At Gerald’s behest, the soldiers under him waved a variety of flags.
The flag-bearers of each army wrote the meaning behind those flags and informed their respective commander. That was true for the 2nd and 3rd companies, and it was true for the outsiders, Gulland and Rasdir, as well.
The humans gradually expanded their formation to try and surround the goblins. They spread themselves thinly like a crane spreading its wings. And by the time Gu Long was able to rendezvous with the great number of reinforcements approaching frome behind, the humans have already completely expanded their formation.
At the center was the second company. To the sides were the forces of the first company and the margrave’s army. To the leftmost were the Iron Bull Knights and to the right most were the Volunteer Soldiers. But contrast the humans that tried to surround them, Felduk just charged straight through.
“If you spread yourselves out, the center is bound to thin! Go and pierce through that, my soldiers!”
At Gi Gu Verbena’s behest, Felduk regained their momentum. And as Gu Big and Gu Tough led the charge, Judith the Zealot stood before them.
As her folded arms dropped and her closed eyes opened, she bellowed.
“God is ever with us! Those of you of faith ride with me!””
Then she drew the two long swords by her waist and took the lead herself to face off against the approaching goblins. Her second company was a gathering of zealots.
Judith’s sword cut through Felduk’s two spearheads like knife cutting through paper. The two long swords she wielded were each imbued with a special spirit and possessed the properties of flowing water and freezing ice.
“Let the lakes flow (Cascade)!”
Water flowed out of the left sword and soaked the land.
“Let the icicles pierce (Frozen)!”
Then the water transformed into pillars of ice as big as a human body and struck out of the ground, piercing through the iron equipments of Elfa and skewering goblins straight through. That phenomenon occurred suddenly in front of Judith, so the goblins that came before her understandably quivered in fear, but the holy knights under her also shot their spells at the approaching goblins.
Mages would normally use a staff to cast their magic to increase their power and accuracy, but these holy knights chanted and released their magics with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. That came at the cost of power and accuracy, but the goblins were headed straight for them, so they didn’t even need to aim.
“Volley fire!” Judith’s aide commanded.
“Now, my brethren! Our brethren, Judith, and our god demands blood!”
At the behest of Judith’s aide, the soldiers of the second company violently clashed with Felduk.
“Soak this land in their blood!”
Judith said, and the 2nd company of holy knights clashed with the goblins even more intensely, completely stopping Felduk’s momentum despite having built it up from the top of the hill.
“Tighten the encirclement.”
Upon seeing Felduk’s momentum stop, Gerald, the commander of the first company, gave out that order.
He wasn’t about to underestimate the monsters even a little, so he made double sure that nothing would go wrong. And the volunteer soldiers, the margrave’s army, and the Iron Bull Knights’s closed in on Felduk to complete the encirclement. The first company of Holy Knights attacked from afar, while the second company boldly cut their way through the goblins.
Their strategy, which properly divided the roles, was able to trap Felduk easily.
“Our flanks are being pushed.”
“Gu Long-dono is requesting permission to attack.”
Though reports came in one after another, Gi Gu was yet to lose his calm.
“Reject his request to attack! Tell him to endure it for now.”
Not even the messenger that left entered his eyes as he focused his attention on the battlefield.
“…I commend you, humans. I didn’t expect this battle to be this difficult.”
In his hands were that pair of axe and sword that have gone through many battles.
“But it appears that you don’t know how to use your reserve forces.”
As a fierce smile appeared on Gi Gu Verbena, the right flank of the enemy cried out in cheers as though in response to his words.
◆◆◇
“The enemies have their backs turned on us! Crush them!”
The howling swing of a club crushed the head of a soldier encased in iron helm, and the raging roars overwhelmed the soldiers nearby, bringing death to all that that it touched.
“Is there no one who can exchange blows with this Rashka of Gaidga!?”
As he named himself in a loud voice, Rashka led his Gaidga Tribe to attack the encirclement that has tightened itself around Felduk.
This was a result partly because Rashka had accepted the leadership of Gi Za Zakuend, who was calmly looking at the battlefield, and partly because Gi Gu Verbena had already taken into account the possibility of a trap, and had prepared an insurance just in case.
For a moment, the volunteer soldiers had found a glimmer of hope and thought that they might actually win, but the tyranny that suddenly descended on them woke them up to reality.
“It would appear that the enemy commander has a poor understanding of the battlefield.”
As Gi Za attacked the enemy from the side, he was pleased to see his plans working.
The more elaborate the plan, the harder it was to fix when something went wrong.
When Gi Gu Verbena saw the encirclement loosening, he naturally concentrated his attacks on the weakened area, and Gi Za happily watched as the encirclement collapsed before his eyes.
At the same time, when Gi Gu Verbena saw the odds swinging more and more into their favor, he and his Felduk were finally able to demonstrate their great offensive power that was terrifying enough to be called a storm.
“Step up the offensive! Charge out in every direction!”
Gi Gu ordered his men to forcefully break out of the encirclement, and Felduk was more than happy to oblige. They charged with such ferocity that their earlier plight looked like a mere farce.
“Onwards! Onwards! Just keep moving forward!”
Gu Tough was at the right wing.
“Onwards my soldiers! Go! Just keep moving!!”
Gu Big commanded his soldiers like mad.
“Onwards! That witch needs to die!”
Gu Long led his long swordsmen and personally challenged Judith of Water and Ice, but while the goblins’ morale rose, the humans’ morale plummeted. That was especially true of the right wing, which had suffered the Gaidga Tribe’s surprise attack, and was now on the verge of falling apart.
