------------------
HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
------------------
Chapter 26: The Second Dreihart Rebellion Suppression (2)
In the rear of the battlefield, where the fighting raged on, Sharon waited.
According to standard military doctrine, a mage’s role was to remain in the rear and respond to the battle’s progress using their arsenal of spells.
In that sense, Sharon being stationed in the back was a textbook deployment.
But that logic only applied to an ‘ordinary’ mage.
A mage of Sharon’s caliber had no need to follow conventional tactical manuals. With just a little assistance from the knights, she could have easily launched a massive magical bombardment before the battle had even begun.
So why didn’t she?
There were two reasons.
First, because Calyx did not want a large-scale massacre.
And second—because of ‘them’.
“How long are you planning to just watch?”
As Sharon spoke, they revealed themselves—emerging from thin air in a swirl of black smoke.
They were the ones who had kept Sharon waiting in the rear—Bloodkin assassins.
Five of them, wearing black masks stitched from rags—just like the one who nearly killed Zeras—surrounded Sharon. The one in the lead, Kir, spoke.
“Impressive... You’re alone? You don’t seriously think you can handle all of us by yourself, do you?”
“I’m not here to ‘handle’ you. I’m here to kill you.”
Sharon replied coldly.
Her eyes—cold and sharp, unlike anything even Calyx or the Cron knights had ever seen—locked onto them.
The moment she laid eyes on them with her Celestial Sight, she ‘knew.’
They were the same Bloodkin assassins who had attacked her lord.
Letting them roam freely would endanger everyone—Calyx, the knights, all of Dreihart. So Sharon had set the bait—Herself.
“You’re the ones who tried to assassinate my lord, aren’t you?”
Back in the Mage Tower, she had studied the Bloodkin extensively. But she had never felt hatred toward them. What they did was wrong, yes—but they had never harmed her directly.
Until now.
These ones were different.
These ones had gone after ‘him.’
“I don’t hold a grudge against the Bloodkin. But you… you’re the exception. You tried to destroy my dream.”
Kir could sense it—the killing intent rolling off her in waves. She wasn’t ordinary. But that didn’t scare him. They were veteran mage-killers, seasoned in the art of hunting down magic-wielders.
“You think one mage can take on all of us?”
Sharon understood exactly what they were implying. But there was something they didn’t know.
For the past ten years, she had wandered the Empire alone.
They couldn’t even begin to imagine how many ambushes she had endured—or how many assassins had been sent after her by lords who feared her power.
“I’ve spent the last ten years traveling the Empire alone. Can you guess how many times I’ve been ambushed? How many assassins have I had to deal with?”
From her staff, flames began to erupt.
The fire extended, lashing out like a whip, like a serpent, coiling and hissing with raw power.
“I’ll show you the fire that burned assassins like you to ash.”
Assassins vs. Mage.
Shadow vs. Flame.
And so, in the rear of the battlefield, another war began.
＊ ＊ ＊
Zarha was taken aback when his charge was stopped.
The energy he sensed from that knight was clearly weaker than his own.
Yet, not only did the knight stop his charge, he even pushed him back.
To understand why, Zarha charged again—and again, Rikain blocked him with his shield.
“Knights, form a shield wall!”
The knights, centered around Rikain, moved as one to meet Zarha’s assault.
This time, they withstood and even pushed him back, just as before.
At that moment, a piece of the puzzle fell into place for Zarha.
“I see now. So this is your power.”
His deduction was correct.
Rikain’s blessing was the『Guardian’s Shield』.
That ability specialized in strengthening the shields of those around Rikain.
Though not physically strong, this blessing made him an SSR-rank tank in defense.
Still, Zarha remained unsettled.
With every charge, he felt his strength draining away.
What was this? Did Rikain’s blessing somehow steal his power?
While he pondered how to fight at a distance, trouble began to spread among the other slave soldiers.
“Z-Zarha… m-my body…”
“Uron! What’s happening all of a sudden?!”
Slave soldiers who were fighting well suddenly started collapsing without being hit by arrows.
Seeing his comrades, who had fought so fiercely, suddenly collapse—and feeling his own strength drain away—Zarha was gripped by a fear he’d never known before…
The fear of losing.
“What the hell!!! What kind of magic is this?!”
Zarha knew all too well the terror of magic and poison in war and stayed vigilant.
Thanks to the Black Mask assassins, the previous battle was free of magical attacks, and all their food was inspected by herbalists and Black Masks to confirm it was poison-free before eating.
Yet suddenly, everyone fainted at once, and Zarha suspected they were under some magical attack.
But he was wrong.
What Zarha was suffering wasn’t magic but, technically, alchemy.
Nova, a merchant, had heard and experienced many stories, including about food.
He knew that barley from the South and wheat from the West, when eaten separately, caused no harm to the human body.
However, when consumed together, if one moved vigorously within 1-2 days, it caused a shock that made a person faint.
Nova had deliberately allowed the Southern barley to be looted after the siege started, then supplied the Western wheat before the second suppression, creating this state.
Unaware of this, Zarha and his slave soldiers felt as if they were fighting demons.
Comrades hit by arrows fell.
Those fighting hard suddenly fainted and lost consciousness.
Most, including Zarha, felt their limbs losing strength.
Sensing defeat, Zarha tried to make one last desperate move.
“Using such filthy tricks... I was a damn fool to ever trust you, even for a second!”
He despised Calyx deeply for stooping to dirty tactics just to kill them.
Determined to at least kill that lord, Zarha grabbed a nearby spear to throw.
But then—
Thunk—!
“Gah!”
An arrow suddenly pierced Zarha’s chest.
Through the haze of fading consciousness, he saw Lord Calyx shooting the arrow at him.
Thinking once more how much he despised opponents who killed with tricks like that, Zarha lost consciousness.
＊ ＊ ＊
As the slave soldiers fainted and the war was drawing to a close, the battle between the assassins and the mage was also reaching its end.
The five assassins attacked Sharon with a carefully planned strategy targeting the mage.
Their mistake was underestimating Sharon, who was a foe beyond what their tactics could handle.
“Argh!!! Kir!!!”
Fwoooosh—!
The whip of fire Sharon summoned slithered like a living snake around her, striking them relentlessly.
Usually, when unleashing such wide-area attacks, gaps in magical power would appear—these gaps were the assassins’ main opportunity to strike.
But against Sharon, their usual tactics didn’t work.
In fact, it was a trap.
The second assassin from Balharim tried to exploit a gap in Sharon’s magic but was instead wrapped in the fiery whip and burned to ashes.
Kir could clearly see the pinnacle of anti-assassin magical combat born from countless battles.
“Why aren’t you attacking more? What, are you just going to stand there?”
“......”
Kir had no choice but to admit it.
Sharon was a monster beyond his current capabilities.
They couldn’t afford to keep taking losses and risk disrupting their sacred mission.
“I will never forget today’s humiliation.”
“Who says you have that luxury?”
At Kir’s signal, the assassins simultaneously released smoke bombs.
Sharon swung her fiery whip, but the assassins vanished as the smoke cleared.
Even with magical detection around, it was as if nothing had ever been there.
Sharon recalled the Bloodkin assassins’ magic once more and silently left the scene.
＊ ＊ ＊
The war proceeded exactly as planned.
Nova’s carefully laid traps combined perfectly with Rikain’s archery tactics, causing the slave soldiers to faint en masse.
It did look like many would be dead, which could easily cause misunderstandings.
But this was unavoidable.
Among Sharon’s magic, she had no mass-stun spells, and since she insisted on facing the assassins alone, this was the only viable method.
During the plan’s execution, Zarha suddenly lost control.
He grabbed a spear from a nearby comrade and aimed it at me.
If he threw that spear, I’d be skewered for sure.
Acting on pure instinct, I drew my bowstring with all my strength and urgency.
“Gods of heaven and earth, grant me power!”
Perhaps the gods heard my plea, because I managed to shoot a tranquilizer arrow straight into Zarha’s chest, and he collapsed unconscious.
Whew... that was a close call.
I really thought I was going to die.
Seeing Zarha fall, our knights erupted in cheers.
“The lord has taken down the enemy commander!”
“Everyone, follow the lord!”
But honestly, I just landed the finishing shot—why the big celebration?
Whatever, the morale boost was real, and our knights began subduing the slave soldiers.
In truth, Zarha’s collapse marked the end of the battle.
Some slaves who hadn’t eaten the barley and wheat stayed conscious but surrendered upon seeing Zarha fall, laying down their weapons and accepting capture without a fight.
Thus, with just the Cron Knights, the Dreihart Rebellion was successfully crushed.
After quickly wrapping up the situation, we summoned Rakyu, the Wartime Operations Overseer.
“Wow... You really suppressed the Dreihart Rebellion all on your own. Amazing, Lord Calyx.”
“It’s thanks to the hard fight from the Cron Knights and our retainers.”
Rakyu was impressed as he surveyed the freed Dreihart and the slaves captured in the Colosseum.
Although the fact the issue was resolved before the rear forces could gather looked a bit unseemly, it was ultimately good for Rakyu.
His mission was to oversee the rebellion’s suppression, and I had carried that out thoroughly.
That meant his job here was done.
“Now that you’ve confirmed it, as the Lord of Cron and Liberator of Dreihart, I will demand proper compensation from you, Overseer Rakyu.”
“Of course, Lord Calyx. I, Rakyu, Wartime Operations Overseer of the Dreihart suppression, guarantee it. The Dreihart Rebellion has been quelled by the Cron family. Per the Platinum Council’s decree, the ruling authority over Dreihart now belongs to the Cron family, starting from this very moment.”
Rakyu placed his hand over his chest and swore before the gods.
With this, all formalities were complete. I shook hands with Rakyu.
“Congratulations, my lord. With this, the Cron family becomes a major house no one in the empire can ignore.”
“Congratulations are premature. The most important task still remains.”
Yes, it wasn’t over yet.
With all preparations finished, I entered the Colosseum for the final act.
The moment to put an end to the horrific history of this slave city was at hand.
------------------
HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
------------------
