Chapter : 96

“If there is one among you courageous enough, step forward now! Is there any reason for us to shed so much blood? Let us end this war with a duel between you and me!”

-Waaaaaaah-!

At Count Steffen’s cry, a thunderous roar erupted from both armies.

To speak so confidently before a great army. He looked like an honorable knight straight out of a folktale.

“Ooh.”

Thanks to him, the surrounding nobles and knights let out gasps of admiration without realizing it.

I want to be part of that heroic display!

They couldn’t hide their surging competitive spirit, their eyes sparkling with intense desire.

Of course, Magician Agpiel and I were merely watching with bored expressions.

“Clever.”

“Very clever.”

As expected, Magician Agpiel’s thoughts were in line with mine.

“Ending the war with a duel. Isn’t that a ridiculous proposition? He’s trying to shake up the entire state of this war with such a preposterous claim.”

The number of soldiers participating in this battle exceeded 80,000 from both sides combined.

And yet, after raising such an army, he suggests ending the war with a simple duel?

This was an absurd proposal. Especially for us, who held the advantage. There was nothing to be gained by accepting it.

“But if we just ignore it, won’t our morale drop, Magician Agpiel?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Look at those knights over there.”

At the tip of Magician Agpiel’s pointed finger were knights twitching, their hands gripping the hilts of their swords.

They looked ready to charge out at a moment’s notice if given the chance.

“How disappointed will the knights be if he avoids the duel? They’ll think the Prince-elector of Bohemia is a coward. To think he’s the Emperor’s commander, he’s quite seasoned.

Hahaha.”

“Well, still, the Elven King, the Prince-elector of Bohemia, won’t just stand there and take it.”

“I think so too. The Prince-elector has also been rolling on the battlefield for a long time.”

The Elven King Prince-elector desired an honorable battle and was belligerent, but he wasn’t a fool.

Sure enough.

No sooner had Magician Agpiel and I spoken than the Elven King Prince-elector of Bohemia stepped forward and bellowed.

“That ill-bred bastard has come forward again today to flap his tongue! Why? Can’t you

break the habit you had in the Holy Empire?”

“Why? Are you afraid? Have you become a coward, so unlike a Prince-elector?”

“Hmph. Do you think I’m unaware of your petty tricks? We could just fight, but you insist on ending it with a duel! Isn’t it because you lack the confidence to win the war?

“What?”

“Look at him! He’s getting angry. Just how pathetic must he be to have been chased all the way here from the Holy Empire!”

-Wahahahaha!

At the Elven King Prince-elector of Bohemia’s mocking words, laughter erupted from the crowd. The heroic gesture was instantly turned into the tantrum of a pathetic man.

“Grr…! Just you wait, Prince-elector of Bohemia!”

In the end, Count Steffen turned back and returned to his formation without any significant gains.

Seeing this, the Prince-elector of Bohemia gestured to the front.

It was a sign to resume the battle.

-Dum dum dum!

Soon after, the sound of drums echoed from both formations.

“Charge-! It’s time to show them the power of the House of Count Bozen.”

“Kiya! For honor!”

The 2,000 heavy cavalrymen led by Count Bozen, who was in charge of the vanguard, charged forward. The great battle had finally begun.

***

If even just 1,000 people gathered, it was more than enough to fill a small hill.

But ten thousand?

No, 80,000 from both sides?

To exaggerate a bit, such a number was more than enough to fill the horizon.

If one stood in the front line, one couldn’t see the entire battlefield. One could only gauge the direction of the battle by the cheers of their allies, the heat, or the fluttering flags.

That was why reliable allies were the most important thing on the battlefield.

Allies who didn’t misjudge the situation, who were tightly bound by a strong sense of comradeship, and who wouldn’t collapse in the face of sudden changes. In that sense, I was currently facing the worst kind of allies.

“Waaaaaaaaah-! Let’s go!”

“Damn it-! Maintain the formation! Stop!”

“Charge-! This is a chance to earn merit!”

Because no matter how much I shouted, they wouldn’t listen.

No, it was right not to expect them to follow any organization or command in the first place.

Each and every one of them were nobles who had brought their own soldiers.

The command authority rested with the individual nobles. Whether they charged, retreated, or did anything else.

However.

“Maintain the formation! We can’t get scattered!”

“My lord! It’s difficult to maintain formation because of the Aragonese nobles’ armies. What should we do?”

“Exclude them and form up. Maintain the standard phalanx as we trained!”

For me, whose forces were mostly infantry, a broken formation would expose a great weakness.

Moreover, most of my infantry were pikemen. They were one of the main unit types that were useless unless formed into a phalanx.

Thanks to that, I struggled to maintain formation without getting swept up in the atmosphere.

“What’s the result of the central vanguard?”

“It seems they retreated without inflicting much damage, my lord.”

“Oh. Really?”

“That’s right! Human lord. Besides, the main force in the center is pushing them hard. You don’t have to worry!”

It was a silver lining.

Honestly, I thought they would be helpless against Steffen’s cavalry, but it seemed Count Bozen’s cavalry had put up a decent fight.

“We can just maintain formation and slowly push forward like this. The others are fighting well, so we’ll have done our part just by holding our position.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Magician Agpiel.”

I had no intention of stepping up to earn merit either. No, I couldn’t step up in the first place.

If allies got tangled up with each other, the advantage of the pikemen’s dense formation would disappear.

That’s why I planned to just hold my position and use crossbowmen for ranged attacks.

And that was indeed what I was doing.

“Fire! Let’s teach those bastards a lesson!”

The crossbowmen led by Captain Konrad, protected by the pikemen, fired their crossbows from a distance.

-Fshhhhh!

-Fshhh!

-Aaargh.

A storm of dark arrows covered the sky and fell upon the left wing of the King of Aragon’s army. The king’s left wing, which had relatively weak armor and no shields, fell in droves.

“Those damn bastards!”

“Just twitching their fingers from afar!”

“If we get our hands on you, none of you will have an easy death!”

The left wing of the Aragonese army, hit by the arrows, was utterly furious. But all they could do was rage.

“Die-!”

“Push them back!”

Because the army of the Aragonese nobles on our right wing had charged them.

-Crack!

-Crunch, boom!

The nobles who should have been on the same side were now enemies, swinging their swords at each other. It was ironic, but no one cared about such things anymore.

“Kill them!”

“Crush those traitors.”

“Traitors? How dare a lackey of a filthy foreign king run his mouth!”

They were locked in a bloody struggle with only malice and anger remaining.

But it was my side that was gradually beginning to gain the upper hand.

With the continuous crossbow attacks, and even with their poor organization, their much larger numbers could not be ignored.

The right wing was beginning to push back the King of Aragon’s army.

‘Hmm. Good. If it continues like this, we’ll be fine.’

I thought, surveying the battlefield from the center of my formation.

The main force in the center was also pushing forward, just like us. If things went on like this, it seemed we would win the battle without much trouble.

I wasn’t the only one who thought this.

“Your Excellency! Please allow us to charge as well.”

“Grant us the glory as well…!”

The elf knights waiting beside me were the same.

As the war seemed to be ending, they began to whimper like puppies that needed to pee.

“Calm yourselves. What glory is there in going now?”

But I had no intention of sending the elf knights. Weren’t they the powerful cavalry I needed to use in an emergency?

“B-but the battle…”

“Ahem. I wish to fight the most glorious battle with you all.”

“Yes?”

“In the end, what finishes a battle is the final sword. Is it not the charge of knights like you? I am saving you for that moment. I will use you, whom I cherish the most, in the most glorious situation.”

“Ooooh…!”

At that, the elf knights all looked at me with eyes full of admiration.

To cherish them so much!

They had never seen a lord like this before.

Of course, as I looked at those elf knights, I thought they were quite easy to handle.

And just as I was thinking that.

“Your Excellency! Your Excellency the Margrave!”

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, a messenger ran out urgently and shouted.

“What is it?”

“Count Steffen’s charge is… the battle line is collapsing. We need support, quickly!”

“???”

What? The front line that was pushing forward just a moment ago suddenly?

Could it collapse just because Count Steffen made an appearance?

But when I looked ahead with urgency, the army of the Aragonese nobles at the front was indeed collapsing.

It was absurd, but.

‘Damn it?’

***

“Waaaaaaah-!”

“Kill them!”

The battle, which had begun in the morning, was now past noon.

Just like the sun growing hotter, the heat of the battlefield had become fiercer. Indeed, if one didn’t burn with passion when blood and flesh were flying, they wouldn’t be human.

“Hmph.”

A commander who gets swept up in the heat of battle cannot make proper judgments.

For that reason, Count Steffen maintained a calm rationality even in the midst of the fierce battlefield.

“Your Excellency the Count! What should we do? The front line is being pushed back. Your orders.”

“Wait.”

Count Steffen cut off the nobles with a raise of his hand.

Nothing would change by rushing.

He had to calmly analyze the information of where they were collapsing and where they were pushing.

And at the same time.

‘Where is it? Where should I go!’

He had to catch the scent. The enemy’s most vulnerable point. The point where, if attacked, the enemy would collapse.

This was the difference between an ordinary general and a great one.

And Count Steffen was one of those great generals who could instinctively pinpoint the critical weakness that would decide the course of the battlefield.

‘Hmm! There it is!’

At that moment, the situation on the left wing came into Count Steffen’s view.

The left wing, being pushed back by the right wing led by the Prince-elector of Bohemia. It looked extremely disadvantageous, but he could see a gap there.

‘Those bastards… they are all groups gathered in small scales. And they are the nobles of the Kingdom of Aragon!’

A disorderly mob with no unified organization or command structure.

Right now, they were excited and pushing forward with overwhelming numbers, but once their momentum was broken, their morale would drop sharply.

And an army with broken morale.

‘Is as easy to catch as rabbits in a forest.’

Closing the visor of his helmet, Count Steffen grinned.

Then, Count Steffen raised his spear and spoke to the surrounding nobles and knights.

“We will separate the cavalry. We will strike their right wing.”

He could see the flag of the Margrave of Bellua, who had been making a name for himself recently, in the distance, but Count Steffen didn’t pay it much mind.

In the end, battle was about momentum.

Even if the Margrave of Bellua fought as well as the rumors said, he wouldn’t be able to turn the tide of the collapsing right wing.

“Charge-! Crush those bastards!”

“Hoooo!!”

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