Chapter 240: Deception, Encirclement, Annihilation (4)

Mana surged into the axe. Even though Ghislain aimed precisely for the targeted spot, the blade didn't sink deeply.

Ghislain, momentarily dumbfounded, extended his hand, attempting to bind Kustu's body with threads of mana.

"Raaaaargh!"

Snap! Crack!

Feeling something trying to restrain him, Kustu let out a terrifying roar, breaking free instantly. He was even more monstrous than Ghislain had expected.

"This guy… he's like Viktor, isn't he? No, maybe even tougher physically."

Viktor, the one who sought to claim the title of North's Finest Sword. Though Ghislain had killed him during the Battle of Perdium, Viktor's strength was no laughing matter.

Kustu might lack Viktor's skills, but his sheer strength and resilience surpassed even Viktor's.

With his overwhelming physical prowess, he compensated for his lack of technique.

"Die! Die!"

Kustu, eyes bloodshot, swung his axe wildly in all directions, embodying the savagery of a barbarian warrior. No matter how cunning he was compared to other barbarians, he couldn't hide his primal nature.

Against anyone else, such overwhelming power and speed would have already resulted in death. But for Ghislain, whose swordsmanship had reached its peak, Kustu's attacks were meaningless.

That said, Ghislain couldn't afford to take a single hit. One clean strike from that axe would shatter his body in an instant.

Boom! Boom!

The ground shook and cracked without pause. Already lacking in skill and now overtaken by rage, Kustu's attacks were nowhere near landing on Ghislain.

"Why?! Why won't you die?!"

Kustu, who had believed himself invincible in the north, was growing increasingly frustrated. His opponent slipped through his strikes like an eel, dodging effortlessly.

He had realized this enemy was monstrous when he saw him slaughter his warriors, but facing him directly exceeded his expectations.

"Raaaaargh!"

With a guttural scream, Kustu poured all his strength into his axe swings.

He needed just one hit—just one—and the enemy would be utterly destroyed.

Boom!

His full-force strike missed again. The excessive power left Kustu's shoulder wide open, revealing a glaring vulnerability.

Ghislain didn't miss the opportunity. Tossing aside one axe, he wrapped his arm around Kustu's neck, clinging to his back.

If one strike wasn't enough to kill him, it meant his strength was insufficient. And if strength wasn't enough…

"Then I'll just keep hitting until it works."

Ghislain grinned and raised the remaining axe.

"You bastard!"

Kustu roared in fury, reaching to grab Ghislain. But Ghislain's axe moved faster, heading straight for Kustu's head.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

In a reflexive act of survival, Kustu concentrated all his mana to shield his head.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Despite Ghislain pouring his mana into every strike, Kustu's skull didn't easily break. The axe penetrated only so far before stopping, its progress halted by Kustu's unnaturally dense bones.

Ghislain clicked his tongue in frustration. Any normal human would have died from even the first hit to the head, let alone the repeated blows.

"This guy's a real monster. Could he have been born with holy power?"

There were rare cases of people born with divine blessings. Such individuals boasted extraordinary physical abilities without needing to cultivate mana or train extensively.

Their muscles, bones, and physical structure were fundamentally different from ordinary humans.

Kustu seemed to be one of them.

This realization puzzled Ghislain.

'Why didn't this guy unify the tribes in my past life? I'm sure someone else did.'

A monster like Kustu should have been able to bulldoze through any ordinary warriors with sheer brute strength.

Even now, if Kustu had personally charged into the frontlines instead of staying at the rear to preserve his warriors, the defensive line might have already crumbled.

'Maybe he's overly cautious or values his own life too much. Or is it the pride of a chieftain?'

Ghislain didn't dwell on the thought for long. Kustu had discarded his weapon and was trying to grab him with both hands.

Nearby warriors took the opportunity to attack Ghislain as well.

"Hup!"

Ghislain leapt off Kustu's back, swiftly dispatching two approaching warriors with lightning-fast strikes.

During this time, Kustu picked up his weapon again and charged at Ghislain.

"Damn, this guy's way too tough."

Ghislain muttered as he evaded. It was clear that conventional attacks wouldn't work.

Scanning the battlefield, Ghislain noticed that the number of warriors had drastically dwindled. The tide of battle had already turned. Thanks to the perfect execution of their ambush and encirclement, Fenris's forces had suffered minimal casualties.

"All that's left is to kill this guy."

If this monster kept rampaging, their own casualties would inevitably rise.

Ghislain began gathering mana into his axe.

Buzz!

As immense mana flowed into the weapon, it started trembling in his hands. While dodging Kustu's relentless attacks, Ghislain continued to condense and compress the energy.

Standing in the middle of the battlefield, he couldn't afford the prolonged focus he'd used to destroy the gates of Cabaldi Castle. But his relentless training had prepared him to charge mana more efficiently.

Fwoosh!

Red mana coalesced into a swirling mass. Ideally, he would refine it further, but there was no time for patience.

Vwooom!

"DIE!"

Seeing Ghislain momentarily pause to gather mana, Kustu seized the chance. With all his might, he swung his massive axe downward, aiming to cleave Ghislain in half.

Ghislain, gripping his axe with both hands, swung it fiercely in response.

BOOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted as Kustu's massive axe shattered into pieces.

The sound made everyone on the battlefield freeze in place.

What they saw was Ghislain, wreathed in red mist, driving his axe into Kustu's head.

Thud!

Despite the axe's immense power, capable of destroying a giant steel axe in one blow, it only buried halfway into Kustu's skull.

His physical resilience was terrifying.

But no matter how strong one's body was, no one could survive with half their skull crushed by an axe.

Ghislain let go of the weapon and leapt to the ground.

"Y-you… bastard…"

Blood streamed from Kustu's forehead and eyes as he staggered, trying to grab Ghislain. But his trembling hands failed to reach him.

"You… you…"

Repeating the same word several times, the light in Kustu's eyes faded. His massive body slowly collapsed to the ground.

Thud!

The nearby barbarians, still engaged with knights and soldiers, didn't realize their chieftain had fallen.

Standing on Kustu's corpse, Ghislain shouted at the top of his lungs.

"THE GREAT CHIEFTAIN KUSTU IS DEAD!"

The barbarian warriors, hearing his words, widened their eyes in shock. Kustu was not only the strongest among them but also one of the most formidable warriors across the entire north.

"Kustu… is dead?"

"Even after gathering all of us… we've lost?"

"To Perdium, of all people…"

The warriors lost all remaining will to fight.

A few continued to resist, their savagery undiminished, but their efforts were futile.

The barbarians were encircled, their forces decimated, and more continued to fall.

Slash! Slash!

"Aaaargh!"

Thud! Thud!

The sounds of weapons clashing, bodies falling, and warriors screaming echoed across the battlefield.

Thud! Thud!

Thud…

Eventually, the battlefield grew silent. All that could be heard was the labored breathing of the survivors.

It was a complete victory.

Not a single barbarian escaped alive.

"It's finally over…"

A knight murmured. His words acted as a signal, and one by one, the soldiers removed their helmets and dropped their weapons.

The ground within the encirclement resembled a lake of blood, but no one paid it any mind.

Thud.

Skovan simply collapsed into the pool of blood, too exhausted to stand.

After catching his breath for a while, he suddenly began to chuckle.

'Unbelievable.'

They had annihilated an alliance of thousands of barbarians with overwhelming force—using less than half the enemy's numbers.

Has there ever been such a victory for Perdium? No, not in Skovan's time as a knight.

They had always stayed inside their fortress, focusing on defense and only chasing down small raiding parties.

Never before had they faced the enemy head-on in open battle and emerged victorious.

It was exhilarating. Everything had changed since Ghislain arrived, but this… this was on another level. Skovan didn't even know how to describe the feeling.

So he simply laughed as loudly as he could.

"Ahahahaha! We won! We killed every last one of those bastards! We won! Damn it! Long live the young lord! Ahahahaha!"

His laughter became the signal. All the knights and soldiers raised their arms high, cheering.

"Woooooo! We won!"

"We've triumphed!"

"We killed them all!"

Everyone was so overjoyed they didn't know what to do with themselves. And they all knew exactly who was responsible for this tremendous victory.

The cheers and shouts of the soldiers soon converged on one person.

The one standing at the center of the battlefield, drenched in blood, laughing.

"The young lord has done it again!"

***

Zwalter watched Ghislain laughing and mingling with the soldiers and shook his head.

'Every time I see him, it's incredible.'

This battle had made it clear. Modifying the mana cultivation technique wasn't some reckless whim.

Ghislain had already achieved a skill level surpassing anyone in Perdium.

But what was even more astonishing was something else entirely.

'Where does he get such audacity?'

Even to Zwalter, who had spent his entire life on the battlefield, Ghislain exuded a calm confidence he couldn't fathom. There wasn't even much excitement on his face from the victory.

His expression and demeanor seemed to say this outcome was nothing more than expected.

Zwalter had felt something similar during the Battle of Perdium, but back then, he had dismissed it as a fleeting impression. With Ghislain immediately marching to seize Digald, there had been no time to confirm.

Zwalter hadn't been around much for his son as he grew up, but from what he remembered, Ghislain had never been like this.

What had changed his son so profoundly?

'And his strategy and tactics… How do they fit so perfectly?'

Zwalter had been shocked when Ghislain rushed into the battlefield alone, contrary to the plan, but the outcome had still gone exactly as planned.

He had predicted every movement of the barbarians. It was truly astounding.

'Did he say he devised this with that Claude fellow?'

In order to steer the flow of battle, the most crucial element was acquiring information. Only by understanding the enemy's movements could one devise the most effective strategy.

According to Ghislain, Claude had gathered intelligence and helped formulate the plan.

'If that's true, then he's truly remarkable…'

"Ahh, our lord has done it again! How many victories is that now? Let's skip the little ones and count only the big ones—three out of three? Including the last one, make that four out of four?"

It was then that Claude appeared, carrying Wendy behind him, speaking to Ghislain in a syrupy voice. He bent his back deeply and rubbed his hands together so obsequiously that even a fly might hesitate to approach.

Zwalter briefly felt conflicted as he watched this.

'No matter how you look at it, this guy's a sycophant. He looks like he'd take bribes without a second thought.'

Claude swayed with every step, his lack of balance making him seem almost weightless. It was hard to believe someone like this could gather intelligence and craft strategies.

Ignoring Zwalter's skeptical gaze, Claude spoke to Ghislain.

"We secured several thousand more horses in this battle. Shall we head back now? I'd like to go home."

They had already eliminated several smaller tribes, amassing a significant number of horses. Adding the mounts from this enemy force, along with seizing their village, would surely suffice.

But Ghislain shook his head.

"Since we're here, we should make the most of it."

"We've been away too long. Count Desmond might start plotting again. We need to return quickly. By now, word of our absence has probably reached him."

Claude wasn't wrong. They had already been here for two months. Considering how close they were geographically to Desmond's territory, staying away any longer wasn't wise.

"Don't worry. I'll wrap this up soon. By the way, did you show the prisoners the battle as I instructed?"

"Yes, I made sure several of them watched from start to finish, just as you said."

"Good. Mount them on horses and scatter them far and wide. Make sure the story spreads everywhere."

"Understood. This will make dealing with them much easier."

"Exactly. After a beating like this, they won't dare underestimate us."

Zwalter, who had been listening, cleared his throat and interjected.

"Ahem, well done. You've done exceptionally well this time, too."

"You worked hard too, Father. As expected of the Perdium army. They followed the plan perfectly."

"Of course! Who do you think trained them?"

Zwalter puffed out his chest with pride.

Perdium's forces may have been small and impoverished, but their experience and training made them second to none. He took immense pride in that.

Once again, they had executed Ghislain's plan with near perfection.

As he silently congratulated himself, Zwalter asked the question that had been bothering him.

"But are you sure it's wise to release prisoners? Isn't there a risk they might unite again and come back?"

At Zwalter's concerned question, Ghislain responded with a sly smile.

"Don't worry. At least for now, there's one group that definitely won't want to fight us again."

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