The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 65 – Part 2
Clang! Clang! Blades clashing.
“Uoooh!”
“Ha!”
Clang! Anton and Lexit continued their duel while moving through the mountains.
“What’s wrong! Are you tired already!”
“Ugh!”
Clang! Screech! Anton was pushed back while blocking Lexit strike.
It wasn’t a matter of skill.
Anton was prioritizing the strategy even at the cost of being at a disadvantage.
‘I’ve lured him following Lady Yumir’s markers, but… Where is she now?’
Anton couldn’t know exactly where the trap was set, as he had gone out to engage the enemy as soon as he infiltrated the enemy lines.
This was Ars’s intention.
If Anton didn’t know, Lexit wouldn’t be able to sense it either.
“Let’s end this now!”
“Tch!”
Judging that he had nowhere else to retreat, Anton put strength into his weapon and blocked the opponent’s halberd coming down.
Thud! An amazing force that seemed like it would crush him. And at this moment. Due to the weight of this attack, the ground where they were standing began to collapse.
“What…!?”
“So this was it! Ha!”
Anton was quicker to react in this sudden situation. Judging this to be the trap Ars had set, he kicked Lexit and leaped to grab a tree root.
Yumir appeared and extended her hand to Anton. “Take my hand.”
“Thank you, Lady Yumir.”
Thump! Anton climbed out of the pit.
Lexit, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.
Fallen into the pit, Lexit was confused. “Ugh! What is this…!”
Ars appeared above him and coldly ordered. “Fire all at once.”
Whoosh! Dozens of arrows were shot at Lexit in the pit. Ars also picked up a bow and fired himself.
“Guh!”
Sensing danger, Lexit defended his vital points and tried to dodge, but he couldn’t avoid them all.
One in the thigh, one in the forearm, two in the back, one in the side, one in the shin. Arrows stuck in him and blood began to flow.
“My goodness. How thick is his skin?”
None of the wounds were fatal. Even the arrow in his side was stopped by muscle and couldn’t reach his internal organs.
“You…!” Lexit glared at Ars, seething with anger.
Ars sneered at this. “It’s fortunate that you’re a fool who only knows martial arts. If you were skilled in military tactics, it wouldn’t have been this easy to catch you.”
The Tunkai soldiers following Lexit were now fewer than 100. They had gotten lost in the fortress maze while chasing Anton recklessly.
Those 100 or so soldiers were also being held back by an ambush team that struck their flanks as soon as the trap was activated.
“There’s no one coming to save you for now… No, forever.”
“You… You’re that young spearman from back then…! The one who used sword and spear simultaneously…!”
“Oh my, would you stop with the nonsense? Fire once more.”
Whoosh! This time, Lexit was prepared.
He swung his weapon, deflecting most of the arrows in defense.
Still, one arrow struck his right forearm. Another hit his thigh.
“You think you’ve caught me with this! Me, the great Lexit of the Three Great Generals!”
“…”
“I am the greatest power under heaven! You’ll regret daring to stand before me!”
“…Three Great Generals?”
At that moment. Something flashed through Ars’s mind.
[The Three Great Generals will–come–to–.]
Ars suddenly felt as if struck by lightning as he recalled a memory.
‘This was dialogue from the main story…!’
He couldn’t remember who said it to whom, or exactly what the content was, but one thing was clear.
The Three Great Generals. This was a term that had appeared in the game as well.
“That strange attire… You’re an immigrant from the West, aren’t you.”
“Haaaargh!”
Ars had something he wanted to ask, but Lexit seemed to have no words for answers as he leaped to attack.
But he staggered!
“What…!?”
He ended up kneeling on one knee as he tried to leap.
Sensing something was wrong, Lexit looked up at Ars with bloodshot eyes.
“You, you… What did you do to me…!”
“It’s Palean poison. A fast-acting paralytic. It’s amazing you can move even that much. I heard a single drop of this could incapacitate a grown man for hours.”
Ars’s discovery of the Palean herb was a small coincidence.
Because of this, he couldn’t know how much grew in this split mountain range, so he could only vaguely ask Yumir to gather some, but Gaspar and Yumir, who searched the mountains, returned with armfuls of Palean herb after just half a day.
“The amount of poison you’ve been hit with is roughly over twenty drops. No matter how resistant your body is to poison, it should be taking effect now.”
“You… You bastard…! Using poison…! Don’t you have any pride as a warrior…!”
“Nope. If your martial arts and warrior’s pride are so great, stop whining and get yourself out of this situation alone.”
“You–!!”
Blood vessels were bulging all over Lexit’s body.
The more this happened, the faster the paralytic poison spread, and eventually his blood vessels burst, causing blood to flow from every orifice.
‘There’s no use taking someone like this as a prisoner.’
Ars signaled to Anton.
“At least you should finish him off.”
“…Yes.”
Shing! Anton drew not his moon blade but a sword and descended into the pit.
Now unable to move even a finger, Lexit trembled and looked up at Anton with just his eyes.
“You… Have chosen… The wrong master. A master who doesn’t understand… A warrior’s pride…”
“I don’t need it. A warrior’s pride is trivial compared to my oath of loyalty. If my lord wishes, I’ll gladly become a coward.”
“You bastard…!”
Thwack! His head flew off.
Ars took the head and headed off to meet the enemy’s rear forces.
***
“Break through! Push upwards and break through!”
“Damn it! I thought we were going up…! We’re actually going down!”
The rear forces led by Klaus and Grandis were trying their best to catch up with the advance forces, but due to Eonia and Gaspar’s exquisite stalling tactics, they were making no progress.
Eonia, a half-elf, was moving nimbly, seeing through the mountain’s geography despite never having learned it.
However, being outnumbered, they soon had to allow the invasion up to the middle of the mountainous area.
“Have we finally made it up…!”
Grandis looked around, breathing heavily.
Normally, there should have been remnants of the advance forces around here by now.
It was quiet.
The mountainous area had become unreasonably quiet.
“In, in, in this short time, they’ve taken care of everyone…? That’s impossible! It can’t be! Lexit! Lexit should have been here…!”
“If you mean Lexit, are you talking about this?”
Thud! A person’s head rolled over. Seeing this head, Grandis’s eyes widened.
“Lexit!? Impossible!”
With his eyes still wide open, he raised his gaze towards the voice that had thrown the head.
A man wearing an ash-gray helmet and armor.
Klaus shouted in his place. “Mercenary Wade!!”
“And you must be Klaus Forkner. You look exactly like your wanted poster. And next to you… An immigrant from the West, I presume?”
Ars grinned, thinking this was good. He thought he could get information from Grandis that he couldn’t get from Lexit. “Now, what will you do? If you choose to fight to the death, I won’t stop you.”
“…”
Thud! Thud! Palisades were being erected here and there, surrounding them. Their escape routes were being cut off in real-time.[1]
Grandis broke out in a cold sweat.
‘Wade…. He’s more terrifying than I thought. Damn it, if Lexit is dead, there’s no way forward in this battle. I’ll have to use Klaus as bait to escape.’
If he escaped now, he might be able to get away somehow.
As Grandis was thinking this, Klaus struck the back of his head with a club, knocking him down.
“Gah! What are you…!?”
“What the heck. Don’t tell me you were planning to come up here without any countermeasures! If we had just run away, at least the rear forces could have been preserved, you crazy bastard!”
Klaus, who said this, had already finished his calculations.
‘Even if I surrender, those Calliper bastards won’t let me live.’
Because of the deeds he had committed.
Raising his club again, Klaus smashed both of Grandis’s legs and shouted. “Boys! Let’s run!”
Klaus quickly began to flee, taking only his close subordinates with him.
With the commander-in-chief deserting, the Tunkai soldiers who didn’t know what to do ultimately relied on Grandis.
“You bastard, Klaus…!”
Unable to move due to his injured legs, Grandis had no choice but to engage in battle. Both armies entered into combat.
“Well, well. What a mess.” Ars laughed incredulously as he commanded his troops.
All measures had already been taken.
Grandis’s rear forces, which had walked into the tiger’s mouth, began to be surrounded and annihilated, and Ars instructed Anton to deal with the fleeing Klaus.
The Tunkai soldiers, thinking there was no more hope, began to throw down their weapons and surrender. The battle came to an anticlimactic end.
“Phew!”
Ars let out a sigh of relief, then raised his spear and shouted.
“This battle is a victory for our Calliper army! All troops, raise your voices in triumph!”
“Uoooooh──!!”
The cheers of the Calliper army spread like dominoes, shaking the split mountainous area.
Footnotes:
1] Palisades are basically wooden spikes.
TL NOTE:
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Klaus made sure Grandis didn’t escape.