Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Darkest Hour Before Dawn (2)
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Crack!
The impact crumpled my helmet. An arrow had flown in from afar, striking me dead on.
Luckily, the archer had been quite a distance away, so it didn't pierce through.
Creak.
I forced my arm, which was nearing its limit, to move. The soldier reacted in horror, raising his shield, but there was no way that would block it.
With the sound of bones literally shattering, the enemy soldier's body was cleaved in two.
"Huff, huff."
I squeezed my lungs like a rag to force out breaths as I lifted my head to survey my surroundings.
The cavalry that had charged alongside me was now completely wiped out. Only enemy soldiers remained.
They no longer closed in, keeping a thorough distance. Soon, the familiar rain of steel poured from the sky.
The pain of arrows piercing leather and shattering bone. I collapsed, spilling blood and entrails.
Yet this tenacious life clung on to the bitter end, tormenting me with endless agony.
With blood constantly pouring from my mouth, the enemies approached the undying me. Soon, cold metal mercilessly dug into my neck.
Death. An absolute end that no one, regardless of status or rank, could escape.
That's why commanders who lead many lives are especially forbidden from defeat.
Defeat means losing countless lives. And as an incompetent commander, I paid the price of defeat once more.
"......"
But without fail, I opened my eyes again inside the castle walls, gasping ragged breaths.
Death was still unfamiliar, and the pain remained terrifying. Yet in this despair...
I wracked my shallow mind once more. To somehow achieve victory. Otherwise, this hell would repeat.
First, I realized that any attack against clustered enemies was suicidal.
No matter how exhausted they were, the numerical disparity was absolute. A frontal assault couldn't be overturned, no matter how many times I died and revived.
But the enemy wouldn't fall for lures or deceptions. So how could I disperse their forces?
"......I didn't need to lure the enemy from the start to split their forces."
That's right. The enemy held not just sufficient, but overwhelming numerical superiority.
In that situation, the tactic they chose was naturally to tightly encircle the earl's territory.
Encircling, by definition, meant dispersing troops to surround the perimeter. In other words, their forces had no choice but to spread out.
'Of course, in normal circumstances, the scattered troops would quickly reinforce each other. But the imperial army is currently exhausted from forced marches.'
Judging it a viable tactic, I immediately led the entire army in a night raid.
The first night raid failed. I had overlooked the difference between infantry and cavalry.
Naturally, the infantry couldn't keep up with the cavalry's speed and fell behind, allowing our divided forces to be picked off one by one.
'Raids should be cavalry-only. The timing was also an issue. Too soon, and the dispersing forces would regroup immediately.'
But too late, and we got counterattacked by the fully prepared imperial army.
Who would have thought they'd erect sharpened log palisades in such a short time?
Our charging cavalry got blocked by the palisades and were soon decimated by the deployed archers.
Endless repeating failures. Mountains of corpses piling up with each defeat.
My utter blunders, which no excuse or justification could ever vindicate.
Yet I didn't turn away from defeat. I reviewed it again, applying the lessons to the next battle.
After piling up failure upon failure, I finally pinpointed the right timing.
Not too early, not too late. The imperial army's most vulnerable moment, as they dragged their weary bodies to chop wood and erect palisades.
But as they say, every mountain has another behind it. I immediately hit the next wall.
"Where the hell is the princess...?!"
It was an utterly obvious fact. The princess wasn't some peerless general; there was no reason for her to be on the front lines.
In the end, it meant finding one specific person out of 30,000 troops—and that was no easy task.
To make matters worse, it was near new moon, with barely any moonlight, forcing me to search for her in pitch darkness.
The new moon was our veil of concealment. But the enemy was no exception.
"Th-the enemies are swarming us!"
"Fight to the end!!"
I gritted my teeth and swung my greatsword. But no matter how many I killed, there were too many.
Yet the enemies advanced, trampling the corpses of soldiers whose guts were spilling out.
They surged endlessly, their swinging weapons claiming the lives of my subordinates one by one behind me. Our numbers dwindled at a terrifying rate.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
I roared, a scream tearing at my throat, as I swung the greatsword.
It wasn't a fight to win—it was mere thrashing, refusing to accept defeat.
But the desperate struggle of one man was easily crushed by overwhelming force. Soon, the steel rain from the sky pierced my entire body.
"Huff, huff...!!"
Luckily, they hadn't predicted us reaching this far. Well, of course not.
How many idiots would charge blindly without any intel?
In truth, this not being a tactic but a suicide charge had been proven by my three-digit death toll already.
But there was no choice.
For someone ignorant of strategy and tactics, with no experience commanding an army...
All I could do was gather scraps of information through repeated deaths and failures, using them to eliminate options one by one.
How many times had I died?
How many people who trusted me had I watched die and sent off?
Countless repeating deaths. The moment a spear precisely pierced the gap in my armor, through my blood-red vision, I saw it clearly.
Golden hair sparkling more brilliantly than anything under the faint moonlight.
And through that gap, blood-red eyes staring straight at me.
Even as blood filled my mouth, I laughed. On the verge of death, I forced my lips to move while gazing at the princess.
Found her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Ectar.
A strengthening potion used by the imperial army, made by diluting the pure extract in supplies.
Once consumed, it granted stamina and physical abilities far surpassing an ordinary person. The problem was the side effects.
'Diluting the Ectar less would let us reach here in a week, but... that would exhaust the soldiers too much.'
Forcing the body excessively naturally invited backlash.
Plus, they might go straight into battle after a short rest, so Morgana conservatively allotted a full fortnight.
Of course, there would still be backlash, but it was tolerable compared to the alternative.
'The 10,000 troops stationed east are closely monitoring enemy movements. We won't get ambushed.'
Reports said the earl's territory was eerily quiet.
Morgana tilted her head at that. Were they planning to lure them into a siege? They couldn't be that stupid.
Still, preparing for the worst, she proceeded with utmost caution before joining at the earl's territory.
"I have no face to show, Your Highness. I accept full responsibility for the defeat."
"Save that for later. Are the enemies still quiet?"
"Yes. We're watching without a moment's lapse, but... no major changes."
"Good work."
In the pitch-black night, soldiers began slowly encircling the castle.
Of course, exhausted from the forced march, she ordered them to form encirclement lines, set up camps, and rest immediately.
But just as she thought things were going smoothly, the unexpected happened.
"A-ambush! Enemy ambush!!"
"An ambush at this hour? Numbers?"
"S-sorry! It's too dark at night; we couldn't make them out!"
Morgana bit her lip. Half her forces were in the woods chopping timber.
And among the rest, those in poor condition were ordered to rest first.
So out of 30,000, immediately deployable troops weren't that many. But victory wasn't impossible.
'They certainly caught us off guard... but it's recklessly foolish. Charging without scouting anything...'
"Your Highness! You must evacuate now!"
"What? What do you...?"
"The enemy cavalry is charging straight for this spot!!!"
At the scout's urgent report, Morgana could only gape in shock.
They pinpointed my location this accurately? How? She'd even used decoys and perfect disguises as precautions.
...Did they lure us deliberately? Thinking about it, it wasn't impossible.
No reinforcements from the capital, so siege warfare was out.
A full frontal clash was impossible due to the overwhelming gap.
That left ambushes... but even those required surprise, like right now.
'Did they make me think I'd grasped the entire battlefield, then strike where I least expected? Me, dancing to the enemy's tune?'
Impossible. But the ambush was too perfect to deny.
She didn't know how, but in this crisis, solving it came first.
Quickly calming herself, Morgana turned to the old knight standing guard by her side.
"This is the situation, Sir Grandel."
"It's fine. I'm here for such contingencies."
'I admit it, Blackguard. In a battle of wits, it's my complete defeat. But... victory will be mine.'
He was the man who single-handedly trained one of the empire's mere five Master-class swordsmen.
Not a Master himself, but an Expert of the absolute highest tier.
The teacher of all knights, a man every swordsman aspired to. His epithet, bestowed with respect and awe.
Master Grandel.
He began to move to protect the princess.