Pressure, Compulsion, and a Gamble (3)
The enemy infantry were pouring into the forest like madmen.
Just from what I could see right now, there were already around twenty of them. The total number flooding into the entire forest was probably even higher.
The one saving grace was the terrain itself. A forest. It was the perfect environment to neutralize the strengths of infantry while maximizing the advantages of guerrilla tactics. In other words, ideal ground for an asymmetric force like me to shine.
“Warrior’s Valor.”
I started by casting the buff spell. Normally I wouldn’t even glance at this magic because of its terrible efficiency, but in a situation like this, it was perfect. Why? Because—
Slice!
“Gaaahk!” “It’s the enemy!” “Wh-what the hell? What’s that black thing?”
These guys weren’t knights.
The dense forest barely let any moonlight through, and my choice of a pitch-black robe and black leather armor—to stay as invisible as possible while hovering in the air—maximized my camouflage. On top of that, the enemy was charging into the woods in a completely disorganized mass rush.
Controlling conscripted troops with any precision in forest terrain would’ve been a nightmare, even for knights. As a result, their advance was a mess, and the noise they made was inconsistent. As long as I wasn’t spotted, this was the absolute best environment for guerrilla warfare.
My dagger work was sloppy, but the power and speed granted by the buff spell were very real. My blade easily tore through the enemy infantry’s throats.
“It’s a demon! A demon!” “The forest spirits are angry! We gotta run like hell!” “Guhk! Kuek! Glurk—!”
The first one I cut must have gone into shock from blood loss; his screams died out quickly. The rest seemed to mistake me for something out of an old folktale. They turned tail and tried to flee.
With the terror of the unknown gripping them, now was the perfect moment.
I deliberately cast a spell that was hard to see with the naked eye, pairing it with a wide swing of my dagger through the air.
“Wind Cutter.”
The blade of wind, launched with a low whisper, sliced into the side of an enemy soldier who had turned his back to run.
“Khek! Gaaahk!”
The man clutched his side desperately and rolled across the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs. The soldiers around him, horrified by the sight, began scattering in every direction.
“Oh Spirit! Please, please forgive me! I haven’t done anything wrong! Spare my life! Please…!”
One of them had gone weak in the legs. He was crawling backward, dragging himself across the dirt.
He looked like a simple, honest conscript, trembling and begging only to be spared… but what could I do? Once you meet on the battlefield, there’s no other choice.
If I let him go out of mere pity, the fear I had so carefully instilled in the enemy troops might collapse in an instant.
Schlick!
“Gurgh… krrk… glurk…!”
The sound of blood choking his throat lasted only a moment before silence fell.
…It was cruel. But it couldn’t be helped. This was the true face of war.
“Enemy spotted!” “Charge! Whether it’s a knight or a mage, kill the enemy and bring me their head! Ten gold per head!” “Uwaaaaaah!”
Before I could even dwell on it, more enemies than the ones who had fled began swarming in. The numbers were now too many to count at a glance. Enemy soldiers packed themselves between the trees until the forest itself seemed to be made of people.
Normally this would be the moment to create distance, but instead, I charged straight toward them.
“Huh? That thing’s coming at us!” “Get him! There’s a ten-gold head right in front of us!” “Khehehe! That’s my money! Get out of my way!”
Blinded by greed, the enemies rushed forward in a chaotic mass. I released the spell I had prepared in my left hand toward them.
“Flash!”
“Huk! My eyes!” “I-I can’t see anything!”
The first wave of soldiers, caught completely off guard by the sudden burst of light magic, were mechanically cut down.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
“Guek!”
No fancy technique was needed. Thanks to the buff, my movements were fast and brutal. I struck their vital points with ruthless efficiency.
Blood sprayed everywhere in a chaotic burst, and soon the enemies began collapsing as the tide of gore subsided.
“You pathetic fools! There’s only one enemy, and he’s a mage! Don’t stop! Keep pushing without pause! Do you not want your ten gold?!”
Even after watching their comrades’ lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye, the enemy commander kept urging them to charge. He skillfully stoked the soldiers’ greed to keep them moving.
‘As expected from conscripts. The tactic is to simply overwhelm with numbers. Simple, but effective.’
Unfortunately, in this battlefield, the value of one of those conscripted lives and my own were not equal.
If this were the 21st-century modern world I came from, everyone’s life and rights would be considered equal… but on the battlefield, there was no room for such luxuries.
“Wind Cutter!” “Block it!”
I heard the enemy commander’s fierce shout. He must have thought the attack was aimed at him.
Sorry, but I wasn’t aiming for you.
Crunch! Crack! Rumble—!
“Huh? Th-the tree’s falling!” “Get out of the way!”
What I had targeted was one of the trees scattered throughout the forest—the oldest-looking one. It collapsed right into the middle of the charging enemy soldiers, exactly as planned. And then—
Boom!
With a heavy crash, it created a barrier between me and the enemies. Immediately after—
“Fire Ball!”
Whoosh! Boom!
“Fire! It’s fire!” “Aaaargh, my body!”
The flames I had magically ignited on the tree spread in an instant. I could see the unfortunate soldiers caught in the blaze rolling frantically across the ground.
Even though it had been a living tree just moments ago, the fire had erupted so quickly. The survivors desperately trying to avoid the spreading flames made the spell look incredibly effective.
But the real result I had been aiming for was something else.
It was the smoke. As if to prove the tree had been fresh and full of moisture just moments before, the nearby battlefield was instantly filled with thick white smoke mixed with water vapor.
“Cough, cough! Find the enemy mage’s position!”
Even while coughing from the smoke, the enemy commander’s roar was crystal clear as he stubbornly ordered my pursuit.
His position is the same as before. Idiot. You should’ve moved.
Well, even if he had moved, the outcome probably wouldn’t have changed much.
With that thought, I rapidly spread my mana to confirm the location twice, then three times, and activated the spell I had prepared.
“Blink!”
Whoosh!
The scenery in front of me flipped in an instant. I immediately thrust my dagger forward.
Shunk!
“Guh—.”
With a short death rattle, the enemy commander collapsed.
The enemy soldiers didn’t even realize their commander had fallen. They wandered aimlessly through the smoke, lost and scattered. Their figures could be faintly seen here and there.
‘Time to withdraw from the battlefield for a moment and regroup with the unit.’
Ever since I had descended, it had been one fierce battle after another.
They should have been relatively easy opponents. After all, I was only facing ordinary soldiers, not knights or mages.
But the actual fatigue I felt was considerable. Both mentally and physically, I became exhausted almost instantly after combat.
‘Get a grip. Don’t forget that two thousand five hundred lives are still hanging on my shoulders.’
With that thought, I ran, escaping the wildfire I had created.
About three minutes after I started running toward the direction of the Altar Cannon—
“Squad Leader! Where are you?!”
Clang! Clang! Slice!
“Guhk!” “Lord Barenfelt! Stop yelling like that! You’re just drawing more enemies!” “Then how the hell am I supposed to find the squad leader if I don’t yell?! Whether enemies come or not, we need to regroup first! Squad Leader!”
Familiar voices reached my ears.
It seemed I had gotten close to the unit members who had come out to support me.
However, thanks to Bruno aggressively drawing aggro while looking for me, they appeared to be in the middle of a heated battle with enemy soldiers.
“Fire Ball!”
Whoosh! KABOOM!
I fired consecutive Fire Balls into the middle of the enemy soldiers and cleaned up the situation.
The unit members, who had been wearing tense expressions at the sudden change—wondering if it was a new enemy—relaxed the moment they saw me and began speaking.
“Squad Leader! If you were coming, you could’ve at least said something!”
Bruno spoke in a strangely twisted tone. It wasn’t his usual arrogant way of speaking, but some awkward attempt at military speech?
…Anyway, it was annoying. So I ignored Bruno’s greeting.
“Hans, what’s the situation?”
I asked Hans about what had happened during the time we were separated. It had only been a short while, but the unit had clearly been engaged in combat, and my charge into the enemy lines had delayed our reunion.
“Nothing major happened. We were a bit startled by the clash with the enemy infantry, but right as it was getting intense, you arrived and cleaned things up.”
As he spoke, Hans bowed his head in gratitude.
“Never mind that. We’re still in the middle of the battlefield. What about the Altar Cannon’s status?”
“At the current firing rate, we should have enough for about two more hours.”
“Two hours… I’d love to fire at that leisurely pace, but we don’t have that luxury right now.”
With those words, I poured mana into the communication artifact and activated it.
“Yes! Squad Leader. I hear you clearly. What is it?”
“I heard we have about two hours’ worth of shells left. Fire all of it in thirty minutes.”
“…? What? I didn’t hear that correctly?”
“Fire everything in thirty minutes. It may sound absurd, but we don’t have the luxury of conserving magic stones. Dump it all and then come join us directly. We’ll have to hold the line ourselves.”
It must have sounded ridiculous. Less than thirty minutes after receiving orders to stay and maintain continuous Altar Cannon fire support, he was now getting the complete opposite command.
But after coming down and fighting directly, my thinking had changed. The enemy infantry were far more pathetic than I had expected.
‘They get agitated easily, are easily incited, and fall into fear just as quickly.’
The biggest difference between 21st-century modern people, people from the early-to-mid 20th century, and medieval commoners.
Even though they were conscripts just like any other, these enemies were peasant soldiers forcibly drafted from their fiefs by nobles.
‘What we need to exploit is the fear of the unknown, using it to collapse their morale. That is our target.’
Without universal education, they were vulnerable to superstition. And because they were vulnerable to superstition, they showed pure, unfiltered reactions to both fear and greed.
The average mental fortitude of the enemy was weaker than I had anticipated. That was why I needed to put on a bit of a show.
“Fire at a pace that makes it seem like our firepower can continue indefinitely. Pour out a ridiculous amount of shells with that kind of momentum. We need to devastate their encampment to that degree if we want the enemy to withdraw from this forest.”
“…Understood. I will carry out the order.”
Good. The stage was set. Now that I had regrouped with my unit members, it was time to link up with the remaining knights, reorganize, and figure out our next move.
That was what I was thinking when—
“Danger!”
Helmut suddenly shouted and roughly shoved me aside.
Right after that—
Shiiing!
A sharp sound cut through the air as a blade wrapped in blue mana brushed right over my head.
If Helmut hadn’t pushed me, I would have lost my head.
“Tsk. You should’ve just died quietly.”
A mocking voice filled with irritation rang out. It was probably an enemy knight.
“Isn’t it because your skills are pathetic?” “Shut your mouth. Do you think being from the Eastern Knight Order makes you hot shit?” “At the very least, our order’s squires seem to handle a sword better than your clumsy swings.”
From deeper in the forest, a female knight appeared with a cocky stride. Beside her was a silent-looking male knight.
That made three newly arrived enemy knights.
“Are there only mages here? Jackpot. If we cut them down quickly and head back, we’ll get a fat reward.” “You money-obsessed bitch. Don’t you have any honor?” “Hmmm? You think honor puts food on the table? Money is king, no matter what you say. Who gives a shit about freezing-to-death honor.” “Trash.”
Listening to their conversation, it didn’t seem like they got along very well.
Even so, the enemy had three close-combat specialists. We had three half-baked mages, one actually useful mage, and me.
‘Can we win?’
The thought came naturally, but I shook it off.
“Hans! You take that silent-looking guy and fight together with the rest of the unit!”
“What will you do, Squad Leader?”
He asked with clear worry, so I answered.
“I’ll have to cut down that bickering middle-aged couple over there.” “Huh?” “How dare this lunatic—!”
Perfect. The cheap provocation worked like a charm. I had thrown it out there hoping that if I could fight the two who seemed to dislike each other, the burden would be lighter.
Looks like it landed properly.
“What’s the matter, auntie? Don’t like your husband?” “I’ll tear you apart!” “You bastard!”
That’s right. After the infantry, round two is against knights. Fuck it, bring it on!