Book 3 Chapter 64 - Battle for the Throne (1)

“Get into battle formation!”

They were currently deep within the forest. If they weren’t careful, they might suffer from an ambush resulting in devastating casualties.

While Count Huntington took charge of the soldiers, Woohyuk took the time to examine the surroundings.

‘It’s a good place for a cavalry charge.’

In the forest where your field of view is limited, a knight's charge was incredibly powerful. If you assaulted from an unexpected angle, you could throw the enemy forces into confusion, leading to a quick collapse.

‘I’ll have to make use of the Hwarang clan.’

45% of their members had the Ranger class. By making full use of this ranged class, he could somewhat offset their current disadvantage.

As Woohyuk gave the order, Gwak Seyoung and the other Rangers climbed some nearby trees.

Dududududu!

The galloping sound of the horses’ hooves thumping on the ground became louder and louder.

“Get ready!”

Taking an overview of the area, Woohyuk examined the current composition of their soldiers.

1,500 Spearmen

800 Swordsmen

500 Archers

200 Mages

Most of them however were merely conscriptions that had been picked up by either the Hwarang clan or the Count.

From his own party, Leifina, Lia, Song Anna and Yoo Kayoung had stayed behind at Hayswick, guarding Han Jangmi.

‘It’s a good thing we have quite a lot of spearmen.’

Unlike other positions, spearmen were relatively quick to train and cheap to equip. Not to mention that they were the ideal counter to the cavalry charge which they had coming their way.

After making his way to the right side of the formation, Woohyuk secretly informed Jung Sanghoon.

[Keep an eye on Gwak Seyoung.]

Even if they were allies at the moment, he would likely betray them without a second thought if it was in his interest.

Unlike during the Canyon Battle, there were no system penalties for betraying your allies.

[Alright, if I notice any odd behavior I’ll notify you immediately.]

As Jung Sanghoon left to perform his task, the enemy cavalry burst out from the bushes, and the battle had begun.

The horsemen charged into their army’s left flank, cleaving through the spearmen as volleys of arrows were exchanged by both sides

Although the men moved quickly to try to fill up the gaps in their defense, they couldn’t arrive in time.

The enemy’s fast moving cavalry had already broken through to the rear, where the majority of the archers were now exposed.

‘As expected.’

If they had some scouts that reported on their formation, it was only natural for them to target the squishy back line.

That was the reason that Woohyuk had instructed Hwarang’s Rangers to climb up on the trees, so that they would now be safe and have a clear line of sight to the enemy

Shushushu!

As Woohyuk sent the signal, the Rangers equipped with crossbows let loose all at once.

They aimed at the incoming cavalry.

Neiiigh!

As the arrows slammed into the horses’ armor, they moaned as they swung their heads.

The warhorses however were well protected, with almost no gaps in the armor so it was difficult to cause a serious injury with regular bolts.

Their bolts didn’t even manage to slow the enemy down, but Woohyuk didn’t bother too much with it and had them continue firing. The left side had already suffered many casualties, so he couldn’t allow the right flank to fall as well.

‘Soon the archers will change their targets.’

Seeing that there were many Rangers in position in the trees, the rest of the enemy forces wouldn’t be able to stand still.

No doubt they would also send in their own infantry as well.

It didn’t take long for Woohyuk’s expectation to come true, as signs of battle erupted from the right flank.

“Take command until I return.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

Lee Jaesung nodded from atop his grey horse. He was a competent commander, and could lead the men well even in Woohyuk’s absence.

‘It’s about time for me to join in.’

Huntington could somewhat deal with their cavalry, but someone else would have to take care of the archers..

Leaving his confused subordinates behind, Woohyuk ran into the forest.

Shushushu!

As they noticed Woohyuk’s advance, they began to shower him in arrows. Of course he was able to easily defend using the barrier ability of the Ghost Queen Star Serpent.

‘About thirty to forty thousand of them.’

They were completely surrounded, with the enemy even having at least then thousand archers.

It was quite a large force. Perhaps they had known in advance that Count Huntington would choose to raise an army in the crown’s defense.

“Well, it doesn’t matter too much.’

Even if they knew the city was mostly empty, Hayswick had strong, high walls, and wasn’t likely to fall to any sneak attack.

High ranked Demons wouldn’t be able to enter either due to the engravings of sacred magic placed upon its manor, a legacy of Holy magic.

He had even left behind some members from his party just in case of an emergency.

Wookyuk unsheathed Grandia as he rushed to the enemy’s archer formation.

Chaahak

Blood spurt out like a fountain, as the green vegetation was stained red. As he was busy slaughtering the archers by himself, a group of spearmen appeared and surrounded him.

Just as they were about to stab forth with their spears, a black mist spread out, with him as the center.

[Cradle of Grief]

He was limited in how he could use his Demonic energy with so many witnesses, so this artifact was very useful when fighting against greater numbers.

“What, what….”

“I lost strength in my arms.”

As the enemy spearmen entered a confused state, Woohyuk summoned James.

[Take care of them.]

His Oath Breaker curse was especially strong against enemies that were already confused.

He didn’t want to summon too many undead and risk catching the attention of the Count. After all, he was a devout believer in the Heavenly God and was very sensitive to any dark magic.

‘We just need to hold on a while longer.’

Gaius was currently leading the 5th Legion to come to their aid. He had deployed the Legion without the proper authorization from the King, all due to Woohyuk’s orders.

The battle would almost certainly tip in their favor as soon as they arrived.

As he saw a group of archers notching arrows in the distance, Woohyuk summoned a Lightning Bolt spell to his hand.

* * *

After a fierce battle, Count Huntington’s army eventually prevailed.

Although there had been many casualties, mostly due to the enemy’s cavalry charge, it wasn’t any crippling damage.

If anything, now that the 5th Legion had joined up with them, their strength had instead increased.

As the army cleaned up the battlefield, Count Huntington interrogated the prisoners. He absolutely had to figure out how it was that the enemy had known their route.

“Speak, who gave you such information?”

“I don’t know, I only do as I'm told.”

“It seems you don’t yet understand your current situation.”

“No, please, Stop! … Ahhh!”

The enemy commander screamed in pain as the harsh tortutre resumed once more.

As he lost consciousness, a soldier walked over carrying a bucket of water.

Aahhh!

As the cold water was splashed on his face, the commander was startled awake once more.

“This is your last chance, so you’d best consider your next words carefully. Just for reference, according to Holy Church’s laws, we can burn you at the stake after having received a confession from torture.:

“Bu..burning?”

“It’s fine, I do occasionally feel merciful however. Of course only if I think you deserve it.”

A quick death was considered a mercy to a captured soldier in his position. The commander finally spoke, as his body continued to shake.

“I heard that Count Ludwig has some spies.”

“Spies? Where, in the Ionia province?”

“Yes, he gets information from many places.”

Despite having captured many traitors, Count Huntington still wasn’t free from Count Ludwig’s information network.

He was a very ambitious but also careful man who wished to seize the throne. Able to grasp the plans of any nobles that were hostile to him, as well as any competitors.

“We’re in trouble if he knows all of our plans.”

As the Count had a troubled expression, Woohyuk who was standing beside him, spoke.

“There’s nothing to worry about, they are most likely headed to Heidelber.”

Since they didn’t manage to seize control of the Ionian Plains, the rebels almost certainly had to bring a swift end to this war. They couldn’t drag it on into the winter because of a lack of food.

If the peasants started to starve, they would no longer have any support from the people.

“Then we must make haste. We can’t allow Count Ludwig to enter Blackburn.”

“... There are several layers to his plans. If he finds himself in a tight spot, he can always switch to another one.”

It was the rebels that more or less controlled the Capital’s politics.

If they were able to officially proclaim the loyalist force as committing treason, the actual kingdom’s army might return from Marquis Nelson’s borders and strike them from behind.

In that case, their first target would most likely be Hayswick in the Ionia province.

Because of that, the loyalist faction had a high chance of being caught in an unfavorable pincer attack, all the while suffering from food shortages.

As the enemy commander finished spilling the beans, Count Huntington’s eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s ridiculous, is there even still a single noble still loyal to King John?”

“He was the one to abandon his own loyalists, falling for the flattery of the rebels.”

Count Huntington stayed in his territory, far removed from the Capital’s politics. He wasn’t even aware that the kingdom’s subjects had already lost all regard for King John.

The amount of ridiculous actions he’d taken against his own people were beyond counting.

Rather than hold a fair trial for those whom the rebel nobles had whispered poisonous words in his ear, he had them fight to the death in a one on one against his own royal guards.

The former Commander of the 1st Legion was kicked out from his position without cause and then exiled after stripping him of all his wealth and property.

At formal banquets, he had his royal guards fight each other like common gladiators, for the amusement of his entourage.

Of course this was mostly due to the instigation by those rebel nobles, but he bears the consequence all the same.

Only later was he recognized for his incompetence, and labelled as a failure of a King.

“No wonder I have yet to receive an answer from King John.”

“Why are you still on his side, despite him imprisoning his own mother and engaging in such acts of tyranny? He was never a wise king, and wasn’t fated to rule long.”

“If the King is useless, the throne changing hands every few years, there will soon be nothing left of this country. War will go on endlessly and only the number of orphans will increase. As vassals, isn’t it our role to get the kingdom back on the right path, rather than rebel?

Politics were always some murky waters to tread since the nobles’ own interests were often mixed in, making it difficult to determine who is in the right.

Still, usurping the throne was a different story altogether.

Count Huntington felt that such wars for power only resulted in meaningless deaths.

“When the king isn’t fit to rule, we don’t need to serve him like you said. By neglecting this problem it would only lead to more victims. I’m not ashamed of my actions because I’ve done what I think to be right.”

“Do you really believe yourself to be so righteous, when you just told me everything about your side’s plans?”

“I know full well that I won’t be able to live after being captured, so I simply wanted to give you some heartfelt advice.”

The enemy commander knew that Count Huntington was the kind of person that would keep their word, despite his words being somewhat offensive.

It was because he was well known to be a devout follower of the Holy Church and one of the religion’s commandments was to not break a promise.

“Thank you for your honesty, as promised I shall give you a swift death.”

The Count signaled to the guard behind him, who put an end to the enemy commander’s life with a simple slash of his sword.

Woohyuk then instructed Gaius to speak to the Count.

“Worry not, Count Huntington, regardless of what the King’s instructions are, the 5th Legion will be at your disposal.”

“Thank you for believing in me Commander Gaius. But, are you feeling alright, you look a bit more pale than usual.”

“Nothing serious, just some herbs which I’ve eaten in the Corcas Mountains that didn’t sit well with me.”

Gaius spoke according to Woohyuk’s instructions.

He was then called over to discuss their countermeasures.

If King John had already been poisoned and the loyalist faction labeled as traitors, their plans would have to change significantly.

“Well...are you beating them to the draw?”

“Yes, before moving, we first make sure the army is on our side, before the rebels take action.”

Despite being the lowest ranked Commander among the five Legions, Gaius’ influence within the kingdom was still significant.

If he were to send a message out, the other Commander could ignore his plea.

Even if King John had been poisoned, they wouldn’t lose control of the overall situation, so long as they secured the successor from the Devos Royal family.

Using Gaius as a mouthpiece, Woohyuk explained the next steps in their plan to Count Huntington.

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