The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 250 – Warriors of the North (2)

The monsters caught fire, and a scene reminiscent of hell was created in an instant.

Behind the torn clouds appeared the majestic figure of Entalucia. Most of the Northern Army troops had heard of Entalucia before, but it was actually their first time witnessing her majesty with their own eyes.

Entalucia took another deep breath and split the monsters into two camps with her flames. The heat from her Breath melted rocks and turned the monsters into ashes in the proverbial blink of an eye.

Pavan cheered at the sight of Entalucia’s scorching flames.

“I’ve been wanting to see that!”

Kilt stared at Pavan, seemingly dumbfounded. Kilt was a deputy under Pavan.

“Captain, have you forgotten that the dragon there almost turned our troops into ashes before?”

“Yes, but she was our enemy back then. A rule was established among dragons, and it involved not turning humans into ashes. It’s a shame, but it was a rule that was established after she became our ally. Thank goodness our enemies are monsters; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to see her Breath.”

Entalucia spat her flames fiercely as if she were afraid that she would miss a single monster. However, she was actually spraying flames in a controlled manner rather than pouring them out recklessly.

Haild, who was riding on top of Entalucia’s back, constantly whispered to her.

“You’re doing great, Entalucia. It should be fine if you send another Breath toward the east.”

[Leave it to my care.]

Entalucia spat out flames according to Haild’s instructions. In the blink of an eye, the surroundings became filled with ashes, and the smell of burning flesh had become so thick that it would be safe to assume that even the birds up above could smell it.

Entalucia flew up above the smell of burning flesh and examined Haild.

Haild was wearing Hela's eye patch over her hollow eye socket. He still hadn’t recovered, but he insisted on coming here after hearing that Entalucia would be dispatched.

[Haild. Thou already knowest of my concerns, yet…]

“You don’t want me to join the fight. Yes, I know.”

It would be absurd for Haild to fight in a situation where it was already difficult for him to stand properly, let alone hold a sword. However, Haild’s eyes fiercely glared at the Crack, which was emitting ominous energy.

“I just want to see the end of my father with my own eyes.”

Entalucia became filled with complex emotions. Before her friendship with Haild, Entalucia and Gerard were each other’s benefactors. In addition, the values of the empire and the ideals of the emperor were irrelevant to Entalucia.

Therefore, she didn’t want Gerard to die despite what he had done—especially if Gerard were to die at Haild’s hands because it would mean that Haild would have committed patricide.

[I know not of this, Haild. Of course, what Gerard doth now, I also find repugnant, but...]

Haild gently patted Entalucia’s head.

“Entalucia. You don’t need to get involved. As always, you can just watch. I have received enough favors from you, so you can rest assured and let the humans do their own work.”

Entalucia had always been observing the affairs of humans from afar without intervention. However, Entalucia quietly shook her head at Haild’s words. However, this didn’t mean that she had changed her stance—it was the opposite.

[But this seemeth not only a concern of humans…]

Entalucia rolled to the side and started flying at a low altitude. The smaller monsters were helplessly thrown into the air upon being struck by the gusts of wind that Entalucia’s gigantic wings generated.

Entalucia continued spitting out flames that covered huge sections of the battlefield, splitting the hordes of monsters into manageable sizes for the Northern Army troops to handle.

Amidst the ongoing slaughter, Nienna sent Pavan to the right flank and Anya to the left flank as she tried her best to command everyone. Thanks to Entalucia’s help, the Northern Army managed to slaughter the monsters with fewer-than-expected casualties.

***

“Chew them up and spit them out! Show no mercy!” Nienna roared.

A bluish chill erupted and transformed into a massive hammer. Nienna smacked the leg of a giant monster in front of her with her massive hammer. The resulting collision shattered the hammer, but the icy shrapnels were left stuck in the monster’s leg, freezing its bodily fluids.

The soldiers rushed in and shredded the incapacitated monster.

This routine continued with every monster that was unfortunate enough to face Nienna. Nienna would incapacitate the monsters while the soldiers behind her would make quick work of them.

After Nienna’s sword was smashed, she created a weapon of random shapes with ice even harder than metal and wielded it around. The form of the weapon didn’t matter to someone who had struggled to deal with the monsters of the Crack throughout her entire life.

Nienna incapacitated another monster, but her sword shattered as a result. However, she simply created another weapon made out of ice that was harder than metal.

Nienna didn’t really care about what kind of weapon she was wielding. She had long grown accustomed to any weapon out there after fighting monsters of the Crack throughout her entire life.

“Squeeze together and make sure there’s no gap! Split these bastards that came from hell!” Nienna roared. Afterward, she swung her spear toward a monster busy chewing up a Northern Army soldier, splitting it into two.

Then, Nienna hurled her spear at another monster. She was looking forward to seeing the monster explode, but hundreds of tentacles snatched her spear out of mid-air.

Nienna raised her eyebrows.

“The Ruler of Winter, Nienna Nelben. Your reputation has spread, even beyond the Crack.”

Nienna glared at the individual who had just emerged from the cover of the thick snowflakes flying through the air. The opponent’s voice sounded strangely clear, even in the midst of a crowded battlefield.

The opponent was a middle-aged woman wearing a dark robe and a crown made out of a thornbush.

The woman was Black Aldebaran—a thornbush priest.

“I’m—” Black Aldebaran started.

However, Nienna didn’t even let her continue as the former charged toward the latter without hesitation. Nienna aimed for Black Aldebaran’s vitals as she charged as fast as lightning at the latter.

Black Aldebaran’s eyes flashed. She opened her robe and poured out hundreds of tentacles. The tentacles immediately froze and burst as soon as they touched Nienna’s sword, but there were too many tentacles that Nienna couldn’t freeze them all.

The tentacles were pushing Nienna back, and the sight made Black Aldebaran frown. “I expected more from you, the frozen star’s daughter. However, it seemed that both the father and the daughter are equally pathetic.”

Nienna paused and glared at Black Aldebaran.

Black Aldebaran smiled softly at that. “Yes. I know about your father and—”

An ice spear suddenly emerged in front of Black Aldebaran’s feet. Black Aldebaran barely managed to turn her chin to avoid the spear.

She staggered backward as thick and purple bodily fluid ran down her chin.

“Damn it, that was close!” Nienna exclaimed.

Black Aldebaran glared at her. “Are you not going to listen to me?”

Nienna smiled. She didn’t even bother to answer.

At the sight, Black Aldebaran realized that Nienna was exactly like what she had heard from beyond the Crack. Countless Thornbush priests had tried to lure her into their side, but they all failed.

However, Nienna replied to them once.

And she answered succinctly…

“I am neither too young nor too old to have a conversation with trivial bugs.”

And Nienna’s current attitude still reflected her response from way back then—she couldn’t care less about her sibling or what Black Aldebaran had to say because she had long convinced herself that beings beyond the Crack only knew how to lie and deceive—ergo, their words were worthless.

Black Aldebaran gnashed her teeth and bit her finger out of frustration.

“How ridiculous it is for an arrogant greenhorn to claim that she rules winter. I was going to go easy on you because you are His Majesty’s sibling, but I will make sure to wrap your head with ribbons and send it to the frozen star as a gift.”

Black Aldebaran’s presumption was right; Nienna wasn’t listening, nor was she planning to listen to her. However, this didn’t mean that Nienna was looking down on Black Aldebaran.

.

Black Aldebaran was more powerful than any thornbush priest Nienna had ever seen before. In addition, Nienna could feel another powerful energy on the battlefield, and it clearly didn’t belong to Black Aldebaran.

Entalucia was actively helping them, but thanks to the unknown source of powerful energy on the battlefield, everyone’s heart was gripped with anxiety, making them feel as if they were walking on thin ice.

***

The knights wearing old armor with the emblem of a white dragon and a barnacle on it faced the knights holding a dilapidated banner with the emblem of a black crow.

The two forces fiercely glared at each other. They were in the middle of a chaotic battlefield, but there was no way that the two forces wouldn’t recognize each other.

They were the Order of Huginn of Ras Raud and the Order of Lindwurm of Gerard Gain. There wasn’t much contact between the two knight orders in the past, but they were both labeled as traitors immediately after the emperor’s assassination.

The only difference between them was that the Order of Huginn was falsely accused while the Order of Lindwurm was truly involved in the treason.

Anya didn’t take her eyes off of the Order of Lindwurm, even in a fierce battle against the monsters. Anya had seen Ras suffer for a long time, so in her eyes, the Order of Lindwurm was evil.

The Huginn knights felt a cold chill running down their spines upon being subjected to the Lindwurm knights’ gazes looking down upon them from above the ridge.

Bekelt stood at the edge of the ridge with the Order of Lindwurm, and he looked down at the Order of Huginn as well.

He soon clicked his tongue upon seeing the prowess of the Order of Huginn.

“The knights that Captain Ras used to train have disappeared; only the young greenhorns are left. They have severely deteriorated compared to their heyday,” Bekelt murmured.

“There weren’t many of them, but each of their members was disciplined with accolades. But now, they have become nothing but a bunch of knights who are slightly… better than ordinary soldiers. Don’t you think so?” said one of the Lindwurm knights.

“I was excited when I saw the banner of Huginn’s, but how disappointing…”

All of a sudden, the encirclement of the monster suddenly distorted.

Bekelt was about to unsheathe his sword upon noticing the strange change, but a knight of the dead suddenly charged toward Bekelt after cutting down a monster.

Bekelt’s eyes widened, and he swung his sword at the knight of the dead.

Bekelt’s powerful sword strike split the knight of the dead into two, but the knight of the dead didn’t collapse to the floor. Its other half swung the hammer it was holding into Bekelt’s head.

There was a dull sound as Bekelt’s helmet went flying.

“Deputy Bekelt!”

The stupefied Lindwurm knights were furious, and they made quick work of the knight of the dead.

Bekelt placed a hand on his head and glared up ahead. However, before he could even vent his anger and start cursing, a woman appeared with eyes dripping with malicious intent.

“You’ve lived long enough, you old bastard,” the woman muttered.

Bekelt could feel an overwhelming power from the woman. Anya puffed her mouth and spat a cloud that resembled darkness. In the proverbial blink of an eye, darkness surrounded the knights.

Bekelt felt a strong killing intent behind him, forcing him to dodge. He barely managed to dodge a sword that contained enough power to split him in half.

“Prepare for battle! That woman is our enemy!” Bekelt cried out. Bekelt swung his sword at Anya’s pale face that suddenly appeared in front of him. However, his sword seemed to have collided with a wall.

Skeleton knights had appeared out of nowhere and were protecting Anya.

Bekelt gnashed his teeth and glared at Anya. “The Huginn knights, huh? It’s funny how those who used to hunt necromancers actually became necromancers themselves. It is so ridiculous that I even find it insulting. Is honor such a rare value among the Huginn knights?”

Anya’s eyes became dyed with anger at Bekelt’s sarcasm.

Anya ordered the knights to attack and shouted at Bekelt. “A traitor like you actually dares to bullshit in front of me? We’ve been fighting the empire after being falsely accused of treason that you bastards have committed! Oh, of course, you wouldn’t understand since you have abandoned your people and ran like a dog!”

Bekelt’s eyebrows twitched.

Anya continued screaming, “We have been fighting for our lives, and we have finally won! We finally destroyed the old, corrupt empire, and His Majesty has ascended the throne once more!”

Bekelt felt a sharp pain on his side. Bekelt was stupefied when he realized that a sword had managed to pierce him without making a single sound, even though he was staring at the knight of the dead in front of him.

A Huginn knight stabbed Bekelt in the stomach with an expressionless look before immediately disappearing into the darkness. The Order of Huginn seemed to have long gotten accustomed to fighting in the dark.

Anya grinned and muttered, “I’m sure that bastards like you cannot do what we are doing right now. Everyone here has been painstakingly fighting against the empire, and they are not people whom a bastard like you can underestimate.”

“It seemed that I let my guard down,” Bekelt clicked his tongue and placed his hand on his stomach.

The maggots that had gathered on Bekelt’s wound vanished, and Bekelt recovered in an instant. Obviously, Bekelt’s regenerative ability was strong, but…

“You still aren’t our match,” Anya whispered.

Still, Anya could feel that the Huginn knights were suffering a bit more casualties than expected. It seemed that the Order of Lindwurm knights had become even stronger after equipping themselves with knowledge from beyond the Crack.

These knights were vanquished, cowardly knights—they were still famous for what they had achieved during the mythological era.

The Order of Huginn had the advantage because they had mounted a successful ambush, but the battle would eventually become advantageous to them if it were to drag on.

Therefore, Anya decided to summon a particular undead, and she looked like she had been waiting for this moment all this while.

The undead she summoned was a bizarre one, one with many faces.

“I hope you’ll notice who he is…” Anya smiled. “This undead is called Urkel, the survivor of Arbalde. I’m sure you guys don’t want to see him, but Urkel seems to think otherwise, so I guess this will be a heartwarming reunion.”

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