Chapter 78: The Road to King (18)
Chapter 78: The Road to King (18)
“You are …..!”
Ahead of the iron cavalry, there was a man who had swept past Kediman soldiers and landed on the ground, he was Zint.
“His orders. Help!”
The moment he saw this, Elheat gripped Kediman’s sword even tighter as it pierced his chest. As if to say that he would never let it go. He prevented the sword blade from going any deeper than that.
The more he did so, the more Kediman poured all of his energy into completely piercing the sword and stopping Elheat from breathing. It was in this situation that Zint suddenly appeared and sliced off Kediman’s wrist as soon as he landed!
“Kuaaahhh!”
Kediman, who had been distracted by Elheat, screamed as he grabbed his arm, whose wrist had been severed in the surprise attack.
–One on one, but that didn’t mean anything to Zint. It wasn’t a one-on-one fight, so why shouldn’t he intervene?
If Erhin asked him to help, he would just help anyway, regardless of the means and methods. Completing the order was more important to him than his life. The Iron Cavalry that had arrived before him began to overrun Kediman’s troops.
Kediman’s troops were forced to fall back due to the frightening speed and strength of the iron cavalry.
Kediman’s troops had a morale of 80 and a training level of 95, while the morale of the Iron Cavalry led by Zint was 90, with a training level of 97.
In terms of morale and training level, they had no intention of losing to any unit, but Kediman’s troops are infantry, so it’s no surprise that they’re being pushed around by the iron cavalry. Even more so since the captain, Kediman was injured by Zint.
Elheat pulled out the sword that Kediman’s hand was dangling from. The wound on his chest was bleeding, but it hadn’t gone deep. It was because he had used all his mana to stop it. Then he stood up, holding the spear in his hand.
“Guaaaaaah, you…..you!”
Kediman pounced on Zint in a rage. He didn’t consider him a threat even with his severed wrist. From the looks of him, he thought he was just a young man, so he was no match for him.
“Give me the sword!”
He took the sword he received from a soldier and attacked Zint. However, when his hand was cut off, his martial force was already reduced. It’s not that there aren’t people who can join the ranks of powerful warlords with one hand, but it’s far from a possibility for Kediman who just had his wrist cut off.
Zint’s sword sliced through Kediman’s chest with divine speed, like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, Kediman’s body was sliced to pieces.
“Guha……!”
And with that, Kediman died with his eyes open.
Zint continued to slash the soldiers around him with the same poker face as always.
***
Lucana didn’t pay much attention to Zint, who suddenly barged in, thinking that he was just a young man. However, he changed his mind when he saw how fast he could draw his sword and how he handled it.
Neither Istin nor Lucana had expected Kediman to be killed by a single blow like that. Istin immediately looked at Lucana’s face. Lucana understood what he meant and nodded.
“We’re going to cover our forces now! Charge!”
For Lucana, Kediman had always been a thorn in his side. So he had no sympathy for his death, but Kediman’s troops were his comrades. It was outrageous to abandon them like that.
Istin’s troops rejoined them on the battlefield in front of the barrier, that was enough to change the situation again.
Kediman’s troops numbered 50,000 and Istin’s troops were also 50,000. Compared to that, the Iron Cavalry numbered only 10,000.
Up to 50,000 vs. 10,000, the iron cavalry had the advantage because of the difference in weapons, but even if they had the advantage and could deal with infantry well, they couldn’t handle 100,000 enemies.
It was also the absolute advantage of numbers in a general flatland battle. Right now, the commander of the Iron Cavalry was Zint and he just took the lead to save Elheat.
The entire Iron Cavalry scattered and slashed at the Narja soldiers in the dark. Because of this, Istin moved his own troops and chose a siege formation that surrounded the retreating path of the iron cavalry in a semicircle. In other words, there was a barrier in front and Istin’s troops in the back.
“Master Istin will take command from here. Kediman’s troops, obey his orders! Form up and get in the line of fire now!”
Kediman’s soldiers, who had been thrown into confusion, began to cheer and regain their momentum.
***
Zint had insight to fight by looking only ahead, and he specialized in one-on-one combat and surprise operations like the one he had just performed, but he had no commanding qualities in a confrontation like this.
“He told me!”
However, he was more faithful than anyone else in fulfilling Erhin’s orders.
“If Lunan Castle falls, I want you to lead this iron cavalry to Voltaire Castle!”
Zint shouted as he came up to Elheat’s side, slashing down the enemy soldiers. Elheat looked at the iron cavalry again at his words. It was a well-trained iron cavalry, he could see that at a glance.
“Kuh-hah-hah-hah!”
That’s why he couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. After all, Erhin is a single-minded man, just as he thought.
“I see. Count Erhin was raising such troops!”
Lunan Castle had already fallen. He had given up everything when he heard the news, but as soon as he saw the Aintorian crest, he grabbed his weapon with the last of his strength.
If Erhin were here, it would be a different story! But still, he wondered if it would be unreasonable for him to lead his troops.
However, this was not the time to be talking about that. No matter how he looked at it, they were without a proper commander. Regardless of what else was going on, the Iron Cavalry had been sent to help him. It would be even more unreasonable to neglect the lives of those cavalrymen.
In the end, Elheat climbed up on his horse, exhausted. His mana was almost exhausted, but not to the point of being unable to command. Of course, he had some pretty deep wounds here and there, but he had been motivated.
“Aintorian’s Iron Cavalry, listen up!”
Elheat mounted his horse and shouted to the scattered Iron Cavalry who were fighting.
“I am Demasin Elheat, warlord of Lunan. I’m going to command you for a while. Will you follow me?”
There is no one from Lunan who has not heard the name of Demasin Elheat.
“Waaahhhh!”
When the soldiers of the Iron Cavalry heard his voice, they let out a battle cry in unison.
Martial power 96, intelligence 70 and command power 97! His power has been built on the battlefield throughout his life.
Elheat’s commanding power was different from the high commanding power born from Yurasia’s attractiveness. It is a command power specialized in the battlefield.
“Soldiers at the gate, listen up! Give up the barrier now and join the iron cavalry! The iron cavalry will attempt a single-point breakthrough, so gather in the center! All right! Zint, you buy us some time up front!”
In the blink of an eye, he instructed the soldiers at the barrier and the iron cavalry, then gave Zint his orders as well. After Elheat took charge of the iron cavalry, Zint, who had been told to follow his orders, nodded foolishly.
Istin and Lucana are part of the Ten Warlords. It’s not that they’re not good at commanding, but they are not at Elheat level.
The moment Elheat became the commander, Aintorian’s Iron Cavalry became a completely different group.
“If I can’t get you guys to retreat in one piece, I won’t be able to face Count Erhin!”
Elheat shouted.
“When they’re all here, we’ll charge all at once!”
The Iron Cavalry, who had gathered and hunkered down for a while under his command, broke through Kediman’s troops and charged toward the encircling Istin troops waiting behind them.
Istin’s troops, who had intended to surround and annihilate the Iron Cavalry scattered here and there, were unable to cope with the sudden change in movement.
The morale of the Iron Cavalry was further boosted by Elheat’s command, and the infantry of Kediman and Istin’s troops had no way to stop such momentum and the encircling force was quickly defeated.
What’s more, the one standing at the spearhead was the war demon Zint! The Narja soldiers in the path of the Iron Cavalry’s assault were blown away by the power of the cavalry like bamboo shoots after the rain.
The Narja infantry, discouraged by the tremendous force of the Iron Cavalry, began to hesitate and the Iron Cavalry started to escape from the barrier at high speed. Since their objective was to retreat, their current composition was almost invincible.
***
“I didn’t expect them to break through so quickly, did you?”
Lucana grabbed his chest with a frustrated expression.
“No chase?”
Lucana asked Istin, but he shook his head.
“We’ve already lost momentum, how are we supposed to chase the retreating cavalry?”
Lucana groaned and crumpled up his hair.
“Our original objective was to seize the barrier and join the general at Lunan Castle, so we have accomplished our mission, huh?”
On the surface, yes. But for some reason, Lucana felt like he had lost a lot. Lucana was frustrated by the thought that Fran might question him, but Istin was unconcerned.
“You’re looking forward to the day when you’ll have to face that man on the battlefield. And now you want to settle it fair and square? Good grief…….”
Lucana shook his head in dismay. Without changing his expression, Istin finished communicating in a way that only Lucana, who had taken care of him since he was a child, could understand, and began his assault on the barrier.