Chapter 283

Chapter 283 - Time of the Decisive Battle (1)

"It's a relief Duke Leray integrated the archers' command structure. It looks flimsy here and there even now, but if they were managed individually, it would have been more terrible."

"Sir Knight. The enemy's shield wall is no joke, do you think they can pierce it?"

Rex clicked his tongue looking at the allied fOrces' shooters. They were excellent in quantity, but the quality of their weapons and the shooters' skills fell far short of Rex's standards.

Those armed with crossbows were mostly mercenaries, and since they couldn't fire in an arc, their range was short, so they stood at the front. Behind them, the archers were on standby with their arrows stuck in the ground. The shapes and sizes of the bows they held were naturally all different.

"Their muscles are different to begin with. The bowmen in Britannia all had asymmetrical shoulders, you see."

"Because they use yew longbows there. The tension isn't ordinarily strong. Since archery is practically a folk game, the lords often hold competitions too."

The ones who initiated the attack first were the allied fOrces' trebuchets.

"Adjustment complete!"

The trebuchets, which had their counterweights lowered to reduce the range, aimed at the Shadow Legion.

"Pull!"

Clank.

Whooooosh!

The 4 trebuchets fired fire projectiles simultaneously. However, regrettably, all 4 shots missed.

In the first place, they were siege weapons set up to strike castles. The range could be changed by adjusting the counterweight, but hastily converting them for anti-personnel use was a truly difficult task.

Naturally, the allied commanders didn't have high expectations either. Since they drew the enemies out from the earthen fortress, they had fulfilled their duty.

"Fire!"

At the knights' commands, the allied crossbowmen fired bolts.

"Shield wall!"

At the centurions' orders, the frontline legionaries also raised their rectangular scuta in response.

A moment later, countless pieces of metal struck the shields, but there were no effective hits. Because they tightly interlocked the large shields and the crossbows were direct-fire weapons, it was easy to defend against them.

"Quick march!"

The legionaries who had been walking began to run.

"Fire!"

"Don't let those bastards approach!"

A volley from the allied archers flew in.

"Turtle formation!"

"Hooah!"

At the centurions' commands, the legionaries from the 2nd line onward raised their scuta upwards.

The sound of rectangular shields coated in thin steel plates interlocking. This granted the legionaries fulfilling courage under any disadvantageous situation.

Even amidst this, the legion's advance speed did not slow down at all.

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

Unlike the crossbow fire that took all the impact from the front, this time a steel shower rained down from the sky.

"Fire! Fire!"

The crossbowmen fired again, but they couldn't stop the advance of the legion that had become one mass. It was a majesty as if a massive black ship was cruising on land.

The sturdiness of the shield wall wasn't bad for the Gord warriors either, but unlike them who had to absolutely stop, the Shadow Legion could maneuver.

Kwaaang!

Then a trebuchet finally landed a hit. Dropping on the edge, legionaries were engulfed in flames.

"Heuaaaah!"

However, the crack that occurred was filled in less than 3 seconds. Although faint screams continued to be heard, they only echoed within the shield wall.

Naturally, the legion had no intention of just being battered.

"Ready!"

The centurion's shout caught the gap in the allied fOrces' firing. The running legionaries stopped simultaneously, and the shields defending the sky opened.

"Fire!"

From there, the legion's shooters fired a volley. They were those who handled the black horn bows imported from the northeastern nomadic nations. These bows made of water buffalo horn were small enough to be shot from within the shield wall, but their power was strong.

"Aaaargh!"

"Keuk!"

The allied crossbowmen fell bleeding.

Only the crossbowmen of the Nova Company, an elite mercenary group that came up from the peninsula, were safe. Because they hid behind stationary pavise shields to dodge the arrows.

The crossbowmen and archers counterattacked with a desperate joint volley, but they were late. The legion's shooters had already hidden inside the turtle formation.

Thwack-thwack-thwack.

As the arrows bounced off vainly, the scuta opened once again.

Fwip!

Arrows flew in along with the bouncy sound unique to the black horn bow. The crossbowmen, except for the Nova Company, let out wails.

"H-Hey guys."

"This isn't good..."

The archers who were about to take their turn felt their blood run cold at the corpses of the crossbowmen scattered in the front. As if their high spirits from the numerical superiority, abundant supplies, and trebuchet bombardment just moments ago had been a lie.

The reason Eugene's archers didn't step forward even in this situation was because of the discussion with Duke Leray.

-The Shadow Legion's shield wall is the strongest in the world. Although our archers are numerous in quantity, it will be hard to see a great effect.

-Then do you have something in mind?

-When close combat begins, the legion's formation will inevitably change to an anti-infantry square. Even if they provide some anti-air defense, holes will appear here and there.

-You mean we have to shoot them with individual aimed shots to be highly effective.

-Exactly. And the only ones who can actually execute this absurd request are the Count's shooters.

Duke Leray's strategy was to maximize the fact that their side had greater numbers and elite archers.

If the allied infantry took the attacks in the front lines with relay tactics, they could fOrce a war of attrition. It was a method to grasp a certain victory even if many casualties occurred.

-And there is one more enemy the Count must keep in check. The truly dangerous ones among the enemy's army.

-Do you mean the knight bastards?

-No. We can sufficiently handle the knights.

The main enemies Duke Leray mentioned were completely unexpected. Eugene and his subordinates waited tensely for their appearance.

The most dangerous enemies in the Emperor's army.

Those were precisely the auxiliary troops.

* * *

When a Shadow Legion recruit completes basic military training, General Magnus personally conducts mental education.

It isn't a ceremonial speech about loyalty to the country or fighting bravely. He speaks of only one thing.

"Welcome to becoming a member of the honorable and strongest legion. You have been granted the best armor and weapons, and even the lowest soldier receives a knight-level salary. You will march under the black banner forged by countless victories."

The recruits stomped their feet with blood-boiling faces. After beating their hearts with their right fists, they stretched their arms forward.

"But keep this in mind. You are the finest warriors, but you will not be the main characters in the battles to come."

"..."

Faces spread with bewilderment.

"The Black Knights will bravely charge on both sides of you, but they are not the main characters of the battlefield either. You do not need to serve those knights."

'Are we just ornaments for the knights after all?' The recruits, who had similar expressions, were puzzled. Then who exactly is the main character?

"The existences you must trust, rely on, and protect in the numerous battles to come. Those are precisely the auxiliary troops."

Magnus pointed to the older men waiting in a rigid posture at the back.

"The auxiliary troops are not direct combatants. Therefore, they survive longer and serve longer than ordinary legionaries. Unlike you, whose vision is limited from fighting inside the shield wall, they always look at the battlefield broadly. They have abundant experience and know how to cope with various situations."

In other armies, 'auxiliary' implies underlings serving the main combatants, but not in the Shadow Legion.

"Without the 6,000 legionaries, the 6,000 auxiliary troops have the lifespans of flies. But without the auxiliary troops, the Shadow Legion cannot fight in the way of the ancient kingdom. Respect them and protect them risking your lives. That is your utmost priority mission."

Naturally, there were many legionaries who showed dissatisfaction at General Magnus's speech.

Since it was natural to think, 'We are the ones fighting to the death at the front.'

However, even such legionaries changed their minds once they witnessed the auxiliary troops' performance through their first real combat. Just like right now!

* * *

"The enemy archers' momentum has been broken!"

"Artillery formation! Artillery to the front!"

As the legionaries changed their formation, the auxiliary troops composed of 5-man teams appeared among them.

Rumble.

They were the artillery armed with wheeled anti-personnel ballistae.

-I promise to respect each person's faith on the name of Magnus. But keep this one thing in mind. The ones the gods side with on the battlefield are not the army with strong faith. It is the army possessing the most powerful artillery.

The Shadow Legion is the only army that developed field-specification ballistae and utilized them organically with the infantry formation.

Both in the past and in the present.

"Give those peninsula bumpkins a taste of the Manticore!"

Simultaneously with the centurion's command, dozens of Manticore ballistae commenced their attack.

A brutal firing sound on a different dimension from shooting arrows! Giant arrows flew at the Nova Company crossbowmen.

"Damn it! Dodge!"

The quick-witted veterans threw themselves out of the pavise shields, but the majority did not. Because they were afraid to go outside in a situation where the legion shooters' arrows were already raining down.

And the price for complacence was death.

Crunch!

The ballista arrow that pierced the pavise in a single strike skewered the crossbowmen along with it.

Crack!

Crunch!

The sound of pavise shields breaking rang out from all directions, and the crossbowmen, turned into bloody pulps, collapsed.

"They shoot that accurately?"

The crossbowmen who luckily saved their lives wailed.

Swoosh!

Ballista arrows flew at them fairly as well.

"What are you doing! If reloading is done, shoo..."

Crunch!

A certain crossbowman saw the senior who was nagging him get pierced in a straight line through the pavise, his right arm, his chest, and his left arm.

"Hiiik!"

Paralyzed in reason at that sight, he sprinted out of the pavise. And without running far, the arrows shot by the legion shooters lodged in his back.

The Manticore ballista, developed for anti-personnel combat, boasted an astonishing hit rate combined with the skills of the experienced auxiliary troops. In fact, the ones who killed the most enemy commanders in the legion were neither knights nor centurions, but these artillerymen.

"Sweep all those rabble away!"

The legion shooters who dismantled the shield wall and the artillery projected overwhelming firepower.

Puhwaaak!

"Aaaargh!"

Occasionally, trebuchet attacks hit, but at most 4-8 legionaries fell. On the other hand, the allied fOrces' ranged units were on the verge of disintegration.

"Legion! Trample the enemies!"

"Allied mercenaries! We have more numbers! Don't be discouraged and fight back!"

With the distance closed, both armies entered close combat.

"Hasta!"

At the centurion's shout, the young legionaries threw their pila simultaneously. Unmatched in power compared to the Rakshasa's bamboo spears, the allied mercenaries fell in droves.

"Keuak!"

For those holding crude shields, the shields simply split apart as they bled from their arms. Those with sturdier shields were equally in trouble.

"Th-This won't come out?"

"It's heavy."

The pilum was heavier than a decent infantry spear. Dangling after getting stuck in the shield, it was impossible to use the shield.

It was a situation of choosing between discarding the shield or groaning with it. The legionaries crashed into them like a wave.

"Don't be afraid! Those guys marched all the way here and couldn't even sleep properly! If we just hold out a little, they'll exhaust themselves!"

The captain of the Deer Horn Mercenary Group, leading the allied fOrces' vanguard, encouraged his subordinates, but it was ineffective.

"Do these bastards eat nothing but meat for three meals a day?"

As soon as they faced the legionaries, the Deer Horn mercenaries realized they were at an absolute disadvantage. The enemies were all muscle masses, overwhelmingly superior in equipment, weapon skills, and trust in their comrades.

"To think the Deer Horn Mercenaries are being pushed back like that..."

"Keep sending troops out! Cut down anyone who flees backward!"

As the elite mercenaries collapsed faster than expected, the allied knights also panicked. The Deer Horn mercenary captain, who was encouraging his subordinates, was now facing a centurion who dug into their broken ranks.

"C-Captain!"

"The captain is dead!"

He was a mercenary captain who graduated at the top of his class from the Johannes Swordsmanship Guild. As he fell in 4 bouts and the bodyguards protecting his side were massacred, the mercenaries began to flee in terror.

It wasn't strange. The Johannes Swordsmanship Guild originated from the capital's swordsmanship guild.

And the capital's swordsmanship guild originated from the legion training camps where ancient kingdom centurions taught weapon skills. It was akin to a distant branch trying to fight the direct line.

"Break those bastards' momentum!"

"We will step forward, Baron!"

A nearby allied baron sent two of his knights. However, the two knights couldn't even reach the centurion's side.

Adjuncts wearing the same uniform as the centurion but with vertically attached helmet crests blocked their path. They were the successors to take over command if the centurion fell in battle.

"Where do mere rabble dare block the path of a knight?!"

They shouted valiantly, but after exchanging two sword strikes, the knights were flustered.

'Th-These guys!'

The adjuncts' swordsmanship was by no means inferior to the knights. Crucially, the adjuncts were soldiers, not knights.

They didn't particularly insist on the honor of a 1-on-1 duel. They were murder experts solely studying how to kill enemies efficiently in close combat!

"What?"

While engaged in a bloody battle, the knights panicked as the legion adjuncts suddenly squatted like toads. They were appalled by the pila that flew in with a delayed attack, splitting their flashy helmet crests.

"Keuk!"

"Sir Palma!"

One knight suffered a fatal wound from the javelin, and the other lost his shield. As the squatted adjuncts lunged like they were fired, the knights were stabbed in vital spots and died in battle.

As even the trusted knights fell vainly, the morale-broken allied soldiers began to flee.

"The Baron is dead!"

Even the Baron who was supposed to control them had become a corpse from a ballista snipe.

"Do not waver! If you show your backs in this state, we'll all die!"

"Artillery! There's a commander over there!"

"Ah, no?!"

Trying to rally the soldiers inevitably highlighted the commander's presence. Every time that happened, several ballista arrows flew in from all directions.

"My Lord!"

"Keuaaak!"

Loyal knights blocked them with their bodies, but the knights and nobles just became skewers togAAether. As many nobles who would control the troops at the frontlines fell in battle, the front ranks began to collapse.

However, the Shadow Legion's unilateral trampling of the allied fOrces ended here.

* * *

"Your Excellency the Count! We need support immediately!"

"Wait."

"Your Excellency! Please save us!"

"Not yet."

Eugene ignored the messenger urgently requesting support fire twice.

Although the Dark Elves were elites, shooting longbows required stamina beyond imagination. To see maximum effect with limited firing, they had to draw the enemies in further.

He also needed time to mentally train his subordinates on the dangers of the ballistae, the firing intervals, and evasion maneuvers.

"My dear men. The enemies' ballistae have a similar range to our bows. However, to shoot this far, they have to fire in an arc, and doing that with a ballista arrow drastically reduces the projectile speed. With your physical abilities, you can easily dodge them. Each unit, maintain a distance of at least 3m and always keep an eye on the sky."

Eugene heard the footsteps of the archers in the back quickly rebuilding their formation.

"Prioritize protecting your own lives over striking down the enemies. This is not our battlefield. Let's just shoot arrows from afar and pick up the crumbs."

Chuckle sounds leaked out amidst the disciplined silence.

As Eugene's raised arm lowered, the thousand-man unit released their bowstrings simultaneously.

Piiiing!

A resonance like hundreds of instrument strings snapping at once.

Wheeeeeeosh-!

With a bizarre sound of cutting air like a thousand swifts diving steeply, arrows poured down on the Shadow Legion's vanguard.

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

For the first time since the battle began, multiple casualties occurred in the legion.

"Cease engagement!"

"Turtle formation!"

At the centurion's command, the legionaries hastily stepped back and built a sturdy shield wall.

"Uheuuh."

"Cough."

Even though comrades groaning while lying on the ground, hit in non-vital spots, were scattered everywhere, there was no way to save them.

Piiiing!

Because a thousand bowstrings twanged again, and a second rain of arrows flew in. It was a rate of fire incomparable to any archers the Shadow Legion had faced.

'Even if it's thin, is piercing an iron-plated shield impossible after all?'

The Elven longbow's fire pierced decent wooden shields and ruined the arms. However, the scuta were taking the shots without casualties thanks to the thin iron plates.

"Over there!"

"Artillery! Prepare to fire!"

Among those operating the ballistae were spotters. After taking two volleys, they figured out the location of Eugene's archers. The ballistae moved there and completed their aiming.

"Counter-fire is coming!"

"The bastards found our location!"

"What, already?!"

The Dark Elves also noticed the danger and lowered their bows. By the time the giant arrows shot by the ballistae soared into the sky, they were already sprinting to evade.

"What?"

The legion artillery watching them was equally flustered. Archers are incredibly sluggish, making such agile reactions impossible.

Being battered and smashed by the ballista's counter-fire was the common sense up to this point.

Because they were shot at a high angle, the ballista arrows flew slowly, but there were still more than one or two. Some Dark Elves in the front line couldn't dodge in time and were exposed.

And Eugene stepped in front of them.

Smash!

The Predator Lance cleaved the sky and batted away the most threatening ballista arrow.

"Nonsense!"

The legion artillery rubbed their eyes at the inhuman divine might. In the meantime, Eugene shot down another ballista arrow.

"Aaargh!"

The rest was impossible. The Dark Elves scattered with their unique agile movements, but casualties occurred here and there.

"Keuu."

Naturally, they were not the ones to just take hits. Maneuver firing was not the exclusive property of the Shadow Legion.

Piiiing!

As if to return double what they took, a rain of arrows flew.

However, the ballista wasn't named Manticore for nothing. Among the 5 operating personnel, the two in the front act as drivers while maneuvering, but act as shield-bearers while firing.

"Incoming!"

Two shields carved with distorted human faces protected the artillerymen.

"They block all that?"

The Dark Elves were also flustered by the artillery preparing another counter-fire while solidly withstanding the rain of arrows. They had never met such enemies before.

Crack!

Eugene swatted down the most threatening ballista arrow and issued an order.

"From this moment on, ignore the legionaries! Everyone fix your targets on the enemy ballista units! Focus on sealing the ballistae by taking turns firing in century units! Just tying them down will break the legionaries' momentum!"

With synchronized footsteps, the Dark Elf shooters immediately split into 10 units. Out of them lined up, 9 units waited entirely outside the ballista's range.

Piiiing!

The 1 unit whose turn it was fired quickly from the front and quickly returned to the end. Then the 2nd unit ran forward and fired.

Piiiing!

And retreated to the back again. They had to run hundreds of meters for each shot, but for the elite Fairy soldiers who could easily run a marathon of tens of kilometers, it wasn't a problem.

"Centurion! Our range doesn't reach!"

"At this rate, it's a waste of arrows! The bastards are hitting and running sneakily at the edge!"

"Th-Those crazy pointy-eared bastards! Just what kind of training do they normally do?!"

As Eugene's army responded in an unimaginable way, the legion artillery also fell into confusion. It was their first time facing opponents where their always-victorious tactics didn't work.

But that wasn't all Eugene had prepared.

"Next phase."

At Eugene's command, the messenger waved a flag broadly.

Then, 41 warriors climbed a hill in the allied fOrces' formation. At their forefront was a beauty with a fluttering silver tail. It was the Rangers led by Homi.

They had gone through fierce competition with an acceptance rate of less than 4% in Eugene's army. They were armed with powerful bows reborn by adding several monster parts to the existing Hydra bows.

"Drink."

At Homi's brief words, the Rangers drank the liquid in their lidded horn cups.

It was an elixir perfected by improving the berserkers' potions captured in the Britannia civil war, the interrogations of captured shamans, and tribal pharmacology knowledge.

Unlike the berserker potion, it didn't have the effect of drawing out monstrous strength at the cost of damaging the consumer's body. Because the side effects were too severe for that.

Instead, it functioned as a stabilizer helping to freely maintain muscle contraction.

Squeeeak.

Thanks to this, precise aiming was maintained without the arrows trembling even while pulling the ignorant strong bows to the end. When the drug's effect wore off, their arms and abdomen would ache, but that was a mild side effect.

Blue fire burned at the tips of the arrows. It was an unquenchable fire used when facing monsters with high regenerative abilities like Trolls or Hydras.

Paaang!

When Homi released the bowstring, a sound like a whip striking the air rang out.

Baaaaang!!!

Immediately after, a sound 40 times louder erupted, startling the nearby mercenaries who tumbled here and there.

The blue arrows soaring fearsomely into the sky aimed at the legion's ballistae.