Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 360

360―――――

Anyway, we won.

The seemingly unbreakable formation of the Holy Prussen began to falter.

Our allied cavalry, defeated in battle, kept retreating and eventually moved away from the battlefield, while enemy cavalry steadily approached.

On the front lines, the fierce battle gradually tilted towards Hispania, creating small but definite cracks in the central formation.

And the sight of the Celestial Race, whom the Holy Prussen soldiers believed in more strongly than anything else, being massacred by a single woman dealt a fatal blow to the already strange atmosphere.

“Don’t retreat!

Fools!

Are you going to retreat before such heretics!”

“Don’t fear death, it’s just a path to completing our mission!

The Celestial Race sacrificed themselves for us, how can we run away!”

“Hold on!

Reinforcements will arrive soon!”

The Holy Prussen resisted stubbornly, very stubbornly.

Normally, when the flanks are threatened like this, they would immediately order a retreat or come up with another plan, but they were holding their ground and fighting to the death, which only made things harder for the Hispanian side.

“…Crazy bastards.”

Thanks to that, Zion was also getting a headache.

The cavalry and knights, who were supposed to cut the enemy formation in half, were about to break through the flanks due to the enemy’s stubborn resistance, but were almost surrounded and hurriedly turned their horses around. The Nudia infantry, who arrived on the battlefield, formed a defensive line, but their numbers were small and they were quite exhausted, so they didn’t perform as well as expected.

He wanted to deploy Ekaterina, but if he used that Yongin [a powerful magical entity or weapon] any more, the Hispanian army, who had rushed to the battlefield shouting about being executors of justice, might be branded as demon worshippers carrying out a massacre with a monster.

‘Damn it, just collapse.
Collapse!
What the hell are these guys?’

If they were Nudia, they would have collapsed the moment their flanks were attacked.

Originally, a formation collapses the moment a comrade standing next to you lowers their shield and turns away, or the moment someone behind you, who was supposed to be extending a spear, throws it away and runs away, even if you hold on.

Even if they were ordinary soldiers, in a situation like now, where the flanks are attacked and the rear is in danger, they would have panicked and collapsed on their own due to the fear of being surrounded and facing a meaningless death, but the soldiers of the Holy Prussen never retreated.

“In the name of light!”

“Transcending even death, we will complete our mission!”

“Let’s cut off one more heretic’s head before we die!”

They were literally fanatics, maintaining their positions without a single step back or wavering, even in a situation where the Celestial Race had been annihilated.

“Shit.”

Zion bit his lip as he watched them.

If they dragged on any longer, they would eventually be eaten away from all sides and eventually collapse, but they had already taken up too much time.

If they continued the battle any longer, the enemy’s reinforcements would arrive soon, and the Hispanian army, exhausted from the fierce battle, could be surrounded and suffer enormous damage.

And Zion’s worries soon became a reality.

“Vice Commander!
A messenger has arrived from the northern warriors!”

“A messenger?”

“Yes!
According to the news, the enemies coming up from the south heard about this and are advancing rapidly.
Jan Temujin and Eos Baylor have already ambushed them and inflicted damage, but they couldn’t hold them back for long because the Celestial Race was attacking from the air.
The messenger left immediately after discovering them, so the enemies should be within sight in as little as two hours.”

Damn it.

Zion closed his eyes and cursed inwardly.

Two hours, and then the enemy’s fresh forces would come pouring in.

Two hours wasn’t a short time, so they would eventually be able to annihilate the enemy in front of them.

But what about after that?

The exhausted Hispanian soldiers would have to fight new enemies again before they could even retreat to a safe defensive line.

Moreover, this time there would be even more Celestial Race and fairies mixed in.

Even the northern warriors, who were masters of combat, couldn’t withstand their attacks and retreated, so it was obvious how much damage the exhausted Hispanian army would suffer.

‘Even if I deploy Ekaterina, it’s dangerous.
The enemies aren’t crazy enough to focus only on her.
They’ll tie her down and try to wipe out our soldiers.
They can kill Ekaterina later.’

Zion quickly racked his brains.

Is it better to stubbornly annihilate the enemies in front of him and gain something, or is it better to let them go and safely retreat his troops to the rear?

“Master!
According to a report from the griffin rider who went on reconnaissance just now, the Celestial Race is approaching from afar!
They flew at full speed as soon as they discovered them to create some distance, but they will arrive on the battlefield in a short time!”

At Rishikida’s words, Zion immediately ended his 고민 [Korean word meaning ‘worry’ or ‘dilemma’].

If it doesn’t seem right, it’s the truth of life to get out, and that’s exactly the situation now.

‘Then should I issue a retreat order as is?’

That was even more out of the question.

The Hispanian army was still fiercely pushing the enemies, and a bloody battle was raging on all sides.

Neither the allies nor the enemies knew that another enemy force, and their own reinforcements, were coming.

In that situation, if the commander ordered the Hispanian army to retreat, it would be like handing over the momentum to the Holy Prussen side in an instant, and if that happened, the enemies would seize the opportunity and grab their ankles, and they would likely have to fight again until the new enemies arrived.

Above all, if the commander, in the middle of a good fight, ordered them to ‘run!’, the strength would drain from the bodies that had been swinging their spears and swords like crazy in the intoxication of victory.

In addition, the morale and sense of duty that had been built up would plummet through the ground, past the basement, and to the end of hell.

‘What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?’

While racking his brains to figure out how to retreat while maintaining the current heated atmosphere, suddenly.

The surrounding guards were horrified and began to step back little by little.

And immediately after that, a woman covered in blood arrived in front of Zion with something draped over her shoulder.

“It’s the worst.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s the worst.
I thought it would be okay until Kim Yoo-hyun came, but is this all there is? It doesn’t even begin to satisfy me, it just makes me angry.
I don’t even get that feeling like I’m about to piss myself.
I’ve never felt so unmoved even when I’ve been stabbed with a sword.”

She looked like a Yaksha [a fierce, demon-like figure] returned from hell, but the emotion on her face was dissatisfaction itself.

Ekaterina grumbled like that and threw down what she had been carrying on the floor.

Just as Zion was about to ask what it was, he saw something that still had a little white in the crimson blood and exclaimed, “Huh?”

“Ekaterina, this…”

“I picked it up on the way.”

She was going to throw it away, but it was still breathing, so she brought it.

After saying that, Ekaterina grumbled and shouted at the soldiers to bring water.

She said she had to wash off this disgusting blood, and that even smelling the traces of the cowardly bastards made her feel unpleasant.

“…”

Meanwhile, Zion looked at something that Ekaterina had picked up on the way.

A Celestial Race who was still breathing, missing one wing and gasping for breath.

She had been played with so roughly that he couldn’t even tell if she was a man or a woman, she was just covered in blood. Only her bulging chest and considerably curvy figure told him that this Celestial Race was a woman.

How should I use this?

After thinking for a moment, Zion exclaimed, “Oh,” and said to Rishikida, who was quietly waiting next to him for Zion’s order to ‘throw this away’.

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes?”

“Take that and follow me, Rishi.
We have a good reason to cut it off right before the battle gets too heated and we all go down together.”

At Zion’s words, Rishikida made a face that said, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’, but his body was doing as Zion told him.

First, he sprinkled water on the woman who was covered in blood to roughly wipe her off so that people could tell she was a Celestial Race, and then Rishikida nodded after putting her on the saddle like luggage. Zion led the guards and headed to the battlefield where the battle was still going on.

As he raised the flag indicating the commander’s location high, the first to notice the change were the Hispanian soldiers who were relatively in the rear.

Zion, who was supposed to be in the safest place, surveying the overall battle situation and giving commands, suddenly entered the battlefield, so they wondered what was going on, but at the same time, they quickly began to clear the way, and soon the flow that started from there spread in all directions.

Suddenly, Zion entered the battlefield, so the Hispanian army questioned it and slightly loosened the encirclement that they had been tightening, and the soldiers of the Holy Prussen retreated, stopping their advance and staring intently at the front.

After a while, Hispania’s iron wall-like formation split slightly to the left and right, and the guards with shields came out first, followed by Zion and Rishikida.

“It’s Young Master Zion Clausen?”

“What’s going on all of a sudden…?”

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong?”

If they pushed just a little harder, victory would be theirs for sure.

Therefore, it was only natural that the soldiers who had been excitedly driving the enemies were unfamiliar with and very strange about Zion’s appearance.

If he dragged on any longer, he would become a bastard who ruined the battle in an instant, so Zion immediately got off his horse and threw the Celestial Race woman, who was lying on Rishikida’s horse as if she were dead, to the ground.

Thud!

Covered in blood, soaked with water that Rishikida had poured on her to wash off the blood, and covered in dust on her still wet clothes, the descendant of light was completely unsightly.

The pure white wings on her back were the only thing that told them that she was the noble Celestial Race, but even that was missing one wing, giving off a somehow pitiful aura.

“Take her.”

The battlefield, which had been filled with the soldiers’ screams, the commanders’ shouts, and all sorts of screams until just now, became quiet, and only Zion’s voice could be heard.

“Take her.
Your precious descendant of light.
I’ll return her since she’s still breathing.”

At those words, the Hispanian soldiers all looked at the Celestial Race woman lying on the ground.

That woman, that unsightly woman, that person who was so ruined that the word ‘miserable’ was not enough to describe her, was the descendant of light that the people they had been fighting had praised so much?

“What.
She’s just like us.”

“The agent of God or whatever, they made so much noise…”

“Where did one of her wings go?
Was it cut off, by any chance?”

“Look at her covered in blood.
They said the descendants of light were made of pure light, but in the end, it was all nonsense, a lie, right?”

No, what kind of crazy fanatic even said that?

That the Celestial Race was made of light?

Thinking that they were definitely hopeless lunatics, Zion raised his voice once again while being guarded by the soldiers.

“She is a descendant of light who was captured while fighting a bloody battle for you.
I’ll give her back, so take her.
She’s a being that you cherish so much in the teachings of light, so what are you hesitating for?”

“…”

The Holy Prussen soldiers did not move and only looked ahead.

But since the distance wasn’t that far, Zion could clearly see that they were also panicking about what was going on.

‘They’re probably confused.
Why would a crazy bastard suddenly come out and return the captured Celestial Race?
If they keep pushing like this, they’re bound to lose, so why is he stopping the flow?’

They hesitated.

Of course, they had no choice but to hesitate.

They didn’t know if this was another trick, or what that bastard was up to.

And Zion was waiting for that hesitation.

“Why are you all doing that?
Aren’t you going to take her?
Why.
Is it because a descendant of light who has lost a wing has no more use?
Is she not worth exploiting?
Is it because she looks different from the descendant of light you’re talking about?
Is it strange that she’s bleeding, her appearance is a mess, and she’s captured instead of facing a noble death?”

Just then, Zion confirmed that some of the shields of the Holy Prussen army in front were shaking.

Zion, who had known from the beginning that fairies were mixed among them, immediately called Rishikida, and as soon as an arrow flew from between the shields, Rishikida immediately drew his sword.

Clang!

The arrow was not aimed at Zion.

It was aimed at the Celestial Race lying between Hispania and Nudia.

The ones who shouted the will of light were trying to kill the Celestial Race, and the ones who had committed sins were protecting the Celestial Race.

‘The mind of the radical fairies is obvious.
They just suck up to the Celestial Race, and because it’s what crazy people do, it’s developed in a rather dangerous direction.’

They probably thought that it would be better to give themselves a glorious death as servants, rather than being humiliated by being captured by the enemy and being branded as someone who was released by the enemy even if they returned to their allies.

And they would use that death as a reason to incite the soldiers to bury all their bones here and judge the heretics to the last man.

‘Sorry, but it’s time to go home.’

Sending applause to the fairies who had acted exactly as he wanted, Zion tilted his head as if he was puzzled on the outside.

“That’s strange.
We were clearly fighting against those who shouted the will of light and said they would judge sinners.
Where did they all go?
Where did they throw away that noble will of light, where did all the descendants of light that they had praised so much go, and why are they trying to kill the only survivor?
Wasn’t the light supposed to embrace even one more?
If you all die together, it doesn’t look like light no matter how you look at it.”

No time, no time, no time!

The enemy’s reinforcements and the Celestial Race are rushing towards them like crazy right now.

They had to get away from those crazy bastards quickly and return to the defensive line to reorganize!

“According to the teachings of light that you like, you shouldn’t hate those who have little learning, but wait for their teachings.
How about going back and learning again?
Why you’ve been fighting so far, whether the descendants of light are really that great, whether the work you’ve been doing and will do in the future is really noble enough to attach the words ‘light’ or ‘good’ to it.
Of course, I won’t refuse if you want to get that teaching here.”

When Zion gestured, the guards raised their shields first and prepared for battle.

Then, the surrounding soldiers also raised their tension again, raised the shields they had lowered for a moment, and aimed their spears, ready to rush into the enemy lines at any time.

“…”

He clearly said that he would let them go if they wanted to.

Now all that was left was for them to fall for it and retreat on their own.

‘Please stop fighting and go.
Damn it, just go!’

If they charged to fight, they would have to fight again.

But if they retreated at Zion’s words, Hispania would have been sure that the victory was on their side, and it was clear that the enemies had retreated on their own, so even though it was only half a victory, they could still win and return proudly.

Step, step―.

The atmosphere of the Holy Prussen, which seemed like they were going to commit suicide, suddenly had cold water poured on it in the form of the Celestial Race, and it began to take effect.

The Holy Prussen army gradually retreated, and soon they even broke their ranks little by little and began to distance themselves from Hispania.

Watching that, Zion did not forget to say a word considering the morale of the Hispanian army.

“Even those who said they would risk death for the will of light and judgment seem to value their lives after all.
Since those kinds of guys have the name of holiness, you can tell the level of those who believe in it.”

“Puhahahaha!”

“Yeah, keep going.
Run away!
Great judges!
Armies of light!”

“Go quickly!
If I change my mind, I might chase after you and crush you!”

It wasn’t that they were leaving the battle, but that the enemies were retreating first.

In addition, they even refused the prisoner they were going to return, so the Hispanian soldiers all started laughing.

It was good to fight and completely annihilate the enemies, but all the soldiers now knew that the enemies’ resistance was fierce.

Therefore, they were all nervous that they would have to endure more damage than they had suffered so far, but when the enemies retreated, they felt relieved, and that relieved tension turned into ridicule towards the enemies.

“Let’s go back.
Those great and great judges, the armies of light, say they don’t want to fight anymore, so how can we sinners fight any more?”

“Uwahahaha!
That’s right, that’s right!
What more can sinners do!”

Without letting their guard down against the enemies, but talking and laughing more boisterously than ever, the soldiers did not doubt that this was their victory.

“Master.
What should we do with that woman?”

Rishikida looked at the Celestial Race who was still lying on the floor and barely breathing and asked.

At that, Zion made a face as if he was thinking for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and said.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

There was a setting error!

The Celestial Race is divided into lower, middle, upper, and highest ranks, not ―class!

We are currently correcting it!

Sorry!