Chapter 688

The Eastern Border Lord, Ludwig Wilhelm von Landenburg.

The Empire’s barrier.

The guardian of Berengeiria.

The Empire’s man, who mercilessly severed the thin thread of peace, forcing Or-han to keep Ai-mel-ra at a distance.

Or-han bared his fangs, his eyes filled with killing intent as he surveyed his surroundings.

“What do you mean?” he growled in the Eastern language, his voice dripping with deep-seated malice. Ludwig swallowed dryly and barely managed to speak.

“It means it’s pointless to desperately search for a runaway traitor. As I said earlier, she’s not here.”

“…Do you think I’d believe that?”

Or-han swung his sword, blocking the three charging men, and shouted.

He didn’t believe Ludwig. The nonsense about Ha-shal-leur not being here was clearly a provocation to shake his resolve or a lie to lure him into a trap.

“Ha-shal-leur isn’t here? Ridiculous. Then how do you plan to stop me? Surely, you’re not relying on these fools.”

If Ha-shal-leur wasn’t here, as Ludwig claimed, there was only one fate awaiting the Imperial Army.

After meaningless resistance, they would be reduced to butchered meat, painting the city walls red. That was their destiny.

No matter what traps they prepared or how they fought, without Ha-shal-leur, the Imperial Army couldn’t stop Ai-shan. Unless they had twice the manpower, perhaps.

“Enough with the meaningless lies, Ludwig. If Ha-shal-leur isn’t here, where is she?”

Thus, Or-han denied the very possibility that Ha-shal-leur wasn’t here.

“Surely, you’re not suggesting she abandoned you all and fled?”

“Fled? Don’t be absurd. She simply stepped away for a duty more important than defending this place.”

“…And what could that be?”

Or-han raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

Leaving the last line of defense against Ai-shan’s advance for something more important? Nonsense. There was no duty more critical than defending this place now.

At least, Or-han thought so.

“Isn’t fulfilling filial duty the responsibility of a child?”

Before he could respond to the sarcasm-laden reply.

“What did you just say…?”

Confusion. Or-han instinctively questioned, sensing the mockery in the words “fulfilling filial duty.”

“She went east. To lay flowers at Ai-mel-ra’s grave and slaughter the enemies gathered there without interference. For her, isn’t that a thousand times more important than defending Dane and the Empire?”

Or-han couldn’t respond. He had no words to refute or deny.

He knew.

Since her exile, Ha-shal-leur had dedicated herself to defending the Empire, behaving like a model knight. But her hatred, though hidden, still burned fiercely within her.

The heat of her hatred hadn’t cooled; instead, it had festered into something too horrifying to face.

Yes. As an Imperial knight, she should have defended this place. But Ha-shal-leur, consumed by vengeance, would naturally seize the opportunity to strike Ordos while the main force was away.

Right now, Ordos had no one who could stop her, even briefly!

‘If that’s true, Ordos is…!’

The image of Ai-shan’s capital burning to ashes flashed through Or-han’s mind.

Could the forces left there hold out? No, it was impossible. His daughter, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur, was the most efficient mass murderer in the world.

Even Or-han himself couldn’t match her speed in slaughtering hordes of enemies in a one-on-one duel.

If she flew straight over the barrier to Ordos and unleashed her two sorceries, it wouldn’t take her two hours to slaughter everyone there.

And that wasn’t all. If she could reduce Ai-shan’s capital to ashes in just two hours… where would she go next, and what would she do?

Just imagining what she was capable of sent a chilling shiver down Or-han’s spine.

“So, what will you do now, Ai-shan Gi-or Or-han? Will you crush our resistance, break the Imperial legions, and charge across the border to the Empire’s capital? Do you have the confidence? Can you breach the triple walls of Exra-shapel before the Empire’s strongest sword burns the Great Plains to ashes?”

Ludwig sneered as he declared. You should be retreating to defend your homeland, not advancing on the Imperial Army.

“Ludwig, how dare you…!”

Or-han gnashed his teeth and roared at the sky.

Nine years ago, the helplessness of retreating after failing to break through the Empire’s human wave tactics once again tore at his heart.

‘There’s no proof his words are true. But if they are…!’

He had to retreat. Immediately.

To protect Ai-shan’s capital, believing Ha-shal-leur hadn’t yet reached Ordos.

…Or to prevent Ha-shal-leur, after burning Ordos, from slaughtering all Grassland People over thirty, as she had proclaimed.

His teeth ground together. Logically, he knew there was no time to waste here if Ludwig’s words were true.

But his emotions, like iron bars, blocked his reason, screaming for retreat.

Should he follow reason? Or emotion?

Or-han, torn and indecisive, howled like a starving beast.

—-

‘…Did it work?’

Ludwig gripped the windowsill, staring intently at Or-han in the distance. He didn’t even notice the magical cigarette crushed in his hand.

Though he confidently threatened that the Empire and Ai-shan would see who fell first, eighty percent of what he said was a lie.

A desperate bluff to make Ai-shan retreat. The only truth was that Ha-shal-leur wasn’t here.

She had left with Knut to subdue Dane’s capital and hadn’t returned yet.

‘Success or failure?’

With no news yet, Ludwig couldn’t know if Ha-shal-leur had succeeded in taking Edricksa. If he didn’t know, Or-han certainly wouldn’t either.

‘The Edricksa operation is top secret. Without knowing Ha-shal-leur’s whereabouts, Or-han can’t shake off the anxiety, even if he wants to deny my words.’

Or-han’s appearance was proof.

Torn between doubt and conflict, he reflexively swung his sword at the charging enemies. His lie had taken root.

‘He must be anxious. He has to be.’

Unconsciously, Ludwig clenched his teeth too. Or-han, torn between anxiety and obsession. The fate of the Imperial Army hinged on his decision.

‘So, please retreat. Believe your daughter is consumed by vengeance and retreat to protect your remaining kin and the Grassland People.’

Ludwig prayed, staring at Or-han, forgetting to breathe.

That Or-han wouldn’t see through his desperate lie. That his anxiety would outweigh his ambition and obsession.

Finally, Or-han raised his head and shouted.

“Warriors, listen!”

For a moment, Ludwig felt as if Or-han’s eyes had locked onto his, despite the vast distance between them.

“The Kagan of the Great Plains, Ai-shan Gi-or Or-han, commands you! Advance! Cross the moat, scale the walls, and slaughter every Imperial dog! The enemy who has blocked you for over a decade is before you! Fight without sparing your lives!”

Ludwig’s expression twisted. A sense of defeat, despair, and a dizzying fall gripped him.

His gamble had just failed.

“We will take this city within two hours!”

Or-han chose to fight.

Not because he saw through Ludwig’s lie, but because of his obsessive hatred, knowing he couldn’t retreat even if he wanted to.

“Uoooooh!”

The warriors’ war cries echoed in response. The Ai-shan warriors, waiting in the distance, spurred their horses forward.

The thunderous sound of hooves shook the earth.

“Draw your bows!”

The knights defending the walls raised their longswords, aiming at the charging barbarians. The odds were slim. No, nonexistent.

But they had to fight. The black-haired barbarians roaring towards them were savage killers who wouldn’t accept retreat or surrender.

“Fire!”

A rain of thousands of arrows blotted out the sun.