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ILLUSTRATIONS POSTED
34 The Fall of Streve Fortress (1)
"The gate is open!!! 1st and 4th Corps, charge through the gate!!"
"10th and 5th Corps, pick up the pace!! Capture Streve!!!"
Forcing open Streve's gate a gate so strong that even the countless masters' sword auras in the last Zenon Plains War couldn't break it was a tremendous feat even for Yuno. So, after opening the way, Yuno left the charge to the surging legionaries and stepped back to rest.
"Thank you for your hard work, Your Highness! Leave the rest to us!!"
"I'll join the assault after a short rest, so don't overextend yourselves!"
The light infantry of the 1st and 4th Corps were the first to storm in, securing a path, and the heavy infantry followed, forming ranks and widening the breach.
Meanwhile, the defenders of Streve rushed to block the entrance, and Count Redelmo's knights also left the walls and joined the defenders at the gate.
Under Count Redelmo's experienced command, the defenders quickly formed an oval shield wall, and the light infantry who had secured the breach began to be slaughtered.
In an instant, the imperial troops near the entrance were surrounded, and the Teseito soldiers pressed in with their spears, tightening the encirclement.
"Fall back!! This is no place for Balkan dogs to set foot!!"
To break this situation, either the 10th and 5th Corps fighting on the walls needed to come down, or the encirclement had to be forced open. But fierce fighting continued atop the walls, and breaking through the defenders' aggressive encirclement would mean heavy casualties. The imperial troops, swallowing nervously, waited for the order to charge when Yuno appeared from behind.
"Whew~ What are you all doing here?"
"Y-Your Highness, you've recovered already?"
"This is nothing compared to sparring with my master!!!"
'And all those potions my mother, Empress Yuria, gave me helped a lot…'
"Your Highness… but why are you carrying the battering ram…?"
Having quickly recovered by chugging the potions his mother gave him for emergencies, Yuno brought the battering ram he'd used to break the gate inside the fortress.
"Oh, this? My specialty is my fists, but that's not great for mass destruction. So I'll use this instead!!!"
Whooosh KWAANG!!
With a sound that tore the air, the massive battering ram swung in Yuno's hands. The huge club crushed Teseito soldiers' shields and bodies in a single blow, sending more than ten soldiers flying as their torsos were smashed to pulp.
"Out of the way!! Stand in my way and die!!"
Whoosh!! KWAANG!! Whoosh!! KWAANG!!
"Aaaagh!!"
"It's a monster!!"
As soldiers continued to die horribly at Yuno's hands, Count Redelmo's knights, led by Cordelia, stepped forward.
"Never face that monster's weapon head-on!!"
"Prepare the nets!!"
"Throw them!!"
Trained to fight masters, the defenders tried to restrain Yuno with chain nets and follow up with thrown spears aimed at his vitals.
As Yuno swung the battering ram, a wide net spread over him, binding his movements, and a dozen sharp spears flew at his vital points.
This was the same technique Count Redelmo had used to kill two masters in the last Zenon Plains War, and the knights executed it just as their predecessors had.
But… it didn't work on Yuno.
Ting ting ting crack crack
"What's this? You think you can catch me with this stuff? Hm?"
Yuno let the spears bounce harmlessly off his body, then tore the net restraining him with his hands as if it were nothing.
"That insane monster!!"
"He can't be that tough everywhere!! Stop him, somehow!!"
The knights and defenders threw themselves at Yuno, but their attacks had no effect, and the gap created by Yuno's assault allowed the imperial troops to surge in, and the fortress began to fall.
At last, the imperial army succeeded in taking the walls; one by one, the Teseito banners atop the walls were pulled down.
Seeing this, Count Redelmo dropped the sword he was holding.
"…Is this the end…"
Count Redelmo realized that with Streve Fortress lost, his own life was likely over as well.
A stray arrow had struck him in the chest, and after pulling it out, he steadied his breathing as much as possible and gave orders to the soldier defending the command tower.
"Hah… Hah… Bring Sir Cordelia!"
Cordelia, who had been desperately trying to hold off Yuno with the knights and soldiers, rushed to the command post at Count Redelmo's summons.
Count Redelmo hid his wound and greeted her with a calm expression.
"Sir! The situation is dire! We'll try to secure an escape route please, you must flee!!"
But Count Redelmo shook his head.
"No… Raise the white flag. The fall of the fortress is already certain. Don't let the soldiers die needlessly."
"But sir!! That will mean your death!!"
"Sigh… My life won't last much longer anyway… If I can save you and the soldiers, my life doesn't matter."
"No, sir!! I'll die instead!! You must escape!!"
Slap!
"Don't talk nonsense!! An order is an order!! Can't you hear the soldiers dying? Raise the white flag!!"
At Count Redelmo's command, Cordelia, choking back tears, hung the white flag on the command post and carried another to the front lines.
When the imperial commanders saw the white flag, they shouted to the battlefield, calling for a halt to the fighting.
"The white flag is up!! Teseito troops, cease fighting!!"
"Both sides, stop fighting!! Teseito has surrendered!!"
Troops were pouring into the fortress, and one-sided slaughter was occurring, but the defenders' counterattacks using the terrain were also fierce, so the imperial commanders spread the news of Count Redelmo's surrender across all fronts.
"…The count has surrendered?"
"This can't be!! It must be a trick by the imperials!! We can still fight!!"
"No… the white flag is flying over the command post where the count is."
Of the 20 knights who had focused on Yuno, all but Cordelia lay dead at his feet.
Weeping over her fallen comrades, Cordelia approached Yuno, who was sitting among the ruins, and formally delivered the surrender.
"Ugh… Streve Fortress, under the Teseito Royal Army, formally surrenders to the Balkan Empire. This is the will of Fortress Commander Count Redelmo, and I, Cordelia, Captain of the Count's Knights, deliver it on his behalf."
"I accept your surrender. Streve Fortress is now the property of the Balkan Empire, and from this moment, all hostilities between our armies are to cease."
As Yuno accepted Cordelia's surrender, the Balkan Empire's flag was raised over Streve's walls.
"All forces!! Cease fighting!!"
"Teseito troops, disarm and follow our instructions! If you comply, your lives will be spared!"
"Where is Count Redelmo?"
"…I'll take you to him."
Following Cordelia's lead, Yuno headed to the command post of Streve Fortress.
There, Count Redelmo, his upper garments soaked in blood, was struggling to breathe. Cordelia rushed to him in shock.
"S-sir!! What happened? Sir!!"
"I… I was hit by an arrow before you arrived… haha… I've lived long enough… Prince of Balkan…"
Though it wasn't the way one would address royalty from another country, Yuno, having spent years with Catherine and long since stopped caring about such formalities, approached Redelmo without hesitation.
"Hmm… First, we need to stop the bleeding… I have some potions left…"
"Forget it! If you have potions, give them to the soldiers! More importantly… how did you break my defenses? Since the last war, I've faced many masters, but no one ever broke my walls… But a body that shrugs off arrows and spears… this…"
"Well, just think of it as having trained my body to be tough… and I suppose I'm also pretty strong. I can lift about two tons, so using a battering ram as a weapon is only natural, right?"
At Yuno's confident reply, Count Redelmo burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, what an incredible body… I never considered such a monstrous physique, so defeat is only natural. By the way, as the price of surrender, I have just two requests. Since I surrendered quickly and spared your army unnecessary losses, I hope you'll grant them."
"Go ahead. If it's within my authority, I'll grant your requests."
Yuno, seeing the sense in Count Redelmo's words, resolved to grant the requests if at all possible.
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