The first to face the gnolls charging in were the imperial soldiers, who were tightly blocking the gaps between the wagons.
“Hmph!”
Thud!
Relying only on the torchlight flickering atop the village palisade, they thrust their spears at precisely the right moment.
The spearhead cleanly pierced through the gnoll’s exposed left chest as it raised its arm high to bring its axe down.
Ghk!
As the gnoll faltered in pain, another spear shot forward and stabbed into its throat.
The soldier who had pierced its chest twisted his wrist and pulled the spear free. As the deeply embedded spear was withdrawn, the one lodged in the gnoll’s neck held it firmly in place to keep the body from being dragged along. Then that spear too was twisted and smoothly pulled out.
Thud.
Even with its heart and throat pierced, the gnoll staggered forward one more step and finally swung its crude axe at the shield.
But there was no strength behind it, and it couldn’t even leave a scratch.
Even so, the fact that it could still attack after sustaining wounds that would instantly kill a human was terrifying. Gnolls were monsters, brimming with savage instincts and tenacious vitality.
If they let their guard down, even elite soldiers could die.
The gaps between the wagons weren’t wide. They were just enough for two soldiers to stand shoulder to shoulder and block them.
Naturally, a wildly flailing gnoll could barely squeeze its body in alone, and if two tried to enter, they would crush each other, unable even to raise their arms, let alone swing an axe.
In an instant, the narrow passage between the wagons became clogged with gnolls. The soldiers held firm, hiding behind their large shields.
Bark! Bark!
Pinned between the shield and the gnolls pressing in from behind, one gnoll shoved its snout over the top of the shield.
Foul breath, saliva, sharp teeth. But the imperial soldiers didn’t so much as blink. They simply tilted their heads and avoided it with ease.
“Hold the line!”
At Karl’s shout, the soldiers gave no reply. In the middle of battle, opening one’s mouth carelessly could sap strength at a critical moment.
“You….hey, you! Get behind them and brace their backs!”
Catherine roughly grabbed the trembling conscripts clutching clubs and shoved them behind the imperial soldiers. Weapons like those wouldn’t be of much help anyway.
To survive, the conscripts pressed themselves tightly against the backs of the imperial soldiers, pushing hard against their cloaks and armor.
“Hold! Hold!”
Catherine shouted as she moved around the wagons.
She could feel it. The uneasy, wavering tension of the punitive force that hadn’t attacked even once since that initial spear thrust when the gnolls first charged.
But not yet. Not yet.
Karl wanted to order them to thrust their spears at any moment. But when Catherine gave the command to hold, he forced himself to swallow his impatience.
“Milton, how many times can you manage healing?”
At Karl’s question, Milton with his face pale thought for a moment before answering.
“It depends on the severity of the injuries, but if they’re not fatal, I should be able to manage at least twenty times.”
Karl nodded at his response and spoke in a firm voice.
“Top priority for healing is you, Milton. Next is Catherine, then Bilford, and then the imperial soldiers. Do not forget that.”
Milton, being able to use recovery magic, had to be preserved for sustained combat. And it was obvious that Catherine, a knight, and her squire Bilford would take high priority.
It also made sense that imperial soldiers were more important than conscripts.
“…What about you, Sir Karl?”
Startled, Milton looked up at him as he asked.
Karl, the prince and commander of the punitive force, hadn’t even been mentioned in the priority list. Was he supposed to come after Milton?
“I’m of little help in combat and can only shout orders. Treat the imperial soldiers first, and if there’s any room left, then treat me.”
“……”
Karl’s firm tone made it clear that this wasn’t a casual remark. It was an order that had to be followed.
Even in the midst of the fierce battle, Milton raised his hands awkwardly as if to say something, then froze, at a loss.
Not only Catherine and Bilford, but also the imperial soldiers straining every ounce of their strength to hold back the tide of gnolls heard his words.
Something felt like it was about to burst in their chests.
Catherine, startled by Karl’s words, parted her lips as if to speak, then refocused on the battle, her mind racing.
Even with her visor lowered in the darkness, the seasoned knight took in the battlefield with a wide view and realized the moment had come.
The gnolls trapped between the shields and their own ranks were completely crushed, unable to move. Their bodies were being squeezed to the point that they foamed blood from their mouths.
It looked as though broken ribs had pierced their lungs.
Others, with vital organs like their hearts compressed, convulsed, went limp, and vomited.
Simply by holding the line, they had neutralized dozens of gnolls. And now, the dying gnolls that could no longer move were blocking the path, leaving even the unharmed ones confused and unable to advance.
The gnolls that had been charging from the direction of Axeblade Village saw the blocked path and began circling around. Only then did gnolls start pushing in from other directions.
At that moment, Catherine shouted in a booming voice.
“Front line! Fall back!”
“Hah!”
The imperial soldiers who had held their ground without yielding a single step exhaled sharply and moved back exactly one step in perfect discipline.
Then the gnolls at the very front who were already dead or on the verge of death after being crushed collapsed limply, slamming their heads into the shields. Countless gnolls behind them tumbled down in a domino effect.
The uninjured gnolls trampled over them without hesitation as they climbed forward.
“Thrust!”
“Thrust!”
Thud! Thud!
At Catherine’s command, the imperial soldiers drove their spears forward with all their strength.
The gnolls that had been charging in over the bodies of their fallen were skewered and dropped, and the narrow passage became completely clogged.
“Rotate!”
“Hah!”
The reserve soldiers, who had more than enough to fill the gaps between the wagons, quickly switched places with those at the front who had been bearing the brunt of the pressure.
“Hah…! Hah…! Urgh…! Blegh!”
The soldiers who had endured the crushing tide of gnolls staggered back, bracing themselves on their spears and shields as they vomited.
This wasn’t weakness. They had held their ground without yielding a single step until they reached their absolute limit. Their high morale and unshakable resolve deserved praise.
“You held magnificently! Truly worthy of the Empire’s shield! Milton, treat them without wasting your strength.”
“Yes, Sir Karl.”
Karl raised his voice to commend and steady them, then ordered Milton to heal them.
There were limits to what simple rest could do. Leaving them like that wouldn’t allow them to recover, and if they returned to battle in that state, they could be injured or worse, killed.
It was better to use some of Milton’s power now to accelerate their recovery so they could focus on combat again.
As the entrance became completely blocked with corpses, the gnolls swarmed restlessly before eventually surrounding the formation entirely.
“Bilford! To the opposite side!”
“Yes!”
At Catherine’s command, Bilford moved to the other side.
Then, the situation they had feared finally occurred.
“They’re coming over the wagons!”
A terrified conscript shouted.
One gnoll leapt up, stepping on the heads and shoulders of others clinging to the wagon, and climbed onto the cargo-laden cart.
“Thrust your spears!”
At Karl’s shout, the conscripts who were trembling drove their spears forward with all their might.
Grrgh!
The gnoll that had climbed up was stabbed by five spears and toppled backward.
They had held it off, but now that one had tried to cross the wagon, it wouldn’t stop there.
“Keep your eyes forward! Your comrades will guard your flanks!”
Karl rode along behind the terrified conscripts, shouting as he went.
The horse’s hot breath, Karl’s cries, and the red cloak trailing behind him like a tail brushed past the conscripts’ heads and shoulders.
Behind them, a royal rode on horseback, urging them forward. They recalled the sight of Karl’s back as he had charged at the very front with full force before they formed their ranks.
“Trust your comrades! If you waver because you cannot trust them, everything will collapse! Keep your eyes only on the enemy in front of you!”
Karl shouted at the top of his lungs.
Mounted on his horse, he took in the battlefield at a glance with his wide view.
And so he could clearly see the tide of gnolls surging toward the subjugation force, which was surrounded by low wagons rather than sturdy palisades.
They were holding for now, but the tide of battle seemed to be slipping deeper and deeper into darkness.
“If you lose faith in your comrades and pull back your spear, then who will stop the gnoll charging at you! It will devour you and slaughter your friends and family!”
Karl did not say a single word about how dire the situation truly was. Speaking of it would only crush morale.
So instead, he simply urged the soldiers on and issued commands to keep them from exposing any weaknesses.
“Spearmen, focus only on the gnolls on the wagons! Axemen, kill the ones that fall over the wagons! You must kill them before they can rise!”
“Uaaah!”
As Karl continued riding and shouting loudly without pause, the conscripts were able to clearly grasp what they needed to do.
The red cloak brushing past their shoulders and heads flickered through their vision, and it felt as though a burning heat spread through their bodies.
Karl did not stay back in the center merely giving orders. He rode among them with sword in hand, urging them forward as if pushing at their backs.
Even the imperial soldiers, who had been exhausted and panting after rotating out, snapped back to attention and rejoined the ranks with spear and shield in hand.
The imperial soldiers, taking positions among the conscripts, firmly leveled their unwavering spearpoints toward the tops of the wagons.
With them standing at their sides, the conscripts recalled how they had held their ground without retreat, fending off countless gnolls, and strength surged back into their trembling shoulders as they gripped their spears tightly.
The red cloak swept through their vision, striking their heads and shoulders.
Karl’s shout thundered in their chests.
Their heads felt dizzy, yet everything seemed vividly clear.
“Waaahhhhh!”
Unable to contain the surging heat within their chests, they released it in a roar.
A mere village conscript stood shoulder to shoulder with the others, holding firm, and unleashed a morale that erupted like fire in a thunderous battle cry!
Even Catherine and Bilford who had already entrusted full command to Karl were startled by the explosive surge of morale, and their own chests pounded as heat rose through their bodies.
The frail Fourth Prince, who had spent his entire life in the bedroom, turned completely untrained conscripts into warriors as brave as elite soldiers, even in a battle that seemed impossible to win.
“Strike down these petty monsters that threaten the Empire’s people with the thunderous hammer! Do not let a single one escape!”
Though they were barely holding the defensive line, Karl shouted as if they were about to chase down fleeing gnolls and wipe them out.
It couldn’t be helped. What he was saying now was simply a slightly altered version of the lines Eingir had used to rally soldiers in the original work.
“The great scales of Hardion guard your backs, and the great falcon of Hardion watches over what lies before you!”
Even as Karl continued to shout without pause, the number of gnolls climbing over the wagons only increased.
Though Catherine and Bilford moved frantically, cutting them down, they were ultimately outnumbered, and some began to break through into the formation.
The conscripts thrust their spears, swung their axes, and shoved with their shields, struggling desperately to kill the gnolls.
The imperial soldiers stood firm in their positions, fighting harder than anyone to keep the conscripts’ morale from wavering.
But at this rate, it felt like they wouldn’t be able to hold much longer.
“Uaaah!”
At last, a gap opened in the line that had held so well.
One conscript, who had been finishing off a fallen gnoll with his axe, grew greedy and retreated a moment too late, blocking the way and preventing a spear from being thrust in time.
The gnoll landed safely, then instantly pounced on the conscript, hacking into his shoulder with an axe before biting into his neck and violently shaking him.
With its immense jaw strength, half his neck was torn away, and the conscript died on the spot.
“D-Don’t come closer!”
There was no space to thrust a spear at a gnoll that had closed in so tightly.
The conscript assigned to guard the top of the wagon stepped back.
“Hold your position!”
Thud!
Catherine charged in like a hawk and pierced the gnoll’s head in a single strike. She then roughly grabbed the retreating conscript and forced him back into formation.
But witnessing such a horrific death up close and seeing a comrade fall back beside them caused the conscripts to tremble with anxiety.
Though Catherine and Bilford did their utmost to kill the gnolls climbing over the wagons, the two of them alone could not cover every point.
“Graaah!”
“Help me!”
In the end, while Catherine and Bilford were holding another section, a single point was breached.
A vision of ruin flashed through everyone’s mind.
They were only able to hold on because they maintained their formation. If even one person fell back and the formation collapsed, the soldiers would be exposed on their flanks and rear, unable to fight properly.
It’s over.
The moment that thought crossed their minds, a pure white comet streaked through the darkness, trailing a red tail as it charged powerfully toward the gnoll pushing into the formation.
Thud!
A white warhorse surged forward with fearless force, slamming into the gnoll that had just broken into the ranks.
“Sir Karl!”
Bilford’s shocked cry rang high into the air, and Karl who was attempting a cavalry charge for the first time in his life stumbled violently and was nearly thrown from the saddle.
“Do not fall back! Hold your ground!”
Dropping the reins and clinging tightly to the horse’s neck, Karl shouted at the top of his lungs.
Even as Karl struggled just to hang on, the well-trained, intelligent warhorse deftly carried him out of danger.
As Karl who was still clinging to the horse safely withdrew, Catherine rushed in without delay, her drawn blade flashing like lightning as she cut down the gnoll and secured the formation.
“Hah! Hah! Hah!”
Karl, gasping as if he had been in a carriage accident, barely managed to steady himself back in the saddle.
His mind was in disarray, his head spinning.
Turning his head with difficulty to look around, Karl clenched his teeth.
They were completely surrounded.
The imperial soldiers were growing exhausted, the conscripts were gripped with fear, and there were still far too many gnolls.
In a situation that seemed to offer no escape, Karl tightened his grip on the sword he still held firmly.
As if he would really die over something like this after coming this far!
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