Chapter 236: We Must Strike First. (3)
“It’s the enemy! The enemy is attacking the fortress!”
Screams echoed everywhere. The barbarians hurriedly gathered, axes in hand.
They had just been about to go hunting. Naturally, they were unprepared and had not even mounted their horses.
“Quick, get ready! They’ve already arrived!”
The warriors scrambled onto their horses, but Ghislaine’s army was already thundering in like madmen, nearly upon them.
The horses ridden by the barbarians sensed the danger and were too excited to be controlled properly.
No matter the unit, if they can’t assemble properly, they can’t unleash their strength. If they can’t even calm their horses, there’s no need to talk further.
Amidst the chaos of the barbarians, Ghislaine’s army rushed in.
Boom!
“Uwaaaah!”
Ghislaine’s spear shattered the heads of the barbarians in an instant. His spear gleamed with a fierce red light, radiating an equally menacing aura.
Swish!
Whoooosh!
With every swing of Ghislaine’s spear, a barbarian would tumble from their horse. They fell like flies, unable to even resist before meeting their end.
Ghislaine carved a path with overwhelming force. Following behind, Gillian’s spear unleashed terrifying might.
With just these two, a tribe of barbarians was falling apart.
Trailing behind them, the knights of Perdium smashed into the barbarians.
Boom!
Thanks to Ghislaine, they had quickly honed their skills and laid waste to the barbarian village with their exceptional cavalry techniques.
“Ahahaha! Now this really clears my mind!”
Randolf laughed heartily, and the knights of Perdium joined in, cheering.
“Hey you bastards! Did you think we’d just sit here and take it forever?”
“Who knew the Grand Duke would give us such an opportunity!”
“How do you feel getting a taste of this? It’s absolutely thrilling, isn’t it?”
All their faces flushed, they shouted loudly as they slaughtered the barbarians. They had a lot of pent-up frustrations to release.
The cavalry of Perdium that followed was no different. With flushed faces, they ravaged the barbarians.
It felt like all the grief caused by the barbarians was being swept away.
And the Knights of Penris…
“Ugh! Damn it! Why is everyone moving so fast?!”
Kaor shouted in frustration. He thought he could ride a bit, but it was no contest.
Come to think of it, he had rarely fought on horseback. Killing from the ground was more satisfying.
The other knights felt the same. Though they had learned to execute shock tactics fairly well following Ghislaine, it was tough to keep up with those who had fought on horseback for years.
Boom!
Even so, their sheer number, in the hundreds, was enough to compensate for their lack in horsemanship. As the Knights of Penris charged in, the barbarians completely lost their wits.
Having taken such massive damage in the first clash, they had no time to regroup.
Yet, true to their savage northern blood, the barbarians did not lose their belligerence even in such a situation. They tried to huddle together to respond somehow.
They hadn’t lost the castle. They were trying to stick together and respond somehow.
“Damn it! Get closer! Hurry up!”
“Don’t underestimate the power of warriors!”
“Don’t back down! We can kill them!”
But that wasn’t easy. At some point, the knights and cavalry spread out and formed a siege formation.
As soon as the formation was complete, Ghislaine shouted loudly.
“Leave not a single one alive! Unleash the fury you’ve built up over the years! Make the enemies tremble with fear just at the sight of the wolf’s banner!”
“Waaah!”
Ghislaine’s speech fired up the hearts of the Perdium knights and soldiers.
They lit up with rage and started killing the barbarians.
This was different from the barbarians they had killed before. It was really different from when they had defended the castle and chased down raiders to kill them.
Although they were just a small tribe, this was their home base they were attacking.
One, two, three, four…
With each barbarian killed, it felt like the knots in their hearts were being unraveled. It felt like they were soothing the restless spirits of their fallen comrades.
For the people of Perdium, this attack was almost a sacred ritual.
Unlike them, the Knights of Penris, who had no particular memories of suffering at the hands of barbarians, just carried out their orders as trained.
Except for one person.
“I have to kill more than the old man!”
Kaor was fired up just like the knights of Perdium. He couldn’t allow himself to lose to Gillian, no matter what.
“The old man is the rival of my soul!”
Gillian didn’t think so at all and was completely uninterested in him, but Kaor was dead serious.
“Ugh! I will curse you all!”
The barbarians were dying rapidly. Some of them threw down their weapons and raised their hands. After all, there are always people who value their lives.
But the knights and soldiers of Perdium ignored that and continued to swing their weapons silently.
There was too much pain built up to forgive them.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Ghislaine commanded the battlefield, occasionally shouting distinctly.
“Don’t kill the horses!”
While sweeping away the barbarians was a goal, capturing the horses was another. They had to keep the horses alive as much as possible.
In the end, the barbarian warriors were completely annihilated without even being able to swing their axes properly.
What remained were just the old men, children, and women trembling inside a tent.
Tear!
The knights and soldiers of Perdium roughly tore open the tent and pulled them out.
Not long ago, when the Perdium army visited the stronghold of the allied tribes, everyone had already fled. But this time, the attack was so sudden that they missed their chance to escape.
A knight raised his weapon as he looked down at a crying child in front of him. He didn’t want to, but he was resolved to crush the seedlings completely.
Just then, Ghislaine’s voice rang out loudly across the battlefield.
“Stop!”
The knights and soldiers lowered their weapons simultaneously.
Perhaps they had hoped someone would stop them. They had never killed non-combatants before.
Randolf, seeing this, spoke with a stern expression.
“Your Grace, it may feel uncomfortable, but it would be better to eliminate them all now. If they grow up, we’ll just have more barbarians to deal with.”
Ghislaine replied with a nonchalant expression.
“That’s true. But right now, they might be useful.”
“Huh? Useful for what?”
“Because there’s a use, let’s just take them all. And I don’t have a hobby of killing people who can’t fight. That would be something to be ashamed of.”
With those mysteriously resonant words, Randolf tilted his head.
“If there was no use, would you have killed them all?”
Ghislaine paused for a moment before answering shortly.
“Then it must be done.”
Though her expression was indifferent, her eyes flickered ominously. Seeing that, Randolf felt a chill run down his spine.
A chill ran down his spine.
‘This guy, could it be… already…?’
Randolf had no idea what Ghislaine had been up to. He had completely lost interest in Ghislaine after witnessing too much of his reckless behavior over time.
So, even though they had spent time together, there were moments he simply didn’t know about.
Randolf was about to ask something but swallowed his words instead. He figured Ghislaine wouldn’t tell him anything and thought there was no benefit to knowing anyway.
As a distinguished knight, he caught a glimpse of the terrifying intent to kill and brutality that briefly flashed in Ghislaine’s eyes.
Just looking at those eyes, it felt like Ghislaine had killed more people in his lifetime than Randolf ever had in battle.
‘That doesn’t make sense. His age, his war experience—far less than mine. Even if he secretly killed people, if he had done that much, he would’ve been caught ages ago. It must be my mistake.’
Randolf shook his head vigorously, dispelling his thoughts. He immediately commanded the soldiers to clean up the battlefield.
Ghislaine, who had acquired quite a number of captives and horses, returned to the northern fortress.
The knights and soldiers who had come along were all abuzz, eager to boast about their exploits.
“Ha ha ha! Those guys were completely weak!”
“I should have gone and killed them sooner! All these horses are spoils!”
“I really let out all my stress!”
Their bragging seemed endless. Others, listening with envious expressions, began to raise a fuss one by one.
“This time I’ll go!”
“I’m way stronger than that guy!”
“Please take us with you!”
With such enthusiastic requests, Ghislaine couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction. He truly loved these eager individuals.
It was natural that higher morale made them stronger.
“Alright! Let’s all take turns sweeping them away!”
“Waaaaaah!”
Among the knights and soldiers of Perdium who had participated in the battle, those in poor condition were swapped with others from the fortress.
If they kept rotating this way during combat, they would be able to slaughter the barbarians much faster and more efficiently.
Of course, the Knights of Penris were excluded from this rotation. They needed much harsher conditions and more experience.
Ghislaine swiftly moved through the area, sweeping through relatively close and sparsely populated villages.
Since there were no survivors, except for the captives, the barbarians didn’t realize for days that trouble had befallen their neighboring tribes.
Even then, no detailed information was conveyed, just rumors that the fortress crew had suddenly gone berserk.
There was no way the barbarians would remain calm in the face of such a sudden threat. Some tribes openly began to search for Ghislaine’s unit.
Of course, there was no way their small numbers could withstand hundreds of knights and cavalry.
“Uagh! What the hell are these guys!”
“Why are there so many! Why are they so strong!”
“It looks like all the main forces from the fortress came out!”
Every time they encountered Ghislaine’s unit, they were crushed, quickly evidencing that this was no simple threat. The nearby tribes, realizing this, finally started to reach out to each other.
In the end, led by the Soirwind Tribe, which had established a fairly strong force near the fortress, eleven tribes gathered to discuss how to overcome this crisis.
“Why are these guys who’ve been busy defending against our attacks acting like this?”
“Their strength is anything but ordinary. It’s strange for them to move like this during a famine.”
“Anyway, we can’t let them be! If we stay separated, we’ll just get picked off one by one! They’re moving further north!”
Ghislaine was sweeping through the tribes closest to the fortress, gradually widening his radius of activity. Therefore, they inevitably had to clash with him.
The Great Chief of the Soirwind Tribe, Kushtu, was deep in thought. He was a warrior famously strong in these northern lands.
‘Damn it, of all times for Perdium to be moving. I still haven’t settled things with the Sunstone Tribe!’
“What a situation. We haven’t even settled things with the Sunstone Tribe yet.”
The Sunstone Tribe is a major tribe competing with the Soribaram Tribe. They’ve been eyeing each other, ready to eat one another…
And just as luck would have it, the enemies are moving towards them.
If they take heavy damage while dealing with those guys, they could end up being eaten by the Sunstone Tribe. With the number of warriors lacking, they weren’t in a position to fight.
They even considered moving their base, but that would mean fighting with the tribe already there. Given their current terrible situation, that seemed impossible.
If they had to fight somewhere anyway, it’s better to get rid of the Perdium guys.
At least there’s some good news: eleven tribes have gathered to confront them. Everyone feels threatened by the movements of the Perdium.
“Weren’t six tribes taken out before?”
At Kushtu’s words, the other tribe chief nodded.
“Yeah, they say over two thousand warriors were taken down. Those guys are no joke.”
“They were ambushed during the siege war.”
“True. Honestly, we think it would be tough for us to occupy a fortress. There’s a chance we’d get ambushed again, but we’re just weak in sieges.”
“That’s because we were just poking at each other without really uniting our strengths. And even if we do get rid of them, the kingdom will just send another lord anyway, don’t you think we intentionally called it a draw?”
“That’s a point.”
“We don’t need to be dragged around by them. It’s just us that takes damage searching for them. Gather all the warriors of the tribe. Let’s show overwhelming strength.”
“What do you mean…?”
After a brief moment of grinding his teeth, Kushtu slowly opened his mouth.
“Let’s take advantage of the opportunity when they’re outside and completely destroy the fortress. Let’s decapitate Zvalter of Perdium. They say he’s called the Northern Wolf in Ruthania. I’m curious if he lives up to the name.”
*
Claude looked at the map with tired eyes and spoke to Ghislaine.
“We’re in a dangerous situation we’ve been waiting for.”
“What’s the danger?”
“Eleven tribes have united. The number of warriors is at least over five thousand. It seems they’ve gathered every fighter they could find.”
“Oh, that’s quite a lot.”
“Yes! And we’re in danger! Was it necessary to create such a situation?!”
Claude exploded in frustration.
Fighting against the barbarians isn’t supposed to be done this way. If Ghislaine’s methods worked, they would have already dealt with it at the kingdom level.
Even if the Crown Prince Faction and Duke Faction weren’t at odds, there are just too many tribes in the north; dealing with them realistically isn’t possible. That’s why they’ve given up on eradication for generations and have just been trying to hold them back.
“Isn’t it natural for them to band together when provoked? Fighting only puts us in danger and increases our damage. The royal family and other lords haven’t just let this go for no reason! Why would you hasten the risk?!”
Claude pressed his chest, frustrated. Why can’t our lord just lead a normal life?
What sort of experiences did he have as a child to be so discontent with the world?
“Let’s negotiate, negotiate. We have plenty of food, so if we give them a fair share, they’ll probably accept it. They must be struggling too, after all.”
Then Ghislaine responded with a sullen expression.
“Negotiation sounds nice. Anyway, we can’t eliminate all the barbarians right now.”
“Exactly. Even if we manage to fend them off this time, they’ll just regroup.”
“But negotiations are made when you’re in a favorable position. Who negotiates when they’re at a disadvantage?”
“We have to negotiate because we’re at a disadvantage!”
“Then we need to change the game to our advantage.”
“How?”
Then Ghislaine smiled slyly and said,
“What do you mean how? We just need to take the heads of the guys gathered here. Then the remaining ones will fall in line.”
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
