The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 276: I’ll Buy Us Some Time (3)

“What the...?”

Desmond’s soldiers, advancing out of the siege towers, faced a situation they had never encountered.

Crash!

Gillian was the first to storm into one of the siege towers, swinging his axes with deadly force. One by one, the knights followed him, charging into the siege towers.

Thud! Thud!

The sudden assault filled the air with the panicked screams of Desmond’s men.

“Ahhh!”

“What the hell? Who are these guys?!”

“Hold them back! Hold the line!”

The interior of the siege towers was cramped, forcing the soldiers into close quarters.

Whirrr—

The Fenris knights, moving swiftly in their luminous armor, unleashed a relentless attack, their amplified strength and speed turning the narrow space into a bloodbath. Their swords and spears moved with such speed that it was almost impossible to see them. With every movement, soldiers were decapitated or pierced through, their lives extinguished in seconds.

In this moment, every Fenris knight displayed the strength of a high-ranking knight. Even Desmond’s elite troops stood no chance.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of weapons slicing through the air seemed to burst with each strike.

The knights of Fenris held nothing back, unleashing mana with such intensity that it affected the surroundings. Ghislain’s training echoed in their minds:

— The first strike must be overwhelming. That’s how you break the enemy’s morale, especially when you’re outnumbered.

Each knight had etched this teaching deep within themselves, knowing now was the time to follow it to the letter.

‘If we falter, they’ll keep coming!’

They shared the same thought. With their strength limited by time, they couldn’t afford to hold back. Their goal was to break the enemy’s momentum, forcing them to fall back, if only briefly. Otherwise, the assault would never end.

The Fenris knights fought with every ounce of power, disregarding their own safety.

Crash!

“Ahhh!”

Desmond’s soldiers, caught off guard, couldn’t even mount a defense, falling swiftly to the knights’ brutal onslaught. Their attack, fueled by the intent to sacrifice everything, left no space for Desmond’s men to advance out of the siege towers.

At the center of the fray was Gillian, a force unmatched.

Ten knights had entered each siege tower, but Gillian tackled one tower on his own, cutting down enemy soldiers as if he were a lion among sheep.

Crack!

With each swing of his axe, soldiers’ bodies were split in half. Such was his strength that his axe often embedded itself into the tower’s structure after passing through his foes.

Thud! Crash!

The siege tower itself seemed to tremble under the force of Gillian’s strikes.

Desmond’s soldiers, who had fought their way up to the exit, were annihilated in moments.

“What is this monster?!”

“Push through! We need more knights!”

Gillian blocked the stairs, slaying any enemy who dared approach.

For now, only the siege towers had advanced. To avoid concentrated attacks from the Fenris archers, Desmond’s men had used the siege towers to secure a foothold before moving the ladders. In other words, so long as the tower exits were blocked, there was no way for the enemy to launch a direct assault.

This choke point allowed a few skilled fighters to hold off large numbers. Gillian and the Fenris knights took full advantage, sealing off the enemy’s entry points.

Meanwhile, the Fenris soldiers weren’t idle.

“Keep firing! Don’t let up!”

Atop the siege towers, Desmond’s archers continued to rain arrows down, but the Fenris soldiers, clad in galvanium armor, endured the volleys. The armor protected them even when they couldn’t block the arrows with their shields.

After shrugging off a few arrows, the Fenris soldiers grew more confident.

Swoosh!

They started firing back, aiming at the archers on the siege towers.

“They’re all in full armor!”

“Our arrows can’t get through!”

“Take cover! Stay down!”

Panic spread among Desmond’s archers. Breaking through the full plate armor with simple arrows was nearly impossible. Unless they aimed precisely for joints or vulnerable areas, their attacks did little more than dent the armor.

One side risked death with every hit, while the other shrugged off attacks—making the situation increasingly favorable for the Fenris forces.

By the time Desmond’s men managed to set up ladders and begin their ascent, nearly all of the archers on the towers were dead.

Still, Desmond’s army pressed forward.

“Climb! Overwhelm them with numbers!”

The commanders shouted, and Desmond’s soldiers roared in response.

“Charge!”

Swarming up the ladders, Desmond’s men advanced in waves, like an army of ants.

“Hold them back!”

At Gillian’s command, some Fenris knights burst out from the towers, while others remained to block the exits. The remaining knights took on the soldiers coming up the ladders.

Crash! Crash!

“Ahhh!”

Desmond’s soldiers could do little against Gillian, who, drenched in blood from head to toe, tore through the enemies without rest. Unlike the knights in new armor, he had surpassed that need through Ghislain’s training.

While Gillian continued his relentless assault, some knights were beginning to falter. The light emitting from their armor was dimming.

‘Damn it, my hands are shaking.’

‘I’m almost out of mana.’

‘We can’t last much longer.’

The initial magical barrage had drained much of their mana, leaving their movements sluggish. If this continued, they’d collapse from exhaustion.

“Charge!”

But as the knights weakened, the soldiers stepped in to cover for them. Now free from the archers’ attacks, they formed ranks and began pushing the enemy off the walls.

Lucas, thrusting his spear into an enemy, laughed heartily.

“Haha! These guys are actually holding their own!”

The galvanium full-body armor proved exceptional, making it difficult for Desmond’s trained soldiers to penetrate.

With such high defensive capability, the Fenris troops managed to overwhelm the numerically superior Desmond forces.

Seeing their advance slow, Desmond’s knights began scaling the ladders and leaping onto the walls.

Clang!

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“Gah!”

One of Desmond’s knights, wielding a mana-infused sword, managed to slice through a Fenris soldier’s armor, sending the wounded man staggering back. But before the knight could deliver a follow-up strike—

Crash!

Gillian’s axe flew through the air, decapitating the knight in a single blow.

“Focus on the knights! Ignore the soldiers!” he bellowed, his voice booming over the battlefield.

Hearing him, the Fenris knights charged Desmond’s knights, leaving the soldiers to handle each other.

Their armor glowed again, brighter than before, as they surged forward with renewed determination.

‘I don’t want to overthink it. If I die here, then so be it.’

With no intent to conserve mana, they fought to the limits of their strength. Originally, the goal had been to buy time, but they’d abandoned that idea. Faced with overwhelming numbers, hesitation would only lead to defeat.

‘Better to take down as many of them as I can before I go. I’m not dying that easily.’

Fueled by a fierce resolve, the Fenris knights poured out every ounce of strength, their fighting spirit unmatched.

Crash!

“Gah! What are these monsters?!”

Desmond’s knights stumbled back, some losing their heads in seconds.

Despite being elite soldiers, Desmond’s forces couldn’t withstand the onslaught of Fenris knights who fought with the strength of high-ranking warriors, aided by their magical armor.

In a more measured battle, Desmond’s forces could have won with ease. But they didn’t have the patience or understanding for such tactics.

“More! Press them harder! Leave none alive!”

Gillian’s face took on a fearsome expression, his eyes blazing with fury.

‘I have to hold out just a little longer. We must drive them back.’

Gillian knew the Fenris knights’ power was limited in duration. Although they could now sustain it longer, the end was near.

But now was not the time to stop. Losing ground in this first clash would spell their doom.

‘If we fall here, it’s over.’

If they faltered now, the enemy would overwhelm them like a storm, leaving no time to regroup.

To hold them back even slightly, they had to show their might now, forcing the enemy to approach with caution in future battles.

‘The more cautious they are, the more time our lord has.’

They couldn’t defeat the enemy or halt their advance. Their only option was to survive until Ghislain arrived.

With this resolve, Gillian continued slaughtering his foes.

“Hold on! We can defend this!”

Roaring encouragement to his knights, Gillian suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side.

Thunk!

Turning, he saw one of Desmond’s knights had slipped in close and driven his sword into Gillian’s side.

Even in the chaos, the knight had managed to take advantage of a brief opening. A truly skilled warrior.

Gillian’s lips twitched as he stared down his attacker.

Thinking his attack had succeeded, the knight sneered.

“Cocky...”

Without hesitation, Gillian grabbed the knight by the throat.

“Urgh!”

Crack!

That was the knight’s final cry. Gillian, holding the knight’s neck, swung his axe down, decapitating him.

Covered in blood, he fought with an almost feral savagery, striking fear into Desmond’s troops.

“Come at me if you want to die!” he roared, every step seeming to split the ground. His voice, imbued with mana, burst through the air, reverberating around the fortress.

As Gillian advanced, Desmond’s soldiers, both knights and regular troops alike, instinctively backed away, their eyes wide with fear. He loomed over them like an insurmountable wall.

Not only Gillian, but the black-armored knights around him were equally formidable. This place was filled with monsters, and every Fenris knight fought with ferocious strength.

“These monsters... how are there so many of them here?”

“With such a small number...”

“How does Fenris have such warriors?”

Desmond’s troops let out hollow laughs of disbelief. Despite their overwhelming numbers, they found themselves being pushed back. They had anticipated Fenris would have some elite soldiers, but they hadn’t expected anything like this.

Desmond’s reputation had led them to believe the fight would be challenging, but they were facing something beyond their expectations. This wasn’t a typical army—it was a force that defied imagination.

Even Harold, observing the battle from afar, felt the same shock.

“What... how... is this possible...?”

He could hardly form the words. He had committed 5,000 soldiers to this assault, intending to overwhelm the fortress quickly.

Yet, despite their overwhelming numbers, Desmond’s army had barely made a dent in Fenris’s defenses.

“Could it be... that Ghislain created an army like this?”

The soldiers in black armor seemed to possess the strength of knights—at least of the intermediate rank, if not higher. And all of Fenris’s soldiers were outfitted in full plate armor, making them incredibly difficult to kill in combat.

Realizing they had underestimated Fenris’s capabilities, Harold felt a chill run down his spine. Had he attacked even slightly later, Fenris’s forces might have grown even stronger. Even with an army of 10,000, it might not have been enough.

Not only was Ghislain able to gather such powerful warriors, but the man leading them, Gillian, fought with a skill that could rival some of the most formidable swordsmen in the north. He was fearless, his white hair now blood-red, a testament to his merciless ferocity.

These weren’t just any soldiers. They were well-trained, well-equipped, and loyal to a fault. How and when Ghislain had managed to gather such a formidable force baffled Harold.

He closed his eyes for a moment, realizing, “It’s divine luck... The heavens are on my side.”

Moving without the Duke’s explicit orders and disregarding relations with the Royalist faction had been unlike him. But without this preemptive strike, he might have been too late.

“This isn’t just some upstart...”

Since losing Victor, he had thought of Ghislain as simply lucky, perhaps moderately capable. But now, Harold recognized the terrifying truth: Ghislain was a monster, one with the power and vision to one day overthrow kingdoms.

He was grateful to have finally uncovered the true nature of his enemy.

“That bastard was waiting for a civil war all along...”

When exactly a civil war would break out was anyone’s guess, but Ghislain had clearly been preparing to trigger one himself, using his monstrous army to seize the north.

“But now... it ends here.”

Despite their skill, Fenris’s army numbered only around a thousand. Against a truly overwhelming force, they would eventually fall.

Resolute in his decision, Harold lifted his hand.

“Baron Hutton.”

“Yes, my lord.”

At Harold’s summons, a middle-aged man approached, bowing slightly. He was Baron Hutton, Desmond’s vassal and a knight of exceptional ability.

“Can you take out their commander? That man with the mane of white, like a lion.”

Narrowing his eyes, Baron Hutton studied the battlefield, focusing on Gillian. After a moment, he nodded.

“Leave it to me.”