“Hmm… If the ‘hero’ of the capital is so confident, I guess it must be true. Didn’t you all see it too? The divine power Count Median showed on the Zeren Plains, and the scars he and Ryurik left on the fortress walls. If that beast calling itself the Winter Wolf is as strong as the Count, then it’s definitely going to be a tough opponent for us alone.”
Duke Pailoon murmured softly, as if soothing the knights.
“Well… that’s true.”
The knights reluctantly agreed.
Of course, they had to agree.
It’s just their pride that made them reluctant to admit it, but what I said was the absolute truth without a hint of exaggeration.
In fact, even if one reached the level of a hero, they weren’t invincible.
The power of Life Force consumes energy. For a typical hero, if fifteen to twenty masters and over a hundred knights launched a relentless assault, they’d eventually fall.
The problem is that neither I nor Ryurik are typical heroes.
The power of Life Force I possess, or Ryurik’s regenerative abilities, were useful in duels against strong foes, but fundamentally, they were abilities optimized for sweeping away large numbers of weaker opponents.
At the pinnacle of that was the heroic saga possessed by Hersela from the original story.
I’ve already manifested my own heroic saga, so I probably can’t use that technique.
I’ve only seen it in the game, so I don’t even know how to activate it.
“Count Median, if you fight Ryurik again, can you kill him?”
“It’ll take some time, but if there’s no interference, it’s possible.”
The Reverse Heaven Sword has already been exposed, so they’ll be on guard, but the only way he can counter my attacks is by dodging them like a lizard cutting off its tail.
Even if his regeneration seems infinite, it’ll eventually run out, so if I keep pushing him, I’ll have a chance. Especially since he doesn’t even have his left arm now.
Moreover, unlike when he fights hit-and-run, he can’t properly respond when I get up close and personal.
That’s how I got the perfect opportunity to swing the Reverse Heaven Sword. I failed to cut his neck, though.
In a way, it’s an obvious weakness.
The only opponents he’s fought are beastmen of his own size or weaker humans he could overwhelm.
He’s probably never faced an opponent half his size diving into his chest to attack.
“If I’m willing to take serious injuries, I might be able to finish him off faster than expected.”
Staying close to him is risky for me too, but if I need to end it quickly, it’s worth considering.
—
After Duke Pailoon’s statement, no more knights opposed the pursuit.
Even the knights who advocated caution admitted that without me, they couldn’t stop Ryurik. Though they didn’t look too happy about it.
All that was left was organizing the pursuit party.
It didn’t take long. Once the decision to chase them was made, every second counted.
Every knight who wasn’t seriously injured was mobilized for the pursuit. Both northern knights and Empire knights.
Those who had fought through the night and those who had just finished a grueling forced march. Both groups needed rest, but there was no time.
At least the northern knights were in better shape.
Even though it was a forced march, they had ridden horses, not run on foot.
They were tired, but compared to the Empire knights who had just fought a brutal battle hours ago, their fatigue was nothing.
On the other hand, the Empire knights were full of wounded, even excluding the seriously injured.
Duke Pailoon distributed all the top-grade potions stored in the supply warehouse to them and even had the priests focus their healing spells on them, temporarily postponing the treatment of the seriously injured.
Thanks to that, the Empire knights’ bodies were still shimmering with holy light.
By the time they encountered the beastmen, most of their wounds would probably be healed.
As for me, due to my demon resistance, potions had reduced effects, so I could only rely on healing miracles. But the only serious injury I had was from the knee strike to my abdomen.
The rest were just torn muscles or bruises.
Compared to the wolf guy who lost an arm, these injuries were barely worth calling wounds.
—
An hour later, the pursuit party, fully organized and re-equipped, gathered in front of the castle gates.
Eighty Empire knights, two hundred and thirty northern knights, eleven masters, and me.
The numbers weren’t huge, but this was the maximum force the northern army could muster at the moment.
It was impossible to mobilize the soldiers for the pursuit.
They’d only slow us down, and even if we used all the potions and priests stored in Pailoon Castle, it would be impossible to fully recover all the soldiers.
Besides, we didn’t even have enough horses to carry them all.
The Empire army had brought less than five hundred horses when they were dispatched to the north.
While the pursuit party was being assembled, I also patched up my tattered armor as best I could.
The fur was all torn up…
Stitching leather, removing broken scales, and reinforcing with black iron plates. Not that I did the repairs myself; the castle blacksmiths took care of it.
The leather armor, covered in stitch marks, mixed with silver scales and black plates, looked ridiculously patchy, like a clown’s outfit, but there was no helping it.
The walls were overflowing with beastmen hides, but there was no time to skin and process them. The armor scales were originally made by demi-humans, so only Asha could repair them.
“Knights of Pailoon, hunters of the north! The time to hunt winter has come! Let the arrogant beasts feel the terror of being hunted, the wrath of humanity! Charge!”
“Death to the beasts!”
The knights spurred their horses and charged. Their horsemanship was clumsy, and the ground conditions were terrible, but it was still much faster than running on two legs.
—
Even while riding, the discussion of tactics continued.
The six masters of the northern army rode at the front, seemingly with nothing to say, while Duke Pailoon, Freide, and Karl were positioned in the center of the formation. I was also chattering away beside them.
“The enemy is scattered, fleeing in disarray. We don’t know where the ‘second rally point’ Ryurik mentioned is, but until they reach it, they’ll likely remain in small groups.”
“Then should we split our knights too? If they’re scattered, we could try picking them off one by one.”
Karl shook his head at Freide’s suggestion. I agreed.
“No, our forces are too weak for that. If the distance closes, they’ll notice us. Splitting our numbers now would only lead to our defeat.”
What kind of divide and conquer is that? The purebloods alone outnumber our knights, and if you add the half-breeds, there are over a thousand. Splitting our forces would be like committing suicide.
“…You’re right.”
Freide nodded, her face slightly red as if she just realized how foolish her suggestion was. She wasn’t usually this clueless. Maybe fatigue and anger had clouded her mind.
Come to think of it, she was the only one who lost in the wall battle. Bad luck, but it must be frustrating.
“Hmm…”
Duke Pailoon nodded slightly at the sight, his stiff lips curling ever so slightly.
“Count Medean is right. Dividing our forces at this point is a bad move. We must focus our strength and strike the enemy’s head first. Understood, Freide?”
“Uh, I was just throwing it out there! I didn’t really mean to split us up…”
Freide, her face red, protested to her father, looking unfairly accused. It didn’t seem like she was just throwing it out there.
“…Alright. Let’s leave it at that.”
Duke Pailoon nodded, letting his daughter’s excuse slide. Freide’s face turned even redder at her father’s leniency.
They seem to get along well. The iron-blooded Duke softened a bit in front of his daughter, though it wasn’t very noticeable.
[How unpleasant.]
Hersela muttered, clearly annoyed.
‘Why?’
[If a grown child doesn’t aim for their parent’s head, it’s not right. Acting like a spoiled child, how can I see that as good?]
…She’s spouting nonsense again.
‘If that were the right world, it’d collapse in no time. No one would want to have kids.’
[Ha! If cowards are too afraid of inheritance to have children, they don’t deserve to continue their lineage!]
Her confident tone, as if it were the most obvious thing, left me speechless. Who else in the world calls patricide for inheritance “continuation of lineage”?
Anyway, the pursuit team charged toward the northern wall in a united front. We didn’t know where the beasts’ rally point was, but it had to be between the northern wall and Pailoon Castle. We’d catch up eventually.
Though we were delayed a bit by rest, meetings, and reorganization…
The enemy was mostly injured, so their retreat speed shouldn’t be too fast.
