Chapter 690

“Now! Full volley! Aim for their flanks!”

The Ka`har siege force that had broken through the city gates was met with the Imperial Army’s defensive formations, densely packed with wooden stakes in the passageways and alleys, and a crossfire of arrows from the archers positioned behind them.

A well-timed encirclement volley, targeting the moment when most of the cavalry had gathered near the gates.

The Ka`har soldiers frantically raised their shields and swung their spears to counter, but blocking the barrage of arrows raining down from three directions simultaneously was impossible without an extra pair of arms.

*”Hihihihihing!”*

Horses with arrows lodged in their sides screamed in agony, thrashing wildly. Riders were flung from their mounts, tumbling to the ground in a chaotic mess.

The soldiers, having slowed their pace upon entering the gates, managed to avoid fatal injuries and scrambled to their feet. However, the riderless horses had no way to resist the relentless arrow storm.

The once-gallant steeds, now resembling porcupines, collapsed, foaming at the mouth and defecating in terror.

*”Kreeuk! These bastards…!”*

Enraged cavalrymen charged toward the formations spitting out arrows. A furious assault, their eyes blazing with anger. The weight of their horses combined with their speed, all focused on the tips of their lances.

Rather than dodging the arrow rain, they aimed to break through head-on, a testament to their bravery.

“Hold your ground! Don’t falter!”

But bravery without wisdom is no different from recklessness.

Most of the charging cavalry had no choice but to halt just before the formations.

Even the finest warhorses, capable of enduring the pain of arrow wounds, couldn’t bring themselves to charge headlong into a wall of sharp wooden stakes and dozens of spears.

*”Purururuk…!”*

Even if they forced their mounts to charge, they wouldn’t break through the formation. Instead, they’d be skewered like kebabs, meeting a meaningless death.

*”Not yet, these puny stakes—!”*

A plainsman, with an arrow lodged in his arm, spurred his riddled horse and leaped toward the formation, aiming to disrupt the Imperial Army’s ranks from above.

But his desperate struggle was futile. Soldiers from the third and fourth rows raised their spears, impaling him like a condemned prisoner.

*”Kkeuk…!”*

The cavalryman, now as full of holes as his horse, spurted blood like a fountain and died.

The Imperial soldiers, drenched in the blood raining down from above, shook their spears and flung the corpse onto the rooftops.

The shredded and fragmented body stained the rooftops red.

—

“Keep firing! Don’t hold back, rain down arrows and magic!”

Following the knights’ orders, the archers in the middle rows of the formation pulled their bowstrings until their fingers bled.

The mages in the rear rows also gathered their mana, firing flame arrows and wind blades to blunt the enemy’s advance.

Combat mages were a rare class, with only one assigned per formation, but each was worth ten archers in combat power.

After all, both men and horses feared fire more than arrows.

Moreover, the mages didn’t just use magic to kill; they employed various methods to hinder the cavalry’s charge.

They froze the ground with ice magic to make the enemy slip, cast restraint spells on riders to force them off their mounts, or precisely manipulated wind to alter the trajectory of arrows, making them unpredictable for the Ka`har.

*”Kraaak!”*

*”They’re using cursed sorcery!”*

The cavalrymen who had charged recklessly paid the price for their foolishness, dying helplessly.

Occasionally, a lance would pierce through the front of the formation, but at best, it would only kill one or two soldiers. The Imperial Army’s defensive wall, though narrow, was too thick.

Even the sides of the formation were blocked by walls, making it impossible to flank without demolishing entire buildings.

Of course, such a feat was impossible for ordinary cavalry.

For ordinary cavalry, that is.

*”Perfectly scattered!”*

The plains’ warriors, elites equivalent to the Empire’s knights, abandoned their horses and swiftly leaped onto the rooftops.

For ordinary cavalry, the city’s buildings were like walls blocking their path, but for the warriors, they were mere obstacles that couldn’t be crossed on horseback.

They jumped onto the roofs, firing arrows down at the Imperial soldiers below or leaping into their midst, swinging their weapons.

“Raise your spears! Watch above! Block the top!”

Though their reckless leaps weren’t much different from the cavalry’s doomed charges, there was a vast gap between them and ordinary soldiers.

*”Is this all you’ve got?!”*

The warriors of the Great Plains possessed the skill to easily deflect the spears thrust at them.

Every time a warrior leaped down from the rooftops, cracks formed in the formation, and a storm of blood followed.

*”Aaaah!”*

A one-sided slaughter. The densely packed Imperial soldiers fell one after another, their blood spraying as the warriors’ blades cut through them.

Even if the formation hadn’t been dense, their skills were no match for the plains’ warriors.

But there were forces capable of facing such strong opponents.

*”How dare you—?!”*

If the Great Plains had warriors, the Empire had knights.

The knights commanding small formations blocked the warriors who had broken through, swinging their longswords at those who had leaped onto the rooftops.

The warriors’ curved blades clashed fiercely with the knights’ longswords, sending sparks flying.

—

Ludwig’s tactic of using small spear formations to engage in urban combat had temporarily halted the Ka`har’s advance, but that was the limit.

The formations blocking the alleys had successfully stopped the cavalry’s charge, but the disparity in combat power between the two sides was too great to secure victory.

Knights and warriors, masters and paladins, war chiefs and heroes.

The gap in high-level combat power, something even Ludwig couldn’t overcome, was slowly tipping the scales of the battlefield.

“…It seems this will be our grave.”

Joshua, his brow furrowed, sighed and raised his longsword. Even Heinrich, who would usually chide him for such pessimistic talk, couldn’t deny it.

The three of them couldn’t even handle Or-han alone, and now a new war chief had joined his side.

*”Vermin of the Empire. I won’t let you die easily. I’ll cut off your limbs and hang you on poles, forcing you to watch as the warriors of the plains sever and burn the limbs of all Westerners!”*

The war chief Hatan, who had broken through the spear formations in an instant and rushed to Or-han’s side, growled his declaration.

He vowed to avenge Ibamai, whose legs had been severed, Glar, who had been burned alive, and Or-han, who had lost his left arm.

“…Heinrich, you handle Hatan. Frederick and I will try to hold off Or-han.”

“Wouldn’t Sir Frederick be better suited—”

“No, you’re the better choice.”

Joshua shook his head, explaining why Heinrich, not Frederick, should face Hatan.

“Hatan’s heroic tale imbues his crescent moon blade with the weight of a thousand pounds. It’s impossible to block head-on… but you can disrupt its trajectory and evade.”

Heinrich’s heroic tale, Keres’ Wrath, was a technique that shook the earth, creating openings rather than directly attacking.

That made him suitable to face Hatan. Even a strike with the force of a thousand pounds would struggle to hit a hero who had lost their balance.

*”Enough blabbering! Time is running out!”*

Or-han, glancing at Hatan, charged at Joshua with full force.

Joshua, unleashing his Giant Hunting Sword, blocked Or-han’s blade but was sent flying. Frederick’s thrown spear, aimed at the opening, was intercepted by Or-han’s kick and exploded.

*”Hand over your limbs!”*

At the same time, Hatan, wielding his crescent moon blade, charged toward the Empire’s heroes. His horse, unscathed, tore through the ground as it galloped.

“I’ll send you to join your comrades!”

Heinrich, standing in Hatan’s path, shook the earth and swung his halberd in defiance.

A series of deafening roars echoed.

—

Screams, wails, and battle cries engulfed the city. A brutal urban battle. The Imperial Army’s formations, blocking the Ka`har’s advance in the alleys, began to retreat.

Not because of a retreat order, but because they could no longer hold the enemy back.

The war chief Hatan had swept through the formations, leaving holes in the alleys.

With room to maneuver, the Ka`har rampaged through the city, steadily reducing the Imperial Army’s numbers.

Instead of charging headlong into spear walls, they rained arrows from above, creating cracks in the formations, then exploiting those gaps to wreak havoc.

The Empire’s knights fought valiantly against the Ka`har warriors, but on foot, they were no match for the mounted warriors’ horsemanship.

The Imperial soldiers’ corpses filled the alleys.

—

‘Is it truly impossible to win…?!’

Ludwig clenched his teeth as he watched the Imperial Army’s formations being pushed back and pierced.

There was no miracle.

The spear formations deployed throughout the city had temporarily stalled the Ka`har’s advance, but as expected, they were nearing their limit.

Though the formations still held, if the enemy’s assault continued, they would soon be shattered.

The battle between the heroes had also become one-sided after Hatan’s arrival.

Heinrich was holding his own against the war chief, but Joshua and Frederick were repeatedly overwhelmed by Or-han’s onslaught.

Even the master-level knights were putting up a fight against the paladins, but they alone couldn’t turn the tide.

‘…Is it too late?’

Ludwig closed his eyes in despair and sighed. As Or-han had declared, the city would fall in less than two hours.

In other words, his remaining lifespan was mere minutes.

‘Then, we must prepare for the aftermath of defeat.’

Ludwig opened his eyes and turned his head. Even if defeat was certain, he couldn’t surrender meekly. His defeat couldn’t become the Empire’s defeat.

The only option left was to burn all the city’s provisions. Not just this city, but the next, and the one after that.

It was a drastic measure that could starve the inhabitants, but it was the only way. Burning the provisions of three cities would force Or-han to either attack Dane or retreat.

“Sir Erickson, gather all the remaining supplies in the warehouses—”

At that moment, Ludwig’s eyes caught something in the distance, toward the western horizon.

He stopped mid-sentence, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

Beyond the setting sun, a massive cloud of dust was rising like fog on the horizon.