Free Web NovelChapter 187: Encounter with the Expeditionary Army
"Why do none of my ministers speak?"
"..."
"..."
Not a single official dared answer.
The threat of the western expeditionary army within the realm had yet to be resolved, and now Newhaven was swallowing Grand Concord territory from the north.
The emperor was exhausted in both body and mind.
For days, he had barely slept.
Seeing the officials remain silent, his fury erupted. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"Useless fools! Every one of you!"
"The Grand Concord Dynasty stands on the brink of collapse, yet not one of you can defend its lands. What use are any of you? Execute them! Drag them all outside and execute them!"
The officials fell into panic.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
How could they have known Newhaven’s army would be so powerful?
Hundreds of thousands of Grand Concord soldiers had been sent to surround and destroy it, yet every force collapsed the moment it made contact.
The result was terrifying.
Lucan stood with his eyes closed, no longer willing to concern himself with Newhaven.
The situation was beyond saving.
The Grand Concord Dynasty had lost all hope of reversing it.
Several years earlier, he had repeatedly warned the emperor to attack Newhaven.
He had urged him never to allow the city to continue growing, or the consequences would be endless.
Unfortunately, Thalric had been watching from the frontier.
The emperor refused to begin a war lightly, giving Newhaven the opportunity to develop in peace until today.
No one had expected it to become a beast far more vicious than Thalric.
Now that Newhaven had bared its fangs, the lands of the Grand Concord Dynasty were in grave danger.
The most absurd part was that Grand Concord emergency reports could not even keep pace with Newhaven’s advance.
Even now, the imperial court still had no clear idea what was happening at the front.
It was ridiculous.
As Newhaven’s armies pressed forward and pointed their blades directly at Prosperity Crown, despair entered the emperor’s voice.
"Will the Grand Concord Dynasty perish in my hands?"
The western expeditionary army also noticed the crisis facing Grand Concord.
They occupied territory within the dynasty and were located roughly two thousand li from the northern frontier.
Recently, the Grand Concord forces surrounding them had grown restless.
Large numbers of defeated soldiers were also fleeing back from the north.
The expeditionary army found this deeply confusing.
Grand Concord troops had sealed them into this region, leaving them almost completely ignorant of events beyond it.
Meridia looked north and frowned.
"What exactly is happening in the north?"
As she wondered, a rider charged into the encampment.
"Commander, a large enemy force is approaching our position from the north!"
Meridia immediately straightened.
"Prepare for battle!"
The Knights of God assembled swiftly.
More than one thousand heavily armored riders stood in imposing formation, leading nearly one hundred thousand expeditionary soldiers to face the approaching enemy.
The expeditionary army had established several camps that supported one another.
Because of that, the force under Meridia’s command numbered only around one hundred thousand.
"They are here!"
The expeditionary army braced for battle.
But when the approaching force drew closer, Meridia finally saw what it was.
A vast crowd of Grand Concord soldiers ran past in complete disorder.
Their clothing was torn, their faces were filled with terror, and they fled south without even caring that the expeditionary army stood directly in their path.
They possessed no desire to fight.
This was not an attacking army.
It was nothing more than a routed mob.
Meridia issued an order.
"Capture two of them and find out what happened."
"Yes!"
A group of knights galloped forward.
Before long, they returned carrying two terrified Grand Concord soldiers.
Meridia placed her sword against one man’s neck.
"What happened in the north?"
The soldier answered in panic.
"Newhaven’s army is coming!"
"Newhaven’s army?"
Interest entered Meridia’s eyes.
"How many soldiers do they have?"
"Perhaps... several thousand."
"Several thousand?"
The Knights of God stared in disbelief.
At least twenty or thirty thousand defeated soldiers were fleeing past them.
A mere few thousand had reduced them to this state?
Meridia’s interest in Newhaven’s army grew.
"I did not expect such a powerful force to exist. I would very much like to see it for myself."
She was supremely confident.
In terms of elite quality, no military force could compare with the Knights of God.
In terms of overall strength, the expeditionary army was no weaker than any army in the world.
Then a strange sound reached them.
It resembled the low growl and roar of some enormous beast.
The two Grand Concord soldiers went pale.
They no longer cared about the sword at their throats.
They scrambled away in terror.
"Run! Newhaven’s army is here!"
When the fleeing Grand Concord troops heard the noise behind them, they ran even harder.
"All forces, remain alert!"
"Prepare for battle!"
Meridia readied her army once more.
Information traveled slowly in this age.
They were two or three thousand li from Newhaven and had only recently arrived in the east.
There was no reason they would have heard of the city.
The enemy of an enemy was not necessarily a friend. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Meridia did not dare lower her guard.
She stared in the direction from which the Grand Concord soldiers had fled, yet saw no one approaching.
Only when she looked up did her expression change.
One of the knights shouted.
"Commander, the sky!"
A deep drone rolled overhead.
A propeller aircraft approached through the clouds and flew directly across the expeditionary army.
Meridia and the Knights of God looked up in disbelief.
"What is that?"
"An angel!"
A disturbance spread through the expeditionary army.
Someone shouted, "It is an angel!"
"Nonsense!"
Meridia’s furious voice silenced them.
She immediately rejected the claim, which bordered on blasphemy.
"It is heresy! A creation of demons! An enemy of God!"
The expeditionary army had come east under the banner of destroying heresy and claiming all land for God.
Such an explanation suited their purpose perfectly.
Calling an ordinary person a demon might have been difficult to justify.
But pointing at a strange creation soaring through the sky and declaring it a work of demons was far more convincing.
After suppressing the unrest among the troops, Meridia’s expression became more solemn than ever.
Newhaven’s army appeared to exceed anything she could understand or imagine.
Not long afterward, an airship far larger than the aircraft appeared on the horizon.
It slowly approached and came to a stop above the expeditionary army.
The colossal vessel stretched two or three hundred meters from end to end.
"What... what is that thing?"
Fear began spreading quietly.
The expeditionary soldiers felt their understanding of the world collapse.
Unease swept through the ranks.
It seemed as though they had entered the world of ancient myths.
"Could that be the legendary Leviathan?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Meridia’s forehead.
The airship blocked out a vast portion of the sunlight, covering the Knights of God in shadow.
Its presence was almost suffocating.
Were they expected to fight something like this?
That was absurd.
Static crackled through the oppressive silence.
Then the amplified voice of a man descended from the sky.
"Western expeditionary army, I am the commander of Newhaven’s Tenth Army. I am here to convey the words of Newhaven’s Supreme Leader. The Leader has several questions that require your answers. You have ten breaths to lay down your weapons. Otherwise, your actions will be regarded as a declaration of war against our forces."
