Chapter 227: Infiltration
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 227: Infiltration
Whenever I met Vivian, she was always disguised as an old woman. The last time I saw her true face was when she abandoned me and left.
It had been nearly twenty years, and the memory was hazy. And yet, I recognized her in a single glance.
Was it because of her bright blonde hair, the same as my sister’s and mine? Or her delicate features, so reminiscent of Aenya? Perhaps it was her eyes, which I caught glimpses of under her hood whenever she moved.
So that’s who she resembled.
Those eyes, which seemed to look down upon the world, were just like mine. No, it was I who resembled her.
Before I knew it, I was searching for myself in her face, just like the child I once was, who had desperately tried to win her love…
I wanted to reveal my identity right then and there and demand answers. Why did you have to abandon me? Why did you try to kill me? Why were you so cruel to the child you bore?
I wanted to hear it from her own lips, not through someone else. Only then, I felt, could I decide her fate.
They say blood is thicker than water.
The moment I faced her, I felt not a fierce desire for revenge, but an instinctual pull.
It must have been because of the blood we shared. Even though Vivian had abandoned me and tried to kill me, we were bound by the powerful shackles of kinship.
My feelings were a tangled mess. If she knew who I was, would she feel the same? I had finally found her, but the questions only multiplied.
However, I still had to be patient.
To learn her true feelings. And to prepare for a future where I might need to exact my revenge in a way she would never want.
I’ve waited twenty years. A little longer won’t be so difficult.
Vivian paid no attention to me, a low-ranking soldier among Duke Philippe’s suddenly expanded guard. To be precise, she didn’t have the luxury.
“Before we begin the meeting, we must root out the traitor who colluded with the enemy! Otherwise, what good are strategies and tactics?!”
It was King Arispo who fired the first shot. His gaze was fixed on Duke Philippe.
“Why do you say that while looking at me?!”
“The Duke should know better than anyone.”
“What did you say?”
“Hmph! They say the first time is hard, but the second is easy! The way the Duke’s cavalry acted so unlike an ally in the last battle is proof enough! How could they have behaved that way unless they had some other scheme in mind?”
Duke Philippe forced a smile onto his contorted face.
“To think you’re still holding onto that, even after I’ve explained it thoroughly. How petty of you!”
“What!”
“Putting your personal feelings before our great cause! In fact, aren’t you the one colluding with Duke Babel to get revenge on me for that incident?”
“Do you think you can just say whatever you please?!”
This time, it was King Arispo’s face that twisted in anger. The atmosphere in the meeting grew hostile as the two men blamed each other the moment their eyes met.
Vivian, who needed to mediate between them to stand against me, had her hands full.
“The secret letter is a trick by the enemy to sow discord among us. The Emperor, who holds three continents in his hand, is backing Duke Babel. Why would he need another ally?”
Duke Philippe nodded, but still shot a sideways glance at King Arispo and muttered, “A narrow-minded person who doesn’t know what’s important might have been completely fooled by the enemy.”
King Arispo snorted.
“Hmph. If there is a traitor among us, it would be the one who actually benefited the enemy. Like an idiot who boasts about taking one or two thousand enemy heads after throwing five thousand allied cavalry to the wolves.”
Sparks seemed to fly where their gazes met.
“Hah…”
My attention was focused on Vivian, not the two men, and I heard her let out a small sigh.
Watching her struggle between the two giants, I felt as though all the effort I’d put into getting here was being rewarded.
“That’s enough. This is not the time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves. The army of the Western Continent has appeared. Do you truly not understand what that means?”
“…”
When the two men fell silent as if they’d had their tongues cut out, Vivian took another deep breath and continued.
“Just as I warned, the Emperor has begun to extend his demonic grasp to the Southern Continent. The heavy cavalry must be the vanguard. We must unify the South and finish our preparations to resist him before his main forces arrive.”
Once the Emperor arrived, the two men would lose the power they had enjoyed until now in a single day.
Only after Vivian’s warning did the two men seem to regain their sense of urgency and calm down.
Of course, the glares they shot each other were still sharp, and Vivian, having barely succeeded in mediating, pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed again.
Tsk, she’s just making things harder for herself.
As I continued to watch Vivian struggle, the feeling of enjoyment gradually faded.
If she was going to abandon me, she should have at least lived well. Did she leave me just to end up like this?
Her gender, her taboo status as a witch, and her lack of a power base in the Southern Continent were no excuses.
She had an advantage that offset all those shortcomings: she knew the future.
It was pearls before swine. Her fall to this state was her own fault for not making full use of the power she possessed.
Of course, this judgment was merely a product of my own high standards. Vivian had brilliantly managed the two fiercely opposed powerful men.
“Duke Philippe will command the cavalry, and King Arispo will command the infantry.”
Vivian clearly delineated their roles. She had concluded that the cause of their previous failure was the lack of clear responsibility.
“I will say this again: if either side fails to fulfill its role, both will suffer a devastating blow.”
The tactic she proposed was a classic hammer and anvil. It was a strategy where both sides would suffer greatly if the infantry, acting as the anvil, couldn't hold, or if the cavalry failed to achieve swift results.
She had created a structure where the two powerful men couldn't betray each other. But that wasn't the only solution born from Vivian's deliberation.
“We will use an oblique formation.”
The right-flank cavalry was placed at the very front, with the infantry, divided into three units, arranged diagonally behind them.
This way, our cavalry would be the first to engage the enemy, while the enemy cavalry would be the last to engage our infantry.
She had borrowed the oblique formation I had used before, incorporating the element of time into her tactics.
It was also an exquisite move to check Piole’s heavy cavalry, the most threatening of the enemy forces.
So she hasn’t been completely idle.
It was a rather threatening tactic if one didn't know its aim. After all, once a battle began, the sound of a horn was the only means of communication.
In other words, giving complex commands like changing formations was nothing but a dream. Changing formations in real-time was only possible in games.
Therefore, all tactics were completed and realized before the battle even began. Just as you couldn't change the direction of a bullet once it left the gun.
If you didn't know, that is.
But no matter how perfect a tactic was, if you knew its aim, there was no reason you couldn't counter it. I could already see an opening to exploit.
If there was a way to achieve a great victory by sacrificing their rival, neither King Arispo nor Duke Philippe would refuse.
Especially King Arispo, who was backstabbed by Duke Philippe in the last battle.
King Arispo’s army had been diminished in the last battle, so now it was Duke Philippe’s turn.
The balance of power had to be maintained. If only to make the conflict between them even sharper.
Bwoooo—
“Advance!”
Three days later. The Alliance army formed up as decided in the meeting and began to advance once more.
“It’s a line formation!”
Duke Babel’s army had arranged its infantry in three parallel lines. If they clashed with the Alliance’s oblique formation like this, the plan would be a success.
“This is our chance to redeem ourselves from the humiliation of the last battle! All troops, advance!”
The problem arose when Duke Philippe’s cavalry, the vanguard, began to pick up speed.
“Look over there! The enemy—!”
Duke Babel’s infantry began moving diagonally toward Duke Philippe’s cavalry. Their formation had also subtly curved.
“A trap?!”
Their movement blatantly revealed their intention to encircle the cavalry with infantry.
“Arispo! We must respond!”
Unlike the anxious Duke Philippe, King Arispo was composed.
“Do not act rashly. This tide is in our favor.”
“What nonsense is this?!”
“In their greed to deal with our cavalry, the enemy infantry’s formation is breaking and bunching up. If we advance our infantry quickly, we can encircle them instead.”
A simple rapid advance was a command that could be relayed with just a horn.
“Are you mad?! You want to use the cavalry as bait?! This is an unheard-of tactic! And it’s the complete opposite of the plan we agreed upon!”
If they did as King Arispo said, Duke Philippe’s cavalry would be annihilated. That was why the Duke was losing his mind.
King Arispo smirked.
“To achieve victory, one must accept some losses. One must know how to sacrifice the few for the sake of the many. Weren’t those your own words, Duke?”
“…!”
King Arispo sneered once more at the speechless Duke Philippe and said, “The loss of the cavalry will be painful, but it is nothing compared to victory. Did Vivian not say it herself? We must unify the South and prepare to resist the Emperor before he fully intervenes. This will be an exquisite move befitting that purpose.”
This was clearly revenge for the last battle. But because of his own words, Duke Philippe couldn't argue.
All he could do was issue a warning in case things went wrong.
“…If this goes south, I will not stand by idly.”
“Be my guest.”
The victorious King Arispo grinned and gave the order. Soon, the sound of a horn echoed across the battlefield, and the Alliance infantry quickened its pace.
As the two men’s fates diverged, I, who was guarding Duke Philippe, smiled to myself.
Because they were both merely actors moving as I willed on a stage of my own making. A fact they would never realize, even in death.
“What is happening?!”
Just as the Alliance infantry was about to encircle Duke Babel’s forces, Vivian, who had been waiting in the rear camp for safety, came galloping over on her horse.
“Haha. Do not worry. I have a plan.”
King Arispo explained with an arrogant laugh, and Vivian’s face turned deathly pale. Watching her, I couldn't hide my smile.
“It’s already too late.”
His judgment wasn't bad, but even that was part of my plan.
A portion of Duke Babel’s infantry, which had been focused on encircling the Alliance cavalry, spread out wide, momentarily blocking the Alliance infantry’s attempt to encircle them.
During that time, the heavy cavalry led by Piole charged toward the Alliance infantry.
“Dammit!”
King Arispo had scoffed at Duke Babel for choosing to encircle, blinded by the Alliance cavalry, but in reality, it was he who had been blinded by victory, his vision narrowed.
Piole’s heavy cavalry not only thwarted the Alliance infantry’s encirclement but also began to grind them down, attempting to encircle them in turn.
At this rate, their encirclement was only a matter of time.
“Arispo! What are you going to do now?!”
Seizing the opportunity, Duke Philippe raised his voice. The flustered King Arispo, his face as white as a sheet, didn't know what to do.
I glanced at Van der Belt. I couldn't let the Alliance army collapse just yet. I hadn't made contact with Vivian.
“Your Grace. We must retreat.”
Van der Belt nodded and informed Duke Philippe that this was not the time to be assigning blame.
“If this continues, we will be annihilated.”
The word ‘annihilated’ jolted the two leaders and Vivian back to their senses. The three of them stopped blaming each other and put their heads together.
“We must commit the reserves.”
“But…”
At Vivian’s words, both leaders hesitated. If the reserves protecting the command post were to leave, they themselves would be exposed to danger.
“If the main force is wiped out, the result will be the same.”
After repeated persuasion, both leaders finally nodded. As the reserves were deployed to break the encirclement, the main force began to retreat.
However, even though they succeeded in retreating, their remaining forces were less than half of what they started with. It was an expected outcome, as losses are typically highest during a retreat and pursuit.
“This is absurd!”
Their army, which had been twice the size of Duke Babel’s, was now equal in number, or even smaller.
The bigger problem was that most of the diminished troops were cavalry. In contrast, the core of Duke Babel’s army was Piole’s heavy cavalry.
“This is a nightmare…!”
In just two battles, the positions of the two sides had been reversed. The unfortunate thing was that the Alliance’s nightmare was just beginning.
At dawn the next day.
“Enemy raid!”
A scream that chased away the deep night echoed through the Alliance army’s camp. It was a time when even the sentries were dozing off from battle fatigue.