Chapter 140: 076. Rescue -2 (Part Two)
White Olfolse smacked his lips a little.
Although the holy undead were surrounding him, they didn’t display any signs of hostility.
No, it was as if they were studying him back instead.
He spotted three figures walking out among the mummies.
One of them was a young Dark Elf, while another was a slender man who didn’t seem to be a combatant. The last one was a person kitted out in a set of white-coloured armour that covered him from his head to toe, with another person slung around on his back.
What a strange combination this was.
‘That creature is the one that took over the castle?’
White thought to himself and quickly stopped being so laid-back.
This armoured individual was powerful; his instincts were warning him.
It was at that point White realised that the person currently being carried out by the unknown being was Ruppel, his son.
By the looks of things, this individual seemed to have rescued Ruppel. Which meant that, at the very least, the ‘angel’ wasn’t an enemy.
“You were a knight from the Imperial Family?”
Without a doubt, this was a display of considerable ability.
On top of that, each holy undead here could easily overwhelm the normal undead in terms of power by a wide margin as well. This level of strength wasn’t something an average member from the clergy could pull off.
White recalled back to one of the several spooky rumours doing its rounds within Aslan kingdom. One of them was a conspiracy theory regarding the Theocratic Empire successfully taming a sentient weapon called the ‘angel’.
He thought that it was all baseless rumour. Mainly because it shouldn’t be possible for anyone to hunt down Necromancers, torture them to steal their techniques, and then use divinity to perform Necromancy.
But then, those things had really occurred right before his eyes.
It wasn’t just some spooky bedtime story, and as it turned out, the individual at the centre of the tale actually existed.
Either the Theocratic Empire really did manage to summon an angel, or they had gone and created a Priest that rivalled one in power.
‘…Looks like father did something unnecessary again.’
That’s what White thought.
…Up until the other person took off his helm, that was.
The identity revealed after taking the helm off was…
White was stunned by the fact that it was a boy who looked way too young for this, then he got stunned again for the second time after realising that this boy was someone he knew.
It was a familiar face. Although the boy had grown up a lot, those unique facial features remained the same.
White’s jaw fell as he failed to hide his shock.
Oh my goodness!
“Allen…?!”
Before his stunned eyes, Allen Olfolse was standing tall without his helm.
“Huh, for a father who abandoned his home for over ten years, you sure do recognise your son pretty well.”
The boy spoke with a sarcastic tone of voice. It must’ve been because of the resentment he felt about a father who had abandoned him at a young age.
White forgot what he wanted to say.
Eleven years.
That was a long period of absence, indeed. A child who used to be so pure, so kind, and also so tiny, had grown up so much that he could now equip a set of armour covering his whole body, and wield a shield as well as a musket.
As proof of his growth, he was even strong enough to capture an enemy castle by all himself.
The Seventh Imperial Prince furrowed his brows while staring at White. The latter, on the other hand, could only smile bitterly at his son.
This was the moment that a father and his son were reunited for the first time in eleven years.
**
The army led by King Rahamma rushed forward without a moment’s rest.
Even the combat force previously stationed at the capital city had joined up, and the city of slaves, Evelyum, was now surrounded from all sides.
They had all been running for several days by then. The soldiers pushed their tired bodies, and while panting away breathlessly, they went ahead to set up the military camp.
As it was late at night, they needed to take a break for the time being. Torches and braziers were swiftly installed here and there within the camp.
An army of thirty thousand had now surrounded the city of slaves. Their leader, King Rahamma, carrying a massive mace about two metres long on his back , stood tall and glared at the distant city.
He spoke up. “Dispatch a messenger immediately. Order the castellan to find the Crown Prince and the individual who claims to be the Third Imperial Prince.”
“T-that is…”
King Rahamma cocked his head and stared at the feudal lords standing around him.
“Your majesty, I’ve already dispatched one ahead of time, just in case. However, there has been no reply from the castellan, Kirum. Also, the soldier who was sent to deliver the message returned to say that the fortress of Evelyum has been attacked by unknown enemies.”
King Rahamma’s eyes grew wider.
He could already tell how such an outcome had come about. There could only be one individual capable of attacking Evelyum’s fortress like this.
White Olfolse!
That man, he must’ve decided to step up.
The castellan probably went beyond the order of locating the Crown Imperial Prince and tried to apprehend him as well. And that resulted in the fortress being overrun, instead.
That fool had done something completely unnecessary.
Without a doubt, White Olfolse must have realised that his true identity had been exposed, and he should become so much more cautious from now on as a result.
‘How troublesome.’
“According to another report, the Crown Imperial Prince and his sons, the other Imperial Princes, are still somewhere inside the fortress, your majesty.”
King Rahamma gritted his teeth.
If White Olfolse had become aware, then it’d no longer be that easy to surround him in a net.
Even if countless soldiers were to be sent in, there was no guarantee of capturing him now.
“Your majesty, I bring you a new report!”
Rahamma turned his head in the direction of the voice.
A scout jumped off from the horse and breathlessly ran up to where the king was. “Your majesty, the Theocratic Empire’s army is currently advancing forward.”
“…And their destination is?”
“It’s here in Evelyum, your majesty.”
Rahamma sucked in his breath.
The Theocratic Empire was headed this way? Not the capital city?
Was it to kill him? If that wasn’t it, then was it to protect the Crown Imperial Prince hiding within Evelyum?
There was no way of finding out. But one thing was for certain – if the Crown Imperial Prince and the Theocratic Empire’s army joined up, then it’d be too late to turn back.
King Rahamma clenched his teeth and then quietly squeezed his eyes shut.
If it was only White Olfolse in the city, then Rahamma and his immediate subordinates would’ve been sufficient enough to deal with the Crown Imperial Prince. However, the tale would become radically different if the Theocratic Empire’s army was also added to the mix.
Before the enemy’s army arrived in this location, he now had to urgently track down the Crown Imperial Prince at all cost.
“Surround the entire city and capture anyone coming out. Alive. It’ll be fine to execute them if they resist. Also, send in the troops and round up everyone in Evelyum into one location.”
Because Evelyum was a considerably large city, it wouldn’t be an easy task to capture a lone Crown Imperial Prince. It’d be far easier to gather everyone in one spot and search them one by one instead.
This plan should work if his army started the search from the outer parts of the city and gradually pushed in deeper. Although there would be some inevitable sacrifices, it didn’t matter as long as they successfully killed off the Crown Imperial Prince and captured the Imperial Princes as hostages.
When Rahamma took the lead and began walking forward, the feudal lords swiftly accompanied him.
“I shall personally handle this. Our destination will be Evelyum’s fortress.”
“But your majesty, will you go there alone?”
“No.” King Rahamma turned his head and looked at the feudal lords. “Some of you shall come with me, while the rest will remain behind. And also…”
He shifted his gaze behind him. There were over one hundred demi-humans standing there – elves, beastmen, dwarves, etc. All sorts of various races formed this mysterious group.
Every single one of them held weapons while iron masks hid their faces.
All of them were his ‘children’, nurtured by King Rahamma for one single purpose. They were the ‘hashashins’ meant to be used as living weapons.
“These ones will come with us. I shall personally…” Rahamma reached behind him and grasped the hilt of the mace. “…Kill the Crown Imperial Prince.”
With those words, the feudal lords all sighed collectively. The worst case scenario of trampling on their own territory had finally come to reality, that’s why.
But it couldn’t be helped anymore. Before they suffered from an even worse catastrophe, they had to somehow subdue the Crown Imperial Prince first.
“Advance!”
Once a feudal lord issued this order, one of the commanders raised up a red flag into the air. That was a signal for the war horns to loudly blare out through the night sky.
Almost at the same time, several large rocks burning in flames were launched from somewhere within King Rahamma’s military camp.
Dozens of burning projectiles landed on the city of slaves. The once-quiet city was now illuminated brightly as flames erupted on its districts.
Black smoke bellowed out and the screams from its citizens could be heard in the next moment.
However, despite all this, the catapults continued to relentlessly fire their load.
“Advance! Advance! Advance!”
The beatings of the war drums loudly rang out.
The infantry soldiers formed ranks and began marching forward.
A war song resounded out.
Their marching footsteps rocked the ground below.
The soldiers who were sent to the city of slaves forced open the gates to the city itself.
King Rahamma’s army all unsheathed their weapons, and these soldiers of Aslan glared at the city while madness quickly filled their eyes.
< 076. Rescue -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.
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