Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 24

Haman Tesron smiled, watching the battle unfold as he had predicted. “It will be over soon.”

The overwhelming difference in troop numbers, along with the carefully planned operation, was working out perfectly.

The best part was Raul, the Senior Knight, who was keeping Padric McLain busy.

‘Good thing I didn’t announce it.’

People didn’t know if Senior Knights were real or how many there were. This was the main difference between a normal Knight Order and a top-level Knight Order.

In this time, how strong a noble was depended on their knights. More knights and higher ranks meant more power.

Having a Senior Knight made a noble look good, so most lords would brag about it instead of hiding it.

‘But hiding it is better if I’m going to use them like this.’

He watched happily as the knights pushed Padric McLain back.

Then, he saw the infantry making a circle to trap the enemy and the cavalry moving around the side. He clenched his fist.

Also, the enemy infantry was stuck because the archers kept shooting at them.

“It’s over!” Haman Tesron was sure he would win.

‘Now, I just need to beat Padric and take McLain Castle. If I do that… Heh heh, I won’t need anything else.’

Haman was lost in happy dreams of victory when a strange, rhythmic thumping sound reached his ears from behind. *Thud thud thud.* It was like distant drums, but heavier.

“Cavalry! Cavalry appearing in the rear!” a scout shouted, his voice tight with alarm. “About three hundred riders!”

Haman’s smile vanished. Cavalry? His brow furrowed in confusion. “Cavalry? Could the McLain family have hidden more elite soldiers? Where did they come from? This wasn’t part of the plan.”

It was normal for the Baron to think that way.

In this time, cavalrymen were high-ranking soldiers, usually regular troops who also trained as knights.

They were the best soldiers, except for the Knight Orders or the very rare mages.

However…

“They aren’t wearing plate armor. They don’t have lances either! They’re wearing leather armor and armed with only small crossbows, and they’re carrying wooden boxes. They don’t appear to be McLain’s regular forces.”

“Crossbows?” The kind of weapon used by hunters?

Hearing that, the Baron chuckled and relaxed.

“Order some of the rear guard and the archers to take them down. They’re just rabble, not elite troops.”

The Baron gave a logical order, and the adjutant agreed.

But soon, the Baron saw something that made no sense.

Tap tap tap.

“Aaaargh!” Screams came from the rear, and dozens, no, hundreds of soldiers were falling like dominoes.

“W-what is that! Blast it! Stop them! Stop them now!” The war, which he thought he had already won, was changing in an unexpected way.

The mercenary band shot forward like an arrow. Nothing could stop them.

He could see the enemies getting ready, but they were already close enough.

‘I’ll kill you! You bastards.’

The enemy’s rear was about 400 meters away from the mercenary band.

Ordinary archers with longbows couldn’t reach that far, even if they aimed high.

But Logan’s command didn’t change.

“Ready!” Click click! The entire mercenary band moved together, aiming at the enemy.

“Fire!” Logan’s crossbow fired first.

A bolt, with a faint golden light, hit the rearmost soldier in the head.

Then, hundreds of bolts rained down like a storm, turning the Tesron soldiers into honeycombs. The crossbow bolts flashed silver in the afternoon sun as they flew.

“Aaaargh!”

“W-what?”

“What’s flying at us?!”

“From that distance?”

The soldiers who were lucky enough to survive saw their friends being hit and turned pale.

“M-magic!” Someone panicked, thinking it was a magic attack, which made things even more confusing in the Tesron camp.

“Rear! It’s a mage ambush!” It was a silly mistake, but the enemies acted in a way that made it worse.

Thud thud thud.

“Lateral charge!” Neigh!

The mercenary band, which had been charging straight at the rear, suddenly turned to the right and headed north.

“Archers first!” At the command, the mercenaries aimed their crossbows to the left.

Click.

314 repeating crossbows all aimed at their targets at the same time.

“Kill them all!” The anger that had been building up exploded, and the crossbows rained down bolts, destroying the enemies. This is for my family.

Tap tap tap.

“Aaaargh!”

“Arrows, arrows!”

“Return fire! Return fire!”

“Shoot the arrows!” The longbowmen quickly fired their arrows into the air, but they didn’t aim properly, so they landed in empty spaces.

But even if they had aimed well, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Logan’s mercenary band was moving north across the battlefield, staying more than 300m away, so the arrows couldn’t reach them, no matter how hard they tried.

Meanwhile, the continuous firing was mowing down the enemy’s rear troops like straw.

‘Good. Just as planned!’

The attack, which only came from a distance where the enemy couldn’t reach, continued.

The new weapon was destroying the battlefield, showing how powerful it was.

The Tesron barony’s rear soldiers panicked because of the disaster that had come from nowhere, and they ran in all directions. The smell of sweat, horses, and fear filled the air.

The archers, who had been firing back without any success, were quickly wiped out.

‘I’ve been holding back until now to make this happen. So now… I’ll kill them all.’

Logan smiled grimly and shouted again.

“Reverse!”

“Reverse!” Kai repeated Logan’s command, and the mercenary band slowly turned their horses to the right as they moved north across the battlefield.

They turned just enough to keep their speed up, and Logan, leading the way, turned south again, sprinting diagonally with all his might.

Then, they changed direction and lined up again in a row.

“Ready! Fire!” The mercenary band fired their bolts again.

“Aaaargh! We’re being attacked from nowhere!”

“Counterattack, counterattack! We shoot arrows too!”

“Too far!”

“What are those guys!”

“How on earth!”

They were helpless. They couldn’t do anything about the cavalry running outside the range of their longbows.

With each volley, about a hundred men fell, and Logan’s mercenary band fired three or four volleys in a single run.

Logan’s mercenary band moved back and forth in a figure-eight pattern in the rear of the enemy, firing arrows continuously.

Thanks to Kai’s training, they stayed far enough away from the enemies.

“Run away!”

“Where to?!”

“Run forward!”

“You madman! This front is a battlefield!”

Training and everything else didn’t matter when they were being killed without even fighting.

Soldiers started to run away from the rear, causing the battle line to break, which soon spread across the battlefield. Help me! I’m hit!

Even those who didn’t know what was happening were caught up in the chaos and started to run away.

The effect was immediate.

“Cavalry! Turn the cavalry around! Catch them!” If they couldn’t catch those guys, it was over.

Haman Tesron, barely aware of what was happening, shouted. Could this be trouble?

No matter how bad the situation was, he couldn’t pull back the Knight Order.

A battle between Force Users could end quickly if there was any opening.

So, the best thing to do was to turn the cavalry that was attacking the rear of the McLain camp.

The adjutant waved the flag to send a signal, and soon the cavalry in the rear of the enemy began to leave their position and go around.

“They must! They must destroy them!” Instead of saying that such detailed orders could not be sent by signal, the adjutant simply nodded and waved the flag like crazy. He hoped that at least his urgent feelings would be conveyed.

“Hyah!” The shout ripped through the air. Hooves pounded the ground like thunder. The Tesron cavalry charged – a wave of gleaming metal moving as fast as a storm.

Sunlight flashed off their bright armor as they raced forward. It looked strong, but Logan knew it was light. This meant their horses could run faster, like arrows shot from a bow.

They were fast. In the time it takes to boil water for tea, they had already raced around the edge of the fighting and were aiming straight for Logan.

Even with a thousand riders rushing at him like a flood, Logan didn’t even blink. A cold smile touched his lips. “Well, well,” he murmured, “how thoughtful of you to come to me.”

He had let them come close, these shining fools. He didn’t want them buzzing around him like angry bees before he finished dealing with the soldiers behind them.

Logan was ready to unleash the fury that had been building up within him tenfold.

“Alright, let’s go! Flanking move!” Logan yelled, his voice sharp. “Do it now!”

“Flanking move!” the mercenaries echoed, their voices tight with excitement.

Appearing to charge towards the battlefield, the mercenaries bypassed the center and aimed their crossbows in a horizontal line at the approaching enemy cavalry.

The charging cavalrymen instantly drew their shields from their mounts upon seeing this.

Cavalry usually feared arrows. Everyone knew that. The Tesron riders raised their shields – big, curved shields that covered them from shoulder to hip. They leaned forward, hiding behind the wood and metal. It looked like a wall of shields, impossible to break.

Logan grinned and shouted to his mercenaries, “Aim diagonally downwards!”

“Downwards!”

“Target the horses!”

The mercenaries, initially bewildered but obedient to Logan’s command, quickly understood his intent and mirrored his cruel smile.

“Fire!” At Logan’s command, laced with mockery, the crossbows fired.

Heeeeee-ing!

With a single volley, dozens of cavalrymen at the head of the charge tumbled from their horses.

“Aaaargh!”

The cavalrymen following behind were sent flying as they tripped over their fallen comrades and horses.

“Gasp…!”

Their shields might have been strong enough to stop crossbow bolts, but they couldn’t defend against arrows fired into their horses.

And the consequences were obvious when soldiers who weren’t Force Users fell from horses running at full speed.

Crack!

Their necks snapped upon impact.

Crunch!

Or they were mercilessly crushed under the hooves of the horses charging behind them.

Logan smiled coldly as he watched the carnage he had created.

“Fools.”

Archer units facing cavalry usually chose to fire in a high arc to maximize their range. If the cavalry got within the effective direct-fire range of a standard longbow, about 100 meters, the archer unit would be wiped out before they could even properly aim their bows, so they fired in an arc from as far away as possible.

Naturally, cavalry units defending against arrows would typically raise their shields above their heads at an angle to block the arrows raining down from above. That alone was enough to protect both man and horse.

Of course, they would never have imagined arrows capable of hitting a target directly from over 300 meters away.

But Logan had no reason to be considerate of their circumstances.

“Keep firing! Target those who get up after falling!”

Some of them were strong enough to be considered near-knights, staggering to their feet even after being thrown from their galloping horses and trampled by their comrades. To commend their tenacity, they were showered with another volley of bolts.

“Aaaaargh!”

With a hundred cavalrymen at the front collapsing at once, and the rear ranks being continuously smashed by the volley of bolts, the remaining soldiers lost their formation and scattered.

The command seemed to be concentrated at the front, as they couldn’t even decide which way to charge and floundered about in confusion.

“Horizontal charge!”

Logan’s horse, eyeing the enemy, turned at a right angle and charged relentlessly, followed by three hundred mercenaries.

“Horses! They’re aiming for the horses!” one Tesron rider screamed.

“Shields low! Protect the horses!” another shouted back, his voice cracking with panic.

The Tesron cavalry, having barely managed to reorganize a new front line, charged straight at Logan and his mercenaries once more.

At a distance similar to before, the Tesron cavalrymen now lowered their heads in unison, covering their own heads and their horses’ heads at an angle with their shields.

They were protecting the vital points of both rider and mount while preserving as much of the horse’s vision as possible. It was a clear demonstration of how well-trained they were.

But Logan gave the order without hesitation.

“Fire!”

Heeeeee-ing!

“Aaaaargh!”

Despite the Tesron cavalry’s response, a similar scene unfolded as before.

The shields, large enough to cover a person’s upper body, barely protected the horse’s head. The mercenaries’ arrows ruthlessly pierced the inevitable gaps.

Because the formation was disrupted and the gaps were wider, the area vulnerable to attack was also larger, and nearly two hundred horses collapsed on the spot this time.

And, as before, a similar number of cavalrymen following behind tripped over their comrades’ horses and tumbled to the ground.

The mercenaries’ attack did not stop, and bolts rained down endlessly upon them.

‘At this rate, they’ll all die.’

The surviving cavalrymen’s expressions grew increasingly grim.

Nearly half their force had been wiped out in the short time it took to spot the enemy and charge.

As the senseless deaths of their comrades continued, fear began to outweigh anger.

But there was no turning back now.

The remaining cavalrymen gritted their teeth and charged towards the mercenaries, but,

“Engage! Fire!”

The enemy’s crossbows unleashed another barrage of lightning-like bolts with astonishing speed.

“Kraaah!”

This attack reduced the number of Tesron cavalrymen to less than that of the mercenaries.

From that moment on, the mercenaries no longer targeted those who had fallen.

They simply fired repeatedly at the remaining horses.

Those who barely survived finally stopped their charge and retreated, staring at them in dismay.

The Tesron cavalry had already been routed.

The cavalrymen who had swept across the battlefield like the wind had vanished as futilely as the wind.

Of course, there was one who was not satisfied with that alone.

“Lord Logan! Those who get up even after falling are quite strong. If you leave them be…”

“Leave them! It’s better to save my soldiers and my people, even if it’s just a little!”

Logan’s mind was made up.

“Wh-what is that! What on earth are those blighters!” No one answered the Baron’s scream, as if he were tearing his throat.

A chilling sensation ran down their spines. Everyone present felt that the atmosphere of the battlefield had completely changed.

But it was not easy for the commander of the camp to accept reality.

“The rear is being breached!”

“The soldiers are fleeing!”

“At this rate, those blighters will get to the knights too…”

“Don’t talk rot!” Harman Tesron was certain that the knights could not possibly be defeated by crossbows.

“Recall the knights! The enemy knights aren’t the problem. We must deal with those blighters first!”

It was a belated order. Besides, even if the order was given, the enemy knights were unlikely to let them go so easily.

It was the moment when the adjutant, who had to deliver that near-suicidal order, was about to listlessly raise the flag.

“Th-those blighters are moving this way!”

“What?!”

The Baron’s mind was filled with chaos at the adjutant’s scream-like cry, his heart racing.

‘Move the knights to deal with those blighters… No, what if I’m in danger before that…?’

After a moment of conflict, the Baron chose what was strategically the worst option.

“Lower the flag! Hide among the soldiers. Secure an escape route! There is hope only if I survive. I am Tesron.” Harman Tesron was busy rationalizing himself, even as he effectively abandoned the war.

From that moment on, the Tesron camp began to collapse helplessly.