Game of the Monarch

Chapter 250: Till the Very End (4)

“Die, you bastards!”

“Where do you think you’re climbing up?”

The Lester Kingdom’s soldiers blocked the Republican’s night attack very well. To begin with, it was more advantageous for them since their enemies didn’t have a clear sight because it was nighttime. And so, the battle was flowing unilaterally in the Lester Kingdom’s favor. However, no matter how advantageous it may be for them, they progressively became more tired. 

***

Once it was daybreak, Duke Palan’s jaw tightened after he surveyed the bottom of the wall.

“He got us.”

What he saw at the base of the wall were bodies of the dead Republican soldiers, however, compared to the number of casualties during the daytime, the number of dead soldiers was shockingly little. It was obvious what this meant. The men sent out during the Republican’s night raid last night were just cannon fodder.

He hadn’t realized this then when the Republicans had come charging towards them with torches, but now that he thought about it, the Republicans couldn’t have been more than 5,000. The Lester Kingdom had stayed up all night in order to fight against just 5,000 men. They had been completely tricked.

“Rick, Tommy.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Immediately divide the troops into two groups. Have one of the groups rest. It doesn’t matter how short it is, have them rest.”

“But, Master, the Republicans will most likely begin their full-fledged attack from now on.”

“It can’t be helped. If we don’t have them rest now, their fatigue will be…”

“Waaaaahhh!!”

“Attack! All of you, attack!”

“Long live the Republic!”

Even before Duke Palan could finish his words, the Republican Army roared in.

Griiiit…

Duke Palan clenched his teeth, but he couldn’t take back his orders.

“Quickly! The morning… no, even two hours is great, so have them rest and then switch them out with the soldiers on duty right now!”

“Yes, sir!”

Although the Lester Kingdom’s capital had enough supply, the soldiers couldn’t fight when they were completely exhausted. Duke Palan knew that the burden on the remaining soldiers would increase, but there was nothing he could do about it.

***

“Die!”

“You bastards, how dare you. Do you know where this is?!”

“Waaaaahh!!”

Pandemonium. 

A hell more desperate than the previous day was happening on the walls. Not only had the number of soldiers in the Lester Kingdom decreased, but more importantly, their fatigue had accumulated from fighting all night, making this battle much more difficult. 

The Republican soldiers seemed to believe this was their chance and were rushing towards them more violently. The effect of Eliza’s elixir was showing as it ate into the soldiers’ rationality; they were completely mad and were attacking the walls, over and over, again and again. 

“Rick! There’s an order for you to take ten knights and deal with the southern wall!”

“Damn it! It’s urgent over here too!’

“There are Ghosts coming up on the southern wall. If you don’t go now, it’ll be too late!”

“…Damn. Terry.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll leave you in charge here. Jason, Albert, you guys follow me! We have to deal with ridiculously strong bastards, so be on your toes!”

They couldn’t ignore the Ghosts’ presence in a situation like this.

Rick clenched his jaw as he ran towards the southern wall.

‘Hopefully, we’re not unlucky and some bastard like Jake shows up.’

Once he arrived at the southern wall, he saw that a group of black skulls had most definitely gotten up on top of the walls.

“Where do you skull bastards think you’re climbing up!”

Rick raced forward with an angry cry. At his attack, two Ghosts fell at the same time.

“Keugh…”

“Gah…”

Having dealt with two of them, he ran amok as he shouted.

“You bastards, I am the Grand Duke Milton Forrest’s knight, Rick Storie!”

Rick fought bravely and because of his performance, the knights following him also fought equally hard. The Republic’s elite Ghosts failed to withstand such attacks from Rick and his knights and they slowly began to fall.

However, Rick thought to himself.

‘Something’s strange. Why are these bastards so weak?’

Rick knew very well how strong the Ghosts were. As long as they had taken the elixir, then each Ghost member was at the level of an Expert and their leaders were comparable to Rick or Tommy, or perhaps someone even stronger than the two of them. 

In the past, he had once fought against a Ghost leader and had been badly beaten that he barely saved his life, so there was no way he didn’t know how strong they could be. But the Ghosts in front of him were too weak. There wasn’t a single Expert and none of them were above a middling level.

“No way…”

Just as Rick was becoming uneasy…

“The northern wall’s been breached!”

“What? How!?”

“That’s… a group of strong enemy soldiers came up and rampaged around and the knights there couldn’t deal with them, sir.”

“…Damn it. Siegfried you f*cking bastard!”

It was then that Rick realized he had been tricked.

***

“Your Excellency, the Ghosts have climbed up the wall.”

“So it worked out.”

Siegfried nodded as he looked at the situation.

He had used the night attack as bait to tire out the enemy and create a gap. Then, he had sent the Ghosts to a side where the defense was the weakest. However, he had sent junior officers dressed as Ghosts, not the actual Ghosts members.

The Ghosts’ strength was impossible to hide since they had made a name for themselves as the Republic’s most elite after fighting countless wars by Siegfried’s side. In that case, rather than hiding them, it would be better to use their presence as bait.

And so, he had sent out officers dressed like Ghosts as bait and sent in two groups of the real Ghosts to the other side. As a result, the Ghosts who climbed up the wall had built a stronghold and the Republican soldiers were gradually climbing to that location.

“If things continue at this rate, I believe we can topple them, sir.”

“That would be great.’

Siegfried turned to give Jake additional instructions.

“Once the gates open, we’ll be entering immediately. Get ready.”

“Yes, sir!”

He wasn’t preparing the fatal blow because he was confident that this current operation would succeed. Perhaps it was because they had shaken the enemies enough, but it was very effective.

‘If we can finish it off with this, then it’ll be enough.’

Siegfried observed the walls with sharp eyes.

***

“Keugh!”

“Guh… Damn… it…”

The Lester Kingdom’s knights who were defending the northern wall fell one by one. It was only natural since the real Ghosts’ performance was one level above theirs.

“Breach the stairs going down!”

“As long as we open the gates, it’s all over.”

The Ghosts attacked wildly in order to get downstairs.

However, even if he was struggling, the knight who was guarding the stairs didn’t fall like the others. He was clever and had taken a step further back into the stairwell. By doing this, he created an advantage for himself right at the entrance to the stairwell, causing the enemies to fight him one by one instead of all together. This knight was Tommy.

“You are not allowed here, you skull bastards.”

“You brat!”

A member of the Ghosts attacked Tommy with a spark in his eyes.

Clang! Clang!

“Guh…”

Tommy barely managed to block his enemy’s aggressive attack. Even though he was using his location to the best of his advantage, he wasn’t in a good shape. His helmet had cracked and not a single part of his armor was unscathed. But more than anything else, it took a lot of physical strength to deal with this many Ghosts. His whole body painfully ached and he was out of breath. At this point, he didn’t even mind if he died. His body, his instincts told him to lie down and rest. 

However…

Swish!

“Keugh!”

Tommy clenched his teeth and cut off the ankle of the Ghost standing in front of him. Using the height difference of the stairs, he had aimed low since that was more difficult to defend. 

Bang!

Then, as he used his shield to knock the Ghost off his feet and down the stairs, Tommy spoke. 

“Who wants to die next?!”

With a sense of duty that went beyond his instincts, Tommy endured. 

He had already sent five Ghosts down in this manner.

‘Let’s endure it. There’s a limitation to the elixir the Ghosts are using. I just need to hang a bit longer…’

“Get out of the way!”

While Tommy was calculating the citation in his head, one of the Ghosts came running aggressively towards him. And then…

Clang!

“Keug…”

As soon as they clashed together, a trickle of blood came leaking out of his mouth.

“What is your name?”

“I’m the leader of the Ghost Group 4.”

“So a big shot has appeared.”

‘Unfortunately for me.’

Tommy clenched his teeth. 

The higher the Ghosts Groups got, the more powerful they became. Of course, by the time a Ghost was promoted to become a leader of Group 4, that guy was already extraordinary. Even if he hadn’t taken the elixir, he was most likely on the same level as Tommy himself, or someone even better. 

Now, a guy like him…

“I can’t let you keep dragging things out like this.”

Drank the elixir in front of Tommy’s eyes.

“I’ve been thinking this before, but don’t you think that’s cheating?”

“Yapyap whatever you want!”

Then, Group 4’s Leader aggressively attacked Tommy with an Expert’s strength. 

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Tommy had to take a step back when he was attacked by a strength completely different from before. 

‘I can’t fall here. I can’t fall…’

A minute, no, even a second was fine. He had to keep guarding these stairs as long as possible in order to give hope to his fellow soldiers. However, not only was it difficult for him to be defending alone, but he was also defending while concentrating the most he had ever done in his entire life. Even if he was concentrating, there was nothing he could do. There was a difference in skills.

Clang!

“Keugh…”

In the end, Tommy couldn’t handle the consecutive attacks and fell back.

“This is it.”

Tommy fell and his opponent’s blade was coming down towards him. 

‘Damn it…’

For a second, Tommy thought that he was going to die. But then…

Clang!

His opponent’s blade, which was aiming to split his head open, was blocked by someone. The man who had suddenly jumped in front of Tommy and blocked his opponent’s attack was…

“Master?”

Duke Palan.

Rather than marveling at the fact he was alive, Tommy was more curious as to why Duke Palan was here.

From the beginning, Duke Palan had said that he would not leave Queen Leila’s side until the war was over. Since he didn’t know what Siegfried planned to do, it was a type of insurance meant to protect Queen Leila. So how come he was here?

“Tommy, are you all right?”

Duke Palan asked about Tommy’s condition after pushing his opponent back a bit.”

“Yes, Master. But what about the Queen…?”

“I can’t stop her.”

Just as Duke Palan spoke self-deprecatingly, Tommy was able to see for himself.

“Your… Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty, why have you…”

Queen Leila had appeared at the battlefield happening on the walls. In the midst of the arrows pouring down upon them, she stood with her back straight as she gave out a command.

“The Royal Guards will destroy the enemies standing before me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

At her command, the fourth order of knights, the Royal Guards of the Lester Kingdom, stepped forward and attacked the Ghosts.

‘Thankfully, it seems to have worked out.’

She let out a sigh of relief as she watched her people overwhelm the enemy.

When she had been informed that the wall was in danger, she had immediately ordered Duke Palan to go and attack. However, Duke Palan had said he would never leave her side no matter what. Even when she told him it was a royal command, he stubbornly refused to listen to her.

And so, she had changed her method. If Duke Palan wouldn’t leave her side, then she would move and he would follow her.

As a result, the Royal Guard knights and Duke Palan joined their fellow citizens who were in danger on the walls. It wasn’t just the additional strength of the knights that were shown with this.

“Her Majesty is here!”

“Let’s drive out the Republic!”

“Long live the Lester Kingdom!”

When Queen Leila showed up on the front line, the tired soldiers’ fight spirit rose once again. 

“Seems like things are getting wrapped up on top. Then, shall we end things here as well?”

Duke Palan spoke as he calmly looked at his opponent.

“Guh… Don’t underestimate me!”

Enraged, the leader of the Ghost Group 4 charged towards Duke Palan. 

“That’s my choice.”

However, Duke Palan spoke in a relaxed manner as he met the attack. While the Ghost leader had forcibly raised his level by taking the elixir, he had no chance against Duke Palan who had risen to the level of a Master with his own skills. In the end, he couldn’t even last 10 exchanges before he was stabbed in the chest and fell. 

“Now’s our chance! Throw all the Republicans off the walls!”

“Waaaaah!!”

The capital of the Lester Kingdom had almost fallen, but it managed to stay standing.

***

“So they’ve managed to endure this.”

Siegfried frowned when he heard that Group 4’s attack had failed.

He had thought that using the Ghosts as bait in order to use the gap in defense created by the night attack was perfect. Since it hadn’t seemed like his opponent had read his plan, he thought it would go perfectly…

“It failed.”

Siegfried looked up at the wall as he spoke. 

The soldiers were tired due to his tactics, and yet, they were still fighting so fiercely even as they bled. Just who caused the soldiers to be like this?

“I can’t help but acknowledge Leila von Lester.”

He had already acknowledged her, but he acknowledged her once again. She wasn’t a woman who was coddled by her husband and was obedient and gave merely birth to children. She was a woman perfectly capable of seizing and ruling a country in this turbulent era.

“If possible, I wanted to knock her down with this plan…”

Siegfried let out a sigh as if there was nothing more he could do.

“Bring in Eliza.”

“Yes, sir.”

Siegfried spoke abruptly once the messenger brought Eliza over. 

“Is it ready?”

“Yes, about a third is ready.”

“Can you finish it within three days?”

“Well, that depends on Your Excellency, doesn’t it?”

“……”

Siegfried gently closed his eyes and remained silent. Then, when he opened his eyes…

“It can’t be helped.”

The determined look in his eyes showed he was resolute.

“Within three days, all preparations will be complete. At that time, prepare for the plan to commence.”

“I’ll follow your order. And I told you before… right? If she shows up, I will definitely run away.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Eliza stepped back with a bright smile.

“Then, as you say…”

After she left, Siegfried continued to look at the walls as he spoke to himself.”

“So you’re turning me into a villain in the end.”

Siegfried closed his eyes as he sighed.

“It’s all your fault, Leila von Lester.”