Chapter 263
Chapter 263: Trust Me. I’ll Lead the Way. (2)
The deputy wore a bewildered expression. Why would he open the castle wall and step out in such a scary situation? Unfortunately, he didn’t have the same understanding of the battlefield as Grant did.
“The people down there are quite capable. If they fight until their deaths, the number of monsters will decrease significantly.”
At the deputy’s words, suggesting to sacrifice others to save himself, Grant twitched his lips.
“If you don’t prepare to open the door and go out immediately, I’ll behead you myself.”
“……I will obey.”
As the officers stationed at various points relayed Grant’s orders, the soldiers began to move.
After observing the battlefield a little longer, Grant shouted again.
“Archers, focus your fire on the flying monsters and those on the outskirts! Attack while ensuring our allies are safe!”
“The rest, raise your shields and draw the monsters’ attention! Let the hunters handle the attacks!”
“Move quickly! We need to get out now!”
Boom!
Waaaaaaah!
The fortress doors swung wide open. The Turian soldiers charged out, their shields raised as they roared.
The archers concentrated their fire on the monsters surging from outside.
These were veteran soldiers who had fought monsters for a long time. They had the capability to execute the commander’s orders without a hitch.
As the soldiers surged out of the fortress, the hunters stationed on the walls shouted.
“Grant! What are you doing? Are you crazy too?”
“Get a grip! Attacking first is causing the monsters to overwhelm us!”
“Look at the number of monsters! Ultimately, they will wipe us all out!”
Grant, who was gearing up to jump down from the walls, gazed at the hunters and said, “We leave the fortress and fight. If we die, so do you. If you don’t want to die, follow me and fight.”
“W-what…”
The hunters were in a bind. All the regular troops from the fortress had left. Their only choices left were to either follow or flee.
However, escaping wasn’t that easy either. The door on the opposite side of the fortress was still closed. Even if they managed to run away, what awaited them behind was a problem.
Grant, knowing this, wore a mocking look and delivered his final words.
“Don’t forget that your hunter certifications and agreements have been sent to the royal family.”
It wasn’t for no reason that the kingdom of Turian kept an extra copy of every hunter’s certification and agreement.
Hunters who don’t fight monsters are not needed in the kingdom of Turian. If they were caught trying to flee here, they would be banned from entering any part of the kingdom. If luck ran out, they might even be captured and killed.
“Damn it! We were going to fight too!”
They hadn’t come up to the walls just to sit around. They also had experience in fighting.
They were indeed planning to fight hard—if not for that insane Ghislaine suddenly popping up and changing all their strategies.
“Let’s go, there’s no other way.”
At one hunter’s words, the others nodded. After all, if they didn’t fight here, they had nowhere else to survive.
For whatever reason, no one would come to such a dangerous place unless they were cornered.
“Ugh, damn it! Whether I die like this or that, it’s all the same!”
“Those crazy bastards fight well, so we’ll manage somehow!”
“Let’s hurry! We need to form a formation!”
The hunters rushed out, shouting. The soldiers had already formed ranks, shields raised.
As all the hunters remaining in the fortress joined in, the momentum of the monsters began to wane. Ghislaine was rampaging deep inside, leaving fewer monsters near the fortress.
The hunters already fighting glanced at those newly joining and laughed.
“Hey, you cowards! You came all the way up here for your meal, but were too scared to join the fight?”
“You idiot, you’re speaking a lot for someone who was dragged here against their will. From now on, I’ll kill everyone, so don’t wet your pants watching.”
Harsh greetings were exchanged, but the hunters couldn’t stop smiling.
This was their first large-scale battle like this. The heat of battle was gradually engulfing them.
The reason they were motivated to fight was entirely thanks to Ghislaine. It was due to his overwhelming strength.
When Ghislaine saw all the troops converge, he grinned widely.
“You should’ve come earlier. I’m glad you cleared your heads, at least.”
Boom!
Swinging his greatsword and sending monsters flying around him, he called out loudly.
“Soldiers, just focus on defense and draw the monsters’ attention! Hunters, follow me and fall back!”
With that command, Ghislaine suddenly retreated. The monsters, suddenly having lost their target, rampaged forward with renewed ferocity.
“Follow quickly!”
Phrases shouted by the Knights of Penris echoed from all directions. They understood they had to follow Ghislaine’s orders on the battlefield without question.
The hunters also regained their senses and rushed back, right behind Ghislaine. This created a wall formed by Turian soldiers blocking the monsters’ advance.
“What do we do?!”
As the hunters fell back, the soldiers became perplexed. They couldn’t pull back immediately as they needed to hold the front line.
Grant quickly snapped back to reality and shouted. He had trusted Ghislaine, so he deemed it better to follow his command to the end.
“Extend the defensive line! We will attract the monsters’ attention!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kuaaaah!
The line of shields extended longer. The monsters launched brutal assaults against the soldiers trying to hold the line.
“Ugh!”
Monsters of all kinds had gathered. Naturally, many were capable of easily leaping over mere shields.
“Spearmen!”
Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!
Grant faced the monsters with the most standard method.
But these weren’t just humans. Many possessed grotesque body structures and strength beyond that of humans.
Particularly, flying monsters ignored formation and attacked from the air, making defense even more challenging.
Some of the archers in the back and those on the walls tried hard to intercept them, but there were limits.
The soldiers were unable to maintain their defensive line and began to be pushed back.
Kaaaargh!
“Ugh!”
“Fall back little by little!”
“What are the hunters doing?!”
As the soldiers began to be pushed back, a depression formed in the center of the defense.
Seeing this, Ghislaine spoke again.
“Alright, you’re holding up well. We will take the offensive again.”
Kaor shouted from next to him.
“The soldiers are being pushed back! Hey! We need to go in quickly! Hey!”
Ghislaine nodded and replied.
“Right, let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“From now on, we’ll only break through on one side.”
Boom!
Ghislaine lunged forward and began to slice through monsters with his greatsword, shouting, “Everyone follow me and break through the left side! Ignore the monsters coming forward! The soldiers will hold them!”
Zing!
The red hue swirling around Ghislaine’s eyes darkened gradually. His enormous greatsword also became enveloped in red light.
It was a clear glow different from before.
Ghislaine was now activating the third stage of the core, pulling out all of his mana.
Boom!
With a single strike, dozens of monsters’ bodies exploded, scattering everywhere. Ghislaine charged forward, breaking through the left side of the monsters.
“Quickly follow! That guy moves so fast we can hardly keep up!”
Kaor yelled as he dashed out, with knights clenching their teeth behind him.
“Whoaah!”
Encouraged by Ghislaine’s monstrous strength, the hunters erupted into cheers as they charged out.
Boom! Bang!
Kaaaargh!
The monsters’ flanks began to crumble. As Ghislaine opened up space ahead, the knights and hunters rushed in to assault the monsters.
Even the flying monsters were unable to hinder their attacks.
Thrust!
Dozens of spears were thrust up, piercing the incoming flying monsters.
With so many monsters in play, it was impossible to intercept every flying monster with spears. However, the descending flying monsters were sliced down by the knights and hunters.
They too were seasoned fighters capable of easily taking down a few monsters.
Boom!
Ghislaine’s greatsword showed no signs of slowing. The monsters couldn’t withstand a single attack and burst apart.
And it didn’t stop there.
Zing—!
At some point, several spears began to hover around Ghislaine.
Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!
The spears attacked the surrounding monsters and returned to Ghislaine’s side.
As he dashed forward in a straight line, the monsters that were somewhat distanced were swept away in this manner, allowing the knights and hunters to fight more easily.
Kaaaargh!
The monsters’ cries echoed continuously. The horde of monsters gathered at the rear started to crumble completely on one side.
This was Ghislaine’s favorite side rotation tactic. Originally, it was a cavalry tactic to attack infantry vulnerable to rear assaults.
For this tactic to succeed, the whole army needed to be trained to move precisely.
The enemy can also counter with cavalry and cut off the rear, or breakthrough with frontline infantry and form a reverse encirclement depending on the situation.
But monsters didn’t understand tactics. They just busied themselves fighting any enemies in front of them. Therefore, human tactics played out better against them.
As long as there was a strong individual capable of breaking through the monsters.
“Run faster! We’ll flank them before the defensive line collapses!”
Ghislaine shouted loudly, stomping one foot down.
Boom!
Suddenly the ground shook, causing the nearby monsters to stagger. The sheer force shocked everyone, but there was no time to be surprised.
Ghislaine moved too fast for anyone to keep up.
Sizzle!
Red mist spiraled up from Ghislaine’s body, soaked in monster blood.
Crunch!
The sound of bones twisting echoed.
In reality, his body wasn’t in a comfortable state either. He had already activated the third stage core and was pushing his limits.
Though he had strengthened his mana significantly and was capable of using the amplified mana for longer, he couldn’t maintain that state forever.
‘More, I need to push harder.’
Normally, he would have fought while distributing his strength properly. But there wasn’t time for that now.
The Turian soldiers and hunters had not received proper training. They weren’t a unified army, making it hard to follow Ghislaine’s tactics effectively. No matter how well Ghislaine commanded, there were limits.
The hastily formed defensive line wouldn’t be able to properly hold off those monsters. While it was still holding, he needed to push quickly and decisively.
Crunch.
Therefore, Ghislaine gritted his teeth and attacked the monsters. If the offensive weakened here, the monsters would attack more viciously.
Boom! Boom!
Drip.
At some point, blood began to trickle from Ghislaine’s nose. His arm that wielded the greatsword was starting to tremble.
But he didn’t stop and continued pushing the monsters back.
It was then that the knights and hunters following Ghislaine finally grasped the situation.
“We’re… flanking them?!”
“What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know! Just keep pushing!”
Kaaaargh!
The monsters that had been rushing forward began to be attacked from behind.
Grant clenched his fists in astonishment at the unbelievable turn of events.
‘Amazing! Flanking while cutting through all those monsters! How on earth did he devise such a strategy here!’
The monsters appeared easy to handle due to their lack of intelligence, but the reality was quite different. The problem was their physically superior bodies. The weaker ones were numerous, but…
Ghislaine had cut through the great army and seized their rear even without a cavalry charge.
It was regrettable. If they had trusted Ghislaine from the start and rushed out to form ranks, they could have suffered far fewer casualties and fought more easily.
But Grant shook his head immediately. There was no point in regretting what was already done. Right now, they needed to concentrate on the battle.
“Advance a little more! Hold on just a bit longer! Allies are approaching from behind!”
For this tactic to be effective, they had to hold the front properly. Only then could they apply pressure from both sides.
At Grant’s shout, the soldiers gritted their teeth and began to advance once more.
Kaaaargh!
The monsters had no idea how the situation had changed. Just like instinct, they turned to attack the nearest foe when they sensed enemies behind them.
The monsters pushing forward began to dwindle. As half turned around, the defensive line began to repair itself.
Boom!
Ghislaine continued to slaughter monsters with all his remaining strength. As time passed, the number of monsters decreased significantly.
Seeing Ghislaine’s performance, one hunter shouted loudly.
“Let’s push even harder! We just need a little more to break through!”
Thanks to Ghislaine, the knights and hunters still had plenty of strength left, and now they became a great asset.
They surged forward, killing monsters left and right.
And in doing so, they caught the attention of the strongest monster in the area.
“Grrooaaar.”
Among the monsters stood a notably larger creature with two heads.
It was none other than the Twin Head Ogre.
In every monster wave, there was always a head monster leading the horde. This wave’s leader was undoubtedly the Twin Head Ogre.
The creature, located at the rear, charged forward, trampling even its fellow monsters in its eagerness.
“GRRRRAAAAH!”
The Twin Head Ogre looked back and bellowed, causing the nearby monsters to stagger and retreat in shock.
As expected of a two-headed beast, the Twin Head Ogre had higher intelligence compared to other monsters. While it may not have understood the exact situation, it certainly realized the peril it was in.
The Twin Head Ogre wielded a gigantic club that suited its massive size. Though calling it a club was generous, it was simply a thick piece of wood roughly fashioned for gripping.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the Twin Head Ogre charged from the back, the knights and hunters attacking halted in alarm.
Just its advance sent surrounding monsters flying. It was clearing the way by knocking away any monsters that hindered its path.
“Fall back!”
“Let the beasts handle each other!”
“Start by taking out the smaller ones around!”
The hunters began to clear the area, glancing at Ghislaine. No one was eager to clash head-on with such a formidable creature.
The one person capable of facing that monster stood alone.
The Knights of Penris shouted, looking to Ghislaine.
“My lord, we beg of you!”
“That’s nothing to our lord!”
“Come on, let’s create a space for you to fight comfortably!”
Ghislaine had just cut through thousands of monsters alone. The Twin Head Ogre would be child’s play for him.
Even at a weaker point in time, hadn’t he taken down the far more terrifying Blood Python?
Everyone wore expressions of little concern, confidence shining through. Indeed, when such a monstrous ally was present, there was no need for worry in battle.
Ghislaine surveyed those around him. All their faces were filled with eager anticipation.
Seeing their trust-filled smiles, Ghislaine grinned broadly.
And then…….
“Cough!”
He immediately spat out blood and knelt on one knee.
“……”
At that sight, everyone’s faces turned completely pale.
