“Keuk!”
The recoil from clashing with the greatsword sent agonizing pain tearing through Lonnian’s grip.
Yet without a moment to tend to his throbbing hand, he rolled forward to dodge the next attack.
Whoosh.
The owner of the greatsword, who had just missed slashing the space where Lonnian had been standing, growled impatiently.
“You dodge quite well for a little brat!”
The knight who wielded a greatsword—half the size of an ordinary person yet resembling a longsword in his massive hands—glared with narrowed eyes, readying his weapon once more.
“Grill! No time for complacency! The tide of battle is strange!”
At that moment, Teslon Knight, who had been driving back a Maclaine knight through coordinated attacks with an ally, shouted a warning.
“What? You think I’m playing around? This kid’s no joke!”“I’m not kidding! Look behind you!”
“What are you talking about?”
Whiff. Whiff.
‘What’s that noise?’
Though Lonnian could not fully comprehend the enemy’s words, he took the brief pause in combat to catch his ragged breath.
The sheer realization that he had been ducking and fleeing from the gigantic knight, remembering that he’s not a prodigy knight but a mere fledgling who’d only recently awakened, sunk in deeply.
‘I still can’t lose! I mustn’t falter here!’
– You must also take up the role meant for your brother.
The voice of Lonnian’s father, heard just before war broke out, resurfaced in his mind.
Even without that reminder, facing the already disadvantageous battlefield, he knew he must perform the role of at least one knight to hold onto any semblance of hope.
Forcibly ignoring the stinging pain in his hand, Lonnian kept a close watch on Grill.
‘What?’
An enemy turned, exposing his back, and swung his greatsword unexpectedly behind him.
This lapse revealed the biggest vulnerability since their battle began.
Had Lonnian not been pushed on the defensive this entire time, he might have suspected a trap, but seizing the rare opportunity that had come his way, he moved instinctively.
Swoosh!
Without giving Grill a chance to scream his last, his neck was severed cleanly.
As the swordsman who had swung stood dumbfounded, something flew swiftly and embedded itself into the neckless body of Grill, now rolling on the ground with an indignant expression.
Thwack, thwack, thwack.
“…Arrows?”
Just as Lonnian noticed the unusually short arrows and turned his head, similar projectiles began pelting the knights around him.
“Argh!”
“What is this?!”
“Everyone, watch your back!”
But they targeted only Teslon’s knights.
Although none achieved as dramatic a turnabout as Lonnian, the Maclaine knights relieved sighs as the tide shifted.
The maudlin atmosphere of the Maclaine ranks was unexpectedly overturned.
Lonnian could quickly discern that this sudden shift was thanks to a cavalry unit, dimly visible in the distance.
And leading that unit was the unmistakable figure of someone familiar.
“Bro, Brother?!”
His gaze lingered in stunned joy and bewilderment before an urgent cry brought Lonnian back to reality.
“Young master! Snap out of it! Let’s join forces!”
Behind him, clashes with the enemy continued without respite.
The ring of sharp metal and fierce shouts reminded him he was at the very heart of the battlefield.
“Yes, Sir!”
Gripping his sword anew, Lonnian felt a fresh pang from the wounds on his hand.
Strangely, it no longer seemed so painful.
* * *
“Sigh. Seems this is my limit after all.”
Logan exhaled, tinged with disappointment as he examined his crossbow.
His Force had evolved to become even more potent with a 2-star core, amplifying the weapon’s elasticity beyond its previous capabilities.
Hoping it might even be effective against knights, his expectations were soon tempered by reality.
Initially dismayed, enemy knights quickly knocked aside bolts with ease, reaffirming the notion that without overwhelming numbers, ranged projectile weapons couldn’t trouble them.
‘At least I could aid Lonnian.’
Logan sighed in relief, watching knights protectively encircle Lonnian.
Yet satisfaction eluded him;
protecting Lonnian alone wasn’t the sole concern.
‘I have to go myself.’
With a flash in his eye, Logan peered towards the heart of the battlefield and shouted over his shoulder.
“Kai! Take command!”
“What?!”
The battle still raged when Kai questioned, but Logan was already sprinting towards the front lines without waiting for an answer.
“Charge!”
“Lord Logan!”
Kai exclaimed in alarm at Logan’s impetuous act.
A one-sided assault from a distance was the mercenaries’ tactic.
Yet their leader was contrarily plunging headfirst towards the enemy.
In Kai’s eyes, it seemed their captain was contemplating suicide at the very brink of victory.
“Damn! Why?!”
Kai was aware his employer had Force abilities, but it seemed unlikely an individual of Logan’s age could match a powerful knight in combat.
Yet what was done was done, and the aftermath fell upon him.
“Cover for Lord Logan!”
‘The advantage is ours.’
The mercenaries had executed flawlessly, achieving all their objectives.
However, a vital issue persisted that could not be resolved by their deeds alone.
‘My father!’
He must rescue his father, who, in a past life, had fallen victim to misfortune.
After all, what was the point of his return if not to save his family, his house?
Victory in war meant nothing if his family perished.
‘Just a bit faster!’
With fierce determination, Logan’s Force-enhanced steed raced across the battlefield like the wind.
As he rapidly closed in on enemy lines, Logan noticed the befuddled enemy soldiers unprepared for his sudden charge.
The mercenaries’ skilled crossbow volleys had already sown chaos, but there remained those hell-bent on standing their ground.
“That man’s their leader!”
“If we take him down!”
The enemy, previously at the mercy of the mercenaries’ bolts, now had one charging into range spurred by desperation.
“Hah!”
As Logan swung his sword, a fuzzy shimmer of Force erupted around him.
Utilizing the Force, he conjured a thin, albeit serviceable, shield.
Inferior to the magical shields of 2nd Circle Mages he had witnessed in a past life, it was still sufficient to deflect ordinary archers’ arrows.
Fending off the few that pierced through, Logan continued his unrelenting advance.
Instantly reaching the enemy’s front, he swung his sword with might.
Swoosh!
“Agh!”
In place of the four soldiers who lost their heads, their comrades screamed in terror.
“I’ll kill them all!”
Responding to Logan’s call, a fearful chorus resonated swiftly through the center of the battlefield.
“Monster!”
“Everyone retreat!”
“No, no!”
The emergence of a second reaper deepened the disorder within Teslon’s troops.
‘Just a little faster! Just a bit more!’
“Waagh!”
As Logan cut down soldiers like wheat, he finally approached the site where knights fiercely clashed.
Bang! Crash! Boom!
Loud explosions resounded, and the knights—swift as lightning—entangled in combat with swords flashing.
In the initial phase of war, lancers had charged the opposition, but most knights had since dismounted, choosing foot combat over horseback.
In the complex fray of close-quarter knightly duels, horses proved irrelevant—or worse, a disadvantage as they restricted movement.
A Force-wielding knight could maneuver at short range with greater speed and agility than on horseback.
Observing the substantial number of Teslon knights, Logan gritted his teeth.
‘Here I go!’
There was no time to fully test the limits of his 2-star core.
All he knew was that his force could wield unprecedented power.
With no room for hesitation, Logan charged.
“Ha!”
Whinny!
As his force intensified into a golden hue, Logan leaped from his steed and directly into the melee.
Teslon’s knights were battering two of Maclaine’s—when the sudden neighing alerted the nearest enemy.
“Who’s that….”
Zip.
Before the question could finish, the knight’s head was severed in disbelief.
Through the blood spurting from the severed neck, a Maclaine knight gazed back in shocked relief.
“Behind….”
“What, what?!”
Noticing the turn of events, two Teslon knights reacted, but Logan’s golden greatsword already swept through both without pause.
Rippppp.
Gush.
Blood poured like a waterfall from the torso of one knight severed diagonally, and from another deep gash to the heart.
“Who, who are you…?”
The dying knight’s eyes brimmed with questions, but they faded before any answers could come.
In that instant, another Teslon lost their heart to Logan’s relentless blade.
The scene Logan created stunned not just the enemy knights.
“Lord, Lord Logan?”
“How could…”
Even experienced mid-rank knights could not exhibit such overpowering strength and movement. They stood wide-eyed and gaping—an unseemly posture for a battlefield.
Logan’s explosive roar jolted them into action.
“Wake up and fight!!”
His energy spurred the knights back into battle-readiness.
Once again wielding their swords, the knights surveyed their surroundings to join their embattled comrades—just as Logan resumed his headlong dash through the battlefield.
“Urgh!”
“Argh!”
“Watch your back….!”
Logan didn’t need to ensure each strike was lethal. The 2-star Force core proved more potent than the average mid-rank knight.
Now fully adaptive to his own strength, he focused less on killing and more on injuring enough to impair enemy movements, sufficiently aiding Maclaine’s knights in gaining the upper hand.
“Lord Logan?”
The knights’ unanimous shock wearied Logan. Ignoring their astonishment, he kept rushing in one direction.
At the heart of the battlefield, six knights clashed—having been the first to engage in combat, they continued a relentless exchange without respite.
The space around them was sacred, untouched by any other.
And as Logan drew closer, his golden form accelerated, shortening the space with great speed.
* * *
Lonnian saw Logan’s arrival but couldn’t spare attention for the rear.
Facing a high-ranking knight and four mid-ranking knights alone was challenging enough for Padric.
At the sudden intensification of enemy attacks, appearing rushed and reckless, Padric found the shift puzzling.
“Hurry!”
Along with the anxious cry from the Teslon high-ranking knight, the enemy’s assault grew bolder.
Previously cautious, the Teslon knights had switched from attempting to overpower Padric with minimal loss to a brutal onslaught, seemingly willing to endure losses for his defeat.
‘Damn!’
Padric’s actions grew more frantic.
Clang!
His sword flicked to the left and right, deflecting a pike and greatsword with minimal effort, bouncing off one to parry another.
It was a masterful display of a high-ranking knight, but evasion had its limits.
Slash!
A passing longsword nicked his forearm, leaving a slender yet lengthy wound.
As Padric flinched, the enemy closed in, prompting him to release a forceful sword strike.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
The Teslon knights recoiled from his powered blow, but the effort had bought Padric precious time—or so he believed.
‘Ugh!?’
One soldier, blood trickling from his mouth, forced his way to close quarters.
Teslon’s high-ranking knight—the very one who had troubled Padric from the start—was faltering, his face paling noticeably with each forced breath.
“Attack!”
“Ha!”
Two simultaneous cries, two swords stabbing in tandem.
Thump.
“You madman!”
“Heh, heh.”
The blades ran through each other’s left side. One knight grimaced in pain, the other smirked with victory.
‘Why take it this far?!’
Beside Padric, the greatsword and pike descended.
“Ah!”
Spurt!
Clash!
Retreating after pulling out the sword from his side, he watched the high-ranking Teslon knight too making a move.
Squeal.
“Argh!”
As Padric staggered, clutching at his freshly opened wound, pike and longsword aimed for him anew.
“Gasp!”
The situation was dire; the worst since the battle began.
Securing the rear with his swing, another knight leaped above, hoisting his greatsword high, while one dove forward, pike ready to thrust.
Behind them, despite spilling his own blood, the high-ranking knight charged.
Open, life-threatening blows—seemingly reckless, not mindful of dangers behind.
The display of such reckless bravado amidst advantageous odds baffled Padric.
‘Damned!’
Gritting his teeth, Padric swung his sword—and into the fray of intertwined knights flashed a golden blaze.
Boom!
The loudest explosion since the war’s onset resonated across the battlefield.
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