The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 239

177. The Principality Civil War (4)

“Oh, really?”

Fran scoffed at those words.

Cahill considered breaking his other collarbone just watching him.

“What kind of stage are you trying to set?”

“To end the war so that innocent lives aren’t sacrificed in the games of pathetic nobles.”

“Innocent, huh…? War, whether just or unjust, inevitably spills blood.”

Fran said quietly.

“Do you want to be a hero or something?”

“Well, for now.”

Fran couldn’t help but chuckle at the overly honest answer.

“If that’s the case, I don’t think we need to fight. Wasn’t our deal to divert the Empire’s attention while the Principality’s civil war ends? It’s not your business who wins the war.”

“That’s right. To be honest, I had some good intentions. After hearing about Rakiel’s betrayal, I was convinced you had been abandoned by Wooden Cloud.”

“What…?”

“But I didn’t expect you to be so clueless. Abandoning those who follow you without even knowing you’re a discarded dog.”

Cahill lowered his head.

“Was it that Radios guy who suggested the false defeat to you?”

Fran didn’t say anything.

‘I knew it…’

But Cahill sensed that his guess was correct from his reaction.

“Don’t think you’re the only one who knows. After the secret meeting with you, he came to us right away. And Kamma, who was managing the Lavat Guild here, contacted them.”

“……!!!”

“The reason I’m here? It’s not to lead you to victory. It’s to eradicate Wooden Cloud at its roots. As a bonus, I can save your life, so be grateful.”

Cahill slowly moved his steps.

“According to Kamma’s report from White Bunker, Tully Lurein and Wooden Cloud are likely to have a close relationship. I had expected that to some extent, so it wasn’t surprising. But the problem was after that.”

He lightly tapped Fran’s other shoulder. Even though he didn’t do anything, Fran instinctively felt cold sweat running down his spine.

“If you think about it, you’re also Wooden Cloud, right? Why would Wooden Cloud wage war against each other? The Principality is an important support for them.”

Cahill raised a finger.

“There’s only one reason. There are too many small roots. They’re trying to cut off the unnecessary ones.”

“Do you think you can get away with doing this? Do you think it’s acceptable to come to another country and do this!”

Fran shouted.

Cahill chuckled at his reaction.

“Do you still believe in Wooden Cloud? Well, I guess you must be that absolute to accept such nonsense.”

“Change the war? I know you’re strong. But do you think you can wage war alone?”

“I never said I came alone.”

Fran looked slightly embarrassed at his words.

‘Did, did he bring an army? No, that can’t be. To get here, you have to cross the strait. If it’s a force large enough to end the war, it would be at least thousands, if not tens of thousands. There’s no way I wouldn’t know if they brought that kind of scale.’

Fran came to a conclusion.

‘It’s a bluff.’

Sword Masters are definitely strong.

The continent’s top five Sword Masters are definitely important figures who determine the outcome of the battlefield.

But as he said earlier, they are strong, but war is never waged alone.

As long as the human body cannot be divided, the only battlefield they can intervene in is one.

Besides, the number of troops facing each other on the battlefield is at least thousands.

There were knights and mages among them.

‘No matter how strong he is, there’s no way he can kill them all at once.’

He asked with a sneer.

“Really? Then where are they? The forces that will change the course of this war as you please?”

“The swamp, the Brown Ants [a type of monster or region], the only battlefield where the Tully forces are struggling in the western outskirts of Cobb, and the Great Wall of Yoman, the gateway to the White Bunker for a turnaround.”

“…….”

Fran’s face hardened at Cahill’s words.

Certainly, those two places were the only ways to inflict damage on the Tully forces in the current situation.

“The Empress of Digon and the Archer of the Great Plains are heading to Brown Ant, and the Ice Magician I brought from Antihum for this battle will be deployed to Yoman.”

“…Three? Is that all? What about the soldiers you brought?”

“None.”

Fran was dumbfounded by his words, but soon raised one corner of his mouth.

‘What kind of crazy bastard is this? He’s making such a fuss with only three people?’

Of course,

He knew Miliana, the Empress of Digon, was skilled.

If she, a Sword Master, were to be deployed to the battlefield, it would definitely affect the outcome of the Brown Ant battle.

‘But that battle is already over.’

The Brown Ants were the only battlefield where Fran’s forces had begun to gain the upper hand.

However, even though his troops were winning, he, who wanted defeat, did not send any more reinforcements.

‘The battle is already over anyway. Even if they go, they can’t change the course of the war.’

The only thing that bothered him was the Ice Magician heading to Yoman. He could guess that the Archer of the Great Plains was a barbarian even if he didn’t know his name, but he couldn’t even predict the other person.

‘Who is it…?’

But even so, Fran was confident that the Great Wall would not be easily breached.

Ironically.

‘He’s there.’

Cahill looked at Fran’s face.

It was as if he was waiting for him to finish thinking.

“You must have heard the report on the Vinfrido Estuary front, right? I’m on my way back after cleaning up there myself.”

“…Don’t tell me you have troops there too.”

“No. Those three are all I brought.”

“Hmph… I felt it back then too, but you’re a truly rare madman. I’m curious about what’s going on in the heads of your subordinates who serve you. Trying to change the course of the battlefield with only three people?”

A burst of laughter.

Fran seemed to have forgotten his current situation and sneered at Cahill.

“I said I didn’t bring any soldiers, but I didn’t say there weren’t any soldiers in the Principality.”

“…What?”

It was then.

Cahill took out a small bead from his pocket, tossed it lightly into the air, and caught it.

Thud-

“……!!!!”

Then he threw it at Fran, who was sitting down.

Roll, roll, roll-

The dropped bead bounced a few times on the floor and stopped in front of him. At that moment, Fran’s face was in shock, as Cahill had expected.

“Th, this is…!!”

“I think your expression now is more worth seeing than when I broke your collarbone.”

Cahill said with satisfaction as he watched him stammer without even being able to close his mouth properly.

“Y, you… you…”

He couldn’t continue.

“You know what this is without me having to explain it, right?”

“How did you get this…?”

Fran gripped the bead with trembling hands.

A commander-only communication orb.

A small magic character was shining at the end of the orb, indicating that it was in operation.

“You’d get caught if you brought in an unauthorized communication orb. But you know, this is what your army uses. Of course, it can also pass through detection magic.”

“…….”

“Here’s a question. Where did you get this then?”

Cahill smiled.

“D, don’t tell me…”

“Well, I won’t break your bones even if you don’t answer. It seems like your face is already answering.”

Fran’s lips trembled.

Only then did he realize that something was wrong.

“Anthem.”

Cahill called out the name quietly.

“You’ve been listening well so far, right?”

[…….]

There was no answer, but the flashing light on the communication orb seemed to be speaking for him.

“Why…”

“It’s just a communication orb, considering you saved thousands of lives by defending the estuary [a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea] .”

Cahill brought the orb that had fallen on the floor next to Fran’s face.

As if he was talking to both of them.

“Do you think it’s betrayal? Well, I think he was more curious about the head of the moron who abandoned his dying soldiers than the vague belief in his lord.”

“Y, you bastard!!!”

Fran hurriedly tried to snatch the communication orb that Cahill was holding. But the moment he raised his arm, he collapsed forward due to the intense pain from his broken collarbone.

Smash-!!

At that moment,

Watching Fran rolling on the floor, Cahill stepped on the communication orb and crushed it.

So that Anthem could no longer hear their words.

“Calm down. There’s no need for us to fight. We’re going to be comrades on the front lines now.”

“…What?”

“You will win the Principality Civil War. You will become the hero of the Principality. How does that make you feel?”

“Wh, what does that mean…”

“I will help you. Anthem will be gathering the remaining troops. They will advance from the Vinfrido River to the White Bunker, clearing each battlefield.”

Cahill whispered in a low voice.

“Do you think that’s possible with just the defense line troops?”

“What are you talking about? All of your troops in Cobb have to join. And since there will be no more naval battles, we will start removing the remaining magic artillery mounted on the fleet from today.”

“That’s ridiculous. Even if you bring the Sea King to fight, it’s impossible to annihilate all the Silverwings without the support of the fleet. And you’re saying you’re going to remove the fleet’s artillery right now?”

“That’s right.”

Fran was speechless at his answer, nodding nonchalantly.

KWAH-KWAAAAANG—!!

KWAGANG—!

It was then.

With a tremendous explosion, the windows of the building where the two were shattered, and powder scattered over their heads like a downpour.

“……?!

Fran hurriedly turned his head.

“Looks like he’s arrived. I guess he hates crossing the salty sea.”

Listening to Cahill’s words, he looked out the window at the burning Silverwing fleet.

The enemy forces that had been besieging Cobb just a moment ago were instantly reduced to ashes and sinking below the surface of the water.

“Haven’t you heard about the Twin Armor? You should have noticed if you saw the Sea King.”

[Krrrrrrrrrrrr—!!!!]

[Kaaaaaak—!!]

As if answering his words, a Serpent with sharp teeth tearing at the deck was seen next to the Kraken, which was gripping a ship with its huge legs.

“S, s, Sea King.”

The giant monster called the master of the Fournine River had never left the river before.

Therefore, its existence was unfamiliar to the people of the Principality on the other side of the strait.

Naturally, they had never fought with the two monsters in mind in any tactic in history.

“The ships are sinking faster than I thought. They’re just small fry compared to the steel fleet. Don’t you think?”

“…….”

Cahill said to him with a blank face.

“There won’t be any opponents to fight after tomorrow. What should we do now? Even if you want to stay in Cobb, you won’t be able to because there’s nothing to do.”

Cahill chuckled as he looked at him.

“If you take the lead in the full-scale attack, the soldiers’ morale will rise. How happy would they be? It’s the return of the commander they’ve been waiting for.”

Woo wooo woong…

A faint magic power flowed from Cahill’s hand.

As the warm warmth of healing magic flowed into Fran’s body, the shattered collarbone slowly began to reattach itself.

“…….”

When the wounds from the broken glass shards here and there were completely healed, Fran returned to his smooth face, but the light in his eyes had long since lost its strength.

Cahill said to him.

“You just have to stand there. Then I’ll bring you victory. Whether you want it or not.”