Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Fall of Streve Fortress (1)
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"The gates are open!!! The 1st and 4th Legions, charge through the gates!!"
"10th and 5th Legions, pick up the pace!! Take Streve!!!"
Forcing open the gates of Streve Fortress—which even the countless sword auras of the Empire's masters during the last Xenon Plains Battle hadn't been able to shatter—had been quite taxing for Yuno as well. So he handed the charge over to the incoming legion soldiers and fell back for a moment to rest.
"Well done, Your Highness! Leave the rest to us!!"
"I'll join the charge after a short rest, so don't push yourselves too hard!"
The light infantry of the 1st and 4th Legions surged in first to secure the path, followed by the heavy infantry who formed up ranks and widened the breach even further.
But in the meantime, the Streve Fortress defenders rushed to block the entrance, and Count Redelmo's knights came down from the walls to join the defense.
Under Count Redelmo's seasoned command, the fortress defenders quickly formed an oval defensive formation, and the Empire's light infantry securing the entry route inside began to get massacred.
In an instant, the Empire forces clustered at the entrance were surrounded, and the Theseito troops thrust their spears forward, gradually encircling the Empire soldiers.
"Fall back!! This is no fortress for Valkan dogs to set foot in!!"
To resolve this, either the 10th and 5th Legions fighting a chaotic melee on the walls needed to come down, or they had to force a breakthrough—but the fierce battle on the walls was still raging, and breaking through the aggressive encirclement of the formidable fortress defenders would cost heavy casualties. As the Empire forces swallowed hard and awaited the charge order, Yuno appeared from the rear.
"Hoo~ What are you all doing here?"
"Y-Your Highness, have you already recovered?"
"This is nothing compared to sparring with my master!!!"
'Plus, the potions I brought along helped a lot...'
"Your Highness... but why are you bringing that siege ram...?"
Having chugged the potions his mother, Empress Yuria, had given him to use only in dire emergencies and recovered in a flash, Yuno had carried the siege ram he'd used to smash the gates right into the fortress walls.
"Oh, this? My fists are my specialty, but they're lacking for mass slaughter. So I'm using it like this!!!"
Whoooosh~ Boom!!
With a sound like the air itself tearing, the massive siege ram swung in Yuno's hand. As a gigantic blunt weapon, it was more than enough to crush the Theseito soldiers' shields and flesh alike. One swing sent ten men's torsos flying as pulverized mush.
"Get out of the way!! You'll die if you block it!!"
Whiiish~!! Boom!! Whiiish~!! Boom!!
"Aaaargh!!"
"It's a monster!!"
As Yuno's hand continued to reap the Theseito soldiers mercilessly, Cordelia and Count Redelmo's knights stepped forward.
"Never clash weapons with that monster!!"
"Prepare the nets!!"
"Throw!!"
Well-trained against masters in defensive warfare, they aimed to bind his movements with chain nets and pin him with spear throws.
As Yuno wildly swung the siege ram, massacring the Theseito troops, a wide-spread chain net draped over him, sealing his movements. Then a dozen sharp javelins flew toward his vitals.
This was the method Count Redelmo had used to kill two masters during the last Xenon Plains Battle, and his baronial knights were replicating their seniors' tactics.
But... it didn't work on Yuno.
Ting ting ting. Crack crack crack.
"What? This? You thought you could catch me with this crap? Huh?"
Yuno casually deflected the incoming javelins with his body, then lightly tore apart the annoying net with his hands.
"That crazy monster bastard!!"
"He can't have every part of him that tough!! Block him somehow!!"
The knights and defenders threw themselves at Yuno in attack. But their strikes did no damage, and as the Empire forces pressed in during the openings Yuno created, the fortress began to fall.
Finally, it seemed the Empire had taken the walls too, as the Theseito flags atop them started coming down one by one.
And seeing that, Count Redelmo dropped the sword from his hand.
"...This is the end..."
Count Redelmo felt that with the fall of Streve Fortress, his own life ended here as well.
An errant arrow had lodged in his chest, and after pulling it out, he steadied his ragged breaths as much as he could and gave orders to the soldiers defending the command tower.
"Hah... hah... Summon Lady Cordelia!"
Cordelia, who had been commanding knights and soldiers while desperately trying to check Yuno, rushed to the command post at Count Redelmo's call.
Count Redelmo hid his wound and greeted her with a calm expression.
"My lord!! The situation is dire! We'll secure an escape route somehow, so please, get to safety!!"
But Count Redelmo slowly shook his head.
"No... Raise the white flag. The fortress's fall is inevitable. Don't let any more soldiers die needlessly."
"But my lord!! What about your life!!"
"Hoo~ This life of mine wasn't long for this world anyway... If I can save you and the soldiers, my life means nothing."
"No, my lord!! I'll... I'll die!! You must escape!!"
Slap!!
"Enough nonsense!! Orders are orders!! Can't you hear the soldiers dying? Raise the white flag now!!"
At Count Redelmo's command, Cordelia raised a white flag on the command tower, tearfully grinding her teeth, then ran to the front lines holding another.
Seeing the white flag on the command tower, the Empire commanders shouted across the battlefield, calling for a ceasefire.
"White flag's up!! Theseito forces, cease fighting!!"
"Both sides, halt combat!! Theseito has surrendered!!"
The Empire troops had been pouring into the fortress like a flood, carrying out a one-sided slaughter, but the fortress defenders' counterattacks using the terrain were no pushover either. So the Empire commanders spread the news of Count Redelmo's surrender across all fronts.
"...The lord has surrendered?"
"This can't be!! It's an Empire trick!! We can still fight!!"
"No... A white flag's up on the command tower where the lord is."
Of the twenty knights marking Yuno closely, nineteen besides Cordelia lay dead on the ground.
As Cordelia wept over her fallen comrades' bodies, she approached Yuno, who sat amid the building rubble, handed him the white flag, and formally conveyed the surrender.
"Nngh... Streve Fortress under the Theseito Kingdom formally surrenders to the Valkan Empire. This is by the will of Fortress Commander Count Redelmo, transmitted in his stead by his baronial knight captain, Cordelia."
"Surrender accepted. Streve Fortress is now property of the Valkan Empire, and from this moment, all hostile actions between our forces are prohibited."
As Yuno accepted Cordelia's surrender, the Valkan Empire's flag rose atop Streve Fortress's walls.
"All troops!! Cease combat!!"
"Theseito forces, lay down your arms and follow allied command! If you comply peacefully, no harm will come to your lives!"
"Where is Count Redelmo?"
"...I'll guide you."
Following Cordelia's lead, Yuno headed to Streve Fortress's command tower.
There, Count Redelmo sat with his upper body soaked in blood, breathing raggedly. Cordelia rushed to him in shock.
"L-Lord!! What happened? My lord!!"
"I... was hit by an arrow before you arrived... Heh heh... I've lived long enough... Young prince of Valkan..."
No matter that he was a foreign noble, Yuno had spent years with Katrin Aragon, who ignored such formalities with him, so he approached Redelmo without a second thought.
"Hmm... You need to staunch the bleeding first... I have some potions left..."
"Never mind that! If you have potions to spare, give them to the soldiers! More importantly... how did you breach my defenses? I've faced countless masters since the last battle, but no one ever broke through my walls... A body that shrugs off arrows and javelins... This is..."
"Just... think of it as rigorous body training... Plus, I'm pretty strong too. I can lift about two tons, so using a siege ram as a weapon is only natural, right?"
At Yuno's confident words, Count Redelmo burst into laughter instead.
"Kuhahaha, truly... an impressive physique... I never accounted for a monstrous body like that, so defeat was inevitable. Anyway, as the price of surrender, I ask for just two things. Since we surrendered quickly and spared your army's sacrifices, you can grant this much, right?"
"Speak. If it's within my authority, I'll grant it."
Yuno figured Count Redelmo had a point, so he decided to honor the requests as best he could.