Chapter 407
Chapter 407: Let the Hunt Begin. (3)
Thud thud thud thud thud!
Marquis Roderick, covered in dust from his hasty escape, still wore a furious expression.
“Ugh… How can I, who is to become the king of this kingdom, flee in such a pathetic way!”
It felt like a dream still. Where had his army, which once shook the heavens, vanished to?
He couldn’t wrap his head around how the battle had gone so wrong.
“You fools! How could you lose such a massive force without even putting up a fight!”
As he fled, Marquis Roderick was too busy cursing his subordinates.
Tennant, standing nearby, had no words. Most of the strategies had been devised by him.
But their defeat stemmed significantly from Roderick’s impatience, which prevented a proper review of the plans. It couldn’t solely be blamed on one person.
Simply put, all of Roderick’s retainers were inferior to those on the Penris side.
“Useless bunch! Losing to such insignificant adversaries like this!”
Only Roderick remained oblivious, continuing to berate his allies while his retainers wore bitter expressions.
Perhaps because they had abandoned the wizards and moved only with cavalry, they managed to escape quite a distance.
The Perdium Army pursuing them seemed to have given up, as they didn’t appear at some point.
After halting the army, Tennant spoke to Marquis Roderick.
“We should take a short break.”
“Do as you wish.”
“Please bear with it for just a little longer. Five thousand troops is no small number. If we lead these men, the Crown Prince Faction will welcome us warmly, as they find themselves in quite a predicament right now.”
“Five thousand… Just five thousand? Marquis Branford is going to laugh at me.”
In his moment of swearing, Roderick appeared quite haggard, as though all spirit had evaporated in the face of this unbelievable reality.
Having brought nothing substantial along, sitting down meant just landing on the dirt.
With a weak voice, Roderick said, “I’m hungry. Bring me some snacks.”
“…….”
“What are you doing? Hurry and get something to eat.”
“…I didn’t pack anything.”
“What? Are you telling me to starve while we head to the capital?”
“Once we cross the Penris territory, I plan to request some food from other lords.”
“Ugh… You worthless people!”
Roderick flared up again.
Gourmet food was his greatest pleasure. How could he now be running around without even something to eat?
He couldn’t help but feel anger at his own shabby state.
“Bring me water, at least!”
Fortunately, since everyone carried their water pouches, it was quickly brought to him.
“Ugh!”
Roderick gagged while drinking from the leather pouch. Having always consumed magically purified water, now that he tasted the foul water, it felt like he might die.
“I can’t even drink water properly! You’re telling me I’ve been managing the territory with such people until now!”
He threw the water pouch and cursed again.
The expressions of his retainers who bore the brunt of his tirades darkened further.
After venting his frustrations, Roderick let out a breath and raised his head. Suddenly, something caught his eye.
“What the hell is that crow doing flying around?”
A single crow was spiraling in the sky. Everyone else also looked up at it.
“Dumb—ass—!”
“Did that crow just curse at me?”
Seeing Roderick, already sensitive to insults, flaring up again was almost comical.
Others seemed to think they heard something too, but it didn’t make sense for a crow to speak.
“It’s… just a misunderstanding.”
“A crow couldn’t possibly talk, right?”
“We probably misheard something.”
Yet Roderick persisted in his accusations.
“Isn’t it strange that we all heard the same thing? If it’s not the crow, then who is it? Who just cursed at me? Was it you?”
“N-no, it wasn’t me!”
“Then who cursed at me? I’ll kill them all!”
The demeanor of the once-mighty leader was completely lost.
When retreating like this, a leader’s capability is even more critical than usual. But Roderick’s current behavior was so pitiful, it could easily extinguish the loyalty of his followers.
Tennant, unable to watch any longer, turned away. Then he suddenly felt something strange distantly.
‘Dust…’
Though others couldn’t see it, Tennant, recognized as the best in the West, spotted faint dust rising from afar.
He narrowed his eyes for a closer look. It was vital to determine if it was a natural occurrence or something man-made.
After watching for a moment, the dust didn’t settle. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed artificially stirred.
He pressed his ear to the ground, focusing his mana.
Thud thud thud thud…
A low rumbling sound echoed from a distance.
He sprang up and looked in that direction.
‘This isn’t the direction we came from.’
The Perdium army couldn’t be chasing from there; they couldn’t appear from that direction.
That meant, without a doubt, another enemy was approaching.
“Everyone mount your horses! We move now! Enemies are coming!”
At his words, the knights and cavalry hurriedly mounted their steeds.
Marquis Roderick, who had looked dazed, had no choice but to get on his horse forcibly.
“W-What’s going on? I can’t see anything!”
“The enemy is coming!”
“Can’t see anything? There’s nothing around!”
“We’re moving immediately! Get the Marquis out of here!”
There was no time for arguing. As Tennant grabbed the reins, the soldiers of Roderick’s army inhaled sharply.
“Gah!”
“Th-There really is an enemy!”
“The Penris forces have appeared!”
The enemy revealed their colors, displaying the flag of Penris above their heads. The Penris cavalry was approaching at a ferocious speed.
“Move with all your might! We can escape!”
Tennant shouted while drawing his sword. Roderick’s cavalry also tightened their reins, preparing to charge.
“Let’s go!”
Thud thud thud thud!
Roderick’s forces began to move. The Penris forces were quick, but there was enough distance that it seemed they could evade a collision.
“Ride faster! We must shake them off somehow!”
Tennant gritted his teeth. If they collided now, they would ram into each other. If the distance closed further, they would have no choice but to fight.
He took a quick glance to the side. There was still enough space.
‘Got it! They can only catch up to the rear!’
As he thought this, the forms of those at the forefront came into view.
‘Elves?’
The moment he recognized his adversaries, the Penris forces all drew their bows.
“Cavalry archers! Ride faster!”
As they fled in terror, arrows began to rain down on Roderick’s forces.
Pah pah pah pah!
Roderick’s troops were caught completely off guard by the attack of the archers. They all believed the cavalry had retreated to Silverlight Fortress.
Thus, they had no defense against the arrows flying toward them.
“Ugh!”
Boom! Thud! Boom!
Soldiers and horses struck by arrows toppled to the ground. Those running beside and behind stumbled over each other and fell.
In an instant, the middle ranks became a wreck.
Leading the Penris forces, Elf Lumina raised her hand in victory, fist clenched.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
Then, the Penris army shifted direction all at once, chasing after Roderick’s rear.
As she drew her bow again, everyone else followed suit.
Pah pah pah pah!
Arrows surged relentlessly toward Roderick’s forces. Those in the rear of Roderick’s army could only take the hits from the archers.
“Ugh!”
“Don’t stop! Run as fast as you can!”
“We have to break out of here!”
Thanks to Tennant’s quick thinking, a significant number of Roderick’s forces managed to escape the battlefield.
Lumina, leading the archers, backed off slowly.
“Stop. At this point, it’s too late to catch up. Let’s gather the living horses. The remaining ones we’ll take prisoner.”
She coldly issued her orders.
It seemed there were indeed some very capable individuals among those deemed the strongest in the West. They quickly sensed their approach and took action.
‘If the enemy had moved just a bit later, they could have captured Marquis Roderick for sure.’
It was a bit regrettable, but Lumina wasn’t overly ambitious, so she easily brushed it off.
“Anyway, just as the Chief Officer said, they’re really right here.”
Currently, Ghislaine and Claude were rapidly communicating using Dark.
Ghislaine had split Dark’s consciousness into numerous fragments to spread everywhere. It required a tremendous amount of mana, but Ghislaine didn’t care.
As it stood, all threats in this war were virtually eliminated.
Roderick’s forces, having scrambled out of the battlefield, confirmed there was no pursuit and began to slow down.
“Gasp, gasp… Where exactly did the enemy appear from?”
Tennant spoke to the panting Marquis Roderick.
“The elven cavalry is from the garrison stationed at Silverlight. They seem to have dispatched from there.”
“Ugh! We should have occupied that place!”
Had they taken Silverlight, they could have claimed those elves entirely. The enemy wouldn’t have dared to act so arrogantly.
It made him even angrier and more resentful.
“Now that we’ve shaken off the pursuit, let’s take a short rest.”
“We’re still in a dangerous area. It’d be wiser to keep moving until we’re out of the Northern border.”
“No one will come after us now.”
They had shaken off the Perdium troops and Silverlight’s pursuit. Count Penris was still in the West, so there shouldn’t be anyone chasing them.
Yet Tennant shook his head.
“We have no food and have already lost another thousand soldiers. It’s better to exit the North as quickly as possible.”
“Ugh… I understand.”
Marquis Roderick nodded, agreeing to Tennant’s words. Thanks to him, they had not perished when they could have, just moments earlier.
Dust-covered, looking like a defeated soldier, they began their journey toward the capital once more.
Not long after, their advance came to a halt.
“Hm… A gorge.”
Tennant frowned slightly. If they passed through here, they could exit the North the fastest.
The problem was the ambush. If there were an ambush inside the gorge, they would suffer severe losses.
Yet there was no time to waste sending scouts. It would take too long to scour the gorge and bring back news.
As Tennant pondered, Marquis Roderick spoke.
“Let’s just enter the gorge.”
“Marquis… The gorge is dangerous…”
“The Silverlight’s troops just pursued us. If they were to ambush us in the gorge, they would have already surrounded us beforehand, wouldn’t they?”
“Hm…”
It was a valid point. If they had dispatched forces from Silverlight to lay an ambush here, they would have already caught up to them during that time.
The cavalry they encountered earlier were indeed the fastest troops Silverlight had to offer.
“Very well. We’ll proceed through the gorge.”
As Tennant said that, Roderick wore a smug smile, believing his judgment was more accurate and superior to everyone else’s.
Still, he moved cautiously, but nothing happened until they reached the middle of the gorge.
Everyone felt slightly more at ease as they traveled.
“Haha, those foolish ones. If I had pursued, I would have ambushed the cavalry there instead of sending them here.”
Roderick chuckled arrogantly. The Penris folks were just lucky to win; if they had truly matched strength, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.
As such thoughts crossed his mind, he felt anger rise again.
“Damn it! One day, I will invade this North again and kill them all…”
“Waaah!”
Roderick’s musing was cut short by a loud cheer that suddenly rang out.
“What, what is it?!”
Roderick’s forces were thrown into chaos. Suddenly, armies appeared from both sides of the gorge.
Soon, someone murmured upon seeing the newly emerged troops.
“The, the Penris Mercenary Group…”
It was the flag of the Penris Mercenary Group, not the Penris territory’s banner. It was a distinct organization from the territorial army, but they were still on the same side.
Seeing them, Roderick’s forces turned pale.
“Why are they here…?”
“When did they come here?!”
While they were in disarray, someone from the mercenary side shouted loudly.
“Fire!”
Pah pah pah pah!
Thousands of arrows began to rain down on Roderick’s forces.
“Ugh!”
“Run forward!”
“We have to break through the gorge!”
Attacked in the narrow gorge, evasion became even more difficult than before. With no choice left, Roderick’s forces started running desperately.
“Hurry up! Hurry!”
Tennant shouted hoarsely, dragging the stunned Roderick along.
If they didn’t act quickly, they could face annihilation in the gorge.
“Ugh!”
Tennant gritted his teeth as he ran. There was a path above that could be used to descend into the gorge.
From there, numerous mercenaries began to pour down to block their way.
At the forefront stood the Drake Mercenary Group from the West.
“Kill Marquis Roderick!”
Dominic, the leader of the Drake Mercenary Group, shouted, his voice echoing through the gorge.
“Waaah!”
The charging mercenaries roared, advancing toward Roderick’s forces.
Tennant, too, drew his sword and shouted loudly.
“Clear the way!”
There was no intention of fighting. There was nothing to gain from battling in such a narrow gorge. One wrong move could cost Roderick his life.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Living up to his reputation as the strongest swordsman in the West, Tennant forged ahead, cutting through the mercenaries. His horsemanship was also among the best in the West.
Roderick and a few retainers could only tightly follow behind him.
“Marquis Roderick!”
Dominic, his eyes blazing with fury, chased after them. But he was blocked by the knights and soldiers following Tennant.
“Get out of the way!”
Bam! Bang! Bam!
Having met Ghislaine, Dominic had gained far superior mana circulation methods and swordsmanship. Plus, with abundant runestones to utilize mana convergence, he was now able to train well.
His enhanced strength allowed him to slaughter Roderick’s knights and soldiers.
“It’s time to avenge my brothers!”
As Dominic shouted, the others of the Drake Mercenary Group echoed his words.
“It’s time to avenge our brothers!”
That rallying cry echoed through the gorge. Of course, fleeing Marquis Roderick could hear it.
“How dare those contemptible mercenaries do this to me!”
Thanks to the Drake Mercenary Group, a justification for this war had been born. But now, he was being chased by those very men, pushing him to the edge of madness.
“Tennant! Tennant! You mean we have to run from those wretched mercenaries as well?”
“…”
Even with Roderick’s desperate cries echoing, Tennant didn’t reply. Right now, getting out of this place was the priority.
Yet Roderick’s heart was elsewhere.
“Tennant! Kill those pathetic fools at once!”
Just as he was frantically struggling, Tennant suddenly turned back with an expression of fury and threw his sword.
Thwack!
“Ah!”
Roderick nearly fell from his horse in shock.
The one hit by Tennant’s sword was a guard beside Roderick. He was about to stab Roderick himself.
“Gack…”
The guard fell from his horse, half his throat sliced open.
Tennant tightly grasped his reins and spoke.
“Marquis, you need to focus solely on escaping right now.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Marquis Roderick replied with a timid voice. He fully realized now that even his guard was attempting to betray him. His life was genuinely in peril.
Thud thud thud thud!
Thanks to Tennant’s efforts, the forefront of Roderick’s forces barely managed to escape the gorge.
However, screams continuously filled the air behind them.
“Ahhh!”
“Save me!”
“I’ll surrender! I’ll surrender!”
The Drake Mercenary Group, having bottled up their rage for so long, showed no mercy.
Ultimately, Roderick’s forces suffered near annihilation.
“Marquis Roderick!”
Dominic, who had completely stamped out Roderick’s forces, shouted loudly as he pursued the Marquis. The Drake Mercenary Group followed closely behind.
There was a palpable determination to capture and kill Marquis Roderick.
Ignoring everything around him, Tennant focused solely on running. Roderick, now drenched in sweat, busied himself trying to keep up with him in silence.
But soon, they had no choice but to halt.
Not long after passing out of the gorge, another army was positioned ahead.
The troops formed a long line, and there seemed to be at least ten thousand of them at first glance.
Upon seeing the leader, Tennant muttered with a grave expression.
“They’ve already arrived in the North…”
Mounted on a black horse, spear lowered, and wearing a relaxed smile compared to the others, stood the Count of Penris, known as the strongest in the North, blocking the mouth of the gorge.
