The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 56 – The Emperor’s Spears (2)

The people of Hiveden who had been watching the Order of the White Crow from atop the walls screamed as they ran away. The only people who still remained on the wall after everyone disappeared were Juan and Anya.

‘They were planning to kill everyone in the first place.’

Anya’s face paled as she belatedly realized Ethan’s intention behind giving time to Hiveden—it was to completely disarm them and massacre them without having to worry about any resistance. The first victims of the massacre were the guards of Hiveden who had already surrendered.

The guards were left unarmed and thus incapable of fighting back. They died miserably as they screamed. Anya had no sympathy for them, but couldn’t help but blame herself for not having expected such a situation.

The Order of the White Crow was ahead of the game.

Anya looked at Juan with a nervous expression. She felt as if Juan would shout and get mad at her. However, Juan’s expression told otherwise. Juan had a cynical smile on his face.

“The fanatics haven’t changed even a little bit from the past,” Juan said.

The fanatics from the Church had never cared about the Capital’s view on them or their political check against them. They were lunatics who believed that any means were acceptable as long as they faithfully fulfilled a purpose.

Races and nations who believed so were common during the era of the gods, since they were guaranteed power as long as they showed loyalty to the god, regardless of laws or rules. Even if they weren’t guaranteed power, they still willingly sacrificed their lives based on a vague expectation—it was a fanatical absurdity.

For such reasons, Juan had tried to completely wipe out all religions and faiths in the empire when he was the emperor, but ironically history was repeating itself again under his own name now. J

uan looked at Anya with a cold smile on his face, and Anya flinched to back away from him.

“What are you doing just standing around? Anya, command your knights. You are their leader.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes.”

Juan tapped her shoulders as he realized her frustrations.

“Don’t panic. The Order of Huginn is competent enough. Dilmond and Ras are here as well, and I’m sure they are flexibly dealing with the situation. Go and do what you need to do. And,” Juan ordered Anya in a sharp manner. “Do not leave a single one alive.”

“Yes, Juan!” Anya replied, and immediately jumped off the city wall.

Anya could feel her heart pounding. When Juan tapped her shoulders, a strange sense of calmness relieved her. All the more, a new sense of excitement filled her body—it was a sense of exaltation for the battle.

“Ardin!” Anya shouted.

“Gasp!”

Ardin was trembling under a house that had been destroyed by the debris of the city wall. Ordinary people didn’t know that the charge of the Order of the White Crow would be as powerful as a natural disaster, and Ardin was no different from ordinary people.

“You saw what the Order of the White Crow just did to Hiveden! If you don’t move right now, everyone in Hiveden will die! And that includes you!” Anya shouted as she grabbed Ardin by the collar and pulled him up.

“B-but fighting against those monsters would be…”

“Do you really think the Order of Huginn will lose?”

Ardin belatedly came to his senses upon hearing Anya’s words. If everyone in Hiveden would be dying anyway, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to hold hands with the devil.

“We are the only people capable of stopping those bastards here, and you are the only person capable of helping us! Now move!”

“Ah, um, right. Okay. W-what do you want me to do…?”

“We’ll keep the basis of our plan, but with the weapons this time.”

***

Around five hundred Laus Mountain Scouts entered through the gap the Order of the White Crow’s charge had made. They had heavy and uncomfortable looks on their faces, but they had already slaughtered countless in the past under the commands of the Order of the White Crow. The only difference this time was that it was on a much bigger scale.

“Second squad will commence on the north, and the third squad to the south! Send signals and join instantly as soon as you detect the movements of the Order of Huginn. While cleansing the city is important, don’t forget that our goal is to exterminate Ras Raud and his knight order!” Ethan commanded in a loud voice.

The Laus Mountain Scouts separated themselves into squads and followed the Templars under Ethan’s command.

“Kill every child, adult, and elder. Do not leave a single one alive. There is no way out for them anyway, and this filthy city contaminated by the ravens can only be cleansed with blood.”

It seemed ridiculous that only thirty men could fight against the entire city, but Ethan had done similar things several times in the past. There were often times when only one Templar attacked a village of demi-humans. In fact, Ethan was being more cautious than usual to fight against the Order of Huginn, their arch-enemy.

“Captain, don’t you think we were being too reckless by turning the entire city into our enemy?” Kamil asked with concern.

“If I came off as thoughtless, I apologize for worrying you, Kamil,” Ethan smiled.

“I’m not doubting your capability, Captain. But I just…”

“I’m not worried about Hiveden’s ridiculous defense. They are nothing but a flock of sheep. No matter how many sheep there are, they will be torn by the wolf’s claws. What does matter is the shepherd that fed them up to be nice and fat,” Ethan said as he looked at Hiveden with madness in his eyes. “Do you think that shepherd will run or hide upon seeing the massacre of his flock of sheep? I don’t want to search the sewers to find that rat Ras. I will fight him, and cut off his white skull to stick it on the end of my spear.”

Kamil nodded her head as she was convinced. As a Templar of the Order of the White Crow, she too, could relate to Ethan’s views. Wasting their time trying to search for the Order of Huginn in the city would be more annoying than Hiveden cooperating with the Order of Huginn.

But Kamil looked at Ethan with a worried look.

“I will break free from the curse of the former captains who were possessed by the ghost of Ras Raud, and become a true Templar who serves His Majesty…”

While muttering, Ethan’s eyes were no different from those of the former captains who had died from their obsession with catching Ras.

Ethan turned his head as if he was irritated by Kamil’s gaze.

“Did you have any advice for me, Deputy?”

“No, Captain. Do you have any commands for me?”

“Complete the duties I ordered earlier. Squad one and I will move forward to the main road. You shall remain at the rear and fulfill your duties.”

“Yes, sir. And…”

Before Kamil could tell Ethan to take care of himself, someone interrupted with a loud voice.

“Captain Ethan!”

The voice filled with anger belonged to the rising star that Ethan had been keeping his eye on. Sina Solvane was running toward him over the fragments of the city wall with a pale face.

“Wh-what in the world have you done! How could you attack the city after they had already surrendered!?” Sina shouted.

Kamil tried to stop Sina. However, Ethan stopped Kamil instead and led his horse to approach Sina.

“Sina Solvane, you entered the operational area without any gear or armor. It is hard to say that you are appropriately dressed to join the operation. Had I not told you to wait on standby at the rear?”

“Whether you have a sword or not, a knight is still a knight. And that is even if you don’t have a hand. Captain Ethan, I must hear your answer to my question! Th-this is not something that could be done by someone who serves His Majesty! If it was for His Majesty…”

“He would have protected the weak and shown compassion to them. That’s what you’re trying to say, right? You are truly a model student—a specimen of a perfect knight. But your thoughts are wrong. These people are those who helped to hide that apostate and his people. Are they worthy of His Majesty’s compassion?”

Ethan spoke softly, but Sina’s eyes were fierce. Seeing Sina’s eyes burning in anger, Ethan realized that his relationship with her had ended, and such a talented knight would never join his knight order. The only thing Ethan could do was smile bitterly.

“His Majesty wouldn’t have thought so,” Sina spoke with contempt for Ethan in each syllable.

“It seems like the knight school has taught you too much, or you learned too much from them.”

With this Sina’s relationship with Ethan had been completely ruined. Ethan could see why Sina couldn’t become a Templar and remained an ordinary knight, even with such talent. Ethan turned his horse around.

“Kamil, keep an eye on Sina Solvane to prevent her from intervening in the battle, and continue to take care of her so we can focus on our battle.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ethan, wait! Not only His Majesty, but even the capital would…”

Just before Sina could charge at Ethan, Kamil jerked her arm and flung her to the ground. With a cracking sound, Sina’s shoulder was dislocated. Sina clenched her teeth to hold back her scream, and continued to glare at Ethan.

Ethan looked down at her for a short moment, and soon kicked his horse toward the city center.

The sound of horse hooves tapping on the stone pavement and the sounds of screams filled the city. Ethan felt as if he could still hear Sina’s scream in his ears. He had made the same scream as her a long time ago, which of course no one had responded to. His hollow voice echoed in the citadel in the Laus Mountains, and disappeared. The only thing left inside him was ending Ras Raud. Ethan didn’t doubt that Sina’s scream would soon disappear, just like his had.

Ethan shouted in a loud voice, as if he wanted to cover Sina’s scream still echoing in his ears.

.

“Come out and show yourself! If you refuse, all your fattened flock of sheep will die!”

Ethan and the Templars ran on the city’s main road at high speed, and rushed in from behind the fleeing people of Hiveden. People trampled under the horse hooves and pierced by the spears screamed and scattered. However, they were turned into skewers by the arrows shot toward them by the Scouts surrounding the city.

Ethan was about to roar once more, but suddenly stopped and stood still. The other Templars beside Ethan also came to a stop. There was someone who stood in front of them to block their way to the city center. However, he wasn’t someone Ethan was looking for.

“Who are you? I thought it would be either Dilmond or Anya to stop us,” Ethan asked.

“Everyone’s busy doing their own stuff.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed and he looked at the black haired boy in front of him. He felt a surge of irritation filling his body, which had been heated by the excitement of the battle.

“You’re that black-haired kid. I have no business with you right now, so wait for your turn.”

Ethan kicked his horse in his attempt to pass Juan. However, Juan disappeared from his sight in an instant. Ethan hastily raised his sword and swung it toward Juan’s trajectory, but it was too late.

“Keuk!”

Juan smoothly ducked between the legs of Ethan’s horse, and cut the inside of its legs. Unlike the Templars, their horses were only armed with ordinary armor. Juan’s short sword had no difficulty slicing through it. The horse let out a sharp scream and knelt down, leaving Ethan with no choice but to hop off the horse.

“You little bastard…”

“Let’s not be hasty” Juan spoke relaxedly, even with seven Templars surrounding him.

Ethan’s eyes sparked with anger. Just as he was about to accomplish his ultimate goal, a trivial obstacle appeared before him. Ethan’s anger exploded as a trifling obstacle dragged him down from fulfilling his duty.

“Sure. I’ll kick your head while I walk instead of riding a horse.”

Ethan sent signals to his knights with his eyes. The Templars hesitated, but soon ran forward past Juan; it would be a waste of seven Templars to be occupied by just one boy.

Juan didn’t bother to stop the Templars running past him.

“Now…shall we dance?”

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