Lord of Caldera - Chapter 315

Chapter 315: Chapter 315 Unleash The Artifact
“They still don’t understand the situation. I’ll have to step in sooner or later,” Sylas thought, a cold smile forming on his lips.

These nobles, blinded by greed, needed a wake-up call. It was time to establish who truly held authority.

Sylas’s eyes glinted sharply as he looked at them.

“One final review before we proceed,” Sylas announced the next day at noon, gathering the nobles to reaffirm their plan.

“My knights and I will lead the charge, with your forces covering any gaps. I’ll quickly destroy the gate with the artifact and withdraw.”

“The rest will be handled by our troops, my lord,” one noble assured him.

“Excellent. Once we breach the gate, the rest should be simple,” Sylas replied, nodding.

His words were hollow. Breaching the gate wouldn’t guarantee an easy victory. Though their numbers were superior, the coalition had suffered significant losses, and their enemy’s troops were far more experienced.

A narrow breach would make the ensuing battle even more challenging.

“Of course, there’s no need to tell them that now,” Sylas mused. These nobles lacked the experience to grasp the realities of war. They’d understand soon enough.

After finalizing the plan, Sylas mounted his horse.

“Now, follow me to victory!” he called out, leading the charge.

“Follow the count!” the nobles shouted, spurring their troops forward.

As Sylas and the coalition surged toward the gate, shouts erupted from the enemy lines.

“They’re coming! They’re attacking again!”

“Archers, nock your arrows! Prepare poles to repel the ladders!”

“Don’t panic! Remember, they’re just a rabble!”

The disciplined defenders reacted swiftly and calmly, their arrows flying as soon as Sylas and his forces entered range.

Amidst the chaos, Sylas deflected several arrows with swift strikes of his blade. One knight, momentarily startled by his prowess, called out.

“My lord! The artifact—now is the time!”

“I’m preparing it,” Sylas replied calmly, his eyes fixed on the castle gate growing larger in his view. He reached for the cursed sword, Velverque, hanging at his waist.

As his hand closed around the hilt, blue flames erupted along the blade’s edge. When Sylas arrived at the gate, he launched himself from his saddle.

“Hah!”

Sssslash!

Two swift strikes carved through the air, accompanied by a soft exhalation of effort. The strikes didn’t even touch the gate, appearing more like a sword dance in empty space.

Knights and soldiers on both sides looked on in confusion.

“My lord! What in the world are you doing—”

Boom!

The knight’s question was cut short by the rumbling sound of the castle gate shattering into pieces, the massive structure collapsing onto the ground.

Both armies stared in stunned silence at what Sylas had done. The enemy was just as dumbfounded as the coalition forces.

A single man had cleaved through the massive gate—how was that even possible?

“Well then, I’ll leave the rest to you!” Sylas declared, turning his horse around to retreat.

That was the cue for both armies to snap out of their stupor. For the attackers, the collapsed gate signified a golden opportunity. For the defenders, it was a dire crisis.

“Attack! Wipe them out!”

“Hold the line! Don’t let a single one through!”

The commands of the two commanders overlapped in the air, and soldiers from both sides roared as they clashed.

As the chaos erupted, Sylas calmly returned to the coalition’s camp.

“Well, that settles my part in this,” he said, dismounting.

The nobles nearby were too overwhelmed to respond. From their vantage point, they had witnessed the gate being reduced to rubble by Sylas’s strikes—a sight that left them reeling.

“Remarkable… truly remarkable, my lord. Your swordsmanship is…”

“Yes… of course, such mastery… as expected of the Corleone lineage…”

Their attempts to flatter him came out as stammering, unable to mask their lingering shock. Sylas gave them a brief smile before heading back to his tent.

Kaspar, waiting near the camp, wore a complicated expression as he watched Sylas approach.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sylas asked.

“…It’s nothing, my lord,” Kaspar replied.

Although he recovered faster than the other nobles—having already seen the aftermath of Sylas’s strength—it was still a shocking display. He hadn’t anticipated the extent of Sylas’s power.

“You’re such an enigmatic man,” Kaspar muttered under his breath.

“Now, now, why are you still here?” Sylas teased.

“My lord, wouldn’t it be better if you remained at the front? With your strength, we could minimize casualties. The army’s quality is significantly inferior to the enemy’s.”

Sylas chuckled at the suggestion.

“Baron, do you think they’re even aware of that?”

“…I suppose not,” Kaspar admitted.

“They aren’t. They’ve never fought a real war. To them, the difference might seem negligible—maybe even manageable.”

In truth, the coalition forces severely overestimated themselves. They believed they could win if they fought two-to-one, not realizing that even a five-to-one advantage would barely suffice.

“If I stayed at the front, do you think they’d appreciate it? More likely, they’d grumble about missed opportunities to prove themselves. The distribution of land will depend on contributions, after all.”

“…You’re probably right,” Kaspar conceded.

It wasn’t uncommon for superiors who overshadowed their subordinates’ efforts to be viewed as overbearing. Especially here, where the nobles were unaware of the true gap in strength between them and their opponents.

A swift victory wouldn’t earn gratitude—it would only breed resentment.

“First, they need to understand their place,” Sylas concluded.

They needed to grasp their own weakness, the enemy’s strength, and above all, the sheer gulf separating both from Sylas himself.

“Damn it! Why can’t we break through?”

The battle unfolded exactly as Sylas had predicted. Despite the gate being destroyed, the coalition forces failed to gain ground.

On the other hand, the defenders sighed in relief. Initially fearing the worst, they soon realized their opponents were weaker than expected.

“This is nothing. They’re pathetic.”

“I had a hunch during the defense, but they’re even worse than I thought.”

“If I’d known this earlier, I’d have taken the fight to them!”