Chapter 232: Amaranth (32)
“Raise the shields!”
“Scatter!”
Whether the things crossing the sky and flying towards them were arrows, or stones didn’t matter.
‘Dodge or block.’
Either way, it was one of the two.
The KaLu Allied Army’s commanders saw the lumasas and instinctively shouted.
The soldiers quickly pulled their reins.
The formation that was energetically running scattered to the sides.
Following that, the lumasas drew arcs and fell with scary speeds.
Pububububububuck!
Lumasas simultaneously striking the army and the ground with heavy sounds.
“Kuk!”
“Kuhuk!”
Few soldiers couldn’t handle the shock and fell or stumbled.
But for some reason, most of the lumasas didn’t reach the KaLu Allied Army and fell to the ground after cutting through empty space.
“Uhahaha! Idiots! They got scared ahead of time and shot the steel balls too early!”
“The bastards too must have become afraid!”
Encouragements.
The KaLu Allied Army’s commanders raised their weapons high and shouted.
“Waaaaah!”
The soldiers too shouted and pulled up their spirits.
The situation itself, regardless of who saw it, seemed as if the Lancephil Fief Regiment had gotten afraid.
Dudududududu!
The KaLu Allied Army’s warhorses kicked the ground and rapidly raced.
It was at the moment the horse hooves passed above the lumasas that fell onto the ground.
Paaaaaaat!
Suddenly, bright lights burst out from the lumasas embedded into the ground.
No, that was light too bright to be simply called bright, an excruciatingly painful light.
“Uak!”
“Kuuk!”
“Wha, what in the!”
The KaLu Allied Army tightly closed their eyes at the light exploding from below their feet and screamed.
Neeeeeigngh!
The warhorses too twisted their bodies with painful cries.
“Kuhuk!”
“Uhph!”
Due to that, majority of the soldiers couldn’t maintain balance and fell off the horses.
Few soldiers were crushed underneath the warhorses and instantly and violently died.
“Cover your eyes!”
“Maintain your balance!”
Although the commanders shouted and tried to reorganize the formation, it was a useless effort.
A situation where the majority of the soldiers had already lost their eyes for a moment.
Furthermore, the lumasas were still shining brightly.
With the soldiers of the KaLu Allied Army in the center, the world turned completely white.
“I, if the enemy were to attack at a time like this……”
Someone murmured jinxed words.
Everyone’s faces bleached white.
At that moment.
Dududududududu!
From the edges of their ears, the sound of horse hooves was noisily heard.
Vvuuuuuu!
A grand sound of horn that make the chests race.
Dum! Dum! Dum!
Even the sound of drums signaling the marching hit the ears.
Simultaneously.
“Pierce through!”
“Trample them!”
A resounding voice echoed the battlefield.
“Waaaaah!”
“Die!”
The owners of the cheers were the Lancephil Fief Regiment who had pressed on the black plate helmets.
A cavalry troop with Roan Lancephil, Austin, Semi, Harrison, Brian, and Pierce at the lead swept the blinded KaLu Allied Army.
Ssskuk! Sssguk!
With gruesome sounds, the heads and limbs of the KaLu Allied Army’s soldiers fell off.
“Kuhuk!”
“Kek!”
“Sa, save me!”
“Da, damn it! Where! Where!”
The KaLu Allied Army’s soldiers, while still unable to freely open their eyes from the light that brightened their sights white, floundered.
On the other hand, the Lancephil Fief Regiment who had equipped the plate helmets freely roamed between the lights and swung their swords and spears to their hearts’ content.
Lumasa.
It was not a simple steel ball.
‘It’s much more incredible than I thought.’
Roan who alone hadn’t equipped the plate helmet thanks to the Kalian’s Tears looked at the falling KaLu Allied Army’s soldiers and made a bitter smile.
The lumasa was an object where the armor light the Reno Magic Tower had developed was modified and applied onto the steel ball that the Lancephil Engineering Department and the Alchemy Department collaborated to create, a type of a magic orb.
‘Now should be about time for the light to disappear soon, but……’
Roan swung the Travias Spear and looked at the Maiel Mountain.
‘It will be troublesome if you don’t slowly begin to move now.’
An odd smile hung on his mouth.
Meanwhile, the KaLu Allied Army’s camp on the Maiel Mountain was clamorous as if it had stirred a bee’s nest.
“Damn it! What is that light?”
“We can’t see our soldiers at all?”
The nobles and commanders inside the camp pointed at the clumps of light the lumasas poured out and creased their brows.
It was a light fierce and bright enough for their eyes to sting despite being far away.
“It seems Roan Lancephil has done something, your majesty.”
KaLu Allied Army’s joint chief commander Viscount Greg Sinaiz approached towards Kallum Rinse.
Kallum stared at the white light that had colored the Parkes riverside and creased his brows.
“Is it the same thing as the light that infamous Troop of Light pours out?”
He too had heard and learned well of the news of the Vende Troop, the Troop of Light that Brian led.
Greg nodded his head with a short sigh.
“It does seem to be so, your majesty.”
“Then those bastards must be moving without trouble even within those clumps of light.”
When Kallum quickly asked, Greg once again nodded his head.
The light on Kallum’s face turned dark.
“Then that in fact should mean that our soldiers are being massacred without even doing a single proper resistance?”
“Yes, your majesty. Probably……”
Greg couldn’t quite finish his words.
Kallum tightly clenched his fist and headed towards the camp’s fences.
The wide battlefield spreading below the mountain and the clumps of light that still brightly shone were clearly seen.
“Send out the rear troop. Save our allies.”
The Newkad Troop that was the vanguard shock troop had fallen and even Baron Isaac Kad who was the troop command had his head cut off by Roan.
To save the surviving members of the troop and push away the Lancephil Fief Regiment, they had sent in a reinforcement.
However, even that reinforcement became trapped in an inexplicable clump of light and faced the danger of being annihilated.
‘The morale of the Allied Army will become ruined if we are not careful.’
The tip of Kallum’s eyes sharply shook.
He laboriously endured his rage.
Greg who was watching shouted at the top of his lungs with steep loyalty.
“Yes. Understood, your majesty! We will immediately make march!”
A short and loud answer.
However, he couldn’t in reality move his steps.
“That will be a bit troublesome, sir.”
A voice that stop Greg’s steps.
The owner of the voice was Lukan Diez.
He showed up together with Viscount Jack Woods who managed the KaLu Allied Army’s joint seat of chief commander.
“To be troublesome…… what does that mean, sir?”
Kallum creased his brows.
The lines of his eyes were fierce.
On the other hand, Lukan’s expression was rather relaxed.
With a calm voice, he added on.
“Your majesty. Sending in a reinforcement now would be the same as pushing the ally soldiers to a bottom of a cliff.”
On the battlefield, the unidentifiable clumps of light were still flashing.
Lukan faintly smiled and shook his head.
“I cannot send our soldiers to death, sir.”
Meaning that he cannot recklessly make the soldiers march clearly knowing that they would die.
Jack added on when Lukan’s words finished.
“It is regrettable but they are a small number of soldiers compared to the main army’s size. They could be seen as having done their role well enough just from having checked that there is such a troublesome weapon to the Lancephil Fief Regiment. Instead, I believe it may be wiser to wait for the situation to finish at this point, sir.”
They were words that continued hushed and quietly as if to lecture.
Kallum glared at Lukan and Jack while still creasing his brows.
His pride was wounded.
‘These bastards dare……’
If possible, he wanted to pour curses down onto them.
No, even if putting aside Lukan, he wanted to slap at the least Jack’s face who dared to arrogantly lecture.
However, he couldn’t do so.
‘Since more than half of the Allied Army right now is the Diez Kingdom Army……’
Furthermore, there was even the reinforcement that they had separately requested to their kingdom.
Kallum clenched his teeth.
He forcibly sank his rage and laboriously made a faint smile.
“It can’t be helped if the Crown Prince’s wishes for that.”
It was gesture, voice, and expression feigning as if a greater man.
“Thank you very much for understanding.”
Lukan quickly lowered his head.
Unlike how he looked, he brought to mind a fox.
Kallum exhaled shortly and turned his head and looked at Greg.
“We will rescue our allies with just our soldiers without the Diez Kingdom Army’s aid.”
“Yes! Understood, your majesty!”
Kallum’s orders kept continuing on.
“Elva Dionell!”
His gaze turned towards Elva who was observing the battlefield.
“Yes. Your majesty.”
Elva quickly approached and lowered her head.
A bold but beautiful figure.
Numerous commanders unknowingly had their gazes stolen.
“You lead the Kerst Knight order and the right wing’s soldiers and personally march.”
The Kerst Knight Order, the knight order that managed Kallum’s escort, was a strong force that was counted within the top three amongst many knight orders.
Also, the KaLu Allied Army’s right wing was an army purely made up of only Kallum’s soldiers.
On the other hand, the left wing and the half of the center army which was the main army was the Diez Kingdom Army.
“Yes. Understood, your majesty.”
Elva immediately answered without saying any long words and then raced towards the stable she had tied her warhorse at.
When Kallum was staring at her back, Greg murmured with a solidly stiffen expression.
“Would it be alright to leave something like this to a woman, your majesty? Instead, I will personally……”
When his words reached about that point.
Kallum shook his head with an expression full of certainty.
“Elva is strong. No one can do the things she cannot do.”
Elva aided Kallum since very long ago.
Because of that, Kallum knew well of how strong her true strength was.
‘She is someone much stronger than the kingdom’s people know of.’
If it just wasn’t for the restraint called a woman, she was a warrior who would already have jump over a grand general and possibly have become the chief commander that command the kingdom’s military.
Vvuuuuuu!
The sound of horn was heard on the edge of his ears.
At the same time, a large-scale troop marched from the main army and the right wing’s camp.
They were the main army’s Kerst Knight Order and the right wing’s soldiers.
Its number was almost near ten thousand.
Dududududu!
A violent charge followed together with the sound of horse hooves.
“Those who know how to control mana, protect your own eyes!”
Elva flowed in mana into her eyes and gave the order.
The hundreds of knights who followed behind quickly pulled up their mana.
Although those with notable senses amongst ordinary soldiers awkwardly imitated at the least, but those who weren’t so wrapped pieces of cloth they prepared beforehand on their foreheads.
They thought to cover their eyes with the piece of cloth if the light became strong.
Though it was blurry because it was a cloth dyed with color, they could distinguish objects.
“Uak!”
“Kek!”
The sound of screams became louder the closer the battlefield approached.
Gulp.
The KaLu Allied Army, no, the Kallum Army’s soldiers all dryly swallowed with nervous expressions.
They all grabbed the piece of cloth on their foreheads with their fingers.
But at that very moment.
Paat!
The bright light that painfully poked at their eyes disappeared.
At the same time, the horrendous sight of the battlefield that was hidden by the white light showed up.
“Ah……”
“H, how……”
Elva, Kerst Knight Order, and the Kallum Army’s soldiers who followed them let out exclamations with half dazed expressions.
The scenery of the battlefield that was dyed with light almost brought to mind a hell.
Amongst the KaLu Allied Army’s soldiers who were close to ten thousand, more than half had become gruesome corpses and rolled on the ground.
And the Lancephil Fief Regiment’s soldiers who stood straight amongst those corpses.
The appearances of wearing the dark plate helmets down while equipping crimson armors were truly strange and horrifying enough to raise goosebumps.
A young man amongst them who alone did not wear a plate helmet looked at Elva and made a faint smile.
“It’s been a while.”
Lightly passed greeting.
Elva couldn’t easily respond.
‘Count Roan Lancephil……’
The young man’s identity was Roan.
He, riding on a warhorse, was slightly lowering the black Travias Spear towards the ground.
That look seemed truly relaxed but also commanding.
It was a pressure that prevented even Elva who was said to be the strongest amongst Kallum’s generals from carelessly attacking.
‘I, I can’t be like this…… get a hold of yourself! Elva!’
She was a commander who led a grand troop of ten thousand.
Elva strongly shook her head and glared at Roan.
At that very moment.
“Baroness Elva Dionell. I do not wish to fight with you.”
“Um?”
At Roan’s abrupt words, Elva creased her brows.
The nearby knights too made puzzled expressions.
Roan cheerfully smiled and added on in a calm voice.
“I have been acquainted with you since long ago, and your old friend Baron Sith Wiggins too is striving for a grand cause together with me. Furthermore, your character and abilities that I’ve seen for a long time are the most outstanding amongst those I know of.”
Abrupt praises continued.
“I truly do not wish to clash spears with you.”
Elva lost her words.
‘Wa, was he originally this kind of person?’
A question asked to the self.
She soon shook her head.
Of course, the usual Roan was generous and gentle and almost foolishly kind person.
However, the Roan on the battlefield was different.
Roan on the battlefield was a cold and horrifying and cold-blooded warrior.
There were also cases where he had massacred hundreds, thousands of enemy soldiers to not leave any seeds of trouble.
That him was praising the enemy commander and refusing to fight on the battlefield?
‘It’s something impossible.’
Elva tightly bit her lower lips.
‘There’s some sort of scheme.’
A corner of her heart felt uneasy.
‘I can’t fall into his pace.’
Elva and the Kallum Army was overwhelming in the numbers.
She planned to immediately rush and reach the conclusion.
But at that moment, Roan who was staying quiet once again spoke up in a composed voice.
“But there is a separate even bigger reason that I cannot fight with you.”
“Just what is that supposed to mean?”
Elva couldn’t restrain and showed a reaction.
Roan faintly smiled and affectionately answered as if speaking to an old friend.
“To be exact, it would be more correct to say that there isn’t time to fight.”
Kkugung!
The instant his words finished, a flame erupted on the Maiel Mountain’s east, from the KaLu Allied Army’s right wing’s camp.
“Eh?! Eh! Fi, fire is from the camp……!”
“Our camp’s side is uproarious, commander!”
The rear soldiers discovered the camp’s situation and shouted.
“Wha, what?!”
Elva looked with an urgent expression towards the Maiel Mountain.
A thick smoke was climbing up together with flames.
‘Just what is happening over there?’
She was flustered.
According to the information, there wasn’t anything like a reserve force in the Lancephil Fief Regiment.
Meaning the soldiers that crossed the Parkes River were all.
‘Then just who are the ones who attacked our rear camp!’
Elva was of heart to at least scream towards Roan.
At that moment, Roan pointed towards the right wing’s camp with his spearhead.
“The camp must be completely empty since you dragged out a grand troop like this.”
Words passed as if concerned.
“Shouldn’t you hurry and go back?”
It still was an affectionate tone.
Elva’s face hardened stiffly.
“How did this happen? Was there a troop you’ve hidden?”
She ultimately couldn’t refrain and revealed her heart.
Roan faintly smiled and answered.
“It may be hard to believe, but the mountains and the forests are my land.”
“What does that……”
Elva creased her forehead.
For she simply couldn’t understand.
At that moment, Roan shook his head with a blundered expression.
“I misspoke. It’s not my land but……”
His smile turned even thicker.
“My girl’s land.”
< Amaranth (32) > end.