Chapter 313: Sacrificial Offering

Roars and explosions reverberated in the battlefield as the two armies collided. 

Hundreds of thousands of Ant Type Beasts burned en masse as the Mages of the Hellan Kingdom unleashed their spells. The smell of burning flesh was thick in the air, but the defenders didn’t bat an eye and killed more.

The Knights headed by the Sword Saint, Aramis, charged at the Ant Horde fearlessly and cut them apart like bamboo trees. Their war cries rumbled like thunder as they bulldozed their way towards the center of the Army’s ranks. 

Seeing this unstoppable onslaught,the Great General of Aenasha ordered his men to retreat. However, Aramis didn’t back down and pursued them along with thousands of Hellanian Warriors who were out for blood. 

Only a quarter of the warriors remained inside Ravenlord Citadel, while the rest accompanied their Sword Saint to kill as many enemies as they could. The Gryphons and Hippogriffs in the air slaughtered the flying ants with a vengeance. 

The Knights of the Angorian War Sovereign had also joined the fray. In just a few days, the young knights had been baptized by a real war between Kingdoms. They had seen the deaths of their comrades in the battlefield, and this brought a massive change to their mentality.

The Angorian War Sovereign, which used to number over a hundred, was now reduced to seventy. Even though Priscilla did her best, it was unavoidable to not have any casualties in a war of this magnitude. 

Two hours later, Aramis signaled to stop the pursuit. He knew that it would be a folly to continue and ordered everyone to return to the fortress.

This was their third day of defending Ravenlord Citadel from the invasion of the Aenashaian Army. In these three days of fighting, over a million lives were lost on the battlefield. 

The majority of deaths came from the Ant Army that numbered in the millions. The Great General of Aenasha, Magnius, treated the Ant Army as cannon fodder. However, the deaths of his human soldiers also numbered over a hundred thousand.

It was then when Magnius realized that taking the capital of the Hellan Kingdom would not be easy, because the defenders were putting their lives on the line to repel them. Soldiers weren’t afraid to die on the battlefield. However, fighting against enemies who didn’t fear death gave them a different kind of pressure.

The bombardment from the Mages and Archmages alone was like looking at the destruction of the world. 

Firestorms and Hurricanes would ravage the battlefield and turn everything in their path to ashes. As a Dynasty that focused on Martial Strength, fighting against Mages was a very hard thing to accomplish.

Naturally, the Aenashian Army also had a few Archmages in their ranks, but they couldn’t compare to the Archmages of the Hellan Kingdom who numbered in the dozens. 

If not for the Ant Army, that was supporting the bulk of their army, Magnius wouldn’t have the courage to wage war on the Hellan Kingdom, who was known for their Martial and Magical Military Forces.

‘Just where are those bastard Zelanians?!’ Magnius gritted his teeth in anger. ‘How come they’re still not here?!’

While Magnius was cursing his situational allies one of his subordinates entered his tent to give a report. 

“Sir, over half a million warrior ants have just left the Nest and are now headed here to serve as reinforcements,” the subordinate reported. “At most, it will take them two days to arrive here.”

Two days was enough time for his army to rest. He would just wait for the Ant Army to arrive and whittle the numbers of the defenders down little by little. 

Magnius nodded his head after hearing his subordinate’s report. He then handed the soldier a sealed scroll and ordered him to get one of their Ant Riders to travel towards the Zelanian Encampment to pass the scroll to the Old Executioner. 

He didn’t know why their allies hadn’t arrived yet. According to his estimate, the forces of the Zelanian Army should have regrouped with them a day ago. However, they were still out of sight and it was making Magnius agitated.

He knew for certain that the Hellan Kingdom would have no chance of resisting if the Aenasha and Zelan Dynasties formed a united front to bring down Ravenlord Citadel.

‘Just what is taking them so long?!’ Magnius pounded the wooden table inside his quarters, breaking it apart. 

—–

“Your Majesty, the enemy has been successfully repelled.” Aramis bowed. 

“You did well, Aramis,” Noah replied. “Rest for now. I’m sure that they won’t be back for a few days after this disastrous defeat by your hands.”

“As you will, Your Majesty.” Aramis pressed his fist over his chest before leaving the commander’s quarters.

As soon as he left, Prince Lionell stepped inside the room to see his father. He had also participated in the war and fought on the front lines among his private army. He was the Crown Prince of the Kingdom and the soldiers needed to see that he was not a coward in order to gain their respect.

Prince Rufus had joined the rank of mages of the kingdom and fought the flying ants using his powerful spells. Both Princes’ had shown everyone what they were capable of doing and received praises from the nobles and soldiers alike.

Prince Lionel didn’t fight on the battlefield just to gain the recognition of the nobles and the soldiers. He fought because he wanted to impress the Third Princess of Freesia, who was also within Ravenlord Citadel. 

As their ally, she was there to oversee the Aerial Cavaliers of Freesia, who fought bravely alongside their allies in this war against the Aenasha Dynasty. Unfortunately, aside from casual banter, Prince Lionel could tell that Princess Sidonie was not interested in him, which made him very frustrated.

Since the battle had just ended, he thought that this was the perfect opportunity to see his father and initiate his plan of action.

“Your Majesty, congratulations on your victory,” Prince Lionel said with a serious expression.

King Noah nodded and made a gesture for his son to sit. “What brings you here today, Prince Lionel?”

“Your Majesty, the enemy won’t be back for a time, so I decided to use this opportunity to ask a favor from you.”

“A favor?”

Prince Lionel nodded his head. “Since I gazed upon the Oathkeeper Key, I have been constantly researching in order to find the location of the Hidden Domain. According to the records that I’ve read, the clue for how to find the Domain lay on the key itself.”

King Noah smiled. Of course, he also knew this information. He even spent a lot of time studying the Oathkeeper Key to find the location of the Hidden Domain because it was the duty of each King that received the inheritance.

At first, he thought that he would be able to find this elusive Domain during his reign, but after many years had passed, he had already given up on finding it. Now, seeing Prince Lionel mention this discovery, King Noah already knew what his son was going to ask of him.

“Your Majesty, if I may be bold, can you please lend the key to me for a few days?” Prince Lionel asked. “I do not know what the outcome of this war will be, but I feel that I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t try to decipher the secrets hidden within the Oathkeeper Key.”

King Noah pondered for a bit before summoning a small ornate box from his storage ring. 

“Here, take it,” King Noah said as he handed the box to his son. “Return it to me once this war is over.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Prince Lionel bowed respectfully. “I promise that I will do my best to find the Hidden Domain that belongs to the Royal Family.”

Just as soon as Prince Lionel said these words, a knock was heard on the door. A few seconds later, it opened and the Second Prince of the Kingdom, Rufus, entered the room.

When Prince Rufus saw the ornate box in Prince Lionel’s hand, his gaze clouded for a brief moment before returning to their normal calm. He controlled the emotions in his heart as he bowed to his father and said the reason for his visit.

“Your Majesty, I am here to submit the detailed report of the casualties and losses that we suffered today,” Prince Rufus said as he handed a black ledger to King Noah. “I will now take my leave, Your Majesty. I still need to raise the morale of the mages of our kingdom.”

King Noah extended his hand to pat Prince Rufus’ shoulder, “You did well today. Continue to inspire and support your comrades in battle.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Prince Rufus placed his fist over his chest and gave a brief bow before leaving the room.

The Second Prince of the kingdom knew that he was a step late in acquiring the key. Fortunately, he had already prepared a Plan B in case Prince Lionel managed to get the key before him.

‘You can have the key for now, Big Brother,’ Prince Rufus sneered inside his heart. ‘Because you won’t have it for long.’

Prince Rufus knew that Prince Lionel was not aware that The Organization had also approached him. Using this fact, he had plotted against his Big Brother so that the key would land in his hands.

If King Noah only knew that both of his sons had already decided to betray the Hellan Kingdom, he would have definitely refused to hand the key over to either of them.

Unfortunately, he was not aware, and so the next phase of The Organization’s plan, to take over the Southern Continent using Noah’s Kingdom as a sacrificial offering, began. 

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