The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (33)

Meanwhile, at the same time, the Arenta unit had already reached a boiling point.

A battle that made blood boil surged like a wave.

It crashed and sprinkled the orchard with heated blood and sweat.

At the center of it stood Izack.

Before his heat, the monsters fell like a forest struck by a volcanic eruption.

“Come on! More! Look at me…!”

He slashed a troll’s shin.

The troll dropped to its knees.

Izack stepped on that thigh and leapt.

His sword flipped through the air and cut the troll’s throat.

One of the soldiers murmured.

“Crazy… he finished that monstrosity in just two blows.”

Right now Izack was like a massive source of gravity.

His presence drew in every gaze around him and held them.

“…Yeah. This was the taste.”

He licked his lips.

“I should thank the one who brought me back to the battlefield.”

[…]

[Izack Arenta]

[Current Rank: A]

[Talent Aptitude: …]

Izack’s talent aptitude had never been publicly revealed.

But at this moment, what he was good at was all too clear.

His aptitude was neither that of a commander,

nor a strategist,

and certainly not a moonshiner.

The soldiers watching him thought.

‘This man surely sold his soul to a demon for swordsmanship.’

Izack Arenta was demonstrating, by his appearance, what an A-rank fighter in this world meant.

Izack cut down the surrounding monsters again and again.

The blue blood of the mana-addicted monsters—liquid mana.

It evaporated and bloomed blue in the air.

It incessantly formed a mist of blood around Izack.

“…Izack! Stop and hold the line! Come back here!”

Pietro’s voice was heard from afar.

Izack ignored his elder’s words.

He was already holding one pillar of the line.

If he fell back, the burden on the other soldiers would double.

He shouted.

“Father! Ride to the Varni unit and support Alejandro. I’ll hold here…!”

Even as he shouted, Izack slew several goblins.

The soldiers looked at him with reverent eyes.

“Wow. Guess I’ll have to give up becoming his son-in-law.”

“Given up now? I gave up long ago! You’re amazing too.”

“One marital quarrel and I’d be done for by the in-law.”

Meanwhile someone muttered.

“…Maybe son-in-law is a stretch, but other things could work. Like a daughter-in-law.”

“Why?”

“If there’s a son, he’d look at least half like the captain.”

“Are you serious…?”

The soldier stared at his comrade with a stunned expression.

And he thought.

‘Indeed. If he took after that monstrous captain, he’d be strong.’

But that monstrous Izack was gradually tiring.

The fight had lasted nearly hours, and he had cut down almost a hundred monsters.

‘Should I retreat? No, no.’

Behind him was Ronari.

He could not put his daughter in danger.

He intended to tolerate not even the slightest risk to his daughter.

He just fought.

Without taking a single step back.

Even if it meant dying.

He took one more step forward.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded.

He sensed a blade aiming at his back.

-Peeeeeeeeeng!

“!?”

When Izack hurriedly turned around, the monster that had aimed at him had collapsed.

Where the goblin’s heart had been was now only a dark red hole.

“Magic?”

A single mana arrow.

With that strike, a group of cavalry appeared.

“You are…”

The riders formed ranks.

And a concise but booming voice echoed across the battlefield.

“Allies of Limone, for Denabi! Charge!”

Vittorio’s cavalry began to charge.

The Arenta unit’s soldiers hurriedly cleared a path.

-Clatter!

Monsters were struck by the hooves.

The lances and blades of the riders cut through the monsters in an instant.

As the riders swept the field, Vittorio slowly approached Izack.

A mage accompanied him.

Vittorio looked at Izack and asked.

“Are you the commander of this unit?”

“Yes. And you?”

“I’m Vittorio Leviner, commander of the Limone corps.”

“I’m Izack Arenta, captain of the Denabi corps’ Arenta unit. I was told you’d arrive half a day later?”

‘Izack, Arenta…’

Vittorio repeated Izack’s name and family as if savoring it.

Vittorio answered.

“Only the cavalry rode ahead of the main force. One question: what is your relationship with Ronari Arenta?”

At that moment, caution flashed in Izack’s voice.

“How do you know that name?”

“Hmm. You must be her father. I suppose I can tell you.”

“What?”

“Shane Astrier told me. He said to listen well to what Ronari Arenta, the strategy analyst, had to say.”

“That brat…?”

Vittorio nodded.

“Tell me her location. I need her orders and detailed situation reports.”

“She’s a staff officer. She should’ve been at headquarters.”

“We passed there, but she wasn’t there.”

“She wasn’t at headquarters?”

A tension that hadn’t been felt even at the front suddenly overwhelmed Izack.

If Izack sustained the unit like a warrior, Alejandro was pulling it strictly the commander’s way.

Alejandro was the Lord of Denabi.

His excellence in actionless command was natural.

His true quality lay not in personal strength but in his aptitude as a frontline commander.

“1st and 2nd squads, fall back! 3rd squad, charge! Fill the gaps! 4th squad, follow me! For our homeland!”

“For our homeland!”

Alejandro raised his voice without pause, issuing orders to his unit.

A mere unit of dozens.

But their achievements were beyond what such numbers suggested.

His mercenary tactics made feats beyond the unit’s size possible.

The Astrier unit kept advancing without ever being surrounded.

And they won every engagement.

“Only 4th squad remains, everyone else retreat! Break through toward the plum trees north-northwest and regroup!”

The Astrier unit’s goal was a breakthrough.

Different from the Arenta unit, which had to hold the line.

They could choose the battlefield they wanted to fight on.

‘You could lure out an annoying pack of monsters and deal with them. Much easier than fighting inside the Dungeon.’

But the problem was speed.

The breakthrough was being delayed.

There were more enemies than previously estimated.

‘Are more monsters coming up from the Dungeon?’

Still, they could probably hold out somehow.

But this unit wasn’t formed just to endure.

They needed to break through and relieve the Arenta unit’s burden.

Moreover, there was a time limit.

‘We have to clear the surface before Limone’s reinforcements arrive. Only then can we meet the time Shane mentioned.’

They had to shorten the time needed for the breakthrough.

There was only one way to do that.

Push the troops harder.

Alejandro looked over his men.

They were brave,

loyal,

and they trusted their commander.

But that didn’t erase battle fatigue.

To push the exhausted men forward.

Alejandro also had the duty to bring them all home alive.

It was a dilemma.

‘Shane, tell me. What should I do?’

No—he shouldn’t think like that.

‘You are a father, and a Lord. To whom would you dare entrust your judgment?’

Alejandro admonished himself that way.

He broke the silence.

“Daughters and sons of Denabi. Let us go help our brothers. Our target is right there. Unit, advance—destination: east of the apple tree.”

“Advance! Target: east of the apple tree!”

“Forward!”

The squad leaders relayed Alejandro’s orders.

“…Right. One is always forced to choose.”

Alejandro muttered under his breath.

A fight waited ahead.

“Advance! Advance! The Lord waits ahead of us!”

The Varni unit’s warriors cut down the monsters.

They were heading to the midpoint between the other two units under Ronari’s guidance.

Ronari said to Gerard.

“Our objective is to relieve the Arenta unit’s burden while securing the rear of the Astrier unit. Keep advancing in this direction!”

“Understood! But whose order is—”

Before Gerard could finish asking, Ronari rode off, carried away by her words.

It was clearly intentional.

Right now she was acting on her own!

She couldn’t be found out.

If discovered, it would negatively affect not just Ronari but the Varni unit as well.

If the command structure split in two, the soldiers would fall into confusion.

Ronari distanced herself from the unit.

And she began to circle the orchard.

She intended to find Alejandro.

Knowing the exact position of the Astrier unit would make command much easier.

‘Of all places, the battlefield had to be an orchard…’

The fruit trees blocked clear sight of distant locations.

Ronari gave up relying on sight.

From now on it was a matter of mathematics.

‘In which direction is the Astrier unit most likely to be?’

“…Considering the Lord’s combat tendencies observed in mock battles, he’d alternate advance and retreat every 40 minutes. Rest times of 5 to 10 minutes. The distance secured in a single advance is…”

She continued talking to herself.

Soon a conclusion was reached.

“Therefore the result is…”

Ronari stared in the direction indicated by her calculations.

She now had two options.

1. Lead the Varni soldiers to the predicted location.

2. Contact the Astrier unit directly to relay the modified orders.

The less risky choice was obviously the second.

It would likely take less time as well.

But for Ronari it was different.

‘The Astrier unit is likely within 3 km of the target. They’re probably in battle.’

Going there meant she’d likely encounter monsters along the way.

She had words to deliver.

But could she bypass or lose the monsters with her mounted magic?

She swallowed.

Suddenly she had a thought.

‘The young master would have done it.’

She had come this far to prove she could do it without Shane.

But if Shane would have tried this and she failed to do it…

‘That would be losing.’

“I can’t lose to that weak young master!”

She urged her horse and started riding.

-Kkigigigigigik

At last line met line.

It was the final connection point of the magic circle.

“Ah…”

She was barely sane now.

Her cheeks were drenched in tears, and her clenched molars ached.

A sense of accomplishment? There was none.

She only thought of moving on to the next step quickly.

When she tried to stand, pain rushed over her.

“Ugh…”

Fragments of Mana crystal fell from her arm with a patter.

Well, there was one consolation.

At least she wasn’t bleeding, right?

I spat out a crushed sound through my teeth.

“Fuck… there’s not even any blood. Why does this hurt so much? Right? Jungwoo…? Huh?”

Not the most comforting thing to say, huh?

Can’t be helped.

The pain of having torn into my own flesh remained.

The arm, repeatedly pierced like a drill, was in no condition to be entrusted with any task.

I raised my other arm and began to turn the pages.

The book I opened this time was the second one.

It was titled ‘Introduction to Magic’.

With it open, I read passages from the first book.

Well, I tried to read them, precisely.

“The act of inscribing a spell onto a mana-crystallized body part presupposes the caster’s internal magical system as part of the spellcasting—damn it!”

What did I realize first when I began this research?

‘Well, scholars everywhere have a strange compulsion: they must use difficult words and rhetorical flourishes in papers.’

Because of that, I’m studying in this world just like I did as a college student, suffering like hell!

-Slam

I simply shut the first book.

Actually, the passage wasn’t that difficult if you focused on the meaning.

“So in the end, even if you inscribe a spell on the body’s mana crystal, you can’t immediately cast magic…? Why not write it more simply?”

I mean, it’s not that I don’t understand.

A paper has its own rhetoric.

It’s written for scholars, not laymen, so of course it’s heavy on academic vocabulary!

‘I know! …I know!’

But even so, being pissed off about knowing it can’t be helped!

Anyway…

My current state is, metaphorically, like this.

I’ve assembled a gun and attached the magazine.

At this point, it’s fair to say I’m almost ready.

But if you load a bullet into the chamber and don’t pull the trigger?

Of course, the bullet won’t be fired.

So what I have to do now is learn how to chamber a round and pull the trigger.

Magically, that is.