Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Perfect Night Raid
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Sion had lived as a mercenary in this world for a long time.
For a few years right after being transported here, he had been part of a mercenary company, but after gaining some skill and meeting his masters, stepping into the realm of superhumans, he only formed parties as needed or participated individually in large-scale battles. He had never been affiliated with any specific organization for long.
It was because his immortality could be exposed, so he chose to fight alone instead.
But the situation changed once the Demon Dragon Derkius began rampaging in earnest, forcing multiple kingdoms and hundreds of territories to halt their disputes and form an alliance.
In battles where hundreds of troops clashed, a single person could sway the tide.
But when it scaled up to thousands or even tens of thousands, it became difficult.
No matter how well Sion fought alone, if the other units collapsed and the top commander died, it was a true defeat.
Sion knew his own capabilities.
On Earth, he had been a company commander.
In this world, a Hundred Household Captain.
Sion knew that was the exact limit of the troop size he could command directly.
That was why he fought commanding only around two hundred subordinates.
Even after receiving his territory and becoming the ruler of the Sion Dukedom, it was the same.
He placed those among his wife's brought knights who excelled in tactics and strategy in key positions.
Like a president, he held only supreme command authority, leaving general military powers to the real tacticians.
But in small-scale battles, Sion was still an expert.
He was a master of small-unit combat, boasting an undefeated record over decades without a single loss.
That was why Sion quickly and simply devised a plan for today's ambush.
It made Jonas and Longlive, who hadn't experienced proper combat in a long time, somewhat anxious.
* * *
'Is this right...?'
It was a thought he couldn't voice out loud to his revered ancestor, so he swallowed it, but when Sion first laid out the night raid plan, Jonas had thought exactly that.
-The elf warriors take out the sentries, then sweep from north to south in a semicircle through the enemy camp, thinning their numbers.
-After reaching the southeast of the camp, Jonas and Longlive, along with the Paloma troops, move fully south and wait.
-By then, the elves' assassination path through the camp will have reached deep inside or be at high risk of detection by the enemy.
-At that point, Sion assassinates the enemy commanders via the shortest route, then draws the awakened enemies toward his position.
-While the elf warriors and Sion handle the incoming foes, Jonas and the Paloma troops strike the rear from the south.
It didn't even sound plausible— he wondered if it could really work.
It was too simplistic, and no fool would follow the script exactly.
But those worries proved unnecessary.
"Over there—there!"
"Shit! Kill those bastards!"
"Uwaaaak!"
"Is this right...?"
Hearing the shouts and screams, Jonas finally voiced his thought aloud.
But the meaning was different from when he first heard the plan.
The situation was unfolding exactly as Sion had planned, without a single deviation.
That was why he genuinely wondered if this was reality.
But the flickering torches everywhere and the mercenaries suddenly jolting awake, running about in panic, proved the situation was proceeding just as his ancestor had orchestrated.
'Then I need to do my part.'
"We're not idiots who can't eat a served meal, right? Everyone, advance!"
Ha!
The Paloma soldiers responded in a low but firm chorus, raising shields and maintaining formation as they moved.
A completely different sight from the mercenaries dashing about like wild animals facing a pack of hunters.
The Paloma soldiers pierced into the backs of the mercenaries charging toward the camp center where Sion was, in perfect phalanx like machines.
Shuuuak! Kwaak!
Aaaak! Keuak!
Every time the two blades flickered between the torches, sword flashes and screams erupted.
Friel and Jonas knew his true identity, but to prevent others from noticing something off, Sion released his killing intent only at first, then fought the mercenaries purely with raw power afterward.
Trained by masters who were top-tier in their fields, Sion had ultimately surpassed them.
Add to that decades of real combat experience and physical abilities beyond human limits.
Sion quietly believed that unless one of the 'users' soon to arrive in this world had special skills, he was the strongest in the world.
No—even if a user with special abilities or skills came, he didn't think he'd lose after all those years of battle-hardened experience.
Moreover, the current situation was small-unit combat at a hundred-man scale, his specialty.
On top of that, it was a perfect nighttime ambush, so the mercenaries had rushed out without proper armor.
'In fact, I could handle this alone.'
But he executed the ambush with the elf warriors and Paloma troops.
Sometimes, the reason for fighting matters.
And that reason becomes justification, and those who fight together under the same banner become 'comrades'.
The Paloma troops, excluding Jonas and Longlive, didn't know what their lord Gede had done.
So they believed they were fighting for 'Sion Dukedom' against invaders who breached the dukedom.
And doing so alongside the aloof elf warriors they rarely saw despite long years together.
The other elf warriors, excluding Friel, were the same regardless of tribe.
Elves didn't show emotions, but that didn't mean they had none.
Thus, the elf warriors were now sharing a rare experience: fighting together with the dukedom's soldiers for their home, the Sion Dukedom.
'Only a few heads are rotten.'
That was why Sion wanted everyone to join this fight he could handle alone.
And the process was flawless; he had no doubt the outcome would be satisfying.
The results were already visible.
"Rear! Enemies in the rear too!"
"D-Dukedom troops!"
"These... fuck!"
Over a hundred had already fallen to Sion and the elf warriors, but in the dark night, even with torches, the mercenaries couldn't properly see or grasp what was happening.
In their panic, as they mindlessly swarmed toward the screams and clash of weapons, the Paloma soldiers perfectly enveloped their rear.
"Shitheads! They're here too!"
"H-Here! Aaaak!"
Dozens more sprayed blood and collapsed; some mercenaries turned to face the Paloma troops.
But most were bare-bodied with only weapons, facing soldiers in layered padded armor, chain mail, and shields.
Even if the mercenaries had been fully armed and clashed in a group, they'd be at a disadvantage—let alone now, overwhelmingly under-equipped against foes in perfect formation.
Kuaaak!
Kyaak!
Perfect slaughter.
The mercenaries hired by the Pamell Count family were mostly seasoned veterans, but now they were like conscripted peasants.
And they were under attack from both sides.
In the end, the mercenaries had only one choice.
"R-Run!"
At someone's cry, the surviving mercenaries fled without hesitation.
The escape route was obvious.
Northwest, where Sion and Paloma troops weren't.
Dozens of mercenaries sprinted into the midnight forest with only weapons.
They'd likely fail to escape this deep forest, with many falling to beasts or monsters, but necks on the line, they couldn't think that far.
If they didn't run now, they'd die.
Consumed by that single thought, the mercenaries ran.
Shik! Shishit!
Waiting for them were volleys from the composite bows of Sion Dukedom elf warriors who had silenced the outer sentries.
Not as well as Sion, but with excellent night vision, the elf warriors easily loosed arrows from high trees.
Having scouted escape routes since Sion planned the night raid, they were already in position. Over half the fleeing mercenaries fell to their composite bow fire, sprawling on the muddy forest floor.
Ultimately, only about twenty escaped the camp.
Of course, how many would fully exit the silent forest was unknown.
Beasts and monsters, drawn by the blood scent of the midnight massacre, were already heading this way.
* * *
Kuuuuh...
The camp, with tents and marquees ablaze from torches, lay in ruins.
Corpses and gravely wounded mercenaries littered the ground; those still breathing writhed or crawled like insects.
"Kill all except the commanders. Sever their heads entirely."
"Yes."
At Sion's order, Jonas instructed Longlive, and soldiers moved about, stabbing the wounded and decapitating the dead repeatedly.
Screams and groans slowly faded.
The elf warriors busied themselves extinguishing fires on the trees.
The damp forest wouldn't burn easily, but it was what they had to do.
Soon, silence fell, save for the crackle of a few burning tents.
With all tasks done, their gazes naturally turned to one spot.
The one who devised the perfect plan (which he had initially thought amateurish) and threw himself into the most dangerous spot to achieve unbelievable results: Sion.
Longlive and the Paloma soldiers stared at him like a monster; the elf warriors, with good night vision and having fought nearby, had witnessed his feats directly and now showed rare deep emotion.
But Sion ignored the stares, confirmed the hundreds of heads piled grotesquely like a tower on one side, then nodded to Jonas.
"Kuuu... Kraaa!"
"Uuugh!"
Knight Sanders, whose right thigh had exploded from Sion's punch, and two mercenary captains with severed Achilles tendons, were dragged out howling like beasts.
Excluding the few who fled north, these three were all the survivors.
"Aaak! Ack!"
Sion grabbed Sanders by the hair and lifted him.
"Do you know who this is?"
"Yes. Gid Sanders, knight of the Pamell Count family, one of the count's nephews."
Jonas, who knew the count's relatives from prior sightings, confirmed his identity.
"Kuh! J-Jonas, sir. What is this? Kugh! T-Treating me like this..."
Puk!
"Kwaaaaak!"
Sanders, prattling amid pain, screamed as Sion kicked his thigh.
"Shut your trap. Don't you know why I spared you?"
"Kuuuuh.... The Pamell Count family's knight and the count's kin—do you think you can handle the consequences of treating me like th—kuh!"
Snap!
Sion yanked Sanders' hair, pulling his face right up to his own, locking eyes.
"Don't you know why I spared you? You're living proof."
"The Pamell Count family are kingdom nobles. We were only here to subjugate monsters in the forest."
A prepared excuse in case plans went awry.
The Pamell Count family was the in-laws of Gede Sion, Sion's top direct subordinate. If pushed, it would stick.
"It's not too late even now... Kugh!"
Sion pulled the babbling Sanders' head right to his nose.
Sanders choked even in pain at Sion's eyes flickering like pale blue flames.
"You're right—it's not too late."
"...Th-Then."
"I was going to properly deal with you someday, and it seems now's the time. Good thing it's not too late."
"......!"
For a brief moment, Sanders pondered Sion's words, eyes widening.
"You're lucky. You'll get to see firsthand what happened to your family's ancestors who crossed this forest long ago. What became of them before Duke Sion."
"Huu... Huuu...."
Sanders had inwardly mocked and ridiculed the family elders who tensed up at mere mention of the Sion Duke family.
But today, he finally understood why they acted that way.