Chapter 439 - 187: The Turbulent Empire
Chapter 439: Chapter 187: The Turbulent Empire
After the discussion, Prince Feiseli, driven by his strong will to survive, didn’t hesitate for a moment. He immediately sent men to the Magic Tower in the Royal Palace.
The magical craftsmanship of the Centaur Clan was hardly praiseworthy; the tower had been built for them by the Gray Dwarves long ago.
Activating the Magic Tower consumed nearly ten crates of Magic Crystals—enough to keep Robson’s Magic Crystal Cannons firing for three whole days.
Regardless, the message was finally sent.
...
Robson was making constant progress on the eastern front.
On the central front, the human army was also advancing triumphantly. The front had previously been a stalemate between Beast Emperor Kemal and Grantham.
Now, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers from the Human Alliance Army reinforcing the central front, the tide of battle had completely turned. The Beastmen, already in a precarious position, were caught completely off guard. The human defenders in one city were liberated.
This set off a chain reaction, and city after city was relieved by the Human Alliance Army.
If that were all, it would have been manageable. The balance would have simply shifted from an offensive to a direct confrontation. However, those tens of thousands of soldiers were merely the vanguard of the Human Alliance Army. A full two hundred thousand more elites from the Human World were set to arrive on the central front in waves.
These weren’t conscripted farmers; they were true elites, including fifteen thousand from the Extraordinary Corps!
With the constant reinforcement of the human army, the Beastmen were forced from offense to defense, pushed all the way back to the foot of Bronze Pass.
Bronze Pass was the gateway from the central front into the Beastman Empire—it was the very entrance to their homeland!
Atop the walls of Bronze Pass, Beastman Emperor Kemal’s temples had turned completely white. He looked as if he had aged more than ten years.
In the short span of a month, the war had taken a tremendous toll on him.
The Human Race had once again proven why they were the hegemons of the Southern Continent.
The sting of defeat had completely broken Kemal’s fighting spirit.
Some people are sustained by sheer willpower alone, and Kemal was one of them. He was already over fifty when he ascended the throne; now, he was a hundred and ten.
As Kemal stood on the wall, an attendant beside him continued to relay news from within the Empire.
The Beastman Empire had been experiencing a period of internal turmoil lately.
The Gray Dwarves’ desertion from the battlefield had set a terrible precedent.
Moreover, Kemal, as the Beast Emperor, had taken almost no action. After the Gray Dwarves withdrew, he merely dispatched troops to take over their defensive sector. The Empire had made no official statement on the matter.
Subsequently, many other races began to retreat back into the Empire’s heartland in droves.
With the exception of a few major clans directly in the path of the human advance, anyone who could leave, did.
Kemal listened to the attendant’s report, coughed twice, and sighed.
’It’s not that I didn’t want to stop those smaller clans from leaving,’ he thought. ’I simply never had the chance.’
Earlier in the war, Kemal had been ambushed by the Dragon Cavalry Corps from the Human Race’s Holy See. Ten Dragon Cavalry had flown in over a dozen high-level Extraordinary experts to assassinate him.
Fortunately, the brave warriors of his clan had scrambled to protect him, and the humans’ attempt failed. However, he had been left unconscious for three days.
Most of the deserting races had fled during those three days. By the time Kemal awoke, the deed was done, and there was nothing he could do to punish them.
Given the Beastman Empire’s current state, pursuing the matter would be courting disaster.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! General Edwin requests an audience!"
"Oh?" Kemal frowned.
’He’s not at his post. What is he doing here?’
For some reason, Kemal felt an ominous premonition.
"Let him come up," Kemal said.
General Edwin was also the king of the Centaurs. In fact, most leaders of the various Royal Families within the Empire held official posts.
In the culture of the Beastman Empire, the status of an Emperor and a King was considered equal, making their relationship more of an alliance than one of subordination.
Unsurprisingly, no Emperor liked this arrangement. Therefore, a King loyal to the Emperor would generally prefer to be addressed by his official title rather than as "King."
A short while later, a sturdy Centaur galloped onto the wall. He bowed to Kemal from a distance before approaching.
"My dear subject, we haven’t seen each other in nearly a month. Why have you come in person today?" Kemal said with a smile.
General Edwin and Kemal had always been on good terms, even addressing each other as brothers in private.
Faced with the Emperor’s warmth, General Edwin didn’t know what to say. He remained silent for a moment before handing Kemal a letter.
Kemal frowned and took the letter.
"Your Majesty, the Second Prince suffered a crushing defeat on the eastern front. The humans there are now pouring onto the Beastman Grassland, and all the warriors of my Centaur Clan are here on the central front."
"I request Your Majesty’s permission to lead my troops back," General Edwin said.
Kemal read the entire letter in silence, then quietly tossed it into a nearby brazier.
The atmosphere between them instantly grew tense.
Edwin stood by, waiting.
He knew that at this critical moment, his request was tantamount to twisting a knife in the Emperor’s heart.
But he had no choice.
The Centaur Clan had joined the Royalist Faction for different reasons than the other races threatened by the humans. They had done so out of their deep-seated hatred for the Gray Dwarves, adhering to the principle that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
In truth, if the central front collapsed and the Human Race poured through, it wouldn’t affect the Centaurs much.
However, the human army in the east was a different story. They had the power to annihilate the entire Centaur Clan.
No matter the reason, Edwin had to return.
After a long wait with no response, General Edwin prepared to turn and leave.
Just then, Kemal finally spoke.
"Edwin, do you realize what your withdrawal means at this moment...?" Kemal said, his voice heavy.
General Edwin nodded.
"Your Majesty, I must. My second son cannot possibly hold out alone in the Royal Capital."
"How about... you wait a little longer?"
"I will order the Imperial Beast God Guard from Madar City and the Royal City Guard from the Tiger Race to reinforce him. How does that sound?" Kemal proposed.
’Is His Majesty... conceding?’
General Edwin was taken aback.
In the past, Kemal had rarely ever spoken to anyone in such a conciliatory tone.
Edwin fell silent. Although his heart still urged him to lead his troops back personally, he considered the alternative.
If the human army entered the Beastman Grassland, the entire Royalist Faction would suffer a devastating blow. Then, the Gray Dwarves would grow in power, and the ultimate fate of the Centaur Clan would be uncertain.
"Since that is Your Majesty’s command, I will naturally obey," General Edwin said.
Watching Edwin depart, Kemal sighed, feeling as if a part of him had been torn away.
’Even my old brothers... I can’t rely on them anymore.’