Chapter 186

The shamans standing there all pointed at the beastman.

-Whirr.

Before the warrior’s corpse could even cool, hands, feet, and a scaly head surged up from the pool of blood. Erik wiped the blood splatter off his cheek and looked down at him.

“Speak.”

“The ambush at Wolf Gorge failed to pursue and is returning. It will take five hours. The camp at Ganilan Mountain has collapsed. They decided to retreat as soon as they noticed the enemy raid. The 400 cavalry dispatched to that area are lost.”

The demon made a clicking sound and relayed information from hell. Erik, who had been listening silently, nodded once and raised his axe.

“Order Syriad to return. Tell Chastros to continue the pursuit. If Sven is by Darasil, tell him to advance south as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

“Go.”

-Thunk.

The axe struck the demon’s crown. The demon sank back into the pool of blood without leaving a corpse. Erik rubbed his tired eyes and nodded again.

Another warrior was dragged in. How boring. Erik raised his axe with a dry expression. The clan warriors’ terrified eyes, the nameless warrior dragged here with wet pants.

The pit of corpses turned into pools of blood and flesh. The shamans and demons giggling at the sight, even the fallen god. All of it, unbearably dull.

“Yarl!”

Then a messenger ran in from outside the camp. It was the man who had been reporting the frontline situation to Erik. Erik, who had been raising his axe, paused and looked at him.

“Is the battle going poorly?”

“It’s still at a stalemate! But… morale has hit rock bottom. We’ll be pushed back soon.”

An ambush in a situation where numerical superiority was hard to claim, enemies who had cut off their retreat and were prepared to die. In a normal situation, they should have prepared for siege warfare around the camp’s palisade instead of engaging.

On top of that, the constant drain of warriors being pulled to the rear as sacrifices left those on the frontline unable to recover their shattered morale.

If it weren’t for the demons rampaging on the frontline, the situation would have fallen apart immediately. In truth, with the main forces all deployed outside, the warriors left in the camp were nothing but chaff.

It was the most desperate moment since the start of the unification war. Moreover, this situation was something he could never have predicted.

With almost all the northern clans scattered and hiding, watching his every move, if he could have predicted the sudden emergence of a central figure and simultaneous, organized resistance, he would have been a prophet, not a strategist.

“Did you come all this way just to say that?”

“No, Yarl! Troops are approaching from the eastern ridge!”

“Eastern?”

How many troops had he sent east? Who was leading that area? Erik stroked his chin and fell into thought. From here to the east was a heavily fortified area with allied camps, and no signal fires had been lit to warn of an ambush.

So those approaching must be allies. Since no orders had been sent in that direction, this approach was far too sudden.

*

“Have Sigsten face the enemy. We must tie down the enemy’s detachment. Tell Sigurd to ignore the first enemy he encounters and attack the follow-up forces. The ambush must be sporadic, and our numbers must appear vast.”

Kirhas narrowed her eyes and whispered to the wooden plank with blooming flowers. She continued speaking without slowing down. The warriors chasing after her were in awe.

She had been commanding the battle for almost three nights straight. The difference between her and other commanders was that she was constantly moving or engaging in combat during all that time.

It was as if she had two more heads than anyone else. Her command of the battle and her direct combat skills were nearly flawless, but what was even more astonishing was that she never lost her strategic thinking, exerting influence over the entire north.

Even now, she was leading her third group battle, commanding the legion while simultaneously moving troops in entirely different regions. Like moving pieces on a chessboard, meticulously.

“Valten must retreat. But he must not completely leave the battlefield. Have him attempt another ambush at the nearest camp. We must confuse the enemy’s response forces.”

At this moment, Kirhas’s tactical command and Freya’s information delivery were in perfect harmony. Kirhas finished speaking and hung the wooden plank on her tactical belt. She pulled out a pipe from her sleeve.

“Hoo…”

Most of the enemy’s returning forces would be wandering in the darkness and snowstorm of the north at this very moment. The troops Fernandez had scattered across the north would never have been a meaningful force under normal circumstances, but under Kirhas and Freya’s command, they were being used as a perfect guerrilla army.

Shaking the board. To flip the turtle. Kirhas sped up her horse as she looked at the flickering torches of the distant camp. The acrid smoke of the pipe filled her lungs. The scent of battle, of the hunt, filled her nostrils and soaked her mind.

‘Kirhas. What do you need to win on the battlefield?’

‘More troops than the enemy?’

‘Simply put, yes. And troops are always relative. It doesn’t matter how many troops are scattered across the frontline. What really matters is the number and quality of troops in contact at the moment of engagement.’

Kirhas recalled the lessons Fernandez had taught her while sitting her on his lap. Though she mostly remembered the feel and warmth of his lap. Kirhas’s tail twitched.

‘You’re right, Your Excellency.’

The enemy’s total forces are overwhelmingly larger than ours. The remnants of the northern clans are not a united force, and both the quality and quantity of their troops are inferior.

But in one battlefield. If we can gain superiority in a very narrow local battle… and if that battlefield is right where the enemy’s leadership is.

Under normal circumstances, this would be impossible. The enemy’s core facilities would have stronger defenses compared to other areas.

But at this very moment, the situation Fernandez created, the allied troops scattered across it, and the enemy troops chasing them. The confusion of information and the misjudgment of the command. Freya’s ability to issue simultaneous commands. And…

The presence of the Great Wilderness’s greatest field commander was determining the course of the battle.

‘I will definitely flip it.’

There was a reason Fernandez had left her and Freya together. And it was based on trust. Fernandez believed in her. In this vast situation, in the north, she was the only commander who could match his steps and deploy troops.

So she simply followed. She simply carried out the trust and mission her lord had given her.

-Swish.

The blade was drawn. She flicked the pipe with one hand and adjusted her grip on the sword. The enemy lines were closing in.

“Break through!”