Chapter 518: Chapter 252: Bizarre Peace

Lumian Knight Commander’s current visit was for the sole purpose of helping Prince Noah establish sufficient prestige within the Frank Kingdom.

Helping a foreign prince establish prestige and stabilize the nation might sound abstract, but it was the reality of the situation.

Everything came down to interests.

Ever since Louis III came to power, the Frank Kingdom and the Algeria Kingdom had been exceptionally close. Now, their relationship was set to become even more intimate.

More importantly, there was the Algeria Kingdom’s future plan.

An expedition to the east! That was the Algerian Royal Family’s true scheme.

They planned to utterly crush the Giant Demon Alliance and reclaim humanity’s city of origin. This would show all the nations of the Human World the might of the Algeria Kingdom, thereby expanding its international prestige and pressuring its old rival, the Tilia Kingdom.

Prince Noah was a crucial part of this plan.

If they wanted to launch a conquest with peace of mind, they had to ensure stability in the rear.

Reclaiming humanity’s Holy City was a joint effort between the Holy See and the Algeria Kingdom. The Tilia Kingdom wouldn’t dare to act openly, but what they might do in the shadows was another matter entirely.

Having the Frank Kingdom act as a stabilizing force for the Algeria Kingdom was much more beneficial to their interests.

Most of those who had come with Prince Noah were there to help him and, in doing so, curry favor and make a good impression.

Thus, when they heard that Prince Noah and Lumian Knight Commander were departing immediately, no one had any objections. They all rose to their feet and began to assemble according to their respective nationalities.

This army could be described as the elite of many nations—the very essence of human military strength.

Before long, with banners snapping in the wind, the grand army was once again on the march.

.....

Meanwhile, King Monroe’s convoy had rushed out of the Gray Dwarf camp overnight, speeding toward the distant human encampment.

By this point, the advance of Robson’s army had slowed to a crawl. However, over the past two days, Robson hadn’t simply let his soldiers rest. Instead, he had employed a few stratagems to constantly keep their fighting spirit stoked.

On the first day after Robson issued the order for a slow march, a rumor began to circulate through the camp.

The gist of it was that this final battle was extremely important, both for their Lord and for themselves.

At first, it didn’t amount to much, and no one thought anything was out of the ordinary.

By the second day, another rumor was making the rounds throughout the camp.

A soldier claimed to have gotten news from Ais: in the coming battle, the Lord would very likely grant everyone a fifty percent bonus on their military merit.

The news instantly breathed new life into the entire army. Everyone began debating the rumor’s authenticity, and some corps commanders even went to ask Robson about it directly.

Robson simply smiled, neither confirming nor denying the rumor.

Then, others began to say that once the battle started, the Lord would naturally step forward and verify the news himself.

Robson also used this time to reorganize the military structure of the First through Third Corps. Warriors with high military merit were continuously promoted, and using his previously plundered wealth, Robson distributed another round of rewards to a batch of officers and soldiers.

Everyone had already been looking forward to the fifty percent bonus on military merit.

Now, Robson had once again used concrete actions to show them just how important military merit truly was.

The morale of the entire army was now being maintained at a high level, and the soldiers eagerly awaited the next battle.

It reached the point where some were even saying the war had to continue, that it couldn’t be allowed to stop. For a moment, Robson thought his army was becoming militaristic.

Bo Yang, leading the remaining corps, made a forced march and finally caught up with Robson’s main force.

Robson employed the same methods on the Fourth through Seventh Corps.

Due to long-term class oppression, these men from Algeria had a much deeper thirst for military merit than the Frank soldiers did.

Right at this time, an envoy from the Gray Dwarves arrived to deliver the armor.

Robson ordered the latter corps to rest well for the night and then took a roll call of the nobles.

After about a day of preparations, the human army was once again on the march.

.....

News of the human army’s movements quickly reached the ears of King Monroe.

When he heard that his unreliable human allies were finally on the move, King Monroe was so relieved he almost wept.

The reason was simple.

Kemal’s actions during this period had been pure torture.

Ever since Kemal’s successful night raid, the entire Gray Dwarf army’s morale had been in the gutter.

The Infantry Corps led by Kemal were the elite of the Beastmen; they had covered a hundred li in a single day.

That very evening, Kemal led more than ten thousand Beastman Warriors in a charge against the Gray Dwarves.

As King Monroe watched the Beastman Army relentlessly attacking from outside, the thought that Robson was finally ready brought him some measure of comfort.

Of course, that comfort didn’t last long.

Soon, King Monroe discovered something that left him utterly astonished.

The human army had appeared on the battlefield, and Beast Emperor Kemel was clearly aware of this fact; after all, Kemel had initially dispatched troops to intercept them.

But then, something bizarre happened.

The Purple-blooded Beastmen and the Franks. As mortal enemies for hundreds of years, their meeting on the battlefield should have produced an explosive chemical reaction.

However, the Beastmen merely took up defensive positions, and the Franks made no move to attack.

This pair of sworn enemies simply faced each other on the battlefield in a standoff, with no conflict whatsoever.

Kemal, seemingly realizing this human army had no immediate intention of attacking, turned his attention back to the Gray Dwarves, focusing all his efforts on them once again.

Seeing this, King Monroe was so furious he nearly coughed up blood.

’The reinforcements I paid a fortune for are just standing by, watching my mortal enemy beat the hell out of me.’

’Is this right?’

That very night, King Monroe piloted his airship and flew to the airspace above the human camp.

.....

「Nighttime, in the human camp.」

Of Robson’s original eight thousand elite soldiers, only a little over five thousand remained. The entire camp looked considerably smaller than it had at the start of the campaign.

At that moment, a group of human commanders was in the middle of a discussion inside a large tent.

Judging by the tone in the tent, one thing was clear.

The human nobles were all thrilled at the prospect of annihilating Beast Emperor Kemel.

Robson, however, appeared perfectly calm, his face an unreadable mask as he perused a letter.

This was simply his nature.

He had been excited when he first learned of the plan to encircle and hunt Beast Emperor Kemel, but now that the moment was truly upon them, he had grown completely calm.

The letter in Robson’s hand was from none other than Prince Noah.

The Prince’s Knight Order had already begun a forced march; they would likely reach the battlefield the day after tomorrow.

"My Lord! My Lord?"

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