Ch#43
***
As expected, the assassins were wizards from the Eastern Kingdom. They could be identified by their complex tattoos and medallions engraved with spells that enabled them to use magic.
Command announced that they would formally protest to the Eastern Kingdom and praised the elimination of the infamous assassin group. They also politely offered to bury the knights, but Victor refused everything and only reported back to Morte.
He knew the war would drag on, and he wouldn’t be able to return the bodies. There was no point in holding a lavish funeral.
This was merely the battlefield where they had died.
Victor gathered the knights and laid out his plan. He ignored command’s orders to stand by. They loaded their boats and prepared to depart.
The Grand Duke’s operation was straightforward.
“We are going to invade the Southern Kingdom.”
Victor pointed to several locations on the map.
“Unlike their navy, the enemy’s infantry is very weak. We’ve already sunk many of their ships, so their navy won’t be able to maneuver freely. If you draw the navy’s attention with a large ship, circle around, and you’ll be able to land easily.”
“Aren’t you going to call for 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’ve been hit hard. We need to quickly capture a port during this window.”
“The difference in numbers is huge, is it okay?”
“You all 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.
Concern was evident on the haggard faces of his knights.
It was the concern for a comrade they had watched grow up since childhood.
Victor smiled bitterly.
“Thanks for your concern.”
“My lord.”
“But follow my command. Because that won’t happen.”
He rose from his seat.
He fastened his cloak and picked up his sword.
His yellow eyes gleamed like those of a chimera.
It was time for revenge.
***
The operation went surprisingly smoothly.
On a moonless night, the Knights of Morte secretly attacked a port where the navy was absent.
Victor swung his sword carelessly.
Every time he swung, people and objects were slashed and shattered effortlessly.
His sword no longer hesitated, and he could no longer be called human.
Rather, he was akin to a natural disaster.
After swinging until his blade dulled, nothing remained.
The knights who followed could not hide their astonishment. They knew Victor was strong, but they had never seen him unleash himself without restraint.
Inevitable fear showed in their eyes.
But Victor didn’t care.
He only regretted it.
He should have done this sooner.
If he had, the war might have ended quickly, and his brother might not have died.
“What should we do for cleanup?”
Carlz asked.
Victor responded while washing the blood from his hands with water.
“What should I do?”
“…If I were you, I’d report to headquarters that we’ve captured a southern port. Then we can use this as a base to attack the mainland and begin negotiations with the Southern Kingdom.”
“Then do it.”
Victor answered curtly.
The red-haired knight bowed his head silently.
The Grand Duke sheathed his sword and continued.
“But we won’t wait for them. We leave tomorrow morning, leaving the wounded behind.”
“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 ending the war negotiations. We might even devour the whole country.”
Victor expected objections, but after a moment of silence, Carlz spoke calmly.
“That’s possible. Or at least, leadership will change to someone friendly to the Empire.”
“Are you not against it? Aggression goes 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 left.
Victor watched the knight’s retreating back without a word.
Suddenly, he remembered what Mortheon had said.
-‘Because you are strong, you must protect your family, friends, and comrades.’
His brother was right.
He had failed once, but he still had one chance left.
Victor sat with his sword in 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 of nobles and a lord elected by them. Policies changed greatly depending on who was elected lord. According to command’s findings, the reason the Southern Kingdom, which had been preparing for a ceasefire, suddenly attacked was because the newly elected lord hated the Empire.
Traveling through the Southern Kingdom, Victor could fully sense the atmosphere.
In the Southern Kingdom, where printing was exceptionally advanced, propaganda slandering the Empire was posted everywhere.
Victor didn’t bother tearing down the papers.
Because it would all burn to ashes anyway.
On the Southern Kingdom’s mainland, the Knights of Morte never lost. Be it villages, castles, or armies, Victor broke through defenses effortlessly and destroyed everything in an instant. He gave civilians time to evacuate beforehand, but he was merciless to soldiers.
Victor cut down 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 composed and spread across the Southern Kingdom.
The tide of war turned sharply. In an instant, one-third of the mainland was engulfed in flames, and the Southern Kingdom rushed toward a ceasefire. The lord seemed opposed, but the senate wanted to end the war. They were even willing to hang the lord.
When command entered negotiations, the advance of the Knights of Morte halted.
Since landing on the mainland, the Knights had suffered fewer than ten casualties.
It was an incredibly small force that had won so many battles.
It was all thanks to Victor’s inhuman swordsmanship.
His blade grew sharper with use, now able to cleave rock.
Still, he felt no satisfaction.
Victor sat in the camp to eat. The bread topped with pickled olives and smoked ham, plundered from the Southern Kingdom’s army, didn’t suit his taste, so he took a few bites and set it aside.
A stern-faced knight approached as he washed his face with water. It was Leonard.
“I got a letter from command. The war-end negotiations will conclude shortly.”
“Is my request included?”
Leonard nodded silently.
There was only one thing Victor had demanded.
The execution of the current lord who had sent the assassination squad.
The Grand Duke thought Leonard would protest this time.
He had been suffering in silence since this brutal conquest began. But Leonard said something unexpected.
“Are you feeling a little better now?”
At first glance, it sounded sarcastic.
But Victor knew he wasn’t being 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 gazed at the blue sea.
The Southern Kingdom was a beautiful place. The sea wasn’t clear but a transparent blue, and the people were all lovely and beautiful. Villages had dark blue roofs atop pure white houses, resembling a fairy-tale land.
It was he who had burned such a beautiful land for months.
Meanwhile, the anger burning in his heart slowly subsided.
Only bitter pain remained.
“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 learning that the assassins’ magic could only be used on sleeping people.
The Eastern Kingdom had revealed their secrets to deny involvement with the assassins, but it was no consolation to Victor.
He regretted falling asleep that day and was restless every night.
Even if assured no one could use such magic anymore, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
“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 dearly. The cold, mountainous land where he had lived with Mortheon.
Victor spoke, still gazing at the sea.
“You’re nagging even though I’ve become the Grand Duke.”
“I’m telling you because you’ve 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 while.
Mortheon’s warm brown eyes flashed in his mind.
His older brother had always wanted to create a beautiful place where they could laugh and live freely.
Regrets flooded in 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 inhaled the salty sea air.
‘Since I’ve had enough revenge,
let’s stop here, return to our hometown where traces of my brother remain, and take care of the land by… imitating my brother.’
