Chapter 153: A Third Party
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Black General was known as Anynror. He had a head like a black tiger, a chiseled, stern face, body like an iron tower, with large eyes that reflected light like bronze bells, a flat nose, wide ears, and bull-like strength.
His gaze was a permanent glare that reeked of murder, and his body constantly radiated a threatening aura. This man had devoted his life to the military and was last place on the general board’s rankings. He was known to all as a brave general who was always on the front lines. In battles, he broke through the enemy lines, and once, he took eighteen arrows and remained standing, as he fought on to take down the city gates. This man was never stopped, ever.
Standing opposite him was, in stark contrast, a green-eared, white-nosed youth of a General. He looked to be in his seventeens to eighteens. In an older gentleman’s world of the military, he was but a baby.
He had a sacred Mithril sword in his hand, a Winged-tiger helmet on his head, an armor of steel on his body, and dragonskin army boots on his feet. His face was beautiful, and he was dressed impeccably, but if one were to look closely, he did lack an air of authority. He looked a little too effeminate, with fair skin, rosy cheeks, ruby lips and a smile was constantly plastered on his face, one would say he seemed more like a model than a general.
But if you were to underestimate him because of his appearance, then you could not be any more wrong!
The sword in his hand was none other than the famous Pale Justice, it had slaughtered many a vicious dragon, and evil monsters. Just think, if it is true that sacred swords always choose their owners, can a mere mortal wield such a sword? Can this be a normal man?
The silver-armored Great General Roland, though only the age of twenty-eight, had already spent half his life on the battlefield, was a renowned Junior General. People knew him as a chatterbox, silver-faced white dragon.
Despite his youth and delicate appearance, he was as comfortable in court as he was in the household, and that silver sword was stained with the blood of evil, tales of his battles shook the entirety of Eich. Those dragon-skin boots, that looked just like any other pair of boots, was made out of the skin of a nine-headed dragon that he had tracked through ravines to slay. A man such as this, could he be thought as a commoner?
The problem was that, both of them had massive tempers. The more famous they were, the more stubborn they got, and the less they would pay heed to any advice. It seemed that, at that moment, the two of them were having disagreements regarding the war, and naturally, being warriors, once they were met with a disagreement, they would draw out their swords in hopes for a closure on the matter. And what a match it was!
With a black and a white General, friction was bound to happen, on top of an already hostile history of unresolved bitterness. The Black Tiger against the White Dragon, this conflict will prove to be a match of the ages.
Right in the middle of the court, standing on the platform, the two of them glared at each other. The dark-faced one thought the white-faced was unreliable due to his delicateness, the white-faced one thought that the black-faced was too ugly and terrifying to the innocent. Anger and fury ignited the air, spewing a murderous aura that visibly warped the air around them.
Finally, the two of them drew closer, and met at last, nose to nose, eye to eye. Then…their lips touched! Yes! They actually touched!
“This is the spirit of victory! This is the ultimate victory of the hag’s will. At this moment, Roland followed the glorious tradition of the philosophers. It was as if the spirit of Abegel (some famous homosexual man) or King Billy (an even more famous homosexual man) lived in his body! Roland alone represented the longstanding history and tradition of homosexuality in all of all Eich! At this moment, he is not alone in this fight. He is not alone!”
“Elisa. It’s enough that you have been telling a story beside me, and now you are making up all these nonsense. I will send you back to the abyss where you came from! Don’t think for a second that I won’t do it!”
As I was fuming inside, Elisa, who was making up ridiculous passages as if she was possessed by some narrator, finally stopped talking.
Yes, the passages above were all made up by Elisa, it was all fiction! I never was a homosexual, never!
There was a silence, as I gathered up my wits to size up my opponent.
“”Black Bear” Ainro Soan, a citizen of San Antonio, forty-four years old, honorable Earl in the military. He joined the army 27 years ago, slowly climbing the ranks from a common knight to a General. He always led the army, galloping towards the enemy lines. His most victorious battle was when he led his men and rode thousands of miles through the night, breaking through the encirclement of the neighboring country, and then took over the four cities that were under the rule of his opponent.”
“The reviews on the honours board of famous generals: an old general rich in experience, his methods of utilizing soldiers were practiced and traditional, hated raiders, does not have any special strategies, but neither does he have any obvious flaws, has never faced any great defeat. During critical times in battles, he would fight bravely, and under extreme conditions, he would still fight his way through a path of survival, he was a brave general but not a particularly intelligent one.”
I suppose Elisa’s one virtue was that, although she normally had a malignant tongue and was always giving me these sort of “surprises”; when it came to important matters, there would never be any mistakes.
When I asked her to provide me information about someone, although she will add a bunch of nonsensical stuff with it, she would still be able to give me what I want.
“A practical General who was not an academic? Isn’t that what people call old-fashioned? But this seems like trouble. Huh, no flaws, no virtues either? In other words that mean he is full of flaws, isn’t it?”
“Well, may I ask, in your opinion, what counts as an academical military man?”
“A bookworm who only follows every military book written to the word. Just draw a hole and he will burrow into it himself, this is just too easy.”
“….do you want to know your own assessment? There is a passage about your own strategizing tendencies.”
“Oh, you have that? Of course, I do. I had been planning to buy it from some pixies when I get back. Good that you have it already.”
“‘The Undying Roland’, Roland Mist, the last prince of the Mist Kingdom, also in recent times famously known as the most powerful Necromancer and Emperor Yongye . He was also the founder of the Xiluo Empire and their supreme leader, and he has had the honour of being 33rd in The Ultimate Apocalyptic Leaderboard. He is known as the Undying because he possessed the extraordinary ability to resurrect himself, and he is also the precious few who can skip over incarnation cycles to maintain his current existence. This is the one and only case of multiple resurrections.”
“According to those close to him, he is extremely cunning and vindictive. If one were to have the misfortune of stepping on his tail… It has been known that he won’t hesitate to use a hundred years to prepare for his revenge. And if you had really made him angry, this avenger is absolutely indestructible, bless you. Of course, one can consider the insurance package provided by us pixies (not to help you solve this problem of course, but at least we will give the insurance payments to your descendants.)”
“According to an unknown source (this year’s latest report). He once transformed into “the Black Hand Baron” Roland Charname, and later “Aurora Sword Saint” Rolo Danbouer to travel the world. Due to his undying nature, even if the world is destroyed, he will remain standing. So I’ll capitulate on this; do not offend him. Otherwise, in your old age, you will never know if this shameless cheater will come back and romance your granddaughter ( This were the exact words of those who were once cheated by him, a source has disclosed that it is his senior from the same school, and this report is highly credible). As you can see, this person is rather psychopathic..”
Very well, should I be glad that I have found someone who understands me? Although the description of one that can’t seem to die is a little disgusting, and though it had been written with great prejudice, at least some parts were true. I glared at Amelia who was acting coy.
“A senior girl who was cheated? Amelia! It must be you! How dare you slander me. At least, at least…”
My angry glare earned the sneering of a senior girl.
“… at least give me half of the fee for tipping them off, this is free money! What makes you think you can have them all for yourself!”
“Is that really the main issue? Hey, Roland! You’re getting worse than before!”
Very well. I ignored the mischievous Amelia, and turned my attention back to the main topic. Elisa was still dictating the reports about me.
“…whether as the prince of Mist Country or Emperor Yongye, or the “Black hand Baron”, he always had records of leading an army to war, and his strategies were all basically the same. One of the reasons the Yongye Plunder could capture so many kingdoms was his outstanding method of utilizing his forces. He preferred to use raiders, and was unafraid of head-on battles. If he did not have absolute confidence he would never face a battle head on. That is his most significant characteristic. His most memorable battle was the battle against Soubel Elves Kingdom, where his opponent’s army was three times the size of his and all of them had been equipped with the blade of light, known to be able to defeat spectres, yet they were no match against the elite cavalries he sent. The leading army was reduced to nothing, and the war dragged on for a year and a half, the undead armies obtained victory as they outlasted the enemy.
It seems like the reviews were quite spot-on, at least the war that I was most pleased had not been missed. The strategies were not new, no doubt one of the variants of guerilla tactics, but perhaps only the spectres who do not fear death can execute such suicidal attack to the end.
“When he was a human prince, he left a few pieces of writings such as ‘Treaties on Guerilla tactics’, ‘Collecting intelligence is the most important task in a war’, ‘Our goal is The Sea of Stars – be a full-fledged coward before being able to win a war’. His diverse and interchangeable war strategies deeply influenced future generations.The long term decree that rewards anyone who brought the head of a Beastman, the “Beastmen Slaughtering” decree, that was mentioned in his book had received many constant criticism, but caused a great impact on the future generations. Besides that, his utilization of the elite cavalry methods to counter attack against the Beastmen tribes while cutting off their escape routes, along the evil yet ingenious idea of poisoning their water source, all these gave him a frightful reputation, especially among the Beastmen. However, in a way, the Beastmen tribes who suffered the greatest damage in history, have in recent times had the longest lasting safe haven in history. The Northlands had peace for more than fifty years, but this caused the rejuvenation of the spirits of the Beastmen tribes, leading to the largest scale of Beastmen attack on the south in a thousand years.”
“As his method of strategizing his soldiers were superior, the effects on his military philosophy and thoughts on war were groundbreaking. His military successes were brilliant, and he was once listed as the number 68th on the board of the famous generals in history. However, due to the pressures from kingdoms with past connections with him and churches of the gods, he was taken down from the board. Nevertheless, his military success and strategizing ability were indeed recorded in the Board of War Gods, and due to his indestructibility, I’m afraid he will be in the top 40 on the board of recent famous generals for quite a long time.
After hearing those words, I was at a loss for words. To that end, I can only say that I was too young, and was perhaps a little too overboard in my actions.
In a way I felt a little encouraged, I definitely did not believe that the Black Faced blockhead will buy my information, but since he knew my information, no doubt would he feel a little guilty.
After all, he had just entered the recent board, and on the last place no less. While I was named a famous general in history. Since I am of a higher rank, and among peers, those who are stronger and more famous have a more powerful say in the subject, especially since I am of a higher rank than him.
At this time, as if rendered uneasy by the silence after my speech, Ainro spoke up, the content was very respectful, but his tone sounded a bit strong.
“Your majesty, Roland, I do not know if you felt that there were any mistakes in my strategy, but I would be grateful if you could point them out.”
I smiled at the seriousness of Ainro’s face, then it seemed that it was judgement time. The same procedure: First throw out some heavyweight bombs to scare them off.
“If it is just fighting on paper then you are not wrong, it is quite the contrary, this setup is very spot-on. If the execution is powerful, then the chances of winning are more than 80 percent…”
At this, as if he thought he had obtained my praise, Ainro touched his chin as he smiled, but I was not yet finished. These three days I spent riding on my horse and wandering around without stopping, gathering and organizing intelligence, and when there were enough intelligence and information collected, only then did I make a judgment.
“But I must say, your setup will just send all the generals and soldiers to their death. All you see are the threats on the chessboard, but you completely forgot to take into account the other chess pieces that were not in the scene!”
“The Earth Elemental God, Emordilorcan have always supported the Blood tribes, and you think that they will not interfere with such an important event as you attack Atoin. I have seen in Auland, the formation of the city of rain, the Water Elemental God and her people directly participating in the invasion of Auland Kingdom, they do not have as many restrictions. To underestimate any of these Ancient Elemental Gods is foolish. I guess when your great generals are at the brink of a decisive battle, earthquakes and the sudden appearance of the Earth Elemental God would be the best ambush.”
At this point, those in attendance have already turned a deathly green. Obviously, they had long neglected the existence of those ancient Elemental Evil Gods, and even believed they would not interfere in the conflicts of the human realm.
The look on Ainro’s face made me smile, since the right to speak is now in my hands, then, the next piece of explosive information would be even more shocking.
“To march without enough intelligence, I think you are just looking for death. And that wasn’t all that you missed.”
Ainro started as if he wanted to object, but after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and kept quiet.
“Forgetting to include Emordilorcan is one of the reasons for your downfall, but it is not the most fatal one. I know that you have other preparations, don’t argue with me, but you forgot another dangerous opponent. No, from the beginning you have not thought of seeing them as an enemy. On the contrary, in your eyes they were considered trusted comrades, after all, it has been so many years since we last went to war.”
“You are saying?”
“Impossible, perhaps in the West? Perhaps the Wolf King was headed there?”
“No, no, it is completely possible. Their recent behavior has been very strange. If so, then this would explain the Wolf King’s journey.”
Just after the sentence was completed, the leaders and generals in attendance stood up, and the black-faced Ainlo was pale-faced with shock by this revelation. If this report is true, the whole world will be shocked.
“Yes, Eymond’s power far is stronger than all of you have estimated. The Wolf King Saustero, and philosophers of the Fox race, are all his staunch supporters. They dispersed their army and went West because they are planning to open up Akysyos to let the Elf armies in. Yes, your predictions are not wrong, my most trusted long-eared comrades. This time, right from the beginning, they have decided to stand against us. They have too much accumulated grievances to settle with us.”
“Elves will soon be declaring war against the humans. And the gods of the elves will soon declare godly war on the gods of humans! And our Northland, will soon become the battlefield of the gods!”