Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Subjugation Force Advance (2)
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“With this, those bastards won’t try any more pointless schemes.”
At the subjugation force’s main camp, Sershes muttered with his arms crossed.
“They’ve realized that pushing for a short vanguard skirmish would just hurt them.”
From a commander’s perspective, a short vanguard skirmish was a headache.
It could cost them a promising talent on their side and boost the enemy’s morale.
But refusing to engage would label them cowards, letting the enemy grow bold.
Of course, if you had a guaranteed win like Sion, there’d be no worries... but for Sershes, sending Sion out every time felt distasteful.
“A wise decision, Brother.”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“Why would I mock you, Brother?”
“Tch, forget it. Talking to you just puts me at a loss.”
A calm voice came from beside him, and Sershes clicked his tongue.
“They must be rattled by losing the vanguard skirmish. They’ll act rashly to make up for it.”
“Probably.”
“It’s the first real fight. Step forward and crush their momentum, Est.”
“Yes, Brother.”
Est, one of the Sky Rank Knights participating in this subjugation force, stepped ahead.
* * *
“Ludwig, an intermediate knight... in one strike?”
“A powerhouse with 7-star mana...”
“Is that Sion Aleyas? The one making waves in the Holy Knight Order lately?”
Seeing Ludwig’s head fly off in one blow threw the Edelfelt camp into chaos.
It would’ve been somewhat acceptable if it had been one of the Holy Knight Order’s Sky Rank Knights.
But the one who felled Ludwig was Sion Aleyas, who wasn’t even twenty yet.
A kid much younger than Ludwig had pierced the Edelfelt family’s pride—the golden sword aura—and severed Ludwig’s head.
Everyone was shaken by that fact.
“Charge, charge...!”
At that moment, Pontus screamed like a madman.
“We’ll avenge Ludwig...!”
His son, who had stepped up for the short vanguard skirmish, had lost his life in one strike.
It felt like his heart was being torn apart. He had to exact revenge.
With that resolve, Pontus charged forward.
“Waaah...!”
Following their vanguard commander, the other knights began their assault.
Dust billowed up as the knights racing across the wasteland.
“Assault Knight Brigade, advance!”
The Holy Knight Order side began to move as well.
They maintained perfect formation and clashed against the charging Edelfelt knights.
“Ooooh...!”
Crunch! Boom!
The Holy Knight Order’s Assault Knight Brigade consisted entirely of elites with 3 stars or higher.
But the Edelfelt Holy War Knight Order was no slouch either.
They had trained their knights in preparation for clashes with the Holy Knight Order.
Sword energies and sword auras collided, shaking heaven and earth wildly.
It was a true war between real knights, unlike ordinary battles.
“Sion Aleyas...!”
Amid it all, Pontus aimed for Sion.
Sion was already surrounded by other knights.
“I’ll avenge my son!”
Pontus was an 8-star knight.
Even if Sion wielded 7-star power, he could take him down.
With his vow to avenge his son, Pontus’s sword aura raged fiercer.
“Uoooh!”
He shouted and unleashed sword aura energy, firing sword bullets at Sion.
But someone blocked Pontus’s path.
“Is it the Edelfelt knightly way for your commander to target a young knight?”
Boom!
The silver sword aura filling the air shot down every sword bullet.
A handsome man with flowing golden hair stepped forward.
“You bastard, Bernhard of the Independent Knight Brigade!”
The leader of the Independent Knight Brigade, a martial-rank knight.
Pontus knew his name.
“The one who’s been spying on our family for years...!”
“Yes, and after all these years, I’ve finally borne fruit.”
Bernhard spoke leisurely.
“Now I can finally pass judgment on your Edelfelt family.”
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
Pontus swung his sword at Bernhard.
The raging golden sword aura aimed for Bernhard’s neck, but Bernhard parried it all with expert swordsmanship.
“But is it alright for your commander to focus solely on me?”
“What?”
“You should check your unit’s situation right now.”
Pontus flinched and looked up.
In that instant, a sky-blue light flashed across the battlefield.
“That’s...!”
Swoosh!
Pontus saw it.
The sky-blue light sweeping the battlefield, claiming countless Holy War Knights’ lives.
“Est Aleyas...!”
Ianus’s second daughter, a 9-star Sky Rank Knight.
Realizing she had entered the fray personally, Pontus felt chills run down his spine.
“Not deploying Greta Edelfelt up front was your mistake, Pontus Edelfelt.”
“...!”
He tried to retort.
But it was already too late.
While Pontus was distracted by Est’s sword stream, Bernhard had already unleashed his technique.
“Ah...”
Unable to even scream properly, Pontus felt his head fall.
* * *
The wasteland was dyed in blood.
Nine out of ten drops belonged to the Edelfelt side.
The Holy Knight Order had crushed their momentum with victory in the short vanguard skirmish, then relentlessly pressed with the Assault Knight Brigade’s solid formation and Sky Rank Knight Est’s sword stream.
Even Edelfelt’s commander, Pontus Edelfelt, had lost his life to the Independent Knight Brigade’s leader, Bernhard.
A perfect victory.
“Good work, everyone.”
At the camp, Bernhard addressed the Independent Knight Brigade’s knight captains seated around him.
“Do you remember what I said at the start?”
“You said the Assault Knight Brigade is the main force of this subjugation force, but we of the Independent Knight Brigade would be the stars!”
Raising his voice was 11th Unit Captain Garf.
“And it happened just like that! You took down the enemy commander Pontus Edelfelt, and in the vanguard skirmish, the 13th Unit Captain here earned great merit!”
“Don’t slap my shoulder so hard.”
I said that because Garf, sitting beside me, had slapped my shoulder hard.
“Yes, a great start. If we keep fighting like this, the Independent Knight Brigade’s prestige will soar even higher.”
“Yes!”
“Leadcamp’s 1st Unit Captain in the heavens is watching us too. For Leadcamp’s sake, we’ll be the protagonists of this war. Understood?”
“Yes, Brigade Leader!”
Bernhard passed around encouraging drinks to the knight captains.
“You’re still young, so just water for you.”
“You only treat me like a kid at times like this. Normally you work me to the bone.”
“Haha, sorry about that.”
Was it because they could finally bring the Edelfelt family to justice?
Bernhard looked in high spirits.
“It might sound odd saying this now, but I’m truly grateful to you.”
“Is that so?”
“Thanks to you joining the Independent Knight Brigade, everything’s gone smoothly.”
“I’m the one who could fully pursue my goals thanks to your consideration in so many ways, Brigade Leader.”
“Haha. Yes. Let’s keep doing well together.”
Perhaps a bit drunk, Bernhard roughly patted my shoulder.
Garf beside me seemed thoroughly plastered too, so I quietly slipped away.
“Is everyone resting well?”
“Yes, Sir Sion.”
The 13th Unit members had performed admirably in this battle too.
Fortunately, no one had lost their life.
There were injuries, but none severe enough to pull them from the battlefield.
“Shouldn’t you rest today, Sir Sion? You were so active out there.”
“I’m still young, so I’m fine.”
“Ahaha. You are younger than me.”
Edwin laughed as he looked at me.
“No joke. Doubt me? Want a spar?”
“You sure you’re up for it?”
“It’ll help me sleep.”
“I’d welcome it.”
As we headed to a quiet spot for a spar, Lieselotte called from behind.
“It’s good to train late, but don’t forget you have to wake up an hour earlier than usual. Sershes gave that order to the whole force.”
“He’s such a morning person...”
Sershes was flawlessly handling his duties in the subjugation force, but this was the one thing that grated on me.
* * *
“What a pain.”
Sershes stroked his chin as he stared at the map.
According to intel from scouting knights, the enemy was using the terrain for complex formations.
“Winning the first battle decisively is good, but it seems to have made them more cautious.”
“This is the Edelfelt family’s home turf, so they’ve probably prepared defensive strategies using the terrain long ago.”
“Yes, especially that fortress is a problem.”
Sershes pointed to a small fortress on the mountain.
“We can’t ignore it and fight the enemy. It could stab us in the side.”
“If they’ve placed powerful mages there, it’d be trouble.”
“With Greta Edelfelt’s whereabouts unknown, we have to move carefully.”
The staff officers worried about falling into the enemy’s trap too.
“Shall I take down that fortress?”
Est offered, but Sershes shook his head.
“No, you need to prepare for when Greta Edelfelt steps up.”
“Then...”
“That’s why I brought the Independent Knight Brigade.”
Sershes said coldly.
“Assign the fortress assault to the Independent Knight Brigade.”
* * *
Two days later.
We were climbing the mountain on Sershes’s orders.
The fortress atop it lay to the right of our army’s advance route, posing a high risk of hitting our flank.
“By the book, they’d station mages there.”
Bernhard said as we climbed.
“Multiple 6-star-plus mages firing barrages would be a nightmare for any knight order.”
“So we have to bring it down.”
“Exactly.”
“But their magic could target us too, right?”
“Yes, that’s why Sershes the headquarters chief sent us.”
Preserving his direct Assault Knight Brigade intact while sending the Independent Knight Brigade into danger.
“It can’t be helped. Someone has to do it...”
Bernhard’s words cut off midway.
Attack magic really started flying from the fortress.
“Scatter!”
Boom! Boom!
The indiscriminate barrages made the mountain seem like it would collapse.
“Knights with 5 stars or higher who can deploy mana armor, up front! We break through!”
Bernhard and the other 5-star-plus knights rushed ahead urgently.
But I didn’t follow them.
“Sir Sion? Why aren’t you going...”
“Wait a moment.”
I swung Ashurai.
The massive fireball targeting the 13th Unit shattered and scattered around.
“Captain! Don’t worry about us, hurry...!”
“I said wait.”
Replying to Lotus, I looked up.
I’d confirmed the direction from the last spell.
‘There.’
A hole in the fortress wall.
I couldn’t see the face, but a mage there was raising an arm to cast.
‘Far, but... with my current mana, it’s doable.’
They weren’t prepared either, so no issue.
“Captain, what are you...”
They looked puzzled as I drew my dagger from my waist.
The next moment, their faces filled with shock.
Whoooosh!
The Demon Spirit Sword Xantia I threw sliced through the sky and into the hole.
“Gahk...!”
An echoing scream resounded through the mountains.
In front of my gaping subordinates, I kept extending my mana and muttered.
“Got one for now.”
With 7-star mana secured, distance was no longer an issue against the enemy.