Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 248
247 - Childhood Friend: Wooden Staff
A battle they didn’t want had begun, and Elzeor de Lognum, Duke of Lognum, gritted his teeth hard.
It wasn’t because of the torrent of insults he had never heard in his life. It was because the Kingdom of Conrad, which he needed to conquer, lay just beyond that river.
Our dream has been delayed by ten years.
Or perhaps, it had been pushed back much further. The Kingdom of Conrad would not forget the memory of this invasion.
"Your Grace, it's dangerous here."
The prince, who had been facing the driving rain, opened his eyes. Marquis Guidan’s soldiers were charging towards them, screaming. Elzeor turned toward the command post, muttering to himself, "Not yet, not yet."
It wasn’t over yet. If he could crush them with minimal losses, then... The prince, in an unusual manner, gave an order.
"We will form a battle formation. Count Germain, you will take command of the vanguard and buy time for the main force to organize. The knights are already at the front, so it shouldn’t be too difficult."
"...Understood."
Count Geogis Germain, who had been about to complain, was silenced by the cold demeanor of the prince, who was usually known for his indulgence in pleasures. Startled, he complied without question, and Duke Elzeor frowned as he observed the battlefield, obscured by the downpour.
To the right, to the east, the Irotasi River flowed, and to the left was a forest. The ground sloped slightly toward the riverbank, and the rain from the day before had turned it into a muddy quagmire.
The troops were in disarray, with no proper formation. They had only been divided into units and platoons due to the public execution of Marquis Guidan.
The total force was 50,000 strong.
Among them, 7,000 were pirates, 10,000 were a mixed force brought by nobles who supported him, 6,000 were serfs conscripted from his own duchy, and the remaining were 15,000 light infantry borrowed from coastal free trade cities in exchange for various benefits promised in the prince’s name, and 12,000 heavily armored infantry provided by his brother, Lord Athon of the House of Lognum.
Additionally, there were two royal knight orders and three magicians from the Boligneu Tower...
Elzeor asked the magicians:
"What would happen if you used large-scale magic over there?"
"They would all die."
"Are you saying you could kill all of the enemy? All 28,000 of them?"
The oldest magician among them shook his head and spoke with a bit of pride.
"No, I mean everyone, including our own. The conditions are too favorable for water-based magic, so it’s hard to control the range."
"What if you used magic from a different school?"
"The power would be significantly reduced. But let me warn you... There are magicians on the other side as well. If everyone starts using magic, the mana roads in the air will tangle and explode. I don’t recommend it."
This was why large-scale magic was rarely used in modern warfare.
There was a time when such warnings were ignored, and magic was used recklessly. But that resulted in both sides losing their soldiers, so in modern times, magic affecting only dozens of people was employed. Small-scale magic required rapid mana road installation and consumption, making it difficult for enemy magicians to disrupt.
Even with this, magic had a tremendous impact on the battlefield. The killing power of magic was formidable, but its ability to instill fear in the soldiers was even more so.
"Good. You go to the front lines. Target the rear of the enemy to avoid harming our forces, but do not attack fleeing enemies. Encourage their retreat as much as possible."
The magicians bowed and headed for the front. Prince Elzeor then ordered his centurions:
"Take the pirates to Count Germain. When the battle begins, they will be the first to lose morale and try to flee. Place them at the very front, and if anyone tries to run, kill them."
He entrusted the 7,000 pirates to them.
They would serve as useful fodder. Elzeor positioned the pirates in the first row, with the mixed forces of the nobles behind them to push them into the slaughter, and placed the heavily armored infantry of the House of Lognum in the third row as the last line of defense for the main force. With the front secure, Elzeor turned his attention elsewhere.
To the forest on the left.
That nameless forest covered a low hill. Already, 3,000 conscripted serfs were there, holding flags. To minimize the casualties in this battle, Elzeor decided to seize control of that area.
What he envisioned was a hammer and anvil tactic. While the anvil—the main force—held firmly, the hammer—the left flank—would break the enemy’s right and drive them into the river.
Prince Elzeor led the remaining 3,000 conscripted serfs and 15,000 light infantry towards the forest.
Meanwhile, Rev was thinking along the same lines as Prince Elzeor. While trying to control the charging soldiers of Marquis Guidan, Rev was also assessing the battlefield. His mind was racing.
[Leo, you were the king of Conrad and a great general who protected your homeland throughout your life. As a reward for your achievements, you are granted the {Tactics} ability.]
Rushing in blindly wouldn’t win the battle. The fewer troops, the more important it was to envelop the enemy and increase the efficiency of the fight.
Battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers were nothing like street brawls. Even if you wanted to advance, you would only bump into your own comrades in the dense crowd.
The situation at the front line was even worse.
Your comrades pushed from behind, while the enemy swung their swords in front. There was no room to dodge; you had to block, cut, and push with all your might against the opponent right in front of you.
And what about those behind the front line? If they weren’t spearmen, they had no choice but to wait.
50,000 versus 28,000. The side with fewer numbers had to hurry to widen the front line. They needed to encircle the enemy and create a situation where the enemy’s idle troops outnumbered theirs to have a chance of winning.
‘We need to take control of that forest. The main force will inevitably be pushed back, but when that happens, if we can push the enemy down from the sloped hill into the river!’
There was a chance of victory.
Rev’s {Tactics} ability took him one step further. He called over the centurions of the 1st and 2nd barbarian divisions and gave them orders.
"You will take the rafts and go down the river. Completely withdraw from the battlefield until you’re out of sight of both the enemy and our forces, then regroup and strike the enemy from behind."
This was something Prince Elzeor, who was stationed downstream, wouldn’t have thought of.
It was risky, but Rev believed this would decide the final outcome of the battle, and he sent the two barbarian divisions off. Coincidentally, Vanne and Reuben Bizaine were serving as lieutenants in those divisions.
Shortly after, Rev spoke to Count Ogleton.
"Count Ogleton, I leave the command of the main force to you. I will lead the right wing to seize control of that forest and hill. Hold out until then."
"How many soldiers will you take?"
"I’ll only take the native warriors. Buy me time with Marquis Guidan’s and your soldiers. I’ll also leave the knights here."
"...Understood. I wish you victory."
Count Soarel Demetri Ogleton smiled faintly, despite being given the burden of commanding only 15,000 soldiers and less than fifty knights.
As Rev engaged in skirmishes with the enemy hidden in the forest using his ten battalions, Count Ogleton turned his gaze toward the front, where he carried his precious belongings.
By then, the battlefield was already a scene of carnage. The pirates had clashed with the elite soldiers of Marquis Guidan.
Enraged by the marquis's death, his soldiers fought without hesitation. The pirates, however, were trapped—facing death whether they advanced or retreated, with noble soldiers ready to kill them if they fled. They were confused and fighting reluctantly.
Still, they managed not to crumble entirely, thanks to the 200 or so knights scattered among them. Even in the most constricted parts of the front line, the knights demonstrated their worth.
Equipped with weapons specialized for thrusting—swords—and trained in their use for a lifetime, the knights proved their mettle in the confined space. Each time they thrust their blades, dozens of Marquis Guidan’s soldiers fell into the mud. Encouraged by this, the pirates gripped their unfamiliar weapons with renewed resolve.
"Out of the way!!"
In that cramped space, a man burst in, swinging his sword horizontally with ostentatious ease. The sword, which should have met resistance, instead carved a clean, red arc. A young pirate screamed in horror.
"S-Swordmaster!"
The blazing Aura Blade belonged to a swordsman who towered a head taller than the others. In the suddenly cleared center, Leo Dexter raised his sword and shouted.
"Don’t hold back! Keep pushing forward! Knights, follow me!"
The soldiers of Marquis Guidan, who had hesitated because of the knights, now roared in response. The presence of a superhuman figure who made the impossible possible filled them with renewed strength.
This is why a Swordmaster is considered the mightiest of humans on the continent.
In everyday life, they might not differ much from ordinary knights. Even acknowledging their superior swordsmanship, one might think of them as knights who would never lose in single combat.
But on the battlefield, it was different.
In the densely packed space filled with heavily armored soldiers, the Aura Blade—capable of ignoring all weapons and armor—was unmatched.
This is why, since ancient times, Swordmasters have been called the rulers of the battlefield, and no one questioned this title. The only problem was...
-Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck down. Leo, struck by the thunderbolt, screamed in agony, "Gahhh!"
Swordmasters were the strongest rulers only on the battlefields of the ancient past. Since the appearance of magicians, it was the magicians who ruled the battlefield, while Swordmasters had been relegated to a role not much different from that of regular knights.
Of course, even magicians lost their title as rulers of the battlefield with the advent of structured military formations and the common practice of mutual magical countermeasures. That title was now held by generals.
Count Soarel Demetri Ogleton stroked his chin as he watched the Swordmaster stagger to his feet.
"Oh dear, that must have hurt."
He murmured to himself.
Even so, a Swordmaster is still a Swordmaster.
An ordinary person would have been roasted to a crisp. Even a knight, resistant to magic due to accumulated mana, would have needed several days to recover from a direct hit like that, but Leo raised his sword again as if nothing had happened.
[Quest: Mage Slayer 10/10 - {Magic Resistance} ability has increased by one Level.]
Does a Swordmaster have stronger magical resistance? Count Ogleton pondered, considering further experiments for the future, as he drew out his ‘wooden staff.’
It was an ancient, timeworn oak staff. Regardless of whether another bolt of lightning would strike the Swordmaster, the count gazed at the staff for a moment and muttered.
"I apologize to my master, but I gained a small prize during my travels. I’m also sorry to my senior and my peers, but... for the sake of our tower’s research, we must win here."
During his five-year journey to visit three Swordmasters, he had been turned down for experiments due to their busy schedules, but the journey hadn’t been fruitless. The count raised the staff high.
Something white and indistinguishable, whether it was light or a wave, spread across the rain-soaked battlefield. The soldiers merely wondered, "What is that?" but the magicians were struck with terror.
The mana had solidified. It was as if the mana, which was freer than anything in the world and had to be coaxed and persuaded by magicians with "Wouldn’t it be more fun to flow this way?", had suddenly become as immovable as if obeying someone’s command.
Count Soarel Demetri Ogleton put away the ancient relic, slightly embarrassed. He was no longer a magician; he was now a count, a general commanding his army, and he began to lead his soldiers.
The battle at the Irotasi River was only just beginning.
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Chapter 248
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