Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 147

“Aegis, the shield of God, eh? It had better live up to its name.”

“It will, Father. Don’t worry.”

Logan tried to calm his father’s worry with a confident smile, but Patrick’s face remained serious.

“You, Ronian, your fiancée, and even Viktor—all of you are too important to lose in this battle. If the worst happens, even if it’s just you…”

“That will never happen, Father.”

Patrick forced a smile at Logan’s determined face, which stopped him from finishing his sentence.

“…Yes. It must not.”

“We also have the fortress, built to make the best use of our knights’ abilities. We spent a lot of money and created it quickly.”

“Yes, and squeezed the people dry. Your reputation comes before you.”

“It was unavoidable…”

“I’m joking, lad.”

Logan thought it was a terrible joke, but he didn’t say it out loud.

They had done their best, but they knew they might not win this battle.

This was a situation where only kind words would help.

“In any case, the role of the knights is as important as the fortress itself. They must deal with the knights jumping onto the walls as quickly and well as possible. And if a very powerful enemy appears, as I said…”

“Yes, yes. I remember it clearly. You can stop now. But can you really do it?”

“I can. When have I ever said I could do something I couldn’t? And I’ve already shown you.”

“Yes, you have.”

Patrick’s face brightened slightly as he remembered what Logan had shown him a few days before.

He felt his own worry and gave another smile that made fun of himself.

‘Am I getting old? Why do I keep feeling so anxious?’

He tried to be brave and forced himself to smile.

A familiar voice, soft but firm, spoke from beside him.

“Even without that, Lord Logan has fought off very powerful enemies several times. Have faith, Lord.”

“Daughter-in-law… Ah, Duchess. No, Lady Aileen. Ahem.”

“Call me whatever you like, Lord.”

Patrick tried to be strong again at Aileen’s smile. She wore beautiful armor and held a bluish, unusually bright sword.

‘I can’t show weakness in front of my daughter-in-law. No, of course not. I must live to see my grandchildren.’

Patrick wore a gentle smile, as if he had overcome his worry.

Of course, Logan and Aileen would have looked serious again if they had known what he was really thinking.

‘Yes, even if the worst happens, if I can just save these children…’

At that moment, another person, who was thinking like Patrick, spoke up.

“Sister-in-law. How can I not worry? Brother, are you really going to be alright? Facing a very powerful enemy alone…”

Ronian’s face was not happy.

He understood Aileen’s excitement, since she had recently received the Four Cores of the Divine Sword Secret Arts and the artifact-level 4, Frigus, but he thought she was too confident.

Logan patted his younger brother on the shoulder.

“Trust your brother. Unless it’s Juan Douglas or Duke Jordan himself, I can at least hold out.”

Even if he couldn’t, he would find a way to endure.

“And Clayton is here too.”

As if he knew they were talking about him, the serious-looking middle-aged mage standing some distance away looked at Logan and nodded.

Of course, he also looked worried, but that was understandable.

Logan and Clayton were key to winning this battle.

It was important that Logan and Clayton could fight off powerful enemies. This was needed for the defense to work.

Logan’s face gradually became serious at the thought.

“Enemy!”

His face became even stiffer at the shout from outside.

“I see McLaine Castle… No, that’s not McLaine Castle. I see another castle!”

The First Prince’s command responded quickly to the scout’s report.

“A castle without gates… An earthen fortress. It’s huge for an earthen fortress, but it doesn’t seem to have been built long ago.”

Wiken Kalia carefully looked at the distant earthen fortress and told what he saw to Juan Douglas, who stood to his right.

Even though he was a Transcendent who was better at using his powers than at fighting, his eyesight as an Aura User was much better than the mage’s, so he gave his report before being asked.

However, his superior, who had been distant since the Battle of Harun Castle, didn’t clearly show his feelings.

“Should we think it was built for this battle?”

“Impossible. I only found out after Your Excellency gave the order. It’s impossible to build even an earthen fortress in two weeks.”

“True. If he had been preparing long before, he would be a prophet.”

“If he were a prophet, he wouldn’t have done something this crazy.”

The two very powerful enemies thought at the same time about the arrogant young man with red eyes and red hair.

They weren’t thinking about the lord of the land they were about to conquer, but just his son.

“Haha. He’s a crazy man with real courage. Those who will be the first to be dealt with, no matter who wins, are digging their own graves. I just thought he was crazy.”

“It’s not just madness, Your Excellency. What he’s done has important consequences. If we hadn’t had people watching the Sword Master, we wouldn’t have noticed. We must think about the possibility of other plans.”

Juan Douglas frowned at Wiken Kalia’s words.

History had shown that no trick could beat overwhelming power.

Once his tricks were revealed, McLaine’s fate was sealed.

But even so, he still felt uneasy.

“Certainly, the damage they’ve caused in the past month is much greater than the damage we’ve suffered in the past six months. Both us and Jordan’s side. It’s strange that their participation has only caused serious damage to both groups.”

“Are you saying?”

“Those who were always a problem for us have dug their own graves, so we must bury them properly. Carefully.”

“I understand.”

“But we must capture him before Jordan’s group does.”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll be watching.”

Juan Douglas left without giving any specific instructions.

Wiken Kalia, looking puzzled as he watched him leave, gave orders to the entire army instead.

Soon after, the Second Prince’s army, stationed a short distance away from their camp, also began to move in a similar way.

And soon after that, the allied forces of the groups began to move towards the earthen fortress built less than a week ago, Aegis.

“All troops, prepare for battle! Drive out the invaders and defend our home!!”

The faces of the soldiers and militia turned red as Logan’s loud voice echoed throughout the earthen fortress.

It felt as if the deep worry that had been making their hearts tremble was turning into fighting spirit.

The commoners were probably caught up in the excitement of the battlefield, but the knights, who were sensitive to changes in their bodies as Force Users, all turned their heads towards Logan.

‘The blood flow is stabilizing slightly, but the circulation is accelerating.’

A knight leaned closer, his eyes wide. “Did the Grand Duke use some kind of magic thing?” he whispered to his friend. “I’ve never seen anything like it before!”

People knew the Grand Duke could do amazing things. So, when they saw this, they quickly stopped asking questions and started to admire him.

Maybe it wasn’t strong magic. But even if he could just make the soldiers feel a little braver, that would help them win.

The knights all started thinking the same thing, like they always did when the Grand Duke did something amazing.

One knight punched the air. “That’s our Grand Duke for you!”

He pumped his fist, shouting louder so everyone could hear.

“Come on, move faster! Let’s show those invaders what we’re made of!”

The regular soldiers didn’t understand what had happened. But the knights, who now knew for sure how amazing their leader was, cheered and told the soldiers to fight harder.

Among the cheering knights was Viktor. He was about to close his helmet, but he looked over at the mages. They were waiting inside the castle walls. He looked especially at his younger brother, who stood at the very back.

Clayton saw Viktor looking and mouthed the words, very slowly: ‘Don’t. Worry. About. Me.’

Viktor saw his brother’s silent message. He just sighed and looked away. He couldn’t help but worry.

“How can I not worry?” Viktor thought. “Clayton is here too, in danger.”

But this time, Viktor had a job to do that would help him protect Clayton. His leader had given him important orders.

Viktor stood in front of Liberatio, a strong castle. His job was to guard a small fort inside the castle walls where the mages were. His eyes, one red and one blue, seemed to glow as he stared straight ahead, his face set and determined.

“I won’t let anyone past this point,” Viktor thought fiercely. He had to protect Clayton, and everyone else here.

“Slowly now! Aim east! But watch out – enemies could come back this way any second!”

The woman’s voice was loud, even on the noisy battlefield. The soldiers, who were volunteers, were surprised to hear her and many turned to look.

Then she shouted, even louder, “Stop looking at me! Look at the enemy! If I see anyone looking again, there will be trouble!”

They quickly turned back around when they heard the female knight’s sharp shout. It happened again and again – soldiers would look, then quickly turn back when she yelled.

One soldier muttered, “A woman?” Another whispered, “Wow, she’s really beautiful…” A third asked his friend, “Who is that?”

These volunteer soldiers were mostly young men. So, it was hard for them to stop looking at the female knight right away.

Even though they quickly looked away because the knight and Aileen were watching them, they kept talking about her quietly. Aileen frowned when she heard them.

Aileen thought, “Even so…” She was known in McLaine Castle and the town nearby. But these volunteer soldiers came from all over. Many of them were still staring at her, curious.

A woman knight who was also going to marry the Grand Duke? This had never happened before.

Aileen’s place in the McLaine Knights was strange.

She was the youngest knight. But because she was going to marry the Grand Duke, the Knight Commander and the head of the McLaine family couldn’t just ignore her or treat her like any other young knight.

Luckily, Aileen didn’t use her special position to get special treatment. She trained harder than all the other knights, staying late to practice and pushing herself to her limits. And in battles, she showed everyone how skilled she was.

Just then, the knight next to her shouted, “She’s going to be the Grand Duke’s wife! I don’t want to hear anyone say anything bad about her!”

The knight shouted this out loud. Right away, the volunteer soldiers changed their tune.

One soldier said, surprised, “Wait, she’s going to marry the Grand Duke?” Another quickly added, “Oh, right! We won’t say anything bad then.” A third one, trying to sound brave, called out, “Okay, everyone! Let’s protect her! For the Grand Duke!”

Aileen knew they were reacting to the McLaine name, to Logan, not really to her. But she didn’t mind.

It was just that they called her ‘future Lady of the House,’ not ‘knight.’ That small difference bothered her, just a little.

If talking about her made the battlefield feel less scary, then it was fine with her.

Aileen was one of the youngest of the three top McLaine Knights. She was a very strong knight, even though she wasn’t the highest rank. She was so good, she could even fight against the Knight Commander himself.

And right now, she was in charge of defending the north wall of this fort, called Aegis. It was made of earth and stone.

Sir Henderson started to say, “You should be protecting…” But Aileen cut him off. “Sir Henderson, just let them talk,” she said.

“Yes?” Henderson asked, confused. “But…”

“It’s okay if talking about me helps them feel less nervous,” Aileen explained.

Aileen looked at him seriously. Henderson saw it in her eyes and just nodded.

“…Yes, I understand.”

“And… I should tell you something else. Just in case something bad happens, I might need to go to the east wall. So, you should be ready to take charge here, okay?”

It was a strange thing for her to say – almost like she was saying she might not follow orders. But Henderson, the big knight, just smiled and thumped his chest with his fist.

“Of course, go ahead. Don’t worry about us, Aileen.”

They all looked towards the east wall. There, stood Logan, the young man with red eyes and red hair, his face set. He was ready to face the huge enemy army first.

Everyone knew Logan was the strongest of them all. But the enemies coming were not just ordinary people – they were like powerful monsters. Even Logan’s strength might not be enough.

Aileen had told everyone else to trust Logan. But inside, she was more worried than anyone.

“If it happens again…” Aileen’s mind flashed back to the last battle. She could still see it clearly – Logan, suddenly coughing, blood pouring from his mouth, then falling to the ground, unconscious.

It felt like her heart was sinking.

She never wanted to feel that helpless feeling again.

If it happened again this time, she wouldn’t just stand there and watch like a fool. Not again.

Even if she wasn’t as strong as Logan, her sword, Frigus, was powerful. It could at least give him a chance to win.

“This time, I’ll protect him, no matter what!”

The hilt of the sword, which was supposed to convey a cool, refreshing sensation, was burning hot.

“All troops, advance!”

“Waaah!”

Looking out, they saw the enemy army – a huge mass of 40,000 soldiers. Just seeing them made your chest tight and your breath catch in your throat.

But Logan stood on the castle wall, looking down at them. His face was hard, unmoving. He showed no fear.

The enemy army was huge, but what they couldn’t see was that Logan had almost ten thousand soldiers waiting on their side, hidden behind the walls.

“Prepare to fire everything!”

“Ready!”

“Fire!”

With that single word, the soldiers all released their arrows at the same time.

The mages’ stone giants started throwing rocks. The rocks glowed redder and redder as they flew through the air.

This was it. The war for McLaine had truly begun. Everything would change now.