13 (36)

Boats floated on the dark current, and there was a loud noise, but that was all. That alone was not enough to cross the river. Gregory looked with bloodshot eyes at the several lumps of wood that had stopped. It was another practice run.

“Attack. Burn one of those boats.”

“The mana consumption is too great…. Recovering it would take…. a long time. The chance of success is also low. The wind blowing along the riverside is too strong. Besides, even if it succeeds…. They will have mages on that side too….”

The mage wearing a robe had a dark-red robe draped around him. This kind of fabric was a luxury fabric that even a mage could not touch unless he was quite wealthy. However, the mage wearing those clothes did not have a comfortable expression. He continued to logically present to Gregory, like a mage, the reasons why it could not be done.

Gregory wanted to seal forever the throat of this mage who was endlessly babbling. What he needed were soldiers who would carry out orders, not underlings who argued against them. However, because he knew how important a single mage was in this moment, no, in the situation that would soon unfold, he did not utter a single word and listened to the entire long speech. The mage finally finished saying everything he had to say. Gregory gave no answer. The mage asked in an exhausted voice.

“So what will you do…?”

“Attack.”

“………..Understood.”

The mage’s face tensed. It meant he did not want to do it. However, the order had been given, and he gathered mana as he went before the riverside. Clear light circled in the blue crystal orb attached to his staff. As it grew deeper, murmuring could be heard from around him. The wind carrying moisture was fierce, and the current along the riverside was fast.

The mage cursed inwardly, thinking it would have been better to give the order several days ago, so why now of all times? Still, he did everything he had to do. The crystal orb glowed red. He fixed the staff forward with difficulty. What formed in front of it was a rather large fireball. It was the size of about twenty torches gathered together. The mage sweated cold sweat like mad. When he shrieked something in the runic language, the fireball flew out with a whoosh.

The sight of it flying along the dark river was magnificent. But no matter how one looked at it, the wind was too strong. The fireball could be seen shrinking. Everyone was focused on the fireball, but there was probably no one as focused as Gregory. Because he had not slept properly for days, he was irritated. Just as the word “please” came out by itself in his mind, the fireball barely clung to the neck of one of the stationary planks.

He cried out in triumph. The fireball was still fairly large. Wooden fragments flew from the collision, and the flames spread. But only for a moment; before even one boat could be fully burned, the mage on Louis’s side put out the fire with water-attribute magic.

“As expected.”

The mage sighed deeply at Gregory as if to say, “See?” but Gregory felt something lacking.

“One more time.”

The mage’s complexion was already pale. It was impressive enough that he had hit the target at this distance with the wind added on top. His mental strength had been drained, but as Gregory kept urging him, he finally fired one more. This time, it did not even reach and went out with a puff around the middle of the riverbank. Gregory looked at the mage. He was staggering.

Looking at the boats again, Gregory thought the important thing was that it had hit. The boat struck by fire had certainly taken damage, even if the flames had been extinguished quickly. If repeated, it would surely be no different from a gain. Whether Louis prepared to cross or not, for Gregory, it was enough as long as he prevented Louis from coming over. Gregory swept his gaze over the other mages and summoned all the scattered mages.

Like that, another week passed. The rain fell lightly and stopped, but it was clear that it would soon pour. Gregory’s eyes were bloodshot. Not only Gregory, but the mages were also nearly stretched out. Louis only pretended to come and showed no sign of actually coming. Only then did Gregory realize that he was using a cunning scheme.

At the thought that he had been toyed with over and over, Gregory became full of anger. Forming such a defensive tactic already hurt his pride, but because of mere attempts to cross the river, he could not sleep and only accumulated exhaustion. The gloomy weather accelerated Gregory’s mood even more. So he struck the table beside him and simply slept comfortably.

Along with the order to stop responding from now on and lower the level of alert, he thought it would pour either today or tomorrow anyway. There was no way they would cross under such circumstances, so they would remain in a standoff until it stopped. Gregory had already formed the assumption that Louis would probably detour his troops and break through another front first. The next day, he slept well. The night before had been comfortable, and as expected, Louis had only attempted it and did not move. Gregory cursed and laughed, thinking, “Of course.”

“We move tonight.”

Louis, who had been watching the riverside every day, casually uttered one sentence. The expressions of Gaion, Kalbang, Boromir, and all the officers beside him hardened. Louis looked at the information window of the soldier standing guard beyond the riverside. What he focused on was fatigue. Fatigue had accumulated up to 80% and was now rapidly dropping.

If his vision had not been good, he would not have been able to confirm this kind of information, but he could see the enemy’s condition in this way. Since last night, the mage attacks had also completely stopped. Just then, perhaps because he was about to eat a late breakfast, one mage was moving, and Louis checked his information as well. Louis muttered, “Everyone is exhausted.”

“Tonight, all forces will take attack posture. Now is the right time.”

When Louis spoke quietly, everyone knew that the time had come. The smell was already thick in the air. It was the smell of blood. Louis smiled deeply. The sky he looked up at was dark. Even though noon was approaching, the surroundings were dark. Inside the dark clouds, something like thunder or dust was slowly rumbling. Three days had passed since Gregory stopped responding, and today would be no different.

The mages were exhausted, and his soldiers were exhausted too. A full-force river-crossing assault on a stormy night. Common sense always needed to be broken. Louis possessed many sturdy transport boats, and they would move his cavalry. He would lose a few, surely. War always came with meaningless sacrifices. Louis turned his back and moved his feet. All the officers urgently disappeared. From now on, with only the relay of orders and preparation left, every second would count.

It was night. Rain was already falling. In front of Louis lay the pitch-black river water. Louis was at the bow of the boat where raindrops fell. Louis had taken the cavalry and moved about 30KM upstream from the Rhine River. Thunder crashed in the sky. It seemed as though it would smash the transport ships. The horses startled and jumped about, but because they were trained horses, they soon calmed down. The thunder no longer struck. It was as if it was inviting Louis to try if he had courage. Louis’s closed eyes flashed open.

“The die is cast.”

When Louis finished those words, the boat moved forward. Amid the pouring rain and blowing gale, the boat advanced against the current. Louis watched how the boats moved. One boat had lost strength, but the rest seemed able to reach the river’s end.

When they had passed about halfway, one or two soldiers could be seen dozing beside a torch. There was a small camp. Because he could not cover the entire Rhine River, they were a small force Gregory had left behind only as scouts. Even though the rain was falling heavily, the soldiers were dozing well under the tents out of exhaustion. Then one soldier suddenly stood up.

He rubbed his eyes, and when he saw the boat coming ahead, his mouth fell open. Louis was already aiming his horn bow from atop the bow of the leading boat. The horn bow imbued with mana trembled. Louis was about to create the first drop of blood in the assault. Before the startled soldier could even shout, Louis’s arrow pierced his throat.

Because he flew backward while scattering blood, he roughly collided with a sleeping soldier. The sleeping soldier cursed at first and pushed away the soldier lying on top of him, then saw the blood and was horrified. He crawled on all fours like an animal. Louis gave a small laugh and fired the second arrow. Because he had fallen flat, the arrow struck hard into his waist.

It did not kill him at once, so he screamed, but it was buried by the rain. Louis put the next one into his head. Like a watermelon splitting, the arrow sank deep into the soldier’s head. The soldier never stood again.

“Did… did you hit them?”

“Two rangers. Both dead.”

“That’s… incredible.”

Louis looked beside him. Since all the key officers were either commanding troops or entrusted with the boats, the chiliarch beside him was a greenhorn who had only now been appointed as an officer. He was looking at Louis with his mouth half-open, somehow looking absentminded. Well, was it even possible to hit rangers in this gale and in darkness where nothing could be seen? It was certain that Louis had shown a feat difficult even for a Sword Master.

Louis looked at the still-quiet camp. The torch burned precariously beside the corpses. The wind had weakened, but the rain had grown stronger. Perhaps there was still time until the shift change, as the small barracks remained the same. Louis’s boat reached the riverside just like that. Louis mounted his horse and checked that his bow, arrows, and longsword were hanging there. The cavalry each mounted their horses and waited only for the door to open.

When the thick wooden door opened and a long bridge slid down, Louis kicked his horse. The horse, neighing fiercely, dashed through the rain. Then the cavalry poured out after Louis. Louis looked at the two dead rangers, smashed the torch, and drove his horse straight toward the barracks.

The muddy riverside roared under the horses’ hooves, and Louis charged toward the barracks. A few rangers who discovered Louis blew whistles, but the cavalryman beside Louis quickly broke away and cut off their heads. From inside the barracks came sobbing, moaning sounds.

Louis entered as if smashing through the barracks. Inside the barracks was hot, and around a man who seemed to be the commander of the ranger unit, about five men were playing with a woman. They had captured a nearby civilian and were amusing themselves with her. The thing whose jaw was full of hair froze as if he had met the god of death when he saw Louis.

“Uh……. uh…. uh?”

The woman, reduced to rags, desperately shouted for him to save her. When Louis drove his horse forward, the five men rushed at him as if their lives depended on it. Three necks flew into the air at once. Blood drops decorated the surroundings with a patter as heavy as the raindrops falling outside. Three fell, two froze. One collapsed to the ground.

Before Louis could swing his next sword, another cavalryman who entered cut the heads and chests of the two men. Soon, the inside was filled with the sweet smell of blood. The woman trembled, then came to Louis, muttered, “Thank you, God,” and fainted. At the same time, screams began to burst out from all directions. It was the beginning of the assault. Louis drove his horse outside.

Again, raindrops poured madly against his face. One or two fleeing rangers could be seen, but they did not get far before they were cut through, spine and all, and died instantly. Louis’s cavalry destroyed the small camp in just a few minutes. The second boat landed on the riverside. Soon the door opened, and Anok drove his horse spiritedly toward Louis. Then the third and fourth boats also appeared. All the cavalry had crossed the river. This large number of cavalry that Louis would lead was the core of the assault.

“She will not wake. It seems she was captured while living somewhere around this area. What shall we do with the woman? I think it would be best to end her breath before we leave.”

“Leave her somewhere safe. From now on, she is one of my people.”

“I made a mistake. I apologize.”