Legend of the Arch Magus: Havoc Page 4

  “Stronger than me? Hah!” The soldier fearlessly retorted. “What does a noble like you know about the battlefield anyway?”

  Snickers were heard here and there.

  Lark knew that if he did not cull this here, it would bite him in the back later on. Although cruel, he decided to make an example out of this fool.

  He pointed a finger at the man and vines sprouted from the ground, ensnaring the man’s entire body. The vines shot up several dozens of meters into the air, carrying the man with it.

  “W-Wha… Hey! What’s happening?”

  From the body of Lark, a malevolent aura started oozing out. The amount of mana was so colossal that even the non-magicians could see its torrent.

  It was a wasteful display of strength, something Lark would never do on a real battlefield. But right now, he needed to show these soldiers what he was capable of. Otherwise, he would have a hard time controlling them later on. After all, these soldiers tend to follow only the strong.

  “Old man, I warned you before.”

  Lark pointed a finger at the heavens and the torrent of energy oozing out of his body started forming a colossal ball of fire. The energy contained within started dispersing the clouds. The heat almost scorched the skins of the soldiers below.

  “Why didn’t you listen?”

  The soldiers trembled as the gargantuan ball of fire slowly started to descend from the heavens. If that thing hits them, hundreds, if not thousands would perish on the spot, their bodies gone without a trace.

  Without a doubt, this was Grand Scale Magic.

  Had the soldiers not witnessed this with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have believed that such a thing was possible. That a single person was capable of casting such catastrophic spell on his own.

  Lark knew that casting this magic was akin to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly, but this display of strength would prove crucial to the stability of their command structure later on. If these guys followed only the strong, then he would show them peerless strength, capable of tilting the battlefield. It was the only way to quickly control this massive army despite the infamy of the previous owner of his body.

  “Fool.”

  With that last word as its cue, the ball of fire engulfed the man’s entire body. His screams died as soon as it started. In just a few seconds, his entire body was burned to dust. Ashes fell down like rain to the ground.

  And as though everything was a lie, the ball of fire dissipated and vanished entirely from sight.

  Everyone who saw how the man met his end shivered. They looked at Lark and trembled even further upon seeing those ruthless eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who had taken several lives before. The buzz and murmurs immediately died. No one dared to make a sound.

  “I’ll say it one last time,” Lark’s eyes were predatory, “insubordination is punishable by death.”

  Although his speech was shorter, his words carried far greater weight than before. After all, everyone saw with their own eyes how Lark killed the man without batting an eye.

  It was ruthless, but somewhere deep within them, the soldiers preferred this kind of commander. If the commander was weak, the entire army would perish. They would rather have a ruthless but strong commander than a kind but feeble leader.

  VOLUME 4: CHAPTER 5

  After organizing the army into several different units, the Third and First Army started their march toward the City of Yorkshaire. It seemed that Lark’s demonstration of might was effective. Although there was still discontent among the soldiers, the hostile glares sent to Lark every now and then had vanished entirely. In its place, the seeds of fear and curiosity slowly grew.

  From an incompetent, disowned son of a Duke, Lark’s reputation turned into that of a tyrant. Some soldiers would occasionally discuss every now and then the things that might trigger the commander’s wrath. They wanted to avoid these things at all costs. They could still vividly remember how that old soldier who provoked the commander met his end.

  “It seems that the soldiers are starting to call you the Demon Commander.” Baron Zacharia rode his mount next to Lark’s.

  “Demon Commander?” chuckled Lark. “That’s a lot better than being called brat or kid, don’t you agree?”

  The Baron was as expressionless as before. “So why did you call me over here?”

  Lark took something out of his pocket and handed it to the Baron. “Before our armies part, I want you to have this.”

  The Baron looked at the item placed on his hand. “A necklace?”

  It was a dull-looking necklace with a small gemstone attached. It could probably be sold at the city for four to six silvers, but that’s all. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

  “I heard you’re a former martial arts instructor in a school. Can you use mana?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then…,” Lark pointed at the gemstone attached to the necklace, “try applying some mana to it.”

  The Baron did as he was told. After applying some mana into the gemstone, it glowed. At the same time, he heard a voice through his head.

  “Can you hear me, Baron?”

  The words felt like a whisper, but the Baron heard each of them clearly. It took the Baron a few seconds before he finally realized that they came from the necklace itself.

  He looked at the necklace then at Lark.

  “Is it… communication magic?”

  Lark responded through the necklace. “That’s right. It should work as long as you supply it with mana. But since the magic stone I placed in that thing is of very poor quality, there’s a limit to the distance.”

  Lark had no choice but use a very low-quality magic stone for the item, since nowadays, magic stones were being sold like rye bread. The higher quality ones were being bought the moment they left the shelves. The war with the Empire must have increased the demand for such items.

  The Baron stared at the necklace in his hand. He had never seen such an artifact before, but he knew that such an item would sell for at least a several dozen gold coins in the market. This item would surely benefit them in the battle to come, since it would enable the two armies to coordinate despite the distance.

  “I can receive your messages just fine, but how do I send one?” The Baron took out a small pouch filled with gold coins. “And I can’t take this thing for free.” He tossed the pouch toward Lark and the young man caught it easily. “I’m not sure how much this thing will sell for, but that’s all I have with me right now. Take it.”

  Lark looked at the pouch’s contents. He paused for a moment then tied it on his waist. “Well, every piece of gold counts. Thanks. Using that thing’s fairly easy. Just channel your mana like before, but this time, focus on trying to send a message too.”

  The Baron wordlessly did what Lark taught. He channeled his mana to the magic stone and conveyed his thoughts.

  A voice filled with static was heard.

  “Can… you… hear. Me?”

  Lark grinned. The Baron was a fast learner. “That should be enough.”

  A subtle smile formed on the Baron’s lips. He must have felt accomplished after successfully sending out a message on his first try.

  “I’ll be sending you messages every now and then. Don’t die.”

  The two armies parted ways.

  The First Army, led by the Baron, would head toward the northwest. Zacharia’s plan was to gather the scattered Marcus Army before heading directly to Yorkshaire City. This was his only condition before he agreed to Lark’s plan. But if this failed, he promised to proceed with the contingency plan and simultaneously attack Yorkshaire City along with the Third Army.

  Lark, on the other hand, did not have a specific route in mind. His goal was simple: Avoid as many enemies as possible as they made their way toward Yorkshaire. And to achieve this, he made preparations beforehand.

  “Austen, George,” he called out to his disciples, “do it.”

  The brothers bobbed their heads. They opened the cage sitt
ing on top of a cart and dozens of birds flew out.

  “Now!” said Lark.

  Austen and George touched their respective magic crystals—made by Lark back in Blackstone Town—and channeled their mana into it. The crystals glowed and the birds momentarily froze, screeched, then flew around the army marching below them.

  As expected of the brothers. Their mana pools were even larger than Lark’s. Supplying mana for a few dozen surveillance birds should be sustainable.

  “Do you see it?” said Lark.

  Austen was speechless.

  George choked his words out. “A-Amazing! I can see it! I can see everything!”

  Austen finally managed to speak. “T-This is… with this, it’ll be impossible to ambush our army! We’ll be unbeatable!”

  The magic crystal made it possible for Austen and George to see what the surveillance birds were seeing. With the application of mana, they could even will the birds to move up in altitude and move toward a certain direction.

  “Unbeatable?” Lark shook his head. “Calm down. This spell is easy to counter. A simple barrier spell will disrupt the connection, that’s why I told you guys to make sure the birds are spread out in all directions. Hopefully, we can catch our enemies off guard before they’re able to erect their barriers.”

  Back in the Magic Empire, this spell was unpopular due to barriers enclosing even the smallest cities. Those who would cast this spell would immediately find their surveillance birds dead after less than an hour. Lark hoped that they would not encounter a magic barrier along the way, since he went through great efforts to prepare all of these surveillance birds beforehand.

  Lark touched a third magic crystal and he started seeing the same vision as George and Austen. Bringing these two with him was indeed the right choice. As long as they were around, supplying the surveillance magic with mana would not be a problem.

  ***

  A few days passed. Using the surveillance magic, Lark always scanned everything within a ten-kilometer radius.

  And he finally saw his first targets.

  Around seven kilometers away from them, a group of soldiers were moving through grassland. Lark willed one of the birds to move closer and saw the crest on the soldiers’ chests. It was the crest of the Empire. There was no doubt.

  “Anandra, you’ve gathered enough men for the scouts?”

  His right-hand man nodded. “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Take twenty of your most nimble men and move toward this direction.” Lark pointed at the map provided to them by the capital. “You’ll come across a group of soldiers from the Empire. Must be scouts. Kill them.”

  Anandra bowed his head. “I will obey.”

  Lark pointed at another place on the map. “We’ll regroup here at dusk. Try to capture some of them for interrogation, but if that seems impossible, be sure to leave none of them alive.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  After Lark issued out his command, Anandra and his men immediately moved out to kill the scouts from the Empire. Lark used the vision crystal to monitor the movement of their enemies. He could see Anandra and his men moving toward the place he directed. Soon, the two groups clashed with each other.

  With the element of surprise on their hands, Anandra and his men easily took out the soldiers of the Empire. Even going as far as capturing two of them alive.

  By dusk, Anandra arrived at the camp of the Third Army. At the place Lark designated as their meeting point.

  “My Lord, we’ve killed the scouts of the Empire,” reported Anandra. “And we’ve managed to capture two of them alive.”

  Lark tapped Anandra’s shoulder. “Good work.”

  He called out several men from the Third Army. Most of them looked grotesque, with numerous scars and burn marks on their face and body.

  “You said before that you’re from the Lurie family?” Lark remained stoic even after meeting these guys who could probably make a grown man cry. “The family who specialize in torture, am I right?”

  Their leader, a man with half of his mouth stitched together, replied, “The Lurie family is a thing of the past. I’m the one they serve now.”

  Unlike the other soldiers, who looked at Lark fearfully as though he was the demon incarnate, their leader did not show even the slightest hint of fear. His gaze was that of a man who wanted to dismember the prey before him. Lark was sure that if the circumstances changed and he was powerless, this so-called leader would not hesitate to rip him to shreds.

  Lark did not know why these guys participated in this war, but such a thing shouldn’t matter right now. Their skill in torture was known far and wide. With their help, making their captives spill everything should be possible without Lark even lifting a finger.

  “Hoh, so it’s no longer the Lurie family, huh?” said Lark. “You, what’s your name?”

  The leader’s eyes glimmered dangerously for a moment. “Magaras.”

  “Magaras,” repeated Lark. “We’ve caught some rats from the Empire, you see.”

  Magaras shivered in ecstasy realizing what the Young Master wanted of him.

  “You want me to make them spill everything?” said Magaras. He grinned. “I’ll do it.”

  Lark was surprised by how easy everything was. He could see how much Magaras was itching to torture the soldiers from the Empire.

  “I can make them talk—I can make them scream. I know the best method of keeping them alive, Commander. My flaying knives have been lonely lately, you see.”

  An eerie laughter escaped Magaras’ lips.

  Under normal circumstances, Lark would have not associated himself with this lunatic. But in this war, people like Magaras who would not hesitate to dirty their hands were indispensable. He would surely prove useful later on.

  Lark nodded at Anandra. “Give the captives to them.”

  He looked to Magaras. “Make sure they tell everything. Do not disappoint me.”

  Magaras broadened his grin, his stitched mouth revealing half his teeth. “Of course.”

  That night, muffled screams were heard all throughout the camp.

  ***

  After going through an unspeakable nightmare overnight, the captives told them everything. According to them, General Rizel sent out several small units to infiltrate the yet to be captured cities of the west, their goal was to kill all noteworthy officials in these cities. It seemed that the assassination of some of the Lords and nobles these past several weeks were General Rizel’s doing.

  “Assassination, huh?” mumbled Lark, as he read the report. It was an underhanded but effective way of doing things.

  “My Lord, based on what the captured soldiers said, it seems that an army of the Empire is currently stationed here.” Anandra pointed at the map, at an area with hills. “If we keep going at this direction, our armies will eventually clash with each other.”

  The hills were around two days away from their current camp.

  “It’s fine. We’ll keep going,” said Lark. “This is the fastest route we have right now.”

  Although Anandra could not understand what was going through Lark’s mind right now, he decided to simply obey.

  Time quickly passed by until they were only several hours away from the enemy’s camp.

  Lark looked at the battlefield as a whole, using the surveillance crystal. The dozens of birds hovering in the sky made it possible to see the movement of their enemies. The scouts stationed in the grassland. The soldiers hiding in the small forest. And the three thousand-strong army from the Empire stationed on top of the hills.

  “Anandra, send your men here.” He pointed at the small forest on the map. “Just like before, kill the enemy soldiers the moment you see them. Nine enemy soldiers. Make sure none of them escape.”

  Anandra bowed his head. “As you wish.”

  Just like before, Anandra and his men quickly took care of their enemies. The soldiers hiding in the forest were swiftly disposed of. But an unexpected problem arose. It seemed that one of the Empire�
�s soldiers specialized in concealment magic. Even Anandra himself failed to find him.

  Out of nine soldiers, only eight were killed.

  Lark frowned. Even while using the surveillance crystal, he could not locate the soldier the moment he cast his concealment spell. At this rate, the soldier would be able to get out of the forest and alert the army stationed on the hills.

  Lark calmly continued watching everything using the crystal. Using the birds, he patiently watched the entire forest for any suspicious movement. And eventually, he spotted a figure leaving the sea of trees.

  “There you are.” Lark licked his lips. “Hey, hand me a spear.”

  The enemy soldier and Anandra’s group were already far apart. At this rate, it would be impossible for Anandra to track the soldier who escaped.

  One of Lark’s men handed him a spear.

  Lark dismounted, stretched his arms for a bit, then channeled his mana into the spear. He threw it toward the sky. The spear flew at a tremendous speed, creating a sharp wheezing sound. Like a puppeteer, Lark controlled the trajectory of the spear using the thread of mana attached to it. Hitting the fleeing target was now a lot easier, since the enemy had just left the forest.

  Unaware of the spear coming his way from the sky, the enemy soldier kept running toward the direction of their camp. The spear struck the man’s back, boring a hole through his chest. He fell and slumped on the ground, twitched for a moment, then stopped moving.

  Lark sighed. At least, he managed to prevent the enemy from leaking their whereabouts. The last thing he wanted was to clash with the three thousand-strong enemy camped on the hills. He wanted to preserve this army’s strength as much as possible, until they reached Yorkshaire Fortress.

  “Relay my orders to everyone.” Lark pointed at the forest on the map. “Hasten the march. We need to pass through this forest before midnight.”

  VOLUME 4: CHAPTER 6

  After repeating the same tactic and evading their enemies for weeks, Lark and the Third Army finally arrived at the Western Front. By this time, the entire region was filled with soldiers from the Empire and it was impossible to go any further without alerting the enemies of their presence.