Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 179



Only Krnovel

Episode 179 Devil in the Fog (1)

As soon as the Aldeon army moved towards the holy city of Elion, news came from various places that Georg’s cavalry was returning, as expected. Morse and Delphric Hild heard the messenger’s report on the road to Elion.

“We have already achieved our goal of breaking our bond and instilling anxiety, so there is nothing to regret.”

“Now it will be a race between us and Georg!”

Delfrik said while looking at the long line of knights. Since he had to hurry, it was decided that the vanguard, which consisted of his main knights, and the main body, which was responsible for supplies and troops, would immediately follow. In the vanguard, Mors Gideon, who had been entrusted with general command by Ethelred, and Delphric Hild, commander of the Aldeon Knights, led the other knights.

Ethelred and Isaac decided to move together as the main force of the main army. Even though it was the main force, there was no significant difference in the number of troops. The main army had the commander-in-chief, Ethelred, and had more supplies and troops. In terms of the number of knights, the first army was stronger.

Morse said, anticipating Georg’s movements.

“Gyeongju… … Georg’s cavalry will not simply return to Elion Fortress. They’ll probably try to hinder our vanguard’s path or launch a surprise attack. “Tell the knights to be careful of ambushes and increase the number of flank guards.”

Although the Elil faith was averse to assassinations, ambushes and surprise raids in strategic and tactical units were considered ‘clever’ acts. This is because it was seen as ‘brave’ to fight a large army with a small number of troops. So, for the same reason, there was no such thing as a large army ambushing a small number of people.

“Hmm, it would have been nice if Her Majesty Ethelred and the Grail Knight had been with us from the beginning.”

Delfrik said, remembering Ethelred who brought out Kaldbuch. Delphric was loyal to Ethelred, but his perception of her was not much different from other people’s.

It means that he thought he was just a child wearing a crown.

But one day, when I saw Ethelred receiving swordsmanship training from Isaac, I couldn’t help but be amazed at his accomplishments. Despite his young age, he was at the level of an apprentice knight of the Aldeon Knights.

Considering that Ethelred’s age was still average at cleaning harnesses and taking care of knights’ equipment, the growth rate was frightening.

Mors shook his head at Delfrik’s words.

“Your Majesty is taking a big enough risk just by being his friend.”

“but… … .”

“It would be an honor for His Majesty to stand at the vanguard, but then the command authority becomes ambiguous. But even if it looks like I’m pressing it, it’s not a problem. It’s different from the witch hunt. “The Holy Grail Knight suggested this for our benefit.”

Morse is a war expert and the Hild siblings are combat experts.

For the sake of those two, Isaac deliberately left Ethelred out. In fact, Isaac, a modern man, thought that the king’s presence on the battlefield was just a totem to boost morale.

And more than anything, when you are in the middle of a battle where soldiers clash, your emotions naturally become stronger. You shouldn’t approach the world with soft sensibilities, but if you’re considering reconciliation with Georg, it wouldn’t be wise to put the young king at the forefront.

Of course, Morse, who didn’t know Isaac’s thoughts, only thought that his consideration was deep.

“aha. If so, there is nothing we can do. Then it would have been nice if the Holy Grail Knight had been with us.”

To be honest, the only person in the Aldeon army who could deal with the sword master Lyanna on her own was Isaac. In that case, it was better for Isaac to be in the vanguard. He said he would be at the forefront and even fought dozens of duels with nobles.

“Are you concerned about the possibility of the main unit being attacked?”

The main force is short on knights and has plenty of supplies. In addition, there was King Ethelred, who was the center of the Aldeon army. It was natural for Delph Rick to be worried since there were enough subjects to major in compared to his power.

But Morse shook his head.

“I guess Georg-kun is not that stupid. They are in a situation where they can’t resupply or replenish their troops. “If they are caught up in attacking the main force, we will besiege the fortress first, and then they will wander around in an isolated state and disintegrate.”

Moreover, behind them, there were knights chasing after them, gnashing their teeth because their territory had been attacked. I don’t know if the main force was destroyed in one blow and even Ethelred was captured, but if there was that much bad news, I had to assume it was Elil’s will.

In the end, attacking the main force can only be a gamble. Morse did not think that although Georg’s army was bold, he would do such a foolish thing and sacrifice so many knights.

Doo doo doo doo doo. At that time, a horse came rushing up from the rear.

“General Morse!”

Morse paused for a moment after spotting the urgently arrived messenger.

“What’s going on?”

“Her Majesty Ethelred’s main unit has been attacked!”

“what! “What is the damage?”

“It’s a complete victory! It is said that as soon as the battle began, Sir Isacrea cut off the head of the enemy cavalry commander and then raided with the main force, annihilating half of the enemy cavalry!”

“… … .”

***

Hesabel, who had been active as a human hunter, was suited to serve as a scout.

This is because they have excellent infiltration abilities as well as assassination, and although they are scouts who are easily isolated, they can ‘locally supply’ food anywhere. In addition, he was a natural scout because his activity and visibility were better at night than during the day.

And in that field of vision, strange movements have been detected since yesterday.

‘This is Georg. Sir Isaac.’

Hesabel looked down from the tree branch at the knight beneath her and sent out her will. Georg’s knights began loitering near the Aldeon army’s main base. It was not strange to see a small number of knights. Georg will also be using scouts anyway.

However, as time passed, their number gradually increased, and now the number was large enough to mount an ambush attack on the main force.

‘What are the numbers?’

‘I think there are about 250 to 300 people.’

The number of cavalry estimated by Aldeon’s army was approximately 600. They were showing a mobility ability that was thought to be possible in this era: 600 people scattered and then returning to Elion all at once. The fact that about 300 of them had gathered near the main unit meant that this situation had been planned to some extent.

The knights located in the forest on top of the hill maintained cover so as not to make a single annoying sound of armor clashing or coughing. Even their horses were careful to walk. I could see how strict their discipline and skills were.

Of course, none of them noticed Heshabel’s presence.

‘There is a person who appears to be a chieftain. Would you like me to put a pretty needle on his head?’

Hesabel spoke while keeping a close eye on the man wearing a black wolf skin cloak at the front of the line. The tip of her crossbow was already pointed at the back of the man’s head. However, a negative will was immediately conveyed from Isaac.

‘If you do something like assassination, Ethelred will be blamed. Leave it alone. This is an attack that will fail anyway.’

It was Elil’s method that Hezabel still could not understand.

If we just cut off one person’s head, countless people could be prevented from dying, so should we let that happen?

But everything Isaac said was correct from beginning to end.

It was Isaac who predicted this ambush in the first place.

Meanwhile, the main body of Aldeon’s army entered the hills. As the man in the black wolf skin cloak at the vanguard raised his hand, the knights in ambush prepared to attack all at once.

At that moment, someone jumped out from the direction of Aldeon County, which they had targeted. Georg’s knights, who had already heard the impressions of the Holy Grail Knight, recognized the person running now as the Holy Grail Knight. Embarrassment swept over them as they saw the Holy Grail Knight running towards the exact ambush location.

Embarrassment that the ambush was discovered, agitation as to whether they should retreat now, and at the same time awe and surprise at the enemy charging in alone.

A confusion of all kinds of thoughts swept over them.

Thanks to this, all the judgment of the cavalry commander, who should have given the order to charge, was distorted.

“Leader! “Order!”

Only after hearing the adjutant’s urgent voice did the cavalry commander quickly make a gesture.

“All stones… … !”

At that moment, the cavalry commander made eye contact with Isaac, who was running towards him.

A strange feeling took hold of his heart. For a moment, I was suffocated by a cold fear that felt like it was gripping my heart. Thanks to this, the order was halted and the cavalrymen were once again at a loss.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, boom!

In the end, before he could finish speaking, Isaac, who had run at an incredible speed, jumped into the forest at once and hit the cavalry commander’s exact location. The cavalry commander belatedly tried to stop him by raising his sword, but the moment the swords met, he realized that he was blind.

Isaac, who never lets his guard down, radiates sword energy from the first move and immediately splits the cavalry captain’s sword, armor, and torso. The sight of splattered blood and armor left a terrifying fear in the cavalry.

The other knights hurriedly threw out their spears, but the disorganized and scattered spears could not even touch Isaac. Isaac dodged by gliding, cutting down two or three more of his knights before escaping laterally again.

“Now, catch it!”

The cavalrymen, who lost their cavalry commander in an instant, were embarrassed, but did not forget the value of the Holy Grail Knight. The Holy Grail Knight was as important a goal to Georg as Ethelred. They hurriedly grabbed the reins and ran out of the forest to catch Isaac.

However, what was waiting for them outside the forest was the main body of Aldeon’s army, which had come up the hill. While Isaac caught their eye alone, the main unit of Aldeon’s army came chasing them.

The cavalrymen belatedly realized that they had not found the soldiers hidden behind the huge shadow of Isaac.

Soon, a merciless rain of arrows fell towards them.

***

Isaac stroked Phantom Steed’s mane, which was rough between his legs.

What had once been an amorphous bundle of nerves that barely mimicked a horse now looked like a horse with fairly convincing red fur. It was convenient to be able to speak out at any time and in any place as long as you had a saddle, but since the force was still so ferocious, it was difficult to speak out in front of people.

Thanks to this, it was the first time he had brought it up since the day he fought Al Duazzad, but he did his job well this time too.

Isaac looked at the soldiers collecting the cavalry’s loot scattered throughout the forest.

The task of suffocating the cavalrymen who were still alive was also carried out. Georg’s army was armed with high-quality equipment appropriate for its level of quality. The system may be lost, but one breastplate or glove they collected may save one’s life.

‘Did they kill about 200 people?’

Isaac thought as he looked at the corpses piling up. Although the cut on his own neck did not exceed ten, the military is a systematic and efficient killing machine. When Isaac cut off the head of the cavalry commander and took the lead, the soldiers, who were not well equipped, let alone good swordsmen, killed 200 knights.

On the other hand, the main damage was 31 dead and 90 seriously injured. Considering that most of the casualties were conscripts without any proper equipment, it was a ridiculous decision. So much so that Ethelred, who heard the report, asked him to count it again.

But even this felt uncomfortable to Isaac.

‘The damage was greater than expected.’

When the first shots poured in, demoralizing the cavalry, Isaac thought they would immediately retreat. Because an ambush that gets discovered is just as bad as not doing it at all.

Moreover, if there are dozens of times more troops pointing spears and knives, it is difficult to achieve any results with a surprise attack.

However, they took advantage of their mobility and fought instead of running away.

You could say that because they are followers of Elil, but even Elil does not encourage foolish fighting. The raid just now was obviously a stupid fight.

‘why?’

“Holy Grail Knight, what should we do with the body?”

While Isaac was lost in thought, one of the foreman who was removing the body asked: Isaac was trying to just figure it out, but it felt strange that he was asking himself that.

“What does Elil Kingdom usually do?”

“I usually ask. However, since the Holy Grail Knight is from the Code of Light, I think he will think he should be burned.”

Cremation is a tradition from the Code of Light that fights against the Immortal Order, a group of undead madmen. Most of the people of Elil Kingdom buried their bodies in the ground.

Of course, the few nobles who still had traditions from the time when Elil served the Code of Light liked cremation by putting people on boats and burning them, but to the poor, it only seemed like a waste of precious firewood.

“This is the Kingdom of Elil, so do it the Kingdom way.”

Even though I wanted to burn it, Elil Kingdom, where the spring rainy season had begun, was humid and wet even if it did not rain. Burning the body now would be a waste of resources and time. It would have been better to ask only a few security personnel.

The commander nodded several times and then stepped back. As Captain Ten was about to return, Ethel Red approached him on his horse.

Before he could open his mouth, Isaac spoke first.

“The soldiers seem to think this is my victory rather than Elil’s.”