"Your highness..your highness. I’m terribly sorry!"
I am tired and sleeping like a log but am being slapped, when I got up Amber lowers her head.
"Forgive me for being rude. But it’s an emergency! An enemy party is going to bypass us. The numbers are unknown since the sun was setting."
Brian Haddock comes rushing in without waiting.
"A detour?"
"Yes, I don’t know the details."
Although the Red Army had not suffered many casualties, fighting enemies who are a lot more numerous and well-equipped had greatly tired us out. Fighters across the squads - Riheet and his dark elves, Scott Aldiss and Redcliffe elites, Sekrit, Clementine and Lyla are all lying helplessly on their bed now. Even our archers are running low on arrows.
The commander in chief saw how I fought in the evening. His instinct must have grasped my weird ability.
Anyway, with Lyla sleeping like a log now, I could activate "Ability Transfer" again. This is not good and I feel bad for her but this is for our survival.
I quickly eat dinner, take a bath, brush my and don my armour.
I soon regret my carefree thoughts after getting into position. Approximately 700 steel spear cavalry are seen, probably the enemy's reserve squad.
"Hey come on, 700 cavalry to an empty town what are they thinking?"
When in trouble, I should ask Leonhardt Strauch for advice he’ll know what to do somehow.
"If they burn the town then our army will lose its base. Or perhaps they have come to take back the town’s reserve food supply. And also if they are coming out like this then probably..."
There is one approaching cavalry, a flaming arrow is fired above his head. There is some sort of mineral in there, and the blue flaming arrow dances high in the sky.
"It’s what I thought…a night attack from all sides. The enemy intends to decide the victor in this short decisive battle. I could not predict that they would want the supplies this badly."
Oooooo, the sound vibrates through the ground and the voices reach the headquarters . For the headquarters the enemy’s night raid has begun.
"Now that it’s come to this we should abandon the town. It hurts to lose the town but if the main camp is breached then everything will be over."
He must be a little impatient, but he doesn’t sound panicked. it’s probably wise of me to follow the advice of the calm and collected Leonhardt Strauch. After all, It’s impossible to defeat the 700 heavy cavalry with the able troops we have on hand.
"I won’t abandon the town. But the Red Army stays back in the main camp."
Leonhardt Strauch and Brian Haddock of course make dubious face.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I will protect this gate. If I can protect it until my allies are able to fend off the night ambush, then the steel spear cavalry that are here will be trapped like mice."
"That’s unreasonable!"
Making Amber’s scream like this is bad, but I’ll ignore her.
"If I am behind the gate the most that can come attack me is three at a time. Finish tidying up the situation as soon as possible and come back here."
"You’re going to die you know?" Brian Haddock reminds me.
"I won’t die. If you don’t go quickly they’ll come charging you know?"
Leonhardt Strauch seeing me not giving up, takes command of the battalion and has them head towards the main troops. And then he grabs the struggling Amber and left together.
"May luck be on your side."
A short but sweet last word.
***
The enemy is in front of me. I do not need to be riding a horse to protect this gate. The only trump card I have is the activated "Ability Transfer". I am going to fight the enemies by summoning Lyla's talent into me.
I toss away the sheath of the bastard sword, and stab the unsheathed blade into the ground. If Isolde sees this she may give me a headbutt.
With this sword and spear close by, I’ll make sure to stab every single one of them. The gate sways slightly and creaks with a sword as the replacement for the bolt. It’s simple to break through the gate, I have no intention of sealing it off. But I’ll give hell to those guys when they pass through the gate.
I carry the spear on my shoulder and I lower my body. I won’t place my hand against my face to confirm it, but I am quite certain that I am smiling.
I hear horse galloping, approaching me from the town.
"Don't go dying on your own. My sister will be sad."
I turn behind. The dark elf guy, Riheet and the geezer, Brian Haddock dismount from their horses.
"As the commander in chief, I won't let the King fights on his own."
"Hoi. Hoi. Don't dare tell the girls I am here."
Yes. The girls will definitely run here if they know I am going to face the enemies by myself.
"Don't worry. Lupine doesn't even know I am here." Riheet calmly walks and draws his sword. He adds,
"You did everything to avenge the dark elves. How can I, a dark elf man, escape with my life."
Brian Haddock also draws his sword,
"The girls are all evacuated. I told them you had gone to Torun."
If that's the case, I am relieved.
"But don't be happy too early. It seems not 700 enemies, but nearly 1,000 if including infantry."
Damn it. I look at the horses nearby.
The plan was to kill as many as enemies before escaping on that horse.
I guess it is not going to be easy.
***
With a thunderous roar the bolt is destroyed and the gate opens.
"Overrun them!!!"
A cavalryman with his long lance props up, comes charging towards the gate.
"To let your own town be turned into the enemy’s base and all you peasants do is just stand there watching, you lot are traitors! I’ll kill all of you townspeople."
Just like how many rebellions were suppressed in the past, the townspeople were cowardly and underhanded folk. When their feudal lord, Viscount Garocki was stripped of guards and left without protection, the people of this town were brave enough to beat him to death with their mob mentality. However, when an army of this caliber arrives, they will come out to beg for their lives.
Needless to say, he will not heed their requests.
The battle during the day ended with extremely disastrous results, but to make up for it they are going to rampage in this battle to their heart’s content. Let’s settle this quickly, he thinks. He is looking forward to breaking through the enemy’s headquarters and accomplishing his mission.
"Something is weird?"
The landscape spins vertically. Then things turn black. He does not even notice until the very end that his head is flying severed in the air.
***
"That’s twenty people down!"
The first two units that came through got their heads blown off as they stood in the way. Following up, I stabbed their horses with a straight thrust from my axe and dragged them towards the ground. The fallen soldiers who could not avoid in time had their heads crushed, while I finished off the horses by slicing off their necks.
I feel sorry for the horses, but I dumped the corpses in front of the gate, so they can no longer run at me while on horseback. I don’t have to worry about them leaping over an obstacle of this height.
"Who is it?!"
"Clear the path!"
One of the enemy horsemen is being noisy so I throw the dead soldier’s spear at him to shut him up. Words are unnecessary. I’m going to kill you guys, so all of you should also try to kill me. It’s quite simple isn’t it?
I cut down the soldier who tries to maneuver past the gate somehow while still riding his horse. The cavalry quickly dismounts with their spears at the ready, trying to pierce me to death but I use my large sword to cut up all the spearheads. The heads of the dumbfounded soldiers are promptly and cleanly sliced in half.
***
