Chapter 193: Go Ahead and Wait (1)

Everyone fell silent.

The Fenris soldiers climbing over the walls, the knights already exhausted from battle, and even the enemy soldiers who had been charging with battle cries all came to a halt.

No one had seen clearly what Ghislain had done, blinded momentarily by the burst of dazzling light.

Rumble.

When they opened their eyes after just a brief moment, they saw only the gate collapsing.

The knights standing near Ghislain, dumbfounded as they witnessed the scene, finally murmured.

"Th-the gate…."

"How could that be done with a sword…?"

"Our lord has such power…."

Even the Fenris knights, who had fought alongside Ghislain until now, stared blankly at the fallen gate.

It wasn't just the allies who were stunned. Cabaldi's soldiers, too, gazed at the collapsing gate with confused expressions.

"Our gate… our gate is down."

"One man did that?"

"Who in the world is he…?"

It was said that Count Balzac, the Kingdom's Finest Sword, could destroy a gate on his own.

But that was just a distant rumor, a story that felt unreal and out of reach for them.

Yet now, someone has done something just as incredible, right before their eyes.

And it was their enemy.

"We can't win."

"We're all going to die."

The faces of Cabaldi's soldiers slowly filled with despair. Already weakened by starvation and siege, their morale had hit rock bottom.

They had pinned their last hope on confirming that Fenris's army was tunneling beneath the walls.

They had believed that by surviving through the night, they could achieve victory. But that hope had now been shattered.

How could they not lose their will to fight?

The chaotic battlefield fell eerily silent. The shocking event was so overwhelming that everyone forgot they were in the middle of a war, unable to speak.

And the one who had caused this miracle, Ghislain, stood quietly for a moment, gazing at the rubble of the collapsed gate.

"Hoo…."

Taking a deep breath, he sat down on the spot.

"Ugh, using that after so long… it's killing me."

It was still too much for him to use freely, as he had in his previous life.

The mana consumption was so extreme that even with all the preparation, he could barely manage it once.

If he had regained the level he had in his previous life, there wouldn't have been such a dramatic display of light, nor would he have collapsed after a single use.

"My lord!"

"Are you alright?"

The knights around him rushed over. Seeing them, Ghislain waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm fine, don't worry. But what are you all doing, standing around in a daze during a battle? The enemy is right in front of us, right in front of us. Tsk, tsk, you all need more training."

Snapping out of their stupor at his words, the Fenris knights quickly resumed their combat stances.

But the enemy had regained their composure, too. The sharp-witted Count Cabaldi pointed at Ghislain and shouted:

"No matter how strong he is, he's spent all his strength! Look at him! He can't even move right now! He's clearly out of power! Attack! Block the gate with your bodies if you must!"

At his command, Cabaldi's knights and soldiers gripped their weapons tightly. This was their last chance to defeat the enemy.

With deafening cries, they charged forward.

"Waaaaaah!"

The only emotion driving the Cabaldi forces was fear.

This was their one opportunity to kill the man sitting in front of the gate.

This was their one chance to block the gate before the enemy's main force surged in.

If they failed—

They would all be slaughtered.

That fear was the last fuel propelling them forward.

"My lord, please retreat!"

"We'll hold them off!"

"Everyone, gather around!"

The exhausted knights gritted their teeth and gathered around Ghislain.

Gillian and Kaor began organizing the Fenris soldiers who had climbed over the walls into formations.

Watching this, Ghislain gave a relaxed smile.

"That's enough. Don't block the way, just step aside for a moment."

"What?"

The knights responded in confusion to Ghislain's sudden, cryptic remark.

Rumble!

The sound of the ground shaking grew louder, and a booming voice echoed from outside the fortress.

"Move asideeeeeee!"

Startled, the knights quickly stepped out of the way.

As soon as they cleared a path, a man on horseback galloped into the castle.

Flash!

"My lord! I'm here! Are you alright?"

Lucas, ever fond of dramatic entrances, burst onto the scene and rushed to check on Ghislain.

Ghislain smiled at him and said:

"I'm fine. Just finish them off quickly."

"Understood!"

Lucas raised his lance high and charged at the enemy. He had been itching to fight and finally got his chance.

"My lord! I'm here, too!"

Right behind him was Gordon—though his usual antics had earned him the nickname "Piss-Pants," today, he appeared as the muscle-bound knight, wielding his lance boldly and charging at the enemy.

Both Lucas and Gordon had been entrusted with leading the vanguard due to their solid experience and skills.

Following them, the Fenris knights who had been waiting outside the castle began pouring in.

As they passed by Ghislain, they each called out to him.

"My lord! You've done well!"

"Leave the rest to us!"

"We had faith in you!"

Some wore expressions of pride, others of astonishment, and some even of deep emotion.

But one thing was consistent in all of them—a steadfast determination to fight as their lord's strength.

"Sweep the enemy away!"

At someone's cry, the lances of the Fenris knights began to glow with blue light.

Rumble!

With the sound of pounding hooves shaking the ground, the knights charged with unstoppable momentum. Seeing this, the Cabaldi forces gritted their teeth.

Having been running toward the gate, they hadn't had time to form proper formations to counter the cavalry.

Placing their slim hopes in their heavy armor, they collided head-on with the Fenris knights.

But hope was just hope.

Crash!

"Aaargh!"

The blue lances of the knights pierced through the enemy armor in an instant.

With a single clash, the Cabaldi forces' lines were shattered. The Fenris knights, however, didn't stop, continuing their advance as if grinding the enemy into dust.

No matter how heavily armored they were, it was impossible to stop charging knights without proper formations.

Count Cabaldi, standing behind, could only watch in stunned silence as his troops were swept away like fallen leaves.

"T-this can't be… so many knights…?"

Just as Jaymon had been, the count was unable to believe what was happening.

They couldn't win. Not against such a number of knights. This was an overwhelming force that couldn't be defeated head-on.

And it wasn't over yet.

"Waaaaah!"

On both sides of the castle walls, Fenris soldiers formed into ranks and charged down.

Meanwhile, soldiers flooding in through the gate spread out and began surrounding the enemy on all sides.

"Aaargh! Spare me!"

The screams of the Cabaldi soldiers echoed everywhere.

It was a massacre—an absolute massacre.

Count Cabaldi's pride, the finest soldiers of the North, were falling helplessly before his eyes.

It felt like a dream, unreal and disconnected. Time seemed to flow in slow motion.

At that moment, someone's urgent shout brought him back to reality.

"My lord! You must flee! You must flee now!"

It was Leslie, the commander of the Cabaldi knight order.

Snapping back to his senses, Count Cabaldi gritted his teeth.

"The royalist faction must have provided them with knights. We've been betrayed!"

There was no way the Fenris territory could have had this many knights and soldiers. To Count Cabaldi, it seemed clear that the royalist faction was using this crisis to strike first against the duke faction.

Leslie grabbed the count's arm urgently.

"That doesn't matter right now! You must flee, my lord! The enemy is surrounding us!"

"Let go of me! Are you telling me to flee from that brat?"

Count Cabaldi roughly shook off Leslie's hand.

The thought of being defeated by a mere baron like Fenris was an insult to his pride.

"What are you all doing? Form ranks! Form ranks and resist!"

Count Cabaldi, his face flushed with anger, shouted desperately.

But the battle was already over.

The Fenris knights' charge had annihilated half of the Cabaldi forces. The surrounding Fenris soldiers were easily tightening the noose.

The surviving Cabaldi soldiers were huddled behind their shields, barely holding on.

As the encirclement was completed, Fenris knights began shouting from all sides.

"Drop your weapons and lie face down! Those who resist will not be spared!"

It was a cry announcing the end of the battle.

Thud.

One Cabaldi soldier dropped his weapon and lay on the ground.

That act seemed to signal the others, and the remaining Cabaldi forces quickly began to collapse.

Clang, clang.

The sound of weapons being thrown down echoed everywhere.

Though about half still clung to their weapons, they had already lost all will to fight.

Having witnessed the overwhelming strength of the Fenris forces, they no longer had the resolve to continue.

Everything was going exactly as Ghislain had planned.

He had ordered Lucas and Gordon to push the initial charge hard but then ease their assault afterward.

There was no need to kill all the soldiers. These men would now be forcibly recruited into the Fenris army.

The battlefield fell eerily silent in an instant.

Aside from the occasional groans of the wounded, no sound could be heard.

Even the usually boisterous Fenris knights remained silent.

They knew their lord still had unfinished business.

"Get up! Get up and fight! If you don't rise immediately, I'll kill you all!"

At that moment, Count Cabaldi's voice broke the silence, echoing across the battlefield.

Around him were only Leslie and a dozen or so escort knights. Yet even now, Count Cabaldi refused to accept that he had been defeated.

His pride, his stubbornness, his defiance—they all prevented him from acknowledging the young baron, Ghislain.

Step. Step.

The sound of footsteps could be heard. All of the Fenris knights and soldiers stood aside, forming a path.

Count Cabaldi looked toward the figure approaching him, exuding a heavy presence.

"You…?"

It was the man who had destroyed the gate. The one who had displayed extraordinary strength.

It seemed even he had been affected by the act of breaking the gate. His face was pale, and his steps were slow, betraying his exhaustion.

Count Cabaldi quickly realized who the man was, based on his overwhelming aura and the reactions of those around him.

"Could it be… you're the Baron of Fenris?"

"That's right. I'm Baron Fenris."

"How could someone like you… have such power…?"

Count Cabaldi's words trailed off as Leslie suddenly turned and fled.

A knight commander abandoning his lord and fleeing!

Fenris soldiers and Cabaldi troops alike stared in disbelief. Count Cabaldi's face turned red with humiliation.

Fenris' soldiers moved to block Leslie's escape, raising their weapons.

"Move!"

Leslie, desperation etched on his face, drew his sword. He was determined to cut through the encirclement and escape.

After all, he was the knight commander of a count's territory. His skills were not to be underestimated.

As the soldiers braced themselves for his attack, Gillian's axe flew from behind.

Thud!

"Argh!"

Caught off guard and defenseless, Leslie was struck squarely in the back by the axe and fell from his horse.

"Cough!"

Even as he spat blood, Leslie struggled to rise.

Using his sword as a crutch, he managed to get to his feet. But standing before him now was Gillian, his face expressionless.

Leslie extended a trembling hand and spoke.

"W-wait. I surrender…"

Thwack!

Before he could finish, Gillian's sword severed his neck.

Leslie's headless body wavered for a moment before collapsing.

Gillian swung his sword once to shake off the blood, then looked around at the remaining Cabaldi knights with a disdainful expression.

"Kneel before the lord immediately."

At Gillian's command, the Cabaldi knights chuckled bitterly.

They were different from the soldiers. They were men who had lived with pride and honor as knights for many years.

Their commander had died disgracefully while fleeing. If they, too, knelt, Cabaldi's honor would never be recovered.

One knight drew his sword and spoke.

"We will fight to the end, for our lord and our land."

At that signal, all the Cabaldi knights charged at Gillian.

At the same time, Kaor and the Fenris knights beside Ghislain rushed forward as well.

Clang!

In an instant, a fierce battle erupted among the dozen or so combatants.

Count Cabaldi, watching his knights fall one by one, bit his lip so hard it drew blood.

It finally dawned on him that it was truly over. All the fame and status he had built up until now were crumbling.

"My lord… you must escape…."

The Cabaldi knight, coughing up blood from a pierced chest, couldn't finish his sentence.

Kaor's sword had severed his head.

Seeing the last knight fall, Count Cabaldi closed his eyes.

Ghislain's calm voice followed.

"Bring him down."

A few knights dragged Count Cabaldi off his horse and forced him to his knees.

"Let go! You insolent brutes! Do you even know who I am?"

Though he shouted and struggled, Count Cabaldi couldn't break free from the knights' grip.

Eventually, drained of strength, he hung his head, unable to contain the humiliation boiling within him.

At some point, Ghislain approached him and spoke in a cold tone.

"It's been a while, Count Cabaldi."

Without lifting his head, Count Cabaldi let out a faint chuckle.

"Heh, how dare you say it's been a while. Do you know me?"

"Of course, I know you very well."

Ghislain thought back to his previous life. As soon as the duchy targeted Peridium, Count Cabaldi had cut off the iron supply to Perdium.

Because of that, Perdium couldn't acquire new weapons or even properly maintain the ones they had.

And that wasn't all. Count Cabaldi had sent troops to contribute to Perdium's downfall.

How could he not know such a man? How could he ever forget?

In his past life, he had hunted him down personally and split his head open. Yet even then, the dark flames burning within Ghislain had not been extinguished.

No matter how much he destroyed, those flames grew ever larger, consuming his soul endlessly.

Now, it was time to extinguish one of those flames.

Slowly bending forward, Ghislain grabbed Count Cabaldi by the hair and forced him to lift his head.

"Ugh, you… how dare you…."

As Count Cabaldi glared at him in anger, Ghislain grinned savagely.

"That's what I wanted to say. How dare someone like you."

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