The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 88 - Knight of Ascension (23)

The barbarians’ tactics were indeed excellent.

Based on superior mobility, they dispersed their forces, used timed arrow volleys to blunt the enemy’s spearhead, then finished with a charge.

Even when known, it was a difficult attack to stop easily – the barbarians’ unique assault had never failed to break any principality army until now.

In terms of actual destructive power, it couldn’t match the collective charge of grouped knights, but the meticulously designed attack was crafted to instill tremendous fear in opponents, making it difficult even for well-trained soldiers to withstand.

The beastmen’s distinctive howling, intimidating tattoos, cruel combat techniques, and other characteristics unfamiliar to principality people all served to amplify the terror.

However, now things were different.

The mercenaries were tenaciously holding on to an almost unnatural degree.

Morale high enough to overwhelm fear!

Normally they should have been half-paralyzed with fright from the sequential arrow barrages coming from all directions, but these men didn’t collapse even after the charge began – instead, they started clinging to and harassing the warriors.

And as the witch’s sorcery struck toward the center of the confused barbarians, the situation gradually reversed.

With the rear ranks devastated and the warriors’ morale wavering, as the mercenaries began counterattacking, the cavalry found their feet tied and couldn’t properly display their power.

So when they decided to retreat temporarily and reorganize their formation, a devastating attack mercilessly hammered the wedge into their hearts.

It was a clean hammer and anvil tactic.

---

Swoosh-!

Only rough breathing and the sound of hoofbeats vibrated through the formation.

They couldn’t perfectly reorganize the disrupted wedge formation.

The cavalry were having enough trouble just following the lead.

Mikhail shouted from behind in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Sir! Are you alright!”

Viktor only nodded instead of answering.

‘I’m more worried about those behind me than myself…’

After fierce combat with the barbarians, without even time to catch their breath, they had immediately reversed direction and were charging straight through the remaining forces.

Not to mention the ordinary mercenary-turned-riders, even Mikhail and Krupin looked clearly exhausted.

But they couldn’t stop.

Due to the barbarians’ flanking maneuver, the infantry left behind were essentially facing the barbarians’ main force alone.

If they didn’t arrive in time, they would lose numerous mercenaries.

‘Right now I have no choice but to push hard.’

Viktor spurred his speed.

The situation was gradually coming into view.

‘Did Alisa buy us time?’

Appropriately or not, the clusters of light that had been rampaging in the direction the cavalry was charging were gradually dispersing.

Viktor swung his blood-stained axe wide horizontally to shake off the blood, then put strength into his abdomen and shouted.

“Charge!”

“Charge!”

The cavalry gasped but echoed the cry while drawing their weapons and glaring ahead.

Now they too could somewhat grasp the situation before them.

While the mercenaries were desperately clinging on, the soft belly where the barbarian warriors were clustered looked appetizingly visible.

“…!”

Some warriors saw the cavalry charging from behind and shouted something, but it was too late.

Viktor brought his axe straight down on the face of a man who was looking up at him with wide eyes.

Thunk!

Starting with the warrior whose body split in two while spraying blood, the cavalry charge loaded with full body weight exploded!

“Aaaaah!”

“Behind, look behind!”

“Damn it, don’t collide! Dodge!”

The barbarians tried their best to escape the range of the charge, but caught between two groups, there weren’t many places they could flee to.

From that point on, it was no longer battle but massacre.

In the confined space, being mounted was actually more of a hindrance.

The mercenaries calmly dragged warriors down from their horses and trampled them.

With the barbarians losing their mobility – virtually the only advantage they had over the knights – the knights were literally having the time of their lives.

“Don’t leave a single one! Kill them all!”

Even Mikhail was intoxicated by the heat of battle, which said it all.

How much time passed like this?

Viktor calmly drew the last javelin from his thigh and threw it.

“Urgh…”

A barbarian warrior who had been lying prone on his horse trying to escape fell along with his mount.

“Huff…”

Viktor raised his hand to wipe his face, covered in blood and sweat.

But since his gauntlet was in nearly the same state, it had little effect.

He looked around.

Corpses, corpses, and more corpses.

Everywhere he looked, there were only barbarian corpses.

Masterless horses ran aimlessly around the area, and eagles circled overhead.

Viktor closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.

Only now could he properly hear the voices around him echoing noisily in his ears.

“Waaaaaah!”

“We won, we won!”

“Damn it, God! Please let this not be a dream! Please don’t let this be a dream…”

The mercenaries were shedding tears of joy while embracing each other.

They had managed to endure the barbarians’ devastating attack to the end.

Captains and members alike were offering thanks to God or dancing while holding each other, shouting victory cries.

A similarly blood-covered knight approached from behind and removed his helmet.

“Sir, congratulations on the great victory!”

“Sir Krupin.”

Krupin wiped his sweat and smiled brightly.

“Perhaps Sir Viktor is the only one who has broken those bastards in field battle since the war began. Truly, truly the finest charge!”

“It’s all thanks to you all.”

At Viktor’s modest reply, Krupin scratched his head as if incredulous.

“Sir… if anyone hears that, we’ll be criticized. You seemed to have killed over a hundred by yourself…”

“That’s quite an exaggeration. It wasn’t that much.”

“No, I was following right beside you and saw it myself, how could I not know?”

Ignoring Krupin’s words, Viktor slowly rode his horse.

No matter how excellent a warhorse Podaga was, he seemed tired from the consecutive charges, with foam visibly dripping from his mouth.

He dismounted and slowly stroked over the horse armor.

“You really worked hard, Podaga. We won thanks to you.”

Snort!

As if responding, Podaga exhaled through his nose, and Viktor patted him once more before walking forward, moving aside the corpses scattered on the ground.

The mercenary cavalry, who were tired but had suffered almost no casualties, were cleaning up the battlefield.

Behind them, Mikhail was giving various instructions, and he could see Tumen and Lukovich supporting Alisa as they walked somewhere.

‘Three dead among those who rode out with me… the infantry suffered far more casualties…’

It was the greatest damage the vanguard had suffered since setting out, but compared to the barbarians, it was trivial to the point of being nothing.

Even so, casualties were casualties.

Viktor briefly bowed his head in silent prayer, then avoiding those busy clearing corpses and organizing loot, looked toward the barbarians’ supply base.

The atmosphere was utterly gloomy, as if dark storm clouds hung over it.

‘Bohdan, you’re next.’

Viktor’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

“E-Excuse me, Sir? Sir Mikhail says he has something to discuss regarding the prisoner situation…”

“I understand, I’ll be right there.”

Viktor turned around coldly while wiping his face again.

Dried blood clots fell to the ground like rain over the supply base visible in the distance.

---

Inside the military tent, it was quiet enough that not even breathing could be heard.

People were watching the mood of the man sitting in the place of honor, staring at the sky without saying a word.

Several of them hung their heads low as if ashamed.

The man, Bohdan, slowly opened his mouth.

“…How great are the casualties?”

“…More than half of the warriors who went out were killed or wounded… those who can actually fight now number less than half.”

“…”

“…Chief, perhaps we could evacuate the base and retreat temporarily…”

“To where?”

“…”

“Where else could we go from here?”

Bohdan looked at the one who had answered with blazing eyes.

“Even if I flee, can I survive? That bastard Yugrichi gave orders to capture me, didn’t he!”

“Chief, the Uley region still remains. We can start over there!”

“Hah… Kulak.”

Bohdan turned his eyes away from the still-loyal old wolf and muttered emptily.

“Yes, if we return to Uley, we might save our lives. But for me, that’s no different from dying now.”

“Chief!”

“Once again we’ll be persecuted, despised as a weak tribe, and who knows how many long years we’ll have to endure and bear… no one knows. No one knows, Kulak! While that damn sheep bastard who’s barely distinguishable from a mongrel runs wild!”

Bohdan stomped the ground hard with a thud and shouted.

“The descendants of our great ancestor wolf’s bloodline will have to suck their fingers while being mocked, waiting for another fox-shit-sized opportunity that may never come again!”

At those heartfelt words, Kulak finally bowed his head, and Bohdan cried out resolutely.

“Rather than fall into such ruin, I’ll bet on my possibilities once more here. If ancestor wolf truly watches over me, I won’t fall in a place like this!”

His gaze, bordering on obstinacy, was self-centered but equally intense.

As those gathered in the tent looked at him, Bohdan gave his orders.

“Prepare for defense. That monster-like bastard – we catch him here without fail.”

“Yes, Chief!”

“We still outnumber them in troops. We have usable cards too. We’ll catch him, absolutely…!”

Kulak looked at his lord with a bitter expression, but his resolve didn’t change.

In the end, Bohdan’s faction finished preparing to fight to the end without retreating.

For Viktor, it was a grateful thing.

---

“The rat bastards are cornered with no way to escape.”

Under the fluttering banner, as Krupin muttered, Mikhail beside him shook his head.

“Driving them in is good, but we mustn’t be careless. A wounded beast is the most dangerous.”

“Yes, Sir Mikhail!”

Hearing the two knights mutter, Viktor once again spoke to Tumen, who was slowly riding beside him.

“Your role is important. Can I really entrust this to you?”

“Lord Viktor, that’s already the several time you’ve asked… I’m really confident!”

“Hmm… good. Then let’s begin.”

Viktor raised his hand high after saying that.

The people who had been murmuring all closed their mouths at once.

“Everyone listen!”

Receiving passionate gazes, Viktor shouted loudly.

“The worthless bastards’ nest is about to fall! We have no more business with rat bastards holed up in such a place with even their specialty sealed! Brave warriors of the north!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“Let’s teach them what real siege warfare is! Fill their pathetic moats, burn down those shabby palisades built without proper walls! Show them our fury!”

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!”

With the mercenaries striking their weapons on the ground and shouting behind him, Viktor drew his axe.

“Begin the attack!”

Buuuu-!

With the trumpet sound, the vanguard began to move.

And at the front, without fail, was Viktor.