Chapter 329

The eastern army marched forward, their steps full of confidence.

But there was a sense of urgency in their movements.

They were pressed for time.

They had to retake Odinel as soon as possible.

The pressure was different from when they had time on their side.

But it was fine.

They were a well-disciplined army.

However,

What if a problem arose?

They would be shaken.

And that problem was now upon them.

The Celtrine allied forces, who had secretly landed under the cover of darkness.

“Hmm?”

Duke Cavern’s brow furrowed as he heard a commotion coming from his left flank.

He turned to look,

And a messenger came galloping towards him.

“Your Excellency!”

“What is it?”

“We’re under attack! The enemy has launched a surprise attack!”

“A surprise attack?”

Duke Cavern’s eyes narrowed.

He seemed to understand what was happening.

“They used ships?”

He knew that their goal wasn’t simply to seize control of the supply base.

They were planning to use the Lime River to threaten their supply lines.

Even if they weren’t skilled in naval warfare, they could still raid their supply convoys.

But,

To launch a surprise attack on a large army like this using ships?

It was ridiculous.

They wouldn’t be able to deploy a large force, so it must be a small unit.

It was like throwing an egg at a rock.

“Pursue them. Pursue them to the ends of the earth and wipe them out. Annihilate them completely, so they never dare to attack us again.”

Duke Cavern said, as if he was swatting away flies.

He seemed confident.

That those insignificant moths would be burned to ashes before they could even reach his army.

* * *

“Heh, those weaklings. They actually tried to ambush us.”

“They don’t stand a chance!”

“Go home and drink your mother’s milk, you pathetic trash!”

The eastern army’s soldiers also shared Duke Cavern’s sentiment.

In fact, they were even more confident.

Because they had clashed with the enemy and realized that they were weaker than they had expected.

Their morale soared.

On the other hand,

“Ugh.”

“Be careful! T-They’re strong!”

“Damn it, the eastern army is this strong…?”

The Celtrine allied forces were clearly struggling.

Instead of gaining an advantage from their surprise attack, they were being pushed back.

It was clear which side had the upper hand.

It was then that,

“His Excellency’s orders! Pursue them! Pursue them to the ends of the earth and annihilate them!”

The commander of the left flank shouted, relaying the Duke’s orders.

The eastern army’s morale soared even higher.

“R-Retreat! Everyone, retreat!”

The Celtrine allied forces finally broke and fled in a panic.

“They’re running away!”

“Victory is ours!”

“Don’t stop chasing them! Wipe them out!”

The eastern army pursued them relentlessly.

But,

The Celtrine allied forces were experts at retreating. They quickly boarded their ships and escaped.

The eastern army tried to close the distance, but it was too late.

They could only watch helplessly as the enemy sailed away.

“Tsk, they escaped by ship.”

“Cowards.”

“Elite soldiers, my ass. Get lost, you northern cowards!”

No matter what they said, it didn’t change anything.

But it also didn’t change the fact that they had won.

They had completely repelled the enemy’s raiding party.

And,

“Any casualties?”

“No injuries or deaths.”

“Good! A complete victory!”

The commander of the left flank shouted triumphantly.

A complete victory, with no casualties.

The victory was immediately reported to Duke Cavern.

“A complete victory, Your Excellency!”

“Did you annihilate the enemy?”

“We couldn’t, because they escaped by ship. But we killed dozens of them, and we repelled them without suffering a single casualty.”

“They escaped by ship? Couldn’t you catch them?”

“They were too fast…”

“Hmm, it can’t be helped.”

Duke Cavern stroked his beard.

It was a shame that they had escaped, but it was a one-sided victory, as he had expected.

And the fact that they hadn’t suffered any casualties made it even more encouraging.

The enemy must have realized their mistake.

That they were throwing an egg at a rock.

They wouldn’t dare to launch another pointless raid.

“Good work. Convey my gratitude to the soldiers.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The eastern army resumed their march.

* * *

But Duke Cavern’s prediction was wrong.

The raids continued.

Frequently.

But the results were the same.

The Celtrine allied forces were always repelled, fleeing like flies.

Yes, flies.

Annoying flies.

“It seems like they’re desperately trying to delay our advance, Grandfather.”

Arhin said, his voice laced with annoyance.

“Yes, I’ve noticed. That’s definitely their intention.”

Duke Cavern remained calm.

He believed that he had already seen through the enemy’s plan.

“It’s not a bad thing for us.”

“Huh?”

Arhin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“They’re trying so hard to buy time? It means they’re not ready to defend. It makes sense. Odinel and the other territories they conquered were all taken hastily.”

“Ah… I see. They don’t have enough time to stabilize their newly acquired territories.”

Arhin nodded in understanding.

If the Celtrine allied forces needed time to prepare their defenses, it made sense that they would launch these pointless raids.

“So we don’t have to worry about those annoying flies. They’re not even a nuisance.”

They had initially stopped their march to respond to the raids, but now they just ignored them and let a portion of their left flank deal with them.

It wasn’t a problem.

Just a minor annoyance.

“Yes, Grandfather. Their persistent raids won’t achieve anything.”

Arhin smiled.

* * *

“Ugh, those damn bastards. Again?”

“Even mosquitoes are less annoying than them.”

“They’re harassing us day and night.”

The eastern army’s soldiers grumbled, scratching their heads and picking their ears.

Their reaction was completely different from when they had been ambushed for the first time.

They knew that the enemy was weak and would flee as soon as they were pursued.

They were just a minor nuisance that could be easily dealt with.

“Hey, whose turn is it? Deal with them.”

They had even started taking turns repelling the enemy, since it was such a trivial task.

There was no need for everyone to react and waste their energy.

“…Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

“Ugh, why does it have to be the left flank? Those creepy bastards are so annoying.”

The designated unit grumbled as they moved out.

Even though it was just a portion of the left flank, they were still more than enough to crush the enemy’s small raiding party.

It would be the same this time.

It had always been the same.

A meaningless battle ensued.

The enemy would pretend to fight and then flee without looking back.

But,

*Thwack!*

An eastern army soldier’s head flew off.

Blood spurted from his neck like a fountain.

“Huh?”

“W-What?”

The eastern army soldiers stared blankly, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

It was a natural reaction when something unexpected happened.

The soldiers behind them were more amused than shocked.

“Look at that idiot.”

“How careless can you be? To be killed by those weaklings.”

“He’s a disgrace to the eastern army.”

They clicked their tongues.

The designated unit snapped out of their daze.

Their faces were filled with shame and rage.

“Those bastards! They drew blood! We’ll make them pay!”

“We won’t let them die easily!”

They charged at the Celtrine allied forces, their eyes burning with murderous intent.

They thought,

That the Celtrine allied forces would flee in a panic.

But…

*Thud! Thwack! Thud!*

“Ugh?!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

It was their own screams that filled the air.

Screams of agony.

The bodies of the designated unit’s soldiers lay scattered across the ground, their bodies riddled with wounds.

“W-What…?!”

The eastern army soldiers were finally shocked.

They realized that the situation was serious.

Very serious.

Dozens of their comrades had already been killed.

It was the price of their carelessness.

If they had been alert from the beginning, they wouldn’t have suffered such heavy losses.

Their accumulated carelessness had come back to bite them.

“R-Reinforcements! Now!”

They rushed to support their comrades.

But the Celtrine allied forces didn’t flee.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

They continued to kill, one after another.

As if they were unleashing all their pent-up frustration.

“Phew, that feels good.”

Duncan, the red-haired beastman, said as he split an eastern army soldier’s skull with his twin axes.

“But don’t get carried away. Stay calm.”

Milia said, sending another soldier to the afterlife with her chain sword.

“I know, I know.”

Duncan grumbled.

“But they’re impressive. I’ve heard that the Knight of Zephyr is the best swordswoman in the north, and it’s true.”

Regina Erenbert had finally revealed her true strength.

Her swordsmanship was terrifying.

It was as if she was playing with the eastern army soldiers, taking their heads with ease.

But Duncan was still suspicious.

He suspected that she wasn’t even using her full power.

“Stop chatting and focus on killing as many as you can. This is our chance to inflict maximum damage.”

Max said, his body covered in blood.

He had carefully orchestrated this situation,

By deliberately appearing weak and retreating repeatedly.

Carelessness grew with each repetition.

And he had finally seized his opportunity.

It was his chance to make the enemy pay for their carelessness.

“Hahaha, alright. But cover your face, Savior. If they find out you’re here, our plan will be ruined.”

Regina was fine.

But Max wasn’t.

Everyone knew that Max was the commander-in-chief of the Celtrine allied forces.

“Of course.”

Max grinned and swung his sword again.

The Celtrine allied forces were like a pack of wolves, tearing into the leg of a giant beast.

They inflicted heavy casualties and then retreated, as they had always done.

The eastern army was furious.

* * *

*Crack!*

Duke Cavern clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white.

His body trembled with rage.

“Max Celtrine, you bastard! It was all a ruse? You set us up like that? You cunning fox!”

He finally erupted, his voice filled with fury.

Using elite soldiers to lure them into a false sense of security and then attacking them when they were careless.

He wouldn’t have fallen for it if it had only happened once or twice.

But Max had persistently repeated the same tactic, and he had finally succeeded in making them careless.

The price was over five hundred casualties.

It was a heavy price to pay for a moment of carelessness.

“I-I apologize, Your Excellency.”

The commander of the left flank lowered his head, his face pale with shame.

“It’s not your fault. It’s my fault for failing to see through his scheme and underestimating him.”

“Y-Your Excellency…”

“But I won’t tolerate any more mistakes.”

Duke Cavern’s eyes flashed.

“From now on, the entire left flank will respond to their raids.”

* * *

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The alarm bells rang in the middle of the night.

The signal for an enemy raid.

The eastern army soldiers, who hadn’t been able to get a decent night’s sleep, woke up with a start.

“D-Damn it! Don’t those bastards ever sleep?”

“Please let us sleep! You crazy bastards!”

“Ugh! How many times is this?!”

They cursed in frustration.

When they had been repelling the enemy like flies, only a portion of the left flank had to respond.

But now it was different.

They knew that the enemy, even though they were small in number, was an elite force that could inflict serious damage. So the entire left flank had to respond.

It was the Duke’s order.

Thanks to that, they were able to repel the enemy without suffering heavy losses.

But there were still problems.

First,

They could no longer repel the enemy without suffering any casualties.

No matter how alert they were, they couldn’t avoid taking casualties from the enemy’s surprise attacks.

They always suffered at least ten casualties.

Second,

The mental stress and fatigue were taking their toll.

The enemy didn’t attack at regular intervals, and they didn’t just attack during the day.

They appeared at random times, day and night, driving the eastern army soldiers crazy.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if it had only happened once or twice.

But it was happening constantly, and it was becoming a serious problem.

The eastern army soldiers were getting exhausted, both physically and mentally.

“Ugh, those damn bastards! Just die already! Die!”

Max’s plan was slowly but surely tightening its grip on the eastern army.