Chapter 245.4

Volume 3: Chapter 245 – Insurrection (4/4)

In an attempt to alleviate that, it was decided that more authority would be given to those present at the site.

To be more precise, matters such as organizing the army and deciding how to deal with the defeated would be left to the discretion of the goblins of the four generals. Administrative matters would still require the king’s attention, but in cases of emergency, they could also act in place of the king.

The leader of Fanzel, Ra Gilmi Fishiga, was sufficiently blessed with the traits and talents to both understand these new authorities and make use of them.

Felbi’s group of elves, who have been previously tasked with guarding Elrain Kingdom, the human guards tasked with upholding the public order, and the slave gladiators have all been temporarily mobilized. That was true for the goblins too, and the brawler faction led by Gi Zu Ruo, who was in charge of escorting the transportation of the food commodities, were also added to that force.

The treasuries of Elrain Kingdom were opened to provide the weapons, and then hostilities were opened. The two armies confronted at the outskirt of Elrain Kingdom, but from the moment they assumed formation, the rebel army was prepared to flee. The exact numbers of the rebel army were unknown, but they should have been around 15,000 men strong.

In terms of soldiers alone, Fanzel numbered only about 4,000 men strong; hence, it could easily be understood that the reason why the rebel army did not stop their march to Elrain Kingdom despite getting word of Fanzel’s mobilization was because of their superiority in numbers.

But when they neared Elrain Kingdom, what they saw take formation was a coalition army of goblins and humans.

In the face of an army that was almost 10,000 men strong, all the morale that the rebel army had vanished like a smoke. Leading the rebel army was one of the elders of Pena, Egnis. He was a young man full of bravery, who also held the authority that came with being Pena’s elder, but he had little talent in the ways of war and was only put into position as a puppet.

The one controlling him from the shadows was of course none other than Esgare who was active in Cell’s intelligence unit during the time of the Red King.

But even he lacked in military talent compared to Cell and the rest of the upper brass of the Red King. Even the clan leader of the Red King, Brandika, himself possessed superhuman individual combat skills, and then as if reflecting his ability to lead an army, the rest of the upper brass of the Red King was also full of people with individual and military skills.

Hence, this was pretty much Egnis and Esgare’s first time leading an army. When they saw Fanzel and Elrain’s army blocking the way, their opinions clashed. Esgare (Red King Ex-Member) wanted to attack Elrain Kingdom, while Egnis (Pena Elder) insisted that they couldn’t win.

In the end, while Egnis (Pena Elder) may have been a puppet, he was still the one leading the army. His opinion passed, and they ended up retreating for the time being.

By this time, Esgare (Red King Ex-Member) decided to abandon Egnis and leave.

“I still have a plan. We’re just getting started.”

Esgare left the retreating rebel army, and spat on the ground while he made his way north.

The rebel army brazenly retreated during the day and set their headquarters to be at Karak near Pena. Pena was a special place to the rebels that could be said to be their spiritual support.

They passed through Faydan, and Fanzel chased after them, but by this point, it could be said that victory had already been decided.

“This is…”

It was a guard participating from Elrain who said those words of disbelief.

Before their eyes was reflected the tragedy of Faydan. It was clear as day how the rebels would treat the people of Elrain Kingdom even though they had deep relations with them. After being killed mercilessly and seeing their corpses thrown by the wayside, it was only natural that the desire for vengeance would burn within them.

That tragic sight was enough to light a flame of anger within Shumea, who was sympathetic to the rioters and the rebel army.

“I was wrong. They’re animals.”

Shumea held the spear on her shoulder tightly and spat that out, then she told Gilmi that she wanted to be at the front lines.

“You’ll be killing other humans. Are you sure you can fight them without holding back?”

Those calm and calculated eyes measured Shumea. She nodded exaggeratedly and spoke.

“They’re animals, and animals who would kill even children deserve no mercy!”

“Alright. I’ll leave the front lines to you.”

“Yeah, I got it.”

The commander’s anger raised the subordinates’ morale. Especially within the border defense unit, wherein Shumea’s popularity contested even the Goblin King’s.

When the soldiers saw her standing at the head of the army, most of them felt respect and yearning for her.

It was at the end of the Month of Boa that hostilities finally came to a close.

“Onwards!”

At Shumea’s voice that was close to a yell, the soldiers under her advanced sooner than anyone else could. The orcs moved to the left wing as if to chase after them, while the guards of Elrain Kingdom who had their brethren killed moved to the right.

Shumea swung her spear and fluttered about in the front lines, and the soldiers hurriedly followed after her. The rebel army tried to surround Shumea and exterminate them, but Gilmi and Bui wasn’t about to just watch them do that.

In an instant, when the rebels tried to change their formation, they attacked and forced the rebel army to fall into chaos.

“Onward! To leave Shumea-dono alone in the vanguard would be slinging mud on our proud name!”

Gi Zu bellowed out a howl as he led his brawler faction to overtake Shumea and land a finishing blow to the confused rebel army.

Like a leaf amidst raging waves, Mido of the Fang came attacking from both flanks with the demihumans, and then Ganra’s arrows fell from the heavens to claim rebel lives.

As the rebel army was routed, Zaurosh led his cavalry to pursue them.

This time Zaurosh didn’t advise them to surrender and went straight to attacking them. As soon as they turned their backs on them, arrows shot through them, spears skewered them, and orc clubs bludgeoned them.

Only 2,000 out of the supposedly 15,000 men strong rebel army were able to run away alive. But Fanzel’s pursuit showed no signs of stopping. They continued to chase them into the towns they fled to, and as they continued to give out warnings, steadily advanced toward Pena. Towns that refused to surrender were attacked and mercilessly turned into ghost towns.

In order to prevent them from trying to rebel again, Gilmi decided to take a hard approach.

Fanzel’s cruel attacks that took after Felduk caused Pena, which held strong anti-goblin sentiments, to change.

When Fanzel had neared the castle walls of Pena, they opened their gates and declared their intention to surrender.

After giving the order for some of the elders to be disciplined, Gilmi headed further north. The measures Gilmi took might be called soft, but he made this decision after careful consideration.

They were merely the commanders out in the fields.

Eventually, the truth behind this rebellions should be uncovered by Pale’s information network. Hence, until then, it would be better to give these elders some hope and keep them calm rather than needlessly instigate them even more.

Gilmi made the decisions he made because he believed the king would judge them eventually. The rebel army headed toward the Western Capital, and Gilmi followed after them to subjugate them.