Chapter 142

Chapter 142: The Day of Decisive Battle. (3)

On top of the palisade support, built to make it easier to attack the enemy.

“Throw! Throooow!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

At Mikkelsen’s shout, the knights and soldiers waiting above launched a fierce assault.

‘It’s working! My trap is working!’

Amidst the overwhelming fear, a faint smile appeared on Mikkelsen’s face.

The reason was…

— Mikkelsen, if the battle formation turns out like this… what kind of trap would be the most effective?

— A trap? Hmmmmm, I’ll have to think about it.

The trap currently halting the enemy had been made during the fortification construction under Hardin’s command, designed according to Mikkelsen’s plans.

It was a lavish(?) trap, carefully considered with many elements—perfect camouflage to avoid detection by the enemy, slopes and mechanisms so steep that even knights would struggle to climb.

‘Those damn Tread bastards aren’t any different!’

Mikkelsen, who was already a master at trap-making, felt a rush of pride seeing his work being used effectively in such a high-level battle—a feeling often referred to as a "high."

“Throw it! Keep throwing! Don’t stop, just keep pushing it down!”

Just as Mikkelsen was gleefully hurling stones—

Screeeeeech!

A sound like the wind being ripped came from the front.

When Mikkelsen slightly raised his head—

“Huh…?”

An arrow had already closed the distance and was right in front of his face.

A glowing blue arrow… It was clearly fired by a Sharpshooter.

But there wasn’t even the slightest angle left for him to dodge.

‘I-I’m going to… die…’

As a chill ran down his spine and his life flashed before his eyes—

Wham!

“Guh!”

At the last possible moment, Hardin kicked Mikkelsen in the stomach, sending him tumbling off the palisade.

Crash!

The arrow swept through the spot he had just been, slamming into the ground behind and digging out a chunk of dirt.

“Huh?”

I-I’m alive?

A stunned Mikkelsen blinked with vacant eyes, and Hardin, standing above, shouted down.

“You bastard, are you out of your damn mind? Want to die?!”

“S-sorry!”

Maybe it was thanks to that yell.

His overheated head suddenly cooled, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Only now did it truly hit him.

This fight—if you let your guard down for even a second, you’d lose your head.

“What are you doing?! Get back to your position!”

“Y-yes!”

At Hardin’s shout, Mikkelsen scrambled up, grabbed his weapon, and climbed back up the palisade.

Then, when he peeked his head out front—

“Jump over!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

The Tread knights had already pushed all the way up to the front lines.

They jumped over the traps and rescued the knights who had fallen in.

‘These bastards! You should’ve just died quietly!’

‘You think doing this crap will win you the fight?!’

The Tread knights, all grinding their teeth in fury, had expressions twisted with rage.

“……Eeeeek!”

Tension hovered on the faces of the Daphne Knights hiding behind the palisade.

‘We need to stall them here as much as possible while drawing them in!’

‘If we fail… it's over.’

Among them were even Former Commander Mulgybson and Viscount Cobalt.

It was a dangerous position, but the situation was desperate enough to call for every helping hand—no matter how small—so they had also stepped onto the frontlines.

“Huuuh, haaaah, huuuh…”

Cobalt took deep breaths as he gripped the sword in his hand tightly.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

The sound of the enemy’s footsteps and shouts grew closer.

His heart pounded harder, and his body trembled slightly.

‘Can we even win this battle?’

Though he barely held his emotions in check, anxiety continued to creep up from deep within his chest.

Their enemy beyond the wall was the Anvil Knight Order.

The strongest force from Luden Shire, composed entirely of knights who were at least 2-star Beginner level or higher.

Could they, the humble Daphne Viscounty, hold out against them without a single reinforcement…? He had no confidence whatsoever.

Cobalt’s gaze turned to Hardin, leaning against the palisade to the side.

“Huuuh…”

His brow furrowed, his face brimming with fighting spirit.

Hardin showed not the slightest trace of fear or nervousness.

…How could he stay so composed?

Cobalt felt a strange sense of dissonance, wondering if the boy before him was truly his son.

‘I need to stay calm, too.’

Just as Cobalt tried to swallow down his emotions and still the tremble in his body—

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Thunk! Thunk-thunk!

With a loud shout, the palisade shook violently from the front.

‘They’re here.’

Someone was definitely climbing up using a ladder.

As the footsteps neared, Hardin gripped his sword tightly and rose to his feet, shouting.

“Now!”

“Let’s gooo!”

At that moment, all the knights who had been hiding behind the palisade rose at once.

Cobalt and Mulgybson also rose alongside them.

“You bastards!”

“Diiie!”

Over the palisade, Tread knights appeared with enraged faces, swords raised high.

Their eyes and blades glowed with a blue light, and their jaws were clenched so tightly blood seemed ready to burst from their gums.

They were clearly furious over the trap that had just taken out their comrades.

“Hrrrrmph!”

Without hesitation, Cobalt thrust out his sword.

Claaang! Claaang!

Sparks burst in the air.

‘Heavy!’

A weighty, chilling sensation flowed through the clash of swords.

His hands tingled, and he gritted his teeth instinctively.

‘This is the level of a regular knight?’

The amount of mana packed into their sword, and their control over it, were no joke.

They were only slightly below Cobalt’s own level.

If these were considered regular knights, that meant Tread had an abundance of such skilled individuals.

From a rational standpoint, Daphne had no chance of overcoming them.

But…

‘Even so, I have to fight!’

Cobalt raised his momentum and swung his sword.

Claaang! Claaang!

Enemies who had already crossed over into the inside of the palisade began charging in full force, and simultaneous battles erupted all around.

“Push them back!”

“Diiieee!”

“Eeeek!”

Amidst the frenzied clash of swords—

Crack!

‘Damn it!’

As Cobalt stepped back while blocking the enemy’s fierce attacks, the support under his foot crumbled, and his balance tilted completely backward.

He tried to lift his upper body somehow—

“Oh ho…”

The knight in front of him flashed a chillingly unpleasant smile.

Vwooooom!

He swung his sword with immense force.

“Ghk!”

Cobalt bent his upper body backward and barely dodged the blow.

‘I’m falling!’

Thud!

He completely lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

In that moment—

“It’s over!”

The Tread knight he had been fighting raised his sword and leapt down after him.

Claaaang!

Cobalt instinctively thrust his sword horizontally and blocked the strike.

“Eeeegh!”

As their blades clashed, both of their bodies trembled from the force.

‘M-my strength…!’

Strength drained from Cobalt’s body, and his sword was slowly being pushed downward.

At this rate, the enemy's sword would cut through his own and take his head.

“Grrraaagh!”

Cobalt groaned, holding out desperately.

Crash!

“Gah!”

The enemy pressing down on him suddenly jolted, his eyes blinking in confusion.

“Kuhaagh!”

A mouthful of blood burst from his mouth as he toppled over to the side.

Panting heavily, Cobalt’s eyes darted around in shock.

“Are you alright, Lord?”

“M-Manton?”

There stood Unit Commander Manton, his face splattered with blood, reaching out a hand.

Cobalt quickly grabbed it, and Manton helped him up.

Then Manton immediately dashed off to the side.

Clang! Claaang!

“Hyaaaah!”

Cobalt followed with his eyes, and they widened in disbelief.

‘What is this…?’

Over the palisade and atop it, knights of the Count of Tread were fighting.

Each one was at least a 2-star Beginner, yet the Daphne Knights were clashing with them on equal footing.

“Take this!”

“Get lost, you bastards!”

Clang! Clang!

They weren’t being overwhelmed.

No, if anything—they seemed to be pushing forward overall.

Even more astonishingly, a distinct blue light shimmered atop the Daphne knights' swords.

And then—a memory flashed in Cobalt’s mind.

— The knights’ levels have gone up by a rank. Those who were 1-star are now 2-star, and those who were 2-star are now 3-star.

‘Hardin wasn’t bluffing…?’

That was the only explanation.

But then again, their mana reserves hadn’t increased, nor had there been any obvious signs…

From Cobalt’s perspective, the situation was baffling in every way.

And to make it even more so…

“Grrrrraaaagh! Get out of my way!”

At some point, Manton had climbed atop the palisade and was drawing out all his strength, infusing blue energy into the tip of his sword.

The nearby knights and soldiers quickly stepped back.

“Haaaah!”

As he thrust his sword straight forward—

Boom!

“Aaaagh!”

“Sh-Shockwave!”

“He’s a 3-star knight!”

A wave of blue energy surged forward, and screams echoed from beyond the palisade.

Shockwave—a technique only knights of 3-star rank and above could use.

And it had just been unleashed from Manton’s very own hand.

“Haaah…”

Manton really… used Shockwave?

‘What in the world did you do, Hardin?’

Cobalt’s jaw dropped.

Meanwhile—

“Block the right side! Don’t let them cross!”

“Yes, sir!”

Clang! Claang!

The person at the center of it all, Hardin, was relentlessly swinging his sword, cutting down enemies, his body in constant motion.

He was already holding off five or six opponents by himself.

His face brimmed with determination and fighting spirit, and every movement was clean and efficient, without a hint of wasted energy.

Seeing this, Cobalt’s eyes widened, as if he had just realized something.

‘He’s serious.’

That absurd-sounding plan Hardin had proposed… Maybe he’d actually come up with it because he truly believed they could win this fight.

‘How shameful.’

As a father… and as the Lord…

Grit!

Cobalt clenched his sword tightly, wiping away the emotion from his face as he refocused his energy.

“Uwaaaagh!”

Then he charged forward and thrust his sword toward a Tread knight heading for the conscripts.

Claaang!

“Your opponent is me! Come at me!”

“…Eeeek.”

The defensive stronghold of Mudside—

From within, the heat of battle began to boil like a furnace.

---

At that moment, outside the defensive lines—

“Uwaaaaah!”

“Charge! Get inside the stronghold!”

Led by the Anvil Knight Order, the conscripts of the Count of Tread surged forward like a tide.

“Tear them apart!”

“Avenge our fallen comrades!”

With furious expressions, the Tread forces charged ahead with forceful momentum.

Yet strangely, Count Vernian’s face twisted with irritation and anger as he watched it unfold.

“What the hell is going on, Pattinson?”

“……”

Standing beside him, Pattinson wore a troubled expression as he too looked down upon the battlefield.

And with good reason…

“3rd Unit! Push forward! Break through already!”

“The resistance—The enemy resistance is too strong!”

According to their predictions, the Anvil Knight Order should’ve already broken through the defensive lines and opened the gates from inside.

But Daphne’s unexpected counterattack had already delayed the expected timeline by a long stretch.

Amidst the chaotic state of the battlefield, there was no clear grasp on the whereabouts of 3rd Unit Commander Gilton and 4th Unit Commander Bohim.

To make matters worse—

“The Daphne knights… I’ve never heard they were anywhere near that level.”

Their numbers might be small, yet every single one of the Daphne knights had a blue glow radiating from their swords.

That meant each of them was at least a 2-star knight.

It was a far cry from the intelligence they had received, which claimed that the number of 2-star knights among them could be counted on one hand.

“I apologize. I have no idea what’s going on either.”

A bitter expression formed on Pattinson’s face.

In the previous engagement, they had already lost four warships and hundreds of soldiers.

On top of that, if the enemy’s knights were truly this capable… the damage to their own knights would inevitably pile up.

‘This… is going to be a problem.’

Unlike warships or conscripts that could be replaced with enough money, this was a different issue altogether.

Training a single knight required enormous time and effort, and in the current Empire—amidst the escalating arms race—it was increasingly difficult to secure mana users.

‘Still… it’s not like this is enough to flip the outcome.’

Even if the majority of their knights were 2-star, the same could be said for their side, and they outnumbered them by more than three to one.

‘In the end, the real problem is that stronghold.’

Pattinson’s gaze locked onto the palisade area.

“Damn it! Get in there already!”

“W-we can’t advance easily!”

“Watch out for the traps!”

Knights and soldiers could be seen floundering near the palisade.

To launch an attack, they had to first cross the traps below and then scale the thick palisade—inevitably causing delays and accumulating casualties.

So, if they could just resolve that one issue, the situation would return to its natural course.

‘I’ll need to take some risks.’

Pattinson let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“Huuuuh… I’ll handle it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve come up with a clever little method to break through that stronghold myself.”

“Then hurry.”

“Yes, my lord.”

As Count Vernian snorted in disbelief—

Swoosh!

Pattinson vanished from his spot in an instant.

And within just a few short minutes—

“Heave-ho!”

Thud!

Pattinson returned and jumped down from midair, causing the ground to shake with a thump.

Count Vernian’s brow twitched.

“That’s…”

Boom!

Pattinson dropped a chunk of iron he had been carrying on his back.

It was more than twice the height of a man—an enormous and heavy object.

It was the newly developed ship cannon that had been loaded onto the Count of Tread’s warships.

“With this, I plan to personally smash through their stronghold. What do you think, my lord?”

Unit Commander Pattinson said, lifting the corners of his mouth into a slight grin.

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