Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 197

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Charles silently gazed at the fortress of the Lionel Kingdom.

“The moment you’ve been longing for has finally arrived.”

At Clau’s words, Charles’s hand went to the scar near his eye.

The scar inflicted by Evan.

Time had faded it, but the wound etched deep within his heart was about to burst.

“Just to reiterate, a duel is absolutely out of the question. Even Your Majesty cannot guarantee victory against Evan Lionel.”

Charles’s scar twitched at Clau’s words, which stung his pride. Anyone else would have had their neck sliced with the sword at his side.

However, Charles didn’t reach for his sword. Clau was the only person who could speak so frankly to him.

And Clau wasn’t wrong.

Who is the strongest in the world?

One of the most frequent topics of conversation among gossips. Charles knew that Evan’s name was mentioned most often.

Evan had shattered his mental domain when he was just a 6-star knight. He had slain the man known as Arya’s Sword in the war against Arya, proclaiming himself the one and only 8-star magic swordsman to the world.

He had to admit it.

Charles was not confident he could defeat Evan in a duel.

“Fortunately, they seem to know we wouldn’t accept a duel, so they haven’t provoked us first. I had ordered them to fire magic cannons immediately if Evan Lionel came out…”

Clau clicked his tongue, seemingly disappointed.

Charles turned his gaze to the troops forming ranks.

From the large airships, the new weapon, Titan, concealed by screens, was touching down on the ground. The Archmage of the Magic Tower was personally overseeing the process.

-What is that?

-A ladder truck?

-Why would they need to cover a ladder truck like that?

-Could it be a new siege weapon?

The soldiers, unaware of its true nature, murmured among themselves.

Once all the Titans had disembarked from the large airships, Charles raised his hand.

A signal to remove the screens.

With a rustle, the screens were pulled away, and the 13 steel giants, the Titan Juggernauts of the Hamel Empire, appeared all at once.

-Th-that’s!

-A giant?

-Titan! It’s a Titan! The Titans that were said to be extinct!

The soldiers stared in awe at the gold-plated Titan Juggernauts of the Hamel Empire.

Among them, one particularly ornate machine stood out, with a cape fluttering and horns on its helmet. It was Charles’s personal unit.

Charles slowly approached it.

The noisy soldiers fell silent at once. They all watched in silence as he boarded the Titan.

Charles’s personal unit raised its sword, pointing it towards the fortress of the Lionel Kingdom.

“Advance!”

Charles’s voice echoed in the ears of every soldier, and the airships of the Hamel Empire soared into the sky.

Meanwhile.

From the moment the Titan Juggernauts appeared in the Hamel Empire’s camp, the Lionel Kingdom army’s attention was focused on them.

-Th-that’s…

-A giant race?

-How are we supposed to beat something like that?

They already knew that the Empire’s airship forces overwhelmed the Kingdom. In that situation, the appearance of the massive, imposing Titans was enough to break the soldiers’ morale.

-Everyone, pull yourselves together!

-His Majesty is with us!

As the mid-level officers encouraged the soldiers, the commotion gradually subsided.

The royal army had never been defeated in a battle with Evan. They believed it would be the same this time, and that belief was reflected in their eyes.

“Their airships are starting to move!”

The watchmen shouted at the top of their lungs.

Even without their report, no one on the battlefield could miss the Empire’s airships filling the sky.

The Hamel Empire’s airships began to approach the fortress imposingly.

The plan was to bombard the fortress and then move in the ground forces.

It was an extremely textbook and powerful strategy used by those with superior airship forces.

To counter the Hamel Empire’s airship fleet, the Lionel Kingdom’s airships also began to rise one by one.

Although their forces were less than half of the Hamel Empire’s, they would not be helplessly shot down with the support of the large-caliber magic cannons installed in the fortress.

‘If we fight with our lives on the line.’

The airship crews stared at the approaching Hamel Empire’s airships with determined expressions.

And.

The moment the Hamel Empire’s airship fleet crossed the border, an unexpected event occurred that they could never have imagined.

Boom! Boom! Boooom!

The Lionel Kingdom’s Titans, Couber and Michael, rose from the ground with tremendous vibrations. Each of their right arms was connected to a massive magic cannon, Thunder.

The Hamel Empire’s airship fleet paused at the appearance of the Titans from the Lionel Kingdom’s side. And that was an irreversible misjudgment.

Whooo- Whoooooooooo─

A fierce storm of magical power raged.

As a result, the Lionel Kingdom’s Titans appeared to be shimmering in the heat haze.

Nine out of ten captains of the Hamel Empire’s airships were wizards. They realized that the phenomenon was similar to when high-level magic was activated.

“Ev, evade!”

“Increase altitude!”

The Hamel Empire’s airships, which were flying low to bombard the fortress, began to increase altitude all at once.

But it was useless.

Wham! Wham! Whammmmm──!!!

Couber’s Thunder, fired simultaneously at the large airships. A tremendous roar echoed across the battlefield.

“Maximum output of the magic shield… Uwaaaagh!”

“Sa, save me!!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

It was Thunder, with a different power than existing magic cannons. The small and medium-sized airships in the path to the large airships were torn apart like paper.

And.

Kwaaaang!!

For nearly a hundred years, the large airships that had dominated the battlefield were shot down by ground attacks.

Kwaaaang!! Kwaaaang!! Kwagwang!!

Four out of seven ships.

More than 30% of the large airships possessed by the Hamel Empire’s army vanished in an instant.

“Th-that’s…”

The Hamel Empire’s side was shocked by the sight.

The basics of modern warfare, that airships could only be countered by airships or ultra-high-level wizards, had collapsed.

“Li, Lionel Kingdom has, Ti, Titans?”

The Archmage of the Magic Tower, who had led the development of the Juggernauts, was so shocked that he stuttered badly. He looked for the only person who could explain the situation.

“H-hey, Clau! What on earth is going on?”

“W-well, I… How does the Lionel Kingdom have Titans, and even weapons for those Titans…”

Clau, known as the Devil of the Battlefield, who had never lost his composure during the Hamel Empire’s civil war. Even he couldn’t come to his senses this time.

Clau stared at the pure white Titan, which had a different appearance from the others. He could easily guess who was riding in it.

‘E, Evan Lionel!! Was everything prepared!’

Clau’s face, which always had a sly smile, was distorted, and a chilling fear rushed in with a terrible sense of defeat. He felt like a mere insect performing tricks on Evan’s palm.

And there was one more man who felt similar to him.

The Emperor of the Hamel Empire, Charles Han Hamel.

His expression, watching the Empire’s airships crash from his personal unit, was so fierce that even evil spirits would run away.

“Evan, Lionel.”

Unbearable anger could be felt in his trembling voice calling Evan’s name.

Charles was basically a beast-like man who entrusted himself to instinct rather than reason. If it weren’t for his helper, Clau, he might have disappeared without growing up because he had shown his teeth at a young age.

His nature, which he had been suppressing, was awakened.

War, victory, defeat.

Those things were no longer in his head. Only the thought of biting Evan and chewing his heart filled his mind.

“All troops, charge!!”

Charles shouted as if wailing.

Thud, thud.

Charles’s personal unit moved towards the Lionel Kingdom army, shaking the ground with each step.

“Ch, charge!”

“Charge!!”

“His Majesty is with us!!”

The Empire’s Titan owners agreed with him and followed behind him.

Charles was also a fierce general who had led many battles to victory in the civil war before becoming emperor. The Imperial army began to advance all at once.

***

‘Four ships, huh.’

The number of Hamel Empire’s large airships shot down by the surprise attack of the Coubers hiding in the tunnels was a little disappointing.

I was expecting up to six.

Still, I achieved the minimum result I had expected, so there was no need to blame the Titan owners.

The enemy and ally airship forces were now equal due to a single surprise attack. No, the allies were much more advantageous.

The enemy’s airships were afraid of the Thunder’s bombardment from the ground again, so they couldn’t easily lower their altitude.

They’ll come down soon.

Thunder is not a weapon that can be fired continuously due to its tremendous power. At the level of a 6-star knight, one shot is the limit. If you use it more than that, you have to leave the battlefield. In addition, the enemy’s Titan, Juggernaut, was rushing in.

Due to the structure of Thunder, which charges energy before firing, it is extremely difficult to hit a Titan that shows a different level of mobility than an airship.

The Kingdom’s Titans released Thunder all at once and equipped their respective weapons.

I also released Thunder and equipped my sword. Michael, who had left his wings behind for religious and practical reasons. Without wings, his movements were light as if he would fly away.

Now, the sky was the responsibility of the allied airship fleet. The number of large airships was rather superior to the allies, so I decided to trust them.

“Evan Lionel!!”

Now, the first thing to do was to deal with the Hamel Empire’s Titans that had rushed in front of me, including Charles’s personal unit.

I knew in advance which machine each of them was riding in before they appeared on the battlefield.

Including Charles, there were three 8-star knights.

There are ten 7-star knights.

In comparison, the allies have me and Reina at 8-star, three 7-star knights, and the rest are 6-star knights. There is a big difference in the level of Titan owners.

I’m not worried.

The difference in specs between Couber and Juggernaut can fully compensate for that.

The calculation that the allied 8-star and 7-star knights could each take on two and the 6-star knights could launch a combined attack had been completed a long time ago.

Still, it’s true that I’m uneasy.

I need to take care of Charles as quickly as possible and help the allies.

“Evan Lionel!! Today, I will definitely throw you into hell!”

Charles’s personal unit swung a huge spear.

Smooth movements that didn’t seem like he had been handling Titans for only a year or two.

Seeing this, Charles was no ordinary guy either.

A talent that comes along once in a thousand years. His pure talent as a knight seems to surpass me. Perhaps in the ‘future,’ after my death, he may have entered the realm of 9-star.

‘But end this life here.’

If he had even become an emperor, he would have lived a wonderful life.

I swung Michael’s sword against the approaching spear.

Evan-style Lionel Imperial Swordsmanship, Secret Technique: Gaechen.

Swaeeeeek- Kwaaaaaang!!!

The magic swordsmanship that tore through space collided with Charles’s spear, and a tremendous roar echoed across the battlefield.