Chapter 166: The Battlefield Ignites

The Maite Kingdom army split into three and invaded Malexia.

Each tribe had its own distinct characteristics.

Among them, the largest—Atid, Teas, and Bifs—naturally stood out the most.

“We’ll take Hamira.”

“I’m with you.”

Atid and Teas headed toward Hamira County.

“Then I suppose I’ll head for the traitor tribe.”

Those whom Maite called traitors.

It meant the Yound Barony.

Originally, Yound had been one of the great tribes.

Back when Maite was called the Four Great Tribes instead of three.

The Yound tribe lost power and was pushed back.

They absorbed Malexia’s ways instead of Maite’s.

They adopted the knight system, divided territory by bloodline rather than strength, created a hierarchy, and joined under the banner of Malexia.

The declining Yound tribe survived thanks to that.

In the early days, Malexia wanted land, and Yound’s territory was more abundant than that of other tribes.

Yound, facing possible extinction due to its waning power, received Malexia’s protection.

It was a perfect deal.

Only for each other.

From Maite’s perspective, it was betrayal.

A betrayal unforgotten through generations.

Among the Maite tribes, some hated Yound’s Baron more than Hamira’s Count.

So when they said they were going after Yound—

“This should be quite fun.”

“Kkeulkkeul.”

The Bifs specialized in using sinister shamanism to hide themselves and ambush enemies.

They prided themselves on toying with and killing their opponents until the very moment of death.

That was their way of flaunting their power.

For such a Bifs tribe, Yound was bound to be a very tempting prey.

The direction of the attack was decided.

“Since the routes are divided…”

“All that’s left is the harvest.”

“Let’s go.”

It was only natural for the three to split.

The battle was fierce.

Although they were three tribes, the elite forces of Maite were mobilizing.

The scale had grown beyond what the Malexia Royal Palace had initially imagined.

Fortunately, Yound’s response was quick.

Even though they had betrayed, the connection still remained.

Thanks to Yound’s wealth, planting spies in the Maite Kingdom army was easy.

“Ambush! Ambush!”

Thanks to prior preparations, they quickly detected the Bifs tribe’s infiltration, which specialized in sneak attacks.

“Block them!”

Since they were prepared, stopping them wasn’t difficult.

They used pre-prepared defensive formations to hold the enemy back.

Knowing the Bifs enjoyed ambushes, they cleared the surrounding terrain to prevent them.

“Kkeok!”

On top of that, they dug pitfalls in places where tribe members might hide.

They completely nullified their specialty—ambushes.

“Damn traitors. You’re well prepared. Fall back for now.”

The defense was perfect.

Even the Bifs chieftain, who had charged in with full momentum, had no choice but to retreat.

He could only wet his dry lips with his tongue in frustration.

The first battle was a great victory.

But the Yound Baron’s face would not relax.

Generations ago, the House of Yound had been incorporated into the Malexia Kingdom.

At first, it was good—they fit together.

But now?

Although they held land worthy of a count, their rank was low.

In the beginning, they were viscounts, but they had been suppressed at every opportunity, and it had been a long time since they fell to baron.

Being looked down on as barbarians—that they could endure.

But the real problem was what followed.

Since it was difficult to grant them a higher rank, it was naturally hard for them to govern the entire territory.

Far from supporting them, the Malexia Royal Palace showed clear intentions to reduce the Yound territory in one way or another.

Even now—

“Father, are you just going to let this slide? They’ve sold us out.”

“Ahem.”

The Yound Baron knew the truth.

When the Royal Faction’s nobles moved, the three tribes began to move.

Wasn’t it obvious?

For political reasons, they had set Maite in motion.

The damage was being borne by them, branded traitors through generations.

It was damage that always occurred.

Even as Viscount Yound, he understood why his eldest son felt wronged.

They had come to avoid bloodshed, yet they always stood where blood was shed.

That was Yound’s reality.

“You must make a decision. If this is how it’s going to be, it’d be better to rejoin Maite.”

“Silence!”

He wanted to go back.

If he had known it would come to this, it would have been better to act under the title of chieftain rather than the hollow title of baron.

Even if they suffered near-extinction damage, Yound had its own unique strength.

With that strength, they would only suffer temporary damage—given the chance, they could become strong again.

‘All Maite kingdom citizens are like that.’

It was thanks to the unique nature of the Maite kingdom citizens.

But they had no choice.

“Even if we go to them, they have no reason to spare us. To them, we are traitors.”

“Isn’t there the method of a Grand Duel?”

“…”

A Grand Duel.

When opinions clashed, a way to silence the opponent through force.

Since they were divided into tribes, tribal duels were common.

But duels couldn’t kill everyone.

The Grand Duel was established for such times.

As long as the cause and intention aligned, a Grand Duel could be held anytime.

But for traitors—

“The first issue is whether they will acknowledge and accept us.”

“Tradition is tradition. If we do it right…”

“We are the exception. Rather, they might fight the kingdom’s knights. They won’t do that for us.”

“Ha…”

This method was not allowed for Yound.

“They will never acknowledge it. So there is no way.”

“…I will find one.”

“Do as you please. If you can…”

Knowing it would ultimately spill blood, the Viscount Yound could only endure.

‘Ancestors, this is the price of a single wrong choice made long ago, carried down through generations.’

There was no other way.

Srrng.

Just as his ancestors had, he had no choice but to draw his sword again.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we all slit their throats today?”

Having people who followed him was at least some comfort.

“Advance again!”

Tribesmen specializing in stealth, bloodshed, and ambush moved swiftly.

The Bifs, masters of ambush—

“Release!”

Wae-ek!

“Kkeok!”

While the Yound Baron countered them by using their own specialty against them, Hamira’s Count faced difficulties.

The three great tribes themselves were at least on the level of a count in scale.

Due to the nature of the Maite kingdom people, any adult was considered a warrior.

That meant soldiers.

And they did not distinguish between men and women.

And those two had come in alliance.

Though defense was easier than offense—

“Kkeok!”

Against a sudden surprise attack, even they had no answer.

If it were small fortresses, losing a few wouldn’t matter.

After all, Hamira County had many fortresses built to wear down the enemy’s formation.

Hamira, with Ilin to the west and Maite to the south, had many enemies.

Though battles with monsters were few, battles with humans were frequent.

They tried to hold on using that experience—

“Retreat. This place can no longer be held.”

Unlike Yound, which had prepared in advance, Hamira County had one fortress fall in an instant.

But the fortress that fell this time was large.

It was the center among the front-line fortresses.

Maite pushed forward in an instant, crushing it without giving any time to block.

Naturally, chaos erupted in Hamira County.

‘This is different from usual.’

The scale was completely unlike before.

He had heard from the Royal Court beforehand.

He had expected an invasion of a certain scale.

He had even planned to lose a few fortresses.

He was confident he could extract sufficient compensation.

But losing Fortress Timeld was a heavy blow.

“What’s the plan!?”

“The only option is to pull the knight order from the west…”

“Ilin is also moving. With this incident, both kingdoms might target this place.”

“Then… we have no choice but to request reinforcements from the Royal Palace.”

“Hah.”

This was completely unexpected.

‘What do I do.’

The kingdom’s army wouldn’t move immediately.

Even if they could move, they would be quite slow.

They were always like that.

‘How long will it take?’

The Count of Hamira knew scheming was happening in the Royal Palace.

He had agreed to pay a price for that, but if the damage exceeded the price, the price became useless.

He had to endure against an enemy stronger than expected, and the situation was unfavorable.

It was a crisis.

The Count racked his brain.

Just like back in the old days, when he drove out his younger brother.

“Send letters to the Noble Faction.”

“Will they answer?”

“First, send them. Tell them if this place falls, they’re next.”

“…Understood!”

“Remion!”

“Yes!”

“You come with me. We need to summon Luberson. Also, the Itun unit.”

“Both of them?”

Knight Remion was surprised at the Count’s words.

Luberson was the one who had once pointed a sword at Viscount Hamira.

During the succession war for the count title, he had been on the opposite side of Count Hamira.

His sword was quite powerful, and he had stepped up in every crisis of the House of Hamira.

Itun was a special unit created for war.

They were former criminals—forces used in exchange for reduced sentences.

This unit, bound together by mana fetters, possessed a surprisingly threatening power.

Moving both of them at once meant the Count saw this incident as serious.

‘What other cards can I move?’

Though his personal martial arts were formidable, Count Hamira knew how to use strategy.

His method was to manipulate the battlefield like playing chess, using the cards he had.

He used that method, enhanced by the family’s inherited power, to orchestrate the battlefield.

“Hmm.”

Count Hamira gathered enough battlefield information to endure.

‘…Gulp.’

The future sketched by the information he gathered was quite dark.

Nevertheless, he could not retreat.

To him, his county was everything he had.

He had to find a breakthrough even in the darkening future.

That was his duty as a count.

“I suppose I must go out as well.”

“You could be in danger.”

“There is no other way. I need to buy time. And… hmm. That—yes, it can be done later. For now, let’s go.”

“…I obey.”

“And you…”

Count Hamira began to unwind the cards he had and throw them onto the battlefield.

Even so—

“Kuaaagh!”

“Kkeok!”

The battlefield continued to be pushed back.

About a quarter of Hamira County had fallen to the Maite Kingdom army.

Fortresses burned, and their attached special farmlands had long been plundered.

Yet, what did Count Hamira read and see?

“…Rally again.”

He only silently orchestrated the battlefield.

And elsewhere.

In a place now cooling, unlike the blood-boiling battlefield, there was another orchestration.

“Shall we begin now?”

“Will it be alright?”

“It has to be. Come, let’s do this.”

Grrrrr—