Chapter 63
Chapter 63
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Kara Siege Battle Final Battle (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The news of my victory breathed new life into the defending forces.
On the other hand, the Lobros army had lost much of its momentum after the shock of their vice-commander's death. This was especially evident among the enemy mercenaries. Their assault on the left wall had noticeably weakened.
Of course, the area where Marquis Fabius had pushed through was still breached deep into the fortress interior, but elsewhere, our defenses were holding the line quite steadily.
It seemed the mercenaries' tendency to sell out for coin was kicking in. They were skilled fighters, but they lacked loyalty and honor. If things looked dicey, they bolted. After all, you can't collect pay if you're dead.
I could smell victory in the air.
Once we drove off the mercenaries, the battle was as good as won. They made up about a third of the expeditionary force. If they fled, the rest of the Lobros troops would have no choice but to pull back.
"Akam!"
Akam came running at my call.
"You're in command of the whole army now."
"What about you, Master?"
"I'm going to end this battle."
"Pardon?"
"No time. If the enemy's morale recovers, we could be here forever."
"Understood!"
I handed command to Akam and approached Padilla.
"You pull back now."
"But..."
"If you get taken out while I'm gone, it's over. Better to hang back for now."
"Yes. Got it. Be careful out there."
Once Padilla left with her guards, I leaped down behind the wall. There, Kasim, Najir, and Bayan waited with their camel troops.
"We charge the enemy. Target is the left wall."
"Yes, sir!"
I immediately summoned my jet-black curved-horse and ordered the gates opened. As they swung wide, enemy soldiers surged inward. I unleashed a massive blast of the beast's flames at them and charged.
"Follow me!"
Nearly ten thousand camel riders trampled the Lobros troops pouring into the fortress and burst out the gates.
Clearing the bastion, I wheeled left toward the wall, urging my mount into a gallop.
"Argh! Kara's camel troops are coming!"
Screams erupted everywhere. The relentless camel charge crushed mercenaries beneath hooves and tusks, leaving them mangled and dead.
The Lobros mercenaries panicked. Focused on the siege, they'd made no preparations for a cavalry charge. In such cases, it usually turned into a one-sided slaughter.
"Damn it! Should've known. No caltrops anywhere."
"Run! Anyone under the wall is dead meat!"
Some quick-witted mercenaries turned tail en masse. But with the moat surrounding the base and only one drawbridge for escape, most were either bowled over by camels or plunged into the ditch to their deaths. A lucky few made it out.
They were the fortunate ones—at least they'd sensed danger and fled. The rest never even heard the camels coming and got flattened outright.
"No mercy! Crush them all!"
No need for swords or spears. The camels handled it—stomping with hooves, slamming with bodies, tearing with teeth.
A near-endless wave of ten thousand camel riders was pure terror to mercenaries armed with just weapons.
"Woooah! Keep charging, camel troops!"
"Push them back!"
Cheers rang out from atop the walls.
Fueled by the support, we pressed harder, sweeping the mercenaries away. A few still clinging to life begged for mercy, but camel hooves soon reduced them to splattered, crumpled meat paste.
Meanwhile, wall soldiers loosed arrows and mana bolts at the extra Lobros mercenaries beyond the moat, backing us up.
By the time we rounded the corner toward the south wall, the left wall stood empty.
Our path was littered with blood-soaked armor scraps, though they barely resembled human shapes anymore—hard to tell corpse from debris.
Heading for the south gate, I glanced at the enemy rear.
'They're fleeing, as expected.'
The Lobros mercenaries had lost the will to fight and were scattering. Veterans like them knew survival too well.
"Open the gates!"
Back inside via the south gate, I assigned Kasim, Najir, and Bayan to lead their units and headed straight for the central command tower.
"What's the situation?"
Akam greeted me with unrestrained glee.
"Rejoice, Master. The enemy mercenaries have fully retreated."
"I know that. What about the rest?"
"Things are stirring with the Sika alliance forces too. Word of the mercenaries fleeing spread, and units are pulling back one by one."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Reports say the Elama clan banner and Adren clan banner are gone, and their assaults have eased up considerably."
I flashed a predatory grin. Misfortune kept piling up for the Lobros expedition.
Of their sixty thousand, pure Lobros troops numbered only twenty-five thousand. The rest were mercenaries and Sika allies—loose coalitions driven by self-interest. With Kara's capture slipping away, they crumbled like sand.
The later additions like Hussein and Alf were even quicker to bail. Their Sika levies from nearby city-states and tribes needed to defend home against Kara's counterattack post-battle.
The vanished Elama and Adren clans proved it—city-states not far from Kara.
"And the Lobros main force?"
"They're still pressing, but their momentum's shot. Nothing to worry about."
"We've won."
"Yes."
Akam and I both knew it. The enemy was crumbling while we held firm with reserves to spare. Even a fool could win from here.
The gamble had paid off. A brutal slog ended by one camel charge. Thousands of mercenaries wiped out—bold strategy's power reaffirmed.
But not one to use lightly. Failure meant heavy losses.
With breathing room, my thoughts turned elsewhere.
"By the way, what about Marquis Fabius?"
"What do you think? He breached the walls, but you cut off his reinforcements by routing the rear mercenaries."
"Is he isolated?"
"Yes. He's holed up in one wall section, barely resisting encirclement by Seongyu's mercenaries and the Yosrahim knights."
My eyes hardened. The famed hero of the monocle, reduced to this—it felt strangely poignant.
But worry crept in too. That old man wouldn't surrender; he'd fight to the end, likely choosing honorable death against Uncle Zenbe.
Then a messenger stumbled in from the left wall, gasping his report.
"M-Marquis Fabius..."
"What about him?"
"We've captured Marquis Fabius and his entire knight order alive."
"Alive? For real?"
"Yes."
I blinked in shock.
"Uncle Zenbe?"
"Lady Seongyu dueled the marquis and both passed out."
Uncle Zenbe had pulled off a miracle. Fainted himself, but capturing Baldy Gramps mid-fight? Peak orc hero stuff, one of the three greats.
"How'd it go down?"
"They clashed in final duel, then both suddenly collapsed from some freak accident. His knights were so stunned they got captured in the chaos."
I furrowed my brow. Two top-tier human swordsmen felled by accident? Baffling report.
"Huh? Explain properly. That make any sense?"
"I don't know either. They just dropped—thud, flop like that."
I tilted my head, then eyed Akam. Details aside, we needed to spread this fast. News of Fabius's capture would end the battle.
"Akam, send every messenger. Get this to all fronts now."
"Yes, sir."
I handed command back to Akam and raced to the scene. Fabius's capture was too big; I had to see it myself.
Chaos reigned. Hundreds of Lobros knights, bound in aura restraints, were being dragged off. Healers and priests bustled in the wall's medical tent treating wounded.
I grabbed a soldier.
"Where's Uncle Zenbe?"
He pointed to the tent.
"In there."
I rushed inside. Amid the injured lay Uncle Zenbe, his massive bulk easy to spot.
I pushed past a healer's protests to his bedside.
"Uncle, you awake?"
Bruises purpled his face and left forearm—not blade wounds, more like blunt trauma.
He groaned, eyes fluttering open.
"Wh-where am I?"
"Medical tent. What happened? You just blacked out?"
He clutched his throbbing forehead.
"No clue. I remember dueling the bald geezer for ages, then... blank."
"Anything else?"
"Heard some inhuman shriek—like a human female? And a huge black shadow lunged at the bald coot... Yeah! That shadow!"
I rolled my eyes. Inhuman shriek from a human woman? Black shadow? Unease stirred. Only three human women in this battle.
"What was that shriek?"
"Dunno, but it felt like a warning to stay away."
"Alright, rest up then."
As I turned to slip out, he grabbed my wrist.
"What about the bald geezer?"
"Alive, far as I know."
Uncle Zenbe ground his teeth.
"Next time, we settle it."
Glancing back as I left, I thought: Last time, I interrupted. This time, some weird shadow. Those two would never finish a fight. Like how Uncle never got his meal pay from me.
Come to think of it, that wasn't my fault. Looked like some divine curse plagued the guy.
"The Lobros army's retreating!"
Outside, Kara soldiers roared in victory. Word of Fabius's capture had forced their withdrawal.
Made sense: mercenaries fled, Sika allies bailed, top general captured—no reason to fight on.
"Little bro!"
Atop the left command tower, Shura and big sis Armida welcomed me warmly. But the vibe was off—guards kept distance from her, watching warily.
"Come here~."
I whispered right away.
"Sis, did you mess with Baldy Gramps and Uncle Zenbe's duel earlier?"
"Oh, that? They fought toward Shura's spot."
"And?"
"I yelled to stay back—too dangerous. They ignored me."
"So?"
"Got pissed and smacked 'em. Can't have my Shura hurt."
I facepalmed. She had no idea the scale of her meddling.
Fabius and Zenbe's duel was historic. But she clocked them both in front of everyone. Proper human history intervention.
Eh, whatever now.