Magic Gems Gourmet Chapter 188

Chapter 188

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 188 – They Just Have to Move Forward

“…Eh?!”

The sudden flash of light claimed the lives of many of Heim’s soldiers.

As the dazzling light faded, the s.h.i.+eld troops and spear troops positioned behind them were reduced to silent, motionless ma.s.ses.

As they slowly collapsed to the ground, red liquid flowed from their bodies.

“Hey, what was that…?”

Before they could panic, Heim’s soldiers could only utter a few words in a situation where they had no idea what was going on.

Many of them looked at the faces of the soldiers standing next to them or shook their heads in vain, trying to get a better idea of what was going on around them.

“Were we attacked?”

“Attacked? By that thing? Sure, the vanguard collapsed, but…!”

What just happened was that something shone, and the next moment, the soldiers in the vanguard collapsed.

It was hard to understand what happened.

With the loss of Ricardo, who was the commander of this place, the confusion spread as no orders were given.

Even though Heim was caught in the vortex of confusion, the white knights did not stop their momentum.

Fuh…! Ha…!

However, instead of worrying about Heim’s confusion, the white knights advanced as if to mock them.

As the giant crossbow slowly advanced, the sound of the spears. .h.i.tting the bottom of the s.h.i.+eld resounded again.

Now that the one who commanded the soldiers was gone.

Even the vice-commander, who was present to some extent, could not make themselves heard with a quick shout.

The vanguard… and it had not even been a minute since Ricardo fell to the ground.

“Hyiii――!”

“H-hey! They’re coming… they’re coming!?”

He shoved the soldier behind him and began to retreat from the front.

The sight and power of the white knights, who had become a single ent.i.ty, felt more powerful than they appeared.

They were the predators. They were absolute beings. They had been in this position and thought this way, but now they were immersed in the emotions of the small animals being preyed upon.

“What do you want us to do? Hey!”

Screams began to rise from countless places.

They screamed and shouted like lost children who didn’t know what to do.

“Retreat… retreat! With the safety of the General unknown, it’s not good to stay here!”

Finally, one knight raised his voice.

He screamed like a baby and then blew his whistle to give instructions and signals to everyone.

The fact that the sun was setting and it was getting dark added to their fear.

Then, like children afraid of the dark, the soldiers of Heim began to retreat one by one.

This was strange. They were just waiting for their victory a few minutes ago, so how did this happen?

Many of the soldiers, thinking about this, gasped for breath and ran to save themselves.

＊＊＊

“Lloyd-sama, it seems the retreat has begun.”

“Look closely. These are the figures of the foot soldiers who have lost their commander. Even if I lose my life, you must remember to carry out the predetermined plan.”

“…Ha.”

The Ishtalika forces advanced with their crossbows as Heim finally began to retreat.

As Lloyd responded to the Royal Knight’s words, he remembered the man from Heim who approached them earlier.

“By the way, that man’s change of heart was amazing.”

“Yes. I never thought he’d run away when he heard the word Ishtalika. I thought he’d be a bit more suspicious.”

“It must be the effect of the recent meeting. The people of Heim must be firmly convinced of their fear of us.”

Lloyd lets out a voice of dismay.

‘Fuh…!

‘Ha…!’

Then Lloyd couldn’t help but shudder at the power of the Ishtalika he could hear all around him.

“It’s always a good sound to hear. Even makes my blood boil.”

With a shout, the sound of the spears. .h.i.tting the ground reverberated.

It was as if to say that they were the strongest, and it also served to inspire the Ishtalika knights themselves.

“Your Excellency, there is a soldier who is still breathing!”

The Ishtalika army, which was slowly advancing, finally arrived at the location of Heim’s group, which had just received the blow.

The unfortunate Heim soldiers who had survived were stifling their bodies in pain. Although they would still lose their lives, the time they wasted in suffering had increased.

“Cut them down.

As expected, their lives are not saved.

Lloyd gave the signal to cut them down with a single word, and the knight who heard his voice immediately took the life of the fallen soldier.

“It seems a bit sad that they can’t die from being hit by a bursting crossbow.”

The Royal Knight let out a sigh and then turned his attention to the huge crossbow being carried in.

“Hmm. Even though countermeasures have been established, I can’t imagine that such technology exists in Heim. As for the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive, we should give them special help.”

They should be given at least that much. This was a measure to prevent them from making a final struggle.

“It’s a bombardment that condenses the energy inside the magic stone, processes it like a lead bullet, and then releases it, eventually causing it to explode into tiny pieces. I don’t even want to think about taking something like that into my body.”

“There is no need to be so afraid. If you hurry back to the battles.h.i.+p, you might be able to save your life.”

“It’s not a guarantee. I don’t plan to take it.”

Lloyd and the Royal Knight made light of the situation.

Then, they saw a few more bodies lying in front of them.

The two continued on without paying any attention to them, but suddenly, Lloyd noticed a survivor.

“Is that…”

“L-Lloyd-sama? What happened?”

“…I’ve seen his face before. Looks like he’s still alive.”

Lloyd signaled to the horse and sped up a bit, approaching the survivor.

A well-dressed knight was breathing deeply and erratically, a huge lance at his side.

His blood spattered the ground, and he was already like a candle in the wind.

As Lloyd advanced with the sound of his hooves, he turned his head to look up.

“Hah… hah… ahh…!

Confirming Lloyd’s figure, he opened his eyes wide and furrowed his brow.

Even though it was already painful to move his body, he forced himself to pull his hand and turn to face Lloyd.

He would probably feel a sharp pain if he did. Lloyd looked at him with a complicated expression.

“…Y-you…!”

“I see. I thought you looked familiar. Was it at the meeting?”

Yes. Lloyd recognized him.

The man crawling on the ground was the man who had stood behind Ralph on the day of the meeting between Ishtalika and Heim.

“As I recall, his name was Ricardo… Viscount Ricardo Lance, I think. That’s what it said in the doc.u.ments I received from Warren-dono.”

Lloyd remembered what he had learned during the meeting and looked down at him with a condescending look.

At the same time, he realized one thing that was a disappointment.

“I thought Logas was the commander here, but I’m disappointed. If that man had died, our morale would have been at its highest. So that means Logas didn’t come to Rockdam… Hmm.”

Without so much as a t.i.tle of respect, Lloyd muttered disappointedly.

As Lloyd muttered, Ricardo felt irritation at his voice in his dazed consciousness.

But there was nothing he could do. All he could do was wait to die.

“I have the commander’s head. If that was the first blow, it’s not a bad result. Don’t hold a grudge.”

After saying these words, Lloyd got off his horse and pulled a dagger from his waist.

There was no special meaning to it, but knowing his face, he decided to finish him off himself.

“There’s no guarantee you’ll live. I’ll be the one to finish you.”

The battle was already over. Therefore, it is the spirit of a knight to deliver the final blow.

And so, just as Lloyd was about to slit his throat with the dagger, Ricardo leaned close to his ear and whispered.

“Fuh… Hah… Ah… The… dried-up… dog…!”

Ricardo managed to spit the words out with all his hatred.

Lloyd was a little speechless when he heard this, but he soon spoke to Ricardo.

“Oh, you’ve got some nerve talking to me like that. Then I’ll give you a special reward.”

At that moment, Lloyd’s arm stopped moving.

He understood the meaning of Ricardo’s words. In an instant, Lloyd retracted the words he had just spoken.

“I have no intention of bothering you by pouring a healing potion on you. However, there is no longer any need for my sword to strike you. Rejoice; you can live a little longer.”

With eyes as cold as ice, he managed to suppress his anger and turned to his horse.

Why did he stop the sword? The royal knight who had been watching Lloyd looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Lloyd returned immediately and mounted his horse, but after saying just one word, “Go on,” he fell silent.

Meanwhile, Ricardo felt a mixture of satisfaction at having said what he had to say and a fear and impatience that made his brain feel like it was about to boil over as he realized his ordeal was far from over.

“…O-oi…!”

Actually, he had hoped that Lloyd would finish him off by speaking out.

But his hopes were dashed, and he stared at Lloyd with glazed eyes as he walked away.

Because Lloyd didn’t finish him off, the knights of Ishtalika continued to advance without touching Ricardo in particular.

“Lloyd-sama? If you are unhappy with something, we will finish him off…”

“No need. It seems he does not need saving.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I do not want to talk about it. However, that man insulted Ain-sama.”

How foolish.

The Royal Knight put his hand to his forehead and nodded in agreement, but he also showed his displeasure.

“Then shall we take him back and keep him alive? If we consider the possibility that he might have information…”

“Don’t do it. We’ll be tainted as well. Besides, even on the verge of death, he’s still talking back. There’s nothing more we can squeeze out of him. Besides, he won’t recover enough to talk properly.”

Lloyd looked like he was going to get sick and made a face that showed he really didn’t like it.

“Haha… we won’t be able to go back to Ishtalika.”

“That’s right.”

…And so, after the Ishtalikan army overwhelmed the enemy in the first day’s battle, they secured a campsite after traveling for two hours.

After sending some knights back to Rockdam, they went to the battles.h.i.+p and reported back to Ishtalika. The victory report, sent by a special bird, would soon reach Ishtalika.

When the commander of Rockdam, Randoll, was informed of today’s battle results, the people of Rockdam naturally felt as if they had been brought back to life.

They had been waiting to be destroyed, but the army of Ishtalika suddenly appeared and felt like nothing less than a divine presence to the people of Rockdam.

The Ishtalika Knights, who had won the first battle with a resounding victory, also celebrated a bit after setting up camp.

At the camp, they enjoyed a meal prepared with rare, fresh ingredients and then took turns resting for the night in preparation for the next battle.

From now on, after driving Heim out of the Rockdam region, the next battles would be the one to Birdland and the one from Birdland to Heim.

There were things to consider regarding Heim’s occupation of Euro along the way, but for now, the first priority was to focus on the battle to reach Birdland… which was in the center of the continent.

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