Chapter 227 - 109: Shocking! That Bastard Lynch Committed Treason!?

Chapter 227: Chapter 109: Shocking! That Bastard Lynch Committed Treason!?

"I, Angus, hereby swear that I will not harm a single hair on your head. After ten days, our fates will be our own. If you break this oath, may you suffer divine punishment and be damned to the Nether River for eternity! If I break this oath, may the souls of my wife and daughter never know peace for all eternity."

The oath was exceptionally cruel, especially swearing on the souls of his deceased wife and missing daughter, which was a testament to his sincerity.

Lynch, the "hostage," looked conflicted for a moment before finally gritting his teeth. He repeated Angus’s terms and swore a correspondingly cruel oath in the name of his faith in the Nether God and his honor as a Mage.

Once both parties had sworn their vicious oaths, Angus seemed to let out a sigh of relief, his tense expression softening.

He shouted, "Thank you, Lord Lynch, for sparing our lives! My apologies for the trouble!"

With that, he gave Lynch a "hard" shove, then agilely leaped back several paces to rejoin his troops.

"Lord Lynch, remember your oath! Ten days!"

"My lord!"

Barton and the other Personal Guards seized the opportunity, surging forward to form a protective circle around Angus. The sheer relief of having cheated death was etched on every face.

"Hmph." Lynch feigned unsteadiness, stumbling for a moment before quickly retreating into his Skeleton Corps. His voice was laced with hatred as he boomed, "I, Lynch, am not so shameless as to break an oath over the likes of you. Scram! After ten days, I’d better not see you again."

"Thank you, Lord Lynch!"

Angus shouted again, then quickly turned to his men. "Move out! Let’s go! We’re leaving!"

With that, he led his men in a hasty retreat back the way they came.

****

Several hours later, around noon, Angus led his three hundred-odd battered soldiers until they were on the verge of collapse. They finally stopped to rest at a relatively flat, secluded spot on the mountain path.

Free from the threat of pursuit, they could finally catch their breath. They scrambled to light fires, cook a meal, and rest in shifts.

With some hot soup in their bellies, their frayed nerves began to settle. Their morale, which had hit rock bottom, miraculously recovered a great deal.

More importantly, Angus revealed his "new plan" to his inner circle of officers.

"Men," he began, "our earlier plan to retreat to Sardinia was an act of desperation. But now, we have a chance to turn things around."

"Think about it. If we just run back like this, disgraced and with heavy losses, how will our superiors see us? At best, we’ll be stripped of our command and cast aside. At worst... I’m afraid heads will have to roll to appease their anger and take responsibility for the defeat."

The men’s faces fell. They all knew he was right.

"But what if we don’t go back?" Angus’s voice rose. "What if we can atone for our failures with new merits, or even achieve something greater?"

He pointed toward Red Ridge Castle. "Lynch’s forces are bound by the oath; they can’t pursue us for ten days. This mountain path is difficult, but if we proceed cautiously, we can circle around to the vicinity of Red Ridge Castle in three or four days. Red Ridge Mountain is engulfed in war right now, so there must be friendly forces operating there."

His eyes gleamed with excitement. "If we can link up with friendly forces and help them capture Red Ridge Castle, that achievement alone will be enough to redeem all our past failures. Then, once the ten-day oath expires, we can combine our strength with our allies, launch a counterattack, and retake Rock Fortress! From there, we’ll press on to conquer Lakefront Town... We’ll take back everything we’ve lost!"

The plan sounded perfectly logical. Its objectives were clear, the path forward was defined, and it cleverly exploited the respite granted by the "oath." Most importantly, it gave these soldiers—who had just suffered a crushing defeat and faced a bleak future—a new, hopeful objective.

"Brilliant, my lord."

"Right, let’s do it!"

"Beats going back to face punishment!"

The officers’ morale was rekindled, and the despondent atmosphere vanished.

As the news spread, the regular Soldiers felt as if they’d been given a new lease on life. Their steps became firmer and more resolute during the march.

Over the next two days, the unit’s condition improved at a visibly rapid pace.

To everyone’s surprise, many of the scattered Soldiers who had been separated during the frantic nighttime retreat began to trickle back and rejoin the unit.

By the evening of the third day, the number of men under Angus had "miraculously" risen back to over three hundred and fifty.

This continued until noon on the fourth day. After an arduous trek, Angus and his men finally crossed the last treacherous mountain ridge, taking a shortcut to arrive in the outer regions of Red Ridge Castle.

However, the scene that greeted them was far more brutal than they had imagined.

Red Ridge Castle was built atop a cliff, a location that was easy to defend but difficult to assault.

But now, the small settlement that had grown up around the castle was a scene of utter devastation. Many buildings—including the market, a waystation, the Artisan District, and numerous homes—had been burned to the ground. The traces of battle were still visible among the rubble and ruined walls.

The ruins were now occupied by a massive force of Blue Scarf troops. Several different company banners fluttered over the wreckage. A rough estimate put their numbers at well over two thousand.

Meanwhile, atop the walls of Red Ridge Castle, the Empire’s battle standards still flew. The silhouettes of defenders and ballistae were faintly visible, but they were clearly under immense pressure.

Deep within the central command tent of the Blue Scarf army, a powerful presence could be felt. A faint scent of sulfur and a lingering aura of Negative Energy hung in the air.

"It looks like... the Catastrophe Mage, Lord Horn Solar!" a more experienced officer whispered, his voice a mixture of awe and terror. "Number seventy-nine on the Imperial Blacklist. A Tier Five Mage and a pillar of the Catastrophe Sect... He’s actually here in person!"