The Lord Of Blood Hill-Chapter 160: Are You Awake Now?
When the duchy's leadership realizes that the southern situation is becoming increasingly perilous, they can no longer sit idly by. Grand Duke Amir pens several personal letters, urging Jansen to deploy his forces to stabilize the southern region.
Currently, all twenty of the duchy's corps, along with numerous noble private armies, are stationed on the Billie Kingdom front. The eastern border defense corps remain immovable. The northern corps are too far away; by the time they arrive, it would be too late.
Additionally, the alliance with the Kosen Kingdom is only temporary, so they must be wary of the north. The western front is even more precarious—most of the Iron Wall Legion has already been withdrawn, tempting the Ika Kingdom to make a move. Pulling more troops from the border might invite an invasion from the west before aid can reach the south.
If they wait any longer, not only would the duchy's elevation be in jeopardy, but duchy also risk being carved up. At this point, everyone realizes that Jansen's demands are quite modest. As Count Marcus remarks, Jansen is simply accustomed to a frugal life. If it were him, he'd demand a marquisate!
In this life-or-death situation, the duchy's leadership quickly reaches a consensus and agrees to Jansen's terms. They grant him the title of Count and expand his territory tenfold to the north. Additionally, they immediately recall Jansen's eldest son, who has been fighting valiantly, to a safe area and bestow upon him a knighthood.
Even though the duchy's envoys assure Jansen that his conditions are met, Jansen has learned something. He waits for the official documents to arrive before leading his troops into battle.
After shattering the duchy's high command's hopes of celebrating with champagne at halftime, Henwell remains vigilant. As he reviews the intelligence in his hand, a cold smile crosses his face. He turns to Victor and says, "Bring Dominic here!"
Before long, a tall and robust young man enters Henwell's study. This is Dominic, once a young gladiator from the northern Kosen Kingdom. He's even taller than Henwell, and in his armor, he resembles a massive bear. Back in the day, he was already quite burly, earning him the nickname "Little Bear." Now, he's one of the instructors at Henwell's new recruit training camp, with military prowess second only to Arnold and Gevana.
Dominic pounds his chest in salute, "Sir, what are your orders?" Henwell waves him off and invites him to sit, "No need for formalities, there's no one else here. Just call me Henwell."
"Alright, Sir Henwell!" Dominic responds with a grin. Henwell chuckles, not bothering to correct him further, and hands over the intelligence . It's a briefing from Meredith.
It seems Divarak is starting to ignore Henwell's advice, believing he can achieve greater glory on his own. Despite Henwell's warnings to quit while ahead and avoid clashing with Jansen's forces, Divarak remains indifferent, not even bothering to reply to Henwell. It looks like he's genuinely planning to seize the southern region of Vorry.
This won't do! That's the territory Henwell has his eyes on!
After reading the , Dominic asks, "Do you want me to kill him?"
Henwell replies, "I've already redeployed troops from the front line. In two days, five thousand elite soldiers will return to Peace Haven. You'll select another five thousand recruits from the training camp. Take this force of ten thousand and give our 'partner' a wake-up call!"
Dominic inquires, "How hard should this wake-up call be?"
"Don't break him completely; we'll still need him for future cooperation. Just bring him back to reality."
Dominic stands and salutes, "Understood! I'll get ready right away."
Three days later, Dominic enters the southern part of the duchy from the northeast of Peace Haven. Another three days pass before Dominic locates the northern noble coalition led by Divarak. With a single charge, the five thousand elite troops shatter their formation.
That evening, Divarak is brought into the tent by soldiers. Dominic dismisses everyone else and stands towering over him.
Divarak, looking up, demands, "I'm a noble, and I demand the treatment befitting a noble prisoner of war. You can't treat me like this! What is your unit? Which Vorry corps are you from?"
Dominic places his large hand on Divarak's shoulder. As he applies pressure, the shoulder guard begins to deform, and Divarak screams in agony as his bones crack.
Lifting Divarak by the shoulder, Dominic asks, "Are you awake now?"
Seeing no response other than screams, Dominic frowns and shakes Divarak vigorously.
"I'm asking you a question! Are you awake now?"
At that moment, a woman in armor walks in, saying, "You're going to shake him to death!" Dominic's thumb nudges the hilt of his sword, slightly unsheathing it. Meredith quickly produces Henwell's token, exclaiming, "Why are you so unreasonable? If I were an enemy, would I be able to reach your main camp?"
After confirming the token, Dominic hands it back, asking, "Did the boss send you to connect with me?"
"Of course!" Meredith replies, then gestures to Divarak, who Dominic is holding. "He's my target. Can you put him down?"
Dominic releases his grip, and Divarak falls to the ground with a pained cry. Meredith approaches, removes the deformed shoulder guard, and tends to his wounds while setting his bones.
"My dear Viscount, why didn't you listen? I told you to lay low for a while, but you insisted on charging in headfirst!" She then turns to Dominic, "Look what you've done to the Viscount. If he dies, it won't be a big deal, but it could complicate our future interests."
Dominic responds coolly, "It's not a problem. There are plenty of people eager to make money, and Viscounts aren't exactly rare in the kingdom. What the boss wants is a partner with shared interests, not a selfish noble. We've captured many nobles this time. If we kill him, I guarantee we'll find another willing to cooperate by tonight!"
Meredith looks at Divarak in surprise, "Viscount, are you really going to abandon us? That would be terrible! But I respect everyone's choices. If you want to uphold your noble spirit, we can certainly accommodate that!"
Divarak, gritting his teeth in pain, looks at Dominic, "Are you with Henwell? Is this the Peace Haven army? Why attack me? We had an agreement!"
Dominic draws his sword, pressing the tip against Divarak's forehead. "The boss wants to know if you're awake now."
Sweating profusely, Divarak replies, "I'm awake! I'm awake! Actually, Henwell misunderstood me, I wasn't trying to..."
Dominic waves him off, "That's not important. I'm here to make sure you're awake!"
Turning to Meredith, Dominic says, "He's all yours."
Meredith helps Divarak up, "Come on, Viscount. Let's go! Don't be so foolish in the future. Why suffer like this? It's not worth the risk. Wouldn't it be better to earn glory and money steadily?"
Chapter 160: Are You Awake Now?
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