I Became a Level -99 Vicious Lord

Otto and others approached the scene where a battle was raging in the darkness.

“Argh!”

“These filthy rebels! Come at me! As long as I’m here, not a hair on His Highness the Crown Prince’s head will be touched!”

“Dieeeee!”

The battle was fierce.

Knights and soldiers belonging to the rebel forces attacked the Crown Prince and his group relentlessly.

They were determined to fight to the death because the rebel leader, Duke Alex, had put a huge bounty on the Crown Prince and his group.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince and his group were also fighting tooth and nail to overcome this crisis.

“Let’s move.”

Otto sent out a signal.

–Swiftly, silently.

At that moment, Camille and the magic swordsmen from Koutachi families moved in unison, taking their positions.

Just as they settled into position.

“Start with fire.”

As soon as Otto’s signal dropped, the attack began.

Swoosh! Swish!

The Camille and the swordsmen from the Koutachi family, who had been hiding in blind spots like dense forests or behind trees, attacked the rebels holding torches.

“Argh!”

“Owww!”

Those holding the torches fell.

Swoosh!

Magic swordsmen used simple water-based magic to extinguish the flames of the torches that fell to the ground.

Then, as if darkness had been waiting, it swallowed the forest.

Until the torches went out, the forest had been relatively bright, but in an instant, it turned into a dark abyss.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

At that moment, both the rebels and the Crown Prince’s group were shocked and came to a complete halt.

“Initiate the attack.”

Otto and his group moved in unison, sweeping away the rebels.

“Argh!”

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

“Kuhaa!”

In the darkness.

The rebels’ screams echoed incessantly.

It was a one-sided massacre.

From the beginning, the combat prowess of the Camille and the Magic swordsmen from the Koutachi family was as strong as elite knights from powerful nations. Even in a direct confrontation, they could annihilate the rebels in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, launching a surprise attack in a favorable situation?

It was only natural that a slaughter was taking place.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

While the Camille and the Magic swordsmen from the Koutachi family were wiping out the rebels, Otto approached the Crown Prince and whispered to him.

“W-who are you?”

That startled Crown Prince.

“We are allies.”

Otto reassured the Crown Prince.

“Please wait quietly until the battle is over.”

“W-who… who are you?”

“I will tell you soon.”

It didn’t take long for the Crown Prince’s question to be answered.

Thud!

About 30 seconds later, as the last rebel fell, the battle ended.

“Gonzalez.”

Otto said to Camille.

“Yes…?”

Camille widened his eyes, as if asking what kind of nonsense it was.

“Gonzalez, light up the fire.”

“Gonzalez…?”

“Hurry.”

“….”

Although Camille felt somewhat uncomfortable being called Gonzalez by Otto, he followed the order without questioning it.

This operation was a top-secret mission conducted undercover, so there was a need to use aliases to conceal their identities.

‘Why Gonzalez of all names…?’

Camille was suspicious of Otto’s intentions.

***

When Camille lit the torch, the darkness lifted, revealing a gruesome sight.

Corpses, corpses, and more corpses.

The forest, strewn with the bodies of fallen rebels, was nothing short of a hellish scene.

“Who are you?” The Crown Prince asked Otto.

“I am honored to meet the Crown Prince. We are a mercenary organization called the Black Legion, operating secretly,” Otto replied.

“I see.”

“I am Cain, the leader of the Black Legion.”

“The leader of the Black Legion, Cain… But I have never summoned you.”

“It was a request from the late King.”

“…!”

“The late King had secret contact with our Black Legion and entrusted the safety of the Crown Prince in case of any potential rebellion.”

Otto’s mouth overflowed with lies.

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Oh!”

The Crown Prince believed Otto’s words without hesitation.

He had suspected that this could be a trap set by Duke Alex, but it seemed unnecessary to lie.

Considering the combat prowess shown by Cain and his group a moment ago, they were more than capable of subduing the Crown Prince’s party and taking them to Duke Alex right away.

“Did he truly made such arrangements?”

“Yes.”

“Father king…”

Tears welled up in the Crown Prince’s eyes.

‘It seems I’ve been caught in a web of lies. Maybe I was born under the star of deception.’

Camille trembled as he watched the scene unfold.

“From now on, the Black Legion will serve the Crown Prince. Is our destination the Felton Fortress?” Cain asked.

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

After saying that, Otto turned to Camille.

“Gonzalez!”

“….”

“Gonzalez! Answer me!”

“….”

“Hmph!”

“Yes.”

Camille replied in a barely audible voice.

He didn’t like answering to the name ‘Gonzalez’ for some reason.

“I will accompany the Crown Prince to the Felton Fortress, so from now on, you will lure the rebels,” Otto instructed.

“What… do you mean?”

“Lure the rebels pretending to be the Crown Prince!”

“….?”

“From now on, change into the Crown Prince’s clothes! Execute!”

“….”

“Huh?”

Reluctantly, Camille moved slowly, as if against his will.

“Are you telling me to die?”

Camille whispered to Otto as he brushed past him.

Pretending to be the Crown Prince and luring the rebels was an extremely dangerous task, practically a suicidal act.

Historically, it was not uncommon for a loyalist to disguise themselves as the ruler and lure enemies, only to perish in the process.

“You won’t die, you won’t. Don’t worry. Don’t be a coward.”

“I’m not a coward.”

“I trust you, Camille.”

“If doubt there’ll even my corpse with that trust.”

The reason, Camille grumbled, was that he was willing to die for Otto, but he didn’t want to die for Prince Louis Blanc.

“Anyway, execute!”

“….Understood.”

Just after Camille and the Crown Prince swapped clothes.

“It seems your subordinates are not following orders,” the Crown Prince said to Otto, displeased.

“Oh, so that’s why.”

Then, as if instructing Camille to listen—although it was more like ordering—Otto replied in a loud voice.

“That Gonzalez guy is a ruthless one. His way of speaking and acting don’t give it away, but if he’s provoked, he will mercilessly kill people without batting an eye.”

“Ugh…”

“Thanks to various crimes, he ended up as a death row inmate, imprisoned in a jail. I freed him and have been rehabilitating him to this day.”

“I see. He has quite a story.”

“Despite not appearing grateful, he follows my orders well. So you don’t have to worry too much.”

Camille’s insides boiled with anger at Otto’s words, but he suppressed it as best he could.

Punishing Otto here would only make the situation awkward, so he had no choice but to endure for now.

“Gonzalez! From now on, you will lure the rebels pretending to be the Crown Prince! I’ll assign five members to accompany you!”

“Understood.”

Camille glared at Otto as if he wanted to kill him, then disappeared into the forest with the five Magic Swordsmen.

“Well then, please follow me.”

As soon as Camille disappeared, Otto immediately led the Crown Prince’s group toward Felton Fortress.

***

While Otto took the Crown Prince to the Felton Fortress, Camille and others had to endure a living hell.

No matter how skilled Camille’s party was in combat, constantly being chased by rebel forces and luring them was physically exhausting.

About a week had passed since then.

Camille and the Magic Swordsmen managed to shake off the rebels once again and took a moment to catch their breath.

“Ah, huff…”

Kasim, a Magic Swordsman from the Koutachi clan, gasped for breath and spoke.

“C-Camille… Are we… going to die for real at this rate? Ah, huff…”

“Maybe… that could happen.”

Camille replied shortly after.

“This… this is madness… complete madness… Ah, huff… We can’t go on like this… Uwaaaah!!!”

In the end, Kasim vomited everything he hastily ate a few hours ago, including dried meat and bread crumbs.

Running around constantly to lure the rebels had taken its toll on his stomach.

‘This is a mess.’

Camille looked around briefly and tightly closed his eyes.

“Ah, huff…”

“Ugh…”

“Huff, huff…”

“Damn it…”

Not only Kasim, but the other four Magic Swordsmen were also in a terrible state.

Even the specially trained Magic Swordsmen of the Koutachi clan were gradually reaching their limits.

Of course, it was thanks to them that they were able to carry out the mission for a week, but…

“Just hold on a few more hours.”

Camille encouraged them.

“We’re almost at the Felton Fortress, and night is falling. Just endure for about three more hours…”

At that moment.

–Bark! Bark!

The sound of military dogs barking in the distance started to reach their ears.

‘Damn it.’

Camille bit his lower lip and immediately got up from the position.

“Ugh.”

“Ughhh.”

The Magic Swordsmen also stood up and followed Camille.

And so, the pursuit continued.

-GRIT!

Camille imagined Otto, who was probably enjoying himself in a relatively comfortable situation, and sharpened his resolve to seek revenge for being forced into this hellish mission…

***

Meanwhile, Otto, who had taken the Crown Prince to Felton Fortress, was enjoying himself.

Just as Camille had anticipated.

“Ah, slurp.”

While savoring a satisfying lunch, Otto patted his belly and belched.

“Your Majesty.”

One of the Magic Swordsmen approached Otto and reported.

“The Crown Prince requests your attendance at a meeting tomorrow morning.”

In truth, Otto hadn’t just been idling around.

Through the rescue operation, Otto gained the trust of Crown Prince and successfully secured a position within the suppressing army.

In other words, from now on, Otto was scheduled to fight against the rebel forces as a member of the suppressing army.

It was a calculated move as well.

‘A fight is only enjoyable when it’s intense.’

It was impossible for the Lota Kingdom to defeat the Rochan Kingdom in a direct confrontation. That was an impossible feat.

So, as Otto, it was necessary to weaken the overall military power of the Rochan Kingdom as much as possible through this civil war.

“Let him know I understand.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Otto replied and checked the current date and time.

‘We’re nearing the end of the operation. They should arrive at Felton Fortress by midnight tonight.’

Otto had been calculating the arrival time of Camille and the party at the Felton Fortress with great precision.

‘He won’t die. It will be extremely difficult, but they won’t die.’

Based on experience, the survival rate of Camille and the Five Magic Swordsmen was 100 percent.

And Otto’s prediction was accurate.

That night.

As the clock reached midnight, Camille and the Magic Swordsmen arrived at Felton Fortress.

“Well done, everyone… Huh?!”

Otto, who was waiting to congratulate them, was taken aback when he saw Camille’s party.

“The Black Legion… Commander… Gonzalez and five others… Mission… Successfully completed… Reporting… to the Commander…”

Camille, who had been rolling around like a beggar for the past week, pulled out his sword with a fierce aura and approached slowly.

‘Ah… This is bad.’

Otto realized that Camille was furious and started taking hesitant steps backward.

“You… You did well… Hahaha… Hahahaha… Well then, let’s go inside quickly… Uh… Um… I mean… um… wash up… and rest…”

At that moment.

“…Die.”

Camille charged at Otto.

“Aaaargh!”

A scream escaped Otto’s mouth.