“Vice Commander! Please give the order to charge!”
“Not yet.”
While the soldiers on either side were shouting, Darius ground his teeth as he stared at the front.
Watching the handful of Suppression Army cavalry sweep through his side, tears of blood flowed down his face.
“Vice Commander! We must launch a surprise attack right now!”
“I will wait until the troops have gathered.”
There was no meaning in a surprise attack now. The enemy must have already noticed we were assembling.
However, judging by how tightly the main gate was shut, it seemed the enemy had no intention of fleeing inward.
They were preparing for a final counterattack.
Then, we had to gather every available cavalry force and clash against them right now.
So those cockroaches wouldn’t move again.
The remaining forces had to be thoroughly crushed.
“The cavalry forces of the 4th Castle have all gathered! Are you planning to gather more from the other castles?”
“No, this is enough. Prepare to charge.”
“Prepare to charge!”
Finally, the order to prepare for the charge was given, and the cavalry began moving in perfect unison.
Swift and precise, just as they had been trained.
With the determination to establish the subhuman kingdom upon this prairie ingrained into their maneuvering.
Before long, a cavalry force of nearly 1000 had formed a solid line.
‘Their skill is certainly superior to that of the Suppression Army.’
When they clashed head-on, our elite cavalry wouldn’t flee in fear.
But the problem lay in the difference in skills.
The enemy would surely identify the thinnest part of our formation and attempt to break through that weak point.
Once the formation fell apart, no matter how superior our numbers, we would simply be picked off one by one.
That was why this formation had been established.
Backed thickly from behind, ensuring no breakthrough while surpassing the enemy in width.
With this numerical advantage, the difference in skills could be ignored.
“Charge!”
“Chaaaaarge!!!”
As Darius’s command was echoed, the charge formation began to advance.
From far away, the enemy was also seen charging toward them.
Their formation was indeed wedge-shaped.
Could they really believe that such a small number could break through?
Or had they chosen the path of glorious death rather than starving in the fortress?
There was no way to ascertain their expressions through the iron helmets.
“Spread the formation!”
Just as they reached full speed, Darius’s command came down.
Then, the cavalry supporting the flanks accelerated and burst out.
A formation wrapping around the enemy like a crane spreading its wings.
It was a tactic to block any possibility of the enemy pivoting and attacking from behind at the last moment.
‘What’s that?’
As they got closer, they could see pairs of people riding horses inside the enemy’s formation.
It must have been due to a shortage of mounts.
Darius’s certainty swelled as he observed that the enemy had come out for one last struggle.
In a bid to show loyalty to that esteemed Emperor, they had launched a suicidal attack.
They had won.
Finally, they would completely annihilate the Suppression Army.
Just shy of 50 meters from the enemy, all the subhuman cavalry felt that certainty.
*Gruugrugru…!*
“Don’t be nervous! We’ve won!”
“Woooohhhh!!!”
The enemy’s charge finally pierced inside the wings.
The time to retreat had long passed.
And yet the enemy was further increasing their speed.
Madmen.
They were not even fighting for their lives, freedom, or dignity; why were they struggling so desperately?
“Smash the enemy!!”
The moment the enemy was right at hand.
Darius blurted as if in disbelief.
Just before the collision, the faces of the subhuman cavalry turned pale.
It was difficult to explain accurately, but an overwhelming sense of death’s fear engulfed them.
It was an instinct etched in their genes from the ancient days when their ancestors waged war with the Majin.
Among them, those particularly sensitive to mana could sense it.
An immense amount of mana was being woven into spell right before their eyes.
However, there was no way to evade it.
The charge formation was locked into full speed, densely packed with no gaps to escape.
In that moment, a flash lit up before the eyes of the subhumans.
“We must run away…!”
*BOOM!*
In an instant, the flash covered the ground.
The deafening noise ruptured their eardrums, and smoke clouded their vision, leaving the subhumans utterly oblivious to what was happening.
When they finally shook their heads to regain their senses –
“What the…!”
They could see the ground had been gouged out.
And quite suddenly, both sides of their formation were completely empty.
In the wake of the sudden noise, their horses panicked, and the soldiers were flustered, wandering aimlessly.
“Break through!”
“Huh…?”
“AAAH!”
The enemy’s wedge had pierced through.
They surged in like a tide through the nearly empty gap.
The subhuman cavalry, attempting to resist and clash back, were simply swept away, rolling ineffectively on the ground.
Eventually, as the wedge broke through the formation, the wedge formation quickly dispersed, turning to target the rear of the crane formation.
“Retreat! Fall back!”
“Run awayaaah!”
Turning around to face an enemy in a tightly packed formation was impossible.
In fact, the moment the flash shot out and crushed the formation, the outcome had already been decided.
The learned fear that the same magic could strike again was inscribed within the subhumans’ minds, and the formation began to break apart, each fleeing in different directions.
Some turned to counterattack, but their disorganized charge was mercilessly picked apart.
“Stop chasing! We’re within range of the enemy archers!”
As the subhuman cavalry, fleeing in a daze, finally reached the 4th Castle, it was only then that the Suppression Army gave up the pursuit and went back to the fortress.
*
A monumental counterattack.
They had done it.
While chasing and slashing at the enemy for a long time, they hadn’t realized it, but as they returned to the fortress exhausted, it dawned on them.
“Wooow…”
They could see the long streaks carved into the ground in three different parts.
The maximum firepower unleashed by Aintz.
The heat of the attack was likely enough to vaporize a person.
To maximize its effectiveness, it was crucial to get as close to the enemy as possible.
So close that their spear tips nearly brushed against each other.
At that life-or-death moment, Aintz astonishingly didn’t panic and successfully fired the spell.
One blast from either wing and one aimed at the front where the Vice Commander stood.
Three fire bursts were sufficient to completely shatter the enemy formation.
Thanks to the enemy charging in a clustered formation, the damage was particularly severe.
What followed was obvious.
In a heartbeat, half of their forces evaporated, and how could any soldier maintain their composure?
Naturally, the enemy was allowed to break through, and they could only flee without launching a proper counterattack.
“How many did I kill?”
“………”
The area was littered with the corpses of horses and subhumans.
At a guess, Aintz’s flame magic must have killed at least 200 on the spot.
And about 100 were killed in the chase.
Adding to that the 200 who had surrendered and were captured.
Estimated enemy casualties were 300 dead and 200 captured.
So, they had obliterated half of the enemy cavalry’s main force.
In comparison, their own losses were just two.
One knight who broke his leg when his horse fell upon collision.
And Aintz, who was dizzy from motion sickness, was all they had.
“Vice Commander! Open your eyes! Vice Commander!”
“Darius!”
The prisoners were clustered together, making a ruckus.
As I tried to approach, Pelaine reached out to stop me.
“It could be a trap. Let me check first.”
“It’s fine. They are all unarmed, aren’t they?”
“………”
I shook off that arm and bravely dismounted.
A few unarmed subhumans rushing at me wouldn’t matter.
It would be quicker to draw my Vafe.
I drew my sword and pushed through the prisoners along with Trie and Pelaine.
“Vice Commander…”
Then I found prisoners weeping over a corpse.
No, not a corpse.
What remained was a torso, and it was still blinking.
Is that Darius?
The leader of the subhuman rebellion.
The great gladiator who taught the slaves about freedom.
It seemed he must have been caught up while dodging magic and had his lower half blown away.
I slowly walked up to him and stood before him.
“Schlus Hainkel…”
“Darius.”
What was his last name again?
After rummaging through my memory for a while, I quickly shut my mouth.
A slave didn’t have a last name.
Even after being freed by Lorraine, he never wanted one.
He would not forget his days as a slave.
Right. Just Darius.
“Do… Do you really hate us subhumans that much…?”
Wrong.
I didn’t have such trivial emotions.
You threatened the unity of the Empire, and I only came here to prevent that.
It was purely unfortunate that your justice clashed with my own.
That was the entire story.
“I pay my respects. Voyager in search of freedom. I vow this: Subhumans in this land will never return to the status of slaves. Though Lorraine who rose against the Empire may be brought to their knees, those who inherit your will will not lose their freedom.”
“The slavery liberation decree… you mean it wasn’t a facade…?”
“I do not lie. Feel free to believe me.”
“Damn… How can I… Ugh. Cough…!”
Darius spat out blood, trailing off as though he were nearing his end.
Still, even managing to converse in this state was no ordinary feat of willpower.
“I will believe you, Schlus Hainkel… I will trust you just this once…”
With that, he closed his eyes.
Even to the end, for the sake of the subhumans.
Though he could have left a dying message resisting this doubt against me, he chose instead to express unyielding trust.
Then the prisoners would have charged at me, burning with hatred.
He was fully aware that this would lead to their total annihilation for the 200 subhumans.
In the end, he left a legacy of trusting that I wouldn’t betray him, despite not truly placing his faith in me.
He was quite an admirable being.
“May I… may I hold a funeral?”
“………”
A subhuman soldier approached me with tears streaming down his face.
Startled, Trie and Pelaine pointed their swords at him.
As blood trickled from his cheek brushed by the blade, he seemed utterly unfazed.
“Is there a specific way for subhumans to hold funerals?”
“Yes? Not particularly, but…”
“Then, I will have Darius’s body retrieved.”
“Schlus-nim! Ugh!”
I forcefully yanked his hand away and turned.
“Please! Just the body!”
“I will handle the funeral on our side.”
“Y-Yes…? What does that mean—”
“Darius has just been appointed as my direct knight. Thus, it is only appropriate to hold a national funeral, just like the other knights.”
“………”
I stepped forward, leaving behind the astonished prisoners.
Soon, the subhumans parted like the Red Sea, creating a clear path.
