Although they were gradually being pushed back, the forces of the Red King did not retreat too far and only moved southward within the encampment.
They had already lost nearly 4,000 soldiers, but the fact that they had yet to give the Kushain believers and the goblins a chance to wipe them out was a testament to the genius of Carlion’s tactics.
At sunrise, the attacks of the Kushain believers grew even fiercer.
Saint Mira took on a very dangerous gamble and decided to appear in the frontlines herself.
The influential among the Kushain believers tried to stop her, but her resolve was firm, and on the sunrise of the second day since the start of the battle, Mira set out.
Crowned with the title of saint, her appearance raised the morale of the Kushain believers higher than ever.
“Her holiness is watching! Don’t put on a sorry show now!”
As encouragements came from the commanders one after another, the fierce attacks of the Kushain believers began.
The goblins were attacking the south from the east, while the Kushain believers were advancing directly south from Cultidian.
Although their teamwork was only an impromptu, their attack was still fierce.
Both Mira and the Goblin King had decided that they would have no tomorrow if they couldn’t end this battle here, so they both attacked as fierce as they could, whittling down the Red King’s military camp bit by bit.
With Mira as the top brass, Vilan was free to command the army however he wished. As the forces of the Red King started to show signs of weariness, he shot an arrow toward them.
In the battlefield where arrows rained constantly, Vilan ordered his spear platoons to advance, starting a fierce battle between his spearmen and the Red King’s spearmen.
“Cavalry! The enemy is coming! Intercept them!”
After all the battles until now, Carlion predicted that the enemy’s next move would be to send the cavalries. And the enemy did just that. So, Carlion sent a force twice the enemy’s numbers.
If he could just seal their mobility, he could gain the advantage in this war.
Carlion ordered his men to forget the back and focus solely on what’s in front.
“I have received your orders!” The commander replied in an almost screaming manner.
Carlion then sent the cavalry to the southwestern encampment.
“There aren’t many soldiers there either!” His messenger argued.
“It’s fine. Trust me,” Carlion said as he forced himself to smile despite his exhaustion from all the fighting.
“The commander of the Kushain believers was Vilan Do Zul, right? That boy’s not half bad,” Carlion thought highly of the enemy commander for his precise tactics and persistence.
“But his endgame is still lacking.”
Just as Carlion said, the cavalry of the Kushain believers that chased after the Red King’s cavalry suddenly collapsed.
“If you get heated up and forget to watch your surroundings, then you’re just second rate.”
Those words were meant for the commander that led that cavalry, but that commander was already a corpse.
As more and more traps were set in the southeastern part of the camp, the land gradually grew more and more constrained. Around that time, the soldiers within the encampment shot their bows.
With no room left to run and arrows shooting at them, the cavalry had no choice but to suffer casualties and be forced to flee.
“They’ve passed the 10th section!”
When Carlion heard that screaming report, he turned from the cavalry and glanced at the goblins.
“They really are strong,” Carlion said.
“What now? It’s starting to look bad,” Cell said.
“We’ll move back to the 12th section. Prepare a defensive wall at the 11th section,” Carlion replied.
If they broke through this too, then half of the encirclement would have already been broken. This was how far the Red King had been driven.
Mira and Vilan weren’t about to let this opportunity to go. The matriarch that thirsted for victory and the youth whose wisdom was mustered and grew rapidly under her.
“We’ll decide it here. Everyone attack!”
At Mira’s behest, the Kushain believers desperately attacked the Red King’s encampment.
They raised up their shields to cover themselves from the rain of arrows as they jumped over the countless pitfalls and cleared away the spears that would extend out of the fences. The Kushain believers bellowed powerfully as they fought.
The battle was drawing to an end.
The forces of the Red King that have shut themselves within their encampment were being attacked from outside and inside. The long and narrow encampment of the Red King was being driven from one corner to another.
Their casualties and already gone past 5,000, and the remaining soldiers were dead tried.
“We can win,” Mira quietly muttered.
She too was getting fired up.
She had managed to outread her enemy. She had managed to outwit her foes. She had successfully ascertained when to decide the battle and saw through her enemy’s plans.
As she thought of all sorts of ways to praise herself, Mira almost found it unbearable to keep her face from turning loose.
“The reinforcements won’t arrive for another day. With the goblins’ and our momentum, we can win!”
Mira took a firm step forward.
—Unfortunately, this still isn’t enough to surpass me.
Even though it should’ve been impossible, for some reason, Mira felt like she’d heard the voice of the enemy commander.
“…Huh?”
Just as Mira was about to order all of her forces to advance, a cloud of dust could be seen gathering densely at the north. A group of cavalry was riding toward them.
“Impossible…” Mira muttered in a daze.
A spear and a shield for a flag, alongside which was another equally first rate flag of a sword designed after the wind.
“The Ripper Knight and the Storm Knight!?” Mira said with hate that couldn’t be expressed in words.
Vilan turned around when he heard Mira say that.
“Your holiness, please prepare yourself to escape! Your holiness!”
Mira couldn’t even hear Vilan’s voice as a feeling of defeat filled her.
In an instant, Carlion’s plans appeared within her mind.
The Red King had allied with Germion Kingdom and brought the people that were driven from their lands because of the holy war as reinforcements.
Using the holy wars as a pretense to wage war has finally caught up with Mira. How unfortunate that it had to occur at this critical moment.
It’s over, she thought, as defeat greeted her.
“Excuse me!”
But while she was unable to respond, Vilan forcefully brought her up and entrusted her to the imperial guards.
“Retreat! I will stop them here!”
As the imperial guards entered Cultidian, the two armies clashed.
◆◇◆
Because of Germion Kingdom’s participation, the battle at Cultidian ended.
The forces led by Gulland the Storm Knight and Sivara the Ripper Knight were mostly made up of the refuges driven from their lands because of the holy war.
Although they were only equipped with spears, with such great numbers, the difference between their strength and the goblin-Kushain forces was lethal.
Moreover, with two holy knights out of the seven joining the fray, King Ashtal had also joined the southern wars.
Behind the scenes, the Red King had promised King Ashtal Cultidian when it falls.
With this terrible turn of events, the Kushain believers and the goblins immediately decided to retreat.
The Kushain believers retreated while defending against Germion Kingdom within their walls. It seemed they would be holding up in their castle for some time to come.
As for the goblins, they had to flee while defending their pursuers from the Red King.
The goblins headed for the borderlands.
