One Piece: A Warlord's Path-Chapter 670: Devil Mercenaries

Ronalfort, one of the six great bastions of the Kingdom of Bivins.

Situated on the upper reaches of the Laende River, it commands the vital strategic pass leading to the capital, Crofort. Naturally a formidable stronghold due to its rugged terrain, its importance had become paramount in the current dire climate, where the tide of war between the Royal Army and the Rebel Army shifted daily.

"Kill! Storm the castle!"

"Liberate Ronalfort!"

"Liberate the Kingdom of Bivins!"

"Slaughter the Royal Army dogs!"

A black tide of people, swarming like ants, utilized various siege engines to scale the fortress walls. Clad in a chaotic mix of mismatched armor and common cloth, they brandished a motley assortment of weapons—a true ragtag rabble.

Yet, despite being a mob of tens of thousands, every face was etched with grim determination. Their morale was sky-high; they fought with a suicidal bravery, where for every man who fell, several more surged forward to take his place.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rumble! Rumble!

The crack of flintlocks and the roar of cannons blended into a deafening cacophony of slaughter. Pungent gunpowder and the coppery scent of blood saturated the battlefield.

War is the ultimate expression of conflict and the most violent of means; the clash between the Royal Army of Bivins and the rising Rebels laid this struggle bare in its most vivid, brutal form.

Over twenty thousand Royal soldiers were holed up within the fortress. Despite possessing tall, sturdy walls for defense and no shortage of muskets and heavy artillery, they were being battered into a daze by the tens of thousands of Rebels outside. The entire defensive line of the castle was teetering on the brink of collapse.

On a desolate mountain peak several kilometers away, a few figures draped in black overcoats stood beneath a large white tree.

Sabo raised his telescope, surveying the tragic siege unfolding at the foot of the mountain. He couldn’t help but offer praise. "Truly impressive. To mobilize tens of thousands so easily and break the Kingdom’s forces to pieces... they’re even on the verge of taking Ronalfort!"

"Indeed. Once Ronalfort falls, the heart of the Kingdom of Bivins, the main city, Crofort, is within arm’s reach. Liberating this country is practically a guaranteed success," Koala added, nodding as she watched the battle alongside him.

To their surprise, Len did not smile at their words. Instead, his face was masked in bitterness. Noticing the lack of reaction, Sabo turned his head, looking puzzled. "Uh... did I say something wrong?"

"Under normal circumstances, you’d be right. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have had to request help from Headquarters," Len said, his voice thick with chagrin. "But the army our organization built has already been defeated. This force below... they are a coalition formed by Rebels from other regions!"

"What? Rebels from other regions?!"

Sabo and Koala looked at Len in shock. Just as Len was about to explain, a massive upheaval occurred in the battle below.

"ROAARRRR—"

A terrifying beastial howl erupted from within the castle.

Under the horrified gaze of the Rebels, several bipedal monsters emerged. These creatures possessed the heads of lizards filled with serrated fangs, standing a full five meters tall with powerful physiques. Their blood-red vertical pupils were brimming with violence and cruelty, and three rows of dorsal spines along their backs looked particularly gruesome.

Six of these monsters, unclear whether they were lizardmen or Dragonians, leapt directly from the twenty-meter-high ramparts, crashing straight into the Rebel ranks.

Squelch! Rip! Tear!

A whirlwind of gore followed. Limbs flew through the air. Under the razor-sharp claws of these beasts, even the thickest armor was shredded like paper, to say nothing of the Rebel soldiers, most of whom wore no armor at all.

"Die, you monster!"

A Rebel soldier in hemp clothes hoisted a rocket launcher, aimed at one of the creatures, and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The black shell scored a direct hit on one of the monsters. A roar followed as thick black smoke and searing flames engulfed the creature’s upper body. However, the beast merely paused for a second before charging out of the dissipating smoke.

"No... no way!"

"It’s a lie, right?"

"That was a rocket launcher!"

The surrounding Rebels were paralyzed with terror. Seeing the monster with only a few shattered scales, their courage broke completely. Most had been ordinary civilians until recently; to them, guns and cannons were the pinnacle of weaponry. They had never encountered monsters that ignored them.

"Dragonians! The humanoid biological weapons of the Chris Pirates!!"

Back on the mountain, Sabo and Koala watched in shock as the monsters slaughtered the Rebels at will. Having appeared in numerous conflicts, the Dragonians were known to be on par with the Navy’s humanoid weapons, the Pacifistas. As officers of the Revolutionary Army, there was no way Sabo and Koala were unaware of them.

"I didn’t think they’d bring Dragonians here too!" Len gasped, seemingly shivering from a lingering fear.

Following the six Dragonians, a group of burly men clad in black mechanical combat suits entered the fray. There were over a hundred of them. Each stood over three meters tall, wearing high-tech Offensive Exoskeleton Combat Suits. They brandished heavy hammers, battle-axes, and zanbatos, while others carried rocket launchers and large-caliber firearms.

They were as fierce as wolves and tigers, radiating a murderous aura. They leaped onto buildings and trees with superhuman agility, tearing down ten-meter-high siege towers with their bare hands and punching through steel shields.

Against these men, the tens of thousands of Rebels were utterly defenseless. Their lines were pierced with ease, their formations shattered. Countless Rebel officers fell before these ’supermen’ in seconds.

"The Elite Strike Team of the Chris Pirates!" Koala said grimly.

"Exactly. In the world of mercenaries, that ’Devil Army’ is something even Germa 66 can’t compare to!" Len spat through gritted teeth, watching the slaughter below with hatred.

"The Chris Pirates actually intervened in the Bivins civil war... It seems the Royal Family paid a heavy price," Sabo remarked, his expression darkening as he gazed at the blood-soaked battlefield. "Len, why didn’t you warn the leader of this Rebel army?"

"I did, but he completely ignored my warnings," Len replied helplessly.

The leader of this Rebel group was nothing more than a lucky country brute. Relying on his freakish natural strength, he had cobbled together this army and won a few fluke victories against the Royal forces. He had become arrogant and delusional; there was no way he would have listened to Len.

"The army I built with the Revolutionary Army’s help... we were ambushed by a small squad of no more than ten of those men while en route to Ronalfort. An army of tens of thousands was crushed in a single engagement. Half of our comrades in the Bivins Revolutionary Army were lost in that battle!" Len covered his face, his voice trembling with grief.