369

Episode 369 Can Everyone Hold On? (2)

The swordsmanship book that Jisel had given her before also included a swordsmanship technique that involved using two swords. And surprisingly, it suited Kaor's aptitude quite well.

"Even though the feel is a little off, the movement itself is more comfortable this way."

Anyway, Kaor's fighting style is to ignore defense and sharply aim for the opponent's weak points.

So, for him, dual swordsmanship was a good technique that gave him another attack route. I felt like I was wasting my life for not knowing this before.

Kaor swung his two swords faster than anyone else and killed his enemies.

Scratch! Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!

"What the heck is this!"

"Why is it so fast!"

"This is the Earl of Fenris!"

As ordinary soldiers, there was no way to stop Kaor's attacks. So it was not unreasonable to mistake him for Giselle.

In the dark of the night, a blue line glowed in the sky and the enemies' heads were cut off in an instant.

Due to the excessive use of mana, Kaor's eyes shone with blue light. It was like the gaze of a beast hunting its prey in the dark of night.

The path was opened up momentarily thanks to Kaor, who pierced the enemy ranks like a sharp awl.

"Hey! Jump down quickly! Now use all your strength!"

Kaor did not go down right away, but stayed at the edge of the wall and swung his sword wildly. His body was already covered in blood.

Jiing―!

The knights' armors activated simultaneously. Although they were covered by robes, light leaked out through the gaps.

The knights' movements became incomparably faster than before.

Boom! Boom!

"Eww!"

The soldiers around them died in an instant due to the suddenly strengthened knights.

They quickly cleared away the soldiers blocking their way and jumped down the wall.

Boom! Kwung! Boom!

The knights, who had wrapped themselves in mana and performed the 'Surviving with Only One Arm Broken' falling technique, landed safely on the ground.

But landing wasn't the end. The enemy commander saw them and shouted.

"Block them! Don't let them open the gates!"

The soldiers who were climbing up the wall immediately turned around and ran back. The soldiers who had been crowded on the wall were also rushing down the stairs in a hurry.

Kaoru landed under the castle walls and shouted.

"Stop it! Just a few people, let me open it with you!"

Then all the knights followed Kaor to open the gate. No one tried to block their way.

"Hey! You crazy bastards! You and only you! Stop them quickly! Stop them! They're coming!"

Kaor was surprised and designated the number of people himself. Only then did the knights turn around with regretful expressions.

"Wow!"

As the soldiers ran, the knights also gritted their teeth and stepped forward.

It was a more dangerous situation than on the wall. The space was wider and it was easier for soldiers to surround them.

Kwaaaaang!

As the two sides clashed, blood spurted out from all sides along with screams. A few soldiers used their advantage in numbers to get past the knights and head for the gate.

The knights quickly chased down and killed any soldier who passed them, but they were bound to have holes here and there.

No matter how great the difference in skill is, it is impossible to stop all those soldiers.

Fortunately, while they briefly held back the soldiers, Kaor and the knights following him quickly arrived at the gate. They quickly turned the crank on the sliding door.

Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki… … .

The bars of the door opened. Meanwhile, soldiers who had been avoiding the knights approached.

Kaor jumped out and killed the soldiers, shouting.

"Open the gate quickly!"

Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!

His sword moved more dazzlingly than ever. Having fought countless monsters, he had become a man strong in melee combat.

While Kaor was blocking the way, the remaining knights finally opened the gate.

Kuuuung!

Jiselle, who saw the scene from afar, smiled and raised her hand.

"Everyone's skills have improved a lot. Let's go."

Heeeek!

As Giselle pulled on the reins, the Black King let out a long cry.

The cry was tantamount to signaling the defeat of Baron Dacre.

The Black King ran quickly, as if he had become one with the darkness. The knights of Fenris followed him.

Doo doo doo doo doo!

The sound of horse hooves shook the earth. However, Daker's eyes were drawn to the Fenris assault force, so he did not properly notice the approach of Giselle and the knights.

Only when they got closer did the Daker commanders' faces turn pale as they realized the situation.

"Everyone, close it! I'm telling you to close the gates!"

The commander on the wall kept shouting, but the soldiers were still blocked by the assault force.

Even those who made it to the gates couldn't close them. They had to break through the red-haired guy blocking their way, but they couldn't kill him at all.

I thought I just had to tire them out a little more, but it seemed like the enemies would rush in before that.

"Uh, what should I do?"

"I have to kill that guy."

"Come on, let's do this quickly."

The soldiers muttered among themselves and delayed, not daring to take the lead.

That guy with the bloody armor and ferocious smile was so scary.

He just stood there holding two swords in each hand, and no one approached him.

It was impossible to close the gate to avoid him, because the guy in front of me wouldn't just watch.

When I was at a loss as to what to do, Jiselle, who was running at the very front, stretched out her hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Spears of crimson mana were created in the air. Soon, dozens of spears were fired out through the gates and into the enemies.

Papapapapapak!

"Kwaaah!"

The soldiers who were fighting in a daze in front of the castle gate were pierced by spears and died.

"It's a wizard! The wizard has arrived!"

The soldiers who were hit in front were confused and screaming. The same magician should have stopped them, but the friendly magician had not been seen for several days.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo!

Other soldiers also saw the enemy rushing through the gate. They had not yet been able to overwhelm their small force, and yet the gate was open.

In the end, the fighting soldiers made a different choice.

"The enemies are coming!"

"Run away! You can't win!"

"It's over here!"

At someone's shout, the soldiers turned around and started to run away. Some even threw away their weapons to run faster.

But the knights of Fenris, who had already reached the castle gate, were faster.

Kwaaaaang!

"Eww!"

The soldiers were all infantry. Naturally, they could not shake off the pursuit of knights on horseback.

As the 350 or so knights pushed on, hundreds of soldiers were trampled in an instant.

It had long been rumored that the raiders would not spare those who surrendered. The terrified soldiers screamed and scattered in all directions.

Kaor finally sat down after seeing the knights of Fenris sweep away their enemies.

"Ouch! This is hard! Did you really have to do it this way?"

Although he was talking to himself, everyone knew who he was talking to. The knights who participated in the operation all fell to the ground and gasped for breath.

"Wow, today was really tough. Training was crazy."

"It's been a while since I've been hurt."

"If only I had been just a little bit later, I would have died today."

They lay there, swearing and giggling. It took a lot of strength, but they survived.

I believed from the beginning that it wouldn't fail. If it was really dangerous, the lord would have personally participated.

It also meant that since Yeongju said it was training, it could be successful. This kind of hard pushing was Yeongju's training method.

It was easy to strike down soldiers who had already lost their will to fight. Fenris' knights, who had rushed into the castle, quickly cleared out the enemies.

Most of the soldiers were killed, and only a few managed to escape.

"Wow!"

"I won!"

"Today is another day of looting!"

Everyone laughed and cheered. The knights who were not selected for the assault team were extremely comfortable.

While everyone was laughing and chatting like that, Jiselle pointed to the gate and said.

"Close the gate."

Everyone knows that there is an enemy chasing them.

The knights, having come to their senses, quickly closed the gate and climbed up the wall.

Sure enough, after waiting a little while, an army with many torches appeared from a distance approaching.

It was the army sent by Marquis Rodrik and the surrounding lords.

Judging from the fact that it appeared like this, it was clear that he had been continuously checking the battle situation.

"It looks like they're really trying to lock us up and kill us."

"To be exact, I'm trying to prevent the lord from running away."

"They've finally all gathered. It won't be easy, right?"

Armies approached from three directions. Unlike the armies we had faced so far, this army would include many knights.

They surrounded the castle and did not take any action. They did not attack, but simply set up barracks and waited.

Jiselle smiled as things went as she had expected.

"Are you trying to starve me to lose my strength?"

It seemed that he had used his own brain. His audacity in offering one castle and 3,000 soldiers as bait was admirable.

As expected, it was a decision worthy of a great lord in the kingdom.

"First, check the castle's food supplies and search for any remaining officials."

Since it didn't look like a battle was going to break out right away, Jiselle went into maintenance for the time being.

The knights dispersed and began to search the castle thoroughly. After wandering around for several hours, they brought in a few men.

"Oh my, please save me!"

"We are without sin!"

"The lord and his entourage have already fled!"

Jiselle asked, looking at the wailing managers.

"When did you run away?"

"This guy ran away with all the money three days ago."

"Are all the soldiers abandoned?"

"Yes, yes. That's right. I only took the knights."

"But why did everyone stay and fight?"

Then the manager looked around and continued speaking cautiously.

"The soldiers didn't know that their lord had escaped. They kept it a total secret."

"You guys?"

"We, we stayed… … to stay until the end… … ."

"Be honest."

The manager lowered his head after seeing Giselle's expressionless face.

"Wow, I was originally planning to run away tomorrow. I was running low on food."

As Giselle looked at Gillian, Gillian answered immediately.

"The food storehouse was empty. When I checked, I found that the soldiers had already been given food for the next day. If it had been two days, everyone would have fled. There was not even a single weapon left to attack the outside of the castle."

Jiselle looked at the manager again and asked.

"What about the food for the people in the castle?"

"Almost all of them have been conscripted. And most of the people living in the castle have followed the lord."

"Why are you following that guy?"

The manager glanced at Jiselle and spoke cautiously.

"Hey, I spread a rumor that if the Plunder King comes, everyone will die… … ."

"The Plunder King?"

"Yes, that's what my nickname was."

At those words, Jiselle laughed in vain. Although she had acted as a plunder king in the territory, she had not expected that she would be called a real plunder king when she came to the West.

The other knights also laughed in disbelief.

Jiselle shook her head as if she had no choice and asked again.

"But are you just following those rumors?"

"If you don't listen, I'll take you away by force. Later, when I come back to the castle, the more people there are, the better… … ."

Even while running away, they were thinking about the future and being greedy. In a way, they were amazing.

Of course, they did that because they were confident that they would win.

"The soldiers knew that and just stayed silent?"

"Everyone thinks that they have requisitioned food in preparation for battle. They also think that they have evacuated the people to safety."

They were truly vicious. They knew full well that they were trying to force us into a corner, but they even fooled their own soldiers, using them as bait.

The remaining managers would have tried their best to appease the soldiers and make them endure before running away.

Just as Marquis Rodrik abandoned Baron Dacre, Baron Dacre also abandoned others to survive.

Jiselle nodded, her curiosity satisfied. Then the knights dragged the officials away.

"Huh? Huh? Please save me!"

Greedy bastards are really quick to notice. Jiselle just ignored them and looked outside the castle.

"Hmm, everything is going as expected… … but how long will it take?"

Kaor said, wiping the blood from her face with a cloth.

"You're going to fight anyway, right? I knew this would happen."

"Yes, it's a perfect situation to further weaken the enemy. It's not often that you get a chance to kill that many at once without worrying about the justification."

"Then why don't we just rest for a bit and attack as soon as the sun rises? There's no food here, right?"

Giselle shook her head at Kaor's words.

"Wait until they hit."

"No, why again!"

"That way, the mercenaries can safely transport the goods."

"aha!"

Currently, Jisel has raided seven territories. There is almost nothing to take from the eighth one, but moving all the treasures from the previous turn would require a considerable amount of manpower and time.

Mercenaries scattered throughout the area are rushing to move it, but they haven't even moved half of it yet.

Jiselle looked at the troops stationed outside and laughed.

"If we want to steal as much as possible safely, we should use this opportunity. While their attention is focused on this place."

In order to make this operation a success, Marquis Rodrik left Giselle alone while she pillaged other territories.

I have to somehow get Giselle and her group to come here.

Thanks to this, Giselle was able to plunder without being pursued, and the mercenaries were able to move their wealth with ease.

The mercenaries are also working to scout out the surrounding area. Jiselle has given them the order to run away if the army appears.

But since the enemies' attention is focused on this place, we can safely raid it for the time being.

Jiselle, who had gathered her thoughts, spoke to the knights.

"Okay, let's just rest for a while. It's okay if we don't have food, right? We can all endure being hungry, right?"

The knights' expressions became gloomy at the sight of Giselle speaking so brightly.