13 (71)

In Louis’s sight, Ian looked like a boy. He was short, his body was more sleekly shaped than muscular, and his hair was a vivid color that did not merely look red, but seemed as if it was bursting upward. His two eyes were greedy like those of a beast, and he wore clothing that exposed everything except for light iron plates, like a mercenary who had operated in hot and humid regions.

There were so many tattoos on his body that it was actually difficult to find proper skin, and below that, he wore pants made with a mix of coarse linen, along with what seemed to be a few light iron plates. It was the very typical outfit a mercenary would wear. The murderous intent bursting from his body was tingling enough to match what the information window had told him, and Louis was naturally becoming excited.

A little more time passed, and Louis’s field of vision was completely blocked by a large number of Demon Soldiers. They filled the space so densely that the bridge leading to the center was truly packed full.

There were a total of twelve bridges placed around the center here—though calling them bridges was somewhat strange, since there were holes around them like cliffs, making them look like bridges. In any case, to reach important figures or destroy this space, one had to head toward the center.

The space here possessed such tremendous depth and width that it could not be guessed at all from the outside, enough that the mages beside Louis made a fuss. It was almost as if space itself had stretched, and strictly speaking, that expression was correct. By connecting the present world and the spirit world, the space itself had been expanded by Nestor’s intent.

Because of that, just one bridge was wide enough for around forty cavalrymen to run side by side, and since there were twelve such evenly placed bridges, it was wide enough to shatter the fixed ideas of the mages. In any case, since Louis had already given the charge order, all cavalry units split up according to formation in order to attack all twelve bridges.

Because Louis was at the very front, he galloped along the central bridge, and before him, the Demon Soldier Corps that had just been born and began serving Ian had taken position and were charging to meet him. Not only that, Demon Soldiers were continuously crawling upward from each pit. This sight truly carried fear with it, so an ordinary commander would have given an order to retreat, but rather than retreat, Louis gave an order to advance even faster.

He had chosen the tactic of destroying the enemy’s breathing point before all of them could climb up. Thus, on the twelve bridges, the forces on both sides began colliding one by one. In numbers, Louis’s cavalry was overwhelmingly superior, but the individual quality of the Demon Soldier Corps was superior, so the point of contact remained evenly matched. There were bridges where Louis’s cavalry had the advantage, but there were also bridges where they were at a disadvantage, and there were even bridges where they had completely lost the initiative.

Even the areas where they were superior might lose that strength if more and more Demon Soldiers kept climbing up. Moreover, because the Demon Soldiers climbing upward were not coming through any one specific point, but climbing up randomly, each chiliarch who grasped the situation skillfully began having part of the cavalry dismount and use them like infantry. They were knocking down the Demon Soldiers with spears as soon as they climbed up.

Such active tactics were certainly effective. On top of that, morale was at its peak. Any human would naturally become afraid and tremble with anxiety in this situation, and especially considering that the entire cavalry had been anxious before entering, that was only natural. However, there was one variable, and that was Louis.

The battlefield where they fought together with Louis, who was praised as Mars, was something they could proudly boast about to later generations for generations to come, and moreover, the fact that Louis was handling the most dangerous part at the very front encouraged them more than anything else. A battle carried out by the highest-ranking person also had such great advantages. Even so, they were generally at a disadvantage. In particular, if it became a long battle, they would surely collapse.

Including even the Demon Soldiers climbing up from the very bottom, their number was in the thousands, and even though they had killed some of their own, a considerable number of them were intact thanks to Nestor’s quick measures. If one compared only numbers, the cavalry actually had about a thousand more, and considering the situation of Louis’s cavalry advancing as a whole and the Demon Soldiers in the middle of climbing up, they had the positional advantage, yet their individual combat power was lower.

What Louis had brought was a mix of ordinary heavy cavalry and light cavalry. Although the heavy cavalry was excellent, they were not a special heavy cavalry branch that surpassed heavy cavalry, but were at an extremely ordinary level, so several cavalrymen had to fight one Demon Soldier at the same time for it to be efficient. That was indeed how things were going, and even though they had seized a fairly advantageous point of contact, this was the reason the battle remained evenly matched.

In any case, in this kind of battlefield, the place pushing forward with the greatest momentum was, as expected, the center, in other words, the battlefield where Louis was participating. Louis was riding the sturdiest warhorse and had stopped his horse at around the second line. No matter how good Louis’s body was at recovery, it was unreasonable to fight such a large number consecutively. And that was the same for Ian as well, so he too was slowly coming forward.

In front of Louis, the ground was filling with dead warhorses and cavalrymen. A cavalryman on the first line had just charged at full speed and attacked one Demon Soldier, only to suffer the humiliation of having his head taken off in a counterattack. Only his body remained for a moment before it soon lost balance and collapsed on top of the horse. The horse was greatly startled and ran here and there, then became entangled in another fight, was wounded several times, and fell down below.

Since the sound of something breaking could soon be heard, it was not as deep as it looked. Beside the place where the horse fell, two cavalrymen had continuously attacked one Demon Soldier and landed blows on its neck and torso. The Demon Soldier struggled and attacked, but the cavalrymen were safe, and only the horse was cut. The rider skillfully landed on the ground, but a Demon Soldier running with a roar soon pounced on him.

When he died with his torso cut apart, the cavalrymen waiting before Louis formed ranks and shot out like arrows. It was to fill the hole in the formation. Behind them, balls of fire and lumps of electricity exploded like blooming flowers in the places where the Demon Soldier Corps had gathered. The large-scale destructive power was tremendous enough that one group was cooked in an instant or burned black.

However, the downside was the long casting time. Moreover, the mages—that is, the mages Louis had brought—did not have a high total amount of magical power, so after using magic a few times, they had to fall back. There were not yet enough talented people on this side. In any case, Louis was not simply standing by and watching. If it had not been Louis, they probably would not have been able to push the front line this far.

Beside Louis, one soldier was holding several bundles of spears, and Louis was receiving one spear at a time from him, loading it with mana, and throwing it. In any case, the spear flew like a comet and lodged heavily in a Demon Soldier’s head. It was impossible to think of it as a light attack, given that the Demon Soldier’s skull, spread across the floor, was still vibrating.

He usually threw them to assist cavalrymen in danger, so the irritated Demon Soldiers struggled to somehow come toward Louis. Every time that happened, another cavalryman preparing his formation near Louis quickly charged to meet them.

While this war of attrition continued, Ian finally reached near the front line. Since they had already made eye contact, there was no need to search separately. As soon as Louis discovered Ian, he stretched his hand out to the side. The soldier quickly placed a sturdy iron spear in Louis’s hand, and once Louis held it, he repeatedly clenched and unclenched it while slowly loading it with mana.

Truly fearsome, orderly, and highly pure mana seeped from Louis’s entire body, and all the nearby cavalrymen who saw that sight exclaimed in admiration. What Louis intended to do was, eventually, a simple action: he drew the spear back with considerable strength and threw it forward.

It was truly a meteor. It took only an instant for the spear shaft drawing its trajectory to reach Ian’s eyes. That brief moment was certainly hard to even perceive, and it contained enough power that one could not say Ian was not surprised either. Catching it directly was difficult, and though it hurt his pride, he could not avoid injury if he did.

He knew Louis had loaded it with mana, but his characteristic arrogance had given Louis the opportunity. So he had no choice but to bend his pride. The spear shaft that had lost its target finally pierced through the Demon Soldiers behind him like skewers. Even after penetrating three of them, the steel spear shaft, still overflowing with force, stabbed diagonally into the floor and trembled.

Exclamations burst from the cavalrymen. At present, there were only one or two commanders who could show such martial might. Ian muttered, “Indeed, it is worth Nestor’s greed,” and adjusted Louis’s combat strength again. It was certain that he was strong. Especially since Ian had heard about Sire from another subordinate, it was clear before his eyes how Sire must have died.

That fellow had been useful, but no matter what he did, he could not have defeated Louis. It had only been a single exchange, but with just that, Ian could guess Louis’s skill. Even so, that was only the extent of it. Considering Ian’s own power, Louis was only at that level. Since the very option of losing did not exist in Ian’s head, adding more words to it would have no meaning.

Ian had no reason to drag this battle out—he wanted to torture Nestor and turn him into leather as soon as possible. That was one of the wishes he had longed for so much for a very long time. So he continued walking toward Louis, and Louis, who was watching him with interest, finally threw one more spear shaft toward Ian.

However, Ian, who had readjusted Louis’s skill, was prepared in advance and struck the spear shaft away repeatedly with the sword he had drawn before it arrived. The sword had such a strange shape that Louis thought it was fascinating. Even setting aside the patterns engraved on it, it was embarrassing to call it a sword. It was a half-broken sword. It was broken. However, separate from the fact that it was broken, it seemed quite sturdy, because unlike the bent iron spear, it was not scratched at all.

Louis continued throwing iron spears toward him, and Ian struck them away. By the time he had struck away five of them, Ian reached near the first line. Since the first line was already such a mess that cavalrymen and Demon Soldiers were tangled together enough to resemble a swamp, five blood-covered cavalrymen who discovered Ian charged toward him.