Chapter 34: I Won’t Go Down So Easily (2)
Dark clouds slowly gathered, shrouding the daytime in gloom.
Daphne’s forces stared across the plains with tense faces.
‘Please, please don’t come.’
‘Damn it… war, of all things.’
My body trembled slightly, and cold sweat already trickled down my forehead.
In the damp air, I could smell an unpleasant scent, as if dirt had mixed with something else.
Plop. Plop.
Raindrops began to fall one by one, moistening the dry soil.
How much time had passed in that suffocating atmosphere?
Gugugu!
From far away, an ominous sound reached us, making the ground rumble faintly.
A vibration like death itself drawing near.
Everyone’s hearts began to pound faster.
“Th-there’s something coming!”
“It’s Calpion!”
Shouts rang out among the soldiers.
Beyond the plains, I could see a mass of troops, black as ink, surging toward us like a blot.
Here and there, flags emblazoned with keys were visible.
It was unmistakably the Calpion army.
“…They’re coming.”
“Huuuu…”
Everyone staring at the sight had their faces painted with anxiety.
Gugugugugu!
The sound of the enemy’s march grew closer, shaking the earth.
At the very front, Viscount Cobalt and Commander Mulgybson wore grim expressions.
“Seeing them in person… they look even more numerous than I imagined.”
“As expected, this won’t be easy.”
Calpion’s battle line stretched horizontally in a long formation.
‘My god.’
‘Insane.’
The sheer number of troops was so great that it couldn’t be taken in with a single glance, and everyone’s mouths fell open.
At a rough estimate, they had twice our forces… no, even conservatively, it looked like well over five or six hundred men.
And we couldn’t even see all the soldiers standing behind them, so there might be more.
There were so many that I could hear the sound of their marching footsteps clearly in my ears.
Thoom! Thoom!
My heart thrashed in time with their steps, and cold sweat beaded on my face.
“That many?”
“This is driving me mad.”
Everyone in Daphne widened their eyes, groans spilling from their lips.
Some hesitated and stepped back, while others trembled so violently they could hardly keep their wits.
Fear and dread erupted in each person differently.
No one bothered to say they had no guts or that they were cowards.
The difference in power was overwhelming.
As human beings, it would have been stranger not to feel fear at this.
While we stood there, the Calpion forces closed in to within a few hundred meters and slowly began to decelerate.
“Huuuu…”
On the plains, the forces of the two houses faced each other.
Anyone could see at a glance the overwhelming disparity in numbers.
Besides that, even the regular soldiers of Calpion were visibly better equipped.
Especially the knights at the front line, with their gleaming armor and the house banners rising here and there, putting the final touch on the imposing scene.
Maybe because of that, I could even sense confidence in the expressions on their faces.
‘Those bastards… look at their smug faces.’
‘What a bunch of idiots.’
Snickers spread among Calpion’s ranks.
‘There’s no way to win this.’
‘Damn it… what’s with that number?!’
Among Daphne’s side, the tension and fear grew thicker and thicker, making it hard to breathe.
While the two camps faced each other in such starkly contrasting moods,
Plop! Plop!
“Hmm?”
“Rain…”
Swaaah!
The raindrops that had been falling lightly began to grow heavier, soon turning into a downpour.
Everyone’s hair, clothes, and armor quickly soaked through.
‘…Even the weather won’t help us.’
‘This feels ominous.’
At the front line, the expressions of Daphne’s knights twisted in frustration.
Rain was not a good omen.
Once soaked, the body naturally felt heavier.
In this situation, the side that had to maneuver—the side in a hurry—would inevitably be at a disadvantage.
In other words, it meant there was a high chance it would blunt the momentum of the Wedge Rush.
We were already outnumbered, and now even the weather refused to be on our side.
‘God Faeron, please…’
Just then, when anxiety was settling over everyone’s faces,
Several horses ambled forward from between the ranks of Calpion’s army.
“It has been a long time, Viscount Cobalt.”
A massive man whose face looked exactly like a gargoyle twirled his mustache and spoke with a smug expression.
Ruder Calpion. The mastermind behind this war and the Lord of Calpion.
Beyond the sheets of pouring rain, he calmly looked over at us from under an umbrella held by a knight escort.
“…”
Beside him stood his son, the Knight Commander Donfel Calpion, a bandage wrapped around his arm as he glared intently our way.
“Viscount… Ruder.”
As Cobalt’s expression soured, Viscount Ruder let out a sneer and raised one hand.
“Bring that to me.”
“Yes!”
Donfel, standing beside him, took a small blue wooden box about the size of a palm from his coat and handed it over.
A magical device, Resonance Box.
A tool that greatly amplified the user’s voice.
Viscount Ruder brought it to his mouth and shouted.
“All you of Daphne, listen well. I am Viscount Ruder Calpion of Calpion!”
His voice boomed across the field.
Daphne’s soldiers widened their eyes.
“Before the real battle begins, I wish to offer you a chance.”
“A chance…?”
“What is he talking about?”
The conscripts tilted their heads in confusion.
“The forces our house has brought here today number over seven hundred in total! Among them, forty-four knights stand ready—more than twice your number!”
At his triumphant declaration, the mouths of Daphne’s conscripts fell open.
“…Over seven hundred troops?”
“Forty-four knights?”
The conscripts began murmuring in dismay.
Even at a glance, they had seemed overwhelming, but hearing the precise numbers drove the fear even deeper into their hearts like a cold spike.
Any vague hopes and expectations scattered to pieces.
Hope, after all, always grew fainter the clearer reality became.
Viscount Ruder continued shouting.
“The outcome of this war is as good as decided. Surrender now before it is too late. If you do, at least your lives will be spared.”
S-sparing us?
The murmuring among the conscripts grew louder, more of them glancing around nervously.
At this rate, it looked as though they might throw down a white flag at any moment.
Mulgybson and Cobalt’s brows furrowed in unison.
‘He’s trying to shake them.’
Anyone could see the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming, and the situation dire.
What thoughts the conscripts would have upon hearing those words was all too obvious.
‘This isn’t good.’
It wasn’t something that could be accomplished by the knights’ strength alone to pull off a successful Wedge Rush.
The conscripts following behind had to delay the time it took for us to be surrounded and provide covering fire from range—only then could this single-point assault tactic succeed.
That was why we couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
“Those who wish to surrender, throw down your weapons and come forward—”
“Don’t spew that nonsense!”
Viscount Cobalt’s shout ripped through Ruder’s magically amplified voice.
My ears rang, and the sharp energy of his cry spread swiftly through everyone on the field.
“…Hmph.”
When Viscount Ruder lowered the magical device with a displeased look, Viscount Cobalt turned back, raising his sword as he bellowed.
“We will not retreat! And we will not lose! You… will soon learn just how arrogant you truly are!”
“…”
Even so, Daphne’s knights and conscripts couldn’t easily wipe the gloom from their faces.
“Empty bravado.”
Ruder curled his lips in a cold smile.
At that moment—
Wuuuung! Boom!
Viscount Cobalt gathered power, and his sword began to glow with a blue light. He swung it hard through the air, splitting it with a roar as the shockwave scattered everyone’s hair.
“You’ll only know the result once you see it for yourself.”
Turning back again, Viscount Cobalt continued shouting.
“Do not be deceived by those hollow words! Even if you surrender, what awaits you will be a life in hell! Better to lay down your life to protect your homeland—this is the right choice!”
Gulp.
The conscripts clenched their weapons, faces taut with tension.
Deep down, everyone already knew.
‘Even if we surrender… there’s no guarantee we’ll be spared,’
‘They’ll just bleed us dry and starve us to death.’
How devastated and miserable the lives of common folk became after losing a war.
And that retreating here would bring them a life not much different from dying.
It was then.
‘You fools, making such a foolish choice…’
Slurp.
Viscount Ruder stuck out his tongue like a snake and slowly licked his lips, muttering to himself.
“Well, it’s not so bad when they struggle.”
That way… it was all the more fun to crush them.
He pulled the reins, turning his horse’s head, and returned to blend back into Calpion’s ranks.
Thunk!
Viscount Cobalt raised a hand, and Mulgybson turned his head to shout.
“Begin the operation! Change the formation!”
“Yes! Change formation!”
“Formation shift!”
Daphne’s knights moved in perfect unison, voices booming.
“Move! Move!”
“Yes!”
The knights waiting on both flanks urged the conscripts forward, and the Daphne army, once a square, shifted into a pointed triangular formation.
The formation for the Wedge Rush was now complete.
Mulgybson shouted once more.
“Ready the lances!”
“Prepare lances!”
As if they’d been waiting, several conscripts rushed over to the knights, bringing long spears and small shields.
“Huuuu…”
The knights’ faces were filled with a mix of grim determination and tension.
My heart pounded faster, and it even felt as though my blood had gone cold.
In the silence, only the rain hammered at my ears, and my heartbeat matched its rhythm in a strange harmony.
Thunk!
Cobalt raised his hand again and spoke.
“Commander Mulgybson.”
“Yes.”
Mulgybson grabbed the horn hanging at his waist and blew with all his might.
Bwooooooo!
A deep, powerful note reverberated across the entire battlefield.
Viscount Cobalt leveled his lance forward and roared.
“All forces, charge!!”
“Chaaaarge!”
Neighhhh!
The knights spurred their horses with all their strength.
Clatter! Clatter!
The mounts barreled through the rain, churning up mud as they galloped like mad.
Swept up in that momentum, the conscripts stumbled forward and began running after them.
“Uaaah! Let’s gooo!”
“Stay behind the knights!”
Calpion’s line was a long, horizontal rectangle.
In contrast, Daphne’s formation had shifted into a long triangle stretching front to back.
Of course, compared to Calpion’s formation, this triangle looked pathetically small.
At the front of Calpion’s line, the knights standing face to face with Daphne’s charge wore satisfied smiles.
‘Just as expected.’
‘Everything’s going according to plan.’
The enemy’s moves were playing out exactly as they had anticipated.
Then, a knight raised his arm leisurely and issued the order.
“Fire!”
“Yes!”
“Release arrows!”
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
At the command, the longbowmen standing beside them all unleashed their arrows at once.
Arrows mixed with the downpour, raining down through the sheets of water.
‘It begins.’
Clatter! Clatter!
Mulgybson raised the shield hanging by his saddle and shouted.
“Raise shields!”
“Raise shields!”
The mounted knights of Daphne galloping at the front all lifted their shields in unison.
Thunk! Thunk-thunk!
Arrows struck and embedded themselves, turning the shields into spiny hedgehogs in the blink of an eye.
But some arrows slipped through, too fast to block…
“Aaaagh!”
“I-I’m hit!”
They pierced the shoulders and thighs of the conscripts running behind, sending them sprawling to the ground.
Nearby, Gadolph whipped his head around in panic and shouted.
“A-are you all right?!”
But at that moment,
He saw a young man with an arrow buried in his chest, blood gushing from his mouth.
His eyes had already rolled back, his body collapsing limply.
“Hiiiii!”
A scream burst uncontrollably from Gadolph’s lips.