Chapter 245: The Civil War in the Principality (10)

“What... What’s happening?!”

Viscount Jyles stared at the flames rising from the first gate of Moon Aether and glared at Giltian standing behind him, as if ready to devour him.

“A day is enough, you said? We’re going to be wiped out at this rate! Because of you, I delayed reporting the attack, but what are we going to do now? If those scum manage to break through the inner wall...!”

Such words were unbefitting a knight responsible for defending the border, but in all fairness, while his family had defended Moon Aether for hundreds of years, Jyles himself had never experienced war.

The greatness of his ancestors was nothing but a relic of the past. For Jyles, who had lived a comfortable life in his peaceful territory, the sounds of explosions, the raging fire, and the cries of soldiers were more terrifying than they were stirring.

“Calm yourself, my lord. We haven’t lost all the magical artillery, and we opened the gate ourselves. This isn’t because their assault was overwhelming, and our losses aren’t severe yet.”

“Yet they’ve already breached the fortress! Send a report to the duchy immediately!”

Despite Giltian’s reassurances, Jyles was too panicked to listen.

Seeing his lord trembling in fear, Giltian boldly demanded, “Please give me one more chance. There’s no need to open the second gate. I’ll handle it personally.”

***

“Hear me, soldiers of Moon Aether!! Outside, there are immigrant invaders threatening the principality’s lands!” Giltian, atop the second wall, shouted to the troops.

“The principality is currently embroiled in a fierce civil war, and those lowly scum have come to take advantage of that! We cannot allow these filthy invaders to endanger Duchess Tuli at the White Bunker!"

“Waaahhhh...!!”

“Wooooo...!!”

Despite the fighting that had broken out within the first wall, the morale of the soldiers of Moon Aether had not wavered. Magic artillery was positioned along both sides of the wall, and archers who had retreated earlier were now taking aim at the invaders.

“Draw your swords!!”

Clang—! Clang—!

One hundred knights drew their swords and placed them against their chests in salute to Giltian. Though they could not compare to the principality’s official knights, Giltian trusted them above all others, having trained them himself.

“No one will breach the walls of Moon Aether! We will offer the blood of these invaders as a sacrifice to the principality!”

“WAAAHHHH...!!”

We can do this

. Giltian steeled himself, feeling the fervor of the cheering soldiers. Although the first wall had been breached, they still had enough forces to overwhelm the enemy.

“Attack!!” Giltian shouted, drawing his own sword.

Whoosh! Whoosh—!!

Shaaack—!!

At his command, the archers unleashed a volley of arrows at the Tiger Shield tribe standing below the wall.

“Aaahhh!! Ughhhh...!!”

“Spare me!”

Trapped between the two walls, unable to retreat or advance, the immigrants became easy targets for the archers.

“Pour the oil!”

Soldiers atop the wall unleashed boiling oil onto the invaders below, whose screams filled the air as they clutched their faces.

“Ghhaaaaahh...!!”

Writhing in pain, the warriors of the Red Moon tribe could no longer approach the wall and fell to the ground, unable to move.

“Prepare to fire!!”

Even amidst the agonized screams, the onslaught from Moon Aether showed no signs of stopping.

Wooooom—!!

As the sorcerers channeled their mana into the artillery, the barrels of the magical cannons glowed a fiery red.

Boom...! Bang!! Boom...!!

The magical artillery, which had initially failed, now roared to life, spitting fire relentlessly. Explosions rippled across the ground like fireworks, scattering debris in every direction.

“Argh!!”

“Aaagh!”

Chunks of earth flew up and rained down on the fallen tribesmen. It was an overwhelming display of power, a truly magnificent sight.

Giltian believed everything was going according to his plan. Opening the first gate had been a mistake, but once they had regrouped and counterattacked, it was clear that these immigrant invaders, who lacked magic entirely, were no match for him.

Amid the barrage, a large man shouted in fear, “R-Retreat...!!”

That must be him.

Giltian instantly surmised he was the leader of the enemy forces.

“I need to capture him. Open the gate,” Giltian ordered.

“Are you sure, sir?” his subordinate asked in a slightly shaky voice.

For some reason, Giltian was confident that he could take the man’s head without any trouble. Riding the wave of exhilaration, he shouted, “Look at those pathetic fools! Watch how they helplessly fall before us!”

As the gate opened, Giltian spurred his horse forward and shouted, “Show them our strength! Drive these immigrants out of Moon Aether!”

“Yeaaaahhh...!!”

“Wooaaaaaa...!!”

Responding to the cheers of his men, Giltian drew his sword and charged.

“Hah...!”

Kuntai, the large man who had been retreating, swung his axe with all his might, but Giltian ducked under the strike and, without missing a beat, spun around.

Swoosh—!

Taking a step forward with his left foot, Giltian slashed Kuntai’s waist before he could pull back his axe, then swiftly cut his ankle as he passed behind him.

“Aaagh!!”

With both Achilles tendons severed, the massive Kuntai lost his balance, screaming in pain as he collapsed.

“It’s over!”

With all his strength, Giltian brought his sword down on Kuntai's neck.

Schwick—!

A sickening crunch echoed as the blade cleaved through Kuntai’s thick neck, and his head rolled across the ground.

“Huff... huff...”

Giltian felt weightless; he had read each of his opponent’s moves and moved effortlessly, just as he had imagined. A smile crept onto his lips before he burst into triumphant laughter.

“Ha... Hahahaha!!”

He grabbed Kuntai’s head from the ground, lifting it high into the air as he shouted, “Look at this, immigrants! I, Giltian of Moon Aether, have slain your filthy chief and upheld the honor of the principality!”

“Yeaaaaahh...!”

“Waaaaaahh...!”

The cheers of his men rang out.

“...”

The warriors of the Tiger Shield tribe stared in horror at Kuntai’s severed head, left speechless by the scene.

“R-Run away!”

“Retreat!”

With their leader dead, the remaining warriors broke into a panicked retreat, running without looking back.

When was the last time Giltian had felt such fulfillment? In truth, it was the first time.

Like Viscount Jyles, Giltian had been born and raised in Moon Aether. As a knight and captain of the garrison, he had spent his entire life there but had never faced a true battle.

His thirst for glory had long simmered within him, and this was his first chance ever to prove himself.

“Come at me as much as you like! This is not a wall that mere immigrants can breach!”

Jyles was worried about not reporting to Tuli immediately, but it didn’t matter. Just looking at the current situation made it clear—this was nothing short of a perfect victory. The minor punishment he might face for the delay would be far outweighed by the immense glory that awaited them.

“Hahahahaha!!”

Giltian gripped his sword and charged at the terrified Tiger Shield warriors, mowing them down. The enemy fell before his blade, helpless like leaves against the autumn wind.

How many had he slain? When he looked around, dozens of corpses lay at his feet.

“This is our victory!”

A triumphant smile crossed his face as he took in the sight of his glorious victory.

“Are you enjoying your dream?”

At that moment, a low voice sounded from behind him. Though no enemies remained, Giltian spun around instantly. His vision suddenly became blurry, and the scene before him began to swirl as though he was caught in a vortex.

“...?!”

A wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees.

“Huff... huff...”

Had he overexerted himself? With every breath, a sharp pain stabbed through his lungs, causing him to grimace.

“Having trouble breathing? Of course, it’s because of the smoke in your lungs. Take a good look around.”

“...What?”

As the voice reached his ears, his distorted vision gradually returned to normal.

“...!!!”

Everything was engulfed in flames. The searing heat against his face jolted him back to reality.

“Aaagh!!!”

Startled, Giltian fell back, desperately trying to scramble away.

“Wh-What is this...?” he muttered in disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation.

Thousands of soldiers stood amidst the flames, seemingly oblivious to the intense heat, staring blankly into space.

Fire raged everywhere around Giltian, his glorious victory consumed by the flames, with Moon Aether engulfed in dense, black smoke.

“The gate...”

His eyes were drawn to the second gate, which was wide open.

“You opened it. I’m not sure who you were so eager to chase, but it seems you enjoyed cutting down the immigrants, huh? You were so busy swinging your sword that you didn’t even realize you were drinking poison.”

Giltian could barely discern the cold voice. With a stiff expression, he scanned his surroundings.

“The second gate fell so easily, all thanks to you.”

Crackle... crackle...

The buildings around them kept burning, crumbling to ashes.

The soldiers of Moon Aether, like Giltian moments ago, stood with blank expressions, slowly falling one by one into the fire or collapsing from the smoke. None of them moved or reacted, oblivious to their own end.

“How...?”

Giltian looked at Lilliana with a bewildered expression, as if pleading for an explanation.

“It’s an herb called Flue. When used fresh, it works as a medicinal herb that enhances immunity, but when burned, it turns into a deadly poison. Those who inhale the smoke are overcome by intense hallucinations.”

Lilliana swept her fiery hair back and held the slender leaves, resembling pine needles, to her nose, taking their scent in.

“A... poison?”

It was only now that Giltian understood what was happening in Moon Aether. The glorious victory he had longed for, the bright future that had seemed within reach—all of it had been nothing but an illusion.

“Since when...?”

Had he been dreaming when he reported to Jyles? Or was it when he fought the immigrants? He couldn’t tell. All he could do was clutch his throbbing head.

“You wouldn’t have noticed the poisoning. The reactive magic on the walls would have been useless. Our poison isn’t something that can be blocked by magic.”

“No... no...”

As a grim confirmation to her words, Giltian saw knights collapsing all around him, succumbing to the poison.

“The immigrants can fight even without mana.”

It was the specialty of the Jannabi tribe. They dealt with poisons that no one else on the continent could handle, and there was no poison they could not control.

While the Tiger Shield, Red Moon, Wolf-Fox, and Black-Eyed tribes launched their attacks, the Jannabi tribe had remained still. But after the first gate of Moon Aether was breached, they had charged forward faster than anyone else.

“...”

Giltian looked around in a daze. He saw Kuntai, whom he had just killed, now beheading soldiers. The Red Moon warriors, who had been writhing in pain from the boiling oil, were now killing archers, and the Wolf-Fox tribe was slaughtering the artillerymen.

“Oh... Oh no...”

Giltian could only open and close his mouth in shock, unable to form the words.

“Time to wake up from your dream.”

Lilliana drew a small dagger, its blade barely protruding from her sleeve, and pressed it against Giltian’s neck.

Shnk!

The blade slid smoothly into the gap between his neck and collarbone. Giltian, seemingly unaware of the pain, only widened his eyes in shock before collapsing forward onto the ground.

“...”

His body twitched a few times before finally going limp.

“If you don’t like it, then stay asleep forever,” Lilliana muttered under her breath. Then, stepping over Giltian’s corpse, she slowly made her way further into the castle.