I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess - Chapter 176



176 – Prepare for Winter (3)

The empire had vast territories.

The only great power that currently claims to be an emperor.

In any case, national power in the age of cold weapons comes from territory and population, and the continents were not designed to be neatly divided into pieces as if drawn with a ruler.

So in fact, there was a considerable distance and obstacles between what the imperialists called the ‘West’ and the ‘South’.

In the Illencia Grand Duchy, which represents the West, if you go up a little, you will see a cold climate coniferous forest, but the image that represents the South is a dry wasteland.

A little further on was a desert with blazing sandstorms.

That was also the reason why the empire, despite its strong military power, did not covet the Ashin Kingdom.

The Ashin Kingdom is located mostly on desert.

A nation composed of peoples who are clearly different from the empire, even to the point where they can be distinguished by skin color.

Because of its heterogeneous nature, there was a strong backlash against occupation, and because of the irregular flow of magical power in the desert, there were also many people with supernatural powers.

To put it simply, the kingdom of Ashin was like a tasteless, thorny fish.

It’s not that you can’t eat it if you want to, but it’s prey you don’t necessarily want to eat.

Moreover, from an imperial perspective, the Ashin Kingdom played a very important role.

“It’s Barbatos! The Winter King has appeared here!”

“Hold on a little longer! The commander is coming… … aaah!”

“Who is your new commander? Bring him to me quickly, I want to meet him! If you don’t bring him, I’ll kill you all.”

The desert wind blew coldly.

The wind that blew carried sharp ice crystals, and the thing that held the most moisture in this desolate land was none other than humans.

Barbatos’ halberd struck the human’s head.

It seemed as if red blood was gushing out, but the spurted blood stream froze and shattered into pieces.

The desert wind was a little more reddish.

“I am a warrior with Alkai… … ”

“Be quiet. You’re weak, but your voice is loud.”

Every time Barbatos swung his weapon, two or three lives were lost.

The ice he held in his small hand was at first a halberd, but when he came to his senses, it had turned into a spear.

Sometimes it was a greatsword, sometimes an axe, and at other times a bow, shooting arrows imbued with magic far into the distance.

Several soldiers were wounded and fell from the arrows that rushed in like light.

Although it was not life-threatening, the fallen soldiers never got back up.

Their bodies cooled quickly.

It wasn’t Barbatos’ doing.

She doesn’t like magic.

The cruel demon lord only enjoys fierce battles and pain. The last moments of life that he can feel directly in his hands are what Barbatos finds pleasure in.

If I wanted to, I could have fired a wide-area magic spell that would shake up the entire battlefield, but the only reason I didn’t was for the ‘taste’.

So it wasn’t her style to see fallen soldiers fall to their deaths one by one.

Death was entirely the soldiers’ will.

Barbatos’ sword cut off the head of one of the soldiers.

The girl’s hand reached into the severed head’s mouth and pulled a small pill out from under its tongue.

Barbatos swallowed the pill quickly and nodded as if he understood.

“It felt like they were dying one by one even though I didn’t kill them. It really was poison.”

Barbatos laughed heartily.

A smile appeared in both eyes, as if he had heard a funny joke.

Soon, an emotion appeared in her eyes.

“Humans’ thoughts have always been the same. Their simple thinking is so cute. There’s no way things will change just because of this.”

Although he himself thought it was absurd, one soldier read ‘love’ in Barbatos’ eyes.

Mercifully, Barbatos crushed his head and killed him.

It was his fate that he did not hear what followed.

A voice filled with magical power spread throughout the battlefield.

“If you don’t want to be dragged away by me, just tell me. You’re warriors, right? Since you’ve hung out with me once, I’ll give you a clean death if you want.”

It was a girl’s characteristically high, bright voice.

“Anyway, I can fill my hut with other guys. For example, your wife or daughter who might be anxious in that city. I also like hearing female screams more than males. Gyaaah- Gyaaah-. How was it? Was it similar?”

* * *

[Barbatos Invasion Progress Report]

#Importance: Urgent

# Reporter: Southern Garrison Commander Norden Heritz

… …

# Invasion progress

– It is confirmed that an invasion has begun from the western part of the Ashin Kingdom.

– As of the time of writing this report, three elite legions of the Ashin Kingdom have suffered near-destructive damage.

– It was observed that the anti-Demon weapons prepared within the Ashin Kingdom were not very effective.

– The march route appears to be heading east as before, with no specific objective or destination expected.

# Progress prediction

– Considering previous invasion routes, a clash with the Imperial Army seems inevitable.

– The Imperial Army is on alert, expecting an advance from the northern part of the Ashin Kingdom.

From noble mtl dot com

– The organization and deployment of the military are described in the attached materials.

# significant

– The proposal to withdraw the front line to the rear until Barbatos returns to the Demon Territory is rejected by the commander with authority.

– Barbatos is likely to change course and advance into the Empire if the Imperial Army does not deploy Master-level forces to the forefront.

– If the person who proposed the proposal is within the military, we request strong disciplinary action.

* * *

“Commander. A reply has arrived from the Grand Duchy of Illencia.”

“Yes. What did His Majesty say?”

“As soon as the Demon King Asmodeus is dealt with, he will personally lead the army and provide support.”

“You mean you’re going to get rid of any regrets?”

Commander of the Southern Garrison, Count Norden Heritz.

The old knight, commonly known as ‘Norden Sir’, moved the nib of his pen without any hesitation.

The adjutant hesitated for a moment, then expressed his concern.

“… … It may be presumptuous of me to say this, but there is a possibility that we are just wasting time using the fight with Asmodeus as an excuse. To be frank, that is actually more likely.”

“Illencia wouldn’t do that. The last time I met her, she wasn’t that shallow. If she had to refuse, at least she wouldn’t have made excuses.”

“Then, do you think it is true that the Grand Duke of Illencia will come in person?”

“He will come. He said he would.”

His adjutant did not add any more to his conviction.

In this Southern Army, the word of the Lord Norden is absolute.

It wasn’t because he was a sword master. Or because he was a commander.

Trust built up over a long period of time. What he has built up so far gives confidence to his subordinates.

“I understand what you said about the Grand Duke of Illencia. Then, I will submit the next report.”

“Tell me.”

Rather than engage in a wasteful debate, the adjutant chose to move on to the next topic.

“The northern army of the Ashin Kingdom was virtually annihilated. It is said that the royal family, the Brain Emperor, personally participated in the battle, but even if that is true, it seems that they are having a hard time against Leraji.”

“If the brainwashing had been stopped by Leraji, Ashin would have become hell by now.”

“Yes. There are reports that Barbatos is hanging the corpse of a warrior general.”

“Tsk tsk. That’s why I told you not to be stubborn… … . Your pride has invited trouble.”

The Norden Lord clicked his tongue.

Barbatos is a very impulsive demon lord.

When choosing where to attack, she goes for places that she finds fun rather than following strategic judgment.

But that doesn’t mean that Barbatos was a idiot who only dared to charge blindly.

When it comes to war, Barbatos is a natural.

The synergy of the two, with his beast-like senses and the presence of Leraji who controls him, has toyed with and brought down countless geniuses so far.

As the battle for Ashin’s throne intensified, the new warrior leader wanted to prove his abilities.

And it couldn’t have been a coincidence that Barbatos, who could attack anywhere, attacked Ashin first.

Ashin was unwilling to borrow the power of the Empire, and as a result became Barbatos’ playground.

And the fact that Barbatos raped the Sword Master’s corpse means that his skills were below expectations.

Surprisingly, she showed some respect to the strong.

If you can say something like, “This time was fun. I think next time will be more fun, so I’m letting you go. Let’s play again next time?” then that’s what respect is.

It was a past that was approaching quite bitterly for Sir Norden.

“Even though the Ashin Kingdom refuses to cooperate, the current border is uninhabited. If we move south and check Barbatos, the empire will not be a battlefield for a while.”

“Arthur. The Brain Emperor is young. There is no need to give him an excuse to blame us.”

“Then what should we do? The current Southern Army has difficulty holding Barbatos from the front. We need to buy time until the Grand Duke of Illencia arrives.”

“Someone has to stop it. It’s definitely different this time, just like I heard. I didn’t know Ashin would collapse so helplessly.”

Now that one has fallen, it will be the empire’s turn to fall next.

The Norden Lord leaned back in his chair.

He tilted his head back for a moment. He had been staring into space for a while, but then he raised his body.

“I’m getting old and it’s starting to get tough. I think I should retire after this war.”

Someone has to stop Barbatos.

And as far as Norden could think, that ‘someone’ was none other than himself.