Ch.337Silver-Blue Blade

“We cannot let them leave the forest and head south. But, I can’t just leave Rurik…!”

Valdemar fell into deep thought.

The Werebeasts, now split into three groups, were each running in different directions.

This was contrary to their previous behavior of stalling while heading north. Their purpose was obvious.

‘They want us to follow them. Back into the depths of the forest.’

From the beginning, their strategic objective had been to engage in sporadic battles to buy time until reinforcements could cross the mountains.

After stalling long enough, they would distance themselves from the northern forces, escape the forest, and attempt to join with their arriving reinforcements. Once they left the forest, they would immediately lose the terrain advantage in any engagement.

That strategy was thwarted when the Duke himself decided on a forced breakthrough.

It was impossible to hold back the northern forces as they advanced while accepting some losses, and had they continued forward, they could have exited the forest within hours.

In that case, the northern forces would have seized control of the battlefield.

But now that the enemy had decided to head south, they couldn’t simply continue northward as before.

What would the Werebeasts do if they weren’t pursued?

If they realized their diversionary tactic had failed and rejoined Rurik, there would be no problem.

But what if they abandoned regrouping and continued south, even at the risk of endangering Rurik?

Five Champions and dozens of pureblooded warriors.

The current Faelrun territory couldn’t handle such a force in open field.

After all, the north’s core fighting strength was entirely within this forest.

‘I can’t just stand by. In the worst case, they might scatter and target various parts of the territory…!’

Even a single pureblooded warrior could kill countless territory residents if given the opportunity.

It was nearly impossible for ordinary people without equipment to counter Werebeasts to defeat a pureblooded warrior.

“Lord Faelrun! I’ll handle this side, so take everyone else with you! I’m in the way!”

Haschal, having reached the same conclusion, shouted toward Valdemar.

Too busy fighting Rurik to maintain formalities, she had reverted to her usual manner of speech.

In the way. It was a harsh statement, but undeniably true.

From the beginning, she was the only one who could face Rurik. Even master-level knights couldn’t last ten seconds against him.

The reverse was also true.

Excluding Rurik, no Werebeast could match Haschal.

She didn’t have the regenerative abilities of a Werebeast, so she might be at a slight disadvantage if the Champions risked their lives and attacked alongside Rurik.

However, with all the Champions except the missing Oleg separated from Rurik, Haschal preferred fighting alone.

The pureblooded warriors running with Rurik were mere fodder who would scatter with a single strike and posed no threat to her.

“…I’ll leave it to you!”

After a moment’s deliberation, Valdemar finally decided to pursue the southbound Werebeasts.

As the lord of Faelrun, he had a duty and responsibility to protect the safety of his territory’s residents.

Even if they persistently hunted down and eliminated Rurik, if tens of thousands were killed in the meantime, victory would be meaningless.

“Frider! I’ll give you sixty light cavalry knights! Take your juniors, Lady Leonore, and Aingen to pursue those fleeing through the trees! Can you handle it?”

“Absolutely!”

Frider confidently shouted as she led Leonore, Demian, Millia, and Aingen in pursuit of Nazar’s mobile unit.

Knights wearing lighter armor than the others followed her. They weren’t fast enough to catch the Werebeasts traveling through the trees, but they were quick enough to give chase.

“The rest will follow me in pursuit of Vasili! Don’t fall behind!”

“Yes, sir!”

Valdemar’s main force targeted the strike team containing Vasili and Viktor. In terms of military strength, they were the core of the Werebeast forces.

Over a hundred knights and six masters began racing back through the forest the enemy had passed through.

Just as Nazar had refined Abigeyl’s idea into a plan.

======[ Werebeast Mobile Unit ]======

“-We’ve lured them according to plan, but… I’m not sure if it’s working well.”

The mobile unit heading southeast was currently divided into two groups:

A decoy unit commanded by Lyudmila, and a separate detachment consisting of Nazar, Abigeyl, and two warriors.

Their current southward movement was merely a lure and deception; their original goal was to create distance before secretly heading north.

However, with Faelrun’s daughter leading a pursuit team chasing them at full strength, even creating distance wasn’t easy.

That’s why Nazar had devised a strategy.

Though he wasn’t sure if it would work.

Lyudmila recalled Nazar’s words as she drew out a javelin to throw at the pursuing enemies.

—-

“They have no choice but to chase us with all their might. With ‘all their might.’ Do you understand what I’m saying, Lyudmila?”

“So we should run like our tails are on fire?”

Nazar chuckled and shook his head.

“No, that’s obvious… What I mean is, they’re a mixed unit of masters and ordinary knights. And they’re not fully recovered from fatigue either. What happens when such people run at full speed? …Inevitably, some will fall behind. Not everyone can run at the same pace. Eventually, the formation will stretch out as the weaker ones gradually lag behind, to the point where those at the front can’t respond if the rear is attacked.”

A counterattack.

That was why Nazar had taken Abigeyl and slipped away to the side.

“We can’t annihilate them. If the battle drags on, we’ll be caught by the masters who turn back. And it’s a tactic we can’t use twice. But… once they’ve been hit like that, they’ll have to pay attention to their lagging rear. Naturally, they’ll slow down. Enough for us to create distance and head north again!”

…Even to Lyudmila, it seemed like a plausible tactic.

—-

They couldn’t allocate too many troops to the separate detachment.

The mobile unit was originally a small group of just thirty-three. If their numbers decreased too much, the enemy would notice the split.

That’s why the detachment numbered only four.

Nazar himself, who needed to assess the situation and direct the ambush, and Abigeyl, who was the most agile and could slaughter ordinary knights in the blink of an eye.

In addition, two snow leopard Werebeasts who had been under Abigeyl’s command.

For concealment, ambush, and retreat, no individuals were more suitable than snow leopard Werebeasts.

Lyudmila was excluded from the ambush team because she needed to provide continuous harassment from the rear of the decoy unit with her javelins.

If she disappeared too, the pursuers would certainly become suspicious when the javelins stopped flying.

Abigeyl had readily agreed, saying it would be fun.

Surprisingly cooperative, considering how she had been frantically targeting only the master archer girl before.

Lyudmila found it somewhat unexpected, but she wasn’t displeased.

Rather, she was satisfied. It seemed like the usually stubborn Abigeyl had grown a little.

‘…It seems about time to begin.’

Ending her contemplation, Lyudmila quickly turned and hurled the javelin she was holding toward the humans pursuing from behind.

The steel javelin pierced through the trunk of a giant tree like paper and flew like lightning.

Though the distance was so great they were barely visible, the sharp tip of the javelin was aimed directly at the center of the enemy formation.

Not that it mattered.

– Kwaaang!

An arrow flew in retaliation, colliding with the javelin and shattering it to pieces.

The fragments scattered in all directions, causing branches and snow to shower down like rain.

Lyudmila calmly drew out another javelin, as if she had expected this.

With the master-level archer who had been interfering at every turn still active, hitting the enemy with her javelins was nearly impossible.

The repeated meaningless javelin attacks were merely to draw the enemy’s attention toward her.

—-

‘As expected. Knights are starting to fall behind. If we wait a little longer, our opportunity will come.’

Meanwhile, Nazar was carefully observing the situation while keeping himself hidden.

As per his plan, the formation of the pursuit team led by Faelrun’s daughter had stretched out vertically.

They appeared agitated by the Werebeasts who kept throwing javelins and fleeing at just out of reach.

A golden opportunity was approaching.

“Hey, Nazar. I wanted to ask you something. About Oleg.”

“…Oleg?”

Nazar turned his head briefly at Abigeyl’s voice.

Given the situation, he would have postponed any other question, but the name Oleg caught his attention.

He disliked Oleg.

A snow tiger who had fled alone after losing his entire clan decades ago.

At that time, Nazar wasn’t a Champion yet but was a warrior in his prime, and subduing a young tiger cub who suddenly crossed his path wasn’t difficult.

He had shown mercy just once because the cub’s pleas for life seemed pitiful… but as soon as the cub grew up, he became an unpleasant beast who bared his teeth at him.

“You know, you sent Oleg as a messenger? Is that okay? It could be dangerous if he has second thoughts and doesn’t bring reinforcements.”

“…!”

Nazar couldn’t help but be shocked.

Not because he hadn’t considered the possibility of Oleg’s betrayal, but because Abigeyl possessed enough intelligence to think of such a thing.

The Abigeyl that Nazar knew seemed to have only impulses instead of reason in her brain.

“…It’s not a problem. I don’t think that single-celled organism has the brains to betray us, but just in case, I ordered one of my subordinates to follow Oleg.”

Nazar smiled reassuringly as he answered Abigeyl’s question.

If Oleg showed any suspicious movements, the warrior he had sent would immediately return and report it.

“Ah, I was wondering why Drozdov wasn’t around. So you sent him as a monitor?”

“Yes. So don’t worry.”

Nodding, Nazar turned his attention back to the enemies.

By now, they had stretched out enough to target their rear. This was the opportunity.

‘Good. If we launch a surprise attack now… Wait a moment.’

Nazar’s pupils dilated as a sudden thought occurred to him.

‘Did I mention Drozdov’s name!?’

He had only said he sent a subordinate, not who he had sent.

So how could Abigeyl accurately name him?

Many Werebeasts had disappeared during the repeated battles!

“That’s a relief. Oleg was the one you expected.”

As the shocked Nazar tried to turn around, a blue-silver longsword pierced through his neck.

==================

[Brief Explanation]

This was the plan! The strike team would draw a long arc to buy time before heading north,

while the mobile unit would launch a single ambush with a small detachment before running north!

The strike team might be fine, but the mobile unit is in trouble!