Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 23

Heinckel rode hard next to Patrick. Suddenly, he saw something that made his eyes open wide.

Even though Patrick had hurt an enemy knight, that was not important now.

The leader of their family needed to break through the enemy lines. The enemy was twice as big as them!

To keep attacking like this would be like killing themselves.

Heinckel bit his teeth and turned his horse. He attacked another knight, but it was still hard.

*Clang!* His attack was stopped! Right away, Heinckel saw two enemy knights coming at him from both sides.

The other knights were in the same trouble.

“Change to defense! Stay close together! We will get a chance!” Heinckel shouted.

He believed no enemy knight could beat their leader. Their leader would find a way to win!

He gave this order because he had hope. But then, he saw something unbelievable: five enemy knights were attacking their leader!

Seeing this, Heinckel felt the worst fear. He didn’t even want to think about it, but it was happening right in front of him.

*’Are we losing? Are we going to lose the war?’* he thought.

Heinckel, the old knight, had to fight against the sadness that filled his mind.

Even the soldiers walking behind could see that the knights were retreating.

They could not see every knight, but they knew the attack had failed. The knights were being pushed back.

The soldiers started walking slower without knowing it.

The crazy fighting became less, and fear started to take its place.

Rick was the slowest of them all.

*’Ugh,’* he thought.

Rick worked inside the castle. He knew more about the war than other soldiers.

The more he knew, the more scared he got.

*’If the Lord is stopped, we will lose for sure, they said…’*

As Rick walked slower and slower, something happened that made him shake even more.

*Ratatat!*

“Aaaargh!”

“Kraaah!”

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, the soldiers in front of Rick fell to the ground, many at once.

Arrows rained down on them.

An arrow landed right in front of Rick’s nose!

He thought, *’If I had taken one more step, that arrow would have killed me!’* Cold fear went all through his body.

*’Ugh!’*

He was frozen with fear. But the soldiers behind him pushed him forward. Rick had to move even though he didn’t want to.

“N-no……” he tried to say.

He was so scared, he could not speak. Even if he could, he couldn’t do anything to stop this.

He looked around. He saw soldiers with white faces, walking because they had to.

Rick knew his face looked just as scared.

*’No, no, no!’* he thought.

Rick was panicking, but the soldiers kept moving forward. Their faces were full of fear.

Soon, the infantry reached the enemy lines and started fighting.

*Clang! Clang! Thwack!*

Loud metal sounds came from everywhere. The whole battlefield was filled with the noise.

Soldiers who were desperate hit each other with their weapons.

“Die!”

“You die, you bad dog!”

The fighting at the front was very intense, but it didn’t last long. The Maclane side started to be pushed back.

They were not feeling hopeful, and they didn’t have enough soldiers.

Everything was against them. So, it was not surprising that they started losing.

This difference led to something terrible very quickly.

The first part of the line to break was right in front of Rick.

“Aaaargh!”

“My arm! My arm!”

“H-help me!”

Rick saw John, the baker’s son. His arm was cut off. Derek, the shepherd, had a spear through his heart.

Phelps, who worked on the land, was killed with one hit to the head. His face looked like he was in terrible pain, even after death.

Rick knew these faces. They were covered in blood and falling to the ground.

Around them, other faces Rick knew, or thought he knew, were also falling.

“Aaaaargh!”

The front line was breaking, and everything was happening so fast. Rick felt like death was standing right in front of him.

He screamed, but he couldn’t move. Then, suddenly, a spear was right in front of his eyes!

“Ack!”

Maybe his body knew what to do even though he was scared. He just moved his head in time.

A spear went past his head, so fast like the wind.

He touched his chest, feeling cold. Then, the back of the spear hit Rick’s head.

“Die!” the enemy soldier yelled.

*Thwack.*

“Ugh!” Rick made a sound as he fell.

As Rick rolled on the ground, he saw the enemy soldier. His face was like a monster. He lifted his spear to kill Rick.

“Aaaaargh!”

*Thud.*

Rick screamed and rolled away just as the spear hit the ground where he had been.

He was safe for now, but the attack kept coming.

“Die! Die! Die!”

*Thud. Thud. Thud.*

Rick just rolled and rolled without thinking.

“Aaaaargh!”

He didn’t know who this enemy was, but he hated him. The enemy was stabbing at him like he really wanted to kill him.

*Thud.*

Then, the sound of the spear changed. It stopped.

“Get up! Quick! Take a spear!”

Someone was pulling him up. It was a soldier on his side.

Rick thought he knew the face, but he was too confused to remember.

He knew one thing: this person had saved him from the crazy enemy.

“Th-thank…” Rick started to say.

*Thud.*

But then, an arrow went right through the neck of the man who saved him.

“Gurgle. Cough.”

The man fell down with a strange, choking sound.

Rick saw him grab the arrow in his neck. The man looked at Rick, reaching out as if he was blaming him. Rick felt cold fear again.

“Eeeeek!”

Rick made a weird sound and fell back down.

“I… I have to run! I have to run away!”

He could only think about running. He moved back on the ground, still sitting. Then, he jumped up and ran as fast as he could.

But he couldn’t run for long.

“Waaaah!”

“Aaaargh!”

The screams and shouts were everywhere. Rick finally understood what was happening. He stopped suddenly, like he was in a dream, and looked around, confused.

He looked and saw enemy soldiers all around him!

*’Surrounded? Are we losing? Am I going to die here? Is everyone going to die?’*

Rick didn’t know about war plans, but he could see they were going to lose.

“N-no! I will live! I have to live!”

He saw more soldiers in his own uniform behind him. At least there were still some allies there.

He was just acting out of fear, not thinking clearly. Rick dropped his spear and ran back, pushing past his own soldiers.

But then…

“Waaaah!”

“Charge!”

Rick turned his head. What he saw made his blood run cold. Behind the main fight, enemy soldiers on horses were attacking. They had gone around the battlefield. They were cutting down our soldiers who were not ready. It was a terrible attack from behind.

“Aaargh!”

“Behind us! Behind us!”

“Enemies!”

Swords flashed down. Spears broke with a SNAP! Bodies fell like dolls, with dull THUDS.

“Wh-what? N-no, this can’t be happening…”

Death came from both the front and the back.

Rick’s legs felt like jelly, unsure where to turn.

BOOM!

A loud BOOM shook the air, like thunder from swords hitting each other.

One fighter who made the loud noise stumbled back. The other fighter jumped forward to attack.

But Padrick, who won the clash, didn’t look happy.

He knew what would happen next.

Just as he thought, spears and big swords came at him from the left and right of the stumbling enemy.

Then, a sword and a short spear threatened him from behind. Padrick had to give up the chance he had.

“Cowards!” Padrick yelled. “Fight like knights!” But even as he shouted, he knew it was useless.

The enemy soldiers just laughed.

“What’s he babbling about?” one sneered.

“Ignore him. He’s just making noise before he dies.”

“You fools! I am a knight!” Padrick roared, his face red with anger. His eyes burned as he swung his sword fast, trying to find a way out.

Wham!

But one of the high-ranking enemies blocked his attack. The others swung their swords from all directions.

Slice.

A thin red line appeared on his arm, blood trickling down.

It kept happening the same way. Padrick couldn’t escape, even though he knew what was coming.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Bang!

The attacks kept coming like a machine.

These men were trained to fight stronger fighters by working together, no matter how long they practiced.

They were trained from the start to capture Padrick.

“Vicious bastards…”

He said sadly, but he couldn’t see any way to escape this trap.

*Even if I get out… it’s already too late.*

The knights were being pushed back, barely holding on. The regular soldiers were losing badly.

The soldiers on horses in the back tried to attack the enemy from behind, but the enemy was doing the same thing.

The enemy soldiers on horses were already attacking.

“Aaargh.”

Each scream from the soldiers, the villagers, felt like a punch to his gut.

*Kuh.*

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find a good plan.

The little bit of hope he had felt disappeared as he got more hurt and heard his friends groaning on the battlefield.

His weak heart made him think cowardly thoughts.

*Yes. Logan, you got away. At least our family will continue.*

Snikt.

“Ugh!”

“The Baron is tired!”

“Finish him!”

The quick, random thought caused him to get hurt.

“You bastards…”

Crack.

He felt hopeless, but he was still stubborn and ready to fight.

Padrick grabbed his sword again, ready to fight to the end…

But then he heard a sound that destroyed even his last bit of hope.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

*Cavalry?*

The ground shook as horses galloped from the back of the enemy’s army.

There weren’t many, but it was enough to destroy his last bit of fighting spirit.

*There were more soldiers?*

Then, Padrick saw something unbelievable.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

“Aaargh!”

The soldiers on horses were tearing through the enemy’s back lines. Enemy soldiers were falling.

*Allies?!*

Padrick looked past the enemy’s back lines, which were now a mess. He saw a young man with red hair, like his own, leading the soldiers on horses.

“Logan?!”

Padrick couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

In the forest behind the battlefield.

Right after Tesron’s army went by, hundreds of soldiers on horses went around the mountains. They stayed hidden behind the enemy lines.

They were hiding in the forest, not making a sound. But when the battle started, they started whispering.

“Not yet. Wait.”

Logan said calmly. He gritted his teeth as he watched his father, Padrick McLain, being blocked.

*He fell… blocked by those bastards like that?*

He remembered what he had heard in his past life. He felt a lot of emotion, but it wasn’t time yet.

Logan watched the battle closely and stayed calm.

Even when the Knights were pushed back and surrounded, he waited.

“Ummm.”

“Lord Logan? Now?”

“No, not yet.”

Even though they had only half as many soldiers, the McLain Knights were fighting well. But the smaller group of knights was not.

One low-ranking knight missed his attack with a spear. Two spears hit him from the left and right.

“Grob! Damn it!”

He was one of the few knights who had been friendly to him recently.

Logan remembered him smiling as he gave him a water bottle.

“Lord Logan. Are you alright?”

“…Yes. I’m fine.”

His voice was low and angry, like a growling animal. He didn’t sound fine at all, but Kai stayed quiet.

They had surprised the enemy at the perfect time. This made Kai believe in the young leader’s plans.

But when the regular soldiers crashed into each other and the front lines broke, he had to speak again.

“Lord Logan. Now… is it time?”

“Not yet, not yet.”

Blood flowed from Logan’s tightly closed lips.

He also wanted to rush in and attack. That’s how he stayed in control.

Even if he didn’t know the soldiers who were falling, his heart would hurt. But he knew many of the soldiers who were dying.

Cobb, the gardener, had helped him keep his dignity as a nobleman even in the poor land. He fell with an arrow in his eye.

Rio, the servant, had just started to smile at him. He screamed and tried to avoid Cobb, but an enemy soldier cut off his head with a sword.

It hurt Logan to see this. His senses were stronger because of the Force Core, which made it even worse.

Logan forced himself to look away from the terrible scene. He focused on the enemy soldiers on horses that he had been watching.

*Not yet, is it not yet time?*

If he waited any longer, the family’s army would be destroyed even if they won the war.

Logan worried more and more. Then, finally, the enemy soldiers on horses arrived where he wanted them to be.

Aaargh!

A scream came from the back of the allied forces.

The scream felt like it was cutting through Logan’s heart. It was the signal.

“Now!”

Logan had been holding back his anger. He exploded and kicked his horse.

Finally, about three hundred soldiers on horses burst out of the forest. The ground shook as they charged towards the battlefield.