Chapter 49 : Second Clash (8)

Chapter 49: Second Clash (8)

‘How…?!’

Shatien heard the name and felt horrified. Was this not the notorious knight who suddenly appeared in the middle of the winter war? He had heard that countless champions lost their lives to that knight’s sword. So why was a man like that here?

“Huh, you are quieter than I expected huh?”

Ludwig spoke as he watched the tense Shatien.

He did not match his master, yet the overwhelming pressure still weighed heavily on Shatien. He felt that if he opened his mouth to answer and created even the slightest opening, his head would be cut off right then and there.

“Baron Ludwig. That one is a mercenary named Shatien.”

“Shatien? And a mercenary you say?”

“Yes. Among the regular soldiers he is quite well known. Grk. You damned mercenary bastard. You are finished now!”

A veteran of the Emperor’s army who had survived muttered like some third rate villain.

“Oh ho. Is that so.”

Baron Ludwig gave a thin smile.

Because of the miserable influence of his paltry family, he had been stuck guarding rear bases like this. He had never expected to face a mercenary of this level here.

His mood improved on its own.

In contrast, Shatien’s face grew darker and darker.

‘There is no opening.’

It was because this opponent clearly did not look easy.

“This will be entertaining.”

-Swish.

Ludwig shifted into a charging stance.

“Hey bastard. Do not die too quickly.”

“…?!”

At the same time Ludwig’s sword flashed and swept toward Shatien’s head.

-Clang!

But this was something he had expected to some extent.

Shatien stepped forward and blocked the attack. It was a clean defense, just as his master Joachim had taught him. However, Ludwig’s sword that had met his own snaked in like a serpent.

“Hup-!”

It was a sharp thrust that flowed in with no break in the movement and felt completely natural.

-Charrk.

Shatien hurriedly turned his pommel to parry it.

-Cgkkk!

As his blows were blocked in succession, Ludwig’s brow furrowed.

“You block this huh. You aren’t bad.”

It was praise from a man who would become a legend in the future, yet Shatien did not feel pleased. The fact that he had room in his mind to praise meant he still had plenty of leisure, and on top of that, this man was an enemy Shatien had to bring down.

‘If I slip up, I will lose my head.’

The overwhelming difference in skill and every relaxed motion of that hand pressed on him.

‘He is coming-!’

-Cha chang!

Shatien knocked the incoming sword strike aside. He thought the blow would be deflected away, but Ludwig’s sword bent at a strange angle and came back to slice at the back of Shatien’s head.

“Kgh!”

-Kang!

Shatien barely managed to block and quickly widened the distance. Blood bursted from his forehead soaked his cheek. If he had been just a little slower, his ear would have been cut off as well.

The corners of Ludwig’s mouth twitched.

“From whom did you learn swordsmanship?”

“You do not need to know.”

“Heh heh. Of course. I suppose you won’t have to tell me either. One comes to know swordsmanship by crossing blades, after all.”

Once more Ludwig took a charging stance. Shatien’s spine turned cold with the illusion that he was about to be cut apart.

“……!”

-Kakang. Kakakakakang. Kang. Kang!

Ludwig’s longsword poured out a storm of continuous strikes. Shatien swung his sword so hard he thought his arm would break, yet still could not block them all.

-Slice.

“Kgh!”

-Sfft-!

“Mmph!”

The attacks were frighteningly fast. Feeling the burning pain of his wounds, Shatien quickly swept his gaze around.

-Waaaaaah!

“Follow Sir Ludwig!”

“These mercenary bastards are nothing.”

“Kill the Emperor’s army!”

The imperial soldiers who had looked ready to flee had their morale soar again and threw themselves into the battle. It seemed Ludwig’s performance had fired them up.

‘Damn it.’

Shatien cursed inwardly and used the thrust he had learned from his master. A thrust like an assassin’s blade that pierced in from outside the enemy’s field of vision.

-Kakang.

Yet it was blocked with ease. In truth, Shatien had not expected much from it anyway. His real goal was to open the distance again and steady his breathing.

“Haha. This is the longsword style used by knights in the northern regions isn’t it? That last one was quite sharp, mercenary.”

Ludwig looked at Shatien with an excited expression, as if he was greatly enjoying himself. Shatien could not respond to those words.

“...Huff… Huff…”

He could only let out ragged breaths. He was on the verge of dying, so there was no way such idle talk would even register. If he wanted to live, he had to find a way to beat that knight.

‘Master said that to win, one must make use of one’s strengths.’

What was his own strength?

It was clear he could not win with technique. From the exchanges of sword strikes so far, that knight’s swordsmanship fell short of his master’s, yet he was already a master in his own right.

He also had immense combat experience, since he fought with the ease of a veteran.

If that was the case, the only thing left was this.

‘My mystical sense!’

-Crack.

Shatien gripped his sword hilt with all his strength. Swordsmanship was originally devised with both attack and defense taken into account. The more excessively aggressive the movement, the more openings it created. However, Shatien had his mystical sense.

‘I can cover those openings for a short time!’

If he moved in a way that focused solely on offense, the sheer unfamiliarity might throw him off. Then perhaps he could twist that smirking face.

Even if it was reckless, it was better to do something than to stand still and die.

“Hyaa-!”

Thinking so, Shatien moved his body in a flash.

A thrust filled with all his strength shot toward Ludwig.

-Clang!

Yet it was lightly blocked.

He had expected this. Holding his breath, Shatien immediately linked a series of sword strikes.

-Kakang. Kang. Kagak. Krk!

As the sword swung faster, a look of dismay appeared in Ludwig’s eyes.

For a person to swing a sword, he had to breathe. Yet Shatien had taken in one maximum breath and then swung his sword again and again.

Normally the flow of swordsmanship followed inhalation and exhalation, but now that rhythm had been completely shattered.

Because of that, Ludwig, who had not prepared for this, began to feel his breath run short.

‘This, is insane!’

His body screamed as it went without oxygen.

Heat flushed across his whole body.

Yet Ludwig could not stop. If he stopped, he would die. Thanks to that, his movements noticeably slowed. For Shatien, this was the perfect opportunity.

-Bang!

Once more Shatien’s sword, packed with all his strength, hammered Ludwig’s defense.

It seemed this time holding out was difficult.

“Ghak!”

Ludwig finally let out the breath he had been holding back. In that instant, his firm defense abruptly collapsed. He completely exposed the most fatal area, his neck.

In that fleeting moment,

“……!”

‘Now!’

Shatien again swung his longsword with all his strength.

-Swaaash!

The sword, drawing a line of light like holy radiance, shot toward Ludwig’s exposed neck.

‘Got him…!’

-Clang!

Ludwig hastily raised his sword hilt and blocked with a cross guard.

However, his strength was weak, and he was pushed back as if his guard crumbled and the force drove straight toward his throat.

-Screeech.

The cross guard and the corner of the armor caught together and ate away at the force in Shatien’s strike. The longsword, filled to the brim with power, screamed as if it was about to break. He could not release the strength in his arms. If not now, he would never get another chance.

Yet sadly,

-Crack.

Unable to endure the force, Shatien’s sword broke at the very last limit. Because of that, his broken blade did not fully cut Ludwig’s body.

-Krrrk. Slaaash!

-Fsssh.

The wound was shallower than he had hoped.

Ludwig spewed blood from the injured area, yet it was not enough to kill him.

‘God damn it!’

When fighting an expert of this level, he should have used the sword his master had given him. For a sword to break and fail to finish the enemy. What could be more foolish than that?

Shatien lamented inwardly without even realizing it. No idiot in the world was more idiotic than he was right now.

Soon enough, he paid the price for that foolishness.

-Thunk!

Ludwig finally pulled a dagger from his belt and drove it straight into Shatien’s abdomen.

“Ghak.”

Shatien clutched his stomach. He twisted his torso at the last moment and barely avoided a fatal wound.

“Khahk. Khahh.”

Harsh breaths burst out.

Yet he could not just give up and let go. Shatien also grabbed his broken sword and, staggering, stabbed it into Ludwig’s body.

“Grrrk! Khk.”

Ludwig toppled backward and fell hard. He already had a wound on his neck. Once a blade sank into his abdomen, the strength left his body all at once.

“Y-You damned bastard.”

Horror, rage, shock.

Ludwig growled as he clung to his trembling legs and forced himself to stand. His expression was filled with murderous intent that refused to let his opponent live no matter what. Shatien was no different.

“Kh, khrrrk!”

-Clang.

Shatien yanked the dagger out of his abdomen, then staggered and barely managed to put strength into both legs.

He was in so much pain he felt like dying, and he did not have the strength to grip even a single fork.

However,

He had to force himself to see it through to the end.

Right now was the only time he had equal conditions to kill that insane monster.

“S-Stop… and Die! Ludwig.”

“You bastard… are the one who dies today. You… damned… mercenary.”

As the two of them staggered toward each other for the final clash.

“Baron! What are you doing! Protect Baron Ludwig at once.”

A shout from an enemy officer rang out.

“Hey! Hey!! You bastards. Protect Shatien. We must protect Shatien no matter what!!”

Miles’s shocked scream pounded in his ears.

At the same time, his vision gradually blurred.

Strength left his body, and his consciousness began to sink beyond the bottom.

‘Ah— No…’

Damn it.

I have to kill that damned bastard…

Yet sadly, his consciousness only grew hazier.

“I feel… a little dizzy.”

In the end.

Shatien collapsed on the spot.

Through his fading consciousness, the cheers of mercenaries and Miles’s voice echoed like hallucinations.

“Dri….”

“Po… tion!”

“……!”

A very sweet liquid slid down his throat. It was so sweet, twenty times sweeter than honey, that his tongue felt like it would melt.

‘This is too… sweet.’

And that.

Was Shatien’s final thought.

* * *

Baron Friedrand was leading one thousand men of the Emperor’s army, moving out to block the count’s vanguard.

The battlefield was plain, perfect for knights to show their prowess, and even the weather was good. The enemy that marched toward him was only a meager vanguard, the Garten Mercenary Company.

Then things suddenly went wrong.

‘I cannot believe this.’

Baron Friedrand thought that the gods were playing a prank on him.

Otherwise, how could he hear on the same day that Lindalph’s unit had been smashed and that the supply base had been raided.

The two pieces of bad news had reached him only a few hours apart. Lindalph’s routed survivors had come on foot, and the Emperor’s soldiers from the supply base had come on horseback.

‘That idiot Lindalph. He cannot even burn a stack of documents, and now we are suffering through this mess.’

Baron Friedrand quietly cooled his rage. There was no need to get angry now and throw his soldiers into anxiety.

Besides, there was still hope.

‘Ludwig. At least that man is there, at the supply base.’

Baron Friedrand felt reassured.

They might be rivals who fought over the right to lead the vanguard, yet even he acknowledged Ludwig’s skill.

At the very least, in the southeastern region of the Empire, there was no knight who surpassed Ludwig.

“…We are lucky.”

“Sir? What do you mean?”

“It is nothing. More importantly, lieutenant, how long will it take to reach the supply depot?”

“At the fastest, half a day. If we are slow, it is a one day march.”

They were already moving at a rapid pace, so they could not increase their speed any further. If they did, the soldiers would collapse from exhaustion.

Ludwig would clearly be able to repel several attacks on his own.

‘I should adjust the pace for a while and have them conserve their strength. That way we can drive away those arrogant raiders with minimal damage.’

Thinking so, Baron Friedrand formed a plan. He would crush the force that had attacked the supply base, then turn that into a trap to swallow the entire army of Count Bellua.

However…

“B-Baron!”

“?”

“There is a group of soldiers approaching from the front.”

“…Is it the Black Raven Mercenary Company?”

“No. They seem to be the Emperor’s army… but their condition seems to be very poor.”

“????”

Baron Friedrand’s plan was already going wrong from the very beginning.