Chapter 406: Let the Hunt Begin (2)

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The soldiers of Rodrick froze in place as they saw Fenris knights descending from the ropes of the hot air balloons.

Seeing people suddenly pouring down from the sky was enough to leave them stunned.

Gillian gripped the axes in both hands, his arms brimming with power, and roared, "Kill them all!"

In the brief moment that Rodrick's forces faltered, disaster struck them.

Boom!

Gillian swung his axes wildly, cutting down every Rodrick soldier in sight.

The Fenris knights, who had quickly regained their footing after landing, followed his lead.

"Aaah! What's happening?"

"Knights! There are knights coming from the sky!"

"Get out of the way!"

Up until now, Rodrick's forces had been relying on sheer numbers to push through, assuming Fenris lacked knights. But with Gillian and the knights joining the fray, the situation took a dramatic turn.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

These knights, strengthened by fragments of the Dragon Heart, were more powerful than ever. Rodrick's soldiers were quickly pushed back, falling from the walls in droves.

The Rodrick knights, who had managed to climb the walls, saw the chaos and shouted in urgency.

"Reinforce the lines immediately!"

"Kill that one first!"

The Rodrick knights charged toward Gillian, realizing he was the one cutting down the most soldiers.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

But their attacks were futile, as Gillian effortlessly blocked them.

Already at the peak of his abilities, nearing the rank of a Master, Gillian was untouchable. The Rodrick knights stood no chance against his axes.

Boom!

Each swing of his axes shredded the knights' armor like paper. Those who challenged him were torn apart in mere moments.

"This is insane..."

One surviving knight stumbled backward, horrified by Gillian's overwhelming strength.

Gillian advanced toward him, his presence radiating dominance. The knight froze, unable to flee, like prey trapped in the gaze of a predator.

Grab!

Gillian's hand wrapped around the knight's neck, and a feral grin spread across his face.

"This is no place for you to climb."

"W-wait...!"

Crack!

With a brutal twist, Gillian broke the knight's neck.

Tossing the body aside, Gillian shouted in a commanding tone, his voice echoing across the battlefield, "What are you doing? Push them out of the walls already!"

A former mercenary, Gillian was as harsh and commanding as Ghislain himself when dealing with soldiers and knights.

Intimidated by his roar, the Fenris knights channeled even more mana, fearing the hellish training that would follow if they failed to meet his expectations.

Gordon, forcing Rodrick's soldiers back, turned to Lucas and remarked, "Man, the old guy's pissed."

Lucas replied, "I swear, one day I'll take his spot."

"Sure, and then he'll fold you like a pretzel."

"I'm younger than him, you know?"

The two, now best friends, grumbled as they pushed their limits, channeling their mana. Both were advancing from mid-level knights to the high-level.

Their rapid growth was thanks to Fenris's astonishing mana training methods, though it came at the cost of enduring grueling, dangerous training sessions.

Rodrick's knights and soldiers, dulled by complacency, couldn't stand a chance against them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Aaaargh!"

The walls were quickly reclaimed by Fenris. Although Rodrick's forces tried to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, their soldiers were slaughtered as quickly as they climbed.

Without siege weapons, capturing the fortress was impossible. With a limited number of ladders, their numerical advantage was useless.

Rodrick's archers couldn't even fire at the walls, as their lightly armored infantry would suffer from friendly fire.

Stealing the hot air balloons wasn't an option either; the Fenris mages who had piloted them had already landed and disappeared into the fortress.

"Hey! Marquis Rodrick! You insane bastard!"

Ascon's voice boomed through the fortress, though he remained unseen, having hidden after landing.

Desperate, Rodrick's archers received new orders.

"Send them all up the walls! Now!"

Marquis Rodrick's bloodshot eyes gleamed with fury as he barked the command. The archers climbed the walls, only to meet the same fate as the soldiers before them, falling one after another.

"Just a bit more! Push a little harder, and we can take it!"

Victory seemed so close. Just a bit more effort, and they could succeed.

Marquis Rodrick, seeing victory slip through his fingers, refused to give up.

"Aaaargh!"

While the battlefield roared with action, it was Rodrick's soldiers who screamed in pain. The Fenris side made no sound except for the commands of their leaders.

Rodrick's officers and soldiers began to notice this eerie contrast, their spines tingling with unease.

Even Tenant swallowed nervously.

"How much training do you need to fight like that...?"

The Fenris soldiers showed no fear, no hesitation. They fought with the precision of a finely tuned machine.

Soon, the Rodrick knights on the walls were gone. Over a hundred knights had perished, leaving no one to maintain a foothold.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A white-haired man rampaged on the walls, standing out against the chaos. Tenant immediately recognized him.

"That's... the White Lion of Fenris, Gillian."

His reputation was well-earned. None of the knights or soldiers could even scratch him.

Tenant instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, longing to face him as a knight.

But he couldn't. The battle was already lost. If he climbed the walls and died, there would be no one left to protect Marquis Rodrick.

"Aaaaargh!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ladders attached to the walls were destroyed or thrown down. No matter how many were set up, it was futile. The tide had turned, and Rodrick's soldiers had lost all morale.

Only Marquis Rodrick continued to shout, "Mages! What are the mages doing? Use your spells and wipe them all out, even if it means hitting our own men! Do it now!"

The mages sweated profusely, unable to answer.

An overwhelming magic force blanketed the battlefield, leaving them struggling just to maintain their defenses.

On the Fenris side, Vanessa and dozens of mages, including those from the hot air balloons, worked together to completely suppress Rodrick's magic.

With every strategy blocked and no way forward, Marquis Rodrick screamed in despair, "How? How is this possible? How can an army of 100,000 and so many mages accomplish nothing?"

Tenant scanned the battlefield and closed his eyes.

'It's over.'

The soldiers were paralyzed with fear, unable to move. Over half of their force had been killed trying to take the fortress.

If only they had attacked this fortress first. At least then, they might have had a chance.

But losing 30,000 soldiers and all their siege weapons in the first battle had been a fatal mistake.

Now, it was too late. Capturing this fortress was impossible.

"Pull back the troops."

Nearly 20,000 soldiers lay dead. Only just over 10,000 remained. Protecting these survivors was the only way to escape from the north.

As the retreat began, Marquis Rodrick erupted in fury.

"Why? Why are you retreating? Send them back! Send them back up the walls and take that fortress!"

Tenant replied firmly, "It's impossible. We must regroup and—"

Bwoooooooom!

Tenant was interrupted by the sound of a deep warhorn in the distance.

The Rodrick officers turned pale as they spotted the approaching army.

"The flag of Perdium!"

"It's Marquis Perdium's cavalry!"

"Fenris must have called for reinforcements!"

The fearsome cavalry of Perdium, known for battling northern barbarians, lined up in formation. Thousands of them stood ready to charge.

Even a simple charge would obliterate Rodrick's demoralized soldiers. If the Fenris knights and soldiers from the walls joined in, it would be a massacre.

Tenant bit his lip as he realized the truth.

'They knew we'd come here and prepared for it.'

This entire war had gone according to Fenris's plan, whether it was orchestrated by Count Fenris or the commander of Silverlight.

Taking a deep breath, Tenant bowed his head and said to Marquis Rodrick, "You must retreat."

"What? Retreat? You want me to retreat now? After failing to take even a single northern fortress? Me, the ruler of the west?"

Tenant clenched his teeth and replied, "You must flee, my lord."

It wasn't a retreat—it was an escape. The war was lost.

Marquis Rodrick cried tears of blood as he shouted, "Where! Where do you expect me to run?"

"You must head to the capital, my lord. Take the remaining forces and join the Royalist's faction. Request mediation and assistance from them."

"You fool! Are you telling me to endure such humiliation?"

It was Marquis Rodrick himself who had refused the Royalist's mediation multiple times. And now, to drag a ragged group of defeated soldiers to the capital and bow his head?

He no longer had any lands to call his own. With his remaining forces, he would have to seize some weak territory by force.

Even with an army of 100,000, he had achieved nothing. The Fenris forces had led him around by the nose the entire time.

"Aaaaaargh! Fight! Keep fighting! We can win! I'm telling you, we can win!"

Marquis Rodrick could not accept the situation. He still had close to 10,000 soldiers under his command—a force large enough to make him a great noble.

Surely, if they fought, they could still win. At least, that's what he believed.

But Tenant shook his head and turned to the knights who served as escorts.

"Escort the Marquis. I will take the lead."

"Let go! Let me go!"

Tenant forcibly handed the Marquis over to the escort knights and mounted his horse. He scanned the surroundings and shouted loudly,

"Gather the troops immediately! We will no longer fight—we will escape the north. The objective is to reach the capital as quickly as possible!"

The soldiers who had just returned from the failed siege looked on in despair.

"We're supposed to run again, right after that?"

It was horrible, but there was no other choice.

"Waaaaaaaah!"

From afar, the Perdium cavalry began charging toward them.

Rumble! Rumble!

The gates of the fortress opened, and Fenris forces charged out on horseback.

"Move! Move now!"

Tenant had no intention of fighting. In this state, where the soldiers were utterly exhausted, victory was impossible.

The mages in the command center looked uncertain. Dnessi, the head mage, spoke to Tenant with difficulty, still expanding his strength to counteract the enemy's magic.

"What... what are we supposed to do?"

Tenant turned a cold gaze toward Dnessi and replied, "Keep suppressing the enemy mages until the Marquis escapes. You've done nothing useful so far, so at least finish this."

"What? Are you abandoning us?"

Dnessi's face twisted with anger, and he began to withdraw his magic, glaring at Tenant.

At that very moment, as Dnessi's immense magic power waned—

Crack!

BOOOOM!

A bolt of lightning struck directly into Rodrick's camp.

"Aaaaaagh!"

Hundreds of soldiers, unable to grasp the situation, were killed instantly.

"Damn it!"

Dnessi had no choice but to resume pouring his energy into suppressing the enemy's magic.

Even with the brief lapse, the enemy mages had managed to slip their magic through. If all the mages abandoned their positions at once, the overwhelming magic would first strike them.

Then the rest of the army could be easily wiped out.

While the mages were caught in their impossible dilemma, Tenant led the escort knights and remaining troops in a hasty retreat.

Clop-clop-clop-clop!

The 5,000 cavalry soldiers who had stayed to protect the command center managed to retreat quickly.

But the infantry, who had just returned from the front lines, were too exhausted to flee effectively.

BOOOOM!

"Aaaaaagh!"

Helpless against the onslaught, the remaining infantry had only one option left.

"We surrender!"

"We'll lay down our arms!"

"Please spare us!"

Rodrick's soldiers, known for their lack of loyalty and courage, had no reason to continue fighting now that the command center had fled.

It seemed prearranged, as the Fenris and Perdium forces ignored the surrendering soldiers.

Leaving a small group behind to gather the captives, the rest continued their pursuit of Rodrick's forces.

Meanwhile, the Fenris knights turned their attention to the mages, including Dnessi.

Clop-clop-clop-clop!

As the knights charged, the mages turned pale. Without magic, they were weaker than common soldiers. A cavalry charge would tear them apart in seconds.

Dnessi, sweating profusely, darted his eyes around. They had been abandoned. Either way, they were doomed.

Having lived a life of luxury, he could not accept dying like this. True to the self-centered nature of most mages, he made his decision.

"I surrender! Please spare me!"

He dropped his magic and prostrated himself. The other mages followed suit, bowing and crying out their surrender.

"I surrender too!"

"I'm a 5th-circle mage! I could be useful!"

"I'm just a researcher! I don't even like fighting!"

The instant their magic ceased, a brilliant flash of light filled the sky. The mages shut their eyes, bracing for death.

But the lightning didn't strike.

The enemy mages had temporarily ceased their attacks.

Neigh!

The Fenris knights pulled their horses to a stop.

"Phew! We're alive!"

Dnessi, his head still bowed, sighed in relief.

As a rare 6th-circle mage, he believed there was no way they would kill someone as valuable as him.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Footsteps approached, and Dnessi cautiously raised his head to see a man standing before him. It was Gillian, the White Lion of Fenris.

"Who is the leader of the mages?"

Dnessi cleared his throat and hesitantly stood, speaking with an air of pride.

"Ahem, I am a 6th-circle mage. If treated well as a prisoner, my ransom will be quite—"

CRUNCH!

Dnessi didn't finish his sentence. Gillian's axe had already cleaved into his neck.

"Guh, guh—"

Why?

Even as a 6th-circle mage, Dnessi had no chance to react to the sudden attack. He died filled with unanswered questions.

The other Rodrick mages trembled, pressing their faces into the ground.

Gillian looked down at them and spoke coldly.

"You are now slaves of Fenris. Don't even think about talking nonsense like ransoms."

"..."

The mages were horrified. There were no laws in the kingdom that allowed mages to be enslaved. Who had the audacity to treat them this way?

But fearing for their lives, they didn't dare protest.

If they had known that even Fenris's own mages were treated as glorified slaves, they would have been even more shocked.

Gillian surveyed the cowering mages and continued, "This person will be your new leader."

The mages hesitantly raised their heads, following Gillian's gesture. Standing where he pointed was a woman—Vanessa, the head of Fenris's Magic Research Institute.

***

— Master, it has begun.

Hearing Dark's words, Ghislain nodded. He was already in the north, leading the Fenris Mobile Army of 10,000.

But at Claude's request, he had held his position, refraining from engaging Rodrick's main force.

Hearing the news, Ghislain smiled.

"Good. Let the hunt begin."

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