The remaining knight's face hardened.
To split a knight, skilled in handling mana, in half with a single blow—that was no ordinary feat.
"Does Ferdium have someone like that? Could he possibly be Randolph?"
The knight stepped back, assessing the situation.
Drdrdrdr.
Ghislain dragged his blood-stained axe along the ground, quickly closing in.
"If you're coming, come all at once. I don't have time."
Provoked by Ghislain's arrogant words and gestures, the knight scowled and shouted,
"Form ranks! Attack all at once!"
Shaaak!
The soldiers raised their shields and pointed their long spears forward.
"Attack!"
"Waaaaaah!"
Over a hundred soldiers charged at the lone man.
Narrowing his eyes, Ghislain pulled his axe back, preparing for a wide swing.
"Hup!"
The axe cut a massive arc through the air before slamming into the ground.
Kwaaaang!
"Aaaaaargh!"
The ten or so soldiers charging from the front exploded outward as if they had been torn apart.
Their shields were useless against the sheer force of the attack.
Bwoooong!
Krrrrrrack!
As Ghislain grasped his axe with both hands and spun halfway around, the front line of the enemy was mowed down.
"Huh? Huh?"
"W-What is this guy?!"
"We can't handle him!"
As the vanguard was obliterated in an instant, the enemy soldiers, who had been charging with confidence, hesitated and staggered back.
A warrior of that caliber should be faced by a knight, not mere soldiers.
Typically, soldiers only stood a chance against such a powerful foe when the enemy was exhausted and they could overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Ssssssss!
Seeing the red smoke seeping from the cracks in his black armor, the soldiers took another step back.
There was a dreadful aura about him. He resembled the very image of a demon.
The knight commanding this area was even more unsettled than the soldiers.
"What are you doing? Attack! I said attack!"
Despite only a single clash, their morale had plummeted.
Under normal circumstances, he would step forward to face this foe, but frankly, he doubted he could win.
If his sword clashed with that massive axe, it would shatter in an instant.
The knight swallowed hard.
"Should I have brought a larger weapon too?"
In the face of that terrifying axe, his own sword looked pitifully small.
As everyone hesitated for a moment, the black demon exuded red smoke again and began to move.
"Not coming? Then I'll come to you."
Whoosh!
Ghislain leaped and landed right in the middle of the enemy ranks.
Kwaaaang!
Each time he swung his axe, bodies were torn apart.
Ghislain unleashed his full power, opening up to the Second Core.
As the soldiers tried to back away, the knight, driven by desperation, screamed,
"Attack! You idiots! If you run, you'll all die anyway! Stab him, somehow!"
Several brave soldiers thrust their spears as they had been trained.
Tat-tang! Tang!
However, their gritted teeth attack couldn't penetrate the armor and was blocked.
Ghislain had infused mana into his armor, making ordinary attacks almost useless.
Perhaps they could have managed if they wore him down gradually, but it was impossible for the soldiers alone to face Ghislain right now.
Boom!
Ghislain braced himself and took the attacks head-on, sending the soldiers flying.
Thud!
At that moment, his axe came crashing down on the soldiers once again.
"Die!"
A knight who had been waiting for the right moment didn't miss the tiny opening and thrust his sword.
Since he didn't have the confidence to face Ghislain alone, he used the soldiers as bait to create a chance.
Sensing the sharp killing intent aimed at his neck, Ghislain tilted his head to the side.
Crack!
Slash!
The knight's sword sliced through Ghislain's shoulder armor, and blood spurted out.
Thud!
Despite the blood flowing, Ghislain didn't flinch and reached out, grabbing the knight by the face.
"You bastards are pretty decent."
It was pure admiration and praise.
The skill to pierce through his mana and inflict a wound, combined with the ruthless strategy of sacrificing soldiers to seize an opportunity.
He realized he'd be facing formidable foes like this for a long time.
"Which is why I can't show any mercy."
Boom!
Ghislain smashed the knight's head into the ground.
The knight, his head embedded in the earth, had his neck snapped and died instantly.
Crunch!
Ghislain then stomped on the corpse's head, crushing it, before picking up his axe again.
Boom! Boom!
With just a few swings of his axe, more than half of the soldiers were wiped out.
With all their commanding knights dead, the soldiers had neither the means nor the will to endure any longer.
"R-run! Run away!"
As the few remaining enemies scattered in all directions, Ghislain caught his breath and looked up at the massive siege tower.
A monster on the battlefield that could crush the morale of allies by its very existence. Destroying this siege tower would completely shift the tide of the battle.
"I need to get rid of it quickly."
He strode forward, entering and attacking the forces ascending from behind.
Crunch! Crack!
"Aaaagh!"
The enemies, suddenly attacked from the rear, fell without putting up much of a fight.
To fend off attacks from multiple directions, all sides of the siege tower were sealed off except for the entrance at the base.
Those inside the tower couldn't quickly grasp what was happening outside.
"An enemy! An enemy has entered the siege tower!"
The soldiers at the bottom noticed the commotion and turned around.
But none of them could stop Ghislain, who was swinging his axe with red smoke billowing around him.
The soldiers gathered at the base were annihilated in an instant.
"G-go up!"
"Why is the enemy here?"
"It's a monster! A monster has gotten inside!"
The soldiers climbing the tower desperately pushed those ahead of them in a panic.
Ghislain, approaching while creating countless corpses in his wake, was the embodiment of terror itself.
The Ferdium army was blocking the area near the castle wall, causing the enemies to panic.
They trembled, fearing they would be caught from behind, but Ghislain didn't pursue them up the tower.
Instead, he stood amidst the fallen bodies and briefly surveyed the surroundings before beginning to demolish the stairs leading upwards.
Boom! Boom!
The first floor of the siege tower, made of three sections and stairs, was quickly reduced to rubble.
Now, the enemies couldn't descend.
The soldiers of the enemy army, caught between the Ferdium forces ahead and the blocked tower behind, were left in utter turmoil.
"Hoo…"
Ghislain took a deep breath, standing atop the debris of the broken stairs and the corpses.
Rumble!
His three cores spun violently, releasing even greater power.
Bright red mana enveloped his axe, and without hesitation, Ghislain swung it.
Boom!
The left side of the siege tower burst apart, leaving a gaping hole.
Creak.
The remaining structure groaned, emitting a piercing noise.
But the massive tower showed no signs of collapsing.
Grinding his teeth, Ghislain drew upon even more mana and swung his axe toward the opposite wall.
Boom!
The tower's fragments exploded outward.
Crack!
Finally, the siege tower began to tremble. With only two walls left, they could no longer support its immense weight.
Creak, crackle!
The remaining thin sheets of metal and wood twisted and groaned, emitting anguished sounds.
"Ugh, uaargh!"
"If this keeps up, it's going to collapse!"
"Hurry! Get to the castle wall!"
Realizing what was happening below, the soldiers started shoving those ahead of them.
In their panic, they rushed toward the castle wall as if possessed.
The strength of a person on the brink of death is unimaginable. For a brief moment, the Ferdium forces were pushed back.
"Hold the line! Stand firm!"
Randolph roared, leading from the front as he cut down the enemies.
They had to block the entrance at all costs to prevent the enemy from seizing the castle wall.
As the two sides clashed fiercely on the wall, Ghislain swung his axe once more.
Boom!
Finally, a hole appeared in the wall, barely supporting the siege tower.
The giant, with its legs broken, could no longer stand.
Crack!
As the wood, barely holding up one side, shattered, the rest began to break down in a chain reaction.
"It's collapsing!"
Despairing screams echoed from within the shaking tower.
Creak! Smash!
The inner structures were the first to give way.
Thud!
"Aaaargh!"
The bridge laid across the castle wall detached and plummeted, along with the enemy soldiers standing on it.
Crash!
The siege tower, having lost its strength, tilted with a thunderous crash.
Wooden beams poured out from the gaping hole in the wall.
"Aaaagh!"
The soldiers who had remained inside the tower fell along with the collapsing floor.
Boom!
The giant, once a pillar of the battlefield, finally crumbled entirely with a final, desperate roar.
Hiss…
A thick cloud of dust rose around the fallen siege tower as if it were exhaling its last breath.
For a moment, silence descended over the battlefield.
"Could it be that the Young Lord… did it alone?"
Randolph and the Ferdium soldiers fighting on the wall stared down in disbelief.
"The siege tower… it's destroyed…"
"Did the captain do that? All by himself?"
The enemy soldiers and the mercenaries blocking the path were all dumbfounded, staring at the tower.
Everyone on the battlefield was stunned by this impossible sight.
But even in the stifling silence, someone began to move.
"Young Lord!"
"My Lord!"
Belinda and Gillian turned around, abandoning the enemies they were fighting.
The rubble piled up like a giant's grave, with bodies wedged in between the debris, some torn and broken.
Among them, a few figures still squirmed, clinging to life.
As the two prepared to clear the wreckage, their faces twisted with concern.
Boom!
Ghislain burst forth from the center of the debris.
Ssssss!
The blood covering his body evaporated, releasing a continuous cloud of red steam.
Tat-tat-tat!
Ghislain charged straight at the enemies, who stood frozen in shock.
Whoosh!
Crack!
One soldier's head was split open, and he died instantly.
His face, even in death, showed bewilderment, as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Ghislain swung his massive axe once more, scattering the nearby soldiers like leaves.
The startled enemies finally began to back away in a panic.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ghislain bellowed,
"Get a grip! Fall back to the wall!"
Kaor and the mercenaries were barely holding their ground to keep the retreat path to the wall open.
By now, the Ferdium forces had successfully secured one side of the wall.
Ghislain and the mercenaries swiftly began to withdraw.
"What? Are we retreating now?"
"The siege tower is down! Completely destroyed! Are you telling me the captain did that on his own?"
"Shut up and just follow the captain!"
Even the mercenaries were confused, so it was no wonder the enemy couldn't grasp the situation.
The soldiers, thrown into disarray by the sudden turn of events, hesitated.
"What are you doing? Chase them!"
"They're retreating!"
"Don't let them escape!"
By the time the captains snapped back to their senses and shouted, the mercenaries were already far ahead.
Some soldiers pursued, while others remained rooted in confusion, and still others backed away in fear.
In the chaos, a few even tripped over each other, entangling themselves. Their formation was in complete disarray.
Seizing the opportunity, Randolph shouted urgently,
"Fire! Cover the Young Lord!"
Arrows that had been aimed at the enemy archers now shifted direction, raining down on the soldiers.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
The disoriented enemy soldiers were struck by the barrage of arrows.
Although the enemy archers tried to return fire towards the wall, many of their comrades had already fallen.
Ghislain took advantage of the moment to change direction.
"Enter through the collapsed wall!"
Skovan and his soldiers had already sealed and shut the main gate.
The mercenaries swiftly darted into the breach in the wall.
"Now block the wall! Move forward!"
Clank! Clank!
At Ghislain's command, the mercenaries quickly raised their shields, sealing the opening.
Zwalter, who was guarding the wall, felt like his chest was going to burst.
How… How did he pull off such an impossible maneuver?
Even as he witnessed it with his own eyes, he could hardly believe it.
Breaking through the flank, destroying the siege tower, ravaging the enemy, and then returning to the wall—it had all happened at a blinding speed.
The enemies hadn't even had a chance to react properly due to the sheer swiftness of it all.
It was such a bold strategy that even someone like him, with ample battlefield experience, wouldn't dare attempt it lightly.
How did someone with no war experience pull off something like this…?
Zwalter felt as if he were seeing a ghost. He couldn't make sense of it, no matter how he tried.
It wasn't just the fact that Ghislain had destroyed the siege tower single-handedly; it was more shocking that he'd led the mercenaries into battle and completely overturned the flow.
This wasn't a meticulously planned tactic.
He had captured the enemy's intentions and the battlefield's circumstances in an instant and acted purely on instinct.
Did he always have such abilities? Such innate intuition and talent!
No ordinary person could pull this off, even if they lived and breathed warfare.
No, regardless of experience, no one could replicate what Ghislain did.
To make sharp judgments and act decisively at a moment's notice requires someone who has honed those skills to a fine edge.
Zwalter shook his head to collect himself.
I'll think about this later. For now, thanks to Ghislain, we've got a moment to catch our breath on this side.
The siege tower was now useless, and the ladder carts hadn't even been deployed yet.
The enemy had no way to climb up anymore.
Meanwhile, Randolph, expressing his raw emotions without restraint, was also in shock, though anger was what rose within him.
"You crazy bastard! You were lucky it worked out—one wrong move, and we'd all be dead! The whole front could've been breached!"
As the commander, his anger was understandable, but Ghislain merely shrugged, pretending not to hear.
Randolph, seething, continued to hurl curses, but his words were drowned out by the soldiers' roaring cheers.
"Waaah!"
Seeing Ghislain's unbelievable feats had reignited the soldiers' morale.
With the siege tower destroyed, they now had the space to shoot their arrows with ease.
One of the enemy knights, who was desperately being pushed back from the wall, shouted incessantly.
"Damn it! Get a grip! What are the officers doing? Get those soldiers under control! Rally towards the breached wall! Shield-bearers, block the arrows! Archers, fall back, and provide cover! You idiots!"
The formation was completely scattered, and chaos reigned, making control nearly impossible.
With everything in disarray, there were no immediate commands on what to do next.
Damn it! Are they panicking in the main camp, too? Why are there no signals? Whether we're advancing with the ladder carts and reinforcements or retreating to regroup, a decision needs to be made!
At times like this, one had to take initiative on the ground.
The knight, hoarse from shouting, began to rally the scattered soldiers one by one.
"Gather here! Everyone, gather here! Charge toward the breached wall!"
Now, the only option left for them was to swarm toward the collapsed section of the wall.