How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

15.

Although Ishel Army’s 3rd White Unit was reassigned to the 9th Ten Unit, Rohan and his fellow Ten Unit members still resided separately from the main base.

Rohan, now a squad leader, could only guess when the reassignment would take place, as the details were still shrouded in mystery due to some adult matters.

One thing that had certainly changed was that Rohan had started to be deployed for guard duty like the other White Unit members.

The outer appearance was quite imposing, but the work shifts were organized with enough intervals for the soldiers stationed inside the fortress to rest adequately, given their large numbers.

Of course, in case of emergencies, all soldiers had to be armed and ready to rush out, but unless there was a large-scale attack, the duty was carried out in a way where a whole territory’s army would take shifts for the entire day, one day at a time.

Moreover, even on the days they were on duty, splitting the day into half for both day and night, working for 12 hours each, meant significantly lesser working hours compared to living as a modern person in the 21st century.

On rest days, there were schedules for training and equipment maintenance by unit, so practically, it was more like working for two days and resting for two days repeatedly.

“They said the training was intense.”

The information from Chris and Kenneth proved to be quite helpful in various ways.

Having been assigned guard duties during the war, there was a slight tension, but the first shift passed so peacefully that it was fitting to say nothing happened at all.

Since there hadn’t been a single arrow exchanged, Rohan simply observed if there were any changes in the enemy camp and the shift ended without incident.

Apart from duty hours, except for meals and sleep, all time was dedicated to swordsmanship and ancient warrior’s sword skills.

His proficiency in swordsmanship, similar to other SN-grade skills, increased at a decent pace.

The challenge was with the ancient warrior’s sword skills.

Even after practicing for an equal amount of time as swordsmanship, the proficiency level did not even reach one-fifth.

“Is the difference in grades that significant?”

The joy of acquiring an R-grade skill paled in comparison to the slow progress.

In an unpredictable battlefield, the slow development felt frustrating.

But in reality, it was largely due to Rohan being too accustomed to the smooth growth in his skill window.

Even Charles-style practical swordsmanship, a skill that a young mercenary with some talent from a village honed throughout their life, was a level of mastery achieved over years.

For a boy who had never properly learned swordsmanship, it was not feasible to master such a skill in just a few months.

To Rohan, it felt like his proficiency was crawling up frustratingly slowly, like a turtle, but compared to those who had learned swordsmanship from ancient times, he was learning the skill at an incomparable speed.

Of course, just because growth was slower, it didn’t mean he would stop training.

He was well aware that halting his training would be a foolish act, cutting off his lifeline.

However, such leisure during the war would not last long.

As Rohan ascended the wall for his second shift, a clear ominous sign appeared on the enemy front.

“What is that?”

A structure resembling an enlarged primitive cannon began to glow blue, and the enemy troops seemed ready to advance at any moment.

Immediately, urgent bells rang throughout the entire Priel Castle, and the soldiers who were resting quickly armed themselves and climbed up the walls one by one.

“Bring more arrows! Stack them here!”

“We need more spears here!”

“Bring the water carriers and have them boil water!”

The wall rapidly transformed into what seemed like a market square, with all kinds of supplies quickly piling up.

“It’s finally happening.”

Rohan, preparing for a desperate battle, tightly shut his eyes.

He wielded his sword and shield with all his might, but once again, he couldn’t fill up his proficiency entirely.

Each additional ability was precious, so it was regrettable, but there was no choice at the moment.

The slight consolation was that being on the defensive side meant slightly higher chances of survival.

The soldiers in formation slowly approached the castle walls, and the light reflected by the cannon grew darker.

As the enemy troops crossed the open field and arrived at the entrance of the village.

The light held by the cannon turned into a projectile and shot towards the castle walls.

The mass of light, emitting a brilliant beauty, floated through the air, captivating the minds of many soldiers.

A moment of stillness, as if time had paused, followed, and then the mass of light struck the castle walls.

For a brief moment, a blinding light flashed.

Amid reflexive squints, an unfamiliar thunderous roar filled the battlefield.

“What? What!”

“aaah!”

Soldiers lost their balance as a massive explosion erupted from the castle walls, and victims whose bodies were torn apart by the blast cried out in agony.

Those directly impacted by the explosion didn’t even leave behind a trace of their existence.

While there were numerous casualties and injuries, the biggest issue was that the section of the castle wall hit by the shell had completely collapsed.

“Defend the walls! Protect the walls first!”

“Shield bearers! Spear bearers! Quickly, send them over here!”

Colonels and captains shouted themselves hoarse.

With a more than two-fold difference in military strength, if the castle walls were breached so easily, there would be no way to stop the enemy.

Sensing imminent danger, soldiers rushed towards the walls at a speed unlike anything seen before.

They gathered the debris of the walls to make footholds and established their positions at slightly higher vantage points.

Just as they were beginning to recover, the magical cannon emitted light once more.

“Damn it…”

The soldiers, seeing the projectile no longer radiating beauty, cursed vehemently as they futilely shot arrows at it.

Navigating through the powerless arrows falling to the ground, the projectile struck the walls once again.

The walls trembled once more, and soldiers quickly filled the breach in the collapsed walls.

As the soldiers of Viscount Priel’s camp filled the gap in the walls, the forces of Baron Dursell had reached right up to the walls.

Though there was a slight incline, the distance wasn’t long enough to hope for the enemy’s exhaustion.

Without a moment to catch their breath, the soldiers of Dursell’s camp charged towards the walls.

“aaah!”

A bloody battle began beneath the walls, but Rohan and his men remained atop the walls.

“There’s nothing we can do by going down now anyway.”

While it was a fact that a part of the wall had collapsed, in comparison to the entire wall, it was just a small section.

Judging from the number of soldiers carrying ladders, it was clear that the enemy had not given up on climbing the walls.

Throwing boiling water and stones at the enemy soldiers trying to breach the broken gate, while fending them off, ladders began to hang on the walls one by one.

Wrapped in wire around dry wood, the ladders were sturdy structures that swords wouldn’t easily cut through.

“Start from this side! Prevent them from coming up with your spears!”

Knowing there would be no formality in battle, orders were given without hesitation.

Of course, the soldiers paid no attention to the tone as they were focused solely on life and death.

They simply followed Rohan’s command by thrusting their spear ends into the ladders.

“Grab the spears tightly! If you can’t kill the ones coming up, you’re dead!”

Poking at a soldier whose hand trembled as if feeling fear, they swiftly dispatched the man who reached the ladder’s top with one hand waving his sword.

“Ugh!”

Without a moment to spare to watch the one falling beneath the castle wall with Danmalma, Rohan skillfully struck down the enemy soldiers pursuing from behind.

“Haargh!”

As he toppled four in a row, a nearby comrade let out a startled cry.

Perhaps showing a gap in another squad, two enemy soldiers emerged from a different unit and rushed towards the castle wall.

“Hold the line!”

After shouting to the soldiers holding the ladder, Rohan pierced through the enemy soldier who was about to swing his sword after throwing the spear he held.

“Huh?”

Taken aback by the sudden death of his comrade, the enemy soldier next to him hesitated, allowing Rohan to swiftly leap forward and swing his sword.

Though the enemy soldier was physically stronger than Rohan, he couldn’t entirely block Rohan’s counterattack, which resulted in additional damage.

In exchange for blocking the initial strike, his stance was completely thrown off, and the one whose throat was slashed in the second attack collapsed with a gurgling sound.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

After dispatching the enemy soldier, Rohan pulled out the spear stuck in the body and returned to his position, stabbing at the enemy soldiers.

The castle wall gradually turned red as the bodies piled up on the wall.

“Ugh!”

As always, disaster struck suddenly.

One soldier slipped on the blood from the corpses, and in that moment, enemy soldiers poured in through the gap.

The fallen soldier was stabbed by an enemy’s spear without a chance to defend himself.

“Harris!”

A fellow soldier called out the deceased soldier’s name, but it was too late.

There was no time to stand idly by.

Rushing forward again, Rohan neutralized one enemy soldier with his spear, then approached the enemy soldiers with his sword and shield.

The squad leader of the adjacent unit seemed to have noticed the situation and was rushing over in a frenzy.

Clang!

He deflected the enemy’s sword with his shield, then thrust his sword into the enemy with force.

Although his posture was slightly thrown off, the thick armor left him no other option.

‘I must finish this quickly.’

Fortunately, a few reinforcements were sent from nearby units with some room to spare.

With Rohan leading the charge, the enemy soldiers who couldn’t find room to maneuver on both sides couldn’t exert their full strength and fell.

After pushing and knocking down the enemy soldiers climbing up with ladders, the situation finally calmed down a bit.

“Thank you!”

Without a moment to exchange pleasantries, he swung his sword again.

With one less member, Rohan had to move even busier.

Piercing with the spear and swinging the sword frantically, a welcome notification popped up, but there was simply no time to check.

There were no easy targets like those foolishly standing still during battle.

Despite cutting down more than thirty enemies, it seemed like the enemy’s numbers hadn’t diminished at all.

“Haargh, Haargh.”

Already running low on stamina, the soldiers were breathing heavily.

They were in a state where collapse wouldn’t be surprising, but their will to live kept them going.

Compared to the soldiers barely holding on at the castle wall, the battlefield below was rapidly deteriorating.

“aaargh!”

“Monster, it’s a monster!”

“Where are our knights? Our knights!”

In the faltering siege, the Duchy of Dussel sent its knights under the command of the Allied Forces.

The flesh that embraced Ora allowed swift movements even in heavy plate armor. The powerful aura enabled them to effortlessly tear through the crude armor of the soldiers without infusing Ora into their weapons.

The weight of the sword alone was more than three times heavier than that of the ordinary soldiers, giving it a force that surpassed even an axe.

The shield that had held firm until now was shattered in an instant, and the spear could not exert any force against the thick armor.

Although the knights of the Freyal Army came out belatedly, the Duchy of Dussel’s forces had already breached the walls and set foot inside the castle.

“This is bad.”

Rohan’s expression darkened as he looked down at the sudden cry.

Once the walls were breached, there was no point in defending from above anymore.

They were isolated, awaiting death.

They had to somehow return to the main force and fight together.

At that moment, the gleaming orbs of light appeared once again.

With a roar, another hole was created in the wall, and soon the enemy soldiers began pouring in like ants.

Already at a disadvantage, there was no way to turn the tide now.

“Abandon the walls! Quickly, retreat into the inner keep!”

The knights and captains fighting on the walls shouted in unison.

They, too, had made the same judgment as Rohan.

They hurled hot water, stones, and corpses piled up nearby, then fled into the inner keep through stairs and ladders to escape.

Except for the section of the wall that had collapsed under the magical cannon fire, the enemy forces had not yet breached the outer keep.

The gates of the inner keep opened as the knights and captains checked their faces, and soon the soldiers fighting at the spot where the wall had collapsed under magical cannon fire retreated one after another into the inner keep.

Fires had already started in some of the buildings inside the outer keep, suggesting looting was underway.

Though cries of pain echoed throughout the inner keep, the nobles and knights had not given up the fight yet.

However, it was not because they harbored hopes of victory.

Rather than submit to the enemy they had accumulated hatred against for generations, it was closer to a sense of pride in fighting to the death.

Another reason was that there was no future if they were to lose this battle.

Without a moment to catch their breath, the tightly shut gates began to shake from the impact outside.

The wails of the women grew louder, and the knights prepared to face the enemy on the walls.

On the other hand, as soon as Rohan entered the inner keep, he summoned the status window.

As expected, his proficiency in swordsmanship was fully developed.

The rewards were not different from what he had anticipated.

One feather and one additional effect.

He confirmed the additional effect of ‘proficient’ Swordsmanship.

– Proficient Swordsmanship of a Low-Rank Mercenary(SN) / 100% (When wielding sword and shield simultaneously, all resistances increase by 10%, all attacks gain 10% power)

Although the total increase in stats compared to Charles-style practical swordsmanship was high, it seemed to be due to the condition of wielding both sword and shield.

After verifying the additional effect, Rohan called up the skill synthesis window.

“I’ll use all the feathers.”

It was time to aim for a higher-ranking skill once again.