The Age Of Arrogance

However, Carlyle was silent. He did not take his eyes off the telescope and only held the window frame with a strong grip.

 

‘Is Your Highness also hesitating?’

 

Lionel paced anxiously, chewing on the reasons why Carlyle might be hesitant to make a decision.

 

First of all, if two armies that have never trained together are suddenly forced to fight together, there will be confusion in the command chain. In the worst case, there could be an accident where allies kill each other.

 

‘To the eyes of our knights, the Igram and the Pervaz army are the same.’

 

Moreover, Carlyle’s knights only follow Carlyle’s orders, but in the current situation, Asha should be the one in command.

 

She knows more about the enemy than Carlyle does.

 

However, there is no way that Carlyle’s knights, who have been secretly ignoring Asha, will follow her orders.

 

‘But if Countess Pervaz dies here, things will get complicated…….’

 

Lionel thought that Carlyle was struggling between practicality and righteousness, ideals and reality.

 

However, in fact, Carlyle was simply captivated by Asha’s battle scene.

 

‘This is…… really unexpected…….’

 

The sword that Asha was wielding was unfamiliar.

 

Unlike the aristocratic swordsmanship, which is full of rules about how to cut and when to thrust, it was quite instinctive and rough, but it was more efficient in killing enemies.

 

The eyes of those facing that sword must have seen her as a wild beast charging at them to bite their necks.

 

And that figure was very different to Carlyle.

 

‘The indifferent look was just a mask for courtesy. In fact, she is so indiscriminate and beast-like…….’

 

The gap was truly stimulating.

 

It was also clear that she was the one who killed the chieftain of the Lure tribe. She is that good. To be honest, she was more threatening than any opponent Carlyle had ever faced.

 

With nothing to lose, she was driven only by the resentment, anger, and bitterness that had been buried deep in her bones, so she was completely different from those who were willing to sacrifice their bodies for tomorrow.

 

‘She is also smart in tactics. It is a very dangerous method, but the strongest warrior breaks through the enemy’s front line and the 1st Army follows that path and spreads out. The scattered cavalry attacks with spears and focuses on eliminating the infantry…….’

 

The coordination of the Pervaz army was also excellent. They carried out Asha’s orders without any hesitation.

 

There was not a single person who backed away or hesitated.

 

‘How can such an army exist? It’s ridiculous.’

 

No human could do that.

 

They would be afraid, and they would cherish their own lives.

 

The army that Carlyle had always wanted but had not yet achieved was precisely that kind of army.

 

Although Carlyle’s knights are known as the ‘elite few’, in Carlyle’s eyes, Asha’s army is the true elite few.

 

‘I want to go out and fight with them.’

 

That thought came to him without him realizing it.

 

The blood of the soldiers of the Pervaz army seemed to boil at the sound of the horn, and their bodies, which had been resting for a while, were urging the excitement of the battlefield.

 

However, Asha did not ask for help.

 

Pride? No, she was not putting on her pride.

 

It was what she wanted to show.

 

‘That’s right, this is what she asked me to look at carefully.’

 

The Pervaz lords are not cowards.

 

The Pervaz army is not a rabble.

 

Pervaz is not a place to be ridiculed and insulted by you.

 

Lower those arrogant eyes.

 

‘I see, Asha Pervaz.’

 

Somehow, laughter came out.

 

I didn’t know it had been years since my heart beat like this.

 

Asha did not ask for his help, but he was so anxious that he wanted to somehow get in between.

 

It was when he adjusted the magnification of the telescope to get a wider view of the battle.

 

“Huh?”

 

Something was seen moving on Mount Cruze, located on the right side of the Kiker Plain, where the battle was in full swing.

 

It seemed that the number of Igram’s attack force was smaller than expected, and it seemed that some of them were being separated to attack from behind. And Asha was definitely unaware of it.

 

“Oh, my. There was a rear attack force.”

 

“They say they are a small tribe, but their military power is surprisingly strong.”

 

“Yes.”

 

There was a strange excitement in Carlyle’s voice.

 

Lionel realized that now was the time to propose another sortie, based on his years of experience.

 

“Your Highness! The Pervaz army does not have the capacity to stop the Igram rear attack force at this time. If the Pervaz army is defeated here, our burden will also increase!”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“It’s not that I’m looking out for Pervaz! We are just going out to fight our own battle!”

 

“Well… If you say so, I can’t help it.”

 

Carlyle finally took his body off the windowsill, showing a joyful expression. Then he grabbed the sword that Lionel seemed to have been waiting for.

 

“Our knights will eliminate the rat pups. Prepare for the sortie!”

 

“Yes!”

 

Lionel answered briefly and ran out immediately before Carlyle could say anything else.

 

“Now, let’s go help my wife clean up.”

 

Carlyle headed to the battlefield as if he was going out to play.

 

***

 

“Ahhh!”

 

“What the hell! The Pervaz bastards still have arrows left!”

 

Asha smirked as she heard the surprised screams of the Igram tribe.

 

As expected, the Igram tribe attacked without knowing that Pervaz was receiving massive supplies from Carlyle.

 

‘That’s why they only brought a thousand or so soldiers.’

 

Of course, the size of the army guarding Pervaz was also small. The long war had greatly reduced the population, especially the number of men available for conscription.

 

But they were all one man in a hundred.

 

Is it any wonder that the humans who have survived so far are ordinary?

 

“Warriors!”

 

Asha raised her sword forward, confident of victory.

 

“Charge!”

 

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

 

The warriors of Pervaz responded with a mighty roar and fearlessly began to charge. Asha also charged on horseback, maintaining the lead.

 

It was like the madness that had been dormant since the day she beheaded Rakumsha had awakened.

 

Her head was filled with heat and she felt like her whole body would move as she wanted it to. Even though it was noisy all around her, she could only hear the sounds of the targets she was concentrating on, and she blocked the flying blades before she could even see them.

 

It felt like every cell in her body was alive and kicking.

 

“What the hell is this woman?!”

 

An Igram general who had come close to her exclaimed, his eyes wide. His lustful expression was simply ridiculous.

 

“Rakmusha said the same thing and died.”

 

Asha laughed happily and swung her sword.

 

Opponents who realized she was a woman were easy prey. This is because they are secretly surprised and hesitate to wield their swords. And Asha did not show the slightest consideration for their confusion.

 

“Ugh!”

 

The man, who was unable to even let out a proper scream, covered his cleanly cut throat with his hands and opened his eyes wide, but soon fell to the ground under his horse.

 

‘Next!’

 

An Igram soldier, who witnessed the general being killed by a woman’s sword, rushed forward with a roar.

 

Asha blocked the attack of the soldier who was wielding a crude axe at her with her shield and quickly thrust and pulled her sword into the soldier’s abdomen, which was visible under the shield.

 

When she lowered the shield that she had briefly raised, the soldier was no longer there.

 

‘Next!’

 

Asha waited for the next victim to run towards her, but when she saw that everyone around her was focused on their own battles, she willingly moved to find the offering herself.

 

The Igram soldier who was about to swing his club at the Pervaz soldier collapsed, and the three soldiers who were clinging to one Pervaz warrior were beheaded without even realizing it.

 

Dozens of lives perished under Asha’s sword, which danced tirelessly.

 

“Damn it! Call the rear guard!”

 

Someone who seemed to be the leader of the Igram attack force could be heard shouting from a distance.

 

‘Rear guard?’

 

Asha felt her heated head cool down quickly.

 

According to the message from the spire, there were no additional troops visible behind the attacking force they were currently facing.

 

But that general had clearly ordered the rear guard to be called.

 

Asha’s gaze quickly scanned the surroundings.

 

Then, Hector, who was standing behind her, shouted.

 

“It’s Mount Cruze, Lord!”

 

To the right of the Kiker Plain where they were fighting, the rugged Mount Cruze lay long.

 

And at the foot of the mountain, a red flag could be seen faintly.

 

‘Are they out of their minds, thinking they can cross Mount Cruze?’

 

They hadn’t thought they would be attacked from that direction because the mountain path of Mount Cruze was narrow and dangerous. If they were caught, they would be reduced to mice in a trap.

 

‘Are they ignorant, or are they gambling?’

 

But the important thing now was that their crazy plan had worked. At this rate, they would be attacking the rear of the Pervaz army.

 

‘We’ll be at a disadvantage if we’re blocked from the front and back!’

 

They were already quite a distance from Pervaz Castle, so they couldn’t count on the help of the archers.

 

They had to stop them somehow with the soldiers they had.

 

“Decker! Don’t let those bastards get here. Take Hector, Danilo, and a hundred soldiers!”

 

“Are you crazy? If we do that, this place will collapse too! There are only about 500 soldiers left on our side!”

 

“So you want us to be surrounded here by those bastards? That’s when it’s really over! Now is the chance while those bastards haven’t all come down from Mount Cruze! If we miss this chance…!”

 

While Asha and Decker were arguing fiercely back-to-back, Hector, who was guarding the Mount Cruze side, made an ‘uh, uh’ sound and shouted.

 

“It’s reinforcements, Lord! It’s reinforcements!”

 

“What?”

 

Asha and Decker asked at the same time, as if shouting.

 

Reinforcements.

 

‘Surely, you don’t mean that all 300 men left to guard the castle have come out?’

 

That was out of the question.

 

Those 300 men had to keep the castle gates locked and guarded to the end.

 

****

 

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