The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 797

Episode 797: Persuasion Begins Now (4)

Marquis Farrington’s eyes widened.
He felt every ounce of strength drain from him.
Clink.
The sound of his sword slipping from his hand was particularly clear in this noisy battlefield.
“Grrr…”
Blood boiled in his throat. Hot, sticky blood flowed down the corners of his mouth.
His dizzying vision saw the crumbling Imperial army.
The screams of the soldiers he had fought alongside, the ground stained crimson.
All of these sights grew distant and faint.
‘This can’t be happening. I am the Empire’s… . .’
A sense of resentment weighed on him.
He refused to admit his failure.
‘It’s not over yet… . . .’
He tried to move, but his legs gave out and his knees buckled.
Marquis Farrington gritted his teeth and raised his head. He
saw someone arrogantly looking down at him from atop his horse.
A foreboding struck him.
If anyone were to destroy the Empire… . .
It would be him, standing before him.
With that thought, Marquis Farrington’s head fell forward.
Giselle stared at the fallen Marquis Farrington for a moment before raising her head.
“Hmm.”
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Several fireballs fell from the sky, attacking the Imperial forces.
Naktura relentlessly cast her magic, piercing the Imperial forces’ magical field.
Although not as powerful as before, it was a fatal blow to the already disoriented Imperial forces.
Giselle looked back at the Imperial forces. They were still fighting against hundreds of weapons raging in all directions.
And the Imperial forces near Giselle and Marquis Farrington were in a state of shock.
“The Commander-in-Chief is dead.”
“How could this happen…”
“Sh-Should we run?”
They staggered back, terrified.
Marquis Farrington was the Empire’s proud superhuman.
Yet, he died without inflicting any significant damage.
That fact alone completely shattered the Imperial forces’ morale.
Jiselle ignored them and turned her head back.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He looked, and Yulien and Kyle were fighting.
They had stood against the mighty Imperial forces, who had long since attained superhuman powers, yet they hadn’t backed down an inch.
In fact, in some ways, they were even more superior.
Even if left alone, they would have won, but this battle was dragging on too long.
Jiselle rode her horse to the rear.
BANG! BANG!
Yulien’s mercenary group had formed a defensive formation, well-distanced around Deneb.
The Death Knights blocked their path, advancing little by little.
The Imperial forces were unable to break through the wall and were constantly dying.
Meanwhile, Jiselle, who had broken through the center, struck from behind, and the Imperial forces collapsed in an instant.
BANG!
“Eeeeeee!”
Jiselle pushed through the Imperial forces in front and headed towards Kyle.
Kyle and the Imperial superhumans were locked in a close fight. There was no one around them.
Kaaang!
The Imperial superhuman who had clashed with Kyle stepped back for a moment to catch his breath.
He glared at Kyle and said,
“Young man, you’re amazing. You’re truly capable of saving the dwarves, just as the information suggests. But your tricks are at an end now. I’ve got it all figured out…”
The superhuman abruptly turned around
as he felt a tremendous force approaching from behind.
What caught his eye was a man on horseback thrusting a spear.
“How dare you take us by surprise…?”
The superhuman sneered.
He was a superhuman. Unless the opponent was another superhuman, he wouldn’t be easily taken by surprise.
Look at this moment. The opponent’s attack was so slow it almost made him yawn.
He shifted slightly to the side, intending to cut down the horse’s neck and the opponent’s body in one fell swoop.
The only thing he cared about was Kyle, who was trying to seize the opportunity.
But… ….
“Hmm?”
His body wouldn’t move properly.
His body, which should have moved faster than anyone else, felt heavy, as if submerged in the deep sea.
It had been a long time since he’d felt this way. It was a sensation he’d only experienced as a child, when he trained in heavy armor.
‘This, this… .’
Even as he did, the enemy’s spear was drawing ever closer.
The superhuman felt something was wrong. And only then did he vaguely realize.
It wasn’t his body feeling heavy or his opponent being slow, but the world itself had slowed down.
‘W-this is ridiculous…’
He couldn’t understand what this phenomenon was.
He couldn’t even fathom what was wrong.
Even now, so many thoughts were racing through his head.
He looked at the spear that had suddenly closed in on him and thought,
‘I’m dying.’
Kwaaaaah!
The Imperial superhuman’s head exploded, pierced by Giselle’s spear.
Blood and bone fragments scattered through the air, pouring down like crimson rain.
Heeeeeeeeeing!
Giselle pulled on the reins, and the horse let out a long neigh and stopped.
Kyle smacked his lips several times as Giselle suddenly appeared and crushed the superhuman.
‘Aww, that monster…’
The Imperial superhuman was indeed strong.
His technique seemed superior, but the maturity of someone who had already achieved superhuman status long ago was still difficult to match.
So, I was struggling quite a bit, and then he suddenly came and smashed his head.
Even if the Imperial superman was exhausted and had been ambushed, I couldn’t believe he could overpower him to that degree.
He still had a long way to go. He needed to work harder and become stronger.
Still, he was confident he could handle it alone, but he felt a little disappointed.
“Hey! I was going to catch him, why did you interfere?”
“Let’s hurry up and finish this. Go help the kids.”
“Tch.”
Kyle pouted a few times and joined the mercenaries’ fight. Ending this battle quickly was more important right now.
As Kyle disappeared, Giselle wiped her nose. A little blood trickled down her finger.
“Tch, is that already my limit?”
She summoned up her willpower to the max to quickly kill the opposing superman. That was the problem.
This was a chronic problem that arose from moving in Astion’s body.
Astion’s level was steadily increasing, but Giselle’s was also increasing even more. And so, the disparity was only growing.
It had gotten worse, and now even a brief moment of use would throw her body off balance.
Even as her level had increased, her willpower had become increasingly short-lived.
Giselle muttered to herself,
“I don’t know how long I can stay here.”
Thanks to her magic, she maintained a precarious balance, but the day would come when it would crumble.
Especially as the enemy grew stronger, the balance she had maintained would crumble even faster.
Giselle snickered.
“Well, I guess we’ll figure that out later.”
In a way, this was the most crucial time for the Yulien Mercenary Corps.
They had gained fame and power. They had secured the support of each race.
But as long as the Pope existed, Yulien and Deneb were not safe.
So if they could just resolve this issue,
the Yulien Mercenary Corps could become the center of the human union.
With a cold gaze, Giselle rode her horse again.
Dududududududu!
This time, he was after the superhuman fighting Yulien.
As before, Giselle blasted away the Imperial soldiers blocking her path. Then, she relentlessly extended her spear at the superhuman fighting Yulien.
Kaang!
“Ugh, you coward!”
The Imperial superhuman blocked Giselle’s spear and retreated. But Giselle’s spear doggedly pursued him.
Kagagagagagagang!
Giselle’s spear moved like lightning, continuously striking at his opponent.
The Imperial superhuman was preoccupied with blocking the sudden attack. And Yulien didn’t miss that opening.
Crack!
Yulien’s sword sliced ​​deep into the superhuman’s abdomen.
“Ugh…”
Chiiiiiik!
The divine power slowly healed his wound, but before it could fully heal, Giselle’s spear struck again.
Kaang!
The superhuman barely managed to deflect the spear this time. But Yulien’s sword sliced ​​deeply into his back.
Unable to hold on, the superhuman’s posture completely collapsed.
At that moment, Giselle’s spear pierced his heart.
Phew!
Chiiik… … .
He was losing life faster than his divine power could heal his wounds.
The Imperial superhuman glared at Giselle with sullen eyes and said,
“You coward… You don’t even know what a knightly war is…”
Giselle replied with an indifferent expression,
“We’re mercenaries, aren’t we?”
For mercenaries, the process isn’t important. The result is.
Complete your mission and achieve your goal, no matter the circumstances.
That was the mercenaries’ sole purpose and justification.
“…”
The superhuman finally realized something.
He slowly turned around and smiled at Yulien.
“Yes… Your skills are so exceptional… I forgot… Excellent.”
With that, the imperial superhuman collapsed.
Giselle, slightly tired, ran her hand through her hair and said briefly,
“It’s almost over. Let’s push a little harder.”
“Yes.”
Yulien nodded with a stern expression.
In truth, the current battle wasn’t easy for the Yulien mercenary group either. They gritted their teeth and gave it their all. They had gained the upper hand because
there were so many strong opponents on their side, and they had prepared in advance, but the imperial army was clearly stronger and more numerous.
Yulien immediately turned and joined the mercenaries.
The imperial mages were tied down by Naktura and Erenes. The divine power was beneficial to them anyway.
So, the only ones left to deal with were the imperial knights. But they too quickly crumbled when Yulien and Kyle stepped forward.
If they could just deal with the Imperial knights at the forefront, the battle would be effectively over.
Ordinary soldiers would struggle to even scratch the Death Knights blocking their path.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
“Eaaaaaaah!”
The battlefield was filled with the screams of the Imperial soldiers.
Without the superhumans to stop Yulien and Kyle, the Imperial forces were rapidly crumbling.
Jiselle sensed the end of this battle was near.
But there were still those who had yet to decide the outcome.
Kk! Kk! Kk!
Marika and Darenz were still squaring off, aiming for each other. The area around where they were fighting was already empty, like an open field. It
was partly because the Imperial soldiers had scattered in confusion, but also because they realized that anyone near them would die.
Kk!
Darenz’s dagger grazed Marika’s neck.
He continued to aim for Marika’s vital spot without stopping.
Although Marika’s body already bore numerous wounds, large and small, not a single one was fatal.
Darenz’s face twisted.
“You’ve improved significantly in just a few years. It seems you’ve received tremendous support from the dragon.”
“…”
Darenz attributed Marika’s strength entirely to the dragon.
Otherwise, there was no way a low-ranking assassin, a mere sergeant, could fight on equal footing with a superhuman like him.
But he was a superhuman. And after losing his left arm, he had trained arduously, becoming even stronger.
Even now, Marika was struggling to hold her own, her wounds steadily increasing. No matter what vision the dragon had given her, she wouldn’t be able to defeat him.
Frankly, it was a huge blow to his pride to have stalled this long against someone like Marika.
Snap!
A dagger swung from behind Darenz. But when he cut the string connecting it, the dagger fell to the ground.
He smiled bitterly.
“Do you think your tricks will last?”
The dagger he’d just dropped was the last one still connected to Marika.
Of course, he was initially confused. The daggers slithering around like snakes were quite threatening.
But he was an experienced assassin, a superhuman. He quickly figured out how to deal with them.
“Since they’re connected to you anyway, I’ll just get close and cut them.”
The further away he was, the harder it was to detect the rope’s movements. Therefore, Darenz quickly cut the ropes one by one each time he approached Marika, reducing the number of daggers he had.
“Is this a technique taught by the dragon? It’s quite effective, but it doesn’t work on superhumans. It’s great for buying time, though.”
That strange technique had prevented him from killing Marika in one
fell swoop. But now that he had lost all his daggers, he would be able to kill her quickly. Snap.
Marika stopped moving at Darenz’s grin. Then, Darenz stood before her with a bitter grin.
“Now you have no choice but to confront me directly. That means we can’t stall any longer.”
“I’ve cut all the ropes.”
“Yes, now you’re going to die.”
“…”
“Thinking about all the suffering you’ve caused me, I’d like to tear you to pieces here and now… but the situation is dire, so I’ll just take your life.”
Darenz wasn’t stupid. He knew full well that the Empire’s defeat was considerably more certain.
The Yulian Mercenary Corps was stronger than expected. He needed to inform the Empire of this and prepare more thoroughly.
Therefore, he planned to quickly kill the traitor Marika and escape.
Marika stared at Darenz and asked,
“Is this all?”
“What?”
“Is this all you can show me?”
“What do you mean?”
“If this is all you have, you’re dead now.”
“What is this insolent bitch saying!”
Darenz moved silently, intending to approach her in one breath and decapitate her.
With that thought, he extended his dagger.
Clang!
His attack was blocked with a sharp metallic sound. Darenz was about to continue his attack when he hesitated.
“What the…”
Marika remained motionless.
Before he could reach her, something else had stopped him.
Darenz looked incredulous.
A dagger was floating in the air. A blue aura blade was emanating from its tip.
“This is unbelievable…”
Darenz blinked several times, wondering if he was hallucinating.
But it wasn’t an illusion.
The glowing dagger still blocked his path.
Darenz broke out in a cold sweat.
Now, around him… …
dozens of shining daggers were rising.