Chapter : 28

The castle gate was extremely important.

It was the only entrance into the castle and the most vulnerable part to external attacks.

For that reason, a large number of soldiers always stood guard at the gate.

But today was a little different.

“Mmm. Ughh.”

Not only was the number of soldiers stationed at the gate small, but even those soldiers were all leaning on their spears, dozing off.

If anyone had seen them, they would have been severely punished, but their superior, the Garrison Commander, had long since left to attend a banquet.

And this state of alert was truly a heaven-sent opportunity for Biden and his death squad.

“It's very quiet on the walls.”

“It seems the bastards haven't noticed.”

“Good.”

Biden nodded at the scout's report.

A new moon, with the least amount of moonlight. On top of that, a fog had rolled in due to the timely drop in temperature.

It was the perfect day for an infiltration.

The opportunity to finally conclude the castle siege, which had failed several times before, had arrived.

“Alright. Let's go now. As of today, we will capture this damn castle.”

With those words, Biden took the lead and began to climb the castle wall.

He had cast off his chain mail to reduce weight and noise.

For defense, he had a large shield strapped to his back and an axe and a longsword firmly fixed to each side of his waist.

Thanks to that, even though he was in light gear, the weight was not to be trifled with.

-Swish.

-Swish, swish.

But Biden was unstoppable. As if to prove he was a knight with quite high Combat Power even in [Pangea Universalise], he started climbing the wall faster than anyone else.

It was enough to astound the death squad following him.

In an instant, a gap of more than three steps had already formed. But whether they were astounded or not, Biden paid no mind and quickly continued his ascent.

‘Hmm.’

Recently, Biden had been feeling quite stimulated by the lord.

That martial prowess with which he had decisively cut down the attacking assassin!

While a sense of awe for his overwhelming skill surged, a sense of alarm also arose.

The alarm that if things continued like this, he would become useless to his lord.

So, Biden planned to thoroughly demonstrate his worth on this occasion.

Though it would be quite a sad affair for the soldiers guarding the walls.

* * *

“Haaam. So damn sleepy.”

A soldier yawned and stood up. Trying to sleep leaning against the hard castle wall made his body ache like hell.

But that was not a good choice. For he came face to face with Biden, who was climbing through the fog with a menacing expression.

“Huh?”

The soldier, dumbfounded, blinked his eyes.

Am I still asleep?

What kind of madman climbs a castle wall with his bare hands? Especially when the enemies attacking our city had retreated long ago.

He must be having a terrible dream because of what he had been through. The soldier thought so and rubbed his eyes.

But that judgment decided the soldier’s fate.

-Crack!

An axe, swung from the hand of Biden who had sprung up in an instant, struck.

Unable to even scream, the soldier sank helplessly to the ground.

The clattering sound of the spear falling was the only noise made in this encounter.

“……?!”

“Huh?”

At that, the surrounding soldiers startled awake. But having just woken up, their reactions were slow.

Slice-

The soldiers' heads were all separated from their bodies in unison.

Biden, who had already gotten into position, had swiftly swung his longsword.

-Fwishhhh!

-Thwack, thwack!

Not only that, but the death squad that followed him up immediately began to fire their crossbows.

Thanks to them, the soldiers guarding the wall above the gate had no choice but to be helplessly annihilated.

The gate was secured very early on without any particular problems.

“Good.”

Satisfied, Biden nodded and gave an order to the death squad.

“Open the gate immediately and give the signal to those outside. The rest of you, create a disturbance in the city to draw their attention.”

They needed to protect the gate until the main force outside arrived.

It would be a huge headache if they were discovered by the enemy. It was necessary to divert the city folks' attention.

But an unexpected variable occurred.

“In, intruder!!”

“The gate has been taken!!”

“???”

As luck would have it, they were discovered sooner than expected by a soldier who had come up near the wall to relieve himself.

“What is this?”

“Wh-what should we do, Sir Biden?”

It was an absurd situation, but there was nothing to be done. If it came to this, there was only one option.

Thinking so, Biden shouted to the death squad.

“Start a fire! Burn the city! No, follow me. I will take the lead!”

* * *

“Hmm…. I wonder how it went.”

“Please calm down, my lord.”

“I’m saying this because I'm worried. Aren't you worried about Biden? He is your son, after all.”

“Haha. It is truly an honor that you worry for my son more than I do. But Biden will do well.

I believe in Biden, my lord. A knight should naturally be able to handle a task of this magnitude.”

I really couldn’t tell if this was deep trust in his son or if he was just heartless.

But one thing was certain.

The belief that this mission would succeed. Well, I also had the thought, there's no way it'll fail.

‘The plan is good, and the situation is perfect, so it would be harder to fail.’

And just as I expected.

“My lord! The signal is up!”

A messenger came running breathlessly and shouted at me. In the distance, a red light could be seen flickering through the fog.

The prearranged sign with Biden!

I rejoiced inwardly and quickly mounted my horse.

“All forces, prepare to advance-!”

“We ride at full speed! Don't give the bastards time to react.”

“Charge-! It's a charge!”

As soon as my order was given, the waiting knights and heavy cavalry cheered and mounted their horses in unison.

They must have been aching from camping out in the cold dew for so long.

Especially since they couldn't even light a fire for fear of being discovered, the order to move out now was extremely exciting for them.

‘Well, it shouldn’t be a bad thing.’

Watching the overly excited cavalry, I felt a little worried, but it was a race against time. If they moved with such passion, it was actually for the better.

“Giddy up-! Giddy up!”

“The glory of being the first to arrive is mine-!”

Following the command, the cavalry left the forest and headed for the city gate. The great distance was closed in an instant. But there was something a little strange.

“Huh?”

“Uh…. Uh?”

As we got closer to the gate, the red light that rose through the fog was growing fiercer. And it was spewing what looked like a black cloud (?).

“This signal… seems a bit too big? My lord.”

Sensing something was off, Chamberlain Hamil tilted his head.

But how would I know?

I had to hurry to the gate and grasp the situation.

Finally, when the cavalry, with me at its head, arrived at the gate.

-Tiriring!

A familiar sound was heard.

[Great. Fire!]

[You have set the City of Markel on fire. Your cruelty will spread throughout the continent. Cities will not dare to rise against you, and feudal vassals will pledge even greater loyalty.]

[The loyalty of cities and feudal vassals increases.]

[Infamy increases.]

A notification window popped up.

And after checking it, I.

“Damn it.”

I couldn't help but curse.

* * *

“Fire!”

“Hurry and put out the fire!”

Flames rose from all directions, and black smoke billowed up. It was unknown where the fire had started, but it had unfortunately engulfed the slums, where houses were shoddily built with wooden planks, and was now burning uncontrollably.

But there was something else that was causing even more confusion.

“Aaargh!”

“It's an attack!!”

“The Margrave's army is attacking the city. Run!”

It was the Margrave's soldiers who suddenly appeared amid the chaos of the fire.

No one knew how they got in, but the Margrave's soldiers were appearing here and there, all over the place.

“What in the world is going on?! Garrison Commander. What's with the fire, and what's with the Margrave's soldiers?”

“I-I don't know either.”

What a disaster to happen during a banquet.

“How many enemy soldiers do you think there are?”

“Umm…. It's hard to tell because they are so widespread. But shouldn't there be at least a few hundred?”

“A few hundred? You mean around a hundred?”

“It seems so.”

At the incompetent Garrison Commander's words, the Chairman of the city council felt the tension that had eased return with a vengeance.

The signs were not good.

He had to get this under control quickly. His instincts were warning him sharply.

“Hurry and lead the soldiers. Ah, right! The gate! Just in case! Secure the gate first.”

“Yes? Don't you think the ones who got in are just remnants? It seems they came to vent their anger over the Margrave's injury.”

“You never know! Move quickly. No. I'll go with you. Damn it.”

It was a rather sharp judgment.

The only problem was that it was too late.

By the time the Chairman of the city council had hastily put on his armor and headed for the gate with the Garrison Commander, the cavalry had already stormed in.

-Kyaaaak!

-The knights have broken in!!

-Run!!

The soldiers who had been guarding the gate were long gone. The handful of soldiers who faced the charging cavalry were crushed in an instant.

Heavily armed cavalry began to run rampant inside the city. It was a true nightmare.

“Wh-what is this-!”

At the unbelievable reality, the Chairman of the city council trembled.

He had confirmed that the Margrave was seriously injured and his army had withdrawn, so where did they come from?

Was it all a deception?

A musty old noble who cried for honor, and a young, hot-blooded great lord at that, pulling off such a scheme?

“Damn it! Let's get out of here. Garrison Commander!”

“Ye-yes? Run away? We have to stop them….”

“Stop talking nonsense! Haven't you grasped the situation yet?”

With a huge fire inside and enemies on all sides, how could they possibly stop them?

This city no longer had the ability to defend itself. All that was left was to escape using others as bait as much as possible.

But the man called the Garrison Commander couldn't even read the tide of battle and was spouting nonsense, which was utterly frustrating.

“If we don't retreat now, we'll all die! Can't you see? This is all a trap. We've been had. We have to escape now. Garrison Commander, quickly call the soldiers to escort us.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Was the world too harsh to flee empty-handed?

Even if he was fleeing, he needed someone who had earned their keep with a sword. From the Chairman's perspective, that was the Garrison Commander.

Though he was clumsy, his skills were genuine. He would surely serve as a reliable escort when they fled the city.

“Oh? There are enemies gathered over there!”

“For glory! For honor! Kill them all-!”

But the problem was that they stood out too much. Not only was he wearing resplendent armor, but as soldiers gathered around him, from the perspective of the Margrave's knights, they looked like nothing more than a delicious meal.

Thanks to that, the mounted knights closed the distance in an instant and swung their swords.

“Gyaaaak!”

“Help me!”

Limbs and heads flew, and blood spurted. In an instant, formations and everything else crumbled as the soldiers scattered like grains of sand.

“W-wai…!”

Startled by the sight, the Chairman of the city council tried to hurry and reveal his identity, but….

-Crack!

He met his end at the sword of an excited knight. And with his skull neatly split in half at that.

* * *

“I'm sorry. I have no excuse….”

[You have executed the Chairman of the city council.]

[You have butchered the Chairman of the city council without due process. The citizens will be terrified of your cruelty.]

[Infamy increases.]

[Notification: Your Infamy has risen too much in a short period. Please be cautious.]

“……”