Chapter 877 - We Die Here
Composure is a basic quality of a knight.
Even if one sees an arrow flying, simply tilting one's head slightly to dodge while watching the arrow is difficult without composure.
To be more precise, it is an achievement born from the exchange of boldness and composure.
A knight was such an existence.
The two of the Ruby Knights had not neglected building the basic qualities of a knight, so they were not flustered by the landslide the enemy had prepared.
Mattia of the Ruby, as soon as the yellow-brown dust cloud rose, took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth and tied it behind her neck, using it as a mask.
All those movements were so fast that if seen from right next to her, it would have looked like an acrobat's magic trick.
It seemed as if she just moved her hands up and down, and a mask appeared on her face.
Of course, there was no audience right now to cheer at the sight of her.
After covering her mouth, she drew her sword and swung it.
The greatsword slung diagonally across her back had once split a stone golem, twice as big as a giant, in a single strike.
It was a true story.
After that incident, she named her sword "Rock Cutter."
It was a name given because, with her accumulated experience, she could actually cut through boulders like butter.
Once, magical creatures made of stone ran rampant in the southern Demon Realm.
It wasn't a plague, but the swarm that formed a colony and pushed in tormented people no less than a plague.
The one who stepped up then was Knight Mattia.
The colony leader, though as big as a house where a family of three could cook, live, and sleep comfortably, was also agile in movement.
She had split even such a golem.
Breaking and splitting rocks gaining speed by rolling down a cliff was nothing.
At least those boulders didn't punch or trip her.
There was no shout, nor was any great momentum needed.
She swung her greatsword vertically.
With just that, a part of the trap Marcus had prepared was ruined.
Hook.
Along with the sound of the blade falling, the surrounding dust was drawn along the line the blade traced.
At the same time, the rock was cut.
Jjeok-.
"Good."
Mattia's comrade was also here.
Naturally, he also belonged to the Ruby Knights.
His name was Achilleunon, a man born with a very special talent since childhood.
He spoke while swinging his long spear.
Handling a long spear taller than himself like his own limbs was a natural talent for a knight who had made a long spear his inscribed weapon.
He swung his spear and struck the rock Mattia had split.
It was a skill of striking using the spear blade as a flat surface.
The spear blade hitting the rock dug in, and the spear shaft bent smoothly and then straightened.
Kwang!
The roar erupted here.
A part of the boulder he struck flew, piercing through the yellow-brown cloud.
Like that, Mattia swung her sword two more times, and Achilleunon struck rocks with his spear two more times.
The flying rocks landed where the enemies had fired the catapults.
Faint screams or something similar were heard from afar.
"It's a deliberate trap."
"Yeah, we took a hit."
Achilleunon replied to Mattia's words.
"Commander."
Mattia immediately called the one standing at the head of the chain of command.
"Yes!"
The commander, who had been coughing so much it seemed he would vomit blood, raised his head.
He had already squeezed out all his tears and snot.
"Leave the crushed ones. It's too late. Reorganize and gather the uninjured ones."
"Understood."
No matter how outstanding a commander was, maintaining composure in this situation was not easy, but because he could pretend to be fine even in such a situation, he was the unit's commander.
The commander nodded.
"From now on, we move separately."
Mattia said.
"Ah, understood. Sir."
The commander, who had interpreted the knight's words one-dimensionally and nodded, regained a bit more of his usual composure after realizing there were no more rocks to crush him or stones flying at him.
It wasn't at the level of a knight, but he had excellent mental strength.
Mattia nodded, making eye contact with the commander so he would look straight.
Such trivial actions gave a sense of stability to a person's heart.
Then, when Mattia turned around, Achilleunon was already taking a step with his long spear held vertically towards the sky.
That spear was too long, making it inconvenient to carry if tilted even slightly.
It was an item made of a single piece of steel, claiming that joints made it structurally unstable.
It wasn't just steel; several precious metals were mixed in to provide flexibility.
The two knights knew what they had to do without meeting each other's eyes once.
If blocked, break through.
It was their job to give the families of the army that dared to block a knight's path the chance to hold a funeral.
Hwareuk.
In the meantime, a wall of flames had formed at the only entrance, and behind it, a moat made of poison fog was laid.
'Doing all sorts of things.'
Thinking this, Mattia turned her head back.
Rocks blocked the retreat path as well.
Even if the commander gathered the army, the way out had disappeared.
How many would survive passing through the flames and poison fog?
The giant unit might be fine, but seventy percent of the remaining infantry would be annihilated.
'A fight they win if they block and hold out from the front.'
It was the picture the enemy had drawn, and the terrain was also on the enemy's side.
Was it the commander's fault?
It was hard to see it that way.
Mattia had also thought the terrain was on their side, so they had taken a big hit.
The flames and such laid out in front were the soldiers prepared by the enemy.
A secret weapon.
A sword sharpened blue.
Mattia knew that just because she was a knight didn't mean she had to move ignorantly and recklessly.
'Is there a need to go out the front?'
But it wasn't an action deeply thought out.
The Ruby Knights were a gathering of those who had honed their talents since a very young age.
They learned how to fight beyond simply handling weapons.
Among them, what the order's instructors emphasized most was how to win.
Mattia judged and chose based on her experience so far and her creativity.
She looked to the side and said.
"Let's break through."
"If the front is blocked, look back to see if the side is blocked too."
Achilleunon quoted the instructor's words.
The teachings of the Lihin-Stetten knights of the South were different from other places.
They went through over five hundred mock battles even before becoming knights.
Among these, the first hundred battles were created by hundreds of Lihin-Stetten military scholars racking their brains together.
Building four hundred experiences based on those hundred battles was the basis of the Lihin-Stetten knights.
The training was quite harsh, to the point where one or two people died a year.
Naturally, not the ones at the knight level, but some of the trainees were dying.
Anyway, the effect was immense.
Just like now.
The canyon isn't wide.
No matter if they were knights, they couldn't bring down a mountain, but the hills forming this canyon weren't enough to be called mountains.
The two knights set their direction.
Peong! Bbeong! Kwang!
Dust settles again on the dust cloud created by the rolling rocks.
While the yellow-brown color deepened again, a hole appeared on one side of the canyon.
Bbeong-!
Mattia swung her greatsword to excavate the earth, and Achilleunon stabbed the wall with his long spear.
The two knights repeated simple movements to burst the wall and make a hole.
If the canyon blocking them had been just a little thicker, they wouldn't have dared.
Even a knight cannot survive being crushed under a mountain.
"Borrowing some spears."
Achilleunon brought twenty long spears from the infantry and planted them here and there to use as supports.
Pillars made of spears couldn't leave the new cave the two knights dug as an eternal relic, but they bought enough time for the two to escape.
Just after escaping from the improvised cave.
Mattia twisted her body.
In the process, she felt discomfort.
'Why?'
A feeling of someone grabbing and pulling her ankles and wrists.
Should she call it a compelling force trying to hold her in that spot so she couldn't dodge?
Of course, she shook it off immediately.
As her will rose, Will awakened and summoned the monstrous strength she possessed.
Mattia of Monstrous Strength, that was her alias.
Whatever it was, Mattia did not let her guard down.
No one strolls out after breaking through a canyon as if walking in a flower garden.
So this was not a wound gained from carelessness.
Pik.
Blood splattered from her cheek.
A wound caused by a blade grazing her.
'Even through Iron Skin...'
Since she had aroused Will, her skin should have momentarily become very tough, yet it was like this.
That was proof that the opponent's skill was also extraordinary.
"Should I call you brave?"
The opponent dropped from mid-air and landed in front of the two.
The one blocking her path was an enemy soldier with orange hair.
Without a cloak, armed with an iron breastplate, greaves, and vambraces, she was relatively lightly dressed.
Kurreureu.
Sounds like a monster's cry came from inside the improvised cave.
Since it was on the verge of collapse, it was expected.
"Aishia of the Crimson Cloak Knights."
The owner of the orange hair opened her mouth.
She had staked her life.
If she let the two knights pass here, a massacre, not a fight, would occur.
So she blocks.
She knows her skill is lacking and what she has is insufficient, but if she is the only one to block, it can't be helped.
Even if all she does is endure for the time of a few breaths, she realized she had to step up when needed.
Behind her back were things she loved, including her younger sibling.
"Your courage is impressive."
Mattia gauged the opponent's skill at a glance and said.
Achilleunon glanced at the person appearing in front of them as if brushing past and looked away.
He was a pragmatist who didn't value things like a knight's spirit highly.
The opponent blocking Mattia didn't fill his eyes, so he judged there was no need to be tied down.
"Aisia of Recklessness, that will be the nickname attached to me from today on."
A nickname that wouldn't remain if she died today.
"Shouldn't it be 'Suicidal Wisher'?"
Mattia said, gripping the handle of her greatsword.
With the thought that if the junior-knight in front of her withstood her sword more than three times, she might admit defeat.
Wouldn't it be quite an interesting game?
Marcus watched all of this from one side.
'A point where judgment is needed.'
Retreat or advance.
Death is approaching holding swords and spears.
A single orange pebble smaller than a fist blocks a storm armed with steel.
Watching that, a stone settled on Marcus's heart.
"Even if we win, I'll be remembered as an incompetent commander and a retard."
Words came out of his mouth on their own.
Mixed with bitterness and pity, his mouth moved as if it belonged to someone else.
It couldn't be helped that his name would remain in history books as the greatest moron in the continent's hundred-year history.
However, he just had no face to see those who followed him now.
"It's not like we came out not knowing. Why are you acting like this?"
Words thrown by the adjutant next to him.
Was Marcus the only one here?
Just as Aishia followed, many stepped up.
Those who could be called loyal subjects of the Marquis Baisar family and those who came this far saying they would throw away their lives for peace.
The number is shabby.
These were troops numbering less than five hundred.
Already, several who were near the catapults had died.
"We must fight."
Their purpose was to buy time with their lives.
Since the king had already headed south and the capital was prepared, it wouldn't fall to two knights.
Now, should he say only death remains?
"I was born in a prominent noble family and lived easily with a comfortable body and mind. If this is my end, even though I have never dreamed myself, I should follow the one who taught me how to dream, what it looks like to live with will and conviction."
Marcus said, drawing his sword.
Nickname: War Maniac, currently the master of the Marquis Baisar family.
In the capital behind him, there were his wife and child.
Having succeeded the Marquisate, producing an heir was a duty.
His wife was the daughter of a Count under the Duke of Fertile Soil.
Should he say it was an appropriate position?
They met out of duty, but he respected the woman lying beside him, and seeing her bear his child made his heart boil.
"Achieve your will. Krang."
Marcus spoke comfortably, knowing he wouldn't be heard anyway.
"Enki, see you later. Because of you, I lived an interesting life."
He raised his sword high. It would be visible to all soldiers behind him.
"Those who fear death, flee. I will not resent you. Those who cherish their lives, turn your backs. There are no overseers in our unit."
It was just past noon after the night passed.
Clouds briefly covered the sun.
Through the covering clouds, a few rays of light became spears and pierced the ground.
Those spear blades would soon become reality, coveting the blood of allies, tearing flesh, and breaking bones.
Marcus thought of his child who grabbed his finger, barely stood, and toddled.
"We die here."
The commander's declaration soon represented the heart of the entire unit.
No, some were terrified but were swept up in the atmosphere.
"The flower of the Battlefield is!"
"Us!"
"Us!"
"Us!"
Cheers followed.
The disaster holding a spear didn't even pretend to pick his ears and walked steadily.
The disaster didn't come that urgently.
Instead, he approached slowly, killing everyone's hearts first.
If he had rather rushed in and fought abruptly, they might have at least resisted.
While waiting for the bastard to approach, Marcus suddenly felt the urge to run away.
Clouds pass the sun.
The sunlight that had been falling clumsily filled all directions.
It was a bright day.
Aishia's desperate struggle was visible in Marcus's eyes.
She dodged the knight's attacks three times and thrust her sword four times.
To describe the process would be quite long, but in Marcus's eyes, it was instant.
In reality, he didn't even know how many attacks she dodged or blocked.
In that brief time, Aishia grasped the hand of the Goddess of Luck twice, but her limits were clear.
Before the disaster holding a spear approached the army, Aishia fell first.
One knee wobbled, and a stream of blood shot into the air.
He didn't even know where she was cut.
It seemed clouds covered the sunlight again.
A shadow fell over Marcus's head.
'Hm.'
But strangely, the shadow only covered Marcus's head.
It seemed he also heard the sound of wingbeats from somewhere.
"Starting from over there"
Even a voice was heard.
It was a voice he knew.
Therefore, it was clearly an auditory hallucination.
A winged horse, a man sitting on it, the appearance of jumping off the horse—it must be an illusion.
It was a voice he hadn't expected to hear here, and a back he couldn't believe he would see.
Wasn't a winged horse itself something that would only appear in dreams?
The disaster holding a spear stopped.
No, beyond stopping, he threw the remaining spear he held in his other hand.
His judgment was like a ray of light, and his action was like lightning.
Bbeong!
The sound of tearing air hit the ears afterward, and air was pushed away in concentric circles around the disaster holding the spear.
It was the effect of throwing the javelin while stomping the ground with one foot.
The bastard riding the horse fell from the air and struck that spear blade away.
Kwang!
With the roar, the falling speed of the bastard who appeared increased.
Pararak, a dark green cloak unfolded behind his back, making his body look several times larger than usual.
Marcus couldn't continue speaking and just stared at the unfolding situation with his eyes wide open.
***
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