Chapter 270: |
Camilla stood on the bridge of the ship and watched her territory burn with a blank expression.
She had already smuggled out the main nobles and assets, but the citizens were still there.
The invaders did not have time to trample them.
But she could imagine the fear on the faces of her people.
The flames rose from somewhere in the mansion, as if they wanted to destroy the evidence.
She clenched her teeth without realizing it.
She had heard that this would happen and prepared for it, but she couldn’t help feeling angry.
How lacking in judgment was the duke to attack another territory after losing the war he supported?
‘He must have sacrificed me because he couldn’t attack Rozelon.’
If Leobold swallowed Galisto, he would lose all his investments in Goliath and the airships.
That money amounted to hundreds of thousands of gold, and it was not something he could let go easily.
More importantly, his influence, which was more valuable than money, was expected to shrink miserably.
For a powerful person, losing influence was something unbearable.
‘You shouldn’t have messed with me, sir.’
He must have never dreamed that Leobold would set a trap and wait for him.
But she had one thing that bothered her: Emperor Barak.
No matter how much the emperor disliked the Duke of Pangral, he would treat him better than Leobold, who he considered a thorn in his eye.
The arm bends inward, and the duke and his territory, the Duchy of Tassos, had been allies with the empire for nearly 200 years.
It was a different dimension from the new nobles who had recently acquired territories in the empire.
In other words, it was reasonable to assume that the emperor was ready to support the Duke of Pangral in some way.
‘What did Leo prepare for that?’
She stood on the bridge of Hyperion and looked at her burning mansion with nostalgia.
She wanted to go down and kick the knights of Tassos right away, but she had to wait until Leobold came.
And he entered as the door of the bridge opened.
“It’s not a very pleasant sight. How can you watch that?”
“I think it will make me feel better when I step on the duke. By the way, what did you prepare?”
Leobold handed her a pardon letter.
Her eyes widened as she saw the paper with the emperor’s seal on it.
“Is this… a pardon for everything I’ve done within a certain period of time? The emperor wouldn’t have given this easily.”
“I gave him some Black Knights. Thanks to that, I can absorb the Duchy of Tassos. Isn’t it a good deal?”
She made an ambiguous expression.
This man always followed efficiency.
It wasn’t bad, but he had that aspect in human relationships as well.
Maybe he saw her that way too?
Leobold came behind her and hugged her waist.
“You don’t look happy. Is there something wrong?”
“…What do I mean to you? Am I just a wife who can be shown externally because you can’t use Arma?”
Instead of asking why she said that, he tightened his arms around her.
“At first, I thought so. I thought it would be convenient to have a connection point in the empire in the future.”
“What about now?”
“Now it’s not. You have to go with me. Anywhere.”
Camilla stroked his arm and suddenly said,
“When this war is over, I want to have your child.”
“Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“There’s a saying in Astera too. Don’t promise anything before a war… But you’re different.”
She wouldn’t die as long as Leobold didn’t stand by.
He was just embarrassed by something else.
“Arma said it first. That’s a problem.”
“She’s not even an Ainz species. Is it possible to have a child?”
“Well, it’s possible but…”
Arma was an artificial intelligence and an android, so she couldn’t have a child.
Instead, she wanted to accept Leobold’s and Lucia’s genes that she had stored and have a child.
She had the technology to create a dummy without a soul, so she could do it somehow.
Camilla didn’t have much problem with Leobold’s current body either.
But he was making a new body that suited his power, and that was expected to be difficult.
That body was based on Yu Ji-ha’s genes, or rather, Earthling’s genes.
The hybridization of Earthlings and Asterans was an unresolved issue and still difficult.
When he explained this to her, she didn’t show disappointment but curiosity about his new body.
“I’ve seen this face so much that I don’t think I’ll feel attached to the new body. Do you have a picture or something?”
“It’ll look something like this.”
He showed her a picture of him when he was Yu Ji-ha, and her expression brightened strangely.
“You’re unbelievably handsome. Why did you switch to this body?”
“I had no choice back then. My body couldn’t adapt to the ether.”
That’s what happened when he came from a world without ether.
He awakened to the ether through the fusion reactor and endured for decades, but he had a rejection reaction when he got closer to the ether sun.
Now he was overcoming that and making a new body that was completely specialized for the ether.
When he reached that point, Leobold would become a being that was hard to call a human.
He denied his faith, but from the perspective of ordinary people, he was a god.
Camilla turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Then let’s postpone having a child. I hope you understand that I’m saying this because it’s bad for your reputation.”
“What reputation?”
Most of the rumors circulating in Rozelon were managed by Arma, and there were hardly any negative ones.
She whispered in his ear.
“It seems that people think it’s strange that you have two young wives but no children. Actually, you should have at least seven children by your position and age.”
“Oh…”
It seemed to be a rumor among the women.
In fact, in Astera, Leobold was considered middle-aged.
Also, thanks to the influence of Granber, which still existed, having many children was a virtue.
As the king of Bagran and a believer of Granber, he was expected to have at least seven heirs.
“What should we do? We can’t have children for a while.”
He could use the dummy, but he didn’t want to do that.
Camilla kissed him lightly.
“People will talk, but they’ll understand that you’re busy. But when your duty is over… You know, right?”
Leobold wanted to retire in a quiet place as much as possible, but it seemed that the world wouldn’t let him.
‘It depends on what kind of being the prophet is, and how the dimensions are connected.’
Maybe even Arma couldn’t predict what would happen.
He had no choice but to deal with it as it happened.
‘Now I have something else to do.’
It was a showdown with the Grand Duke of Pangral.
Galisto had sent most of his Balgards and knights, so there shouldn’t be any major problems. The Grand Duke’s forces were not very threatening either.
Even Meteor Strike could not pose a threat to Leobold.
All he had to do now was crush the Grand Duke with his power and absorb his territory.
The Emperor would arrive late, but he would have to acknowledge him since he couldn’t ignore the situation.
“Enough talk. It’s time to fight.”
“I’ll go. I can’t let them get away with trampling on this place.”
There weren’t many casualties, but they had to pay for touching the lioness.
Camilla was a countess even before Leobold came here, and one of the strongest knights in the empire.
She could easily wipe out the Grand Duke’s subordinates even with her eyes closed.
“Be careful.”
She ignored Leobold’s words and headed for the hangar.
Soon after, Hyperion lowered its altitude and ten Black Knights landed on the ground.
***
At this point, the Grand Duke of Pangral had not mobilized many troops.
He couldn’t load Goliaths on the airship, and he had to keep his numbers low to avoid detection while entering Camilla’s territory.
A total of 20 units had stepped on her land and succeeded in burning down the mansion.
But Clover Viscount, the commander, couldn’t hide his bad feeling.
‘Something is wrong. There’s no way they have so few troops.’
It was a good thing that the resistance was weak, but Countess Croitz’s territory was one of the strongest places in the empire.
Where did all their troops go?
And there was no one or anything left in the mansion, which also raised suspicion.
It was as if they knew there would be a raid and moved everything out beforehand.
He looked at the burning mansion and tried to contact the Grand Duke.
But he was stopped by the black knights who appeared from the darkness.
Clover Viscount swallowed a groan.
“Black Knights… That means there are ten of them…”
It was strange.
The Grand Duke had boasted that Bagran wouldn’t be able to use airships because he was at war with Galisto.
And their response was too fast.
It was enough to suspect that this was all a trap when they waited for him as soon as he burned down the mansion.
A voice came from the Black Knight at the front.
“I am Camilla Croitz, Countess. Who are you bastards who trampled on my territory? Reveal your identity.”
Things had gone terribly wrong.
Clover Viscount tensed up, but he believed in his numerical advantage.
‘Countess Croitz is certainly strong, but not enough to overwhelm me. And I have some Black Knights too…’
They were the result of the Grand Duke forcing Zium to import them when they first came out.
But there were three things he didn’t know.
The Black Knight that Camilla rode was not a mass-produced unit, but a custom-made one that increased its output to 250E and improved its responsiveness and armor.
And like Balgard and Tirenell, she had also undergone Aether Heart surgery.
Lastly, when Aether Heart and Goliath’s core synchronized, their output increased even more.
When Aether Heart started operating fully, her Black Knight emitted a terrifying Aether.
The Grand Duke’s knights were flustered by the Aether they had never felt before.
Clover Viscount was shocked, but he thought he couldn’t lose his momentum and shouted.
“Don’t back down! This is just a bluff!”
“Let’s see if it’s a bluff or not after I kill you and ask your name!”
Camilla and her knights rushed in at once.
It was supposed to be a tight battle at best, but the result was completely different.
Camilla and her knights used their living metal weapons to push back their enemies one-sidedly.
Their output was different thanks to everyone undergoing Aether Heart surgery.
Clover Viscount saw his living metal armor being cut off by Croitz’s attack and was seized by fear.
‘This is no joke!’
She didn’t use a huge Aether Blade like Count Vandus, but she had enough power to cut through living metal.
And it wasn’t just her. Her subordinates didn’t show any signs of being pushed back either.
There was almost a 2:1 difference in numbers, but still…
‘Damn it, damn it!’
There was no way to retreat now that things had come to this point.
Clover Viscount clenched his teeth and charged at Countess Croitz.
He hoped to inflict a fatal wound on her even if he couldn’t kill her, but her response was faster.
The living metal weapon turned into a shield in an instant and hit his Goliath hard.
Bang!
The Goliath and the Viscount were hit in the head and flew back.
He got up quickly, but the Black Knight had changed the shield into a sword and was floating in the air.
“This is the end!”
Clack!
The sword pierced through the Goliath’s abdomen with a harsh friction sound.
Clover Viscount didn’t die instantly, but his core was down, so he was as good as dead.
The Grand Duke’s forces were subdued one by one, and Camilla tore off the abdominal armor plate and pulled him out.
“So you’re Clover Viscount. You couldn’t even look me in the eye at the party, but you trampled on my territory, huh?”
He was hanging from the Goliath’s hand, shivering.
“I-if you kill me, the Grand Duke won’t let you go.”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
The Goliath clenched its hand and a scream and a thud sounded at the same time.
A moment later, a bloody corpse fell to the ground.
“Kill them all. Make them pay for invading my territory!”
Screams were heard everywhere, and Camilla ripped open the abdomen to find the communicator.
Soon after, Leobold, who was in Hyperion’s bridge, put his hand on the communicator that Arma brought.
“This is Leobold Vandus. I know you’re waiting, so come out. Grand Duke of Pangral.”
“…That bastard Clover failed, huh. How did you know I was going to attack?”
“I don’t have time for useless talk. Let’s just agree on that. What I want is your land.”
“I should have figured out your evil intentions sooner… Was it all for today that you got the title of the empire?”
“Who knows? All I know is that you’re going to die today. Politically or physically.”
“…I surrender.”
“That’s a sudden declaration. Did you have a change of heart?”
“Isn’t it better to give up a lot here and hope for the future than to die as a noble? You won’t be cruel to someone who surrenders as a count of the empire, will you?”
Leobold had already received a report on the Grand Duke’s plan.
The Grand Duke was planning to blow him and Roseron away at once.
He would lure him into complacency with his surrender declaration, and then strike him with Meteor Strike while negotiating with Roseron.
He thought it would be hard to clean up the mess, but it would be worth it as long as he killed Leobold. And that was partly true.
“Fine. Where do you want to negotiate?”
“As the winner’s right, let’s do it in Roseron.”
“Thanks to you, many people will be saved. That’s a fortunate thing.”
The Grand Duke of Pangral sneered at his voice.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to blow you and Roseron away at once.’
The dragon named Zigelion was also a target of his attack.
The only regret was that Balgard was attacking Galisto.
He had no way to stop him, the champion of Altema.
‘Maybe I can have him if he loses his place. I’ll have to leave some cities for the Emperor and Galisto, though. Wait, which one was more prosperous? Bring me the map.’
“Maybe the direct territory would be better. We have intelligence that there is a Goliath production facility there.”
“That Vandus bastard is also impressive for transforming Bagran with his shipyard.”
Leobold was a hateful enemy, but if there was one thing he could learn from him, it was that he had changed Bagran into a honey-like land in just a few years. The direct territory also tried various things like growing crops.
He didn’t know how he did it, but it was an amazing change.
“It’s a shame that I have to destroy it with my own hands. Roseron will be devastated when it’s destroyed, and so will the surrounding direct territories.”
It was no different from Bagran being ruined, and this made the Grand Duke’s heart heavy.
But sacrifices were necessary for the advancement towards the future.
“All I need to do is kill that bastard. Then I can sign a reinforcement treaty with Elbrang…”
The Grand Duke was confident in his plan.
He had even gone as far as purging many bureaucrats and magicians for this, so it would be over if he failed.
But he didn’t know.
Leobold’s trap was more vicious than his.
A while later, a news came to Tassos Duchy.
An airship had returned to Roseron.
“According to the crew list, it’s definitely Altema. And some people have confirmed Vandus King with their own eyes.”
“Really? He believed me and returned to Roseron, huh.”
The Grand Duke wanted to shoot magic right away, but he decided to wait until Zigelion’s location was confirmed.
And as if to prove that, there were many sightings of a blue dragon in Roseron.
A triumphant smile appeared on the Grand Duke’s lips.
“Order the Tower of Magic. Activate the Meteor Strike magic circle.”
The lieutenants checked his location and shivered.
“Yo-your Highness… Are you sure? If you blow up Roseron, there will be a huge backlash…”
“I regret Roseron too. But he’s too dangerous.”
Isn’t it better to destroy what you can’t have?
There was no one who could oppose his order in the territory where a storm of purges had already swept through.
Soon after, the magic circle activated and a dazzling beam of light shot up from the Tower of Magic into the sky.
The beam of light broke through the atmosphere and captured one of the many asteroids orbiting Terra.
The asteroid was small, but enough to blow up a city.
The lieutenant who was in contact with the tower reported cautiously.
“They say it’s successful. It will fall on Roseron in 35 minutes.”
“The time has finally come to get rid of that disgusting bastard.”
The Grand Duke closed his eyes and waited happily for the news of Roseron’s destruction.
He had felt something suffocating in his chest when he heard that Galisto’s fleet had retreated and that his capital had been attacked.
But he felt relieved when he thought that Leobold would die soon.
“When he dies, most of his subordinates will also collapse, so I can take over. I’ll have to leave some cities for the Emperor and Galisto, though. Wait, which one was more prosperous? Bring me the map.”
“Maybe the direct territory would be better. We have intelligence that there is a Goliath production facility there.”
“That Vandus bastard is also impressive for transforming Bagran with his shipyard.”
Leobold was a hateful enemy, but if there was one thing he could learn from him, it was that he had changed Bagran into a honey-like land in just a few years. The direct territory also tried various things like growing crops.
He didn’t know how he did it, but it was an amazing change.
“It’s a shame that I have to destroy it with my own hands. Roseron will be devastated when it’s destroyed, and so will the surrounding direct territories.”
It was no different from Bagran being ruined, and this made the Grand Duke’s heart heavy.
But sacrifices were necessary for the advancement towards the future.
“All I need to do is kill that bastard. Then I can sign a reinforcement treaty with Elbrang…”
The Grand Duke was confident in his plan.
He had even gone as far as purging many bureaucrats and magicians for this, so it would be over if he failed.
But he didn’t know.
Leobold’s trap was more vicious than his.
A while later, the Settler ship, which had been waiting outside the atmosphere, slightly changed the angle of entry of the asteroid.
The distance was so far that a slight change in angle caused a huge error.
The lieutenant who was in contact with the tower tilted his head.
“Your Highness. The Meteor Strike magic circle has been slightly damaged.”
“What do you mean?”
“Uh, we just got a message! The flow of Aether has changed!”
“What nonsense are you…”
He was about to yell when it happened.
The air vibrated ominously and the teacup started to rattle.
He hastily opened the window and saw people pointing at something.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Something is falling this way!”
The people didn’t know, but the Grand Duke realized right away that the tiny dot was an asteroid.
Why was it falling here when it should have gone to Roseron?
He couldn’t understand.
It was impossible to stop it now that it was so close.
‘This is a trap!’
He cut off his thoughts and moved.
He ran out of the building, whether his lieutenants were surprised or not, and headed for the Goliath hangar.
“Yo-your Highness!”
“Where are you going?”
A moment later, a loud noise exploded and the glass windows of the building shattered.
“Aaah!”
The people finally saw the asteroid engulfed in flames.
It was heading straight for the capital of Tassos Duchy, and especially for the Grand Duke’s castle.