Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy 205 A Card for Everyone to See

The two forces were currently unaware that another hand was currently affecting the outcome of their battle from behind the scenes. While Paul thought that his faction may have already started to abandon him, Elrich was thinking that the king had listened to his warning.

No one could blame the duke for not giving the king more doubt because, at the end of the day, he was still part of the Zweifel kingdom. Though he had his own suspicions, Elrich wanted nothing more than peace and prosperity for the kingdom.

The sun had not yet risen when the bloody duke was woken up by one of the commanders serving under him. This was the day that their forces were going to start attacking so he had given them an order to wake him if anything worth mentioning occurred.

"There is truly no hope for Paul Keller…" Elrich's frowned after hearing the report of Paul's activities after his arrival.

Though military forces taking over villages and settlements were not unheard of when it was wartime, Paul had not only kicked out his own people from their homes, he sent them off while keeping all the food the village was saving up for the coming winter.

He would have understood it if Paul's forces were located in enemy territory and were currently in dire straits, but these were his own people. These were the people that paid taxes and allowed the Keller family to sit back and expand their army.

"They have sent a messenger requesting for a negotiation table to be opened." One of the commanders reported.

"Negotiations?" Elrich scoffed. "Tell him that there is no need for a private discussion. Whatever they want to say, they should say it in front of everyone when we meet at the battlefield."

What more needed to be said between them? The only reason why Elrich hadn't attacked at full force was because they were in the Zweifel kingdom. If it were not for the reason that they belonged to the same side, the bloody duke wouldn't have cared and simply killed his way towards his enemy.

It wasn't because he had grown wiser and more patient like everyone who wasn't on Elrich's side had assumed. It was just that the bloody duke did not want to be covered by the blood of innocent people belonging to his own kingdom.

*BAM!* *CRASH*

"That bastard!" Paul couldn't help but break whatever was near him at the shabby house he was currently resting at. "He wants to shame me in front of my subordinates!"

Paul still believed that Elrich was out to make him as an example for those who were included in the plot against Sodina. He had gravely underestimated why Elrich had a reputation for doing anything and everything for the sake of his daughter. He still believed that the king and his faction would at least give Elrich Eberbach a line that he couldn't cross.

"Sir, there are only a few hours left until the deadline…" one of his men voiced out.

They were worried. They had just arrived after rushing all the way from their base of operations. The soldiers haven't had ample time to rest and though they currently outnumbered the enemy, their enemies were all but elites. All hope seems to have been lost.

"Have the elites rest as much as they can. If worse comes to worst, we will have to accept the part of being the fuse that ignited the fall of the bloody duke." Paul spoke seriously.

Though he was not willing to accept it, part of him had already thought about a decision that involved them being the sacrifices that the king needed to officially make a move on the Eberbach family. Since Elrich had gone out of his way to weaken their own country, the king's faction would have many options to exploit this fact.

Of course, with Paul being in his territory preparing for the battle with Elrich, later on, he was not aware of what had been happening in the capital after the hero was successfully summoned. Though he had received some reports about him, since Paul hadn't been to the capital to meet the hero in person, he had no idea how much Kazuya had influenced his current predicament. Paul would have cursed Kazuya to death if he did.

"(Your majesty…)" Paul steeled his resolve.

He trusted the king as he knew just how ambitious Benino was. If his plan succeeded, there was no doubt that the Zweifel kingdom's power in Edea would almost have no equal. If Benino had deemed him as a necessary sacrifice, then so be it.

With their fatigue and anxiety about facing the forces of the bloody duke, the morale of Paul's troops was very low. Some of the people who were unhappy with how they had handled the villagers had deserted after saying that they would just make sure that there were no people lurking around their camp.

Not wanting to lower his chances, even more, Paul decided to move his forces towards the border and make use of whatever was in the incomplete outpost.

Of course, when he arrived, he was surprised to see how little had been there. While Paul was aware that serious defenses weren't built in this specific outpost because his territory didn't find the need to defend against the duke's territory because of what happened in the past, he regretted not investing in any kind of deterrence against someone he knew he would go up against in the future.

"(Is this the price of overconfidence?)" Paul questioned himself as he thought deeply about the upcoming battle.

*rumble* *rumble* *ruMBLE* *RUMBLE!*

"(They're here…)" Even Paul who was no stranger to the battlefield couldn't help but be startled at the pressure caused by the Eberbach forces just from their arrival.

He couldn't help but clench his fists as he took a glance at his forces. They may still have outnumbered the enemies 3:1 but it still made him feel helpless.

*BAM! BAM! BAMG BAM!*

The Eberbach forces started banging their shields, armors in unison as Elrich walked towards the front of his forces.

"The bloody duke…" Paul sensed it. This was not the gentleman-like man he met at the capital. This was someone who had gained infamy for all the fierce and bloody battles he won.

He mounted his warhorse and moved in front of his men to issue commands. Wanting to boost the morale of his own troops, he had no choice but to stand in front of them and keep them on their toes instead of focusing on the intimidating forces that were in front of them.

"Defense formations!" Paul shouted towards his troops. His commanders had already relayed their plan to make use of the border defenses as weak and shabby as it seemed.

"I see you're going to play the turtle eh?" Elrich's voice projection that rattled Paul's forces as soon as they heard his condescending tone. "So much for the general supposed to be called the second me."

Paul was immediately agitated. There was no way that Elrich was aware of his army's current situation but he still dared to look down on them for their defensive formation.

"You dare spout such nonsense after bringing elites to lure us out here! Have you no shame!?" he shouted back in rage.

"Shame? Who was the one who sent multiple elite assassins against my daughter who had two knights and three trainees with her? Did you not consider the states they would be in after the people you assigned lured grey orcs to wear them down? Did you even think I would have given you and your army some time if they were not people of the Zweifel kingdom?" he gave Paul a penetrating gaze.

"I WOULD HAVE ALREADY SLAUGHTERED YOU ALL IF YOU HAD BEEN FROM A DIFFERENT KINGDOM!"

A tremendous amount of bloodlust came with Elrich's last declaration. Indeed, if Sodina had perished in that attack, he wouldn't have cared whether the culprit had been from his own kingdom or not. Even if he perished in the process, the bloody duke would have marched to his death in order to get revenge for Sodina.

Unfortunately for Paul and the faction he was loyal to, things were different this time around. Destiny had been altered unknowingly by the hero they had summoned to be a pawn for their ambitions.

"(This is bad…)" Paul not only saw but also heard the trembling soldiers who had been intimidated by the bloody duke's rage.

The soldiers who had fear ingrained in them would only be detrimental to their defenses. The battle had already begun even if the two forces have yet to clash.

"Since you say that, then let us settle this in a way where there will be fewer casualties! I propose we only battle with a small number of elites!" Paul boldly declared and ignored the sneering of Elrich's troops. "Myself and a thousand of my soldiers against you and your thousand! Surely you won't think of this as a bad deal since I'm giving up my numerical advantage to make things fair."

How could they not know what he was up to? Though this method will indeed lessen the casualties, the reason as to why Paul suggested it in the first place made even his own soldiers think badly of him. Was this really the general who the king said was a better version of Elrich?

"Very well. Let us do it your way." Even Paul was taken by surprise at Elrich's nonchalant approval of his shameless proposal.

To Elrich, it didn't matter. He would have only complained if Paul himself hadn't said that he would join the battle himself. This was much better than what he had hoped and was confident that there wouldn't be any problems. Since Paul had offered to make things simpler for him, why wouldn't Elrich accept?

"(Is he really that confident?)" Paul couldn't help but think after seeing no changes in the bloody duke's attitude.

Paul ordered his commanders and elites and brought them forward. These were men that had been responsible for most of the fame he has gotten over the years. They may not be as famous as the bloody duke's legion but Paul believed that since they were younger than their adversaries, they had more potential.

The bloody duke had spent more than a decade outside the battlefield. Paul's tactic was to take advantage of the situation and challenge the duke to a duel himself. He believed that the duke was long past his prime and he had already surpassed this living legend.

"Fang unit to the front!" Elrich commanded.

"(Fang Unit?)" As this was a force he had never heard of, Paul couldn't help but turn back to observe the bulky figures walking in front.

They were wearing cloaks that covered their bodies but the shapes of their full armor couldn't be hidden by the cloaks that reached near the ground. Unlike most of the elite units that Paul had brought out, these people were also without mounts.

As large and bulky as these units were, they moved as if they were not as big and heavy as they seemed. It was like they barely weighed anything which made those who were able to notice this grow even more curious as to who these people were.

"Huh?" When the enemy units finally had stepped up and completed their formation, Paul couldn't help but notice the number of units that had stepped up was only half of his.

"What is the meaning of this, Duke Eberbach? Are you really going to face us with an unknown unit that is only half of our number? Aren't you looking down on us a little bit too much?" Paul intended to make sure that Elrich intended to go to battle with only this much but used the opportunity to agitate his own units against their enemy.

"If you feel like I'm looking down on you, that is not my intention. Though the fang unit is a force that have yet to make their official debut, I intend to let them go all out in this battle. That is why I will give your men a chance. As long as they throw away their weapons and kneel down by the time my men have removed their armors, those people will survive." Elrich moved waved his hand and signaled them. "We will begin our assault as soon as they have unequipped their heavy armors."

Paul and his units couldn't believe what they were hearing. Had the bloody duke gone senile? They will begin their assault as soon as this newbie unit took off their armor?

Some of the arrogant members of Paul's unit laughed out loud at the declaration. Paul had remained quiet because he would take any advantage he could. If Elrich wanted to die that badly, he would welcome it and emerge as a hero of their faction.

*CLANG* *THUD* the sounds of heavy armors falling to the ground cut off the laughter and made all eyes focus on the mysterious unit.

"Wh!?"

"N-no.."

"It can't be…"

Some of the veterans in Paul's forces immediately reacted as soon as they noticed what had been under the bulky armor of the Fang unit. Many of them had served the Earl for a long time and even had nightmares of the figures that appeared before them.

"Sabretooth tribe…" Paul's lip immediately bled as he had bitten it in frustration.

""GRRR!!"" Angry growls came from the sabretooth tribe who couldn't wait to get their hands on their enemies.

"Fang unit! SLAUGHTER ALL THOSE WHO ARE LOYAL TO THE BASTARD WHO DARED TO PLOT AGAINST MY DAUGHTER!"

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Chapter end