Flames Ignite the Enemy's Rear
The glittering lights scattered across all directions.
Like crystal-clear ice boulders hovering in mid-air, smooth and translucent.
Covered in a chilling aura, it had an almost ethereal quality that, in ordinary times, would have been mistaken for a masterpiece of art.
However,
given that this place was now a battlefield,
and that the beautiful ice boulders were pointed like sharp spears aimed straight at them,
the faces of the Imperial soldiers turned deathly pale.
And then—
before they could even make any proper preparations for this situation…
the blue-haired female general slowly lowered her hand.
Then—
**Pat!**
Like a sudden downpour, the ice spears began to rain down toward the soldiers.
The Imperial soldiers’ simultaneous gunfire was met by the ice spears that continued to pierce straight through their bodies.
“Gwaaah!”
“Kyaaah!!”
The soldiers vomiting blood and letting out gruesome screams.
If it was just their hands and feet being pierced by the ice spears, it would have been a mercy.
Those who were struck in the abdomen or had their heads blown off entirely,
or those who endured unbearable pain that words could not describe and rolled on the ground without even screaming.
In a single strike, the already outnumbered defensive troops were instantly suppressed.
And right after, the rebel soldiers did not miss the opening and quickly moved to the empty positions across the camp.
And then…
“Burn everything! No ammunition or tents left behind—turn them all into ashes!”
“Yes, General!”
Following the command of the blue-haired female general,
over five hundred rebel soldiers lit the torches they carried and threw them in all directions.
**Boom!**
The explosion from the ammunition-filled temporary storage burning.
Watching their own camp and all the supplies they had been storing turn into ashes,
a deep smile spread across Franklin’s lips and her deputy’s.
“Hahaha! Truly amazing. I never imagined that with just this many troops, you could strike the enemy’s rear so easily.”
“I told you, right? If it’s Cromwell’s plan, it has to be right. There’s no time to waste here. We need to inflict as much damage as possible on the Imperial forces while they’re distracted right now.”
“Yes, General! Then, as planned, we’ll finish cleaning up the southern outpost and immediately withdraw.”
“Alright, let’s meet back at the fort later.”
With that, the deputy began leading the group of soldiers to move.
Later, Franklin set out eastward with the remaining troops.
The Imperial soldiers, who had been bewildered by the sudden appearance of the rebels due to the delayed news, were still in disarray.
Riding through the ranks that hadn’t even formed properly,
Franklin released a surge of mana that flowed around her body.
**!**
**Crack! Crack!**
With freezing cold that froze everything in its path,
countless ice spears erupted from the ground.
The single strike that turned the entire 40-meter radius into an icy blast,
the Imperial soldiers were massacred in an instant without even a scream.
After annihilating the defensive troops once more,
Franklin continued to set fire to the surroundings along with her subordinate soldiers.
As she had predicted, the soldiers defending this vast outpost felt once again how ridiculously few the enemy numbers were.
For a moment, Franklin’s gaze turned toward the man fighting atop the mountain peak…
Edward Cromwell, the mastermind behind all these plans.
‘Is it only this left for me? I hope the plan works perfectly until the very end…’
*
‘Tsk…’
As the good times passed and the aura began to wane,
I could no longer maintain the .
Thanks to the God’s Blessing buff,
my rebel soldiers had held out for nearly an hour.
However,
though the magic was thoroughly sealed,
I had no choice but to face the enemy’s bullets as well.
As a result, among the originally 200 rebel soldiers,
over 80 had become casualties.
It was fortunate that the natural barrier of trees and rocks on the high ground had limited the damage to this level.
But now that barrier was also nearing its limit.
And crucially, with the magic no longer able to protect them,
the enemies who had been cautiously observing would soon launch a full-scale offensive.
In fact, even holding out against ten times as many enemies in this makeshift fort had been almost a miracle.
But now the end was in sight.
And in this situation, my deputy, standing beside me, showed an expression of joy rather than fear of the oncoming death.
“Judging by that smoke… it seems General Franklin is handling things well.”
“It appears so. Thankfully, the objective seems to have been achieved.”
As a signal of successfully raiding the enemy outpost as planned,
black smoke was rising.
Satisfied with the meaning, the deputy lowered his head slightly and said.
“Thank you. For allowing us to die in such a meaningful way. Honestly, I initially doubted Captain Cromwell’s words, but now I want to apologize for that.”
With firm trust and the weight of a final message, the deputy spoke.
However,
watching his demeanor,
I smiled deeply and said,
“Don’t speak as if you’re someone who’s going to die just yet. It’s not over.”
“…What? What are you…?”
The deputy looked bewildered by my words.
Instead of answering,
I suddenly turned my gaze toward the noisy Imperial camp.
‘So that’s how it is… I knew it. This guy… when it was the enemy, he was completely unreliable, but now he’s acting like a savior?’
*
“What did you say? You haven’t even defeated them yet?”
“U-um… I’m sorry, General Neto. General William has led several attacks with the soldiers, but has yet to achieve any clear results.”
The deputy’s report being transmitted in real time.
Listening to this,
General Neto’s expression showed disbelief as he displayed thick anger.
Due to Richard’s support request for backup,
Neto had no choice but to return to the command post.
At this moment, his face was filled with an unmistakable deep irritation and anger.
Despite deploying such a large force,
the fact that they had not yet secured a victory against less than half the enemy numbers was one issue,
but more than that, the forced end of the sweet time he had been spending with Clara was what caused Richard to feel intense anger toward him.
“What worthless bastards. The force deployed there is a full 2,000 troops. Including 300 mages. How can they be so slow?!”
“Th-that… apparently the mages are completely unable to exert any power.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I don’t know about Captain Cromwell, but all the mages’ magic is being completely blocked. On top of that, the terrain is favorable to them, so the bullets have no effect either, and the situation drags on like this.”
“No way. Because of just that, thousands of troops are stalling against a few hundred enemies? What pathetic… If magic doesn’t work, they should just charge through with their bodies! When did the British Empire’s soldiers become such weak trash?”
Even without ranged attacks, with such a numerical disparity, sheer numbers should crush the opponent.
Yet the behavior of the subordinate generals who were terrified and dragging out the battle only scratched at Neto’s already irritated nerves.
“W-would it be necessary to send more reinforcements at this point?”
“What are you saying? What do you mean deploying the main force because of just a few hundred enemies? Shut up and relay my order immediately! If they don’t defeat them within 30 minutes, I’ll strip them of their general rank!”
“Y-yes! A-alright, General!”
In reality, it had only been a little over an hour since William had begun the attack.
Despite that,
the fact that his sweet time with the beauty had been interrupted made Neto extremely sensitive compared to his usual self.
Especially since the one causing it was not someone else, but Cromwell, who had been making him feel inferior with his brilliant public image and even threatening his position.
‘That lowly commoner scum dares to soil my face? Just watch. When I catch you, I won’t kill you nicely.’
Feeling a strong desire to see that wretched face of the unlucky commoner begging for his life as soon as possible, Neto waited for this moment, which felt like decades, impatiently.
But then.
“Sir… General!”
“What? Did you bring back Cromwell?”
Looking at the soldier who had rushed in urgently with expectant eyes, Neto asked.
However, the soldier replied in a panicked, gasping breath.
“It’s bad! The rebels… the rebels are attacking!”
“What? Rebels? Or did Cromwell’s side actually defeat our allies and attack?”
Out of doubt, Neto asked with a stiff expression.
To this,
the soldier shook his head and continued with difficulty through rough breaths.
“No… r-right now, reports are coming in that rebel soldiers are appearing from the south and east! T-they… they’ve intruded into our camp and set fires!”
“No… what kind of nonsense is that? They’re supposed to be north! Rebels from the south… could it be enemy reinforcements arriving? How many are there?”
“U-um… I don’t know the exact number either. But the fact that they’ve attacked is clear! Due to the smoke and flames, it’s hard to tell precisely, but even conservatively, the number is over a few hundred.”
An incredulous, shocking story.
At this,
Neto felt as if he had been struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
And then…
**Boom!**
“!?”
A sudden, loud explosion echoed.
Hearing that sound as if something had exploded,
Neto, confirming the soldier’s words were true, automatically frowned.
‘The enemy from the south…? Could it be that reinforcements arrived from somewhere we didn’t know?’
Since Cromwell, who had been holding out against their attack for an hour, had divided his forces,
the possibility of him sending troops there was low.
William and Richard were dim-witted, but even against an enemy several times larger, they wouldn’t drag their feet.
‘William is just dumb, but even Richard wouldn’t just stand by and watch his comrades get defeated. If they’ve been dragging out the battle until now, the rebels must be around 1,000 strong… Then, who are the enemies who raided our outpost…’
Around 1,000 would be almost the entire force defending Fort Stenyck.
Yet only hundreds, or more, of enemies had been confirmed.
In this situation,
Neto reached one conclusion.
From somewhere…
the enemy’s ‘reinforcements’ had arrived.
‘Even if only the visible reinforcements are a few hundred, the actual enemy number would be several times that. Then… if I hesitate here, I could be in danger.’
If the person here was a bit braver and slightly more reckless, they might have reached a different conclusion.
However,
Neto, who from the beginning had been scheming and sparing his body as much as possible,
naturally thought a lot…
and ultimately began to consider the worst possible scenario.
The rebels currently inside the fort had lured the Imperial forces to disrupt their ranks,
and the rebels’ reinforcements had secretly moved in to strike their rear.
And with this complex thought,
Neto issued the order with urgency.
“Alert the entire army. Withdraw the camp westward for now. Inform Richard and William as well!”
“What?”
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