Ch.11Chapter 11. The Invasion of Brans (3)

“What?!”

“Ambush! Enemy ambush!”

With the sudden rain of arrows, the Brans army’s formation began to crumble beautifully.

I quickly assessed the situation.

Unfamiliar soldiers were attacking from both sides, squeezing the flanks of the Brans army.

‘…What’s going on?’

At a glance, their numbers appeared to match the Brans army’s 8,000 troops.

Such a large force had suddenly appeared and was ambushing the Brans army.

“Th-this is…!”

Just as Cain was looking around with a dumbfounded expression, unable to grasp what was happening.

A man was approaching rapidly from that direction.

His attire resembled that of the ambushing soldiers rather than the Brans army.

The man stood directly in front of Cain and immediately asked a question.

“Are you Cain of the Lunarian army?”

“Y-yes, that’s me.”

“Just as I was told.”

The man removed his helmet and said:

“I’m Kalle, vice-commander of the Raven Mercenary Group.”

‘Raven Mercenary Group?’

A term from my memory came out of the man’s mouth.

The Raven Mercenary Group.

A mercenary group armed with the special unit ‘Raven Archers.’ To hire them, you needed to clear specific events to meet conditions and then pay quite a large sum of money.

While their absolute numbers weren’t that high compared to the cost, their attack and defense powers were much higher than regular archers, making them quite useful once hired.

This game had various mercenary groups besides the Raven Mercenary Group with their special ‘Raven Archers,’ but that’s beside the point.

The problem was that they shouldn’t be appearing at this timing.

‘If my memory serves me right, they shouldn’t be able to appear now.’

The first condition to hire the Raven Mercenary Group:

Capturing three castles.

We hadn’t even fulfilled the first requirement, yet here was the mercenary group… helping us.

Cain asked in disbelief:

“But how did you recognize me?”

“I’ll explain later. Aren’t you currently under attack by the Brans army?”

“That’s right.”

“We’ll help you.”

The man left those words and departed.

As soon as he left, I raised my voice as much as possible and shouted:

“All troops, charge!”

Waaaaaaaaah!!!!!!

With the sudden reinforcements boosting morale, our troops began to bravely charge at the once-overwhelming 8,000-strong army.

The Brans army, already with disrupted formations from the ambush, began to fall helplessly.

Looking at the overall situation, while our total troop count was slightly less than 8,000—

I thought this was a fight we could win if our allies were indeed the Raven Mercenary Group.

Moreover, that man just now had made the meaningful remark to Cain: “Just as I was told.”

I was beginning to understand why I had been instructed to send Cain as the vanguard of the interception force.

Just then, Cain slowly turned his head toward me.

And then, with a trembling voice of disbelief, he spoke:

“Swen… did you anticipate this would happen?”

“…”

I slowly closed my eyes.

And then, I acted as much as possible like someone who had predicted this.

“I’m glad they arrived in time.”

I inwardly snickered at how convincing my line sounded.

Anyone would surely see me as an incredibly smart strategist who had predicted everything.

“…How is this… how is this possible? Swen, you are…”

Cain must be in shock right now.

And in his mind, the phrase “Let’s listen to Swen first” would be imprinted.

Even if that thought wasn’t imprinted now, I was confident I could demonstrate and prove it again and again.

My predictions are 100% accurate, without exception.

So, probably—

We can win this war too.

If it had been a war we couldn’t win, I would have concluded that ‘we need to flee.’

With a confident expression, I shouted to the soldiers again:

“Victory is ours! Don’t be afraid and fight with all your might! Let’s protect Zeilant with our own hands!”

* * *

“Stay calm! Stay calm! Maintain formation! Prioritize eliminating the archers!”

Despite the sudden ambush from both sides by archers, the Brans army—

Kalintz, who was at the vanguard, somehow managed to reorganize the chaotic formation.

‘Damn it!’

Looking around, there were far more archers than expected.

Though not certain, it was almost terrifying to think that there might be more than 8,000 soldiers surrounding their army.

“Argh!”

“General! Take cover!”

“What the…!”

One of Kalintz’s aides let out a death cry as an arrow pierced his head, killing him instantly.

Startled, Kalintz pulled back his horse, but—

‘I can’t retreat without capturing Zeilant Castle…!’

This expedition of the Brans army to pacify the central continent.

They had cleanly dealt with the Walnut army, which had once toyed with them. How could they struggle against the Lunarian army, whose strength wasn’t even 1/3 of the Walnut army?

Kalintz, who hadn’t achieved significant merits compared to his older brother, was starting to feel impatient, which was uncharacteristic of his cool temperament.

Still, he didn’t recklessly order his soldiers to charge out of anger but quickly thought through the situation.

Coolly assessing, he judged that if they could just deal with these archers, they could easily push back the interception force.

Kalintz shouted loudly to his soldiers once more:

“Don’t panic! Reorganize the formation into three directions and prioritize clearing the archers on the flanks! We have the numerical advantage! Don’t be afraid and defeat them one by one!”

He couldn’t flee from here.

At Kalintz’s command, the soldiers began to charge towards the archers on the flanks.

The 8,000-strong force divided into three groups, engaging in battle with the archers on both sides and the Lunarian army in front.

Though they had suffered some casualties, Kalintz thought they could win without much difficulty if they continued like this.

‘Where did these guys come from?’

These archers didn’t bear the insignia of the Lunarian army on their armor.

So they were an external force… mercenaries?

But how could a small army like the Lunarian army afford to hire mercenaries of this scale?

Moreover, after fighting them for a while, he could tell:

These weren’t ordinary fighters.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, if his infantry had been slightly fewer than 8,000, they might have been the ones getting wiped out.

‘Damn it!’

Still, it would be fine if they could just capture the castle.

If they could conquer Zeilant Castle, the loss of a few thousand soldiers could be overlooked.

As he was thinking this while fighting—

“K-Kalintz sir! From behind! From the back…!!”

“What’s happening!”

A soldier was running frantically towards Kalintz.

“From behind… enemy ambush…!!”

“What…?!”

Kalintz wore an expression of disbelief.

Not content with ambushing from both sides, now they were attacking from behind?

If they were attacked from behind as well, it would be devastating for the troops he had divided to deal with threats from different directions.

Now he understood.

This was why they had staggered their ambushes!

Realizing that his actions were being manipulated, Kalintz grimaced.

‘Damn it…! Where did it go wrong?’

Intelligence had clearly stated there were only about 3,000 soldiers.

Had they hidden this many soldiers and deliberately waited for the invasion?

Come to think of it, it did seem strange that they weren’t making any battle preparations despite the Brans army being nearby.

Despite consuming other nations one by one, including the Walnut army, and despite the news surely reaching Lunarian’s ears, they had been spending time peacefully without any signs of conscription.

But.

If all of that was a tactic to make our army complacent, it all started to make sense.

The fact that our army was now in crisis was the biggest evidence.

‘Lunarian Ineanne… what a fearsome woman…!’

“You must retreat! At this rate, we’ll be annihilated. Please make a decision, Kalintz sir!”

Another aide pleaded with Kalintz.

After a moment of deliberation, Kalintz decided to retreat.

First, they were ambushed from both sides, then from behind.

There was no guarantee there wouldn’t be another ambush.

“Retreat! All troops retreat! Each aide, quickly convey the order to retreat!”

“Yes, sir!”

Kalintz turned his horse and inwardly gritted his teeth.

‘Lunarian…! I will personally avenge this humiliation…!’

* * *

Near the walls of Zeilant Castle.

“Hyaaaah!”

Tifa, wielding a massive axe, was literally slaughtering enemy soldiers while defending the castle gate with her troops.

“Don’t come at me one by one, come all at once, you bastards!”

“Haaah!”

Beside Tifa, the ruler Lunarian was at the forefront, cutting down enemies with her sword.

Both generals had high combat abilities, making the battle here quite different from where Cain and Swen were issuing commands from the rear.

The ones who had launched a surprise attack on them were the Garamil troops from nearby Hoero Castle.

Garamil Lettuce, the ruler of the Garamil army, watched the battle with a bitter expression.

The fight was currently at a stalemate.

The Garamil army had brought 4,000 soldiers.

The number of soldiers defending the castle couldn’t be confirmed, but it was fewer than their own.

Of course, defense was easier than offense, and even if they committed all 4,000 soldiers, he wasn’t confident they could breach the gate guarded by those two monsters.

After all, the only reason they had been able to launch this attack was because of their secret agreement with the Brans army.

The Garamil army was just sending a few hundred soldiers at a time, essentially just testing the waters.

“My lord, how long do we have to continue this meaningless attrition?”

In response to his strategist’s question, Garamil nodded slowly and said:

“Soon, we’ll hear that the Brans army is attacking the castle. We’ll enter then.”

It was essentially a bluff that had mobilized the army.

There was no need to fight earnestly and die needlessly.

It wouldn’t be too late to join the fight when the Brans army reached Zeilant Castle.

But… this stagnant battle was dragging on longer than expected.

According to intelligence, the Lunarian army had only about 3,000 soldiers in total.

Given how long this was taking, they must have somehow formed an interception force from that small pool of soldiers. But even if they had sent an interception force, they couldn’t have held off 8,000 soldiers for this long.

And the opponent wasn’t just any ragtag group but the Brans army, the de facto victor of the central continent.

‘What’s happening?’

At that moment.

“My lord!”

A scout sent to check the front line was galloping towards them.

“What’s the matter?”

“The Brans army… the Brans army is retreating and fleeing!”

“What?”

The Brans army lost?

8,000 soldiers to a guerrilla force of less than 3,000?

Given the significant number of defenders he could see right in front of him, the interception force must have been at most 2,000, or even as few as 1,000. Yet they had successfully held off 8,000 soldiers?

Moreover, the female general known for her strength in the Lunarian army was fighting here, wasn’t she?

If not her, the only remaining general was just one old man.

There were many things that didn’t make sense, but… a decision was needed now.

“My lord, what will you do?”

“Hmm…”

There was no need for them to risk their lives fighting when the main force, the Brans army, was retreating.

Garamil quickly made up his mind.

“Pull back the troops! We’re returning to our territory!”

“Yes, sir!”

The Garamil army quickly formed a formation and began to withdraw from the battlefield.

Seeing this, Tifa approached Luna and asked:

“What’s this? Those guys seem to be running away without even properly engaging. Should we pursue?”

“…No. It’s fine.”

Luna put down her weapon and assessed the situation.

…Had they held them off?

‘Did we… protect Zeilant Castle?’

Waaaaaaaaah!

The cheers of the defending soldiers, watching the retreating forces, hit Luna’s ears.

The grand invasion of Zeilant Castle by the Brans and Garamil armies.

The victor was Lunarian Ineanne… herself.