SHK CH 545: SWORD DEMON (1) (Patreon)

After this a certain calm came but this was nothing but a calm before the storm.

The knights were all tenses and everyone was preparing one way or another, wishing to do nothing more than becoming stronger even if for a little bit.

This time was sadly not enough for them.

The war which had somehow entered a lull during the last few days on the Eternal Battlefield came back in earnest like a bolt of Thunder.

— This was pretty literal.

Thunder roared after lightning flashed, directly impacting the formation barrier surrounding the Fortress.

This was a greeting. At the same time a warning.

Floating in the air, an old man wearing large clothes with a hunched back and cane spoke quietly,

“Greeting soldiers of Lustburg. I am the Camel King.”

Everyone, those in the barrier and those outside tensed.

“Be it I or my siblings, we loath war and senseless bloodshed. Our goal is not to massacre weaklings who are only fighting in the hope of putting food on the table. We only have one target.”

He smiled, “Bring us the Queen of Lustburg. You have One day.”

He did not speak more and vanished instantly, leaving a wind of unease in the fortress.

Back down, Lilin frowned and looked at Rose, they were currently present in the conference room with all the higher up and the air was solemn.

“The barrier shook slightly.”

This was the greatest problem. The Camel King was even more powerful than they imagined. This was a strike that no normal Duke should have been able to throw at them. But here they were.

“Should we…?”

One person started quietly but Rose waved her hand,

“Don’t even dream of it. For one, bringing out a King would be a breach in the current situation. Neither army reached close to threatening the borders of the capital of the other if our Queen moves now. We will only be in disadvantages.”

There was something else Rose didn’t say. She knew clearly that they only had two kings, both Lilin and Camelia. As for Dukes, they did not have many Dukes who could hope to come close to the 6 sages.

The taunting of the Camel King was clearly because Sun Wukong wished to fight Lilith.

‘We must never enter the level of King fight.’

They only had two kings and Wratharis had three. As well as Six more who could slightly come close. When it came to higher levels of power, they were too much behind.

The strategy was simple, they had to win as much terrain as possible then sign a treaty and be done with it.

This was how the war went out for years to avoid bringing out the King's rank on the battlefield.

Another reality was — How useless would they be if the enemies only had to threaten them once for them to go running and call their queen?

This would destroy the morale of the army.

“I will fight the two sages.”

She raised her hand, causing everyone to quiet down. Some in doubt, some in surprise, and few in disdain.

“Captain…”

“I know that I do not have enough achievement to make you believe me. I initially hoped to slowly do so. But the situation changed and there is no more time. This is why I am talking as the Eldest Princess of Lustburg rather than the Captain of the Scarlet Knights. I will take the field and face the two Sages.”

All those who were about to speak immediately shut up. They knew that this was something different.

“Two Dukes dared to challenge my mother, the Queen. It’s necessary to show them that they are not worthy.”

Everyone looked at Rose. She was the main leader here in their opinion,

“Princess. You should understand, right… The enemy will not care about your blood. If you fail and get captured, we will all have to fight to our death to get you back or avenge you otherwise we will be known as traitors and executed.”

“I will win.”

“Very well. Then — Let’s fight now.”

She was not some old conservative soldier who could not take the lead when it was necessary.

If those bastards wanted a fight then they would give one. Why wait until the end of the ultimatum?

But Lilin shook her head and stood up,

“Just wait for me. It will not take long.”

She planned to go all out from the start. There would be no need for her to hold back or even hesitate.

The current situation where there was no soldier out was to her advantage.

There was only one question honestly for her,

Whether or not she should kill those so-called Sages.

In the end, she decided that she would only spare them as long as they weren’t too dangerous. They wanted Sun Wukong on their side after all.

It wouldn’t do to kill his friends.

“I hope Sol will praise me.”

The soldiers present had no time to even protest before Lilin vanished completely in front of their eyes, causing all of them to feel a cold chill.

They realized then and there that they had been underestimating the Princess a little too much.
—-

Standing in the fortress of Wratharis, the Flood Dragoon Queen looked at her friend and brother.

Despite how frail he looked, he was the second fastest in their whole group if Sun Wukongw was not added to the count.

—-Sun Wukong was never added to the count

“Do you think this will be enough?”

Camel coughed, “If this was, then I would be sorely disappointed. Humans can be pretty stubborn.”

“True.”

“Either way. Our goal is truly not bloodshed. This whole war is…”

He shook his head. As one of the seven sages and for all intent and purpose, the subordinate of Sun Wukong as well as his strategist, Camel knew very well that this war was nothing but a farce.

Perhaps the greatest play in the history of the mortal world.

He was not averse to killing. But losing soldiers and killing people in such a war was nothing but distasteful for him. A waste of time and energy.

“Well. There is no one fun to fight in this place anyway. Outside perhaps General Rose. I heard this woman is quite strong when using an army.”

“This is pretty normal when it comes to Generals who rose to the rank of Duke. Their Zone will reflect their years as soldiers and be more useful when used on large-scale battlefields than when strengthening themselves individually. The only true problem is that barrier.”

He sighed, “Even if we go all out. As long as they stay and turtles up, we will not be able to destroy it.”

“Heh. We don’t need to destroy it. We just need to make them consume all the fuel used to keep it up.”

“Very well then —!!!”

Camel and Flood immediately raised their head with horror in their eyes. Their instincts which had become slightly dormant because of all those years of peace and rest woke up like they had been beaten awake, alerting them of the incoming danger.

The world seemed still the same. Nothing seemed to have changed. At least this was the case in the eyes of everyone else outside of some Stone Monkeys who started to feel restless.

To the two of them though. They had the impression that the very world itself was filled with nothing but one thing — Sword slashes.