[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke

All hell broke loose in just a few days.

Berry was struggling to resist the ever-growing army. With Caspian out of the picture, another person had stepped forward.

Much to their surprise, it was Silas—the current ruler of the Eldoria.

How Silas was here when he was supposed to be fighting His Grace was beyond Berry.

For some reason, Silas had only shown his face twice on the battlefront.

Even that was enough to rattle the morale of their army. After all, if Silas was there, that only meant that both His Highness Nikolai and His Grace Darius were dead.

Since Xion's departure, Silas' siege had become more ferocious.

The soldiers from the battlegroup had started to encircle the capital of Suniva.

Every path in and out was watched, every messenger intercepted; the city was a cage, and its people trapped prey within it.

If all the royal army ended up at their gates, they wouldn't be able to hold it back at all.

Luckily, His Grace Xion had left more soldiers for him to command, and there was Oswin's personal army as well.

After arranging everything, they had just over two thousand warriors still fit for battle.

They were able to hold back for now, but that couldn't be said for the future.

Both he and Oswin prayed for Xion to return safely.

Berry had stationed half of his troops to guard the few counties that still remained under their flag.

However, Suniva had just experienced a major disaster and was extremely drained. The capital was still fine, but that couldn't be said for the other counties.

With no way out, Oswin had begun to dispatch civilians from all the villages to the rear of the capital.

This was already their last stronghold.

The crimson on the snow had become so common they had almost forgotten snow was ever white.

There were constant cries from widows and orphans, begging the goddess to stop the war.

Just as Berry thought it couldn't get any worse, the news arrived from the rear.

The river was clear. There were no enemies.

Normally, it should have been a good thing, but it wasn't. At least, not in this situation.

The enemy had succeeded in fooling them. With the head gone and Silas dangling in front of the gates, it would be hard to control the people.

"When will His Grace return?" Berry asked, looking down from the city wall that had started to crack from various places.

"In three days at the fastest," Oswin replied, his gaze numb from all the bloodshed.

"What about the food supplies? They are most likely trying to set the garrison on fire."

"Secure. The enemy had retreated, so it should be safe for now," Oswin said, looking down at his hands. "I have chopped so many heads, I've lost count, and yet there seems to be no end to this."

The issue wasn't their strength, but the dead. Cut down a Death Walker, and it stayed down, but their own fallen rose again the next day.

They would pounce on them like enemies.

It was like slashing one's own flesh. They had to keep fighting until there was no one left on both sides.

"Rest assured," Berry patted his chest with pride. "As long as I am alive, I won't let them advance another step."

Oswin was grateful. It was Berry's rigorous instructions that had been keeping them afloat.

"Haven't you noticed? The more our lord Xion gets closer to us, the more Silas panics. It's almost as if..."

Oswin heard those words, and his eyes went wide. "He is sick! He wants to take over Suniva as soon as possible, but he is afraid of His Grace Xion. But why?"

As far as what Oswin had heard, this young king was half lunatic himself. What was there to be afraid of, Xion?

Berry squinted into the silent night. The torches were burning in the camps of the enemies, but there was no noise.

"Perhaps Silas isn't afraid of the divine healer but his protector."

Oswin looked even more confused.

"Silas is afraid that the Archduke would catch up to him, and then there would be nothing to save him. So, he is eager to enter the capital and capture the divine healer."

"He wants to use His Grace Xion as bait?"

Berry hummed.

Oswin didn't know, but Berry was clear on the real suspect.

It was that damned Priest Michael, the one he couldn't locate no matter what.

"Keep an eye on them," the old man said to the guards before leaving the wall with Oswin.

"You think they might do something? Like fire arrows? They, too, might not have that much oil to burn."

That was what had stopped those fire attacks in the first place.

Berry shook his head. "I don't know, but that silence is making my stomach feel funny. They are bound to cause more trouble."

Sure enough, just as Berry had predicted, there was a movement in the middle of the night.

The enemy was using catapults to throw corpses of sheep, cattle, mice, and even human feces into the city.

Oswin watched the falling corpses with growing confusion.

These bodies were dead and posed no threat to them. Just to be sure, they had already cut the heads of the ones that were still intact.

After repeatedly checking, they were sure no animal was acting like those Death Walkers.

What was that damned Silas doing?

He couldn't figure it out and called Berry.

When the old man appeared at the scene, he was stunned by the thick stench of rot filling the air.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know. For some absurd reason, they had begun hurling dead animals into the city. It's like throwing free food to starving people."

When Berry took a look at the corpses, his face changed almost immediately. He quickly covered his mouth and nose.

"What's wrong?" Oswin's voice trembled. His heart skipped a beat when he saw how afraid Berry looked.

"These are decomposed, you idiot! Silas wants to spread plague in the city! Hurry up and ask the guards to stop people from eating them!"

Oswin's stomach turned. In that instant, the falling corpses were no longer weapons of war, but seeds of death drifting into the streets.

------

In the main tent, Silas sat heavily on his chair. His bloodshot eyes glared at the man hidden under the cloak.

"You said I'll win. So why haven't we taken Suniva under our control yet?!"

The young king looked much older than his age, and if one looked closely, there was even grey hair sticking at his temples.

It wasn't that no one noticed it, but they dared to speak about it outright and provoke the angry tiger.

The cloaked figure remained quiet as well, only letting a small piece of parchment float toward the table.

Silas picked it up and, after reading the content, he let out a loud laugh.

No matter what, that laughter sounded too eerie when they were stationed between the Death Walkers.

"So, Michael is dealing with that bastard Darius? Good, good, good. Bring me his corpse. I will make him kill all of his people in front of his darling Xion's eyes."

A feral grin appeared on his face as he summoned his deputy.

"Your Majesty," the deputy bowed, waiting for his orders.

"When will the divine healer return from his little trip?" Silas asked, twirling a pen in his hand.

"From what we have gathered, it will take him three more days."

The king smirked, his golden eyes glinting with delight. "Three days are enough to break that damned wall. After we capture Xion alive and give him to Michael, we will be free from our side of the deal."

The person hidden under the robe nodded. None present could tell who it was, but this person was someone close to Father Michael.

It was also through these letters that Silas learned of the Archduke's sinister intentions.

That cunning green-eyed bastard had sneaked the devil's heart into his jewels, nearly plunging him into madness.

Darius wanted to drive him crazy, so he was now making every Northerner mad.

Soon, he would have an entire army of these strong barbarians at his disposal.

And at the head of the undead army would be Darius himself.

Silas doubted anyone would be stupid enough to attack him then.

Respect. He would get his due respect, and if they didn't heed his instructions, then he would claw it out of their chests.

Meanwhile, Xion was rushing back to the capital city after killing the group of rebels who tried to stop him.

Despite knowing that it might be a trap, Xion was still a bit bewildered. What were they trying to accomplish exactly?

But then again, only a madman could understand a madman's thinking.

"Your Grace, we should take a break. You have been riding without rest for hours."

Despite it being the capital, the place was bigger than the smaller provinces.

Even with all their efforts, it still took them days to settle the security at the edge of the river.

"No, we can't," Xion said, holding the reins tighter.

The dark horse rushed forward, tearing the wind with its hooves.

There was a hollow pit in Xion's stomach, something that only happened when there was something terrible going to happen.

He didn't want to risk anything at this point. He simply couldn't afford to.