School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 203 --Blight’s Mission

The person in green held a steel nail, driving it into Pete’s left shoulder without hesitation.

Pete let out a muffled scream, and then the person hammered another nail into his right shoulder, Pete’s screams continuing unabated for the next hour.

The green-clad figure kept driving the nails in and then pulling them out, over and over, without uttering a single word.

Eventually, the person removed the gag from Pete’s mouth.

"Who are you? I’ll give you anything you want, do anything you ask. What do you want from me?" Pete asked weakly.

The person in green showed no intention of responding.

Instead, he produced a silk net containing Pete’s night pearls and forcefully stuffed it into Pete’s mouth, concluding the first day’s torture.

On the second day, the torturer switched to a new instrument: a red-hot branding iron that left indelible marks on Pete’s chest and thighs, filling the cave with an unbearable stench.

After finishing the torment for the day, the green-clad torturer applied a wound medicine to prevent Pete’s injuries from festering.

The third day, the fourth day...

Pete gradually became accustomed to the pain.

He underwent various forms of torture, sparing only his face and hands from punishment.

The rest of his body was covered in scars.

Then, one day, the person in green appeared as usual but didn’t rush to pick up the torture instruments.

Instead, he first applied a layer of wound medicine to Pete’s body.

The cave echoed with another person’s voice.

"Do you still know who you are?"

"Pete..." Pete lifted his head to see a figure cloaked in a cape standing in the shadowy corner.

"Who is Pete?"

"Snow Kingdom... fifth centurion, Pete."

"You are not."

"I am not..."

"You are just my dog."

"I am just your dog."

"Yes, you are only my dog."

"Who are you?" Pete widened his eyes, trying to discern the figure cloaked in the cape.

The person took a half step towards Pete.

"Ah! It’s you."

"I, from this day forward, am your master."

"Yes, master."

Tears streamed down Pete’s face, laden with complex emotions, perhaps predominantly the joy that his prolonged torture would finally end.

"Let him down," the master instructed the person in green.

Pete’s limbs were unshackled, and the green-clad person threw him to the ground.

"Pick up that dagger," the master commanded.

Pete struggled to his feet and picked up the dagger.

"I want a castrated dog; do it yourself."

Pete mechanically positioned the dagger between his legs, ready to cut off what his master deemed unnecessary.

But his hand went numb, and the dagger fell to the ground.

"Good, you’re already a loyal dog. I still need you to bite for me. When I no longer need you, then you can become a castrated dog."

"Yes, master."

From that day on, there was no longer a person known as the fifth centurion Pete.

...

After a brief rest, Blight and Woody, following military orders, led a handful of guards to meet with Generalissimo King Gerald.

The original snow king’s guard, brought from Mingate, had been reorganized into the garrison troops of Glazed Pavilion, leaving the two men’s new positions pending.

Throughout their journey, Blight felt the allied forces’ defensive lines were already solid.

Troops from the Celestial Mountains Brigade had successively arrived at the front, these elite soldiers truly deserving of their reputation as the empire’s shield, their calm demeanor distinct from that of the regular army’s soldiers.

Blight thought, calmness and resilience were precisely what Snow Kingdom lacked the most.

The Snow Kingdom, which only understood trade and considered money of utmost importance, was now gone, with Mingate becoming a dead city.

Whether killed in the chaos of war, displaced, or hiding in their homes in fear, the people of Snow Kingdom suffered greatly.

The territories of Snow Kingdom reclaimed by the empire were mainly Mingate and the Glazed Pavilion area, with less than five hundred remaining Snow Kingdom inhabitants in these regions.

Messy had used some magic array to defend the city, and after the fierce battle, the entire inner city was left in ruins.

Not only were the buildings on the surface destroyed, but the ground beneath was also damaged, as if someone had placed a massive spherical ward in the air, sucking everything within—both above and below the ground—into hell.

According to soldiers and civilians who miraculously survived in the outer city, the majority of the demon army perished in the explosion in the inner city, with a few survivors entering it.

After dragging out a charred corpse, they hastily retreated.

Every time Blight thought about what happened in Mingate, he felt pity for Messy.

Aside from his invariably pessimistic nature, the man hardly had any flaws.

Quick-witted and full of strategies, his death in Mingate was a significant loss for the empire.

But such is the nature of war; since it began, many who should not have died did.

The empire’s loss wasn’t just Messy; perhaps one day, Blight himself would fall on the empire’s soil.

With these thoughts, they arrived at Generalissimo King Gerald’s main camp.

The guards waited outside as Blight and Woody entered Gerald’s tent.

"Greetings, Generalissimo King! Centurion Blight and Guard Captain Woody report as ordered," Blight carefully omitted "Snow Kingdom" and "royal" from his introduction.

"Very well, rise," Gerald, who had been sitting and drinking tea, put down his cup and stood up to pat Blight’s shoulder.

"You’ve both worked hard in the battles of Mingate and Glazed Pavilion."

"Serving the nation is our duty," Blight replied.

"Good. From today, you’re no longer a centurion and guard captain; you are my aides-de-camp."

"Thank you, Generalissimo King."

Although the position of an aide-de-camp wasn’t high in rank, they were treated as true generals, qualified to independently lead an army during campaigns, and held a status in the empire not inferior to that of prime ministers of the three kingdoms.

Of course, now it would be more accurate to say two kingdoms.

Before the war, Generalissimo King had five aides-de-camp, with one unfortunately falling in battle on the western front.

Now, with Blight and Woody added, there were six.

Generalissimo King Gerald’s decision to appoint Blight and Woody as aides-de-camp was made after careful consideration.

First, he wanted to demonstrate his high regard for Blight and Woody, and second, he aimed to erase any traces of Snow Kingdom from their identities.

Appointing them to official positions within the Mingate region, to carry out tasks on the former lands of Snow Kingdom, might lead to future speculations linking them again to the traitorous Snow Kingdom, which could be detrimental to both men.

Therefore, Gerald decided to assign them tasks far removed from Snow Kingdom territories.

"Snow Kingdom has been erased; there is no more Snow Kingdom from now on. Do you understand?"

"We understand," Blight promptly responded, while Woody simply nodded.

"There’s a mission for you," Gerald said, pointing to the sand table at the junction of the Great and Lesser Green Mountains.

"I want you to investigate if there’s anything unusual at the border between the Great and Lesser Green Mountains."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, rest for now.

You will depart tomorrow."

"Understood!" Blight and Woody exited the tent.

Gerald gazed thoughtfully at the location he had just pointed out on the sand table, then his eyes shifted to Termination Forest.

The dragon elites had been completely wiped out there, and he planned to start investigating the truth behind it.

And the sacred sword.

...

At dawn the next day, Blight and Woody set off on their journey.

Heading east along the allied front lines, Woody remained mostly silent throughout the journey.

Blight, accustomed to Woody’s reticence, thought little of it.

Along the way, they observed caravans frequently transporting supplies to the allied front lines, indicating that the front lines were well-stocked.

Some soldiers privately purchased wine and meat from them, while others paid to send messages back home.

Rumors had it that Chandler, the second centurion of Snow Kingdom, had pledged loyalty to the empire and was now serving under Gerald.

Witnessing such scenes, Blight believed the rumors to be true.

Although he disdained Chandler as a person, he acknowledged that Chandler had a knack for business.

Managing military supplies was a trivial task for him, but his true talent lay in his sense of smell for profit.

He could sniff out opportunities to make money anywhere, especially leveraging the war for significant gains.

Blight recognized some of the mercenaries among the caravans as Chandler’s men, still well-equipped as ever.

He only hoped that Chandler’s ambitions were limited to making money.

The journey was somewhat lengthy; traveling from the central front to the foot of the Great Green Mountain to the east took over ten days, rendering Blight’s troop somewhat bored and weary.

The road ahead to the east, although shorter, was in poorer condition, and it was estimated to take another ten days—a truly arduous journey.

The guards brought from Mingate by Blight’s team harbored no complaints, but the twenty young soldiers assigned by Gerald began to grumble.

They felt that achieving glory on the battlefield was far preferable to venturing into some remote forest.

To address this, Blight arranged a contest, taking on Gerald’s small guard unit by himself in a "one-against-all" challenge.

He defeated all twenty young men without getting hit once.

After this display, the soldiers became completely compliant, with no further grievances.

Blight noticed that these young men in their early twenties all had potential.

He decided, if possible, to personally train this group of young people, who might one day become the hope of the empire, his right-hand men.

At the same time, Blight also realized that having gone through the deadly struggles in Mingate and Glazed Pavilion, his swordsmanship seemed to have made significant progress.