave it on the floor like a trap and pull it in, or it could flexibly snatch things flying in the air like a hand.

But the problem was that its length was beyond imagination.

“It won’t reach up here! Let’s just shoot them!”

“Even if it’s the soldiers, can you hit it?”

“Who cares? Just blow up the heads of the necromancy-controlled ones! The lizard head is so big! Just smash it!”

“It’s the result of combining various things, would they reveal their weakness so openly?”

“Huh? Then?”

Ian noticed the gradual change in the formation of the left and right wings. The combined monsters they brought were currently identified as thirty. They couldn’t rule out the possibility of using other monsters besides Baekgak.

“They’re protecting their outer skin with poison-coated thorns. The real head is inside that body. Unless you cut it open and blow it up, you can’t kill it. Literally, those things are already dead.”

“Ah, so we have to get close.”

“There is another way.”

To find and kill the necromancer who was either inside the huge black wave or hiding separately. Either way, it seemed like it would be a bit of a tricky battle.

Ian nodded and signaled to return to the palace. They needed a joint attack with Clifford.