In The Name Of Ingrad! (21)

A short while earlier. Agnes, who had been watching the collapsed wall, had to think quickly.

‘If the enemy climbs over the wall like this, we won’t have enough time to prepare. But there are far too many unstable factors!’

The fact that the situation was so bad it was lamentable made her thoughts complicated. Moreover, as if they had known in advance that the wall would collapse like this, a fierce assault using siege weapons had continued.

‘Rex de Pearl, just what in the world did you do?’

If he had made many preparations while thinking of this day and this moment, she thought he might be an utterly frightening person.

“We cross… the wall.”

At Agnes’s decisive order, the elites of the Gold Lion Knight Order could be seen quietly mounting their horses. Right now, the soldiers were somehow blocking the enemy forces that were surging in by stepping over the collapsed rubble, but there was no telling how long such a thing would be possible.

Moreover, there was one problem that weighed on her mind inwardly.

The movement of the mercenaries. In effect, a forced conscription order had been issued to every mercenary in the capital, but the fact that fewer than ten thousand mercenaries had actually moved made Agnes’s thoughts complicated.

At least in the case of the Imperial Family, the shadows remained and were guarding it, so it could be called fortunate that Agnes did not need to pay too much attention to that.

The problem came next.

Would there not be another move? Agnes thought that as she mounted her horse, and soon, after finishing preparations, she drove her horse toward the knight order waiting only for her and shouted as if giving a command.

“As the sword of the Empire, we may break, but we shall never bend! Let’s go!”

Many knights answered with silence and began following Agnes as she led them forward. Soon, after crossing the wall, Agnes looked down with a cold gaze at the countless enemy soldiers and operated her aura.

Meanwhile, Agnes was not the only one who was busy.

That was because there were people approaching the capital of the Empire and its final gate.

“Captain… did we really receive a message saying they would acknowledge our contribution if we opened the gate?”

At the subordinate mercenary’s words, the man whose entire body was covered in scars spoke.

“We are in a situation where we received a message saying they would give our Servant Mercenary Corps important positions. It was a letter bearing the signature of that great Rex de Pearl, so it surely is not a deception.”

“But when I think that the Empire might lose because of us, my heart feels anything but comfortable.”

“Foolish. In the end, your future opens only when you side with the victor. Make sure you understand that feeling uncomfortable like that will not help your life.”

“…Yes, Captain.”

The number of mercenaries was roughly one thousand. Their number was small, but if one looked at their faces, they could be called remarkable people.

For mercenaries, ranks that could be called a kind of hierarchy existed from G-rank to SS-rank, and SS-rank was a rank that, in effect, only a few people on the continent possessed, so it was correct to say that it was a rank the so-called “Masters” could reach.

However, the people gathered here now were B-rank on average, with the strong ones being A-rank, and there were as many as five S-rank mercenaries, which was called the highest level one could practically climb to while working as a mercenary.

Because their experience and skill were in no way lacking, they were approaching in a number of one thousand to open the gate.

It was around the time they arrived near the gate, where tension flowed through everyone’s silence.

“You there, mercenaries, move quickly! When was the mobilization order issued, and you’re only arriving now?!”

At one knight’s shout, the captain of the Servant Mercenary Corps, who could be called the leader of this group, approached the knight while wearing a light smile.

“Sorry about that. But our Servant Mercenary Corps cannot be forced even by the state, so couldn’t you take that into account a little?”

“…Tch, Servant, is it? Your job is to go up onto the wall and slaughter the enemy elites climbing up. Hurry and get up onto the wall!”

In the end, the knight allowed the Servant Mercenary Corps to approach with his momentum somewhat broken, and it was the moment the Servant Mercenary Corps and the knight passed by as if overlapping.

“Take care of him.”

The captain of the Servant Mercenary Corps gave a very quiet order.

At that, several mercenaries could be seen quickly brushing past the knight and swiftly stabbing daggers and iron skewers into the exposed parts between his armor.

Then they covered the knight’s mouth, kept him from letting out a scream, quickly knocked him over, and dismantled his equipment. The mercenaries, as if they had prepared in advance, even cut up the corpse, divided it among themselves, carried it, and moved on. Even though such a cruel situation had occurred, the strange part was that no one noticed what had happened between that knight and the Servant Mercenary Corps.

The distance to the gate was roughly just over 200 meters.

Tension appeared on the mercenaries’ faces. And there were knights and commanders who looked this way with an expression that suggested they could not understand something. Among them, Viscount Muriel, who had been guarding the gate, turned his head and looked at the mercenaries approaching the gate, beginning to feel that something was strange.

“The mercenaries are approaching too closely. Where is the responding knight?”

At Muriel’s question, one noble serving as his adjutant spoke.

“We stationed him 200 meters behind, and had him respond to the mercenaries arriving each time.”

“What was the response method?”

“Their deployment locations changed depending on their skill and rank, and most were ordered to go up onto the wall and defend it, but…”

The noble, who had been speaking, felt that something was strange and lowered his gaze to examine the mercenaries approaching nearby. Then he roughly confirmed several famous faces and spoke.

“That is Galashid of the Servant Mercenary Corps. If it is him… I remember that he sent notice that he would refuse this time.”

“Is he an S-rank mercenary?”

“That is so.”

The noble’s thoughts grew complicated as he felt something was strange, and at that moment, Muriel spoke.

“You watch the enemy’s movements. I will go.”

The noble thought it strange as he watched Viscount Muriel immediately move his steps, but he believed that even if a problem occurred, everything would be resolved if a Master stepped forward.

And it was just when Viscount Muriel had descended below the gate.

Galashid, the captain of the Servant Mercenary Corps, violently furrowed his face and shouted as if screaming.

“Open the gate!!”

‘Damn it, there was a Master… They said Muriel would definitely be guarding the inner keep!!’

Galashid savored the feeling of his complicated thoughts becoming thoroughly tangled, but judging that they could still try from their side as well, he ended up shouting.

And it was a situation where it was correct to say that he showed confidence because there were no fewer than seven S-rank mercenaries, including Galashid.

“We… will pin down Viscount Muriel’s feet.”

Because they were S-rank mercenaries who had all entered the top-grade Expert level and were seeking enlightenment to surpass that stage, they considered this an opportunity.

Bluntly put, there were people who gained enlightenment toward becoming a Master after being confronted with a crisis of death. Realizing something at death’s door was a kind of thought held by those forged through real combat, and every S-rank mercenary judged that this was that moment, drew their respective weapons, and moved their steps toward Viscount Muriel.

Meanwhile, Viscount Muriel, who felt this situation was nothing but displeasing, drew his sword, lightly swung it through the air several times, and looked around.

“What a mess. Was the gate your objective?”

He lightly scratched his head with the end of his sword’s handle, looked at the mercenaries who had begun causing chaos, and asked Galashid, who was approaching him.

“You must have done this because you were confident in victory, correct?”

“…If you had not been here, it certainly would have been perfect.”

“That is quite an unfortunate story. However, I have no intention of going down easily.”

“We are the same. If either of us dies, let us not feel wronged.”

“That is a welcome sound to hear.”

And so Muriel and the six mercenaries, led by Galashid, began glaring at each other as if they would kill one another.

Although they had approached near the gate, Archduke Pearl pointed out the problem: the gate that should have opened was not opening.

“They are late.”

Archduke Pearl also knew that there was nothing one could predict about what might happen during the execution of war, but the problem was that his heart had become quite impatient.

Soon, the emotions that had been highly excited at the expectation of facing his long-missed younger sister were calmly sinking down, and Rex, who saw this, spoke to Archduke Pearl.

“The gate will open soon. However, since we cannot trust the mercenaries too much… I wish to dispatch the knight order urgently. Please grant your permission.”

At Rex’s words, Archduke Pearl shook his head and spoke.

“The shadows of the Terakan Imperial Family are quite sharp. There is a house that, for generations, did not step forward and existed only for protection. If we are to face them, it would be better to conserve our forces… At times like this, it is right to proceed by the orthodox method.”

In any case, one side of the wall had collapsed. The Empire’s elite knight order had been deployed and was buying time, but that too was literally nothing more than buying time, and as a result, it was correct to say that the Terakan Empire was now finished because of the overwhelming difference in military strength.

Furthermore, they had prepared for the Three Sages to step forward at any time. Since things had come to this, Archduke Pearl regulated his breathing in order to calm his mind, then spoke to Rex.

“Deploy the troops. Since a commotion can be heard from inside… if heavenly fortune reaches us, the gate will surely open.”

Rex looked as though he did not quite understand, but if his father had said so, he thought that must be correct. With no choice, he stepped back, and soon gave orders to his adjutant, beginning to operate the troops.

Siege towers were put into operation, and catapults and ballistae were deployed forward, beginning to target the gate and the top of the wall. Moreover, because of the opinion that they should conserve the knight forces, soldiers would be deployed as the main force, and Rex issued an attack order with the momentum of grinding down all two million troops.

And Agnes, who had swept across the battlefield once and was now watching this situation, was weighing things while examining the situation that had begun to grow complicated.

‘If I take Archduke Pearl’s head… there is no telling how this war will flow from here. But can I face Archduke Pearl?’

Although they were from different generations, Agnes had lived through the same era in her own way and had always been conscious of Archduke Pearl.

However, when she judged whether she could lead herself to victory against him in a duel between commanders, the fact that she did not know weighed on her heart.

“Lady Agnes, it is an all-out offensive!”

The shout of the one serving as commander of the Gold Lion Knight Order reached her ears.

Agnes knew it, but the situation was one where she could not retreat like this, making her feel nothing but stifled. She continued cutting down the Pearl family’s forces surging in, gravely watched the situation, and tried to grasp the flow.

“The Silver Lions will prepare for a siege defense. How long will restoration take?”

“…In effect, they say restoration will be difficult in this war.”

‘Incompetence.’

The instant that single word came to mind, one man’s face passed through her thoughts with it.

‘If it had been him… would he already have raised the wall and had more than enough time left…?’

Agnes was experiencing the irony of remembering the face of the man who was practically the one who had driven the Empire into a corner.

And she had no choice but to shout.

“We buy time. We endure with a wall of men.”

That was all Agnes could do right now, so it was nothing but stifling.

‘This will be a very long day…’