The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 32 - Knight of the Principality (18)

“Kill them!”

“Aaargh!!”

Being too densely packed had been their downfall.

The barbarians, who had taken a hit to their flank, couldn’t secure the distance needed to perform their signature mobile warfare.

As the mercenaries pushed forward with fierce shouting, squeezing through the gaps, being on horseback no longer provided much advantage.

Ibuti beheaded an insolent mercenary who had lunged at him and shouted.

“You bastards! It’s a trap! A trap! Fall back for now! Hey, I said fall back!!”

How could this happen?

In this place with clear visibility, they hadn’t noticed the enemies attacking from the flank until it was too late.

‘That knight…!’

It meant the knight had completely captured their attention.

Ibuti gritted his teeth and glared toward where Viktor was.

Coincidentally, Viktor seemed to be looking this way too.

When their eyes appeared to meet, Ibuti involuntarily shuddered at the inexplicable chill that ran down his spine.

‘What, what…!’

Viktor brought down the mace he was holding, and the head of the warrior in front of him caved in with his helmet, collapsing to the ground.

As the warrior’s corpse crumbled, Viktor disappeared from view in an instant.

Ibuti frantically looked around.

‘This bastard, surely not…!’

He was able to instinctively throw his head back purely because of his intuition as a warrior trained for many years.

Whoosh-!

With a low sound like a buzzing bee, an axe cleaved through the air just above his head.

“Good reflexes.”

The low voice seemed to echo louder than thunder even amid the chaotic battlefield.

An emotion that should never be present in a warrior’s eyes—fear—began to rise in Ibuti’s gaze.

****

‘Dodging twice…’

Viktor clicked his tongue in disappointment as he glared at the barbarian before him.

He could accept the first javelin missing its mark, but to have his deliberately aimed axe strike dodged by a hair’s breadth suggested the enemy leader’s martial abilities were considerable.

While staring at Ibuti, Viktor suddenly swung his mace backward.

A barbarian warrior who had been stealthily approaching from behind screamed and clutched his face.

“You fight dishonorably.”

When Viktor spoke calmly without the slightest perturbation, Ibuti shouted with a completely contorted face.

“Dishonorable…? You bastard who set a trap from the beginning! But being shamefully entangled ends here! I’ll finish you, knight!”

As he spat out his words harshly and waved his hand, the warriors nearby simultaneously threw themselves at Viktor.

Watching this from a distance, Georgi cried out as if screaming.

“Sir! Be careful!”

‘Damn it all…’

When Viktor had first charged out alone like a madman, Georgi couldn’t stop cursing the Administrator who had recommended this crazed knight.

But having somehow rallied the mercenaries and arrived at the scene, he couldn’t help but make the sign of the cross that he hadn’t used for a long time and marvel at the sight.

The knight was performing a truly miraculous feat.

Showing no fear, he had jumped alone into the charging enemy formation and pierced right through it!

When Viktor had finally emerged on the opposite side while wielding weapons in both hands, Georgi and all the mercenaries watching the scene unconsciously began to seek God or offer prayers.

A knight truly sent from heaven.

When something that belonged in old heroic poems or legends happened in reality, they all became convinced.

They would definitely win this war!

It seemed as if a halo shone behind the knight standing proudly, and some devout individuals claimed they could see angel wings behind Sir Knight, declaring this to be a divine revelation.

Georgi, unable to contain his excitement any longer, issued the command to advance.

“God is with us! Let’s help Sir Knight!”

“Waaah!”

“Kill the barbarian bastards!!”

Their morale skyrocketed instantly, and the mercenaries reached the peak of excitement when they realized the barbarians hadn’t noticed their advance until they were right in front of them.

It was an incredible transformation from people who had been trembling at just the mention of barbarians until very recently.

Their timely intervention to help Viktor, who was wedged among the barbarians, was going well, but…

‘Sir Viktor is in danger!’

Right in front of Georgi, the knight was in mortal peril.

There was still some distance between the mercenary forces and Viktor in the current situation.

Georgi could only clench his fists and curse his inability to do anything but watch.

“No…!! Huh, what?”

And at this moment, Georgi became truly convinced that Viktor was a warrior sent by God.

The warriors who had rushed at Viktor were collapsing in an instant.

****

Viktor couldn’t help but bare his teeth in a grin as he saw the barbarian warriors swarming from all directions.

His heart was beating pleasantly.

As he tensed his muscles, it felt as if shackles had been removed, and the power he had been suppressing until now was raging wildly throughout his body.

A warrior who arrived first swung a large axe.

Almost simultaneously, two warriors from the left and right stabbed with pointed daggers like skewers, aiming for the gaps in his armor.

Viktor responded by throwing the mace he was holding at the one swinging the axe.

“Guurgh!”

The mace flew in a straight line and lodged in the warrior’s lower abdomen, making a horrific bursting sound.

Without even checking the result, Viktor gripped the axe that he had been wielding with one hand and, taking a deep breath, began to spin it with all his might using both hands.

Thud, Splat, Thud!

Several warriors who had rushed in nimbly were torn apart by the axe blade and fell without even being able to scream.

Before Ibuti, who was watching this, could let out a scream of shock, Viktor took another step forward, adding his body weight to the spinning axe.

“Aaargh!!”

“My arm, my arm!”

The already long axe’s swing radius became surprisingly wide, mutilating the bodies of the warriors caught within it.

At the end of one breath, the number of attackers had instantly been reduced by half.

Ibuti involuntarily muttered with a trembling voice.

“Is, is there such a monster among the knights of the principality…”

The knight was breathing roughly but still seemed intact.

Ibuti suddenly felt a shiver run through his body as a legend circulating in the steppe flashed through his mind.

‘That’s impossible! How could it be among those principality dogs…!’

The great king who would one day unify the tribes of the steppe.

The great king, beloved by the gods, whom all tribes believed in and waited for, while secretly hoping it might be one of their own children!

Ibuti couldn’t stop thinking about this as he strangely looked at Viktor.

When he stared at him with bloodshot eyes, trembling, Viktor simply clicked his tongue.

The enemy leader still showed no signs of giving up.

“You’re different from the others I’ve seen so far.”

Perhaps from using too much power at once, his breath, which had never been short before, was starting to quicken, and his body was also complaining of some fatigue.

He sensed that if he moved like that just a few more times, he would quickly become exhausted.

‘But still…’

Fortunately, except for the one who looked like the leader, no one seemed eager to approach after the display of power he had just shown.

Viktor glanced down at his battle axe.

As expected, after cutting through bone and armor at once, the blade was severely damaged, and the handle was wobbling as if it might break.

‘Being strong is good, but I’d like a weapon that could withstand it better.’

This axe was certainly a decent weapon, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to endure Viktor’s strength.

Still, he wasn’t too concerned.

There were plenty of blades and weapons scattered at his feet.

He was thinking that if necessary, he would have to fight by throwing whatever was on the ground when, from far away, a barbarian warrior frantically rode his horse over and shouted.

“Warrior leader! Big trouble! Behind us! Behind us!”

Ibuti turned his head irritably.

“Behind what, you bastard! Speak properly—oh, damn it.”

The warriors, already entangled with the mercenaries and unable to properly use their advantage, now saw those who had been mere prey just moments ago baring their teeth and charging from behind.

While the mercenaries acted as an anvil, the knights—though fewer in number—formed the core of the charge with their fearsome heavy armor, creating a significant impact.

Ibuti now had to acknowledge it.

The hunt, which had been almost like a game, had failed, and even the full-fledged battle had also failed.

And all because of a single man!

Ibuti looked at Viktor with eyes mixed with irritation and a hint of awe.

The knight, holding his axe and scanning the battlefield with solemn eyes, was simply standing there calmly, neither boasting nor showing contempt.

More than anything else, it was that expression that made Ibuti feel the greatest sense of defeat as he issued orders through gritted teeth.

“…We retreat. We can’t afford to lose any more warriors.”

“Understood! Retreat! Retreat!”

No matter how brave and strong the barbarian warriors were, they could do nothing when hit from the side and rear while defenseless.

Signals were quickly exchanged, and when the retreat pipes sounded, the warriors began to pull back on their horses as if they had been waiting for this.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“I won’t let you escape!”

Though Georgi’s mercenaries and the count’s knights, filled with vengeance, tried to cling to them persistently, they were no match when these warriors decided to flee in earnest, shooting arrows and displaying magnificent horsemanship.

Viktor, too, merely stroked Podaga’s mane firmly as he breathed a sigh of relief, making no attempt to pursue.

The retreating warriors, filled with shame and humiliation, couldn’t even look at Viktor, their faces flushed.

To think such a disaster occurred because they couldn’t handle just one man…!

Among the rapidly retreating warriors, Ibuti clearly glared at Viktor and issued a warning.

“Don’t think this is over, knight. My name is Ibuti, warrior leader serving the great Grand Chief! Remember it! The name of the warrior who will take your head!”

Viktor simply responded calmly.

“Viktor. Viktor of House Kobarov. If you want me to remember your name, you’d better show more valor next time.”

The gazes of the two men locked briefly, and then as Ibuti turned away first, Viktor’s first battle finally came to an end.

The result was an unbelievable, great victory.

****

Everyone was shouting with incomparable joy.

They had perfectly repelled the barbarians, the principality’s worst enemies and nightmares, with almost no casualties.

And not by fighting with city walls at their backs, but on an open field!

After this tremendous victory, the mercenaries were uncharacteristically embracing each other in celebration.

The count’s mercenaries and knights who had escaped death needed no explanation.

The sight of knights crying without regard for propriety, patting each other’s backs, was truly a rare spectacle.

And then, a knight appeared before this frenzied crowd.

Clop-clop.

A huge war horse wearing barding, and an even more massive rider on top.

Though his surcoat was tattered in places and blood was seeping through the gaps in his armor, none of this detracted from his presence.

The powerful light in his eyes, visible through the knight’s helmet, seemed almost sacred.

As he slowly returned on horseback, those who had fallen, those embracing each other, those looting the barbarians’ corpses, those escorting the wounded—

Without exception, everyone began to bow their heads slowly.

Even the knights who appeared to be of high status were no exception.

Guard Captain Georgi also bowed his head and couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice as he murmured.

“Respect to the great knight.”

Blood and corpses, and smoke rising from the battlefield.

A knight who had achieved an incredible feat riding through it all on horseback, with people bowing their heads toward him.

It was a scene that seemed to belong in a legend.