Chapter 106
However, Count Conrad, who had quickly steadied his resolve, slowly raised his hand, watching for the opportunity to signal the spearmen to attack.
The spearmen, who had been caught off guard by the sudden situation, hastily gathered their wits upon seeing his gesture. They aimed at the dust-filled area nearby, preparing for a long-range assault, ready to respond to Count Conrad’s command at any moment.
The soldiers at the forefront of Phaelon’s forces stared intently at the approaching dust cloud, stirring up a fierce presence without letting their guard down. They gripped their weapons tightly, pouring strength into their hands.
“Kigik. Keu, keuk.”
“Kiik. Kikik. Kik.”
It was a short while later that the beastly cries, resembling human mockery, began to echo. A slight unrest stirred among the soldiers at the sound of this eerie, unfamiliar howl.
“Ki, kigik.”
Some, unable to bear the tension, wiped the sweat beads from their necks and foreheads with the hands clutching their weapons. It was at that very moment. Something leaped out from the thick veil of dust.
“Kieeeek!”
“Euaaaaak!”
The ferocious beast’s roar was immediately followed by a soldier’s desperate scream.
“Eueok! Aak!”
“Kiik!”
“Aaaak! S-save me, eueok……!”
The commotion that began this way spread out simultaneously in all directions.
“Kigik.”
“Kiiiik!”
Beasts charging into the middle of the battlefield……. And moreover, they were unidentified monsters, no matter how you rubbed your eyes.
Their form, with four legs yet walking on two, vaguely resembled a red wolf, but they were smaller in build. Overall, their torsos and limbs were slender.
Because of that, their movements were far more agile than a red wolf’s. Soldiers who couldn’t keep up with that swift motion easily fell victim to the assaults, starting to throw down their weapons one by one as they struggled to peel off the beasts clinging tightly to their faces.
Even if there was room to resist, that would have been fortunate. There were also soldiers who could only wail helplessly as the beasts’ claws embedded into their eyeballs, unable to do anything.
Faced with this unexpected attack, Phaelon’s army crumbled defenselessly. They couldn’t regain their composure at all.
Count Conrad hurriedly issued the attack order to the spearmen. As if they had been waiting, the long spears drew smooth parabolas through the air as they flew.
Most of the spears, after reaching their peak and falling, struck the empty ground or were blocked by the enemy’s shields.
Of course, there were spears that luckily pierced through the beasts’ bodies. But did that become the key to resolving this dire situation? Absolutely not.
Soldiers who had narrowly escaped being torn apart by the beasts, instead of picking up their swords to fight, flailed desperately to escape this hellish scene right away. In most cases, they ended up being attacked by the beasts again.
Count Conrad gritted his teeth and prepared the spearmen once more. This time, the archers joined them. But the overturned tide of battle showed no signs of returning to normal.
From that point on, the eyes of the Taran Kingdom soldiers, who had been powerless before Phaelon’s army, began to change. While Phaelon’s soldiers were tied down by the monsters, the Taran Kingdom’s cavalry started swinging their weapons, beheading them one by one.
The knights of House Conrad ran about in all directions, exerting every effort to prevent any more of their allies’ heads from falling.
But it was all in vain. Blocking the disorganized monster attacks and the emboldened enemy assaults simultaneously was impossible. They were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
“If you want to live, don’t run—pick up your swords!”
“Don’t give up!”
“At least raise your shields to protect yourselves!”
The knights, unable to stand by any longer, shouted vehemently at the soldiers sprawled weakly on the ground, but it was useless. Their voices were drowned out by the beasts’ howls and the soldiers’ wails echoing everywhere, buried into the earth.
The hope flickering precariously like a candle in the wind faded from everyone’s eyes. It was around the time when a profound sense of defeat was rendering Phaelon’s army even more powerless.
Tadak! Tadak! Tadak! The intense sound of horse hooves thundered like a storm.
One of Phaelon’s soldiers, who had closed his eyes sensing death, looked ahead. At that instant, chwaak! A viscous liquid splashed onto his face.
“……!”
The startled soldier fumbled at his own face. He wondered if he had been cut without pain. He instinctively knew this was how he would die.
But what stained his hand was a bizarre, bright blue blood. Hesitantly lowering his gaze, he saw the monster’s corpse, neatly bisected, rolling at his feet.
“Haha…….”
A breath-like laugh formed involuntarily on the soldier’s lips. He jerked his head up and turned his gaze toward his savior.
Hundreds of armors emblazoned with the emblem symbolizing the Phaelon Empire were already advancing far ahead. The path they had passed was devastated, as if swept by a typhoon.
“I’m alive……. I’m alive…….”
I can return home alive……!
In an instant, pure white joy filled the soldier’s face. The candle that had been flickering weakly reignited, burning fiercely once more. Miraculous hope flowed like melting wax, pooling hotly over his chest.
* * *
[Just moments ago, arrows from the Taran Kingdom crossed the border. We will hold and protect Phaelon while awaiting your arrival.]
This was the content of the missive sent by Count Conrad through a messenger. Instead of a plea to hurry, the paper bore a resolute will to endure until their arrival. He knew that this would stir people’s hearts even more.
Gathered together, Ian and the heads of the three families checked Count Conrad’s letter. Without exchanging words, as if by prior agreement, they swiftly began attending to their respective tasks.
Ian composed a letter to send to the rear guard. Including instructions on what to do, it ended up longer than Count Conrad’s missive.
In the meantime, Dominic, Count Matterson, and Kalian selected only the immediately necessary troops from their houses and prepared to move. The entire preparation took less than half an hour.
‘Then, we’ll depart first. I entrust the rear to you, Your Highness.’
As the overall commander, Dominic left the movement of the remaining forces to Ian. Ian couldn’t understand why Angela was included among the troops being dispatched immediately to the battlefield, but since it wasn’t a situation for arguments, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
‘If anything happens to Angela, know that I won’t let it slide.’
Still, he couldn’t just let it go, so he secretly grabbed Kalian and issued a warning.
‘Protect her properly.’
Even though she possessed extraordinary power, Angela was still just Angela to him. Kalian, who shared the same thoughts, gazed steadily at Ian before replying firmly.
‘Of course.’
After that resolute answer, he mounted his horse.
Riding with ferocious momentum as if pursued by relentless chasers, when they arrived at the battlefield, the Phaelon Imperial Army was being pushed back in utter disarray.
Fortunately, the border hadn’t been seized yet, but it seemed only a matter of time. Few soldiers remained conscious and alert.
Into that pandemonium, Dominic led his forces without hesitation, plunging straight in. Kalian did the same. Beneath his helmet, his dark eyes swept the battlefield with an intensity that made his usual self unimaginable.
Count Matterson, too, furrowed his brow slightly upon spotting the rampaging beasts, but this time he followed without objection.
Neither Duke Bilton nor Count Florence paused in their advance, and amid it all, the only one who halted, staring as if counting the creatures, was Duke Bilton’s daughter—someone utterly untrustworthy, yet Phaelon’s defeat was even more unthinkable.
“Raise your swords!”
Only when the armies of the three houses joined did the voices of the Conrad house knights finally reach the soldiers’ ears.
It was also thanks to the beasts, which had clung to faces like brain-devouring parasites, baring sharp teeth, now beginning to drop off one by one, lifeless.
They hadn’t been slashed by swords or pierced by spears, yet they were dying so feebly—no one knew why.
But delving into reasons could wait; survival came first. The soldiers retrieved their discarded swords from the ground and gripped them tightly.
* * *
“Retreat!”
At last, the welcome shout burst from the enemy commander’s lips—the sound signaling victory in the first battle.
“All forces, retreat!”
As the Taran Kingdom’s army fled in utter disarray, Phaelon’s military band began to blare their trumpets.
Despite the lively melody, the surviving soldiers wept in relief instead of cheering, the surge of solace rising from deep within their chests.
Yet the knights from each house, who had played pivotal roles in securing this victory, wore expressionless faces. Work remained.
It was the task of recovering the bodies.
At least give the wives who lost husbands, the children who lost fathers, the parents who lost sons a chance to confirm the end and hold a proper funeral.
They planned to recover and return the Taran Kingdom soldiers’ bodies without discrimination. That was the bare minimum of decency to uphold on this brutal battlefield.
“You arrived at just the right moment. We nearly faced disaster. Thank you.”
While such grim sorting proceeded outside, Count Conrad, returning to the makeshift quarters, formally greeted the heads of the other houses.
“You held firm in a dire situation.”
The praise came from Dominic’s lips.
“I know it was lacking.”
Count Conrad, who had staunchly opposed his own deployment, bowed deeply, concealing his true feelings, then raised his head.
“Don’t say that. It was more than enough.”
Kalian defended Count Conrad, as if dismissing excessive humility. Just as Count Conrad opened his mouth to express gratitude—
“But what on earth were those things earlier?”
Count Matterson interjected abruptly. He disliked the sight of them consoling one another, but he was genuinely curious too—the identity of the beasts that had nearly annihilated Phaelon’s forces.
Yet no one could readily answer. They were all unfamiliar creatures, seen for the first time.
“They’re Pellocks.”
From behind them came a clear, resonant voice. It was Angela. Having leaned her bow and quiver against a tree stump, she approached the gathered house heads.
“Pellocks?”
Count Matterson was deeply displeased that the one with the answer was Duke Bilton’s daughter and Count Florence’s fiancée, but curiosity won out, and he echoed the name.
“They’re omnivorous beasts that inhabit only the Taran Kingdom.”
Angela explained the unknown creatures without hesitation.
“They live on sheer cliffs, so their claws have evolved into hook-like shapes for easy clinging, and once they seize prey, they never let go—that’s their hallmark.”
That’s why Phaelon’s soldiers, no matter how desperately they thrashed, couldn’t dislodge the Pellocks plastered to their heads. It would have been grueling enough, but if they’d forced one off amid excruciating pain, their facial skin would surely have been torn away, entangled in those claws.
And though she couldn’t say it aloud here, the one controlling those beasts was likely Grace. Otherwise, how could Pellocks—creatures that dwelled solely on cliffs, so rare that even Taran folk might never encounter them in a lifetime—appear here in such numbers, targeting only Phaelon’s soldiers with pinpoint precision?
“You know quite a bit.”
Despite her kindly resolving his curiosity, Count Matterson muttered indifferently.
It was a remark tossed into the air, not expecting a response.
“I have a keen interest in reading.”
Knowing this, Angela replied with a light nod nonetheless.
“You mean sharp-tongued remarks.”
Count Matterson snorted and spat out the quip. But perhaps it had slipped out unwittingly, for he immediately glanced at Dominic warily.
Angela pondered how to snap Count Matterson back to his senses—he’d directed the sullen barb at her yet cast his regretful look elsewhere.
She was just considering a petty retort about Lady Matterson. If it’s sharp tongues, isn’t that your daughter’s hobby?
At that moment.
“Count Matterson.”
Dominic’s voice flowed out first.
“This child is the heir to House Bilton.”
It was a reasonable defense.
“Mind your words.”
And a calm rebuke.
