The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 63 - Tribal Conflict (28)

The knights, as well as all their attendants, though they weren’t making it obvious, all shared similar feelings inside.

‘There really was someone there!’

‘Is that their supreme commander… how could this happen…’

‘He truly must have received divine revelation!’

Excitement and yearning.

Just participating in a battle guided by God was enough to raise their morale to unprecedented heights.

Even those who had been half-doubting inwardly now set aside their suspicions and looked toward the tacit leader guiding them.

Viktor’s figure, silently glaring at the enemy’s chieftain, was utterly trustworthy.

This confrontation with the enemy leader would surely be recounted in legendary martial epics in the distant future.

‘I wonder what kind of words…’

One of the Count’s knights, curious about what kind of dialogue the two great figures would open with, unconsciously clenched his sweaty palms and muttered.

However, his expression soon became strangely complex.

The moment the wolf beastman uttered what seemed like a meaningful line, Viktor immediately threw a javelin without ceremony.

It was a rational and efficient action, without any pretense or showing off.

‘Still… even though the opponent was speaking…’

The Count’s knight, thinking that a knight should naturally respond, soon shook his head vigorously.

If the opponent had been a fellow knight from the principality, it might have been somewhat problematic, but after all, wasn’t he just the leader of lowly barbarians?

Moreover, since they needed to strike quickly and withdraw, there was no need to waste time.

‘Sir Viktor is consistent, just like that time…!’

Already completely captivated by the knight called Viktor, he evaluated even this behavior positively as resolute and consistent, nodding approvingly.

And aside from that knight who was having such complex thoughts, most of the people present were now anticipating victory.

Not just success in the raid, but a great victory across the entire campaign.

---

The barbarian warriors let out cries of outrage.

“You cowardly fox-like bastard!”

“How dare you ambush us! Cursed principality trash for life! If I don’t pierce your nose with a ring, I’m no longer a warrior!”

“Chief, Chief! Are you alright, Chief!”

Watching the warriors cry out and burst with killing intent, Viktor merely responded calmly.

“Shooting arrows like that is fine, but throwing spears is cowardly? Your people are truly arbitrary.”

“Grr, shut up! To launch a surprise attack under cover of night in the first place! Do you still call yourself a knight after doing such a thing!”

When one warrior shouted in anger, Viktor looked at him with a contemptuous expression.

“…Anyone watching would think you’re a knight of the principality.”

As the warrior’s face flushed red when he whipped his head around, Viktor raised his hand as if there was nothing more to see.

“Prepare to attack. We’ll sweep them all away and return quickly.”

“Prepare to attack! Sweep them all away!”

“Don’t let a single one escape! Especially kill all those who seem to hold high positions!”

The knights drew their weapons and began preparing to charge in unison while glaring at them.

Gloom appeared on the barbarian warriors’ faces.

Not only had their chief been targeted, but support forces would need more time to arrive.

The situation was truly at its worst.

That’s when it happened.

“Grr, cough, cough… Knight! Did you think you could kill me with just this much!”

“…?!”

“Chief!”

Bohdan, who should have been more than dead with his chest pierced by the javelin, was spitting blood but standing up perfectly fine and shouting.

‘Was his armor thick…? No, it doesn’t matter. If I pierce him one or two more places, he’ll die.’

Though Viktor was slightly surprised, he soon drew another javelin.

Even if he had luckily survived, nothing would change.

Even a wolf beastman couldn’t survive if his heart and head were pierced.

As if sensing that intent, Bohdan hid his body among his subordinates and shouted desperately.

“Damn knight! Do you think the likes of you can kill me! I am the great Bohdan, destined to become the ruler of this steppe! I am fated to become the true king blessed by the ancestral wolf!”

“How unsightly, Bohdan. There’s no need to hear more. Attack!”

Viktor firmly dismissed those words and lowered his hand.

Without any battle cries, the knights began charging in unison.

Though the distance between them was short, they could secure enough acceleration to trample the barbarians crawling on the ground.

One knight at the front brought down the massive hammer he was holding with an expressionless face.

Thud!

“Aaaah!”

“Hold on! We are the Chief’s guard warriors! We can kill these bastards with one hand!”

Even as they crumbled helplessly under the knights’ unified charge, the barbarian warriors didn’t break but instead rushed at the knights.

Watching the warriors desperately implement human shield defense without sparing their own bodies, the slightly overwhelmed knights wildly swung their weapons, but the barbarians struggled to block the charge to the end even as their limbs flew off.

Sensing something from that sight, Viktor shouted and charged in.

“They’re buying time! Everyone be careful!”

When Viktor joined the charge, the tenaciously resisting warriors finally began falling one by one.

However, only Bohdan at the very rear remained unbroken, letting out laughter filled with rage and sorrow.

“Arrogant principality bastards! Do you think I’ll crumble from just one raid! Warriors, I will never forget your sacrifice!”

“What is he babbling about?”

“That wolf… has he lost his mind?”

Two knights who were close to him cut down the last resisting warrior and rushed toward Bohdan.

Then, as somewhere beyond the camp brightened, the entire battlefield suddenly began to be dyed with light.

“What! I can’t see ahead!”

“Damn it, those bastards are pulling some strange trick!”

The knights shouted, frowning due to the sudden brightness.

Viktor also couldn’t easily adapt to the suddenly brightened situation and tried to look around while covering his eyes with his hand.

‘I can’t see well ahead… did they have something like flash grenades in this era? No… that witch.’

When his thoughts reached that point, Viktor held his breath and awakened his body’s senses to the maximum.

Due to the sudden bright light falling on people’s eyes that had been adapted to the dark night, everyone was clutching their eyes in confusion.

It was a perfect opportunity to attack.

Viktor planted the axe he was holding in the ground and drew the mace from his waist.

Then he began listening intently to find where the enemy would attack from.

-Aaaah!

‘There!’

Viktor jumped down from his horse, crouched down, then explosively sprang up and kicked off.

It was the direction the screaming was coming from.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

His heavy body rushed somewhere as if flying, quickly reaching his destination.

“Get back!”

Despite his vision still being white, Viktor instinctively and accurately brought his mace down on something approaching.

CRASH!!

At the same time, a tremendous explosion echoed around them.

---

The witch exhaled rough breaths and slowly collapsed to the ground.

‘Ignorant and filthy bastards… never again will I get involved with these creatures.’

She carefully wiped her mouth and nose.

No matter how much she wiped, the blood wouldn’t stop flowing.

It was the price for forcibly conducting the ritual.

‘Damn it… I’ll need to rest quietly for a while.’

She had been reluctantly conducting the ritual while looking at the unwanted sacrifices when warriors with urgent expressions suddenly burst in and demanded she perform the ritual immediately.

Seeing them rush out frantically without even confirming she was properly conducting the ritual, it seemed something had seriously gone wrong, but honestly she didn’t particularly want to care.

The witch was completely fed up with them.

She struggled on the ground and forced herself to get up.

‘If I’m going to run, I need to run now…!’

At some point, even the personnel who had been watching her had disappeared.

She hadn’t noticed while concentrating on the ritual, but now that she listened carefully, she could even hear screaming sounds in the distance – perhaps battle had begun.

‘Let’s just take the payment and get out. And hide somewhere these bastards can’t find.’

She looked at the finished ritual altar with a disgusted expression and began moving her body slowly.

Staying next to these people any longer would surely bring down lightning on her.

She forced herself to turn her head and look at the sky.

Brilliant clusters of light were decorating various places.

The witch let out a bitter laugh.

Control was unthinkable.

That was already like a monster born from receiving the vengeful spirits of the sacrifices.

‘Idiots, whether they die or not.’

And whether they lived or died was no longer her concern.

The witch’s footsteps led toward where their chief resided.

She planned to carefully steal only the payment promised to her and run away from there.

Having worked so hard, if she didn’t even receive payment, she would obviously fall ill from frustration.

‘The direction seems noisy for some reason, but… surely they couldn’t have been pushed back to such a deep place? Everyone must be fighting up ahead…’

---

Viktor squinted his eyes, which were gradually adapting to the light, and glared ahead.

He could see clusters of light incomparably larger and more roughly rotating than the light spheres that had invaded the great hall.

And there weren’t just one but three of those things gathered together, emitting light so bright it was impossible to look directly at them.

‘The priest said there might be unknown dangers, so don’t make contact…’

Viktor looked down at his mace.

Though it was a lump of steel made by melting solid steel, surprisingly the end that had collided was slightly melted.

Whatever power was contained within, it was an object not easily seen.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem.

“Hi, hiiii!”

“Aaaah!”

Viktor glanced back at the screams coming from behind.

The knights seemed generally fine, but some of their attendants and a few cavalry were having seizures.

Those spheres were definitely affecting people’s minds as well.

‘I don’t know the principle, but…’

Viktor’s gaze returned to the front.

The influence of the light spheres seemed indiscriminate between friend and foe, as the few remaining barbarian warriors were also collectively going berserk.

“Everyone’s going to die… everyone’s going to die!”

“Chief! Pull yourself together! You can’t die in a place like this! Chief!”

‘They’re worse off than us… do those who are mentally cornered become more vulnerable?’

Viktor looked incredulously at those who were absurdly falling into their own trap, then looked at Bohdan, who was smiling triumphantly, and slightly frowned.

“Hahaha, knight! Can you hear it? Can you hear the sound of those hoofbeats! Reinforcements have arrived within reach. You have failed! Can you break through this sorcery and kill me before they arrive? And do you think you can escape safely! Hahahaha!”

“…Has he gone mad?”

As Viktor muttered while looking at the taunting Bohdan, as if he had heard those words, Bohdan’s body began writhing even more.

“You’d better run away now, knight! Hahaha, that’s right. I am not destined to die in a place like this! The one who will stand tall on this steppe is me, only me, Bohdan, who inherited the wolf’s blood!”

“You act like you’re some great chief. Don’t get cocky when you’re just a village chief.”

Viktor looked at Bohdan, whose expression had instantly sunk as if cold water had been poured on him, and moved his steps.

“You are nothing, Bohdan. Your subordinates are all dead. And many more will die because of you. But you beast, do you think you’ll be safe? Do you think I’ll leave you alone? Hm? Answer me.”

As Viktor stared straight at him and approached step by step, venom appeared on Bohdan’s face.

“Foolish and arrogant. This is why the principality knights are…! You people have always been like that. Do you think the entire steppe has become yours? No! The steppe belongs to us. It will be so in the future too!”

“…”

“Because! The weak are eliminated and the strong take everything – that’s the law of this steppe! You weak principality bastards will soon be trampled! I will make it so. And the strongest tribe, my wolves! Will rule this steppe…”

BOOM!

As soon as Bohdan’s words ended, with a tremendous explosion, one sphere began bursting while scattering light in all directions.

“…!!!”

Bohdan’s mouth fell open in shock.

Viktor fingered the tip of the mace he had brought down with all his might and muttered.

“It would be trouble if I touched it directly. More than that, keep babbling. Bohdan, you and your tribe can rule this land? When you can’t even escape from my hands right now?”

“…Grr! You know nothing! The most powerful tribe and the one with the most powerful strength rule the steppe! Me! Not the Great Chief, but me – I am the one destined to become the king of the steppe!”

The remaining two spheres quickly tore up the surroundings and rushed toward Viktor.

The barbarian warriors who couldn’t dodge in time and were clutching their heads were ground up, but the spheres seemed unable to distinguish between friend and foe and never changed course.

“No, don’t! Dodge, Sir!”

“Sir Viktor!”

The knights who were mentally sound shouted and spurred their horses, but they were slightly too late to reach him.

The two spheres began to engulf Viktor’s body in an instant.

---

BOOM!!

With a loud sound, a whirlwind arose.

It was such tremendous wind that even the knights on horseback wearing heavy armor were pushed back slightly.

“…Look over there!”

People looked toward the source of the whirlwind.

Great dust rose, and within it, a human shadow was faintly visible.

Finally, the wind stopped.

From one knight’s mouth, a blasphemous word finally escaped.

“No fucking way, is he really human?”

“…Oh my!”

Even after taking two of the light spheres that had rushed in with the momentum to completely destroy the surroundings, he was standing there majestically.