74. They are quite something after all. (1)
“Ugh! Just in a place like this!”
Viktor couldn’t hold it in.
The damage to the troops wasn’t severe, but losing one expensive and valuable Siege Tower was a huge Mistake.
On top of that, it hurt his Pride that they retreated not by tactical choice, but because they had no other option.
“Phew, phew…”
Next to the panting Viktor, Tamos had a look of distrust.
‘Is this guy just a total loser?’
He had been bragging about strategy and siege tactics, yet in the end, they didn’t inflict much damage and had to pull back.
Still, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
The black knights that had burst out from the Castle Gate looked quite strong, even to someone like him who knew nothing of combat.
If they had attacked without Desmond’s assistance, they would’ve been smashed before even starting the siege.
“Ahem. By the way, those black knights over there looked pretty strong. Are we okay?”
“They’re not knights. Their movements aren’t of someone using Mana.”
“Not knights, but that strong?”
“If they have good training and follow commands well, it’s possible. If they were really knights in the hundreds, they would simply have charged through the Castle Gate. There’s no way Perdium has such troops.”
“Ahem, then what do you plan to do now? Just keep waiting in this state? Seems like it’s not working, let’s just rush in.”
At that, Viktor glared at him with fierce eyes. Tamos raised his hands, sweating bullets.
“Just a suggestion, a suggestion. You’ll handle it well, right?”
Viktor snorted and turned away.
But Tamos didn’t stop there; after looking around cautiously, he timidly asked again.
“I heard there are two 4th Circle Mages here—couldn’t we borrow their power?”
“It’s not time yet.”
His tone was blatantly displeased.
Tamos pouted as if he had expected that.
‘Tsk tsk, who knew someone who isn’t a knight had such a big ego…’
From what Tamos observed, the relationship between Viktor and the Mages was quite poor.
Although he was useless in combat, he was well aware of the treacherous political landscape.
In his eyes, the discomfort and awkwardness felt whenever Viktor and the Mages crossed paths were incredibly evident.
‘Well, knights and mages don’t have the best relationship, do they?’
A 4th Circle Mage could easily become a territory’s Exclusive Mage.
Even if Viktor asked for their aid, it was doubtful that those prideful mages would obediently follow his commands.
Tamos shook his head and quietly left the barracks.
There was no reason to stay if they wouldn’t understand him and would only mock him.
There was no reason left to stay.
Left alone, Viktor exhaled hotly and muttered,
“Damn it… Such humiliation.”
The fact that he had been blindsided by Perdium, which he believed he could easily handle, felt even more degrading.
The image of that black knight, who swept through his troops like they were nothing and even brought down the siege tower, kept popping into his mind.
‘The combat power was strong, but… there’s no way he assessed the situation that quickly in such a short moment. He probably just came out believing in his strength.’
To preserve his pride, Viktor made an effort to belittle his opponent.
He rationalized that they must have been in a hurry, thinking they were getting pushed back without much thought.
When thoughts become too numerous, one sometimes ends up getting caught off guard by the ignorant and lucky ones.
Regardless, he could not just sit idly. He slowly calmed his anger and decided to come up with a new plan.
“They underestimated me.”
Viktor acknowledged that his opponent was stronger than he had anticipated.
Though it was a trivial rural territory, those who had fought in the northern battles for a long time were indeed formidable.
“I’ll shake them from within.”
Viktor secretly summoned ten knights and issued new orders.
“Tomorrow night, infiltrate Perdium and seize the eastern castle gate. I will have five hundred cavalry and a thousand infantry on standby nearby. Once you secure the east gate, send up a signal. I will enter immediately.”
The knights looked perplexed and asked,
“Is it possible for us alone? They will have fortified defenses.”
No matter how few troops Perdium might have, they would surely be on guard.
If the enemy launched a large-scale invasion, they would immediately contact headquarters.
But Viktor spoke as if to dismiss their worries.
“Don’t worry, I have allies. If it proves difficult to suppress the east gate, start fires and create chaos. And…”
With a menacing aura, Viktor continued.
“Use the chaos to assassinate Zvalter. A knight from Perdium will guide you.”
*
The next day, Viktor’s army attacked the castle of Perdium again.
But this time, their movements were passive compared to the day before.
They merely advanced with shield soldiers and shot arrows at the castle wall.
The Perdium forces also took cover and fired back.
After half a day of fighting with neither side sustaining significant damage, Viktor’s forces retreated.
“Wowww!”
Though they found something odd about it, the soldiers of Perdium cheered, having endured another day.
The command staff pondered whether their opponent had some scheme, but they couldn’t figure out what it might be.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At night, several fireworks erupted from the enemy camp.
Seeing this, the soldiers of Perdium were baffled.
“Are they already shooting off victory fireworks?”
“Didn’t we win today? Did someone make a mistake?”
As the soldiers murmured while watching the fireworks, Ghislaine crossed his arms and fell into thought.
‘That…’
With a strange expression, Ghislaine quietly turned his body and headed somewhere.
As the night deepened, part of Viktor’s army began to move stealthily through the darkness.
The knights cloaked themselves in black robes to remain unnoticed and moved towards the most vulnerable sections of the castle wall.
“Hurry up. This should be good.”
It was impractical for the fewer troops of Perdium to station soldiers densely at all walls.
The knights easily found a spot with few sentries and leapt over the wall using their mana.
Assassinating key figures is a tactic often employed in warfare, and they had experience.
There was experience in methods.
Besides, if there was a spy, there was no need to worry.
I had already memorized the route to the place where I would meet the spy.
Soon, they encountered a knight who was waiting for them.
“Are you Dren?”
The knight, Dren, standing in the darkness, nodded.
He was one of the spies that Harold had planted in Perdium.
The two betraying retainers had gone to Digald’s territory to create a justification for war, but Dren remained here.
Count Desmond was cautious and meticulous, considering various possibilities and preparing numerous countermeasures.
Dren was also one of those countermeasures.
“Yes. We don’t have much time, so let’s move quickly. With me here, the soldiers won’t suspect anything.”
Dren spoke urgently, clearly nervous about the possibility of being discovered.
The knights nodded and began to follow Dren.
However, after just a few steps, someone jumped down from the roof and blocked their way.
Thud!
“Hey! What are you all doing out here at this late hour? Haven’t you had dinner?”
Swipe!
Dren and the knights quickly drew their swords.
Recognizing the face of their opponent, Dren muttered.
“Th- the Grand Duke?”
He had always looked down on the Grand Duke, but he had seen him in action during this war.
Dren well understood that he couldn’t defeat the Grand Duke with his skills.
But that was only when it was a one-on-one match.
No matter how skilled the Grand Duke was, he couldn’t possibly face eleven knights at once.
Dren spoke urgently.
“We need to silence him!”
Ghislaine raised one hand with a relaxed expression.
Clink! Clink!
As if waiting for a signal, figures in black armor poured out from nearby houses.
Viktor’s knights gasped in shock.
“You already knew! How could you know our movements so precisely?”
“Dren! Was it you who said something?”
Dren, breaking into a cold sweat, waved his hands frantically.
“No! I didn’t say anything!”
In an instant, the mercenaries surrounding them drew their crossbows.
Whirr!
Faced with hundreds of crossbows, the knights gritted their teeth.
Even a knight who could handle mana couldn’t dodge hundreds of arrows.
While everyone was at a loss, Ghislaine brushed off his pants and said.
“Dren, you were a traitor after all. Why are there so many spies in your territory? How much money did they take?”
“Damn it! How did you find out?”
Realizing there was no way out, Dren didn’t even bother to deny it.
Ghislaine nodded as if it were no big deal.
“Well, I didn’t know who the traitor was. But I did expect someone would sneak in today. It’s not my first time going to war with you.”
He had fought Harold Desmond many times in his previous life.
In the end, Ghislaine had won by smashing that guy’s head in.
“What…?”
However, for anyone who didn’t know Ghislaine’s secret of going back in time, it sounded merely like nonsense.
While Dren was in disbelief, Viktor’s knights gripped their swords and slowly approached.
They intended to escape by taking the Grand Duke, Ghislaine, as a hostage.
Watching the slowly approaching knights, Ghislaine narrowed his eyes.
“Indeed, Desmond’s knights. They seem to be quite skilled.”
The knights stiffened.
They had joined the fight in Digald’s name.
They might have anticipated that an outside force would join due to the sudden increase in troops, but how did they know they were Desmond’s knights?
It was expected that the subordinate forces would interfere, but how on earth did they know they were Desmond’s knights?
Ghislaine chuckled as she watched the flustered knights.
“Come on in, it’s your first time meeting Perdium, right?”
“……Just do it!”
Since everything was already exposed, there was nothing to hold back.
The knights all directed their swords towards Ghislaine.
Clang! Clang!
Their attacks were blocked by Gillian and Kaor, who appeared like lightning on either side of Ghislaine.
Whoosh!
From behind Ghislaine, several daggers suddenly shot out from the shadows and struck the knights.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Gah!”
Three knights fell abruptly, their throats slit by the unexpected ambush.
At the same time, mercenaries pulled the triggers of their crossbows. Bolts flew through the air toward the knights.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Ugh!”
If the crossbow hits at such close range, it can even pierce armor.
The knights fell like porcupines.
Some managed to deflect the bolts with their swords, desperately using their mana, but they just barely avoided a fatal hit.
“Ugh…”
In the end, only five knights, including Dren, remained standing.
“Wow, five of you survived. The Desmond guys really sent the best, huh?”
Ghislaine approached them, admiring their tenacity.
Even though they would be combat ineffective after this, the fact that they survived such an attack meant they had decent skills.
“But standing must be tough now.”
The knights slumped to the ground, bleeding.
Dren gasped and pleaded as Ghislaine approached.
“Ugh… Please spare me. I was wrong. Grand Duke, please…”
“With our territory already short on knights… to think such an excellent knight would betray us, it breaks my heart. How did it come to this?”
Ghislaine sighed dramatically, receiving an axe from Gillian.
Seeing a chance of survival, Dren desperately clung to hope.
“Please spare me! I won’t betray you again! I know their plans…”
Crack!
Dren’s head was split open, his body toppling over.
“Not necessary.”
Ghislaine casually shook off the blood from the axe and moved closer to the remaining knights.
One knight, sensing danger, shouted urgently.
“I surrender! I surrender! Treat us as prisoners! We can offer a ransom…”
Crack!
The knight who was speaking also had his head split open and fell.
The brutal actions left the remaining knights in shock, rendering them speechless.
Killing a surrendering knight goes against tradition.
In all his years as a knight, he had never seen anyone kill like that without so much as a second thought.
“Why? Does it seem too harsh? Did you not think you’d die coming to assassinate us?”
Ghislaine, who had been smirking, suddenly hardened her expression.
If one keeps bending over backward according to common sense, tradition, and law, they would just be dragged along by these guys.
What does face or honor even matter?
Ghislaine’s goal was revenge against them.
The only important thing was the annihilation of her enemies.
Ghislaine slowly crouched before the knights and whispered softly.
“The first one to speak dies.”
“……”
“Even moving a finger means death.”
“……”
Under her chilling gaze, the knights couldn’t utter a word and kept their mouths shut.
“Answer only the questions I ask. If you take too long, you die.”
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