Right-wing cavalry legion.
“General Ulji Bator…!”
A deputy riding hard alongside his commander shouted over the thundering hooves.
“Truly astonishing…!”
He couldn’t help it. The sight of the right-wing cavalry legion beginning to maneuver behind them was, in its own way, beautiful.
Tramp-tramp-tramp-tramp!
Clip-clop-clip-clop-clip-clop!
“To suppress that level of chaos so rapidly…!”
General Ulji Bator had quelled the massive disturbance caused by Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon’s Life-Severing with brutal efficiency.
“Truly fitting for someone hailed as a renowned general—!”
“Enough!”
However…
Far from looking satisfied, General Ulji Bator’s expression was grim to the point of ugliness.
“Where is the scouting report?!” he shouted, twisting in the saddle.
“H-Here! It just arrived!”
A scout on a foaming horse caught up and delivered his report in a rush.
“General! The enemy is currently engaging our left-wing cavalry legion…!”
“Did they come down?! Or did our forces go up?!”
“Excuse me? What do you mean—?!”
“Why can’t you understand a simple question?!”
The deputy cut the scout off on Ulji Bator’s behalf, voice cracking like a whip.
“Did the enemy come down from the cliff to attack the left wing, or did the left wing charge up to attack the enemy?!”
That distinction was everything. They were sweeping wide around the cliff to form a ring, and a single wrong assumption could turn a maneuver into a mass burial.
“Ah…!” The scout answered hurriedly. “It appears the enemy came down from their position and attacked our left-wing cavalry legion…!”
“Tch…!” The deputy clicked his tongue. “Did they leverage that bizarre miracle from earlier to launch a preemptive strike…!”
He glanced up at the sky, where the pitch-black scar still lingered like a wound that refused to clot.
“Damn it…”
Then he snapped back to the scout.
“What about our forces?! How are our ambushed forces responding?!”
At that—
“Th-That is…!” The scout couldn’t hide his bewilderment. “Too many of our forces are stretched out along a narrowing uphill path, so detailed information beyond that is…”
“What about their chain of command?!” the deputy barked. “Did the left wing manage to revive it?!”
The scout couldn’t lift his head.
“I-I apologize…!”
It wasn’t incompetence. The left wing alone was ten thousand cavalrymen, and this was the chaotic aftermath of their central command structure being obliterated by a single strike. It simply wasn’t an environment where clean, detailed information could flow.
“Damn it! Damn it…!” The deputy hurled curses at the scout. “You failed to find out the most important piece of information! Every single one of you will be flogged after this battle—!”
“Enough…!”
General Ulji Bator, who had been listening in silence, raised a hand to stop him.
“Even if the left wing’s central command collapsed from that strike, there are still excellent field commanders over there, including deputies like Gantuga.”
Indeed. The man who had assumed the role of Temporary Commander was Gantuga.
“Given the overwhelming numerical advantage over the enemy, the Temporary Commander must be using the Death Squad or similar units to buy time while they reorganize.”
Ulji Bator was deducing the battle as if he were watching it from above.
“Ah, I see…!”
The deputy’s admiration flared, then immediately became eagerness.
“How about we lay down covering fire to support them?!”
He pointed toward the cliff.
“We’re in a position where firing over it is entirely possible—!”
“Impossible!”
Ulji Bator rejected it flatly.
“The enemy numbers are small, and our forces must currently be mixed in with them due to the charge. Indiscriminate firing will only shred our own men and crush the morale of the allies who are trying to regain order.”
“T-Then what should we do…?!”
Ulji Bator didn’t answer right away. He gripped the reins tightly and stared at the cliff, eyes hardening.
Over there, right now, a fierce battle is raging between the Grand Young Master’s forces and the left-wing cavalry legion.
A way for us to cross that cliff…
If I select only elite warriors, it’s possible.
But that would mean stripping the right wing of its core strength with my own hands.
If our elites cross the cliff and hit the Grand Young Master’s rear, and the left wing pushes up during that opening… then the enemy is pinned from both sides, compressed until they crack.
But—
What if it fails?
What if the deputies on the left fail to establish a temporary chain of command?
What if they fail to reorganize, and the pincer never forms?
Then every warrior I commit dies for nothing.
And the result would be the same as losing half the right wing’s combat power.
All those doubts collapsed into one question.
Is this a situation where I should gamble that much?
A moment later, Ulji Bator decided.
“The scouting party is to thoroughly verify the battle situation once again!”
“Yes, General!”
This was not a moment for gambling.
“Keep riding!” Ulji Bator commanded. “We will circle the cliff as planned and join the left wing to provide direct support!”
***
[Reporting to my lord.]
Atop the cliff, a report reached Elder Yeom, Sword Pinnacle Crushes the Mountain.
[The enemy’s right-wing cavalry legion appears intent on continuing their wide circle around the cliff. They show no signs of laying down additional fire.]
[…Understood.]
Elder Yeom still couldn’t quite swallow it, so he confirmed through telepathy.
[Is there any movement suggesting they might mobilize elite warriors to cross the cliff?]
[None.]
[Are you certain?]
[I am certain.]
Elder Yeom scratched his head.
[…Understood. Continue observing them.]
[Loyalty.]
Turning away from the cliff, Elder Yeom shrugged.
“…I did wonder why my lord didn’t give any specific orders regarding our rear.”
Perfection. The person that word suited best was undoubtedly Elder Yeom’s lord, Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.
I checked just to be safe, but… was there really no need to even entertain the doubt?
“Ahem.”
Feeling faintly awkward, Elder Yeom rubbed the tip of his nose.
Does that mean my lord knew from the beginning there was no need to guard our rear?
His admiration inevitably led to the same question it always did.
But how on earth…?
Right then.
“My lord!”
A messenger from the War Advisory Group ran up to Elder Yeom and shouted, “The Sword Forest has crushed the enemy’s Death Squad!”
The infamy of the Northern Bators, the Death Squad, was high, but this wasn’t the Dread King’s full Death Squad. It was the Death Squad of the left-wing cavalry legion. Expecting them to stop the Sword Forest had been wishful thinking from the start.
“Excellent.”
As Elder Yeom nodded, the messenger continued in a hurry.
“And as the engagement with the Death Squad ended—”
Elder Yeom cut him off.
“The rest of the enemy finished reorganizing while the Death Squad bought time, correct?”
“Y-You are exactly right…!”
He wasn’t the Grand Young Master, but predicting that sequence was routine for someone of Elder Yeom’s caliber.
“Then, your orders…”
“Not yet.” Elder Yeom shook his head.
“Excuse me? But…” The messenger couldn’t hide his concern. “My lord, even if it’s the Sword Forest, charging into a fully reorganized enemy will inevitably cause casualties.”
It was a remarkably sharp assessment for a messenger, yet Elder Yeom wasn’t surprised. The man was War Advisory Group, and every one of them was a specialist.
“In the battle just now, was there any report regarding the actions of my lord, the Grand Young Master?”
The messenger blinked, startled.
“Now that you mention it…?”
Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had definitely initiated the charge at the very front.
“But after that…” The messenger searched his memory. “It looked like he was overtaken by the Deputy Head of the Sword Forest, and then…” His face tightened with bewilderment. “At some point, I completely lost sight of the Grand Young Master.”
“As expected.” Elder Yeom gave an exaggerated shrug. “If that’s the case, as I said before, it isn’t our turn yet.”
***
The rear of the left-wing cavalry legion.
“Urgent report! Urgent report!”
A messenger arrived on horseback, yanking hard on the reins and shouting.
“Our Death Squad has been annihilated!”
That information could only travel this quickly because the left wing had managed to reorganize. Without the Death Squad’s sacrificial stalling, no messenger would have found a gap to slip through the densely tangled troops.
“Damn it…!”
“Someone go report this to the top!”
“I’ll go!”
One of the warriors acting as Temporary Commander Gantuga’s impromptu bodyguard cursed and shoved his way inside.
“Commander! Commander Gantuga!”
The hastily assembled temporary command center still looked unsettled and chaotic.
“Move! I have an urgent report!”
He forced his way through the crowd until he finally spotted Gantuga.
“Commander…!”
“What is it?”
The warrior blurted it out.
“They say all the Death Squad bastards have been wiped out!”
“Hmmm…” Temporary Commander Gantuga groaned. “That’s faster than expected. We need to evaluate the Sword Forest’s group combat capability higher than we did…”
Then, mid-thought, he asked the messenger with a calmness that didn’t match the words.
“By the way, why did you let the messenger behind you follow you all the way in here?”
“Excuse me…?”
The messenger behind him?
The warrior turned around, dumbfounded.
He never got to answer.
SPLAT!
His head flew off and shattered like a dropped watermelon.
“……!”
“……!”
For a heartbeat, the entire command center froze, minds refusing to accept what their eyes had just been forced to swallow.
Then the “messenger” spoke, voice smooth and almost amused.
“Why do you think?”
Taking advantage of the chaos, the “messenger” continued in the Central Plains tongue.
“Because I’m not a messenger, that’s why.”
Someone quick on the uptake screamed.
“An a-assassin…!”
SPLAT!
His head exploded a heartbeat later.
“An assassin? That’s a bit hurtful.”
The figure removed the bamboo hat hiding his face and smiled.
“I may not look it, but I’m actually a commander, you know?”
Recognizing him, Temporary Commander Gantuga’s face flushed with absolute horror.
“G-Grand Young Master?!”