Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159. Seed of Disaster (2)
All factions in Warlord Conquest had their own 'final weapon'.
Literally, a final weapon.
At the earliest, their appearance was in the late game.
And that was only if the game was going well.
Although they were called final weapons, they didn't necessarily have to be weapons.
For example, the 'Improved Necro Core' technology, which was granted when Tribus, who was now my second identity, became the second Vampire Duke, was a prime example.
The 'Mana Reactor', one of the candidates for the dwarves' final weapon, was a similar case.
Of course, most of them were in the form of weapons, like the dwarves' 'Bipedal Guardian' or 'Aerial Battleship', the Theocracy's 'Ascended Knight', or the Empire's 'Tank Corps'.
“The plague bomb, retrieving that seed of disaster comes first!”
The plague bomb that the Emperor was shouting about.
That was the final weapon of the Ratmen, specifically the Corruption Priesthood.
Unlike other weapons, that one was a one-time use.
That's right.
It was powerful enough to be classified as a final weapon despite being a one-time use.
It was no exaggeration to say that it was practically a mix of a nuclear weapon and a biochemical weapon.
Among nuclear weapons, there was something called a neutron bomb, which reduced the physical explosive power and maximized the radiation damage, and perhaps it was a similar concept.
Detonating just one bomb would make a small city uninhabitable for the next few hundred years.
Three or four could stain the entire Imperial Capital, the largest city in the Empire, with plague.
If it went off here, there was only one outcome.
Not only this space, but even Randal and my main body, several kilometers away, would not be able to get out alive.
'Three objectives.'
A brain accustomed to rapidly changing battlefields quickly derived the objectives.
'First, seize the plague bomb. Second, rescue the Emperor. Last, escape.'
Once the objectives were set, I thought about the means.
Even so, in my current state, that is, in the form of a Ratman clone, I couldn't exert one hundred percent of my power.
And I couldn't just revert to my original form in the middle of a Ratman horde like this.
On top of that.
Chiiik?!
Slowly, suspicious glances began to be cast my way from my surroundings.
No matter how much of a collection of blockheads the Ratman warrior class was, not all commander-type individuals were like that.
Even if not a priest, a Warchief would have a fair number of smart ones.
The Emperor had shouted in this direction, and they must have noticed that I had made eye contact with him.
There was a solution.
'Archduke, I'll be brief. Come straight down the main tunnel, break through the small tunnels for about two hundred meters, and you'll find His Majesty. Please come as quickly as possible.'
'What…?'
'Randal. I'm counting on you. If you're delayed, you can come alone.'
I told the Archduke and Randal the location.
'Eyeball.'
'Anytime.'
I leaped through space with the power of the sacred relic.
Fzzt-
I felt it every time, but the combination of Eyeball and Starfish's abilities was downright cheating.
The ability to teleport anywhere within sight and to create a clone and control it from tens of kilometers away.
Whoooosh-
The moment my vision reversed, the sound of the wind tickled my ears.
I had deliberately set the open air as my jump coordinate.
The battlefield lay below me.
It was a vast cavern, the kind you would find a few of in a well-developed Ratman subterranean city.
I quickly scanned the battlefield.
The ceiling height was about a hundred meters.
The length and width were almost a kilometer.
It was spacious enough, but most of it was occupied by a gray wave of half-man, half-rat creatures.
Beneath my feet, a company-sized Imperial Knight Order was holding out in a solid defensive formation.
My clone was far away.
A common, run-of-the-mill Ratman Warchief, surrounded by a horde of tens of thousands of Ratmen.
The start of the operation, as in any movie or drama scenario, would be best with an explosion.
And not a common explosion, but an intense one where a high-level mage burns all their mana.
Kiik!
The moment the Ratman commander who had noticed my strangeness approached, the clone chanted a spell.
[[Explosion] deployed.]
[[Explosion] deployed.]
[[Explosion] deployed.]
[[Explosion] deployed.]
[[Explosion] deployed.]
Boom!
***
[[Warrior’s Binding] deployed.]
[Bound enemy summoned.]
[Ratman Weird Priest(6), Ratman Technopriest(2), Ratman Giant Mutant(3), Ratman Mutant(14), Ratman Marksman(7), Ratman Machinegunner(3), Ratman Heavy Weapons Team(2), Ratman Warchief(10), Ratman Claw Warrior(41), Ratman Hunter(19), Ratman Slave Soldier(133)]
***
The spell system in Warlord Conquest was a kind of dice roll.
Meaning, there was a chance of failure.
If a spell failed, a penalty followed.
If you were lucky, you would only lose the time and mana poured into the spell, but depending on the situation, it could lead to mana leakage, spell overload, and even injury or death from self-destruction.
Of course, all of this was something I had only experienced through a game screen on a monitor.
It was something I had never experienced now, having mastered all spells with one hundred percent proficiency from the beginning of this playthrough.
However, if we were only talking about the outcome of self-destruction, it seemed I had already experienced something similar twice today alone.
By being buried alive and blown up by my own spells.
“……Mind moving that?”
Although it wasn't a real death, it wasn't a pleasant experience.
There was this backstory to my unpleasant reaction to the tip of the blade pointed at my neck.
Of course, even without the unpleasant sensation transmitted as the clone was annihilated, a situation where a blade was pointed at me as soon as I landed on the ground couldn't be very pleasant.
“Who are you. How did you get in?”
In the middle of the Emperor's camp, protected by layers of miracles and mana.
A woman with long black hair, clad in full plate armor, asked the question.
As if wary of me, who had come through space, piercing through all sorts of defensive spells and miracles.
Her cold gaze held the will to cut me down at any moment.
In a modern literature book, it would probably be described as an icy gaze.
Fortunately, its owner knew my face.
“Lower your sword, Yula. It's Viscount Ash. Can't you even recognize the reinforcements who came to help us?”
“…My apologies.”
The female knight lowered her sword.
At the touch of the aura that had lightly touched me, I unconsciously stroked my neck.
“My apologies. Things are hectic, but let me introduce you. This is Sir Yula Katran of the Imperial Knight Order. The other captains are on guard, so they're in no position to greet you… but besides the Bishop, you've met them before, right?”
“I believe so. It's a pleasure, Sir Katran. My name is Ash.”
I extended my hand.
The wary knight did not take it.
As expected.
Because I knew who she was.
The Frozen Knight, Yula Katran.
One of the eight captains of the Imperial Secret Knight Order, and the guard knight who protected the Emperor the closest within the knight order.
She was attached to the Emperor wherever he went unless she had a separate mission, to the point where rumors of them being lovers were circulating, but I also knew that wasn't the case according to the lore.
Because being close, she knew the Emperor's humanity better than anyone else.
Our psychopathic, iron-blooded Emperor was a man who could be respected, but not loved.
Anyway, I had heard she had been dispatched to the Northern Archduchy for a while, but it seemed she had returned just in time.
“Ash. The plan?”
The Emperor asked.
Katran looked at me with wide eyes, but let's ignore that.
At least between us, there was no need for long words.
We had only met a few times, but I knew now.
We knew each other well.
It wasn't just me who knew the Emperor; the Emperor also knew me.
At the Emperor's question, I silently cast my gaze towards the enemy lines.
The number of enemies in the cavern alone was in the tens of thousands.
Including the tunnels beyond, it was well over hundreds of thousands.
It was an overwhelming difference in forces, but it was possible to hold this position for quite a long time.
Siollus' powerful defensive magic and the Bishop's miracles were blocking all attacks like an iron wall.
But the objective of the operation was not to hold out.
The first objective was to seize the plague bomb enshrined on the altar far away.
Frankly, if we failed to take it, the moment they went crazy and pushed the button, everyone here would be dead.
Even miracles and spells couldn't stop that.
“It seems there's an internal conflict among the enemies.”
I said, looking at the gray horde.
The Emperor also turned his head, following my gaze.
Here and there, Ratmen could be seen biting each other, firing guns and spells indiscriminately.
That's right.
The operation had already begun.
Simultaneously with the grand explosion caused by the clone, I had released all the Ratman troops I had collected so far into the middle of their lines.
From priests to slave soldiers, the number of various troop types combined was in the hundreds.
It was a mere handful compared to the tens of thousands of enemies, but a situation where you didn't know who the traitor was was bound to cause chaos in itself.
“Before coming here, I dealt with the Archpriest of the Weird Priesthood. It seems the curse he had placed on the punitive force has backfired.”
I shouldn't forget to make a suitable excuse.
I got straight to the point.
“We will disable all defenses and clear a path to the plague bomb. After securing and disposing of it, we will hold our ground there.”
“Until when?”
“Until reinforcements arrive.”
“Many will die.”
I nodded.
It was an operation with no way back.
It wasn't my preferred method, but sometimes there was no other choice.
Now was such a time.
“Everyone, assemble.”
And this was also the Emperor's playstyle.
He was a commander who used even himself as a tool, a commander who had thoroughly eliminated emotions and even his humanity.
It wasn't my style.
As I had experienced in Wolfskrig, his command, which saw everything in numbers like a psychopath, could actually cause morale to drop among ordinary soldiers.
However, the Imperial Secret Knight Order was different.
It was fine to command them in the Emperor's style.
Because they were a group composed only of those who could pull it off, a group that was practically the Emperor's own hands and feet.
“Siollus. Break through. With all your might.”
As the Emperor commanded.
[[Warrior’s Insight] deployed.]
A living flame engulfed the entire cavern.
Uwoooo--
A torn space roared and poured out lava.
A purple flame flared up, vaporizing hundreds of Ratmen alive.
[Skill acquired.]
[Rampaging Fire Nymph (Level 7)]
[Infernal Full Bloom (Level 8)]
Dozens of firefly-like beings flew among the Ratmen, incinerating everything in their path.
The embers originating from them exploded, forming a garden with countless flowers of flame.
[Skill acquired.]
[Flame Spirit (Level 9)]
Even a level 9 spell, considered to be on the cusp of a transcendent being.
KWAAAAAAAAAA-!!!
A pure flame, without touching a single hair of an ally, burned the entire cavern white.
Siollus, who seemed to have poured out every last drop of mana, collapsed, leaning on the shoulder of a subordinate knight.
“Bishop.”
“In the name of Luark….”
The second call.
Passing by Siollus' side, a man in priestly robes with his hands clasped as if in prayer stepped forward.
“The path across hell leads to heaven……”
The priest raised both hands.
Then, a light so bright it was blinding burst forth.
In the middle of the subterranean cavern where no sunlight could reach.
On top of the burning ground, the scorched corpses, the melted and still writhing chunks of flesh, and the countless Ratmen pouring into the cavern like a tide over their dead kin.
[Skill acquired.]
[Radiant Highway (Level 8)]
A light like the midday sun shone down, and a pure white radiance created a wide path and raised walls on either side.
The end of that path reached the altar of the Corruption Priesthood, where the plague bomb was placed.
“Advance.”
The path was open.