Volume 3: Chapter 230 – Battle of Cromshtock
In this battle that would later be called the Battle of Chromstock (Camp), three days after the forces of Germion Kingdom arrived at their camp, the two opposing armies faced each other.
The imperial guards under the crown prince defended well against the goblins that attacked them every night. The crown prince didn’t sleep as he watched over his night duties. Because of that the morale of the two holy knight, Valdor and Jize, as well as the noble army grew even higher. The crown prince himself was doing the dirty job that had little profit. Given this situation, if they still could not perform well, then not only would they not have any face to show the crown prince, they would not even have any face to show their relatives even if they did manage to come back safely.
“We have to defeat these goblin bastards here or we will have no face to show our relatives!”
A battle cry cried out in response to the encouraging words of the elderly officer of the nobles’ army.
“If you want to return even the slightest bit of the crown prince’s favor, which he toiled for so much, wipe out the goblins! If you can’t even do that, then you’re not nobles!”
On the wings of Germion Kingdom’s battle formation were situated the mobile cavalry of the nobles’ army. At the center walked the two holy knight infantry. At the back were the mages of the kingdom, ready to shoot the enemy from afar. The imperial guards of the crown prince were positioned in the third row and were lined up to defend the crown prince.
It was a standard three rows formation, but it was precisely because of that that there were little openings.
After confirming the high morale of the adjacent nobles’ army, Valdor called out to his own army from inside his helmet.
“Expel the monsters and bring peace to the kingdom! For loyalty and pride!”
“For loyalty and pride!”
The infantry lined up at the back cried out in response to Valdor’s manifesto. The infantry led by Valdor did not use spears like the Western Region’s army. Instead, they wielded large oblong shields that could block their whole body and long swords. These soldiers were the elite of the eastern division.
“Both sides are really getting into it.”
Jize glanced at the excited eastern army and nobles’ army as he unsheathed his beloved katana and called out to the forces under him.
“A reward will be given to anyone who can take the head of their leader! A reward will also be given for any heads of high-ranked goblins! If you want merits, then risk your lives!”
Jize had gotten to where he was today thanks to his skill in martial arts. When he spoke of gaining honor and position through achievements made in war, the soldiers could feel that it was true.
“For greatness!”
“For greatness!!”
After each platoon encouraged their soldiers in their own way, they glared at the enemy before them.
“…Are those really the goblins that repelled Sivara-dono?”
Jize the One-Eyed looked at the goblins with his only eye. Jize could easily see their army crushing that disorderly mob of goblins in a single breath.
Meanwhile, the nobles’ army have been continually sending a messenger to Crown Prince Ishtar at the back, asking him to increase their pace.
“We can’t let our guard down, but… Is there any meaning in a formation like that?”
When assuming a battle formation, there are rules that one must never break. If a disorderly formation where to clash against an orderly formation, the orderly one will have the advantage. From Jize’s perspective, the goblins’ formation was basically that of an army that was sent out of camp but stopped.
It was a poorly done formation.
It was not like they didn’t have time, but the goblins simply refused to move from there.
“Are they having communication issues? Or maybe they’re amateurs? Either way…”
Jize himself was anxious, but another reason for his anxiety was because Sivara had told him that the goblins were strong. Even the nobles they rendezvoused with a few days ago that were beaten by the goblins said that the goblins weren’t weak. A formation like this that was basically asking for them to lose was strange no matter how you put it.
As Jize continued to glare at the enemy formation, unable to sweep away his doubts, the goblins eventually moved.
◇◆◆
“The enemy seems to be in high spirits.”
They looked at the enemy’s formation from a distance, and they could see that it had no openings. They were lined up properly and their battle flags swayed in the wind. Moreover, their soldiers were all evidently in high spirits. Seeing that, Ra Gilmi Fishiga’s flag of bow and arrow (Falzen) narrowed their eyes.
“In that case, let’s hit them a little.”
Shumea, who was beside Gilmi, laughed and raised her voice.
“First arrow! Go!”
In contrast to Germion Kingdom, who had an orderly formation, the goblins had merely taken position in front of their camp. For a moment, Jize had considered crushing them in one breath, but as expected, he was still a veteran general who led an army. The formation of Gilmi and the others were so full of holes that they were actually not in formation. The Ganra tribe and the others actually hadn’t assumed any formations. They just stayed behind inside the camp.
At Shumea’s behest, the two chiefs of the fast demihumans ran to both flanks. The Fang Tribe (Werewolf) to the left and the centaurs to the right. They moved quickly like the tip of an arrow. It was a formation that looked just like a crane spreading its wings; hence, it was known as the Crane Wing Formation.
But even that was half-assed. The Crane Wing Formation was originally a formation that sought to surround the enemy, and yet the only ones moving out were the demihumans.
The center that was supposed to receive the enemy remained in place, unmoving. Only the two wings of demihumans spread, drawing a half-circle on the field, as they approached the forces of Germion Kingdom.
The approaching enemy had to be dealt with. Although the forces of Germion Kingdom were suspicious of the goblins’ actions, they responded exactly as they should. The two ends of the Three Row Formation responded to the interception of the demihumans.
The wings of the two armies approached each other. The core of the horsemen of the forces of Germion were nobles, so their equipment far surpassed the goblins. They wore armor made of high-quality iron and rode upon steeds that could endure its weight. The warhorses for steeds that they rode upon were raised specifically for war and purchased from the the Country of Meadows, the Holy Shushunu Kingdom.
Compared to them, the demihumans only had a hunters’ bow and arrow, while the Fang Tribe (Werewolf) were barehanded.
The arrows of the centaurs were blocked by the round shields of the humans and they rode onwards without stopping as they prepared their spears. Many of the nobles of Germion Kingdom were brave and gallant men. Germion Kingdom is a military nation renowned among their neighbors. Although the holy knights tended to stick out the most, the military powers supporting the country were the nameless soldiers and the nobles that yearned for military service.
It took considerable training and money to be a part of the cavalry. In the past, the feudal lord of the Western Region, Gowen Ranid, had taken a mere commoner as his right-hand man and assigned him to be the leader of the cavalry, but this was an exception. Usually, only those who have received training from childhood and could afford the equipment would be able to throw themselves at the battlefield as part of the cavalry.
The only people who could fit such stern requirements in Germion Kingdom were the nobles.
“Prepare to charge!”
The hooves of the warhorses stepped firmly upon the land. As they scattered dense clouds of dust, the young nobles of Germion Kingdom gathered into a lump and prepared to charge toward the demihumans.
“Turn around! Turn around!!”
When the two armies were on the verge of clashing, the demihumans suddenly turned around. They quickly ran away from the cavalry. The forces of Germion Kingdom were watching the battle with abated breath, so when the enemy suddenly ran away, they couldn’t help but cry out in confusion. Only one thing was clear. Germion Kingdom had taken the advantage.
“Retreat to camp!”
From the perspective of Germion Kingdom, the goblins were retreating after attempting a poor imitation of a formation. When the forces of Germion Kingdom saw the goblins retreating without fighting, some of them were confused while others burned with vengeance.
The former were the veteran holy knights that had a lot of experience, and the latter were the nobles that lost in the last battle. When they saw the goblins running away, they immediately gave the order to pursue without waiting for the crown prince’s orders.
“…Too rash.”
Valdor the Holy Knight bitterly spat, but there was no way they could afford not to move now. Besides, it was true that Germion Kingdom – with its orderly formation – was in position to chase after the retreating goblin army.
“Unu… We have to go.”
As Valdor’s army began to move, Jize the One-Eyed also moved his forces. If two sides were moving, then naturally Jize also had to move his forces and pursue after the goblins. Afterwards, the mages and the imperial guards protecting the crown prince also followed.
Germion Kingdom prepared to purse as they moved.
Meanwhile, the cavalry made up of noble children rode after the backs of the demihumans. Facing the backs of the demihumans that suddenly turned around, they spurred their steeds onward as they sought to bury their spear into the back of the demihumans. To the demihumans’ fortune, the enemy cavalry was mostly made up of young soldiers.
The veterans among their ranks were merely there to support the children, so they were few in number. The young cavalry eager to gain war merits recklessly chased after the demihumans.
Before they knew it, they had separated a good distance from the main force and were right before the entrance to the enemy camp.
“At this rate, we’ll get past their camp! Don’t fall behind!”
In that very instant when the head of the human cavalry was about to hit the back of the demihuman furthest back with his spear, his warhorse screamed, and he fell over.
“NU, AH!?”
Suddenly, the legs of the warhorses were sent into chaos. On the forehead stuck out a lone arrow.
When the warhorse suddenly fell over, the inertia sent the rider flying. As the rider rolled about, he saw a rain of arrows descending.
“Shoot them down! Don’t allow them to kill the descendants of the crystals!”
After Gilmi the Hero of Ganra himself had drawn his bow came the tribal goblins. There were fences placed here and there, and the demihumans and the human cavalry ran immediately after each other as they moved along the one-way road. It was then that Ganra’s archers rained arrows on them, trying to outdo each other.
“Don’t falter!”
But the cavalry of Germion Kingdom that seemed like it was about to fall into chaos, in a display of great recklessness, rode onward despite the arrow rain. One reason behind this was because of the essentially one-way road that the demihumans led them into, which left them with little choice. The veteran members of the cavalry instantly realized that they had no place to retreat to, while the children of the nobles were deadset on chasing after their prey.
The only way for them to survive was to bury their spears into the backs of the demihumans and break through the enemy camp.
“They can’t get away from the cavalry!”
In response to Bui’s shriek, Shumea resolutely commanded.
“Don’t close the gates! Leave them open!”
In order to retrieve the demihumans that had acted as bait to draw out the cavalry, they had to leave the gates of the camp open. They were originally supposed to lure the cavalry with a bigger distance between them.
But with the way things were now, when the demihumans entered through the gate, the human cavalry came pouring in after.
“Gi Zu-dono!”
Gilmi had been shooting his arrows, but now, the enemy cavalry has gotten in. Gilmi continued to shoot at the enemy, but he also called out to Gi Zu.
“Leave it to us! Let’s go, boys!”
The biggest brawlers of the goblins, Gi Zu Ruo and his men. They took their weapons with them and fought against the cavalry that had entered.
In the blink of an eye, blood and jeers filled the camp, and the place was turned into a battlefield.
The goblins had successfully lured the enemy cavalry, but with their great numbers, it was still uncertain to whom victory would fall. Valdor realized that the cavalry had been lured, so he gave the order to elite of the eastern division to attack.
“Go! We can’t just watch our allies get killed!”
Valdor stood at the head of his army. In his hands were the twin swords that gave him his name. Valdor was dressed in light armor. His valiant figure as he naturally led his army from in front bolstered his troops’ morale. With that, Jize the One-Eyed’s southern army and the noble army also increased their pace.
“Onwards! Kill those goblins!”
The fierce knights stood at the head of the army and raised the morale of the infantry, but Shumea and Gilmi were waiting for them.
“They’re here!”
This is what they’ve been waiting for the most in this battle.
A charge led by the holy knights. Normal soldiers couldn’t contest the holy knights and were cut down like flies. Like that the entire formation was torn apart. The goblin forces knew that it did not matter whether Gilmi, Shumea, or Gi Zu went out to fight. The result would be the same, so they prioritized on carrying out their plan.
“After my arrow! Focus fire!”
At the behest of Gilmi the Hero of Ganra, an arrow flew to the sky and shot for where Valdor was. But if he could be taken down by a mere arrow, he would not be called a holy knight. Arrows rained from the sky, but Valdor did not seem to care as he cut down only those that would make contact with his body. Valdor’s army showed no signs of stopping.
Valdor slowed down the pace of his army a little, but his eastern division army still steadily made their way for the goblin camp. Naturally, by doing that, the other infantry would be able to take the lead.
The southern army of Jize the One-Eyed and the nobles’ army went ahead.
“Damned monsters. Endure the rain of arrows.”
Gilmi clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was panicking a little because of the enemy’s speed.
“Shumea-dono!”
“I know! All forces retreat! Retreat!”
After causing enough losses to the enemy cavalry to incapacitate them, the goblin forces immediately started retreating.
“Damn it! I’ll take them on!”
“Ved! We’re retreating!”
Gi Zu’s noble class subordinate, Zu Ved, had lost his temper and did not want to retreat, but Gi Zu was beside him and was able to grab him by the scruff of his neck to take him away from battle.
“…We’re retreating too!”
As Shumea led the main forces of the goblin army to retreat, Gilmi also started to retreat. The magic winds blowing violently in the air threw the arrows out of their trajectory. causing them to miss their target. The approaching unit of mages poured their spells toward the goblin camp.
When Gilmi saw the goblins of the Ganra Tribe caught up in the attacks, he immediately gave the order to retreat. The southern army and the nobles’ army that had taken the lead were approaching the outer part of the camp, but Gilmi’s traps that they had built day and night were waiting for them.
“Damn you impudent bastards.”
The nobles groaned as they were forced to jump over the pit falls
“…So the enemy wanted to lure us in.”
As Jize quickly avoided the traps, he figured out what the goblins had in mind.
“In that case!”
Jize immediately increased his pace.
“Those that can’t keep up, follow after you avoid the traps!”
In a display of superhuman physical strength, Jize bolted off. Every step he took was equivalent to ten steps of a normal footman. When Gilmi saw Jize rush off by himself, Gilmi cried out to retreat.
“Soft!”
Jize cut down the fences blocking his way with a stroke of his blade, then he rushed through the opened gate. Inside were the heaps of corpses from the cavalry that fought earlier. Jize only glanced at them for a moment before he charged into the camp and looked for the enemy. The goblins that were late running, the wounded humans, and the demihumans. Any and all who stood in his path were cut down with a stroke of his blade, but Jize was looking for the enemy leader.
After breaking through several gates, Jize found himself in an open area.
It was then that he saw that figure.
“Nu. I was told the enemy were goblins, but…”
“GURUuuOOOOooOOoAaa!!!”
The brutish orc ate the forbidden fruit and roared. In his hand was a thick iron spear that humans could not wield. The air flattened as the spear came swinging for Jize, but it only hit the ground.
“—So, there really are goblins!”
When Jize was about to cut Bui’s head, Gilmi’s perfectly accurate arrow shot at him. Jize cut down Gilmi’s arrow and easily dodged Bui’s iron spear.
“The monsters are working together. A terrifying thing. But unfortunately, it won’t be enough to kill me.”
On the face of the One-Eyed Holy Knight was a ferocious smile. Jize could more or less infer where Gilmi was based on the direction the arrow came from and where he was. Although there were a lot of places to shoot him from given this was an open area, there weren’t a lot of places were one could shoot while still hiding.
Bui once again swung his iron spear.
Clouds of dust stirred up in the wake of that destructive power that would crush anything in its path, but Jize easily dodged it. He kept his eyes on the location he thought Gilmi was hiding in and used Bui’s body as a shield by standing around him.
“It doesn’t matter how strong your spear is if it can’t hit!”
One stroke.
Jize’s blade ran through Bui’s arm, cutting him from his hand to his shoulder. In the next moment, blood spurted out of Bui’s thick arms. Bui didn’t seem to care at all, however, as he once again swung his iron spear.
“Unu. That should have been enough to keep a normal orc from moving again…”
Bui’s brutish body reinforced with an armor of muscles made it imposisble for Jize to finish him off with a single blow.
“The longer this drags on, the worse off I’ll be.”
Jize never once looked down on the physical abilities of monsters. He still remembered that Germion Kingdom once suffered greatly because of the Orc Madness. Records of the fear on that day lingered yet when the orcs wold keep running even after having their heads were lopped off.
“Although it’s not on the same level as the goblins, taking your head should get me a decent prize!”
Jize easily dodged Bui’s spear again and cut at his body.
“Still too shallow?”
Jize calmly observed as blood came out of the orc’s body, then he attacked with his sword again. He slashed down from the shoulder to the chest, but the overly developed muscles blocked his attacks.
“I guess it really has to be the head then?”
Jize eyed Bui’s neck like a hunter eyeing his game. In the blink of an eye, three strokes were drawn. Bui was already covered in blood and had slowed down, but Jize never let his guard down as he watched the orc in front of him. When Jize was about to move again, an arrow was once again sent flying toward him.
“Annoying.”
As a result, Jize had to jump back. At the same time, it was then that he saw a giant goblin.
“Did I make it?”
Although not as thick as Bui’s, Gi Zu Ruo fiercely smiled as he spun a similarly thick iron spear in his hands.
“…Hmm. Three monsters then? Very well. I shall happily take all of your heads as my trophies!”
The One-Eyed Holy Knight smiled mightily like a demon.