Chapter 501: The Accidental Arsonist
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The peaceful night was interrupted just like that, and countless soldiers rushed out from the forest to launch an attack towards the granary at the camp grounds.
"What- What is going on? An enemy attack?"
The people in the campsite were shocked by the commotion. Quite a number of them hid within their houses, not daring to look out. The bewildered soldiers, on the other hand, drew their weapons and gathered at the entrance of the base.
However, a peek at the situation was enough to send them quaking in terror.
Countless soldiers poured out from the darkness like horses running around a field, and the light from the fire on base reflected their crazed expressions. The dark added a circle of halo around the soldiers, and the guards could not accurately ascertain how many incoming hostile enemies are currently rushing at them. However, the sound and motion certainly felt like tens of thousands of them were by their gate.
The guards looked at their base. There was only a maximum of a few hundred here on their side, and it was as insignificant like an ant in a pond, or a rat going against an oncoming train. They stood no chance.
What actually happened? Why would people attack them?
It was not like they had no idea that hostile forces were attacking the kingdom. However, they were miles away from Icor! Even if Icor wanted to attack an area, there was no way for them to aim here, no? The military even had a base nearby, and the safety around the area was good enough as there was no robbers or bandits. To them, this granary was basically the safest place in the world.
They obviously did not expect that their attackers would be the army whom was protecting them all along - the church did not manage to warn them about this.
Thus, the alertness around here was actually quite bad.
In a blink of an eye, the soldiers arrived before them, and they had no choice but to go head to head with the enemy, frantically waving the swords and knives in their hands, still largely confused by the whole affair. After a brief exchange between the two sides, it was obvious how much the king’s men overpowered them - they were like an unending army of man-eating ants, instantly flooding the granary.
A cacophony of noises were a background track for the guards who fell down one by one - the clanking sound of steel, the muted noise of flesh tearing from bones, and the terrified shrieks that were heard one after another….. The remaining guards lost their morale pretty quickly after that.
The general was alert enough to notice this change of atmosphere.
"We are under the King’s orders to reclaim the granary! The King within the Geallore is only an impersonator! You have no need to listen to his orders! Those who surrender will be allowed to live, and those who oppose us will perish!"
He did not rush to position himself in front of the soldiers. Instead, he grabbed the soldiers around him that did not lose themselves in the killing spree and shouted. Thus, even though they were amidst the loud bellows of conflict, their voice still managed to reach far and wide into the campsite, and into the ears of the guards.
The determination in the defence guards could only drain quicker after that.
"No! Don’t…. Don’t kill me! I…. I…. I surrender!"
"Really? Is this the order of the King?"
If this was any ordinary day, they would never believe anything that came out of the mouth of the people who shouted at them. However, they were now involved in a losing battle, and the General’s words were like a ray of light within the darkness, providing them hope, and an actual reason for them to give up.
Anyhow, this was the King’s wish, there should not be anything wrong in giving in, right…..
It must be admitted that the long period of comfort has stripped them off the qualities of a soldier.
After another round of combat, more guards collapsed, and the soldiers who went into a killing spree gradually recovered from their frenzy. Half of the military power that was guarding the granary was wiped out, and the other half dropped their weapons and squatted on the ground, their hands on their heads. They have surrendered.
The earth-shattering chaos finally settled down.
They won.
Among the soldiers, the king walked out, quite dazed. His body was splattered with quite an amount of blood, and he obviously wielded a weapon and fought alongside his men for quite a while. However, he did not suffer from any injuries as Benjamin did protect him covertly.
After he shook himself from his daze, he swiftly frowned as he looked at the surrendered soldiers.
"Wait…. We won? Just like that?"
The battle actually lasted less than 10 minutes. The guards surrendered quickly, and thus it all seemed too unreal for him.
"It was supposed to be like this," Benjamin answered as he shook his head helplessly. "I told you, we were just attacking a granary, and it wouldn’t take too much of an effort. You were the one who insisted for me to come."
The king was silent for a while when he heard that. Finally, he wiped off the blood spilled on his face and said a simple, ".....Okay."
He turned around once again to face the people around him. The soldiers ended the battle, and they were all looking at him; the guards who surrendered were also sneaking glances at him, squatting on the ground while they accessed the bloodied king.
All eyes were on him, as if they were waiting for him to say something.
Thus, he inhaled deeply, and regained his composure. Then, he stood forward....
"Wait! Someone wants to set the granary on fire!"
Suddenly, Benjamin’s face changed. A gust of steam rose and supported him to fly out from the crowd. He shot towards the base.
All the other people present was too stunned to react.
"Burn… Burn down the granary?"
The king repeated the words internally before he finally caught on.
Sh*t…..
Who are they kidding? They came specifically for the sustenance. The guards said they were surrendering, but they were planning to set the food into flames inside. If that happened, all their effort will be for naught!
At that moment, everyone including the king all stared at the campsite with startled eyes.
In the campsite, they saw a man in the attire of a granary administrator run towards the granary, a torch in his hands.
"Stop him, quick!" The king shouted out instinctively.
There was no need for him to even mention that, of course. Benjamin, who was flying in the air, already materialised quite a number of ice arrows. With an impressive speed, he approached the person from the sky, and prepared to subdue him in one action.
However, the person suddenly turned, and gave Benjamin a cold smirk.
"You wanted food? Dream on!"
He took out a few crosses and threw it into the sky.
It was that moment when the king suddenly understood. That was someone from the church!
Everything is over.
The king’s heart dropped abruptly after he realised the grave situation they were in. It will not be much of a problem if it was an ordinary person; after all, he knew Benjamin’s capabilities, and the youth must be able to stop the troublemaker from setting the granary on fire. However, if it was a priest….
The torch was a mere inches away from the granary. Will Benjamin be able to stop it?
Everything happened just as the king has imagined. After the priest casted the handful of crosses into the air, layers upon layers of Holy Barriers formed in the sky. The barriers blocked Benjamin’s route. The barriers were terrifyingly sturdy, and Benjamin had no way to get past them. He could only set the ice arrows out to break the barriers before him.
However, the barrier had already given the priest enough time.
Just when Benjamin was busy shattering the barriers, the torch in the priest’s hand rapidly approached the granary…..
Thump!
An unexpected dull noise was heard from the campsite.
Everyone had a double take.
Now what?
The circumstances changed so quickly that the king find himself barely catching his breath. Now, he saw that the granary was safe and sound, and not currently engulfed in flames. That priest that held the torch, on the other hand, was now lying face-down on the ground. The torch rolled uselessly his side, and gradually stopped without causing any major problems.
And behind the priest, a shaking old man appeared, wearing the clothes of a granary administrator, with a wooden stick held high in his hands.
Judging on his posture, the dull noise previously probably came from this old man, who hit the priest strong at the back of his head.
The king was feeling quite dumb at this point.
This…. What is this?
At the same time, Benjamin who were flying in the sky had successfully dealt with the barriers. He looked at the fallen priest and the old man with the stick, but he did not seem taken aback by the turn of events. Instead, he just frowned.
"I told you so! As long as you lured the crosses out from the priest, someone would solve the problem for you." The System sounded smug in his head.
".....Oh."
Benjamin ignored the System, and focused on the old man.
Honestly, he had no idea what happened with this old man. Everything from the priest preparing to set fire until he was knocked out happened so suddenly that Benjamin was too preoccupied with stopping everything. The appearance of the old man was out of his expectations.
This old man was a granary administrator, right? Why would he help them?
There was a friendly in this campsite?
Just as he was puzzled by this, the old man promptly threw the stick from his hands, and suddenly looked very moved. Then, he approached the king with trembling steps.
"Your- Your Majesty… I finally met you! My wait was not in vain!"