The Crown's Entrapment

Chapter 711 He Stood Victorious

Southeast Border of Helion Kingdom

Deep within the Southeast Border of Helion, Amon was hard at work leading his armies to thin out the herd of beasts still ravaging his lands. The era of his brother's rule was over, after all, which meant that there was no more need for these foul abominations to live in his new order.

"Forward!" Amon commanded, his voice carrying both his determination and charisma. "Beat them back!"

His armies shouted in return, giving him all that he needed to march forward onto the slaughter. With his sword, he fought alongside his men, leading from the front as he made sure that none would be in too much danger while under his watch. There was no need for needless deaths in his new rule, and it would do well for his people's morale if their king was seen as being proactive in the welfare of his men.

'There's still more work to be done,' Amon inwardly thought as he let yet another beast fall under his feet. 'Cleaning up this mess is just one of many…'

Indeed. Despite his best efforts, the lands of Helion were still filled with beasts that its former ruler once used to conquer the surrounding kingdoms. From mindless orcs to foul ghouls, Devon left nothing unused for his mad rule. Amon supposed that his brother just wanted power, but to use these beasts to make up the bulk of his armies meant that their own people had to suffer under their constant terror and occasional mindless attacks.

"Sire! The undead are retreating!" one of his men reported. "They're amassing in an undead encampment not far from here!"

Amon turned the one reporting from the farthest side of the front. He nodded in approval. It would seem that they were successful in keeping their flanks clear.

"Excellent," he bellowed out. "Lead me to the front. I will lead the final attack."

Taking his own detachment of soldiers with him, Amon strode with purpose as he made his way to the undead encampment. Taking the lead, he met up with the local detachment and took command.

"I heard that the undead here had been pushed back," Amon began. "Do we know how many they are?"

"They're on the run, Your Highness," a general quickly replied. "We estimate that they only now number in the hundreds after our forces broke their line."

"That's good news," Amon hummed. "We shall eradicate them once and for all before they can regroup."

"But Sire, wouldn't be assaulting an undead encampment dangerous?"

Amon gave the one soldier a look before he stated, "That might be true, but it would be even more dangerous to leave them alone at their weakest. They will amass and get more numerous with time, especially if there is a witch leading them."

In fact, Amon already assumed that a witch was within the encampment itself raising more undead to throw against them. It was the only thing that would explain the undead's coordinated attacks in this part of the front, which meant that he had to be present unless he wanted his men to die from the assault.

Looking over his soldiers, Amon gave his men a look asking them if they questioned his orders. Seeing that none of them gave off a sound, he nodded before taking his place at the front of the charge.

"Men! Let us clear out this encampment once and for all!" he rallied. "With this place clean of these beasts, our people will rest easy knowing that they're now fully safe!"

Amon's soldiers cheered as he raised his weapon up to the sky. With a bellow, he led the charge, his powerful legs carrying him forward as he collided and tore apart the first undead that he came across. Around him, his men did the same, and they slowly and surely made their way to the center of the encampment itself.

"Over there!"

"Witch!"

Amon felt himself go into wide alert as his men reported the sighting of a witch. Such a creature was powerful enough to wipe out his armies if they weren't careful enough, so had to make sure that he would be the one to kill it.

"All of you disengage from the witch!" he quickly commanded. "Clear me a path! I shall deal with it myself!"

His men quickly followed his orders. While some of them shot him with looks of worry at the prospect of facing a witch alone, they also knew that he was the only one capable of fighting against a powerful creature.

With his path wide open, Amon lunged at the witch, his claws bared as he threw a wide punch at his enemy's face. Immediately, the witch fell to the ground, his hit being so powerful that the nearby undead almost fell down just from the shockwave of his strike.

'Disable, then destroy…'

With a two-step mantra, Amon went to work. With his initial strike, the witch's mouth was rendered unable to cast a single spell. Then, using his powerful arms, he tore apart the witch's arms, leaving it unable to attack.

"Sire! Behind you!"

His eyes widened. Seeing the undead archer, Amon was more than ready to dodge the incoming arrow. However, its trajectory would lead to it hitting one of his men should he avoid it, which meant that he had no choice but to take the hit if he wanted to not take any casualties.

And so, he did just that.

"Ngh…"

"Your Highness!"

Amon grunted as he felt the arrow pierce through his chiseled abdomen. Having tensed his muscles, he prevented it from going in too deeply, but he could feel that it was laced with poison with how painful it was.

Already, he could feel the dark energies within him wanting to come out.

"Sire-"

"Leave!" Amon grunted with sheer authority. "I will finish things!"

Blinking, he pulled out the arrow with a singular motion, his blood erupting from the wound as he let it leak out along with the poison. Sure, he could let the power within help him, but he refused to do so. He'd rather do this on his own than let the dark power take over him in a possible moment of weakness.

With a grunt, he threw the arrow back at the attacker, killing the undead before turning around to finish off the witch. With a stomp of his feet, the witch's skull exploded, and with it, its undead armies. In an instant, an eerie quiet settled in the encampment, the fighting now over as he stood victorious.

"Still got it…"

Smirking to himself, Amon walked back to his side of the battle, his men cheering for him as they all looked at him with love and admiration. Still, he waved them off, knowing that they still had a lot of work to do.