Chapitre 73: Chapter 73: The Eve of War
"Tomorrow marks the final day of the Empire's ultimatum. Do any of you have confidence in this battle?"
"Of course! This time, we've assembled an army of 240,000, four times the size of the Empire's forces. This is our chance to avenge our previous losses and invade the Empire's territory," declared Marquis Boullope, whose face bore a scar.
"As the vanguard, I will ensure an outstanding victory!"
"Perhaps we can even march straight to the Empire's capital and claim the head of Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix," the kingdom's Crown Prince said excitedly.
No one responded to the Crown Prince's words, as they considered it pure fantasy.
"This war is unlike the small skirmishes of the past. I urge you all to exercise caution!"
The king also felt that the Crown Prince might not be in the best state of mind. So, after the war council concluded, he assigned the Crown Prince to gather intelligence in Carne Village.
Although the Crown Prince was full of complaints, he ultimately obeyed under the king's strict orders.
The Crown Prince's dispatched unit moved at a quick pace and arrived at Carne Village by the afternoon.
After some meaningless exchanges, the Crown Prince lost patience and ordered his soldiers to attack the village.
At this moment, Peroroncino and Momonga sat in the Empire's military camp tent, using a remote observation device to monitor everything happening in Carne Village.
In Carne Village, the goblins and the villagers' militia formed a strong, elite force and launched a counterattack against the Crown Prince's troops, aiming to use direct pressure to force the Crown Prince to recall his soldiers stationed behind the gates.
Just as the Crown Prince ordered the rear troops to provide reinforcements, the commander of that unit secretly sent the soldiers back instead.
This detachment happened to encounter Enri and the village's elderly, women, and children trying to escape through the back gate.
"Goblin-sir! Please save us!" At this moment, memories flashed through Enri's mind.
With absolute trust in the goblins, Enri blew the Goblin General's Horn with all her might.
A powerful horn blast, with immense penetrating force, echoed across the skies.
A flash of light appeared, and an elite goblin unit materialized.
"What the—!!!" This scene left Ainz stunned beyond words.
"Holy crap! That's insane!" Even Peroroncino was utterly shocked.
The three hundred cavalry troops that had rushed in to capture Enri and the others found themselves face-to-face with the elite goblin unit.
In an instant, the cavalry was surrounded and annihilated by two goblin cavalry squads—one clad in white and the other in black. Meanwhile, the goblin heavy armor unit began an orderly march toward Carne Village's main gate.
The massive horn blast was heard clearly by the Crown Prince and his entourage at the main gate.
"Reinforcements?"
"But which army could it be?" a baron beside the Crown Prince asked in confusion.
It wasn't long before a force of goblins appeared along the perimeter of Carne Village's walls. They wore black armor, wielding massive axes in one hand and shields as large as their bodies in the other—a formidable goblin army.
"Reinforcements are here! Head that way!" the goblin leader shouted upon spotting the goblin heavy infantry unit. Without hesitation, he led the charge, carving a path of blood and clearing the way for the others to break through into the goblin formation.
The goblin heavy infantry made way for them, opening a path into their ranks.
The commander of the attacking unit quickly realized the situation had taken a dire turn. His elite cavalry unit, sent out just moments ago, had been wiped out in an instant without a single survivor returning. Adding to his concern was the goblin army's magnificent equipment.
Rushing to the Crown Prince's side, the commander urgently said, "Your Highness, we must retreat! Their strength likely matches or even surpasses the goblins we faced earlier!"
"No retreat!"
"Your Highness, please reconsider! We should retreat!"
"If we leave that unit unchecked, what if they march on E-Rantel? Attack them now!"
The commander, realizing he couldn't convince the Crown Prince, reluctantly agreed to proceed.
Even with just a glance, the commander could tell that the opposing force was exceptionally strong.
At that moment, a steady drumbeat echoed through the battlefield—it was the goblin army's marching band. The rousing rhythm invigorated the goblin troops, drawing out their full potential.
"Everyone, form the crane-wing formation and charge!"
The soldiers formed the formation and charged toward the goblin heavy infantry.
The spears of the kingdom's soldiers collided with the goblin heavy infantry's shields, snapping upon impact. What followed was the goblins' giant axes; with a single swing, soldiers were reduced to bloodied, unrecognizable remains.
The soldiers in the frontlines were cut down as though they were made of paper, massacred by the goblin heavy infantry in a relentless slaughter.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince's cavalry tried flanking the goblin heavy infantry, seeking any weak point to exploit.
However, the left-wing cavalry encountered the goblin paladin unit, mounted on white hunting hounds. Adorned in uniform silver armor and wielding gleaming silver lances, they clashed with the human cavalry. Only the human riders fell in the encounter.
The human cavalry stood no chance against the goblin paladins. They couldn't even scratch their opponents. Their weapons, mounts, armor, and individual combat abilities were all overwhelmingly inferior.
On the other side of the goblin heavy infantry formation, the human cavalry ran into the goblin beast-rider unit.
Riding unified black wolves, lightly armored, and each armed with black bows, the goblin beast-riders unleashed volleys of arrows that sent the human cavalry into disarray. Only a handful of scattered riders remained. The goblin beast-riders then switched to hunting blades, swiftly cleaning up the remaining cavalry.
Behind the goblin heavy infantry, a coordinated rain of arrows descended upon the human forces.
The human troops who had not yet engaged in the frontlines were struck down en masse by the goblin archers.
The goblin longbowmen made their appearance, boasting an exceptionally far range that allowed them to launch precision strikes at distant targets.
Following this, a series of fireballs soared over the frontlines of the goblin heavy infantry, wreaking devastating havoc on the human soldiers.
The Goblin Magic Unit and Goblin Magic Enhanced Unit made their entrance.
The enhanced fireballs struck the human forces, completely shattering their morale. The soldiers began fleeing in all directions.
The commander rushed to the prince.
"Your Highness, we must retreat!"
"Fine! Let's do that!"
"You won't get away!"
A group of masked goblins wielding daggers emerged—the Goblin Assassination Unit.
"The Goblin Assassination Unit has long been awaiting this moment. Hidden in the shadows, this will be our final act in plain sight!"
"Your Highness! Hurry—"
Before he could finish, the commander was instantly silenced, his throat slit by one of the goblin assassins.
The crown prince tugged the reins of his horse, attempting to escape in another direction, only to be confronted by a group of goblins wielding scythes, each wearing red caps.
"Thirteen Red Caps of the Goblin Honor Guard! But it seems we aren't even needed here," one of them said.
"Protect His Highness! Retreat—" The captain of the royal guards couldn't finish his sentence before one of the Red Caps cleaved both him and his horse clean in half. The baron by the prince's side was also not spared.
After a fierce skirmish, nearly all of the prince's entourage had fallen, leaving only a few survivors to flee with him.
"Does the Goblin General's Horn have specific activation conditions?" Ainz said, stroking his chin in thought.
"I investigated Enri's class earlier. She has awakened the Goblin General class. Activating the Goblin General's Horn likely requires a bonus from this class," Peroroncino replied.
"That class didn't exist in the original game!"
"It must be a hidden class that requires fulfilling specific conditions with goblins to unlock."
"In the original game, no one would bother leveling up with goblins, the weakest creatures, so no one discovered this class!"
"Seems like we need to conduct an experiment," Ainz concluded.
End of chapter
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone