Chapter 549 - v3c326 (1/2)

The mountain range was covered with the radiant glow of the sun as it set by the sea, basking the ocean surface with a golden light. The skies began to darken, and the moon slowly became visible.

Just as the sergeants expected, a line of troops appeared behind them.

Brendel received news that it was the patrol party on the outer perimeter that met the enemies first. They were the same light cavalry which had appeared earlier, and according to the reports made by a girl named Bessie, after a little skirmish, the enemies left behind their allies and fallen teammates as they scrambled to escape and notify their superiors.

Upon further interrogation, Brendel realized that they belonged to the Finn division of the Black Blade Squad. The Black Blade Squad’s composition was fairly different from the White Lion Legion from back in King Erik’s days, and they closely resembled the Roman armies back in his previous life except larger in scale.

The Black Blade Squad was composed of divisions of 4500 men per column which were then divided into teams of hundreds and tens. Supposedly, there were about twenty divisions in the Black Blade Squad, each named after the commander they were affiliated under.

Finn’s division naturally meant the commander belonged to the Finn family from Narik.

Brendel’s knowledge about these divisions was nothing to scoff at. Although the Black Blade Squad was a secret army of the Royal Family, the Royal Family only took direct command of one or two commanders. Even the princess could not explain in as much detail as Brendel in regard to the composition of the Black Blade Squad.

With such knowledge, Brendel knew that their enemies camped in Narik, which was to the south of Covardo’s region but to the north of Seifer’s region. The armies were usually poor natives that lived in the mountains. The Finn division was the best Highland Light Infantry division there was.

They might actually be the ones who are chasing us. Brendel thought. Normally, the best troops at pursuing the enemies were knights or the Dragon Cavalry. But due to the terrain, Finn division’s Highland Infantry would have a better chance of navigating through the mountains.

In The Amber Sword, soldiers usually had a certain set of characteristics to them; for example, the White Lion Legion’s loyalty and pride were their most obvious characteristics. With loyalty, they could respond to their leaders quicker, and with pride, they would never falter in any situation.

The Highland Infantry had only one characteristic: Adaptability in the mountains and the forests.

This was something very easy to explain. It meant that they would not be affected by the harsh terrain of the mountains. In fact, they even made use of it as an advantage. Against normal soldiers who were less useful in the mountains, these Highland Infantry were far stronger than their normal states.

Plus, they were up against the rookies that just graduated from the Royal Cavalry Academy. Although these graduates were close to their destination, it was still one day’s worth of journey.

It doesn’t matter who it is, we still have to execute this plan. But we do not have much time left. Brendel thought.

The bronze watch’s hand crossed the 7 o’clock mark, and the Dragon Cavalry disappeared from their sight. Although those dragons had night vision and could battle in the dark, their riders had to be prepared for more drawn-out combat.

Count Audine had pointed that out beforehand, and he also said that they only had an hour’s worth of time until the Dragon Cavalry came back. Brendel had to utilize that time wisely and prepare an ambush point, so he gave orders the patrol knights, sending them into designated positions.

Although it sounded easy to execute, the process was arduous. But it was no trouble to the scouts from the Royal Cavalry Academy. They had learned all of it back in the Academy. Plus, after their training with Makarov who was known far and wide as a trickster, they gained a lot of experience in setting traps and luring their enemies into them.

And so, Brendel’s scouts always acted as if they coincidentally met the enemy’s scouts. Even if those enemies were beaten every time they met them, the Black Blade Squad could grasp the princess’s position and be lured towards her.

These skirmishes confirmed Brendel’s musings that the people chasing them were the Highland Infantry from the Finn division and were led by Baron Wallen who was still oblivious that he was falling into a trap. Moreover, he was charging towards Brendel at full speed.

Usually, Baron Wallen was a cautious man. He knew that his duty was just to delay Brendel’s troops and not annihilate the enemy. In fact, he did not have such an intention. With the information from the scouts, he knew that his enemy outnumbered his men.

But for some reason, he did not know that his opponent defeated even the White Lion Legion. Even Duke Seifer and Count Yoakam did not know how much the White Lion Legion had suffered in Brendel’s hands. They believed Brendel and his men only managed to break through the encirclement by chance.

After all, who would believe that the White Lion Legion lost terribly to merely 200 newbies? If Baron Wallen knew about it, he would have been more careful about entering Brendel’s perimeter.

But there were no ‘ifs’ in war. And in days to come, Baron Wallen would be reminded of the terror he felt on the day when he came face to face with demonized boars.

The Redback Boars were one of the specialties on the Silver Sea Cliff. Although they were not considered a calamity yet, once the Demonic Waves arrived, they would have an appalling series of battles with the Coast Guards. Back then, Brendel had experienced through the pain of going up against them, but right now, it was Baron Wallen’s turn.

An infant Redback Boar had the power of a high-tier Iron-ranker while an adult could reach level 25, the peak of Iron rank. And the most troublesome part was that they attacked in groups. tThey were known to attack in swarms at the very least.

Unlike Brendel who remained wary of his surroundings, Baron Wallen and his large troop of soldiers immediately enraged the hordes of demonized boars. In the end, their casualties due to the boars exceeded even the attacks by the scouts.

And. in an attempt to get away from the precarious situation, they could only hope to escape past the mountains and onto the plains. Though he could not do that as he needed to keep a certain distance from the princess’s army to stay out of range of their perception magic, he did not care anymore.

As expected, he traveled into Brendel’s vision.

Baron Wallen ordered his men to stay in formation and walk in a line down the valley. Meanwhile, Brendel was hiding in bushes a hundred or so meters away. Behind him were the longbow archers from the Royal Cavalry Academy.

All of them unnoticed by Baron Wallen.

Bridget and her team of Nagas began to chant. Ampere Seale had only just experienced a heavy storm, and the air was still humid, which made their water-based magics more efficient. A large illusion blanketed the entire valley, making the trees and as the bushes around Baron Wallen seemed a little more abundant some noise cancellation effects also began to take place. [TL: Can I hire you to improve my earbuds?]

It had a simple spell, and the effect was stronger when cast on Wallen’s entire troop. He and his men walked in circles, even after they realized they had somehow been trapped.

Outside of the illusion’s range, Brendel and his men could only laugh.

But the sergeants realized just how terrifying the effects of magic were. It was truly scary. Their enemies were completely immobilized. Although they had known of magic’s potency from books, seeing it with their own eyes was a different matter.

Brendel noticed their expressions and nodded to himself. These people will face far stronger enemies in the future. Vaunte doesn’t only have weak troops like those in Aouine. In the future when we face Madara or even the Kirrlutz, we have to prepare ourselves.

Baron Wallen had his own mages too. Amongst them, the most experienced one was a high leveled mage at the Silver rank. In The Amber Sword, those at mid Silver rank were about level 29 ~ 32 and had mastered tier four magic. Although he was still not a master, he was at least a high leveled mage.

But unfortunately, he was no match for Ciel, a grandmaster in the Gold rank. Brendel let the Nagas handle the illusion spells while letting his mage attendant deal with the countermeasures their enemies might take. As a mage who specialized in the study and application of Laws, he was quite talented at canceling magics. Once he made a move, the mages on Baron Wallen’s side were soon disabled like their allies. They did not even realize their magic had been nullified, only vageuly feeling that something was out of place..

Finn’s division’s Highland Infantry had about 1500 men in it, and Baron Wallen was a pa.s.sable commander. The coordination he and his men had previously displayed when navigating the forests was, quite frankly, fairly impressive.

Brendel waited until more than half of the enemy pa.s.sed by them, up until their troops were closest to his own, before he raised the Shale Longbow in his hands.

The bow glowed emitted a weak grey glow that wrapped the arrow, turning it into a stone encased Shale Arrow. It was the the Shale Longbow. For most situations Brendel found himself in, the bow was too low leveled, and was not effective at dealing with high leveled enemies.

But here, its potential was brought out completely.

Brendel targeted Baron Wallen and the men closest to him.