Chapter 348

*Whoosh*

The Crown Prince burned the piece of paper the messenger had given him.

It was the perfect timing.

If he had burned it too early, the hidden force would have moved before reaching the intended battlefield and risked being discovered. If he had burned it too late, his own army might have collapsed first.

Now was the perfect time.

All he had to do was wait.

“I command you. Golden Lion, go to the left flank, and Silver Lion, go to the right flank, and fortify the defenses so that our sides don’t collapse.”

The Crown Prince gave a swift order.

It was a perplexing order.

The Golden Lion Knights and the Silver Lion Knights were the Crown Prince’s core forces.

They always stayed by his side in the main army.

The Golden Lion and Silver Lion commanders couldn’t help but be bewildered.

“Y-Your Highness! We have always protected you by your side! Why are you giving us such an order…?”

“Indeed! If we leave, the strength of the central main army will be cut in half! It’s too dangerous!”

Unable to readily obey the order, they pleaded for him to reconsider.

But the Crown Prince’s will was firm.

“Do you only see the center where the main army is? What formation is my sister using?”

“T-That is…”

“…It’s a Crane Wing Formation.”

“Yes, a Crane Wing Formation. My sister is trying to crush our flanks and surround us. What good is a strong center if our flanks are weak?”

The Crown Prince rebuked them with irrefutable logic.

But they still had something to say.

“B-But if we just defend on the flanks, the rebel army, with their superior numbers and morale, will have the advantage!”

“Wouldn’t it be more effective to counterattack the enemy’s center and throw them off balance…?”

With everything at stake, they tried once more to change their lord’s mind.

Their argument was valid.

It was one of the ways to counter a Crane Wing Formation.

But the Crown Prince scoffed.

“You’re talking nonsense. Do you think my sister’s main army will crumble that easily? Attacking the center now would be helping her. It would be foolish.”

“…”

“…”

They were silenced by their lord’s harsh rebuke.

“There’s no time. Go and defend the flanks. Now!”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”

They finally yielded to his order and hurried away.

The number of soldiers in the center decreased rapidly.

And they were elite knights.

Vinchel, the Sword Saint, also looked worried and cautiously spoke to the Crown Prince.

“Are we also to defend the flanks…?”

“Of course not. You have a job to do. A very important job.”

The Crown Prince grinned at Vinchel and Sayanoid.

They were the only two Imperial Knights left after Marius’s death and Justino’s deployment to Nertan Castle.

They were his strongest forces.

“What is this important job?”

“To win a game of chess, you have to capture the king, don’t you? It’s the same in war. When the time comes, you will help me capture the king.”

The Crown Prince’s gaze was fixed on a distant point.

Where his sister was.

Their eyes met.

His sister was smiling, as usual.

Only he knew how much that smile disgusted him.

He and his sister were too similar.

‘Today is the day our long and bitter feud ends. I’ll make sure you suffer.’

He smiled back.

The same smile that disgusted his sister.

* * *

“So that’s how you’re going to play it? Hehe, you’re full of surprises.”

The princess had concentrated her forces on the flanks and weakened her center.

She had naturally assumed that the enemy would attack her center.

But her prediction was wrong.

The enemy had also strengthened their flanks.

It was a tit-for-tat strategy.

“Is this a battle of pride or something?”

It seemed like her brother’s emotions had gotten the better of him after his repeated defeats.

Poor brother.

He was walking into his own grave.

There was no way a weaker army could defeat a stronger army by using the same strategy.

They would just be crushed by their superior strength.

Well, they were going to be defeated anyway, no matter what strategy they used.

“Hehe, I’ll be watching.”

Watching her brother die a miserable death.

She smiled the same smile that disgusted her brother.

* * *

They were golems.

Giant black golems.

If Max and his companions had seen them, they would have recognized them immediately.

They had seen countless golems in the dungeons of the Desert Fortress and Diotes Island.

The Guardians of the dungeons.

They were the same golems.

But there were far more of them this time.

There were so many of them that they could be called a horde.

They were golems, which meant they were tough and possessed incredible strength and destructive power. Their sheer number made them a terrifying force.

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

The Guardians marched in a line.

Towards the south.

Towards the Red Desert.

“Tsk, it’s a shame to deploy all of them here, but it’s the Heavenly Lord’s order, so I have no choice.”

The messenger from Red Rain muttered as he watched them march.

“Heh, but this should be enough to ensure the empire’s destruction. It’s always good to be thorough.”

*Poof*

He vanished like a ghost.

* * *

A fierce battle raged.

The Crown Prince’s forces were desperately trying to hold out, while the princess’s forces were trying to break through their lines.

The most intense fighting was, of course, on the flanks.

Both sides knew that the flanks were the key to victory.

The Crown Prince had even deployed his elite forces, the Golden Lion Knights and the Silver Lion Knights, to defend the flanks.

But the princess was also pressing hard.

“Ugh, don’t fall back! We’re the Golden Lion Knights! No enemy can push us back! We will not be defeated! We will win!”

The Golden Lion commander roared.

But despite his valiant words, the situation was turning against them.

They had been barely holding out, but they were slowly being pushed back, and now their lines were collapsing.

“Hmph, it’s over, old man.”

Emily, who was participating in the attack on the left flank, smirked.

“Now’s your chance! Go! Go and bite them, brother!”

“…Am I a dog?”

“I’m telling you to tear their heads off like a hunting dog.”

“Ah, I see.”

“‘Ah, I see’ my ass! Just go!”

“Alright!”

The human ogre finally moved.

Instinct over intellect.

His instincts were telling him where the gaps in the enemy’s formation were.

The gaps that led to the Golden Lion commander.

And he charged through those gaps, recklessly.

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

“H-How dare you?!”

“You shall not pass!”

The Golden Lion Knights flinched but raised their weapons to stop Ethan.

But,

“Hyaaa! Out of my way! Out of my way!”

*Wham! Bam!*

“Aaaaaargh!”

“Ugh!”

The Golden Lion Knights were no match for Ethan, who swung his giant club like a whirlwind.

They couldn’t stop the human ogre who was charging through the gaps in their formation.

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

*Wham! Bam! Wham! Wham!*

“Ugh!”

“N-No!”

Ethan reached the Golden Lion commander.

“Y-You bastard!”

The Golden Lion commander shouted valiantly, but his voice was trembling.

He was facing a monster, not a human.

“I’ll kill you.”

Those simple words were more terrifying than any threat.

“G-Get away from me, you bastard!”

The battle began.

One trying to kill, and the other trying to survive.

But the one trying to survive was quickly overwhelmed.

Ethan wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Death.”

*WHAM!*

His club smashed the Golden Lion commander’s skull, crushing his helmet.

*Thud!*

The commander’s body collapsed to the ground.

It was over.

“Good job, brother!”

Emily smiled brightly.

“Now, everyone, charge! The enemy is crumbling!”

“Woooooo!”

The princess’s army roared and swallowed the left flank.

* * *

“T-The left flank has collapsed!”

The messenger reported urgently.

Vinchel and Saya’s faces hardened.

But the Crown Prince remained calm.

“Don’t panic. The battle isn’t over just because we lost the left flank.”

He said that, but the situation was dire.

They could still hold out as long as the right flank was intact, but now they were being pressured from both the front and the side.

Vinchel finally spoke up, “Your Highness, we’re just going to keep losing ground if we continue like this. We need to make a decisive move before it’s too late.”

“A decisive move? You’re right.”

Vinchel’s face relaxed slightly at the Crown Prince’s positive response.

“Give us your orders, Your Highness.”

He said resolutely.

But the Crown Prince just grinned.

“Just wait. I’ve already made my move.”

“What do you mean…?”

Vinchel was puzzled.

It was then that,

They suddenly sensed a commotion in the princess’s army’s formation.

“Hahahaha!”

The Crown Prince laughed triumphantly.

His eyes gleamed with madness.

“Reinforcements have arrived! Reinforcements! It’s over! Annihilate the enemy from both sides!”

* * *

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

The Guardians filled the rear.

Their massive forms, like towering mountains, were an intimidating sight.

And it wasn’t just their appearance.

*Wham! Bam!*

“U-Ugh!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

Every time the Guardians swung their fists, soldiers from the princess’s army were sent flying.

Their bones and flesh were crushed.

“S-Stop them! Stop them at all costs!”

“D-Damn it! Stay away, you monsters!”

The princess’s soldiers tried to stop the Guardians, despite their fear.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

But their weapons couldn’t even penetrate the Guardians’ tough bodies.

“D-Damn it!”

“W-What are these things?!”

They cried out in despair.

*Wham! Bam! Wham!*

“Aaaaaargh!”

The Guardians continued their advance, crushing everything in their path.

Like angels of death.

* * *

“Y-Your Highness! W-We’re under attack from the rear!”

“M-Monsters! Monsters are attacking us!”

“W-We have to do something! We’re doomed if we don’t! W-We need your orders!”

Urgent reports flooded in.

The faces of everyone around the princess had turned pale.

They realized that this wasn’t an ordinary situation.

It was a crisis that could spell their doom.

“Y-Your Highness!”

They all looked at her, their eyes filled with urgency.

She was covering her eyes with her hand.

They couldn’t see her expression.

“I see. We’ve been had.”

Her voice was calm.

But the lack of her usual playful tone told those who knew her that she was furious.

“Y-Your Highness! Please give us your orders!”

“Orders? Just fight. We don’t need any special orders. Or are you suggesting that we run away with our tails between our legs?”

“H-How could you…?”

“The rearguard will engage the enemy, whether they’re monsters or whatever.”

“B-But the rearguard can’t handle them alone!”

“I know, I know. I’m thinking about how to redeploy our forces.”

“…”

They had almost had the enemy in their grasp.

But the situation had changed completely.

If their rear collapsed, they would be the ones being devoured.

They would be stabbed in the back before they could even surround the enemy.

In the end, the princess had no choice but to redeploy her forces to the rear, swallowing her bitter frustration.

“Send half of the left and right flanks to the rear.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness! I’ll relay your orders immediately!”

The tide of the battle was turning.

* * *

The Celtrine allied forces were marching leisurely, far from the chaos of the battlefield.

Max was deliberately taking his time.

And since it was Max’s decision, his soldiers didn’t question it.

His judgment had never been wrong.

They had learned to trust him blindly.

“We’ll keep marching without rest.”

He said.

“Alright.”

Regina nodded.

“We’ll have the Erenbert cavalry break through their defenses first, like last time, and then the Celtrine army will follow up.”

It was the perfect strategy.

Any commander would be impressed.

“This will be the end, then.”

Regina looked at Max, her gaze meeting his.

His eyes shone with a fierce light.

“Yes, the civil war will end here. By our hands.”

He clenched his fist.