NOVPUB“What’s that? Who are these bastards?”
The barbarians glanced back at the approaching army with sneers. There were about three or four hundred of them—a sizeable force, perhaps.
But so what?
Here, six tribes had gathered, amassing over two thousand warriors.
Their horses had been stationed a bit further back for the siege, but they felt no fear. They were confident they could handle it, relying on sheer physical might if necessary.
They had fought other tribes this way before, so intimidation wasn’t an issue.
“Raise your axes! Let’s kill those bastards first!”
“An open battle is even better! Hahaha!”
“Today is a festival of blood!”
“Wooooo!”
The barbarians let out roars and reinvigorated their battle spirit. A large-scale clash in an open field was just their style.
Seeing the cheering barbarians, Ghislain smirked.
This was exactly the type of battle he preferred, too.
Ghislain’s eyes began to glow a faint red as his spear pulsed with red mana.
Thundering hooves filled the air as Ghislain’s horse surged forward, leaving the knights behind him trailing farther and farther back.
A red flash.
There was no better way to describe the figure now charging through the field.
Without a word, Ghislain transformed into a streak of light, diving headfirst into the ranks of barbarians.
Boom!
“Gaaaah!”
The bodies of the barbarians attempting to block him burst apart in an instant, scattering in all directions.
In his past life, even the strongest on the continent were reluctant to face the Mercenary King’s first charge head-on.
The choices for his enemies were simple: die or retreat.
There was no other option.
Swoosh! Slash! Slash!
Ghislain plowed straight through the barbarians, cleaving their ranks in two.
Dazed by the devastating impact, the barbarians hesitated to rush forward. Just then, the Fenris knights charged in behind Ghislain, creating utter chaos in the barbarian ranks.
Boom!
“Argh! Who are these guys?!”
“They had soldiers like this at the northern fortress?”
“Where did they come from?!”
The barbarians were shocked out of their minds. The attackers following Ghislain were all knights wielding blue mana-infused spears.
A few hundred knights? This was impossible. In all the battles fought at the northern fortress, there had never been a force like this.
“We have the numbers! Everyone, get in there! Attack!”
Responding to the battle cries of their chieftains, the warriors rallied and surged forward, determined not to fear death. The barbarians’ notorious aggression became evident.
“Die!”
The ferocious charge of the warriors briefly slowed the knights. However, as mana-wielding knights, even at a slower pace, they had no trouble dealing with the warriors.
And among them were some particularly exceptional fighters.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With every sweep of Ghislain’s spear, barbarians fell, their heads pierced before they even knew what hit them.
Crash! Boom!
Gillian and Kaor cut through the barbarians, leaving destruction in their wake and plunging the battlefield into total chaos.
Laughing wildly as he swung his axe, Kaor taunted his comrade.
“Haha! Old man, today I’m going to kill more than you!”
“...”
Gillian ignored Kaor’s provocations. Talking to him would just be a waste of time.
“Gaaaaah!”
The knights’ relentless assault spread screams and chaos throughout the barbarian ranks, which quickly fell into disarray.
“Don’t retreat!”
“Hold your ground, no matter what!”
“We can win this!”
Spurred on by their chieftains’ rallying cries, the warriors gritted their teeth and closed in around the knights. But it wasn’t just the Fenris knights they were facing.
Watching the barbarian ranks collapse, Zvalter shouted from the fortress.
“Open the gates!”
Boom!
“Waaaaah!”
Ferdium’s knights and soldiers poured out of the fortress, shouting triumphantly. For the first time, their morale soared.
The grim standoff they had been enduring had been completely overturned with Ghislain’s arrival.
“Gaaaah!”
With Ferdium joining the fray, the barbarians were crushed from both sides, falling one by one. Attacked so suddenly, they had no time to regroup.
The Ferdium forces, fueled by excitement, found strength they didn’t know they had. None were more thrilled than Scovan, the captain of the Forest of Beasts Guard.
“Die! Die! You bastard!”
Scovan had come to the fortress to deliver supplies and make reports, only to be caught up in the barbarian invasion.
He’d thought his luck couldn’t get any worse, but with things unfolding as they were, his outlook had changed.
‘This is a relief!’
The people of the North held deep grudges against the barbarians, with Ferdium harboring the strongest hatred.
Many of them had lost loved ones to the barbarians and lived under constant threat.
In previous sieges, they were always on the defensive, never having a chance to decimate the barbarians on this scale. Killing a few raiders here and there had been the most they could do.
But now, finally, they were taking out the enemy en masse!
While it wasn’t a full-fledged open battle but rather an assault during a siege, with Ghislain’s help, they were finally getting their revenge.
‘If only we could always wipe them out this easily.’
Most of the Ferdium forces had similar thoughts, but they knew well enough that it wasn’t feasible. Ferdium had always had to conserve its resources.
So for now, they could only savor this much-needed victory.
“Fall back!”
“Scatter! Run!”
Even the fiercely combative barbarians had their limits. When some started to flee, the already chaotic formation completely collapsed.
The knights and soldiers of Fenris and Ferdium gritted their teeth, chasing the barbarians and cutting down as many as they could.
As the battlefield became littered with bodies and the sun began to set, Zvalter shouted.
“That’s enough! It’s over! No need to chase them further!”
With the few barbarians who managed to escape, there were no survivors left.
The Ferdium forces had no intentions of accepting surrenders, and the barbarians had no intentions of surrendering.
They had been at each other’s throats for far too long.
“Waaaaah!”
“We won!”
“The Grand Duke is here!”
The Ferdium soldiers finally let out a victory cheer. This was nothing like the hollow feeling of watching the barbarians retreat.
They had inflicted near-total destruction on a force composed of six united tribes. It was something to celebrate.
Beaming with joy, Zvalter approached Ghislain.
“Ghislain! How did this happen? How did you come so suddenly?”
Ghislain met him with a smile.
“Isn’t this the season for increased barbarian activity? With the famine, I figured they’d be even more aggressive.”
“Indeed, you came at the perfect time. Thanks to you, we secured a great victory. I was even considering reaching out for your help.”
With Ferdium’s limited forces, their ability to respond shrank whenever the barbarians united.
This situation was rare, but the intensified famine had pushed the barbarians into a frenzy, highlighting Ferdium’s vulnerabilities.
Suddenly remembering something, Zvalter spoke urgently.
“We can’t linger here. Their raiding parties have already breached the kingdom. Villages are in danger. We must act quickly; we can celebrate later.”
The barbarians had attacked Ferdium to keep its forces occupied, allowing their raiders to move freely.
With their small numbers and swift mobility, the raiders could have already infiltrated several villages.
Ghislain nodded, fully understanding the urgency.
“Let’s move at once. I’ll split my forces and proceed.”
“Agreed. I’ll bring the updated map.”
Despite their exhaustion from the battle, the soldiers moved without complaint.
They knew that any delay would mean more suffering for innocent people.
Taking the map, Ghislain pointed to key locations.
“Gillian, Kaor, each of you take a hundred knights and head here. The raids have likely begun, so waste no time.”
“Understood.”
“You got it. We’ll crush them all.”
Gillian and Kaor quickly left the fortress, while Zvalter divided his forces with Randolph to move out immediately.
Time was short. They needed to reach the villages before the barbarians left them in ruins.
As he rode, Zvalter gritted his teeth.
‘We may already be too late...’
The barbarians who attacked here had achieved their purpose. Because of them, Ferdium’s forces had been stuck here, delaying them far too long.
Still, they were fortunate to be able to move now. If Ghislain hadn’t arrived, they wouldn’t even have this chance.
Driving his knights and soldiers forward, Zvalter shouted.
“Let’s hurry and save the people!”
“Hahaha!”
“A raid after so long!”
“What’s this? These guys actually have some food?”
The barbarians laughed loudly as they burned a northern village. It was a small place, so they hadn’t expected much, but there was more food stored than they anticipated.
It was the supply that Zvalter had distributed.
He hadn’t hoarded the supplies Ghislain had given him.
He’d distributed it generously among Ferdium’s people and even secretly shared it with neighboring villages from other territories, hoping they would be better able to withstand the barbarians. Zvalter believed that defending against barbarian raids was his duty, even if it meant helping villages beyond Ferdium’s borders.
This was why, despite being mocked as the "fool of the North," he was respected by all who knew of his dedication.
However, this time, the barbarians had come with no intention of holding back, even risking their own lives to launch a full-scale invasion. In normal circumstances, Ferdiuem’s pursuit parties would have blocked raids like these, but this time, Ferdium’s forces had been immobilized.
So, the raiders freely ravaged the village, killing people and relishing the chaos.
“Please, no!”
“Have mercy!”
“At least spare my child!”
Screams filled the air as flames consumed the buildings. The village guard had been killed off, leaving no one to stop the barbarians.
The barbarians reveled in their victory, laughing and letting loose the violence they had pent up.
“Hahaha! All this belongs to us now!”
“The Northern fools can’t even move against us now!”
“I heard those idiots are disrespected even by the other territories. Why do they even bother trying so hard? Bunch of morons! Hahaha!”
“Alright, kill all the men and burn everything else!”
One barbarian’s voice rang out, though his words were drowned out by laughter. They scoured the village, leaving destruction in their wake.
Clank!
Inside one of the houses, a young boy hugged his little sister, trembling as he listened to the terrifying sounds outside. When a barbarian burst into their home, the boy begged with a quivering voice.
“P-please... let us live.”
“Eheheh...”
The barbarian’s cruel grin revealed yellowed teeth as he looked over the boy, holding his bloodstained axe. Terrified, the boy tried again, pleading with tears in his eyes.
“Please, just spare my sister.”
The barbarian merely chuckled darkly and continued stepping closer.
Thud. Thud.
The boy squeezed his eyes shut, trembling, unable to bear the terror. As the barbarian drew closer, his footsteps seemed to echo the impending doom.
‘Goddess... please... please help us...’
The boy prayed, each step sounding louder, pressing in on him. Then, suddenly, a strange silence filled the room.
Thud!
A loud crash resounded, and the barbarian’s footsteps stopped. Confused, the boy hesitantly opened his eyes.
The barbarian lay lifeless on the ground, a gaping wound in the back of his head. Standing in the doorway, holding a blood-splattered spear, was a man unlike any of the barbarians.
Though it was dark, the flickering flames outside illuminated him, revealing his outline. His face was shadowed, but his eyes—glowing red—were unmistakably visible.
Trembling, the boy stammered a question.
“W-who... who are you?”
After a brief silence, the man replied in a steady, firm voice.
“I am Ghislain Ferdium. The one who will protect you from now on.”
