If Varna struggled to bring Ragna to the brink of death, Corwin fled to save his own life.
"Wow, you really..."
A barbarian's voice echoed from behind, but Corwin ignored it and kept running. He didn’t look back even once.
It felt like if he turned his head even now, the gray monster’s head would be chasing him with an axe.
He felt like an ostrich burying its head in the ground when threatened or a pheasant hiding its head in the bushes.
Just because Rem wasn’t chasing him didn’t mean he wouldn’t chase, and just because he didn’t look didn’t mean he wouldn’t follow.
However, unlike an ostrich or a pheasant, Corwin had legs that had reached a heightened sense through the use of willpower.
Of course, ostriches have their own keen hearing, so burying their heads isn’t entirely foolish, and pheasants hide their large heads and leave only their eyes out to use their keen eyesight, but from the outside, they do look stupid.
Just like Corwin, who was running away right now.
Corwin ran madly, squeezing out all his strength. He was drooling at some point, but he didn’t even notice.
He activated his heightened senses and recklessly spent his willpower. He didn’t care if he was reaching his limit. He used up everything he had. He didn’t even have time to sweat from the panic.
His balls shriveled, and he was about to piss himself.
And then, as he was running, Corwin got lucky.
What are the chances of running into an ally, someone in the same situation as him?
Well, it wasn’t entirely a coincidence but more like fate.
Corwin instinctively retraced his steps, and one of Varna’s adjutants had been seeking shelter with another Knight, which led them both to this spot.
‘If I go to General Frog, I’m dead.’
He wasn’t someone who would forgive a subordinate for leaving him behind and coming back.
So, there was only one choice left.
Escaping the Pen-Hanil Mountains alone wasn’t an option in the first place.
So, their meeting couldn’t entirely be called a coincidence.
‘All of this is for future planning.’
The Commander consoled himself, thinking this way.
He needed psychological comfort to rationalize his actions. He had abandoned all his subordinates, but he justified it like that.
‘I need to report the enemy's strength.’
So, this was not an escape but a strategic retreat for future advances.
Of course, that wasn’t true.
A little thinking would reveal it. Varna was the last hope for Aspen.
Can a country without Knightly forces survive in a war with another nation?
No.
Moreover, Aspen had staked everything on this battle.
If only Varna had died, that might have been another issue, but the fact that Aspen’s most trusted Knight had been defeated remained unchanged.
That meant it was safer to assume the situation in other battlefields wasn’t good either.
If his life weren’t on the line.
If he weren’t on the verge of death.
If he hadn’t witnessed the death of the Knight he trusted most right before his eyes.
The Commander might have been able to assess the situation more calmly.
If he were calm, would he have still fled?
Who knows? Things that didn’t happen are things that never will.
If the Commander had changed his mind at that moment, he might have charged, shouting for his country.
But for now, the choice was made.
Once time passes, it never returns, and only reality remains.
It was in that reality that the Commander spotted Corwin.
"Sir Corwin."
The fact that Corwin was even here was strange enough, but from his expression, something was definitely off.
"Why are you here?"
The Commander asked.
Corwin seemed panicked, but he was still a Knight.
Inside him was a solid willpower that hadn’t broken.
Of course, Corwin had a rather unique path to Knighthood, so his Will wasn’t that great.
It was more that he had awakened to willpower thanks to his innate insight since childhood.
But that didn’t mean he hadn’t worked hard in between.
Corwin was someone who valued everything he had built up. His arrogance, his hollow reputation, and everything else mattered, so he couldn’t die.
"What about Sir Varna?"
Corwin asked in return.
The Commander bit his lip. His expression showed that even speaking was painful.
"He was killed in action."
Corwin blinked twice.
Who died?
To Corwin, Varna was another kind of monster.
He had even learned from Varna, so he knew. The waves Varna created with his willpower couldn’t simply be blocked.
Especially for a first-time opponent, blocking it was impossible.
"Killed in action?"
Corwin asked, astonished. He couldn’t hide his emotions. His feelings were clear as day on his face.
"Yes."
The Commander gritted his teeth as he spoke. He looked incredibly angry, or perhaps he was practicing how to make that face.
To Corwin, it all felt like a play.
What kind of nonsense was this?
"Why are you alone?"
"We were attacked."
Normally, Corwin would have found some way to defend himself, but he wasn’t in his right mind.
He had fled in front of the enemy, damaging the willpower he had built up as a Knight.
In other words, he was in a state of mental weakness. It was no different from having drunk past his limit.
"Attacked?"
"There’s a monster on the enemy’s side."
Corwin answered blankly, with dazed eyes.
"So, you ran away?"
A deserter could recognize another deserter. Corwin nodded his head.
Ran away? Yes, I ran away.
"Dammit! And you still call yourself a Knight? What did you learn from Sir Varna?"
The Commander would normally never speak this way to a Knight.
He was just as panicked as Corwin. Moreover, knowing his own cowardice, he instinctively needed someone to blame.
Now that person was a Knight and a deserter, so his own strategic retreat seemed like nothing.
He had found someone to bear all the responsibility.
"You better have a good reason for being alive. You will also be held accountable for the defeat."
If the Commander had been a little calmer, he wouldn’t have spoken like this.
At the very least, this was something to say later, back in the camp at a military tribunal.
Why?
Because although both were deserters, one of them held overwhelming power that could turn two into one.
Corwin’s dazed gaze regained its focus.
Is this the right way to go back?
To live with the shame of being called a deserter?
There was no need to let his eyes shine with murderous intent.
"Let’s go back for now—"
Thump.
Corwin casually thrust his sword forward.
Though fleeing had taken a toll on his body and mind, his sword still moved well.
As long as his opponent wasn’t a Knight, yes, his sword was still great.
"Why..."
The Commander realized how foolish he had been, but knowing didn’t change anything.
Thump, thump.
Corwin stabbed two more times. The Commander tried to grab the blade with his hands, but that too was a futile gesture. After putting three holes in his body, ensuring the man who had witnessed his desertion was dead, Corwin finally spoke.
"It’s not over yet."
No, even if we lose, we can’t lose like this.
The responsibility for defeat? That’s ridiculous.
Now Corwin’s feet, which had moved out of instinct, ran with a clear purpose.
He visualized the map of the Pen-Hanil Mountains in his mind. He was heading for the main army.
Not to the rear, but to the place where the two armies were facing off.
He cut straight through the mountains. At one point, a bear beast delayed him, but whether by luck or misfortune, he managed to find his way down.
Covered in the black blood of monsters and beasts, as if he had bathed in it, he reached the main camp. Two soldiers on watch pointed their spears at him.
"What the hell? Where did you come from?"
"Who is this guy?"
Corwin took a deep breath and spoke.
"Corwin Ekins of the Royal Knights. Take me to the Commander’s tent immediately."
"...What?"
At the soldier’s dumbfounded response, Corwin’s hand twitched. He wanted to decapitate him right there but held back.
"Do I need to show proof?"
Corwin drew his sword. A Knight’s sword is a symbol of the Knight himself.
He showed his engraved weapon and even held up his gauntlet with the Knights' insignia.
The soldier wiped the black blood off the iron gauntlet in the dirt, revealing the insignia.
"Oh."
"Please, follow me."
Before the battle had even begun, the soldiers' morale had plummeted after seeing the Knights who had gone out for duels return in defeat.
Few were paying attention to Corwin.
Most were too focused on the front lines, fearing the enemy might charge at any moment.
Thanks to that, Corwin quietly made his way to the command tent.
The General, who had stayed behind on Avnair’s orders, stood up when he saw him.
"Sir Corwin?"
They were familiar with each other.
Corwin’s gaze fell on the General and the two adjutants beside him.
Avnair had once spoken to the General about these two adjutants.
One was loyal but not too bright, and the other was smart but too self-serving.
‘In other words, he has ambition.’
The tent was quite spacious, but aside from Corwin, only the three of them were present.
There wasn’t any immediate fighting, so no strategy meeting was taking place, and after the defeat in the duels, they were just waiting for news of victory.
"What in the world..."
The General was at a loss for words, seeing Corwin’s disheveled appearance.
Did they lose? Did they lose the flank battle?
His mind was racing, and he couldn’t form words.
That’s how stunned he was. Corwin looked at the shrewd adjutant, the one with the thin eyes, and spoke.
"From now on."
Swish, swish.
Without finishing his sentence, Corwin swung his sword, slashing the General’s and the loyal adjutant’s necks.
The blood on his blade turned blackish-red, the same color as the monster’s blood that stained it earlier.
The heads that were perched on their shoulders rolled off with a thud.
"You’re the new General."
"Ah."
The ambitious adjutant trembled in fear. Despite his ambition, he wasn’t a particularly strong man. He was smart but lacked the capacity for greatness.
"Will you follow my orders?"
If he didn’t, he would die. The situation was clear without even needing to read the room.
The adjutant, small in spirit but smart, quickly grasped the situation.
"Yes, I understand."
"Good. From now on, order the entire army to advance."
The adjutant swallowed hard.
"Do not stop until we win. We will capture the enemy’s city."
Normally, a statement like that would be followed by a promise to lead the charge, but Corwin had no intention of doing that.
Instead, he gave the adjutant the words he needed to hear.
"I will be watching from behind."
If you don’t obey, you will die. A Knight of the army stood behind him with a sword drawn.
The adjutant knew that even if he gave the orders, they wouldn’t be carried out as they were.
What would happen then?
The blackened blade would pierce his chest.
‘What should I do?’
After much thought, he came to his conclusion.
A letter from Avnair lay beside the dead General. This entire battle was following orders from above.
But what if a command with higher authority than Avnair’s arrived?
"Please give me a dagger. Something with symbolic power to prove your command."
"Take it."
Corwin handed over the jewel-encrusted dagger that Knights received upon induction.
It was enough.
The adjutant left and gathered the officers. He used the excuse of urgency to gather them outside instead of in the tent.
There was no way they could gather inside where two corpses would greet them.
"Urgent news from the main army has arrived. The General has returned. We are advancing before sunset."
Several Commanders, those who still had some sense and intelligence, tilted their heads.
"To where?"
"There?"
"If we charge now, won't we be at a disadvantage?"
"A chaotic battle?"
The adjutant lacked the charisma to control these men, but he had the Knight’s dagger.
"It’s the command of Sir Corwin of the Royal Knights. The Knights have won. We are to capture the enemy’s city."
It was too late to turn back now. You can't uncrush bread back into wheat.
‘I have no idea.’
Charging forward like this would lead to countless casualties.
Men would die, and men would kill.
Would they be able to break through like this?
‘It seems impossible.’
Just looking at the defeated Knights and the enemy troops was enough to tell.
"Did the Knights win? Was there a separate battle on the flank?"
"I don’t know. That’s all I was told."
The less said, the better. Lying any further would only reveal cracks.
"Does that mean the Knights are attacking from the rear?"
"I noticed some troops were missing."
A quick-witted Commander accepted the explanation.
The authority of the Knight’s dagger swayed the other Commanders as well, and Aspen prepared for the advance.
As things progressed, Corwin found a nearby lake, washed himself off, and thought about his next move.
‘Use the frontal assault as bait.’
There was no time to worry about the men who would die.
‘Instead, I will take the Lord’s head.’
Even now, his deranged mind wasn’t focused on confronting Knights but on finding a relatively weaker opponent. He set his sights on Graham, the Lord of the Border Guard.
There wasn’t an ounce of rational judgment left.
Aspen began to move.
Watching this, Krais felt bewildered.
"Why are they doing that?"
Their morale had already been crushed, and the result of the flank battle hadn’t even been determined yet.
And now they’re initiating a full-scale attack?
There wasn’t even any strategic maneuvering.
The enemy hadn’t sent a detachment to disrupt their lines.
Of course, even if they sent a cavalry unit, it wouldn’t change anything.
The Border Guard’s defensive position was already perfect.
So, this was an even more incomprehensible move.
"We must fight, brother."
Audin spoke.
Even from the enemy’s energy, he could tell they were serious.
Krais understood too.
The enemy surged across the invisible line he had drawn as the boundary they must not cross.
"Uraaaaah!"
Aspen’s vanguard let out a wild scream.
There was no real killing intent behind it. It just seemed like a meaningless outburst.
But to stop that outburst, countless lives would have to be sacrificed.
The enemy Commander’s thoughts were incomprehensible, but it was the worst decision.
Krais had suspected it, but now it seemed certain.
There were far more idiots in the world than he had thought.
There were indeed people who would make moves that made no sense to him.
No, there were plenty of them, actually.
‘What if one of the higher-ups goes through with some insane plan and forces it through?’
A senseless battle where neither side can win could indeed happen.
"Mad bastards."
Krais saw that a swirling vortex of war was about to engulf them.
A massacre of killing and being killed was about to unfold.
How could it be stopped?
For now, there was no way. The best course of action was to face it head-on.
Thanks for the Chapter Bro!!! :DD
Thanks for the Chapter.
Is it updated regularly? Also what is release schedule
Creo que he leído el manhwa, talvez lo esté confundiendo.. 🤔