Volume 2, Chapter 4 – One-Eyed Dragon Part 7
Volume 2, Chapter 4 – One-Eyed Dragon Part 7
The Principality of Lichtine’s camp was in a panic at the sound of drums echoing from the Fourth Imperial Army.
“Enemy attack! The enemy’s cavalry is coming!”
“Bring the slaves forward to form a wall! And send the archers forward to shoot their arrows!”
Marquis Ranquille looked over the bloodthirsty nobles in disgust and then gnashed his teeth in annoyance.
“They took the initiative…”
It was about a second ago that he learned that the commander of the Fourth Imperial Army had been replaced. So Marquis Ranquille tries to know the enemy general. The first thing he did was put his camel cavalry in front of them to see how they would react. Then, when he realized that the enemy was unguarded, he tried to hit them with a small number of troops to get a feel for the enemy’s situation, but just as he was about to do so――the enemy’s cavalry began to advance.
“Is the tide in our favor?”
They were ahead of the enemy at the perfect time. If this were the sixth princess’s ability, it would be terrifying. Even if this is not the case, it is clear that a knowledgeable person has joined them.
As expected of the Great Grantz Empire, the dominant power in the world, they have a wealth of talent. However, there was no time to remain impressed.
“Don’t panic! Deploy the camel cavalry to the left and right!”
No matter what the enemy’s intentions are, they must avoid being surrounded.
“Bring the archers forward! The enemy has come all the way out here. This is a good opportunity!”
Then he realized that the man at the front of the cavalry was that very man.
“As I thought… you came.”
The wounds left by the man in black are still deep. It’s not just the slaves but also the regular soldiers who have been told the story and have fear plastered on their faces. The only way to wipe it away is to give them confidence. As if to crush his anxiety, Ranquille said to himself that he would take advantage of the situation at all costs.
“Archers ready!”
As he gave the order, a strange scene unfolded in front of him. The enemy cavalry had spread out and dispersed. A large cloud of dust rose up, tinting the sky brown.
“Downwind, huh…?”
The cavalry disappeared in a cloud of dust. Only the roar of horseshoes and shouts could be heard. The situation is not very pleasant, but he is glad that the man in black is no longer in sight. The majority of the soldiers were unaware of his presence.
“Anyway, are they planning to hide in the sand and set up a siege? If that’s the case, we’ve been underestimated.”
Ranquille looked around in all directions and then raised his voice.
“Left flank, right flank forward! The first group, retreat!”
Ranquille gave the order to set up a reverse siege.
Sometime later.
“…No enemy coming?”
He noticed something strange. But the sound of drums, the battle cry of soldiers, and the roar of horseshoes still shook his eardrums.
“No… Are they moving away?”
By the time he thought he had been conspired against, it was too late. By the time the dust had cleared, the cavalry was gone. He was about to ponder what the purpose of all this was when he was interrupted by the voice of a soldier.
“I-it’s the man in black! He’s here again!”
Such a voice came from the front row. Confusion blew through their army and spread rapidly.
“What the hell…?”
It doesn’t even give him time to think. When Ranquille looked up in surprise, the area was in an uproar, and there was a breakdown in the ranks. Not only that, but the soldiers had come to a complete halt.
Ranquille felt a headache coming on and ran his hand over his forehead, looking at the same place as the soldiers.
A man in a fluttering black robe was standing there.
The sight of a thousand soldiers being slaughtered came back to his mind. His body trembled with fear. However, Ranquille was not foolish enough to stop thinking.
After slapping his own cheek to regain his composure, Ranquille took a small breath and opened his mouth.
“Don’t break ranks! It’s only one man, after all. What are you afraid of?”
“B-but that man can take out a thousand men by himself!”
“Don’t be scared. We are prepared for this.”
In order to deal with the man in black, they gathered a hundred skilled men and made a squad. For those who can take on 1,000, even though they are elite, 100 is not enough, but as long as they can buy time, there is no problem. While the man in black was glued to this spot, they would kick out the exhausted Fourth Imperial Army.
After all, they are outnumbered, and there is no way that a single person can chase after a dispersed enemy.
“You’ll get what you deserve.”
Ranquille drew his sword from his waist and pointed it at the bannerman. A hundred camel cavalrymen were selected to spearhead the attack. After a short distance, the whole army started to advance again.
“When the battle between the spearhead troops and the man in black begins, we will attack the Fourth Imperial Army. Until then, we’ll follow the spearhead team without being detected.”
“Yes, I’ll notify the troops.”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
However, the battle did not begin for any length of time. A messenger came back to Ranquille, who wondered what was going on.
“It was a fake! The man in black is a fake!”
“Huh…? What do you mean, fake?”
“It was just a log strapped to a bag of dirt and covered with a black cloth.”
There was a heavy thud. It was the sound of something the messenger had dropped from his back. It was, as the messenger had said, just a log with a black cloth over it.
“…Huh, what the hell is this?”
He was so shocked that he could not speak. Perhaps he was so terrified that he fell for this childish trick that he mistook for the real thing.
“The same things are still up ahead.”
“…What?”
This was the place where the Fourth Imperial Army and the rebel army had fought. There was a large depression in the ground that could be looked down on from all sides. In the midst of the corpses stood many logs covered with black cloth, as if they were tombstones.
“I feel like a fool.”
But it was a very effective strategy. Everyone knew that the man in black was good at what he did, but there was no guarantee that he wasn’t hiding behind the logs or that the real man was mixed in. Many people think the same way. That’s why they hesitate to do so.
“I wondered if the whole purpose was to get out of here, or if they were laying down troops on all sides. Either way, I never thought we’d be so well outmaneuvered.”
Across the road from the graveyard, the Fourth Imperial Army was retreating, showing their rear. It’s the perfect bait that makes them want to chase it. If they were going to attack them, they would have to go straight through here. If it was a trap, not only would they lose the advantage of the land, but they would also go to their deaths.
Furthermore, if the man in black was hiding, there was no way they could see him. It would be a losing battle for sure.
“If we bypassed this place and pursued the opponent…”
It’s not only that the opponent will take an intercepting stance, but there’s also the possibility that their ranks will be disrupted, and they’ll move into battle. It was very cleverly thought out and beautifully executed, as an example.
“Even though this is the enemy’s territory, to be able to manipulate the battlefield in such a way as to change it so freely, it seems that… the opponent has a monster like the God of War.”
After a small laugh of self-mockery, Ranquille looked up at the sky. The nightfall is about to descend. If they let go of the heavenly time, the only thing that awaits them will be destruction.
Ranquille’s expression was gloomy. The road to victory was now darkly closed. The army’s will to fight is waning, and morale is declining. If they didn’t find a way out of this, they would lose.
Ranquille could see an invisible wall looming large in the distance.