Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 222

‘So, it comes to this.’

I had been ready since the bright light flashed from my master’s sword. No, even before that, I think I was ready from the moment this war began. This was always going to happen.

“CHARGE!” Logan’s roar ripped through the air. The enemy knights were running towards us, their armor gleaming in the morning sun.

“All troops, advance! Crush the tyrant’s lackeys!”

As soon as the order was given, over a hundred red stones were launched from behind the knightly order towards the enemy.

Boom!

“Aaaargh!”

Red bombs rained down, exploding with deafening crashes, far exceeding the range of the repeating crossbows that both sides now possessed.

As casualties began to occur even within the Esperanza Knights, who were charging at the very front, a very strong knight surrounded by silver wind emerged from their midst.

“Not a chance!”

The silver wind, shot left and right from the front of the Esperanza Knights, diverted where the bombs were going to an unexpected location. As if waiting for this, a giant over three meters tall dashed into the enemy lines.

“Wiken! Let’s end this today!”

Luther Kyle’s roar.

With him, Logan and the McLaine Knights began to charge towards the enemy.

“Die!”

“You die first!”

Boom!

Clang! Clang!

Bang!

The best fighters from both sides clashed. The air filled with the clang of swords and shields, shouts of anger, and the sickening sound of metal hitting flesh. Dust and smoke rose from the ground, making it hard to see, but Patrick could see flashes of red as blood sprayed in the air.

– Just try to hold out as much as possible.

‘Yes. Certainly.’

Patrick gritted his teeth, recalling the conversation he had with his son before the war began.

“It’s not necessary to defeat the Esperanza Knights at all costs.”

“What?”

“In any case, the fight will end with a duel between me and my master. The king’s target is me, and my master is the focal point.”

If either Logan or the Sword Master falls, the war ends.

The simple logic was easy to understand.

However.

“Then shouldn’t we crush the Esperanza Knights as quickly as possible? Even to put pressure on Sword Master.”

“He is not someone who would be shaken by such things. And even if both families fight to the death, it will only be a loss for the entire kingdom.”

“…Are you serious? You’re talking about the kingdom’s losses in this situation?”

“I’m saying we should reduce meaningless damage.”

“…If we try to save ourselves, we might suffer even greater losses.”

Patrick wore a worried expression, but Logan remained unshaken.

“Whether we win or lose, the duel between me and my master won’t last long. And if we start out intending to hold out, there will be fewer sacrifices than if we try to fight to the end.”

“Hold out, you say. Against the kingdom’s best knights.”

“Yes. I believe in you, Father.”

“Haa… Even so, I’m still uneasy. Can you really beat Sword Master? At least, shouldn’t Sir Clayton join you…?”

Logan shook his head with a resolute expression.

“If that happens, someone else from Esperanza will intervene at that moment. Then it will just become chaotic again.”

“Even if it’s chaotic again, the side with the higher chance of winning…”

“Father. It’s not a joke that the Empire is invading. This isn’t something that can be solved by just getting through this once. We must preserve the family’s strength, the country’s strength, as much as possible so that we can ultimately survive.”

“What good is it if you die!”

“If I lose, just surrender immediately and yield to my master. If I’m gone, the king will be satisfied, so he won’t completely abandon our family.”

“What are you saying…!”

“Of course, I will win. But I’m talking about a hypothetical situation.”

A clear sense of unease lingered on his son’s face as he turned away with a wry smile.

Even if he had a plan, he was facing the Sword Master.

It was only natural, but his heart felt heavy as he recalled that face.

‘It’s because I’m incompetent that I’ve passed all the burden onto my son.’

If he had become a superhuman, if he had been just a little stronger….

Tap tap tap.

“Lord!”

“Yes. I see them.”

Whoosh.

Patrick took a deep breath as he watched the approaching Esperanza Knights and pushed away his worried thoughts.

Then he looked around.

“Digrom. You’ve prepared as I said, right?”

“Yes! Of course!”

The brown-haired knight commander, Digrom, responded with a booming voice.

“Sir Jorge. I need you to block Sir Luis, and you to block Sir Ryan. Are you confident?”

“Leave it to me, Lord.”

Jorge, the second-highest-ranking knight in the territory, also exuded confidence with a reliable face.

“Victor, Henderson. How about your side?”

“We’re ready!”

“Good, very good. Never falter. Today, we change the owner of the kingdom’s best knightly order, that honorable name!”

“Yes!!”

The best McLaine knights were ready. His daughter-in-law was not with them. She was commanding the thousand female soldiers from behind.

The thought that it would have been nice if his runaway second son were here flitted through his mind, but the fellow who had entered the southern mountains for a long mission had been out of contact for months.

That unsettling silence was now strangely reassuring.

‘Even if everything goes wrong, Ronian will live… No, stop thinking weak thoughts!’

Patrick hurriedly shook his head to dispel the bad feelings that had suddenly surfaced.

Now was the time to trust his eldest son.

Worried thoughts could wait until after his son had fallen.

Of course, even so, he had no intention of surrendering as easily as his son had urged.

‘If you fall, the kingdom and everything else will mean nothing to me. So, you must do it, Logan.’

As he became determined and looked ahead, his target seemed within reach.

Luis Haion, the vice-captain of the Esperanza Knights and the Sword Master’s right-hand man.

Luis looked at the approaching enemy knights and then at Ryan Hemill, the top-ranking knight riding alongside him.

– In this situation, we are objectively the villains. Villains who harm the kingdom.

Words like a dagger stabbing at his conscience.

The person who had uttered those words.

Even right before the sortie, the Esperanza Knights were rife with discord, and Ryan, one of those voices, had continued to oppose this war.

Of course, he felt the same way, but even so.

“Ryan. We are Lord Grand Duke’s swords. You know that, right?”

“That’s a given.”

“Yes, we follow our lord’s will and crush our enemies. Just think about that!”

“Yes!”

It was certainly a knight’s duty to offer loyal counsel to his lord.

But if he turned his sword against his lord just because that counsel was not accepted, then he was not a knight but merely a powerful thug.

And the elites of the Esperanza Knights that he knew were all true knights.

‘It’s unfortunate that fate has twisted like this, but it can’t be helped, Lord Logan.’

Luis shifted his gaze to the knights in flame-patterned armor approaching and became determined, drawing up his power.

The intense power, reinforcing everything from his helmet to his toes and even his horse, lightly deflected the rain of black arrows flying towards them.

Even the common soldiers of Esperanza were at the intermediate level of people who use Force.

If they didn’t know, they wouldn’t know, but the Esperanza Knights, having even prepared shields against the repeating crossbows, were confident that they wouldn’t be fazed by that rain of arrows, at least.

Of course, there was a problem.

Boom.

This red bomb that exploded even with a light touch.

This bomb was a little threatening, but.

‘There are no more now.’

They were already on the verge of colliding with the enemy knights.

Unless they intended to blow away their own allies, they would no longer be able to use the bombs.

From now on, they just needed to stop thinking about other things and focus solely on crushing the enemy.

“Charge!!”

Following Luis Haion’s cry, the vanguard of the Esperanza Knights raised their lances in unison.

The kingdom’s best knightly order, where even the lower-ranking knights had all reached the advanced level.

Befitting that reputation, a blazing red Force was burning at the tip of their lances.

The battle between the ability users would ultimately determine the victory or defeat of the war.

This was the reason why they could charge so fiercely even with twice the number of troops in front of them.

They were the strongest spear that could crush and pierce through everything in their path.

But Luis noticed something strange in his eyes as he raised his lance.

‘Not a lance, but a shield? What?!’

His brow furrowed in doubt, but before he could even consider the question, the collision occurred.

Kwwaaaaaaang!

The roar that shook the battlefield.

The collision of the two knightly orders created an enormous noise that overwhelmed all the sounds of the battlefield.

And the result.

A situation was created where their charges stopped and they fiercely confronted each other, a little different from someone’s imagination, and perfectly in line with someone else’s imagination.

Luis, having thrown away his crumpled lance, loosened his tingling wrists and drew his sword.

‘Damn it! A golem? How could a golem stop my spear…’

Just before the two armies collided.

Fifty or so combat golems that suddenly rose from the ground initially blocked the charge of the Esperanza Knights’ vanguard, and the McLaine Knights’ shields followed behind, colliding with the lances.

As a result, the Esperanza Knights, who were wielding the lances, were pushed back, and their formation was almost broken.

The golems were all destroyed in that one collision, but the attempt to pierce through the enemy in one fell swoop had already been thwarted.

And before their eyes, there were still more than twice as many enemy knights.

“I guess you’ve only practiced tricks instead of lance charging, considering you’re supposed to be knights.”

He couldn’t help but have a stiff expression, but the enemy’s expression was relatively relaxed.

“How can I be careless when facing the Esperanza Knights? I’ve practiced thoroughly.”

Patrick, as if teasing Luis, threw away his shattered round shield and drew Velocitas, which had now become his beloved sword.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, but it’s a pity we have to meet like this, Sir Luis Haion.”

“I’m sorry too, Lord Marquis. But I can’t go easy on you.”

Fwoosh.

A flame-like Force Blade erupted from Luis’s sword.

From the moment the Esperanza Knights’ charge was blocked and they were forced into a confrontation, he could feel the tide turning against them, so how could he afford to be relaxed?

But the opponent’s attitude was the complete opposite.

“Is there really a need for us to get heated up?”

“Taap!”

Luis ignored Patrick’s words and charged straight at him, but.

Clang!

Grrr.

Even as he frowned while clashing swords, Patrick’s tongue did not stop.

“After all, the outcome of this fight will be decided elsewhere.”

Patrick glanced towards the center of the battlefield, but.

“You will die by my hand before that decision is made.”

Grrr.

Bang!

Luis’s fighting spirit did not diminish at all.

‘I can’t help it, can I.’

Patrick, clicking his tongue at that, had no choice but to face him with a tense look as well.

And a little away from them.

In the place where Patrick’s gaze had briefly turned, the main players of this war were drawing their swords.

Logan, seeing his master approaching him after dismounting his black horse, let out a small sigh.

His master, who had looked only middle-aged when they first met, had changed a lot in the meantime.

More than half of his once lustrous blonde hair had turned white, and deep wrinkles were clearly visible on his face.

‘…Master.’

They had met through an unexpected lucky chance and had worked together to achieve a better future, but.

How did things get so twisted?

‘But.’

Grip.

Contrary to his bitter heart, he gripped the sword even tighter.

“I have to do it.”

Logan, steeling himself aloud lest his heart weaken, drew his sword.

Sreung.

Then, as if the hardened expression of his master running towards him from the opposite side was magnified and came into view, his master’s sword was already right in front of him.