Chapter 460
Calcus the Slayer led the 4th legion of the Imperial army .
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The Tullen region, which was once ruled by Black Lion Guild, was infamous for the rebel forces .
βIt seems the rebels are gathering around the Luga River . β
βIt is said that they have a plan to take over the Formos Castle again . β
βLooks like the rebels got bolder after the navy was defeated . β
Calcus thought this was all very ridiculous .
βThe Hermes Guild is home for the top elite users of Royal Road . Iβve been trying to live peacefully without drawing too much condemnation from peopleβ¦and now you dare complain?β
The answer was simple: kill!
He thought Lafaye had led the Hermes Guild in the wrong direction because he was thinking too much .
βEven if some users are not happy with our iron-fisted rule and left for the North, what does it matter? We can always attack the Arpen Kingdom once we gain a firm control over the central continent . β
Calcus ordered the 250 000 soldiers of the 4th legion to advance .
The number of troops itself was not immense; however, after the Haven Empire took over the Central Continent, the legions from the 1st to the 5th were reorganized with the most elite units only . Most importantly, the number of Hermes Guild users mandatorily assigned to the 4th legion amounted to 5000 . Each member of the Hermes Guild could boast of their strength in any village or city they went, and now 5000 of them had gathered together . If it had been the past, the combined forces of them could have threatened any Kingdom; of course, the rebels felt like a joke .
βThey are but an egg in front of our truck . Β Letβs just wipe them all . β
Calcus advanced his troops near the Luga River where the rebels had planned to gather .
βDonβt ask questions . Any users here in this place will die . β
βYes, sir!β
The soldiers and the Hermes Guild users of the 4th legion started to attack .
βItβs an assault!β
βItβs the Hermes Guild . They are here!β
The users who were about to attack Formos Castle were raided .
The 4th legion charged in unison, sweeping the whole area where users were gathered .
βW, wait . We were just here to spectate . β
βDie!β
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βPlease! Spare us! We will just go home . β
βToo late . β
The army of Calcus committed an indiscriminate slaughter . They listened to no excuse or reason .
βThis way is better than sloppily killing just a few and let people blame us . We need to show our real power . β
Their goal was to exterminate all the users who dared to attack Formos Castle . The mounted troops patrolled far and wide, not allowing even a single user to escape .
β The Hermes Guildβs full-scale attack!
β Calcus the Slayer and his 4th legion appeared near the Luga River!
β The meeting is canceled . Everyone run for your life!
Inside Royal Road or through broadcasting stations and the internet, the news of the 4th legion launching an attack was spreading .
The 1st 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th legions were well known for their evil deeds during the time when Haven Empire was uniting the Central Continent . The legions, whose very existence left deep creases on the forehead of anyone who ever fought with the Hermes Guild before, were now slaughtering the users . This alone was enough to prove the strength of the Hermes Guild and excite the whole internet, but there was another hot topic .
βThe Steel Knights are going to war . β
The Hermes Guild was revealing their combat golems for the first time!
Steel golem knights wearing thick and sturdy armor were riding on metal horses . The order of knights that possessed the horrifically strong defensive abilities and life force unique to the golems! The Steel Knights were pushing straight into the enemy lines, not allowing the rebel users any room to breathe .
βWall of flames!β
Mage users made the fire wall thicker but the Steel Knights just charged right through it . The Steel golems slaughtered the users, their burning bodies notwithstanding .
The result was the total annihilation of 200 000 users who had planned to attack Formos Castle, except for a few mages or users with flying skills . The users who were supposed to join later as reinforcement were too scared to show up .
β H-Hermes Guild!
β Stupidly strong . This is just like the time when they were conquering the continent .
β I think they got even stronger since then .
β Whoaβ¦I guess this is the true power of the Haven Empire .
β Their navy was still massacred though . What a delight! They deserved it .
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β The Haven Empireβs main force is their land troops anyway .
β Who on earth would dare to face that army?!
β Check out CTS media . Theyβre showing the battle of the 3rd legion too . There are more than 50 000 Steel Knights!
With one surprise following another, broadcasting stations and users couldnβt even catch a breath . The Haven Empire was unleashing the power they had kept hidden until now, and its capacity in battle was simply stunning . Needless to say, the strength of the Hermes Guild users and army had increased . But on top of that, the Steel Knights were nearly unstoppable . Whether they were attacked by magic spells or struck with an iron mace, the Steel Knights got up without any sign of weakness and fought on . Armed with incredible life force and defense, once swept by their charging lines, no one could withstand it . Β Even users with levels above 400 β 500 were trampled by the Steel Knights . Steel golems were naturally slower and had relatively low attack power, but they compensated for these weaknesses by riding on specially constructed horses .
β I reckon those equipments were crafted by dwarves .
β They donβt look like they were made in the Thor Kingdom, though .
β It seems they conducted research by locking up elves or dwarves from the Central Continent as slaves!
β Thatβll result in a huge amount of evil reputationβ¦Who would do that sort of thing?
β Itβs possible for the Hermes Guild . Even if a few people have to take responsibility and gain an evil reputation, they can still develop and produce things like those . And those who took the responsibility will receive massive rewards .
β When money, time and villains are put together, anything is possible!
Both Royal Road users and the broadcasting stations alike could not repress their astonishment as they witnessed the true power of the Haven Empire .
Despite their number which was several times greater than the Imperial army, the rebels could not even put up a proper fight .
It was not an easy task to knock down or destroy the Steel Knights, and even if you managed to break more than half of their body, they would replenish their mana in a second and regenerate their lost parts .
β Yikes, did you see how the head and arm were growing back just now? That gave me the serious creeps .
β How do you deal with that kind of thing? They look unbeatable .
β With those Steel Knights, you wouldnβt even need any fortress . Just have a great slalom in a plain and you are invincible!
β Trying to overwhelm them with numbers wouldnβt work either; they are golems, they donβt get tired! My Godβ¦
Even during big battles, the number of Steel Knight golems that were destroyed was negligible .
While it was true that the slaughter of the Imperial navy had dealt a blow to Haven Empire, the reveal of the Steel Knights certainly turned the tide of the war .
It was thought tha the rebels, or even the Arpen Kingdom, wouldnβt have a chance against the Steel Knights .
Weed was watching the broadcast while stringing beads .
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Ding!
< Stringing 1000 beads β successful .
Your proficiency in sewing skills has increased . >
βSo those are the Steel Knightsβ¦β
He thought they were excellent weapons for battle .
Claiming the hunting areas and collecting taxes were not the only things Haven Empire did while they occupied the Central Government . They were continuously developing magic and technology, fully enjoying every benefit they provided .
βThey have been preparing that kind of stuff in secret . β
Golems were the natural enemies of Weedβs undead minions; they didnβt leave any corpses, nor were they destroyed easily . The only thing the Arpen Kingdom could count on was their human wave strategy, but even that would be inefficient against the Steel Knights .
βAnd you donβt even have to pay them! You can just use them forever . β
The beings that you could exploit to your heartβs content without worrying about being caught by the Department of Employment!
βI should have made golems, like them . β
Weed gave a big sigh .
Those steel golems would probably have been created by the combination of advanced magic and blacksmith skills . The Hermes Guild wasnβt all about rankers with optimized skills for battles; its members also included people with various high-class professions such as blacksmiths . If master blacksmiths Herman and Fabio hadnβt been recruited by the Northern Continent, it would have been greatly disadvantageous for battles between high-level users .
Level and skills were important factors in the fights between users, but one couldnβt ignore the benefits of good equipment . Even more so, a great number of siege machines were used during a war, which are made by blacksmiths, so their role was very important .
βSummon golem!β
Even with Weedβs Necromancy, what he summoned was a normal clay golem, despite the fact that he had only summoned one . .
That same golem can be summoned even by a Necromancer below level 100!
β Is there work for me to do? .
βJust carry the luggage . β
Weed used his golem as a beast of burden .
It was one of those types of magic for which the skill level grew very slowly even if you repeated summoning .
Despite the fact that his abilities as a Necromancer were growing very fast as well, it was difficult to use spells other than Summoning Undead .
Still, his current summon undead spell was at intermediate 6 level . Weedβs level finally reached above 500 . It could be said that it was all thanks to hunting the Hermes Guild users and taking a tour around all those horrifying hunting areas including the devil Delam after returning from the Giantsβ land .
βNever mind that, I thought I was starting to finally catch up with them, butβ¦β
Weed wanted to pursue the ultimate strength . Even when he was earning a couple of silvers by carving a piece of wood as a sculptor, actually in his mind he was already smacking the back of a dragonβs head .
βI wish I could just go hunting for three monthsβ¦ that way I would be able to match the top rankers of the Hermes Guild . I could also do a bit of time travel . β
Ever since he became a necromancer, a profession which was easy to level up, after mastering sculpting, he had dreamed of catching up with everyone very soon . His ambition was to become the strongest of all, by putting all other matters aside and just focusing on hunting and combat quests . But just as he was enjoying the benefits of a necromancerβs hunting speed and a sculptorβs other secondary effects, he was put into the position of having to conduct a war against the Haven Empire; if not because of Weedβs popularity, because of his position as the king of Arpen Kingdom .
βWould it be better to fight them now before the Hermes Guild gets any stronger? It doesnβt look like the Haven Empire will back down so easily, seeing how they revealed their secret weapons . Hmm . Itβs more difficult for the strong ones to be patient .
Weed thought about the Haven Empireβs future .
They showed their great military forces, which had been formed by monopolizing benefits of having the Central Continent under their control .
βAfter establishing the Empire, they would have been able to build up wealth, army, everything; It must have been a lot easier because unlike me, they had an organization . β
Now that the Imperial army was fully committed to the war, the rebels in the Central Continent would eventually be suppressed . However, as soon as that was done, the Haven Empire would turn the tip of its sword towards the Arpen Kingdom .
Now the stakes were too high for both the Hermes Guild and Weed to step back . βThe advantage Iβve gotβ¦is that I can take the lead in this war, in any case . β
Every broadcasting station was discussing the war of the Haven Empire .
Their viewpoint was that while the Haven Empire was absolutely superior in terms of military power alone, since the rebellion would cause their production to decline and the users to leave, the Arpen Kingdom would have an advantage if the war dragged on for a long time .
Weed thought from a different perspective .
βThe overall situation looks pretty good . The Haven Empire has to protect its land . Β And it has to take back the land it lost as well . On top of all that, it has to conquer the Arpen Kingdom . β
Troubles were brewing in the Southern desert region, rebels were fighting in the Central Continent, and the angry users of the Arpen Kingdom were attacking in the North .
They had great power, but there were a lot of debtors who wanted to take everything little by little . And debtors are supposed to be the most terrifying beings in the world .
βMy chance is now . If I miss this opportunity that Seoyoon created for me and peace returns to any one of those regions, there wonβt be any future for us . β
(To be continuedβ¦)