Chapter 128: The Last Wedge

The scheme Ident had set in motion wasn’t merely about persuading the Viscount.

“Strike!”

Crunch-

He didn’t skimp on support for the knights and soldiers under the Viscount’s command either.

Reliable armaments for the soldiers. Famous swords bestowed upon the knights. Countless pieces of equipment were poured into the Viscount’s House.

One of the Crows even expressed concern about such support from Ident.

“These swords could later be turned against us.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve only supplied weapons, not people. And compared to the armaments in our territory now, this level is trivial.”

“That may be so, but……”

“Don’t worry too much. Our territory is stronger than you think. So, provide support decisively.”

But Ident firmly dispelled such worries.

‘I must do as the Young Master said. If I can spare people by merely spending money, he said to pour in as much money as it takes.’

Just as Rayrn had said.

Ident executed the scheme very diligently. The result was the current situation.

Whoosh.

“Gahk. H-how!”

The soldiers of the Viscount’s House fought desperately. In the eyes of those moving with their lives on the line, something beyond killing intent was present.

A sense of duty.

“If I die, my family will live.”

“Kekeke. Didn’t you notice from the start that you have few soldiers for a Viscount’s House? Only those who are going to die remain. Only the ones who will die.” The Hausen Viscount was no greenhorn. He was a noble who had been rolling around battlefields since birth.

He pulled back the soldiers who wanted to live to the rear.

Those at the front were those who had survived wars, maneuvering alongside him. They were also those who were willing to die.

In exchange for their deaths…

-My family will live.

-More gloriously than anyone.

…the families they left behind would survive.

They gained the hope of living a better life in a more comfortable place.

It would have been nice if they could stay together until the end, but the price for their family’s survival was their own lives.

“Let’s go!”

“Sir!”

There was no distinction between noble, knight, or soldier.

Those here were individuals who had chosen a deal under the name of the Hausen Viscount and the House Ofern behind him.

No, even before the deal, they were individuals with deep loyalty to the Hausen Viscount. That’s why they could charge toward certain death.

Kwaaaaang!

Clad in thick armor all over their bodies.

“Kill!”

They did not back down from the killing intent of the Jisert soldiers. They charged out.

Whoosh-

Even in death, they did not meet their end alone. They chose to die together. And sometimes…

“Kikiki. For the Marquis’s House! No, for the Hausen Viscount! And for my family…….”

“S-scrolls!”

Kwaaaaaaang!

…they took countless companions with them at the cost of their own lives.

Even a cornered rat will bite a cat.

How much more so for humans? Those who had tempered their bodies on battlefields, staking their lives.

No matter how powerful Duke Jisert was, they fought so desperately that he couldn’t easily break through.

Duke Jisert had no choice but to bring out what he had been holding in reserve.

“The Servants?”

“Still insufficient. They cannot distinguish friend from foe in their current state.”

“It doesn’t matter. There are only enemies ahead. Send them.”

Servants.

A monstrous creation based on Duke Jisert’s power to move the earth and the ‘strength’ he had secretly gathered. An unfinished, yet a significant hidden weapon of considerable destructive power, which the Jisert House now unsheathed.

‘It’s beyond expectations, isn’t it?’

The desperate struggle of the Hausen Viscountcy was that intense. Even Jisert had to acknowledge it!

“W-what is that?!”

Crunch-crunch-crunch-

The Servants, swallowing the surrounding earth to move their bodies, began to move.

Covered in mounds of dirt all over, they showed swift movements while being enveloped in earth.

Whoosh- Kwaaang!

They flung the mounds of dirt wrapped around them like armor. The thrown dirt mounds exploded around them like mana-infused bombs!

“Kraaaaahk!”

“Kehk!”

No matter how desperately they fought, the difference in combat power was overwhelming.

It was useless.

Even for the Hausen Viscount, who was gathering and moving his remaining vassals, the power was dizzying. If it weren’t for the Servants moving and the Jisert soldiers no longer advancing, it would have been total devastation.

“……Damn Jisert. He’s made another monster. But it seems unfinished for now.”

“Even so, the damage to us will be considerable. I think this is as far as we go.”

“Kulkul. Those bastards made quite a lot while we were sitting idly by.”

“Perhaps we were complacent.”

“That might be so.”

The Hausen Viscount felt a bit regretful.

While he remained satisfied staying within the Hausen Viscountcy, countless things had changed.

The Count of Ophern’s House, which had seemed weak, had soared.

The Jisert Duke’s Household, which had seemed dormant, was creating more change than anyone. The Servants before his eyes were likely just one of the many changes they had wrought.

‘Maybe the times have changed.’

Having failed to keep pace with the changing times, all that remained was regression.

Even so.

“If we don’t leave a big mark on our way to death, the name Hausen would become a joke, wouldn’t it?”

“Preparations are complete.”

Even if they were behind the times, even if their strength was utterly lacking, they had no intention of fading away meaninglessly.

Clank, clank.

Hausen and his vassals. All of them, named the Ironclad Knight Order, tightened the armor binding them once more.

It was their own ritual.

When staking their lives, they would tighten their armor hard so that the armor, like their limbs, could stay with them until the very end.

Gooooooo-

Soon, they would meet a perfect death. No one retreated.

“Let’s go.”

There was a Master of the House moving with them. It was the Hausen Viscount.

Kwaang. Kwang.

The power contained in each of the Viscount’s steps moved them.

‘Ident. You must remember clearly that my life is expensive. Kulkul. Shall we go?’

In an instant!

The movements of the Viscount and the Knight Order accelerated as if sped up!

“They’re coming!”

“Block them! Block!”

The previously chaotic movements of the Viscount’s forces transformed into a wedge formation. At the very tip of that wedge was the Viscount. The Viscount…

“Perfect for dying. Kulk, use it!”

Whoooosh!

…drew upon a tremendous power to explode everything in that final moment.

The technique passed down from Ident was, indeed, as they had anticipated.

The vigor of their youthful days. A power even stronger than that vigor began to momentarily surge through the bodies of the Viscount and the Ironclad Knight Order.

‘Interesting, this is interesting.’

Whooosh.

As they inhaled, power several times greater took hold in their bodies.

The mana throughout their bodies surged ceaselessly, boosting their strength. The price was death, but it was a power more certain than anything.

“Let’s go!”

“Nom!”

Kwaaaaang!

Duke Jisert, blocking the wedge, fortified his power and stood his ground.

The Duke Jisert, who had seemed like an iron wall, showed a gap at this very moment! A very small gap, but!

‘We can break through. Kulk.’

The moment he saw the gap, the Viscount became a ravenous anglerfish, prepared to tear the gap apart.

“You old man! How dare you!”

Crrrrrunch-

The iron wall and the wedge collided.

That day.

The battle that had begun upon waking up only started to conclude at dawn the next day.

“Kulruk. Kulk…… We held out quite a while, didn’t we.”

The Hausen Viscount showed resilience beyond expectations.

The knight order under his command was the same.

Burning like firewood doused in oil, each one displayed monstrous strength, much like the Viscount who had inherited ogre blood.

The soldiers exploded, taking two or three with them.

The knights killed dozens before extinguishing their own lives.

Only after the setting sun rose again did the battle end.

Countless traces of destruction. Only corpses remained.

In the very center of it all, Duke Jisert stood. Standing as he was, he surveyed the surroundings, gauging the damage.

“……Hmm.”

Anger was mixed in his sunken eyes.

It was merely a Viscountcy.

He had never imagined that to gain one Viscountcy, he would suffer this much countless damage.

‘It’s painful.’

More than half of the thirty Servants, painstakingly created, were destroyed. The remaining Servants were also half-crushed, unable to perform at full capacity.

The damage to the soldiers was also severe.

“The soldiers?”

“Three thousand have died.”

Although he had hastily moved south with twenty thousand troops, they were all elite soldiers. Three thousand of them dead. The wounded would be even more.

‘We’ve been held back.’

It wasn’t a fatal level of damage.

The Servants were part of the new power he had recently acquired. That power, obtained during experiments, held limitless potential. It wasn’t for nothing that Black Mages were strong. It was thanks to that power.

The soldiers were the same.

The Giseot Fief was vast. Even if he hadn’t reclaimed the old lands, he had many people.

Ophern, Owen, Jisert. Among the three, the strongest had always been Jisert.

So, it wasn’t a problem. But.

“How long will the next reinforcements take?”

“It will take at least a month. These soldiers were also brought here under duress.”

“……Sigh. It can’t be helped.”

Even Jisert was not a god. He needed time. If he pushed recklessly, the damage would only accumulate further.

“Establish a base here.”

“Yes!”

Even Jisert had no choice but to stop to catch his breath.

‘I won’t just take this lying down.’

Even while stopping, Duke Jisert did not forget revenge.

He had no intention of forgiving the Hausen House, which had fought beyond his expectations.

“And…… Don’t forget, wipe them out. I’ll give you two knight orders.”

“The entire Viscount’s House, you mean?”

“Yes. All of them, territory and family alike.”

“…… Yes, sir!”

Some time later.

The remaining forces of the Hausen Viscountcy were completely swept away by the Jisert House.

It was the fall of the Hausen Viscountcy, which had long guarded the borders of the Marquis Owen’s House. Few among those claiming to be successors in the Owen Marquisate paid any attention to that fall.

Instead, there was a place watching.

The Count of Ophern’s House. The Count of Ophern moved fiercely, not wasting a single second of the time bought by Hausen.

Thud!

As a result, countless elite soldiers, including the Count, succeeded in moving south without a sound or rumor.

“Hmm…… Thanks to you buying time, we’ve been able to move on this side as well.”

“It would have been impossible without your permission, Count. Shall we advance now?”

“Even if not completely, shouldn’t we seize a certain degree?”

“I will guide the way forward.”

“Good! Let’s go!”

The Count of Ophern, who had long honed his family, now more earnestly thrust his sword into the Marquis’s House.

The current move was essentially pointing a sword not just at the Marquis’s House, but at the Duke’s House as well. Yet, the Count of Ophern showed not an ounce of regret or retreat.

‘I will succeed. For this father to make the House Ofern shine even brighter for the next generation.’

There was only a serious gaze, solidifying his resolve.

While the Count of Ophern began to move in earnest…

“It’s complete!”

…Rayrn was also stepping into his next phase of movement.