31 – Conquest
Crimson rain falls from the sky. The rain was neither heavy nor thin, but it slowly soaked people. Those who got wet looked up at the sky. But soon, their vision was lost.
“aaah!”
A man’s scream is heard. As if triggering a chain reaction, the people of the Kaelthorn Empire were soaked in madness and began to flee as if they were crazy. But this place was like an ant hell, with their forces tightly blocking the front, back, left, and right.
The formidable power they had was quickly reduced to useless hindrances.
Once again, rain falls from the sky. The knights of the Kaelthorn Empire reached out their hands to cover their faces and bodies, but it made no difference.
Those with shields covered themselves with them, but the shields quickly corroded and melted away. The knights raised their swords to block even a little rain, but it was also a futile effort. The wizards deployed defensive magic, but the rain melted away as soon as it touched them.
Soon, tens of thousands of people on the battlefield began to kneel. They fell to the ground, unable to overcome the pain.
The crimson sphere that had risen into the air again absorbed the vitality of those people. It sucked in their blood and swelled even more, exploding once again and raining blood from the sky. The time of brutal slaughter repeated.
“Stop… please stop…”
Those who begged for their lives, even just a little, reached out their hands towards the sky. Their appearance seemed to resemble worshiping a god.
The mass slaughter magic, Blood Shower, continued to pour from the sky for over an hour. MacDerris walked towards the battlefield where the rain was falling.
The rain touched MacDerris, but it couldn’t inflict any damage. The Blood Shower had no effect on the caster.
A man lying on the battlefield, vomiting blood, screams out.
“You will be recorded as the worst slaughterer in human history. You too, will someday feel helplessness like us and die…”
Dying individuals spat out curses mixed with their gaze fixed on MacDerris. Some of them rushed towards MacDerris, leaving their melting bodies behind, but their attacks were futile. MacDerris easily slit their throats and walked on.
Rain falls from the sky once again.
Thud, the sound of rain falling is accompanied by the screams of people. MacDerris stood in the center of the battlefield, getting soaked by the falling rain.
The man, who used to love rain when he was young, no longer felt joy at the sight of it. The souls of the dead who had perished came to mind.
He captures the sight of people in agony with his eyes. He listens carefully to their screams. There is no intention to evade responsibility.
Yes. I am a slaughterer who has killed countless people.
Clearly, in this novel, I will be recorded as the worst human and slaughterer in history.
“…”
After thirty minutes passed, the screams no longer reached his ears. The spheres were still swollen as if they were about to burst, but there was no need to deploy the Blood Shower. There was no need because it was unnecessary.
“Uh…Mom…the knights of the Kaorelden Empire…aren’t moving…”
The civilian shelter of the Phebron Empire. The noise of people watching the battlefield emanates from there. Soon, a young boy shouted.
“We’re alive…we’re alive! We won! We don’t have to die anymore!”
Those who were trembling with fear just a moment ago began to cheer and rejoice. They praised the unnamed man and admired his greatness.
A situation where joy and sorrow intersected. Although there were countless corpses on the battlefield, those who were almost humiliated by them naturally did not mourn and instead shouted with joy.
It was a strange sight.
For some, it would be recorded as despair, and for others, it would be recorded as hope throughout history.
Cheers from countless people on the battlefield can also be heard.
“MacDuras! MacDuras has done it!”
The commander of the Plutine Royal Knights shouted, and Princess Breeny also cried out in joy.
“Thank goodness… I’m so relieved…”
While everyone was enjoying the festival, MacDuras’ heart was uneasy as he looked at the corpses on the battlefield.
He recalled the words uttered by those who were dying.
“The butcher… You will be remembered as the worst butcher in human history.”
He vividly remembered the expressions of those writhing in pain. He carried their suffering in his heart. I am a monster. That’s why I killed so many people. But thanks to that, I minimized innocent sacrifices.
His head throbbed with pain. There were no more enemy soldiers left on the battlefield. Despite the cheers surrounding him, MacDuras’ ears were filled with the constant ringing and screams of people. It was futile to cover his ears. It wasn’t a sound coming from outside.
This was a mental issue. This place was not a movie or a novel, but a reality that he had been transmigrated into. No matter how strong-willed a person was, it was strange to carry out such a massacre without going mad.
As he absentmindedly looked towards the capital of the Kaelonden Empire, someone from behind embraced him tightly.
“You were not wrong. Thanks to you, all the oppressed people will be saved.”
Perhaps the Holy Maiden Fleamia knew why MacDuras was standing still, she tightly held onto his waist. MacDuras did not respond.
Fleamia’s hand wrapped even tighter around MacDuras’ waist. Choi Ye-bin, who had been watching from the side, spoke softly.
“If MacDuras hadn’t killed them, it would have been the people behind them who would have died. You know that. In the end, one of them had to die for it to end.”
Only then did MacDuras turn around and look at the people. People covered in wounds, who, with the determination to protect their homeland from foreign invaders, had chosen to face an irrational battlefield and an inevitable death.
They were shouting cheers towards me. They were uttering words of gratitude or something similar.
The warmth he felt from his body, the cheers of the people, and even further, it seemed as if it was the fallen knights of the Fibrone Empire who had died protecting their homeland speaking.
You were not wrong.
“Yeah. This was the best I could do, and it was the salvation for those who almost lost their country.”
MacDarras, who had been silent for a moment, shouted towards the troops of the Phibron Empire behind him.
“Listen up, everyone. We have won on the Central Zone battlefield. As you can see, we have suffered significant losses, but the remaining forces are overwhelmingly superior.”
Then, MacDarras shouted even louder.
“We have won. We have defended life from the weak and used people as tools. But it’s not just you who are losing their lives. The civilians and the holy maidens of the Kaorelden Empire are suffering from the exploitation of their country. My goal is not just a victory on the battlefield, but the liberation of the territories occupied by the Kaorelden Empire. In order to achieve true peace by occupying their empire in return, I have helped you.”
“I will now bring down the royal family of the Kaorelden Empire. I will cut off the emperor’s head and remove the foundation of the country, and I will strive to alleviate the suffering of the people. So if anyone wants to follow me, cooperate. Even if we invade the Kaorelden Empire, do not kill the civilians and the holy maidens. Show them as much mercy as possible unless they are trained warriors. They are just as weak as you are.”
Civilians are innocent. They do not have swords to wield, shields to block, or magic to escape. The reason I intervened in the battlefield was simply to stop the meaningless slaughter committed by the emperor of the Kaorelden Empire and to bring true freedom to the people suffering from emperors and ruthless oppressors like Phlemea.
However, the worrying part was the people of the Phibron Empire. No matter how much they are civilians, from their perspective, the people of the Kaorelden Empire would be no different from enemies. Show mercy to enemy civilians. Will there be anyone who wants to do that?
This was a meaningless worry. They had a wise princess. The princess spoke to the commander of the knights, and immediately the commander nodded and shouted.
“In the name of the knight commander of the Phlaine Royal Knights, I command you to follow MacDarras and occupy the Kaorelden Empire! And-“
The commander cleared his throat and shouted again, as if emphasizing.
“We will save the people suffering from the vile leadership. That is the way we can repay the grace we received from MacDarras. Don’t think about the reasons. We repay the grace. That’s all.”
MacDarras’ help became an explosive force for them, creating the impossible. The sprouts of hope began to appear.
We cannot guarantee the outcome. But once we start, we have to see it through to the end.
MacDarras shouted towards the back.
“All forces, charge into the Kaorelden Empire. The target is the royal family. And all the knights who stand in our way.”
With one word from the commander, tens of thousands of knights marched forward.
Beyond the border zone, the formidable walls of the Kaorelden Empire crumbled in an instant.
The conquest of the weak, who had to be invaded helplessly, had begun.