The Plains Battle
Stern kept a close watch on Elwin's forces.
The center keeps rising higher.
What had been invisible at first was now beginning to show itself — the enemy's central formation, slowly taking shape.
What are they thinking? Once the duel ends, I'll go take a look myself.
"Young Lord, will you leave them as they are?"
"It's fine. As long as we don't take the bait, even the most elaborate trap is useless."
Forty minutes had passed since the duel began. If no combat broke out, the match would be declared over within twenty minutes — and every trap they had labored to construct would come to nothing.
Another ten minutes slipped by.
Stern glanced at the judges standing at a distance. They, too, were watching the clock. The end of the duel could not be far off.
"Stay sharp! Do not let your guard down until the battle is over!"
The words were for his soldiers, but they were for himself as well. The situation had been so easy that even he had begun to relax.
And just as that bloodless battle seemed about to end, a tremendous roar thundered through the enemy lines.
BOOOOM!
"What was that!? What happened!?"
"Could it be that their own trap exploded?"
Was that it? Had they fallen into a pit of their own making?
But then several black dots entered his vision.
"What is that...?"
THUD.
THUD.
Four black spheres. They slammed into the ground around them.
"What are those? Send men to check!"
"Yes, sir!"
Before they could even inspect the black spheres, another massive detonation shook the air.
BOOOOM!
Once again, four black balls came screaming toward his army. As before, three of them landed elsewhere —
THUD.
"Aaaagh!"
"Aaaah!"
The force of the black spheres was devastating. Where they passed, only thick trails of blood remained.
"Casualties!?"
"At least ten, sir!"
"Damn it! So this was the card they were hiding!?"
With casualties confirmed, the engagement was now officially a battle. His plan to win by simply holding the center had evaporated. And the greater problem was this: they would have to go to the enemy. They could not simply stand there and take it.
"Advance!"
"All forces, advance!"
"Advance!"
BOOOOM!!
THUD.
THUD.
This time two iron balls tore through the ranks.
Is their accuracy improving?
"Disperse!"
"All forces, disperse!"
"Disperse!"
The black spheres could only strike soldiers in their path. If the men spread out, the damage would be limited.
"Double time!"
"All forces, double time!"
"Double time!"
The distance was still considerable. Breaking into a full run this early would exhaust them. They needed to close the gap at a controlled pace.
Once they had drawn near enough, Stern looked to the priests.
"Bless the soldiers. Now."
"Yes, Young Lord."
Light bloomed across the soldiers' bodies. He would press the enemy with these men, then shatter their formation with his knights.
"All forces — charge!"
"All forces, charge!"
"Charge!"
Two thousand soldiers fanned out wide and surged toward the enemy.
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
"Aaaaagh!"
"Aaaah!"
Thunderous blasts rang out, and soldiers toppled in clusters.
"What in the world...?"
Elwin's forces.
The four cannons had performed brilliantly.
First, their overwhelming range had forced the enemy to come to them. Second, the final volley of grapeshot had inflicted massive casualties. Instead of a single massive ball, they had packed clusters of smaller shot into the barrels — hastily improvised, but devastatingly effective.
"Pull the gunners back!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The artillerymen abandoned the cannons and withdrew into the Phalanx formation.
Moments later, the enemy soldiers closed to point-blank range.
"My lord! All enemy soldiers confirmed under blessing!"
As expected. The enemy had used their blessings on the rank and file. Against a Phalanx, they had little choice — and they would have needed the protection against crossbows as well.
But —
"Muskets, fire!"
BANG!
BANG!
Bullets cracked through the air, and enemy soldiers crumpled.
"Just as I thought!"
The priests' buffs had been enough to withstand crossbow bolts, but musket fire was another matter entirely.
The first rank of musketeers stepped back. As they withdrew to the rear, a fresh rank took their place. One hundred fifty musketeers, divided into five companies of thirty. With this rotation, they could fire successive volleys in under ten seconds.
"Muskets, fire!"
BANG!
BANG!
Thrown into disarray by the gunfire, the enemy charged the Phalanx. Blessed soldiers against an unblessed Phalanx — yet even troops enhanced by holy power could not break through the wall of spears.
And all the while —
BANG!
BANG!
— the musketeers kept firing.
"My lord, the infantry engagement is an overwhelming victory for our side!"
"They'll move soon enough."
The enemy still had their core force remaining: one hundred knights. They would act now.
"My lord! Enemy knights forming for a charge!"
As expected. They could not simply stand by and watch this unfold.
"Cease fire! Muskets, reload and stand by."
The crack of gunfire faded, and the smoke that had hazed the air began to thin.
"Priests! Bless the mercenaries!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The enemy had spent their holy power on ordinary soldiers. Elwin intended to spend his on the mercenaries. The priests worked their blessings, and light flared across the mercenaries' bodies.
"Enemy knights charging!"
The knights formed a wedge and thundered toward the Phalanx.
"Target the knights!"
One hundred fifty muzzles swung as one toward the oncoming cavalry. The distance closed —
"Volley fire!"
BANG!
BANG!
In less than two seconds, one hundred fifty muskets discharged as a single thunderclap. Smoke billowed thick across the field, blotting out the view ahead.
Through the haze, Elwin recalled the results of their firearms trials. A Sword Expert could reinforce himself with mana and withstand a bullet. At their current level, the rounds could barely even pierce a knight's full plate armor.
But...
The wind thinned the smoke.
"Waaaaah!!"
The Phalanx troops roared first. Only then did the battlefield come into view.
The result: twenty horses at the head of the charge lay sprawled across the field. The knights' charge had collapsed.
Even a knight who can bat aside a crossbow bolt can't stop a bullet.
Bullets were faster. Smaller, too. No one could intercept all one hundred fifty of them.
"Inon! Mercenaries, advance!"
The Phalanx ranks parted, and one hundred fifty mercenaries poured onto the field.
In the meantime, the musketeers had finished reloading.
"Muskets! Volley fire on the knights!"
BANG!
BANG!
Before the knights could even grasp what was happening, another one hundred fifty rounds tore into them. The shots did little to the knights themselves — but they dropped more than twenty additional horses. Two full volleys had disabled fifty percent of the enemy's mounts.
At the sight of his fallen knights, Stern's heart plummeted.
"Wh... what?"
He could afford to lose two thousand soldiers. He could not afford to lose one hundred knights. Knights were the very foundation of Valois's power.
"Pull them back — pull the knights back immediately!"
A horn blast rolled across the battlefield, and the knights retreated to the main force. Fortunately, not a single one had been killed.
"Are you all unharmed?"
"Our apologies, Young Lord."
Looking closer, he saw no wounded either. But their armor was pocked with deep dents in dozens of places.
"What happened?"
"There was a loud noise, and then something very small came flying at us."
"Something very small? Why couldn't you stop it?"
What was a knight, if not a being who used mana to surpass human limits?
"Forgive us. One or two we could have blocked, but dozens came at once. And protecting the horses as well..."
Stern lifted his gaze to the battlefield.
Just how far ahead has Elwin planned this?
Had he anticipated all of this since the Battle of Paonia? Was that why he had kept these weapons hidden?
A man of exceptional cunning.
"Young Lord! Enemy mercenaries are attacking our archers!"
Even in the brief span of his thoughts, the battle had kept moving. While the knights withdrew, the enemy had sent one hundred fifty mercenaries against the archers.
"At this rate, they'll be wiped out."
The archers had been few to begin with. It was already too late to save them. The real problem was what came next — if those mercenaries finished the archers and then struck the infantry from behind...
"Young Lord! Give us another chance. If we use mana, we can protect the horses as well."
Those small projectiles had failed to pierce full plate. That meant they would not pierce a knight's mana either.
"Won't that drain your mana heavily?"
"Their weapons require time to prepare. If we block just once, we can smash through their infantry and reach the center in a single charge."
It was no easy plan. They would have to punch straight through the enemy, thrash the center, and fight their way back out again.
"Don't overdo it. Even if we lose this duel, I will not lose you."
Drawing on the reserve mounts as well, seventy knights formed up for the charge.
Elwin's forces.
"Enemy knights reforming for a charge!"
The knights were coming again. They had no other choice. If things continued as they were, the battle would be decided.
"Muskets! Reload and stand by!"
He already knew how they would respond. It had been covered in the strategy meeting.
They'll externalize their mana to shield the horses as well.
A costly method in terms of mana. But if they weathered just one or two volleys, the charge would succeed.
"Enemy knights charging!"
"Muskets! Target the knights!"
The knight order closed the distance —
"Volley fire!"
BANG!
BANG!
One hundred fifty rounds streaked toward the knights. And this time, unlike before, not a single horse fell.
Just as expected — they were shielding themselves with mana. Firearms alone would no longer be enough.
Instead —
"Priests!"
The enemy's thirty priests had blessed two thousand soldiers. Elwin's ten priests, by contrast, had blessed one hundred fifty mercenaries. Relatively speaking, holy power remained in reserve.
As the enemy knights closed in, the Phalanx soldiers in their path suddenly blazed with light.
And a moment later —
CRAAAASH!!
CRAAAASH!!
A roar unlike any cannon or musket thundered across the battlefield.