The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia Chapter 74

Bonus chapter from sponsored chapter.

Quite a long chapter~

The miraculous battle…

Enjoy~

Translator: Raizu
Editor: s.h.i.+rayuki

Chapter 74 – Battle of Heinz Part 2

The silence surrounding the fog-covered encampment was broken by the sound of horse hooves. As if already waiting, Ares, who sat behind his table, opened his eyes.

[Ares-sama, the preparations have been completed.]

On Ares' side was Sigurd, all decked out and ready for battle, merely waiting for Ares' command.

[Everything is as predicted by Ares-sama.]

[Well, it's the only path Grants forces could take… their capital will eventually fall if they don't do anything. That's why they'll surely dispatch their strongest troops here… it's just according to the art of war.]

Ares turned towards the direction from which the horse hooves sound came.

[To find the headquarters and even reaching this far… Come. If we go to His Majesty's side right now, we'll surely be able to see that rumoured man's face.]

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[Ooooooooo!]

Swinging his iron spear with a shout, he killed many soldiers around him.

Darius had opened an opportunity for the Grants Princ.i.p.ality to prevail.

Even if they give their all to defend Heinz, the 300,000 strong enemy will eventually overwhelm them. The only way to overturn their huge differences in number is to strike the enemy directly where it hurts in an ambush.

[Search for the Emperor! Search and kill him at all costs!]

Darius looked around with bloodshot eyes…and saw a man in golden armor standing atop a little hill, looking back at him. The man was surrounded by several men, all of which were finely dressed.

[That man… Emperor Sephiros!]

Someone wearing such an extravagant attire in such a place… and to be surrounded by that many aristocrats.
Clicking his tongue, Darius ran up the hill at once, screaming violently.

[Hiii!]

[Don't… Don't come over here!]

The aristocrats were both surprised and frightened by the sudden charge. But Darius didn't give a d.a.m.n about any of them, as he's focused only on Sephiros.

[He's targeting His Majesty… don't let him come closer!!]

The Royal Guard stood in front of Darius, creating a human wall. But that effort was in vain, as Darius tore them down with a single swing of his spear.

[H-His Majesty. Please leave this way!!]

[AS IF I'LL LET YOU!]

Darius approached Sephiros as he killed every guard standing in his way.

Sephiros kept giving instructions to the people around him. With his abundant battle experience throughout his lifetime, he did not seem phased at all. Staring back at Darius with an aura of a champion. The guards followed his order accordingly, moving in to protect the emperor.

However… at that point, the other aristocrats had chosen to flee.

Darius kept approaching through the wall created by the knights and guards. It's only a matter of time before he reached Sephiros. Just a bit more… But when most people thought so,

[Hold it right there, Lord Darius.]

Before Darius was a man in black armor riding a giant red horse.

The man in question… Sigurd was unnervingly calm… as he looked at Darius with a smile reminiscent of a wild beast.

[Move, cur! I have no interest in fighting you! Don't waste your life!]

Darius shouted, but Sigurd laughed in response.

[I'm afraid I can't… Lord Darius. I have been waiting for your arrival.]

After saying so, Sigurd unleashed his magic power. In lieu to that, his beloved steed Brad also neighed in a low voice.

[My name is Sigurd. Va.s.sal of Ares Schwarzer, the heir to the Archduke Schwarzer. En garde!]

[This feeling… very well. I'll entertain you for a bit!]

Darius said that because he could sense it in his skin. This man before him was different from any Arcadian he had encountered so far.

The overwhelming air of a powerful man.

Something Darius never felt before.
Seeing Sigurd unleash his magic power, Darius also ignited his fighting spirit and a.s.saulted forward.

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Darius thrust his iron spear with a huge momentum. But Sigurd antic.i.p.ated that attack calmly, repositioned his body so as to avoid the attack and at the same time also thrust his spear at a blinding speed.
Darius had to twist his neck away, and even then the spear still put a small scratch to his face.

It all happened in less than a second.

But the short exchange was enough for both sides to gauge each other's strength.Darius and Sigurd looked at each other calmly and smiled.

[Interesting… tis' really a wide world. To think a man of this caliber still exist.]

[This is also a delight for me. Finally someone who I have to fight seriously other than Ares-sama.]

[Hou… your lord? I'd want to meet that man as well. But…]

Darius sighed as he said so. At the same time, his body began glowing gold.

[…Magic power? No… Fighting Spirit?]

[Come, let's get started. I'll go all-out this time.]

Darius roared as he kicked the side of the bull he's riding. The bull took the cue and rushed towards Sigurd.

Sigurd remained calm. He urged Brad to do the same.

Darius's golden fighting spirit collided with Sigurd's blue magic power, producing a strong shockwave.

[Oooooooooohhhh!]

Darius swung his iron spear from above.

[Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

Sigurd met the attack head on, redirecting it deftly.
With Darius' posture broken, Sigurd thrust his spear towards his opponent's chest.

But Darius attempted to forcefully fix his posture while raising his iron spear back right away. Sigurd however did not relent and continued his attack.

[GAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

From his broken posture, Darius actually managed to recover and knocked Sigurd's spear away.

The ground was shaken by the shockwave…

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The exchange repeats itself over and over again.

Each time their [Magic Power] and [Fighting Spirit] clash, the ground would shake and the surrounding objects will be turned to dust.

The Arcadia soldiers and the Grants soldiers who couldn't catch up to Darius, thus arriving late to the scene, watched the duel quietly.

[Impossible… someone who can fight on par with Boss…]

Dirk who had been following Darius for a long time was perplexed by the sight before him.

He who dared to ridicule the demon lords and even marched alone through the ranks of the Northern Riders and the Aryans… That's the kind of man Darius is. So far, the number of warriors who could match him can be counted with two hands.

The two men's spears had clashed for more than 70 times, approaching 80.

[Sigurd, enough. Please retreat.]

Ares quietly spoke to Sigurd.

Hearing that order, Sigurd was surprised, but obeyed nonetheless.

[Kid, why do you intrude in our duel?]

As Sigurd hurriedly retreated, Darius who was still in a state of battle-induced frenzy couldn't help but stare daggers at Ares for pouring a bucket of cold water over it.

[It's unfortunate, but the Emperor has already retired from this place. It seems that you've partially achieved your goal, but failed at the last moment.]

Ares quietly continued on.

[Your initial goal is to bypa.s.s the 300,000 strong troops and penetrate deep into our camp. Your biggest goal is to take the head of the Emperor to effectively shut down the entire Arcadia Empire's invasion.]

Having said so, Ares drew out the 『Divine Sword Oldeus』of the 『Seven Heavenly Swords』

[His Majesty is no longer here and the Arcadia army has been ordered to temporarily retreat to regroup and reorganize. You've won this battle.]

He resumed.

[If you take His Majesty's life here, then Arcadia army will retreat, and you'll still be able to escape with your life intact… that's pretty much the best outcome for Grants… But I can't let you do that!]

At the end of his speech, Ares executed the『Oldeus』trademark move: the invisible slash.

Rus.h.i.+ng towards Darius with such speed that he became invisible to the naked eye, Ares slashed his sword.

Darius responded by swinging his iron spear with an equally frighteningly fast strike, meeting Ares' slash directly.

[It was a serious blow… but got easily blocked…]

Ares soon retreated to make some distance.

From the exchange just now, Darius realized that this young man before him is equal to the knight in black armor from earlier.

[I see… so you're the lord of that man?]

[I am. So, what will you do next? You know full well if you don't retreat now, Sigurd and I could just double up on you, right?]

Ares said as he unleashed his magic power.

Darius looked back at the soldiers behind him.

[Retreat!]

[Ha? Boss? But the enemy is but a boy…]

[You have no idea how frightening that 'boy' is. In one-on-one duel I would beat him, but if he and his va.s.sal come at me at the same time…]

Darius turned back to the front, this time with a smile on his face.

[Young man, your name?]

[Archduke Schwarzer's heir, Ares Schwarzer.]

[I'll remember you. Until next time, Ares-dono]

Then Darius kicked the flank of his bull ride, retreating from the scene

Ares turned to Sigurd while watching Darius as left.

[Haa, as you can see, he's not just a simple rough man he appears to be. Well then… let's go meet His Majesty again. It's about time our for vacation to come to an end, right?]

He laughed.

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The Battle of Heinz is often recorded in history books as one of the most memorable battles in the continent for the amazing feat of the Grants forces in repelling the ten times larger Arcadia Empire forces.
It can be said that the power of Grants Princ.i.p.ality became widely known to the world from this battle. At the same time, it's also regarded as the beginning of the Holy Arcadia Empire's decline.

Making a name for himself in this battle and carving it in history was one man.

Darius Grants

A historian once half jokingly said that the Battle of Heinz was actually about the 300,000 strong Arcadia army fighting against the lone Darius.

There is also one important thing to note in this Battle of Heinz. It was also the first meeting between Darius and the Hero Sovereign Ares.

The gears of time continued to turn slowly but surely.