The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 254

“Giddy-up, haah!”

A dozen knights urged their horses forward, riding across the plain. They were clad in premium armor and adorned with ornate weapons, looking as spotless as if they had come for a hunt rather than a battle.

At a glance, they might seem like noble heirs out for a hunt with their escorting knights, but…

‘Fools! Losing a battle with twice the number of troops. I should have taken command from the start….’

Though he held the title of grand commander, Master Delo actually had command authority. No matter how much the Marquis favored Favian, there was no way an inexperienced 25-year-old would be entrusted with 200,000 troops.

Of course, Favian was deluded into thinking that had he been in charge, they would have won.

In any case, Favian, who had stayed back to observe the battle from the main forces, saw even the Empire’s collaborators showing signs of defeat and quickly fled the battlefield with only his escort knights.

If the troops realized the grand commander had fled, it could break their morale and cause the entire formation to collapse.

‘So what if they know? We’ve lost anyway. The worst thing would be getting captured.’

Thus, Favian rationalized his flight and spurred his horse onward.

Thunk!

“Ughk!”

“…! What’s that?”

One of the well-riding escort knights was pierced through the back and fell from his horse. A javelin about 1 meter long was lodged in the knight’s back.

Swish! Thud!

“Ugh.”

A javelin from somewhere pierced the back of another knight.

“Damn it. Where are they?”

The escort knights formed a circular defensive formation around Favian, watching in all directions. But there was no sign of the enemy on the plain.

Then.

Swish!

‘…! It’s above!’

By the time the escort captain looked up in haste, a javelin had already smashed through another knight’s head.

“It’s from the sky!”

High above, something small circled and hovered.

Flash.

Something reflecting the sunlight fell rapidly.

“We can see it, but… gahk.”

Even though a knight raised his shield to block it, the javelin pierced through the mana-infused shield and impaled the knight’s abdomen.

“Damn it!”

One enraged knight drew his bow and shot an arrow at the black speck in the sky. However, the mana-infused arrow lost momentum and fluttered away in the wind before reaching its target.

‘Just how high up is that? This is ridiculous….’

This was turning into a one-sided hunt. While the escort captain bit his lip and pondered, the knights shouted.

“L-look! It’s coming down!”

What had appeared as a black dot was getting larger.

“Prepare for battle, everyone!”

The knights drew their weapons, readying themselves to face the unknown enemy….

‘A hawk? But something’s…!’

Massive.

It was too large to be an ordinary hawk. With wingspans over 5 meters, the giant hawk.

This was Han Seohyun’s summoned beast, ‘Mugi’.

“Yah, ha!”

Around ten knights spurred their horses and dashed across the plain, falling one after the other as several javelins were fired from Mugi’s back, striking down the knights in heaps.

Screech.

Mugi cried out and ascended back into the sky. Beneath him, a single spearman stood.

“You there!”

A knight wielding a battle axe charged but fell flat on the ground, suddenly pierced through the heart.

“Who, who are you?”

The spearman, about 180 cm tall with a rather lean build for a knight, wore a slightly bulged breastplate compared to regular armor.

Clang.

As the power armor helmet retracted, the spearman’s face was revealed, and the escort knights couldn’t hide their surprise.

“A, a female knight?”

The most shocked of all was Favian.

“You, you are—!”

It was Kaylee. Daughter of the Duke of Greer and the captain of the Fifth Combat Unit of the First Knights. But this was no time for surprises.

Thuk. Fwoosh!

“Block her! No, kill her!”

No escort knight could properly defend against her spear as she walked forward with an expressionless face. That was to be expected; she was among the masters, the epitome of knights.

With every thrust of her spear, a blue aura sphere traced a path, and red flowers bloomed in mid-air.

“We can’t match her!”

“How are we supposed to block that?”

Though sixteen knights remained, none could stop her advance. Instead, a few turned their horses to flee, but—

Fwoosh!

Her flying aura sphere pierced through the back of a deserter.

“I, I surrender!”

Clank.

One knight dropped his weapon and dismounted, kneeling down.

“I surrender!”

“Please spare us!”

Like dominoes, the other knights hurriedly cried out their surrender.

“You cowardly dogs! You disgrace the name of knights!”

Favian cursed, but the situation remained unchanged. Every knight knelt, with only the captain of the guard remaining loyally by Favian’s side until the end.

‘Damn it. To be defeated by a mere woman…’

Favian shut his eyes tight then opened them, changing his tone to a softer one.

“Kaylee, congratulations. Such swift achievement! Even Sean in the heavens would be proud of you now, aaagh!”

Crash.

Favian fell from his horse and rolled on the ground, struck in the side by Ken’s spear. Seeing the deeply dented armor on his side, it seemed at least two or three of his ribs were broken.

“How dare you mention his name with that filthy mouth!”

Ken’s expression turned as menacing as an evil god’s. Her brother, Sean, had lost his life because of this scum in front of her. And now he dared to mention whose name?

“W-wait! I surrender! If you kill me, my father will—urk!”

Ken’s spear pierced through his cheek and jutted out the other side. Blood flowed from Favian’s half-severed tongue like water from a fountain.

Clutching his mouth with one hand, Favian crawled toward Ken and grabbed her foot, looking up at her with a desperate, pleading gaze.

But that only fueled her rage further.

‘This piece of trash!’

Her brother should not have died so pointlessly. Had he lived, he would have reached heights incomparable to her current status and revived the Marquis’s house.

She clenched her jaw and tightened her grip.

Crunch.

A sound of something breaking echoed, and she turned away without hesitation.

“Thank you, Master.”

By the time she looked up, Raul stood before her, arms folded. And Favian’s guard captain was kneeling on the ground, seemingly forced down by an invisible weight.

Raul silently patted her on the shoulder, and Ken, with her head bowed, climbed back onto Mugi. Raul could not fathom her feelings after completing her revenge.

‘I hope the weight on her heart has lightened at least a bit….’

Raul turned to the surrendered knights.

“Now, shall we have a little chat?”

Raul’s eyes gleamed like a predator eyeing its prey.

*

Rumble.

The air pressure roared, causing ears to ring.

“What did you just say?”

The messenger struggled to breathe under the oppressive atmosphere but managed to speak. If he didn’t speak now, he’d be choked of all breath.

“T-the punitive force at the Seren Plains has been… annihilated.”

“……”

Marquis Clifford de McNeil stood dumbfounded, his fists clenched tightly.

“Huff, huff.”

The pressure that had been pressing him released, and the messenger exhaled heavily. Everyone else in the conference room held their breath, watching the Marquis closely.

“… Explain in detail. From the beginning to the end. Don’t leave out a single thing.”

The coldly measured voice sounded all the more frightening. The messenger conveyed the information he had brought to the Marquis to the best of his ability.

A moment later.

After the messenger left the room, it was filled with a heavy silence. The 150,000-strong punitive force sent against the Count Ashton’s house had been ‘annihilated’.

It was a perfect defeat so thorough it was hard to believe. Barely a thousand cavalry and a few knights had survived and returned.

The actual casualties weren’t that many. However, the disparity between the battlefield and the types of forces led to this result.

A broad plain and an enemy composed entirely of cavalry. Once defeated, the infantry, without mounts, had nowhere to escape.

Apart from the quickly fleeing foreigner forces and some cavalry, all troops were captured. Adding to the blow was the news of the ‘death’ of his beloved youngest son.

‘Fool. You should have surrendered. I could have saved you somehow.’

Marquis Clifford briefly mourned his son, who chose an honorable death over disgrace.

In truth, Favian had begged for his life and died a disgraceful death, but Raul altered the narrative to protect Ken from being tainted by killing a surrendering noble.

After collecting his thoughts, the Marquis finally spoke gravely.

“Withdraw to Thurium.”

“… Understood, Your grace.”

The Third Prince’s army (the Marquis McNeil’s forces) was pushing against the duchy with an overwhelming force of 300,000.

Duke Templeton’s house, the kingdom’s most prestigious noble family. But their actual dominion wasn’t large.

The duke’s strength lay in their knight division, and the financial resources maintaining the regiment came from various privileges (monopoly rights) and donations from other noble houses.

For those reasons, the forces mobilized by the duchy numbered only 100,000. They supplemented their lacking numbers with a powerful knight division and volunteer reserve knights.

But it wasn’t enough to cover the absolute numerical disparity, and the duchy had to keep pulling back, shrinking their defensive lines.

‘If we had continued pressing, we would have completely encircled them soon….’

They might have forced the duchy to surrender without further bloodshed. But now that opportunity was lost. It was now they who had to retreat in haste.

Their enemies were an entirely mounted unit. Moreover, though unconfirmed, reports stated they had a powerful knight division.

Considering they had taken down four masters, their superhuman strength was not to be underestimated.

“Hurry! If we lose Thurium to them, it’ll be disastrous.”

The Third Prince still remained in the capital. He had suggested leading the troops himself in anticipation of such a situation, but the prince had no intention of leaving the capital.

‘How infuriating.’

To be outdone by those Ashton bastards. Swallowing his cold fury, the Marquis hastened the retreat.

****

“Haha, to think he would actually keep his promise.”

In the Duke’s conference room, the Sword Saint Marquis de Templeton stroked his beard, smiling.

“Is this really the time for laughter? The operation we had been preparing for has been completely disrupted.”

The one speaking with a clearly displeased expression was Verthes de Templeton, the eldest son of the Sword Saint.

He was also Dalton’s uncle and had been managing the duchy on behalf of the Sword Saint, currently presiding over the meeting as the operations officer.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Didn’t I tell you? Don’t dismiss it as a child’s folly and integrate that boy’s plan into the operation. Quite a sight now, isn’t it?”

“…….”

Who would have thought?

The words of a 17-year-old boy stating he would single-handedly defeat the punitive force and march to the capital actually became reality.

They had merely thought dispersing the Marquis’s forces would be enough…

Though Verthes was slightly irritated, the atmosphere in the conference room was joyful. Watching the arrogant Marquis retreat, regardless of the reason, was truly satisfying.

“Well then.”

The Duke turned his head to look at someone.

“Have you gathered your thoughts?”

“Yes. If you will help me, I intend to become king.”

With the Sword Saint and the Duke’s army guarding the Sixth Prince Gerard, they began their march towards the capital, Thurium.

The final showdown to seize the kingdom’s hegemony was approaching.

(To be continued)