Free Web NovelChapter 153: Chapter 97: Senior Catherine, You Wouldn’t Want...
It’s over!
A chill went through Catherine’s heart.
’If this goes on,’ she thought, ’my hundred-man company—the very foundation of my career—is going to be wiped out here.’
Even if they managed to destroy all the enemy Skeletons, so what?
Their opponent was a Necromancer. With a wave of his Magic Staff, the bodies of her fallen Soldiers would soon become his soldiers!
Worse still, out of the corner of her eye, she saw dozens of people gathering on the streets outside the garrison.
They were the Lakefront Town militia and able-bodied men, hastily organized by Aus and Old John.
Their weapons were crude and their faces were filled with fear, but their eyes held a do-or-die desperation.
Under normal circumstances, her elites could have routed these militiamen with a single charge. But now... they were likely to become the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Despair and indignation consumed Catherine’s heart.
But she knew that with every passing second of delay, more of her loyal Soldiers could fall.
Though she was filled with unwillingness and resentment, she could only grit her teeth and shout in humiliation, "Lynch Blackwood, stop! Tell your Undead to stop!"
Her cry echoed across the chaotic battlefield.
A few seconds later, a casual, mocking voice rang out. "Well, well~ If it isn’t the famous Ice Rose of our academy, Senior Catherine? How is it that a vaunted prodigy like you, so high and mighty, would know a nobody like me?"
At the garrison gate, the congested crowd of Skeleton Soldiers parted like a tide, clearing a path.
Lynch emerged slowly, riding on the back of a Tier Two Hellhound Skeleton whose bones had a faint reddish tint.
Flanked by a Bone Shield and his Guard Skeletons, his entire presence seemed to rise, giving him the air of a superior.
A smile touched his lips beneath his hood. "But, Senior~ This isn’t how you surrender. You’re not showing any sincerity at all~"
Catherine swung her warhammer, which blazed with Holy Light, smashing a few approaching Skeleton Soldiers to pieces before quickly retreating behind her Personal Guard.
Staring at the condescending Lynch from afar, she ground out through her teeth, "Lynch, we surrender! Call off your Skeletons."
However, Lynch did not immediately order them to stop their attack.
He leisurely took out a Magic Crystal ball from his Space Ring, tossed it casually in his hand, and said with a grin, "Senior Catherine, does this look familiar? You know what to do, right?"
When Catherine saw the Magic Crystal ball, her mind went BOOM and nearly exploded.
How could she not remember?
During the academy’s year-end trial, after they were captured by Amadis, that damn bastard had used a Magic Crystal ball to force them to record a humiliating "declaration of surrender" and "confession" before he would let them go.
It was a disgrace she would never forget for the rest of her life. freёwebnovel.com
’I can’t believe... I can’t believe this insidious trick was learned by this treacherous bastard, Lynch. No, that’s not right. He was an accomplice all along.’
"You... you..." Catherine trembled with rage. "You wouldn’t actually dare to kill us all?! We are the Empire’s regular army, an elite battalion of the Radiant Battle Group! You dare to slaughter allied forces?!"
"Slaughter allied forces?" Lynch shrugged, his smile gradually fading as his eyes grew dark and dangerous. "You must be joking, Senior. All I see is a group of ’bandits’ impersonating the Empire’s army, who stormed a formally garrisoned post of the Empire without any prior notice or negotiation in an attempt to harm its commanding officer."
"Perhaps the military command will hold me accountable for my ’mistake’ afterward, but so what?"
Lynch said nonchalantly, "At worst, I’ll just apply to ’study abroad’ in the Realm of the Dead. I’m sure my mentor would be more than happy to help me with the paperwork."
His words instantly deflated Catherine’s arrogant demeanor. Her expression, however, remained uncertain as she seemed to wrestle with an internal conflict.
"Senior Catherine," Lynch reminded her kindly, "I’m a very patient man, but your Soldiers... how much longer can they hold on?"
Catherine immediately scanned the battlefield.
In the time it took to exchange just a few sentences, several more Soldiers had fallen screaming under the Undead’s assault.
Her Soldiers were surrounded and cut off, their morale on the verge of collapse. Their defeat was only a matter of time.
Seeing the despair and the longing for survival in the eyes of the subordinates who had followed her through life and death, Catherine’s psychological defenses finally crumbled completely.
All her pride, dignity, and hatred were crushed to dust in the face of reality.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, they were filled with grim resolve.
She loosened her grip on her warhammer, letting the weapon fall to the ground with a CLANG. Then, using all her strength, she cried out hoarsely.
"Junior Lynch, this is all my fault! I was blinded by hatred and lost my senses, leading my troops to attack your defensive zone without authorization! I now implore you! Be merciful! Accept the surrender of... the Third Battalion of Tiger Camp, Radiant Battle Group!"
As her voice faded, she seemed to have been drained of all her strength. She staggered, nearly losing her footing.
Seeing this, the surrounding Soldiers also dropped their weapons and gave up their resistance.
"Mm-hmm, not bad, not bad. Got it all on record~"
Lynch toyed with the Magic Crystal ball in his hand. Seeing the shimmering light within, he nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Senior’s declaration of surrender sounded very powerful. Full of emotion, a mix of remorse and grief... Tsk tsk, perfect~"
As he finished speaking, all the Undead Corps instantly ceased their attacks.
However, although the attacks had stopped, their movements had not.
Under the command of the various Soul Fire units, the Skeleton Soldiers began to collect all the weapons, piling them up far to one side.
Meanwhile, at Old John’s command, the Lakefront Town militiamen brought over some hemp ropes and, with the "assistance" of the Skeleton Soldiers, began tying up the elite Soldiers who had been so imperious just moments before.
Although the Soldiers were filled with humiliation, the situation was out of their hands, so they could only grit their teeth and endure it.
Catherine herself also had her hands bound. Then, the Purple Zombie Bloodfang picked her up as if she were a baby chick and casually tossed her forward.
"THUD!"
Catherine let out a muffled grunt as she was thrown heavily to the ground in front of Lynch.
Dust covered her hair. The once valiant and heroic "Ice Rose" was now just an endlessly wretched figure.
She struggled to lift her head, her eyes filled with pleading. "Junior Lynch, my Soldiers... many of them are severely injured. If they don’t receive Holy Light Healing in time, they might... they might die. I’m begging you, please allow me to heal them."
"Healing, you say~" Lynch said in a light tone. "Of course you can. Saving the dying and healing the wounded is only natural."
Hearing this, a trace of joy rose in Catherine’s eyes.
"However," Lynch’s tone shifted, though the smile on his face remained. "Senior, when a person makes a mistake, they have to pay a price, don’t they?"
Catherine’s heart sank slightly, and her voice trembled. "Junior, you... what do you want?"
"It’s not about what *I* want," Lynch corrected her. "I’m not the one who made a mistake. You are."
At this, Lynch leaned down slightly and chuckled. "Senior Catherine, you wouldn’t want to see your Soldiers die one by one in misery because they couldn’t get timely treatment, would you?"
...
(Been pushing out Chapters for several days straight, and my body can’t really take it~~ Plus, I got held up by something today, so this is just a quick update.)
