Chapter 336

When Oleg had just arrived near the northern wall, Ryurik’s main force was still running through the forest, buying time.

Half-giving up on defense and counterattacks, they focused on breaking out of the forest, attempting a forced breakthrough against the humans.

Before Nazar approached Ryurik to advise a retreat, not much time had passed before Ryurik’s roar to retreat echoed loudly.

Even after the beastman warriors retreated like the ebbing tide upon the king’s command, the humans’ chase continued for a while.

—

Paelun’s pursuit force hadn’t completely stopped either.

No matter how fervently they ran, human stamina has its limits.

The continuous march and fierce battles without proper sleep. If they had truly run without a moment’s rest, they would have exhausted all their energy and collapsed before even leaving the forest.

“All troops halt! We’ll camp here briefly until they return!”

With still a few hours before sunrise, after repelling the beastmen’s attack, Valdemar ordered the troops to stop and rest while maintaining a defensive posture.

The knights sat down with expressions as if they had aged ten years. Though still in the forest, this was the limit of how far they could go.

While surging combat spirit could suppress pain, overcoming drooping eyelids was a tough task.

The knights, having filled their stomachs with dry rations, took short naps with their cloaks turned into makeshift sleeping bags.

Chains were haphazardly hung on surrounding trees to prepare for sudden ambushes, and master-level knights took turns on watch duty.

To detect the beastmen’s approach, stronger and more alert individuals were needed for guard duty.

“Is this alright? This undermines the meaning of a forced breakthrough…”

“There’s no choice. The knights are severely depleted from repeated battles. Continuing like this, they’ll just collapse midway.”

While Valdemar and Karl conversed in serious tones, I leaned against a tree trunk, covered myself with a beastman fur cloak like a blanket, and fell asleep.

The snowy dawn was bitterly cold enough to freeze blood, but the fur covering made falling asleep not too difficult.

The beastman fur really does have good performance.

======[Coniferous Forest]======

While the humans slept, the beastmen also refrained from attacking, instead feasting on corpses to recover their exhausted stamina.

It was as if an unspoken agreement had been reached between the fleeing and the pursuing. Both sides needed some rest.

The great warriors had no time to sleep as they discussed future plans.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty? The wound…”

“Don’t worry. Compared to my arm, it’s nothing.”

Ryurik tightly bandaged his leg, which bore a clear sword wound, with cloth torn from a human corpse.

It wouldn’t heal the wound, but it was better than leaving it alone.

Nazar bit his lip and gazed sorrowfully at Ryurik.

‘Ai-shan Gi-or…!’

With each repeated battle against that monster, the king’s body accumulated indelible wounds.

The name of the Beastman Devourer was becoming a symbol of greater hatred than Paelun.

Moreover, Ryurik wasn’t the only one with unhealable injuries.

Valdemar and a few other masters wielded pure Jin silver swords. Even those without pure Jin silver weapons swung Jin-infused arms.

Basil, who had to face Valdemar, had his right shoulder deeply gouged, and Victor’s thigh was severely torn by a saw blade.

Lyudmila and Nazar also had cuts all over their fur, still bleeding.

“Nazar, you suggested retreating, but what’s the plan now? With them coming out like this, it seems difficult to hold them back using the forest as before.”

Lyudmila fiddled with her cracked spear tip as she posed the question.

It was clear they couldn’t hold back the humans attempting a forced breakthrough. While it meant their losses would increase, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

“……”

Nazar’s concern deepened.

No viable alternatives came to mind. Perhaps due to fatigue, his mind wasn’t functioning well either.

“Why not split up and move separately?”

Abigail, casually biting her nails, muttered as if it were no big deal.

“What are you talking about… Abigail, if our numbers decrease further here, even slowing them down will become impossible.”

“No, not to slow them down. I mean, those guys are doing this to protect their country, right? So, if some of us turn direction and head south again, wouldn’t they follow on their own?”

Nazar’s pupils dilated upon hearing this.

An unexpected idea.

Abigail’s seemingly joking remark surprisingly pierced the core of this war!

Simple dispersion would be meaningless. The humans would thoroughly target only Ryurik’s main force. Nazar would have done the same in their position.

Once the king falls… how would they stop the freed Beastman Devourer?

They would all be devoured without exception.

Though wearing human guise, they could never be human—mad monsters.

To the water.

However, what if the dispersed troops rush towards human territory instead of the north?

“Right! That’s it! If we send the detachment south again, they’ll have no choice but to follow! They’ll have to protect their own territory!”

Nazar exclaimed in admiration.

A detachment wouldn’t be able to capture Paleun Castle.

But it was possible to ignore the castle and rush into human villages to carry out massacres. Valdemar could probably guess that much. So, it would be impossible to ignore.

“Indeed… it seems highly possible.”

Vasily also nodded in agreement.

It seemed like a realistic idea to him as well.

“Hmph. See? Everyone agrees. Right, Lyudmila? I can use my brain sometimes, you know?”

“Yes. Well done, well done. Impressive.”

Lyudmila stroked Abigail’s head, who was grinning proudly, and praised her.

The snow leopard Suin purred and shook its head from side to side.

Thus, Ryurik’s main force spent the dawn devising a new strategy.

“Divide the troops into three.”

After much deliberation, Ryurik and Nazar reorganized the troops into three groups.

Allocating too much strength risked the main force collapsing before the detachment, and allocating too little would render the dispersion meaningless.

If the humans didn’t perceive the detachment as a threat, the strategy would be useless.

Hence, three groups.

The main force led by Ryurik himself. A strike force composed of the massive Suins led by Vasily and Viktor.

And the mobile force of Nazar, Lyudmila, and Abigail.

—

Four hours later, as the humans, after a brief rest, prepared to advance again.

Under Ryurik’s command, their final assault began.

“Aren’t you tired, you white brat!”

Halshar leapt up and lunged at Ryurik like a thunderbolt.

Sword and claws clashed, creating a thunderous explosion. The shockwave swept through the surroundings.

That explosion was the signal to start the operation.

“Viktor! Forget them! If they want to go to the north wall, let them! We’ll hit their base!”

Vasily, who had deflected Valdemar’s greatsword, leapt back and shouted.

“Ooooh!”

The massive Suins, led by Viktor, roared and began retreating south.

The strike force. Their role was to rush south and disperse the pursuing forces.

If the enemy’s pursuing force was manageable, they would counterattack. If not, they would continue retreating until an opportunity arose.

Creating that opportunity was the mobile force’s role.

“Lyudmila, Abigail! We’re moving too!”

Nazar climbed onto a tree and shouted.

“See you later, kid!”

“Grasshead-! I’ll definitely kill you someday! Someday!”

Lyudmila, who had been facing Damian, and Abigail, who had been in a standoff with Milia, also quickly retreated.

Along with the other warriors assigned to the mobile force.

Though it was a force of only three great warriors and thirty pure-blooded warriors, it was composed of the fastest-moving Suins.

They too launched a counterattack towards the south, but in a slightly different direction from the strike force’s retreat path.

“These beastly creatures, with such underhanded tactics…!”

Valdemar’s gaze quickly scanned the battlefield.

The massive Suin force rushing southwest. Another Suin force darting southeast. And Ryurik’s force still advancing north.

It was blatant dispersion tactics.

But ignoring it was impossible.

Ryurik was risking the main force by sending all the great warriors south.

Five great warriors and dozens of pure-blooded Suins.

Even if they were split up, as long as they were heading south, they would eventually reach Paleun’s territory.

A defenseless territory with no proper knight forces, only soldiers and villagers left.

‘A massacre will happen…!’

No one could stop it. Just avoiding battles with soldiers and repeatedly raiding the villagers’ settlements would be enough.

Valdemar gritted his teeth.

—

In truth, Ryurik’s detachment had no intention of actually attacking the south. They just wanted the enemy to think that.

Their ultimate goal was to reach the north wall and join up with reinforcements.

The detachment’s dispersion tactics were merely a ruse to keep them in the forest as long as possible.