Chapter 149. Hegemon of the South (1)
The bluish energy of dawn was breaking through the branches of the Spirit Tree.
“...I think it was too big a favor to ask for.”
Gornas planted his sword in the ground and gasped for breath.
However, the only one to answer his words was the young tree swaying in the wind.
Last night, the corpses of the void knights who had aggressively torn through Quiesco’s defensive line were piled up neatly next to Gornas.
The gruesome sight of their horribly crushed and mangled bodies clearly showed what form Gornas' sword sought.
“...By the way.”
Gornas kicked the head of one of them rolling at his feet.
The head rolled along with the tip of Gornas' foot, revealing its face.
A void gaze, stained pitch-black, was looking at Gornas.
“...There’s definitely something to this.”
The Sword Saint of the previous life, who had organized his thoughts during a brief respite, raised his head and looked at the tree he had been protecting.
The branches swaying in the wind looked like a child waving its hand in encouragement.
Watching the sight, Gornas couldn’t help but smile.
Although it was a smile of genuine pleasure, to the soldiers of Bigrove facing it, it was a smile from a nightmare.
Because all they could see was a pair of eyes glistening like a beast’s and shining white teeth between a face covered in blood.
A demon with a sword, covered in the bright red blood of Bigrove.
“...You monster.”
The single phrase uttered by the Bigrove commander was indeed appropriate to describe Gornas' performance last night.
Fear to the enemy, hope to the ally.
It was the result created by a single knight with a single sword.
A different level of strength.
“...Of all things, a monster like that.”
This was precisely the reason why knights were cherished in the kingdom, in the family, and on the battlefield.
Right now, Bigrove’s forces were at least ten times larger than Quiesco’s forces guarding the Spirit Tree, but they had ultimately failed to push them back last night.
Because of the knight of Balthazar who had cut down and broken dozens of knights, and the griffin riders who were still flying in the sky, aiming for them.
The decisive blow that Count Lacie had dealt was blocked by a mere 10 or so knights.
Knights, especially those with their own Mental World, were like an asymmetric force in this era.
However, Bigrove had completely failed to trade those forces.
The Bigrove commander, looking at the gradually brightening sky, had no choice but to admit that Count Lacie’s intention had failed.
“They’re coming.”
Beronion, who was circling in the sky on his griffin and observing the battlefield.
His pale complexion showed how fiercely he had commanded the spirits last night.
“They came a little faster than expected.”
Beronion let out a sigh of relief as he saw the army approaching from afar.
Those holding the banner symbolizing Quiesco.
That banner, along with the commander with an honorable scar on her left eye, was a banner that would awaken them from the nightmarish night.
***
“Thank you for coming.”
Although the Cadmus mansion had been attacked last night, fortunately, Blanc’s office was relatively undamaged.
“Norington, which is not just an ally but a blood ally and a community of fate, sent a request for aid. Of course, we had to come.”
Vitelli shrugged his shoulders and began to speak.
Hopkins of Neudorf, who had urgently led his troops, nodded his head at his words.
Last night, the moment Ciella had opened the mansion’s secret passage, Nicholas had used special slips of paper to send requests for aid to three domains.
To Tolome and Neudorf for the rescue of Norington, and to Isabella of Quiesco as a warning about the Spirit Tree.
The three lords, upon seeing the blue-burning slips, had immediately dispatched their troops.
“We came as quickly as possible, but it seems we couldn’t make it in perfect time.”
Hopkins, the former Knight Commander who had led the Neudorf troops in Franz’s absence.
What he saw upon arriving in Norington was the sight of soldiers cleaning up the corpses scattered around the blood-stained walls.
“Even so, you arrived in a day and a half, didn’t you? Even I would have had a hard time leading troops and arriving in that amount of time.”
Blanc expressed his sincere gratitude to the two lords who had rushed over as if it were their own matter.
The military cooperation between the three domains had worked perfectly in a crisis situation.
Although it was something Blanc had intended, he couldn’t help but feel proud seeing the flawless response in a pressing situation.
The alliance with those connected by blood, bound by marriage, and sharing a common enemy, was moving as one under the name of the Cadmus Barony.
Knock, knock, knock.
“My lord.”
“Come in.”
Nicholas, who quietly entered the office, relayed the news that had arrived via carrier pigeon.
“The news is that the Spirit Tree in the Gorge Where Even Tears Dried Up is safe. They say the aid from Sir Gornas and Quiesco was truly timely.”
Everyone except Blanc, who heard Nicholas' words, let out a sigh of relief at the news.
‘He did it.’
He had thought that the griffin riders of Beronion and the soldiers of Quiesco would do their best to protect the Spirit Tree because of their duty and conviction, but in Gornas' case, he could only rely on his goodwill.
“Send a letter to the Balthazar family in my name, expressing my utmost gratitude.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Fortunately, Gornas had accepted Blanc’s request and had helped to save the Spirit Tree.
There was the reason that he liked Blanc, but the biggest reason was probably that he had judged it as an opportunity to make his own name widely known.
The Knight of Balthazar who had protected the sacred Spirit Tree along with the griffin riders of Elbhenin.
Gornas' official first sortie took place on a glorious and shining battlefield.
A knight guaranteed by the blood of Balthazar.
To commemorate the achievement created by the promised legend of the era, Blanc decided to raise his hands high and send a round of applause.
While a brief silence fell as Blanc was lost in thought about Gornas, Vitelli smiled and spoke to the man sitting next to him.
“I heard you were up, but I didn’t know you’d come straight to Norington. It would have been nice if you had at least given me a heads-up.”
Vitelli looked at Stefan with a playful expression, as if their relationship as brothers was not bad.
“I was planning to stop by your place as well after finishing Count Blanc’s birthday banquet.”
“As well? I took such good care of you when you were lying down.”
Vitelli grumbled at Stefan’s indifferent words.
He had confronted Schumacher over the position of head of the family, but Stefan and Weird were people he had to win over, so Vitelli had been trying to gain his younger brothers’ respect.
Blanc, noticing that Vitelli’s exaggerated gestures and tone were an attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere, smiled quietly in accordance with Vitelli’s intention.
“...Thank you.”
Stefan, who awkwardly expressed his thanks to Vitelli, quietly picked up his teacup.
“And I thank Count Blanc as well. I originally came here to convey that message.”
Stefan had come down with his sons and the knights of the Tolome Knights, with whom he had a personal acquaintance, in time for Blanc’s birthday.
By leading them down, Stefan had also announced his continued presence to the surrounding lords.
It was Schumacher’s intention to restore the temporarily weakened influence of Tolome due to Bartomyu’s absence and Vitelli’s branching off, through the revived Stefan.
“If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have just come down quickly.”
Blanc once again bowed his head and expressed his gratitude to Stefan, who was quietly drinking his tea.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for Sir Stefan and the Tolome knights, Norington would have suffered great damage.”
“Count Blanc saved me from the brink of death, so it is only natural that I do the same.”
Unlike Vitelli, Stefan replied with the blunt expression characteristic of a knight, but a faint smile was present on his face as he looked at Blanc.
“I merely repaid a life debt with a life.”
It was the first time the two had actually met face-to-face, so unlike with Vitelli, an awkward atmosphere lingered, but this was a problem that time would solve.
In his previous life, Stefan had died at the hands of Tiday, but in this life, he had broken through Norington’s crisis and reached Blanc.
Although his left hand was lost as the price for his salvation, the Enlightenment he gained from his fierce mental battle with Tiday was more than enough to make up for the physical loss.
Blanc, for some reason, calmed the young phoenix that was puffing up its chest on his shoulder and continued to speak.
“Even so, you came at a truly opportune moment. If Sir Stefan and the Tolome knights had not been here, we would have been completely helpless until the people in front of us arrived.”
Although Count Lacie had been dismembered and killed by Blanc, looking back, his surprise attack was truly threatening.
Count Lacie had come through the gap of common sense and carelessness and had plunged a sharp dagger into Blanc’s back with a smiling face.
His unconventional actions had almost inflicted a great wound on Norington and Blanc.
“I must not let my guard down from now on. I have learned a lot from this incident.”
But wounds create scars, and scars are bound to leave something behind.
Here was a man who understood the lessons taught by scars better than anyone.
“Count Lacie was a man of deep schemes and equally clever. It is worth noting that he abandoned the Felix Kingdom and suddenly chose Gartaria.”
Vitelli said, resting his chin on his hand in thought.
“I thought about it continuously while coming up to Norington, but there’s only one conclusion.”
Everyone in the office looked at Vitelli.
“It means that Prince Aleid has something that can break the balance that the three kingdoms have maintained until now.”
Vitelli quietly met Blanc’s eyes.
“Count Lacie must have recognized that.”
“…”
Everyone here, including Blanc, could not immediately follow up on Vitelli’s reasoning.
Although he was being greatly shaken by Blanc, Count Lacie was a man with a solid foundation in the Felix Kingdom.
Even if he were to fall in a power struggle with Blanc, he could have at least remained a prominent noble in the south.
However, he had risked his entire foundation and joined hands with Prince Aleid, so it was clear that Prince Aleid had a reason for Count Lacie to make such a choice.
“The problem is what Prince Aleid has that moved Count Lacie...”
At Vitelli’s groaned words, everyone frowned and continued to ponder, while only Blanc, who had seen through Prince Aleid’s true nature, was thinking about the next alternative.
“I will strike Bigrove.”
At Blanc’s sudden words, everyone looked at him in surprise.
“We must dig out the seeds of anxiety in advance and secure our rear to effectively respond to the evil hand that Prince Aleid will extend in the future.”
“But my lord, Norington has not even been put in order yet.”
As Hopkins said, the blood shed by the void beings had not yet dried in Norington.
However, the man named Blanc was a man accustomed to walking on a path soaked in blood.
“Doesn’t opportunity always follow a crisis?”
Blanc judged the situation coolly.
“Along with Count Lacie, we have dealt with those who seemed to be their elite forces, so Bigrove is now in a state of confusion and weakened.”
To achieve victory, striking the opponent’s weak point would be the most certain method.
Just as Count Lacie had struck Blanc’s carelessness with a bold, even unconventional decision, Blanc also had to strike Bigrove’s weak point.
Bigrove’s weak point.
“We must not give them time.”
It was the time to bring the chaos under control.
Blanc’s blue eyes shone coldly.
“Now is the time for us to strike back.”
Although they had come up in a hurry, the forces of Tolome and Neudorf were currently stationed in Norington.
“We will move to the Gorge Where Even Tears Dried Up as we are and join with the Quiesco forces there.”
Blanc said, pointing to the map on the desk.
The piece Blanc placed on the map stopped at Bigrove.
“While moving, we will rally the southern lords. The lords who spent that terrible night with us will agree with me.”
The southern lords and distinguished guests who had escaped the mansion with Ciella that night and had seen the void beings.
Some of them were still suffering from anxiety and unable to leave Norington, so it was safe to say that there were no southern lords who supported Count Lacie now.
A world of the law of the jungle where only the winner takes all.
Count Lacie had risked everything and dealt a blow to Blanc, but the young lord of Norington had safely overcome that crisis and had also succeeded in cutting off the head of the giant snake.
“Now, the only choice left for the southern lords is me.”
The task for the victor, Blanc, from now on was to carefully pick up the things falling from Count Lacie’s hands.
The moment he picked them all up, the lord named Blanc Cadmus would become the undisputed Hegemon of the South.