Chapter 109
Chapter 109
"Advance!"
KOO-KOO-KOOM.
The castle gates lowered onto the moat, and nearly two thousand soldiers began crossing.
Ninety-eight knights, seven hundred thirty crossbow cavalry, and nine hundred twenty-two infantry.
While this was undoubtedly a formidable force that no one could ignore, it was significantly smaller than the army that had attacked Tomodo Castle just two months prior.
Attacking Vifros' main stronghold with these numbers would have been tantamount to suicide—in the past, at least.
'Yes. In the past.'
Amidst the generally tense command staff, Logan stood alone, smiling.
"Aren't you worried at all? Really?"
"How many troops could possibly remain in Vifros' stronghold? Duke Jordan has issued a full mobilization order—anyone under his command would be too terrified to refuse."
"And yet, here we are, openly disregarding that terrifying man's warning."
Patrick spoke with a stiff expression, but Logan remained brimming with confidence.
"Ah, our situation is different. Didn't I explain? You agreed to it, Father."
"......"
"Father. Try to see this positively. This is our chance to reclaim our ancestors' land after two hundred years. And a Transcendent embroiled in a power struggle for the throne won't move so easily—at least not over some borderland skirmish. And if he does move..."
"By then, Walterheim will have already fallen, so there'd be no need to worry."
"Exactly."
Patrick gave a small nod, but his face was still clouded with concern.
"What if the Second Prince Faction wins the civil war?"
"Then we'll have to side with the First Prince before that happens."
"And if the opposite occurs, the other side will extend a hand?"
"Precisely. Either way, the civil war will reach a conclusion, and in any scenario, Duke Jordan won't be able to carry out his threat. That is, if we seize Vifros Castle and become the key players for both factions. You understood and agreed to this, didn't you?"
Logan shrugged lightly, but Patrick continued in a graver tone than ever.
"You do realize there's a major flaw in your reasoning, don't you?"
"......Huh?"
"The assumption that the civil war won't end while we take Vifros Castle and grow. You seem absolutely certain this civil war will drag on for an exceptionally long time. Am I wrong?"
At those words, Logan's expression stiffened slightly.
Historically, civil wars within a single nation rarely lasted beyond a year.
The Grandia Civil War, which had dragged on for a staggering three years, was an extreme outlier.
His father's skepticism was justified—it was something Logan had inadvertently overlooked.
"Ah... well... judging by the current state of the war, it doesn't seem like it'll end easily."
"You don't sound like you're basing that solely on the war's progress."
"It's still just a hunch, but isn't it a plausible one? Enough to stake our fate on."
"Just a hunch?"
"......What are you implying?"
"No, never mind. Ha... We've already made our decision, so let's see it through to the end."
Patrick lifted his gaze to the clear sky.
The cold air seeped into his lungs, reminding him that winter was deepening.
When he closed his eyes, the sharp chill reached deep into his mind, conjuring the image of his son he had seen in the royal palace not long ago—smiling coldly as he watched Larry Clet die.
'Surely not... No, it can't be.'
No, even if it were true, it didn't matter.
Whether his son had accelerated the civil war or not was irrelevant.
One way or another, the boy had acted for the sake of the family.
Though Patrick had often sensed his son hiding something, that much he could trust.
So rather than sowing discord, it was better to offer support.
Now, there was only one thing left to consider.
Their ancestors' land.
The lost glory.
The opportunity to reclaim it all was now within reach.
And when that time came...
"Haa... Very well. I don't know if I'm the mad one, or you, or this entire world. But since we've come this far, let's see it through."
Logan couldn't fathom what thoughts lay in his father's heart, but at the very least, he could see the unease vanish from his gaze.
And so, Logan answered gladly.
"Yes!"
-Open the gates quietly and surrender. Do so, and your lives will be spared.
"Damn it. What the hell are those lunatics thinking?!"
The current defense commander of Vifros, High Knight Lentor, spat out a string of curses as he watched the enemy forces approaching beyond the walls.
The troops remaining in Vifros numbered only twenty-two knights and roughly five hundred soldiers.
Against nearly two thousand enemy troops, the odds of holding out were effectively nonexistent.
Had they received even a formal declaration of war, they might have scraped together whatever minimal forces were stationed in other castles.
Or at least conscripted some arrow fodder.
'But what good would that do now?'
Yet retreat wasn't an option either.
[Pereta's forces will join us. Hold out and defend the castle at all costs! No matter what!]
In truth, their lord's message contained no mention of the main force returning.
And yet, they were ordered to hold out.
Was this spoken out of genuine belief in their chances, or were they simply being abandoned?
At this point, even discerning the truth was impossible.
Still.
"Hold the line! Reinforcements will arrive! Defend this place at all costs!"
For the sake of the soldiers, his words had to carry hope.
With all elite forces deployed to the central front, Lentor—the sole remaining High Knight—was now Vifros' only hope.
"It seems they have no intention of surrendering peacefully."
"No need to drag this out. We take the castle now."
"Yes!"
No sooner had Patrick spoken than the MacLaine army began its advance.
The towering walls, over twenty meters high, were equally vast in breadth.
But this time, that very grandeur worked against them.
With their overwhelming numerical disadvantage, defending such expansive walls was impossible.
The MacLaine knights split into three groups—one advancing toward the southern gate while the other two fanned out along the eastern and western walls. Even one of these groups alone outnumbered Vifros' entire knight contingent.
Unless some ancient magic lay hidden within Vifros Castle, overcoming this crushing disadvantage was unthinkable.
And so, the MacLaine knights moved without hesitation.
"Take the castle!"
The moment their lord's shout rang out, knights charged simultaneously from three directions.
Over thirty knights scaled the walls in a single flank alone.
And the Vifros knights meant to stop them?
They were all clustered at the southern gate.
Only regular soldiers guarded the eastern and western gates.
"Form ranks and hold! Buy time, and an opportunity will come!"
Rather than trying to block the invaders from other directions, Lentor decided to concentrate all knightly forces atop the southern wall, stalling for as long as possible.
'If the knights scatter, they'll just be picked off one by one. We hold here!'
It would take considerable time for the enemy to deal with the soldiers on the eastern and western walls.
If they preserved their knightly forces intact, they could counterattack when reinforcements arrived.
A wretched strategy—no, not even a strategy, just a pitiful act of betrayal.
And then—
HIIIIING.
The northern gate, where no enemies had yet appeared, swung open as an ornate carriage pulled by four horses sped out.
Even in this chaos, six knights could be seen escorting the carriage as it fled—a sight that burned itself into the soldiers' eyes.
Watching morale plummet, Lentor roared even louder.
"Look! The ladies and young lord have escaped safely! Now we have nothing left to worry about! We will stand our ground and fight to the last!"
What were YOU worried about? Our lives?
Oblivious to the incredulous stares around him, Lentor kept shouting enthusiastically, further crushing morale.
"Ha!"
In just two leaps, Logan scaled the walls.
He had chosen the eastern gate, where not a trace of knights could be felt.
SWISH!
"ARGHHH!"
The moment he landed atop the wall, a swing of his sword drew screams.
Those cleaved in half died without a sound, but the soldiers beside them shrieked in terror.
And those screams spread across the walls as more knights followed Logan's lead.
Not a single Vifros knight stood there to rally the panicking soldiers.
Thus, inevitably—
"On your knees! Those who surrender will be spared!"
Faced with the overwhelming might of Transcendent knights, the regular soldiers had no choice. Most dropped their weapons and collapsed where they stood.
"P-please spare us!"
Their surrender was pathetic—but understandable.
For all intents and purposes, the eastern gate had already fallen.
It had gone so smoothly it was almost surreal.
But Logan didn't hesitate.
"First squad, open the gate! The rest, follow me—we strike the knights to the south!"
Glancing across, he saw his father had already secured the western wall in much the same way.
'When the disparity in strength is this vast, no strategy is needed... but this is just ridiculous.'
Well, the dumber the enemy, the better for them.
"Time to end this!"
Logan charged like the wind toward the southern wall.
Vifros was far larger than Tomodo Castle, making their meager numbers all the more glaring.
And then, an utterly ridiculous demand echoed out.
"I am Lentor, High Knight of Vifros! I challenge you to a knight's duel! If you have any honor as a knight, accept!"
Honor? I'm embarrassed just hearing that.
Why did his face burn with secondhand shame?
Logan stifled a laugh and halted.
He had no desire to personally deal with this fool.
Just then, allied soldiers poured in through the opened eastern and western gates.
Logan's sword pointed at the clueless idiot.
"Fire!"
The wide-open wall offered no cover—just an unobstructed line of fire.
A hail of quarrels rained down upon the twenty-two enemy knights gathered there.
TAT-TAT-TAT!
"C-cowards!"
"Yeah. And you're an idiot."
SWISH!
As the surrounding knights fell like pincushions, Lentor met his end by Logan's blade.
Logan raised the severed head high and shouted.
"Victory is ours!"
The land their ancestors had lost two hundred years ago when they were driven out.
The MacLaines had reclaimed it with absurd ease.
"You've all done well."
Patrick's voice rang out calmly.
Yet it carried an unmistakable undercurrent of emotion.
Even the trembling hand gripping the armrest of the lord's seat in the grand hall betrayed what words could not.
His vassals, understanding their lord's heart, allowed a moment of solemn silence to envelop the hall.
Within that silence, Patrick's gaze swept across the grand hall—now adorned not with the emblem of a rose born from flame, but the pure, unbroken sigil of fire.
Even if this wasn't a conventional victory, even if the enemy's main force still lurked outside—for now, they had won.
They had reclaimed their ancestors' lost land.
Suppressing the swell of emotion, Patrick turned his gaze to the knights assembled before him.
And then—
"House MacLaine has at last reclaimed our ancestral land. This is the achievement of every one of you here—and my fortune to have such vassals."
His trembling voice resonated quietly through the hall.
"This gathering is to honor your contributions in bringing about this glorious moment. But first and foremost, it must be a time to mourn those who fell in the process. I will not forget. The knights who made this possible..."
One by one, Patrick recited the names of the fallen.
With each name, the assembled knights bowed their heads.
Among them were those who had long served the MacLaine Knights, as well as those who had defected from Tesron or Silvan.
Yet the camaraderie forged through countless battles bound them together, regardless of origin.
"......I will engrave your names upon my heart and remember them eternally. In memory of your loyalty and sacrifice, I shall ensure the surviving families are honored with a glorious future."
When the last name had been called—
THUD.
"Glory to MacLaine!"
THUD.
"We pledge our remaining lives as the unextinguished Blades of Flame!"
THUD.
The synchronized stomps sent vibrations through the hall, resonating powerfully in every heart present.
As the echoes lingered—
"Honoring and remembering these sacrifices is my duty. But the matters of the future—MacLaine's future—should be discussed together."
Patrick's gaze shifted to his eldest son standing just below him.
"Father. It would be better if you spoke in my stead."
Logan waved his hands dismissively, wanting his father to savor this joyous day fully.
"When you drove out Tesron, I was merely proud. When you built MacLaine Town, I was truly awed. That was when I realized you had already outgrown my guidance. A happy miscalculation."
"Father..."
"And now, after expelling Silvan and finally seizing Vifros, it is you—not I—who has led our house. Above all, the crisis isn't over yet. As the family's focal point, you should be the one to rally the knights."
Further refusal would have been absurd.
With a long exhale, Logan looked upon the knights bowing before him.
Then he took a step forward.
"......You've all likely guessed—turbulent times lie ahead. MacLaine will not rest here. I ask that you become the wings that carry our house even higher upon the winds of chaos!"
"Loyalty!!"
"Until this temporary victory is secured as absolute, all rewards shall be deferred. Do not let your guard down yet!"
"Yes! Understood!"
"We have won! And we shall win again! I will share every future glory with you all!"
Logan's hopeful declaration filled the grand hall.
"Glory to MacLaine!!"
And that resonance became a blazing fervor, engulfing the hall entirely.