Chapter 3 – Story 114: Battle of Holmenia 7 – Incitement (Beginning)
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“Calm down! We might be surrounded, but the enemy numbers are only few! We have the numerical advantage!”
The one shouting those words was a general who had been isolated and encircled by the zoan alongside a part of Romania’s royal army.
Even if our paths of retreat have been cut off on all sides after the zoan suddenly attacked us, we have far more soldiers than them, if you look calmly at it. Right now the men are in chaos, but as long as they recover their composure, we’ll be able to easily break through that weak encirclement and join up with our allies.
Trying to calm his soldiers at any cost for this sake, the general continued to frantically raise his voice. And as a result of that, he finally managed to somehow regain control of the troops, even if only in his direct vicinity.
But time didn’t stop for him. The situation suddenly took a new turn.
The gates of the capital, which had been firmly shut thus far, slowly started to open, accompanied by a loud creaking and jarring.
Are they planning to go all in to finish us while we’re still encircled!?
That was the general’s conclusion.
But, the general considered further. This is also a great opportunity. Looking at the zoan surrounding us, they number something between four and five thousand. If the information mentioned during the war council earlier is correct, that should be the entirety of troops the Divine Son of Destruction can currently move. In that case, there should be almost no soldiers in Holmenia. Moreover, now that most of those remaining soldiers are defending from atop the wall, they should be able to send out a hundred or two hundred at the most. Considering that, routing those few troops and invading the capital opens a much better path for survival than continuing to fight the zoan out here.
“Men, follow me! We’re going to rout the enemy and storm into the city!”
After yelling this order, he ordered an orderly to follow him while waving his flag widely so that it’d stand out, before starting to run towards the gate, which was still in the process of opening. Noticing his actions and hearing his orders, the other soldiers belatedly followed their commanding officer.
Meanwhile the gate kept opening as if to welcome Romania’s army. And when it had finally opened all the way, the general was hit by a stifling craze straight from the front, causing him to immediately stop.
“W-What is this…!?”
The general muttered in shock.
What awaited him beyond the now open gate wasn’t a small unit of soldiers like he had expected. Instead, he faced so many people that the broad road leading towards the royal palace was crammed with bodies.
Their total number is definitely not a hundred or two. That’s several thousands, no…several tens of thousands.
But it wasn’t just soldiers and young men capable of fighting. The crowd included women, children, and even elderly. And what they were holding weren’t regular weapons like swords or spears. Instead they were clenching spades, farming tools such as hoes, wooden planks which they had apparently picked up on the road, sticks, and in addition pots as well as pans.
Tens of thousands of people. All holding different weapons. All of different ages and genders.
But, they all shared one common trait.
An uncanny craze. A sickening mania.
The general had survived many battlefields, but even he never experienced something like this. The people were enveloped by an atmosphere which was so maddening and oppressing that it forced his legs to stop.
Overwhelmed by the craze, the general allowed a small scream to escape through his slightly opened lips. And as if matching that, an order could be heard from the gate.
“Kill all the Romanian invaders! Eradicate them!”
Immediately following an avalanche of people spilled out of the widely gaping hole in the wall.
◆◇◆◇◆
It goes without saying, but the reason behind the people’s craze was Souma. And when it comes to talking about what he did, you must trace back to the time right after he had entered the capital.
The first order Souma gave when he stepped into the city was to open all the food storages. Afterwards, he had the people prepare several huge pots on the biggest square of the royal capital, tossed one ingredient after the other into them without sparing anything, and cooked it.
And then he treated the people of the capital to the food while loudly announcing that this was a deed by Souma, the man called the Divine Son of Destruction.
Of course, the remaining military commanders and retainers of Holmea voiced their protest against this. After all, a siege battle with no clear end in sight would be starting as soon as Romania’s army were to arrive at the capital. It was more than silly to waste the precious food reserves of the city beforehand.
However, Souma clearly told the protesters that he didn’t plan to go for a prolonged siege, before going ahead with the distribution of the food.
The people of the capital accepted this happily. At this point, all the food had already been levied and placed under the control of the palace in preparation for the upcoming siege battle. Because of that, the stores dealing with food had all closed their doors and it was nigh to impossible to obtain even a single grain of wheat in the capital.
So far as it went, the palace had been organizing food distribution, but it was carried out under the assumption of an extended siege. As such, the portions were so small that they didn’t sate the hunger of the people. Not to mention that the refugees and defeated soldiers, who had flooded into the city in great numbers, hadn’t even been originally included in the calculations. The food rations handed out to those people were basically nothing more than breadcrumbs.
Hence, many of them, who had barely managed to flee into the capital while still alive, were now forced to somehow alleviate their hunger by eating weed growing at the roadside, bugs and rats.
With that alone, it was more than logical for those people to shed tears of joy for being able to eat some normal human food for the first time in a while. They showered the Divine Son of Destruction with praise, using the same mouth that sipped on the thick gruel.
Choosing the time when the majority of people had filled their bellies, Souma stepped out in front of them. When they saw him standing on a pedestal while surrounded by zoan and dinosaurians, the people of the capital stirred. Right now, only one person in the West commanded various races such as zoan and dinosaurians.
“That is…the Divine Son of Destruction…”
An atrocious criminal who had flipped over heaven and earth. A tyrant who led a bunch of fiendish demi-humans.
Those were the exaggerated rumors about him, making the rounds. But if they had to describe the young man in front of them, it’d be better to say he was the exact opposite of the rumors. Rather, the square was filled with confusion due to Souma giving off such a weak and frail impression.
But, the voices of the people didn’t carry any disgust or hate. The tangible weight of the gruel in their stomachs overruled any ill feelings towards Souma they might have had. Yet, that didn’t mean their ill feelings simply transformed into good will. Instead, the people were facing Souma with curiosity.
While the eyes of the crowd were gathering on him, Souma started by turning around and looking at all the people on the square. And once he confirmed that he had their undivided attention, Souma took a small breath and raised his voice.
“My name is Kisaki Souma! I’m the one you call Divine Son of Destruction!”
A commotion ran through the crowd when they heard the name Divine Son of Destruction. The number of people present on this square easily reached tens of thousands. Even though the voice of each single person was small and insignificant, the combined voices turned into a thundering canon that generated a tangible sound wave.
The zoan and dinosaurian, who were guarding the pedestal with Souma on it, looked up to him as if they wanted to say something. Beforehand Souma had strictly forbidden them to coerce the citizens, no matter what happened.
Yet, only a stir already caused this much of an uproar. As might be expected, they were worried and accordingly used their eyes to appeal to Souma that it’d be better to suppress the citizens.
However, Souma ignored them. Instead he slowly surveyed the square, from one end to the other. When he did, the people on the receiving side of his look quickly shut up as if having been whipped. However, the number of people was huge and the location was big as well. It took quite a bit of time until the whole place had fallen silent.
And when everyone was finally quiet, Souma made sure that the people were listening to him and spoke up.
“Right now, this country is facing the danger of being destroyed!”
First Souma confronted the citizens with the current state of affairs.
“The army of Romania is steadily marching towards this city! They’re atrocious invaders! Many villages have been pillaged by them, their villagers taken away as slaves. Moreover, they’re cold-blooded slaughterers!
Many of you might be thinking that it won’t really change anything if Holmea perishes. You might believe that it’s just a simple transfer of power over you, from Holmea to Romania. But――”
At that point Souma deliberately interrupted his speech and looked across the square. Everyone was hanging on his lips and the place was so silent that you’d hear a needle drop. After making sure of that, Souma continued.
“Romania, a nation consisting of heartless, brutal murderers, won’t accept you, even if you offer your surrender or show your allegiance. They will simply use you to vent their anger, attacking and robbing the people of Holmea to sate their own perverted delight over violence! I think many of you know that I’m speaking the truth!”
The ones feeling shaken by Souma’s words were the refugees and defeated soldiers. They had literally witnessed and experienced the cruelty of Romania’s army, just as Souma had described it moments ago. Triggered by Souma’s words, they recalled the misfortune, suffering, and grief that had happened to all of them in one way or another, their bodies trembling.
And seeing those reactions, it inspired pity and sympathy in the original residents of this city.
But, Souma wouldn’t allow them to stop at feeling pity and sympathy. They had to realize that they’d suffer the same fate in the near future.
“This capital won’t be an exception!”
Souma shouted to make the residents actually feel despair.
“The other day King Warius took many soldiers from the capital, challenged Romania’s army, and lost――,” Souma continued with his breathing going faster as if he was unable to bear the emotions clogging up his throat, “――even Darius, the one hailed as Guardian Deity of Holmea, fell at their hands. Because of that, Romania’s army gained even more fervor and spirit!”
Screams echoed throughout the capital. The news about the defeat of King Warius had already been making the rounds among the citizens of Holmenia as rumors. However, despite that, a faint glimmer of hope had still been burning within many of the people. This was proof of the presence and importance Darius held for them. They believed that a great hero like him would somehow manage things, even if he didn’t manage to win. That he’d hold back the enemy for them, even if he lost.
That faint hope had been nesting in the hearts and minds of the people in this city. It was just like a single thread hanging down from heaven all the way to hell.
But, now that Souma had mercilessly cut it with the blade called reality, the people of the capital were attacked by the same hopelessness as criminals who would fall headlong into hell. Some men immediately stupid up, apparently wanting to escape the city while some women aimlessly moved back and forth, not knowing what they should do. Just like some babies started to cry because of the tumult around them, some elderly flopped down on the ground, looking dumbfounded and dazed out of sheer despair.
As predictable, even Souma couldn’t just watch this in silence. He ordered Shyemul, who stood behind him, to hit her drum. In response, the zoan warriors, who were standing in the outer circumference of the square, all started to roar at once. Following them, the dwarves and dinosaurians also raised their voices while hitting the ground with the butt ends of their long-handled weapons.
In no time, the citizens, who were on the verge of turning into rioters, fell silent. But, rather than them regaining their composure, it’d be more correct to describe this as them being paralyzed in horror. Moreover, Souma came at them to deliver the finishing blow.
“Where are you planning to run to!? At this point, you won’t be anywhere safe in Holmea anymore. No matter where you go, Romania’s army will likely come after you!” Then he loudly told them, who were pale after getting devastated by Souma’s threat, “Look around yourself!”
By this time the people were already completely dominated by Souma’s words. Without even considering to question or oppose him, they simply followed his instructions.
The square was packed with many people and of course their families, friends, acquaintances, and neighbors were all present too. In other words, what they saw when they looked around them were those who were close to them.
“The people who are currently next to you will become tomorrow’s victims! Their property, dignity, and lives will be stolen by the atrocious invaders and their cold bodies will litter the streets!”
Souma made them realize that the threat of Romania was much closer to them than they believed. Next he widely moved his right arm while only raising his index finger as if to point at the entirety of the square.
“And you yourself won’t be exempted from this either!”
The people held their chests and groaned as if they had been struck by an invisible arrow which had been shot out of Souma’s index finger alongside his words. They didn’t have the power to scream anymore.
They were taught about the violence of the approaching enemy army, they were forced to look at the fact that this violence would befall them and their loved ones, and they were confronted with the harsh reality that they wouldn’t be able to escape this violence.
The people of the capital had been shoved into the deep abyss of heavy despair.
After watching them for a while, Souma softened his grim expression.
“However, I want you to not fret. The cruelty of Romania will stop here. That’s because――”
Feeling a faint light of hope from Souma’s words, the people lifted their heads. Souma clenched his fists in front of his chest as if to demonstrate his will to the people.
“――I, the Divine Son of Destruction, will obliterate the heinous Romanian army!”
As he shouted those words, Souma thrust his fist in the air.
But, the response by the citizens was weak. He had stressed the dreadfulness of Romania’s army to such an extent, so it was logical for the people to be doubtful that some foreign, weak-looking youngster would really be able to pull it off.
Of course, Souma had already anticipated this reaction and calmly addressed them.
“I fully understand what you’re thinking right now. Can a guy like him really chase away Roman’s royal army? Can a guy like him truly save us? Those are reasonable doubts. But――”
For this reason Souma had prepared his next words which would smash their doubts and become their spiritual support.
“I’d like you to remember the name of the strongest general whom all of you know so well. And I’d like you to recall the name of the strongest army corps under his command.”
Being told this much, every Holmean resident could immediately think of the name in question.
“I’m sure you must be thinking of Darius and the Black Wall right now.”
As the people nodded at his implicit question, Souma hurled his next words at them.
“However, both of them were defeated by me! I――we are stronger than the strongest general and his strongest army corps!”
Usually people would face Souma with hostility and contempt when he bragged about having defeated General Darius and the Black Wall. However, with the looming threat of Romania’s army, even the destruction of their prized general and his army corps transformed into a source of trustworthiness.
Souma widely spread his arms as if welcoming the people, whose eyes were filled with a faint glimmer of hope.
“We promise here and now! We will definitely defeat Romania’s army and chase them out of this country!”
After being plunged into the abyss of despair, it was impossible for the people to refuse a helping hand. Even if it was the hand of the perpetrator who had plunged them into that abyss to begin with.
For this reason, the square was quickly filled with cheers and applause over Souma’s pledge. Souma bathed in those jubilations for a short while. But then he slowly raised his right hand before quickly swinging it down. In response, all the people immediately fell silent as if they had been slashed by Souma’s army.
At this point in time, all distrust and doubt towards Souma had fully vanished from the minds of the people. Only hope and relief was visible in their eyes.
They believed that everything would be alright as long as Souma was with them. That Souma would save them. If Souma requested them to become his vassals, all of them would immediately agree. If he asked for their obedience, all of them would immediately prostrate themselves in front of him. They might even happily accept to become his slaves.
“However, what will you be doing during that time?”
Yet, Souma coldly refused the people’s adoration.
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