Chapter 368: Everyone Can Hold Out, Right? (1)

"My lord, it seems the Marquis's forces are on the move."

"They are approaching as if to surround this location."

"It seems they intend to settle things here, just as you predicted."

Hearing the reports from the knights who had gone scouting, Ghislain nodded.

Despite having raided seven territories so far, the enemy had neither pursued them properly nor set up a defensive line.

No matter how complacent the Marquis House was, they couldn't be that foolish. If they were, they never would have been able to dominate the West in the first place.

As expected, they were making thorough preparations to capture him.

"How many have you counted so far?"

The knights answered Ghislain's question without hesitation.

"The force approaching from the north numbers about 4,000, all infantry."

"The force coming from the west is about 3,000, half cavalry, half infantry."

"The southern force is also about 3,000, composed mainly of siege weapons, archers, and infantry."

The knights who had been with Ghislain through thick and thin showed an entirely different demeanor now. While they still behaved casually, as if they were unemployed mercenaries in peacetime, their unseriousness disappeared entirely in the face of battle.

Ghislain nodded and asked another question.

"This time, the numbers are quite large. What's their pace?"

Gillian responded.

"They could have arrived already if they wanted to. It seems they're deliberately slowing their march. They're also operating scouts to keep watch on this location."

Ghislain narrowed his eyes at that statement.

If their goal was to defend this castle, they shouldn't be moving so slowly. They should rush here and coordinate with the castle's forces for a combined attack.

The fact that they were advancing slowly could only mean one thing.

"They're trying to isolate us."

He could guess what the enemy was aiming for—luring him into a trap, surrounding him completely, and starving him out in the castle.

Ghislain turned his gaze toward the distant castle.

"Hmm, there's quite a lot of them this time."

Focusing his enhanced vision, he saw the castle walls bristling with soldiers.

Rumors about him had clearly spread, and their defensive posture was unusually tense.

Ghislain pulled out a booklet and flipped through it as he spoke.

"Let's see… Baron Dacre… about 3,000 troops? Not many knights, I see."

The booklet Ghislain referred to contained information about the Marquis Roderick's house and its surrounding territories.

While some of the information had been gathered within the Fenris territory, most of it came from Dominic of the Drake Mercenary Corps.

Having operated in the West and performed dirty deeds for the Marquis, they naturally had a wealth of information.

After tucking the booklet away, Ghislain spoke again.

"Not many knights, but with this many soldiers, we'll need to work hard today. We need to deal with this place to secure our rear. We attack tonight. Understood?"

Gordon, alternating his gaze between the castle and Ghislain, asked.

"What about the enemies coming to surround us? If they attack while we're fighting, won't we be in trouble?"

The other knights showed slight signs of unease.

If the 10,000-strong enemy surrounded them mid-battle, it would be a difficult fight even for their lord, who was a Master.

Even if they somehow managed to win, most of the knights would likely be exhausted, injured, or dead.

But Ghislain laughed reassuringly.

"This place is bait. Their plan is to trap us here. They won't attack while we're fighting; they want us confined. So, we might as well play along and make some profit."

"Oh…"

The knights, having spent enough time with Ghislain, quickly understood his reasoning.

"Of course, the best way to capture the lord is to trap him first."

"Then it makes sense to wait until we're fully inside the castle before closing the net."

"Yeah, there's no way they'd send so many troops just to catch 400 raiders. Their real target must be the lord."

These knights were no longer clueless when it came to warfare.

Though they hadn't studied military strategy formally, their experiences with Ghislain had sharpened their instincts and given them a knack for battlefield tactics.

This growing insight would be a great strength in future battles. Knowing the right choices to survive critical moments was a skill that couldn't be overstated.

Of course, in daily life, they were still somewhat lacking, but Ghislain's interest lay solely in their combat proficiency.

Pleased with their progress, Ghislain smiled and nodded.

"Exactly. They're not after you—they're after me. And capturing me isn't easy. They have to lay bait at the very least. Being popular is so exhausting."

"…"

The knights wore slightly awkward expressions.

'What's with the ego?'

'But he's not wrong…'

'Famous people have it so good… I want to be famous too…'

"What's with those faces? Anyway, we'll play along with their plan this time. Don't worry—we'll win easily."

"Yes, sir!"

The knights soon shed their concerns and replied energetically. If their lord was this confident, it meant victory was assured.

All they had to do was focus on the battle and the looting, as they always had.

"Let's make sure to clean them out today."

"It's always nice to feast after a fight."

"This place is bigger, so there'll be more to plunder."

Wearing wicked grins, they shifted excitedly.

While they had rehearsed raiding plenty of times back in their territory, this was the first time they were doing it for real.

Even during practice, it had felt like raiding suited them perfectly. Now, attacking small territories without many soldiers or knights made it easy and enjoyable.

As the knights laughed and looked forward to another successful raid, Ghislain issued a new command.

"This time, we'll do things a bit differently. A Assault Corps will open the gate. Fifty men, step forward."

Kaor's jaw dropped in shock.

"What? Why? We've always attacked together! That place has 3,000 soldiers!"

"If all of us charge in and occupy the castle, the reinforcements will close in and we'll lose our horses. Once the gate is open, we'll ride in."

"So what if we lose the horses? There'll be more inside! And we can just retrieve them after taking the castle!"

"No. I can't leave Bean behind."

At this, Black King snorted, tossing its mane dramatically.

"…"

Kaor stared at the horse for a moment before speaking again.

"So, let me get this straight… You want me to take just fifty men and open the gate?"

"Exactly. Consider it training. That's what an Assault Corps does. Unless you don't want to? In that case, Gillian can go."

Gillian immediately bowed his head and said, "I'll enter and open the gate at once."

Kaor hurriedly changed his tune.

"No, no! I'll go! Opening a gate like that is no problem! Hey! You guys can handle it, right?"

At this, the fifty knights assigned to the Assault Corps sighed deeply.

'Should've let the old man go. Today's going to be exhausting.'

'We might end up injured… or worse.'

Even though they were strong, fighting 3,000 soldiers was no small feat. They'd have to kill as many enemies as possible quickly and open the gate, or risk being overrun.

While it wouldn't be difficult to have everyone charge in at once, Ghislain deliberately rotated small groups for these missions to push them harder and improve their skills.

As dusk settled and Ghislain rose from his resting place, he spoke.

"The sun's down. Go open the gate."

At that, all the knights pulled up the hoods of their robes.

From the beginning, Ghislain had planned for a nighttime raid and plunder, even coordinating their attire for the occasion.

Rustle… rustle…

Kaor's Assault Corps moved quietly toward the castle.

The knights had all been taught by Belinda how to suppress their presence and move stealthily. Thanks to occasional training, while they weren't at an assassin's level, they were capable enough to fool ordinary people.

Kaor, however, harbored a grudge against Belinda, having been repeatedly kicked in the shins during training. He silently vowed to repay her one day.

As they neared the castle, Kaor muttered under his breath.

"Ugh… this time, we're definitely going to get caught."

Their tactics had already been exposed, and the castle's defenses were on high alert.

Soldiers lined the walls without a single gap in their formation, and torches were placed everywhere to illuminate the surroundings.

While experts like Ghislain, Gillian, and Kaor could move through the shadows cast by the torches, most knights couldn't manage such stealth.

Eventually, some of the guards on the wall, those with sharp eyes, spotted shifting black figures below.

"W-What's that? Something's coming!"

The other soldiers tensed immediately. They raised their spears and prepared various defensive weapons to prevent anyone from scaling the walls.

But before they could use them, a grappling hook latched onto the wall.

Clank.

"Huh? What's this?"

The nearest soldier froze, his mind blank, unsure what to do.

"Idiot! Get rid of it!"

A senior soldier rushed to remove the hook, but it was too late. Kaor was already scaling the rope and vaulting onto the wall.

He raised his greatsword with a wicked grin.

"The great Kaor has arrived."

"The enemy is on the wall!"

The soldiers shouted as they thrust their spears at the grinning Kaor.

Boom!

Kaor dodged and swung his greatsword in response.

Boom!

"Aaaargh!"

The soldiers in his way were instantly cut down. Watching them fall, Kaor chuckled.

"Big weapons are the best for mowing down weaklings."

While he laughed, shouts erupted all around.

"Kill him!"

"There's only one of them!"

The soldiers on the wall rushed to the spot where Kaor had climbed up.

Three thousand troops converging at once was a sight to behold. But Kaor hadn't come alone.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Dozens of grappling hooks latched onto the wall. Knights, who couldn't leap over the walls as easily as Kaor, climbed up the ropes with agility.

"Waaaaah!"

"Kill them!"

"There aren't many! We can hold them!"

The soldiers of Baron Dacre's territory trusted their numbers and pressed the attack.

At a glance, there were only about fifty enemies. There was no way thousands of soldiers wouldn't be able to stop them.

Even Kaor, seeing the sheer number of approaching soldiers, shouted urgently.

"Let's head down! Move quickly!"

To descend, they first needed to clear the soldiers in their path.

Kaor and the knights leaped into action.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Fenris knights killed dozens of enemies in an instant, but they hadn't made much progress.

Kaor gritted his teeth.

He had assumed the narrow wall would make it easy to descend, but the sheer number of soldiers made it impossible to ignore them.

In fact, the narrowness of the wall allowed the enemy to fill the gaps quickly.

Kaor muttered under his breath.

"Damn it… What now?"

Even reinforcements climbing the wall below couldn't reach him because the front lines were already packed with soldiers.

The density of the enemy troops was staggering.

'Think. Think.'

No matter how hard he thought, all that came to mind was to charge forward.

Try as he might, no clever solutions presented themselves, and Kaor soon grew tired of thinking.

'Maybe I should just kill all 3,000 of them?'

It would certainly be impressive, but he doubted he could pull it off, no matter how strong he was.

At best, he and his fifty knights might take out 2,000 before falling heroically.

But he didn't want to die in a reckless battle. Clearing the soldiers blocking his path seemed like a better option.

"Hey! Block the sides! The rest of you, push forward with me!"

The Fenris knights, well-trained for battle, quickly adapted to the plan. Half the knights held their ground, stopping the flanking soldiers, while Kaor led the others forward.

Kaor hurled his greatsword into the crowd ahead.

Boom!

"Aaargh!"

Several soldiers fell at once. Kaor exhaled deeply as he saw the gap he had created.

"Hah… Guess I have no choice but to fight properly."

To be fair, their recent battles had been too easy. Kaor understood why Ghislain occasionally threw them into challenging situations like this.

Such tension was necessary to keep their senses sharp. On that point, even Kaor agreed.

Kaor drew two swords from his belt.

Clang!

Ghislain had ordered all Fenris knights to train with various weapons. Kaor had focused on dual-wielding, on Ghislain's recommendation.

— "You don't use shields much anyway. You should train to fight with two swords."

— "Two swords? But I'm bad with my left hand."

— "That's why you need more practice. If you lose your right hand in battle, will you just die?"

— "…"

— "And with two swords, your attack power doubles. What do you think?"

— "Oh…"

At the time, Kaor had nodded, finding the reasoning persuasive.

After all, didn't Gillian dual-wield axes when fighting weaker enemies?

Learning to dual-wield might help him hold his own against Gillian.

Thanks to his serious training, Kaor had become quite proficient at dual-wielding.

"Waaaah! Kill them!"

The soldiers filled the empty space and charged at him.

Kaor twirled the swords in his hands and smiled.

"Double attack power, here we go."

Swish! Swish!

Kaor's body moved like lightning, his twin swords dancing through the air.

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