Chapter 166: Battle of the Gerald Plains (5)

“I heard you were looking for a superior? I am Joonbum Khalodian. The commander of the army. I know you must’ve heard about me, so I won’t go into the details.”

Joonbum nodded at the duke and started off. The duke opened his eyes in rage.

“WHAT!”

“FIRST, let me tell you about the current situation. You are a prisoner of war. We Khalodians have gained complete victory over your army. All your soldiers, or the seventeen thousand three hundred twenty-one men, have been captured as prisoners. All those that were not released by paying the ransom will become slaves.”

The duke’s face turned grim as Joonbum continued explaining.

“Lastly, I heard you kicked the food today. So, there will be no dinner for you for today. If you want to starve, then you can keep kicking the food brought unto you.”

“How… HOW DARE! UGH!”

Joonbum’s right hand struck the duke’s face as he tried to stand up to him. Jackson, who was watching from the back, gasped in shock. The duke was on the ground, unconscious.

“Huh? Oops. Why did I do that?”

“Sir! Why did you do that!”

Joonbum grinned awkwardly.

“I don’t know. I just kind of did. Really!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you, really?”

“Yeah! It just kind of lashed out without me knowing.”

Jackson narrowed his eyes.

‘Ugh, he just punched the duke in the face… Oh wait, that douchebag did it also.’

Jackson thought of Hallis who punched duke unconscious as he brought him back.

“Let’s go. We’ll let him sleep like that.”

Joonbum turned and moved out of the cell. Jackson glanced at the duke who was helplessly knocked out for one last moment before following along.

“Bring the superior! I am the Corinto, lord of the empire! HOW DARE- ARGH!”

The lord of Corinto, Keil Corinto, screamed in pain as he fell to the ground on his face.

“WHAT!”

“HOW DARE YOU!”

“WE ARE NOBLES! YOU DARE!”

Other nobles shouted instantly as they saw their fellow noble being struck down. They were enraged by humiliation.

“Hah. So, what?”

“How dare you! It’s a war, but the law of the nobles still stands! You have responsibility as a-”

“Damn old men have so much to talk about. I understand why my father hates you guys so much.”

Hallis spoke tauntingly. An old noble shouted more angrily toward Hallis until he was struck down by a club that Hallis was holding.

“UGH!”

“Baron Hourin!”

The man named Hourin fell down with blood pouring out from his head. Other nobles ran to him in shock in order to help him.

“BLOOD!”

“He’s hurt!”

“He needs treatment!”

The old noble was unconscious while bleeding from his head.

“Hehe. Anyone who wants to continue his legacy? I’m all ears.”

Hallis cackled as he watched the nobles. They were angered, but no one dared to stand up to him. They bit their lips and clenched their fists, but that was all.

“Right. My father always told me to know my place. That goes for all of you too. You want respect when you were captured like dogs? You outnumbered us tenfold and still lost. There is no respect for you. Speaking of respect, is that why all of you gathered an army of ten thousand to attack such a small village? Out of respect?”

Hallis spoke cynically. The nobles were humiliated, but they could not speak back. Some seemed to be ashamed and some avoided eye contact. Then a young knight stood up in anger.

“It was to kill the evil witch! You fool! You are all blinded by the witch! We were merely here to save you from her evil grasp! How can you treat us like this when we were just here to help!”

The knight shouted angrily and others looked at him as if he was a savior. Hallis then smirked and turned to him.

“HAHAHA! How can you be so dumb. Witch? Did you just say a witch? HAHA! You must be out of your mind!”

“A witch… Haha…”

“Wow. So they really believe in those stuff.”

“I didn’t know a witch is supposed to be cutting trees and making farms.”

“Is a witch a person who heals other people?”

“Yeah. Witches nowadays feed orphans and commoners. Yep.”

Soldiers began bursting into laughter. But their eyes weren’t laughing and their voices turned cold.

“She is SAINT! She has come to us during our hard times to save us from death! YOU DARE CALL HER A WITCH?”

“Everyone knows those two bastards from Barisman started a war to take our goddess away.”

“Dogs! You came here to take away our blessing and claim that you were here to help?”

“No one starves here. No one is sick. There’s no disaster in this land! You still can’t grasp reality.”

“YOU DIRTY DOG! HOW DARE YOU CALL THE COUNTESS A WITCH?”

Soldiers began shouting in anger. They didn’t seem to care that they were talking to nobles and knights. Hallis smiled at them and waved his club.

“You don’t feel much by just words, right? My father once told me that you should know it physically. Boys, let’s get started.”

“Yes, sir!”

“ARGH!”

The soldiers jumped upon the nobles and began swinging their clubs mercilessly. The nobles screamed in pain as they were struck down nonstop. After about thirty minutes of such punishment, they were all lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Hallis backed away, grinning.

“This thing is so nice. IT sounds nice, and it’s light… Hehe,” he mumbled as he looked at the weapon he was holding. The club was not an ordinary club of this world. It was a baton that Joonbum gave to him.

“You… you are all blinded… by the witch….”

The knight who shouted while ago was on the ground, barely breathing.

“Oh, so you have some balls then. I like you. How about you take a look at yourself? Boys! Let’s take him out!”

“Yes, sir!”

Two soldiers picked the knight up and dragged him out, following Hallis. It wasn’t long after that the knight was shocked by what he saw. After moving for a while by a horse-led carriage, they were at the clean Ainos town. There were roads full of all kinds of people: the Magnos, the Ainos, and the humans. No one seemed to starve and no one was dirty. Clean water flowed through waterways by the roads and no filth dirtied the road. Fish swam through the waterways and the kids played about.

‘Where is this place?’

The knight thought to himself in disbelief. He knew where he was, but he couldn’t believe his eyes. The road was like the capital of the empire, but cleaner.

“Ah!”

He knew why it was so clean. When a passing Duran took a dump on a street, kids who were playing by the road came right up with shovels and baskets and cleaned it up right away. When they were finished, they were given a small wooden stick. Some kids then ran to a place where they could trade the stick for a snack.

Then the scenery changed. They were now in an open field filled with green leaves. It was not a sight that one could find in the middle of winter. The tall green corn stalks moved as a soft breeze swept them. The scenery continued endlessly for a while, then they were at the end.

Halis stood up to look around. There were many people walking around. The young knight’s eyes widened in shock. There were bulldozers and excavators working on the land. It was faster than anything that could be done by human hands.

“Look. She is the goddess of Khalodian. Goddess of mercy!” Hallis spoke, pointing to a black-haired woman moving about on a weird-looking carriage.