Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 601

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 600
Fire. Weapons and Shields
An unprecedented tension hung over Purpato. The fall of Agiar had drawn the boundary between life and death perilously close.
The residents of Purpato, regardless of age or gender, lined the city walls in full armor. Young children carried piles of stones and sandbags, while women slung quivers across their backs and took their positions atop the ramparts.
“I see them!”
“Bariel scouts!”
It was as expected. Calculating the distance from Agiar to Purpato, I knew they would arrive around this time.
When the Bariel scout riders approached the city walls, circled once, and departed, the residents pressed their palms together and gently tapped each other’s foreheads—a final farewell from those prepared to face death.
“Now, let us begin!”
“Yes, Raudan!”
Raudan. Originally the Captain of the Guard of Purpato, he now served as the Commander overseeing the city’s defense.
At his gesture, the gates of Purpato swung open to both sides, and a dozen young men spurred their horses forward in a swift gallop.
Neigh!
Clatter!
Purpato’s defensive forces could never withstand Bariel’s tens of thousands. Moreover, the enemy had mages, Mage Knights, and sorcerers at the forefront. The disparity in power was absolute.
Raudan did not deny this. It was the correct approach to battle—acknowledge what must be acknowledged. Yet despite this, there was only one reason they would defend Purpato.
‘Inflict maximum casualties upon Bariel’s forces.’
In Kalamatt, Royalist forces were entrenched. Among them would be those capable of confronting mages. So even in death, I would not go quietly—if I must fall, I would take at least one Bariel Soldier with me.
The residents of Purpato fastened their meager excuses for armor and watched the riders disappear into the distance.
“Come now, hurry!”
“Yes, Raudan!”
Tap-tap-tap!
Neigh!
They had decided to use the terrain to their advantage. Against Bariel, all they could muster was this homeland they had called their own for decades.
The young men on horseback climbed the hillside and set down barrels of oil one by one.
“This is our first defensive line! Check the spacing one last time!”
“All clear! Once the signal comes, we’ll roll them down and return. Though I’m uncertain if it will be effective against the mages.”
“We’re not trying to win with this! The purpose is to funnel them to the right!”
When the oil barrels rolled down the hillside and caught fire, great flames would engulf the slope—a natural defensive barrier, scorching and intense.
The mages could fly, perhaps, but ordinary soldiers could not push through the inferno. They would naturally be forced along the side path—a shortcut the people of Purpato knew well, a narrow gorge deep and high-walled.
“Are we ready?”
“Yes! The moment we release the lever, it will fall!”
When they came, a massive boulder would be released. Casualties were welcome, but the priority was ‘dividing their forces.’ If the rockslide split Bariel’s army in two, the survivors ahead would receive poisoned arrows, while those retreating behind would meet steel.
Raudan, his expression tense, made one final inspection of the surroundings.
Whistle—
Whistle—
When the signal came that Bariel’s forces were approaching, they all faced each other and placed their final cigarettes between their lips.
“See you in death.”
“Let us meet in death.”
“May it not be too painful.”
“Spending time with those Bariel bastards will make you forget all about the pain.”
Pat. A light tap on the shoulder, and the whistle sounded again. A signal that the Bariel forces would be upon them any moment. The Purpato residents pressed their bodies flat against the ground and held their breath.
Boom! Boom!
The earth trembled with the vibration. Tens of thousands of soldiers came rushing into view. Then, from far away, a single Burgos flag rose high, and they pushed the oil barrels they had prepared beforehand down the slope with their bodies.
“Even numbers first!”
“Even numbers, going!”
“If it breaks at the bottom, odd numbers go!”
“Aaaahhh!”
As something rolled down from the distant hillside, the Bariel vanguard stopped cautiously. The first barrel they released bounced and tumbled over the rocks, then shattered completely, drenching the dry grass with oil.
Crash!
“Prepare fire arrows!”
“Ready!”
“Fire!”
Whoosh! Ping!
Whoooosh!
With oil covering everything around them, the flames erupted in an instant. As the hillside began to blaze fiercely, the young men mounted their horses and retreated toward the fortress in one swift motion.
Now only the canyon remained.
“The flames are rising! They’ll be here soon!”
“Stand by!”
The hearts of those holding the levers pounded heavily. But as time passed, no sign of the Bariel soldiers appeared. The flames still rose as if they would set the sky ablaze. Surely they wouldn’t just stand there.
As they looked around sensing something amiss, they spotted a figure floating in the air.
“Gasp!”
A Mage.
That Mage they’d only heard rumors about!
“Yes, Ian. As expected, there’s a trap. They’re planning to drop boulders. What should we do? Should I handle this side?”
Zing! Zing!
Tomi transmitted his voice through magical power and glanced back. The flames were burning fiercely, but this level could be suppressed with magic easily enough. It was just a bit bothersome.
“I’ll handle that side. The slope here is steep and slick with oil, so climbing won’t be easy. And above all, the smoke is far too thick.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
Tomi noticed the Purpato residents aiming arrows at the sky. Their stance was quite accurate, and the strength with which they drew the bowstring was solid.
Whoosh!
As the arrow flew, Tomi deployed a protective barrier and dove sharply toward them. Under strict orders not to kill the Purpato residents, there was little he could do.
Zing! Zing!
Boom!
He fixed the boulder with magical power and shattered it. Tomi expanded the protective barrier’s range so no one else would be hurt, and reduced the massive rock to fragments.
“…!”
The Purpato residents who witnessed this scene were left speechless and frozen. Could a single Mage possess such power?
They had heard the stories, but this was an ability far beyond what any ordinary soldier could contend with. No matter if they fired flaming arrows or rolled stones, they could never win against such beings. Even though they had resigned themselves to defeat rather than victory from the start, an undeniable sense of helplessness washed over them.
‘We’re going to die.’
Unaware that Tomi had deployed a protective barrier, they squeezed their eyes shut and waited for death.
But what came back was halting Burgosian speech.
“Purpato? I wish to meet your commander.”
“What, what did you say?”
“Bariel does not wish to fight you. Return to your fortress and deliver this message. Let us resolve this through dialogue, peacefully and amicably.”
And with that, he turned his back without hesitation?
The people of Purpato watched in stunned silence as he departed, then scrambled backward into their saddles. They needed to urgently relay the mage’s destructive power and Bariel’s intentions to their superiors.
“Quickly! Hurry!”
Tomi watched their retreat from the sky and signaled to the main force waiting below, indicating that the passage had been secured.
Mooooo—
Mooo!
It didn’t take long for the unfamiliar buffalo horns to sound. The Bariel forces, having circled around the gorge to approach Purpato’s fortress, looked up at the Purpato women on the ramparts who stood with arrows nocked and ready. Tweller stepped forward before them.
“I am Maxim Tweller, Minister of Imperial Defense for the Great Empire of Bariel! Our destination is not Purpato, but Kalamatt. If you would simply open your gates, there need be no armed conflict whatsoever. This is the will of His Majesty the Emperor, so you may trust it.”
Raudan appeared. He quickly sought to determine where the Emperor was positioned. That large carriage far away in the center of the Bariel encampment? It was an unreachable distance.
“My name is Raudan. I am the Commander of Purpato. Does Bariel now urge us to abandon our homeland? Just as you love Bariel, we too love Burgos. I cannot open the gates.”
Purpato’s position was firm—until those who had witnessed the mages’ power with their own eyes began to speak.
“With one hand, he shattered boulders. He flies through the heavens as well. Commander Raudan, would it not be wise to open the gates first and consider our options later? If the main Bariel force advances southward, we might seize the opportunity to reclaim Agiar.”
“The Emperor has given his word. He will surely honor his promise.”
“Absolutely not! I would rather ask for death! Opening the gates is the same as abandoning our homeland. What meaning would there be in surviving?”
“Yes, let us fight! We have already resolved ourselves to death!”
Raudan remained unmoved even as he listened to his subordinates’ interjections from behind.
When no movement came from within Purpato, the mages whispered to Ian.
“Ian. What if we show them the branch?”
“Yes, whether it’s a native god or something, if we tell them a deer opened the path for us, it might make things easier. Their resolve is quite strong.”
“It won’t be easy. Wait? Minister Tweller is looking this way.”
Tweller also sent an inquiring gaze toward Ian. Ian considered for a moment, then shook his head.
“No, regarding the terms of our agreement with the deer, it’s best to remain silent ‘for now.'”
“Pardon? Why is that?”
“As everyone has sensed, their resolve is considerable—and that’s the variable. For those who wish to die, it can become a weapon.”
At Ian’s murmur, the mages let out small exclamations of admiration.
Tweller seemed to share the same opinion, and did not hastily mention the ‘forest’ or the ‘deer.’ He simply held his position and waited for opinions within Purpato to diverge. If their stance remained unchanged as time passed, then they would implement the next strategy.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Then, a strange cry echoed from afar. As if demanding attention. A middle-aged man was on horseback, shouting with all the strength in his voice.
“Bariel cannot harm Purpato!”
“…Who is that fellow?”
“Bariel cannot harm Purpato! It was sworn in the Purpato forest!”
“He appears to be the son of the elder we brought earlier.”
“Ah yes, he looks just like him. But we sent that elder back home, didn’t we? We even gave him meat and treated him with great respect.”
“It seems he spoke of it right away.”
“He repaid kindness with enmity. How beautiful.”
While the mages clicked their tongues, soldiers under Tweller’s command rushed forward to stop the man.
But Iza was ultimately Purpato, and killing him was out of the question. I settled for knocking him from his horse using the shaft of my spear. As long as he drew breath, a broken bone or two hardly mattered.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Mato, from the outskirts!”
“The Purpato Forest appeared? Truly?”
“Raudan, what should we do? If they’ve passed through the Purpato Forest, they are those who received permission. Perhaps we should open the gates after all….”
“No! We haven’t determined whether they received permission or if they destroyed the Purpato Forest to pass through!”
I traced my fingertips along a twig, attempting to gauge the atmosphere within the fortress. It was difficult given how high and distant it was, but I sensed something nonetheless and issued orders to the Mages.
“…Expand the protective barrier widely.”
If I was not to kill the Purpato, the Bariel Soldiers must not die either.
The moment I gave that command—
Raudan drew his sword simultaneously.
Shing!
“Whether they truly cannot kill Purpato or not, we can verify directly. If it’s true, we gain an enormous shield. All forces, attack!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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