Chapter 38: Like a Tidal Wave (3)
At the rear of Calpion’s front line, Viscount Ruder’s face was filled with a smile as he looked ahead through his telescope.
“There was no need for Andrea to even step forward. The Twins will be more than enough to finish this.”
“……”
“How is it? Aren’t you pleased, Donfel?”
When he asked this with the corners of his mouth lifted, a bitter smile appeared on Donfel’s face.
“I, too, could have handled that much……”
At that, Viscount Ruder patted his shoulder a few times and spoke.
“Don’t spout nonsense and just enjoy this moment. The bastard who humiliated you… will be torn apart and killed by your teacher.”
“……Understood.”
After moving his lips soundlessly for a while, Donfel finally lowered his head.
When he closed his eyes briefly, his body began to tremble.
The memory of the moment he crossed swords with Hardin flashed before him like a lantern.
No matter how many times he struck, no matter how much he swung, he couldn’t break through that defense.
The memory of that day, as if he’d been possessed by a ghost.
And the humiliation that memory had left behind.
It made Donfel grind his teeth.
But……
‘It will be as Father said.’
Commander Andrea.
As far as Donfel knew, no matter how high and mighty Hardin Daphne was… defeating that man would be impossible.
Just as he clenched his fist tightly.
“My lord! My lord, something terrible has happened!”
A scout came running, shouting in a panic.
His whole body was covered in mud and blood, and a look of terror, as if he had seen a ghost, was frozen on his face.
Viscount Ruder furrowed his brow and asked.
“What is this commotion?”
“The encirclement… the encirclement has been breached!”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yes, the rear has been broken through, and Daphne’s forces are pushing inside!”
“That’s nonsense…”
Surely this fool had misunderstood something.
Those Daphne bastards shouldn’t have had any strength left.
“I swear it’s true! I saw it clearly with my own eyes!”
“Huuh…”
What absurdity was this.
Viscount Ruder clicked his tongue and spurred his horse up the hill behind them.
He climbed to a spot where he could overlook the entire battlefield and scanned the distance through his telescope.
“……”
In that moment, his eyes widened.
“What is it, Father?”
“…What he said is true.”
“Pardon?”
“The encirclement… it’s being breached.”
…What impossible madness was this.
The circular encirclement that had surrounded Daphne’s forces.
Its center was being torn apart before his eyes, so clearly that he couldn’t deny it.
---
The innermost part of Calpion’s circular encirclement.
“Haa… Haa…”
Viscount Cobalt and Mulgybson, their entire bodies drenched in blood.
The two of them stood side by side, gasping raggedly like men reduced to rags.
Then, from the opposite side, the Twin Mace Knights approached.
“Look at that. The old men lasted quite a while.”
“Hasn’t it been more than ten minutes?”
“Eh, not quite yet, I’d say.”
Ridicule surfaced on the faces of the two bastards, and blue light gleamed from the maces in their hands and their eyes.
“Let’s finish this.”
“Yes.”
At last, they were preparing their final strike.
Viscount Cobalt and Mulgybson both felt it in their bones.
‘Is this the end.’
‘I… can’t block them anymore.’
Their mana and stamina were utterly spent.
And most of Daphne’s knights were gravely wounded, rendered unable to continue fighting.
‘Malion… I’m counting on you.’
‘Young Master… please, protect the family…’
The two men gripped their swords tightly, preparing for their final strike.
A calm determination settled over their faces, and every sense in their bodies sharpened to the limit.
They were ready to meet death.
Just as they took a deep breath.
“Aaaagh!”
Suddenly, a scream rang out from the rear of the battle line.
Everyone locked in their standoff turned their heads.
“Huh?”
“What is that?”
Then.
“Heeek! S-someone save meee!”
They saw Calpion soldiers running away, their faces twisted in terror.
‘What is this?’
‘Why are they…?’
Everyone quickly scanned their surroundings, trying to grasp what was happening.
Kwa-zhijik!
“Aaagh!”
Through the middle of it all, a horse charged in, scattering a spray of blood.
The man riding atop it… was Hardin Daphne.
With a face full of a smile, Hardin’s gaze locked straight onto the Twin Mace Knights as he charged.
“Who the hell is that?”
“Some rookie?”
The two men, bewildered, met Hardin’s eyes.
One corner of Hardin’s mouth twisted even higher.
‘…First, one of you.’
Kwaaaak!
Hardin tightened his grip around the spear in his hand.
Gritting his teeth, he drew mana up from the core in his lower abdomen.
The rough power of Maelstrom coursed through him, flooding into the spear until the tip glowed blue.
Then, Hardin drew the spear far back behind his arm.
“Hee-ya!”
Paaaaaah!
And hurled it like a cannon shot.
Swaaaak!
The spear tore through the air with a savage roar.
A shockwave erupted behind it, and the falling rain in its path split apart in a burst of spray.
It was a stroke of lightning itself.
“Huh…?”
Just as one of the Twins realized the spear was right before his eyes, his brow furrowing—
Puuooong!
His head burst apart, showering the air with crimson wreckage.
“Huh?”
“…?!”
Viscount Cobalt and Mulgybson’s jaws dropped wide open at the sight.
“…What the?”
“B-brother?”
The remaining Twin blinked in confusion.
Hiiiiiing!
The warhorse, its master slain, began to buck wildly.
Taah!
Still grinning in satisfaction, Hardin sprang from the saddle in a powerful leap.
“Eeeeek!”
The surviving Twin lifted his gaze, staring blankly at Hardin soaring toward him.
That face was full of murderous rage.
Just as the man reflexively raised his mace—
“You’re too slow.”
“…?”
A blue line flashed across the air.
Chwaaak!
“…?!”
And just like that, the remaining Twin’s head dropped cleanly to the ground.
His face was frozen in a perfect mask of bewilderment, as if he couldn’t even understand how he had died.
“Huuuu…”
Hardin tapped his shoulder with his sword, exhaling a long breath.
Nearby, the Calpion soldiers who had been watching gaped in astonishment.
‘He’s insane… He killed the Twins in an instant?’
‘A m-monster…’
Anyone with sense could see it.
Hardin’s movements a moment ago had far surpassed anything within the bounds of common sense.
In the middle of the front line, Commander Andrea’s brow creased sharply.
‘Those two… killed in a single strike?’
The Twin Mace Knights he had personally trained, Patria and Matron.
A bitter smile crossed Andrea’s face at the absurdity of their deaths.
He knew better than anyone that those two were no easy opponents.
Even if they had been caught off guard, such a hollow, meaningless death…
‘I never heard of someone like him…’
Commander Andrea’s gaze locked onto Hardin.
He could feel the intense aura radiating off the man’s body.
Blond hair, a face completely devoid of any tension despite the battlefield.
And… that annoyingly handsome face.
Indeed, Commander Andrea had seen that face before.
‘Could it be… Hardin Daphne?’
A vague memory surfaced—back when Calpion and the Daphne House were still on good terms.
A worthless piece of trash with no talent for the sword at all… the same bastard whose mana circuits had been shattered by Great Young Master Donfel.
The moment he realized that man was Hardin, Andrea’s eyes grew sharp.
‘The atmosphere has changed.’
So it was true that this man had defeated Great Young Master Donfel…?
When he had first heard the tale, he’d assumed Donfel had simply been careless or made a mistake.
Donfel was arrogant by nature, and such men often made blunders.
But now, seeing Hardin up close, all those assumptions vanished completely.
‘That… was no accident.’
It was then.
Swaaaak!
A spear traced an arc through the air, flying straight toward Andrea.
Hardin had grabbed another spear lying nearby and hurled it like a javelin.
It came crashing in with terrifying speed, aimed straight at his chest.
The soldiers and knights around him couldn’t even react.
In that instant—
Kaaaang!
Commander Andrea thrust his mace forward, and the incoming spear shattered apart, scattering fragments through the air.
Hardin whistled and said.
“Well, look at that.”
Andrea’s expression twisted in rage.
At the same time, his judgment settled swiftly.
‘Better to conserve my strength for now.’
After all, this battlefield… was in their favor.
He raised his mace and shouted to the knights.
“Raise your shields! Block him from the front and don’t let him through!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Shields up!”
Cheojuk!
Massive shields were slammed into the ground, forming a towering wall.
Standing behind them, Commander Andrea crossed his arms, a cold smile spreading across his lips.
‘This isn’t a duel. It’s a war.’
Alone… he would have clear limits.
He gave an order to the conscript soldiers beside him.
“Loose! Forget everyone else—just aim for that blond bastard!”
“Yes, sir!”
Fwish! Fwifwifwish!
Arrows flew from all directions.
Tadadang! Tadang!
But Hardin didn’t slow.
He simply swung his sword, knocking the arrows aside.
Now and then, an arrow slipped through, piercing Hardin’s armor, but he didn’t even flinch and kept advancing.
‘What is he…?’
Andrea thrust his arm forward again and shouted.
“Block the front with tower shields!”
“Yes, sir!”
Knights clad in heavy plate armor raised their tower shields and closed ranks in front of Hardin.
Just as Hardin came right up to the shields—
Kwaaaaang!
“Ooough!”
His sword came down, and the crushing impact made the shield-bearers stagger back, feet sliding.
But that was all—it didn’t break through in one strike.
They, too, were mana users, trained to the bone as knights.
“Let’s see how well you can hold out.”
Still, Hardin didn’t relent, raining down strike after strike.
His face was filled with lethal determination.
Kaaang! Kaaang!
“Don’t let them push through!”
“Loose! Fire!”
“Stab your spears through the gaps!”
Hardin thrust his sword, trying to break the shield wall, while the knights blocked him and countered with spears between the gaps.
The tug of war between the one trying to pierce through and the ones holding firm continued in a tense standoff.
“Haa… haa… Ha… Hardin!”
“Young Master!”
The Daphne knights nearby tried to come to Hardin’s aid, but the situation was grim.
Their shields were studded with countless arrows, and each time another arrow struck, their feet slid back in the mud.
On top of that, after the bloody struggle with the Twins, their stamina and mana were completely spent—they were in no condition to fight.
In the end, Hardin was the only one still able to battle properly.
‘I’ll admit I was a little surprised, but this is as far as you go.’
Andrea’s lip curled as he watched Hardin’s strength steadily draining in front of the shield wall.
Then Hardin stomped the ground and shouted.
“Don’t act so smug. This isn’t over yet.”
“What did you say?”
The moment Andrea heard that voice, clear and confident, his brow furrowed.
“Leeeet’s gooo! Out of the waaay!”
“Aaaagh!”
From the rear of the Calpion line, a roar erupted, followed by the screams of conscript soldiers.
“…Wh-what is that?”
As the Calpion knights turned their eyes about in confusion—
Chwaaaak!
On the left and right flanks, two openings split wide, and from beyond them, two groups of burly men burst forth.
“Uoooooooh!”
Men with hulking muscles, with the air of bandits about them, charged forward wielding logs carved to sharp points at each end.
‘Huh?’
Disbelief spread across Commander Andrea’s face.
“Th-those are…”
“Why are those bastards here?!”
Daphne’s knights gasped in shock as they recognized them.
Men charging with blue light blazing from their eyes—
It was the Maw mercenaries Hardin had brought.
“Shields! Rotate the shields to the flanks!”
“Wh-which side first?!”
“Block the ones in front first!”
The Calpion knights began to panic, unable to coordinate their defense.
At that moment, Beryl, standing at the spearhead on the left, glared with fierce blue eyes and poured mana into the tip of his log battering ram as he shouted.
“Let’s gooooo!”
Tadat! Tadat!
His steps quickened, and the glow in his eyes grew even fiercer.
‘Just do as we practiced.’
The Calpion knights watching them were thrown into terror.
‘Wh-what the hell? Mana users?!’
‘No one said anything about this!’
Of course, the Daphne knights were no less astonished.
‘Those bastards can use mana?’
‘What in the world…?’
Then, the moment Beryl’s battering ram struck a shield—
Kwaaaang!
“Kuhuhuh!”
The shields shattered and crumpled, and the knights behind them were hurled into the air.
The sturdy formation collapsed in an instant, chaos erupting.
“Heeek! Th-the shields!”
“What is that monster?!”
It was not the impact of a human attack—it was as if they were being struck by siege weaponry.
And the problem was, it wasn’t only Beryl.
“Uoooooh!”
“Charge!”
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
Each time the battering rams of the Maw mercenaries smashed into the lines from both flanks, shields were broken apart, the formation staggered back, and the line disintegrated.
In an instant, the tide of the battlefield reversed.
“Wh-what is that man?!”
“Damn it! Is he an ogre?!”
Every time Beryl rammed forward with his weapon-enchanted log battering ram, Calpion knights were sent flying like straw dolls.