Chapter 74

Chapter 74 - Dungeon (2)

"These guys who deserve heavenly punishment."

"How can you wear a human mask and..."

The monks, who had been marching neatly without a single word of chit-chat, lost their composure for the first time.

Because a village on the route heading to Lasta Monastery had been laid to ruins.

A situation where they robbed it entirely and even set fire to it. At this rate, even if the chaos of war ends, this vicinity will become abandoned land.

"It's the pirates' doing. They are mostly short cuts but the depth is deep. It's the handiwork of the scimitars they enjoy using."

A tribe scout who checked the corpses reported.

Land mercenaries restrained themselves from murder even if they plundered. It's because there is at least a handful of faith resting in their hearts.

If the pirates had more fear toward superstition, the fear of the afterlife's judgment was deeper for mercenaries.

Even mercenaries living for today were ones who would visit a temple once a year to offer a prayer of repentance and a slight donation.

"We will gather the corpses and then go."

"Will it be alright? Rushing to the monastery should be urgent."

At Eugene's question, Andrew bit his lip.

"Even still, we cannot just pass by the tragedy before our eyes. It will only take a moment."

The monks busily ran around and gathered the corpses in one spot, and Eugene's subordinates also tactfully helped.

Because it's an urgent situation, burial is impossible. They finished the joint funeral by gathering them in one place to cremate and chanting prayers for their rest.

Perhaps it was a fortune among misfortunes, the opportunity to unleash the monks' anger came quickly. Because they discovered a group of pirates flocking ahead.

"Sir Eugene!"

Andrew looked at him with desperate eyes.

Only the Hospitaller Knights were on horses and the combat priests were infantry. There was quite a bit of distance, so if they chased by foot, they would lose the majority.

"We will subjugate them."

"Thank you!"

Eugene led the cavalry and stood at the front.

"They are light enemies, so please save your stamina preparing for a real battle, monks."

He experienced leading troops of the 100-person level in Richwood. However, leading a cavalry unit is an entirely different matter, even if it's the same 100 people.

Taking your eyes off for just a moment messes up the spacing, and delivering orders is also difficult because of the sound of horse hooves.

While maneuvering, one has to even talk as if riding a rhythm. If you just rattle on like when on the ground, it's perfect for biting your tongue.

It's the reason why Eugene continued going into battles. Adding to the spoils and network, because he needed real battle experience as a cavalry leader.

"Whatever other orders there are, prick up your ears regarding retreat! Those who don't pull out on time, I will beat up myself!"

"Sir Knight! We are mercenaries. We will wonderfully listen to the order to flee for sure."

"If perchance we can't hear, please whip us. If we got hit by your fist, that person would die."

The subordinates joked while keeping a nervous face.

Their employer wanted an a normal victory with no losses, rather than a perfect honor-bound victory.

In a way, it's a much harder demand, but it gives more strength to those who follow him.

"It's an ambush!"

"Damn it! Everyone's riding horses?"

The pirates were not in a full state. They looked exhausted, and for whatever reason, their morale was low with several of them lowering their heads down.

Thanks to that, they were also late spotting the ambush and reacting to it.

'As expected, they don't listen well.'

Looking back, the heavily armed monks are running over. It seems they feel guilty to completely hand over sweeping them out, aside from their anger toward the pirates.

Dududududu.

The vibrations and noise created by a cavalry numbering three digits charging! And the dust! It was truly overbearing.

Due to the nature of pirates, they were more vulnerable to the pressure cavalry gives than land warriors, so everyone froze.

"W-What should we do about this? Fight? Run? Surrender?"

"Damn it! If I knew it'd be like this, I'd have just joined the monastery attack."

While the pirates were running hither and thither, Eugene's army didn't plunge in but surrounded them widely, cutting off escape routes first.

"Surrender! We surrender!"

Perhaps they deemed there was absolutely no way seeing the sight, guys appeared prostrating and begging.

"Shoot!"

A volley from the horse archers poured down. Because people screamed and fell everywhere, those who prostrated were unharmed.

"...!"

Due to that appearance, more pirates threw away their weapons and surrendered.

However, that number was still small. They knew that dying without pain when caught committing piracy was also a lucky thing.

"You idiots! What are you doing? The opponents are the pointy-eared bastards! Do you think they'll spare you if you surrender... Keuhuk!"

The guy yelling at the top of his lungs fell down holding an arrow piercing his neck.

"Captain!"

Because that guy was their leader or something, the pirates whose very last ounce of morale neatly evaporated scattered everywhere.

"Eok!"

"Keuak!"

They collapsed after getting hit with cavalry swords in their backs, exactly like what they did to the villagers.

With the situation like this, the battle ended blandly. To the point where even the combat priests stopped running and walked over.

The ones remaining were just the minority who prostrated flat on the ground and preserved their lives. When the tribe horse archers looked at Eugene, he nodded.

Thud!

Thwack!

The ones prostrated got hit in the neck by arrows and met death without even being able to let out a moan.

Only two were kept alive for interrogation, and they were guys whose outfits and equipment were superior and looked to hold authority.

'The more I stay together with these guys, the more frustrated I'll be working with other mercenary groups.'

It was the seasoned skills of the tribe warriors who had voluntarily selected them without Eugene explicitly ordering.

"We will tell you anything, whatever it is!"

"Please, at least spare our lives!"

The two pirates realized why only they were kept alive, and spilled answers smoothly to Eugene's questions.

That they had been emptying villages, and that a far greater number of pirates remained.

"They said the rest of the guys nearby bunched up and flocked to the Lasta Monastery."

"You bastards who deserve heavenly punishment!"

"Are you really not afraid of divine punishment?"

The monks became enraged at the viciousness of trying to plunder the holy monastery.

"No! We are afraid of God!"

"That is why we opted out of the attack!"

The surrendered pirates pleaded as if wronged.

Those words were the truth. They are ones who didn't join the monastery plunder because they were afraid of receiving divine punishment.

"We have nothing, don't we? Our comrades called us cowards and chased us out empty-handed."

"Oh, so that's why you looked so drained."

"... Yes."

That was the reason why everyone had their heads hung down and walked in a state of feeling empty.

Even came all the way inland to fight hard and plunder, only to be branded cowards and set to go back empty-handed.

"Do you know anything about the guys who went to the monastery and the circumstances after?"

"We don't know."

At the unanimous answer, Eugene gave a signal to Hind standing in the back.

Swish!

One guy's head fell instantly.

"We really don't know! Please have mercy!"

The pirate begged while banging his head loudly on the ground.

"It doesn't seem he knows anything more."

Rex has done this type of interrogation so much he could roughly tell just by seeing facial expressions and gestures.

"Alright, I'll show you mercy."

"Thank you..."

The pirate who was lifting his head had his head chopped off by the sword Hind swung.

The monks watched indifferently at the head rolling around with a smiling expression. Even to the merciful ones, pirates were existences closer to monsters who could talk.

"We must hurry, Sir Andrew. The bastards' actions are faster than expected. Right now, the monastery might even be under attack."

* * *

As Eugene's army hastened their steps across the dense forest, Lasta Monastery appeared.

Befitting a place sealing a dungeon, its appearance was closer to a fortress than a monastery. It hasn't a moat, but it has stone walls and gates.

Hundreds of pirates surrounding the place were fiercely pouring out attacks.

"It is a relief we could make it on time."

"Oh God. Grant me righteous fury and courage."

At Eugene's words, Andrew pulled out a cross necklace from his embrace and kissed it.

The combat priests crossed themselves, and the heavy infantrymen and tribe warriors also drew their weapons.

"The bastards still haven't noticed us."

"Magic is truly amazing."

Before the battle, everyone looked at Valda with eyes full of awe.

When her slender hands moved, a path appeared in a forest that seemed impossible to go through.

"All these numbers moved and not a single footstep sound happened. As if the forest concealed it."

It's the reason why hundreds of pirates fiercely attacking the castle still didn't notice Eugene's army.

"Lady Valda. You really went through a lot."

"Do not dismount from your horse."

Valda, who lay on the bush covered in sweat, stopped Eugene who was trying to dismount.

"Your victory pleases me more than your manners, so focus on commanding."

The face of Valda smiling with difficulty. It was breathtakingly beautiful and also thankful.

"Homi. Please look after Lady Valda."

Nod.

Eugene left behind Homi saluting with a resolute face.

"Pirates do not need burial goods. What those bastards will take to the afterlife is only the karma of the sins they accumulated so far. Sweep them away without leaving a single one behind!"

When Eugene stood at the front, drawing his flail, his subordinates' eyes shone with expectations of the spoils.

The pirate group they encountered earlier was suited for warming up but they were beggars with nothing.

However, bodies of the ones attacking the castle there are glittering from all directions under the sunlight. It seemed they packed a lot of this and that.

* * *

"Push in just a little more! How much treasure would there be inside a monastery wrapped up tightly like that?!"

The subordinates attacking the monastery screamed in response to the loud voice of the pirate boss.

"Harder!"

Thud!

The hastily made battering ram continuously knocked on the monastery gates.

"Keep climbing!"

Ladders were hooked on the castle walls, and the pirates climbed up.

"Uwaaah!"

While climbing ladders, they were attacked and fell consecutively, but surprisingly the number of those who died was small.

Because its foundation is a monastery, the castle walls are on the low side, and they lacked skilled archers. They didn't have key defensive elements like boiling oil or murder holes.

"They ain't dying, these things!"

"Push in with sheer head count!"

Even if it's an era where defending a castle is advantageous, under such a situation they are bound to collapse before the violence of numbers. But it took too much time than expected.

"Fuck. If they are priests, they should memorize scripture like a priest, but why the hell are they all swinging weapons wildly?"

The pirate boss, oblivious to the circumstance that they are sealing a dungeon inside, was boiling inside.

Because he heard stories from comrades in other areas that they easily obtained gold and silver treasures from monasteries.

He even felt a sense of unfairness, as if only he was going through hardship for no reason.

"Just capture it. I will strip you all naked and whip you till death..."

The delusion of the pirate boss was cut off by the horn sound and horse hooves crossing the battlefield.

"Gold is waiting for us!"

"For Lady Valda! Dedicate this victory to her!"

Heavy cavalry forces were charging from behind them, right as they were lunging at the castle.

"W-What! Where did those guys pop out from?"

"There was no sign at all, none?"

The pirates fell into chaos, completely unexpecting that they could pierce through a pathless forest.

Swoosh!

Thwack!

Arrows the horse archers shot continuously lodged into the backs of those climbing the ladders.

Just as if a duster swung by god passed by, pirates fell like rain.

"It's reinforcements!"

"What did everyone say? I told you to believe in Grand Duke Ismar!"

The monks fighting a hard battle on top of the castle walls shouted while clashing weapons and shields.

As they were unexpectedly attacked by a multitude of cavalry, light-armored pirates had no way of holding up. They began to run away avoiding the spears and swords.

"You idiots, where are you coming to?!"

The problem is that with the castle in front of them, their retreat routes were blocked off.

Because they can't break through the cavalry swinging weapons brutally, they all swarmed towards the castle walls.

Of course, running towards there didn't change anything. However, the survival instincts of the pirates commanded them to live even just ten-some seconds longer.

"Don't come! Don't come, I'm telling you!"

"There's no more space to... Heo-eok!"

Countless pirates were jammed against one another, and pained groans erupted from everywhere.

"Listen, everyone! There's no need to cross swords on purpose, so spread your formation and pressure them! Drive them towards the castle walls slowly!"

Eugene, who grasped the situation, yelled with a booming voice.

Even if his subordinates are elites, they were outnumbered several times over. If he tried to kill all those pirates with direct attacks, the damage would accumulate here as well.

"Sir! The situation is perfectly fitting!"

Hind, who grasped Eugene's intent, shouted while utterly excited.

- Everyone focus. This map moved the Battle of Butzholz precisely. As an example of perfect success for hammering and anvil tactics...

Hammer and anvil, which Hind learned countless times at the House of Knights, is being perfectly implemented before his eyes.

The core point is the firmness of the anvil. When being taught tactics at the House of Knights, his peers used to argue over who was the best anvil.

- It's the Gord Infantry naturally! Those guys aren't just an anvil, but a sharpened anvil. Since they'll cleave everything with axes.

- Being sturdy is an anvil's first priority. The Dwarf Warriors' iron-wall square formation is the best choice.

But no army could probably be more solid than real chunks of stone, the castle walls.

Hind felt his knight's blood boil over to the point of exploding. He felt the greatest rapture since serving Eugene.

"Wrap around them! Wrap around them leaving no gaps!"

At Eugene's orders, the tribe horse archers spread wide and formed an encirclement net on both flanks.

On the other hand, the heavy cavalrymen were drunk on the thrill of battle and slow to react.

"Do you not hear my orders?!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

When Eugene hit helmets and shields rolling around with the flail he was holding, at that loud sound the heavy cavalry snapped back to their senses.

"Fall back! I said fall back! Expand the formation and herd the pirate bastards towards the walls!"

"U-Understood! Sir Knight!"

"I will follow orders!"

In the center, combat priests and heavy infantry stood at the vanguard behind their shields to form a solid wall and advanced.

"O-Oh no!"

"We need to somehow carve a path... Aaghk!"

Some pirates who grasped the turn of the situation quickly staked their lives to get out. However, they only became minced corpses from spears and swords pouring from everywhere.

"No need to have a sword fight exactly. Pick your pace and push."

Eugene's subordinates giggled in excitement and pushed the pirates.

Around half the cavalry dismounted and joined the construction of the siege formation using their shields in front.

The pirates on the outskirts tried somehow to fight, but there's no method.

Everywhere they looked was full of only huge shields, and speartips poking out from among them were glaring at them. Arrows flying from behind are a bonus.

Tung! Tung! Tung!

The sound of pointlessly battering shields.

Puk!

Pueok!

"Ak!"

Then the screams of guys who collapsed getting hit in the stomach with spears and in shoulders or neck by arrows.

Finally, sandwiched between the castle wall and the army, the pirates began suffocating.

"Weeeek!"

"Cough! Cough!"

Sounds of choking, coughing and puking could be continuously heard from everywhere.

As the siege narrowed even more, the sounds of pirates in the outskirts beating shields rapidly increased.

Inversely related to that, the screams of the inner pirates grew weaker. By now they were squeezed too tightly it became difficult to scream properly.

"Heoup..."

Once an exhale went out, they couldn't take an inhale again. Since it didn't even leave space for the chest to expand slightly.