“Ku ha ha ha! Got you!”
Rashka opened his big mouth and laughed, but Rasdir glared at him with red and bellowed furiously.
“Kill them! Kill them all! Avenge our people!”
Rasdir sent the Mash Squad to attack the swordsmen, while he took the rest of the army to attack the Gaidga Tribe. With a rallying cry, he commanded his Iron Bull Knights to flood the Gaidga Tribe.
This was still within Rashka’s expectations.
He had already considered that the enemy might turn to them when he considered this plan. That’s why it was only normal that he would be able to come up with an answer too.
“Retreat!”
Now that he’s successfully thrown the enemy into disarray, Rashka knew that his role was complete, so he immediately called for a retreat. Gi Go, who was taking on one of the platoons of the Iron Bull Knights, saw that and smiled.
“We’ll cut our way through! After me!”
Gi Go and his swordsmen cut straight through the enemy, approaching them from in front, and began their march to meet up with the main force. Meanwhile, Felduk’s rearguard had reorganized itself and was beginning to retreat to catch up with the main force, while Gi Ga Rax’s Aransain led a small platoon of swordsmen in the rear to provide cover for the Gaidga Tribe and the swordsmen.
Though their support would not be enough to make their return to the main force smooth, it should at least help them succeed.
Unfortunately, it was not possible for them to see everything on the battlefield. The battle between the Iron Bull Knights and Alrodena’s commando unit kept changing. One moment, it was a pursuit, in the next, a confused battle, then in the next, a battle of retreat. Meanwhile, not too far away from them was a group of soldiers hot on their heels.
It was the third company of holy knights worried about the erosion of the hero’s power.
There was this discomfort from the power welling up from within them and the possibility of their consciousness being taken away if they let their guard down. Helpless, Eleanor could only chase after her enemies. Thanks to the united will of the hero’s army, she could see beyond her own forces to see faintly even those fighting elsewhere.
In other words, Eleanor knew very well where the Iron Bull Knights were fighting and what sort of enemy they were fighting against. It was a strange power, but nothing could be more desirable as a commander.
As a result, they could head for the shortest route and fight against the Aransain and the Gaidga Tribe, that were currently helping the main force retreat.
“Throw your spears!”
From over a hundred meters came flying the spears of the third company, carrying with them power akin to spears thrown from up close.
Such spears descended upon Aransain and the Gaidga Tribe, making it all too easy to imagine how they would continue to rain upon them ceaselessly, wearing them down before they could even challenge them up close.
Gi Ga’s Aransain had been hastily formed in the first place, so when he saw the holy knights and the volunteer soldiers approaching from a distance, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to clash with them properly.
He had to put up a hard struggle despite that, but fortunately, they didn’t lose any commanders. As Aransain too suffered casualties, they had no choice but to retreat.
In the end, the rear guard, that was put together without the Goblin King, failed to stop the attack of the hero’s army and had no choice but to scatter and flee.
◇◆◆
“Damn it! What a shameful display!”
Despite cursing, Rashka gathered his forces and chased after the main force where the Goblin King was. They were a step ahead when they started retreating, but if Aransain did not put up such a hard fight, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to be wiped out.
The goblins could see in the night, and as such, they could already see the hazy shadows of the army in the distance.
But at the same time, they could also see the figure of Aransain being driven away in a night battle. Aransain’s forces were already in tatters, but Eleanor of the third company continued to give chase. With Aransain’s forces reduced to some hundred cavalry, they did not even have the strength to fight back.
“Hmph, we’ve got a debt to pay!”
The difference in their strength was clear as day, but this sort of arrogance was exactly what one would expect from a demon of the battlefield like Rashka. Because of how confident he was, there were many among the Gaidga that could be seen smiling fearlessly.
“Strike them from the side, then we’ll make our way back to the king!”
The Gaidga Tribe quietly raised their spirits and ran through the night.
They were in the middle of a retreat, yet as soon as they saw Aransain in danger, they didn’t hesitate to change course and ride head first into Eleanor’s forces. Eleanor’s forces had been chasing after Aransain, but the Gaidga Tribe’s attack forced them to turn to them and respond.
Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the difference in numbers.
The unexpected attack that came out of the blue indeed threw Eleanor’s forces into disarray despite the small size of the Gaidga Tribe, but Eleanor’s second-in-command prevented things from going as Rashka desired.
“They’re going to break through our southwest. Aim for that!”
At her aide, Yuan El Farran’s, behest, Eleanor’s forces were able to catch up to the Gaidga Tribe when they were about to make their escape and return to the main force.
“Tch, annoying.”
Rashka could tell that Yuan’s formation could wipe them out if they forced their way like this. It was a formation that lured them to the one direction that had a small opening, yet as impressive as it was for Rashka to see that despite standing in the front lines himself, it was sadly not enough to give him a way to turn this predicament around.
In the end, he had no choice but to force open the hard part of the surround they were currently in. A heavy price had to be paid, but they managed to successfully break out.
