Battle Race in the Fantasy World

Battle Race in the Fantasy World – 88

EP.88 It Was There, Now It’s Gone

Monsters. They’re not human. How can they be human?

Kyle shook his head as he approached his brother and sister.

Their blood-soaked appearance was chilling, but what was even scarier was the staff they held in their hands.

He feared they might say, ‘Hey, little brother. Go get the weight plates. We need to work on our upper bodies.’

Kyle shuddered at the thought of the weight plates that were conspicuously inside the carriage.

“What should we do, brother? If we leave them like this, they’ll disappear on their own.”

“Death is not a fitting punishment. Don’t you think so too?”

“Indeed. For such heinous acts, death is too peaceful an end.”

“….”

As he moved closer, he heard them discussing such a terrifying topic.

He considered just turning around and sitting quietly, but

he couldn’t just stand by while his bloodied family was in front of him.

“Brother. Sister.”

“Hey, little brother.”

“Kyle, you’re here? Did you see your sister fighting just now? It was like swoosh! And bam! And pow!”

Well, the only thing I remember is you smashing the final attack of these raiders with a staff.

Not a sword, not a spear, but a staff without the weight plates. Only these two would use it as a weapon.

Even though the people of Jonathan don’t completely avoid using weapons,

Kyle couldn’t understand why they insisted on using that.

‘…No, maybe it’s better than just punching with their bare hands.’

He recalled Baron Jonathan piercing through the tough hide of an ogre with just his index finger.

The hide was so tough that even his brother Leo had to exert considerable effort to tear it.

Their father could pierce through such a monster’s hide as if it were paper.

Perhaps the name ‘Dagon’ is short for ‘I’ll crush everything into a pulp.’

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

Meanwhile, Lea did something to Grusi and Bernadotte, who were lying on the ground.

She poked a few spots with her hands, and their eyes rolled back as they soon passed out.

“…You didn’t kill them, did you, sister?”

“Why would I kill them? They need to live and face the consequences and atone for their actions.”

“Then….”

“If we leave them like this, their bodies will collapse and they’ll die, Kyle. So, I severed most of their mana circuits. It was only possible because their bodies are relatively sturdy, otherwise, I couldn’t have done even that.”

It was the same method Kyle had used on those who attacked the academy before.

To put it simply, it was like cutting the fuse before an explosion.

The difference was that, unlike Kyle, who severed the nerves along with the circuits, Lea only cut the mana circuits without touching a single nerve.

“Why.”

Turning around, Mathieu was approaching, using his sword as a cane.

Barely managing to stand, he spoke in a voice filled with confusion.

“Why did you spare their lives?”

The opponents were clearly from an enemy nation, and they were formidable obstacles.

After fighting hard to subdue them, why save them? Mathieu couldn’t understand.

“Don’t worry. We’re really just sparing their lives.”

Lea erased any trace of contempt from her face and smiled again.

It was the Jonathan etiquette, shown because Mathieu had made the right choice and fought a splendid battle.

Even though they were enemies, showing respect to strong warriors remained unchanged.

“I severed all their mana circuits. Everything they had expanded and extended until now. In other words, these people lying here are now only slightly stronger than ordinary folks.”

“That’s….”

“It’s the price for their actions. For those who sought power through foolish means, they will face an outcome. It will be a miserable time, living in disgrace, unable to forget the past.”

Lea said this with a smile. A very bright, very beautiful smile.

Mathieu felt a great fear of Lea and her smile, as if a dragon had opened its jaws wide and was making a ferocious sound right in front of him.

“Of course, it’s not only despair that remains.”

At this point, Leo interjected smoothly, seemingly worried Lea might be misunderstood.

“We’ve cut off the path, but with painful effort, it can be reconnected. A broken body can be regained through training. Of course, their own effort is most important, but at least it won’t betray them. That’s the price and responsibility we leave them with.”

Having said that, Leo slowly turned his head.

He could sense the alliance’s large forces in disarray in the distance.

It seemed they were only now beginning to grasp the outcome of this battle.

Some are confused, others are angry, and some are in despair.

Then, a slight commotion begins in one place.

“It looks like they’re about to use that drug too.”

With an extremely cold voice, Leo said this.

Though they were covered in blood from various injuries, none were fatal.

Instead, the red bloodstains made them look more frightening than ever.

“I’ll make the offer again. The strong of the alliance, the Three Heroes. Convey our intentions… ahem. The Empire’s intentions, and stop the current engagement. If you don’t raise your voice, if they are about to use that drug like these men and bring about irreversible consequences….”

Crack!-

He thrust the staff into the ground, and it split the earth with a solid sound.

The long staff was buried so deep that nearly half of it disappeared.

No further words were needed. A single display of physical force said it all.

“Brother.”

If they pushed any further, Mathieu, who was barely holding on, might faint.

So Kyle cautiously approached Leo and offered his opinion.

“I think Sir Mathieu has understood enough by now.”

“…Is the youngest right?”

Leo took a step back, using honorifics instead of threats.

Thanks to this, Mathieu, who had been overwhelmed by the pressure, managed to nod.

“I can’t give you much time. I told the Imperial Army to wait for just one hour. If no messenger or anything is sent before then….”

You know what will happen, right? Lea said with a sly smile.

At that smile, Mathieu had to nod frantically once again.

These were people who subdued powerful warriors, enhanced by mana boosters and berserk potions, with just a staff.

There was no time to complain about the conditions being too harsh or the time being too short.

‘I must persuade them no matter what. Even if it means subduing the hardliners!’

The hardliners had been pushing the idea of inflicting fatal damage on the Empire, so that even if the alliance lost, the Empire would be left reeling.

They argued that this would cause dissent within the Empire and create cracks.

Many had been swayed by this logic, leading to the current situation.

But now, seeing the reality, he realized how unrealistic that idea was.

‘The Emperor of the Empire has people like them. Fatal damage? The alliance itself would be completely erased from this land by those three! It’s not just people who would die. These are individuals who could literally erase everything that exists on the ground from this world forever!!’

This wasn’t a betrayal of the alliance or submission to the Empire.

It was simply choosing the only viable path for survival.

Fighting and resisting should be done with a clear understanding of the opponent.

It’s brave to fight when orcs invade, but would you fight if a dragon invaded?

No. When such a being comes, running away is the wise and obvious thing to do.

“One hour. Within that time, I will pull everyone back. So please wait.”

Despite his body not being in normal condition from the fight with Kyle, Mathieu hurriedly moved.

“Sir Mathieu!”

As he finally approached the main forces of the alliance, the high command greeted him.

Questions about the whereabouts of the two Three Heroes flew at him, but Mathieu ignored them thoroughly.

That wasn’t the important issue right now. There was a far more pressing matter.

“We must immediately pull back the troops and convey our unconditional surrender to the Empire.”

“What?”

“What kind of nonsense is that! Surrender to the Empire?”

“I’d rather die fighting! Even if I die, I’ll take at least one of those Imperial scum with me!”

The voices of the hardliners were always louder than those of the moderates.

Even though there were a few moderates among the high command, all that could be heard were the hardliners’ voices.

They were all saying that they could never surrender, that they would fight the Empire to the end.

Listening to such nonsense made Mathieu’s head throb.

Two of the Three Heroes had been captured by the enemy, and one had been brutally defeated to the point of being in such a state.

Even after using mana boosters and going berserk, they were thoroughly defeated.

How could they still be talking about fighting?

“If we want to survive, we must bow here. The Imperial Army isn’t the problem, everyone.”

“I’ve told you! There will be no surrender to the Empire! We will die fighting!”

“Fine, let’s say you’re willing to die. What about the others? Are you planning to push over fifty thousand people into a slaughterhouse?”

“The Empire will also have to bear significant losses! We have this!”

One of the high command members said this while pulling out a mana berserk potion, not even a stabilized booster.

Seeing this, Mathieu felt a surge of immense disgust and anger that he could no longer contain.

Even after going berserk, the Three Heroes were defeated. Would the outcome be any different for these fools?

Swish-.

With the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, the high command member’s wrist was severed.

“Arghhh!!”

“Sir Mathieu! What are you doing!!”

In the sudden chaos, the high command members were at a loss.

For the first time, Mathieu, enraged, shouted at them.

“You foolish humans! Can’t you see? All the Three Heroes have been defeated! Two of them lost even after using mana boosters and going berserk! The Imperial Army isn’t the problem right now! There are three giant monsters up ahead that no human can contend with!! And you want to fight? You think you can resist because you have that?! You idiots!! Those monsters came here because of that!! They could snap your necks with a single finger!”

Mathieu Philibert, the most gentle, rational, and polite of the Three Heroes.

This was the first time he had ever spewed such profanities and roared in fury.