Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 293: Battle Against Chel’s Forces, Alkanwood Castle (4)

Chel’s vision blurred rapidly.

Getting stabbed with an ordinary sword would already be fatal—but this wasn’t ordinary.

He had been pierced straight through the abdomen by a blade wreathed in crimson flame that melted his armor as it passed through.

To make matters worse, the area around the wound had been seared by fire—

The fact that he was still alive was a miracle in itself.

He felt his consciousness slipping.

But Chel knew—if he let go now, it meant death.

He couldn’t allow himself to die like this. Not like this.

At the very least, he had to understand what the man who’d killed him was thinking.

Still staring up at Swen, Chel bit his lip hard and used every ounce of strength left in his body to speak.

“Swen... You... When did you...?”

Was he saying that someone had gotten that close... without Chel even sensing it?

Before Chel could dwell on the thought, Swen’s voice answered him again.

“You didn’t fail to notice because you’re a fool. You simply walked straight into a trap—one we prepared to disarm your caution.”

“Wh... What are you... talking about...”

“Did you hear it? That explosion. I’m sure you did.”

Swen said that—and drove his rapier into the earth.

Then—

Boom—a dull thud rang out in the distance.

“It works from quite a long distance, actually. That sound was one of our siege engines being destroyed... or rather, a model designed to look like one. Our troops had already cleared the area.”

The siege weapons... were decoys?

Only then did Chel realize—yes, they had been taken out too quickly.

But he also knew that it was far too late to be thinking about that now.

“You... You’re the mage...?”

“No. I’m not. There’s a deeper story behind all this... but honestly, I doubt you’ll live long enough for me to explain it.”

“In the end, we only needed to make you think there was a mage on the field. If we could shake your caution just enough, we knew you’d take the bait. You were blinded by hatred, too consumed to notice what General Airen was trying to make you do. That’s all this was.”

“I was... tricked...?”

Just like Swen said, the only reason Chel had chased after Airen was because he believed a mage had been deployed on the battlefield.

“That’s right. And I knew from the start you wouldn’t choose a siege.”

“...What...”

Cough!

Blood bubbled up from Chel’s lips. The world was fading. The sky—something he’d always felt beneath his boots—now felt like it was pressing down on him, trying to crush him from above.

“You feared the mage. You didn’t want to die a meaningless death.”

“And you... How could you possibly know that...”

“I can see everything.”

“...!!!”

Swen said it so simply—then let out a quiet sigh.

“I don’t normally say things like this, but... I doubt you’ll be around much longer anyway.”

Just like Swen said—

With a wound like that, he wasn’t going to live much longer.

Even if he somehow survived, he’d be taken prisoner, and surely executed.

He had no intention of begging Serpina for mercy.

“You... can see... everything...”

“Yes. In the end, you failed to inflict any meaningful damage on our army. And—”

At that moment—

Swen’s usually vacant gray eyes seemed to ignite, like they had swallowed a flame.

“...For the crime of trying to kill General Airen... You die here, Chel. Whatever else you’ve done, that is something I will never forgive.”

So that’s what it was. That subtle undertone of hostility in Swen’s words—

It was tied to his feelings for Airen.

Strangely... after hearing Swen say that—

Chel didn’t feel rage, or despair, or resentment, or even bitterness. What he felt was... peace.

“I was... prepared for death. I always knew... I’d die on the battlefield. This war... I entered it knowing I wouldn’t make it out.”

If what Swen said was true, that the siege weapons had all been massive decoys—

Then Chel’s assault had amounted to nothing more than a glorious suicide charge. Rather than inflicting damage, he had simply led his men into annihilation.

The enemy had known everything from the start. They hadn’t panicked.

And so, in the end, his forces had simply been crushed—

By a foe with twice their numbers.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Hearing Swen speak with such certainty, claiming he could “see everything,”

Chel remembered the way Lyn had unraveled after losing him.

After Swen vanished, Lyn had made one mistake after another—

Eventually even signing a humiliating peace treaty with Serpina. Chel hadn’t understood it at the time. Why she had fallen apart so completely. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

“So... that’s why Lyn...”

To lose a man like this—one she once held in the palm of her hand...

“So that’s why... she became like that. Because... she lost you.”

...I see.

Only now did Chel understand why he felt peace instead of fury. Even though he’d been defeated—his opponent wasn’t unworthy. He wasn’t afraid of losing to a worthy rival on the battlefield.

What he had feared was—

Dying a meaningless death. Being struck down by some random accident, or someone who didn’t even deserve to land the blow.

But this...

To be killed by a man like this—

Maybe that was something he could accept.

“The moment you... betrayed our army... That was the end of Brans...”

“...”

“...One last thing... I don’t know what you’re planning... but...Don’t work for a monster... like Serpina...”

“That’s—!”

Swen’s voice trembled, overcome with emotion.

But before he could say anything—

“...L-Lord Swen...”

Reika, standing beside him, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“He’s gone...”

***

“...!”

“Chel... I believe he’s passed away.”

Only after Reika said it did I notice the absence of light in Chel’s eyes.

...He wasn’t breathing.

Blood still poured from his body, but it was now only the empty flow from a corpse without a heartbeat.

“...”

—We’d won.

Once again, I had defeated the result—a victory spat out by pure, emotionless prediction.

I thought I’d chosen the right path.

So then...

Why did it feel more suffocating than satisfying?

“Don’t cooperate with Serpina”...?

What the hell did he know?

He didn’t understand anything about Serpina.

He didn’t know what she thought, or why she stood where she did...!

At that moment, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see that General Airen had dismounted and come up beside me.

“Calm down, Swen. It’s over.”

“...”

...She was right.

There was no point getting riled up and arguing with a dead man.

“...Sorry, General Airen.”

“No need to apologize. I understand how you feel.”

Airen said that as she looked down at Chel’s lifeless face.

“Lady Serpina... she was the driving force behind the Brans Army back then. She was our greatest enemy—but also our greatest motivation. What fired us up the most, as we conquered the central continent, was the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ pride that we were the only nation capable of stopping her.”

Her violet eyes flickered as if deep in thought. From her perspective, she had crossed swords with a former comrade—and now, witnessed his death firsthand. Even if he had tried to kill her, it didn’t change the complicated emotions she must’ve been feeling.

“Well... it wasn’t just the Brans Army. Aishus felt the same. Honestly, all the nations did. Everyone used to speak of Serpina’s downfall like it was the most natural cause in the world. Everyone hated her. Me. My people. Every last noble and lord.”

“...But still!”

The voice that cut in wasn’t mine, but Reika’s.

“We... we know, okay...? Lady Serpina—no, our lord—she’s... she’s so kind. And warm... So even if everyone else hates her... as long as someone understands her, then maybe...”

Watching Reika stumble through her words, I realized I’d soured the mood. I let out a short sigh and gave them both a slight bow.

“...Sorry. I didn’t mean to make things awkward. It’s just... this kind of thing happens a lot.”

“No. You stand closer to our lord than anyone. It’s only natural your feelings are complicated,” Airen said.

Rather than try to answer that, I figured it was better to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Anyway... he really was a monster.”

“Mhm. Without your plan, Swen, I would’ve lost in a fair fight.”

“He was that strong?”

“He didn’t earn the title of Brans’ Strongest Sword for nothing. On this continent, there are only a handful who could rival him.”

“Damn... I didn’t realize he was that formidable.”

Still, it seemed Irian’s plan to wear him down had worked well. Thinking about what could’ve happened if the ambush failed made me shiver—

But it had gone smoothly, and that’s what mattered.

“Was he the strongest opponent you’ve ever faced, General Airen?”

“Hmm? No, not quite.”

“There’s someone even stronger?”

Airen tilted her head slightly at my question, as if puzzled.

“It’s odd, hearing you ask that.”

“Why?”

And then, from her lips—

Came a name I never expected.

“Lady Luna.”

“...Excuse me?”

“What’s with that face? Lady Luna’s martial skill far exceeds that of an ordinary human. Even exchanging a few blows with her was enough to know. We didn’t fight to the end, so I can’t be certain, but... I’d say she’s on par with Chel in his prime—maybe even stronger.”

“Luna... is that powerful?”

“...You really didn’t know?”

“No...”

That gentle, seemingly fragile woman—a war god?

I mean, sure, I knew she was stronger than she looked. After all, when she recommended me, she carried my fully grown adult body on her back without stopping—marching all the way to Zeilant Castle herself.

But to be on Chel’s level...? I hadn’t even considered it.

...Come to think of it.

If all the other lords despised Lady Serpina, then Luna—who believed she lost her sister—must despise her even more.

Is this... really going to be okay?

It was laughable. Even if it wasn’t okay, that wouldn’t change the decisions I’d already made.

Well...It’s Luna. She trusts me. It’ll probably be fine.

With that in mind, I oversaw the recovery of Chel’s corpse and moved on.

***

As expected, with Chel dead, his army completely lost the will to fight.

They gave up the battle, and we seized the empty Alkanwood Castle without resistance.

And with the yellow banners of Serpina’s forces fluttering above Alkanwood—

Chel’s army was no more. Its name, erased from history.