Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Checkmate
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Als held firm with cold resolve while Julian relentlessly whittled down the enemy cavalry.
Amid this strange standoff on the Setes Plains, the other battlefields churned with activity.
The first clash in the northern Godin Valley saw Kaien score a clear victory against Dunan, forcing the Caliper forces to fall back a step.
Dunan, retreating, used pre-prepared materials to fortify a stronghold and dig in.
Below that, in the Moro Mountains, Gillas Melburn launched an assault, but Caliper's General Ironheart used his existing wooden barricades for defense. He successfully repelled the Albad army.
Thus, the northern front settled into a stalemate, but fierce fighting erupted in the Pollick Mountains, defended by Lutger.
The Pollick Mountains, where Wade had first appeared in the past.
Just like then, Albad's Fourth General, Yussis Goldray, commanding the army, felt an uncanny pressure.
'What the hell!'
He sensed that his every move was being read.
"Report! The unit pioneering the western infiltration route was routed by enemy ambushers! The foes have vanished again!"
"Urgent report! The eastern infiltration route we cleared has been destroyed! Enemy guerrillas seem to be active!"
The Caliper forces responded swiftly to every movement.
"To execute such flawless defensive tactics... There can't be anyone like that in Caliper's ranks!"
One name surfaced in Yussis's mind.
Excluding Kaien, only one general came to mind who could wield such high-level defensive tactics.
"No way...."
It was a fact he didn't want to believe.
"No way you're the one there, are you, Lord Lutger...!"
Lutger gazed down at Yussis from atop the mountain.
A mix of bitterness and reluctance flickered in his eyes.
Alert to this, Anton spoke in a low voice.
"If you're harboring any other intentions, I have thoughts on that too, Lord Rosenberg."
"Hah, did Wade give the order? To deal with me if I show signs of betrayal?"
"No. It seems our lord decided to trust you."
"Then this is your own initiative. How touching... Your loyalty is bafflingly deep."
"What... do you mean?"
"I've always wondered. Why pledge loyalty to Wade? At first, I thought you were planted by Crossing, but that's not it. Why betray Crossing to serve Wade?"
"I didn't betray Crossing. We had that agreement from the start."
"Agreement?"
"When the true master appears, pledge absolute loyalty to them. That's the oath passed down in my family. Until that master came, we served Crossing, and Crossing promised to release us when the time came."
"I see. A family mission. That's what's most precious to you."
Lutger nodded.
"Then one more question. If the person you love conflicts with your mission—what then? If you must kill them to uphold it?"
"I will uphold the mission."
"You're strong. Unlike me."
"...?"
"I can't be that ruthless. Not even for Albad, my homeland. Not even for my own life... My daughter's happiness means more."
Thud! Lutger slammed his sword into the ground and issued a command.
"The enemy will soon climb the main hill! All units, battle stations! We'll strike back fiercely!"
The Iron Fortress, Lutger.
He revealed not a single gap, denying the Albad army even one step forward.
*
*
*
News of the Pollick Mountains reached the Setes Plains without fail.
"Yussis couldn't advance a single step. Even for a defense specialist like him, that's impressive."
Julian synthesized the intelligence and reached a conclusion.
"They've deployed elite troops in the Pollick Mountains."
That explained the Caliper army's behavior.
No matter what, even with their cavalry as arrow fodder, the Caliper forces held their ground like an iron wall.
"It's too risky to counterattack with poorly trained soldiers."
In other words, their camp was heavy on hastily conscripted levies.
Julian read the full picture from fragments of information.
"Then this will be the fatal blow. Listen up! Expend all arrows before noon! Wipe out every last one of their cavalry!"
From dawn, the Madon army rained arrows. This assault annihilated their meager 700 cavalry, leaving only 50.
Confirming this, Julian summoned an officer.
"Fetch Draken!"
The pureblood beastman Draken—the one who shook their spy network and led night raids when Madon struck the Salleon faction.
"Looks like it, Craig. My turn at last."
Draken bared his teeth in a chilling grin. Julian frowned.
"Fortune favors it so. Time for you to rampage."
"The plan? Just sow chaos?"
"No, this operation's more delicate. Draken, I'm giving you 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. Split them into several groups...."
Julian's bold stroke.
A ingenious scheme surpassing Als's defense.
"Raid every surrounding territory. This battle ends with that."
The report soon reached Als's camp.
"Urgent—! The enemy formed a guerrilla force of about 5,000, bypassing the battlefield! Targeting nearby territories!"
Peradin shot to his feet.
"Which territories?"
"Rosbel, Libel, Bonia, Rotos, Tirran, and Noiers are likely targets!"
Eonia's eyes widened.
"L-Libel...!"
Eonia fidgeted anxiously, glancing at Als.
The other officers' faces hardened.
"General Wade, shouldn't we detour forces to block them?"
A suggestion from a Caliper officer. Als remained silent.
Speaking for him, Peradin said gravely,
"We lack the mobility for that."
"Mobility...? You don't mean!"
"Yes. Our cavalry—capable of shadowing and delaying them—is wiped out."
"The enemy showered arrows on our cavalry aiming for this!"
"That's about the size of it."
Julian judged Als's defense unbreakable by conventional means and sought a breakthrough elsewhere.
This flanking maneuver cleverly struck at the Caliper army's Achilles' heel.
Morale.
The Caliper forces' spirits had already sunk with their cavalry as arrow sponges.
They'd maintained it by distributing horse meat daily, but this was the knockout blow.
Caliper officers panicked like fire on their feet.
"If this continues, chaos will erupt among the conscripts!"
Those conscripts hailed from these very territories.
If families and hometowns were threatened, morale would plummet.
Desertions would surge, collapsing from within.
Julian showed the gap in vision—war beyond mere battle, the mark of a true general.
A mystical stratagem transcending strategy. Peradin spared no admiration.
"Julian Craig, was it? Remarkable. I wondered why Madon gave grand general rank to a green kid, but now I get it. He earned it...."
"This isn't the time for awe! General Wade! Say something—any countermeasure!"
The officers clung to Als with desperate gazes. Eonia stamped her feet, lost.
"...Hah."
Als sighed softly.
"Even now, not one sees through the operation's true intent. Too many soldiers around me? Well, most here aren't my retainers anyway.... Guess I need more strategists."
Eonia bit her lip.
'I should have understood for Lord Als!'
But ignorance was unavoidable.
Als continued.
"The countermeasure's set. Everything's on schedule. Prepare for full battle. This moment decides it. Follow orders swiftly."
"Pardon?"
The officers gaped at the battle prep order.
"Now? Sunset's in four hours. Preps alone take over an hour! If we fight, it'll drag into night battle!"
"Fine. It'll end before then."
"A-and morale's too low for battle!"
"Whose? Who lacks morale?"
"What...?"
At the order, soldiers moved in perfect unison. No sign of morale dip from the flanking.
Peradin gasped.
"N-No way...!"
Even Eonia swallowed dryly without thinking.
"Y-You predicted this far back then...!?"
Eonia's shock had a simple reason.
Of the 23,000 in this Caliper camp, not one was a conscript.
*
*
*
Step! Step! Step! The Caliper army advanced in lockstep.
Julian frowned. His aides sneered at the folly.
"They've finally lost it!"
"Crawling out oblivious! Haha!"
But Julian thought otherwise.
"No—this might be Caliper's only path to survival."
"The only... path?"
"Sitting idle risks internal collapse. Charging now lets them fight somehow."
Plus, Madon had detached 5,000 guerrillas, evening numbers at 25,000 to 23,000.
"Then...!"
"No worry. Even so, our army won't crumble against rabble. Hold till sunset, and victory's ours. Form square formation! Move!"
The Madon army shifted to defense.
Julian copied Als's square.
23,000 infantry packed center, 1,000 cavalry per wing.
"See if you can break the square you made yourself."
But seeing it, Als scoffed lightly.
"Fools."
The Caliper army closed in.
When distance shrank to 100 meters, Caliper began an odd maneuver.
"Move! Full sprint!"
"No stragglers! Hurry!"
Officers bellowed.
The whole force tangled into chaos.
Julian assumed low-morale Caliper lost control—but opposite.
Als controlled officers with astonishing focus, imposing order amid disorder.
Then, Julian felt sticky unease for the first time.
'What? This chill.'
Caliper's move was mad: tangle up close to enemy?
With arrows left, they'd have massacred them.
But Madon had none—exhausted on cavalry.
'Predicted this? No way. No way they'd foresee.'
Then.
Rumble! The "tangled" Caliper lines unraveled like thread, splitting flawlessly to slam both Madon wings!
Already accelerated internally, the charge hit fast.
Neigh! Madon's cavalry panicked at the unforeseen strike.
Julian bit his lip.
"Tch! That mess was to deny cavalry charge time."
Like Julian targeted cavalry, Als prioritized wings.
Tangled deliberately to hide paths, massed weight sideways, struck both flanks at once.
Cavalry, needing charge momentum, wilted under first blow.
"General! Reinforce flanks with infantry!"
"No! That thins center! They're splitting our focus sideways to punch the weak center!"
3,000 still faced front.
Julian figured that bold archer who shot him lurked there.
"Aiming to behead me for reversal? Dream on! Order wing cavalry: temporary rear retreat, reform charge! Center infantry: condense tight!"
Hold center, then reformed cavalry flanks to smash piecemeal.
Center infantry must buy time—Julian estimated 30 minutes max.
Unshakable, he thought.
"They're pressing both sides! Hold!"
But.
"Checkmate."
Als murmured, whooshing a purple-clothed arrow skyward.
Thud! Thud! Frontline Caliper infantry snapped to defense.
Not pressing—shields up, forming a straight line square. Guarding something behind.
"Defending...!?"
Why?
As Julian wondered, Als delivered sentence.
"Fire everything!"