Javelins, arrows, and axes flew through the air. Kirhas deflected the projectiles aimed at her and her horse as she charged forward. Not everyone could do what she did, so by the time the cavalry following her reached the wooden ramparts, their numbers had halved.
-Thud thud thud thud
“Ughhh!”
The horse foamed at the mouth as it galloped. Horses are timid creatures, sensitive to the numbers in their group. With each axe that struck, the surrounding mounted warriors crumbled and fell, causing the surviving horses to panic—some charging, some fleeing, and others breaking into a frenzy.
The number of cavalry was dwindling rapidly. The enemy’s resistance was fierce. The wooden ramparts loomed ahead. A warrior running beside her gasped and shouted.
“Captain! We need to flank!”
“If we turn back, we die! Charge!”
“Damn it! These bastards can’t breach that wall! Are we supposed to smash into it and die?”
“Spear!”
At her command, the warrior pulled a cavalry spear from the saddle and threw it. Kirhas caught the shaft mid-air with one hand, adjusted her grip, and pulled her arm back.
“Charge! Don’t stop!”
Kirhas shouted roughly as she gripped the spear. The northern cavalry spear was no different from a sturdy infantry spear. Due to the lack of developed mounted spear techniques, it wasn’t designed for lance charging.
So, keeping the spear from slipping relied solely on her grip strength, balance, and combat sense.
-Crash!
Kirhas slammed into the hastily constructed wooden ramparts. Her flexible waist absorbed the impact cleanly, transferring the full force of the charging horse into the ramparts.
“Ugh…!”
But human flesh, no matter how well-trained, is still human flesh. The heavy, frozen wooden ramparts shattered under her strike, but she was thrown from her horse and rolled onto the ground.
Her vision blurred. Kirhas groped for her numb right arm and scanned her surroundings with shaky eyes. The ramparts were destroyed, and her cavalry charged past her through the breach.
“Good… Not too late.”
The warriors on the ramparts scattered in panic, and resistance forces inside the camp rushed out to form a defensive line. However, hastily assembled infantry couldn’t stop cavalry in open terrain.
Her cavalry had spent the past few days training with her, becoming somewhat skilled in cavalry tactics. They couldn’t compare to the beastman cavalry of the Great Wilderness or the mounted warriors of the White Kingdom, but being proficient in “cavalry tactics” in the north was a significant advantage.
“Huff… It’s fine, it’s fine. Your Excellency endured worse injuries than this…”
Her right arm was twisted, and her shoulder dislocated. The excruciating pain sharpened her focus. She adjusted her limp right arm, dusted herself off, and stood up. It wasn’t time to fall yet.
“So, I’m still fine. I’m fine. There’s work to do.”
She needed to lure out the turtle’s head and buy time for Your Excellency to hunt. Kirhas jumped down from the ramparts and faced the warriors rushing toward her, crouching slightly.
Fear was etched in the warriors’ eyes—not fear of battle or death, but despair and dread for what loomed behind them.
This is what a world ruled by demons looks like, Kirhas thought as she observed their eyes. Was this scene an everyday occurrence in the other world where Fernandez had triumphed?
-Swish.
She couldn’t let it be. Your Excellency was nothing like the person he described from his past. To her, he was the only just figure in this filthy, despicable world. So, the world he wanted to create would at least be brighter and warmer than that one.
Her longsword rang clear as she drew it. She wasn’t used to fighting with her left arm, but having one arm intact was still a big win. If she could fight, she’d bite through the enemy’s throat even with just a pair of molars left.
Fernandez always said that the body is expendable. So… it’s still fine. Even if she had to end her life as a tool thrown into the battlefield, she’d do it with a smile to create the world he desired.
So, it’s still fine.
“Abel.”
Fernandez looked at Abel standing beside him. Abel was staring fixedly at the battlefield.
“It’s dangerous.”
Where she pointed, the warriors led by Kirhas were charging. The cavalry, rushing toward the defensive line, were met by demons emerging from within, causing a stalemate.
A halted cavalry was no different from a tall warrior. A skilled cavalry unit might have tactics to break through such a situation, but these men didn’t. The demons were growing in number.
“Still, still time.”
It was a battle of time. The enemy’s numbers were clearly dwindling. It wasn’t just due to casualties in battle. They were indiscriminately slaughtering their own to summon more demons.
So, it was a battle of time. Demons were a powerful asymmetric force, but their numbers were limited, and their firepower range was clear. Aeren’s forces avoided direct confrontation with demons, so more enemies were falling to their own hands than to the demons.
In the chaos of the battlefield, the only rule was numbers. Strong military power influenced the battlefield more from the outside. In a battlefield descending into utter chaos beyond the commander’s control, only the number of troops determined victory or defeat.
Thus, it was a stalemate. Erik’s leadership was summoning demons to gain an edge in Freya’s information warfare, sacrificing warriors to replenish their dwindling forces.
A vicious cycle. The enemy was reinforcing their self-destructive moves with more self-destruction. Erik must have known this.
-But it’s a battle of time.
The tide of the battle was slowly turning in Aeren’s favor. The dual frontlines created by Kirhas had completely surrounded the enemy camp, forcing them to disperse their forces.
However, it wasn’t a complete victory that could be sealed overnight. And when dawn came, Erik’s scattered forces—his main army—would arrive at this camp…
‘The encircling forces would be encircled, and the slaughter would begin.’
Fernandez looked at Kirhas’s forces. They had shaken the enemy, but the impact wasn’t fatal. They needed to be sharper, heavier. The enemy had to be thrown into irreversible chaos.
Disperse the enemy as much as possible, and at the very end, turn the remaining forces’ attention to the last of Erik’s troops—his personal guard and the corrupted northern god.
To open the gateway, Erik still needed to be alive. But the threat was enough to make it clear that if the gateway wasn’t opened, everything would fail.
