[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela":3,"chapter-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-98":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Exiled from the Start and Dominating the Wasteland with an Intelligence System",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1688698,2155,"Chapter 98 : Chapter 98","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-98",98,"\u003Cp>Chapter 98. The Baron of Runestone City! A Last Stand with No Retreat!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant the Golden Lion Knights slammed into the routed rebels, they displayed a terrifying, utterly overwhelming might.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ron rode at the very front, and the massive lance in his hand flashed like golden lightning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any fleeing soldier who stood in his path was effortlessly skewered straight through, man and shield alike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Golden Lion Knights behind him followed close on his heels, their heavy warhorses pounding the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sharp lances in their hands were lowered in perfect unison, forming a forest of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before that destructive charge, the fleeing rebels were as fragile as stalks of wheat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a single charge alone, the Golden Lion Knights plowed several ghastly lanes of flesh and blood through the chaotic crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Severed limbs flew through the air, and the fleeing rebels who were struck were sent tumbling like broken sacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene was as brutal as a field of hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet this unstoppable force did not pursue at their heels and slaughter them to the last man like an ordinary army would.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Ron’s precise control, the Golden Lion Knights instead drove and compressed the already chaotic flood of routed soldiers forward with merciless force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buck, leading the Black Crow Knights and the Black Territory veterans, pressed close behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blades and spears hung over the routed soldiers’ backs the entire time, forcing them to flee desperately onward without even daring to look behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that very moment, Sabda was holding his breath and focusing intently behind the earthen slope of the preset ambush position, waiting for Eli’s reinforcements to appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the thunder of hooves and the chaotic shouting rolled closer and closer from the direction of Lucerne City, a trace of relief first crossed his taut face, only to turn at once into confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Caphis?” he murmured, his brows knitting slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why is the commotion so great? And why are they running this way with their men?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought Caphis had completed the bait mission and was coming to join him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rose to his feet and peered into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the sight that entered his eyes made him freeze where he stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no smug face of Caphis, flushed with triumph, anywhere to be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only a boundless tide of terrified routed soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had thrown away their armor and weapons, and their faces were filled with ultimate fear and despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crying, shoving, stumbling, they came hurtling toward his position for their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And behind those fleeing men, amid the rolling dust, glimmers of gold could be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the blood drained from Sabda’s face in an instant, leaving him as pale as though every trace of life had been pulled from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared fixedly at that patch of gold, the symbol of the La Roche Family’s highest martial might, and his body swayed almost imperceptibly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All his calculations, all his ambition, all his desperate gambling were crushed into pieces by reality at that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that’s how it is... Eli Pendragon, what a move...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda muttered to himself, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no hysteria of a gambler who had lost everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only a calm that came from the death of all hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And beneath that calm lay a despair without bottom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So this time... I’ve lost.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron Sabda! Wh-what is the meaning of this?!” Steward Winter’s frantic voice rang out beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed at the routed soldiers surging toward them like a flood, and at the pursuers close behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Caphis’s men... they... why do they look as though they’re being driven this way?! This is nothing like what we agreed on!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda slowly turned his head, his voice so calm that it held not the slightest ripple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As you can see, Steward Winter. My plan... has failed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Failed?! What sort of joke are you making, Sabda?!” Winter completely lost his composure and shouted at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, his mind raced wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No! It is not over yet! There is still a chance!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as... as long as I hand him over!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes! Hand over this mastermind who colluded with the rebels to that Eli!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And offer up Runestone City as well... perhaps... perhaps the count can still spare me...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The expression on his face changed rapidly as a vicious thought took shape in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, he quietly slid a hand into the inner pocket of his sleeve, while at the same time edging closer to Sabda without drawing attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord baron, I think...” Winter forced a false smile onto his face, trying to distract Sabda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very instant the hand gripping the dagger was about to slip from his sleeve and stab into the middle of Sabda’s back—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold flash of steel streaked past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smile on Steward Winter’s face froze instantly, while his eyes filled with shock and confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt only a chill at his neck, and then his vision spun violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed as though he saw his own headless body still leaning forward with the dagger in its hand, while blood sprayed wildly from the severed neck...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Ragnar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The silent guard had moved the very instant Winter’s killing intent revealed itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fast. Precise. Ruthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One stroke. One beheading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winter’s head rolled into the dust, still wearing an expression of utter disbelief, while his headless corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The poisoned dagger hidden in his sleeve fell to the earth with a clatter, its blade glinting with a faint blue sheen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ragnar! Th-this...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luke, one of Sabda’s trusted men, was so terrified by the sudden bloody scene that his soul nearly left his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurriedly tore off his cloak and, fumbling in panic, threw it over Winter’s headless corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the two hundred household soldiers Winter had brought from Alders had deliberately been arranged by Sabda at the very front of the ambush position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, all their attention was fixed on the routed soldiers and pursuers flooding toward them from the rear, and they had not yet noticed the sudden change here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ragnar! You—” Casso too was stunned by Ragnar’s thunderous strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked uncertainly at Ragnar, then at the dagger lying on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, he understood what had happened, and his expression became incomparably complicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ragnar ignored Casso’s question entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He merely bent down expressionlessly, used the tip of his sword to lift the poisoned dagger from the ground, and presented it before Sabda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through his actions, he proved his loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda looked at Ragnar’s silent, resolute face, and at last the dead-ash stillness in his eyes stirred with the faintest ripple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice, calm as a dried-up well, sounded once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh... Ragnar... I... thought you would be the one to seize the chance and kill me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For once, Ragnar tugged faintly at the corner of his mouth, revealing a weary, bitter smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I would indeed kill you,” he said, his voice low and hoarse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But not now. We can do that when we go to hell together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If we are to die, then we die in the final struggle against the enemy—not from some vile betrayal from behind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda went still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked into Ragnar’s eyes and saw that familiar loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in this hopeless dead end, it had not wavered in the least.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet he had once doubted him...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heh... I truly am a contemptible wretch...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A surge of indescribable bitterness instantly shattered the deathly calm he had been forcing himself to maintain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shut his eyes hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he opened them again, there seemed to be the faintest trace of light within them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahaha...” Sabda suddenly let out a hoarse laugh, one filled with self-mockery and release.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned to look at his uncle beside him, Calvin Medici, whose face was as dark as still water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Calvin... this battle began because of me. It was my arrogance that dragged you and the warriors of House Medici into this...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While the field is still in chaos, take the family’s remaining elites and go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Abandon Runestone City and return to the Southern Frontier at once...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bullshit!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a furious roar, Calvin cut Sabda off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gold-Tier Knight’s hair and beard bristled as rage and unyielding battle intent blazed in his eyes. He stared hard at Sabda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sabda Medici! Look at the state you’re in right now!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I, Calvin Medici, will never stand by and watch one of my own nephews flee like a coward!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nor will I abandon you and save myself alone! If anyone is to remain behind and cover the retreat, it will be me, while you go!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The blood of House Medici must not end here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ripped the knight’s longsword from his waist in one motion, and the powerful pressure he released instantly drove away part of the fear in the hearts of the surrounding soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord! We’re not leaving!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ll fight them to the death!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There are no cowards in House Medici!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luke, Casso, and the rest of Sabda’s core subordinates were also ignited by Calvin’s roar, their final trace of blood-hot courage flaring back to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all drew their weapons and gathered around Sabda, roaring so loudly that the air trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Alders household soldiers, ignorant of the truth, also shouted along with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their fear was temporarily crushed down, and a grim aura of total commitment, of a last stand with no road left to retreat, spread through the ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda listened to the roar of his subordinates, willing to live and die with him...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the heart that had been wrapped in despair seemed to be forced to take in one last breath of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dead ash in his eyes began to churn violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What reignited there was no longer the pride of the second son of the Duke of the Southern Frontier, nor that of the Baron of Runestone City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the pride and ruthlessness that belonged to Sabda Medici himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It flared back to life again like sparks catching on dry tinder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drew in a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He no longer looked at Calvin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He no longer looked at Ragnar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he fixed his gaze on the torrent of pursuers drawing ever nearer, carrying the breath of destruction with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, he drew the longsword at his waist, the one adorned with the crest of Runestone City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good!” Sabda’s voice was no longer dead and empty. Instead, it carried a hoarse battle fervor that bordered on madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He roared with every bit of strength he had left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then so be it—as you all wish! Not for Medici, but for our honor!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Honor... shall be defended with our blood!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prepare—to meet the enemy!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1805,"2026-06-06T13:50:45.844Z",1,"novelbin.me","de19e85b609674fc5674207378097b229d5886528139d7297a69168316520acb","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-99","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-97",112,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fexiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-cover.jpg"]