Chapter 286
Chapter 286 – Not Alone. (4)
Harold looked quite haggard. His nerves had been on edge because of Gillian.
Yet, the intensity in his gaze burned brighter than ever.
“Ghislaine… Ghislaine… That wretched little punk finally appears before me.”
Harold’s feelings were no different from Ghislaine’s. They both longed to meet each other.
To cut each other’s throats.
Clop, clop, clop.
A knight of Penris, waving a white flag, approached Desmond’s camp.
He tossed something and quickly bolted away.
Desmond’s soldiers gasped in shock as they recognized what had been thrown—Baron Hutton’s severed head, delivered with the same expression of pure confusion that lingered on his face as he met his demise.
The news of Baron Hutton’s death was already reported to Harold by the pursuing knights and soldiers.
Though he had mentally prepared, witnessing the grim sight reignited his simmering rage.
“Guh… Ghislaine! You bastard!”
Always interrupting his plans, that punk suddenly reappeared and killed one of their top forces.
Although Harold had excellent knights under his command, Baron Hutton was special among them. With his death, the Crown Prince faction would face even tougher battles ahead.
That was a misstep. He shouldn’t have had him deployed among those who’d been wounded. He should have ensured that he was fighting under a safe escort.
Gripping his hair in anger, Harold spoke through his bloodshot eyes.
“Form a proper formation so that bastard can’t escape.”
Stay calm. After all, the man he’d always wanted to kill was right in front of him.
This was far better than attacking. They just needed to win this battle.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
As Desmond’s grand army encircled Penris, drawing nearer, Gillian anxiously shouted.
“Lord! You need to escape! Hurry!”
“It seems like it’s going to be tough. If we flee, we’ll definitely be caught, and the damage will be greater.”
“I—I’ll hold them back! Please retreat and prepare for defense! Hey, you lot! Just a hundred of you follow me!”
Gillian turned to face the knights. But they wore expressions of indifference.
“What are you doing? Rushing to protect the Lord…”
“Enough, Gillian. You want me to run away while others sacrifice themselves? Do you think we’re going to lose now that I’m here?”
“Lord!”
Gillian yelled in frustration. Penris’s forces were indeed strong. The 300 knights led by Ghislaine and the cavalry armed with Galbarium would unleash tremendous destructive power.
But they also had a clear weakness—endurance. As knights drew upon the power of their armor, their mana would rapidly deplete.
“We know how strong we are. I have faced that grand army myself. But after killing about half, we will be worn out. You know too well the greatest advantage of a grand army!”
“I can fight longer. Until that bastard is dead.”
“If the Lord can fight alone, what good does that do? Even if we win, we will suffer near-total losses!”
“Hm, you make a good point.”
“So hurry and take care of yourself and prepare for defense! I’ll hold them back again!”
Gillian realized why Belinda always nagged Ghislaine. He knew the Lord was fearless, but this was far too reckless.
Yet Ghislaine replied, still with an indifferent expression.
“What does that even mean?”
“What?”
“What’s the point of sacrificing Gillian and the others so that I can survive?”
“You must live! You’re not alone!”
“Hey, don’t say things that others might misunderstand. I’m still single.”
“Lord! That’s not what I meant! You have more people to be responsible for…”
Ghislaine cut him off.
“I don’t want to lose Gillian. Not just him, but everyone.”
At those words, Gillian bit his teeth, eyes brimming with emotion.
What a heartfelt thing to hear—a high praise for a loyal lord.
Yet, it couldn’t be like this. What had they been sacrificing for? Weren’t they trying to buy time to save more lives?
A leader must be cold. When necessary, you must take and discard. That was the virtue of a ruler who leads people.
But Ghislaine continued as if he was uninterested in that.
“The reason I always give my all is to avoid losing my people.”
“Lord…”
“There’s nothing to gain by losing someone, and I don’t want to gain anything at the cost of losing someone.”
Losing precious people was Ghislaine’s greatest trauma. He had suffered enough in his past life and felt pain beyond measure.
That’s why he swore never to experience such things again and fought against the Duke faction.
“What I think of as responsibility isn’t that.”
It’s not about sacrificing someone to protect and save many.
It’s about burning one’s own life force to protect and save many.
That was what Ghislaine considered responsibility.
“And I have no intention of perishing. As always, I will win with minimal loss.”
With that, Ghislaine mounted the Black King and raised his hand. It was a sign he wouldn’t engage in further debate.
“All troops, prepare for battle.”
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The knights of Penris and all the cavalry donned their helmets. They showed no fear even in front of Desmond’s grand army.
Being alongside their lord was like a guarantee of victory for them.
Gillian gritted his teeth.
“Then I’ll fight alongside you again. Bring me a weapon! An axe, a spear, whatever’s fine!”
At that moment, Gordon poked Gillian in the chest.
“Ugh!”
“Come on, what do you think you can fight with in that state? You’d lose to me. No, you’d lose even to the chatterbox chief officer!”
“Hahaha!”
The other knights roared with laughter. Seeing the fearsome Gillian in such a weakened state made everyone find it amusing.
“Damn it! Cough!”
Gillian, boiling with anger, coughed up a mouthful of blood. He had overexerted himself fighting, and now his body had truly reached its limits.
Seeing him, Gordon fussed around.
“Oh no! Our instructor’s going to die at this rate! Take good care of him!”
In the end, Gillian was grabbed by the medics and made unable to move. Even if he wanted to shake them off, he had no strength left.
He could only gaze blankly at Ghislaine atop the Black King.
Ghislaine smiled at Gillian’s plight and gave a new command.
“Everyone, form up and stand by.”
Though the back remained empty, if they fled that way, Desmond’s entire army would chase after them. They wouldn’t win a fight that could have been won.
Ghislaine hadn’t even considered fleeing. He planned for a decisive end here.
He was calmly waiting for an opportunity to arise.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Desmond’s army came to a halt at a suitable distance.
Usually, this meant one thing: they planned to inflict damage with long-range attacks.
Indeed, powerful magic began to gather before Desmond’s camp.
Crackle!
The very space became unstable and warped, soon bursting with light as small streaks of lightning emerged.
Willow, a 6th Circle Mage in Desmond’s army, was casting a spell.
He had decided to target Ghislaine, who stood at the forefront, ready to unleash magic as the knights in black armor seemed to weaken. He prepared fast and powerful spells aimed at a single target.
“Fool. You really have no idea what’s about to happen, do you?”
Willow smiled confidently, his magic now prepared to pierce through the enemy.
“Lighting Road.”
As he recited the activation word, light erupted. Countless bolts of lightning crossed and surged toward Ghislaine.
At that moment, a soft voice rose from the rear of the Penris forces.
“Reflect Shield.”
Simultaneously, a giant magic circle manifested right in front of Ghislaine.
BANG!
The lightning reflected right back towards Desmond’s camp.
Willow cried out in shock.
“What, what is this!”
Reflect Shield, though a 6th Circle spell, consumed immense amounts of magic power.
To reflect a spell required much more magic than the spell being cast, hence it was not something just anyone could recklessly use.
Yet this spell had been unleashed from Penris’s forces.
Willow desperately waved his remaining arm to dispel the magic. He felt his own mana draining rapidly.
‘A higher-tier mage has arrived above me.’
Cold sweat broke out on his back. If his magic was deflected so effortlessly, it meant it had to be someone at least a 6th Circle Master.
‘There’s such a mage in Penris? All 6th Circle mages in the North should be accounted for!’
As far as he knew, there were no 6th Circle mages in Penris. While the heir of the Tower of the Bloody Flame, Alfoy, was rumored to be in Penris, he was only a 4th Circle mage.
‘We, we have an unknown high mage appearing.’
Willow immediately reported to Harold. As Harold prepared for a large-scale magical attack, his eyebrows wiggled.
If Willow’s words were true, then their magical forces should be securing to resist the enemy’s assault.
They were unaware that Vanessa had ascended to the 6th Circle. And nor were they aware that a mage beside her was foaming at the mouth and unconscious from mana being drained.
She had intentionally showcased powerful magic to confuse the enemy. Thanks to that, the mages of Desmond’s army found their actions severely restricted.
In a situation where the opponent’s magical strength was unknown, they must conserve mana.
Harold gritted his teeth.
“Cease the magic attack for now. Advance slowly and tighter. Let those bastards tire from pressure first.”
Desmond’s army started to move a little more. Their movements resembled that of a cautious pack of hunters driving a wild beast.
This was one of the advantages of a grand army. An enemy numerically inferior would become unsure of which side to face.
If that tension lasted long, even without fighting, tremendous fatigue would accumulate in their bodies. In fact, when hunters catch beasts, they often push them slowly for that very effect.
Harold was an outstanding commander. Even though he led a grand army, he had plans to kill Ghislaine slowly and surely.
“Archers, close the distance. Mages, prepare for attack again.”
The archers behind the spearmen moved closer to the Penris forces. The mages who had been waiting in reserve also slowly followed the soldiers, gathering their mana.
They would mercilessly rain arrows and magic upon the Penris forces the moment the orders were given.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Both the approaching Desmond army and the Penris forces waiting for command exchanged tense glares.
After having borne the brunt of Gillian’s feats, Desmond’s forces had learned that the Penris army was immensely powerful, and they couldn’t afford to be careless despite their numbers.
The Penris army, although trusting in their lord, felt immense pressure, as none had faced such a grand army before.
Suddenly, Ghislaine seemed to remember something and opened his mouth.
“Oh, there’s something I forgot to tell Gillian.”
Tat-tat-tat-tat.
The sound of hooves thundering from afar began to ring out.
Desmond’s army looked around, startled by the sudden noise.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
The sound grew louder and louder. Only then did they notice the army rushing in from their right.
Booooooom!
The sound of a trumpet resounded loudly, capturing everyone’s attention. Harold inadvertently muttered.
“The Kingdom Army?”
A royal flag flapped grandly at the front. It was the Third Legion led by Baron Clifton.
And trailing the Third Legion was a dazzling contingent bearing the flags of the nobles.
The army of the noble alliance led by Earl Etherian, the investment victims… No, the noble alliance had joined the fray.
Before Harold could issue a command, a tremendous cheer erupted from somewhere.
“Waaaah!”
He quickly turned his head towards the source of the sound. An army was charging in from the left as well.
“What’s that… Perdium?”
A white wolf’s flag fluttered above that army. The Perdium forces appeared alongside the Kingdom Army in perfect timing.
Seeing the suddenly appearing armies, Ghislaine grinned wide.
“I’m not alone.”
From the rear, Gillian’s eyes widened as he alternated his gaze between the newly appearing forces.
He had forgotten. Ghislaine wasn’t alone anymore.
Now there were people to help him.
Gillian, who had been with Ghislaine since the days when he had nothing and was looked down upon, felt a surge of emotion welling up in his chest, his eyes growing wet.
While Desmond’s armies scrambled in confusion, the two sides positioned themselves surrounding Desmond.
Ghislaine lowered his spear and spoke.
“Let’s go.”
Clop, clop.
The Black King haughtily raised his head and walked forward slowly. Before him, Desmond’s grand army stood majestically lined up.
Looking at them, Ghislaine grinned wide.
“From today onward…”
No, perhaps before the day was out.
“We shall be known as the strongest in the North.”
It was a short statement, but no further words were necessary.
Heeeeeee!
Letting out a long cry, the Black King began to charge toward the enemy.
