Chapter 368
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Northern Front ⑥ – In Exchange
for Our Very Life
Translator : PolterGlast
In their desperate bid to rescue the innocent children left
behind in the ruined capital of Lorelei, the party of Rosa found
themselves plunged into a terrifying predicament. The soldiers protecting the
rear guard of the refugees numbered a mere one hundred cavalry. Behind the iron
wall of their turned mounts to defend, nearly two hundred fragile children and Rosa
were desperately hurrying straight ahead toward Kusanagi with every
ounce of strength remaining in their small bodies.
「 Listen up, deploy in a form to
completely block the width of this highway, and do not let a single cavalry
pass to the rear! Protect them even at the cost of your lives! The number of
enemies surging forth is at most several times ours; first, aim for the head of
the enemy army with the Esthol Bow! Do not
forget to load the spare crossbows in order to conduct a second volley in rapid
succession! 」.
The commander directing the one hundred escort cavalry
meticulously grasped the approximate number of enemy soldiers from the
reverberation of horse hooves approaching from the rear and the soaring dust
cloud. At most around two hundred to four hundred cavalry; against a unit of that size, they, the most elite, could possibly execute
a decisive repulsion. And his prediction was immediately proven correct; the
cavalry unit of the Ville Kingdom
army pursuing them was about three hundred cavalry, spreading across the full
width of the highway and running toward them at absolute full speed.
「 Listen up! Aim for the front row
and fire the first volley at 200 m; immediately switch to crossbows and
immediately fire the second volley! Calmly and accurately, but do it in a
hurry! 」.
Against an enemy sprinting at full speed on a wide-open
highway completely devoid of physical cover, a distance of about 200 m would be
thoroughly closed in a mere ten-odd seconds. Therefore, let alone reloading,
there is absolutely no time to slowly switch weapons either.
「 Ready! Fire! 」.
Under the commander's sharp order, one hundred heavy arrows
were sucked into the cavalrymen who had found their prey and were seething.
「 Arrows?! 」 「 Guh! 」.
The cavalrymen of the Ville Kingdom army advancing at the absolute front received several heavy
arrows along with their beloved horses, falling off or tumbling grandly into
the dirt. Even though it was a distance of 200 m away, the momentum of the
arrows was so incredibly strong it inflicted instantaneous, fatal wounds on
them, who were lightly armored light cavalry.
「 Gah! 」 「 You're in the way, move! 」 「 Uwaaah, don't come! 」.
Furthermore, because the men and horses advancing at the
absolute front fell all at once, a catastrophic chain-reaction walloped the
pursuers; there was a succession of those crushed by the frantic horse hooves
of the rear ranks, and cavalry tumbling over after getting their legs violently
caught by the fallen men and horses.
「 Do not flinch! The enemy's bows are
not something that can be reloaded on horseback! Crush them before the second
volley comes! 」.
While about fifty cavalrymen who were advancing relatively
at the front fell, those who avoided tumbling drove their horses once again and
attacked, closing the gap. But…… at the exact point they crossed 100 m, a
secondary storm of bows and arrows attacked again.
「 Guh, too fast! 」.
About fifty cavalrymen fell again to the completely
unanticipated attack, and the Ville Kingdom's
cavalry unit fell into total, absolute chaos. Seeing that state, the commander
let out a loud, thunderous voice.
「 Chance for victory! All cavalry,
charge from here on! Show them the true, unyielding power of the Dukedom! 」.
Along with the fierce order, the one hundred elite cavalry
of the Demon Territory Dukedom army began their violent charge and
attacked the enemy army double their size. Having a gargantuan gap
in these two points—proficiency and actual combat experience—they unfolded a
one-sided battle and thoroughly scattered the enemy army three times their size
within minutes. But they had absolutely no time to immerse themselves in the
lingering memory of victory.
「 From here on, we will also retreat
to the bridge ahead while maintaining a strict defensive shield for our rear!
Eventually the enemy will send overwhelming reinforcements, many times more
than this…… We will defend the bridge to the death and buy even a
little time! 」.
『 If
we manage to successfully escape that far…… we can buy the vital time for Rosa-sama
to escape to a safe zone. 』. This was a quiet, desperate prayer
resembling the commander's wish. But…… that wish was not granted.
They, who had mounted the young children on the cavalrymen's
horses to accelerate their escape even a little, were approaching a massive
crossroads where the main highway and the highway extending east-west
intersected. This area had an open road, and vast grasslands spread completely
around the highway, making it a topography catastrophically disadvantageous for
defense. Looking back, from behind them down the highway, accompanied by a low,
ominous rumbling of the earth, a towering, thick dust cloud incomparable to the
earlier pursuit was visible.
「 Guh, the enemy's response is
terrifyingly fast…… have they already sent reinforcements?. The 10 cavalry
carrying the youngest and slowest children! You break away and go with Rosa-sama
immediately! We will hold them off in the forest lines ahead where the highway
narrows. 」.
Saying so, he forcefully turned to Rosa beside him
and spoke.
「 Rosa-sama, I understand your profound feeling of wanting to save all
the children. But…… then everyone will be captured and become prisoners. First,
please advance ahead at full-speed with the children riding together on the 10
cavalry, and deliver an urgent request for reinforcements. To save as many
lives as possible…… 」.
Rosa, who felt
the sheer, unyielding weight of the commander's resolve, had absolutely no
choice but to tearfully cut off her feelings and sever her hesitation. The
torturous road leading to safety from here on is long. To protect the children
and the men holding the line, someone must run like the wind to call for
reinforcements. Confirming that Rosa offered a solemn nod while tearing
up, the commander lowered the children who were sharing the ride on each horse
to the ground and spoke gently.
「 We will protect the rear, so please
do your best to run and escape somehow. We will buy you time by retreating
systematically while fighting! 」.
Receiving those brave words, the children nodded silently
and started running forward all at once, and Rosa, who tightly put two
young children on a horse, followed in their wake. Seeing them off for a quiet
second, the commander moved to deal with the cataclysmic enemy army that had
approached very close.
※
The one hundred guards standing in their way and fighting
bravely, desperately in the opening battle had brought about a sickeningly
ironic result. Because from the mouths of the shattered soldiers who returned
(fled back) for the report, it became glaringly known to the Ville Kingdom army that the defenders had
'something' of monumental value to protect with their very lives.
They greatly expanded their greedy delusions, convincing
themselves that the precious sacred items and opulent church treasures
abandoned in that encounter battle were absolute evidence that there was
'something' even more priceless ahead. Driven by pure avarice to requisition
that wealth, the King of Ville left a looting unit of about five hundred
men in Lorelei, and immediately commanded the entire royal army to
transition into a full-scale pursuit down the highway.
「 They're coming! From here on we
will divide into 3 units, adopt a relentless hit-and-run tactic utilizing the
narrow width of the highway, and retreat sequentially! No matter how colossal
an army comes, what deploys in front due to the structural restrictions will be
about 30 cavalry to 50 men, less than half of us! 」.
The commander, sensing the violent vibrations of the
approaching horse hooves, aggressively adopted a fluid tactic of retreating
sequentially while maximizing the bottleneck use of the narrow parts of the
highway. As he proudly declared, the enemy's frontal military strength is
physically limited due to the road width restriction. However…… the pursuing
enemy side has a recovery power that seems infinite to cycle through their
casualties, but the hundred knights do not have that capacity for
replenishment. They had to fiercely maintain their posture and buy time while
being sequentially whittled down. And furthermore, he had also already issued
strict instructions to the 10 cavalry sent ahead to forcefully drop the bridge
ahead and stop the enemy army's feet.
「 They're coming, ready…… fire! 」.
※
The King of Ville, standing with a monumental, large
prey before him, felt a towering wave of irritation as if the path he should
aggressively advance on was capped.
「 The enemy is a mere 100 cavalry,
are they not?! Why can you fools not easily trample them into the dirt! 」.
「 Yes, they utilize the narrow width
of the highway, and it seems they also possess long-range bows that disrupt our
advance, so it does not go as we wish. If we advance, they release arrows in
unison, and after that, one unit aggressively sticks out and attempts a
high-speed hit-and-run. If we chase those who turned around, the remaining two
units release a crossfire of arrows from the rear, and a unit entirely
different from the first rushes in with another hit-and-run…… 」.
At the close aide's frantic answer, the King's anger
completely reached its peak.
「 What need is there to go along with their tactical games! There is no way such a
life-shaving battle will continue for long. Push through with overwhelming
numbers without avoiding sacrifices! 」.
By the King's unhinged instructions, his cavalry
systematically retreated, and the shield infantry who had finally caught up to
the swift pace of the pursuit deployed in the front, while a massive wall of
archers took their firing positions directly behind them. Then, conducting an
unyielding, relentless advance without avoiding sacrifices, they aggressively
drove the elite knights of the Demon Territory Dukedom into a
suffocating corner.
「 Some kind of massive floating
objects detected in the northern sky ahead! 」.
At the close aide's sharp report, the King of Ville
looked up at the northern sky, his eyes narrowing as a massive amount of
vibrant red 'somethings' were floating up gracefully into the sky.
「 What on earth is that?! 」.
Having lived their entire existences completely isolated
from direct trade with both the Westlights Demon Territory Dukedom and
the Third Prince's mandate territory, there was absolutely no way the people of
the Ville Kingdom would know
what that was.
Across these two modernized regions, specialized lanterns to
notify of immediate emergencies were set up at various strategic points on the
main highways utilized by commercial trade merchants. Originally proposed
through the modern genius of Takuhir with Sieghart's engineering cooperation,
they were established as a brilliant mechanism for travelling merchants to call
for immediate help in the event of bandits appearing, accidents on the highway,
road collapses, etc.. Rosa and the children fleeing northward
intentionally halted their frantic flight at one of these installation sites,
and with the children also cooperating in perfect synchronization, they lit
hundreds of the specialized crimson lanterns all at once, which then soared
gracefully into the sky in unison. A massive, floating sea of fire,
broadcasting the desperate emergency of the soldiers fighting to the death to
protect them…….
※
「 Captain! We……can't hold the line
much longer……! 」.
Not only was the soldier who came to deliver the report
completely covered in deep, bleeding wounds all over his body, but the
commander himself had received many heavy arrows in his body, leveraging every
ounce of his remaining willpower just to barely remain in a state to straddle
his horse.
The vast crossroads was already entirely overflowing with a
swarming sea of enemy soldiers, and their infantry and archers had already
broken through the bottleneck, beginning to advance through the forest lines
ahead.
「 Won't hold out until the bridge, huh……
It's already…… no good. 」.
Muttering the bitter, agonizing grievance with regret, he
cast his fading vision up at the northern sky where Rosa and the
children had fled. !!! At that exact instant, the magnificent sea of deep
crimson lanterns soaring proudly in the northern sky vividly reflected in their
eyes as well.
「 Rosa-sama…… taking the immense trouble to go to such lengths just for
us…… 」.
Every single knight holding the line instantly understood
that was something Rosa had done specifically to guide salvation to
them. And the sheer, profound weight of that feeling was conveyed, allowing
them to forcefully muster out the absolute final drops of their latent
strength.
「 From here on, all cavalry will form
an immovable wall across the highway; hold the line for even a little longer,
and drag even one more enemy soldier down to hell with you! 」.
The exact instant he issued that final order, he discovered
a sudden, violent new dust cloud kicked up by a thundering storm of advancing
horse hooves in the eastern direction.
※
Seeing the massive constellation of crimson lanterns Rosa
had raised into the sky, a formidable military group that had been frantically
racing toward Lorelei suddenly changed its course, executing an
instantaneous pivot to shift their trajectory.
「 Rosa-dono is surely in that direction! Spur your mounts—hurry! 」.
Driven forward under the thunderous order of the commander
leading that army, the cavalry sprinting on horseback accelerated into an
absolute blur and confirmed signs that a chaotic battle was still taking place
beyond the crossroads just ahead.
「 It appears a battle is taking place
ahead! Probably our allied forces are still alive and well, holding the line! 」.
Hearing this report, Viscount Durul felt completely
emboldened, his face washing with an immense, burning surge of warrior
exhilaration.
「 Maintain our absolute charge
posture as is; we will force our way straight between the enemy and our allied
forces! From here on we will protect our most precious, beloved people (Rosa).
Even at the cost of our very life—charge! 」.
Slamming into the battlefield like a sudden, cataclysmic bolt from the blue, the formidable group of 1,000 elite cavalry that suddenly appeared from the west side of the highway carried out a brutally forced, devastating charge straight into the side of the enemy army nearly 5 times their size deployed at the crossroads of the highway.
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