I Told You, Didn't I? (1)
"Block them!"
As the wall commander shouted, arrows darkened the sky.
Most were aimed at Ghislain, but some targeted the base of the wall as well. They had to prevent others from climbing up.
"Ughhh!"
Count Balesant recoiled in fear, clutching his head as he crouched down. But the disaster he dreaded never came to pass.
Bang! Tatatatatang!
The mercenaries raised their shields tightly together, blocking the arrows. Thanks to enduring Ghislain's hellish training, they moved as skillfully as regular troops.
"Let's go."
The moment the barrage ended, Yulian muttered in a low voice and sprang forward. He scaled the wall bare-handed, without even using a grappling hook.
"Uaaaaahhh!"
Kyle and Tyrann followed right behind him, and the rest of the mercenaries let out a fierce battle cry as they charged after them.
"A true man, Osval! I shall stand here and protect our allies!"
Osval confidently planted himself beside Count Balesant, unmoving. With their numbers being vastly inferior, the thought of rushing into battle was rather terrifying.
Count Balesant looked at Osval. Osval looked at Count Balesant.
The moment their eyes met, both instinctively realized they were of the same ilk. An awkward smile formed between them.
Boom! Boom! Booom!
Meanwhile, atop the wall, Ghislain rampaged without restraint. The defenders, caught off guard by the sudden assault, were thrown into disarray.
"Stop them! Hurry!"
The commander shrieked. Knights and soldiers rushed at Ghislain, but each one was struck down the moment they engaged him.
The elite forces had followed the main army. Those left behind were inevitably of lower caliber.
Of course, even if skilled warriors had remained, the outcome wouldn't have been much different—after all, they had let Ghislain reach them.
As Yulian Mercenaries climbed onto the wall, the defenders couldn't even form proper ranks and were forced into a desperate defense.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With Ghislain's overwhelming might, the number of defenders dwindled rapidly. Even the knights who threw themselves at him were powerless.
Whoosh!
Ghislain didn't hold back his magic, either. Fireballs flew in all directions, leaving the defenders in utter chaos.
The wall commander bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Block him! Stop him! Mages, do something!"
But only two 4th-circle mages remained. They were no match for Ghislain, who had reached the 6th circle.
Soon, even the knights were all struck down, their heads shattered. Only then did the commander realize who Ghislain truly was.
"The mad superhuman, Astion!"
Few individuals could fight alone like that. Even fewer could wield both sword and magic at that level.
"Why… why is he here…?"
The wall commander murmured blankly, his mind reeling.
If a superhuman had appeared, there was no way their forces could hold out.
"Aaaaahhh!"
"It's a superhuman! It has to be!"
"Regroup! Gather together!"
Desperate screams and frantic voices filled the air.
The wall commander looked around in a daze. On closer inspection, even without a superhuman, they would have struggled to hold the line.
"I am Kyle!"
"I am Tyrann!"
"I am the Dark of Darkness!"
The warriors loudly proclaimed their names as they slaughtered their foes, their skills far from ordinary.
Among them, a strikingly handsome man carved his way through the enemy like a figure from a painting.
That must be Yulian, the leader of the mercenaries. His renowned appearance made him easily recognizable.
"It's over…"
The wall commander muttered unconsciously. He had fallen prey to their bold strategy.
To abandon a hundred thousand troops and strike here instead… It had worked, but the decision couldn't have been easy.
Had they been discovered midway, the punitive force would have been utterly annihilated.
His anger turned in another direction.
"Count Balesant! That traitorous bastard! He definitely drew attention on purpose! We should have attacked before they got close!"
Had they done so, things might have been slightly better. The defeat wouldn't have been avoided, but at least they could have reduced the damage.
The fact that Yulian Mercenaries reached this point without any trouble was proof enough that Count Balesant had aided them. Otherwise, word of their approach would have reached them long ago.
The wall commander pointed at Count Balesant and screamed.
"Shoot him! Kill that bastard at least!"
This place was doomed anyway. Killing Count Balesant, at the very least, would ease the commander's resentment.
Swoosh!
The remaining soldiers clenched their teeth and loosed their arrows. But Count Balesant remained crouched, shielded by the mercenaries.
The wall commander's neck strained as he roared.
"Shoot! Keep shooting! Kill that bastard!"
As he shouted, his gaze caught sight of a distant army approaching. His expression brightened with hope.
"Could it be…?"
Perhaps reinforcements? Maybe troops had finally realized something was wrong and rushed to aid them.
However, when he saw them up close, disappointment filled his face.
It was the Balesant forces. Their numbers seemed to be only around 400, but every one of them was mounted.
More enemies. Whether their numbers were large or small, it only meant more trouble when they were already struggling.
The wall commander slumped his shoulders in defeat. He had simply given up on everything.
Meanwhile, Count Balesant turned around and gasped in shock.
"What the—? Why is he here?"
His adjutant was leading the charge. Judging by their numbers, it seemed he had gathered every knight and cavalryman he could find.
As Count Balesant blinked in disbelief, the adjutant's voice rang out loudly.
"My looooord! I am hereeee! Save our lord! Strike them down!"
The mercenaries guarding Count Balesant numbered around fifty. Against 400, they were certainly outmatched.
The adjutant had followed behind at a distance, and the moment the battle erupted, he had immediately moved to rescue Count Balesant.
"Uaaaaahhh!"
The Balesant forces roared as they spurred their horses forward. Foolish but loyal, their determination to save their lord was almost touching.
Of course, the mercenaries weren't about to let them do as they pleased. Osval's face twisted into a grimace as he raised his hammer.
"A true man, Osval! I do not forgive traitors! Die!"
"N-No! It's not like that!"
Count Balesant panicked and shouted at his adjutant.
"Ah… I don't think this is right…"
"Hey! Stop! Stop right now! Stoooop!"
The adjutant and the Balesant forces, who had been charging in boldly, had no choice but to come to an abrupt halt.
As both sides awkwardly faced off, Count Balesant jabbed a finger at his adjutant and yelled.
"What the hell?! Why are you suddenly here?!"
"My lord… You… clearly wanted us to come save you…"
At those words, Osval raised his hammer again. Count Balesant flinched and jumped in terror.
"When did I ever! When did I ever say that?!"
"You sent the signal with your eyes…"
"Are you my lover or something?! Since when could you read my thoughts just by looking at my eyes?! I was telling you to stay put!"
"But, my lord, I definitely felt it…"
"Oh my, this guy's completely lost it! What's with these weird feelings?! Stop feeling things on your own!"
"..."
"Which side do you think we're on?! We're with Yulian Mercenaries now! We're on the royal family's side!"
"So, then…?"
Count Balesant turned urgently, reaching out a hand.
"Because of you, now I'm being mistaken for a traitor!"
The adjutant, looking genuinely confused, asked hesitantly.
"Which… traitor?"
Since Count Balesant was the kind of man who would switch sides as needed to survive, it was a legitimate question. But the count clutched his chest in frustration and shouted.
"Which side do you think?! We're with Yulian Mercenaries now! We're on the royal family's side! So…"
"So?"
Count Balesant quickly spun around, raising his arm high.
"Attack! Take down the marquis's army! Kill those traitorous bastards!"
"..."
"Hurry! You're already here, so make yourselves useful! If you want any credit later, start fighting now!"
"Ah, understood."
And so, the Balesant forces charged toward the wall once again. With the mercenaries' grappling hooks already in place, climbing up wasn't difficult.
"Uaaaaahhh!"
With their battle cries ringing through the air, the Balesant forces scaled the wall. Since they wore the same uniforms as the mercenaries, they truly looked like one united force.
By now, the defenders had suffered near-total annihilation.
With 400 additional troops assisting Yulian Mercenaries, the battle ended even faster.
The last to fall, the wall commander, muttered in bitter despair.
"These… insane bastards…"
As the defenders were completely wiped out, Ghislain, drenched in blood, burst into laughter as he looked down from the wall.
"Count, aren't you overexerting yourself?"
"W-We're on the same side, aren't we? This much is nothing. Heh."
Count Balesant forced an awkward smile. He had been dragged into this alliance, but now, he had no choice but to see it through to the end.
He had avoided war, slacking off whenever possible, yet somehow, he now found himself fighting on the front lines. Still, with a superhuman by his side, this might actually be the safer option.
With the forces outside the wall now merged, Yulian Mercenary Corps and the Balesant army marched proudly into the city.
When the blood-drenched army appeared, the citizens screamed and scattered in all directions.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Yulian Mercenaries advanced straight toward the lord's castle at the heart of the city. The Balesant troops followed closely behind, raising their banners high.
Their presence was fitting—it truly looked like a punitive force sent to crush traitors.
Walking beside Ghislain, Count Balesant's face was flushed with a mix of nervousness and excitement.
'What is this? Is this really happening? Why am I here? How did I end up in this situation?'
Marquis Falkenheim, who wielded immense power and controlled the kingdom, had sent a massive army still stationed at the front lines.
But Yulian Mercenaries had exploited a weakness and stormed this far in a single decisive strike.
With a superhuman among them, they might have reached this place on their own, but without his help, they wouldn't have arrived so easily or quickly.
He had been dragged along in a daze, yet now, he was on the verge of achieving a feat that would go down in history.
Count Balesant puffed out his chest.
'Ah, whatever, whatever! When else will I ever feel something like this? I'm just going with it. Once the war is over, I'll make it sound like this was my plan all along. Should I say I was waiting for Yulian Mercenaries? Either way, I'll be recognized as a royalist hero. Oh, how delightful.'
Grinning foolishly, Count Balesant indulged in visions of his rosy future.
No force remaining in the lord's castle could stop a superhuman. If they captured the marquis, this war would end in victory for the punitive force.
As Count Balesant had expected, there weren't many knights or soldiers left in the lord's castle.
They were already on edge from the sudden turn of events.
"Stop them!"
The commander shouted, but if the wall defenders couldn't stop them, these men had no chance.
Boom!
Ghislain was the first to charge in, sending everyone in his path flying. Then, he sprinted forward without hesitation.
The small fry were left to the mercenaries following behind.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ghislain smashed through anything blocking his way, including the gates, as he stormed inside. Blood-soaked and menacing, he sent the castle's servants screaming as they fled in terror.
He ignored them and sped toward the audience hall.
Boom!
The massive doors to the audience hall were completely obliterated.
The first thing he saw upon entering was the back of Marquis Falkenheim, flanked by two knights, about to slip into a secret passage.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ghislain hurled his staff with all his strength.
One knight swung his sword to deflect it, but he was far too weak for such a feat.
Boom!
The staff pierced straight through the knight's body and embedded itself into the wall.
Marquis Falkenheim, caught mid-escape, froze at the sight.
"Marquis Falkenheim!"
Ghislain called out, and the marquis slowly turned.
For the first time since the war began, their eyes met.
They had both seen each other's portraits countless times, so recognizing each other was no challenge.
Even without that, they would have known—both carried an unmistakable aura, the kind possessed only by those who wield true power.
Ghislain fixed his gaze on Marquis Falkenheim and spoke.
"I told you, didn't I?"
"..."
"If you touched me, I'd make you regret ever being born."
"…You bastard."
"Today is that day."
Thud!
Ghislain flashed a vicious grin and stepped forward.
With each step he took, cracks spread across the floor beneath him.
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