Chapter . 111
I scolded them loudly using Sound Amplification Magic.
They turned around in surprise, and were shocked to see my party and the Knights of Saint Romola. They had not set up a single sentry until I was right in front of them, assuming that anyone coming would be a group like them. One noble, who appeared to be the highest in rank among them, stood up and shouted.
“Who dares cause a commotion in front of us?”
“I am Prince Leontes, the Lord of Montova. Do you bastards hope to survive after daring to pillage my land! If you do not withdraw at once, I will punish you all! Do not disobey me on my land!”
As I scolded them angrily, Immanuel, who had taken the spot on my left instead of Yolande, looked at me with a surprised expression. Take this opportunity to see clearly just how scary I am when I am angry.
“If you are a Prince, then I am the Emperor, Kuhahaha!”
But the drunken noble did not believe me and mocked me. Although it was getting dark due to dusk, even if they saw my face, they had never been to the Imperial Palace nor seen me.
They were a group with high aristocratic pride despite wandering around committing murder and pillage.
“Do you know how many people have appeared claiming to be Prince Leontes so far? Kuhahaha!”
Indeed, there were always royal imposters. Since such swindlers gathered here too, the bastards intended to use them to shout that they found the Prince to get the gates opened. If the Count of Montova did not open it saying it was a fake, they could just accuse him of being a traitor.
“Gather the Princes in one place and hold an auction or compete! Like the ancient empire, we will carry the one who pays the army the most on a shield and make him Emperor, Hahahaha!”
“Insolent! This person is truly His Highness Prince Leontes!”
Immanuel stepped forward. The looters sneered.
“Doesn't the temple pillage too? Making a solid profit every mage hunt! You even borrow our hands when setting up a big stage!”
The group of looters was incomparably larger than ours. In that case, looters never stopped. Even if they recognized me, since they gathered once, they would not go back empty-handed.
Because there was no one to stop the pillaging. As my brothers mentioned conscription, pillaging was basic. If weak, even royalty or nobles suffered. If the people of that land could not stop it, that was it.
Even if a widow, invaded by a neighbor right after her husband's death, asked the Emperor for help, only the looter would change.
Marriage by abduction was settled by a fine, and lords themselves targeted orphaned girl lords' lands for forced marriage. Whether she was his fiancée's father's remarriage partner or not.
But not on my land. I had to show the whole world what fate looters meet on my land.
I turned my head and asked Immanuel. Since Michelon would not lend his.
“I have a request for you.”
“Ask whatever you wish, Your Highness.”
“I desire your spear.”
“Of course, my spear is yours, Your Highness. Just say the word.”
Immanuel said while raising his spear. How different from Michelon, who glared and said do not even dream of it when I said it would be more natural to borrow his weapon, supposedly taken from enemies, rather than me being armed after escaping kidnapping.
I placed my hand on the spear and called Yolande.
“Yolande.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Yolande raised her staff high.
-Your Highness, don't tell me in advance what magic you will use. It's more exciting that way.
Smiling at Yolande who had said that, I used wind magic with her as an excuse to lift the spear from Immanuel's hand and move it to mine. As soon as it moved to my hand, I raised the spear and shot it like a gale.
“Your Highness?”
Towards the one who insulted me.
“Aaaack!”
As the spear embedded in his chest, the man screamed and died.
“Your Highness!”
Someone called me from the side, but I was too busy to look back.
The next moment, the spear came out of his back, and while skewering him, it rushed to another person behind him and pierced his chest too.
Usually, a spear breaks after one such strike, but my Strengthening Magic prevented it.
I lengthened both the spear and the blade to pierce two, three, four, up to five people in a row. Since there were so many of them, it was convenient not having to correct the trajectory like when attacking on Mount Petrafis.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
Truly, no one screamed. They were so noisy just a moment ago, but now it was deadly silent.
Finally, I attached the spear right above the gate of my castle wall with magic, and the corpses skewered in a row dangled below the gate.
I put them there as an example, but looking at it, it was not a good sight. It is the entrance to my castle where even planting flowers would not be enough, and I was reminded of castles with bizarre rumors of being smeared with enemy blood.
I just pulled it back out and threw it into the bonfire they had built large, as if they knew their fate in advance. The fire was dying down, so I encouraged it a bit, and flames shot up.
POOF POOF POOF POOF POOF! POOF POOF POOF! With strange sounds, the corpses exploded into pieces.
Those hit by the fragments flying in all directions died without even screaming. No, I did not intend that, but perhaps because I was so angry, mana remained even in the fragments.
“Aaaaaack!”
“Aaaack!”
“Ugh!”
Only then did screams burst out, and the bastards ran in all directions.
“Attack. Do not leave alive those who dared to insult me, Prince Leontes!”
Those who pillaged in my territory definitely insulted me. Because I define my honor.
In a country where one must kill or be killed in a duel if they consider their honor damaged, my justification was clear.
“You always do the fun stuff alone.”
Grumbling, Michelon shot forward like a javelin. Smashing the eye slit of the nearest knight's helmet with his spear tip. He was accurate, but above all, he was strong.
Since a loser with a spearhead in his head in a joust could still breathe for a few hours, his style was to completely smash the head.
“They insulted Your Highness, kill them all!”
Yolande, for her part, cheered and jumped in at the chance to attack the bastards who usually persecuted mages. She floated dozens of fireballs in an instant and shot them, surprising both me and the holy knights.
But that was nothing compared to the targeting magic that picked out only nobles in the midst of it. The power was strong, engulfing both knight and horse in flames simultaneously.
Furthermore, it did not go out after hitting once, but exploded spreading hot ash, causing people nearby to scream with burns on their faces and heads.
“Mage, there is a mage! Kill the mage first!”
Nobles and knights rallied the people. Whether it was an order or not, the attitude was that they could not stand evil and lowly mages daring to attack them. That is why mages in battle tried to die rather than be defeated and taken prisoner.
“Kill her! Kill that red-haired woman!”
Of course, I was surrounding our side with a defensive barrier, but they fell before even getting close. The ground beneath their feet sank, burying them with only their necks remaining. It was Vincent's magic, whose strength had not fully recovered yet.
He was originally a fire mage, but even after his mana consumption improved a bit, he could not use fire magic. I tried to teach him Circle Magic, but he could not do it.
Instead, ever since learning from me, he suddenly started using earth magic; although the level was insignificant, it was better than fire magic he could not use at all, so he was putting effort into that.
Although Yolande and I were frustrated to death because we could not figure out the phenomenon, we were happy that Vincent could use magic. Plus, his skills had definitely improved since coming to Mount Petrafis.
Over the heads of those her husband buried, Yolande poured flames like watering weeds. She even drew the flames from the bonfire like channeling water to burn them all, so the efficiency of mana usage was awesome.
“Aaaaack!”
“Avoid it, dodge!”
Flames flowed from the bonfire to this side, swallowing the enemies. Using enemies as fuel, the flames that were initially like a stream grew into a river.
“Your Highness—”
Immanuel spoke from the side, but I was a bit busy. Using magic while pretending to be Yolande.
“Prince Leontes has come!”
“Reinforcements have arrived! Attack the enemies! Attack!”
The Count of Montova and Sir Rolf, who had been grinding their teeth at the bastards' provocations but did not respond at all until now, encouraged the archers on the wall to fire arrows.
Those with poor armor died from arrows, but killing knights was not easy, and above all, the number of enemies was still too high.
Just then, my proclamation, which was hanging next to the Emperor Father's proclamation and glowing even in the dark, turned red hot.
Then it flew over and stopped above the enemies' heads, and the scroll shape that was hanging vertically lay down horizontally.
“W-what is that!”
“That thing could move?”
The enemies, who looked down on us thinking our number of mages was small, looked up in unison in surprise.
As soon as they did, boiling oil poured down like a shower onto their upturned faces. Suiting the tastes of my loyal subjects who had waited a long time.
It was the boiling oil Sir Rolf and the Count of Montova had prepared, and I moved it right above the bastards' heads using the proclamation. Because adding a Teleportation Magic Circle on the proclamation using Tess is easy.
“Aack!”
The screams were short. Everyone was busy falling and rolling.
“Aaaaaack!”
“Aaaack!”
Rather, those watching screamed and ran in all directions.
As Alexander said, it was important for war to be pretty. Something pretty fluttering above one's head pouring something down, and not knowing when it would happen again caused tremendous fear in the enemies.
“Soldiers of Montova Castle! I, your Lord, have come! Count of Montova, Sir Rolf, open the gates and come out to fight!”
As soon as my order using Sound Amplification Magic fell, the gates opened. Opening gates when enemy numbers are too high is forbidden in tactics, but I could sufficiently block them, and I had to help my vassals establish war merits with magic help. It would be beneficial in the long run to show off Montova Castle's own military power too.
Since there were no mages inside, I thought it would take some time, but they rushed out immediately as if they were really waiting. I would have felt sorry if I had not called them.
“Advance! Advance! Fight for His Highness Prince Leontes!”
“Soldiers of Montova! Destroy those who pillaged our hometown!”
As the two led the vanguard on horseback, soldiers ran out clutching their spears. The proclamation moved above their heads, pouring boiling oil on anyone attacking them, clearing the path.
“Saint Romola! The Knights of Purity fight for the discoverer of the holy relic!”
“Saint Romola! For the one blessed by God Traneha!”
Then, Immanuel, who had been trying to say something to me since earlier, raised his sword and ran out, and the Knights of Saint Romola finally moved.
He seemed surprised that I borrowed his spear, but as the allies from the castle charged out, the knights responded without missing the timing.
‘Really different from Michelon.’
Michelon was like living lightning. Flashing east and west, the blade he wielded looked like a lightning bolt. Instantly, like a thunderbolt striking the tallest tree, enemies' heads fell like fallen leaves, and a storm of blood rose above them. The speed of cutting necks was so fast that the heads would fall in a flurry first, and the blood streams seemed to spray out only after that. As if the enemy's body had not realized the sudden death yet.
No matter how you looked at it, he was a bloodthirsty maniac, but I could tell.
‘He is chasing his own taste too much.’
He was killing only knights like a ghost.