WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 154: Decisive Battle (14)
The Move for Victory (Second)

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The cavalry unit led by Diethelm, having broken through Marquis Montesque's unit, next faced the Armor of the King.

The Armor of the King, the most elite force in the Kingdom of Arelia's army, had now taken a formation weighted toward the front and left flank. It was no threat to Diethelm and his men, who still maintained nearly seven hundred riders and cut in from the right front. There was no battle line strong enough to stop the momentum of their mounted charge, nor enough time to shift formation in a battlefield gone mad with confusion.

But they had morale. The knights and soldiers of the Armor of the King, who were prepared at any time to give their lives for the royal house, showed literally desperate resistance in order to buy even one more second for their lord to escape.

The infantry no longer tried to defeat the approaching cavalry unit of the Kingdom of Edelstein. Knowing they would be caught up in it themselves, they stabbed spears into the bodies of horses and toppled them. They clung on and dragged knights from horseback, letting themselves be trampled to death along with them by the following horses. In such reckless ways, they tried to delay the charge.

The knights of the Armor of the King also devoted themselves to buying time. They swung swords and spears, trying to knock enemies from their saddles, and some even attempted body slams while prepared to fall from their own horses.

The time they bought that way, however, was not long. Though more than one hundred riders dropped out of formation, the Kingdom of Edelstein's cavalry unit still broke through the line of resistance formed by the Armor of the King and continued pursuing the hegemon king Childebert.

There was no longer any proper enemy unit to block the charge. The direct guard knights protecting Childebert were trampling the conscripts obstructing their retreat as they rode, so for Diethelm and his men following behind them, it was actually easier to run.

The Arelian royal flag gradually drew closer, and Diethelm finally caught sight of Childebert beneath it, of the eye-catching armor of the hegemon king. Beside Childebert was someone else wearing armor just as splendid. Was Crown Prince Samuel, who was reported to have come to observe the battle, actually following his father all the way to the vanguard?

If so, all the more reason not to let them escape.

"Sniper unit, move forward! The hegemon king is right there!"

At Diethelm's order, the knights who had until now formed the central front of the charge formation, knights belonging to the Hildegard Regiment cavalry unit, split left and right. The fifty riders placed and protected behind them advanced to the front.

The equipment those fifty riders carried was the Black Crossbows lent by the Rigald Empire. The latest weapon, able to inflict a fatal wound on a heavily armored knight in a single shot from long range while mounted.

First, the twenty-odd riders in the front rank readied the small black-painted crossbows in one hand.

At that moment, roughly ten of the direct guard protecting Childebert turned around and came toward them. Even at this stage, they apparently intended to sacrifice themselves and resist in order to protect their lord.

"Do not use the bolts! Remove them in close combat!"

As he shouted, Diethelm himself raised his sword, shook the reins, and accelerated his beloved horse.

When it came to mounted combat, Diethelm was confident he ranked among the top five in the Kingdom of Edelstein's army. He easily slew one enemy knight as they passed, then brought his own beloved horse into contact with the horse of another enemy knight. The horse struck by contact lost its posture and could not withstand the attacks of Diethelm's following knights before being brought down.

Diethelm effectively defeated two riders by himself, and the other enemy knights were annihilated by the knights of the Hildegard Regiment cavalry unit. Having removed the obstructive enemies, Diethelm and his men once again opened the firing line for the knights equipped with Black Crossbows.

Childebert was still surrounded by knights of the Armor of the King, but because the number of direct guards had decreased, his back was more visible than before. Diethelm glared at the back of the source of the Kingdom of Arelia's invasion.

Everything rested on this attack.

His teacher, the now-retired Marquis Joseph Obsidian, the man who was a second father to him, had raised him as a general for this very moment.

With even that thought in his heart, he gave the order to fire.

"Loose!"

From the Black Crossbows held by twenty-odd riders, bolts were released, cutting through the clamor of the battlefield.

......

"F-Father!"

"Keep running! Do not look back!"

While shouting at Crown Prince Samuel, who could not hide his agitation, Childebert himself drove his horse and aimed for the rear. If they reached the rear, where reserve regular army units waited, they could at least survive this battlefield.

He could not die in a place like this. Neither he nor the son who should succeed him. The path of hegemony he had inherited from his father and would pass on to his son could not be allowed to end in a place like this.

As if mocking Childebert's impatience, however, death approached from behind. Several hundred enemies bore down on him with the momentum of a mounted charge, trying to take the hegemon king's head.

The next instant, a sharp sound rang by his face, and from behind came the groans and screams of knights, and the neighing of horses. When Childebert reflexively looked back, the knights protecting his and his heir's backs had fallen from their horses, collapsed together with their mounts, or dropped out of the formation unable to continue running.

They had been annihilated.

The only survivor was Patrick, who had been riding behind Childebert to the right. Even Patrick had sweat on his face and had released his left hand from the reins. Looking carefully, Childebert saw a short bolt buried in his shoulder.

A crossbow? But how did they fire it from horseback?

Without giving Childebert time to think, the desperate flight continued. The enemy cavalry unit behind them shifted formation while running. The group that had been at the front split left and right, and several dozen new riders advanced to the lead. In their hands as well were weapons that seemed to be those crossbows.

Several moments remained before bolts would be fired from them.

In those several moments, when death had come closer than ever before in his life, Childebert's thoughts moved faster than they ever had.

Patrick also noticed that the enemy was attempting a second shot and was adjusting his course to move directly behind his lord and his heir, but because he could not use one hand, he struggled to handle the reins. That small delay would now be fatal. He probably would not make it in time.

The other direct guards, the knights riding ahead to scatter the conscript crowds and open Childebert's escape route, no longer had enough time to move behind Childebert.

There was no one who could protect him and Samuel from the enemy attack that would be released the next instant.

Understanding that, Childebert instinctively protected his son. He drew as close as possible to Samuel, who was running right beside him, and leaned over his back, making himself into a shield for his son.

Almost at the same moment, sharp impacts struck him.

"Guh!"

He felt several bolts pierce through his armor and stab into his back. First came heat, as if burning rods had been pressed into him, and then sharp pain ran through his whole body.

His back was not the only place struck. He understood that one had hit his neck as well. It had not crushed his throat, but blood overflowed and filled his mouth with the taste of iron.

Instinctively, he understood.

It was fatal.

"Aah!"

Samuel's horse went wild and pulled away from Childebert, who had been running beside him. Fortunately, he seemed to have protected his son's body, but he could not protect the horse as well. With no way to control the horse that had taken bolts to its hind leg and rump and now rampaged, Samuel was carried off in a direction he did not intend.

At this rate, his son would be left alone on this battlefield.

"...!"

"Your Majesty!"

Childebert, whose posture had broken from the pain, was supported by Patrick, who brought his horse closer. Only then did Childebert realize that Patrick had survived the previous volley.

Although they had both received the enemy's second volley, ironically Patrick's wounds were shallower. While several bolts had struck Childebert, Patrick had only taken one new bolt to the arm.

No longer able to even speak easily, Childebert glared at his loyal guard commander and pointed toward Samuel, who was moving away.

......

Seeing Childebert with several bolts in his back and even one piercing his neck, Patrick understood that the chance of his lord surviving was extremely slim. Although they had both received the enemy's second shot, why had Patrick taken only a bolt to the arm, while the lord he had to protect had suffered such fatal wounds? His heart cursed fate and sank into despair, but his reason as a soldier calmly accepted reality.

Then, when Childebert pointed toward Crown Prince Samuel, Patrick understood his intent.

At present, between King Childebert and Crown Prince Samuel, the latter, who had merely become separated from the retreating formation, had the higher chance of surviving. In that case, Patrick, whose mission was to protect the royal house, should go to Samuel's side and protect him as the heir to the throne. He was wounded, but even so, he could still put his body on the line to shield the prince from the chaos of the battlefield. He could become a prisoner with him and support him in enemy territory.

And Patrick also had children. That was why he could painfully understand Childebert's feelings as he worried for his child over his own dying body.

"G-go..."

"...As you command! I will protect His Highness without fail!"

To Childebert, who squeezed out the words, Patrick answered with as much strength as he could. Then he called one of the knights who had been riding ahead to open the escape route and entrusted Childebert to him, while he himself chased Samuel. Enduring the pain in his shoulder and arm, he pulled the reins and aimed for the crown prince, who had been carried away by the rampaging horse.

One last time, he looked at his lord from the corner of his eye. This would likely be his final parting in this life from the lord with whom he had even practiced martial arts in their youth. To think that this decisive battle, which should have been won without much trouble, would become the final battle of the great hegemon king.

The rear was not far away. Whether Childebert would survive and flee to the back of his formation, whether he could at least leave even one final word, only God knew now.

......

"...This is as far as we go."

Looking ahead, Diethelm murmured calmly.

As they approached the enemy rear, the density of the enemy conscript crowd thinned, and perhaps because there were fewer obstacles along their path, Childebert and the knights of the Armor of the King surrounding him were increasing their retreat speed. At present, it would take a little more time for Diethelm to catch up.

And Childebert's group would soon escape the confusion of the vanguard and reach the rear. There, several thousand enemy troops still waited, not fragile conscripts but Arelian royal army and noble domain forces with a certain level of training. With Diethelm's remaining force, which had grown exhausted from running this far and had suffered many dropouts, it would be extremely difficult to approach Childebert and finish him with a sword.

Fortunately, they had succeeded in landing several direct hits on Childebert's torso with Black Crossbow bolts. They had confirmed a bolt piercing his neck as well. Even if he had not died instantly, there was little doubt they had inflicted fatal wounds. It was hard to imagine him surviving in that state. Even if he did survive by some chance, he would not be able to perform the duties of a king for a long time. The hegemon king had lost, had lost many troops including elites, and had been weakened by serious wounds. His ability to command loyalty would not remain as it had until now.

It was not perfectly ideal, but they had achieved more than enough. He could not obsess further over obtaining the physical head and let the precious cavalry strength entrusted to him by the queen be annihilated.

There was another target he had to prioritize.

"All hands, follow me and change course! We will capture Crown Prince Samuel, then support our allies!"

As he said that, Diethelm handled the reins and turned his horse's head, pursuing Crown Prince Samuel, who had apparently left the formation because his horse had bolted. The remaining strength of the cavalry unit followed him.

Once reconnaissance revealed that Childebert seemed to have brought his heir to the battlefield, Samuel had been considered the second most important target. Diethelm had seen him separated from the formation alive by the horse's rampage.

Unlike Childebert, with whom coexistence was impossible, Samuel did not necessarily need to be slain. His value as a prisoner was extremely high, and afterward, he might coexist with them as the new ruler of a neighboring country.

Samuel's person held value comparable to Childebert's head.

That was why Diethelm poured the cavalry unit's remaining strength into capturing Samuel.

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