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Chapter

236. We Must Strike First. (3)

“It’s the enemy! The enemy! Those bastards have invaded our fortress!”

Screams echoed from all around. The barbarian warriors rushed to grab their axes in a panic.

They were just about to head out for a hunt. Clearly, they weren’t prepared, and none of them were even on horseback.

“Quick, get ready! They’re already here!”

The warriors hurriedly mounted their horses, but Ghislaine’s army was already charging at them with insane speed.

The horses ridden by the barbarians sensed the danger and were in a frenzied state, making them impossible to control.

No matter the type of unit, if you can’t form a proper formation, you can’t exert your strength. If they were struggling to calm their horses, they were in no position to do anything else.

As the barbarians flailed about, Ghislaine’s army descended upon them.

Boom!

“Uaaagh!”

Ghislaine’s spear quickly smashed through the heads of the barbarians. A red aura radiated from his spear, matching the shine in his fierce eyes.

Whoosh!

Bam!

Every swing of Ghislaine’s spear sent a barbarian tumbling from their horse. They couldn’t even put up a fight before they fell.

With overwhelming force, Ghislaine carved a path through the chaos. Behind him, Gillian’s spear unleashed terrifying power.

With just two men, a whole barbarian tribe was being dismantled.

Following them, the knights of Perdium charged in, overwhelming the barbarians.

Boom!

Thanks to Ghislaine, their skills had rapidly improved, allowing them to ransack the barbarian village using their superior horsemanship.

“Hahaha! Actually doing this feels so refreshing!”

Randolf boomed with laughter, and the knights of Perdium cheered in response.

“You bastards! Did you think we would just sit here and take it forever?”

“Who knew the Grand Duke would create such an opportunity for us!”

“How does it feel to be on the receiving end? Taste’s good, isn’t it?”

Everyone, their faces flushed, roared as they slaughtered the barbarians. There was a lot of pent-up frustration to vent.

The cavalry that followed was just as fierce. They too, their faces flushed, cut down the barbarians.

It felt like all the pain from their hardships caused by the barbarians was finally being washed away.

And the Knights of Penris…

“Ugh! What the hell! Why is everyone so fast?!”

Kaor shouted in frustration. He thought he was decent on horseback, but now he felt completely outmatched.

Upon reflection, he realized he had rarely fought while mounted. He actually preferred the satisfaction of taking them down on foot.

The other knights felt the same way. While they had picked up some shock tactics by following Ghislaine, it was clear they were outclassed by those who had fought on horseback for years.

Boom!

However, their sheer numbers made up for their lacking horsemanship. Once the Knights of Penris surged in, the barbarians completely lost their minds.

Having suffered significant damage in the first clash, they had no time to regain their strength.

Still, as rough northern barbarians, they didn’t lose their belligerence in this situation. They tried to regroup and fight back as best they could.

“Y-you bastards! Stay together! Get closer!”

“Don’t underestimate the power of warriors!”

“Don’t retreat! We can kill them!”

But that was easier said than done. At some point, the knights and cavalry had spread out and formed a surrounding formation.

As soon as Ghislaine saw the formation complete, he shouted.

“Leave not a single one alive! Unleash the fury you’ve built up! Make the enemy tremble in fear at the mere sight of our wolf banner!”

“Waaaaaah!”

Ghislaine’s speech fired up the hearts of the knights and soldiers of Perdium.

With flames in their eyes, they slaughtered the barbarians.

This was different from the barbarians they had killed before. It was vastly different from when they defended the castle and chased down raiders.

Though they were merely a small tribe, they were invading the barbarians’ homeland.

One, two, three, four…

With each barbarian they killed, it felt as if the knots in their hearts were untangling. They felt they were soothing the souls of their fallen comrades.

For the people of Perdium, this assault was akin to a sacred rite.

In contrast, the Knights of Penris, who had no real memories of being wronged by the barbarians, simply executed their training and followed orders.

Except for one person.

“I have to kill more than that old man!”

Kaor was just as fired up as the knights of Perdium. He could not allow himself to lose to Gillian, not at any cost.

“That old man is my soul rival!”

Gillian didn’t think of that at all; he didn’t even regard Kaor with any interest, but Kaor was serious about it.

“Uaaagh! I will curse you all!”

The barbarians were falling quickly. A few of them threw down their weapons and surrendered. People value their lives no matter where they come from.

But the knights and soldiers of Perdium ignored them and remained resolute, swinging their weapons.

The pain and anger they had accumulated was just too much to forgive.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Ghislaine directed the battlefield, occasionally shouting out commands.

“Don’t kill the horses!”

Though the aim was to wipe out the barbarians, they also aimed to acquire their horses. They needed to keep as many alive as possible.

In the end, the barbarian warriors were completely wiped out without landing a single effective blow.

Now the only ones left were the trembling old men, women, and children hiding inside the tents.

Rip!

The soldiers of Perdium tore through the tents, dragging them out.

Not long ago, when the Perdium army had visited the stronghold of the allied tribe, everyone had already fled. But this time, the attack was so sudden that they missed their chance to escape.

One knight looked down at a crying child and raised his weapon. He didn’t want to, but he was resolute about stamping out any future threats.

At that moment, Ghislaine’s voice rang out across the battlefield.

“Stop!”

The knights and soldiers instantly lowered their weapons.

Perhaps these non-combatants were hoping someone would intervene. They had never killed non-combatants before.

Seeing this, Randolf spoke solemnly.

“Your Grace, it may feel uncomfortable, but it would be better to eliminate them all now. If they grow, we’ll only have to deal with more barbarians later.”

Ghislaine gave a nonchalant response.

“That’s true. But right now, we have a use for them.”

“Huh? What do you intend to use them for?”

“Because we have a use for them, let’s just take them all for now. Also, I have no hobby of killing people who can’t fight back. It would be a bit humiliating.”

Randolf tilted his head at Ghislaine’s strange remark.

“If we had no use for them, would you have killed them all?”

Ghislaine paused for a moment before shorting replying.

“If it had to be done.”

Though his expression was indifferent, his eyes flickered with something strangely intense. Randolf felt an instant chill run down his spine.

‘This bastard, could it be… already…’

Randolf had no idea what Ghislaine had been doing for a long time. He had been living so recklessly that at some point, he had stopped paying attention to Ghislaine altogether.

So even after spending time together, there were things he just didn’t know.

Randolf opened his mouth to ask something but swallowed his words. He didn’t think Ghislaine would tell him, and he doubted it would do him any good to know.

As an excellent knight, he glimpsed a terrible bloodlust and ferocity that briefly crossed Ghislaine’s eyes.

Just from that look, Ghislaine seemed to have killed far more people than Randolf, who had lived his entire life on the battlefield.

“That doesn’t make any sense. He’s younger and has far less experience in war… Even if he was secretly killing people, if he had killed that many, he would have been found out before. I must be mistaken.”

Randolf vigorously shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He immediately began directing the soldiers to clean up the battlefield.

With quite a number of captives and horses acquired, Ghislaine returned to the Northern Fortress.

The knights and soldiers who had accompanied him were busy boasting about their exploits, their faces all flushed with excitement.

“Hahaha! Those bastards were completely weak!”

“I should’ve gone and killed them sooner! All those horses are spoils!”

“I really blew off all that stress I’ve built up!”

Their bragging seemed never-ending. Those listening with jealous expressions began to stir up chaos one by one.

“This time, I’ll be the one going!”

“I’m way stronger than that bastard!”

“Please let us join you too!”

At their enthusiastic requests, Ghislaine smiled broadly. He really liked these eager individuals.

It was natural for morale to rise when people were enthusiastic.

“Alright! Let’s take them out one by one!”

“Waaaaah!”

The knights and soldiers of Perdium who were in poor condition from the battle were switched out with those waiting in the fortress.

By rotating like this, they would surely be able to exterminate the barbarians more quickly and efficiently.

Of course, the Knights of Penris were excluded from this rotation. They needed a harsher environment and more experience.

Ghislaine swiftly moved around, clearing out villages that were relatively close to the fortress and had smaller populations.

With no survivors other than the captives, the barbarians would not realize for days that the neighboring tribes were facing issues.

Even then, the details remained unclear, and rumors circulated that the inhabitants of the fortress had suddenly gone berserk.

With such a sudden threat, the barbarians couldn’t just stand by. Several tribes openly searched for Ghislaine’s unit.

Of course, those with only a few numbers could never stand up to hundreds of knights and cavalry.

“Uaaagh! What the hell are these bastards!”

“Why are there so many! And why are they so strong!”

“It seems the main forces from the fortress have all come out!”

Every tribe that encountered Ghislaine’s unit was shattered, quickly proving that they were far more than just a mere threat. The nearby tribes finally began to contact each other.

Ultimately, led by the formidable Soarwind Tribe, which had formed a pretty strong power near the fortress, eleven tribes gathered to discuss how to cope with this crisis.

“Why are they suddenly acting this way after only focusing on defense until now?”

“Their strength is concerning. It’s strange they are moving like this during a famine.”

“Regardless, we can’t leave them be! If we remain scattered, we’ll be slaughtered one by one! They are moving north anyway!”

Ghislaine was sweeping down the tribes closest to the fortress and gradually expanding his range of activity. It was inevitable that they would clash with them.

The Great Chief of the Soarwind Tribe, Kushtu, was deep in thought. He was renowned as a strong warrior in the north.

‘Damn it, they’re moving now of all times. We haven’t even finished with the Sunstone Tribe yet.’

The Sunstone Tribe was a major tribe competing with Soarwind. They had been aiming to eliminate each other…

Yet, miraculously, the enemy was advancing towards them.

If they took heavy damage fighting them, they might end up wiped out by the Sunstone Tribe as well. They were not people who could win with such few warriors.

He considered moving their base, but to do that, they would have to fight the tribe occupying that location too. With their current dire situation, it was too risky.

If they had to fight someone anyway, it would be better to eliminate the Perdium bastards.

The silver lining was that eleven tribes had gathered to take them on. All of them felt threatened by Perdium’s movements.

“Didn’t six tribes fall before?”

Kushtu’s words made the other chiefs nod in agreement.

“Right, more than two thousand warriors fell. Their power is not to be underestimated.”

“I heard they were ambushed during a siege.”

“Yeah. Frankly, we think it would be difficult to capture the fortress. There’s a real possibility of being ambushed again, and we’re not strong at siege warfare.”

“That’s only because we haven’t worked together properly while lately fighting among ourselves. Also, no matter what, even if we eliminate them, the kingdom will send another lord again, so we were intentionally leaving things as they were, weren’t we?”

“That’s true.”

“There’s no need to be dragged around by them. Searching for them will only hurt us. Gather all the warriors from the tribe. Let’s show them overwhelming strength.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Kushtu clenched his teeth for a moment before opening his mouth slowly.

“We’ll take the chance when they come out and completely crush the fortress. Let’s behead Zvalter of Perdium. I hear he’s known as the Wolf of the North in Ruthania; I’m curious to see if he lives up to the name.”

*

Claude looked at the map with weary eyes and spoke to Ghislaine.

“We are facing the dangerous situation we’ve been waiting for.”

“What’s dangerous?”

“Eleven tribes have come together. The estimated number of warriors is over five thousand. It looks like every fight-ready warrior has gathered.”

“Oh, that’s quite a lot, huh?”

“Yes! And we are in danger! Did you really have to create this situation?!”

Claude exploded with frustration.

Battling the barbarians shouldn’t be done like this. If Ghislaine’s method had been effective, there would have been a kingdom-level subjugation long ago.

Even if the Crown Prince Faction and the Duke Faction were not at odds, there were far too many tribes in the north, making subjugation practically impossible. Hence, they had given up on subjugation and were merely focusing on defense for several generations.

“Isn’t it natural for them to band together once we poke them? Fighting will just put us in danger and increase our losses, you know? It’s not like the royal family or other lords have left them alone all this time for no reason. Why rush to create this danger?”

Claude clutched his chest and sighed heavily. Why couldn’t their lord just live a normal life?

What kind of experiences did he have in childhood that filled him with such dissatisfaction with the world?

“Let’s negotiate, negotiate. We have plenty of food, so if we give them a reasonable amount, they should accept.”

Ghislaine frowned in response.

“Negotiation sounds nice. But we can’t eliminate all the barbarians right now.”

“True. Even if we fend them off this time, they’ll gather again.”

“However, negotiation is something you do when it’s favorable. Who negotiates when they’re at a disadvantage?”

“We have to negotiate because we’re at a disadvantage!”

“In that case, we must tip the scales in our favor.”

“How do we do that?”

Ghislaine grinned widely and said, “How else? We just have to take the heads of those who have gathered. Then the ones that are left will listen.”

 

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