How to Live as a Wandering Knight

“A trap. . . isn’t it?”

The first words spoken expressed doubt in the outcome. It was natural for the wizards to react that way. The battle was over sooner than expected, and in a totally unanticipated way.

If the allied camp crossed the river, it meant that they had won the battle, but considering the size of the enemy forces, it was questionable if that was possible.

“It’s not a trap.”

Iselia pointed down as if asking what was being said. It was understandable to be suspicious, but something like that would be difficult to hide even if one tried to.

Just the camp alone showed differences in customs between the western and eastern sides, and the knights from the expeditionary force were wandering around here and there in groups of three or five. Even something like that couldn’t be faked.

“Let’s go down for now.”

The group nodded and cautiously approached. Corpses were strewn about on the frozen river, suggesting what had happened here.

“. . . . . .!?”

Suetlg was shocked by what was happening in the camp. He had thought they had won, but an utterly unexpected situation was unfolding.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?’

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan was a knight who, despite his young age, had a remarkable amount of combat experience. It was said that knights sought out fights in their spare time, but it was rare to find someone like Johan who had experienced all sorts of battles.

As such, Johan could proudly say that he was a skilled commander. Moreover, compared to other feudal lords, the difference was even greater.

Usually, the person commanding a unit was not an experienced veteran knight or a seasoned mercenary captain, but a noble or lord from a prominent family.

In many cases, such individuals had zero combat experience, and on top of that, they were stubbornly opinionated, making all sorts of mistakes.

Although their aides or vassals tried to help them with most things, it was to no avail. Since they would normally try to make their own judgments, even if they listened to advice.

Johan had no particular complaints about this reality. He had adapted to it by now. . .

And Johan’s situation was not unique. The other side was going through something similar.

‘𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴.’

The larger the scale of the battle, the more uncertainties arose.

A mercenary unit unknown to Johan could have been bribed to flee backwards, or one of the feudal lords could have disobeyed orders and charged because he was greedy for credit.

On the other side as well, a dissatisfied noble could seize the opportunity to escape. Or, they could quarrel among themselves, causing a dispute that would halt their advance.

No matter how great the commander’s abilities were, it was impossible to control everything. That was the realm of the gods.

Johan felt that all of this was like a gamble. A gamble where everything was at stake, and only one emerged victorious.

He wasn’t particularly religious, but seeing this spectacle made him think he understood why people here believed in gods.

“Achladda. Were you nervous?”

“Yes. I was a little nervous. Fortunately, God is on your side, Duke.”

Johan smiled wryly. He wondered if the enemies also thought that their gods were on their side.

‘𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺’𝘴.’

With that thought in mind, Johan drew his sword. No matter who came out from the enemy side, he intended to charge out without fail to boost morale.

Perhaps the enemies had a similar idea, as several knights galloped out, their flags fluttering. They were speaking in an eastern tongue, likely stating their family’s lineage and accomplishments.

“What did you catch?”

“I think they caught a Lamia, but it might be a giant spider. It’s hard to tell because it’s so noisy.”

Johan wore his helmet and held a huge flagpole in one hand. It was an object so heavy that it would be impossible for a normal person to hold it, let alone with one hand. However, that was the extent of what was required when showing it off.

At that moment, a cheer erupted from the camp. The enemies seemed to be making a commotion.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞! 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤!

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵.’

Johan stepped forward. The enemies seemed slightly taken aback, probably because they hadn’t expected the duke himself to come out from the start.

“Demon-contracted Duke! Your opponent is here!”

A young pagan knight dashed out from the camp. The knight rode his horse fiercely and shouted.

“I am of the Aaalak lineage. . .”

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

The knight didn’t even last a single clash. Johan rode his horse closer, dodged the enemy’s lance, and grabbed the knight’s neck with one hand. He then dragged the knight, who was trying to resist with all his might by bracing his legs.

“!!”

“Goodness!”

Those knights who were watching from a relatively close distance couldn’t help but gasp at the fight that had just taken place. He hadn’t simply knocked him down, but had dragged him off his horse and captured him as if he were playing with a child.

The captured knight tried to resist, his face red with humiliation, but he was no match for the duke’s powerful grip.

“This time, face me!”

Unable to bear watching any longer, the next knight charged out. Johan waited calmly and then drew and threw his shortsword like a flash of lightning. The knight, who had been relying on his shield, was pierced along with the shield.

“Ugh. . .!”

The knight collapsed with a dull thud. The enemy knights, who had only heard of the duke’s strength and had not experienced his power firsthand, were beginning to understand the situation.

When even the third knight collapsed, his helmet grazed by an attack, the silence was deafening.

𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠━

The enemy began to advance with the sound of drums. It was clear that they thought there was nothing to gain by fighting one on one any longer. Johan also had no intention of humiliating them further, so he turned to return to the allied camp.

“. . . . . .!?”

Johan was shocked by the sight before his eyes.

The allied left flank was collapsing.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan was human, and there were a few things that he had misjudged.

One of them was that the feudal lords here were more cowardly than he had expected.

Although Johan had brought them along with his great reputation, their hearts were already back in their homelands.

Even so, that was fine. Johan had anticipated it.

The Sultan’s nobles had focused on these feudal lords before the battle. They hadn’t tried to persuade them to betray their lord. That wouldn’t have worked.

The nobles threatened the feudal lords.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!

━𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. . .?

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧? 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

━𝐇𝐦𝐩𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬?

━𝐍𝐨. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞.

━. . . . . .

The threats mixed with truth effectively pricked the feudal lords.

Even if they were to defeat the Sultan and rout his army in this battle, the Sultan would still be the Sultan. If he felt like it, he could retaliate against one or two feudal lords.

Furthermore, the fact that they were not asked to betray, but simply not to stand out, was very effective. It struck a chord with the weakened feudal lords.

“Advance in coordination with the allied forces! Relay the order to advance!”

The elf king shouted and urged them on. However, the feudal lords were slow to move. The elf king grew irritated at their delayed response.

“What are you doing?”

“S-Sorry. I suddenly got a chronic illness. . .”

“Don’t talk nonsense! You fools!”

The elf king rode his horse over to the feudal lords himself, furious, to question them. That was a mistake. If it had been Johan, he would have understood the feudal lords’ feelings and persuaded them.

When the enraged elf king came looking for them with his sword drawn, the feudal lords were terrified and ran into their barracks and lay down.

In the meantime, more time was wasted.

“Attack!”

The right flank was bound to be made up of elites anyway. The enemies intended to crush the left flank like lightning and create an encirclement. They must have used some strategy. They fiercely charged in with all their might.

The soldiers below had no way of knowing that the commanders were fighting among themselves. The other allied forces were advancing, so just standing still made them feel isolated and anxious. When the enemies charged in as well, that anxiety was further amplified.

“Don’t retreat! Those who retreat may be cut down!”

No matter how much the elf king led the knights and urged them on, there was a limit. When the soldiers wavered, the feudal lords, who were their commanders, also wavered, and that wavering caused the soldiers to waver again.

In the end, the left flank began to collapse at an accelerated pace.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“I’ll go if you give the order for reinforcements!”

“. . .Very well. We will break through the center.”

Johan made a cool judgment. His heart ached, but he had to do what he could.

For now, he could only pray that the elf king would somehow manage to rally the left flank and buy some time.

Johan’s job was to crush the enemy’s center. If he pushed the enemy back together with the right flank, he could avoid being surrounded.

An extremely difficult task that required him to pierce through and crush more enemies than the enemy, who had already gained the upper hand, and at a faster pace. Johan licked his lips. For some reason, he felt a taste of blood in his mouth.

“Let’s go!”

Johan decided to forget about everything else. Now, he would simply entrust himself to the instincts that had helped him so far and do his best.

The enemy’s center, demoralized by the recent mounted duel, tried to block the charge by sending knights forward, as if they couldn’t afford to lose.

Johan slaughtered those knights as they came. The Seal Retriever greedily sucked the blood of the eastern nobles.

Although the person fighting didn’t notice it, the enemy’s vanguard was completely split apart by that attack. The shocked enemies sent their other units forward.

Johan swung his sword again. So many enemies were crowding in that Johan’s subordinates next to him were being pushed back, exhausted. The centaurs looked at Johan with concern.

“Advance. . .”

Johan, who was about to shout the order, stopped. There was no need to shout. Another large enemy force was charging at them. For the first time, Johan felt overwhelmed. It felt like he was being suffocated by the sheer number of enemies.

However, Johan gripped his sword again and swung it. He could feel the spirits being terrified by the countless lives that were being lost in such a short period of time. The blessing flowing through his veins was also weakening, growing tired.

“Protect His Majesty!”

An eastern unit shouted urgently, blocking their path. Unlike before, their uniforms suggested that they were the elites. The mustached knight at the front charged forward, exuding an aura of mystery. Johan’s instincts screamed.

Johan mustered his strength even though he was exhausted. The Seal Retriever shrieked at that brute force.

With a flash of light, Kaimud was cut down. Even as he died, the enemy wore an expression that showed he didn’t understand what had happened. In that way, even valuable treasures could not save the knight’s life in the face of overwhelming power.

Johan was so exhausted that he didn’t even know who he had cut down. He charged in again until he could no longer see the enemy.

Even so, it seemed that he had dug quite deep. He could see the tents. Johan pushed aside the stragglers and continued to advance. He even cut down those who he had originally intended to take prisoner.

“. . .Ha! Your Highness! Your Highness!”

“!”

Johan came to his senses at the loud shouts of his subordinates beside him. Before he knew it, there were no enemies left in front of him. He looked around and saw only those who were fleeing or lying on the ground in all directions.

“The Sultan is dead! We’ve won!”

“. . .Is that true?”

At the absurd words of their lord, the subordinates present had expressions that showed they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They were also quite exhausted.

“I’ll cut off his head and bring it to you. Please rest for a while! You look like a mess!”

Johan slowly nodded and looked around. The burnt and broken enemy camp was completely in ruins. Looking back, he felt that he had somehow managed to advance this far.

The allied forces were already occupying the center and setting up their tents.

‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥. . .’

A welcome face came running towards him. It was Ulrike. She and her escorts were all in a mess, suggesting that they had fought a fierce battle.

As soon as she saw Johan, Ulrike gave him a tight hug. It was a rare sight, her face filled with emotion. That’s how hard-fought a victory it had been.

“. . .If it weren’t for the duke, we might have been defeated several times in this land.”

“I don’t quite understand, but I get that you’re happy with the results. Can you let go for a moment?”

Ulrike realized that Johan was not only exhausted to the point of collapse, but also hadn’t grasped the situation yet.

“Why are you saying that after making such a perfect breakthrough?”

“No. . . I don’t remember anything from the middle.”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike opened her mouth wide in disbelief, but tried her best to accept it. He had single-handedly turned the battlefield upside down and then said something like that.

“Did you feel God?”

“No. Even if you’re happy, don’t exaggerate things.”

When the duke’s usual demeanor returned, Ulrike was relieved. Behind her, her subordinates carefully spoke up.

“Duke. The dogs who ran away earlier. . . No, the cowards. . . Neither. . . The feudal lords want to see you, Duke, to congratulate you on your victory.”

“. . .Tell them not to come in unless they come crawling on their knees with their armor off.”

Johan was also human, and harsh words spilled out. Irritated words came out instinctively.

‘𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴.’

Johan regretted it. They were the feudal lords here, after all.

“Forget what I just said. . .”

“No. Tell them that.”

“You can tell them that, Your Highness. Please do it for our sake.”

Not only Ulrike, but all the other nobles pleaded earnestly. At that pathetic sight, Johan nodded. At the same time, he felt uneasy.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. . .’

Johan had expected them to refuse and hold out. If that happened, he had planned to step in and mediate.

“. . .!”

However, a moment later, all of the feudal lords appeared. They bowed their heads and crawled forward on their knees.

There was not even a hint of arrogance left in their demeanor.

At that rare sight that they might never see again, the nobles who had participated in the expedition instinctively realized that this expedition was coming to an end.

This moment seemed to hint at the new order that would unfold in the future.

,

“A trap. . . isn’t it?”

The first words spoken expressed doubt in the outcome. It was natural for the wizards to react that way. The battle was over sooner than expected, and in a totally unanticipated way.

If the allied camp crossed the river, it meant that they had won the battle, but considering the size of the enemy forces, it was questionable if that was possible.

“It’s not a trap.”

Iselia pointed down as if asking what was being said. It was understandable to be suspicious, but something like that would be difficult to hide even if one tried to.

Just the camp alone showed differences in customs between the western and eastern sides, and the knights from the expeditionary force were wandering around here and there in groups of three or five. Even something like that couldn’t be faked.

“Let’s go down for now.”

The group nodded and cautiously approached. Corpses were strewn about on the frozen river, suggesting what had happened here.

“. . . . . .!?”

Suetlg was shocked by what was happening in the camp. He had thought they had won, but an utterly unexpected situation was unfolding.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?’

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan was a knight who, despite his young age, had a remarkable amount of combat experience. It was said that knights sought out fights in their spare time, but it was rare to find someone like Johan who had experienced all sorts of battles.

As such, Johan could proudly say that he was a skilled commander. Moreover, compared to other feudal lords, the difference was even greater.

Usually, the person commanding a unit was not an experienced veteran knight or a seasoned mercenary captain, but a noble or lord from a prominent family.

In many cases, such individuals had zero combat experience, and on top of that, they were stubbornly opinionated, making all sorts of mistakes.

Although their aides or vassals tried to help them with most things, it was to no avail. Since they would normally try to make their own judgments, even if they listened to advice.

Johan had no particular complaints about this reality. He had adapted to it by now. . .

And Johan’s situation was not unique. The other side was going through something similar.

‘𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴.’

The larger the scale of the battle, the more uncertainties arose.

A mercenary unit unknown to Johan could have been bribed to flee backwards, or one of the feudal lords could have disobeyed orders and charged because he was greedy for credit.

On the other side as well, a dissatisfied noble could seize the opportunity to escape. Or, they could quarrel among themselves, causing a dispute that would halt their advance.

No matter how great the commander’s abilities were, it was impossible to control everything. That was the realm of the gods.

Johan felt that all of this was like a gamble. A gamble where everything was at stake, and only one emerged victorious.

He wasn’t particularly religious, but seeing this spectacle made him think he understood why people here believed in gods.

“Achladda. Were you nervous?”

“Yes. I was a little nervous. Fortunately, God is on your side, Duke.”

Johan smiled wryly. He wondered if the enemies also thought that their gods were on their side.

‘𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺’𝘴.’

With that thought in mind, Johan drew his sword. No matter who came out from the enemy side, he intended to charge out without fail to boost morale.

Perhaps the enemies had a similar idea, as several knights galloped out, their flags fluttering. They were speaking in an eastern tongue, likely stating their family’s lineage and accomplishments.

“What did you catch?”

“I think they caught a Lamia, but it might be a giant spider. It’s hard to tell because it’s so noisy.”

Johan wore his helmet and held a huge flagpole in one hand. It was an object so heavy that it would be impossible for a normal person to hold it, let alone with one hand. However, that was the extent of what was required when showing it off.

At that moment, a cheer erupted from the camp. The enemies seemed to be making a commotion.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞! 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤!

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵.’

Johan stepped forward. The enemies seemed slightly taken aback, probably because they hadn’t expected the duke himself to come out from the start.

“Demon-contracted Duke! Your opponent is here!”

A young pagan knight dashed out from the camp. The knight rode his horse fiercely and shouted.

“I am of the Aaalak lineage. . .”

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

The knight didn’t even last a single clash. Johan rode his horse closer, dodged the enemy’s lance, and grabbed the knight’s neck with one hand. He then dragged the knight, who was trying to resist with all his might by bracing his legs.

“!!”

“Goodness!”

Those knights who were watching from a relatively close distance couldn’t help but gasp at the fight that had just taken place. He hadn’t simply knocked him down, but had dragged him off his horse and captured him as if he were playing with a child.

The captured knight tried to resist, his face red with humiliation, but he was no match for the duke’s powerful grip.

“This time, face me!”

Unable to bear watching any longer, the next knight charged out. Johan waited calmly and then drew and threw his shortsword like a flash of lightning. The knight, who had been relying on his shield, was pierced along with the shield.

“Ugh. . .!”

The knight collapsed with a dull thud. The enemy knights, who had only heard of the duke’s strength and had not experienced his power firsthand, were beginning to understand the situation.

When even the third knight collapsed, his helmet grazed by an attack, the silence was deafening.

𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠━

The enemy began to advance with the sound of drums. It was clear that they thought there was nothing to gain by fighting one on one any longer. Johan also had no intention of humiliating them further, so he turned to return to the allied camp.

“. . . . . .!?”

Johan was shocked by the sight before his eyes.

The allied left flank was collapsing.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan was human, and there were a few things that he had misjudged.

One of them was that the feudal lords here were more cowardly than he had expected.

Although Johan had brought them along with his great reputation, their hearts were already back in their homelands.

Even so, that was fine. Johan had anticipated it.

The Sultan’s nobles had focused on these feudal lords before the battle. They hadn’t tried to persuade them to betray their lord. That wouldn’t have worked.

The nobles threatened the feudal lords.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!

━𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. . .?

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧? 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

━𝐇𝐦𝐩𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬?

━𝐍𝐨. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞.

━. . . . . .

The threats mixed with truth effectively pricked the feudal lords.

Even if they were to defeat the Sultan and rout his army in this battle, the Sultan would still be the Sultan. If he felt like it, he could retaliate against one or two feudal lords.

Furthermore, the fact that they were not asked to betray, but simply not to stand out, was very effective. It struck a chord with the weakened feudal lords.

“Advance in coordination with the allied forces! Relay the order to advance!”

The elf king shouted and urged them on. However, the feudal lords were slow to move. The elf king grew irritated at their delayed response.

“What are you doing?”

“S-Sorry. I suddenly got a chronic illness. . .”

“Don’t talk nonsense! You fools!”

The elf king rode his horse over to the feudal lords himself, furious, to question them. That was a mistake. If it had been Johan, he would have understood the feudal lords’ feelings and persuaded them.

When the enraged elf king came looking for them with his sword drawn, the feudal lords were terrified and ran into their barracks and lay down.

In the meantime, more time was wasted.

“Attack!”

The right flank was bound to be made up of elites anyway. The enemies intended to crush the left flank like lightning and create an encirclement. They must have used some strategy. They fiercely charged in with all their might.

The soldiers below had no way of knowing that the commanders were fighting among themselves. The other allied forces were advancing, so just standing still made them feel isolated and anxious. When the enemies charged in as well, that anxiety was further amplified.

“Don’t retreat! Those who retreat may be cut down!”

No matter how much the elf king led the knights and urged them on, there was a limit. When the soldiers wavered, the feudal lords, who were their commanders, also wavered, and that wavering caused the soldiers to waver again.

In the end, the left flank began to collapse at an accelerated pace.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“I’ll go if you give the order for reinforcements!”

“. . .Very well. We will break through the center.”

Johan made a cool judgment. His heart ached, but he had to do what he could.

For now, he could only pray that the elf king would somehow manage to rally the left flank and buy some time.

Johan’s job was to crush the enemy’s center. If he pushed the enemy back together with the right flank, he could avoid being surrounded.

An extremely difficult task that required him to pierce through and crush more enemies than the enemy, who had already gained the upper hand, and at a faster pace. Johan licked his lips. For some reason, he felt a taste of blood in his mouth.

“Let’s go!”

Johan decided to forget about everything else. Now, he would simply entrust himself to the instincts that had helped him so far and do his best.

The enemy’s center, demoralized by the recent mounted duel, tried to block the charge by sending knights forward, as if they couldn’t afford to lose.

Johan slaughtered those knights as they came. The Seal Retriever greedily sucked the blood of the eastern nobles.

Although the person fighting didn’t notice it, the enemy’s vanguard was completely split apart by that attack. The shocked enemies sent their other units forward.

Johan swung his sword again. So many enemies were crowding in that Johan’s subordinates next to him were being pushed back, exhausted. The centaurs looked at Johan with concern.

“Advance. . .”

Johan, who was about to shout the order, stopped. There was no need to shout. Another large enemy force was charging at them. For the first time, Johan felt overwhelmed. It felt like he was being suffocated by the sheer number of enemies.

However, Johan gripped his sword again and swung it. He could feel the spirits being terrified by the countless lives that were being lost in such a short period of time. The blessing flowing through his veins was also weakening, growing tired.

“Protect His Majesty!”

An eastern unit shouted urgently, blocking their path. Unlike before, their uniforms suggested that they were the elites. The mustached knight at the front charged forward, exuding an aura of mystery. Johan’s instincts screamed.

Johan mustered his strength even though he was exhausted. The Seal Retriever shrieked at that brute force.

With a flash of light, Kaimud was cut down. Even as he died, the enemy wore an expression that showed he didn’t understand what had happened. In that way, even valuable treasures could not save the knight’s life in the face of overwhelming power.

Johan was so exhausted that he didn’t even know who he had cut down. He charged in again until he could no longer see the enemy.

Even so, it seemed that he had dug quite deep. He could see the tents. Johan pushed aside the stragglers and continued to advance. He even cut down those who he had originally intended to take prisoner.

“. . .Ha! Your Highness! Your Highness!”

“!”

Johan came to his senses at the loud shouts of his subordinates beside him. Before he knew it, there were no enemies left in front of him. He looked around and saw only those who were fleeing or lying on the ground in all directions.

“The Sultan is dead! We’ve won!”

“. . .Is that true?”

At the absurd words of their lord, the subordinates present had expressions that showed they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They were also quite exhausted.

“I’ll cut off his head and bring it to you. Please rest for a while! You look like a mess!”

Johan slowly nodded and looked around. The burnt and broken enemy camp was completely in ruins. Looking back, he felt that he had somehow managed to advance this far.

The allied forces were already occupying the center and setting up their tents.

‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥. . .’

A welcome face came running towards him. It was Ulrike. She and her escorts were all in a mess, suggesting that they had fought a fierce battle.

As soon as she saw Johan, Ulrike gave him a tight hug. It was a rare sight, her face filled with emotion. That’s how hard-fought a victory it had been.

“. . .If it weren’t for the duke, we might have been defeated several times in this land.”

“I don’t quite understand, but I get that you’re happy with the results. Can you let go for a moment?”

Ulrike realized that Johan was not only exhausted to the point of collapse, but also hadn’t grasped the situation yet.

“Why are you saying that after making such a perfect breakthrough?”

“No. . . I don’t remember anything from the middle.”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike opened her mouth wide in disbelief, but tried her best to accept it. He had single-handedly turned the battlefield upside down and then said something like that.

“Did you feel God?”

“No. Even if you’re happy, don’t exaggerate things.”

When the duke’s usual demeanor returned, Ulrike was relieved. Behind her, her subordinates carefully spoke up.

“Duke. The dogs who ran away earlier. . . No, the cowards. . . Neither. . . The feudal lords want to see you, Duke, to congratulate you on your victory.”

“. . .Tell them not to come in unless they come crawling on their knees with their armor off.”

Johan was also human, and harsh words spilled out. Irritated words came out instinctively.

‘𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴.’

Johan regretted it. They were the feudal lords here, after all.

“Forget what I just said. . .”

“No. Tell them that.”

“You can tell them that, Your Highness. Please do it for our sake.”

Not only Ulrike, but all the other nobles pleaded earnestly. At that pathetic sight, Johan nodded. At the same time, he felt uneasy.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. . .’

Johan had expected them to refuse and hold out. If that happened, he had planned to step in and mediate.

“. . .!”

However, a moment later, all of the feudal lords appeared. They bowed their heads and crawled forward on their knees.

There was not even a hint of arrogance left in their demeanor.

At that rare sight that they might never see again, the nobles who had participated in the expedition instinctively realized that this expedition was coming to an end.

This moment seemed to hint at the new order that would unfold in the future.

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