ALL NOVEL Chapter 42 - The River Runs Red with Blood
The sharp clangs of metal striking metal echoed through the air.
Shouts, screams, and roars — some filled with meaning, some seemingly devoid of it — filled the battlefield.
Countless silent corpses littered the ground, marking the passage of time since the battle had begun.
The thick stench of blood made it seem as though even the river itself runs Red with Blood.
The hell where human lives were being wasted in vain continued.
The Third Knight Order fought back, fending off the relentless assault — or rather, the desperate clinging onslaught — of the First Knight Order. Despite managing to repel them for a while, the longer the battle dragged on, the more losses they incurred. The overwhelming numbers of the enemy began to show their advantage.
The barricade was half-destroyed, and if they let their guard down, the enemy could easily infiltrate through the gaps.
Georg himself had already cut down several enemies. The front line had already been thinned significantly.
““We’re out of arrows, Commander!”
“Damn it, it’s finally come to this! Merge the flanks with the center! Support the front line and rotate out the exhausted ones!”
Switching soldiers in the midst of battle was no easy feat. Yet, through sheer determination and their high level of training, the Third Knight Order managed to make the rotation work. The knights, who had been holding the front line, staggered back, worn out.
“I’m sorry, commander…”
“You did well. Everyone, drink some water and eat something! … I’m sorry too, I couldn’t give you a proper rest.”
The newly rotated knights were less fatigued than those who had been fighting up front, but even they had spent hours pulling the strings of their heavy crossbows, aiming, and firing repeatedly. The accumulated fatigue was unavoidable, and the tide of battle had begun slowly but surely to shift.
“Men! We’re out of arrows, so now it’s just guts! Hold out with sheer willpower, hold on with all your might!”
With that rousing cry, the commander himself grabbed a long spear and leaped into the front line. The temporary boost in morale helped push the First Knight Order back, and Georg’s ferocious spear-work struck fear into their ranks.
But Georg knew it wouldn’t last long. Sooner or later, he would either be injured, run out of stamina or just be killed…
Still, he couldn’t let the efforts of his subordinates, who had fought valiantly against such overwhelming odds, be in vain. He fought with everything he had.
“How pathetic, Georg! Even a commander like you is covered in blood and mud!”
… Oscar had somehow managed to get close.
Seeing that the battle was nearing its end, he had come for the final blow.
“Shut up, you slimy bastard! Don’t talk to me like that with your pretty face!”
Georg responded with biting sarcasm, knocking down two more enemies in the process.
The casualties on their side had exceeded 50, nearly half the number they started with. The flanking units managed to merge and bolster the crumbling front line.
They had inflicted over 300 casualties on the enemy, but the battle showed no signs of ending.
Was this it?
He shook his head to dispel such thoughts.
It wasn’t over yet.
Just as he readied his spear, he saw something.
“… What? What’s that dust cloud…?”
In the distance, he could see a group approaching, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The orderly rows of horses, the matching armor, and the flags fluttering in the wind…
“It’s… it’s the Third Knight Order! Reinforcements from the Third Knight Order!”
“What?! Why, I haven’t received any such report!”
The First Knight Order, startled by the shout, faltered. About 700 cavalry, the majority of the knights left behind, were now charging toward the battlefield. Seeing their enemies waver, Georg and his men seized the opportunity to push back and regain their footing.
“Don’t panic! From that direction, we can use ‘it’!”
Oscar raised his staff, and the First Knight Order breathed a sigh of relief, while the Third Knight Order shouted.
“Damn it! Stop! Don’t do it, Oscar! Stop right now! Don’t come any closer! Stop!!!”
Georg’s desperate shout was swallowed by the chaos of the battlefield. Oscar shot him a cold smile and turned to face the rear.
“This time, show me your true power, Staff of the Emperor of Thunder! Answer my call and unleash your might!”(TL Note: Imagine being a chuuni in the mediaeval era lol)
The power that had already been used twice was about to be used a third time.
Or so it should have.
“… Why?! It worked just now, why not now?!”
Oscar was extremely agitated by the staff’s failure.
Could it be?
He involuntarily looked back towards the royal castle.
““Hahaha! She did it! Ellie, you’ve really pulled it off! This is a huge victory!”
A cheerful laugh echoed through the battlefield.
Of course, it was Georg’s.
““What nonsense are you babbling about?! Who is this ‘Ellie’?!”
“Who is she, you ask…? She’s our trump card! The cutest, most extraordinary girl!”
His face, covered in blood and mud, was twisted into a grin.
His blood-stained, mud-covered face twisted into a grin, his eyes gleaming. The force of his smile made Oscar unconsciously step back.
“Cute…? Don’t joke with me! How could someone like that do this?!”
“It’s the truth. Accept it. Yeah, this is happening.”
He paused for a moment and looked around.
The knights of the First Knight Order, their fighting spirit broken, were looking around in confusion.
“In other words, your precious ‘staff’ is useless now! Hear me, everyone! That staff has no power left!”
He shouted to the knights of the First Knight Order, following Oscar.
Oscar looked bewildered, while the knights of the First Knight Order looked at each other in confusion.
“Can’t you see? It can’t kill you anymore! It can’t push you back toward us!”
Georg, who was still at the forefront of the wounded beasts, smiled meaningfully.
One by one, the knights of the First Knight Order began lowering their swords.
“What are you doing?! Fight! Fight, you cowards! Damn it, you spineless fools!”
Oscar continued to shout from the rear, waving his sword.
But all he got were cold stares.
“… If His Highness becomes king, you, Oscar, will be branded as a traitor. The price on your head will be high, you know?”
In the brief silence that followed, the quiet whisper of a devilish suggestion hung in the air.
That single phrase shifted the knights’ gazes to something more dangerous.
“What… What are you saying? You can’t… don’t, don’t do it, killing your superior is a capital offense!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to the prince for you!”
With those words as the catalyst, the knights surged toward Oscar.
Without looking back at the outcome,
“Sound the horn! Three blasts, followed by two, then three again, and one more! Repeat it three times!”
As instructed, the horn was blown.
Hearing the horn, the reinforcements stopped moving and maintained their position behind the First Knight Order.
The signal’s meaning was clear:
‘Maintain distance from the enemy. Hold position and counterattack only if necessary.’
This standard military signal was also understood by the First Knight Order, and seeing no further attack coming, they began surrendering one after another.
“… I can’t believe I’m going to survive this…”(TL Note: jinxed…)
Georg planted the butt of his spear into the ground and leaned against it, letting out a deep sigh. He shook his head and glanced back toward the royal castle, a faint expression of relief crossing his face.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, a sense of dread washed over him, and his expression tightened..
**Next: Something That Is No Longer Human**