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Before starting the attack, Giselle asked Vanessa.

"What is the enemy's troop deployment status?"

Vanessa, who had been sitting still with her eyes closed, opened them. A wizard was lying next to her, foaming at the mouth.

"As expected, my lord, they have all gathered at the target point of the tunnel. There are less than half of the soldiers left around the gate and walls."

Vanessa's 6th circle allowed her to explore a much wider range of areas than other wizards.

She made up for her lack of magical power by sucking it from other magicians. There were more than a few magicians who fainted because their magical power was sucked from them.

Even as the wizards fell, Giselle continued to have Vanessa use her searching magic.

Being able to scan the entire battlefield even for a moment is a very important factor in determining the outcome of a war. In the last war, didn't we catch spies thanks to the addition of magicians?

Jiselle nodded and continued speaking after confirming that the enemies had moved as she had expected.

"Okay, now it's time to begin."

"Really… Are you okay? If you're not careful, you could be in serious danger."

Giselle chuckled at Vanessa's worried words.

"But if we succeed, we can capture the castle without much damage."

"How about I use the magicians' magical powers to attack the soldiers on the wall?"

"No. It's not time to reveal the existence of the wizards yet. And even if you can inflict damage that way, you won't be able to easily take over. The enemy will try to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Do you know we don't have time?"

"still...."

"Go in, kill the enemies, and open the gate. How simple and good. They've been starving for a long time and are completely exhausted, so it won't be hard to deal with them."

Vanessa bowed her head at Giselle's firm answer.

It was risky, but the rewards were great if it was successful. The chance of taking the castle in one day was worth the risk.

We can only hope that it will succeed without much damage.

"Okay. Please take care… … ."

"Okay. Now let's get ready."

Leaving Vanessa's worries behind, Giselle called the knights together.

"At night, we will take a hot air balloon and jump into the enemy castle. Then we will capture the walls and open the gates."

"… … ."

The knights who had been boasting until recently finally took on a look of anticipation.

The supplies that arrived this time included dozens of hot air balloons, too many for reconnaissance purposes.

The knights who saw it thought back to the falling technique they had learned not long ago, but they were still skeptical. But who would have thought that their anxiety would really become reality?

Since the lord had spoken, the operation would not be canceled. The knights felt heavy-hearted, knowing well the lord's stubbornness from past experience.

Then one of the knights asked in a puzzled tone.

"Then why did you dig the tunnel? Don't you plan on attacking that side?"

"That's bait. The enemy's main force is now gathering at the exit of the tunnel to attack us in return."

"That means… … ."

"Yes, if we enter the castle by hot air balloon now, we can quickly attack the castle gate."

The knights were speechless and just swallowed dry saliva.

The lord was kneading the entire board in his hands. It was creepy.

The truth was that it was a hot air balloon. Not preparing siege weapons and digging tunnels were all just to make the enemy let their guard down and draw their attention.

'So this is what I trained for in the fall law.'

'I planned for this to happen from the very beginning.'

'Well… … there's no way our lord would do that without thinking.'

If you think about it, Yeongju has always been like that. There hasn't been a single thing he did without any meaning.

From the Forest of Demons to the Battle of Ferdium, he did not hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve victory.

A style of preparing step by step, deceiving not only the enemy but also allies.

I didn't really believe it because the way he acted was so out of the ordinary, but looking at the results, it was clear that the lord had planned it all out.

Jiselle continued speaking while looking at the very nervous knights.

"I know what you're worried about. No matter how well you prepare, it's not easy to jump into enemy territory. It's an extremely dangerous operation with no guarantee of life or death."

"… … ."

That was right. No matter how much they became knights, they were still half-knights with limited time to fight.

If you fail to quickly subdue the enemy and open the gates, you will certainly be surrounded by enemy forces and will not be able to avoid annihilation.

That was a fact that Giselle, who planned the operation, knew better than any of the knights here.

Amid the growing tension, Giselle slowly opened her mouth.

"We are still weaker than our enemies. The enemies we will have to fight in the future are far more powerful than Count Cavaldi."

Earl Desmond is one of the most powerful men in the North. The Duke's family is so powerful that no single force can compare to it.

It was already a well-known fact that we would have to fight such enemies in the future.

"So this war must end at a speed that the enemy cannot even imagine. If we cannot easily subdue an enemy of this size, there will be no hope for us. Let me ask you, were we not prepared?"

At those words, the knights snorted and puffed out their chests.

I risked my life to learn mana. I trained with the resolve to have my body break.

He has worked harder than anyone else and has grown faster than anyone could have imagined.

That is a fact that no one can deny. That is why their pride and confidence have grown beyond comparison to before.

The knights shouted in a loud voice.

"It's not lacking!"

It wasn't that I was lacking in preparation. I was just cautious because the enemy standing before me was not someone to be trifled with.

"Even though they are starving, the Kabaldi army is considered the best armed in the North. We are about to fall into their midst. Are you afraid of that?"

The knights snorted in laughter at Giselle's subtle provocation.

"We even beat Desmond once."

"I also caught some incredible monsters in the Demon Forest."

"But what are those guys afraid of?"

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The knights' eyes were getting hotter and hotter. Jiselle said with a smirk.

"Yes, fear is for the unprepared. We have done our best so far."

The enemies are completely unprepared. Now is the time to explode against them what they have built up.

Jiselle laughed, lightly hitting her chest twice with her fist.

"I want a perfect victory."

This is a victory ritual performed by mercenaries who worship the goddess of war.

The knights, most of whom were mercenaries, laughed and beat their chests just like Giselle.

Even those who were not mercenaries followed the ritual because they knew its meaning.

Suddenly, the fear and tension completely disappeared from the knights' faces.

Jiselle continued speaking with confidence.

"This time, I will stand at the front again."

In the Forest of Demons, in the last war, Giselle has always been like that.

Being the first to reach the most dangerous places, making the impossible possible.

This is the source of strength and belief that leads everyone.

"Follow me with all your might, just like you have been doing until now."

Then it will work out. Then we can win again.

The knights also made expressions similar to Giselle's and saluted with fists to their hearts.

If a little while ago he had prayed for victory as a mercenary, now he had pledged to risk his life to follow his lord as a knight.

After briefly looking around at the knights, Giselle turned around with a cruel smile.

"Let's go, it's time to show our strength."

* * *

The personnel working on the tunnel also joined the main force during the night.

It would be nice if everyone could get on the hot air balloon and enter the castle, but no matter how full the balloon was, it couldn't fit all 400 people.

Because each wizard needed to be on board to quickly adjust the altitude and direction, the number of balloons could not exceed the number of wizards.

The knights were arguing among themselves about whether they would go, and in the end, they had no choice but to select them by force.

"Hey, I wanted to go."

"I'm stronger, so why am I losing?"

"Ha, I hate seeing those who went there and came back acting like they know everything."

About 100 knights were selected, and the remaining knights marched with the soldiers, licking their lips.

Although the risk is less, their role is not light. They must enter as soon as the gates open and rescue their allies.

They will now attract the enemy's attention and charge in as soon as the gate opens.

Soon dozens of hot air balloons were floating high into the air. The wizards used wind magic to direct them towards Castle Cavaldi.

As they approached the castle, the balloon riders remained alert. While normal bow attacks would be out of reach, they were at a height where skilled knights and magicians could easily intercept them.

However, the knights and soldiers of Cavaldi Castle failed to discover the hot air balloon in time.

It was also a dark night, and I had no time to look up at the sky as I was focused on the approaching Fenris Army.

"Huh? What is that?"

Cavaldi's soldiers on the outer watchtower only discovered it by chance when the balloon had passed over the walls.

At his signal, the soldiers and commanders waiting on the wall also saw the hot air balloon.

"What is that? There's something in the sky!"

"I don't think it's a monster?"

"Why are you coming into our castle?"

People were lost in their thoughts and just stared at the hot air balloon, forgetting even the Fenris Army in front of them.

When people are too surprised, they cannot make accurate judgments. They are so surprised by the strange shape they have never seen before that they stop thinking.

The stereotype that ordinary people cannot fly was so strong that it was impossible to even imagine that a person could ride in a large basket.

"I think it stopped?"

"Huh? Come down, come down. Isn't that a real monster? It's fat and has something hanging from its bottom?"

The wall commander frowned as everyone began to murmur in confusion.

I had to check what it was. If it was a monster, it would be a very dangerous situation where I would have to fight enemies from the front and back.

"The Fenris army has stopped advancing. It seems that the other side has also discovered this and is becoming cautious. Send a scout party and check."

The Fenris army halted their advance with their shields raised to prepare for the arrow attack, but the wall commander, unaware of Giselle's plan, made his own judgment.

Soon a small reconnaissance party was formed and cautiously headed in the direction of the balloon.

Unlike the cautious Cavaldi army, the knights riding the hot air balloon were in chaos.

"Hey! We have to get down quickly! Don't you see the torch over there? The enemies are coming to check!"

The wizards urged the knights to get down quickly so they could escape.

The wizards had used up a lot of magical power to launch and move the hot air balloon.

It would be of no use in such a surprise melee, so the knights had to flee as soon as they dismounted.

Since we can't support them from the air, if we just linger and get intercepted, we'll just end up losing valuable wizards or balloons.

But the knights also had some grievances.

"Miss! Be quiet! It's too high now! Let's go down!"

"What? No! I can't go down any further!"

The balloon could not be lowered too low. It would take time to get it up again, making it difficult to escape.

The wizards did not yield, as the knights had to dismount at an appropriate altitude to retreat.

"Why don't you hurry up and get off? I'll just cut the rope off."

"Wow, look at these kids? Let's just wait and see after the war is over."

The knights prepared to jump down, even as they argued with the wizards.

Although they growled at each other, surprisingly, the relationship between the knights and wizards was not that bad.

In the past, there was no way that arrogant wizards would get along so freely with mercenaries. They would often ignore each other like cows and chickens.

Everyone was swept up in the atmosphere created by Jiselle and became like neighborhood friends who had shed their pretense.

The knights took a few deep breaths and used the 'one-arm-breaking survival technique' they had been practicing.

Boom! Kwung! Boom!

"Ugh! It's not broken!"

"I survived! It was great! The training was worth it!"

"Oh, I almost died before I even started fighting."

Everyone rolled on the floor and joked.

However, thanks to the training and mana they had mastered, they were able to land safely without anyone getting seriously injured.

In the midst of all that noise, there was one quiet hot air balloon.

It was the hot air balloon that Kaor and Alfoy were riding in.

The two had not spoken to each other and were at a standstill since the 'hot air balloon crash'.

It was embarrassing because we tried to save each other, so it was uncomfortable to face it.

Kaor said as he was walking down the rope in an awkward atmosphere.

"Hey, don't get caught messing around and get lost again. Run away safely."

Alpoy answered while carrying his luggage on his back and looking somewhere else for no reason.

"Huh… … . Have a nice trip."

"You little punk, you're so embarrassing."

Kaor smiled once and jumped out of the hot air balloon with flying colors.

Crunch!

"Ouch, shit! It hurts!"

The hot air balloons that had dropped all the knights, including Kaor, began to gain altitude one by one. Now, the only task left for the wizards was to quickly escape the battlefield.

Inside the rising hot air balloon, a wizard looked down and said:

"Hey, make sure you come back alive. Then I can correct your shallow habits."

The knight who was rubbing his arm also smiled and answered.

"You too, wipe your throat clean and wait. I'll let you go comfortably."

"Kuuuuu, one fireball would make me wet my pants."

The wizard chuckled and magically warmed the air pocket.

Cavaldi's soldiers approached slowly, watching the hot air balloon shrinking rapidly.

For the knights of Fenris, who were dropped into the middle of enemy territory, there was now no escape.

All that remains is success or death.

Jiselle, who had been watching the front from the first one, looked back and spoke.

"No one ran away or couldn't get off, right? No one would have gotten hurt to this extent either."

"doesn't exist!"

The knights laughed, turning their aching arms.

Soon, a vicious murderous spirit began to bloom between them.

Jiselle smiled as she pulled out her sword. It was the scent of the battlefield that she felt after a long time.

"Are you all ready to vomit blood?"

"I'm ready!"

Chachachang!

The knights also drew their swords with cruel smiles that looked just like Giselle's.

Their swords, each and every one of them, were encased in blue mana.