Mass release – 4/5
***
The assassins, as expected, were wizards from the Eastern Kingdom. They were recognizable by their complex tattoos, and medallions engraved with spells, which allowed them to use magic.
Command announced that it would formally protest to the Eastern Kingdom, and praised the destruction of the infamous assassin group. They also politely offered to bury the knights, but Victor refused everything and only reported to Morte.
He knew that the war was going to be long, and he wouldn’t be able to return the bodies. There was no point in having a luxurious funeral.
This was just the battlefield where they died.
Victor gathered the knights and laid out his plan. He ignored command’s orders to stand still. They loaded their boats and prepared for departure.
The Grand Duke’s operation was clear.
“We are going to invade the Southern Kingdom.”
Victor pointed to a few places on the map.
“Unlike the navy, the enemy’s infantry is very weak. We’ve already sunk quite a few of their ships, so their navy won’t be able to move as freely. If you catch the Navy’s attention with a big ship, turn around and you’ll be able to land easily.”
“Aren’t you going to call reinforcements?”
“No. There’s no need.”
The knights exchanged glances.
Victor continued without hesitation.
“They think we won’t attack for a while now that we have been hit hard. We need to quickly capture a port during this time.”
“The difference in power is huge, is it okay?”
“You guys follow one step behind. I don’t want any casualties.”
“…Your highness, we don’t want you to get hurt either.”
He raised his head.
A look of concern was evident on the haggard faces of his knights.
It was a concern for their colleague, who they had been watching since his childhood.
Victor smiled bitterly.
“Thanks for your concern.”
“My lord.”
“But do as I command. Because that won’t happen.”
He got up from his seat.
He tightened his cloak around him and picked up his sword.
His yellow eyes gleamed like those of a chimera.
It was time to enact revenge.
***
The operation went surprisingly smoothly.
On a night when the moon did not rise, the Knights of Morte secretly attacked a port where the navy was absent.
Victor swung his sword carelessly.
Every time he moved his sword, people and objects were slashed and broken easily.
His sword had stopped hesitating, and he could no longer be called human.
Rather, he was closer to some kind of natural disaster.
After swinging his sword until it became dull, there was nothing left.
The knights that followed could not hide their astonishment. They knew that Victor was strong, but they had never seen him let loose without restriction.
Inevitable fear was revealed in their eyes.
But Victor didn’t care.
He just regretted it.
He should’ve done this before.
If he had done this before, the war might have ended quickly and his brother might not have died.
“What should we do to clean up?”
Carlz asked.
Victor responded, washing the blood from his hands with water.
“What should I do?”
“…If I were you, I’d report to headquarters and say we captured a southern port. Then we can attack the mainland with this as a base and start negotiations with the Southern Kingdom.”
“Then do it.”
Victor answered briefly.
The red-haired knight silently bowed his head.
The Grand Duke sheathed his sword and continued.
“But we will not wait for them. We leave tomorrow morning, leaving behind the wounded.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the nearest city.”
He didn’t even think about it anymore.
He just wanted to make his enemies suffer the same way.
“If the damage increases, it will be advantageous for the end of the war negotiations. Maybe we will devour the whole country.”
Victor expected objection, but after a moment of silence, Carlz spoke calmly.
“That’s possible. Or at least leadership will be changed to someone who is friendly to the Empire.”
“Are you not against it? Aggression is against chivalry.”
Carlz smiled bitterly.
“Unlike Leonard, I’m not a proper knight. You are my lord, so I follow your will.”
“….”
“And.”
Carlz bit his lip for a moment.
“I would never tell a friend who lost their family to be patient.”
Carlz bowed his head and disappeared.
Victor watched the knight’s back retreat as he walked away without a word.
Suddenly he remembered what Mortheon had said.
-‘Because you are strong, you have to protect your family, friends, and colleagues.’
His brother was right.
He had failed once, but he still had one chance left.
Victor sat, sword in his hand, guarding the tent where the knights slept all night long.
***
Indigo Land, also known as the Southern Kingdom.
It was ruled by a senate made up of nobles and a lord elected by them. To that extent, policies changed a lot depending on who was elected as lord. According to what command found out, the reason why the Southern Kingdom, which was preparing for a ceasefire, suddenly attacked, was because the newly elected lord hated the Empire.
Traveling around the Southern Kingdom, Victor could fully feel the atmosphere.
In the Southern Kingdom, where printing was exceptionally developed, propaganda messages slandering the Empire were posted everywhere.
Victor didn’t even bother to tear the papers apart.
Because it would all burn to ashes anyway.
On the mainland of the Southern Kingdom, the Knights of Morte never lost. Be it a village, a castle, or an army, Victor broke through the defenses very easily and destroyed everything in an instant. He gave the civilians time to evacuate ahead of time, but he was merciless against the soldiers.
Victor slashed down his enemies, even if they begged for their lives.
His notoriety only grew.
‘Death is coming to get you, the Grand Duke of Death flies over walls in the middle of the night.’
Such a song was written and spread across the Southern Kingdom.
The war-tide turned sharply. In an instant, one third of the mainland was engulfed in flames, and the Southern Kingdom rushed to a ceasefire. The lord seemed to be against it, but the senate wanted to stop the war. They were even willing to hang the lord.
When command entered negotiations, the advance of the Knights of Morte stopped.
Since landing on the mainland, the Knights had suffered fewer than ten casualties.
It was an incredibly small group who won so many battles.
It was all thanks to Victor’s inhuman swordsmanship.
His sword became sharper the more he used it, and now he was able to cut through rock.
Still, he felt no satisfaction.
Victor sat down in the camp to eat. The bread topped with pickled olives and smoked ham, taken from the army of the Southern Kingdom, did not suit his taste, so he ate a few bites and left.
A knight with a stern face approached as he washed his face with water. It was Leonard.
“I got a letter from command. The end of the war negotiations will conclude shortly.”
“Is my request included?”
Leonard silently nodded his head.
There was only one thing Victor asked for.
The execution of the current lord, who sent the assassination squad.
The Grand Duke thought that Leonard was going to protest this time.
Since this brutal conquest began, he had been suffering in silence. But Leonard said something unexpected.
“Are you feeling a little better now?”
At first glance, it sounded like a sarcastic remark.
But Victor knew he wasn’t sarcastic, let alone joking.
Leonard spoke slowly.
“I know how painful it must be. So whatever you do, we will follow. But now you have to go back.”
Victor quietly looked over the blue sea.
The Southern Kingdom was a beautiful place. The sea was not clear but a transparent blue, and the people were all lovely and beautiful. The villages had dark blue roofs on top of pure white houses, which made it look like a land from a fairy tale.
It was he who burned such a beautiful land for months.
Meanwhile, the anger burning in his heart slowly subsided.
There was only bitter pain left.
“Stop your revenge here. You must rest.”
“I am not tired.”
“I know you can’t sleep at night.”
It was an undeniable truth.
The Grand Duke hardly slept at night. Especially after finding out that the magic the assassins used was magic that could only be used on sleeping people.
The Eastern Kingdom revealed their secrets to deny their connection to the assassins, but it was no consolation to Victor.
He regretted falling asleep that day and was restless every night.
Even if he had been told that no one could use magic any more, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.
“When you return home, you may be able to sleep. Besides, isn’t Morte the land that Mortheon was cultivating? You must not leave it behind.”
Leonard was right, as always.
Hearing the indifferent truth, he suddenly missed his hometown very much. The cold, mountainous land where he lived with Mortheon.
Victor spoke, still looking out over the sea.
“You are nagging even though I have become the Grand Duke.”
“I’m telling you because you have become my master. A lord is responsible for their territory, and knights protect the weak…”
“Okay, shut up.”
Victor laughed for the first time in a long time.
Mortheon’s warm brown eyes flashed through his mind.
His older brother had always wanted to create a beautiful place where they could laugh and live freely.
Regrets flowed in along with the memories.
‘Yeah, what’s the point of doing more?’
His older brother had died, but the things he loved still remained in the North.
Victor cleared his mind as he sniffed the salty sea air.
‘Since I’ve had enough revenge,
let’s stop here, and go back to our hometown where the traces of my brother will remain, and take care of the land by…imitating my brother.’