“We can’t let them leave the forest and head south. But at the same time, we can’t just leave Ryu-rik…!”
Valdemar fell into deep thought.
The Suin, divided into three groups, were each running in different directions. This was contrary to their previous actions of stalling and heading north. Their intentions were clear.
“They want us to follow them back into the forest.”
From the beginning, their strategic goal was to buy time by engaging in sporadic skirmishes until reinforcements could cross the mountains. After buying enough time, they would distance themselves from the Northern Army, exit the forest, and join up with the arriving reinforcements. At the same time, if they left the forest, they would lose the advantage of the terrain and have to engage in battle immediately.
That strategy was thwarted when the Duke decided to force a breakthrough.
It was impossible to stop the Northern Army’s advance, even with some losses, and if they continued forward, they would have exited the forest within hours. If that happened, the Northern Army would seize the initiative on the battlefield.
But now that the Suin had decided to head south, they couldn’t just keep heading north as before. If they didn’t pursue, how would the Suin moving south act?
If they realized their dispersal tactic had failed and regrouped with Ryu-rik, there would be no problem. But what if they abandoned regrouping and continued south, risking Ryu-rik’s safety?
Five Paladins and dozens of pure-blood warriors.
The current forces of Pailoon’s territory couldn’t withstand such power in open battle. The core forces of the North were all in this forest.
“We can’t ignore this. In the worst case, they could scatter and target various parts of the territory…!”
Even a single pure-blood warrior, given the chance, could kill countless territory residents. Ordinary residents, without the proper equipment to fight Suin, stood no chance against a pure-blood warrior.
“Duke Pailoon! I’ll handle this side. Take everyone and go! Protect the territory!”
Ha-shal-leur, having reached the same conclusion, shouted at Valdemar. She was too busy fighting Ryu-rik to maintain formalities and reverted to her usual tone.
Protect. It was a rough way of speaking, but it was undeniably true. After all, she was the only one who could face Ryu-rik. Even a master knight couldn’t last more than ten seconds against him.
The reverse was also true. Without Ryu-rik, no Suin could stand against Ha-shal-leur. She didn’t have the regenerative abilities of the Suin, so if the Paladins risked their lives to attack her alongside Ryu-rik, she might be at a slight disadvantage.
But with all the Paladins, except for the missing Oleg, separated from Ryu-rik, Ha-shal-leur preferred to fight alone. The pure-blood warriors running with Ryu-rik were mere cannon fodder, posing no threat.
“…I leave it to you!”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Valdemar decided to pursue the Suin heading south. As the lord of Pailoon, he had a duty and responsibility to protect the safety of his people.
Even if they relentlessly pursued and defeated Ryu-rik, if tens of thousands were killed in the process, it wouldn’t be a victory.
“Freide! I’ll give you sixty light-armored knights! Take your juniors, Sir Leonor, Ain-gen, and chase down those fleeing through the trees! Can you do it?”
“Absolutely!”
Freide confidently led Leonor, Damien, Milia, and Ain-gen to chase Nazar’s mobile unit. Knights in lighter armor followed her. They couldn’t catch the Suin running through the trees, but they were fast enough to keep up.
“The rest, follow me and pursue Vasiliy! Don’t fall behind!”
“Yes!”
Valdemar’s main force targeted Vasiliy and Victor’s strike team, as they were the core of the Suin forces. Six masters and over a hundred knights began retracing their steps through the forest.
As per the plan refined by Nazar from Abigail’s idea.
======[Suin Mobile Unit]======
“We’ve lured them as planned… but I’m not sure if it’s working.”
The mobile unit, moving southeast, was now split into two groups. One was a decoy unit led by Ryudmila, and the other was a special unit consisting of Nazar and Abigail, two warriors.
Their current southward movement was merely a diversion and deception; their true goal was to create distance and secretly head north. However, with Pailoon’s daughter leading a pursuit force, creating distance wasn’t easy.
Thus, Nazar had devised a strategy. Whether it would work was uncertain.
Ryudmila pulled out a javelin to throw at the pursuing enemies, recalling Nazar’s words.
—
“They have no choice but to pursue us with their full strength. ‘Full strength.’ Do you understand, Ryudmila?”
“So we just run like our tails are on fire?”
Nazar shook his head with a wry smile.
“No, that’s obvious… What I mean is, they’re a mixed force of masters and ordinary knights. And they’re not fully recovered from fatigue. What do you think will happen if they run at full strength? …There will definitely be stragglers. Not everyone can run at the same speed. Eventually, the weaker ones will fall behind, and the formation will stretch. If the rear is attacked, the front knights won’t be able to respond in time.”
A counterattack.
That was why Nazar had taken Abigail and slipped to the side.
“We can’t annihilate them. If the battle drags on, the masters will catch up. It’s a trick that can’t be used twice. But… once they’re hit like that, they’ll have to worry about the stragglers in the rear. Naturally, their speed will slow. Enough for us to create distance and head north!”
…Ryudmila thought it was a plausible plan.
—
They couldn’t allocate too many troops to the special unit. The mobile unit was originally a small group of only thirty-three. If their numbers dwindled too much, the enemy would notice the dispersal.
Thus, the special unit consisted of only four.
Nazar, who had to judge the situation and command the ambush, and Abigail, who was the fastest and could slaughter ordinary knights in the blink of an eye. Along with two snow leopard Suin who were under Abigail’s command. For stealth, ambush, and retreat, there were no individuals more suitable than the snow leopard Suin.
Ryudmila was excluded from the ambush team because she had to stay at the rear of the decoy unit, continuously harassing the pursuers with javelins. If she left, the pursuers would surely notice the absence of flying spears.
Abigail readily agreed, finding it amusing. Considering how she had been frantically targeting the archer girl, her compliance was surprisingly smooth.
Ryudmila found it a bit unexpected but had no complaints. In fact, she was satisfied. It seemed Abigail, who always insisted on her own way, had grown a little.
‘…It’s about time to start.’
Ryudmila quickly turned and hurled the javelin she was holding at the humans chasing from behind.
The steel javelin, piercing through tree trunks like paper, shot like a flash of light. Though the distance was great, the sharp tip aimed straight for the center of the enemy.
It was meaningless, though.
– Kwaaaang!
An arrow, as if in retaliation, collided with the javelin, shattering it. The fragments scattered in all directions, raining down branches and snow.
Ryudmila calmly pulled out another javelin, as if she had expected this. She never expected to hit anything in the first place.
With the master archer still active, sniping the enemy with her javelins was nearly impossible. The repeated, futile javelin throws were merely to draw the enemy’s attention to her.
—
‘As expected. Stragglers are starting to appear. Just a little longer, and the opportunity will come.’
Meanwhile, Nazar, hiding to avoid detection, was keenly observing the situation.
As per his plan, the pursuit force led by Pailoon’s daughter had formed a long, stretched-out formation. The repeated javelin throws and retreats by the Suin had them on edge.
The perfect opportunity was drawing near.
“Hey, Nazar. I have a question about Oleg.”
“…Oleg?”
Nazar turned his head slightly at Abigail’s voice. Given the situation, he would have postponed any other questions, but the name Oleg caught his attention.
He disliked Oleg.
A decade ago, the Snow Tiger had lost his entire clan and was wandering alone. Nazar wasn’t a Paladin then but was a warrior in his prime, and subduing a young tiger wasn’t difficult.
Feeling pity for the begging cub, he had shown mercy once… but once grown, the beast had bared its fangs at him.
“You sent Oleg as a messenger, right? Is that okay? If that guy betrays us and doesn’t bring reinforcements, we’ll be in trouble.”
“……!”
Nazar couldn’t help but be shocked. Not because he hadn’t considered the possibility of Oleg betraying them, but because Abigail had the intelligence to think that far. The Abigail he knew was a woman who seemed to have only impulses in her brain, not reason.
“…It’s fine. That single-celled creature doesn’t have the brains to betray us, but just in case, I sent one of my subordinates to follow Oleg.”
Nazar smiled reassuringly as he answered Abigail’s question. If Oleg showed any suspicious movements, the warrior he sent would return immediately to report.
“Ah, so that’s why Drozdoff is missing. You sent him as a watchdog?”
“That’s right. So don’t worry.”
Nazar nodded and turned his gaze back to the enemy. By now, they were stretched out enough to target the rear. It was the perfect opportunity.
‘Good. If we ambush them now… no, wait a second.’
A sudden thought made Nazar’s pupils dilate.
‘Did I… mention Drozdoff’s name?!’
He had only said he sent a subordinate, not who. So how did Abigail accurately name Drozdoff? Among the many Suin lost in repeated battles, how did she pinpoint him?
“That’s a relief.Oleg guessed right.“
As the shocked Nazar tried to turn around, a blue longsword pierced his throat.
==================
[Brief Explanation]
This was roughly the plan! The strike team was buying time by drawing a long trajectory before heading north, while the mobile unit, with a small special unit, planned to ambush once and then dash north!
The strike team might be fine, but the mobile unit is screwed!
[!– Slider main container –]
