The situation was almost settled by the time the morning sun rose after the dawn raid by the allies.
"About thirty tribes ran away, including Gundar's Storm Wagon tribe. But more than half of them surrendered."
"It's a pity we couldn't capture him, but it's a better result than I expected."
Eurius nodded at Nuada's explanation.
A temporary camp made by the imperial army led by the Count and Eurius' allied leaders was built on the plain where the battle took place.
"…"
Of course, the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
First of all, Nuada, an immigrant, was there, and Count Anderson and his staff were subtly wary.
'How did His highness manage to capture a superhuman-level person from the north?'
What Eurius explained to the Count last night was roughly this.
"I found an immigrant tribe that will be our reliable ally. It might be unpleasant to cooperate with them, but I hope you follow my opinion this time."
'But how did he bring a superhuman from an immigrant tribe? What kind of magic did he use?'
As soon as the meeting started, Eurius had Linfield report their actions to the Count.
"Huh…"
The Count couldn't help but admire.
Not to mention his boldness to advance into the mountain range.
He even managed to persuade an immigrant tribe that was considered unable to communicate.
When the report was over, Eurius looked at the Count with a serious expression.
"No matter how good the result is, it's true that I broke the military law. I attacked the enemy's base on my own, so if you want to hold me accountable, I'll accept it."
"Hmm…"
The Count pondered for a moment and opened his mouth with a stern expression.
"First of all, Your highness achievement this time is too great. I would never have achieved this result if I had commanded as usual."
The faces of the knights, including Linfield, brightened.
"But military law is military law. Normally, acting on your own in wartime is a serious crime that deserves death!"
The atmosphere became heavy again.
Count Anderson was indeed a rigid person.
He would acknowledge his merit but also hold him responsible.
"Then I'll give you the first order for violating military law."
"Tell me."
Eurius agreed with a seemingly resigned expression.
"Please take charge of negotiating with the immigrant tribes you captured. The escort will be Linfield and your knights as usual."
"…!"
The Count was smiling brightly now. This meant that he was formally holding him responsible, but his role was unchanged.
He only lost command of his troops, but he still had to act with Nuada anyway. His assistance was indispensable for a smooth alliance.
"I'll make sure to complete the task you entrusted me!"
That's how Eurius' violation of military law was warmly resolved and the next plan was to catch Gundar's force that ran away.
"First of all, I sent back those who wanted to and let the rest join me from among those who surrendered."
In fact, there were quite a few tribes who had no choice but to join Gundar's force as it grew bigger. Most of them were able to surrender easily.
And the north was a land that respected the strong!
There were also many tribes who voluntarily asked to join him after seeing Nuada's performance on the battlefield.
He still had a small force to be called the King of the Mountain Range, but his reputation would rise even more if he completely defeated Gundar.
"But do we really need to send back those who surrendered? What if they join the enemy again?"
"That won't happen!"
Eurius immediately dismissed one of his staff's words.
Today Gundar showed his back and ran away from Nuada.
There was no reason to trust someone who ran away to save his life without fighting fair and square in the north.
'And that's the start of my second plan.'
There was a reason why he left one of the three paths down from the mountain range empty for them to run away.
"First of all, there is a saying that a cornered rat will bite a cat."
Anyway, there were still dozens of tribes on the enemy side. If they all fought desperately, it would increase their casualties.
Thanks to their leaders running away quickly, many tribes who had been dissatisfied with Gundar surrendered quickly.
"And the remaining tribes are probably complaining to high heaven by now."
***
As he said, Gundar was looking at Dmitry with a hollow expression. He lost more than half of his tribes in last night's raid.
His dream of becoming the loser of the north in one night was shattered like a bubble.
He still had a lot of regular troops, but he lost a lot of warriors who were thrown in to stop Nuada.
If he faced a frontal battle, he would probably lose a hundred out of a hundred.
"How should we proceed now?"
Dmitry bit his lip as he looked at the weary expression on his face. He never dreamed that the situation would turn around so drastically in just one day.
'Shadow units two and three have lost contact. We can't stop even one superhuman at this rate.'
Half of the shadows, entrusted to him by the Grand Duke, had been wiped out by Eurius's surprise attack. He had no clever plan to counter that.
'It was my mistake not to care for the wounded. They must have run into the Count or the Northern superhuman while retreating.'
He couldn't imagine that Eurius had killed them.
"The Blackrock tribe left last night."
"The chief of the Thornwood tribe said he would leave too if you don't come up with a solution soon."
To make matters worse, many of the tribes that had managed to escape with half of their forces were defecting.
This was Eurius's second plan. He had deliberately released the captured tribes!
'They have no reason to follow Gundar anymore, since the tide has turned against them.'
Eurius's side was in a situation where their enemies' forces would decrease on their own if they just waited. The tribes they had released had spread the word throughout the mountains.
"The chief of the Lightning Rock tribe, which has newly united several tribes, is said to be a legendary warrior."
"He also let go of all the tribes that had joined the Grand Chief, on the condition that they don't join forces again."
Gundar's forces were already discontented and grumbling. The defections were getting faster as the rumors spread.
Some of them were not only leaving, but also joining Nuada's side.
Dmitry finally rose from his seat with a determined expression.
"We have to end this before we lose more forces."
He still had thousands of soldiers left. He would lose in a head-on battle, but Dmitry only needed to achieve his goal, not win the fight.
"How? They have two warriors on their side."
Gundar looked at Dmitry with a puzzled expression.
Did he want them to charge into the enemy camp and try to capture him?
"You're in the same boat as us, aren't you?"
Dmitry decided to take a gamble. He could sneak away as it was, but he couldn't face the Grand Duke after losing more than half of his shadows.
"We'll find a place for you and your tribe! Just help me with my task."
"What task?"
"You just need to mobilize all your remaining warriors and block the superhumans on their side. And I have something to do in the meantime."
Dmitry finally came to a conclusion.
'We'll use our remaining forces to push them into a fierce battle. And while we do that, our shadows will infiltrate and kill the First Prince. That would still count as our victory.'
Of course, his promise to Gundar was a lie. He was a sacrificial lamb to block the knights who were attached to the prince while they infiltrated.
His eyes shone eerily.
'This is our last chance. If we can take the life of the First Prince, even if all of us die, it will be a gain for His Majesty.'
***
Meanwhile, Eurius's side was also preparing for the final attack.
"As time goes by, more tribes will defect. Once we catch Gundar, this Northern War will be over."
Eurius waited patiently. He had a rough idea of what options his opponent had.
"They either let all of the Grand Duke's forces leave, or they use all their remaining power to try to catch me. It's one or the other."
Neither was a bad choice for him.
If the Grand Duke's forces left, it would be much easier to catch Gundar.
And if they focused all their power on him, it would be a golden opportunity to reduce the Grand Duke's forces.
'But they don't know my true strength.'
That was Dmitry's fatal mistake.
Even if his shadows somehow managed to get to him, they wouldn't have enough power to kill him.
'But I wonder what they'll choose. For my sake, I'd rather they challenge me to a frontal battle.'
The Grand Duke's shadows were his carefully nurtured force.
If he could annihilate them this time, he might be able to see the Grand Duke's face when he returned to the palace.
And two days later, his prediction came true.
"Your Highness! The enemies on the mountain are coming down!"
'They chose the second option!'
Eurius quickly readied himself and led his knights out.
"Nuada, you take care of Gundar and his warriors."
"There's no need to tell me that. I won't let him slip away this time!"
He clenched his fists with a grinding sound. He was furious that he had missed Gundar because of the shadows' interference.
'I'll just deal with the Grand Duke's dogs next to Count Anderson.'
"Please stay by my side at all times, Your Highness!"
The Count also earnestly asked him, as this was practically the last battle.
'That's what I was planning to do anyway.'
If he stuck to the superhuman Count, he would be safe from any unexpected situations.
***
Waaaaaaah!!!
The final battle of the North begins.
It was a fierce battle, but the alliance side had a clear advantage with two superhumans!
The enemy didn't seem to have any intention of winning from the start, so the balance quickly tilted in favor of the alliance. However, knowing the enemy's goal, Eurius didn't let his guard down.
'When will they come?'
Thud thud thud thud
As he ran through the battlefield with his knights, he observed that Gundar's elite warriors and the Grand Duke's shadows were hardly visible.
'They're here?'
And when his line of knights pierced through the middle of the enemy camp, the ambush finally began.
"Stop them!"
The enemy's elites poured out from both sides.
On one side were Gundar's elite warriors, who he had gathered for this battle! On the other side were the Grand Duke's shadows.
"There you are. Gundar!"
Of course, Nuada blocked Gundar's side and the Count blocked the shadow's side.
"I'll take care of this. You must not stray from the protection of the knights. Huh!"
Whoosh!
The shadows left only a few people to stop the superhuman Count and rushed towards Eurius. Gundar's remaining warriors also clung to Nuada and the Count, preventing them from going to Eurius.
'So they were aiming for me?'
As Eurius prepared to fight back, he felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Shriek!
"…!"
It was a faint presence that even he barely caught, but Eurius quickly twisted his body on his horse.
Swoosh!
A blade grazed his neck, leaving a shallow wound.
'What!'
Eurius remembered the ones he had momentarily forgotten.
'I wondered when they would attack, but they were waiting for this chaos!'
It was hard to tell with the naked eye because of the dust from the horse hooves and the noise of the battlefield, but their identity was none other than the special assassins of the Order!
This time, they were a small elite group as Jamir had promised. There were only four of them, but they were skilled enough to target a superhuman with a surprise attack.
They had waited for a gap in his attention during the melee and started targeting him.
"…?"
Dmitry was momentarily confused. Who were these guys in black masks who attacked before they could aim for the prince?
'Did His highness send more people?'
But he shook his head after a moment.
'I don't know who they are, but it worked out well. We have to seize this opportunity and kill the prince.'
Eurius scanned his surroundings with a calm expression. It was such a stealthy attack that he was wounded, but they were not enemies that he couldn't detect.
'There are about four of them. But their skills are not ordinary. They can target a superhuman with their surprise attacks.'
He looked behind him and saw that the Grand Duke's subordinates were also rushing towards him. Nuada and the Count were also tied up by the enemy's elite who charged in recklessly.
'This is quite troublesome.'
Unfortunately, although they had different command structures, two forces that aimed for him attacked at the same time. Eurius was in a serious crisis now.
'I'm not sure if I can hold out without casualties until Nuada or the Count come to help.'
He would have been seriously injured long ago if he hadn't used his Counter-Eye technique, which specialized in hiding himself.
"Cough!"
One of his protecting knights fell as he saw it, and Eurius's expression twisted.
'Do I have to use all my power and overheat to break through?'
But there were too many eyes watching here.
And it would be too much of a burden to show everything he had here to deceive the Grand Duke's subordinates.
Clang!
He blocked their continuous attacks, but more wounds appeared on Eurius's body.
'No choice.'
The assassins used any means and methods to aim for him. If this continued, his life would be in danger too.
'Eek'
Two crescent blades crossed each other skillfully and grabbed his sword.
Clang!
Eurius exploded a blast to avoid the crisis, but that created an opening.
Shriek!
'Opportunity!'
Sharp attacks flew at him at the same time. A crescent blade aiming for his head, a shadow's sword stabbing at his neck!
Eurius barely blocked both of them. But because of that, he couldn't prepare for one more thing coming from behind him.
Squeak!
It was a blade flying while spinning! One of the assassins had thrown it at him, seizing the chance.
"Damn it!"
A curse burst out of Eurius's mouth. It was hard to defend against it in this situation.
The blade was about to rip his back at that moment!
Clang!
A piercing shot that flew like a ray of light knocked the blade away.
"…!"
'What? I've experienced this situation before, haven't I?'
He felt a familiar sensation and Eurius doubted his eyes.
Swoosh
A faint golden hair fluttered behind him.
"It's been a while, Your Highness."
"Beatrix!"