Chapter 302: 302

Chapter 302 – Empire Murderer(4)

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Our army surrounded the inner castle after we finished executing Agares.

We captured the outer walls and all of the urban area, so I thought the rest would be easy, but it wasn’t that simple. The inner castle within Le Havre was incredibly sturdy. The walls were tall and it had seven towers. These things alone made this castle comparable to a fortress.

“According to the report, roughly 13,000 soldiers managed to safely retreat.”

“That is more than I expected. I figured that, at most, six to seven thousand would manage to get out…….”

 

Despite the sudden internal conflict caused by Agares, they successfully got more than half of their troops away. Adding to this, they accomplished this while being pincered on both land and sea. This was by no means an easy task

Queen Henrietta most likely predicted that things would progress like this from the moment the internal conflict occurred. She had kept a withdrawal path in mind. This was the only explanation.

Despite the sudden assault, Queen Henrietta remained composed and kept an eye on the situation before ordering her soldiers to retreat to the castle. Her commanding abilities were truly impressive.

“She predicted everything, huh? Impressive.”

“Yes……. She is certainly impressive.”

I nodded my head before turning to question the messenger.

“Was a provision warehouse discovered in the city?”

“No. We could not find a location within the city where supplies were stored.”

“I see. They moved all of their provisions inside the castle before their outer walls were captured.”

This was probably why they didn’t bother defending the outer walls for long.

I spoke to the Demon Lords who were seated around me.

“Defending the outer wall was never the Brittan army’s goal. They only wanted to stall for time until they finished transporting all of their supplies into the castle. In other words, the outer wall was nothing more than a way to play for time.”

“Doesn’t that mean that the fortress is going to be defended thoroughly?”

“Most likely.”

I answered Barbatos’ question.

“The castle requires less area to protect compared to the outer walls. This means their defenses will be that much more compact. They do not have to worry about being attacked from the sea as well, so they now have an advantage. A moment of clarity before defeat. They are displaying quite the amazing struggle in their final moment.”

The other Demon Lords furrowed their brows.

They were starting to relax because they had thought that the fight was over, but they were suddenly being told that they had to engage in another siege. Their annoyance was understandable. Barbatos hummed through her nose.

“It can’t be helped. Leave it to me.”

“Corps Commander Barbatos, do you have a good plan?”

“Mm. Well, I don’t particularly like it, but…….”

Barbatos trailed off. What kind of plan did she have? The other Demon Lords tilted their heads in confusion as well. However, Paimon seemed to know what it was as she let out a small sigh.

Barbatos spoke.

“A plague. You didn’t forget that I’m a necromancer, right?”

“Ah.”

I clapped.

“What a splendid plan! You should be able to use your spells however you want since there are corpses everywhere.”

“Yeah. I just have to plant a disease on the corpses and send them flying with catapults. There are more than ten thousand soldiers in a small ass castle. It should take effect immediately.”

In other words, biochemical warfare.

The enemy definitely has priests, but they probably don’t have several hundred priests. If ten thousand soldiers become sick at the same time, then those priests wouldn’t be able to do anything.

If the castle has a lot of space, then they could change an area into a quarantine zone, but the Brittan army brought a bunch of supplies with them while retreating. All of the empty spaces in the castle were probably filled with provisions. Their already narrow space was narrower now. They’re in the worst possible situation to deal with a disease.

“A clean and splendid plan.”

I was inadvertently moved.

Barbatos didn’t seem that pleased with my praise, though. I thought that was strange, so I questioned her.

“Why did you not use your magic earlier? If you used that during the Crescent Alliance, then we could have ended the war much more efficiently.”

“…….”

Barbatos let out a sigh. She glanced at me with somewhat fed-up eyes.

I pieced together the meaning behind her gaze and let out an audible ‘Ah’. I had asked a dumb question. Barbatos has a lot of pride as a warrior. Killing the enemy with a plague most likely goes against her beliefs.

“It does not befit a warrior…….”

“I learned necromancy so I could resurrect my subordinates. I do not feel even remotely ashamed about this. We are still holding spears and swords and diving into the enemy troops. We exchange blows in close proximity to each other. People who have not experienced this before do not know this fear.”

Barbatos looked into the distance as she muttered.

It felt like she was being philosophical. There was a hint of sadness in Barbatos’ eyes, which was unlike her usual self, so the other Demon Lords around her, including me, couldn’t help but listen to her.

“Warriors are those who carry their fears and continue forward……. I have pride in this. That’s why I’m proud of giving life to my subordinates who were once warriors. Although there are tons of people who look down on necromancy and call it witchcraft.”

I couldn’t deny it.

It doesn’t matter how noble they were as warriors when they were alive, they’re nothing but zombies and ghouls if they get resurrected by necromancy. Their flesh rots and an abhorrent smell emanates from their bodies. There are corpses and skeletons inside death knights too.

Could you truly call them living beings? If anything, are they not an insult to life? It was obvious that most people would think this. I wasn’t an exception. Zombies and ghouls were simply monsters. I didn’t consider them as anything more or anything less than this…….

“I don’t care if the people of the world criticize me. However, I will not forgive anyone if they denounce my subordinates who continue to fight even after death.”

Barbatos lowered her gaze from the sky and turned to look at me. Her golden eyes were shining clearly.

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“If I use my magic differently, then people will mock necromancy and, by proxy, my men. Dantalian, as the last remaining master of necromancy, I am responsible for necromancy itself.”

“……I understand. I’m sorry for being rash.”

I gave her an honest apology.

In <Dungeon Attack>, Barbatos never resorted to biochemical warfare even in her final moment. She must’ve concluded that it would be better to die at the hands of the hero than let the honor of her subordinates be tarnished. I gave my respect to her creed.

Barbatos chuckled.

“Well, we’re an alliance. I can’t ruin our great cause because of my personal desire for honor. I’ll suck it up this time.”

“No. It’s fine.”

I shook my head.

Barbatos was truly a magnate for being able to describe her belief, which she would even risk her life for, as simply ‘her personal desire for honor’. Barbatos was the only one who could pursue both her honor as a warrior and the great cause of demonkind at the same time.

Barbatos probably judged that now was the time to make some sacrifices for our alliance. She gave up on her firm creed. However, I didn’t want to see Barbatos make any sort of sacrifices.

“Huh? But…….”

“It doesn’t change the fact that the castle possesses the perfect environment to incubate a plague. We don’t have to go out of our way to use necromancy. Launching corpses at them every day should be more than enough to get a disease started.”

Barbatos tried to say something, but I ignored her and stood up.

I looked around at the other Demon Lords as I spoke respectfully.

“My dear comrades, more than two months have passed since we defeated the traitor, Baal, and the new Demon Lord Army was established. Although I may be lacking, I wish to make a declaration as someone who contributed to the creation of this new army. We must not force a Demon Lord to make personal sacrifices.”

I locked eyes with each and every Demon Lord one by one.

“Take Baal for example. He threw away an army of tens of thousands with no hesitation in order to realize his ambitions. Also, consider Agares. She betrayed her own kind because of her obsession. They were both sinners who sacrificed other Demon Lords for their own selfish desires. We are no different from their victims.”

“…….”

“If our newly created Demon Lord Army asks for the sacrifice of a specific Demon Lord for the sake of everyone’s desires, then I can only question how we would be any different from Baal.”

The Demon Lords stirred. Some of them were even nodding.

“The good of the whole should be the good of each individual person. Not the good of His Highness Vassago alone. Nor the good of Her Highness Gamigin alone. We will always aim for the good of the whole. Therefore, it should only be natural to refuse actions that do not benefit everyone.”

I paused for a moment before turning to Barbatos. She was looking at me with a blank gaze for some reason.

“Barbatos. We are strong.”

“…….”

“All of the factions are here today along with the Demon Lords with no affiliation. Let me make this clear once more. We are strong. Do you genuinely believe that your personal sacrifice would be the only way for us to obtain victory?”

“Uh……yeah…….”

I beamed brightly.

“There is absolutely no reason for you to shoulder everything alone. Trust in your allies.”

Barbatos gave a slight nod. She then lowered her head. Her lips moved, but she was so quiet that I couldn’t hear her. She was probably thanking me or something. Despite being so cheeky all the time, she’s awkward when it comes to showing gratitude.

“Deputy Commander, I support Corps Commander Barbatos’ proposal. We should gather the corpses of Brittan soldiers and launch them with catapults. This will undoubtedly start a plague, and, even if it doesn’t, it should lower the enemy’s morale greatly.”

“……There is no room for me to say anything.”

Laura smiled wryly.

“Very well, then. I will accept Commander Barbatos and Advisor Dantalian’s proposal. Gather the corpses of Brittan soldiers and launch them on catapults.”

After that day, our army tossed corpses into the castle every day.

Seeing your allies’ corpses falling from the sky was unquestionably horrifying. Even from a distance, we could tell the Brittan army was terrified. After about 15 days since we started to use the catapults, a disease finally began to spread in the castle.

Day by day, the Brittan army became more unwell. We deliberately carried out our sieges in the middle of the night. We called it a siege, but all we did was do hit and run tactics, forcing the enemy to undergo immense stress.

After about a month, the Brittan army was gradually facing its limit.

I’m fairly certain that a considerable number of their soldiers were already bedridden with typhoid fever. Their priests were probably working fervently, but that wasn’t going to last long. The Brittans would occasionally drop corpses from their walls. This meant that they were beginning to get casualties.

“Her Highness the Queen wishes to negotiate.”

In the end, the gate opened and an envoy came out.

We were laid-back as we received the envoy. Different from humans, demons are very resistant to diseases in general. We had some pop up here and there throughout our troops, but we immediately isolated them and prevented it from getting out of hand. In regard to being relaxed, the enemy couldn’t possibly compare to us.

Laura lifted her chin as she spoke.

“Negotiate? About what?”

“Her Highness the Queen wishes for an honorable surrender.”

Several of the seated Demon Lords let out a snort. It was obvious that they weren’t going to accept it. An honorable surrender would only be an option if the enemy possessed a castle that was difficult to capture and would be accepted in order to minimize our losses as much as possible. We currently had a huge advantage.

“Isn’t death the only path to honor for warriors?”

“If they were going to surrender, then they should’ve done it at Parisiorum. It’s preposterous that they’re trying to save their lives after all this time.”

“Tell your queen to come out the front gate herself! Well, I might even reconsider if she wears a nice dress.”

The Demon Lords laughed loudly. They weren’t showing even a speck of diplomatic courtesy. Sure enough, the messenger’s face became bright red. If it weren’t for their current situation, the messenger would’ve probably said all sorts of curse words by now.

“Now now, comrades. It is also true that the ruler of Brittany put on quite the desperate show for us.”

I waited for the right moment to speak up.

“Would it not be fine to give our enemy a little opportunity after how much effort they’ve put in? We are magnanimous, after all. Their queen might offer us something that suits our taste.”

“Hm. Dantalian, what are you suggesting we negotiate?”

Marbas stroked his beard.

I smiled.

“We can only decide after hearing from their queen personally. Everyone, I will personally enter the castle and negotiate with their queen. Please leave this matter to me.”

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