volume 3 - Chapter 222 (1/2)

– Looking at victory in the distance

Count Randner’s army advanced with difficulty. They were currently engaged with the enemy mercenaries. Even though the soldiers from the Grey Bear and Kruss regions scaled the fortress’s earthen walls, the mercenaries’ will seemed to greatly surpa.s.s the imagination of the various Aouine n.o.bles who were observing the battlefield. The huge army was repelled at crucial moments several times, and they did not break past the enemy’s defensive lines for consecutive two days .

The battle was extremely vicious and the soldiers’ blood stained River Gris red.

The unmoved Lord Palas gripped his longsword and observed the entire battlefield like a cold Grim Reaper, stubbornly maintaining his army’s current pace. Once the battle had reached this phase, there was no need to care about many lives were lost, because it would be victory when they took one more step forward.

He sought to find the chance to deal the final blow— The geographical advantage that the rebels had was almost peeled away, while his army still kept their high morale.

His eyes suddenly glinted.

“Get Lord Weld to advance in that direction,” Lord Palas pointed at an empty stretch of trees, “stop looking at me like you’re questioning my orders, just get him to do it and he will understand where to attack!”

The messenger was momentarily at a loss for words.

[Is this really an appropriate order?]

The messenger whose name Lord Palas did not bother to remember suspected for a moment that his superior had become delirious after staying up for the entire night, but when he stared into Lord Palas’s eyes, he saw the latter had determined and bright eyes.

That was confidence—

“I understand, my lord,” the messenger replied and bowed.

=========== Nightsong Tiger’s POV ===========

(TL: Nightsong Tiger = Leader of the Mercenaries of Lopes)

The Nightsong Tiger whistled and got the surrounding men to gather. He pointed at a nearby area that had a stream:

“See that area?”

Everyone surveyed and spotted a field of fiery red swallow-tail banners. The men carried lances that were taller than some of the shorter trees, and they wore scarlet armor that covered their whole bodies.

“The Crimson Flagbearers, Count Randner’s private army.” One of the mercenaries remarked, recognizing their signature appearance from the reports that he read.

“How generous of Count Randner!” Another mercenary spat in hatred, his saliva tinged with blood.

“How strong is their combat prowess?” The Nightsong Tiger asked.

“Tier 1 Soldier Cla.s.s, Light Cavalry, their mounts are specially selected horses that are violent, and their overall strength is the upper end of an Iron-ranker—” A tall Elf with slightly dull-green skin and a pair of ears that were longer than the norm answered by relaying Brendel’s words. He was different from the other hired mercenaries and was part of the Mercenaries of Lopes.

“Hmph, ‘Light Cavalry’ with full body armor!” The Nightsong Tiger tutted twice.

“The horses are not equipped with armor. Based on the burden and mobility they are indeed cla.s.sified as Light Cavalry. These men are also equipped with Hazell’s three-barrel hand cannons, which have considerable ranged power in short distance engagements. Count Randner has put in quite the budget in this unit.”

“Their intention is to attack our left flank. The mercenaries under Cornelius are exhausted, and it seems like our opponent has quite the sharp eyes,” the Nightsong Tiger pointed at an area that thick foliage, “unfortunately there is no reason to let that old knight have an easy time. I’m going to bring my men to take down the enemies, how about you lot?”

The other mercenaries in the area were elites carefully selected by the various groups of mercenaries to support areas that needed aid, and they had strength close to Silver-rankers. There was a full company of one hundred men yesterday but now there were only forty-five of them left. It was clear how dangerous their fights were.

“Killing one of them is enough to break even.” Someone remarked and there was a burst of venomous laughter made from everyone.

The riders that appeared next to the stream increased in numbers, reaching the size of a full company.

Weld was sitting on his mount and looked at his subordinates with satisfaction.

[Indeed, this is Aouine’s most elite army. They are not lacking compared to the royal family’s White Lion Army.]

He thought in his mind, and even though it was just two hundred-odd men, he was confident that his men would sweep away the enemies that blocked his way.

The riders crossed over the stream upon hearing an urgent whistle from him.

Medissa naturally noticed them once they appeared. The Silver-Elf princess had been standing on the highest point of the fortress, and she waved a flag towards the direction of the newly arrived enemies, and there was a shower of arrows that struck that location as though she had willed it.

The arrows made agitated sparks of water across the stream, but they hardly did any fatal damage to the cavalry unit. The triangular arrowheads lost their momentum after piercing through armor, and even if some of the riders had three or four arrows sticking out of their armor, they were still able to maintain their formation.

It was not surprising to Lord Weld. Equipment was an important quality for an army’s battle strength. The Crimson Flagbearers were all equipped with armor resistant to projectiles, and greatly reduced the threat of ranged projectiles—

In his eyes, this resolved the greatest weakness of a light cavalry unit.

But he did not expect even in his dreams that his enemies were made up of a variety of races. Mercenaries had complex structures and adventurers had even more varieties. Weld was just feeling a little proud, but he did not know that the nearby Elven archers in the forest were targeting this conspicuous unit.

“Hanno, you’re left, I’m right.” There was an Elven archer covered in leaves on top of a tree approximately a hundred meters away, and he handed a green arrow to the human ranger behind him.

“The two in front?”

“Yes.”

Two bowstrings sang at the same time, and the first two riders who crossed the southern section of the forest collapsed from their mounts. Lord Weld was greatly surprised, and he turned his head to discover that the arrows were shot in between the gaps of the armor around the neck. Their throats were pierced through and they died instantly.