# Chapter 53
Meanwhile, Raziel’s side, with their vision obscured by the smoke, surrounded their emperor to protect him. One of Raziel’s guard knights approached him and carefully asked.
“Should we pursue them?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Raziel felt the presence of Grand Duke Ion Verdit and whoever had come to rescue him completely disappear before finally heading toward the forest exit. The surrounding soldiers, mindful of the possibility of an ambush, refused to let go of their weapon handles in case something happened. They only relaxed their vigilance after escorting Raziel completely out of the Black Forest.
“Don’t we need to kill him?”
Levi, who was by Raziel’s side, kept looking back at the forest with concern. He still felt as if arrows might suddenly fly from somewhere to attack Raziel, or that Ion might suddenly appear and slash his back with a sword.
Raziel said it was fine and stroked Levi’s head to reassure him. He had known this even before meeting Levi directly, but sure enough, Levi quickly relaxed and felt at ease when touched gently.
‘The Former Empress and that boy have tamed him well.’
Thanks to that, Levi easily relied on and was swayed by even such small gestures.
There had been something he was worried about.
What if Levi remembered that boy’s touch and was swayed in his direction?
‘No need to worry about that anymore.’
Raziel couldn’t forget the chilling killing intent he had just seen from Levi. Seeing that the sharp edge of that killing intent was definitely directed at Ion was more than sufficient—an overflowing harvest.
From the moment they left the imperial palace, he knew their movements would be reported to the enemy emperor and Grand Duke Verdit. “That person’s” information was reliable.
That’s why he deliberately made sure the carriage and attire didn’t look royal, and even the minimal guard knights traveling with them were disguised as ordinary soldiers. The guards at the city gate and those conducting inspections were convinced by the group’s appearance and authentic merchant passes, never imagining the emperor would be among them.
When the emperor moves, those who have information about it inevitably become more cautious. They might not act despite a good opportunity, or they might bring in a large army to suddenly try to take control of the Black Forest, so he put as much effort as possible into appearances.
As expected, Ion saw it simply as an opportunity to take Levi back and moved personally.
Although soldiers were guarding the Black Forest, he would have had to sneak in somewhere other than the forest entrance anyway. When moving covertly, the more people there are, the longer it takes to move, and the higher the probability of being discovered.
From Ion’s perspective, he would have planned to enter the Black Forest with a minimal number of people and kill everyone around Levi. Even though there were not a few soldiers guarding outside the Black Forest, it was hard to believe that they would all move together abandoning their posts.
So he moved alone for secrecy, but in fact, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had some reinforcements.
Levi would become a shield of his own accord, and Ion would never be able to hurt him. Even if he himself were to die by his hand.
Raziel had no intention of killing Ion from the beginning.
He instructed the guard knights who had been positioned stealthily in the Black Forest with bows to kill the two soldiers who would become sacrificial lambs and to threaten only himself and Levi, but never to attack the enemy nation’s Grand Duke.
As a result, Levi, recalling the assassination attempt from a few days ago, mistook the archers as Ion’s allies and became genuinely angry.
Indeed, Ion Verdit is the “enemy.”
The firm hostility implanted in Levi was quite satisfactory.
Though Levi hadn’t noticed, his heart, led by the instinct embedded in his core, kept trying to look at Ion.
When pure feelings toward someone gradually become tainted with betrayal, they typically turn into emotions even more intense than affection. That’s why he wanted to ensure Ion was kept alive and sent back intact, rather than killing him.
‘That way, Levi will move for my sake.’
His “brother” would become an excellent sword and shield for his sibling.
Raziel led Levi by the hand toward the carriage that would return to the imperial palace. Under his mask, a small, invisible smile appeared as he caressed the black hand that had obediently allowed itself to be held.
❖ ❖ ❖
Until now, the “war” between the Caron Empire and the Delos Empire was just a menacing word, nothing more than a formality to maintain their respective tensions and appropriate boundaries. In the three years, they hadn’t engaged in a single battle where they clashed weapons, so even to other countries, their state of war lacked a sense of reality.
For that reason, many believed this near-ceasefire state would continue. Not a few suggested that they might naturally arrive at an armistice at some point.
About three months after the end of the continental summit.
As if mocking their expectations, the previously quiet Delos Empire broke the long silence first.
A mere 5,000 soldiers—too few for a first battle.
Leading them was the unique Grand Duke of the Delos Empire and the only blood relation of Emperor Tis, Ion Verdit.
There were rumors that his martial prowess was as great as any renowned general on the continent, but more than that, he was famous as the “miracle saint” who could instantly heal injured people just by touching them. Naturally, most people assumed that even if he went to war, he would remain in the rear to support the soldiers.
However, contrary to expectations, Grand Duke Verdit boldly stood at the vanguard, wearing dazzlingly white armor.
Surprising as that was, the place Grand Duke Verdit led his troops to was the most useless, desert-like wasteland of the Caron Empire.
Strangely, there were more garrison troops at that border than in other regions of the Caron Empire, numbering 50,000. Despite obviously knowing that the number of garrison troops was considerable even by rough estimation, Grand Duke Verdit headed there without further thought.
The Caron Empire’s garrison troops, preparing for battle, laughed heartily at Grand Duke Verdit’s army.
To think they would face 50,000 with just 5,000 soldiers.
A smart general would have retreated early upon learning the number of garrison troops or would have organized a separate unit to devise an ambush method. The place chosen for the first battle was also full of empty spaces unsuitable for ambushes, making them look all the more foolish.
The 5,000-strong army had faced considerable opposition not only from the Caron Empire but also within the Delos Empire.
Since gaining the upper hand in the first battle was important, leading a large army into battle was the norm, but Grand Duke Verdit headed toward the enemy’s not-so-important territory with only 5,000 soldiers he had personally selected.
It was an incomprehensible eccentricity. Not only throwing away 5,000 soldiers like old rags but also seemingly wanting to become a prisoner himself, giving the enemy an advantageous negotiation card.
Despite being an emperor who should know better, he suppressed everyone’s opposition and encouraged Grand Duke Verdit’s departure for battle.
“Everyone, just trust and wait. It’s an undertaking led by the great Grand Duke Verdit.”
The nobles who heard Tis’s smiling words were all inwardly busy suppressing their frustration, saying that both the emperor and the Grand Duke had jointly lost their minds. If they were to lose so feebly, not only would all countries on the continent point fingers, but perhaps even small nations might consider war with the empire, thinking it laughable.
The first battle, with many people’s attention and anxiety focused on it.
The result seemed certain to go to the Caron Empire’s victory.
❖ ❖ ❖
“In-insane…”
A knight wearing the Caron Empire’s distinctive black armor backed away, holding a broken sword. He couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.
The numerical advantage was clear.
Ten times the soldiers, ten commanders with high martial prowess, and Count Abet, the veteran commander leading them.
It was a battle they absolutely couldn’t lose. It was obvious they would win when 50,000 and 5,000 armies fought on an open field.
But the result was clearly different.
“…!”
The retreating soldier suddenly widened his eyes.
His body trembled once, and then his head suddenly fell forward.
The knight’s head, severed from behind, rolled on the ground, and blood gushing from the cut surface pooled on the ground. Soon, the headless corpse with bent knees collapsed onto the pool of blood with a splash.
The man in silver armor who had beheaded the Caron Empire knight looked around. When the battle began, the silver-armored army was much fewer in number, but now not many of the black-armored knights and soldiers who had been ten times more numerous remained standing. Meanwhile, those in silver armor tirelessly ran around, mercilessly cutting down the enemy’s necks again and again.
The silver-armored man looked down at his left hand. Due to the harsh battle, the glove on the inside of the hand holding the sword was torn, clearly revealing his palm.
An indelible golden pattern was engraved on that palm.
The man, who had been staring at the pattern as if entranced, then looked at his lord in the distance.
A man wearing a helmet with long red tassels that looked as if dipped in blood.
He, with his snow-white armor splattered with vivid blood, was capturing the leader of the enemy, a man in a black cloak indicating he was the head commander, cutting off his arm. Then he thrust his sword into one of the enemy commander’s thighs to prevent him from escaping.
The knight, watching his lord capture Count Abet, the Caron Empire’s commander, as a prisoner, felt the pain in his side that had been throbbing disappear and looked down at it.
The large wound he had suffered when his armor was shattered by an enemy’s sword had vanished without a trace.
The result of the first battle between the Caron Empire and the Delos Empire was extreme.
While the Caron Empire’s death toll was 48,255, surprisingly, the Delos Empire had zero casualties. The first battle, showing an astonishing difference, caused tremendous tension among all countries on the continent.
The 5,000 soldiers led by Ion Verdit, the Grand Duke called the saint, were truly an “Immortal Army.”
