The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations - Chapter 276

Chapter 276: I Will Buy Us Some Time (3)

“Uh?”

The soldiers of Desmond, who had been preparing to exit the siege tower, suddenly faced an unprecedented situation.

Boom!

Gillian was the first to charge into the siege tower, swinging his axe with reckless abandon.

Following him, knights began to storm the tower one after another.

Boom! Boom!

The sudden attack unleashed cries of terror from the Desmond troops.

“Arghhh!”

“What the hell?! Who are these bastards?!”

“Stop them! Hold them off!”

The inside of the siege tower was narrower than expected, forcing the soldiers to stand shoulder to shoulder.

Buzz―!

As the Fenris knights moved, a bright light blazed fiercely from their armor.

Using their heightened strength and speed, they launched an indiscriminate massacre against the tightly packed soldiers.

Slash-slash-slash-slash-slash!

The speed of the swords and spears was so fast it was nearly invisible. With every strike, heads flew and bodies were impaled.

At this moment, the Fenris knights unleashed power nearing that of elite knights. Even Desmond’s seasoned soldiers stood no chance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of air being torn apart accompanied every swing of their weapons.

The Fenris knights held nothing back. Their mana surged wildly, affecting their surroundings with sheer force.

“The first strike must always be overwhelming. That’s how you crush the enemy’s momentum, especially when outnumbered.”

This was a principle Ghislain had drilled into them during training. The knights had engraved his words in their hearts.

And now was the time to faithfully execute that teaching.

We can’t afford to give an inch!

Everyone shared the same thought. With their time-limited power, holding back was not an option.

Their mission was clear: break the enemy’s momentum and force them to retreat, even if only briefly. Failure would mean endless waves of reinforcements pouring in.

The Fenris knights fought with a ferocity that ignored personal safety, pushing themselves to their limits.

Crash!

“Arghhhh!”

Desmond’s soldiers, caught off guard, fell one by one without putting up a meaningful resistance.

The knights’ relentless assault, infused with the strength of elite warriors, ensured that no soldier escaped the siege tower alive.

Among them, Gillian stood out as a force of nature.

While nearly ten knights had entered a single siege tower, Gillian tackled one entirely on his own.

Like a lion amidst a flock of sheep, he was a terrifying sight to behold.

Crunch!

With every swing of his axe, several bodies were cleaved in half. His strength was so immense that his axe occasionally lodged itself into the walls of the siege tower.

Bang! Bang!

Gillian’s ferocious attacks caused even the siege tower itself to tremble.

The soldiers who had arduously climbed toward the tower’s exit were obliterated in an instant.

“What the—?! What kind of monster is this?!”

“Push them back! Keep pushing!”

“Arghhh! Call the knights to the front!”

Gillian stationed himself at the top of the stairs, cutting down every enemy who dared to approach.

The enemy had deployed only the siege towers thus far. Standard tactics dictated that siege towers were to be positioned against the walls first, allowing troops to infiltrate and buy time for ladders to be raised.

In other words, as long as the exit of the siege tower was blocked, the enemy had no other means of attack.

The narrow choke point could be held by a small number of skilled fighters. Gillian and the Fenris knights successfully sealed the enemy’s escape route.

Meanwhile, the Fenris soldiers were not idle.

“Fire! Keep firing!”

At the top of the siege tower, Desmond’s archers tried to pin down the Fenris troops with a relentless barrage of arrows.

However, the Fenris forces were clad in full Galvaniium plate armor. Even if they failed to block the arrows with their shields, the armor itself absorbed most of the impact, rendering the attacks ineffective.

Upon realizing that the arrows caused little harm, the Fenris soldiers grew more confident and began to retaliate.

Whizzz!

Fenris archers fired back at the top of the siege tower.

“Those bastards are all wearing plate armor!”

“Our attacks aren’t landing properly!”

“Duck! Take cover!”

Just like inside the tower, chaos erupted among the archers stationed on the top floor.

Piercing full-plate armor with ordinary arrows was no easy feat. While the arrows could deliver some shock, they needed to hit vulnerable spots like joints or the neck to inflict serious damage.

On one side, a single hit meant death. On the other, even multiple hits didn’t guarantee injury. The disparity in exchange rates tilted the battle steadily in Fenris’s favor.

By the time Desmond’s soldiers had secured their ladders and began to climb, the archers at the top of the siege tower were almost entirely annihilated.

Desmond’s forces didn’t seem to care, pressing their attack without pause.

“Climb up! Overwhelm them with numbers!”

The shouts of commanders echoed from various locations, spurring the soldiers of Desmond’s army into a deafening roar.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Like swarms of ants, Desmond’s soldiers began scaling ladders placed between the siege towers.

“Block them!”

At Gillian’s cry, some of the Fenris knights emerged from the siege towers. Another knight joined Gillian in the tower he occupied.

Half of the knights blocked the exits of the siege towers, while the others engaged the enemies climbing up the ladders.

Boom! Boom!

“Aaaargh!”

The attackers who managed to climb up fared no better. Covered in blood from head to toe, Gillian relentlessly cut down the enemies without rest.

Unlike the knights, he wasn’t wearing the newly crafted armor. Thanks to Ghislain’s training, he had already surpassed the level where such protection was necessary.

While Gillian rampaged tirelessly, the knights’ vigor began to wane. The light seeping from the gaps in their armor had dimmed compared to before.

‘Damn it, my hands are starting to shake.’

‘I’m running out of mana.’

‘I can’t hold on much longer.’

They had expended too much mana enduring the initial magical bombardment. It was clear their movements had become slower than before.

If this continued, they’d soon collapse, coughing up blood.

“Waaaaaah!”

However, the soldiers filled the gaps left by the faltering knights. Free from the siege towers’ suppression, they regrouped and began driving back the enemies atop the walls.

Lucas, repeatedly thrusting his spear into enemies, burst into laughter as he observed the scene.

“Hahaha! These bastards are actually useful!”

The Galvaniium full-plate armor was indeed extraordinary. Even the highly trained soldiers of Desmond’s army struggled to penetrate the Fenris soldiers’ defenses.

Thanks to the exceptional durability of the armor, the Fenris forces were able to overpower Desmond’s numerically superior troops.

Realizing their advance was faltering, dozens of Desmond’s knights scaled the ladders, leaping onto the walls in a single bound.

Clang!

“Gah!”

A Desmond knight slashed with a mana-infused sword, slicing through the armor of a Fenris soldier.

As the staggered soldier struggled to regain footing, the knight raised his sword for another strike.

Bang!

From nowhere, Gillian’s axe came hurtling in, cleaving the knight’s head in one clean blow.

“Focus on the knights first! Leave the soldiers alone!”

Gillian’s thunderous command spurred the Fenris knights into action, rushing to engage Desmond’s knights.

The battle between the soldiers was already overwhelmingly in Fenris’s favor.

Ziiing!

Once again, the Fenris knights’ armor emitted a brilliant glow.

‘I can’t be bothered to think anymore. Let’s just die today.’

They stopped holding back their mana. While their original goal had been to buy as much time as possible, such cautious thoughts were abandoned.

Fighting conservatively would only result in defeat. The enemy numbers were simply too overwhelming.

‘If I’m going down, I’m taking at least one more bastard with me. I’m not dying for nothing, you scum.’

The Fenris knights, brimming with murderous resolve, unleashed their full power without restraint. Their ferocity was truly extraordinary.

Boom!

“Damn it! What are these monsters?!”

The Desmond knights were steadily pushed back, some losing their heads in an instant.

Though Desmond’s knights were elite, stronger than those from most other estates, not all of them had reached the level of a superior knight.

The Fenris knights, bolstered by their armor, had all risen to near the level of superior knights, making them an unstoppable force.

With patience, Desmond’s forces might have eventually worn them down, but such foresight was absent among their ranks.

“Push harder! Leave none alive!”

Gillian’s face resembled that of a demon, his eyes seemingly ablaze with fury.

‘We need to hold on a little longer and push them back.’

He knew well that the strength of the Fenris knights was limited by time. Although the duration had increased, the limit was rapidly approaching.

But now was not the time to stop. Losing this initial battle would render everything meaningless.

‘If we fall here, it’s over.’

If they were pushed back, Desmond’s overwhelming forces would swarm in like a storm, leaving no opportunity to prolong the fight.

To hold out even a little longer, they needed to demonstrate overwhelming strength now, forcing the enemy to approach future battles with caution.

‘The longer we can stall them, the more time the lord will have.’

It was impossible to block or defeat the enemy. No matter how strong one was, the sheer number of foes made it unattainable. The only thing they could do was—

‘Hold out until the lord arrives.’

With that determination, Gillian continued to cut down his enemies.

“Hold on! We can protect this place!”

As he bellowed encouragement to the knights, Gillian felt a sharp pain in his side.

Squelch!

When he turned his head, he saw a Desmond knight who had stealthily approached and stabbed him with a sword.

Even amidst the chaos, to find an opening and sneak in—these enemies were certainly formidable. Gillian’s lips twitched briefly.

The Desmond knight smirked, seemingly satisfied that his attack had landed.

“You arrogant…”

Gillian immediately turned his body and grabbed the knight’s throat with a vice-like grip.

“Guhk!”

Crunch!

That was the knight’s final cry. Gillian, still gripping the knight’s neck, brought down his axe and smashed the knight’s head.

He deliberately killed his enemies in the most brutal and violent ways. Covered in blood and rampaging like a ferocious beast, he struck fear into the hearts of Desmond’s troops.

“Anyone who wants to die, come at me!”

Boom!

Each step Gillian took with his axe made the ground crack. His mana-infused roar seemed to rupture the very air around him.

Whenever Gillian advanced, Desmond’s soldiers and knights alike hesitated, instinctively retreating. Their eyes, wide with shock, fixed on him as though staring at an insurmountable wall.

It wasn’t just Gillian. The knights in black armor were equally formidable. This battlefield was crawling with monsters.

“These… these monsters…”

“With so few numbers…”

“How does Fenris have warriors like these…”

The soldiers of Desmond let out nervous chuckles, unable to believe what was happening. Despite their overwhelming numbers, they were the ones being pushed back.

They had never imagined that Count Fenris would have so many powerful figures among his ranks. Even the regular soldiers, thanks to their equipment, fought at a level comparable to quasi-knights.

Though there had been rumors of Fenris’s military prowess, they had assumed the soldiers would simply be well-trained elites. Prepared for resistance, they had steeled themselves for a challenging but manageable battle.

But this wasn’t a normal army. It was an army beyond imagination.

Even Harold, observing the battle from afar, was stunned.

‘How… How is this even possible…’

Words failed him. He had committed 5,000 soldiers to this attack, expecting to capture the fortress in one swift assault.

Yet his massive force hadn’t even managed to take the fortress, let alone inflict significant casualties on the enemy.

‘This doesn’t make sense. Did that bastard Ghislain build an army like this?’

The knights in black armor clearly fought at a knight’s level, with many appearing to be at least of intermediate rank.

The soldiers, clad in full plate armor, were nearly impossible for ordinary troops to kill. And the assumption that the enemy relied solely on archery had been a grave mistake—they excelled in close combat as well.

This army, with its mere 1,000 soldiers, seemed capable of facing 10,000 troops head-on.

‘I could’ve… I could’ve died to that man…’

A chill ran down Harold’s spine. Fenris had recently mobilized a large-scale force. What if he had acted even a bit later?

Even with 100,000 troops, he couldn’t confidently say he would have been able to kill that man.

Gathering such remarkable knights was impressive, but the commander—clearly the man with the white mane dyed red with blood—was even more formidable.

This man rivaled Viktor, Harold’s most prized knight, the one once touted as the greatest swordsman of the North… or perhaps even surpassed him.

Not just his skills, but his savage and fearless demeanor, willing to stake his life, made him terrifying. Such actions could only come from one who had already cast aside fear of death.

Soldiers armed with superior weapons and guided by an exceptional commander—how had that man managed to recruit and train such people?

Harold closed his eyes.

‘It’s a blessing. Heaven has helped me.’

Moving without considering orders from the Ducal House or ties with the Royalist faction was unlike him. But had he not acted, he would surely have been crushed by that man.

‘He’s no mere whelp.’

After losing Viktor, Harold had grudgingly acknowledged Ghislain Ferdium as a capable figure, but he now realized even that was an understatement. Calling him capable was an insult.

He was a monster. Ghislain was a monster capable of overturning the kingdom. A man with the foresight to prepare and nurture such a terrifying force over time.

Neither the Ducal House nor Harold had truly understood what kind of person Ghislain was. That was why they kept falling into his traps.

‘It’s fortunate.’

At least now he knew. Finally, he understood what Ghislain had been preparing and waiting for.

‘He was the one anticipating the civil war all along.’

No one could predict exactly when the civil war would break out. That decision lay with the Ducal House.

But if it had been up to Ghislain, he would undoubtedly have initiated it the moment his preparations were complete.

He would’ve used that fearsome army to swallow the North whole.

‘It’s over. That man will meet his end in this war.’

No matter how incredible his troops were, there were only 1,000 of them. Against overwhelming numbers, they would inevitably fall.

Resolving himself, Harold raised his hand.

“Baron Hutton.”

“Yes, Count.”

At Harold’s summons, a middle-aged man approached and bowed slightly. He was Baron Hutton, a vassal of Desmond and a renowned knight in his own right.

“Can you kill their commander? That lion-maned man.”

Baron Hutton squinted as he looked toward the walls. Watching Gillian’s movements for a moment, he nodded slightly and replied.

“Leave it to me.”