Chapter 300

“Everyone, change horses here.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

At Sayanoid’s command, the 3,000 cavalrymen began switching to fresh horses.

They had ridden their first horses at full speed until they were nearly exhausted, and now they were switching to their second horses.

It was a tactic used by cavalry to maintain a rapid advance without interruption.

Of course, this required a sufficient number of warhorses, but at least the elite soldiers of the Imperial Capital didn’t have to worry about that.

They received the most generous support in the entire continent.

“Are you done?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Then let’s go.”

Saya didn’t waste any time.

Of course, the enemy would know that troops had been dispatched from the Imperial Capital.

Within the realm of common sense, that is.

They would assume that a sizable force would be mobilized to crush the Celtrine territory.

That’s what she would shatter.

The moment they stormed the Celtrine territory with lightning speed, the enemy would be caught off guard.

They would be expecting a slow-moving, large army, not a swift and deadly cavalry force.

The moment they were caught off guard, the war would be over.

‘What? Not someone to be underestimated? They’re just pigs fattened by peace.’

Saya scoffed, remembering Justino’s words.

She was a former mercenary.

She had clawed her way up from the bottom, witnessing countless deaths and bloodshed.

It was only natural for her to see the Celtrine family, known for their wealth, as nothing more than fattened pigs.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!*

Three thousand cavalrymen galloped across the land.

The scenery blurred past them.

After a while,

A forest appeared before them.

The Ataraxia Forest.

The forest path was the fastest route to the Celtrine territory.

Once they passed through the forest, they would reach a highway that led straight to the Celtrine territory.

“We’ll pass through without stopping.”

At Saya’s command, the cavalrymen skillfully tightened their formation.

Because the path was narrowing.

*Thud, thud, thud!*

Saya was the first to enter the forest.

The cavalrymen followed closely behind.

At that moment,

“Huh?”

Saya’s eyes narrowed.

A strange feeling washed over her.

A vague sense of unease, conveyed by her sharp and sensitive senses.

She soon discovered the source of her unease.

A group of soldiers stood at the end of the path, their large shields forming a wall.

A flag with a turtle emblazoned on it fluttered in the wind.

An unfamiliar crest.

But that wasn’t important right now.

What was important was that an enemy force was blocking their path.

“Tsk, a princess faction ambush? Damn it, there must have been a leak.”

Saya frowned.

She didn’t even consider the possibility that they were Celtrine soldiers.

Not only was the crest different, but in her mind, the Celtrines were nothing more than pigs, too busy guarding their own territory to launch an ambush.

“Ignore them and charge through! Just trample those insects!”

She shouted.

An ambush in a narrow forest path?

So what?

They were just a handful of infantry.

They could easily break through them with the cavalry’s overwhelming force.

She would show them that petty tricks like ambushes were meaningless against overwhelming power.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!*

The cavalrymen didn’t slow down.

They charged forward, following Saya’s orders.

They weren’t fazed by the ambush, as expected of elite soldiers.

“Fire!”

A voice, presumably the enemy commander’s, boomed.

A volley of arrows rained down on them.

“Hmph, how pathetic.”

Saya scoffed.

Her soldiers weren’t ordinary soldiers.

They were elite soldiers.

Their equipment was top-notch.

They wore well-crafted armor and carried shields, and their horses were also fully armored.

So there was no reason for them to be intimidated by a few hundred arrows.

They could ignore the minor damage.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

The arrows flew towards them.

“Fire all you want.”

Saya drew her rapier.

The weapon that had earned her the nickname Silver Flash.

Her rapier flashed, too fast for the eye to follow.

With each flash, an arrow was split in two and fell harmlessly to the ground.

At least the arrows posed no threat to her.

Meanwhile,

The other cavalrymen raised the shields they had strapped to their horses to block the arrows.

They weren’t large shields, but they were big enough to block arrows.

*Clank! Clank!*

The arrows bounced off their shields.

The cavalrymen’s expressions were calm.

They were confident that they could withstand the attack.

But they would soon realize that they were wrong.

*Whoosh!*

One arrow stood out among the others.

It looked like an ordinary arrow at first glance.

But,

The moment it hit a shield, it exploded.

*Boom!*

“Ugh?!”

“Argh?!”

The cavalrymen were caught in the explosion.

*Neigh!*

The horses, startled by the heat and the loud noise, reared and bucked.

The defensive line crumbled, and gaps appeared.

Arrows poured through the gaps like rain.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

*Neigh!*

The cavalrymen were struck by arrows and fell from their horses.

The horses that had been hit also collapsed.

The formation began to fall apart.

Saya’s face contorted with rage.

Exploding arrows?

She hadn’t expected such a tactic.

“Don’t hesitate! Keep charging! They can’t fire arrows at close range!”

She shouted.

Their morale hadn’t been shaken by this minor setback.

The soldiers of the Imperial Capital weren’t easily intimidated.

She would crush those damn rebels.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!*

As she had thought, the Imperial cavalrymen were still full of spirit.

The distance between them and the enemy closed rapidly.

And finally, the cavalrymen raised their lances, their tips gleaming like silver.

The cavalry charge, a devastating attack.

Just before the charge began,

‘Hmph, they can’t stop us with just infantry.’

Saya glared at the enemy.

It was true that the narrow path limited the cavalry’s impact.

But it also meant that the enemy could only form a narrow line.

And infantry couldn’t withstand a cavalry charge if they were outnumbered.

Especially not against the elite cavalry of the Imperial Capital.

“Shields up!”

The enemy commander roared.

*Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!*

The enemy soldiers raised their shields, forming a wall.

They were trying to hold their ground.

But it was a futile effort.

They couldn’t stop them.

They couldn’t hold them back.

Their line would crumble.

“Crush them!”

Saya shouted.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!*

They charged forward.

They were almost there.

Now!

*Boom!*

A deafening crash, like an explosion.

An overwhelming impact.

The infantry should have been scattered like broken branches in a storm, trampled underfoot, their bones crushed beneath the horses’ hooves.

They should have.

But…

“W-What the…”

Saya cursed involuntarily.

They had held their ground.

They had stood their ground, barely budging.

It was an outcome she had never imagined.

“T-They’re holding?!”

“D-Damn it, what kind of defense is this?!”

Even the mighty Imperial cavalrymen were stunned.

Their momentum faltered.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Thrust!”

The enemy commander shouted, and long spears emerged from between the shields.

*Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!*

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

The spears pierced through the cavalrymen, slaughtering them mercilessly.

The bodies of the fallen cavalrymen rolled on the ground.

Saya’s eyes widened in fury.

“You insignificant insects!”

Her rapier glowed silver.

Sword Aura.

She would personally break through the enemy line.

It was the right decision for a commander with her skills, but the outcome was unexpected.

– Form of the Exploding Slash.

A black sword, radiating a dark aura, blocked her Sword Aura.

The two forces clashed.

*Boom!*

A deafening explosion.

“Ugh?!”

Saya’s body swayed.

Her warhorse, a magnificent beast, stumbled but managed to regain its balance.

She had almost been unhorsed.

It had been a powerful blow.

Her arm, which had taken the full brunt of the impact, throbbed with pain.

What kind of attack was that…?

“That won’t work, Lady Sayanoid. I have to capture you.”

A young man standing before her said with a grin.

Saya frowned.

“Who are you?”

“Me? Max Celtrine. Remember that name. Well, you won’t be able to forget it anyway.”

“You’re…?”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

She couldn’t believe it.

The opponent she had completely disregarded,

He had appeared out of nowhere.

“Don’t tell me… You planned this ambush?”

“Of course. Isn’t catching your opponent off guard the basics of strategy? You know that, right?”

Max said, his tone mocking.

Saya gritted her teeth.

“Damn it, you just used the information that was leaked.”

“No, I just knew you would make this move. You thought the Celtrine territory was just a pawn on a chessboard, something you could easily crush, right?”

“What?”

“So you wanted to wipe us out quickly. With a swift attack. Well, the plan itself wasn’t bad. Your only mistake was underestimating me, Max Celtrine.”

Max said, puffing out his chest.

He was an annoyingly smug bastard, even though they had just met.

She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

“Shut up! Just die!”

She charged at him again.

“As you wish.”

Max grinned, but this time, instead of meeting her attack head-on, he dodged it with ease.

His movements were slippery, like an eel.

It was infuriating.

“You little rat!”

Saya cursed in frustration.

“Are you sure about this? You’re not good at mounted combat, are you?”

Max taunted her.

But his words were true.

She had been a mercenary for most of her life, and she wasn’t used to fighting on horseback.

“I’ll tear your goddamn mouth apart!”

Saya roared in anger.

Max continued to taunt her, “And while you’re busy with me, your poor soldiers are dying. Are you really okay with that?”

“Ugh.”

His words were also true.

Her soldiers at the front line were being killed and unhorsed.

They were clearly losing.

“And one more thing.”

“What is it, you bastard?!”

Saya glared at him, her voice laced with venom.

“Did you really think cavalry could defeat infantry if they were equal in number? Well, guess what? No one can defeat my unit in a fair fight. We’ve been through hell and back.”

Saya didn’t believe him.

She couldn’t even imagine a hellish place like the Holy City underground, or a unit of survivors from that hell.

“Don’t get cocky just because you have a slight advantage! I’ll be back, and I’ll tear your smug mouth apart!”

“Do that if you can, you defeated commander.”

Max sneered.

*Grit!*

Saya gritted her teeth, her jaw clenching so tightly that she thought her teeth might shatter.

She wanted to fight him to the death.

But she made a decision as a commander, not an individual.

That was why she had been able to rise to her current position.

She would abandon a battle if she had no chance of winning.

They had failed to break through the enemy line with their initial charge, and they were now clearly losing. There was no chance of turning the tables.

If it had been an open plain, they might have been able to outmaneuver the enemy with their superior mobility, but that wasn’t possible in this narrow forest path.

“Damn it, retreat! Everyone, retreat!”

Saya ordered her troops to retreat.

But they had already suffered heavy casualties.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!*

Saya and the cavalrymen turned their horses around and fled.

“Woohoo!”

“We won!”

“We defeated the Imperial Army!”

“As expected of the Savior!”

“Long live the Savior!”

The resident unit cheered in victory.

Max smiled, pleased with the outcome.

Duncan, the red-haired beastman, approached him and said, “It was a great victory, but wouldn’t it have been better to block their retreat?”

“No, a cornered rat will fight back. And they’re not rats. Our casualties would have been much higher.”

Max seemed confident in his judgment.

He didn’t have the confidence to completely block both ends of the path with just one resident unit.

They would have broken through one side and inflicted heavy casualties.

“And I wanted to give them a parting gift. That’s enough.”

Max grinned.

* * *

The Imperial cavalrymen had just emerged from the forest path.

At that moment,

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

A volley of arrows rained down on them from both sides.

“A-Another ambush?!”

“W-We’re being attacked!”

The cavalrymen were caught off guard, unable to defend themselves against the sudden attack.

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

Soldiers were struck by arrows and fell from their horses.

The casualties were significant.

“Damn it, spread out and counterattack!”

Saya shouted, her eyes bloodshot.

But it was too late.

The attackers, having achieved their objective, turned their horses around and fled before the cavalrymen could close the distance.

Their flags and armor bore the Celtrine family crest.

They were Celtrine knights.

*Grit!*

“Those damn rats!”

Saya was furious, having been outsmarted by the enemy twice in a row.

But anger wouldn’t solve anything.

A bitter defeat.

That was all she had gained.

“Aaaargh!”

Her frustrated roar echoed through the forest.

* * *

The Crown Prince’s army had suffered their first defeat.

The princess faction had achieved their first victory.

The consequences were significant.

The tide was beginning to turn.