Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Ambush
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A cavalry force composed of Count Brandenburg, the Holy Sword Master, and the Order of Saint Magdalena under his command, and another cavalry force of the Iron Cross Knights, who had voluntarily joined the battle to uphold their loyalty to Lord Sephylia, the Demon Sword.
The mobile strike forces, each led by one of the Empire's two greatest knights, were mercilessly trampling the Lancaster Duchy.
Any hasty attempt to send a pursuit team to subdue them was thwarted by the presence of the 'exceptional powers' leading them.
Furthermore, if a large-scale force were to be carelessly mobilized against them, the main army of House York, waiting at the border where the two territories met, was a thorn in their side. At least, that was the case from the Lancaster perspective.
This did not apply to the 'Black Prince,' who remained silent.
***
The small city of Polvernum in the Lancaster Duchy.
A wind blew, and men in plague doctor masks appeared before the 'Shadow Lord' to whom they pledged their loyalty.
"The mobile strike force of three hundred, led by the Holy Sword Master and the Order of Saint Magdalena, has begun to move."
When the first few raids were carried out, all Dale could do was wait.
The leadership of House Lancaster was no different.
But as the cavalry led by two of the Seven Swords continued to invade the duchy, the area in which they could conduct their harassment tactics steadily shrank.
Even for the Seven Swords, venturing deeper than necessary was impossible. If communication with the main force was cut off and they were defeated piecemeal, the double-edged sword of guerrilla warfare would be turned against them.
Therefore, predicting their route of advance, which would be confined to maintaining a minimum distance, was not particularly difficult.
At least, not for Dale, who commanded the 'continent's foremost assassination organization' and utilized them as intelligence agents.
"..."
Hearing the report from the high-ranking assassin performing reconnaissance, Dale nodded silently. At the same time, the Night Raven Knight guarding Dale's side spoke up.
"The evacuation of the city's residents is complete."
This city, Polvernum, was by no means grand or magnificent. However, it had enough stone structures, city walls, and a maze-like street layout to call itself a 'city'.
A perfect battlefield for urban warfare.
"This ambush will only work once."
But with this one-time ambush, they would inflict irreparable damage upon House York.
Even if the enemy was aware of the 'Black Prince's' existence, they could not possibly know about the Shadow Court and the Killing Sword under his command. Their most guarded-against foe would be the 'Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster,' and House York's intelligence agents would be focused solely on his movements.
That was the very blind spot Dale was exploiting.
From the beginning, the forces of the 'Shadow Court' under Dale's command had not been stationed within the Lancaster Duchy.
House York's scouts were likely already scattered throughout the Lancaster Duchy, monitoring their forces and any suspicious movements.
Therefore, Dale was the only one to show himself openly, while he had the Shadow Court's top assets, including the Killing Sword, lie in wait in a remote area a fair distance from the Lancaster Duchy.
Then, as the Lancaster Duchy was being unilaterally ravaged and the 'mobile strike force' began to move deeper into the territory...
Dale and the high-ranking assassins of the 'Shadow Court' began to move. From the outside, beyond the reach of York's surveillance network, they moved to intercept the strike force led by one of the continent's Seven Swords.
No matter how many spies York had within the duchy, they would be unable to track movements originating from outside the territory.
The high-ranking assassins trained by Master Baro, the Killing Sword, were no mere bandits. They were armed with discipline and military conduct rivaling the knightly orders of the Empire's great lords, yet they were also ruthless blades of assassins, unbound by the codes of chivalry.
And the place where these two forces would clash was by no means the cavalry's home ground.
It was here, in the streets of the small ducal city of Polvernum.
Using exceptional powers as part of 'strategy and tactics' was by no means a patent held by House York.
All that remained was to wait for his prey to walk into the trap he had laid.
***
In war, the inevitable always happens. For instance, a noble knight bearing the title of Holy Sword Master, no matter how hideous his avatar might be... was still, in his own way, a knight with a code of chivalry.
Thus, the act of plundering the lands of the Lancaster Duchy, which lacked the ability to resist, was not something he relished.
But what choice did he have? The great 'House York' had proposed a marriage to his son, the scoundrel Phillip, suggesting an alliance between their two families. Phillip, known as the continent's greatest loser and by the most disgraceful of names, was a figure to be shunned, even if his father was the proud wielder of the Holy Sword.
No one in the Empire expected Phillip to become the 'successor to the Holy Sword.' In other words, the proud glory of the count's house would end with his generation. Even the Holy Sword Master himself did not doubt this fact.
And yet, the second daughter of House York, one of the Empire's great houses, had extended her hand!
Therefore, all the Holy Sword Master could do was live up to their faith in him. Even if the acts required were filthy, vile, and utterly despicable.
Tightening his grip on his sword, Count Brandenburg, the Holy Sword Master, raised his head.
The small city of Polvernum in the Lancaster Duchy.
Hearing news of the pillaging throughout the duchy, most of the city's inhabitants would have already fled. Nevertheless, the Holy Sword Master was unconcerned.
He understood the value of seizing what they left behind in their hasty escape, and even if there was nothing, he knew the terror that burning this city to the ground would instill in the people of the Lancaster Duchy.
The entrance to the city of Polvernum was wide open, and none would dare stand in the way of the Holy Sword Master and the cavalry he commanded.
"It seems all the townspeople have evacuated."
At the scout's report, Count Brandenburg, the Holy Sword Master, gave a silent nod.
"House York has requested that we burn Lancaster's lands and cities to the ground."
After nodding, the Holy Sword Master silently spurred his horse onward.
"As per House York's request, we will not return until this entire city is burned to ashes."
"We obey your command!"
At the Holy Sword Master's command, his men bowed their heads in unison.
They paid no mind to the ominous silence that had fallen over Polvernum, the city before them.
***
A dead silence had fallen. But the silence itself was to be expected.
Along the border where the Lancaster and York duchies met, the cavalry led by two of the Seven Swords had already been repeating acts of plunder and arson... It was obvious where their next target would be.
And so, the cavalry led by Count Brandenburg, the Holy Sword Master, rode without suspicion through the streets of the small Lancaster city of 'Polvernum.'
Until they passed through the city's densely packed stone structures and fell into the bottleneck trap of its narrow streets, where a line formation was impossible.
However, it wasn't that they didn't understand the meaning of a trap. Even if they were caught in one, they had one of the continent's Seven Swords and the powerful knights of the Order of Saint Magdalena with them.
As long as the 'Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster' didn't move personally—and with House York's spies closely monitoring his every move—nothing would change. Everyone believed this without a doubt.
That was the true value of 'exceptional powers' when they were integrated into strategy and tactics.
And it was then, as they were crossing the crushed-stone streets of the small ducal city of 'Polvernum.'
──CRACK!
Suddenly, a sound rang out. A sound whose meaning they could not comprehend.
It was a gunshot.
"Ambush! It's an ambush...!"
Abruptly, a knight following the Holy Sword Master fell from his horse. An impossibly large hole had been punched through the helmet meant to protect his skull, shattering the bone and sending brain matter spilling out.
CRACK!
Another gunshot echoed, and another knight collapsed from his saddle.
Even as they hastily assumed a defensive posture in their confusion, it made no difference.
Between plates of armor, between shields, between men... literal 'death' was raining down.
"Th-the enemy is just using simple bolt magic! Don't be afraid! Hold your defensive positions!"
A knight of Saint Magdalena shouted urgently, and his assessment was, to some extent, correct.
Except for the fact that what was currently striking them far surpassed the power of 'simple bolt magic.'
CRACK!
The gunshots rang out endlessly. Horses panicked and reared, and with each shot, a knight's helmet, skull, and brain exploded, scattering in all directions.
Bolt magic whose trajectory even knights who had reached the level of Aura Knight could not perceive.
'Impossible...!'
Moreover, the 'wielder of this bolt magic' was not targeting the Holy Sword Master or the other Aura Master-level knights. No matter how unconventional the bolt magic was, it was impossible to instantly kill knights capable of manifesting an avatar.
Thus, it systematically targeted knights at or below the Aura Knight level, firing 'bullets of death' like a plague of fear to break the cavalry's morale.
Sniping. A sniper rifle.
A sniper, whose location was completely unknown, was raining down the 'essence of slaughter' upon the knights crossing the city streets.
An unknown, unseen enemy was delivering 'unknown death,' and for that reason, there was only one decision a commander with any common sense could make.
"Retreat! Turn your horses around and get out of the city now!"
CRACK!
Before he could even finish his sentence, another bullet struck. An Aura Knight fell from his horse and collapsed.
At the same time, the men who received the Holy Sword Master's order turned their horses without hesitation and began to flee the city.
Or rather, they tried to.
—Now.
Until the 'command' from the sniper hunting them from across the walls and streets of 'Polvernum' was given.
KABOOM!
An explosion erupted. It was a detonation calculated from the start to bring down the city's structures.
The stone structures at the city's entrance and at the junctions connecting its streets began to collapse all at once.
CRACK!
And as they panicked, trapped with no escape, the sniper's actions remained unchanged.
He simply pulled the trigger, took a life, and pulled the trigger again.