Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 22

“Advance!”

Trumpets blared loudly!

With the long blare of trumpets, the castle gates opened, and the McLaine family’s forces marched out, led by knights on horseback clad in heavy armor.

Fifty-three knights on horseback, followed by over five hundred cavalrymen and almost five thousand conscripted soldiers, marched out.

It was a large army of over five thousand in total.

In the three days since the declaration of war, the McLaine territory had gathered forces beyond its limits.

Among the soldiers were very young boys, some who barely had beards yet.

Moreover, a quarter of the conscripts carried only sharpened bamboo spears and wore simple wooden shields, lacking proper equipment.

It was clear they had just gathered as many people as possible to reach a large number, even if they weren’t well-trained or equipped.

‘It can’t be helped. The invaders have staked their fate, so we must mobilize everything we have.’

Patrick tried to convince himself that conscripting so many people was necessary. He looked up at the sky, as if searching for an answer there.

Mounted on a massive black steed, half again the size of a typical knight’s horse, and wearing a helmet adorned with a red plume, he waved from the forefront.

“Waaah!”

The territory’s inhabitants cheered at the sight of them, but beneath the forced enthusiasm, their expressions were filled with unease.

“The enemy?”

“They are said to have entered within a day’s distance.”

“We’ll meet them in half a day, then.”

“Yes.”

Patrick and Heinckel spoke, but their words were filled with tension.

Yet, contrary to their inner turmoil, their faces remained serene as they looked back at the territory’s inhabitants.

They pretended to be calm to make the soldiers and people less worried.

But that relaxed expression vanished soon after they left the castle gates.

“Where did Logan go?”

“…He left with the mercenaries through the gates at dawn.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure about that…”

“What?!”

Patrick’s face twisted at Heinckel’s reply.

“Why didn’t you stop him?”

“The Young Lord holds command over the mercenaries. And…”

“He’s been showing a bit of diligence lately, hasn’t he?”

“……”

“Heinckel, you’ve become too relaxed too.”

“I apologize.”

Watching Heinckel hastily lower his head, Patrick sighed deeply.

“Haa… I suppose people don’t change so easily after all.”

“Yes?”

Heinckel looked puzzled at the sudden lament, but he wasn’t blaming Heinckel.

“It seems I was foolish to have expectations of Logan.”

“……”

“He must have run. Remove him from the roster.”

Heinckel’s head snapped up at Patrick’s resolute tone.

In the short time they had trained together, he had seen that the Young Lord was not the type to do such a thing.

But before he could say anything, someone shouted vehemently from right beside Patrick.

“That can’t be true!”

A boy, squeezed into heavy armor that seemed slightly too large for his frame.

Ronian, a prodigy who had become a Force User before his fifteenth birthday, shouted as if protesting, his red eyes blazing.

“There’s no way Brother would do that!”

Ronian recalled the image of his brother who had come to find him during training a short while ago.

– Not yet, not yet. I still can’t control it.

When he asked his brother the reason for the regretful sigh, his brother had shown him an amazing technique, even to Ronian’s inexperienced eyes.

It was a secret skill (?) that not even his father or any other knight had displayed.

– I’ll teach it to you soon. Let’s save the family together.

From then on, his brother had clearly sensed something ominous.

There was no way such a brother would abandon the family and run away.

“Brother already anticipated the war. There’s absolutely no way…”

Ronian stepped forward to defend Logan, raising his voice as if it were his own affair.

But Patrick merely frowned at the sight of his younger son.

“Ronian. Don’t even think about defending Logan. Either way, it’s a fact that he isn’t here.”

“No! There’s no way Brother would do that, no way he would run away!”

Ronian only meant to take Logan’s side, but his loud voice only stirred up more murmuring around them.

“The Young Lord ran away?”

“That rumor was true?”

“The Lord’s son?”

Murmur murmur.

Patrick, seeing the soldiers’ increasingly chaotic mood, snapped at Ronian.

“Whatever the reason, he isn’t here right now! He’s missing from a battle that will decide the fate of our family! If that isn’t running away, then what is it!”

“……”

No matter how much he wanted to argue, Ronian had no way to argue back.

He could only make a frustrated face and stiffen.

Patrick looked at Ronian and said in a cold, quiet voice.

“Ronian, remember this: a true noble *must* do their duty. If you run from your duty, you are no noble at all!”

The most basic duty of a noble was to protect the territory’s inhabitants from external threats.

In the knightly McLaine family, that was even more important.

Having stated that definitively, Patrick gripped Ronian’s shoulders.

“So Ronian, you must take on your brother’s role as well. Don’t waver, no matter what!”

Looking into his father’s eyes, which resembled his own but held an incomparably intense power, Ronian nodded weakly.

Seeing that face, Patrick sighed and turned away.

He, too, couldn’t possibly feel good about treating one of his sons as if he didn’t exist.

But seeing the soldiers’ morale clearly dropping and hearing them whispering here and there, such emotions were a luxury.

‘Should I have chased him out back then?’

He regretted having had hopeful expectations when Logan seemed to be sorry, or maybe he was just pretending.

The memory of Elara, Logan’s mother, flashed in his mind, a gentle face that always pleaded for leniency. Had he been too soft because of her memory?

Even if the face of his deceased first wife flickered in his mind, he should have been stronger.

If he had, at least the soldiers’ morale wouldn’t be so low before this difficult war…

“No, that’s not right.”

Patrick shook his head, pushing away these weak thoughts.

For a knight who is about to go to war to be having such thoughts…

Agh.

As he bit his lip, he tasted blood in his mouth, and he quickly became focused again.

‘That’s right…’

It didn’t matter now what his sons were like, or what the difference in troop strength was.

“We must win.”

So he had to protect the family.

That was the greatest purpose in his life.

His will became fighting spirit, endlessly elevating Patrick’s spirit.

The lord, bleeding from his bitten lip, pledged victory.

“We will be victorious! We must!”

That will and spirit were transmitted directly to those around him.

“Yes!”

Patrick, reading the slightly changed atmosphere as fighting spirit rapidly spread, shouted loudly, filling his voice with energy.

“All troops, quick march!”

The enemy army moved in perfect order, accompanied by majestic drumming.

The sight of the enemy, far outnumbering their own forces and lined up ready for battle, was enough to make the soldiers feel even less hopeful.

And besides…

“They say the Young Lord ran away too.”

“Shhh!”

“Don’t say such things carelessly! It’s just a rumor!”

“Rumor, my foot. You look around. Can you see that red-haired scoundrel’s face anywhere?”

Unintentionally, another rumor was added to Logan’s name, making morale even worse.

But there were those who didn’t believe the rumors, and instead, argued back angrily.

“Shut up! Our Young Lord wouldn’t do that!”

“What’s that?”

“That’s the servant who does nothing useful.”

“Why is a noble’s servant here?”

“He must want to help. Can’t you see they have more soldiers than us?”

Rick shouted angrily, but he could not stop his soldiers from losing hope.

“Why us…?”

“…Can we win?”

“No, can we even live through this…?”

Fear spread quickly among the soldiers, like a sickness. They started to talk louder and louder, worried.

Patrick lifted his sword and yelled loudly, like thunder.

“Don’t be afraid! We will win!”

At the same time, his knights raised their swords. A bright light seemed to come from them.

Especially from Patrick, the light was so strong that everyone nearby could see it.

A strange, warm feeling spread out.

It calmed the scared soldiers and made them feel brave, even if they didn’t know why.

Soon, shouts came from all over Patrick’s side.

“Waaah!”

Their shouts were as loud as the enemy’s, and they gave each other strength.

The worried talking from before almost stopped.

‘This is enough to make them fight,’ Patrick thought.

He had made his soldiers feel braver by showing his own power.

When he saw that the enemy did not seem worried by this, he felt sure of himself.

‘They don’t have strong knights,’ he thought, feeling hopeful.

Patrick watched the enemy and told himself this to feel stronger.

Soon, the two armies stood facing each other, very close.

“I will cut off Baron McLaine’s head to get revenge for what your family did long ago! You sinners, get ready to die by my sword!”

Harman Tesron, a man with blond hair, walked in front of his army and shouted bravely. He pulled out his sword and pointed it forward.

Then, Patrick walked in front of his army.

“Good! Come and fight me! Let’s fight like true knights!”

His shout was loud across the open land.

His brave words made his soldiers feel even more confident.

Harman Tesron did not step forward alone like Patrick. Instead, he went back into his army.

Then, about 100 knights in heavy armor rode forward on their horses.

“My knights will fight for me. Try to beat them, Patrick McLaine,” Harman said from behind his knights.

Patrick laughed a little and shouted back to Harman, who was now behind his army.

“Are you too scared to fight me yourself? You are hiding like a coward! I am ashamed to even look at you!”

Patrick’s soldiers laughed loudly at this insult.

Patrick saw that his side was feeling brave and strong. He shouted again right away.

“Let’s destroy these weak soldiers who have a cowardly leader!”

He pointed his sword at the enemy.

“Everyone, charge!”

The battle started.

‘I need to break through the front lines first!’ Patrick thought.

He rode his horse fast to the front, leading the charge.

They had fewer soldiers, so he had to do something big.

He needed to break through the enemy’s front line and confuse their knights to have any chance to win.

So, he put all his power into his first attack with his spear.

He wanted to knock down at least two or three knights right away.

Patrick’s horse, made stronger by magic, went faster and faster. The power in his spear grew stronger too, and it glowed red.

*Thud thud thud.*

Quickly, he got close to the enemy. He saw the knights in heavy armor, like his own, and the front line of enemy soldiers.

‘Hmm? A shield?’

Usually, knights charged with spears. Spears were best for hitting hard while moving fast.

But this enemy in front of him had a shield, ready to block Patrick’s spear.

‘Does he think he can stop me? How dare he!’

Patrick got even angrier, and his power grew even stronger.

*Whoo-oong.*

He wanted to smash the shield and then attack the knights behind him.

*KABOOM!*

A huge sound shook the battlefield.

But what happened was not what Patrick expected at all.

“Ugh!”

Patrick’s wrist hurt badly. He pulled his horse back, almost falling.

He used his magic to try to spread out the force of the hit, like a strong knight should. But his hand holding the spear still hurt a lot, and the force went through to his horse too.

He had blocked most of the hit, but if it had been any stronger, his strong horse would have fallen down.

The enemy knight was hurt too.

His horse fell down, unlike Patrick’s. The knight who had blocked him was bleeding under his helmet after falling.

He was badly hurt, but Patrick was still shocked.

‘He blocked my attack?!’ Patrick thought in surprise.

Even though blood was coming from the enemy’s mouth under his helmet, the knight smiled.

“Cough. You are as strong as they say, Baron. To be like this even after you were ready for me.”

Hearing the knight’s silly words made Patrick even angrier.

He couldn’t give up now.

“Ugh! Damn it!”

“Fight together! Beat them all!” shouted enemy knights.

“Don’t let them win!” shouted others.

Because of this, Patrick’s knights stopped moving forward. The enemy knights, who were twice as many, started pushing them back.

‘No! This is bad!’ Patrick thought.

He could see in his mind how the battle would go wrong.

Patrick felt like he was losing his mind. He had to kill this knight now and take back control of the fight.

“I will kill you!” he yelled.

He knew it might be too late, but he didn’t care. Patrick put down his spear and pulled out his sword.

*Heeheeheeing!*

His big black horse rushed towards the enemy knight.

Patrick swung his sword. It flashed with bright red light.

*KABOOM!*

But again, Patrick’s attack did not work.

Two more knights suddenly appeared and blocked him with their big swords and spears. There was a loud crash.

“Baron, you will fight us now,” one of them said.

Then, the first knight, the one with the shield, wiped blood from his mouth and pulled out his own long sword.

Patrick felt a sudden fear. His anger cooled down quickly.

He remembered what the shield knight had said.

“…So, you guys are what they prepared for me?” Patrick said quietly, his voice shaking a little.

“How do you like it?” the shield knight asked, smiling and speaking loudly.

Patrick looked hard at the first knight. He knew it was true.

‘A strong knight. I can’t believe they had a strong knight…’ he thought.

Even if the knight was not very skilled, he was strong.

That’s how he could block Patrick’s attack.

Now Patrick understood why Harman Tesron was so sure of winning. But it was too late to change things.

‘The other knights are strong too,’ Patrick realized. ‘At least as strong as my middle-level knights.’

Patrick’s face looked sad inside his helmet.

‘If I am stopped, my knights will be stopped. And if my knights are stopped…’

The rest of his army, already smaller than the enemy’s, would be destroyed.

Even if his knights fought bravely, they could not win.

He imagined his knights surrounded and killed. It was a terrible thought.

“No! That can’t happen!”

Anger pushed away his fear. Patrick attacked fiercely.

But… The enemy was strong.