The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles: Volume 7 [Parts 1 to 10] by Tatematsuri

Author:Tatematsuri
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 4: Those Who Cling to Hope

The seventeenth day of the third month of Imperial Year 1024

The army departed Beyrouth, its path illuminated by the rays of the sun. The serpent of Anguis fluttered on its banners. Thirty thousand strong, the host made for Faerzen along the western road, with the commander’s carriage trundling along near the middle of the pack. Lucia sat inside, staring out of the window with a disgruntled expression. Her vice-commander, Seleucus, was opposite, as pointedly unruffled as ever.

“You seem in poor spirits, Your Majesty,” he said.

“Why shouldn’t I be? I never knew we had so many fools among us.”

It was patently obvious that there were no more victories to be won in the western territories, and yet the majority of the army had thrown in their lot with Luka. Human greed had worked against her this time. Buoyed up by their defeat of Mars’s descendant and thinking of little else, a great number of officers had grown wilfully blind and misjudged their own capabilities.

“It’s to be expected, perhaps, looking purely at our record.”

Lucia snorted. “I pity whatever poor souls must serve under those imbeciles.”

When word had arrived that the Grantzian Empire’s final tally came to one hundred and thirty thousand men, the other kingdoms’ officers had rejoiced to hear that they had the superior numbers. They had overestimated themselves, blind to the truth that they had just lost forty thousand men to a much smaller force. As far as Lucia was concerned, her outrage was well justified. It seemed she was the only one who understood the situation.

“Truly, the War God is worth a hundred thousand men,” she sighed sourly.

“‘Unrivaled on earth with one thousand, unrivaled in heaven with ten, the War God’s machinations rule the world entire,’ I believe the words go. One cannot blame them for letting it go to their heads.”

Lucia sniffed. “Quite the memory you have.”

After defeating the descendant of such a prolific legend, the Six Kingdoms officers had convinced themselves that the imperial forces would be no obstacle. Knowing the truth of his escape, however, Lucia saw the parade of fools for what it was.

“If only Luka were still in her right mind,” she sighed. “We could have retreated without incident.”

She had anticipated that Luka would be shattered by Igel’s death, but the results had proven far worse than expected—in more than one sense. Her original plan to insert herself in Igel’s place and manipulate Luka into doing her bidding was out of the question now.

“Nothing ever goes as planned, it seems...”

“That is only to be expected,” Seleucus replied. “It is the Grantzian Empire we face, after all.” He was right; winning a string of victories against the longtime conqueror of Soleil would inflate anyone’s ego. “Besides, the heirs to the throne are dropping like flies. The empire is weakening. Everybody can sense it.”

“It has lost but four royals. We are not at so great an advantage as you might think.”

The central and western territories might have collapsed, but the rest still stood firm.

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