Chapter 166 - The Roaring Lions of the North (5)

"The monsters are fleeing!"

The shouts of knights could be heard from afar.

I looked around.

The monster legion that had completely filled the snowfield was running away toward the mountain range.

Their footsteps rumbled like thunder, and the way they trampled and shoved each other was nothing short of pandemonium.

The single legion that had pressured Winter Castle no longer existed.

All that remained were monsters driven purely by instinct.

However, among them were groups that maintained their initial discipline to the very end.

It was the Orcs' war legion, gathered beneath their torn and broken standard.

Even as they were tormented from inside and out by the dwarves and knights, they fought to the death until the very end.

Watching them made my insides boil with rage.

The mastermind of this war, who had united the monsters living in the mountain range into a single legion and led them to Winter Castle, forcing countless soldiers and knights to shed their blood.

And now, that very bastard was saying he would surrender.

Just to save his own neck.

『Although we have been defeated, the brave warriors of my clan do not obsess over victory or defeat, so they will fight to the last moment, meaning the damage you suffer will by no means be small. But if you accept me as a surrendered general, I promise there will be no more meaningless bloodshed.』

He was plotting his own survival by using the lives of those brave individuals as collateral.

The bewilderment I felt at first had long since turned into seething anger.

SQUEEZE.

Strength unconsciously entered my hand holding the sword.

『If you wish, I can make them stop right now!』

Reading my mood, the Overlord shouted urgently.

I glared at him, suppressing my surging anger and murderous intent.

He was not the Overlord of the dark green clan I remembered. He was not a warrior. He was not even an Orc.

He was merely the dregs of something that once was.

CLACK.

I sheathed my sword.

『A wisdom befitting such lofty martial prowess and spirit!』

The bastard beamed with joy and let out a loud roar.

The Fighting Spirit of the Orcs that had filled the frontlines died down like a lie.

The sound of clashing iron, shouts, and screams soon became inaudible as well.

"I need to know just what the hell is going on here."

Eli frowned and studied my expression. He had a lot of questions, but my face was so savage that he clearly didn't dare to ask.

『If you tell us to return to the mountains, we will return, and if you tell us to stand under your banner, we will stand. For our clan, following a stronger being is a matter of honor, not disgrace, so you need not worry about any betrayal.』

The Overlord babbled on and on.

『Tell me what you desire! Either way, I will gladly follow...』

『Nothing has been decided yet. So shut your mouth.』

Fearing that if I kept listening, I would draw the sword I had just barely sheathed, I silenced him.

『Unless you want to die right now.』

I had not yet decided whether to accept or refuse. That was not my decision to make in the first place.

There was someone else to determine his life and death.

"Bring the lord of Winter Castle."

At my words, Eli tried to ask something, but snapped his mouth shut and swiftly disappeared toward the front.

"What is this! Why have the Orcs suddenly stopped resisting!"

And not long after, he returned with Vincent.

I stared at him intently.

A knight drenched head to toe in the blood of the dark green clan's war legion.

The reincarnated soul of the pitiful man who had lost everything and ultimately failed to complete his vengeance.

The current head of House Ballorhard, who took on the burden of a war against the incompatible dark green clan.

"You decide. Whether to let him live or kill him."

The one to determine the life or death of the Overlord was the lord of Winter Castle.

* * *

After hearing my explanation of the situation, Vincent remained silent for a long time.

Then, in a voice that seemed barely squeezed out, he asked me.

"If we let him live, what benefits are there?"

I tried my best to suppress my emotions and objectively explained the benefits that would arise if we accepted the ugly monster's surrender.

"We can prevent the damage we would suffer in a battle against the remaining Orc war legion. If we put proper shackles on them, using the Orcs as soldiers wouldn't be impossible either. Perhaps House Ballorhard could even completely free itself from its long-held destiny."

With a face as stiff as stone, Vincent asked about the opposite case.

"We fight and win, and we mourn the dead. And we will go back to fighting against the harsh winter that comes every year."

Just as Winter Castle has done until now, for a very long time to come.

Vincent gave no answer. Unable to easily make a decision, he just chewed on his lips.

It was only natural.

When there is no choice but to fight, anyone can fight.

But fighting even after realizing that the battle could be avoided was a difficult thing.

Also, wiping away all past grudges and stopping the fight was not an easy task either.

Nothing was easy, and nothing was light.

With a single word, hundreds and thousands would live or die in this very place today.

With a single word, thousands and tens of thousands of lives would live and die in the future.

That weight was by no means light.

His deliberation was equally heavy.

I quietly waited for Vincent to open his mouth. The other knights also waited with complicated expressions for Vincent to speak.

Everyone knew that a terrible war could begin anew with his single word, and that they themselves could become corpses lying on the snowfield with his single word.

"Hmm."

Meister Surka's lips twitched. He looked like he had a lot to say.

But he did not open his mouth to deepen Vincent's agony.

Everyone waited like that.

『You have made the enemy's king submit from the bottom of his heart, so what victory could be more valuable than that! You are the victors! It is only fitting that you enjoy the glory that victors deserve!』

Only the old Orc impatiently pressed for an answer.

Time passed.

Night fell. As bodies drenched in sweat and blood cooled down, a chill seeped in.

The knights pulled the collars of their cloaks and furs tighter. Not a single one complained of the cold.

Pure white snow began to fall.

By the time the falling snow had covered the horrors of the battle,

"I..."

Vincent opened his mouth.

"I..."

He hesitated over and over again.

"Him..."

Still full of agony.

"Lord of Winter Castle."

Before he could even continue his words, the one-eyed cavalry captain spoke up.

"I, Quern Liechtheim, have never feared death for a single moment, nor have I ever considered death to be futile."

The cavalry captain untied his black eyepatch and threw it to the ground.

"Even if I lose my remaining eye, I will not plot for a pathetic life."

That was the beginning.

"Even if our spears break and our bodies are torn apart, I hope our unyielding souls remain as they are."

"We are not a burden that the lord of Winter Castle must bear, but the swords and spears the lord of Winter Castle will wield."

The cavalrymen of the Black Lancers struck their chests with their spears in unison.

"When we eventually stand before the late former lord of Winter Castle, we do not want to hear that your heart had to be broken because of us!"

"If you tell us to fight for a hundred years, we will fight, and if you tell us to fight for a thousand years, we will gladly fight even if we die and become spirits!!"

The knights stomped their feet.

"Do not hesitate in the face of victory!"

"What we want is victory at the end of a struggle, not a peace obtained by compromising with a coward!"

The Rangers screamed at the top of their lungs.

Not a single one among them asked to compromise and seek peace.

"Iron that bends easily is also easily straightened out again; I do not believe we can trust the promise of a beast who abandoned his own kin and surrendered just to save his own life."

"It would be better in many ways to just pull up the weeds by the roots and eliminate any future trouble."

"House Quern is also of the exact same mind as the others."

The lords of the Northern allied forces, who had fallen into chaos due to the Orcs springing from the ground and narrowly escaped death, poured out their opinions as if they had been waiting for this.

"The men of the North are different from the Southerners who revel away in the warm summer sun!"

At the highly spirited Northern lord's words, the old knight coughed dryly and stepped forward.

"Just because the summer sun is warm does not mean the showers and typhoons are not fierce, so I cannot agree with those words."

Realizing his slip of the tongue, the lord tried to say something else, but the old knight added one more thing.

"However, I agree with the general sentiment; the Royal Knights and the royal Heavy Armored Musketeers have not forgotten that we came here to fight."

Vincent's expression contorted.

It was a face that looked as if he was smiling, yet also frowning.

"If I just close my eyes and let him live, I can end this sickening war."

At the words of the lord of Winter Castle, the knights and soldiers answered with one voice.

"Rather than closing our eyes and gaining peace, we will keep our eyes wide open and fight the enemy."

He spoke with a much more readable expression.

"We do not know how many will die to end this battle today."

"If someone must die, it will be me."

The men's answers remained unchanged.

Vincent looked at me.

I shrugged my shoulders at him.

As the lord of Winter Castle wills.

At my whisper, Vincent firmed up his expression.

There was no longer any hesitation visible in him.

『W-Wait!』

Reading the unusual atmosphere, the Overlord shouted urgently.

"I will not accept the surrender of a shameless beast who knows no honor!"

But Vincent declared before he could continue.

"Death to the Orcs!"

"Only death for the invaders!"

The knights roared. The Rangers and the soldiers of the Northern allied forces clashed their weapons and screamed at the top of their lungs.

Right then, someone began to sing the military song of Winter Castle.

Snow-covered mountains, frozen valleys, the walls stained with red blood remain silent.

Only the sound of the horn of advance blown by the dawn echoes out.

The single singing voice soon became thousands.

All throughout the blizzard-swept winter, we wander in search of warmth.

The only thing to thaw our bodies is the dark green firewood.

Standing before it, we wait for spring to come until our spirit burns completely away.

The military song of winter, waiting for the spring that will arrive at the end of the harsh winter.

At that moment, a message burrowed into my mind.

『It sings of the spring that will arrive after the harsh season, the driving gale, and the blizzard have ended.』

『A new [War Poem (戰爭詩)] has been created.』

『A [large-scale (大單位)] War Poem, [Four Seasons (四季節) - Poem of Spring (詩)], has been created.』

As soon as I heard the message, I knew.

What a [War Poem] was.

It was different from a Poem of Martial Deeds, and it was not a simple resonance of the circuit and the heart.

It was a song of aspiration sung by one who is many, and many who are one.

The ones forming its phrases were not me, but the men of Winter Castle.

I was merely weaving them together into one.

The song echoed through my mind.

『The birds that had left return, tracing back the path the cutting wind swept through.』

『The fortress, faintly revealed as its cold snowy garments melt away, finally awakens from its slumber and stretches.』

My mouth moved on its own.

"The birds that had left return, tracing back the path the cutting wind swept through. The fortress, faintly revealed as its cold snowy garments melt away, finally awakens from its slumber and stretches."

The wills and aspirations of thousands borrowed my mouth to sing of spring.

While my heart pounded like crazy,

A miracle occurred.

Strange waves of energy erupted from all directions.

None among them were the same, and none among them were unoriginal.

It was the resonance of new [Poems of Martial Deeds].

It was the moment the seeds I had sown in the North—the knights who had built up mana in their hearts—finally began their own stories.

FLASH.

A soft light began to flow from Vincent's body.

It was faint, but an unmistakable precursor to awakening.

Completely unaware of what was happening to his own body, the man raised his sword and aimed it at the enemy.

"All forces! Prepare for battle!"

"Hah!"

At his command, thousands of troops answered as one.

"Attack!"

Following that, the knights roared and charged toward the war legion. The Northern allied forces dashed after them.

The Royal Knights and the royal Heavy Armored Musketeers broke formation and slammed into the flanks of the war legion.

『How foolish!』

The old Orc, who had been kneeling, stood up.

He opened his mouth.

I forcefully slashed down with my sword.

Before an ugly roar could erupt from that mouth,

Before he could desecrate this war once again with his false majesty.

The flames of requiem rained down upon his massive body.

Blue flames caught onto his hideous flesh, which had been half-melted by the Fire Dragon's breath.

GRAAAAAAH!

Screaming, the bastard flailed his hands wildly.

The earth burst apart from the Fighting Spirit that billowed out.

A man lunged toward the old Orc that was rampaging in fear.

With a scattering green flash of light gathered on his sword.

The reincarnation of the pitiful avenger who had lost everything to the Overlord and failed to complete his vengeance.

And now, the man who had finally reached completion and become the kingdom's ninth Silver Lion.

"For Ballorhard!"

Vincent Ballorhard shouted fiercely.

"For Ballorhard!"

The knights and the soldiers roared together.