LHAHS Chapter 467
In Viscount Tiben's territory, a province of the Carnel Kingdom, a city on the border with the neighboring Petimen Kingdom was burning.
Once, it had been a fairly large agricultural town, but as the war intensified, the flames of battle finally reached even this place.
Cities and villages burned, reducing many homes to ashes. To add fuel to the fire, soldiers of the Petimen Kingdom even hurled torches into houses.
Among the knights of Petimen, one riding a horse pointed his sword toward the refugees fleeing beyond the city. "Look, proud soldiers of Petimen! Over there, the wretched remnants of Carnel still remain! Do not let a single one escape—cut them down!"
At the knight's booming command, the soldiers flinched.
Noticing their hesitation, the knight barked, "What are you waiting for?! Chase them down immediately!"
"B-But, my lord! No matter how you look at them, those people aren't remnants of Carnel's army, they're civilians!"
There was no way any remnants of the Carnel Kingdom's army could be here. Carnel had recently suffered a crushing defeat in the full-scale war against Petimen and had withdrawn its forces significantly. While Carnel's army pulled back to reorganize, the Petimen Kingdom seized their lands.
There were no battles happening anymore. Even the lowest-ranked soldiers knew this.
"You fools! The moment they pick up swords and spears, they will become an army of evil that threatens our proud Petimen!" the knight commander snapped, his bloodshot eyes gleaming.
"In the name of His Majesty, root out this evil! Establish justice! That is your sacred duty as the proud warriors of the Petimen Kingdom! Slaughter them all!"
"B-But, my lord! There are elders and children among them…!"
The knight commander's eyes twitched. "You dare disobey me?"
Dismounting from his horse, he strode toward the protesting soldier.
"It is not disobedience, my lord, I simply…"
Shlck—!
"Urk…?"
The knight commander's sword pierced the soldier's stomach. Coughing up blood, the soldier trembled violently before collapsing onto the ground.
"To live under His Majesty's grace and yet remain so ignorant…" Disgust flashed across the knight commander's face. "Anyone who betrays His Majesty's grace is no longer part of our great Petimen Kingdom. Knights."
Shing—!
At the eerie command, the Petimen knights unsheathed their swords. Seeing this, the soldiers turned pale.
"Eliminate these disgraceful traitors!"
"Glory to His Majesty, the King!"
"Justice is with us!"
Aura surged from the knights' blades as they prepared to cut down their own subordinates.
"Aaaargh!"
"P-Please, have mercy!"
The soldiers fled in terror. They carried weapons, yet not one of them considered fighting back.
They had been on the battlefield long enough to understand that there was no point in resisting knights who wielded aura.
As the soldiers scattered in fear, the knight commander sneered. "They should have accepted their deaths with dignity under His Majesty's name. Instead, look at them fleeing so pitifully. There truly is no saving such worthless trash."
Adjusting his grip on his sword, he turned to a soldier still writhing on the ground. "You too, die."
Just as he swung his sword to finish off his former subordinate, a hand reached out and caught the knight commander's blade.
Clank—!
"I'd say the ones beyond saving are scum like you."
The knight commander shuddered and looked at the person who had stopped his strike.
Cold, crimson eyes stared back at him.
"Who are you?! Are you a lackey of the Carnel Kingdom?!"
He yanked his sword, trying to free it, but it didn't budge from Leo's grip.
What kind of strength…?!
His eyes widened in shock at Leo's overwhelming power. He immediately gathered aura.
"I'll cut off your hand!"
As aura exploded from his blade, the knight commander smirked, no, his face twisted in horror.
His sword still wouldn't budge an inch in Leo's grasp.
Leo tightened his grip.
Crack—!
"Gaaaah?!"
The blade shattered along with the knight commander's aura. Fragments of the sword and aura scattered in all directions. Not a single shard touched Leo, but the knight commander's body was left in tatters.
As the knights who had been preparing to slaughter their soldiers reeled in shock, Lily stepped forward.
"What kind of knight raises his blade against his own subordinates on the battlefield…? Aren't you ashamed?"
At her voice, the leading knight swung his spear. "I don't know who you are, but to stand in our way… Do you have a death wish?!"
Aura surged from his spear as he thrust it toward Lily.
Whoosh—!
Before the spear could even graze her, Lily had already swung her battle hammer.
Bam—!
"Urk?!"
The knight was struck midair and sent flying before crashing into the ground.
"A knight from the Carnel Kingdom!"
As ten knights armed with aura-infused weapons surrounded her, Lily swept her gaze over them and hoisted her battle hammer. Then, she slammed it into the ground.
Boom—!
A wave of earth erupted and swallowed the knights whole.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Their agonized screams filled the air. Moments later, the knights resurfaced, their mouths stuffed with dirt like helpless moles.
Resting her battle hammer on her shoulder, Lily stepped forward. "You should be grateful that I am here as a student of Lumene. If I had come on my family's behalf, I would have crushed your skulls without hesitation."
Her ominous voice sent shivers down the knights' spines.
As Leo watched, he pulled out a potion and healed the wounded soldier's stomach wound. Then, he approached the knight commander.
"I have a few questions," he asked.
"You…! You're not from Carnel?! Who the hell are you?!" The knight commander roared, his voice dripping with hostility.
"You can't tell by my uniform?" Leo sighed as if even answering was a hassle.
At that, the knight commander flinched and clenched his teeth. Then, eyes wild with madness, he screamed furiously, "Lumene?! But Lumene is supposed to remain neutral! Oho! Those vile Carnel scum have dragged Lumene into this! Shame on you! You claim to aspire to be heroes, yet you dare side with evil!"
Leo narrowed his eyes.
There's no reasoning with him.
"Glory to His Majesty the King! Justice stands with the Petimen Kingdom!"
As the crazed knight ranted, Leo lifted his foot.
"The Justice Guild will—!"
Smash!
Annoyed, Leo stomped down on the knight commander's head.
The Justice Guild?
Leo's eyes sharpened at the last words the knight uttered before losing consciousness.
He knew that name well. It was a hero guild—specifically, the third-ranking human hero guild after Twilight and Imperial.
Has the Justice Guild intervened in this war?
As Leo pondered the implications…
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The ground trembled with the sound of galloping hooves.
Turning his head, he saw a group of knights charging forward, their flags bearing an all-too-familiar emblem.
Leo pulled out the request form from his coat.
The Tiben Family's crest.
These knights belonged to none other than Viscount Tiben, who had submitted the request to Lumene.
"Whoa!"
The young knight at the lead was mounted on none other than a griffon. A knight riding a spirit beast—there was no doubt he was a high-ranking knight.
Upon seeing Leo and Lily's uniforms, the young knight's face twisted in confusion. "Lumene uniforms? What are Lumene students doing here?"
Leo held out the request form. "We are students dispatched from Lumene to complete the [Investigation of Hero's Tomb Robberies] request. We'd like to meet with Viscount Relgen Tiben."
The knight dismounted from his griffon and stepped forward. "I appreciate your response to the request, but it's impossible for you to meet the requester."
"What do you mean?" Lily tilted her head in confusion.
"My grandfather passed away a month ago. The current Viscount Tiben is not Relgen Tiben but me, Esimon Tiben."
Removing his helmet with a wry smile, Esimon sighed in distress. "I appreciate your willingness to take on the request, but I'm afraid you've arrived at a rather unfortunate time, students of Lumene."
Lily's expression grew serious.
Leo, watching Esimon closely, asked, "Can you explain the situation?"
Esimon nodded. "I will. But first, we need to detain these Petimen knights and soldiers. I'll explain everything afterward."
Lily's face hardened. "It seems this situation is far more serious than we thought, Leo."
"……"
"Leo? Is something wrong?"
"Yes, it is."
At Lily's words, Leo briefly glanced up at the sky and clicked his tongue.
Something is watching us from afar.
His Hyper Perception detected the presence of an observer.
"Something is definitely happening."
"You should all be well aware of the history of the northeastern continent."
"Yes. Ever since the fall of the Talim Empire 1,000 years ago, the fragmented kingdoms have been engaged in constant warfare."
The Talim Empire had been a nation of heroes, once located in the northeastern continent. Among all the human nations in the Age of Heroes, Talim was the most powerful.
The founder of Talim lived in the same era as the Heroes of Dawn, or technically, a generation before them. He was recorded in the Hero Record as the Nether Knight, Thamus.
But he had another far more famous title—The Hero Emperor.
A man hailed as the greatest hero of his time, who had countless heroes serving under him.
During his reign, Talim was known as the Empire of Heroes due to the sheer number of heroes gathered there.
He must have been quite the remarkable figure. But now, he and his empire are nothing but a laughingstock.
After the fragments of Erebos began to revive, Thamus, the Nether Knight, declared war against Erebos.
However, the hero legions of the Talim Empire never even reached Erebos. They were defeated by the forces of the Queen of Monsters and the Giant King.
Of course, even in defeat, the Talim Empire remained standing. It lasted another 2,000 years after the end of the Era of Dawn.
This alone proved just how powerful Talim had been. Yet, despite all its strength, after that first battle, the Talim Empire withdrew from the war to preserve itself.
And that was why it was scorned by future generations.
Still, as the most powerful empire in history, Talim left behind a vast legacy. Even after its fall and the subsequent fragmentation of its lands, many heroes continued to emerge from the northeastern continent.
But after centuries of war, the once-thriving line of heroes had all but vanished.
Recalling the history of the northeastern continent, Leo spoke. "The northeast has been at war for a long time, but since war has become a way of life here, I was under the impression that they don't cross the line."
More precisely, they couldn't cross the line.
The various nations all claimed to be the rightful heirs of Talim, fighting to monopolize its legacy. But after 1,000 years of conflict, full-scale massacres had ceased.
To be exact, they no longer had the foundation to sustain such wars.
For a millennium, these nations had hated each other, drawing their swords at every opportunity. Yet now, they lacked even the strength to wage proper war.
The lingering resentment meant the battles never truly ended, but they knew that a full-scale bloodbath would only lead to mutual destruction.
Thus, the wars of the northeast had devolved into nothing more than land-grabbing contests. In other regions, people even called these conflicts "fake wars".
At Leo's question, Esimon let out a deep sigh. "Since a month ago, the balance in this region has shifted."
Lily frowned. "Has an external force intervened?"
"Yes."
Leo crossed his arms. "Does this have anything to do with the Justice Guild?"
"That's correct."
A woman lowered her head respectfully. "Your Majesty, yet another victory has been reported today. With this, Your Majesty's domain has expanded even further."
The King of Petimen curled his lips into a grin and turned to the man standing beside him. "Sir Jerome, what do you believe is the reason for my army's continued victories?"
"What other reason could there be, Your Majesty?" Jerome smiled. "It is because justice stands with Your Majesty. As the true heir of Talim, it is only natural that all this land rightfully belongs to you."
The King of Petimen burst into laughter, "Hohoho! Hahaha! Sir Jerome, your words always bring me great joy!"
The guildmaster of the Justice Guild, Jerome Cadium, said, "Before long, countless heroes will rise among Your Majesty's ranks."
"Is that so?" The King of Petimen beamed.
Jerome nodded confidently. "Of course. True war is what gives birth to heroes."