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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Vice-Commander! Please give the order to charge!”
“Not yet.”
Darius gritted his teeth, staring at the scene unfolding before him, as his soldiers shouted from beside him.
A handful of suppression force knights were tearing through their ranks. It was a sight that brought tears to his eyes.
“Vice-Commander! We must launch a surprise attack now!”
“We wait until all our forces are assembled.”
A surprise attack was pointless. The enemy had already noticed their gathering.
But judging by the tightly closed main gate, they had no intention of retreating back inside the fortress.
They were launching a final counterattack.
Then they had to gather all their available cavalry and crush them.
They had to completely obliterate the remnants of the enemy forces, so those cockroaches wouldn’t dare make another move.
“All of the cavalry from Fort Four have arrived! Are you planning to mobilize the cavalry from the other castles as well?”
“No, this is enough. Form the assault formation.”
“Form the assault formation!”
The moment the order was given, the cavalry began to move with precision, their movements swift and efficient.
It was a maneuver they had drilled countless times, driven by their determination to establish a beastman nation on this very plain.
A thousand cavalrymen had formed a dense formation.
‘The suppression force’s skills are superior.’
He was confident that their elite cavalry wouldn’t panic and flee in a head-on clash.
But the problem was the difference in skill.
The enemy would quickly identify the weakest point in their assault formation and attempt to break through, disrupting their ranks.
Once their formation crumbled, they would be picked off one by one, despite their numerical advantage.
That was why he had devised this formation.
A thick, impenetrable formation, wider than the enemy’s, supported by a dense rear guard.
With this much of a numerical advantage, the skill difference wouldn’t matter.
“Charge!”
“Chaaarge!!!”
The cavalry roared Darius’s order and surged forward.
He could see the enemy charging towards them in the distance.
Their formation was, as expected, wedge-shaped.
Did they really believe they could break through with such a small force?
Or had they chosen a glorious death over a slow demise inside the fortress?
There was no way to discern their intentions from behind their steel helmets.
“Spread out!”
As they reached full speed, Darius gave the order.
The cavalrymen on the flanks accelerated, flanking the enemy formation like a bird spreading its wings.
It was a tactic to prevent the enemy from changing direction and attacking their rear.
‘What is that?’
As they got closer, he saw horses with two riders in the enemy formation.
They must have been short on horses.
Darius was now certain.
The enemy had been driven to desperation and was launching a final, futile attack.
They were charging towards their deaths, trying to prove their loyalty to that arrogant Emperor.
We’ve won.
We’ve finally crushed the suppression force.
All the beastmen cavalrymen believed that, as they closed in on the enemy, less than fifty meters separating them.
Rumble…
“Don’t be afraid! We’ve won!”
“Uoooooo!!!”
The enemy’s assault force had entered their encirclement.
It was too late to turn back.
Yet, the enemy continued to accelerate.
Fools.
They weren’t fighting for their lives, their freedom, or even their dignity. Why were they so desperate?
“Trample them… Huh?”
As the enemy approached, just before impact…
…the beastmen cavalrymen’s faces turned pale with fear.
It was difficult to explain, but a profound sense of dread washed over them.
A primal fear, etched into their genes from the ancient days when their ancestors had fought against the Demons.
Those who were especially sensitive to mana could sense it.
An immense amount of mana was being woven into a rune right before their eyes.
But there was no way to escape.
They were charging at full speed, their formation dense and impenetrable, with no gaps to escape through.
Suddenly, a flash of light blinded them.
“We have to…”
Boom!
The flash instantly engulfed the battlefield.
The deafening roar shattered their eardrums, and smoke obscured their vision, leaving them disoriented.
They shook their heads, trying to clear their senses, and then—
“What…!”
…they saw a crater in the ground, and their flanks, which had been densely packed just a moment ago, were empty.
The horses had panicked at the sudden noise, and the soldiers, confused, were scrambling in disarray.
“Break through!”
“Uh…?”
“Gah!”
The enemy’s wedge formation pierced their ranks. They had poured through the gaps created by the flash of light.
The beastmen cavalrymen who tried to resist were pushed back and fell to the ground.
The wedge formation broke through their ranks and then fanned out, charging towards the rear of the Crane Wing Formation.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“Run away!”
It was impossible to turn around and face the enemy while they were packed so tightly.
In fact, the moment the flash of light shattered their formation, the battle was already lost.
The fear of another magical attack…
…was etched into their hearts. Their formation crumbled as they started fleeing in different directions.
Some tried to counterattack, but their scattered charges were easily repelled.
“Stop chasing them! We’re within range of their archers!”
The suppression force finally gave up on pursuing the fleeing beastmen cavalrymen as they reached Fort Four.
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A monumental counterattack.
We had done it.
I hadn’t realized it while we were chasing and slaughtering the enemy, but as we returned to the fortress, exhausted, the reality of our victory sunk in.
“Wow…”
Three long, scorched trails were etched into the ground.
Ainz’s maximum firepower, fueled by all his mana.
The temperature at the epicenter would have been hot enough to vaporize a human.
To maximize its effectiveness, it was crucial to get as close to the enemy as possible.
Close enough for our spear tips to almost touch.
Ainz, thankfully, hadn’t panicked in that critical moment and had successfully cast the spell.
One blast at each flank…
…and one blast at the front, where the Vice-Commander was located.
Three blasts of fire were enough to completely shatter the enemy’s formation.
The enemy’s dense formation had amplified the damage.
The rest was predictable.
What soldier could remain calm and collected after witnessing half of their comrades vaporized before their eyes?
Naturally, they had allowed us to break through, fleeing without even attempting a proper counterattack.
“How many did we kill?”
“….”
Horse and beastman corpses were scattered across the battlefield.
Based on a rough estimate, Ainz’s fire magic had instantly killed at least two hundred.
And we had killed about a hundred more during the pursuit.
And there were about two hundred prisoners who had surrendered.
Three hundred enemy casualties and two hundred prisoners.
We had decimated half of the enemy’s main cavalry force.
And our losses? Only two.
One knight had fallen off his horse after colliding with the enemy and had injured his leg.
And Ainz was complaining of dizziness from motion sickness.
“Vice-Commander! Open your eyes! Vice-Commander!”
“Darius!”
The prisoners were gathered in a group, wailing loudly.
As I was about to approach them, Pelaine stopped me.
“It could be a trap. I’ll go check it out first.”
“It’s fine. They’re unarmed.”
“…”
I ignored her and dismounted.
What could a bunch of unarmed beastmen do?
It would be faster for me to draw Vafe and slice them down.
I drew my sword and, along with Trie and Pelaine, pushed through the crowd of beastmen.
“Vice-Commander…”
We found them gathered around a body, sobbing.
No, it wasn’t a body.
It was Darius, his upper body still alive, his eyes blinking.
It seemed like he had been caught in the blast while trying to escape, his lower body completely obliterated.
I slowly walked towards him and stood before him.
“Schlus… Hainkel…”
“Darius.”
What was his last name?
I searched my memories, and then closed my mouth.
He didn’t have a last name. He had been a slave.
Even after being freed by Lorraine, he had refused to take a last name.
He had said he wanted to remember his days as a slave.
Right, he was just Darius.
“Do you… Do you hate us beastmen that much…?”
He was wrong.
I had no such personal feelings.
They had threatened the unity of the Empire, and I was here to stop them.
Their justice had simply clashed with mine.
That was all.
“I respect you. A man who sought freedom. I promise you. The beastmen of this land will never be enslaved again. I will bring Lorraine to his knees, but the beastmen who inherit your will will never lose their freedom.”
“The Emancipation Proclamation… You weren’t lying…?”
“I don’t lie. You can trust me.”
“Damn it… How can I… Ugh… Gah…!”
Darius coughed up blood, his words trailing off.
It seemed like the end was near.
Even in this state, it was a testament to his willpower that he could still hold a conversation.
“I believe you… Schlus Hainkel… I’ll believe you…”
He closed his eyes, his last thoughts for his people.
He could have chosen to distrust me, to resist until the very end.
He could have urged his fellow prisoners to attack me, even if it meant their deaths.
He couldn’t have been unaware that it would lead to the annihilation of the prisoners.
He had chosen to trust me, even though he couldn’t truly believe in me, to save his two hundred comrades.
He was an extraordinary man.
“Can we… Can we hold a funeral…?”
“….”
A beastman soldier, his face stained with tears, clung to me.
Trie and Pelaine, startled, pointed their swords at him.
His cheek was sliced by the blade, but he didn’t flinch.
“Do beastmen have a special funeral ritual?”
“No, sir, but…”
“Then we’ll recover Darius’s body.”
“Mr. Schlus! Sob!”
I pried his hands off me and turned around.
“Please! At least his body!”
“We’ll hold the funeral.”
“Excuse me…? What do you…”
“Sir Darius was just appointed as my direct subordinate knight. Therefore, it’s only right that he receives a state funeral, just like the other knights.”
“…”
I pushed through the dumbfounded prisoners.
The beastmen parted, creating a path for me, like Moses parting the Red Sea.
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Damn