Clash of the Swordmasters
Six thousand troops came charging with the force of a raging torrent. Having conserved their strength while merely watching the vanguard fight, the six thousand infantry of the Setia army still had energy to spare.
Added to that were Ignati's two thousand troops. A combined force of eight thousand men came surging toward Clemens de Balboa.
Watching them, Clemens clicked his tongue.
"Tch. So it's a melee."
The pike infantry that had formed Leona's vanguard were already defeated. Meanwhile, the pike infantry that had stood at the head of the Meyer forces were busy carrying the wounded to the rear after taking a full volley of musket fire.
With both vanguards broken, the formations on either side had collapsed. The battle was no longer an orderly engagement—it was devolving into a free-for-all. In a melee, the side with fewer numbers was at a disadvantage. Clemens knew that well enough, and could only click his tongue. But he did not despair. And for good reason…
"No choice, then. I'll have to take the field myself."
Clemens de Balboa was renowned even within the Kruzenstein army as a master of chaotic combat. When it came to melees, he was more confident than anyone alive. He had never once lost a fight that had descended into chaos.
"I'll show you the difference in class! Cavalry—follow me!"
At those words, hundreds of horsemen appeared from the enemy's rear. The skill with which the cavalry swept down from the hill onto the plain spoke volumes about how thoroughly trained Leona's riders truly were.
"Kill them!"
Clemens rode forward sword in hand and began cutting down Setia's infantry. Knights from the Setia side rode out to meet him, but the quality gap between Leona's knights and Setia's was vast.
"Guh—what strength…"
One knight facing Balboa grimaced as he caught the blow. Balboa's strike was heavier than any sword he had ever blocked. And then—
—Shhk!
Balboa's blade punched straight through the knight's shoulder, and the man died in a single stroke. Having cut down the knight at the head of Setia's forces, Balboa laughed in satisfaction.
"Weak. Far too weak. So this is the level of Setia's knights?! Hahaha!"
Balboa charged forward with a booming laugh. Watching him, Setia's knights began to sink into terror. Balboa was strong—stronger than anyone they knew.
But Franz Meyer had a card of his own prepared. A card he had set aside specifically to deal with Balboa.
"Asilia."
"Yes."
"Think you can take him?"
Franz Meyer pointed at Clemens. Asilia's slender brows furrowed.
"Do I have to win?"
"If you can't manage that, just buying time is fine."
"That much I can do."
Asilia spurred her horse, and the animal shot forward. The reason I trusted Asilia was simple. Clemens's Might: 96. Asilia's Might: 97. Of course, individual matchups and condition meant pure numbers alone didn't decide victory—but at least on paper, she wasn't outmatched. Purely in terms of raw Might, Asilia ranked among the absolute top tier in the game. I trusted Asilia. More precisely, I trusted her strength.
As Asilia raised her sword and charged in silence, Clemens sensed her approach and let out a hollow laugh.
"Relying on a woman now, are you? Pathetic!"
As Clemens shouted and raised his sword, Asilia called back:
"Isn't your own liege a woman as well?!"
"That's—! Fair enough."
Clemens conceded the point quickly enough, but the force behind his swing never faltered. He put everything into the blow. The moment his blade reached Asilia, her head would fall—or so Clemens believed.
But a moment later—
—Clang!
What fell was not Asilia's head, but Clemens's sword. In an instant his blade had been sheared clean in two and was tumbling across the ground. Clemens muttered in disbelief.
"A-Aura?"
Indeed. The woman before him was one of the strongest swordfighters who could wield Aura—a Swordmaster.
Clemens thought in that instant:
Equal to me—or perhaps even greater…!
Clemens could use Aura as well, but he had no confidence in maintaining it for long. Aura demanded enormous mental fortitude, and using it drained him rapidly. That was why Clemens always fought on the battlefield with nothing but his raw physical power, without Aura.
Asilia, for her part, was no better at sustaining Aura for extended periods. She had used it in a surprise burst to kill her opponent in a single stroke, but even for her, a few minutes was the absolute limit.
She cut through the blade with Aura and twisted her body just before she could take my head.
Asilia replayed the exchange in her mind. Balboa had dodged her killing blow with an almost unbelievable movement.
It's been a long time since I used Aura and still failed to kill someone in one strike.
It's been a long time since I faced anyone else who uses Aura.
They locked eyes. Silence hung between them for a moment. Both were thinking roughly the same thing.
So the title of Leona's greatest general wasn't empty after all.
To think Setia had someone like this…
Their horses began to circle each other. Asilia had broken her opponent's sword, but she couldn't press the advantage easily—warriors typically carried several blades.
I'll have to stake my life on this fight.
This woman… is strong!
And in the next instant—
"Spear!"
Clemens shouted, and a knight under his command hurled a spear toward him. Catching it, Clemens spun the weapon above his horse and charged.
"I'll kill you and claim the glory!"
Clemens cried out first, and—
"I don't care about glory—but I'll take your head as payment for all the wages I've drawn while sitting around!"
Asilia shouted back.
Sword and spear began to clash. Both had withdrawn their Aura, yet the sharpness of their exchanges was beyond compare. Nearby soldiers forgot their own fighting and stared, entranced.
Sparks flew as blade met spear. Neither could force a decisive end. Asilia's Might: 97. Balboa's Might: 96. Even with a gap, it was a difference of one—they were essentially evenly matched.
In that situation, Franz Meyer spurred his horse and rode out in search of Andeln's banner. Finding it, he approached Andeln and shouted:
"Now! Settle this while their commander can't move!"
"R-Right! All forces—follow me!"
Andeln drew his own sword and charged, eight thousand soldiers thundering after him. The end of the battle was drawing near.
Morning came the next day. Traces of the previous night's battle still littered the field on every side.
The operation had been a success. Once our forces won on the front, the enemy fled up into the mountains, and we pursued.
Then our detached units appeared ahead of them. Five thousand and five thousand—the ten thousand men we'd sent left and right had struck at the enemy's rear.
Caught between attacks from front and back, Balboa's five thousand melted away in moments, and our side claimed a true crushing victory.
Still… it's a shame we couldn't capture Balboa.
Clemens de Balboa had ultimately broken through the encirclement and vanished. Asilia gave chase, but his bodyguard knights bought enough time that she couldn't take him. Had we captured him, he would have been worth trading for ten of the enemy's castles.
But I couldn't blame Asilia. Without her, we might well have lost in the worst case. Balboa's destructive power had been that overwhelming.
"Asilia, well done."
"I merely earned the wages I've been drawing."
"Then I suppose I'll have to raise your pay going forward. So you can kill Balboa in the next battle."
"Killing a man like that would come at a steep rate. Can you afford it?"
"I'll do my best to become a man who can."
"I'll look forward to it."
I was just thinking I should raise Asilia's wages as high as possible when Andeln approached.
"Lord Meyer! Lord Franz Meyer!"
"Ah, my lord."
"You've truly done splendidly! I shall make certain the Meyer family is granted ample territory!"
"Restoring the lands we originally held would be more than enough."
"Nonsense! How could that possibly be enough? Thanks to you, the number of castles we can take has only grown!"
That was why Andeln was so pleased. With Leona's forward forces smashed, our side would be able to seize far more castles, and Andeln was already grinning at the thought of sweeping south and gobbling up every fortress along the way.
"By the way, Clemens de Balboa—Leona's vanguard general. He really was formidable."
"Leona herself will be even stronger."
"Stronger than that?"
"Yes."
Andeln's face went pale for a moment, then quickly recovered.
"Haha! What is there to worry about? We have Lord Meyer on our side!"
He clapped me on the shoulder. Look, we're not exactly on those kinds of terms…
In any case, the battle had ended in a great victory.