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Chapter 193

“Go wait over there first.” (1)

Everyone fell silent.

The Penris Soldiers coming over the castle walls, the battle-weary knights, and even the enemies rushing in with shouts all paused in their tracks.

No one could quite see what Ghislaine had done due to the blinding light that suddenly erupted.

Rumbling.

When I quickly opened my eyes after a brief moment of closure, the castle gate was already crumbling.

The knights who were blankly watching beside Ghislaine finally muttered a few words.

“The, the castle gate…”

“How could he do that with a sword…”

“Such power from the lord…”

Even the Penris knights who had fought alongside Ghislaine stared at the castle gate with dumbfounded expressions.

It wasn’t just our side that was stupefied. The Cabaldy Soldiers also gazed in confusion as the castle gate fell apart.

“Our castle gate has collapsed.”

“Did a single person do that?”

“Who in the world is that…”

They say that Count Bazark, the Kingdom’s Greatest Sword, could single-handedly break down a castle gate.

But that was just a rumor, a tale from a faraway world that didn’t feel real to them.

Yet now, that extraordinary feat had been performed right in front of them.

And by an enemy, no less.

“We can’t win.”

“We’re all going to die.”

The faces of the Cabaldy soldiers began to gradually fill with despair. They were already low on morale, having starved for so long and under siege.

In the midst of this, they caught wind that the Penris Army was digging tunnels and hung onto their last hope.

Surely, they thought, if they could make it through tonight, they might achieve victory, only for that hope to shatter.

So, losing all will to fight was inevitable.

The once chaotic battlefield settled into an eerie silence, with the shocking event leaving everyone too stunned to speak.

And Ghislaine, who had caused this miracle, took a moment to stare at the ruins of the gate.

“Phew…”

He let out a deep breath and collapsed right where he stood.

“Ugh, it feels like I’m about to die after using that for the first time in a while.”

Using it as freely as in my previous life was still too much to hope for.

The mana expenditure was severe, and it took this much preparation to manage just a single use.

Had I regained the abilities from my past life, there wouldn’t have been such a loud flash, nor would I be collapsing after just using it once.

“Lord!”

“Are you okay?”

The surrounding knights rushed over. Seeing them, Ghislaine waved his hands dismissively.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry. Why is everyone standing around dazed in the middle of a battle? The enemy is right in front of you—right in front! Tsk tsk, clearly you’re all lacking in training.”

With those words, the Penris knights snapped back to attention, readying themselves for battle once more.

However, the enemies also regained their composure. The sharp-witted Count Cabaldy shouted, pointing at Ghislaine.

“No matter how strong he is, he’s already spent his strength! Look! He can’t move right now! Clearly, he’s drained! Attack now! Block the castle gate with your bodies!”

At that, the Cabaldy knights and soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons. This was their last chance to defeat the enemy.

They charged forward, screaming like madmen.

“Waaaaaah!”

The only emotion driving the charging Cabaldy forces was one of fear.

They had one chance to kill the one who had broken down the gate.

They had one chance to block the gate before the enemy’s main army arrived.

If they missed this chance—

They would be slaughtered.

That fear became the final motivator driving them forward.

“Lord, take cover!”

“We will hold them back!”

“Everyone, gather quickly!”

Exhausted knights ground their teeth and surrounded Ghislaine.

Gillian and Kaor also began to form up with the allied soldiers who had crossed over the walls.

Seeing them, Ghislaine smiled leisurely.

“Alright then. Clear the way and step aside.”

“What?”

When the knights responded with puzzled expressions to Ghislaine’s sudden command.

Thunderous sounds!

The ground shook as a loud voice echoed from outside the castle.

“Move aside!”

Startled, the knights stepped aside.

No sooner had they cleared the way than a man rode into the castle on horseback.

“Whoosh!”

“My lord! I’ve come! Are you alright?!”

Lucas, always one for showmanship, entered making a racket and fussed over Ghislaine.

To which Ghislaine smiled and said, “I’m fine, so wipe them out.”

“Understood!”

Lucas promptly raised his spear and charged at the enemies, itching for an opportunity to fight flamboyantly.

“Lord! I’ve come too!”

Following right after was none other than Gordon, the muscle-bound oaf—no, the muscle man.

Like Lucas, he also gripped a spear and boldly charged at the enemies.

Ultimately, both men were competent enough to lead those at the front.

Following Lucas and Gordon, Penris knights who had been waiting outside the castle began to rush in one after another.

They all passed by Ghislaine, each offering a word.

“Lord! Thank you for your hard work!”

“Leave it to us now!”

“We believed in you!”

Some wore expressions brimming with pride, while others looked amazed or moved to tears.

What they all shared in common was a steadfast resolve to support their lord.

“Let’s wipe them out!”

With someone’s shout, the spears of the Penris knights began to glow blue.

Thunderous!

As the sound of thundering hooves shook the earth, the Cabaldy forces gritted their teeth as they beheld the knights approaching with fierce determination.

They were charging towards the castle gate, knowing there was no time to form a proper line in response to the cavalry.

Clinging to the thinnest hope within their heavily armed bodies, they clashed directly with the Penris knights.

But hope was still just hope.

Kaboom!

“Uwaaaah!”

The knights’ blue spears pierced through the enemy armor effortlessly.

With a single clash, the formations of the Cabaldy army collapsed almost instantly. Yet the Penris knights pressed forward, continuing to grind down the enemy.

No matter how heavy infantry they were, stopping the charging knights without a proper formation was impossible.

Count Cabaldy could only watch vacantly as his army was swept away like leaves in a storm.

“What… What is happening…? So many knights?!”

Like Jaimon, he too could not believe the situation he was witnessing.

There’s no way to win. With that many knights, they stood no chance in a head-to-head confrontation.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

“Waaaaah!”

Penris soldiers, who had formed up on both castle walls, were charging in.

The soldiers who had already filled in through the castle gate began to spread wide, starting to surround them from all sides.

“Uwaaaah! Save me!”

The screams of Cabaldy soldiers echoed everywhere.

Slaughter; this was nothing short of complete slaughter.

Before Count Cabaldy’s eyes, what had once been the pride of the North, his soldiers, fell pitifully.

It felt surreal, like a dream. Time seemed to flow slowly.

At that moment, someone shouted loudly to break through his daze.

“Lord! You must take cover! You have to escape!”

It was Leslie, the commander of the Cabaldy knights.

Only then did Count Cabaldy regain his wits and grit his teeth.

“The Crown Prince faction must be supporting those knights. We’ve been outmaneuvered!”

There was no way the Penris territory could possess this many knights and soldiers. Count Cabaldy could only think that the Crown Prince faction had used this opportunity to strike against the Duke faction first.

Leslie urgently grasped Count Cabaldy’s arm.

“That’s not important! You need to escape right now! The enemy is surrounding us!”

“Let go! Are you telling me to flee from such punks?!”

Count Cabaldy violently shook off Leslie’s hand.

He couldn’t bear the humiliation of being defeated by some upstart like Baron Penris.

“What are you all doing?! Form up! Form up and resist!”

Count Cabaldy shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes turning red with rage.

But the battle was already determined.

With the charge of the Penris knights, the Cabaldy forces lost half of their men in an instant. The encircling Penris soldiers were also quickly tightening their grip.

The remaining Cabaldy soldiers could only cower behind their shields, struggling to hold on.

The moment they finished surrounding the castle, the Penris knights cried out from all corners.

“Anyone who throws down their weapons and lays face down will be spared! Those who resist till the end will not escape death!”

That shout heralded the end of the battle.

Thud.

One of the Cabaldy soldiers dropped his weapon and lay face down on the ground.

As if that were the signal, the Cabaldy army, barely holding on, began to collapse rapidly.

Clang, clang.

The sound of weapons being tossed aside echoed continuously.

Even though about half still clutched their weapons, they were all already devoid of the will to fight.

Having witnessed the overwhelming power of the Penris army, they lost all will to continue fighting.

Everything had gone as Ghislaine had intended.

He had ordered Lucas and Gordon to make the first charge quick and then slow the offensive afterward on purpose.

There was no need to kill every single soldier. Those soldiers would now be forcibly integrated into the Penris army.

The battlefield was suffocatingly silent in an instant.

Except for the occasional groans of the injured, not a single sound was heard.

Even the Penris knights, who usually never stopped chattering, fell silent.

They were aware there was still work left to be done by their lord.

“Get up! Get up and fight! If you don’t get up immediately, I’ll kill you all!”

At that moment, Count Cabaldy’s voice shattered the silence, echoing across the battlefield.

Only a few knights remained around him, including Commander Leslie and a dozen guards. But Count Cabaldy still refused to acknowledge that he had been defeated.

His pride, obsession, and stubbornness made it impossible for him to recognize this upstart named Ghislaine.

Thud, thud.

Footsteps echoed. All the Penris knights and soldiers lined up, creating a clearing.

Count Cabaldy glared at the approaching figure, emanating a heavy aura.

“You are…?”

It was the one who had shattered the castle gate. The one who had displayed astonishing power.

Even he seemed burdened by having broken the gate. His face was pale, and exhaustion was evident in his stride.

Count Cabaldy quickly recognized who it was from the aura he emitted and the reactions of those around him.

“Tell me it’s not… you, Baron Penris?”

“Indeed, I am Baron Penris.”

“How could you have such strength…?”

Count Cabaldy’s sentence trailed off. Right beside him, Leslie turned tail and fled.

A knight commander of a territory abandoning his lord and running away!

Whether they were from the Penris army or the Cabaldy army, everyone around wore expressions of disbelief. Count Cabaldy’s face turned crimson with humiliation.

The Penris soldiers who had surrounded them raised their weapons to stop Leslie.

“Get out of the way!”

Leslie, looking frantic, drew his sword. He was planning to break through the encirclement and escape.

After all, he was the commander of a lord’s army. His skills were not to be underestimated.

Just as the soldiers tensed, ready to defend against an attack, an axe from Gillian came flying from behind Leslie.

Slash!

“Ugh!”

In his haste to flee, he was practically defenseless. Unable to react in time, the axe struck him squarely in the back.

“Cough!”

He spat blood but tried desperately to rise.

Using his sword as a cane, he wobbled up to meet Gillian, who approached without a hint of expression.

Leslie extended his trembling hand and said, “Wait, I surrender…”

Slash!

Before he could finish his sentence, Gillian’s sword severed Leslie’s neck.

Leslie’s headless body swayed for a moment before collapsing.

Gillian brushed the blood off his sword with a flourish and turned to face the remaining Cabaldy knights with an arrogant expression.

“Kneel before the lord immediately.”

At Gillian’s words, the Cabaldy knights snickered.

These were not mere soldiers. They were proud knights who had lived with a sense of honor and pride for many years.

Their knight commander had been humiliated in his cowardice and killed. If they too knelt, then they could never reclaim the honor of Cabaldy.

One knight raised his sword and declared, “We will fight to the very end for our lord and territory.”

With that declaration as a signal, all Cabaldy knights launched themselves at Gillian.

Simultaneously, Kaor and the Penris knights beside Ghislaine charged out as well.

Clang!

In an instant, a dozen figures became entwined in combat.

Count Cabaldy watched his knights fall one by one, biting down on his lips until they bled.

He finally realized it was truly over. All the fame and status he had built up all this time was crumbling.

“My lord… hurry, find cover…”

A wounded Cabaldy knight, bleeding heavily, couldn’t finish his sentence.

For Kaor’s blade had severed his neck.

Watching the last of his knights fall, Count Cabaldy closed his eyes.

Ghislaine’s calm voice followed.

“Pull him down.”

A few knights forced Count Cabaldy down from his horse and made him kneel.

“Let go! You ruffians! Do you even know who I am?!”

Count Cabaldy shouted, thrashing about, but he couldn’t escape the knights’ rough grip.

Eventually, Count Cabaldy, having lost all strength to resist, bowed his head. He could barely endure the boiling humiliation swelling within him.

At that moment, Ghislaine approached him with a cold tone.

“It’s been a while, Count Cabaldy.”

Count Cabaldy, without lifting his head, let out a faint sardonic laugh.

“Ha, what do you mean it’s been a while? When did you ever see me? Do you even know me?”

“Of course, I know you very well.”

Ghislaine recalled his past life. The moment he had set his sights on Perdium, Count Cabaldy had cut off support for iron ore flowing to Perdium.

Thanks to that, Perdium was unable to acquire new weapons or even maintain what they had.

That was not all. Count Cabaldy had sent troops to aid in Perdium’s downfall.

How could he not remember such a man? How could he forget?

In his past life, he had gone and smashed his head in personally. Yet the dark flames burning within Ghislaine’s heart had never extinguished.

No matter how much he destroyed, those flames only grew larger, endlessly consuming his soul.

Now, the time to pull one of those flames was drawing near.

Slowly bending down, Ghislaine grabbed Count Cabaldy’s hair and forced his head upwards.

“Ugh, you… how dare you…”

As Ghislaine looked into Count Cabaldy’s enraged face, he grinned fiercely.

“That’s what I wanted to say. How dare you.”

 

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