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Chapter 237 - Rivalries (2)

The secret behind this was Viram’s illusion.

Sometime during the battle, High Priest Viram came together with the illusionists stationed at the Illusion Spire and activated the illusions without the imperial army noticing.

It was a deceptively simple illusion, which initially targeted the soldiers carrying the ladders. The illusion caused the soldiers to lose their sense of distance, making them collectively fall to the ground as they attempted to place the ladders against the castle walls.

“Did we take any damage?”

Then Ronan appeared in front of Herarion and Viram.

“Ah, Sir Ronan! We’ve successfully defended ourselves thanks to you.”

The reason Ronan had been strategically assigned to the Second Corps was simple. Herarion was undoubtedly a good commander, but he lacked the military force in comparison to what the other generals had, so Henry had compensated for that with Ronan.

That was why Henry had put Herarion with Viram and Ronan at the Illusion Spire, one of the three spires that made up the Triangular Spire. Just like he had expected, putting the three of them together turned out to be a success, and Ronan’s countering Kington\'s sword strike to keep the castle walls intact was proof of that.

“I guess fate works in mysterious ways. I never imagined my adoptive father would show up here, out of all people...”

“Adoptive father? What do you mean by that?”

“The commander of the imperial army we’re currently fighting is a man named Kington Foram. He used to be my adoptive father. Of course, since I’ve relinquished the Foram name, I no longer have anything to do with him.”

“Ah, I didn’t know you had such a background.”

“I saw his eyes widen when we looked at each other earlier. I heard he went to Caliburn Fortress himself to take me back...”

Ronan was aware of what was going on because he received information from Henry every now and then. Apart from this, he was grateful for this opportunity to confront Kington. He had managed to get away from the Foram family thanks to Iselan, but he wasn’t satisfied with just having given Hamilton a lesson.

‘Kington.’

Ronan took a few steps forward, making eye contact with Kington at the end of the rampart once again. Kington was still flustered from the fact that his previous attack had been blocked.

Kington had been cold and indifferent to him all his life, and to see him so distraught for the first time ever thrilled Ronan, the sense of joy accompanied by a rush of adrenaline. He couldn’t resist smirking as he looked at his once adoptive father.

“How... How dare you laugh at me?!”

Anger flooded Kington as he noticed Ronan’s condescending smirk. Despite being furious, he knew that, at least for the time being, there was nothing he could do.

“Damn it...!”

After Ronan was done taunting Kington, he turned his back to him and joined Herarion.

“He’ll probably realize that something is wrong sooner or later and come up with a plan to fight against the illusions, since they have the Saint. I suggest that we proceed with our next plan.”

“I agree.”

Because he had used to lead his men in the Demonic Beast Forest, Ronan possessed the leadership and strategic insight that Herarion lacked. As for the Khan, he wasn’t arrogant like the members of royal families and he had many people underneath him with the power and intelligence of La.

Henry was aware of this and knew that the two could make a great duo and achieve many things in this war.

“Ronan, you arrogant bastard...! How dare you...!”

Kington, filled with anger and frustration, breathed heavily. The fact that Ronan had abandoned the Foram name, a blessing that Kington had bestowed on him, had been more than enough to anger Kington. However, more than anything, it was Ronan’s mocking that made his blood boil.

Kington contemplated on how to exhibit his true strength to Ronan. He believed that Ronan, despite being a talented swordsman, wasn’t as powerful as him. After all, Ronan was still a High Sword Master who hadn’t yet mastered his ultimate skill, while Kington was a Peak Sword Master who had achieved that mastery.

However, there wasn’t that big of a difference between a High Sword Master and a Peak Sword Master. It wasn’t about who had more Aura, but about who could push their powers to the limits and use their ultimate skill. Thus, given that the difference between them was minimal, Ronan wasn’t afraid of Kington. To him, the difference between them was no larger than the width of a hair strand.

‘I can block his sword strike all day,’ Ronan thought to himself.

The fight between Kington and Ronan, father and son turned rivals, began.

*

“Commence.”

Logger, the sole Paladin Commander of the Church of Peace and the leader of the Fourth Corps, stood at the six o’clock position.

Paladin Logger was deemed as the most skilled paladin in the history of the Church of Peace. He had also participated in the most demon raids among his followers. Moreover, the Pope relied on Logger the most for offensive and defensive operations, which brought him the moniker of the Pope’s Spear.

Presently, Logger took part in the continental conquest of the Aenia Empire on the orders of the Pope.

When Logger ordered the Holy Code, the paladins under him gathered their shields and hammers together and recited spells. They were reciting a strengthening Holy Code, which was different from the one used by the monks.

Once they finished casting the Holy Code, the paladins let out a pure white Aura.

This Holy Code was known as the Holy Force, and it drastically increased one’s resistance to physical damage and enhanced recovery and regenerative abilities. However, it came with a couple of drawbacks.

The Noble Sacrifice that the monks used indirectly caused more monks to die because of its effects of making them not fear anything. However, the drawbacks of the Holy Force were more straightforward.

The most significant drawback of the Holy Force was that it increased the user’s weight, which didn’t suit someone who was known as the Pope’s Spear. In fact, it was in stark contrast to how the Pope’s Spear had to be.

Despite that, Logger recognized the true value of the Holy Force; he understood that the increased weight directly amplified the destructive power of the paladins.

“Depending on who uses it, a hammer could either be a tool or a weapon.”

Logger was a talented and intelligent paladin, and this time, he was trying to prove his competence once again through the continental conquest under Arthus.

As he gathered the ten thousand paladins, all of them released a massive beam of light.

The other imperial troops in his unit retreated with their siege ladders. They then watched what the paladins did as Loggan gave orders.

“Attack!”

Bang!

The paladins swung their hammers in unison and with precision, their coordination making it seem like they were trained soldiers. Though they looked impressive, one might’ve been tempted to think that they were merely swinging some hammers... But their swings weren’t ordinary.

The coordinated hammer swings of the ten thousand paladins were enough to take down the tall castle wall in one swing. They had essentially become a siege weapon.

“Hit it!”, commanded Logger.

The paladins followed Logger’s order, and as soon as they hit the castle wall with their hammers...

Bang!

The thunderous sound echoed throughout the battleground.

Crack!

The foundation of the castle wall cracked. Soon after, arrows rained down from above the wall. However, the paladins also had shields in their left hands, so they defended themselves against the arrows by lifting their shields.

The bright Holy Force also protected them from the arrows, boulders, and boiling oil that the troops of the Allied Powers threw at them.

“Again!”

There was a saying that a good defense was the best offense, and that was precisely Logger’s tactic. He had proceeded with this plan not only because it would be efficient against the Allied Powers, but also because it was his favorite siege strategy.

Bang!

Crack!

The paladins continued their slow but consistent attacks. The destructive power of the paladins caused the Allied troops atop the castle walls to be more fearful as time went on.

However, the situation shifted when someone with a familiar voice intervened.

“Now what the hell do they think they’re doing?”

McDowell arrived at the scene and saw the paladins lined up against the castle wall. He couldn’t believe that the allied troops were struggling against those sluggish paladins, who were like cockroaches.

He clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“Tsk, tsk, can’t believe I have those guys as my adjutants.”

McDowell joined the battle late on purpose because he wanted to first see who the commander in charge of the six o\'clock direction was. That was why he had put his adjutants in charge temporarily.

However, he now only realized how awful of a job they were doing.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you guys? Don’t you know what kind of guy Logger is? Is this the counter move you’ve come up with?” asked McDowell, his tone full of disappointment.

“No... No, sir...!”

"No? Then what do you think you should be doing?”

“Well, um...”

The adjutants stuttered, not knowing what to say or do. Originally, they were Doyle’s swordsmen, but they had been reassigned as McDowell’s adjutants because the Fourth Corps was short on men.

In response to McDowell\'s scolding, the adjutants sagged their heads, and one of them said dejectedly, “We’re... We’re not sure.”

“Tsk, I knew it! Step aside!”

“Commander! Please give us instructions and we’ll do our best!”

“Are you asking because you genuinely don’t know? If they’re holding shields and moving like damn turtles with hammers in their hands, you can just go down yourselves and take advantage of their weak spot!”

“Pa-pardon, sir?”

“What do you mean, pardon?! Just get out of the way! You don’t even understand what I’m telling you. Watch and learn!”

The plan McDowell had in mind was too simplistic to even call it a plan. As the adjutants saw him act, they couldn’t help but think that anyone could’ve come up with this strategy.

Of course, McDowell was also at fault for trying to make his adjutants and troops do something they weren’t capable of.

His plan was simply to use enough force to overpower the paladins’ tenacity and defenses.

‘Geez, I can’t understand why they can’t do this. It’s so easy.’

This was simply something a talented person couldn’t understand about ordinary people.

McDowell came on the edge of the castle wall and said irritatingly, “Tsk, tsk, the castle wall is going to collapse man. That guy, Logger, still acting foolishly just like he always has.”

Logger was a middle-aged man, but so was McDowell, which was why the latter muttered to himself as if the two of them were old friends.

McDowell leaped off the castle walls.

Roar!

As McDowell descended, he activated his Aura, the blue flames forming a thin layer over him.

Logger’s eyes grew wide and he smirked as he saw McDowell come down.

“McDowell!”

Logger knew McDowell very well as he had been on demon raids with him in the past. Thus, he called out his name like he would do with an old friend.

However, no sooner had Logger uttered McDowell’s name than the latter disappeared.

“...!”

Logger was stunned as he remembered what McDowell excelled in, but before he could react, he heard the paladins in the forefront scream.

Thud!

Bloodstains painted the battlefield. It seemed that McDowell was taking down around fifteen paladins with one slash of his sword.

Even though the paladins had cast Holy Force and wore heavy armor, McDowell cut them up left and right like chunks of meat on a butcher’s block.

The blood that spilled from the helpless paladins soon formed into puddles in front of the castle walls. McDowell stood tall in front of their corpses, blood still dripping from his sword.

“That wasn’t very entertaining...”

McDowell didn’t say much after he took care of the paladins.

Looking at what just happened in front of him, Logger became enraged.

“McDowell, you bastard!”

Bang!

Even though he was supposed to be heavier due to the Holy Code, Logger swiftly closed the gap between them.

This was the fight at the six o’clock position.

The clash between power and speed had just begun.