The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 99

13. Summons: The Hardworking Bastard

I arrived at the fortress.

The allied lord’s army, whose morale had plummeted to rock bottom, and the elven army, which had formed an impenetrable siege and was slowly tightening its grip.

The situation was more serious than expected.

‘It seems difficult to reverse the tide of the war without a dramatic turnaround.’

The elven army numbered only fifteen hundred.

According to Sasha, most of them had undergone baptism and jumped at least half a step, or even a full step, above their original level.

In other words, a Beginner had become a User, and a User had become an Expert.

‘The key is how many quasi-Expert warriors there are.’

Even if they are fake, Expert-level warriors become troublesome when they gather.

I decided to deal with them first when attacking.

Looking towards the fortress, the allied lord’s army was moving busily, surprised by my appearance.

Below the hill, the elven army was also watching me, equally surprised.

There’s no need to drag this out.

Recently, I have made tremendous progress.

As a swordsman, I am an Upper Expert.

As a druid, I am an Upper-Middle level.

I needed to test my upgraded abilities, and the elves gathered in front of me were a good test subject.

I decided to crush them at once and clearly imprint my power on them.

“Let’s go!!”

The intelligent warhorse understood my words and charged into the ranks of the elven army, as black as the night sea.

“Crazy!”

“He’s coming alone!”

“He must be completely out of his mind.”

The sound of swearing reached me, as if they couldn’t believe I was charging in alone.

But I didn’t care.

Because when we collided, it would be revealed who was stronger.

[Summon Wood Golem]

[Summon Stone Golem]

When suppressing the enemy with numbers, there is no skill better than golems.

As I summoned the Wood and Stone Golems, the ground split and huge golems surrounded me, providing solid protection.

‘This is amazing.’

A total of ten golems, three Stone Golems and seven Wood Golems.

This is a noticeable change compared to when I was a Middle-level Druid and could summon one Stone Golem and three Wood Golems.

I even saved acorns, so if I ate acorns here, I could create a force almost like a brigade with golems alone.

“Wh-what? What is that!”

“It’s a monster! A monster is coming!”

“Aaaaargh!!!”

Kwakwakwakwang!!!

The elven line of defense shattered like a Styrofoam wall from the golem’s shoulder attacks.

The formation collapsed in an instant.

I ignored the rear and focused all my attention on advancing.

I knew well that the moment the charging speed decreased when a minority attacked a majority, it would mean death.

Rumor has it that there are golem summoners in the Calon Empire, but not in a backwater like the Elden Kingdom.

Perhaps that’s why the elves, who were encountering golems for the first time, couldn’t cope properly.

Some clumsily shot arrows or meaninglessly attacked limbs without finding the core.

Meanwhile, I hunted down only the Expert-level warriors as planned.

-Left flank

-Right thigh

-Arrow from the upper left corner

The Cheonma Navigation [a skill that predicts danger] also worked effectively, preventing me from being hit by stray attacks.

Each time the emerald-colored sword energy, which had become much stronger since I advanced to Upper Expert, embroidered the sky, the opponent was fairly reduced to ashes.

“No way…”

“Is that a human?”

“He’s too strong.”

As I overwhelmed them with overwhelming force, elves began to regard me as an inhuman being one by one.

This was welcome to me.

The more fear I instilled in the group, the faster the victory would lean towards my side.

“Young Master, we will help too.”

My companions, including Zion, appeared at the right time.

They widened the path I had opened and showed off their splendid martial prowess.

‘It’s over.’

Fifteen hundred people are being defeated by just five people.

Perhaps the result of this war will be recorded in history and talked about for generations to come.

There will be those who suspect my identity.

Still, there won’t be many who look into the news of the marquis territory located on the border of the continent in detail, so I will have a little more time to grow.

-Be careful!!!

Was it too easy?

I was lost in thought for a moment.

Taking advantage of that gap, a ghost-like strike came in.

I realized that it was already too late to respond by the time Cheonma warned me, it was so fast.

I thought I would have to give up at least one arm to save my life, so I held out my left arm,

[Absolute Barrier is activated.]

[Cooldown 24:00]

Tteueoeoeong!!!

The barrier, which burst out like a car airbag, blocked the unexpected attack.

The ring I received from Sasha saved my life, almost making me a one-armed man.

My mind is clear as if I had been splashed with cold water.

“Too bad.”

The attacker was a dark-skinned male elf covered in tattoos.

The aura he exuded was unusual, and I knew who he was at a glance.

“Are you Scott?”

“How did you know my name?”

I thought so.

After all, there was no one among the enemies who could completely deceive me and inflict a valid hit, except for the leader.

Above all, I gave the highest score to his judgment.

The meticulousness of maintaining composure even when his subordinates were all dying around him, and aiming for a sure shot.

“What trick did you use? Something blocked my attack.”

“Rather, Sasha and Amelia told me to say hello to you.”

Scott’s face contorted at the familiar name.

“Don’t tell me that woman betrayed me?”

“No. To be precise, you are the betrayers.”

“Speak so I can understand.”

“Elder Richard is dead. Sasha is the current leader of the elves.”

Of course, Scott doesn’t seem to believe it.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Have you contacted Elder Richard recently? You haven’t been able to contact him for at least a week, have you? Amelia must have received it instead.”

As I pointed out logically, anxiety began to settle on Scott’s face.

“That can’t be. He’s not someone who can be defeated so easily.”

“The Elven Sanctuary was nice. The two large beech trees at the entrance were impressive. The sanctuary was also nice. The spring water was quite cool.”

“Where are you lying!”

I finally succeeded in provoking him.

Enraged, Scott rushed at me.

The red sword energy spewing from the kukri [a curved Nepalese knife] was quite fierce.

Clang! Clang! Kkakkaang!!

Flames flashed continuously in the sword dance of the two warriors.

The aftershock raged as our momentum was so fierce, and a concentric circle was naturally drawn where neither the enemy nor the ally could intervene.

It was truly an octagon without iron bars.

Inside the intangible arena, we fiercely exchanged sword strikes.

“Not bad.”

“You’re not bad either!”

We admired each other.

Scott was indeed the chief warrior of the elves.

I heard that his skills had improved after the baptism, but with this level of basics, he must have been strong even before the baptism.

In particular, he used the crescent-shaped sword, the kukri, incredibly well, and the fighting method was unfamiliar because it was very different from the swords I had faced so far.

-······

Cheonma closed his mouth.

He knows when this is.

He wants me to overcome it alone without Cheonma Navigation.

Knowing his heart well, I silently lowered my sword, even refraining from using druid skills.

10 exchanges, 20 exchanges, 30 exchanges.

50 exchanges, 100 exchanges, 200 exchanges.

How much time had passed?

We focused only on the conversation of the sword, breathing heavily.

The two men, who had been more attached than newlyweds, fell apart only after filling 300 exchanges.

“Hoo! Huk!”

“Huk! Huk!”

I caught my breath and looked around.

The sunset had already set.

The balance of the war had tilted towards our side.

“Waaaaaa!!”

The mercenary group and the guardian army, who had occupied the second fortress, which was virtually empty, arrived here without rest and were sweeping away the remaining stragglers.

The elven army, which had already been beaten by Zion, Campbell, Rakan, and Aiden, backed by the golem corps, was either dead or captured.

The allied lord’s army, who had been watching this scene from inside the castle, opened the castle gates and joined in.

Both Scott and I realized that the victory or defeat of the group had already been decided.

All that remained was the two of us.

Only the victory or defeat between individuals remained.

Others were perceptive enough not to dare to interfere between us.

They just surrounded us in a circle and watched.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Is the Grand Elder really dead?”

“I don’t lie.”

Perhaps it was because we had exchanged as many as 300 exchanges.

He seems to believe my words, unlike before.

Scott’s hand trembled slightly.

“Grand Elder Richard did something he shouldn’t have done. The baptism was a dangerous act that would erode and corrupt your souls.”

Scott’s reaction was calm.

He neither affirmed nor denied it.

From there, I suddenly realized.

“Did you know about the side effects of the baptism?”

“Yes.”

“But why did you get baptized?”

“Because I can become stronger. I don’t care what happens to my soul for this.”

I roughly knew what kind of personality Scott was.

He was a ‘real’ warrior.

Then, killing him honorably on the battlefield is the way to go for him.

“Let’s finish this.”

“Okay.”

We each held our swords.

We collide with the sunset in the middle.

Fierce sparks flew again, but a completely different aspect unfolded than before.

[Tenacious Vitality is activated.]

The amount of health recovery was significantly different due to the passive skill that was activated while we were talking.

In addition, I had a hard time with the unfamiliar weapon called Kukri, but I had already finished adapting to the weapon at the point of exchanging 300 exchanges.

I, who had risen to Upper Expert, calmly pushed Scott with my skills without regret.

And around the 350th exchange.

Pooh!!

In the end, the sword was pierced into Scott’s heart.

A stream of blood flowed from his mouth as he knelt down.

Before collapsing, he had a relieved expression.

“I have no regrets.”

“Farewell. Warrior.”

I pulled out the sword from his chest and slashed his neck.

That was the end of the last baptized person.

* * *

Although the mop-up of the remaining elves was completed, there was still work to be done.

First of all, the top priority was to settle things with the allied lord’s army.

The allied lord’s army acted very badly from the first meeting.

They falsely accused Zion and openly ridiculed him for being illegitimate.

In particular, Viscount Fiento, who was the head of a subordinate family, even made a bet and coveted Molt territory.

If they blurted out nonsense again this time that they had won by lending a hand, I was going to overturn everything, including the vassals, and carry out a purge.

However, Viscount Fiento’s reaction was quite different from my guess.

“I’m sorry. We didn’t recognize you, Lord.”

Viscount Fiento, who had been so proud, was prostrating himself with his forehead on the floor, so I wondered what was going on.

“Why are you doing this? I’m uncomfortable. Get up.”

“No. We have committed considerable rudeness in the meantime. I beg for forgiveness, please forgive me.”

He’s coming out too low.

Cheonma advised me, who was bewildered.

-Tsk tsk, brat. That’s why you’re called a brat.

“Do you have any idea, Cheonma?”

-Of course I know. You need to face yourself objectively.

Cheonma continued.

-The martial prowess you showed today was an achievement that would remain as a knight even in the continent I was in. Do you think anyone can hold the ankles of thousands of soldiers with five people?

“In other words, the vassals were afraid of me.”

-That’s right. They must have judged that they messed with the wrong person. So, for the sake of the future, take this opportunity to clearly organize the ranks.

I decided to follow Cheonma’s advice.

I slowly approached Viscount Fiento and lowered my voice.

“Forgiveness… Do you think you are qualified to ask me that?”

At the same time as I finished speaking, I grabbed the Cheonma Sword, which was full of Scott’s blood, with both hands and stabbed it straight down.

“Hiek!!”

The location where the Cheonma Sword was stabbed was only 1cm away from the face of the prostrate Viscount Fiento.

The blood on the sword and the dirt on the floor splashed on Viscount Fiento’s face as it was violently embedded in the ground.

Viscount Fiento, who was startled, trembled all over his body like a frog that had received an electric shock and his body froze.

He seemed very embarrassed because I came out more strongly than expected.

“If you’re sane, look up and look at the maid your nephew harassed. She cut down dozens of elven warriors today.”

“I’m sorry. In fact, Frankie was not my real nephew. It was something I made up by disguising a death row inmate.”

“Are you talking back?”

“No!!”

He wasn’t a real nephew.

It was something he had planned with great determination.

Viscount Fiento’s misdeeds were piled up in addition to this.

“What else did you say? Did you say that you can’t help being from the streets?”

“No! I definitely didn’t say that.”

“Really never did? I heard it clearly?”

“Thinking about it again, I said that. I committed a crime worthy of death!!”

It’s fun to be holding the hilt of the sword.

Viscount Fiento wracks his brain to please me as I intentionally shake it around.

He’s definitely a quick-witted old man with excellent survival skills.

He must have been capable enough to create the allied lord’s army and plan to make me a figurehead.

It was a bit ambiguous to kill him, but a size that would be perfect to use came out.

I squatted right next to the prostrate Viscount Fiento and whispered in a small voice that only he could hear.

“Viscount Fiento. You have a good sense. If you had stretched out until today, tomorrow’s sun would not have been allowed.”

“Hiccup!”

He hiccups as his fear reaches its peak.

“You know what to do in the future. I hope that this army that swept the elven army today will not trample on your territory.”

“I will keep it in mind, and keep it in mind!!”

“Okay. Good job.”

I patted Viscount Fiento on the shoulder.

While I was agreeing with Viscount Fiento, one of the lords who was watching this situation in an awkward posture stepped forward and rebuked me.

“What are you doing! Viscount Fiento is much older than you and is a vassal who has served the family for generations. No matter how much you are the successor of the Lloyd family and have contributed greatly to this war, this rudeness cannot be overlooked!”

The first guest appeared less than ten seconds after I took control.

I was wondering what to do, but Viscount Fiento’s actions were faster than I thought.

Jjaak!!

The nobleman who had been acting up fell down, dropping yellow corn as the expert’s master slapped him hard on the cheek.

The nobleman, holding his swollen cheek, looked at Viscount Fiento with disbelief.

“Baron Norn, how dare you mock your lord!!”

Before I knew it, my title had changed from Lloyd Viscount to Lord.

“Viscount Fiento, why…”

“Shut up!!”

Viscount Fiento grabbed Baron Norn by the collar and shook him wildly.

“Never mock your lord again. Viscount Lloyd is our vassals’ true lord and will be the rightful ruler who will lead the marquis territory in the future.”

Viscount Fiento, who had shaken Baron Norn from head to toe, looked at me as if asking if he had done well.

I nodded slightly with a blank expression.

I didn’t know that Viscount Fiento would be so good at wielding power.

‘There will be no problem in controlling the subordinate families in the future.’

Viscount Fiento’s change of heart was unexpected, but it was a good thing because it saved me some trouble.

“I’m tired.”

The fight was long.

Now it was time to return.

Lloyd Marquis Castle.

To my home.