Episode 112

As soon as the order to brace for impact was given, my squad leaders echoed the command.

“Brace for impact! We’re about to collide with the enemy!”

“Archers and mages, slip through the gaps between the spearmen!”

“Don’t die a foolish death by falling back too late!”

Upon hearing the commands, those who had been silently marching with their heads down, spears in hand, also lifted their heads to face forward.

I, too, now stared straight at those in front of our unit.

Seemingly with slight gaps, yet,

at the attempt to penetrate, the formation appeared solid, unbreachable, with both allies and enemies unafraid of the imminent slaughter.

The coordination among those playing the role of commanders in each unit seemed well-established, making the opponent before us a formidable one.

‘How can we minimize the sacrifice of our troops?’

Just as I pondered this until the moment before collision, the enemies in front of us began to provoke us.

“Drop your spears and beg for your life, you bastards.”

“Looking like pizzas trampled by horses.”

“Poor things, looking as weak as skull caps.”

Getting hooked by such simple provocations is a trait of the impatient or the incompetent.

Even if they hurl all sorts of sexual harassment at Karin and Lucia, gnawing at my insides, now is the time to remain cool.

Not just me, but all the soldiers under my command must remain calm.

I responded to ensure my soldiers weren’t agitated by such cheap taunts.

“Such trashy provocations are just the blabber of cowards who ‘aren’t scared!’ but would wet their pants. Ignore them and follow my orders!”

Though no response came back, that was enough.

And so, the distance to the enemy, from ten steps, to eight, to five, to three.

“Now, step back one step! Retreat one step!”

Despite the bizarre and bewildering order to step back when we were about to thrust our spears into the enemy’s throat, my soldiers promptly followed.

From the side, Dalton issued the same command to the entire mercenary group.

“Step back one step! Then thrust when their spears are raised!”

The Whitebeard Mercenary Group, with the enemy right in front of them, uniformly stepped back one step.

Had we been facing gunmen, stepping back simultaneously by just one step at that moment wouldn’t have made a difference…

But since the Rheinfalz Squadron and all soldiers of the Whitebeard Mercenary Group were wielding long spears, weapons dedicated to close combat, about 3-4 meters in length…

Creating even a slight distance could have a greater effect than anticipated…

And as we stepped back, a collective shout to thrust came from the enemy mercenary group.

“Thrust and kill!”

The enemy mercenaries aimed their spears to pierce through the gaps in our armor…

“What? Fuck?!”

A good number of them, who had practiced thrusting at ‘precise spots’ with no unnecessary movements in real combat or training, were taken aback by this alone.

A few seconds’ gap, but enough time to make holes in the enemy’s necks.

Dalton’s voice boomed louder than mine.

“Thrust!”

Our mercenaries, upon hearing that, almost reflexively thrust their spears into the enemy’s necks or vital spots.

In an instant, those pierced by the spears bled and died.

“To fall for such a trick.”

“Damn bastards…”

“Mom, fuck…”

Following their instincts, they clutched their wounds trying to survive somehow, but once pierced by a spear, death was inevitable.

Seeing this, all our mercenary soldiers cheered.

“Fuck, let’s keep going like this!”

“Maintain the formation! Coordinate the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rows properly!”

“Let’s push those foolish bears straight back!”

As the saying goes, ‘well begun is half done,’ in melee combat too, who takes the flow in the first exchange often determines the victory or defeat.

‘It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say we’re halfway there now.’

Instead of rejoicing over this situation, I calmed my emotions to look for an opportunity for our White Unit to perform even better.

A quick scan revealed that about a third of the soldiers in the 1st row had died in this first clash, causing a crack in the enemy mercenary formation.

If this continued, the 2nd and 3rd rows of enemy soldiers would fill in the gap, prolonging the exchange and increasing our casualties.

“With our current momentum, push them all over! Charge!”

Upon ordering the charge, those who were momentarily disoriented by the initial psychological battle began to be slowly pushed back by our White Unit.

Dalton was pushing the enemy mercenary group as aggressively as I was.

“Kill every single one of them! Hurry, time is not on our side!”

As Dalton and the entire mercenary group pressed on, the formation of the mercenary group we were facing began to break down and collapse.

Watching this scene, the enemy mercenary group’s officers began to draw their swords and shout to overcome the situation.

“Fall back and reorganize!”

“I, the squad leader of the White Hounds Mercenary Group, will take the lead!”

“Align the formation properly!”

The fact that their high-ranking officers were stepping in meant that the enemy mercenary group was also throwing their lot in here…

“Should I step in now?”

After a moment of contemplation, I too drew my sword and moved forward through the infantry.

“Whether you’re white hounds or mutts, isn’t there anyone who dares to face me, Martin Meyer, the captain of the Whitebeard Mercenary Group?”

Upon hearing my name, they momentarily flinched.

“Could it be that mad dog?”

“I heard he fought under Baron Pappenheim.”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

While it was somewhat irritating to hear the men babbling like cowards…

It was a moment of satisfaction for all the efforts flying around the Rheinfalz Empire, leading 2,000 men against 5,000, capturing an enemy count.

Living and dying by one’s reputation as a mercenary, there finally came a moment when I was recognized, almost bringing tears of joy to my eyes.

‘I’ll have to kill them as quickly and painlessly as possible.’

As I stepped forward, those considered skilled in their mercenary group cowardly rushed at me in a group.

There were about five of them, lower in rank than me but potentially annoying opponents if they had been coordinating for a long time.

“Fuck, this won’t be easy?”

Hearing my grumble, they charged at me with increased vigor.

“Oscar! You take the left, Prinz you take the right! The other three will come from the front!”

Their tactics for facing a strong opponent suggested they weren’t going to be easy to defeat.

They charged at me in a crane-wing formation as if they were Yi Sun-sin themselves, but…

‘If I collide head-on, I’ll be surrounded by them.’

With that judgment, I quickly darted to the left.

“He’s moving left! Change formation!”

The ones on the right tried to rotate clockwise to surround me, but I, having reached the level of an expert, was faster.

Oscar then clenched his teeth, preparing to block my attack.

“Quite brave.”

However, the gap in skill and level between brave Oscar and me was insurmountable.

I rotated my body clockwise and swung my sword towards his neck.

Oscar tried to block it with his sword, but…

‘Got you, idiot.’

While rotating, I unleashed all the aura from my body, fully absorbing the acceleration with my right foot.

And just like that, I pierced through the neck of the one called Oscar.

“That’s one down.”

From behind me, others gritted their teeth and shouted.

“You bastard! How dare you do that to Oscar!”

“Such weaklings sure talk a lot.”

With those words, I changed direction, embedding aura into my step, and flew to the very back of those rotating clockwise.

“Huh?”

“Block it!”

The guy I targeted managed to block my sword by luck, but he couldn’t block my kick.

“Cough, fuck.”

The one I kicked flew far away, colliding with a soldier from his own mercenary group.

Then, I pierced through the gap in the armor of the one in front, ending his life…

The remaining two quickly rushed towards me.

Did witnessing the disaster of two dying instantly and one flying far away drive them mad?

‘They stand no chance facing me head-on…’

I quickly circulated the aura throughout my body, imagining once again the level Baron Ainz had demonstrated.

A confidence surged within me, a belief that I could do anything.

“The target is the armor.”

The level of an expert can even slice through steel…

Instead of dodging the attacks of the two rushing towards me, I concentrated my power and launched a strike that was faster and stronger.

Then, the sensation of cutting through steel, human bones, muscles, and flesh was transmitted to my hand,

Not one, but I had simultaneously cut through the waists of two men wearing steel armor in one strike.

Is this really the work of my own hands?

And with those words, an enormous cheer erupted behind me, or rather, a bit before that, I heard Karin’s voice.

Unlike her usual self on the battlefield, she always uses formal speech…

“Captain Martin of the White Unit! The Red Rose guys next to us have raised a flag requesting support!”