Chapter 195 - 170: Reactions from All Sides
Chapter 195: Chapter 170: Reactions from All Sides
「In the northern Beastman Camp.」
To be precise, it was a vast, open-air encampment.
Some of the Wolf Cavalry from the front lines had fled back here—or to be more precise, it was their wargs that had returned to the Beastman Camp.
At first, it was lone wargs, but later they came in groups of several. Some even possessed magical beast lineage and were covered in bloodstains.
At this point, Griff realized that something was terribly wrong. The battle on the front line must have been exceptionally brutal. The army General Curry had led out was, in all likelihood, wiped out.
Sure enough, before long, an Extraordinary Wolf Rider arrived with a report, explaining the situation on the front lines. Following him was a Silver-haired Wolf King carrying a Beastman on its back.
It was General Curry and his Warg Mount. General Curry was on the verge of death, only clinging to life thanks to the tenacious life force of a Golden Tier expert. Even if Curry was saved, he would never be able to return to the Golden Tier for the rest of his life.
The wound was too fatal. It was inflicted by the aura of a Golden Tier expert, and that aura was incredibly strange—it was silver-white. When they tried to use the Beast God’s Blood to heal it, the silver-white aura actually devoured the Beast God’s Blood!
One must understand that while the Beast God’s Blood couldn’t possibly be the true blood of the Beast God—after all, the Beast God last appeared thousands of years ago.
But the Beast God’s Blood was exclusively created by the Divine Priests of the Beast God, and it contained a sliver of the Beast God’s divinity!
Even if the energy in the wound was too powerful to be healed by the Beast God’s Blood, it shouldn’t have been devoured!
This phenomenon astonished even Griff’s own High Priest, who stated that he needed to take it back for further study.
Taking it back for further study, however, only meant more suffering for General Curry.
General Curry was too old. The injuries accumulated over many long years were triggered by this new wound, and now they had all erupted at once. General Curry was in for a world of pain.
Of course, for Griff, none of this mattered anymore. General Curry had already obediently handed over command of the Wolf Cavalry.
Sometimes, Griff didn’t know what to make of a man like Curry. Perhaps he was a true patriot. He knew that once he surrendered his military authority, he would no longer be valued, yet he gave it up all the same.
"General, our Thunderhawks have already scouted the area. All intelligence is confirmed...
Additionally, we discovered a large fire burning in front of Thermopylae..." a messenger came to report.
"A large fire?" General Griff frowned.
The consequences of the Beastman Wolf Cavalry Corps’ defeat were now apparent. Not only had the enemy broken through the pass, but they could now construct all sorts of defensive works without restraint.
But as for blaming General Curry, honestly, Griff couldn’t be that shameless. After all, he and Curry were once the closest of friends.
Back then, Curry’s position was much higher than his. At the time, both he and Curry had advocated for rebuilding the Beastman Empire, and they were mockingly labeled by outsiders as leaders of the ’Old Beastman’ ideology.
It was just that after the Beast Emperor’s southern campaign failed, Griff saw no more political gain and backed out. He never expected General Curry to persist until now.
Now, for the cause of the Beastman Empire, General Curry willingly shouldered all the blame for the defeat and even handed his Beastman Wolf Riders over to him.
Faced with such a man, even Griff felt it would be wrong to move against him.
"How are the human reinforcements doing? Where are they now?" General Griff sighed and asked.
"The ones coming from the direction of Sirich City have already broken free from General Dor’s pursuit. They are now rushing toward Thermopylae at full speed.
On His Highness the Prince’s front, there were three cavalry units. His Highness is holding back two of them. The other one is rumored to be the Edward family’s Bright Knight Order..." the messenger said.
Knowing so many details, it was clear this messenger had received advanced training.
Of course, the Edward family’s fame was also a factor.
The Edward family, Oscillate Edward, commands two great Knight Orders and, to this day, still garrisons the southern part of the kingdom. The Guard Knight Order is the Edward family’s true foundation—as the name suggests, it’s meant to rival the Royal Guard Knight Order.
The other, the Bright Knight Order, while not the Edward family’s main force, is not to be underestimated.
"Them again... truly old friends..." General Griff sighed.
During the last Beastman southern campaign, the Beastmen had conquered most of Frank’s northern plains. In the end, it was the Edward family, along with the remnants of the royal forces, who bogged the Beastman Army down in the central mountains of the kingdom. When the Human Alliance Army finally arrived, the Beastman Empire, for the first time in 700 years, once again faced the might of a hegemon and was driven all the way back to the great plains in a single push.
"The closest force to us now, the one from the direction of Sirich City, is still two days away. If we can pick up the pace, we’ll have three days to break through Thermopylae..." another aide reported.
"Three days?" General Griff took a deep breath, his mind recalling General Curry’s previous assessment of that human army.
’The officers are decisive, the soldiers are disciplined, their equipment is excellent, and their movements are swift...’
According to General Curry, in a fight with equal numbers, even a Beastman Army at peak condition would have absolutely no chance of defeating that enemy force.
Although General Curry’s operation had failed this time, Griff had known him for many years and was well aware of his friend’s military genius. Across the entire Empire, the number of people who could definitively claim to be his superior in battle could be counted on one hand.
If even General Curry found them to be a tough opponent, it seemed the enemy truly had some skill.
"Relay my orders: we continue the forced march today...
Also, have the army’s Priests come see me," General Griff commanded.
...
Meanwhile, after withdrawing from Devil City, Marquis Oscillate had finally re-established a firm foothold in the mountains to the rear.
"So, we now have two paths to choose from.
One is to cross the Alfre Mountain Range and reach Alfre Province. This is the safest route.
The other is to fall back to the Disfa River. From there, we can feign a retreat toward Alfre Province, then make a direct strike for Thermopylae.
When we retreat south of the Disfa River, there will surely be a window of opportunity where the enemy isn’t engaged with us. That will be the best chance to reinforce Thermopylae.
However, this plan will cost many lives... Our losses would be especially heavy. Even if we successfully defend Thermopylae, the entire Western Front will remain in peril," Count Noeman explained, pointing to a map of the defensive lines.
Everyone in the conference room wore a troubled expression. It was agonizing to have the initiative seized by the enemy; they were now caught in a dilemma.
Just as Marquis Oscillate was about to speak, the door was pushed open.
"Marquis, urgent military intelligence from the front... It’s about Thermopylae," the messenger said.
Upon hearing of urgent intelligence from Thermopylae, everyone held their breath.
Marquis Oscillate frowned. He was about to tell the messenger to read it aloud, but after a moment’s thought, he simply beckoned him over.
The messenger understood immediately and handed the document to Marquis Oscillate.
Marquis Oscillate opened the document. After reading for only a few seconds, he gasped.
"We won?" Reading this news, Marquis Oscillate actually lost his composure for a moment.
"We won? What did we win?"
Hearing Marquis Oscillate’s words, the assembled nobles of the kingdom grew curious.
After finishing, Marquis Oscillate passed the documents down, but he only distributed one of them. The other was from the renowned Sir Robson.
The contents of the two letters were mostly the same, with only a slight difference regarding the commanding officers.
It was obvious that this Sir Robson wanted Marquis Oscillate to bear witness for him—or rather, to fan the flames—so that he could gain greater support from the royal family in the future.
Marquis Oscillate naturally didn’t mind. Talented people deserved preferential treatment.
He had never imagined that the man he had taken a liking to through battle reports and letters would possess such capability, managing to send the infamously fierce "Prairie Wolves" scurrying away in defeat.
"We won?! It was the Prairie Wolf Cavalry!"
"Is it true? The Prairie Wolves? Quick, let me see..."
The nobles who received the latest document broke into a flurry of discussion, all of them more or less shaken by the news.
Especially when they learned the banner of the defeated Beastman unit: the Prairie Wolves.
Most of the nobles present were from the southern faction. They hadn’t forgotten that years ago, after the Human Alliance Army arrived, the force that pursued this very Beastman Wolf Cavalry unit was the Guard Knight Order, commanded by Marquis Oscillate himself.
Of course, at this moment, everyone had an unspoken agreement not to mention it.
"Who is this Baron Robson? Where is he from?"
Soon, someone noticed something was amiss. The report clearly stated that the planning for the operation was carried out by Prince Noah.
However, the implementation of the entire plan, from start to finish, was inseparable from one person: Baron Robson.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see the trickery involved. Of course, seeing it was one thing, but since the parties directly involved had no objections, were they really going to butt in and say something?
"I heard he used to work under Count Offman, and afterwards, it seems he became quite close with Count Valentino..."
Hearing the question, someone with inside knowledge began to answer, glancing toward Marquis Oscillate as he spoke.
This was both an explanation and a test. After all, Count Valentino was Marquis Oscillate’s granddaughter. He couldn’t possibly allow his own granddaughter’s reputation to be slandered, could he?
After the man finished speaking, Marquis Oscillate acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, simply taking a quiet sip of his tea.
Many people drew a sharp breath. ’Couldn’t hear? Marquis Oscillate is a Golden Tier expert; how could he possibly not have heard? To hear it and not refute it... that’s practically an admission!’
’What an old fox,’ they thought. ’He’s secretly pulled off another major coup right under everyone’s noses.’
And from the looks of it, this venture was guaranteed to be profitable.
"Marquis, in your opinion, what should we do next?" Count Noeman asked, looking at Marquis Oscillate.
Marquis Oscillate gazed at the enormous map on the table, which roughly displayed the entire Western Front.
"I believe it would be best for us to hold our position and wait for reinforcements.
His Majesty’s reinforcements have already assembled and are now on their way," Marquis Oscillate said.
Everyone who heard this understood the Marquis’s meaning.
In the end, the Marquis still chose to play it safe. He wanted to see if that Baron Robson truly had what it took to withstand the pressure of the Beastman Army.