Ch.329In the Forest

After a half day’s hard ride, Valdemar’s pursuit squad finally reached the entrance of the massive coniferous forest.

It hadn’t been an easy journey.

Even I could see the northerners’ horsemanship had quite a few flaws, and despite slowing our pace considerably, knights were still occasionally falling from their mounts on the icy ground.

Fortunately, none of the knights were weak enough to be injured from mere falls, and the warhorses rarely suffered serious injuries when they tumbled onto the snow.

As long as a horse’s leg wasn’t broken, we could somehow calm it down and resume the pursuit.

“Shouldn’t the northern forces train in horsemanship? Now that the northern wall has fallen, until it’s rebuilt, we’ll be fighting mobile battles and pursuits rather than defensive ones. If it’s always like this…”

“…I’ll consider it positively.”

The Duke of Faelrun nodded. He too seemed displeased with the constant delays in our pursuit.

Though strictly speaking, this was his own doing, so he couldn’t really complain.

—-

The Forest of Needle Leaves was, literally, a vast woodland made up of countless coniferous trees.

Tall, pointed trees stood everywhere, with snow-covered branches extending outward and drooping downward like middle-aged men with bowed heads.

“I expected as much, but of all places, it had to be here…”

Frider clicked his tongue as he glared into the gloomy forest interior.

It was certain the retreating werebeasts had passed through this forest.

Countless animal footprints remained on the brilliantly white snow. A faint animal scent also wafted from inside.

Whether they were hiding in the forest or had already passed through, I couldn’t tell.

[Not favorable terrain for charging in.]

‘I know.’

As Hersella said, it was a truly difficult terrain to advance the pursuit squad into.

Even sending ordinary cavalry into a normal forest should be avoided, let alone sending inexperienced riders into a snow-covered forest.

Sending men who fell off their horses even on flat ground into a snow-covered forest? That would be suicide.

They’d all tumble over branches and rocks.

And falling off horses wasn’t the only problem.

If the enemy was hiding here—and they almost certainly were—we’d have to fight.

But the forest terrain was excessively advantageous for werebeasts.

Unlike humans whose vision would be limited by trees, they could track human positions by scent alone, and with these tall trees, they could even climb up and attack from above.

‘But we have to go in. If they’re hiding in the forest waiting to recover, there’s no point in going around it.’

[Yes. That’s obvious.]

If this were a normal forest rather than a snowy one, I might try setting it on fire, but seeing how much snow had accumulated, fire tactics would be meaningless.

Any fire would be extinguished before it could properly burn. We hadn’t brought any oil for fire tactics either, having used it all in the wall battle.

Karma fire wouldn’t be extinguished even by melting snow, but even I couldn’t cover this huge forest with it.

I’d exhaust all my Karma of Murder power before properly burning it, and if Rurik attacked while I was in that state, I’d have no way to win.

So, charging in was our only option.

[When the enemy is before you, a warrior cannot retreat just because the terrain is unfavorable. A true warrior must overcome unfavorable conditions with their own strength.]

…Is that so?

What a perfect doctrine for getting lured in and annihilated.

Anyway, we had no choice but to enter the forest.

The Duke of Faelrun seemed to share my thoughts, as he called out loudly to the knights who had stopped to stare at the forest.

“Everyone dismount! Lead your horses on foot through the forest! Be alert for ambushes!”

“Yes, sir!”

An order to at least avoid falling from horseback since we had to enter anyway.

The knights responded in unison, dismounting and grabbing their reins to walk.

Into the darkening forest.

—-

What awaited us in the forest was exactly the situation we had anticipated.

“Here they come again! Prepare!”

“Were you waiting for me!”

Just as I shouted after sensing the beast’s presence intensifying, a white mass lunged out from beyond the underbrush.

– Kaaaang!

Durandal and five claws collided, releasing a dazzling flash.

Unable to withstand the force, my body slid back across the snow.

“Kuuugh…!”

I drove tendrils of Karma of Murder into the ground and gritted my teeth to hold my position.

I had to hold. If the distance widened, dozens would die in that gap.

“Woooooooah!”

Rurik.

The wolf who had attached a bladed gauntlet like a prosthetic to his missing arm howled toward the sky.

Despite losing an arm, his ferocity remained undiminished.

The knights kept their distance from him.

Even the Masters had long realized how reckless it was to face him.

“You one-armed bastard!”

As soon as my heels stopped scraping the ground, I gripped Durandal firmly and charged toward him.

The air displaced by my rush created a whirlwind, raising a snowstorm behind me.

“This time I’ll slice that neck of yours!”

“That will not happen!”

Once again, blade and beast claws collided with a resounding clash.

—-

While I kept Rurik occupied, the other knights weren’t idle.

Enemies surrounded them on all sides.

“Above us!”

“In the trees again!”

Knights who spotted enemies looked up.

Werebeasts had appeared on every trunk of the dense coniferous forest, their claws dug in as they perched!

“Throw!”

A rough command mixed with growls.

Following the fox Champion’s order, the werebeasts hurled the objects they were holding.

Dozens of spears carved from wood and stones larger than human heads.

Even simple natural objects, when thrown with werebeast strength, could easily shatter a human body.

“Projectiles incoming! Defensive positions!”

Knights raised their shields skyward. Those without shields raised their weapons instead.

Toward them, the werebeasts’ weapons rained down like hail.

“Kuhk!”

A knight who was unlucky enough to be hit in the head had his neck violently twisted. So much that the back of his head touched his back.

It was unfortunate for him, but a human head is not flexible enough to bend that way and survive.

Hot blood gushed from his torn neck.

His head dangled, attached by just a strip of skin. His eyeball, popped out from pressure, rolled around inside his crushed helmet. The stretched optic nerve clung to his mangled face.

His limp body staggered and collapsed onto the snow, twitching.

“Jack! You vile beast bastards, how dare you-!”

An enraged knight hurled his spear forcefully.

The spearhead flew like a beam of light, piercing through a half-blood werebeast and knocking it down.

“Kiiieek!”

The fallen werebeast screamed and rolled on the ground.

Thanks to the snow on the ground and its regenerative abilities, it survived the fall from that height, but it was barely alive.

The knight’s spear that had pierced and torn through its abdomen was silver-plated. A half-blood’s regeneration couldn’t heal such a wound.

A nearby knight beheaded it.

—-

The knights fought the werebeasts by smashing tree trunks or throwing spears, but the beasts leaped between trunks, persistently resisting.

And the enemies weren’t attacking just from above.

“Now’s the time, charge! Target the gap in their formation!”

While Rurik and I were engaged in combat, other Masters had to face off against the enemy Champions.

Not just Champions, but also the pureblooded warriors surging forward like a torrent.

Champions against Masters, pureblooded warriors against knights—they clashed, spilling blood across the snow.

“You human vermin! Without your walls, you’re nothing!”

The elephant werebeast, who had only pounded on the gate without participating in battle, rampaged violently as if venting frustration. While wielding five weapons at once.

In both hands he held large curved blades, and another curved blade was attached to the tip of his long trunk.

They say an elephant’s trunk is like a hand. Facing one in reality, the trunk was far more threatening than hands.

Perhaps because it had no joints, it bent at angles impossible for human arms, slashing in all directions.

Not just the curved blades, but the pair of tusks protruding from the sides of his mouth were also deadly weapons.

Being rammed by those tusks was enough to pierce through both body and armor.

—-

“Where’s that archer! Where is that archer bitch-!! Come out now!!”

“I may not kill the Were Eater, but I’ll definitely kill that archer…!”

The snow leopard werebeast that Millia had defeated seemed to have fully recovered and was now rampaging madly.

Beside him was the hyena werebeast who had barely escaped with his life.

“You’re just a beast in heat. Come to be filled with arrows again?”

“This time for sure…!”

Millia and Demian aimed their weapons at them.

“Two Champions. It would be difficult for you alone.”

One of the northern army’s Masters drew his sword and joined them.

“You won’t call it cowardly, I hope. Using numerical advantage is a basic tactic.”

In an equal match, the Champions would have the advantage, but in a three-against-two fight, our side had the upper hand.

Moreover, the hyena werebeast hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries.

“Who are you!”

“Three of them…! Still, that archer at least, I must…”

The two Champions contorted their faces in anger.