Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Tactical Wedge
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Circling around the battlefield once more to return to the main camp, I spotted the enemy unit harassing our rear, just as expected.
"F-Form up! Don't panic... Gahk!"
The enemy general at the forefront, mowing down our soldiers. I recognized him instantly.
'Red-brown armor and a golden helmet... Horn of Strong Strike!'
He was one of the generals of the Albad Kingdom, the right-hand man of Second Legion Commander Gillas Melburn.
'Which means Gillas Melburn himself is commanding here.'
Horn of Strong Strike was an SR character. Gillas Melburn was SSR.
They were both characters whose performance was underwhelming for their ranks, which made them ones I favored.
It felt strange to face off against characters like that, but now wasn't the time to dwell on such sentiments.
"From this moment on, the Illya Mercenary Corps will take command here! All officers, report to me immediately!"
At my shout, the nearby officers looked reluctant, but they had witnessed with their own eyes how we'd pierced the frontal enemy lines and turned the tide of battle, so they quietly followed orders.
The fact that all the higher-ranking officers had been wiped out by enemy arrows actually helped right now.
It meant they wouldn't stubbornly cling to their command authority.
"Andy Smyson here. I'm temporarily leading the Second Infantry Battalion. We'll now fall under Illya's command."
"Understood. I'm Wade, commanding the unit in Captain Illya's stead. Follow my orders from here on out."
I split Smyson's battalion into three groups of 300, 400, and 300, positioning them on our left, center, and right flanks with gaps between them, holding position to fiercely repel the advancing enemy.
This was a gambit. A tactical wedge formation.
The enemy surging forward like a tidal wave would crash into these three anchored units.
As they advanced, some of their forces would inevitably slip through the gaps in the wedges.
That was where our mercenary corps, positioned behind, would sweep them up. That was the essence of this tactic.
'If their soldier numbers dwindle pointlessly, it'll hurt them far more. So, how will you respond, Gillas Melburn?'
If the enemy commander really was Gillas Melburn, he'd surely counter with something.
Three tactical wedges appearing out of nowhere.
Gillas's expression turned icy cold.
They had charged in with momentum, but in the end, it was 2,000 troops attacking nearly 9,000.
This was to buy time for Yusi's frontline army, which had lost its momentum, to regroup and launch another assault.
At first, things went well.
Horn aggressively smashed the panicking enemy.
But then that sudden unit appeared and contained it.
Setting up the tactical wedges was a piercing blow.
Ignoring them to break through would let troops leak through the gaps, collapsing their formation. Attacking them jointly would just bog them down.
'Who is it? Who the hell is back there?'
The epitome of precise, airtight tactics.
He never imagined the Caliper Kingdom army, infamous for lacking strategist talent, would counter like this.
"No choice. Horn! Quickly smash the wedge on the right flank! Then we'll concentrate our forces and hit the unit behind them!"
Overwhelm with sheer brute force.
"Uoooooh!"
Horn charged in, swinging his massive axe.
A single blow cleaved three or four soldiers in half.
"Hiiik!"
"S-Spare me!"
"How the hell are we supposed to block this!?"
The soldiers fell into panic.
Horn grinned, going for heads, but then—
"Hat!"
"Urk...!?"
Horn desperately leaped back to dodge the spear tip aimed at his neck.
"What are you!?"
"..."
A woman silently glaring at him.
Sword in her left hand. Spear in her right.
That sight stirred Horn's fighting spirit, and he grinned.
"Oh ho. Just like the intel. You must be Illya Anpei!"
"And you must be Horn of Strong Strike."
Their eyes locked. Illya declared,
"This is my esteemed disciple's first campaign. As a memento, I'll take your head."
"Kahat! Try it if you can!"
Clang! Their clash was even.
Horn held a slight edge in raw power, but Illya dominated in technique.
With Horn's feet thus bound from breaking the tactical wedge, Gillas grew even more anxious.
"Horn's tied up... No helping it..."
In the end, he pulled out his trump card.
*
*
*
As expected, the enemy came out with Horn as their main force to break the tactic.
'They took the bait.'
Their mistake was sending out Horn prematurely, without knowing our hand.
'Got him...!'
I immediately signaled.
The right and center wedges closed their gap, merging into one unit and concentrating their power.
At the same moment—
"Purge infantry! Charge!"
The phalanx formation unit appearing from the right flank charged straight at the enemy's main body—where Gillas Melburn was.
The combined right-center wedge synced with the phalanx, smashing the enemy before them and advancing.
"Check."
A pawn massing toward the exposed king. This would wipe out their main camp.
We had more troops.
Plus, their powerhouse Horn of Strong Strike was tied up with my master, so Gillas's main body couldn't withstand this assault.
They'd either hold and die or retreat.
Once we dealt with the rear army, we could focus solely on the vanguard.
The vanguard's defensive line hadn't broken yet, so holding the advantageous terrain and pushing them back would win the war.
'It's over.'
This secured Yulia's safety too.
I was relaxing in relief when—
"H-Hey, Captain Wade. Something's off!"
"Hm?"
"There's a unit heading this way!"
"Just stragglers slipping through the wedge gaps. Deal with them."
But the unit sent to intercept was smashed—Boom!!—by a halberd laced with aura.
The man wielding the halberd. I knew that figure.
"Gillas Melburn...!?"
"Kuhahat! Didn't expect me to step up personally, huh?"
Gillas charged straight at me, sweeping aside the mercenaries.
He smashed through the guards in front and stood before me.
"You thought you'd neatly tied down Horn, but that cuts both ways—your main force is tied down too!"
True enough. It had also bound my master Illya there.
With both main camps weakened, Gillas had burst from his and come to strike me instead.
"Our main camp will fall to the unit you sent, but if I take your head here, the tide turns. Right?"
"...And?"
"What?"
"Do you think you can take me? Second Legion Commander Gillas Melburn."
"Hmph. And who are you...? Show your face."
"Declined."
"Fine, I'll cut your head off and see! Haaah!"
The halberd blade wrapped in black, ominous aura. I countered with my spear, aura pushed to its limit.
Kiiing! Aura clashing against aura.
Seeing my aura, Gillas grimaced viciously.
"Thought you were just some strategist... My mistake. This just got more interesting!"
"Haat!"
Clang clang clang! Gillas deftly blocked my swift three-strike combo.
Unlike regular soldiers, he was rich in combat experience.
On a whole different level from the bandit leader in the past Salleon kidnapping incident.
'Can I win this?'
Gillas was a strategist character, but his martial prowess was considerable.
In the game, his personal combat stat was 78.
Upper mid-tier among strategists.
'All I can do is pray my current power exceeds 78...!'
This duel was proving just how far I'd come, how much I'd grown.
"Haaah!"
A crescent blade falling.
Even with aura, facing a thick halberd head-on with a slender spear wasn't efficient.
Kiiing! I angled the shaft to deflect his power and counter.
"Hey! Quit dancing around!"
"Haat!"
After about 40 exchanges, perhaps.
I started feeling the strain.
'As expected, just a spear isn't enough...!'
But revealing Chester Style here risked exposing my identity later.
Few wielded it.
'It's fine, though. The battle's in my favor.'
Time was on my side.
Once the phalanx fully crumbled their main camp, they'd have no retreat. Even if Gillas killed me then, the tide wouldn't turn.
Moreover—
"Waaaah—!"
Cheers erupted from the left wedge.
It seemed Master Illya had gained the upper hand.
'Just endure, and it's done!'
Gillas knew it too.
Growing impatient, he bit his lower lip and unleashed a frenzy, but couldn't breach my cunning defense.
Finally, he resorted to his last measure.
"William! Now!"
Calling to someone. At the same instant, I sensed chilling killing intent.
Ping! An arrow slicing the air, aimed at my heart.
'An aura-infused arrow!'
Another expert lurking.
The aura wasn't top-tier, so whoosh! I swatted it away with my spear, but Gillas exploited the opening.
"Die—!"
A full swing halberd.
No room to dodge.
"Tch!"
I clicked my tongue and shing! Drew the sword from my back with my left hand.
Clang!! Blue aura blocking the halberd's force.
Gillas's eyes bulged like he'd seen a ghost.
"Left-hand sword...! You're Chester's...!"
In that moment of shock.
Whoosh! I was already countering.
I tilted the sword diagonally, deflecting the halberd overhead and slipping my whole body beneath. Then I dove into his side, thrusting at his neck.
"Damn it!"
Realizing he couldn't fully evade, he used his right shoulder to block.
Stab!! Sword piercing his shoulder.
Not an instant kill, but the fight was decided. I aimed my right-hand spear at his heart.
But then—
"Don't underestimate Gillas Melburn—!!"
Grip! He switched the halberd to his left hand and swung that massive weapon one-handed.
"Urk!?"
I thrust my right spear vertically into the ground to block, but crack! The force bent it, kiiing! riding the warped shaft toward my head.
"...!?"
Clang!! The halberd grazed my helmet's temple.
Ziiing! Vision spinning.
I clenched my teeth against fading consciousness, grip! forcing strength into my sword hand.
To prevent a follow-up. Crunch! I twisted the sword in his shoulder.
"Graaah—!"
The pain made Gillas drop his halberd.
With both combat-incapable, I worried about more arrows from that William, but the interloper was someone else.
"General, are you alright!? Y-Your shoulder...!?"
"I'm fine! Hurry and finish him!"
The bloodied Horn of Strong Strike raised his giant axe to strike me down.
I tried to dodge somehow, but the prior blow had caused a mild concussion—my legs wouldn't move right.
'Trouble...!'
The axe falling.
Clang! Master Illya intervened to block it. At her appearance, Horn's face twisted.
Crossing spear and sword to catch the axe, she explosively surged her battle spirit. Thick aura on her weapons roiled like crashing waves.
"Sorry. Took me a beat to handle the sniper. You okay?"
"Kh... I'm fine."
"You rest. I'll clean these up."
Master pressed Horn hard.
The initial clash was even, but as time passed, Horn couldn't handle her technique. Too unpredictable for his straightforward style. A bad matchup.
Horn's armor was tattered and nearly destroyed, while Master bore no notable wounds.
Seeing this, Gillas gave up all hope, clutched his shoulder, stood, and shouted.
"Damn... Retreat! Horn, cover the rear. I'll open the path."
"Yes sir!"
Gillas's rearguard retreating. He snarled at me, grinding his teeth.
"I'll remember that face forever, brat...!"
"...!"
I unconsciously touched my face. The halberd graze had knocked off my helmet.
I quickly retrieved and donned it, so luckily, only Horn and Gillas had seen properly.
"Als... no, Wade. Pursue them?"
"Chasing to annihilate would take too long. Let the phalanx handle pursuit. We should go save the vanguard."
"I'll go. You rest here."
"...Yeah, think so. Whew!"
Thud! I collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Concussion aside, the tension had released all at once.
I sorted the surrounding situation while waiting for the battle to end.