A Maiden’s Unwanted Heroic Epic - Chapter 79

Arc 4 The Beloved, Chapter 79 Hunting Ground Without Hope
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T/N: This chapter is quite dark in its depiction of cruelty so be warned

—-The two wings of the Christand army were advancing.
Some of them pointed their fangs at the archers in the center of the Hilkintos army, without being able to endure it the archers on both wings and center retreated.
On the other hand, the center of Kristand’s army moved forward while shooting their arrows—-behind the archers, infantry with long spears began to move forward in an orderly fashion.

The most painful part was the right wing, which had been pushed back significantly.
Aurugorn glared to the south—-over the river, his face turning red.
They were under fire from their flanks, and on top of that, in front of them was the mighty Granmeld force.
If he did not send in reinforcements quickly, the collapse of the right wing would be imminent.

“Send reinforcements to the right wing! Regroup!

“Yes sir! Where will the reserves come from——“

“From here! Don’t move the reserves on the left wing!!”

The left wing quickly retreated its archers and re-positioned them.
In the center, the archers on both wings were retreating a little earlier than planned, but the opponent had long spear.
If they continue to shoot arrows from their heads, which cannot be protected without a large shield, the enemy will eventually collapse—-no, wrong. they won’t come.

At the same time, Aurugorn thought so, the archers and long-spear infantry in the center of the enemy stopped.
They had only moved forward a little from their previous position.
Then, they started shooting furiously at the archers, whose numbers had been reduced by the attacks from both wings.
Their central infantry, the vanguard was within the enemy’s range.

Their center was also firing back, but their number had decreased as the left and right units have been pulled back because of the attacks of the enemy’s wings——there was no doubt that they would be the ones losing in the central firefight.

“I see. …Faren, you’ve sure done it.”

The smaller the force, the more they will be caught up in petty tactics and schemes, but in military organization combat, the important thing is to advance and retreat.
The timing of pushing in and withdrawing the force.
It is the simple movement drill that ultimately decides who wins and who loses on the battlefield.
Even though he was the enemy, Eluga Faren was able to discern this and manipulate their army.

‘—-Well, what should I do? Think.’
Bring the archers forward again?
Impossible. Thring in their forces one by one is something that should be avoided.
The center, which was once outnumbered in the shooting battle, cannot be expected to have dramatic change even if the number is increased.
The archers who have moved back will operate in a different way.

Their right wing will surely be pushed back.
It was only natural after such a brilliant assault.
How did the enemy conceal it? While receiving such well-controlled shots from across the river, the opponent was Granmeld, who whose name was famous as a warrior. At this rate, a breakthrough was only a matter of time.

‘—-Should we push in on the left wing?’
No, with this much preparation—-the enemy is surely hiding its force in the forest to the north.
If he pour their strength in this situation, they will be eaten by the rear.
There was no doubt that their left wing, facing the enemy’s right wing, would now thoroughly fortify itself and use delay tactics.
Even if left alone, they would still have the upper hand. He should not move them.

“Pull back the center archers! We will charge! The center front line charge as is with heavily-armed infantry, we will crush them with our numbers! Move the light infantry to the right wing, and half of the pulled back archers to the right wing!”

“Yes sir! Message!!”

—-Drive them down the center. Aurugorn concluded.
The right wing would apply reinforcements and then hit Granmerd with competent light infantry, who would then turn in archers from the center to replace the collapsed archers.
Send reinforcement to the right wing, hit Granmeld with skilled light infantry, then send archers from the center to replace the collapsed one.

The enemy’s left wing led by Granmeld is troublesome with its breakthrough power and archers from the side, but that’s it.
There was no further increase in force, and once the breakthrough is broken, they can be disposed of as is.

“Assault arrowhead formation—-focus on the center. Push from the front!”

In a flat push assault, the flank will be eaten through by the right wing.
Break through the center in the shape of arrowhead.
Then the enemy will be half-encircled on each wing.
Judging that the center could be overwhelmed by numbers——that was Aurugorn’s misjudgment.

No, there was no mistake in what he chose in that situation.
His mind was clear even in the chaos of the battlefield.

As ordered, the soldiers in the center advanced without delay.
The soldiers were exhausted from the forced march, but they still faithfully performed their duties.
Most of them were soldiers who had defended the western border until now—their quality was by no means low.
In a situation where anyone would have feared the assault of the long spear that was waiting for them, the heavily armored infantry who were leading the way gathered their courage and moved forward.
The soldiers near the front of the line knew that many of them would die.
Even so, if one man crushed one spear, their allies behind them would be able to move further forward.

The long spears boast unparalleled strength in battles of equal strength, but they know that it will eventually lose its resistance and collapse in the face of being outnumbered by heavy infantry.
And because of the length of the long spearman’s weapon, it was impossible to rebuild once it collapsed.

Even if they die, those who follow will avenge them.
That is why they can raise a battle cry and carry out a charge.
But——

“!?”

In front of the long spear, one by one, they fell to the ground.
And the allies in the rear line also stumbled over them.

The terror and tension of the charge——of course, there were some who get their legs tangled by those.
There were some who choose to fall on purposefully because of their fear.
But there were too many of them for it to be just that.
They fall over as if something has caught their foot.

One after another, a non-negligible number of soldiers fell in a hail of arrows, oblivious to the fact that it was just a small knot of grass.
The charge, which had been originally a vigorous one, lost its original momentum and sporadically went to the tip of the spear without any control.
No enemy would miss that opportunity.
One by one, they were impaled by a long spear, and they lose their lives meaninglessly.
Watching as those who followed them were stabbed to death without a second thought——

“——strange. What are they dilly-dallying for?”

“Maybe they were more tired than we thought. …We are forced to march.”

“Tch… that’s fine. We can push it with number.”

From a distance, it was not clear what had happened.
Unable to imagine that the momentum of the charge was being dampened by something as small as a knot of grass, Aurugorn and his adjutant, Beluse determined that it was due to exhaustion.

“Looks like reinforcements are heading for the right wing. That’s the end of that pack of dogs——”

Then, Aurugorn saw an impossible sight.
A raging river four ken wide—-it was the figure of soldiers in black armor jumping over it with ease.

“…Is the preparation done?”

“Yes ma’am! But it sure is exciting, outsmarting the enemy, attacking from an unexpected location… Really, I’m proud to have been given this unit by Krische-sama.”

“Really? Ehehe, but don’t overdo it, Bald Eagle. The general’s head will fall on its own following the flow if you do it properly.”

“Of course.”

Krische smiled and looked at Fifth Battalion Commander Gaines.

“Gaines, put only good archers in front. From here, go out to the riverbank and shoot straight instead of curved. You can’t shoot Krische (we) even by mistake, okay?”

“leave it to me. But I might just shoot Krische-sama heart down with my courageous figure.”

“…Huh? Um… Haa.”

Krische tilted her head, not quite understanding the joke, and Gaines laughed and asked.

“Will the following unit go immediately?”

“Yes, the situation is very good. Let’s end it here.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Krische then ran through the forest, and in a single breath, she reached the bank of the river and jumped over it easily.
To a body that can manipulate magical power—-this distance doesn’t pose any obstacles.
The Century followed, and it was the rear of the right wing of the Hilkintos army that appeared in their sight.

“Don’t cut in too deep! It’s enough to temporarily block their movement.”

Dagra shouted. Krische danced forward—-into the rear of the right wing.

Her cloak fluttered, and her silver hair swayed from side to side in front of the Black Century.
The commander herself, led the way every single time.
There was no soldier who would not follow.

Ahead of them, there were soldiers whose backs were completely turned toward them.
Some noticed them and turned around, but it was too late.

“Bald Eagle”

“Throwing spear, ready!!”

Each of them carried a spear on their shoulder.

“Fire!!”

Five shaku (1.8m) spear was shot out with a speed that surpasses that of a human body.
The cloth wrapped around the hilt unraveled, and the wind pressure makes it spiral.
About ninety spears pierced the formation in front of them.
A spear fired by a magic possessor at that speed.
The power was completely different from a mere spear throw.
They easily pierced through the shields and armor that were set up hastily, and countless screams covered the sky.
In the midst of confusion, they turned their eyes clouded with fear toward them.
—-Krische accelerated further.

She leaned forward, almost scraping the ground with her chin, and stepped in, splitting wind, the curved sword at her waist gleaming.
Sharp and thin.
The blade passed through the neck of the soldier who turned to face them without any resistance.
Even the gushing blood couldn’t keep up with her.

One, two, five, ten—-she cut the heads of soldiers easily, and her violet eyes saw through the gaps of soldiers who were in the middle of confusion, bathed in countless throwing spears.
Assault from the rear.
The desired opponent was soon found.
A man on horseback wearing old armor——he was the corps commander in command of this right wing.

As if weaving through the gap between the soldiers, she passed through their shadows and blossomed flowers of blood.
She stepped in, and the soldiers fell into a desperate battle.

The corps commander took a spear from his squire and was roaring.
He sends instructions to deal with the attackers from the rear——but it was already too late.
Krische’s blade, which had easily passed through the line of soldiers, reached him first.

“Aa-Gah!?”

They surely saw the corps commander suddenly sprinkling fresh blood from his neck.
None of the soldiers watching him understood what had happened.
And before they could understand, the adjutant also lost consciousness one after another.
Their necks were sharply severed from the midsection and tilted askew.

The commander and messenger who commanded and controlled the infantry, several men on horseback were cut open, and the flag bearers lined up were taken care of.
At that point, Krische awareness was already no longer there.
She retreated just as she entered——through the disarrayed ranks.

“Behind!! Enemy is coming from behind—-Ag!?”

The head of the man who shouted so was torn apart.
It took only a short time to dive through the arch of blood and reunite with the Black Century.

Picking up two spears at random, Krische slowed to a crawl as she recognized the Black Century.
Kahlua, who was in the lead, looked at Krische and laughed, while Kelth’s, next to her, shouted.

“The corps commander! The corps commander has been killed!! Surprise attack, there are thousands of enemies!!”

The other member of the Century laughed at Kelth’s words and raised their voices in the same way.
As if to spread confusion. Letting it be known.
As a matter of fact, there was no longer a corps commander to command them.
He was dead, his neck ripped open by Krische Chrishtand’s blade.

At the front—-Several of the men who were confronting the monster Granmeld turned around and trembled when they noticed that the corps flag indicating the commander’s location had fallen.
The flag is one that the soldiers—-the one they must risk their lives to protect.
It is what makes them an army.

The presence of the lost flag sends them into despair.
And the soldiers of the right wing along the riverbank felt a different kind of despair.

“Hie!”

On the right rear——that thing that emerged from the forest was a thick board made up of stacked logs.
It’s over six ken (10.908‬m) in length. It was carried into the river and slowly lowered down with a rope.
It was a simple bridge.
The width was narrow because of its length, but it was not just one bridge.
Two, three, four——one after another.
If they were linked side by side, they would form a bridge sufficient to carry more than 1,000 soldiers.
And, as a matter of course, countless soldiers emerge from the forest behind it.

Until they saw it, the soldiers of the Hilkintos army thought they had cornered the Christand army here.
But then they finally understand the fact that they have been caught in a trap.

——They didn’t corner the enemy.
They were lured into this hunting ground.
The spiritual superiority that had remained in them had now completely collapsed.

“Bald Eagle, keep pressing from the enemy’s right wing rear. Please join up after the reinforcements have crossed over.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Mia, Tagel. The first squad will lead the soldiers and accompany Krische. Reinforcements from the center——we will hunt down the archers who are deploying here.”

“Yes ma’am!”

The soldiers were separated into two
Dagura disturbed the enemy soldiers who were thrown into the vortex of chaos, stopped them, and bought time for the follow-up unit.
Krische headed to eliminate the archers approaching from the center.

New enemy reinforcements came from the center.
About 1,000 light infantrymen stood in front of Granmeld, who was trying to pull out between the right wing of Hilkintos army and the center.
Behind them, there are about 2000 archers who seem to be heading there.
The enemy must have been thinking of killing Granmeld with a ferocious volley.
The only way to defeat someone with magical power like Granmeld is to clash him with someone with similar power or to use a saturation attack by archers.

Aurugorn Hilkintos was not a bad general, just like Eluga and Nozan said.
He kept his calm in the midst of chaos and his judgment was also appropriate.
And because it’s appropriate, they can’t let it be.
Putting aside from the light infantry, they need to take care of the archers.

“Tagel, let’s split into three. Please divide the soldiers between Mia and you and paralyze them.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“As usual, Krische doesn’t like to lose men.”

Tagel’s ten squads were further divided into five squads.
There were about twenty-five men on each side——enough to hunt down the archers that is on their way.
The opponent was not ready for hand-to-hand combat.
The target is not always the sheep, but the sheepdog that commands it.
Temporary paralysis was enough.

“Mia on the right, Tagel on the left, Krische in the middle.”

“Yes ma’am!”

The archers in front of them were running their way.
Those who were shooting from the center front must have quickly headed here after retreating to the rear.
It seems that they intended to line up after they got to the shooting position, and they were completely in a skirmish mode.
Krische raised one of the spears in her hand.

Her body at maximum speed——Krische twisted her upper body and kicked the ground with her heel to make a sudden braking motion.
All the force that propelled her body forward went into the spear in her right hand.
For a moment, her slender hips and back flexed like a bow before she released it, and all her strength was concentrated in the spear held in her right hand, which was released with a force that seemed to blow her entire body away.

The roar of the spear on the battlefield was so thunderous that it could not even be considered a spear.
Even a siege bow that pierced the castle walls would be insufficient to describe her spear throw.
The spear easily shattered the skull of the leading centurion on her left, along with his helmet, and easily took the lives of several of the men behind him.

What she has in her hand was not a throwing spear, but the hand-to-hand spear held by an enemy soldier.
The spear, which was over six shaku long, had a solid weight. It was made of heavy, sturdy argana wood, which could easily kill an opponent with a blow from its thick handle without using the tip of the spear.
Faster than an arrow—-The kinetic energy of the melee spear, which even the castle walls could not withstand, was well beyond the power that a person could receive.

Like a cat, she landed with her hand, rolled, straightens up her posture, and repeated the same action.
A second spear followed, this time to the right centurion.
The man was a veteran—a skillful swordsman.
Realizing that he is being targeted, the man pulls out his sword and tries to parry the spear away—-but
The spear, which had an odd trajectory, spiraled through his shoulder and shredded the right half of the centurion’s body.

Then they finally realized—-the small, slender, silver-haired woman was a monster.
The power of her spear was clear to anyone’s eyes, precisely because they were in a skirmishing state with some space between each other.
It didn’t stop after killing one person, scattering broken bones and spear fragments among the soldiers that follow.
Even its fragments were powerful enough to kill a person.

A person who possesses magical power beyond a certain level was a force comparable to a battalion in its own right.
Kolkis, Gildanstein, and Granmeld—-small soldiers on the battlefield were worthless in the face of such men, and many experienced soldiers know this firsthand.
There was no way to stop them except by using numbers and arrows to kill them, or by confronting them with magic possessors of equal or greater power.

If they had been crowded together, dozens of them would have been killed by the spears alone.
The fact that they were in skirmish formation saved them.
However, confronting such a monster in skirmish formation where they can’t cooperate with hand-to-hand combat.
In their minds, it clearly indicated the arrival of the next tragedy.

“D-dense formation!! Don’t let them slip!!”

Someone shouted.
Before the voice could be heard, arrows were being fired from the archers in front of them.
But their measurement of distance was very much mistaken.
Not only the girl but also the black-coated soldiers, all of whom were infantry, were running faster than the cavalry.
Leaving the released arrows behind, they slipped between them and the forty-six Black soldier cut in.

“As expected of Usa-chan, the best!”

With a maddened laugh and bloodshot eyes, she cut down the enemy in front of her.
Kalua was the first to cut in on her left.
Swinging her curved sword like an axe, she bisected both enemies in front of her.

The spear that will even pierce a castle wall. The archers were terrified when they were hit by Krische’s spear.
Then, the black-coated soldiers cut through the frightened soldiers and lifted their cheeks in mad laughter.

Every one who confronted them understood that they, too, possessed unusual abilities, and they were cowered.
And the ones they were afraid of were only after the dog that commanded the frightened sheep.

“Kalua, left half!”

“Yes, yes, there!!”

After cutting off the head of the enemy in front of them, they turned their eyes to the red helmets.
The other side had already drawn his sword.

Kalua dropped her posture and stepped toward the left hand side.
A low posture like that of a quadrupedal beast—-moving forward without wasting the propulsive force generated by her strengthened legs.
She, too, learned her moves from Krische.

Keeping the posture low was not just to dodge enemy swords.
This was to reduce wind resistance by adopting a low posture that would cause a normal person to fall over, and to use the propulsive force generated from both feet to move forward without waste.
Those who could manipulate their magical power need to reconsider each movement and think about how to use their excess power.
Kalua was the one who understood it better than anyone else with her ingenuity.

The reaction of the enemy centurion to Kalua was swift.
He, too, must be able to manipulate magic.
He quickly leaps backward to avoid Kalua’s attack, which an ordinary person would not even be able to react to.

“Ggh!”

“Wow!”

Kalua laughed happily.
She stepped in further.
This time it was a horizontal slash—-this too, the centurion distorted his face and dodged it.
He looks young, but he is skilled. However, there is nothing more unreliable than the outward appearance of age.
He has probably spent many years in the military and has been through his fair share place of death.

—-But that was the end.
A dagger was thrust into the man’s neck from behind.
It was another black-coated soldier—-Adol from the same squad.

“You owe me, Kalua.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m the one who gave it to you, didn’t I?”

Don’t fight one on one.
This was also the rule of the Black Century.
Against a strong enemy go at him with multiple people, surround the enemy in groups, and choke him out.
Relentlessly aim at the opponent’s hero—-a person who possesses magical power and kills them to lower their morale.
The Black Hundred, a small group of elite soldiers, must avoid being surrounded.
Their opponents are always numerous.
If all of their enemies were willing to die, there was no way to survive.

Therefore, they must frighten them, scare them, disrupt their unity, and bite into the flesh of their corpses.
Like Krische, they avoided unnecessary battles as much as possible.
They knew that it was this thoroughness that would keep them alive.
There was no one shooting at them.
The “enemy’s coward who survived” were also shields for the Black Century.

Misfire is inevitable on the battlefield. There were plenty of people who died by the arrows of their comrades.
Even so, no one can rain arrows down on dozens of people among a thousand.
In the midst of the enemy, who had lost his will to fight——that place was safer than any other place.

Mia on the left, Tagel on the right.
Krische broke down the center.
And Dagra and the others were heading there.

The right wing of the Hilkintos army——the 1,500 who emerged from the forest and crossed the river surrounded them from the rear.
Most of them were archers, but they were soldiers too. If they form up and drew their swords, they can engage in hand-to-hand combat.
The right wing of the Hilkintos army, whose leader had been killed by the dreaded black-coated soldiers, became increasingly fearful as they realized that the enemy’s reinforcements were more than adequate.
The 1500 spread its wings as far as possible, encircling the enemy right wing from behind.

Chaos after chaos——right wing morale was half-destroyed.
And there——

“Okay! Corner them into the river! Kill them all!!”

Grammeld, who pushed through the right wing and the center, was covered in blood and shouted.
It was a beastly voice.
While allocating some of his time to deal with the reinforcements, he joined up with the 1,500 who were mainly archers.
They established a complete encirclement using the river.

In front of the enemy’s right wing, the Second Battalion of Christand First Corps——Faglan’s heavy infantry formed a wall.
Grunmeld began to press the enemy in the direction of the river——to the south.
There was no support from enemy archers. Krische and Black Century’s delayed attacks work well.

On the enemy right flank, there was nothing but despair.
They are surrounded by walls, squeezed, and pushed out.
And the destination they’re pushed to is——a raging river.

“Stop! Stop, don’t push!! Hey!!”

the soldier shouted as he hears the impending disaster before his eyes.
But only those around him understood the intent of his voice.
They tried desperately to hold back. They even threw out their swords.

Archers were lined up on the opposite shore of them.
——They saw the bows slowly being drawn.

“Stop it, please stop it!! Help me, help me—-Egu!?”

The arrows were fired all at once.
It broke the last resistance.
Countless arrows took the lives of these men who had been holding out and enduring desperately.
Immediately, resistance was gone from them.

“Help, mfe…a…gh!”

The men were pushed into the river, and the sound of water echoed with one scream after another.
The men in armor were forced to commit unwanted suicides in the raging water.

Once established, the flow cannot be stopped.
Some of the soldiers in the center of the right wing were even crushed to death due to pressure from their surroundings.
Every time those corpses piled up, they stumbled, swayed, and the river rippled.
Soldiers fighting in front were frightened and retreating back——those in the rear screaming in fear of being dropped into the river.

Most of the soldiers, who initially numbered about 6,000, were killed cruelly in this way.
The fewer people there were, the more accelerated the process was——some shouted for surrender, but there was no need to listen.
Surrender must be offered by the commanders of the soldiers present.
But their commanders were no longer present and no one has taken over yet.
And the whole battle was still going on.

New recruits, old veterans, cowards, brave men, it didn’t matter, they are all being slaughtered into the raging river.
It was a massacre.

The disappearance of the right wing——the Central Army, who witnessed that scene, understood that they have been driven into a corner.
So did Aurugorn, who was in command.

“Shit, shit, shit!! Darkens you trash! It was a mistake to put such an incompetent as a corps commander!!”

Aurugorn shouted, cursing the right wing corps commander who had been killed by Krische.
His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and veins appeared on his forehead.
He was so angry that even his long-time adjutant, Beluse, was frightened.

“G-General…”

“Retreat!! With that much preparation… it was a trap from the beginning! Make me watch out for the forest on left wing side, then the right flank, from across the river, will be encircled and annihilated! I see, it’s so brilliant, it’s almost laughable!”

“Then…”

“Use the left wing reverse! First, stop the right wing!! The left wing that still has the upper hand will maintain its current situation——retreat from the protruding central left wing.”

“Yes sir!! Messenge—-”

And that was the word that decided victory and defeat.

Reinforcements headed from the center to the right wing faced Grunmeled while witnessing the tragedy, and spread their wings to the east and west in an effort to prevent an attack on the center.
Grunmeld tried to bypass and take the rear but was met by reinforcements from the left wing reserve.

The main camp, which had exhausted its reserves and was now bare—-had no room for anything else.
There are at most 100 soldiers, and from among them, Aurugorn calmly gave instructions in anger while spewing saliva, directing the retreat.
He was, after all, a general who has defended the West for many years—-even when trapped and in a tight spot, he never lost his ability to use his brains and command his troops.

—-However, a situation arose that deprived him of thoughts.
From Aurgorn, diagonally to the left, the northern forest.
From there emerged 300 cavalries and 1000 light infantry.

—-On their banners were the eagles and thunder of the Christand.

“Rejoice, we are just in time for the glorious decisive blow!! All hands, charge!!”

Bagil shouted from horseback, followed by the soldiers’ howls.
They were also the ambush soldiers just like those across the river to the south.
They had taken up a camp far north of the battlefield and were on standby, but when the battle started, they headed south.

Aurgorn’s reading was correct. Their presence in the northern forest was the decisive move on the battlefield.
After confirming that Aurugorn had withdrawn his men from the forest, they left.
To decide victory or defeat.

They roared toward the center——and black coated soldiers cut through the ranks from the south to the center just as the leading cavalry was charging into the enemy.

The battle began with an army of 15,000 Christand and an army of 27,000 Hilkintos.
Although the Hilkintos army had an overwhelming military superiority, the result was a complete defeat for the Hilkintos army.