Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Coming War
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Some time later, in the conference room of Duke Sachsen's castle.
Duke Sachsen stared at the table, receiving reports on the war's progress from unseen fronts.
A great mountain range lay between the Demon Lord's territory and the Duchy of Sachsen. Furthermore, a dense defense-in-depth line had been established, with multiple layers of fortresses built across the mountain passes.
These were the mountain fortresses garrisoned by the ranger unit, the 'Winter Watchers'.
And even if the enemy broke through the mountain fortresses and crossed the range after fierce battles... they would then face another line of forts built every few kilometers within the duchy, blocking strategic points such as river crossings and major thoroughfares.
"We have a report that the northern lords who deployed earlier and the Winter Watchers' defense force have begun retreating from the 9th Mountain Fortress."
"They report having burned all supplies that couldn't be transported before the retreat."
"It seems it's about time to deploy the field army."
Lord Helmut remarked, pointing at the map.
Some of the lords and troops summoned by Duke Sachsen had already joined the fortress garrisons, and fierce battles were still unfolding.
Yet, the great Lord Black remained silent for one reason alone.
To steadily wear down the enemy's offensive and stamina through relentless sequential defense and scorched-earth tactics. Then, the main force, with its powerful striking capability, would annihilate the enemy at the final line in a conventional assault.
Defense-in-depth.
Waiting until the very last moment to deliver a decisive blow and crush the enemy. The time to finally pull the trigger was approaching.
"We will halt the enemy's main force at the upper reaches of the Sachsen River and annihilate them there."
"Understood, Your Grace."
In that regard, the upper Sachsen River was an inviolable final line. If the enemy crossed the river and scattered to pillage the duchy, the damage would become uncontrollable.
"Inform the lords to prepare for deployment."
Just as they had once stopped a thousand orcs there, but this time, the scale would be incomparable.
***
Ahead of the coming campaign, in Duke Sachsen's office.
"Separate from the main force, I will entrust you with a mobile strike team composed of three hundred Night Raven Knights."
There, Duke Sachsen bestowed a grave responsibility upon the 'Black Prince'. He was entrusting him with a detachment that would operate separately from the main army, granting him what was effectively an independent command structure.
"Furthermore, Lady Sephia has agreed to assist you."
"......!"
Sephia, the 6th-circle elven mage. Dale gasped in surprise at the unexpected news.
"But the Blue Magic Tower's policy is not to intervene in worldly conflicts..."
"She is already the 'Chief Advisor' to our House Sachsen."
Lord Black continued impassively.
"Besides, defending human territory against demons can hardly be considered a 'worldly dispute'."
"Is that Teacher Sephia's will?"
Dale asked, and Duke Sachsen nodded.
"Once the large-scale clash between the two fronts begins, you will move your unit based solely on your own decisions."
It was a decision made possible only by the great victory in the 'Black and White Battle' and the resulting faith in Dale's strategic acumen.
"Trust me, Father."
Thus, Dale did not hesitate. Living up to expectations was familiar work for him.
"Lastly, there is one more thing I would like to ask."
"Speak."
After a nod, Dale spoke, recalling the image of a girl who wielded the black sword of House Sachsen more skillfully than anyone.
"Please place the young Divine Sword... into the unit I will command."
***
There stood a girl, clad head to toe in black armor.
Like Dale's own armor from before, it was the armor of a Night Raven Knight, custom-made to fit Charlotte's frame. But in her hand was not a rapier, but the two-handed greatsword of House Sachsen.
"You look truly dependable."
"Of course. I'm the honor guard who will protect the great 'Black Prince' himself."
Dale smiled quietly at Charlotte's words. His face was hidden by his black helm. After all, it was necessary to avoid revealing her identity.
But Charlotte was no longer a girl who needed to be unilaterally protected.
Dale wasn't the only young genius growing under the protection of House Sachsen. She had endured dozens of harsh, real-life battles alongside her master, Lord Helmut, and had reached a level where she could stand beside the 'Aura Knights' of House Sachsen despite her young age.
A sword prodigy who, through the power of aura, freely wielded a House Sachsen greatsword larger than her own body.
At least when it came to the 'sword', her talent surpassed Dale's.
The black sword of House Sachsen, dyed as dark as ink, was proof of that.
A jet-black aura blade.
A form of aura that existed to serve House Sachsen with loyalty, in life and in death.
"...Let's make a promise."
Dale spoke, looking at her.
"Okay."
"Don't die."
"...What?"
But at his words, Charlotte tilted her head for a moment.
"Isn't risking one's life for their lord..."
"A knight's duty?"
Dale cut her off.
"Shall I teach you a knight's true duty?"
After interrupting, Dale asked. Charlotte silently awaited his answer.
"It's not betraying your lord's trust."
Dale said.
"And I don't want you to die."
His voice held not a hint of hesitation.
"This is not the battlefield where you will die."
Charlotte caught her breath for a moment. But her agitation was brief.
"Okay."
And so, as a knight loyal to her lord, Charlotte quietly knelt before Dale. She plunged the black sword of House Sachsen into the ground before her.
She thought how truly fortunate it was that her expression was hidden beneath her helm.
***
To counter the orc warlord beginning its southward march, the main force led by Duke Sachsen began its deployment.
Unable to endure the harsh environment of the Demon Lord's territory, they were a race of demi-humans locked in a constant struggle for survival. That was the nature of the demons. They held no grand, evil cause to taint the world with darkness.
'That's what makes them all the more troublesome.'
Although it couldn't compare to the unprecedented scale of the migration once led by the being called the 'Demon Lord', large-scale demon movements of a significant size had occurred from time to time since then.
Each time, Duke Sachsen would summon the northern lords, but at the decisive moment, he would use the 'power of black magic' to minimize casualties.
As the 8th-circle black mage who stood at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower.
And the fact that 'Lord Black' himself was leading the main force meant only one thing. Although he had entrusted Dale with the mobile strike team, he ultimately intended to decide this battle with his own hands.
By using the power of the man the Empire feared most.
***
The upper Sachsen River.
A point several kilometers away from the main force's camp, commanded by 'Duke Sachsen'.
This was where the mobile strike team, composed of Dale and three hundred Night Raven Knights, had taken up their position.
Along with Lord Veil of Baskerville, who assisted Dale as always, his honor guard Charlotte, and the 6th-circle elven mage Sephia.
But here, at least, Sephia was not Dale's 'teacher'. She was with him purely as an adjutant who followed his orders.
And at dawn that day, in the barracks of Dale's mobile strike team.
The night was deep, but the elven mage Sephia could not sleep. She simply left her tent and walked aimlessly, gazing at the stars adorning the night sky.
She had become the teacher of the most talented child on the continent, and before she knew it, had become a person of the Ducal House, swept up in the tides of the world. It had been a decision made solely to guide Dale correctly, and she believed that to be her mission.
"Lady Sephia."
And when Dale, who also couldn't sleep, called her name.
"Dale."
Sephia realized she no longer treated Dale as the 'object of her mission'.
"Can't you sleep?"
"Why did you accept my father's offer?"
Dale asked in return.
"I am merely fulfilling my mission."
Sephia answered.
This child possessed a talent more brilliant and, at the same time, more dangerous than anything she had ever encountered. That was why, as Dale's teacher, she wanted to guide him down the right path.
That was Sephia's mission.
Then, when she came to her senses, she realized that this child's world was filled with a chilling coldness and solitude.
A world of thought filled with an endless horizon of emptiness and nihilism. And that world craved her.
Alone and lonely in a solitude so profound it was bone-chilling.
That fact was so pitiful and endearing that she couldn't bear it. The fact that she was the only one who had realized this child's emptiness, and moreover, the only one who could fill it.
"...Didn't I promise I would stay by your side?"
"Thank you."
Sephia replied, her face blushing. Seeing her, Dale smiled softly.
The night sky was incredibly black and dark.
***
The first battle began sooner than expected.
Ahead of the main force's river crossing at the shallows, a small orc unit had attempted to cross the river a dozen or so kilometers upstream.
When numbers were small, it wasn't difficult to get a small force across a river using rafts or temporary pontoon bridges. And the unit that precisely intercepted this small orc force was Dale's 'mobile strike team'.
"Charge!"
Dale entrusted command of four fifty-man cavalry battalions to 'Lord Veil of Baskerville', while the two battalions under his direct command remained as the rearguard to prepare for any contingencies.
But the enemy had crossed the river after a forced march of a dozen kilometers, and they had no reinforcements to help them.
A cavalry charge descended upon the isolated, small band of orc infantry. It was a literal slaughter.
After that, the orcs continued with several more small-scale crossings to harass them, and it was the duty of Dale's mobile strike team to pick them off.
A short while later, realizing their diversions were ineffective, a horde of several thousand orcs began a forced push across the main crossing point, which was defended by Duke Sachsen's main force.
A storming party composed of the strongest and fiercest elites from the tribes, under the command of an 'Orc Warboss'.
Mounted on massive wolves that made the warhorses of the north look like ponies.
"Graaaaaah!"
The monstrous roars of the orc riders and their wolves echoed, seemingly tearing the heavens and the earth apart. The curtain had finally risen on the battle.
Then, just as the two fronts clashed and a fierce battle began... Dale's three hundred cavalrymen had just finished crossing the river in the opposite direction, to the northern bank where the orcs' main force was located.
Heading for the rear of the enemy force, which was left exposed and unguarded, its attention fixed on the frontal assault.
However, they were completely unaware of the ambush that lay in wait.