Ch.652Concerns

Admit defeat and withdraw, or gamble on bypassing the wall to invade the Empire’s mainland.

For Orhan, it was not an easy decision to make.

His warriors were accustomed to winning and retreating, but they had never experienced withdrawal after a crushing defeat. They would not easily accept retreating without avenging their loss.

If he withdrew, he would spend the rest of his life quelling rebellions from the khans and resistance from his warriors.

Now that the myth of Unyielding Flesh’s invincibility was shattered, the morale and loyalty of his warriors would never be the same, and the khans of the Clan Union he had forcibly unified would see this as the perfect opportunity to break away from Aishan.

Of course, he could suppress any rebellion the khans might attempt, but…

‘While we waste time and resources on internal strife… the Empire will recover from the losses of this battle and have strength to spare. They might even intervene in the rebellion to expand the scale of our civil war.’

The Empire wouldn’t sit idle while he suppressed rebels. Even if by some chance the Empire did nothing, Ludwig certainly wouldn’t. He wasn’t the type to allow the Ka’har to build their strength.

Inevitably, they would use any means necessary to prevent Aishan from regaining stability.

‘If I retreat now… the opportunity to set foot on Imperial land, to take revenge on Ludwig, may never come again. However, in exchange…’

The confrontation with Haschal would be postponed to the distant future.

Though Haschal had gained the power to destroy Unyielding Flesh, he surely wouldn’t commit suicide by invading Ordos alone with just that power.

‘Perhaps… in the meantime, I might find the villain who harmed Imelia.’

If that were possible, he might prevent the madness Haschal was attempting to commit.

Finding Imelia’s killer wouldn’t make Haschal abandon his hatred toward Orhan, but at least it would eliminate the need to kill all Ka’har over thirty.

On the other hand, if he gambled on attacking the Empire’s mainland by crossing the Dane border, his warriors would be satisfied, and he might even shatter the Empire, but…

‘There’s no way back. One defeat and it’s over. I might be able to inflict massive damage on the Empire, but can I march to and capture the capital with my current forces?’

Like all gambles, it was a strategy fraught with danger.

Even if he joined with Targiyan’s cavalry forces stationed at the Dane border, his available forces would be at most 27,000. He had only one Hatan who could fight, and the number of Champions had significantly decreased.

‘If I can’t bring down the Empire, I’ll need to withdraw after inflicting sufficient damage… but if I misjudge the timing, we could be trapped in enemy territory and die.’

Though this was speculation based on the worst-case scenario, Orhan couldn’t hastily order a march toward the southwest given the possibility.

If by chance the gamble failed and they were annihilated, it would be Haschal who defeated him. What would follow was all too predictable.

‘After killing me and annihilating the main force, Haschal would lead the Imperial army to invade and burn the steppes, as he boasted.’

Choose the safe option and slowly wither away amid internal strife?

Or take the gamble with the possibility of annihilation?

Avoid the fight with Haschal?

Or face him once more?

It was a choice that would determine the fate of the steppes, and his own fate.

After much deliberation, Orhan finally made his decision. The report that Glar had died burning in fierce battle likely helped his choice.

“…Prepare for the expedition. We will join with the cavalry forces and strike the Empire’s mainland.”

He had cast the dice.

======[ Haschal ]======

After returning to my room, I sat by the window chain-smoking. The wind blowing into the empty room was chilly.

Lena was probably busy treating the wounded, as it would likely take quite a while for her to return to the room despite the battle being over.

In the past, she would have put treating the wounded on hold to check on me first. It was admirable growth, but… being alone with my melancholy made me miss her presence a bit.

Feeling lonely when alone—how many years had it been since I felt this? I must have grown too accustomed to Lena’s nagging and fussing.

What about the others?

Nigel had completely collapsed from exhaustion, injuries, and the psychological shock of losing his seniors. Jahan and Leonore were also receiving treatment in the infirmary for various wounds sustained while fighting the Champions.

Compared to Landenburg’s sword that had to stop Glar, neither of them had injuries serious enough to worry about.

And Hersella…

‘Hey, are you awake?’

[ …. ]

No answer. She seemed to have fallen asleep again.

It wasn’t as bad as last time when her Karma of Murder was completely depleted, so she would probably wake up in a few days.

If she had been awake, I wanted to ask about the slash that cut off Orhan’s arm, the technique of the five-layered Whiwall… but with her asleep, I’d have to figure out how to recreate it on my own.

If Hersella didn’t wake up before my next clash with Orhan, I would have to face him myself, and without that technique, I couldn’t break through Unyielding Flesh.

With his arm gone, he wouldn’t be able to demonstrate his former divine power, so even without breaking Unyielding Flesh, victory through attrition might be possible.

But considering the damage our forces would suffer while I fought a war of attrition with him… the sooner I could take his head, the better.

In the worst-case scenario, even if I cut down Orhan, our forces might be annihilated, leaving me alone and exhausted in enemy territory.

In that case, killing Orhan would be meaningless—it would be the end of everything. The Ka’har legions, driven mad by the loss of their leader, would sweep across the Empire’s territory like locusts.

Even if I somehow managed to annihilate them, what would remain would be a shattered Empire, other races rushing in at this opportunity, and dragons and monsters running rampant as if they owned the world.

The mere thought made my head spin.

“Haah…”

One mountain after another, truly. Why does this Empire’s situation keep getting more difficult the further we go? At this rate, my forehead might end up resembling Leopold’s.

I filled the room with smoke as I lamented the grim outlook ahead.

In truth, even without thinking about the distant future, the immediate issues were enough to cause a severe headache.

If, as Ludwig predicted, the Ka’har attacked across Dane, we would have to fight them on the plains—which was like having an eating contest against werebeasts.

…At this point, all I could hope for was that the Dane people would fight hard.

They said they had mages positioned in the thousands, so with luck, they might significantly reduce the Ka’har forces. But if they had no way to stop Orhan, defeat would be inevitable.

“Haah…”

Thinking of Orhan made me sigh once more, accompanied by a throbbing headache at my temples.

Damn Hersella, why did she let him get away…

—-

Anyway, I couldn’t waste time just worrying and lamenting when things went wrong. Before the next battle began, there were many things I needed to do.

First, I needed to find a replacement for my winter armor. My original armor had burned completely beyond repair.

The upper and lower garments were closer to everyday clothes, so I had spares prepared in advance, but the armor parts protecting my shoulders, waist, right hand, and both legs needed to be newly commissioned from Asha.

Since Asha was staying on the island, even if I sent a letter ordering armor, it would take quite a while to receive the finished product.

Until then, I would have to wear different armor, however awkward it might feel. Preferably something with high fire resistance.

I didn’t want to experience sword fighting naked twice.

Of course, armor wasn’t the only thing I needed to prepare.

As I mentioned earlier, to cut down Orhan, I needed to somehow master the five-layered Whiwall, or if that was impossible, at least recreate a similar effect using the power of heroic deeds.

In fact, the latter would be ideal for a certain victory. That technique seemed to put tremendous strain on weapons.

If the Red Scale Sword made from a fire dragon’s reverse scale became tattered after just one attack, trying it with a black iron sword would result in my sword shattering before I could even cut my enemy.

As for using Durandal, the true silver sword rejected the power of Karma of Murder as something corrupt, making it impossible to even deploy Whiwall, let alone stack it.

In other words, unless I repaired the Red Scale Sword or recreated the same technique with heroic power, I couldn’t properly use stacked Whiwall even if I mastered it.

And honestly, Asha was probably the only blacksmith capable of repairing the Red Scale Sword.

I briefly visited the military blacksmiths to ask, but seeing their eyes nearly pop out at the mention of a fire dragon’s reverse scale… it seemed hopeless.

I’d be lucky if they didn’t run off with it. Even selling it in its broken state would buy more than a castle.

I clicked my tongue as I looked at the red-scaled demonic sword leaning against one wall of the room.

Unless I returned to the island, it was just a one-time use piece of junk. An expensive one-time use item worth a castle.

Since a pure true silver sword was also worth about a castle, I was essentially carrying around luxury items worth more than two castles.