My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 278

278. The Lion Doesn’t Bark

The landscape before Ruben was devastated.

Yet, ironically, Ruben remained unscathed.

The Elanndur vanguard that arrived before Ruben was larger than the forces of most earldoms.

But in the end, they couldn’t breach Ruben’s defenses.

The Elanndur vanguard was completely annihilated.

On the other hand, Ruben suffered no damage.

It was truly an overwhelming victory.

However, a battle is just a battle; the war was not over.

“As you know, the forces that arrived before Ruben this time were the Elanndur vanguard. The size was 30,000. The White Wolf Knights were not included,” Diana reported.

What Ruben had defeated this time was only the vanguard.

The main force of Elanndur, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, still remained.

Elanndur’s elite forces were also still intact.

The decisive battle between Ruben and Elanndur.

The prelude to that decisive battle had just begun.

Cyan nodded lightly and turned his gaze to Diana.

“When do you think the Elanndur main force will arrive?”

“At the latest, they are expected to enter Ruben’s territory within three days.”

“What is the size of the main force? Are there any other changes?”

“No. There are no special changes.”

That meant the force was still 300,000 strong.

It was hard to believe, but denying it now would be foolish.

“Thanks to the Lord inflicting damage on Elanndur previously, the scale didn’t increase further.”

In the past, Cyan had struck Elanndur first.

While Durak and the White Wolf Knights were in the Beastmen’s kingdom, Cyan had inflicted significant damage on Elanndur.

“Even after reducing their forces, it’s still this much…”

There was a reason it was called a centuries-old stronghold.

There was a reason it was called one of the two pillars supporting the empire.

And the one commanding that large force.

“The commander-in-chief has been confirmed as Durak Elanndur.”

The head of the Elanndur family.

The continent’s number one swordsman, Durak Elanndur.

This was the first time Durak had personally taken action.

This was the first time he had officially entered the war as the commander-in-chief.

That meant Durak had put all his strength into this war.

Therefore, there was one question, one puzzling point.

“Where’s Kai?”

“He did not participate in this war.”

Kai did not participate in this war.

The eldest son of the Elanndur family and the empire’s rising star, Kai.

Durak had clearly bet everything on this war.

But Kai didn’t participate?

In fact, Kai could be said to be the most elite of Elanndur’s elite.

Cyan had crossed swords with him personally in the Beastmen’s kingdom last time.

Kai had been more threatening than Durak.

At the time, Durak was slightly ahead in terms of skill.

However, Cyan was more concerned about Kai than Durak.

Therefore, Kai’s non-participation was unexpected.

‘Does he still have confidence even without him?’

The confidence that they could destroy Ruben even without Kai.

Well, a force of 300,000 was enough to do that.

It wasn’t just enough; it was a certainty.

It was truly an overwhelming difference in power.

Everyone on the continent predicted Ruben’s defeat; there seemed to be no chance at all.

However, Cyan did not give in.

“Good work, Diana.”

Cyan nodded to Diana.

They say war is an information battle.

Obtaining this kind of information was already like having a head start.

Moreover, Diana’s information was very detailed and precise.

‘Did she plant a spy inside Elanndur?’

Such questions naturally arose, given the detailed information coming from Diana’s mouth.

Was she truly the head of the empire’s top information guild?

She was the first to grasp Elanndur’s movements, and she reported such detailed information.

Indeed, the empire’s best was the empire’s best.

And information shines when it is used.

If they obtained information, they had to prepare accordingly.

“Lucas, have the soldiers adapted to the dragon equipment?”

The dragon equipment that Semir had made, losing sleep over it.

He hadn’t just lost sleep; Semir hadn’t slept at all.

He had stayed up all night with his eyes open, literally holding a hammer all day long.

He had constantly repeated the forging process, creating the dragon equipment.

In line with Semir, the dwarves had also been working hard without sleep.

As a result, Semir had collapsed and was in the infirmary.

“They have all been supplied and have completed training.”

His hard work was clearly showing results.

“The Singijeon [Korean rocket artillery]… we’ve confirmed they work well. What about the Oryonggeo [Korean multiple rocket launcher]?”

“The Oryonggeo also have no problems. Training is complete, and they can be deployed immediately if you give the order.”

Lucas bowed sharply.

They were certainly fully prepared.

Cyan turned his head and asked Aslandiz.

“What about the magic corps?”

“The dragon equipment has exceeded expectations. There is no loss in the magic conduction department… so those other than Sera cannot fully control it yet.”

However, Aslandiz continued with a reassuring expression.

“However, there will be no cases of magic power going out of control or magic turning against our allies.”

Cyan nodded slightly.

Then he turned his head again and looked at Caris.

“The Beastmen…”

“They are all preparing.”

Caris answered even before Cyan finished his question.

They hadn’t even adapted to Ruben yet.

And it hadn’t been long since the big incident.

“Just give the order.”

The Beastmen were raising their fighting spirit.

-We are ready too.

-All members of the Black Lion Knights are awaiting the Lord’s command.

Following that were the words of Leia and Kendrick.

Everyone was waiting for Cyan’s command.

The shadow of war loomed.

The prelude to war.

“Everyone, brace yourselves.”

Now, the full-scale war was about to begin.

#

The scenery of Ruben visible ahead.

A huge Elanndur army densely surrounding Ruben.

And in the center of that army.

Thud.

“P, please save me! Please… please save me, Lord!”

Lord Raperbils was begging, hitting his head on the ground.

Thud. Thud. Lord Raperbils repeatedly slammed his head against the ground.

Even as the skin on his forehead tore and broke, thud!

Lord Raperbils did not stop hitting his head.

The one looking down at such Raperbils.

“I clearly ordered you to only observe the movements. I seem to have given that order…”

Elanndur’s commander-in-chief, Durak, continued with a cold gaze.

“Or was I wrong?”

“N, no! That’s right! I… I was blinded by merit for a moment and committed a crazy act!”

Lord Raperbils was terrified and slammed his head on the ground once more, thud!

“Please just save me! If you just save me, I will work under you like a dog for the rest of my life! I will burn this body for Elanndur!”

Thud! Thud!

“So please, j, just save me, Lord!”

Lord Raperbils begged Durak for mercy.

Durak did not give any answer.

He simply raised his aura with a cold expression.

A terrible murderous intent that craved the existence’s death.

Durak’s murderous intent was solely directed at Raperbils.

“S, save…! Please…! Keheok…!”

Raperbils trembled.

He couldn’t even speak easily as if he was suffocating.

Durak showed no reaction.

He simply turned his gaze to the side slowly, very slowly.

With Durak’s gaze, Aaron, the leader of the White Wolf Knights, stepped forward and opened his mouth.

“The 30,000 vanguard were completely annihilated—”

And before Aaron could finish his words.

Squeak—!

A chilling cutting sound was suddenly heard.

That sound, which even Aaron didn’t recognize, came from near Raperbils’ neck.

A moment of silence followed.

Sreureuk, Raperbils’ head, which had been stuck to the ground, fell downwards.

And thud, the body that had lost its head sprawled out haphazardly.

Raperbils’ fallen face still showed a pleading expression.

Begging Durak for mercy, with the same expression of suffocation.

He didn’t even realize the moment he died.

Durak sheathed his sword and made a gesture.

Then the White Wolf Knights approached and cleared away Raperbils’ corpse.

After Raperbils’ body was cleared away.

Aaron finally opened his mouth again.

“It is said that even magic engineering catapults could not penetrate it. As a result of the confirmation, it is said that it also absorbs the aura’s strike. I think… siege weapons cannot be used.”

Durak’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

He knew how absurd the report he had just heard was.

Frankly speaking, he wondered if Aaron was joking.

It was so close to impossible that it would be more plausible to believe that.

However, the annihilation of the vanguard earlier.

That was clear evidence.

Therefore, as Aaron said, siege weapons had become useless weapons.

Magic engineering catapults, magic siege rams, magic cannons, etc.

Siege weapons that break through and collapse the walls had no meaning at all.

Rather, they were nothing more than trash that repeated unnecessary consumption.

Also, they had become obstacles that resulted in the absurd result of only slowing down the speed of the march.

Durak calmly lowered his gaze.

The floor was soaked with Raperbils’ blood.

“At least he was useful.”

Durak muttered quietly towards the dead Raperbils.

The 30,000 vanguard he had sent to observe Ruben’s movements.

They could not avoid annihilation due to the judgment of an incompetent commander, but they were still useful.

Because they were able to obtain information about Ruben’s barrier.

Originally, it was information that the main force would have had to bleed to obtain.

It was something that could only be judged after repeating meaningless attrition warfare and suffering great damage.

He had shortened that damage and time, so he was at least useful.

Of course, it was information exchanged for a whopping 30,000 losses.

However, Durak did not care much.

He was useful.

For Durak, that was the only important thing.

“It is expected that this will be a difficult fight.”

At Aaron’s words that followed, Durak looked straight ahead.

“Indeed.”

And he nodded once.

The Elanndur army was deployed like waves.

The scenery of Ruben completely surrounded.

However, Ruben’s impregnable barrier.

An absurd barrier that even magic engineering siege weapons could not scratch.

“There was a reason why they were acting like that.”

Durak stared at Ruben’s barrier.

It had certainly become a difficult fight.

His expectation that he would overwhelm them with the difference in size?

It had missed beautifully.

Far from overwhelming them, Elanndur had to endure damage as well.

He had brought an army of 300,000, but he couldn’t overwhelm them…

“Indeed.”

Durak nodded once more and muttered quietly.

And perhaps because of that.

Far away, the scenery of Ruben was visible.

Ruben’s soldiers were lined up above it.

They could not be seen.

Emotions such as fear, horror, or despair.

They were not giving in to the enormity of this army of 300,000.

They were not trembling before the name of Elanndur.

Ruben’s rabble were not afraid.

They were not trembling in fear, nor were they despairing.

Rather, they were only raising their deep fighting spirit.

“What should we do?”

At Aaron’s question that followed, Durak did not answer.

He just walked silently.

Durak took a step towards the enemy camp of Ruben.

#

“Captain Lucas! There is movement towards Ruben from the Elanndur side!”

Lucas’ expression hardened at the cry of a soldier.

Was it finally starting?

Lucas asked the soldier who reported.

“How many people?”

“One person. It’s one person!”

However, Lucas tilted his head at the answer he heard soon after.

How could it be one person…?

Lucas checked the scene himself.

And as a result of confirming with his own two eyes…

It was really one person.

In the army of hundreds of thousands, only one man was walking forward.

The man was crossing the army of hundreds of thousands and walking towards Ruben.

“Durak…?”

Elanndur’s commander-in-chief, Durak Elanndur.

The man approaching Ruben now was none other than Durak.

Durak’s steps did not stop and continued.

He passed his vassals, and the White Wolf Knights passed.

He even passed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and walked to Ruben.

In that way, Durak stood at the very front of the army of hundreds of thousands.

Alone and isolated.

Durak was standing closest to Ruben.

Durak’s appearance was like that of a wolf.

The leader wolf leading its pack.

A nobility that does not give in to any situation.

The white wolf symbolizing Elanndur.

Durak quietly raised his gaze and looked at Ruben.

He looked at Ruben’s impregnable barrier and at Ruben’s soldiers lined up on it, including Lucas.

It was a blurry view because of the distance.

However, Lucas felt as if he was facing Durak right in front of him.

Lucas’ mind was racing.

‘What is the meaning of this action now?’

‘What kind of scheme is he planning?’

Lucas and the soldiers’ thoughts were only getting more complicated.

Nevertheless, Durak stood still in that spot.

Slowly, very slowly, he drew his sword.

And.

Kwaaaaaaaa—!!!

A tremendous power erupted from Durak’s entire body.

A master-level knight.

The continent’s number one swordsman, Durak Elanndur.

The power emitted by the continent’s strongest knight was truly ‘horrific.’

Therefore, horror was felt in itself, but something began to be added here.

Endless madness.

Crimson malice.

Dark red malice rose around Durak like dark clouds.

And it began to distort Durak’s human form.

The appearance was clearly Durak.

The aura of a wolf leader was still present.

However, the surroundings were submerged in darkness.

Pitch-black darkness that does not allow a single point of light.

In the meantime, a crimson glint was flashing.

“······!!”

“······!!”

The eyes of Ruben’s soldiers widened greatly in shock.

Lucas was also not much different from those soldiers.

Now… the scene visible before my eyes.

Durak’s appearance, standing alone with his sword hanging to the side.

The power felt from such Durak.

This power that makes the ends of the skin tingle. This energy.

A familiar… power. No, it is an engraved power.

It was a power engraved in the fear inherent in instinct.

Others may not know, but Ruben’s soldiers knew.

“D, demon…”

The power of a demon. This is definitely the power of a demon.

It was not an ordinary demon’s power either.

How can the word demon be ordinary, but even so, this was not an ordinary demon’s power.

The evil beings that plunged the continent into chaos a thousand years ago.

The Seven Deadly Sins.

Pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, sloth.

The seven demons who awakened from that sin.

The power of the seven demon lords.

Saaaaaaa….

The power of the seven demon lords was felt from Durak now.

No, it’s more than that.

The soldiers could tell at once.

They knew because they had experienced it directly in the Beastmen’s kingdom last time.

They could say for sure because they had faced the power of the demon lord whose sacred object was unsealed.

The demon lord who has reached complete liberation.

And something beyond that, on a higher dimension.

From Durak, Nurvia and Gulneria.

The power beyond those two demon lords was felt.

“H, how…”

That’s why the soldiers couldn’t believe it.

However, the power felt was a clear reality.

The emotion of ‘fear’ began to be engraved on Ruben’s soldiers.

They began to falter and retreat from the blooming hideous malice.

The thought that they cannot resist.

That blooms without them even knowing it.

At that moment.

“Throw away your weapons and surrender!”

A huge cry erupted from inside Elanndur.

That was not Durak’s voice.

Durak was just looking down at Ruben with a calm look.

Yes, he was not looking up.

Durak was looking down now.

Like the existence of an absolute being.

The cry was heard from beyond Durak. From the Elanndur camp.

“Surrender under Elanndur’s feet even now! Then, considering the old friendship, I will spare your lives!”

Ruben’s soldiers flinched.

It was a fear that came from Durak, not Elanndur.

But they clenched the weapons they had in their hands.

It’s not like they’ve been fighting and struggling until now just to surrender.

“We will not surrender!”

“We will fight to the end!”

Ruben’s soldiers gritted their teeth.

They tried to shake off the encroaching fear.

They raised their fighting spirit and forcibly grabbed their trembling bodies.

But that was only for a moment.

“How foolish.”

A quiet voice was heard as if it was lingering in their ears.

This time, it was not heard from Elanndur’s camp.

The wolf leader standing proudly.

It was the sound uttered from Durak’s mouth.

It was a small echo.

But it is heard clearly in the ear.

And for a moment.

Kwaaaaaaaa—!!

Once again, a terrible energy began to explode from Durak’s entire body.

The surroundings are submerged in the abyss, and endless madness is ejected.

Before that power… Ruben’s barrier is meaningless.

The hands of the soldiers holding the weapons trembled.

Even with the strength given by the dragon’s equipment, their bodies trembled without rest.

‘Can we fight against it?’

‘Can we… win?’

The soldiers ended up thinking that.

Once a thought blooms, it continues to spread.

There is a reason for the centuries-old castle.

There must be a reason why the two pillars supporting the empire exist.

The continent’s number one swordsman is the strongest person in existence.

We cannot dare to resist that overwhelming power.

They burn their will to fight, but the hidden fear rushes in.

They raise their fighting spirit, but the engraved fear rises.

‘Maybe we will all be at the end of this war…’

Right then.

Thud.

Some footsteps were heard.

“The wolf.”

Some familiar voice was also heard.

“When it meets a powerful enemy, it growls.”

The voice heard was also a small echo.

It was an echo smaller than Durak’s just now.

Therefore, this echo was not Durak’s.

The echo is heard once again.

“So that the opponent is afraid of me.”

Because they have no ability to drive away the opponent except by threatening them with growls.

Because they themselves are afraid.

“The wolf growls when it meets a powerful enemy because it feels threatened if the opponent rushes in rashly.”

Like the wolf you see over there now.

The quiet echo was clearly ringing in my ears.

And something unknown in my heart was also ringing.

Fear recedes.

The engraved fear disappears.

The empty space where fear and horror have disappeared.

Endless fighting spirit takes its place in the meantime.

Kwakwakwa—!!

A huge energy erupted.

A distant power is felt beyond the senses.

It is truly indescribable; it cannot be expressed.

The power of transcendence began to indiscriminately devour the looming madness.

Madness resists it. But it’s meaningless.

Even the sound cannot erupt; it is just swallowed.

“······!”

Durak’s eyes widened greatly.

Durak’s eyes shook for a moment as his power was indiscriminately swallowed up.

In the meantime, thud, the footsteps continue.

In the meantime, a quiet echo is heard once again.

“But the truly strong are just quietly silent.”

Even when a powerful enemy appears, they do not show hostility.

“Growling and scaring the opponent is something that only dogs or wolves do.”

At the same time, a man was shot out towards Durak.

And it resembled the shape of a beast.

The appearance is clearly human.

However, what people saw and felt.

Ironically, it was the appearance of a ferocious beast.

What symbolized Arnaise Kyle a thousand years ago.

But now, symbolizing Cyan of Ruben.

A roaring black lion.

The truly strong are quietly silent.

“The lion doesn’t bark.”

The black lion’s rough roar.

It will only devour the white wolf.

Kwaaaaaaaa—!!