Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 95

The drums throbbed, a deep, resonant sound.

I immediately turned my horse around.

I had ordered them to attack as soon as I finished my speech.

Behind me, the soldiers kicked up sand as they began their march.

“The formation is too ordinary.”

Pashimea tilted her head, observing the army’s deployment from the platform built to survey the battlefield.

“Formation is meaningless.”

I chuckled lightly, re-examining the deployment.

Cavalry on the left and right flanks, with archers, artillery, and infantry in the center.

No crescent shape or anything fancy, just a simple line.

“The speed of victory on the right flank will determine the outcome of the battle.”

“The right flank? Where Gerhard is stationed?”

I raised my right hand and pointed to the enemy’s left flank cavalry.

That group faced my right flank cavalry. They numbered at least five times as many, and the front row carried symbols of Horbid larger than a man.

“Those fellows carrying the large symbols. Do you see them?”

“They look quite strong. I believe they were knights sent by the Theocracy.”

The Golden Wolf Knights, the Iron Knights, the Holy Hoffen Knights.

I listed their names and continued.

“All of them are blessed by Horbid.”

“The ones who turn into wolves?”

“It’s different. They haven’t been recognized for their deep faith. They are born between Horbid’s descendants and humans. Only half, but recognized as Horbid’s descendants, and thus blessed.”

“Hybrids of humans and wolves…”

Pashimea’s mouth fell open.

“They see humans as livestock, right? Didn’t they say wolves see humans as prey? How could this happen?”

“It was created out of necessity. To manage Tiamar’s seal [a magical barrier] and the human world more easily. They needed a more reliable and powerful card.”

The Theocracy ruled the human world with faith.

But faith alone cannot rule the world.

What if someone with power rebelled against the Theocracy?

“They were the ones who killed the King of Wallachia, who rebelled against the Theocracy long ago, and changed the dynasty. When faith alone cannot solve the problem, they step in.”

“…Come to think of it, their helmets all stick out like bird beaks.”

“Because they are not entirely human.”

I know the appearance hidden inside that armor.

A bizarre form that is neither wolf nor human.

“They always cover their entire bodies in armor to hide their true form, and they are a pathetic bunch who cannot leave the Theocracy without permission.”

“If you told me to live like that, I would have turned everything upside down.”

Pashimea shuddered, making a disgusted sound.

“They are the only ones who can threaten us in this battle. The reason I called you here is to deal with them.”

“In other words, there are no other enemies besides them?”

“That’s right. There are no other enemies besides them.”

【Lv. 55】

【Lv. 59】

【Lv. 58】

【Lv. 54】

【Lv. 61】

【Lv. 51】

I stroked my chin, looking at the levels of the knights.

If they were human, they would be worthy of a king or a great lord.

It’s fortunate, if you can call it that.

The number of knights was only about a hundred.

“Consider this battle a prelude. After this, our opponents will shift from humans to other races.”

From now on, we will have to face stronger enemies than these, more numerous enemies than these.

Caw—

I raised my head at the crow’s cry. Several birds that weren’t there before in the clear sky. The Assembly [a group of powerful beings], watching my battle from the heavens.

Thump— Thump—

The battle began with the sound of drums.

The opening was cut by both sides of archers.

As the infantry advanced slowly, step by step, both sides of archers came forward quickly and drew their bowstrings.

They were the only ones within range of each other, so they were the only ones hit by arrows.

Thousands of arrows crossed, piercing each other’s enemies.

“Aaaagh!”

“Keep shooting!”

After the initial volley, the archers haphazardly loaded arrows onto their bowstrings and fired at the enemy.

Since there were so many of them anyway.

Even if they shot randomly, someone would get hit.

Bang—!

A thunderous explosion erupted just after the sixth arrow was fired.

Behind the archers, a little further back, the artillery composed of conscripts from the Oroko Plains lined up bronze cannons and fired cannonballs.

Bang! Bang! Kaboom!

The cannons, with a longer range than arrows, flew over the heads of the enemy archers and struck the slowly advancing infantry.

“Ugh, that’s a direct hit.”

Pashimea frowned.

The bronze cannons she made were stone throwers.

Cannons that fired stones, rounded by stonemasons, as projectiles.

Because the stones used as cannonballs were carved by human hands, their shapes were inconsistent, their weights varied, and they were often fired with cracks in the stone, resulting in extremely poor accuracy.

However, once they fell among the dense infantry, hell was unleashed.

“Gasp!”

Thud, with a sound, the soldier who was directly hit flew backward, and the soldiers lined up behind him also collapsed like dominoes.

Needless to say, their condition after being hit by the mass of the cannonball.

Moreover, since the cannonball was a stone, fragments scattered in all directions as the stone broke upon impact.

Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Indeed, the word hell was appropriate.

“Ma, magic…?”

The reaction of those who experienced the shelling was consistent.

Is it magic, call the mages, they don’t feel any magical power, and so on.

Even though it was an ambiguous experimental cannon, neither for siege nor for field use, it was terrifying to pour out the firepower from 20 cannons at a dense target.

“Edar-nim.”

At the same time as Calliope called me, the archers retreated. The infantry was passing the artillery and closing the distance with the enemy infantry.

The initial battle was over, and the real battle was about to begin.

“Pashimea. Join the right flank cavalry with Calliope.”

“Both of us? Then what about you? Who will protect you?”

When I pointed to Scathach standing next to me with my eyes, she put a cigarette in her mouth and winked at Pashimea.

“Have a good trip.”

“…”

Pashimea frowned slightly. She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but clicked her tongue and followed Calliope onto the saddle.

“You, protect him well.”

“What’s the point of a familiar [a magically bonded companion] if it doesn’t protect its master?”

As Calliope and Pashimea, two familiars, joined the right flank cavalry, the cavalry on the left and right flanks gradually increased their speed.

The left flank was a cavalry force of 2,500 knights mixed with an absolute majority of knights and a small number of familiars, and the right flank was a cavalry force of only about 300 in total.

However, it goes without saying that all the cavalry on the right flank were familiars, and among those familiars were Calliope, Pashimea, Gerhard, and Nuadir.

Almost the same scale as when hunting Vlad in Sodomora.

Drrrrr——

On the other hand, the enemy cavalry on both flanks approaching from the front were a large army of over 8,000 in total.

Of course, not all of them were heavy cavalry.

In addition to the knights dispatched from the Theocracy and the knights of Germania, it was a formation that mixed those who could fight on horseback, such as light cavalry made up of mercenaries.

The reason for mixing them up was probably because they had the same idea as me.

“Pushing through with strength against strength… What a truly ignorant fight.”

Scathach scoffed with her arms crossed.

“That’s the situation. The cards the enemy holds are superior in every way. That is, if they don’t know that you familiars are among the cards I hold.”

If they don’t know about the existence of familiars, there is nothing I overwhelm them in. The troop ratio is 1.5 times different, and the number and quality of knights are much more different than that.

Moreover, the enemy’s left flank colliding with my right flank is 5,000, isn’t it?

From the perspective of the Germania Kingdom army, rather than using clumsy tactics with a mixed army, they would rather crush me with overwhelming force and boast of their achievements, that’s it.

“300 versus 5,000, huh.”

Scathach sucked on her cigarette and exhaled a long stream of smoke.

“A line and a surface, that’s exactly the feeling.”

As she said.

The shape of my right flank cavalry and the enemy’s left flank was exactly like that.

The dust kicked up as the horses ran followed behind, and the shape seemed to make a line with my right flank cavalry, and the enemy’s left flank seemed to make a heavy rectangle.

“…”

I pressed my throbbing temples, reading their thoughts.

Drrr, trembling ground and shaking vision, rough shouts.

Scenes that could not be seen from the platform and sounds that could not be heard.

The five senses of the familiars belonging to the right flank cavalry were connected to me.

“Maintain formation! Don’t act alone!”

Gerhard shouted at the head of the right flank cavalry.

He spurred his reins and ran at full speed.

The familiars followed behind, increasing their speed.

“Prepare for impact!”

Gerhard shouted again, seeing the approaching enemy in front.

The ends of the enemy’s left flank increased their speed and moved forward.

As if a giant mouth was swallowing my right flank cavalry.

“Faster! Dig in deeper!”

And the familiars dug into the enemy’s mouth in a triangular formation.

“Long live the Emperor!”

At that moment, two wings collided.

Olphus Battle (2)

It would be like this if a pebble smaller than a fist collided with a watermelon.

At the moment when 300 cavalry collided with 5,000 cavalry,

At that moment when they should have been enveloped and disappeared by 5,000 people,

The scene I looked down on from the platform was the sight of 300 familiars breaking through 5,000 cavalry and advancing.

“For the sake of His Majesty the Emperor!”

One of the four familiars at the head of my right flank cavalry.

Gerhard’s cry echoed to the platform.

Gerhard swung his long spear, turning the enemy cavalry charging at him with a lance into minced meat along with the lance, and broke through.

He turned the three cavalrymen who blocked his path into pieces of meat with one swing, and moved forward with increased speed without any deceleration.

“Forward! Forward!”

If a pebble breaks through a watermelon, what would you see first?

It would be the red contents.

What would happen if you whipped a row of raw eggs?

The result of her wielding magic like a whip was just like that.

The long-reaching magic burst the line of enemies in front of her.

“That witch…!”

Two cavalrymen, taking advantage of the gap when she waved her hand, charged from behind.

Their faces were filled with certainty that they had found an opening.

The distance between her and them was very close.

They would stab her heart before she could even turn around.

Clack!

But she didn’t even look back.

She simply raised her other hand and snapped her thumb and middle finger together.

At the same moment as the sound of her fingers snapping, the two men’s bodies exploded.

Crack!

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.

“Damn it.”

She frowned and spat out a curse.

Because the burst flesh and blood splattered on her, soaking her body.

“Ugh… Ugh…!”

The enemies retreated, faltering.

They couldn’t dare to face Gerhard and Pasimea, so they desperately glared around, trying to find another opponent.

But could the other familiars be any less formidable than those two?

Thwack!

“Cough!”

Nuadil wielded his greatsword, rampaging back and forth.

His appearance today was the complete opposite of his usual self.

His equipment wasn’t the dagger he usually favored, but a huge greatsword. Instead of hiding his presence and ambushing the enemy’s unguarded moments, he exploded his presence and charged into the midst of the enemy.

“What monstrous strength…!”

He deeply embedded the sword in a cavalryman’s chest, lifted him up, and swung with all his might.

The cavalryman’s corpse collided with another light cavalryman next to him, the blade cutting through the corpse and even slicing two more cavalrymen beside him before coming out.

“That old man is more barbaric than he looks.”

Skadi clicked her tongue at the sight.

An ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to lift that crude greatsword, let alone swing a sword deeply embedded in a chest to pull it out, or even imagine using that pulled-out sword to cut down several other opponents.

Boom—!

However, even the prowess of the three familiars paled in comparison to her.

‘Calliope.’

She was as overwhelming as ever.

With a single swing, she destroyed everything in that place.

If Gerhard killed a dozen knights with three or four swings, she cut down more with a single slash.

“Hiiiik!”

Her unrestrained prowess was like that.

An overwhelming power that didn’t even allow the will to fight to arise.

A power that didn’t even allow one to strategize to win.

Only Others could face her.

Among humans, there was no one who dared to face her.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

“Monsters! These monster bastards!”

The left flank collapsed, and those fleeing surged.

And at this point, the spectators who had been far away moved.

“They’re finally moving.”

Skadi narrowed her eyes.

Originally, the group at the vanguard of the enemy’s left flank cavalry.

But from the moment both cavalry forces charged, they had moved to the left and right, watching the battle between the familiars and the left flank.

It was the 교국의 세 기사단 [Three Knight Orders of the Church].

“Rally! The wolves are coming!”

The familiars, while slaughtering the enemy’s left flank, had been watching the knights’ movements.

As the knights began to move, Gerhard led the charge.

The distance between the familiars and the knights was far enough to attempt a charge, so they formed a triangular formation behind him and began their third charge.

“My father, Horbidis!”

About a hundred knights spurred their horses and called upon the god.

They must have been aiming for when the familiars were damaged or fatigued.

But such shallow intentions wouldn’t work on the familiars.

Rather, it was like abandoning the left flank meaninglessly.

“Shower the rain of grace upon our faith!”

Light gathered on the bodies of the knights running towards the familiars.

A light so intense that it was blinding even under the sun.

The light was power, and the knights’ levels changed.

【Lv. 58】

【Lv. 62】

【Lv. 61】

【Lv. 57】

【Lv. 64】

【Lv. 54】

Hybrids born between the descendants of Horbidis and humans.

Already like kings of individual nations, they became even stronger.

It was a temporary strength due to the blessing, but the battle would end before the imbued power disappeared, so there would be enough time.

“Behold!”

Also, one person among them.

Cardinal Rolant of Germania.

He was indeed worthy of being a cardinal.

– Horbidis dwells within me!

The mirage that formed behind him.

The mirage was proof that Horbidis himself was staying by his side.

【Lv. 88】

The blessing he received was close to the power that Archbishop Gottlob had received.

Because he was a human with high faith and talent enough to become a cardinal.

Without the help of a jewel containing Horbidis’s soul or thousands of souls, he purely reproduced the power of a false god with his own vessel.

Of course, that was also a very temporary phenomenon.

Whirr—

I saw his soul burning.

Without the aid of a jewel containing Horbidis’s soul or thousands of souls, he was trying to contain the power of a false god with his own abilities, so he had to consume his soul as a price.

He had sacrificed his own soul.

No matter how this fight ends, he will never remain in this world.

Crack!

Even his appearance was different from those previously blessed.

It wasn’t a wolf-like form like the descendants of Horbidis.

The snout didn’t protrude,

Horns of a sheep grew on his temples,

And bat wings spread, tearing his back skin.

“Horbidis is finished too.”

This was evidence that Horbidis had fallen.

Horbidis had submitted to Tiamar, and that had affected even the followers who received the wolf’s blessing, appearing in a corrupted form.

– Behold the greatness of God!

The power that dwelled within him was not of the god he believed in.

He became a monster, rejoicing without knowing the truth.

Thump, thump, thump!

The cardinal, who had become a monster and could no longer ride a horse, ran on his own feet, shaking the ground.

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Behold the wrath of the wolf!”

The familiars and the knights collided.

The collision was different from the previous two.

The knights were ahead in individual prowess.

As both sides collided, many familiars were pierced, torn, and sent flying.

A similar sight to what the enemy’s left flank had shown in the first collision.

“Don’t stop, keep running!”

But the familiars were different from them.

Even if their individual prowess was weak, their spirit was not.

“Several against one!”

“The enemy is weaker than the bloodline! Don’t be afraid!”

They charged without even flinching at the death of their comrades.

The 교국의 기사 [Knights of the Church] was certainly stronger than the familiars, but not so overwhelmingly that they could kill several familiars in one blow, so if they caught one, there would definitely be an opening.

That gap was what the familiars were aiming for.

Stab!

“Ugh!”

The familiar stabbed by the spear gritted his teeth.

With wide eyes, he looked at the spear that had pierced his chest,

Squeeze!

He grabbed the spear with all his might.

“Y, you bastard!”

The knight desperately pulled his arm, but the spear didn’t come out easily.

That became his weakness, and familiars surged from all directions.

“Keuheok!”

The axe cut the knight’s shoulder, the sword cut his neck, and the spear pierced his back, all of these attacks happening simultaneously.

The knight was no different from a beast being hunted.

“The wounded to the back! The rest forward!”

This was the difference between the familiars and the knights.

The familiars had the coordination and strength to break through the numerical disadvantage, but the knights’ coordination couldn’t overcome the numerical disadvantage, and their strength wasn’t enough to face several opponents.

– Kuaaaaak!

Was that all?

Among the familiars, there were even those who overwhelmed the entire knight order.

– You heretic!

At the moment when the familiars and the knights collided, Calliope cut off the arm that the cardinal was swinging in one stroke from the front.

The severed arm foamed and quickly grew back, but it was meaningless.

Unlike Archbishop Gottlob, there were no sacrifices to revive him several times, and even if there were, there were plenty of opponents who could kill him several times.

He was just an easy prey.

“Too much chatter.”

Pasimea stretched out her right hand forward, clenched it tightly, and pulled it back sharply.

Magic entangled the cardinal’s body and knocked him down.

Thump!

– This thing!

The cardinal floundered on the ground.

Like a fish caught in a net.

He thrashed to shake off the magic.

“Quite big for a fish.”

Nuadil climbed onto the back of such a cardinal.

The sword held in reverse aimed at the cardinal’s neck.

– Get out of here! Do you know what you’re doing, you bastard!

Nuadil didn’t answer.

He simply twisted the corners of his wrinkled face and sneered.

Stab!

– Keo··· eok···!

The blade pierced the cardinal’s neck.

The cardinal, who had reached back to grab Nuadil.

The cardinal retracted his outstretched hand, grabbed his neck, and breathed roughly.

Foam bubbled up on the neck where the sword was embedded.

It was Horbidis’s blessing that was healing the wound.

Sizzle!

However, before the wound could heal, Nuadil swung his arm.

A beat late, the cardinal’s head rolled to the ground.

————————————

Mountain Old Man

Nuadil

Lv. 82 -> Lv. 83

Grade: A

————————————

The battle on my right and left flanks ended with that.

The knights had only been pushed back by the familiars since the first collision.

When even the familiars who had captured the cardinal joined the offensive, they became like fallen leaves.

“Form ranks! Last charge!”

The familiars began their fourth charge.

Now they had only one opponent left.

“Strike the enemy center! For His Majesty the Emperor!”

“For my father!”

The center was in a tense tug-of-war.

The royal army was launching an offensive with its superior numbers, but I had instructed the central infantry to defend and retreat without accepting the offensive.

There was no change other than the front line retreating a few steps.

“Gather! We will join too!”

Here, the left flank cavalry also happened to crush the enemy’s right flank.

Because it was an enemy purely composed of humans without the 교국의 [Church’s] intervention.

The 서드렛’s [Seodeuret’s] knights and the familiars led by Rachel crushed them.

And when they joined the right flank cavalry, their number was about 2,000.

“W, what···! Why are there enemies?”

“Where is our cavalry!”

“Annihilated? Annihilated···?”

Infantry in the front, cavalry in the rear.

What could the surrounded enemy central infantry do?

“Surrender! Surrender!”

A hundred thousand troops surrendered to an enemy nearly half their size.

The citizens who had been watching the battle from the walls as if it were a festival.

They screamed and hurriedly locked the gates.

Boom—! Bang! Bang!

However, as 20 cannons struck the walls, they quickly opened the gates.

From the beginning, they had no intention of fighting to the death.

They had only locked the gates in a panic.

When given even greater fear, they had no choice but to open the gates.

“Bring the prisoners.”

King Christian of Germania was dragged in, bound with ropes.

“Lead the way.”

He deeply bowed his face, soaked in humiliation, and passed through the gates.

I headed to the palace with the familiars following behind.