A Clash of Generals

"This is the Lion King of Britain..."

The enormous figure up ahead strode slowly toward him. Though there was only one, Lucius still felt a chill rising from within.

As the little giant drew closer, Lucius gradually got a clearer look at the opponent he would face in this war.

He wore heavy plate armor and a blue cloak draped over his shoulders like a blanket, spattered with dark brown bloodstains. A lance was strapped to his back, and he carried a greatsword in one hand. His body was taller than the trees lining the road, and from a distance he looked like a ferocious beast from antiquity.

His faded blond hair was combed back, revealing a fearsome face. His eyes brimmed with undisguised bloodlust, pricking every inch of Lucius's skin like needles. Even from this far away, Lucius could smell the thick stench of blood on him.

Lucius knew that, in the hearts of his subjects below, he seemed more like a general than a lofty emperor: a man who craved battle and slaughter. Some even took him for a beast wearing human skin.

Now, seeing the Lion King of Britain, he realized that by comparison, he wasn't quite a true beast after all.

He still looked somewhat human.

Though his opponent stood alone, he dared to face Lucius's army of more than twenty thousand head-on.

What terrifying might.

What outrageous confidence!

The twenty thousand soldiers hastily assembled were the largest force he could gather in such a short time, and that was thanks to the mobilization for the previous war.

And these four legions weren't farmers plucked from the fields. They were professional soldiers who had received formal military training and survived the hell of many battlefields.

Even these elite legions, with the emperor himself leading them, felt an indescribable pressure coming from their foe.

When Lucius learned that the coastal frontline legion had been completely wiped out, and that the enemy had been only the Lion King, he knew he stood no chance.

The Lion King had seized the coast and would next advance inland. But the mages had yet to prepare their trump card. If the Lion King attacked now, the war would be lost completely.

Though Lucius knew he was no match, in Rome, he was the only one qualified to face the Lion King: the mighty Sword Emperor.

Even if his own martial skill proved inferior, he still had more than twenty thousand elite troops. Under his command, they could hold off a lone enemy and buy the mages some time.

Yet now that he saw the Lion King in person, Lucius felt his earlier conclusion might have been too hasty.

Would they win this battle today?

How many of the soldiers he had brought would survive when it was over...? Even he himself would probably meet a grim fate.

When all was said and done, what were their chances of winning this war?

The approaching enemy was reflected in Lucius's purple eyes. He gripped the Demon Sword at his waist, the symbol of the continent's kingship, gritted his teeth, and forced a fierce smile.

Then I'll face you head-on and see if you're really as powerful as the rumors say!

To fight an opponent this powerful—if he died, it would be worth it!

"Form ranks!"

The moment he spotted Leon, Lucius gave the order. His soldiers had yet to see the enemy, but they hurriedly formed layer upon layer of defensive ranks, surrounding and protecting him at the very center.

When Leon came into view, everyone could feel the overwhelming bloodlust rolling off him. They all realized that something dangerous had descended upon the battlefield.

Kill the enemy, or be killed.

Even if the enemy was only one man!

The instant they saw Leon, every Roman soldier had the same thought. A heartfelt chill crept through them, and their hearts trembled. They had to kill the lone foe before them at any cost.

The soldiers in the front ranks swallowed hard, sweating with fear, yet they had no choice but to obey orders. They raised their spears and shields to face Leon, who was taller than a house and charged toward them like a fully armored chariot.

While Lucius was eager for battle, Leon felt nothing but relief. He had been about to seek out Lucius's main force, and now Lucius had brought his troops straight to him. It really couldn't have been easier.

He looked at the Roman legions before him. The soldiers stood in neat formations, their columns stretching so far he couldn't see the end. The murderous air emanating from them made it clear at a glance that they were Rome's elite forces.

Judging from their standards and deployment, Leon estimated that there were at least twenty thousand of them.

And they weren't all human soldiers. His keen eyes picked out all manner of strange beasts and ferocious monsters, giants like an impregnable wall, fairies flying through the air, mages concealed among the ranks, and warlocks dressed in bizarre garb.

"What a strange army!"

At a glance, Leon passed sentence of death on these motley races.

He could tolerate fairies, monsters, and the like living as individuals. But if they banded together to form an army, lined up in formation, and marched at someone's command, he could never let them go.

"Kill!"

Bloodlust burst forth in Leon's heart. Holding the Holy Spear in his left hand and the sword in his right, he charged the Roman legions standing ready before him.

Any soldier who stood in his way was sent flying by the force of his charge. Others were cut in two, man and armor alike, like stalks of wheat. One sweeping slash left men and mounts alike in pieces.

Seeing that ordinary soldiers couldn't stop Leon's advance—that he had broken through two or three layers of their ranks in a single pass, without even being slowed—the giants in the front ranks formed a rough battle line and entered the fray. They paid no heed to the cries of their comrades beneath their feet as they swung great axes, heavy swords, clubs, and other weapons at Leon.

The first blow came from an axe larger than Leon himself. He raised the Holy Spear as a shield and blocked the ambush.

Clang!

A tremendous din rang across the chaotic battlefield. Leon used his strength to knock the axe aside, then leapt into the air. His hand tightened on the Holy Spear, ready to hurl it, but the rush of wind at his ear warned him that the other giants' attacks were already upon him.

Bam!

Leon blocked again with the Holy Spear. Using the tremendous force of the blow, he flew toward another giant. With his spear and sword ready, he deflected the giant's weapon with a thrust, then used the force to leap onto the giant's face and drive his Holy Sword into its eye, piercing its brain.

The moment he pulled out his sword, the giant's blood gushed forth. Leon savored the exhilaration of battle.

No matter how many times he experienced it, he felt genuine joy every time.

There was redemption in it, too.

Unable to suppress his excitement, Leon grinned like a carnivore on the hunt as he looked at the giants closing in around him.

He vanished from where he stood and slammed into another enormous beast at an almost unbelievable speed. His lance and Holy Sword flashed, and the beast fell dead.

The incredibly tough beasts, the powerful giants, the highly skilled humans—all seemed like children being toyed with before him. Even when they were larger than he was, they were nowhere near as strong, and their massive bodies made them slow to react.

Aside from the initial ambush, which forced Leon to defend himself, none of them were his match. They couldn't even hold out for a single exchange before he cut them down with spear and sword.

Every thrust of his spear killed a giant. Every swing of his sword claimed another foe.

Wherever he went, he cut down fairies and humans alike with savage relish.

Near the center of the formation, Lucius saw how the battle was going. The Lion King's attacks were so fierce that they were nearly breaking his army's morale.

Sending in more troops would only let the Lion King crush their spirits completely. But if they retreated, the moment the army began to fall back, a feigned defeat would become a real one, and their loss would be even more complete.

Lucius's scalp prickled. His instincts told him to run as fast and as far away as he could, but he couldn't bring himself to retreat in such disgrace.

It seemed it was time for him to enter the fray himself.

White light flashed beneath Leon's feet. An unknown attack seemed to have locked onto his body.

He looked up and saw fairies in the air and mages scattered around them. They had already inscribed magic circles before themselves and were fully prepared. Torrents of mana surged and flowed, taking the form of multicolored beams and all kinds of weapons that rained down on Leon.

The fairies attacked without regard for friend or foe. They were willing to hit their own side if it meant killing Leon. The giants and humans on the ground didn't dodge, even when the fairies' attacks caught them in the blast. Instead, they risked their lives to hold Leon in place.

Leon was caught and couldn't break free for the moment. All he could do was let the beams and weapons strike him.

Rumble!

A blast like a nuclear explosion roared across the earth. An enormous black-and-red fireball, like a giant egg, swelled into the air, raising a cloud of dust that seemed to take the shape of a mushroom.

Before the magical light and flames had even faded, a huge figure broke through the blaze and dust, striding out with a fearless air. Blood drenched him as he clutched his spear and sword, making him look like an undefeated god of war.

"Our attacks didn't work?!"

The fairies could hardly believe it. Even though the mysteries of the continent had faded and they could no longer roam freely as they once had, this was still the strongest attack they could muster.

The mages looked even more stunned, as if everything they knew had been overturned.

They had spent a long time preparing this attack. The mages and fairies had thrown all their strength into it. They had imagined the Lion King emerging battered and gravely wounded, or nimbly dodging out of the way. They had never imagined he could take the full force of it and come out unharmed.

Emerging from the tremendous blast, Leon ignored the fairies' and mages' astonishment. He pushed off with both legs and leapt toward the fairies in the air.

The fairies couldn't react to Leon's sudden assault. All they could do was watch him close in, then bring down his Holy Sword.

Whoosh!

Leon flung out a streak of sword energy as white as a silk ribbon. It tore through the sky and the air, moving with incomparable speed and sharpness. It sliced most of the fairies in half, and they fell to the ground, barely alive.

The surviving fairies were horrified. In the blink of an eye, their companions had been cut in two at the waist, and all they could do was watch helplessly.

Some fairies and mages managed to react, attacking Leon and laying curses on him, but none of it worked. Even their raw mana couldn't reach him before an invisible force blocked it.

Leon was unharmed.

He carried the Holy Sword of the Stars and its scabbard, gifts from Merlin. Ordinary attacks could hardly hurt him, and even if he was wounded, he could heal rapidly.

He had always known how powerful the scabbard was, but this test had finally given him confidence in it.

It seemed Merlin could occasionally show a little human decency after all.

The enormous flames on the battlefield were now starting to fade. Amid them lay all kinds of severed limbs and scattered fragments. A nauseating smell of roasted meat even seemed to linger in the air.

The humans, giants, and monsters caught in the blast had all died in those magical attacks. Even the lucky ones who survived were badly wounded, crying out in pain.

Leon glanced over them, then turned his eyes back to the fairies and mages. They had been willing to hit their own comrades to kill him. It seemed they had recognized the threat he posed.

Whoosh!

A sound split the air behind him!

Leon sensed the attack and turned his spear to block it. A sharp, muffled impact rang out, and he got a good look at his assailant.

First to catch his eye was the man's blood-red hair, pressed down across his forehead. Beneath it, his eyes were slightly wide, glaring at Leon with a murderous look. Veins bulged across his forehead, yet the corners of his mouth remained raised in a wicked grin.

Lucius!

The emperor of Rome!

Leon had glimpsed him from afar before entering the formation, but couldn't make out his features. Now he finally saw the appearance of his main opponent.

Just as the rumors had described, he was a man like a beast.

And an idiot, too!

Leon hadn't even charged in to carry out a decapitation strike, and the enemy commander had come right over to deliver himself.

Still, Lucius deserved credit for daring to enter the battlefield and draw his sword against him. He was a brave man.

Fine. I'll accept your kind gesture and cut off your head!

Just then, Leon suddenly received a message from Merlin.

Considering this was the crucial moment when he could behead the enemy commander, Leon didn't answer yet. He focused on the foe in front of him instead. A few seconds wouldn't make a difference.

After the Holy Spear in Leon's hand blocked Lucius's attack, the Holy Sword in his other hand was about to strike him down—when Leon saw Lucius's smile grow wider.

Lucius gripped the silver-red Sword of Kingship. It shone more brilliantly than any precious metal. Mana flowed over it, mingling with crimson lightning and surging like a roaring torrent, swallowing Leon whole.

Boom!

The dark-red beam poured all its force into Leon. It pierced the mountain ridges and veins of the earth behind him. Lightning rampaged along its path, turning the surrounding land into a crimson hell.

After landing his blow, Lucius didn't rashly approach. He jumped back a good distance, and the Demon Sword in his hand continued to pour out mana without pause. Instead, he increased the output, nearly doubling the beam's range. It was as if the mana inside him were limitless, and he was utterly without restraint.

Pat, pat.

As Lucius unleashed the destructive force of lightning and the beam amid the thunderous din, steady footsteps sounded, then grew hurried.

The sound wasn't loud, but it caught everyone's attention.

"Your Majesty, he... he's still alive?"

The humans, fairies, and giants around them all knew how powerful their emperor was. It was precisely because of his strength that they sincerely submitted to and served him.

It was one thing for their own attacks to fail. But His Majesty had unleashed the full force of his attack, and the Lion King of Britain had taken it head-on without defending himself. How could he still be alive?

Lucius ignored his soldiers and quickly cut off the flow of mana. He sensed a strong, familiar bloodlust coming toward him.

A huge figure suddenly burst out of the beam, which had yet to fade. The blade in his hand came crashing down. It moved so fast and struck with such force that Lucius couldn't react in time.

A flash of cold light was about to cut into him. Lucius had no choice but to unleash all his mana. He swung both arms upward, gripping his sword and squeezing every last bit of strength from his body. Veins bulged beneath the skin of his arms.

"Ah!"

The moment he met the descending Holy Sword head-on, Lucius felt just how powerful the blow was.

The immense force and violent vibrations traveled through his Demon Sword. Lucius felt a sharp pain in the web of his thumb and forefinger. It split open, spraying blood. Then his hands went numb, and the bones in them shattered. He couldn't hold the hilt any longer, and his Demon Sword slipped from his grasp.

With nothing to stop it, the oncoming blade cut into Lucius's right shoulder and down to his chest.

Leon watched as his Holy Sword sank completely into Lucius's body, its blade protruding more than fifty centimeters from his back.

"Ugh... ah..."

Lucius held his hands up against the broad blade, trying to stop the Holy Sword from cutting farther.

But Leon's arm exerted more force. Like a hot knife through butter, the Holy Sword smoothly sliced through Lucius's body, cutting off half of it along with half of his hand.

"The emperor of Rome was nothing special after all."

Only when he was sure the battle was won did Leon answer Merlin's message.

Merlin's voice sounded especially weak.

"...My king, the mages here really did prepare a weapon capable of killing you."

"What is it?"

"A black spear shaft..."