Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 361

Prince Noah recklessly charged his horse, disrupting the Vergos camp.

Swords and spears jutted out from everywhere, but with May and his men’s protection, he skillfully deflected them, swiftly advancing and retreating.

Though few in number, his soldiers were comrades who had spent their lives together. They knew what each other wanted without words, protected each other’s backs as their own, and didn’t draw a line between their lives and their comrades’.

“May! Retreat!”

“Understood!”

“Back into the forest!”

“Block them! Attack the horses’ legs!”

“Bring ropes! Tie them along the camp! Don’t let them escape!”

Swish!

Clang! Clang!

Noah’s small elite force had a simple, clear objective: to disrupt the rear of the camp. To break tents, trample soldiers, and draw attention to the back, creating an opening for Clifford’s forces at the front.

“Retreat!”

Knowing the terrain like the back of their hands was a huge advantage for Noah’s side. They would retreat into the forest, and while the enemy was confused, they would emerge again from another side and strike.

At Noah’s command, his tightly packed men simultaneously turned their horses, ready to flee. Their opponents were a disorganized rabble. They were confident they could return without issue, and they pulled their reins forcefully.

Screech!

Thud.

That was until they encountered a strange monster blocking their path.

The stench of rotting corpses and festering flesh erupted simultaneously, making it hard to breathe. It seemed the Vergos soldiers were also affected, as those who had been rushing forward faltered and stepped back.

“Wow, Your Highness. What is that?”

“…It seems to be a monster.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It looks bizarre.”

A path opened up. The soldiers parted to the left and right at the monster’s appearance, creating space. If they charged now, they could easily escape into the forest, but they couldn’t move easily because of the monster standing there so stolidly.

A lizard’s head, and a body that looked like a bear. Covered in bizarrely colored thorns that looked like they would rot anything they touched.

“Your Highness, what should we do? Should we break through?”

“……”

“Your Highness!”

A subordinate urged him. He was just standing there, watching them. It seemed as slow as it was large, so they thought they could just charge straight ahead and bypass it.

However, Noah noticed the surrounding atmosphere and shook his head. Even the allied Vergos soldiers were not approaching the monster. This was proof that Noah’s side also could not overcome the monster.

“We’ll break through the camp to the other side.”

“That will be impossible. There are too many of them.”

“Your Highness. I’ll try to get past the monster first. Please follow me.”

“No! Wait!”

“We’ll all die if we stay here!”

“That’s an order! Stop!”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness!”

Clatter, clatter!

One of his men charged his horse towards the monster.

The dull thing stood still, its rotten eyes darting back and forth. Sweat dripped from the hand holding the reins, but he was too tense to notice. Even as he got closer, the monster didn’t move. Yes, if he just passed by like this…

Crack!

Swish!

“Ugh!”

In an instant, its jaws opened wide, top and bottom. A huge tongue shot out and snatched the subordinate by the neck.

It was instantaneous. The horse neighed and fled into the forest, while he thrashed in the air, his hand, having dropped his sword, flailing at the tongue. The sticky liquid made his arm movements sluggish; the more he hit it, the more viscous it became.

“This-!”

Noah charged at the monster, sword raised. He tried to cut the tongue in one go, but the blade only went halfway in before stopping.

The monster’s tongue dangled Noah’s sword, while strangling the subordinate’s neck, swaying left and right. Noah couldn’t believe this situation, where he could only watch the subordinate’s trembling fingertips.

“Your Highness! Here’s a sword!”

“It looks like it’ll come off if you strike it again!”

“We’ll help! Just hold on!”

Other comrades threw swords at Noah and rushed in together. If it was half cut in one go, wouldn’t it come off completely after two or three more tries?

However, the monster slowly raised its head and moved its tongue flexibly. Its body was as big as a carriage. If it raised its head and made the tongue shoot upwards, it would be at an unreachable height.

In this situation where they could neither advance nor retreat, Noah bit his lip as he looked at his soldiers.

‘It’s not attacking us, it’s just watching. The Vergos general has noticed who I am. It’s clear they’ve been ordered to capture me alive.’

Rather than be taken prisoner, he would rather die for Clifford. Noah gripped his sword and charged at the monster again, while May stood still and muttered.

“A monster close to a corpse… Vergos…”

Necromancy!

Vergos, bordering the north of the Gaia continent, had many sorcerers. That must be the result of necromancy. If so, there must be someone controlling it, and all they had to do was get rid of that person.

May quickly looked around. Vergos soldiers were watching them, swords and spears raised. The encirclement was gradually closing in. Amidst the trained movements, May kept checking if there was anyone who stood out.

They certainly wouldn’t be moving with weapons like ordinary soldiers, but they were confronting Prince Noah, and to move that thing, they would have to be standing there…

‘There!’

May spotted someone far away, dressed in black like a Vergos soldier, but standing still with their hands clasped.

Without a moment’s hesitation, May drew her bow and pulled back the string.

Thwack!

Perhaps realizing that he was the target, the man flinched and stepped back, and at the same time, the monster’s movements also paused slightly. Noah turned around and saw May still aiming her bow.

“May!”

“The necromancer is over there! I’ll keep targeting him, so Your Highness, please get past the monster!”

“Why are you all so headstrong! You’re coming with me!”

“I have no choice! I am a citizen of Clifford-!”

Thwack! Thwack!

A Vergos officer, realizing that the necromancer’s location had been exposed, gestured to the soldiers. In this case, it would be easier and cleaner to kill everyone except Prince Noah.

The soldiers, who had only been holding their weapons in check, began to approach step by step.

“Noah, you are the prince of this country! You are Clifford!”

May continued to fire arrows without a break. One arrow, one arrow, quickly but accurately. The necromancer’s figure gradually disappeared due to the approaching soldiers.

“Noah, hurry! Return to the palace!”

“May!”

“Damn it, just listen! Even if it’s just for times like this!”

A loyal subordinate, a childhood friend, and one of the few who could share the curse of the beastmen.

Noah watched the sweat dripping from May’s chin and slowly backed away. His subordinates, who had admitted that it was difficult to fight the monster, also shouted.

“Your Highness! Let’s go!”

The comrade caught by the monster was already limp. Any further response was meaningless. His subordinates urged the prince, and Noah twisted his body, biting the inside of his cheek.

The monster charged to attack them, but its accuracy was definitely lower, and it was also somewhat clumsy. It was thanks to the necromancer’s distraction.

“Ah.”

May, who had reached for her quiver, paused. There was nothing to grab. She had run out of arrows. As soon as she confirmed that Noah was passing by the monster, she grabbed her sword without hesitation and charged into the enemy lines.

Neigh!

Crash! Bang!

“Block them! Raise your shields!”

“Kill them! It’s okay to kill that one!”

“Target the horses first!”

The soldiers’ attacks poured down on the horse’s neck and legs. The startled horse panicked and bucked, falling on top of the soldiers trying to grab it.

The same was true for May. She wanted to get through the crowd and reach the necromancer, but it was impossible. She gritted her teeth and began to deflect the attacks pouring down on her.

Clang! Clang!

Reflexive reactions. But she felt her strength gradually waning, and she soon sensed that this would be her end.

“Hurry and chase after Prince Noah! The mages are coming!”

“Two mages are visible in the front!”

“They haven’t taken any action yet!”

The moment the officer and his subordinates guarding the necromancer shouted loudly and gave orders. The necromancer dropped his clasped hands. He frowned and asked the officer.

“…Mages?”

“Keep going, Prince Noah is escaping!”

“How can there be mages here? I thought Clifford didn’t have any mages. Please explain this.”

“Is that important now!? Move the monster quickly!”

The officer yelled, but the young man firmly lowered his hands. He seemed determined not to cooperate unless he was given an explanation.

“Are you ignoring orders now, just because you’re from a backwater tribe? How much money did Vergos send to Astana, and you’re acting like this? If you don’t want to be held responsible, then immediately-!”

“Astana participated in the war knowing it was between Vergos and Clifford! But why can’t I get an explanation about why there are mages here?”

“You can hear about that later! Hurry! Damn it! You bastard!”

Slap!

The officer, enraged, slapped the necromancer’s cheek, and the young man fell forward weakly. A red jewel peeked out from his disheveled neck, and soon, the scars hidden under his hair became visible. There was a large wound on his neck, with clear needle marks.

The young man covered his cheek and glared at the officer.

“I am the heir of Astana. How dare you…”

“Don’t you know that military law takes precedence during war? Prince Noah, the leader of the enemy, is escaping, ugh. That’s it. Hey!”

The officer tried to get out of the situation by irritably ordering the soldiers around. The moment the necromancer staggered to his feet.

Boom! Crash!

Bang! Boom!

A tremendous roar erupted from the front. The earth shook, and the soldiers who had been standing still fell backward from the explosion.

Everyone looked towards the smoke, wondering what had happened.

* * *

“Huh.”

The two mages, who were floating high in the sky, observing the battle, paused. Was it because it was getting dark and they were seeing things? It looked like Berik had just been eaten by a monster?

The two looked at each other at the same time, and then pondered what to do. They were almost completely ignorant about synthetic monsters. They were worried about whether they should act recklessly without Ian’s instructions and without a plan. He was already dead, so they couldn’t kill him, right?

The Clifford and Vergos sides would soon clash and become entangled, and it was difficult to know what the best response would be.

“Should we save Berik?”

“Hmm. Wow, I don’t know.”

Of course, saving him was the right thing to do. But they didn’t know why they were hesitating so much.

“What if we attack the monster and Berik gets hurt more?”

“But it doesn’t seem like he’s going to die…”

“Still, we have to do something, right? Otherwise, Berik will complain later. That we didn’t save him.”

Agreed. It was clear that it would become a hassle. The two mages drew magic circles and tried to activate the attack magic they could use.

Bulge.

“Wait a minute.”

Bergman’s left belly bulged out. Then the right. Then the left again. It was obvious that Berik was causing all sorts of chaos inside.

“It doesn’t seem to tear easily. Maybe we should tear it from the outside…”

“Huh?”

Then, Bergman’s belly gradually swelled. It became so bloated that it looked like it would burst, and then it burst with a loud noise.

Boom! Pop!

“You XXXX! XXX! Ugh!”

Berik poked his face out of the hole in the belly. Then, he began to vomit uncontrollably, cursing.

The synthetic monster continued to move without any problems, even with a hole in its belly. Tiefe’s tongue moved towards its belly, trying to grab Berik by the neck.

“Berik! The tongue is coming again!”

“The smell is really XXX, you crazy bastards! What is this, ugh, puke, XX, I’m really gonna die, ugh.”

He looked like he was in bad shape? The mages frowned and tilted their heads, and Tiefe’s tongue moved quickly towards its own torn belly again.

Then, Berik lifted something.

“And why is there a human head in here? I kissed it, ugh. XX.”

It was a severed human head. The mages realized that it was the core and shouted.

“Berik! Blow it up!”

“Damn it, you do it!”

“You crazy bastard, hurry!”

Berik crawled out of the belly, wiped his mouth, and then pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the head.

Crunch!

Then, the tongue that had reached Berik’s neck limply flopped down, and the huge synthetic monster’s body fell to the side. The soldiers stepped back, with expressions of disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

Berik kept retching and shouted.

“You bastards! You’re all dead, ugh!”