Chapter 210

The soldiers fell silent in an instant.

Of course, they would.

The sight of a single arrow slicing through a dozen men was something they’d probably never even imagined in their wildest dreams.

Honestly, even I was impressed.

“M-magic…! A magician! Countess Renea has summoned a magician!”

“A magician shooting arrows? Could it be an elf?!”

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re all wrong.

Not a magician, not summoned by Countess Renea, and definitely not an elf.

I nocked another arrow onto the bowstring.

“Spread out! Spread out! The magic arrows are coming!”

The panicked soldiers scrambled to scatter. Too late, though.

– *Thwack!*

Another red streak of light shot forth, scattering the soldiers into pieces.

Screams filled the air as severed limbs painted the sky.

‘…Impressive power, I’ll give it that. A few dozen of these, and the battle’s over, right?’

[It’s not that simple. Effective against tightly packed soldiers, but it has its limits against those with proper armor and shields.]

So, not a perfect solution, huh?

Well, compared to enveloping an entire sword, the amount of life force I can channel into an arrowhead is pretty limited.

Still, this should be enough to create an opening.

“The sword of Randenburg, Nigel, has come to punish you!”

With a bold declaration, Nigel, gripping his spear, pierced through the shattered formation.

A soldier impaled on the spear let out a single scream.

The panicked soldiers, unable to even raise their spears, were knocked down and trampled like dominoes.

“A knight! A knight has broken through!”

“Wasn’t Randenburg on our side?! Why…!”

“This isn’t the time for questions! Stop him! Get him off his horse!”

“You try it!”

Like a rubber band stretched taut and sliced with a blade, their formation split wide open.

Nigel spurred his horse forward, shaking off the corpse on his spear and thrusting in all directions.

With each flash of the spear, soldiers screamed.

I, too, put away my bow and drew Durandal.

Even though we’re charging with unstoppable momentum, if the enemy regains their composure, Nigel could get bogged down.

“Let’s go!”

Gripping Durandal tightly, I urged my horse forward.

The surging life force radiated in all directions.

“Bloody mist and black hair…! Could it be…?”

“I’ve heard of it! Ai-shan Gi-or! The Beastman Devourer, the Carnivorous Beast Ai-shan Gi-or!”

“Why is the Beastman Devourer here…!”

“How should I know! Maybe he’s hungry!”

Your sense of humor is truly something.

As a token of appreciation, I gifted them a dagger.

Following Hersela’s advice, I infused it with a hefty dose of life force.

Their upper bodies were sliced into pieces.

Soldiers drenched in blood and gore screamed in convulsions.

“Ugh… Aaaaaah!”

I charged through the panicked soldiers without hesitation.

Deflecting clumsily aimed spear thrusts with my blade.

“P-please… spare me…”

“No.”

Facing a soldier whose face had turned ghostly white with fear, I swung Durandal at full speed.

The diagonally severed upper body tumbled to the ground.

—

I recalled the time we broke through over a thousand corpse-raised monsters.

Even with Asha by my side, I had to abandon my horse and run within minutes.

Compared to that, this was a walk in the park.

Humans just collapse and die after a few cuts, and a little intimidation is enough to make them cower in fear.

As long as I watch out for the incoming arrows, it’s practically a stroll.

“Aaaah!”

A screaming skull split in half.

Brains oozed out along the clean cut.

“Uwaaaah!”

Charging at me with a spear? Either you’re incredibly brave or completely insane. Probably the latter.

I grabbed the spear aimed at my leg and lifted it vertically.

The soldier’s body was hoisted into the air.

“H-huh…?”

The soldier panicked at the sudden change in altitude.

You were trained not to let go of your spear, huh? Should’ve dropped it.

I tossed him into the air.

If he grows wings, maybe he’ll survive.

“Aaaah!”

Leaving the comical scream behind, I charged forward.

No one could block Jin’s blade.

“Infantry, fall back from him! Archers! Aim for his horse! Fire!”

A command echoed from a distance.

Turning, I saw about fifty archers drawing their bows in unison.

A knight, presumably the commander, glared at me from beside them.

“Fire!”

At the knight’s shout, dozens of arrows rained down.

A concentrated volley aimed at my horse—standard tactics, but not particularly effective in this situation.

I leaned forward, balancing on the tips of my feet in the saddle, and grabbed an unlucky soldier to throw.

“Aaaah! S-save me—urk, gah…!”

The flailing man flew through the air, blocking the arrows with his body before crashing to the ground.

Only three arrows made it past him, and even those were deflected by Durandal.

“Is that… even human? No matter how skilled, treating an armed soldier like a pebble…!”

You know who I am, but not what I’m capable of? Typical of a country knight.

I turned my horse and charged at him.

“Dammit…! Keep firing! Stop his charge! Infantry, protect the archers! Form a shield wall!”

If you can stop me, go ahead and try.

The archers reluctantly drew their bows, but the infantry, their morale completely shattered, ignored the knight’s orders and scrambled to flee.

I expected as much. Conscripted soldiers wouldn’t be assigned as archers or cavalry, so most would be infantry.

They’re only brave when they have the upper hand; a little fear, and they scatter like roaches.

“H-help! Save me!”

“Sorry, no can do.”

As the fleeing soldier…

Grabbing one, I crushed their limbs to make a makeshift tactical shield.

After all, a body bunker is the best for blocking arrows, right?

The soldier, who had been screaming and writhing, finally quieted down after embracing a bunch of arrows.

Thanks to the meat shield absorbing the arrows, I managed to get close to them before they could finish their second volley.

“Done shooting?”

I tossed the now-useless shield at them and raised my sword.

“Ai-shan Gi-or! What’s the reason for this madness? Count Dubien is a vassal of His Highness Leopold!”

“I know! I heard it earlier!”

Ignoring the charging knight, I answered while cutting down the fleeing archers.

With each swing of my sword, their heads rolled like harvested crops.

“Are you betraying us?!”

“Betraying who? If it’s the Leopold I know, he’d probably say I did well! If you’re curious, go ask Elpinel!”

After cutting down all the archers, I immediately charged at the knight.

A blue arc split his armor in half.

—

“Your lord, Count Dubien, has been captured!”

While I chased and cut down the fleeing enemies, Nigel, who had captured Dubien, shouted loudly.

His armor was splattered with blood, and the horse he was riding was different from before—probably lost his previous one.

Though she herself seemed unharmed. Typical Nigel. Reliable as ever.

Originally, I planned to break through with Nigel, but the enemies were so weak that it wasn’t necessary.

Instead, it was more urgent to deal with the ones scattering in all directions.

Not a single one could be let go. If they escaped, they’d just turn into bandits.

“Drop your weapons and surrender if you don’t want your heads flying! I’ll cut down anyone who tries to run!”

While splitting the knights’ heads, I shouted at the top of my lungs so the entire confused army could hear.

“W-we surrender! Please, spare our lives…!”

Taking it as a sign of mercy, they dropped their weapons one by one and begged on their knees.

Out of over four hundred enemies, less than half remained, and all the knights had been slaughtered.

With no way to escape, they had no choice but to surrender.

The battle was over.

Compared to the fights I’d been through, this was laughably easy.

If it hadn’t been a surprise attack, it might’ve been a bit more troublesome.

—

“Median Count! Sir Nigel! What’s the meaning of this?!”

Inside the command tent the enemies had used, a bound middle-aged man shouted at me furiously.

Count Dubien. With his irritable and stubborn face, bulging eyes, and the look of a rabid dog, he was quite the sight.

“What do you mean? We’re punishing some insane butchers. What are you glaring at? Want me to pluck those eyes out?”

“Butchers? That was a tactical operation to crush the Renea territory! As a Median Count from Ka’har, you should know that!”

His excuse didn’t surprise me at all.

A tactical operation, huh?

‘Well, that’s what he says. What do you think?’

[Why ask me? I have no intention of defending the defeated.]

Wow, cold.

Just a few days ago, you praised me for being good at war.

“Release me at once! Helping the enemy and attacking your own allies—if His Highness Leopold finds out…!”

“Shut up.”

I plucked out his left eye.

“G-gahhh! My eye! My eye…!!”

“What if Leopold finds out? What’s gonna change? You think he’ll applaud you for what you did? Ridiculous. Never heard of such nonsense.”

“G-gahhh! Aghhh! Mercy!! Gyaaahhh!”

Next, the other eye. Then both ears, and the nose.

Count Dubien, collapsed on the ground, screamed and convulsed.

Blood streamed from every hole in his now-smooth head, like a red Easter egg.

“Just because we’re both counts, did you think we were equals? Just because we’re both Leopold’s faction, did you think I wouldn’t touch you? Delusional. Even if I ground you into fertilizer, Leopold would just scold me a bit and move on, you know?”

Of course, I had no intention of grinding him up.

After completely crushing his limbs, Dubien passed out and went limp.

“Nigel, pour some healing potion to keep him alive. Keep an eye on the ones outside so they don’t run. I need to go meet this Countess Renea or whatever.”

I had some requests for her.

I’d clean up the mess before leaving.

“Are you sure? Entering the enemy’s castle alone is…”

“If I lose to these guys, I’m not worth much anyway. I’ll be back soon.”

At most, there’d be a hundred of them. No big deal.

“Understood. But if you don’t return within an hour, I’ll lead the troops and attack the castle.”

“Do as you like.”

Nigel nodded and poured a potion into Dubien’s face.

—

Having witnessed the battle outside the castle, Countess Renea welcomed my visit and readily accepted my demands.

To defect from Ernst’s faction and join Leopold’s, or at least remain neutral.

And to prepare two hundred skewers.

I didn’t say I wouldn’t take their heads, just that I wouldn’t kill them outright.