The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 233: I Can’t Live Without Retaliation (2)

“What the hell? Who are those bastards?”

The barbarians sneered as they looked at the approaching army from behind them. The force seemed to number around three to four hundred—a considerable amount.

But what did it matter?

Here, six tribes had united, bringing together over two thousand warriors. Even though their horses had been left further away due to the siege, the barbarians felt no fear.

What of it? They could just block them with their bodies, like real men.

They had fought other tribes in similar ways countless times before, so this didn’t faze them.

“Raise your axes! Kill those bastards first!”

“It’s even better when it’s a frontal fight! Hahaha!”

“Today will be a festival of blood!”

“Uooooohhh!”

With roaring cheers, the barbarians rekindled their fighting spirit. Engaging in large-scale battles on the plains was their preferred method of combat.

Watching the barbarian’s jubilant shouts, Ghislain smirked.

This was his favorite kind of confrontation as well.

Ghislain’s eyes began to glow a deep crimson, and the spear he held shimmered with crimson mana.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

The speed of Ghislain’s horse at the vanguard picked up significantly, creating a growing distance between him and the knights following behind.

A crimson streak.

There was no better description for him at this moment.

Without uttering a single word, Ghislain became a blazing streak of light and charged into the midst of the barbarians.

Boom!

“Uaaagh!”

The barbarians, who had been ready to tackle him with their bodies, were instantly torn apart and scattered in all directions.

Even in his past life, the King of Mercenaries’ first charge was something even the Seven Strongest on the Continent dared not face recklessly.

Die or flee.

Those were the only choices available to the King of Mercenaries’ enemies.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Ghislain tore through the barbarian army in a straight line, completely splitting their forces in two.

The barbarians, overwhelmed by the sheer destruction, hesitated to rush at him. While they faltered in confusion, the Fenris knights followed closely behind Ghislain and stormed in.

Boom!

“Graaaah! Who the hell are these people?!”

“Since when did the Northern Fortress have warriors like this?!”

“Where the hell did they come from?!”

The barbarians were utterly stunned. Every single one of the knights who followed was wielding spears enveloped in blue mana.

Hundreds of knights? This didn’t make any sense. In all their battles near the Northern Fortress, they had never seen such a force before.

“We outnumber them! Everyone, pile on them! I said, pile on them!”

Spurred on by the great warriors’ shouts, the barbarians charged in again, displaying their characteristic ferocity.

“Die!”

The reckless offensive of the warriors slowed the knights’ momentum. However, the knights, all adept at using mana, weren’t easily overwhelmed despite the slight slowdown.

Among them, a few individuals stood out as exceptionally skilled.

Thwack!

With every swing of Ghislain’s spear, barbarians fell, their heads pierced before they could even comprehend their deaths.

Boom! Crash!

Gillian and Kaor also slaughtered countless barbarians. As the two rampaged, the battlefield descended into utter chaos.

Kaor decapitated barbarians left and right, laughing heartily.

“Hahaha! Old man! Today I’ll kill more than you!”

“…”

Gillian ignored Kaor’s provocation. He didn’t have time to waste on exchanging words with him.

“Uaaagh!”

As the knights continued their relentless assault, the barbarians’ screams filled the air, and their ranks collapsed into disorder.

“Graaaah! Don’t retreat!”

“Hold the line no matter what!”

“We can win this!”

The great warriors’ roars spurred the barbarians to grit their teeth and surge toward the knights once more. But the Fenris knights weren’t the only ones on this battlefield.

Noticing the barbarians’ crumbling formation, Zwalter shouted loudly.

“Open the gates!”

Boom!

“Waaaahhh!”

The knights and soldiers of Ferdium roared as they charged out from the fortress. Their morale was at an all-time high.

What had once been a dire situation, where all they could do was endure, had completely turned around thanks to Ghislain’s arrival.

“Gaaah!”

With the Ferdium forces joining in, the barbarians began to fall one by one, caught between the attacks coming from both front and rear. Having been caught off guard, they were unable to mount a proper defense.

The soldiers of Ferdium, reinvigorated, fought with everything they had, even finding strength they didn’t know they possessed. Among them, no one was more exhilarated than Skovan, the commander of the Forest of Beasts’ garrison.

“Die! Die! You bastard!”

Skovan, who had returned to Ferdium to report some matters and deliver supplies, found himself stuck at the fortress when the barbarian invasion began.

I thought I had terrible luck, but with the situation unfolding like this, my perspective changed.

‘This feels so satisfying!’

The people living in the North harbored immense resentment toward the barbarians. Among them, the people of Ferdium bore an extraordinary level of hatred.

They had lost countless comrades and citizens to the barbarians, living in constant suffering.

In most sieges, the Ferdium forces were only able to focus on defense. They had never managed to annihilate a large number of barbarians on this scale. Even when they dealt with a few raiders, the peace was always temporary.

But to have something this cathartic happen?

Though this wasn’t a proper field battle and had only been possible with Ghislain’s help during the siege, it didn’t change the fact that they were slaughtering barbarians to their heart’s content.

‘It would’ve been even better to wipe them all out from the beginning without holding back.’

Most of the Ferdium soldiers shared similar thoughts, but they also knew such a scenario was impossible. Ferdium couldn’t afford to expend all its resources so recklessly.

This meant they could only be satisfied with what they had achieved.

“Retreat!”

“Scatter! Scatter!”

Even the battle-hardened barbarians had no choice in a situation like this. As individuals who valued their lives began to flee, the already disordered ranks completely collapsed.

The knights and soldiers of Fenris and Ferdium gritted their teeth and pursued, determined to kill as many as possible.

By the time bodies were piled around the fortress and the sun began to set, Zwalter shouted.

“Enough! It’s over! There’s no need to chase them further!”

Aside from a few barbarians who managed to escape, none survived.

Ferdium had no intention of accepting surrenders, and the barbarians never intended to surrender.

Their enmity ran deep from years of prolonged conflict.

“Waaaahhh!”

“We won!”

“The Young Lord has come!”

The Ferdium soldiers finally let out cries of victory. It was a stark contrast to the helpless days of merely watching the barbarians retreat.

They had inflicted near-total destruction on the combined forces of six nearby tribes—a feat worth celebrating.

Zwalter, visibly elated, approached Ghislain.

“Ghislain! What on earth happened? How did you arrive so suddenly?”

Ghislain smiled back as Zwalter approached.

“Isn’t this the season when the barbarians are most active? With the famine, I figured their raids would be even worse.”

“Yes, you came at the perfect time. Truly, your arrival has brought us a great victory. In fact, I had been debating whether to ask for your help.”

Ferdium, with its limited forces, was severely restricted whenever the barbarians united.

Such occurrences were rare in the past, but with the worsening famine, the barbarians had become increasingly desperate, exposing Ferdium’s vulnerabilities.

Suddenly, as if recalling something, Zwalter’s expression turned grave.

“This isn’t the time to celebrate. Their raiding parties have already entered the kingdom. Other villages are in danger. We must move quickly; we can enjoy the victory later.”

The role of the barbarians who had attacked here was to pin down Ferdium’s forces while their raiding parties carried out their missions.

These raiding parties were small, highly mobile units. By now, they had likely infiltrated several villages.

Ghislain nodded knowingly.

“Let’s move immediately. I’ll split my forces and deploy them.”

“Let’s do that. I’ll bring you the updated map.”

Though the soldiers and knights were already utterly exhausted from the battle, none of them voiced any complaints.

They all understood that the longer they delayed, the more innocent lives would suffer.

Taking the map handed to him, Ghislain spread it out and pointed to several locations.

“Gillian, Kaor, each of you will lead a hundred knights to these areas. The raiding parties have likely begun their pillaging, so make haste.”

“Understood.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll wipe them all out.”

Gillian and Kaor immediately departed from the fortress, while Zwalter divided his forces with Randolph and also moved out.

Time was of the essence. They needed to reach the villages before the barbarians could burn everything to the ground.

Riding his horse, Zwalter clenched his teeth.

‘It might already be too late…’

The barbarians who had attacked here had fulfilled their role. They had delayed Ferdium’s forces for far too long.

Still, they were fortunate to be able to move now. If Ghislain hadn’t come, even this chance wouldn’t have existed.

Zwalter urged his knights and soldiers onward, shouting.

“Let’s go save the people!”

—

“Hahaha!”

“It’s been a while since our last raid!”

“What’s this? These bastards have a decent stock of food!”

The barbarians roared with laughter as they set fire to a northern village. It wasn’t a large settlement, so they hadn’t expected much, but the amount of stored food was far beyond their expectations.

It was, in fact, the food Zwalter had distributed.

Zwalter hadn’t hoarded the food he received from Ghislain.

Instead, he had distributed it to every citizen in Ferdium and even secretly shared it with villages in neighboring territories. It was his way of helping them build the strength to resist the barbarian threat.

Protecting the people from the barbarians was his responsibility. Even if the villages didn’t belong to his domain, Zwalter believed Ferdium had to provide support to fight off the invaders.

This was why, despite being mocked as the “pushover of the North,” Zwalter was deeply respected by the people.

But this time, the barbarians had launched a full-scale invasion, willing to take losses to achieve their goal. Normally, raiding parties like this would have been intercepted by pursuit squads from the fortress. However, Ferdium was currently tied up, leaving the barbarians free to revel in their long-overdue plunder.

“Kyahhh!”

“Please spare us!”

“At least save the children!”

The screams of the villagers echoed endlessly amidst the burning buildings.

The militia defending the village had already been wiped out, leaving no one to stop the barbarians.

The barbarians, consumed by madness, let out cries of triumph as they unleashed their savagery.

“Kahaha! It’s all ours now!”

“Those pushover Northerners can’t move right now!”

“I heard they’re always looked down on by the other lords. Why do they try so hard when no one helps them? Bunch of idiots! Hahaha!”

“Alright! Kill all the women and enslave the men!”

At this, all the barbarians turned to stare at the one who had shouted.

“Hey, you…”

“N-no, it was just a slip of the tongue…”

The atmosphere grew awkward for a moment, but it didn’t last long. They quickly resumed their so-called festival, searching every corner of the village to kill anyone they could find.

—

Thud!

Inside a house, a barbarian searching every nook and cranny found a boy trembling while hugging his younger sibling.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Some little cuties hiding in here, eh?”

The barbarian warrior grinned, exposing yellowed teeth.

The boy, staring at the terrifying skull helmet and the blood-dripping axe, spoke in a quivering voice.

“P-please spare us.”

“Heeheeheek!”

The barbarian responded with a grotesque laugh. The boy, now on the verge of tears, pleaded again.

“P-please, at least spare my little sibling.”

“Keeheeheek!”

The barbarian let out another eerie laugh and stepped closer.

Step. Step.

The boy, trembling, could only cry silently. To him, the barbarian’s footsteps sounded like death itself approaching.

‘Goddess, please… Please help us.’

Unable to endure the fear, the boy closed his eyes tightly. The thought of dying with his sibling made him shiver uncontrollably.

Step. Step.

‘Someone, please… Please save us…’

Step. Step.

“Keeheeheeek?”

Thud!

Boom!

A dull, heavy sound echoed, and the footsteps ceased.

Confused by the sudden silence, the boy slowly opened his eyes.

The barbarian who had been approaching him was now lying lifeless, his skull pierced from behind.

Standing in the doorway was a man holding a bloodied spear.

He was dressed differently from the barbarians, and the boy instinctively realized that this man was their enemy.

The house was dark, making it hard to see the man’s face clearly. However, the blazing fires consuming the village outlined his figure sharply against the backdrop.

And yet, even in the shadows, the man’s crimson eyes glowed vividly.

The boy asked in a trembling voice, “W-who are you?”

After a brief silence, the man spoke in a firm voice.

“Ghislain Ferdium. The one who will protect you from now on.”