Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 129

The battle had just begun, a clash of steel and shouts, when the ground ahead of Kieron Wolves’ knights suddenly erupted. Not with the familiar flash of magic spells, but with deafening booms and gouts of earth and fire. Soldiers screamed and flew through the air like broken toys. Kieron’s face went white.

“What in the world…?” he gasped, his voice barely a whisper. “Is this… magic?”

But this wasn’t magic as he knew it. Magic was cast by mages, people nearby, channeling power. This attack was coming from too far away, too sudden, too… unnatural.

Powerful magic users were valued more than knights because they were so rare and strong.

In war, mages usually helped from behind the lines. They weren’t the main fighters.

Like the few mages in his territory who cast enhancement spells on the vanguard of the knights before retreating to the rear.

“Scrolls, they’re using scrolls! It seems…!”

Even he, one of the richest men, couldn’t afford to use expensive scrolls like this in battle.

Scrolls were magic spells written down, but they were usually weaker and didn’t reach as far as spells cast by a mage directly.

Confusion filled Kieron’s mind. He couldn’t understand what kind of attack this was.

The grimace that had begun to twist Kieron Wolves’ face then reached its peak the moment Nick Marcel’s head flew off and the knight order began to collapse. This shocking death is impactful.

“Th-this is insane! How could this happen?!”

Blood trickled from his bitten lip, but he didn’t even notice.

The losses incurred during this brief skirmish rivaled the accumulated losses of over six months of civil war.

No, if one only considered the damage to the knight order, the most crucial force, it was far greater.

Above all, the top-tier knight Nick Marcel was dead.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

A scream, more than a command, burst from his lips as he was surrounded by six escort knights, and the adjutant, as ordered, frantically waved the flag.

For Kieron Wolves, too, the preservation of his own forces was more important than the victory of any faction.

“Fire the crossbows! Stop the enemy knights!!”

The secret weapon he had trusted to smash the enemy and bring him glory was only being used to slow their advance, at best.

“Fire!”

The enemy’s repeating crossbows, fired with a roar, were superior in every way—range, power, everything.

In the end, all he could see, no matter where he looked, was his own force collapsing helplessly.

‘Better than the original? Where? I’d like to just…’

He gnashed his teeth, but hastily turned his horse around.

He had to preserve what remained of his forces, and before that, his own life was paramount.

“Do not pursue! Reform the ranks!”

In the center of the battlefield, his father’s Force Blade rose, a beacon of red.

Logan smirked as he watched the enemy knights fleeing for their lives.

He found Count Wolves’ decision to retreat so quickly after the vanguard was broken both amusing and surprising.

The Wolves Knights had mostly preserved their lives, but there had been a harvest.

‘At least we got a top-tier knight.’

And his father seemed to have dealt with two or three high-ranking knights as well.

The Wolves Knights would never again stand in Maclaine’s path.

The enemy’s repeating crossbows, which he had worried about, were also noticeably weaker than the original.

‘Did they underestimate us?’

He couldn’t understand what they had been relying on.

“It’s a great victory, young lord!”

The expression on Heinkel’s face, beaming with joy, was not an exaggeration, given the overwhelming victory.

“Our casualties?”

“Five knights seriously wounded, two dead. About 100 soldiers with minor to moderate injuries, that’s all.”

“…Good.”

It wasn’t just good to say, it was a fantastic result.

How could these numbers come from a battle between evenly matched forces?

But Logan forcibly suppressed his rising excitement and turned to look back.

It couldn’t be his imagination that the armies of both sides, just beginning to clash, seemed hesitant.

‘I’ll show you more. Let them estimate how they should treat us from now on, Duke Jordyn Valtermaim.’

With Logan’s smile, Maclaine, who had crushed the Wolves, continued to advance.

“Crazy…”

The Second Prince, Romain von Grandia, startled by the curse that had escaped his lips, quickly shut his mouth, but there was no need.

The leadership of the Second Prince’s faction, including Duke Jordyn, wore almost identical expressions.

Most of them were focused not on the battle before them, but on ‘that’ battlefield far away.

A battle waged to confirm that those who had come to pledge allegiance would not betray them.

The seemingly fierce battle was only grinding down powerless small and medium-sized nobles.

The First Prince’s faction was no different; their main forces did not come to the fore.

Unless one side showed a particular weakness, this ‘obvious’ standoff would continue sluggishly until all the subordinate nobles were ground down.

Forces united for immediate gain rather than any special cause.

A war where the strongest were reluctant to commit, instead forcing the weak to sacrifice themselves.

And an egotistical war where one could not recklessly force sacrifice on allies of a certain size—that was the essence of this civil war.

“How is that possible? Has it even been an hour since they clashed?”

“The Frontier Count’s forces have been reduced by 30% in an instant. At that rate, it would at least…”

The adjutant, who had been chattering enthusiastically, quietly shut his mouth after receiving a glare from someone nearby.

Even so, comparing the Duke’s or Marquisate’s army, which included a superhuman, to a mere Baron’s army was a bit much.

“Judging by the clearly revealed results alone, it’s on par with the power of the Kyle Marquisate.”

“Your Grace!”

Jordyn’s assertion startled those around him even more.

“What’s the problem? That power will soon become our strength.”

“The Duke is right. If it had been a real betrayal, we would have had quite a hard time.”

Jordyn couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly at the Prince’s words.

‘Not just a hard time, but a fatal blow.’

They, too, had underestimated Maclaine’s power, as well as their own.

As such, this initial battle alone had washed away most of the suspicion towards Maclaine.

‘The recognition of Bipros’ territory, half of the Calia Marquisate, and the title of Count… So he was confident enough to make such presumptuous demands…’

A result that brought a hollow laugh.

But even so.

‘I’ll settle the score for that insolent behavior later.’

The chilling coldness that resided deep within Jordyn Valtermaim’s eyes did not completely disappear. He is still angry, possibly due to pride or suspicion.

Prince Rohiter was furious. Someone had ignored his warning and hurt his soldiers.

Prince Rohiter was not a man to accept defeat easily.

Because he hated losing, Prince Rohiter gave a strong command.

Prince Rohiter was talking to his advisor, Juan Douglas, about the battle against the Second Prince’s forces. They expected Maclaine’s group to attack the enemy from behind.

“Maclaine will attack the enemy’s rear soon. Send the signal. It’s an all-out war.”

While the Second Prince’s men were shouting, the First Prince’s leaders were silent and worried.

Prince Rohiter wondered aloud, “What did I just see? Are they lying to me? Or are the Wolves even weaker than I thought?”

Juan Douglas answered Prince Rohiter, sounding worried. “It seems Maclaine’s men, the ‘Bats’, are stronger than we expected.”

Boom!

Prince Rohiter shouted, “So, are you just going to sit there and watch this crazy thing?!”

“Your Highness, now is the time to defend,” Juan Douglas said.

Juan Douglas pointed forward, not to the sides or back.

The best soldiers, who had been watching their less experienced soldiers fight from the middle, started to move.

“As soon as Maclaine’s men attack from behind, they will attack strongly from the front too. Please, stay by my side,” Juan Douglas said.

“This is so messed up… What is this…” Prince Rohiter muttered.

Prince Rohiter cursed and complained, and Duke Juan Douglas felt the same way.

‘How on earth did Maclaine’s men…,’ Prince Rohiter thought.

The question remained, but for now, they had to overcome this problem first.

“It looks like we will lose some soldiers today,” Juan Douglas said.

When Juan Douglas said this, the First Prince’s soldiers started to gather around their leaders.

Because they were only defending, the First Prince’s soldiers were pushed back a little at the front of the battle.

But the leaders of both sides were still watching Maclaine, not the fighting in front of them.

After some time passed,

“They keep… moving away?” someone muttered.

Maclaine’s army did something unexpected. Instead of attacking from behind, they kept moving away from the battle.

“What are they doing?” People from both sides shouted at the same time.

But no one could answer them.

Logan explained to his father, Padric, “I don’t think they ever wanted us to really attack from the back. They just wanted us to distract the enemy and get killed. If we had tried to attack from behind like they said, we would have been badly hurt.”

“Still, we need to have something to say when we return,” Padric replied.

“Isn’t that why we are doing this? Even if we just go back now, I think they will respect us more,” Logan said.

Padric laughed sadly when he saw his son’s calm smile and asked,

“But what good is this in just a civil war? It seems like neither side cares about this kind of plan because it’s something for a war that lasts a long time, right?”

Logan replied, “It’s already a long-term war enough. And it will get longer. Probably longer than anyone thinks. So, we have to do this to end this war quickly.”

Padric said, “I don’t know. Even if we destroy the First Prince’s food store now, they can just take food from Alon Castle. The normal people will suffer, though.”

Logan replied, “Harvest season is still months away. They can’t keep taking food from people for that long.”

“Still…” Padric said with doubt.

Logan explained, “At least, we can make the First Prince’s army go back to their castle. If we can push them back to Harun Castle, they won’t be able to get the grain from the Grandia Plain, even though it’s close by. If we don’t do this, the Second Prince’s side will be in big trouble after the harvest.”

This plan only works if the war, which started in winter, lasts until after the planting season, through the harvest, and even longer.

The First Prince’s side was winning and didn’t think the war would last much longer. The Second Prince’s side was losing and also wasn’t thinking far ahead.

‘So, now is the right time,’ Logan thought.

A time when both camps are running out of food.

The nobles still thought they could just take food from nearby villages and normal people if they needed it quickly.

To stab them in the back.

Maclaine’s army left the battlefield and arrived at Turen Castle, about a day’s journey from the Twin Castles.

It was currently being used as a supply base by the First Prince’s faction.

“Open the gates!” Logan shouted.

His roar stirred up the castle walls.

“W-what are those guys?!” someone shouted.

“P-prepare for battle!” another soldier yelled.

The First Prince’s soldiers in Turen Castle were in charge of supplies. They were led by Baron Bread Peacock, who was loyal to the Douglas family.

They had about 50 knights and 1,000 soldiers, which seemed like a lot, but they weren’t very important in the First Prince’s army.

Especially Baron Peacock’s soldiers, because they didn’t even have a strong leader.

Turen Castle was the most important place for supplies. The First Prince’s leaders put a weak army there. This shows they didn’t think the war was very serious.

‘That’s our chance,’ Logan thought.

Logan ordered an attack the moment the enemy prepared to fight.

And it took only two hours for Turen Castle to fall.

Maclaine’s army won easily. They only lost two knights and about a hundred soldiers were badly hurt.

A very easy and perfect victory.

They got a lot of valuable things for very little effort.

“…How much?” Logan asked.

“There are over 200 tons of wheat alone, and if you include other grains, it’s more than three times that amount. It’s enough food for at least 50,000 troops to eat for a month,” a soldier replied.

“Huh… there’s that much? It’s an obvious supply route to anyone who looks at it?” Logan said.

“Didn’t you say, Logan, that if you take enough soldiers to quickly capture the food store, you can win the war easily? It shows how few soldiers they have at the front,” the soldier said.

“That’s true, but. Huh…” Logan thought. Could it be a problem if it’s too easy?

Logan laughed a little, but he gave his orders quickly and clearly.

“Burn everything except what we can take with us. And move on to the next target immediately,” Logan commanded.

“But Turen Castle is too obvious, so what about information on other supply bases…” a soldier asked.

Logan replied, “I know. Just follow me.”

When did he find that out….

Heinkel laughed sadly, but didn’t bother to ask.

Heinkel thought, ‘Kairos is a big grain merchant and supports the First Prince. Of course, Logan would know where their food stores are.’

The trading routes Logan had gotten from Veron Kairos. Some of them would certainly have supplies.

In the next week, Maclaine’s army captured three more castles nearby, one after another.

They burned huge amounts of food in two of these castles, just like they did at Turen Castle.

They were hardly hurt at all in these attacks.

And while the First Prince’s side was panicking at the news that three months’ worth of food for their troops had vanished without a trace,

Maclaine bypassed the battlefield far away and returned to Alon Castle once again.

It had only been three weeks since they declared their alliance with the Second Prince’s faction.