"Follow me!"
With that shout, Ghislain vanished from sight.
"Kyaaah! The young master lost his mind!"
"Hurry, follow him!"
Belinda screamed in a panic while Gillian, keeping a close eye on the situation, immediately gave the order and dashed out.
"Haha! I told you he's crazy! He's not normal!"
Kaor laughed with excitement as he drew his sword and charged forward.
The mercenaries, unable to understand what was happening, followed along without a second thought.
There was no time to think or worry; they simply acted as they had been trained, following their leader's lead.
But they weren't the only ones caught off guard.
Zwalter and Randolph, in the midst of battle, gaped in shock.
Seeing Ghislain and the mercenaries charge out, they shouted in desperation.
"Ghislain! Come back! Just hold the wall like I said! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Young lord! Stop! Get back here! You're insane!"
Who in their right mind would charge outside during a siege?
The enemy was equally stunned by Ghislain's reckless move.
Count Tamos turned to Viktor with a puzzled expression.
"Uh… the gate suddenly opened? Who are those men in black armor?"
"…"
Viktor couldn't say a word, only blinking in disbelief.
He hadn't expected the vastly outnumbered Perdium forces to throw open their gates and charge out.
Especially with a breach already in one section of the wall.
Nothing in Viktor's military training accounted for tactics like this.
"What is this? What strategy are they using? Did I overlook something? Why are they doing this?"
Viktor muttered to himself, thrown off by the unexpected situation.
Confronted with such an illogical move, even the commander was at a loss.
Naturally, the soldiers were equally slow to react.
"Huh?"
A Digald soldier who had nearly reached the walls noticed something coming toward him.
Looking up, he saw a dark figure blocking the sun, descending upon him with a massive weapon.
That was the last thing he saw.
CRASH!
"Ahhhh!"
Soldiers flew in all directions.
"Hoo…"
Holding a massive two-handed axe, Ghislain stood at the heart of the enemy formation.
As he exhaled, red smoke seeped from the gaps in his helmet.
Behind him, the mercenaries began pouring onto the battlefield.
Clad in heavy armor, they swung their weapons the moment they spotted the enemy.
There was no time to think about the situation or the strategy.
Slice! Crush!
"Aaagh!"
"What the—who are these guys?!"
"Where did they come from?!"
In battle, soldiers typically stay focused on their given orders.
Moving autonomously is forbidden, and in the heat of the moment, they can barely register their surroundings.
But with Ghislain and the mercenaries suddenly upon them, the Digald soldiers were thrown into chaos.
BAM! CRASH!
"Agh!"
As the enemy fell with surprising ease, the mercenaries themselves were taken aback.
"What's going on? Are these guys this weak? Can we just keep fighting like this?"
"Shut up and stay sharp! If you lose sight of the captain, you're dead!"
Following Ghislain's fervor, the mercenaries began to feel a surge of adrenaline.
"Sir! What are your orders? The mercenaries aren't sure what's going on!"
After smashing the enemies around him, Gillian shouted loudly.
Ghislain quickly scanned the battlefield and pointed.
"Kaor, take half of the men and secure a retreat route near the breached wall. Hold until I return."
"Easy! Let's go, men!"
CLANG!
Under Kaor's lead, the mercenaries pushed back the enemies and quickly formed a defensive line.
Seeing the formation in place, Ghislain shifted his gaze swiftly toward his next target—the siege tower.
"The rest of you, follow me! We're going for the siege tower!"
With a shout, Ghislain lifted his massive axe and charged.
"Young lord, what are you thinking?!"
"We can worry about that later! Just follow him!"
Belinda, Gillian, and the remaining shield-bearing mercenaries ran after Ghislain.
Especially the mercenaries from the Forest of Demonic Beasts, who knew well that following orders without hesitation increased their chances of survival.
If you took time to think, you'd fall behind. Move the moment he moved.
"Hurry up! Follow the captain! Do as you're told if you want to live! Don't think, just move! Follow the training!"
One mercenary shouted loudly, and the rest followed, almost entranced.
"Break through!"
BOOM!
Ghislain plowed through the disordered enemy ranks, clearing a path.
The mercenaries, with shields in front, advanced, smashing through the enemy like a wave.
Though not as forceful as a cavalry charge, their sudden attack had a tremendous impact.
Before the enemies or allies could fully react, Ghislain and his men reached the entrance to the siege tower.
"Hold this spot! Shields up!"
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The mercenaries lifted their shields in two rows, blocking the entrance to the siege tower.
Too late, the enemy archers turned their attention to the unexpected threat.
But it was too late; the mercenaries' formation was already solid, their shields raised.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With the mercenaries holding position, Ghislain shouted once more.
"Wall! Cover our allies!"
With the archers' focus shifted, there was now some breathing room on the walls.
Randolph, who was stationed on this side, had been stunned by Ghislain's unexpected actions but quickly gathered his senses.
Seeing the change in the battlefield, Randolph shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Fire! Target the enemy archers!"
The soldiers on the wall, who had been taken aback, raised their bows and fired.
Caught off guard, the enemies in one section fell as arrows rained down on them.
The shield bearers tried to cover the archers, but the path to the siege tower was already lost.
"I'll handle the siege tower alone! Hold your ground until I return! Belinda, support the mercenaries with Gillian!"
"What?! Young Master!"
"Sir! You can't!"
Belinda and Gillian tried to stop him, but they were too busy fending off enemies to get a proper answer from him.
The siege tower was packed with soldiers, both inside and out, making it a highly dangerous position.
Yet, Ghislain was heading there alone.
"Don't worry about me!"
Emphasizing his point, Ghislain charged toward the siege tower where the enemies were gathering.
Watching the chaotic battlefield, Viktor gritted his teeth.
The well-laid plan had turned into a disaster thanks to a madman.
"He just brought the best troops out with him?"
He hadn't expected such a sudden move during a siege.
The battlefield was in shambles. Soldiers clashed along the walls, and screams echoed all around.
In such confusion, it was difficult to see the whole picture.
"And in this chaos, he's reading my thoughts and taking me by surprise?"
No matter the advantage, there's no way to avoid casualties in war. Pushing too hard only increases losses.
Viktor had hoped to conserve his troops and bide his time for about a day, even with Perdium's supply line cut.
By using the siege towers, he could wear down the enemy without heavy losses.
When Perdium's forces were sufficiently depleted, he would have pressed forward with an overwhelming assault.
In other words, the initial fighting had been intended to gauge the enemy's strength.
With the odds so heavily in his favor, he wanted a clean, efficient victory.
Even if his plan was discovered, he'd assumed the enemy wouldn't be able to act on it.
Perdium's forces were largely concentrated on the walls, and they hadn't properly secured the breach.
"No… it's not over yet. Divide their forces further at the gate, wear them down, and then launch an all-out assault…"
Viktor's strategy was textbook.
There was no moat, no towers, not even makeshift traps in front of the gate, but he had meticulously prepared to avoid any losses.
By wearing down the defenders with the siege tower, they'd eventually lose the capacity to defend the gate.
It was the perfect plan to minimize his army's losses.
Even as the troops climbed the breached wall, he had been confident.
But just as he was preparing to move his reserves, Ghislain and his mercenaries stormed the field.
"And now he decides to strike? Did he really time it to exploit this one opening?"
This attack was a daring, almost instinctive move that exploited the briefest gap in Viktor's planning.
In this chaos and danger, the enemy had read Viktor's intentions, assessed the battlefield, and seized a single opportunity.
To face such overwhelming forces and then open the gates?
Either he was a fool with no sense… or a beast with a terrifying predatory instinct.
"The gate! Secure the gate!"
Viktor's eyes scanned the battlefield with urgency.
But by then, the gate was already closed.
Should he push forward with all his forces?
'No… no, that would cost too much. It would be reckless.'
Viktor's mind raced.
A section of their front line had already been shattered by a flanking attack, crumbling in an instant.
"Impressive speed. Did he charge out simply trusting in his strength?"
The fall of the siege tower would be a setback, but the troops stationed at the tower could be redirected elsewhere.
Caught off guard, yes, but it wasn't enough to change the outcome of the war.
"Send the knights and more troops to the left siege tower! Re-secure it now! The troops in the tower should attack from behind!"
The men in black armor appeared formidable, so they'd need knights to reclaim the tower.
The formation had broken and their line was fractured, but they could still surround the enemy commander with the forces below the tower.
Twenty knights and additional troops moved toward the left siege tower.
"Once we've cleared them, we'll be short on troops, so attack the gate at the same time! Move the battering ram and ladders forward! Prepare to advance!"
At Viktor's command, the soldiers began to rearrange their formation.
The troops waiting to enter the tower noticed the situation and turned.
"What's with that guy?"
One of the knights stared in disbelief at Ghislain as he approached alone.
Thud, thud.
The double-edged axe Ghislain held was enormous, with an equally long shaft.
He dragged it along the ground with one hand as he approached the siege tower.
"Is he coming to hold us off on his own?"
The knight smirked as he turned his body.
The troops cutting off the path to the siege tower were busy blocking the soldiers at the front.
Even without the soldiers inside the tower, over a hundred troops remained here.
With their backs exposed, it was the perfect moment for a flanking attack.
"Forget the soldiers climbing up! Everyone else, strike from behind!"
At the knight's command, the troops turned to face Ghislain.
Whoever he was, there was no one in Perdium formidable enough to take on this force alone.
'He must be a fool throwing himself to his death.'
They'd kill him in an instant, then wipe out the fools cutting off their path.
"Take this!"
The knight, channeling his mana, charged forward, quickly closing the distance.
Just as the knight closed in, ready to strike, Ghislain's axe traced a wide arc, slamming into the ground.
CRASH!
SPLAT!
The advancing soldiers froze.
The knight's body was cleanly sliced in half.
As his corpse split to the sides, the demon in the black helmet glared back, red eyes glowing with a deadly light.
[T/L: Please support me and read extra chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]