Chapter 173
Along the tributaries of the western mountains.
There was a castle on a plain not far from there. It was a large territory, with a population of about 100,000.
About 30 knights. 3,000 troops.
Since they were the margrave's troops, the soldiers were a militia who had other day jobs. There were about 100 house soldiers.
This was the territory of Marquis Nathan.
That castle and territory had once belonged to our house, and there was a time when the population exceeded 200,000.
After our house was "exterminated," many residents emigrated, and the soldiers, who numbered 10,000, were reduced to 3,000. This meant that many soldiers resisted our house's expulsion.
On the mountainside, shrouded in darkness,
the dark knights stood in a line. Each was grotesquely disguised. The armor was what they usually wore.
I also disguised myself in a bizarre way.
I donned the first black armor I had ever made, put a tattered outfit over it, and threw a faded cloak on top.
And I wore the ancient king's crown.
I also carried the ancient king's sword.
Thus, I looked like a ghost. My face was a skull and blue light flashed in my eyes. The dark knights looked similar. It was like shadows wearing armor.
"We advance."
—We obey the king's command.
One hundred twenty-five dark knights marched down the mountain.
We entered this territory just like this, just as we were, so witnesses would take us for ghostly knights.
The dark knights entered the village.
It was late at night, so no villagers were in sight, but soldiers carrying torches were on patrol.
"Wh-what's that?"
"Those are the ghosts!"
The soldiers fell over backward, scrambled up, then fled to the castle. The news that they'd seen ghosts seemed to have spread. The soldiers began shouting.
"The ghost knights are coming!"
"Are you saying ghosts really exist?"
"It's true! They're coming right now!"
Torches rapidly increased on the side of the castle, and people started to move busily. Archers were deployed atop the fortress wall, and knights appeared with torches.
"Where in the world did they come from!"
"According to a farmer who saw them during the day! They're the vengeful spirits of the exterminated knights!"
"Don't say such nonsensical things!"
"But that's what was testified!"
At that moment, an elderly nobleman appeared.
All the knights greeted him with respect.
"Are those the ones?"
"Yes! It's clear they're not human!"
"What a strange occurrence."
That old man was Marquis Nathan.
We marched towards the castle through the darkness, truly like ghosts.
The eyes of those stationed atop the fortress wall were filled with fear. Since ghosts can't be killed, they were frightened; what was even more terrifying was not knowing why ghosts would come.
Marquis Nathan and his knights knew full well that many houses had been exterminated by the grand duke, and that the resentment of those destroyed lineages still ran deep. That was the source of their fear.
We stopped just within arrow range. I intended to instill absolute terror. Who would know how this was done? They could only assume it was the work of ghosts.
I conjured flames.
My entire body blazed brightly!
"How can that be!"
"Loose your arrows!"
Shuk shuk shuk shuk—
A rain of arrows fell. Both I and the dark knights stood still. Amazingly, the knights deflected the arrows with their defenses. This showed how much the primordial strength had grown.
We resumed our advance.
"Loose your arrows again!"
"It won't work on those monsters!"
"What in the world are they!"
Regardless of the arrows pouring down, we headed straight for the castle gate. The gate of this castle was a double-layered one. There was a wooden gate, hinged, and inside, an iron portcullis that dropped down from above.
I thrust my sword into a gap in the wooden gate and unleashed flames. Soon, the castle gate caught fire, and the iron portcullis inside began to glow red.
"The gate's on fire!"
"Put it out! Quickly!"
"The fire's too strong! We can't approach!"
"Aaaargh!"
Utter chaos erupted inside the gate.
The entire gate became engulfed in flames, and as the fortress wall surrounding the gate began to burn, the heat only intensified.
Thud—
I kicked the burning gate.
Even just the sound of a devilish ghost pounding on the gate was enough to instill terror. It was sufficient for rumors to spread that the wrongfully killed had returned as ghosts.
I didn't stop; I continued to pound on the gate. The terror was spreading well. The screams and shouts gradually died down. It seemed everyone was just staring at the gate.
Was the horizontal locking bar warping? The gate started to collapse inward. Then even the portcullis buckled inwards. The metal had been heated through.
Then, pouring all my magic power into the sword, I struck down hard at the center of the portcullis. With a thunk, the thick steel was cut surprisingly easily.
"The gate's about to give in!"
"Someone get out there and kill them!"
"They can't be killed! Just bring anything to block off the gate! Evacuate the family head!"
"We can't abandon the castle like this!"
"There is nothing we can do! Please evacuate!"
Thunk— thunk—
After cutting more of the portcullis, I began to kick the gate hard. The door kept getting pushed inward.
Then, with a screeching sound,
the wooden door swung open just enough for a person to fit through. The cut center of the portcullis was pushed apart by the wooden door. I immediately slipped inside.
Shushushushuk—
More arrows flew in. Knights and archers stationed atop the fortress wall had formed up at the castle gate.
I walked in, taking the arrows head-on. Due to the flames emanating from me, the knights couldn't attack and only kept retreating.
"Assault is impossible!"
"Commander! We need to evacuate as well!"
"Order the troops to muster! Hurry!"
The knights gradually retreated.
Shouts rose from all around that devils had appeared. That broke the fighting spirit of the knights.
Being merely ghosts wasn't frightening enough. These were ghosts enveloped in raging flames—what more could one do? We could only appear as devils leading an order of ghostly knights.
Coincidentally, a thousand years ago there had been a devil invasion, and people might perceive this as beginning anew with this house. I thought that rumors could quickly spread.
However, the grand duke couldn't easily send troops. Even if they did, lian would seize this castle. At that point, they'd also realize we were behind Lian.
All the dark knights entered the castle.
I spoke to them.
"Cut off two limbs of those knights."
—We obey the king's command.
The dark knights scattered throughout the castle.
With their signature swift movements.
/ / /
My house's old castle, now controlled by Marquis Nathan's house, was engulfed in flames. The inhabitants mounted horses and carriages and fled urgently to the south.
In the southern port city was the Mutran viscount's house, within the grand duke's sphere of influence. Their house had produced several imperial knight order commanders from the capital. Marquis Nathan's house had originally been in the capital as well.
Since over half the knights were fleeing with the family, we pursued them right away. Their hastily assembled troops surrounded us, but it was pointless.
The Nathan marquisate's family entered the viscount's southern territory early on, and only the marquisate's knights and soldiers occasionally tried to block us as we moved.
Perhaps the viscount's house realized they might face the same situation. The marquisate's knight order commander was waiting for us. His expression was one of deep dismay.
"Halt!"
Still feigning to be ghosts, we continued forward.
The knight order commander shouted again.
"If you are vengeful spirits! Why do you attack us so? If you hold a grudge, take it up with the grand duke!"
I advanced without answering.
The knight order commander retreated in a hurry.
"What is it you want us to do?!"
As he continued to retreat and shout, I finally revealed my intentions: slowly, with the burning king's sword, I inscribed words in the air.
"Leave."
Just one word.
Since they regarded us as vengeful spirits, there was no need to say more. If they didn't leave, they'd die.
Thus, the knight order commander kept falling back, and we marched on without pause. Anyway, we had to make it to the shore to board a ship.
/ / /
The viscount's castle was much smaller.
Since it was a city territory, there was no fortress wall, so the marquisate and viscount's troops formed up at the city gates.
Knowing their castle was sure to burn, they didn't put up a siege but instead did whatever they could to block us. But we made straight for the castle, as if that was our aim.
"Stop them! If the castle burns, it's all over!"
"There's nothing we can do!"
The Nathan house knights rushed at us en masse, but only bounced off the dark knights' swords. If any fell, their arms or legs were severed without mercy.
From seeing how the dark knights deflected arrows, I'd expected it, but they'd become much stronger than I thought. Unlike us, their primordial divinity was instantly converted into magic power.
"Is it the knights you want?!"
Someone clever was among the viscount's people. Having heard the news, they'd spotted the commonality: that we only cut off the knights' limbs.
It was a young nobleman.
He had considerable spirit.
He shouted again.
"I don't know why you attack only the knights, but if the knights leave, will you stop your assault?!"
At those words, we stopped.
As if to say that was true.
"Will it really be enough if there are no knights?"
After waiting a moment, I began to walk again.
Toward the castle.
"Clear the way! What they want is the castle and the knights! Their deep grudges have made them so!"
"The castle will burn!"
"There's nothing to be done! Evacuate everyone! Move essential goods and food—quickly!"
"What about us?!"
"The knight order is hereby disbanded for now!"
"What?!"
I marched silently toward the castle.
The one who shouted seemed to be the viscount. He was more decisive than I would have thought.
"If there are knights in the castle, they'll return! Let them be until they withdraw on their own!"
We marched for the castle, the two houses' troops lined up on either side. It looked as if ghostly knights and humans were walking side by side toward the castle.
"I'm sorry. Because of us."
The person behind the viscount was Marquis Nathan. Since the viscount himself came out to command, the marquis must have followed. However, the viscount's expression was cold.
"Why didn't you cross the mountains, instead of coming here?"
"I didn't expect you'd come this far too."
"What do you plan to do now?"
"I'll have to ask the grand duke for help."
"You mustn't."
"What do you mean, I mustn't?"
"All you'll do is stoke those ghosts' resentment. Why do you think they're only severing limbs? It's a warning."
"Is that so?"
The viscount looked at me.
But I continued walking forward.
"Their leader is truly bizarre."
"A devil, no less."
"Perhaps so. But Marquis Nathan."
"Speak."
The viscount spoke quietly.
"Please do not report this to the capital. No good will come of it being known in the capital."
"Then what are we supposed to do? Our castle's been burned, half our knights are crippled. If they don't leave, we can't live in the castle."
"Why not just return to the capital?"
"Is that something you can just say right now?"
The viscount stared at the marquis.
"I am not of the same mind as my late father. I've helped as you requested, even eradicating pirates, but we lost seven of our knights in the process."
"That was because of those violent pirates."
"Shall I speak even more plainly?"
Anger filled the marquis's face.
The viscount didn't care.
"My father served as the grand duke's lackey, but I am not like that. The grand duke had blood shed with others' hands, then acted magnanimous as he exiled us here."
The marquis's face turned red.
"So what, you want us to go our separate ways?"
"I want to sever our ties from now on."
"You're not afraid of repercussions?!"
"I'm prepared to face the cost of all my father did! But because of you, our castle is about to burn! After all that help, this is what we get?!"
The viscount's voice rang out.
Tension grew among the knights of both houses. It was an utterly unexpected situation.
The viscount spoke again.
"You must understand things are different now. Do you think Lord Parde turned away not knowing the consequences? He turned away because he could bear them."
"The consequences haven't even started yet!"
"It's not that they haven't started, it's that you can't start them."
"What?"
"Lord Parde is of the Hader house of the east..."
The viscount started to say something but let it go.
Other words came out instead.
"In any case, I would like you to leave right now."
"Is this really how you're going to act?"
"Don't even think of revenge. If you push us, we'll turn our backs on you as well. Don't forget how close the Parde territory and this place are."
The viscount walked ahead.
The marquis stood in shock.
I watched the viscount's back.
I almost ended up attacking a good man. It was my ghostly performance that caused these two western houses to break apart, but...
Mutran Viscount and Lian.
I think I can leave the west in their hands.