NABC Chapter 288: Chapter 287: Breaking Through as Is (1)
Chapter 288: Chapter 287: Breaking Through as Is (1)
Chapter 288: Chapter 287: Breaking Through as Is (1)
Harold squinted at the suddenly appearing armies.
"Those bastards... coordinated with each other to synchronize their arrival."
Otherwise, there was no way they could have arrived at such a perfect time.
The Royal Army and the Noble Alliance had around 8,000 troops, while the Perdium forces numbered about 3,000.
Together, they exceeded 10,000-a massive army. The situation Harold had dreaded had finally come to pass.
"Sigh... So this is how it ends up."
He had wasted too much time because of that bastard Gillian. He thought for a moment that he should have ignored the Stonehaven fortress, but Harold quickly shook his head.
"If I had, they would've waged guerrilla warfare from the rear."
Regardless, the fact remained that he had been delayed, allowing reinforcements to arrive for Ghislain.
He had intended to exploit the advantage of his large army to divide and conquer the enemy one by one, but now he had no choice but to incur losses.
The more he thought about it, the more his teeth ground, and rage boiled within him. But he needed to stay calm.
"We were going to fight them all eventually."
If he defeated them all here, it would buy some time. While he would have to resort to forced recruitment as soon as he seized Fenris, it was the only option.
He summoned the most capable commander in his territory, Emerson, who had crushed Viscount Dorren's 2nd Corps.
"Emerson."
"Yes, my lord."
"Take 5,000 men and annihilate the 3rd Corps on the right."
"Leave it to me."
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The right wing of Desmond's army pivoted toward the 3rd Corps and the Noble Alliance.
Harold immediately issued orders to the left wing.
"Viscount Garein."
"Yes, my lord."
"Lead 5,000 troops and take charge of the Perdium forces on the left."
"Understood."
"The Perdium forces have accumulated a lot of combat experience in the North. Fight cautiously. There's no need to push too hard. I'll deal with the other side first, so just keep them occupied."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Viscount Garein wasn't particularly skilled in swordsmanship, but he was a competent commander, especially adept at pinning enemies in place.
He led the soldiers stationed on the left flank toward the Perdium forces.
Even with 10,000 soldiers dispatched to the flanks, Desmond's central force still boasted 16,000 troops.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Fenris's forces were approaching directly from the front, with only about 3,000 soldiers. Seeing this, Harold let out a cold chuckle.
"Still the arrogant bastard, I see."
Reinforcements had arrived, significantly narrowing the gap in troop numbers. No doubt, that's why Ghislain seemed so confident.
But even with the reinforcements, their total numbers were barely half of his forces.
Ghislain's decision was nothing more than reckless overconfidence.
The Fenris knights and soldiers galloped fearlessly behind the Black King.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The thunderous sound of hooves grew louder as the speed of the Fenris forces increased. However, the Desmond army had already formed solid ranks.
Watching the advancing Fenris troops, Harold smirked.
"They're relying on those strange suits of armor, aren't they? They've even armored their horses completely."
Indeed, the armor of the Fenris forces was exceptional. With it, a single soldier could plausibly fight ten opponents.
Harold himself had been shocked when he checked the weight of the armor from a fallen Fenris soldier.
The fact that even the horses were fully armored suggested they could mass-produce it.
"It's certainly excellent equipment, but..."
That only worked against a certain number of enemies. Even after splitting his forces, Harold's central formation still had five times as many troops as Fenris.
The power of a large army grew exponentially with its size.
Measuring the distance to the approaching Fenris forces, Harold raised his hand.
"Spearmen, prepare."
Clank!
Thousands of spearmen stepped forward, lowering their spears.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Despite the fierce charge of the Fenris cavalry, the Desmond spearmen showed no fear.
Their confidence in being able to hold off any enemy was what made Desmond's elite troops so formidable.
"Archers."
The archers in the rear pulled their bowstrings taut.
While Fenris's cavalry was clad in full armor, and even the horses wore barding, arrow fire wouldn't inflict significant direct damage.
But if the horses were startled and halted, or if the formation wavered even slightly, that would be enough. Harold signaled the archers with a hand gesture.
Whoosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Fenris soldiers raised their small shields, deflecting the incoming arrows.
A few stray arrows struck armor and barding, but the Fenris forces maintained their formation and speed as if nothing had happened.
"As expected, it's useless."
Harold frowned. Their small numbers weren't a major concern, but the mysterious armor was undoubtedly troublesome.
If an army of 10,000 were equipped like this, it would be impossible to win.
"I must crush them completely today, and obtain the secrets of that new material."
If he achieved that, he could extend his power beyond the North to the entire kingdom.
Attacking Ghislain at this time had been a stroke of luck.
Harold gestured to Willow again.
"Begin."
The mages' firepower should be sufficient to inflict meaningful damage. While reports suggested that the enemy mage was more skilled than Willow, Harold needed to assess their
actual strength.
The Desmond mages began gathering mana, aiming at the Fenris forces. Willow once again
cast a high-circle area spell.
Whoosh!
From Desmond's formation, spells were unleashed again. Vanessa immediately grabbed another mage's hand and dispelled them.
Unlike Desmond's mages, she bore the burden of the entire battlefield on her own.
Drip.
Blood streamed continuously from her nose.
Despite her extraordinary talent and relentless effort that had allowed her to reach the 6th circle, her body's natural mana capacity was still only at the level of a 2nd-circle mage. Although she was using herself as a medium to draw mana from other mages, the strain of
utilizing others' mana was immense.
Alpoi, still collapsed and gaunt from earlier mana drain, muttered with a pained expression as he watched her.
"Idiot... You're going to die at this rate... You won't last..."
But Vanessa ignored everything, focusing solely on the mana flowing across the battlefield.
No one will die, she vowed silently.
At least, no one would die from magic on her watch. That was her resolve.
Just a little more, she thought, gritting her teeth as she cast another spell.
She wasn't comfortable in this situation either. Fighting alongside her allies would have been
far better. But Desmond's forces had far more mages, including a 6th-circle mage. With her own limited
mana, the only way to counter them was by borrowing from others.
Thus, she had no choice but to fight alone.
'I'm sorry... If only I could store mana properly...'
If she could, the other mages might have been able to participate in the battle too. Fenris's
mages might even have overwhelmed the enemy.
But since that wasn't possible, she had been forced to adopt this unorthodox method.
She was the only one capable of neutralizing the enemy's 6th-circle spells.
Drip.
More blood trickled from Vanessa's nose, but she pushed forward, refusing to lose focus.
'I can't stop...'
There was no rest until the enemy was completely repelled. She had to keep pushing to ensure
the enemy couldn't counterattack.
Ghislain had trusted her to hold the line while he fought on the front.
'I can do this...'
More than twenty mages still had mana to lend her. She could endure.
Above the battlefield, spells flared like fireworks, forming and dissipating in a constant cycle.
Harold watched the scene, biting his lip.
"There really is a 6th-circle mage on their side. Could the Scarlet Flame Magic Tower be
secretly aiding them?"
The thought set off alarms in his mind. If the Magic Tower was involved, this was no ordinary
matter. Judging by how evenly matched his mage corps was with the enemy, it was clear that the Tower had deployed its key forces.
"How on earth did that bastard manage to gather such powerful mages...?"
He was curious but had no way to find out now. After the war, he would investigate and make
those aiding Fenris pay the price.
For now, since magic was being neutralized on both sides, the only option left was direct
combat.
"Cavalry," Harold commanded.
At his signal, the cavalry on both flanks began to move.
They aimed to encircle the Fenris forces from behind, drawing a wide arc as they expanded the
perimeter.
As long as the front-line spearmen held their ground, the Fenris forces would crumble from
the
rear.
Thud, thud, thud!
Desmond's spearmen gripped their spears tightly as the approaching Fenris cavalry drew
closer.
'They're fast.' Even with full-body armor and barding on their horses, the Fenris cavalry moved at a speed comparable to light cavalry. The collision would undoubtedly be devastating.
The soldiers in the front ranks would likely be thrown back, but that would reduce the
enemy's momentum.
Thousands of soldiers stood spaced in tight formations. They were sure the enemy would lose speed after breaking through no more than half of the ranks.
Once their movement was hindered, the encirclement would tighten, leading to their
complete annihilation.
Thud, thud, thud!
The distance narrowed. A few blinks of an eye, and they would collide. The spearmen
crouched low, ready to attack the horses and unseat the riders.
Thud, thud, thud!
Just before the two forces clashed, Ghislain shouted loudly.
"Spread out!"
Swish!
The leading knights and cavalry began to split left and right, seemingly avoiding the
spearmen altogether.
In the gap that opened between them, riders holding weapons other than spears appeared.
At the forefront of this group was the elf Lumina.
Creaaaak...
Lumina released her reins and drew back her bowstring with both hands. The elves and cavalry
behind her did the same, letting go of their reins and readying their bows.
Harold muttered as he watched the unexpected formation appear through the gaps.
"...Mounted archers?"
It was a unit he hadn't anticipated at all.