Chapter : 68

‘Hmm, this is no joke.’

A power that felt like it could tear through steel surged within me. The blessing given by the Goddess of Life was stirring.

Twitch, twitch-.

Vitality soared, and an intense power swirled throughout my body. As if it was commanding me, the Goddess's great champion, to deal with the enemy who had insulted me at once.

“Baaaaa! No, baa! Lord-nimu, what are you saying~!”

“That’s right. What if you get hurt….”

He struggled to swallow the rest of his words, but I could guess what they would be.

Losing was something he didn’t even want to imagine, and even if I won the duel, getting injured would be a complete disaster.

That was why everyone around me was surprised by my words and started to stop me.

Except for one person.

“Hmm, well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go out there.”

‘Huh?’

What was this?

That prudent old man, unlike his usual self, was supporting this extremely dangerous endeavor.

“Baaaaa! What are you saying, Magician-nimu?! You're not stopping him, baa.”

“Human magician. I respect you, but a duel is a different matter-!”

“That's right, Sage of the Forest. A duel is where life and death intersect in a fleeting moment.”

Magician Agpiel clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively.

“Your lord has the ring I gave him. At the very least, his body will be unharmed.”

“Ah?”

“Well, it doesn't look like he'll need to use it, though.”

With that, Magician Agpiel sidled up to me and asked.

“You, did you feel something? The feeling that you must go out and fight.”

“Uh…. How did you know?”

“Mystery is boiling within your body right now. It seems the goddess is guiding you.”

“Oh?”

So, when you become the Sage of the Forest, you can see things like that? I found it fascinating and spread my hands, but I couldn't find anything different about them.

“You won't see it just by looking. No, maybe I’m wrong. If you keep encountering mystery, you might see it. Hmm.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so for now, just hurry up and go. Everyone is looking only at you.”

“I understand. I will be back.”

At Magician Agpiel’s words, I armed myself securely and mounted my horse.

As I rode straight to the front, the cheers of my soldiers who spotted me erupted.

“Waaaaah-!”

“Oh! Oh! Oh!”

The sight of a knight from our side—and not just any knight, but me, the supreme commander—stepping forward had filled them with morale.

To be honest, it was a bit absurd that they were cheering at the sight of me, their supreme commander, stepping forward.

But what could I do?

This was the culture of the era in [Pangea Universalise].

‘To lead an army, you have to show that much strength…’

The stronger the nobles they followed, the higher the soldiers’ morale became. That was the nature of battle in this era.

“Whoa, whoa-.”

“State your name! I am Johan, the third son of the House of Wittelsbach!”

“I am the Bellua Margrave, leader of the Southern Heretic Subjugation Vanguard.”

“What?”

The third son of the House of Wittelsbach seemed rather shocked by my identity. His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open.

“What's the matter? Are you going to keep standing there in a daze?”

“You bastard-!”

But he soon came to his senses and raised his spear.

He had hoped for a big shot to come out, but to think it would be the vanguard commander-!

This was a tremendous opportunity. The third son of the House of Wittelsbach spurred his horse and thrust his spear like a thunderbolt.

-Fwoosh-!

A deadly and sharp attack-!

But I had anticipated it and twisted my body to let the attack slide past. If I had reacted even a moment later, a hole would have been pierced through my torso.

‘His skill is truly no joke.’

A chill ran down my spine.

He was indeed worthy of being a knight from the Holy Empire, renowned for his skill.

-Hee-hee-hing!

As soon as I deflected the attack, I quickly turned my horse. I had received a gift, and now it was time to give a reply.

I gripped my longsword and entrusted my body to the horse’s gallop.

My target was the knight who had already thrown his spear and drawn his shield and sword.

‘The third son of the House of Wittelsbach, was it?’

He had clearly received rigorous knightly training from his family, as his stance was flawless.

Crouched low, holding his shield, he looked ready to parry my attack and counter.

In my right mind, I would never attack that solidly held shield.

However…

‘Just once! In a single blow-!’

Strangely, I felt confident that I could destroy it. I couldn’t explain it, but the intense vitality surging within my body was whispering in my ear.

I can do it!

Therefore, as I charged at the knight, I put all my strength into the hilt of my sword.

-Grip-!

The sword hilt screamed under a strength I had never experienced before. And when that power reached its peak in the longsword.

-Swiiiiiish-!

Along with a hair-raising sound of cutting through the air.

-Crack!

An eerie sound was heard.

It was the sound of the shield and the armor being crushed together.

* * *

When the initial surprise thrust failed, the knights of the city of Mangtong thought their opponent knew how to fight.

But when he was knocked out in a single blow in the ensuing clash, the knights were all in shock.

“D-didn’t he just attack the shield?”

“To be knocked out in one blow!”

“Impossible!”

They too were knights, so they knew very well how sturdy that shield and armor were.

Moreover, Johan, the third son of the House of Wittelsbach, was a knight with excellent martial skills.

He should have been able to deflect such an attack very easily…

“He must have been careless.”

“That’s right. If not that, he might have used some strange sorcery. A margrave would have at least one such treasure, wouldn't he?”

They could not acknowledge the Bellua Margrave's skill. To do so would have shattered their entire worldview.

“Waaaaaaaah-!”

“His Excellency, the Bellua Margrave! Hurrah-!”

Therefore, the knights of the city of Mangtong could not stand it when the Bellua Margrave taunted them, asking if there was anyone else to duel.

“Grr-!”

“I will go first-!”

The knights, one and all, were filled with righteous indignation and rushed forward for the duel.

“I am from the Holy Empire’s…”

-Bang!

But they soon realized why Johan, the third son of the House of Wittelsbach, had fallen so helplessly.

An unbelievable, monstrous strength.

It was useless to block with a shield or deflect the attack with martial arts. Because as soon as it touched, the hard chunk of iron was torn apart like paper.

-Crack!

“Keoheoheok…!”

-Bang!

“M-monster!”

One by one, the knights who went out to duel became lonely spirits for the same reason.

And Chairman Modric and his soldiers who were watching were filled with astonishment and shock.

“He's crazy! What an inhuman bastard-!”

“W-what should we do, Chairman Modric? Wouldn’t it be better to retreat?”

“Retreat? What are you talking about-!”

He had started this, trusting in the excellent knights of the Holy Empire, but to think they would be crushed instead.

“Send out all the knights at once-!”

“Pardon?”

After several clashes, the soldiers' morale had hit rock bottom.

Now there was truly only one way left. To capture that damned Margrave-!

“Send the knights quickly before he notices! Since it has come to this, we must capture the Margrave. No, order the entire army to charge.”

“T-that would be dishonorable…!”

“Dishonorable? Losing a duel and running away like a mangy dog is what's dishonorable! If we win the war, we can always make up for that pathetic honor!”

Chairman Modric shrieked as if in a last-ditch effort. The knights of the Holy Empire who heard him sighed.

He wasn't wrong.

Besides, the soldiers the Margrave had brought were all infantry. Compared to us, who were all cavalry, their response would inevitably be slow.

If they did it right, they might be able to capture him.

“Understood. We will do as you command. Come on, everyone, let's go-!”

Dishonor could be covered up later with other honors.

So they thought.

* * *

‘Hmm? Look at this?’

Watching the group of men slowly approaching while pretending to accept the duel, I let out a smirk.

Even from a distance, the way they were so obviously stroking their sword hilts and showing their agitation, even a child would have noticed.

-Ding!

[Stratagem Correction!]

[You have detected the enemy's ambush.]

“Tch-! We’ve been discovered. Charge! We must capture the Margrave.”

“Yaaaaah!”

In an instant, the enemy knights spread out wide and charged at me as if to surround me. Their will to capture me at all costs was clear.

Of course, I was not one to just stand there and take it.

“Kkirya!”

I immediately turned my body and retreated towards my own camp. From behind, I could hear them shouting at me not to run away and to fight fair and square, but I just snorted.

Fair and square my foot.

They should be ashamed of themselves, coming after one person with a group.

“Protect the Lord-!”

“Phalanx, forward-!”

Biden and Captain Konrad, who had belatedly realized the situation, advanced the army.

Ten units of pikemen, like porcupines, rushed forward at high speed.

“Tsk, damn it-!”

“Just you wait!”

The knights who had followed me right up to my nose were surprised by the majesty of the pikemen and eventually retreated. It seemed they were planning to join the Mangtong cavalry following behind.

Of course, I was not one to let them do so.

“Crossbowmen, forward!”

With the command, the archers who had pre-loaded their bolts came forward and unleashed them on the fleeing knights.

-Pyushushushuk!

-Papak!

-Keuaaaak!

The bolts, fully charged with tension, rained down on the knights' backs. Since they were turning back, they couldn't block them with their shields.

Quite a number of knights were hit by the shower of bolts and tumbled to the ground.

“No-!”

And Chairman Modric, who was watching from afar, screamed. How much money had he spent to hire the knights of the Holy Empire-!

He couldn't lose them all here like this.

“Charge immediately-! We must save the knights and crush those bastards.”

“But, Chairman. If we are hit by concentrated crossbow fire, it will be dangerous no matter how strong our armor is.”

“You fool-! Didn't they just fire the crossbows? It takes a while to reload-! In that time, we can crush the enemy infantry.”

“Ah-! Understood.”

At Chairman Modric’s bellowing, the cavalry captain ordered an all-out charge.

300 well-armed cavalrymen.

The destructive chariots of the medieval era were not something that mere conscripted infantry could block.

As Chairman Modric said, without the support of the crossbowmen, that pathetic infantry would become a handful of lonely spirits-!

Thinking so, the cavalry captain of the city of Mangtong raised his spear and charged, but….

‘Huh?’

There was something he had failed to consider.

It was the fact that the infantry I had brought were not some conscripts armed with simple short spears.

‘L-long-! And too dense!’

The spears held by the tightly packed infantry were much longer than the lances held by the cavalry-!

‘No, I have to dodge-!’

Realizing the situation, the cavalry captain screamed inwardly. This was not a lance charge; it was a suicide run.

But.

-Kwa-deu-deu-deuk!

-Kwajik-keun!

It was already too late to give the order. The cavalry of the city of Mangtong crashed head-on into my pike phalanx.

-Keuaaaaaaaaaak-!

-Help me!

In an instant, the cavalrymen became skewers and fell miserably to the ground.

-Kill them-! Don't let them live.

-Crossbowmen, fire-!

An infantry tactic for catching cavalry.

The Pike and Shot had been born on the battlefield much more quickly.