BXBX NOVEL Chapter 65: Battle for the Throne 2
Chapter 65: Battle for the Throne 2
The Aden was a long river that cut across the Cerendia province. There were plains on either side of it, so they didn’t need to worry about any ambushes. It was a suitable location to have head on, all out war.
The army of loyalists gathered on the river’s bank, northeast of Heidelberg. They would then advance southwest, to fight off the rebels
However Count Ludwig had become aware of their latest movements, and as such some last minute changes were made to their plan.
They still met as planned, but weren’t in any rush to advance.
While they set up camp and held their position, Woohyuk was in a hurry to secure the next in line to the throne.
Duke Arnold, King John’s nephew, was a well known silk pants who spent most of his time either hunting or whoring.
‘It’ll get complicated if he were to die.’
At least until this war against the rebels was over with, he needed to keep the Duke alive. He was the pillar behind which the loyalist nobles gathered, allowing Woohyuk to skip any kinds of formalities.
Woohyuk stared at a distant valley as he was riding a horse along with Sanghoon.
The forest in the northern part of Cerendia was teeming with wildlife and had spectacular views. It was one of the reasons that Duke Arnold would choose to go hunting here nearly every day.
“Check to see if there are any traps.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Searching for traps was easy for someone of Jung Sanghoon’s skill.
As he led the way, scouring through the forest.
Piing!
An arrow flew right by him, burying itself in an oak tree behind Sanghoon.
“Oops, I missed my shot.”
A blonde haired bearded man said from atop his white horse.
Simply by his colorful attire it was clear that he was a high ranked noble.
“Are you Duke Arnold?”
“Yes, but who are you?”
There weren’t many that would speak to a royal such as himself in such a casual manner.
As Arnold was still shocked by his brusque mannerisms, Woohyuk handed him a sealed letter.
“Although I can’t reveal it right now, this is an urgent letter which requires your attention.”
It was a letter from Gaius, the 5th Legnion’s Commander. It basically outlined Count Ludwig’s treachery in forming a faction with other nobles that opposed the royal family.
“A rebellion… it’s indeed dire news.”
Duke Arnold’s expression darkened as he finished reading the letter in its entirety.
He had been expecting this to happen eventually, but not nearly so soon. As he was about to speak, the sound of approaching horses rang out. Those that had killed King John were not likely to leave his immediate successor alive either.
Woohyuk stepped front as he left the Duke’s safety to Jung Sanghoon.
Everything went quiet, until…
Swooosh!
A poisoned arrow was shot straight toward Woohyuk’s head.
Taang!
He deflected the arrow with Grandia, appearing quite imposing. As he went to slaughter the enemy horseman, Duke Arnold’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Who is he?’
He hadn’t revealed his identity, perhaps he was a noble from another country. Still, he couldn’t understand why he would choose to help him.
“Haaa!”
A spearman jumped out from behind the bushes and charged towards him. Jung Sanghoon lept off his horse and buried his two daggers in the spearman’s neck.
“Kuhuk…”
As the enemy spearman dropped to the ground coughing out blood, Duke Arnold felt relieved.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Jung Sanghoon stood up and kept completely focused on his surroundings once more. The Rogue class had a passive skill which increased Dexterity by 15%. Even if the opponent was stealthed, he would be able to catch the slightest change in the environment if they revealed even the slightest flaw.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, thanks to you.”
Duke Arnold thanked Woohyuk who was dragging a man with black hair.
Woohyuk nodded as he kicked the young man which he had already disarmed.
“Kuuuuk”
The captive groaned as he fell down to the ground. He had the appearance of an Asian from back on Earth. Given that he was wearing an Adventurer’s watch, it was very likely that he was from the Akatsuki Clan.
“Where is your leader?”
“Don, I don\'t know….”
As the prisoner fed him some lies, Woohyuk crushed his fingers under the sole of his boot.
“Kuaaaah”
“I don’t have time for games. From now on every time you don’t answer you’ll lose one of your fingers..”
Of course the same punishment would apply if he were to lie.
As Woohyuk pulled out his Vampiric dagger, the young man’s face turned blue.
“I’ll speak! Please, don’t torture me!”
The captive had already been conditioned to fear torture, no doubt having been caught committing all types of crimes by his own clanmates.
Seeing him tremble in fear, Woohyuk had a satisfied smile.
‘That’s good.’
In order to properly rule over the Rhine kingdom, not only did he have to prevent the nobles from rebelling, but the Clans as well.
Woohyuk lifted his foot, listening to what he had to say.
* * *
According to the young Japanese man, Akatsuki along with the Exodus Clan were currently hiding in the capital city of Heindelberg.
The 1st Legion along with Akatsuki and Exodus, would help secure Blackburn as soon as Gwain decided to make a move. This would allow them to control the kingdom’s central politics.
However, due to the swift response on the part of the loyalist army, the plan was temporarily put on hold.
‘As expected, they are involving the army.’
King John who had air for brains, would do whatever Count Gwain told him.
Woohyuk however wasn’t too worried since he had already prepared some countermeasures.
‘Currently the Commanders of the Legions are no doubt holding a meeting in the Marquis’ territory.’
Gaius sent them a detailed letter about the entire incident, strongly urging them to immediately bring to justice the three main culprits.
Count Ludwig from Erutonia.
Count Ethan from Issilon.
Count Gwain from Floren.
Their plan to poison the King was also brought up, so the Legion Commanders would soon have to come to a decision.
‘I have to make sure that at least Maximus makes the right choice.’
He couldn’t expect all the Commanders to side with King John, but Maximus’ support was crucial.
Woohyuk recalled the past as he watched the elevator descend down the cliff. It operated on a magical pulley system.
‘It’s really been a while since I’ve come here.’
He could remember how hard he had tried to capture Blackburn Castle back then. Not only was it built at the top of a cliff, but the walls had magical inscriptions on them, so not even siege weapons would leave a dent.
Even surrounding the castle with a siege to starve them out wouldn’t work since he was up against the Lich King Nigel.
It wasn’t like an undead army needed to eat in the first place.
‘It would be nice if I don’t have to struggle so hard to capture it this time.’
Even if the loyalist faction won the battle on the plains in Cerendia, it didn’t mean that Blackburn Castle would surrender as well.
Count Gwain may choose to be stubborn and sit behind its walls, waiting for reinforcements which would prove quite troublesome.
That’s why after handing Arnold over to Count Huntington, Woohyuk immediately set off to capture Blackburn Castle.
DurrrrrrkChulkuk
As the elevator reached the top, the brown wagon carrying supplies set off once more. Seeing that the guards hadn’t bothered to inspect it, he figured that they were most likely carrying military supplies to the top.
Woohyuk sped up to catch up with the wagon. No one stopped him because he was equipped with his Banshee’s Veil.
‘Are they going through Shadow Fort?’
Before being allowed into Blackburn, you had to pass through the fortress below it, known as Shadow Fort and served as a kind of outpost.
Woohyuk climbed atop the wagon as the fort’s gates opened, and a man who appeared to be in command walked out.
“Is that what we discussed previously?”
“Yes it is.”
“Let’s inspect the goods.”
After speaking with the coachman, the man walked towards the back and opened the wagon’s door.
Wildfire.
A highly flammable liquid which could be used as gunpowder in the Eeth continent. Inside there were several large containers stored neatly.
As Woohyuk caught sight of them, his expression stiffened.
‘Where the hell did they obtain all this?’
The production method for Wildfire wasn’t well known, and it was very expensive to purchase. It wasn’t the type of weapon that just anyone could get their hands on.
There are only a handful after Master Alchemists that can even produce this.
Even a small amount of it represented great firepower, enough to control the fate of such a small kingdom.
“Good, transport it inside carefully.”
“Yes Commander.”
The man was Kenis, the Rhine Kingdom’s number one Commander. A soldier blinded by politics, now in bed with the rebels. Although he could seize the chance to silence him, Woohyuk decided to endure a bit longer.
Right now, the Wildfire was a far more pressing issue.
Dulgruk Dulgruk
The brown wagon crossed over the drawbridge along with the rest of the convoy. It appeared that its final destination was a secretive warehouse within Blackburn.
As he looked down the cliff, Woohyuk formed a plan in his mind.
‘First I’ll need to figure out who manufactured this Wildfire.’
Although he had a guess, for now that was all it was. Such a crucial point couldn’t be overlooked.
‘It might become an unexpected harvest.’
If he could secure a reliable source of Wildfire this early on, it would be very helpful to his plans for the future.
Of course, just these alone would be more than plenty for quite some time.
As the wagon finally reached the game, the soldier posted on the wall drew his bow.
“Halt! State your identity and your business.”
“Thomas, 3rd lieutenant from the 1st Legion. I’m escorting some military supplies under the direct orders of Commander Kenis.”
After his introduction, the gates began to open. The fact that the Shadow Fort’s beacon hadn’t been lit, meant that they had successfully cleared inspection, and he had yet to be detected.
The guards weren’t willing to offend Kenis by holding up this shipment.
The moment the brown wagon made its way inside the castle…
‘Ugh…’
Woohyuk suddenly suffered from a strong headache. The Dragon’s magic inscriptions engraved on the walls were suppressing his Demon Energy.
‘Being part Demon also has its downsides.’
Choosing a path different from his previous one also had its own set of difficulties.
The good news at least was that the Asura’s power was enough to resist the Dragon’s magic. There shouldn’t be any problem so long as he didn’t release any actual Demon Energy.
The headache was also only temporary.
‘Let’s see where they are heading to.’
Blackburn was quite a large castle. It was only considered small because it was located inside of the kingdom’s largest city, Heidelberg.
Upon walking in, he felt like he was in a small city rather than a castle. There were at least three or four places that they might use to hide the Wildfire. Among them, the ones that the Legion could access…
‘Underground military warehouse.’
It was out of the way, so they didn’t have to be worried about their trump card being discovered. It was also highly unlikely that there might be an accident and the fire unleashed.
The wagon came to a stop as Woohyuk was sifting through his memories. They were currently right before the entrance to the military headquarters for the entire Rhine kingdom.
Inside, Count Gwain was in the middle of a meeting with a few others.
“Did you have any problems on your way here?”
“None at all, no one noticed a thing.”
“Good, you can head back, I’ll handle it from here.”
“Okay.”
Thomas gave a strong salute, and then left with his men.
As he had some soldiers unload the containers filled with Wildfire, Woohyuk focused on the two men on either side of Count Gwain.
‘Looks like the heads have all gathered.’
They were the leader of Akatsuki, Shinichi Itto and Exodus’ leader Sergei Mikhalov.
Although it was his first time seeing their faces, he was quite certain of their identities. They were likely the only Japanese and Russians that would be allowed to set foot here.
“There are only a few days left, will just these be enough?”
Sergei who was unaware of the potency of Wildfire, asked with a doubtful expression.
Count Gwain could only laugh heartily as he nodded.
“Don’t worry about that, you just need to do as you\'re told.”
“By the way, I don’t think we will have Duke Arnold. I have yet to receive any word from my subordinates that I sent.”
Shinichi said as he rubbed his Unity ring.
“That’s unfortunate, but it isn’t the biggest of deals. Even if he manages to run away, he won’t live long.
“But the war will begin soon.”
“We just need to watch what happens, either way Blackburn’s gate must stay shut.”
If any force tried to force their way in, the Wildfire would be more than sufficient to send them packing.
Count Gwain smiled as he could already imagine himself sitting on the throne.