How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 272

The biting wind swept across the great plains.

In the distance, the Red Castle, the heart of the East and now under the Flores family’s rule, stood tall and proud.

A man gazed at the Red Castle with burning eyes.

Roos Flores. Once bearing the Meyer name and serving the Lindaier family as a Wind Knight, he now stood on the brink of a battle that would determine the fate of the East.

Each breath he took formed a cloud of white vapor.

His opponents were not human. Having reveled in a festival of human blood in the lands they had passed, the monsters flaunted dark red stains dried on their jaws and chests.

Roos instinctively tightened his grip on his sword as a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself just because the Red Castle is right in front of you,” a voice said.

Roos turned to see an old knight with snow-white hair.

Graham Diaz, the sharpest sword of the royal family and one of the only two Masters [highly skilled warriors] in the kingdom.

Overwhelmed by the presence of someone he couldn’t even dare to meet eye to eye, Roos quickly lowered his head.

“Ah, I apologize.”

“Oh, there’s no need to apologize. I just mean for you to relax. Of course, it must be hard on your heart knowing your wife is in danger… But life sometimes brings days when you regret saving someone.”

Roos, initially puzzled, soon realized he was joking to ease his tension and nodded hastily.

“Ah, yes! That’s right!”

Graham chuckled at Roos’s rigid response and raised his hand in a calming gesture.

“By the way, is there still no news about Count Cain?”

At the question about Count Cain Arphel’s whereabouts, Roos fell silent.

Roos himself had no idea how things were unfolding. Cain had left, saying he was heading to the Boloom Mountains, and had not sent any news since.

In contrast, the situation was steadily worsening. The East had been devastated by monsters that had crossed the Blue Mountains and moved south.

With most of the troops sent on the southern expedition, even nobles were abandoning their castles and fleeing.

The 2nd Legion was slowly advancing north from the south, reclaiming land seized by monsters, but after a long period of war, their operational capacity was reaching its limit.

Everything was a problem, but the biggest issue was that the Legion was only dealing with monsters.

The Unholy Knight and the black-haired man had not yet appeared. Nevertheless, Roos suppressed the anxiety that had risen to his throat, given the less-than-hopeful war situation.

“Not yet… no news.”

“Marquis Halin Irphe said he held the key to this war. Surely he hasn’t given up and gone into hiding?”

“I can swear on my honor that is not the case! Absolutely not! Count Cain will be working tirelessly to do what no one else can!”

Graham smiled at Roos’s excited outburst.

“I believe so too. Let’s do what we can. First, the Red Castle. We need to secure it to establish a base and fight properly.”

With those words, Graham put his hands behind his back again and turned. His gaze was fixed on King Belintes, who stood alone on horseback at the forefront, where the Legion’s attention was focused.

Sword drawn, Belintes was screaming at the top of his lungs, his neck veins bulging, as if craving blood.

“History points to this distant moment! Just as our kingdom’s founder, King Belankas, did! We, too, as descendants who have inherited his spirit, must defeat these brutal monsters and reclaim our lost lives!”

King Belintes’s pre-battle speech continued. The soldiers of the 2nd Legion, listening to it, expressed their anger by pounding the ground with their spears or grinding their teeth as if chewing something.

And for good reason. The first thing the 2nd Legion saw upon returning to support the East was the devastation of their homeland.

The northeast had already been reduced to ashes. The endless stream of refugees and the tears of those who had lost loved ones to the brutal monsters resonated in the hearts of everyone, including Roos.

“Live! But do not return empty-handed! See with your own eyes that the price of our brothers’ and sisters’ blood has been paid with their blood! Legion, save the Red Castle!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The drums began to beat. At the same time, the wave of monsters, which had appeared as black dots, quickly came close enough to be seen with the naked eye.

Fortunately, Belintes had delivered an excellent speech at an excellent time, allowing the commanders to calm and encourage the highly excited soldiers.

“Cavalry!”

At the same time, Roos also raised his sword and shouted. Behind Roos, the heavy cavalry in formation began to prepare their lances. The metallic sound sent shivers down their spines.

The trumpet signaling the start of the battle sounded, and the nobles in command began to move their units.

Tens of thousands of soldiers moved in perfect order, as if they were a single living being. Banners were waved, and the soldiers’ rough curses toward the monsters filled the plains.

“What’s at the vanguard of the enemy?”

Roos shouted to cut through the noisy battlefield, and the heavy cavalry, relaying the signal raised by the rider in front, yelled back.

“Minotaurs at the vanguard! Followed by orcs and goblins! All in a frenzied state!”

The information from the magic stone was treated as top secret, but the command had to somehow explain the monsters affected by it to the soldiers.

The answer they came up with was to say that a plague had broken out in the north, driving the monsters mad, and they gave it the name ‘Frenzied.’

It wasn’t a bad name. The madness shown by the monsters they had encountered was something that seemed like it would only appear in nightmares.

“Then archers first! We’re next!”

At Roos’s shout, a horn blared in a strange rhythm. It was the agreed-upon signal.

The infantry, who had been waiting, spread out to the sides, and the Legion spread its wings. At the same time, the archers, who had been waiting in the back, came forward and drew their bows.

All of this took only a few minutes. It was thanks to the fact that they had been trained as elites through battles in the long-standing southern expedition.

Roos took a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly.

“Fire!”

The rough shout of the commander in charge of the archers tore through the air, and the sky turned dark. The arrows that were shot blocked the cold winter sunlight.

All the soldiers held their breath at the spectacle that they would never experience in an ordinary life.

But Roos had no time to leisurely admire the scene. He drew his sword, kicked the horse’s side, and shouted.

“Cavalry charge!”

The ground shook mercilessly. The hard hooves ruthlessly pounded the frozen winter ground. The breath exhaled by hundreds of horses created a hazy mist along the path the cavalry charged.

As he ran, Roos glanced back. The Legion, which had spread its wings, began to close them. The chaotic movement back and forth soon formed a neat barrier of giant spears.

Roos looked forward again and shouted.

“Cavalry! Crush the minotaurs!”

The cavalry, who had been scourging the battlefield with arrows, met the minotaurs.

The monster with a body the size of a house and the head of a bull charged at a cavalryman running straight at it, sending him flying with its horns. The cavalryman, his spine broken, flew through the air, scattering blood from every hole in his body, and was crushed by the hooves of the horses following behind.

It wasn’t a familiar face, but it was definitely a young man who was in a corner of Roos’s memory. He vaguely remembered him always touching a pendant before battle, saying it was a gift from his lover.

Roos swung his sword to the side and gathered mana. At the same time, two cavalrymen running ahead of him pierced the minotaur’s ankles with their lances.

Uwooo!

The minotaur, letting out a mournful cry, knelt down and raised its head. Roos, prepared, fulfilled his duty as executioner.

After shaking off the blood on his sword, Roos suddenly heard a strange cry in his ear.

A cry? No, a scream. This is a scream.

When he looked up, he saw a winged half-human, half-beast monster covering the sky. Roos gritted his teeth at the sight of its lewd upper body.

“Harpies!”

To the harpies, the cavalry running across the wide plains would be very good prey to snatch. It is difficult to fend off such nimble flying beasts with a heavy lance.

It is also difficult to expect support from the archers. There was a chance that an ally would be pierced by a stray arrow.

Originally, retreat would be the answer, but the minotaurs were still there. If the cavalry retreated as it was, those monsters would not hesitate to trample the dense allied infantry.

“Kuaaaak!”

The scream of a cavalryman being dragged into the air after being pierced by the sharp claws of a harpy grew farther and farther away, creating an eerie atmosphere.

And that was the beginning. As if picking out plump fish to eat, the harpies avoided the slow lances and snatched the cavalrymen.

“Damn it!”

It was then, as Roos was cursing at the helpless sight, that another ominous sound, covering the harpy’s cry, rang out. At the familiar sound, Roos reflexively raised his head and saw an incredible sight.

The head of a golden, giant-beaked eagle bit the harpy’s waist in half. Blood poured down like rain along with the tearing scream, but Roos did not avoid it and swung his sword, shouting.

“Yiaaaa!”

Right next to him, a harpy’s head was being crushed by a horse’s hoof.

The upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a warhorse. And familiar attire and familiar faces on top of them.

“The Sky Knights!”

At Roos’s exclamation, a thunderous roar began to erupt from behind him. It came from the infantry, who had been watching the cavalry’s desperate fight with a sad heart.

Roos, with the roar that made his heart beat faster, stretched out his raised sword again.

“Charge! The Sky Knights are with us!”

At that moment, a hippogriff plunged down in front of Roos. A dark blue aura was visible around the figure riding on it. At the familiar aura, Roos smiled and shouted.

“Ilia!”

Despite the welcoming greeting, Ilia snatched Roos’s hand and pulled him up without any particular reaction. Roos, who had been whisked onto the hippogriff, stared at Ilia with a dumbfounded expression.

“What? What’s wrong?”

At Roos’s question, Ilia shouted.

“Wind Nest is on the verge of collapse. We need to head there immediately. At least the knights!”