"The tribes that formed a shield against the invaders' assault are too dissatisfied."
"Isn't it an inevitable sacrifice? Try to console them."
The main issue for Gundar and Dmitry was the problem of harmony among the tribes. They had gathered them together, but they couldn't control them properly.
That was natural, since Gundar didn't secure his authority through a duel, as was the tradition of the north, but integrated the tribes at the entrance of the mountain range by using his power when they felt threatened.
Especially, as the small-scale skirmishes with the empire continued, this discontent erupted everywhere.
"Most of the warriors of our tribe have died. Even if you are the great chieftain, this is too much!"
"There are also foreigners with unbelievable power beside the great chieftain, why don't you use them instead of forcing our sacrifice, huh…"
Gundar looked at Dmitry with a gloomy expression.
"If you could consider the situation of the tribes a little…"
"That's impossible!"
Dmitry cut him off firmly. He didn't think of Gundar as anything more than a simple pawn from the beginning, and there was a more important problem.
'Do you think it's easy for us to maintain our strength while blocking the superhumans?'
This time, Grand Duke deployed four squads of shadows, and even if they only deployed two squads, they could not completely stop one superhuman, but they could barely hold him back.
'If the rotation for resting breaks, we won't have anyone to stop Count Anderson on this side.'
Therefore, they were taking turns to block Count Anderson, who was a superhuman.
"Please bear with it a little longer. We don't have any leeway either!"
Gundar had nothing to say.
In any case, they were in a dominant position in this relationship.
'Well, at least there won't be any big cracks for a while.'
That day's conversation ended there. But contrary to their expectations, they didn't have to wait for a crack, as the collapse had already begun.
***
One of his staff members asked him with a doubtful expression as he rode his horse.
"Are you sure His highness really came here himself?"
"I'm tired, but I'm not at the point where I see things."
Count Anderson also came out with his troops at dawn, but he was also uneasy.
The staff member expressed his concern.
"But this surprise attack is too sudden. Even if it's His highness…"
"Hmm…"
The count also had to worry about that part. How should he explain about Eurius, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost?
But he didn't take long to decide.
'Let's trust Eurius for now!'
That was his final judgment.
It was a decision made because of the trust he had built up in the north for so long.
'I'll have to fight those annoying guys again.'
The count prepared for a surprise attack with his knights as the core.
"Charge!"
"Hehehehe!"
The imperial army's night raid began with the sound of horses.
***
Rustle!
Ambitious Dawn Gundar woke up with a start from his sleep.
He was also a remarkable warrior among those at the entrance of the mountain range. He sensed that something had happened in the camp.
"What the hell is going on!"
"Great chieftain!"
His close aides rushed in and reported the situation.
"It's an attack from the foreigners. We need to respond quickly."
"A night raid?"
Gundar was puzzled for a moment.
If it was a sudden surprise attack that they weren't prepared for, it would be different, but there was no point in attacking a place that had a well-established camp and a defensive line.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
He felt an indescribable uneasiness. The enemy wasn't stupid, why would they suddenly attack without any benefit?
"Call them!"
Soon, the shadows, including Dmitry who had just woken up from his sleep, hurriedly came to Gundar's tent.
"They said it's a night raid, what's going on?"
"I don't know either. Anyway, according to the report of the scout warrior, it's almost a full-scale war…"
"…!"
Dmitry also looked pale. Did Count Anderson decide to fight them to the death?
"Anyway, we'll go and stop the enemy's knights. You just take care of the warriors and defend well."
"I understand."
'What the hell is going on?'
The two conspirators, Gundar and Dmitry, left the tent with doubtful eyes.
***
Clang!
Soon, the count's knights and the shadows led by Dmitry clashed their weapons again.
'Why is this old man doing this crazy thing in the middle of the night?'
'I hope His highness made a wise decision.'
The initial confusion was only temporary, and the front line began to regain its tense balance.
The knights, including the count, were blocked by the warriors, and even the ordinary soldiers entered a fierce battle with the immigrants.
"It seems that the foreigners are blocking the enemy's warriors well."
"There is no problem with the defense of the camp either."
Gundar sighed with relief every time a report came in.
'It was just a reckless surprise attack.'
But before his relief could fade away, a shout from the mountain side shook his camp.
"Waaaaah!"
"Great chieftain! It looks like some tribes from inside the mountain suddenly attacked us!"
"There are also foreign troops that we haven't seen before on the side of the front line!"
"What?"
Gundar hurriedly ran out to observe the front line with his accompanying warriors. But what he saw was…
Crash!
The back door of the camp, which was made of sturdy wood and reinforced with heavy rocks behind it, was completely shattered.
"Long time no see, great chieftain!"
With a fierce smile, he stood at the front and broke through the camp in an instant. Behind him, the elite warriors of his allied tribes followed.
"St… Stop them!"
All the warriors and soldiers around him rushed to stop Nuada's charge at Gundar's command.
"Annoying pests…"
Boom! Boom!
Anyone who got hit by his casual punches and kicks, whether soldier or warrior, was crushed.
"All warriors, stop that bastard!"
But if it was a matter of numbers, Gundar's side had the overwhelming advantage.
They had gathered all the tribes from the mountain entrance. They were barely holding on with a defensive strategy.
***
Meanwhile, the second attack route where Eurius was located was going smoothly.
"Break through!"
Eurius also mobilized his knights to smash the barricade in one go and infiltrate the camp.
'Things are going as planned so far.'
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
He easily cut down a charging warrior and led his soldiers deeper into the enemy lines.
"As His highness predicted, there are no outstanding warriors on the flank and the guard level is low!"
"Most of the elites must have gone to face the Count or protect the Chieftain!"
Eurius aimed for a flank breakthrough. And his true goal, taking advantage of the gap left by the elites, was!
'It should be around here?'
"Who are you!"
Stab!
'Who am I? I'm here to capture you bastards!'
Eurius blew off the sentry's head with his invisible sword and gave careful instructions to his knights.
"Regular knights, split into groups of two or three and face them. Even if they are not in normal condition, they are not ordinary elites!"
"Yes, sir."
The place they raided was where the Shadow behind Chieftain, his secret force, was resting for recovery or preservation.
'I have to deal with as many of the Chieftain's secret forces as possible in this opportunity.'
It was more than enough for Nuada and Count Anderson to collapse the enemy formation.
He just had to capture or kill the Chieftain's dogs who were resting here or left as reserves.
Of course, even if they were injured, the Shadows behinf Chieftain was strong. But that was only when Eurius, a superhuman, did not intervene!
"Aaargh!"
His counterattack and invisible sword were optimal for surprise attacks.
'If it was a superhuman like Count Anderson who pushed with brute force, it would be possible to block him with a formation, but not me.'
Eurius' movement was truly unprecedented.
The Shadows were already in bad shape, and while they were fighting with the northern knights, his invisible sword pierced them unexpectedly.
They had no way to resist.
'Where did these guys come from?'
'I have to inform Captain Dmitry!'
But that was easier said than done.
Soon enough, the Shadows were annihilated by Eurius and his knights without any chance.
"Any casualties?"
"Five knights were seriously injured and about ten others."
"The damage is bigger than I thought."
"As Your highness said, they were not ordinary opponents."
Eurius clicked his tongue as he looked at Linfield, who reported with a grim expression.
'As expected, the Chieftain's elites are hard to deal with. The Count must have had a hard time.'
But he didn't have time to mourn them now.
"We have to join the Count's main force quickly. There must be similar bastards giving him trouble."
"Yes, sir."
Eurius' detachment ran straight towards the front line where the Count was. The enemy soldiers who were already in chaos were like scarecrows.
But before he could break through half of the enemy lines, Eurius met the Count.
"Your highness Eurius!"
"Count Anderson!"
They looked at each other with surprised expressions.
They met much sooner than Eurius expected.
'Didn't the Chieftain's dogs block the Count too?'
"I'm glad you're safe."
"I'm sorry for breaking the military law as I told you before. I'll take responsibility for it later."
As they drove their horses side by side, Eurius got to the point.
"But as I was running through the battlefield, I saw a lot of strange people who were not from this tribe. Weren't they blocking you and your knights?"
"You also encountered them, Your highness."
The Count widened his eyes in astonishment and explained.
"At first, they blocked me as usual, but when they realized that the situation behind them was unfavorable, they gave up on stopping me and ran away like ghosts."
'There are some among the Chieftain's subordinates who can judge the situation very quickly.'
Eurius nodded inwardly. They must have retreated since the situation was hopeless.
'It's a pity that I couldn't wipe them out completely, but it's a big gain to deal with half of them.'
He actually planned to join the Count and finish off the rest of them, but there was nothing he could do if they withdrew.
Around the time Eurius and the Count made contact, the fight in the rear also ended and Nuada came running with his men.
"Barbarians!"
"Look at their mark! They are not enemies."
Eurius raised his hand to stop Nuada who was running towards him. He spat out angrily as soon as he saw him.
"I almost captured Gundar himself, but those weird foreigners you mentioned popped out and I lost him. I'm ashamed."
"Don't worry too much. It's a big gain to inflict a fatal blow on him. How is the situation of our allies?"
"As you said, wearing marks helped us distinguish enemies from friends. We also captured quite a few warriors and chiefs."
Nuada showed him the yellow cloth wrapped around his arm as he spoke.
"I'm glad the identification band helped."
This was an idea that came up when he first discussed the surprise attack with him. When he suggested a night raid, Nuada raised a question.
"Isn't it hard to tell apart our tribes from different ones when we mix with enemies in a night raid?"
'Ah!'
Eurius realized then that the situation was different from his previous life. Of course, it was different when the northern immigrants were allies.
If they raided at night, it would be hard to distinguish between Eurius' allied tribes and Gundar's tribes who wore the same clothes in a melee.
But it was a surprisingly simple problem to solve.
[Help – Viewing identification methods.]
[Colors that stand out well at night are yellow, white, etc. This is called complementary contrast and… ]
'I still don't understand the rest, but anyway, I just have to wear a yellow band, right?'
The tribes allied with Nuada who participated in this raid wore yellow bands on their shoulders according to the information Eurius viewed from the help.
"As I said before, we have to be prepared for some sacrifices when we clash on a large scale, but we have to shed as little blood as possible."
The result was quite successful.
When they attacked at night, they could distinguish enemies from friends, so they didn't have to spill unnecessary blood.
And except for the tribes who ran away quickly with Gundar, more than half of the remaining tribes were intimidated by Nuada's power and surrendered.
"Your highness… who are they?"
The Count cautiously looked at Eurius' expression.
Eurius smiled and started to explain to the Count.
"I didn't explain in detail, did I? They are my allies."
And Eurius changed the subject.
"Just remember that they are allies for now. Let's start with cleaning up the battlefield."
"Yes, sir."
Eurius was busy planning his next move as he drove his horse. He actually had thought of the situation when Gundar ran away.
'He sent more of his subordinates than I expected, so it must have been hard for Nuada to break through them all.'
There were quite a few tribes who ran away with Gundar. But would they still acknowledge Gundar as a reliable Chieftain after he abandoned many of his tribes and ran away to save himself?
He smiled triumphantly.
'I hope I can finish off the Chieftain's force and the Chieftain himself in one go with the next operation.'