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Chapter 105: A Feint Operation (3)

Shaaa!

Oscar’s body was covered in Aura as he quickly closed the distance with his Skylight Gear Pin. As soon as he was close enough, he swung his spear three times. Head, chest, stomach–these were Eiji’s spearmanship fundamentals.

.

In addition, boosted by anger, the Aura dug into Benedict like a viper. It seemed as though Benedict would succumb, but…

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

Oscar threw his spear, but by the time he heard Benedict clucking his tongue, Benedict had already moved behind him.

Smack!

Benedict still had his hands behind his back. As soon as he was behind Oscar, he kicked Oscar’s lower back.

“Argh!”

There was a short shriek, and Oscar tumbled to the dirt ground despite the Aura around his body.

Swish!

Vsh vsh vsh!

The air ripped, and Benedict didn’t even look back as he ducked his head to avoid all three arrows behind him.

“...!”

As if he had been aware of their presence the entire time, Benedict dodged the arrows and turned his head to Terion. “Are you done playing around?”

Benedict still hadn’t drawn his sword. Terion had purposefully taken advantage of Benedict’s distraction, but neither he nor Oscar could even scratch Benedict.

They felt humiliated, as if the winner had already been decided.

“You imperial bastards have always been like this. You’re not even my match, but you’re still playing around and end up being humiliated,” said Benedict.

Crush!

“Argh!”

Benedict stepped on Oscar’s back angrily. It felt to Oscar as if a 1000-pound boulder had fallen on him.

“How funny. Aren’t you ashamed of having the title of a count when this is all you can do?”

“You motherfucker… Argh!”

Crack!

As Oscar forced his torso up, his left shoulder bone broke despite the Aura around him.

“Arghhh!”

Benedict stepped on Oscar’s head as he screamed in pain.

“Yap yap, you’re too loud.”

A broken left shoulder was basically fatal to a spearman. Oscar squirmed in pain as Benedict took the Eiji family’s orb, the gear pin.

Swing swing!

Benedict swung the gear pin around.

“This would be perfect for shepherds.” Benedict kicked Oscar away as if clearing an obstacle.

He then turned to look at Terion, who was drawing his bowstring.

“Are you just going to stand there all day holding your bowstring?”

“...Damn it.” Sweat dripped from Terion’s forehead as he held the bowstring. He had already missed countless times. Even though he was the head of the Falcon family and famous for his archery, he still hadn’t hit a single shot, bringing shame to his reputation.

He felt a great deal of pressure, and he’d never thought it would come from a rebel from a vassal country, a rebel who hadn’t even drawn his sword. In addition, Oscar, who had been buying him time, was defeated. There was a sensation that this shot might be the last arrow Terion would ever make.

“To think that they’re using a guy like this as a leader, tsk tsk.”

Benedict started to swing the spear again.

Swish!

Benedict’s shoulder blade pulled back like a bowstring as the gear pin shot like an arrow towards him at breakneck speed.

“Damn it!”

Thud!

Terion dropped to the ground and rolled. The arrow he was holding tumbled across the ground/ Terion had become dirty.

“Tsk tsk.”

“Fuck…!”

As soon as Terion was on the ground, he raised his head with a shadow across his face. Benedict had shortened the distance between them.

Crush!

“Arggh!”

Benedict still had his hands behind his back. He was still clucking his tongue with a bored expression, but as soon as he got close to Terion, he stomped on Terion’s hand. It was a weight that Terion had no way of resisting. Terion had no choice but to helplessly watch his fingers contort in intense pain.

“Your fingers aren’t trained properly.”

It was an absurd comment. However, no one dared to correct him, at least not there.

“Tsk tsk, to call these guys ‘commander in chief.’”

The more he thought about what Mordred had told him about the counts, the more ridiculous it all seemed. The fact that the imperial army was led by men such as these made the army seem even more insignificant.

After completely crushing Terion’s right hand, Benedict picked up Yelcia.

Yelcia was a bow that all archers in the empire dreamed of owning. It had no strings because the user had to use their Aura to create the bowstring.

“Hmm.”

Benedict examined Yelcia with interest and not long after, a vivid blue bowstring appeared.

‘How can that be…!’

Only when one reached the level of a bow master could they manifest a bowstring on Yelcia. However, Benedict had created one so skillfully, even though it was his first time handling Yelcia.

“This toy will go to waste in your hands.” To the victor went the spoils, and the loser with broken fingers couldn’t say anything about it.

Benedict didn’t even have a single injury. He grabbed Yelcia with his left hand and picked up the gear pin he had just thrown.

“Hmm.”

Benedict calmly put the gear pin on Yelcia’s bowstring.

“T-that…!”

It was a sight that Terion couldn’t believe. Benedict aimed the bow at Oscar, who was far away.

“D-damn it…!”

Oscar would surely die, but the fear that had resulted from his broken fingers prevented him from speaking out loud.

The desert was filled with tragedy while Benedict’s expression remained perfectly calm.

Whoosh!

He shot a spear in lieu of an arrow, and the sound it made as it pierced through the air was completely different. The gear pin flew past Terion’s eyes. He couldn’t bear to look and turned away. There was no way to stop it.

Terion and Oscar had been defeated, and the Thousand Soldiers were busy fighting the rebels.

‘Is this the end…?’

He blamed himself for being too complacent, but just as he was about to give up…

Clank!

‘Huh…?’

He had put his head down and closed his eyes because he couldn’t bear to watch Oscar’s end. However, Terion heard something completely unexpected. Terion couldn\'t hold back his curiosity and raised his head, slowly looking at Oscar.

In the blazing sunlight, Oscar saw a strange swordsman he had never seen before holding a long blue sword.

The swordsman went down on one knee and asked Oscar, “Count, are you alright?” It was an unfamiliar, handsome young man.

Oscar frowned and barely replied, “... You are?”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Lanber and I’m a swordsman in the Shonan army.”

The swordsman was Von. Oscar’s expressions were indescribable.

“How can the Shonan army be here…?”

“Take care of yourself first and I will tell you the details after I get rid of that bastard.”

After repositioning Oscar, Von brushed the sand off his clothes. He picked up Oscar’s gear pin and laid it beside him.

Benedict silently watched Von with his arms crossed.

‘What was that?’

Even the best warrior of the desert did not notice his approach, but Von had easily knocked out the gear pin.

With interest, Benedict said, “Are you also an imperial soldier?”

“I used to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t need to know the details. You’re okay with that, right? The soldiers on our side are hurt, so I think we’ll have to replace them.”

“What? Hahaha!” Benedict burst into laughter.

It seemed funny to him that such a young man would be so chatty, but at the same time, it was exciting to meet someone who wasn’t afraid at all. ‘He’s familiar with this kind of situation.’

Benedict found Von very interesting. No one like this young, handsome man existed in his memories.

‘You must be confused.’

Von chuckled as he recalled the past. They had fought multiple times during the conquest war and now decades later, they faced each other again on the battlefield.

“How funny.”

Benedict decided to play along with the young swordsman. Although he didn’t like being involved in duels, he believed that he would eventually end up killing the empire’s young swordsman

“Let\'s see what you can do.”

Benedict believed that just because Von was familiar with these kinds of situations, it didn’t mean that Von had an advantage.

Von said, “I’ll show you what I can do.”

Von unsheathed his sword once more and slowly raised his right hand. He pulled his forearm behind his head as if drawing a bowstring.

Flash!

A long blue light extended like lightning.