Chapter 74: Chapter 73: Who the Hell Spread the Rumor That I Was Dead?

"Who the fuck spread the rumor that I, your Lord, was dead?"

This was Levi’s first sentence after being dug out of a pile of corpses by his men.

He hadn’t expected that while he was still perfectly fine, someone was already spreading false rumors, attempting to usurp his position and inherit High Cliff Castle.

’Damn it, there’s a traitor in our midst!’

The Lord clutched his chest, seething with anger.

"Boss..."

Zat rubbed his bald pate, grinning sheepishly.

’You could tell with just one look that this idiot was the one who’d spread the rumor.’

"Look at you, all big and burly, with those thick brows and big eyes. So, it’s ’loyalty that isn’t absolute is absolute disloyalty,’ is that it?"

After grabbing Zat’s offered hand to pull himself up, Levi tore off his helmet and threw it to the ground. The slightly dented helmet CLANKED as it rolled a few times. He wiped away the blood that was trickling down his hair and spat out a thick gob of bloody phlegm.

After the inhumanly brutal slaughter, he looked as if he had just gone for a swim in a sea of blood, barely resembling a human being.

If he were to appear on a street late at night, people would scream that they’d seen one of the Undead.

As far as the eye could see, grotesque corpses of every description littered the canyon floor. It was no exaggeration to say the ground was carpeted with the dead. By a rough estimate, the Wilderness People had lost at least thirty to forty percent of their forces before the staggering casualties finally caused their complete collapse.

"Damn it. If anyone ever again dares to call these Wilderness bandits a ragtag bunch of amateurs, I’ll be the first to give them a piece of my mind!"

The Lord grumbled to himself. An army that only broke after suffering such a high casualty rate could be considered the elite of the elite in any Kingdom.

If a true ragtag army had even half this courage and sacrificial spirit, then every last one of those Pioneer Lords should just give up on pioneering and get ready to slit their own throats.

"Are you alright?"

Baisitina rushed over, and upon seeing Levi, an indescribable joy welled up in her heart, finally transforming into words of concern.

As the Lord walked, bits of flesh and blood dripped from the seams of his Plate Armor, creating a vivid red carpet in his wake.

"I’m fine," Levi replied, unbuckling his Armor piece by piece.

Once he was down to just his linen tunic, he couldn’t help but stretch his limbs and loosen his stiff muscles.

The blood and bits of flesh clinging to him were all gifts from his enemies. Even the one blow from the Giant that had caught him off guard only looked intimidating; it hadn’t actually caused him any real harm.

The surrounding Barbarians were in absolute awe. After the great battle, they were all suffering from post-exertion exhaustion, their bodies limp and devoid of strength. The humans were even worse off, lying on the ground, temporarily unable to get back up.

’Yet their leader was acting as if nothing had happened. His constitution is more terrifying than a Giant Dragon’s!’

In truth, after just a short while lying in the pile of corpses, Levi’s stamina had already mostly recovered.

The Lord took the opportunity to open his system’s party panel. Aside from the four Beastman Barbarians recuperating at High Cliff Castle, not a single one of the Barbarians he’d brought with him had died, though every last one was injured.

This was within his expectations. The Wilderness Alliance Army looked numerous, but their equipment was crude. Besides, his Barbarians were a far cry from their former selves. The weakest among them was now a Tier Four Soldier, and all of them were wearing two layers of armor.

Once he had dealt with the Giant—the only real threat to them—the other bandits, armed with nothing but Broken Rusted Iron Sabers, had trouble even piercing the Barbarians’ Armor. It was naturally difficult for them to kill the Beastmen. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

This had nothing to do with Martial Arts or valor; it was simply a case of being steamrolled by superior equipment.

It could be said that the Iron Armor provided the Barbarians with a high baseline for survival, while their own valor allowed them to maximize its effectiveness.

However, when he looked at the casualties among the Feder Warriors, Levi sighed.

Excluding those left guarding High Cliff Castle, there were over four hundred able-bodied Feder Remnants here, and almost all of them had joined the battle.

Now, only a little over two hundred remained. A loss of nearly forty percent of their manpower—a catastrophic death toll.

To be honest, if they hadn’t been protecting their own Tribe, and if not for his previous efforts to boost their morale, they likely would have routed long ago.

The reason their casualties were so severe was simply that the Barbarians’ ferocity had subconsciously driven the Wilderness People to attack the weaker-looking enemies instead. Consequently, the pressure on the Barbarians was less than one might have expected.

It was terrifying that the Beastmen had suffered no fatal casualties in this war, but it was hardly something to be proud of. The battle had been almost devoid of any praiseworthy tactics.

It all came down to superior equipment and a contest of wills to see which side was less afraid to die, and which would be the first to break under the casualties.

...

For system soldiers, victory in a war was in itself the most bountiful harvest, on top of all the other rewards.

Levi didn’t know exactly how many enemies he himself had killed, but he figured it couldn’t be fewer than several hundred.

Adding the number killed by his Warriors, the total accumulated experience was unimaginable.

Because of this, all thirty-odd Tier Four Beastman Warriors advanced to become Tier Five Soldiers: Giant Axe Guards. High Cliff Castle’s military strength had once again ascended to a new level.

What slightly surprised Levi was that even with such a massive influx of experience, not a single Tier Five Soldier was ready to upgrade. ’It seems the experience required to become a Tier Six Soldier is immense,’ he thought. ’The gains from a single battle aren’t enough.’

But on second thought, it made sense. Putting aside the locked Tier Seven Soldier, Tier Six was already a top-tier unit. Of course the upgrade requirements wouldn’t be met so casually.

Meanwhile, the Feder Warriors, who had long ago been incorporated into his system’s party, also met the requirements to upgrade. All the Tier One Feder Commoners were upgraded to Tier Two Federation Militia, and the Tier Two soldiers were upgraded to Tier Three Feder Warriors.

As for any upgrading from Tier Three to Tier Four, there were none.

After all, a Tier Three Soldier was already considered a proper soldier, so this was to be expected.

Levi, who had long ago instructed his Barbarians to spread the tale of the "Gift of the War God," naturally upgraded them all without hesitation.

The amount of Gold Coins required for the upgrades was not large; the funds remaining in his system were more than sufficient.

If he didn’t upgrade them immediately, he would risk blowing his cover.

Thus, the Beastman Warriors of the Burning Corps were now all Tier Five Soldiers. As for the Feder Warriors, sixty percent were Tier Two soldiers, while the rest were all Tier Three Soldiers.

During a desperate battle, the adrenaline rush keeps exhaustion at bay. But the moment one relaxes, the fatigue and depleted energy arrive right on schedule.

Fortunately, the system’s upgrades came with a partial stamina restoration. While it wasn’t enough to make them vigorous and full of life again, it at least gave them enough energy to move.

After the battle ended and they had rested for a bit, the Barbarians began to walk the battlefield, searching for any Wilderness People who hadn’t yet died and delivering the final blow to each one.

Even as desperate as Levi was for population, he had no intention of supporting these wounded enemies. Ending their remaining suffering, one by one, was the greatest mercy he could grant them.

As the wounded enemies were dealt with, mournful cries began to rise from the Feder Tribe.

Among the fallen Feder Warriors, some had wives and children. Others were still young, leaving behind only parents and younger siblings.

Their families were now searching for them among the living, and when they failed to find a familiar face among the survivors, sorrow inevitably washed over them.

This was an unavoidable consequence of war. All Levi could do was treat the families of the fallen as well as he possibly could.