Chapter 247. Childhood Friend – The Wooden Staff
An unwanted battle had begun. Duke Algeo de Lognum clenched his teeth.
He was not used to taking such a heavy verbal beating. After all, the Kingdom of Conrad, which they were meant to conquer, lay beyond that river.
Our dream has been delayed by ten years.
Perhaps even more than ten years. The Kingdom of Conrad would not forget the memory of the invasion.
“Your Grace. It is dangerous here.”
The prince, drenched by the heavy rain, lifted his head. The soldiers of Marquis Guidan were charging toward them with shouts. Algeo turned towards the command post and murmured, “Not yet, not yet.”
It was not over yet. If only they could crush the enemy with minimal damage. And to do that, the prince gave orders with a demeanor unlike his usual self.
“I will set up the formation. Count Germin, you take command of the front lines and buy time for us to arrange our defenses. It should be manageable for you since the knights are already at the forefront.”
“…Understood.”
Count Geogis Germin’s complaints were silenced by the prince’s unexpected coldness.
Surprised by the prince’s unusual sternness, Germin obeyed without protest, and Duke Algeo furrowed his brow as he surveyed the battlefield obscured by the rain.
To the east, the Irotashi River flowed, and to the west, there was a forest. The ground was slightly sloped towards the riverbank, turned into a muddy quagmire from the rain that had poured since yesterday.
The formation was entirely disrupted. The troops were scattered due to the public execution of Marquis Guidan, and only the individual units and squads remained.
The total force numbered 50,000.
Among them, 7,000 were pirates, 10,000 were mixed forces brought by nobles loyal to the marquis, 6,000 were conscripted serfs from Algeo’s own dominion, and the remaining 15,000 were lightly armed infantry hired with promises of various benefits from the coastal free-trade cities in the prince’s name, supported by 12,000 heavily armed soldiers from the Lognum royal family provided by Prince Aeton.
Additionally, there were two royal knight orders and three mages from the Bolinu Mage Tower…
Algeo asked the mages,
“What happens if we use large-scale magic here?”
“They all die.”
“You mean all the enemies? 28,000 of them?”
The oldest of the three mages shook his head. He spoke with a hint of pride.
“No. It would affect our own troops as well. The environment here is too favorable for water-based magic, making it difficult to control the range.”
“What if we used a different type of magic?”
“It would be much less effective. However, I must warn you… There are also enemy mages. If everyone uses magic, the mana roads in the air will become tangled and cause an explosion. I would not recommend it.”
This was the reason why large-scale magic was rarely used in modern warfare.
There was a time when large-scale magic was employed regardless of its consequences. But that era was over. Nowadays, magic was used only on a scale that affected dozens of people, and small-scale spells were more effective because they were quicker to cast and harder for the enemy mages to disrupt.
Even this information was a huge help in the current situation. The power of magic was not only in its destructive potential but also in the fear it instilled among the soldiers.
“Very well. You will head to the front lines. Target the enemy’s rear to pLevent any damage to our side, but do not attack any fleeing enemies. Try to lead them to retreat as much as possible.”
The mages bowed their heads and moved towards the front lines. Prince Algeo then said to the ten generals.
“Take the pirates to Count Germin. Once the battle begins, they will be the first to lose morale and try to flee. Position them at the very forefront and kill any who attempt to escape.”
He assigned the 7,000 pirates to them.
They would serve as useful expendables. With the pirates in the first line, the mixed forces of nobles in the second, and the heavily armed soldiers of the Lognum royal family as the last bastion in the third line, Algeo thought, *‘The front is set.’* and shifted his gaze to another area.
To the left was the forest.
This nameless forest covered a gentle hill. The 3,000 conscripted serfs had already planted their flags there, and to minimize the damage of this maneuver, Algeo decided to seize control of that area.
What he envisioned was the hammer and anvil tactic. While the main force served as the anvil, the left flank would act as the hammer, breaking the enemy’s right flank and driving them towards the river.
Prince Algeo led the remaining 3,000 serf conscripts and 15,000 lightly armed infantry towards the forest.
Meanwhile, Lev was thinking along the same lines as Prince Algeo. He struggled to manage the charging soldiers of Marquis Guidan while surveying the battlefield. His mind was racing.
[ Leo, you are the King of the Kingdom of Conrad and a great general who has defended your homeland throughout your life. With your achievements, I grant you the {Tactics} ability. ]
Charging blindly would not win the battle. With fewer troops, it was necessary to envelop the enemy to increase combat efficiency.
Warfare on a scale of tens of thousands was fundamentally different from a simple brawl. In a densely packed space with no room to move forward, advancing only resulted in colliding with allied soldiers.
The situation at the front lines was even more severe.
While the allies pushed from the rear and the enemies swung their swords from the front, there was no space to dodge or maneuver. One had to block, strike, and clash with the enemy with all their might to press forward.
And what about behind? Unless one was a spearman, there was nothing to do but wait.
50,000 versus 28,000. The smaller force had to act quickly to expand the front. Victory could only be achieved by besieging the enemy and outnumbering their active forces.
*‘To do that, we need to control the forest. The main force will inevitably be pushed back, so if we drive the enemy from the sloped hill to the river!’*
There was a chance of victory.
Lev’s {Tactics} ability extended his thoughts further. He called the commanders of the First and Second Barbarian troops and gave them orders.
“Take rafts downstream on the river. Move completely out of sight from the battlefield and rally your soldiers to strike the enemy’s rear.”
This was something Prince Algeo could not have considered from his position.
Though it was tight, Lev believed this would mark the end of the battle and sent the two Ten Thousand units off. Coincidentally, the units led by Ban and Ruben Bizan served as their respective adjutants.
Soon after, Lev spoke.
“Count Ogerton. I leave the main force under your command. I will lead the right flank to seize the forest and the hill. Just hold out until then.”
“How many soldiers will you take?”
“I will only take the native warriors. Buy time for me with the soldiers and knights under Marquis Guidan’s command.”
“…Understood. I wish you success.”
Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton smiled despite the heavy burden of just 15,000 soldiers and fewer than fifty knights he was given.
As Lev went to engage the hidden enemy forces in the forest with his units, Ogerton turned his gaze to the front lines with his precious possessions.
There, a bloody storm was already raging. The pirates clashed with the elite troops of Marquis Guidan.
Furious at the marquis’s death, the soldiers fought recklessly. In contrast, the pirates were caught in a dire situation, facing death whether they advanced or retreated, and they fought begrudgingly.
Despite the dire situation, the reason the forces didn’t collapse was thanks to the 200 knights mixed among them. Even in the cramped front lines, the knights proved their worth.
Weapons specialized for thrusting, swords, and knights who had trained with them their whole lives.
Every time they wielded their swords in the confined space, dozens of Marquis Guidan’s soldiers fell into the muck. The pirates, encouraged by this, grasped their unfamiliar weapons more firmly…
“Make way!!”
A man dashed into the narrow space and swung his sword in a wide arc. The blade moved smoothly, tracing a red line through the air before it could even accelerate. A young pirate let out a terrified scream.
“It’s the Swordmaster!”
With his blazing aura blade, the Swordmaster was a giant of a man, towering above others. In the empty space, Leo Dexter raised his sword and shouted.
“Don’t hold back your breath! Push forward! Knights, follow me!”
The soldiers of Marquis Guidan, momentarily shaken by the Swordmaster’s presence, were filled with renewed vigor. The existence of a superhuman who made the impossible possible inspired them.
This was why Swordmasters were known as the strongest humans on the continent.
In everyday life, they were not much different from any other knight. Despite their superior swordsmanship, they could be summarized as knights who would not lose in a one-on-one duel.
But on the battlefield, they were different.
In the confined space of heavily armored soldiers, where even a needle could not be inserted, the unique power of the Aura Blade was unparalleled.
Thus, from ancient times, the Swordmaster had been regarded as the ruler of the battlefield, and no one questioned this. The only problem was…
– Crash!
Lightning struck. Leo, struck by the lightning, cried out in pain, “Argh!”
The Swordmaster was once the greatest in the ‘ancient’ battlefield. Since the rise of mages, the dominance of the battlefield shifted to mages, and the role of the Swordmaster fell to that of an ordinary knight.
Of course, even mages had their status taken by generals with the standardization of squad-based tactics and inter-mage checks.
Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton stroked his chin. Watching the Swordmaster struggling to rise, he muttered,
“Oh dear. That must have hurt.”
Still, a Swordmaster was indeed a Swordmaster.
An ordinary person would have been roasted alive. Even a knight with high magic resistance would need to recover for days after such a direct hit. Yet, he raised his sword again as if nothing had happened.
[ Quest: Mage Slayer 10/10 – {Magic Resistance} ability has increased by one level. ]
Was the Swordmaster more resistant to magic? Ogerton thought this would be something to test in the future as he…
Took out the ‘Wooden Staff.’
An ancient, timeworn oak staff. Whether another lightning bolt would strike the Swordmaster or not, the Count briefly examined it and murmured.
“I’m sorry, Master, but I had a small gain during my travels. I’m also sorry to my seniors and peers… but for the sake of our Mage Tower’s research, we must win here.”
His five-year journey to find three Swordmasters had resulted in no experiments due to refusals, but it was not a total loss. The Count raised the staff.
A white light, a wave of some sort, covered the battlefield drenched in heavy rain. Soldiers muttered, “What’s that?” but the mages were in shock.
Mana had solidified. Like ice.
Mana, which was freer than anything in the world and even had to be cajoled by mages, was now immobile as if commanded by someone.
Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton put away the ancient relic, feeling a bit embarrassed. He then took up the role of a Count and commander, directing the soldiers.
The clash on the banks of the Irotashi River had only just begun.
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