Chapter: 228

*

– Kwaaaang—!!

The cannon roared loudly, causing the ranks to stagger backward. The dense infantry formation scattered in an instant. Some were crushed and turned to pulp. But many more of the soldiers nearby, witnessing the scene firsthand, fell into panic and began to flee.

“Maintain your formation!!”

– Taang—!!

The rear’s artillery officer discharged their pistol. The head of a terrified soldier burst apart, and the infantry gritted their teeth and held their ground.

For those who are not extraordinary beings, gunpowder weapons are akin to the grim reaper. A terrifying sort compared to a knight’s charge or a monster’s raid.

Unlike other deaths on the battlefield, death by gunpowder weapons has no process. When the sound of cannon or gunfire rings out, the soldier standing right next to them becomes shattered fragments.

Just 30cm. This short distance where shoulders touch. That mere gap preserved their lives. Had they accidentally stood in the adjacent line, it would have been their death. In this place, individual abilities were meaningless. Because it was a death they could not prepare for.

Against a cavalry charge, one could roll away, and if lucky enough to dodge the hooves, there was at least a chance of survival. Even if one fell in battle against a monster, there were not few survivors who emerged alive, having been covered by the corpses of their comrades.

But there is no way to respond to firearms. Because there is no process. One cannot tell from where it flies or what direction it targets. In the chaotic battlefield, to the infantry, it is death itself, against which there is no resistance.

However.

– Dudududududu—!!

“Cavalry!! Cavalry breaking through!!” “Raise your spears!!”

The cavalry, seen from the knights’ perspective, perceive firearms not as enemies. Most of the countless trajectories that lodge in their bodies are blocked by armor, and they have trained to withstand even the severely lethal trajectories that may come.

The same goes for cannons. To the cavalry of this era, who can accurately gauge the impact point of projectiles, artillery is not a god of the battlefield, but merely sacrificial material for cavalry.

– Dudududududu—!!

The cavalry charges forward. With spears held high, standards fluttering, mounts being soothed, and whistling shouts echoing.

The noise of their stomping, the shock from the recoil, narrowed fields of vision from battle excitement and concentration, and the blind rage break through the battlefield.

– Piiiiiing—!!

As the sound of a projectile falling is heard, the wedge-shaped cavalry all spread out. A well-trained evasion maneuver of the cavalry. Like a swarm of bees, the cavalry that started their charge becomes an unstoppable tsunami, crashing through obstacles.

Thus, in the field, cavalry remains the flower of the battlefield.

Unless it’s Krasilov, which had to forgo its cavalry strength due to the overwhelming number of extraordinary beings consumed in past wars, or the elves who replaced cavalry with magic. A state that clings to gunpowder cannot be strong. That is the common sense of a world where the blessing of ‘trajectory detection’ exists.

Therefore, it must naturally be cavalry that stops the tsunami.

– Dududududududu—!

“Run! Run! Run!!” “For Equitania!!” “Vittorio! Vittorio! Vittorio! Vittorio!!”

Having suffered immense losses of the Royal Knight Order, the cavalry of Equitania was still filled with high morale as they charged the battlefield.

The cavalry of Bellacria charged towards the enemy siege, and to intercept them, the cavalry of Equitania and Albina set out. Standards flew, and the sounds of horns echoed throughout the battlefield.

The outcome of the clash rests entirely on this point. The infantry shouting and firing their guns, the booms resonating across the entire battlefield are mere accessories.

The battle starts with the cavalry and ends with the cavalry.

Only one thing is important. The side with a larger, higher quality, and more powerful cavalry composed of extraordinary beings will emerge victorious.

Therefore, the clash does not require any grand tactics or strategies. It’s simply that the difference in military strength between the two sides determines victory and defeat.

– “Raise your spears!!” “Bellacria!!!”

– Kwaaaang—!!

The two masses of cavalry charged at each other, their jaws snapping.

*

Extraordinary beings mean the limits of what humans can reach.

Transcending humanity is not merely an achievement that can be attained with innate talent. Unleashing mana falls within the realm of talent, but the subsequent journey towards becoming an extraordinary being is solely influenced by effort.

It is an effort that carves away bones and grinds down nerves. Forcing mana into nerves overheated to their limits, enduring it, tearing apart overloaded muscle fibers, reattaching them. The cycle repeats.

The domain of extraordinary beings is always close to death. To reach that location, one needs the courage and persistence to move toward death.

Thus, those who have transcended humanity are called extraordinary beings. The battle of extraordinary beings begins in this realm. Only those who can start over from scratch, abandoning existing tactics and combat, become knights.

These individuals are seekers. Ambitions for power and wealth are not enough motivation to approach this domain of death. Their purpose lies in something more noble.

Therefore, the knights of this age sacrifice all the skills, talents, qualities, and efforts they have honed throughout their lives for just one thing.

The greater cause.

They raise their weapons solely for that.

It is not an art honed to kill enemies. It is to protect. Just as always, for the greater cause.

Hence, in this age, any knight order has their emblem as a shield.

Above the galloping cavalry, the emblems on the shields flow like a shadow.

*

– Kwaaaang—!!

In the first charge, a spear flew by brushing against a shoulder, and a sword thrust precisely into the gap in the armor. Crunch, the armor shattered and bit into the blade.

In the segmented time, as the fluttering standard drifts and the soldiers’ shouts and horn calls dim, within this moment.

In the limits of nerve acceleration, in the time only granted to knights.

– Kaan—!!

Two cavalry exchanged blows, and behind them, one cavalry rushed in to stab a spear. The spear shattered and bounced, as one knight collapsed, spitting blood.

From the moment the moment arrived, the movements of the cavalry sharply halted. It meant they had stepped outside the domain of extraordinary beings. The knight became enshrined in this slowly flowing time, disappearing under the hooves of horses.

It is a silent battlefield.

– Kaan—!!

The sound of blades clashing is slower than the actual exchange. The time in which human vocal cords vibrate and produce sound is not within their domain. Therefore, from immediately after the clash, their struggle plunges into silence.

Blades ricochet. Meanwhile, the cavalry spear crudely thrusts in. The shattering armor is plainly visible…

Another person becomes enshrined in time, falling behind.

Dozens of exchanges of blades and hundreds of clashes bloom in an instant, then fade away.

*

“Waaaah—!!!”

To the soldiers, that fleeting moment appears as a single clash.

At the moment the two groups of cavalry passed each other, the wedge-like cavalry charged at each other’s teeth in that instant.

In the time perceived by the soldiers, the two masses of cavalry that merely brushed past seem to splatter and scatter instantaneously.

The battle of extraordinary beings, spanning hundreds of years when combined with individual training, ended. The epic forged over years of training ignited in a single moment.

The fallen knights vanished beneath the hooves, amidst the dust.

The emblem of the shield they held was driven into the battlefield.

The victorious cavalry reversed its lead and turned its body. The command post, having confirmed the fluttering standard above, chose to retreat before the soldiers.

Cavalry is the flower of the battlefield. Thus, when the flower is plucked, war becomes nothing short of slaughter.

The 2nd Legion of Bellacria was crushed. The holy war of the Albina front came to an end.

This was the result of months of struggle, weeks of schemes, and days of standoffs. Once again recalling, in war, battles are concluded in that one final moment.

“Rest in peace.”

From the high command, the saint drew a sign of the cross while shedding tears.

*

“This is… war….”

Isabelle murmured as she swallowed her dry saliva. The only war she had experienced was the siege of Tylesse.

The siege of Tylesse was merely times of barely enduring amidst overwhelming adversity. That, too, had reversed only after Krasilov’s intervention.

So, witnessing a clash taking place under adequately prepared conditions, it could be said that she was experiencing a war led by knights commanding cavalry for the first time.

“Keep your eyes on this.”

Ivan said, watching the scattered soldiers of Bellacria.

“If the Hero Party fails, all of their sacrifices will end up being wasted.”

It is said that over 50,000 soldiers died in a year to maintain the front and divert attention until the Hero Party could assassinate the Demon King. Exact statistics are impossible, but they can be roughly estimated at that number.

Thus, the Hero Party is not allowed to fail. Their failure would shame the deaths of all the others.

Hence, in that time, the Hero Party had to look up at the sky while pushing through the Demon Realm. To bear all that burden and pressure, they had to take steps to find hope amidst despair.

The young heroes of today are no different. Being unprepared is not an excuse. It is not about what one can do, but what one must do. That is all there is.

And that cannot be an exception for Ivan either.

Even if these young heroes are not yet prepared and potentially fail, they must still take their place in doing what must be done.

Yes, it is rather good. I have already prepared sufficiently. Perhaps I have been preparing for this throughout my entire life.

His long-held position has been ‘Reserve Force.’ Therefore, he can make no excuses for being unprepared in any situation. That would be an embarrassing thing in front of his long-gone comrades whom he can never meet again.

*

As a result of the defeat on this day, the 1st Legion of Bellacria began to withdraw its forces. The legion that had advanced towards Equitania through Elthros began to deploy at the Albina border.

Unlike this clash, which was almost a surprise attack, it took the form of a full-scale war.

As the tensions at the border reached a peak, the emblem of the Papal Enclave appeared at the Bellacria military camp.