The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 262: Trust Me. I’ll Lead the Charge (1)

“Ahhhhhh!”

The hunter, suddenly grabbed and thrown, screamed in terror.

The fortress wall was high, and a fall from such a height would likely end in a messy death.

Thud.

But the knight below caught him gently. Embarrassed, the hunter muttered, “...Put me down.”

Whoosh!

The knight promptly tossed him onto the ground—not out of disgust, but because more hunters were falling down from above.

“Ahhhh!”

“What the hell! Are you trying to kill us?”

“Are you insane?!”

Caught off guard, the hunters had no time to prepare as they were thrown down.

The knights below, accustomed to such chaotic situations, quickly caught the falling hunters and moved them aside.

Thud, thud!

Although the hunters felt the impact, the knights' skillful handling prevented serious injury. They scrambled to their feet, shocked, but ready to fight as they saw the approaching monsters.

Watching them, Ghislain grinned.

“Looks like they’re quick to get their bearings. Come on, the rest of you, let’s go.”

“No! Stay away! Don’t come near me!”

“You’re a monster! You’re the devil sent to destroy this fortress!”

Horrified, the hunters hurled accusations at Ghislain, but he shrugged it off.

“You signed the contract. It includes fighting outside the fortress. Just stay behind me and fight.”

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“Nooooo!”

The contracted hunters tried to retreat, but they found themselves hemmed in by the crowd of other hunters who had been forced down as well.

Unable to escape, they were continuously thrown down by Ghislain and Kaor, even catching a few unlucky hunters who hadn’t signed the contract.

“W-We’re not part of this! We didn’t sign any contract, you bastard!”

“Oh, sorry. Well, you’re down here now, so might as well join the fight.”

In the end, nearly 300 hunters were thrown from the wall. Of course, the wall became a chaotic scene, with a few hunters even trying to attack Ghislain.

Whoosh! Thump!

Ghislain effortlessly grabbed and threw anyone who attacked him, overpowering them easily.

“Run! Let’s get out of here!”

“This guy’s insane!”

“Move! Get out of the way!”

The limited space on the wall caused the hunters trying to evade Ghislain to stumble over each other.

Watching the chaos, Grant’s anger boiled over.

The monster wave was dangerous enough without this internal conflict. The walls wouldn’t protect them as they would in a human war; this battle would come with significant casualties.

And yet, instead of uniting against the monster threat, they were fighting amongst themselves. The fortress was doomed at this rate.

“You lunatic! What are you doing?! Do you want to get us all killed? Kill him! Kill him first!”

The archers turned their arrows toward Ghislain, but before they could release, he darted to Grant’s side in an instant.

“Get a grip. The wall won’t protect you. With this many monsters, it’s better to go outside, form a proper formation, and fight.”

“W-What?”

“I’ll give you the orders. Archers, focus on the flying monsters and those approaching from a distance. Monsters only attack what’s in front of them. We’ll draw their attention, so fire without worry—just don’t hit us. You can manage that, can’t you?”

“You... you...”

“The rest of you, form ranks and prepare to move outside the fortress. The knights and I will break through the center and draw the monsters’ focus.”

“Do you... understand what you’re saying?”

Ghislain smirked at Grant’s bewildered expression.

“You can’t fight properly from the wall. We’re not facing humans. If you want to win, follow my lead.”

ROOOOAR!

“Lord Ghislain!”

The knights’ shouts came from below as the monsters closed in.

There was no time to waste. Ghislain leapt from the wall, calling back, “Trust me. I’ll lead the way.”

Thud!

As Ghislain landed on the ground, the hunters he had thrown down glared at him resentfully.

But they couldn’t afford to turn on him now, with monsters just steps away. Not to mention, they couldn’t be certain they could take him down.

They would have to fight from the rear and seize any chance to escape.

Ghislain stepped forward, leading the group.

“Open it up.”

Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

The knights opened the large wooden crates they had set down, spilling their contents onto the ground.

Inside were swords, spears, and greatswords, hundreds of weapons scattered across the ground.

Ghislain turned to the hunters. “If you got thrown down without a weapon, grab one here. No charge.”

Then, without waiting, Ghislain extended threads of mana in all directions.

Vrrrm!

The air trembled as the mana flowed out.

The hunters, both those on the ground and those watching from above, stared in awe.

“What... What is that?”

“Is he a wizard?”

“What... what kind of magic is that?”

Hundreds of spears began to rise from the ground.

Ghislain’s mana threads bound and lifted each weapon, but the spectators couldn’t fathom what they were witnessing. Few had ever seen or heard of such a technique.

Fenris’s knights were familiar with Ghislain’s use of mana threads, having seen him lift objects and even people with it. Still, they had never seen him lift so many weapons at once. The knights looked on in awe.

“He becomes more of a monster every day.”

“How does he grow stronger each time we see him?”

“Truly an incredible skill.”

While it was astonishing for the onlookers, for Ghislain, this was routine.

He trained rigorously every day, relentlessly honing his skills and regaining his former strength. No matter how busy he was, he always made time for mana cultivation and meditation.

“I have to get stronger.”

His responsibility weighed heavily on him, knowing that any weakness could cost lives.

“I won’t regret my choices again.”

Driven by a powerful sense of duty, he grew stronger each day, and would continue to grow stronger tomorrow.

Vrrrrm!

The airborne spears turned a vivid red.

While this technique wasn’t effective against opponents of high caliber, it was devastatingly efficient at mass slaughter against weaker foes.

In the past, this technique wouldn’t have been much more powerful than a single soldier’s strike. But as he grew stronger, so did its destructive potential.

Ghislain adjusted the spears’ aim and gave a cold smile.

“Let’s begin.”

BOOM!

With a sound like an explosion, hundreds of spears shot forward.

Thud, thud, thud!

ROAR!

The spears pierced through the oncoming monsters like beams of light, skewering hundreds in an instant.

The tougher monsters survived the attack, but the weaker ones fell in droves.

“Move out.”

Ghislain seized a greatsword and charged forward, taking advantage of the brief pause in the monsters’ advance.

Slash!

He cleaved the nearest monster in two with a single swing.

“Let’s go!” Kaor shouted, following close behind. He looked at Ghislain with a mixture of admiration and envy.

“He’s barely older than me, yet he’s so powerful. One day, I’ll... I’ll catch up to him.”

Kaor was growing stronger, albeit gradually. He was determined to surpass Gillian and eventually Ghislain himself.

For the first time, he had a clear goal in life.

Slash!

With gritted teeth, Kaor swung his greatsword, attacking the monsters. Fenris’s knights charged as well, their weapons cutting through the enemy.

ROAR!

The monsters, charging with wild abandon, were momentarily halted by the knights wielding mana-infused weapons.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ghislain led the charge, cutting down monsters indiscriminately. Naturally, the monsters’ attention centered on him and the knights.

THUD! THUD!

As the smaller, faster monsters were cleared away, larger ones advanced on Ghislain.

CRACK!

A massive troll fell in two under his greatsword.

No matter how thick their hide or strong their regeneration, trolls couldn’t survive being split in half.

THUD!

Another troll’s huge club came swinging toward Ghislain’s side.

CLANG!

Ghislain blocked the blow with his greatsword, then swiftly decapitated the troll.

Screeeech!

A wyvern swooped down, snatching up one of the knights fighting beside Ghislain. The knight, focused on the monster in front of him, hadn’t noticed the wyvern’s approach.

There were so many monsters that his attention was spread thin.

“Ack!”

The knight struggled in the wyvern’s grip as it attempted to ascend, preparing to drop him from a height—a common killing tactic for wyverns.

Snap!

But suddenly, the wyvern halted in midair as if caught by an invisible force. Ghislain had extended his mana threads, binding the creature.

SCREEECH!

The wyvern, a powerful monster, strained its wings, slowly breaking free of the threads and rising higher.

Thud!

A spear, seemingly from nowhere, shot up and impaled the wyvern.

The creature, pierced through the torso, plummeted to the ground, releasing the knight who managed to escape just in time.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Elsewhere on the battlefield, other spears rose up to aid the knights in peril, skewering monsters and providing critical assistance.

This display of mastery was precisely why Ghislain was ranked among the Continent’s Seven Strongest, particularly renowned for his prowess on the battlefield.

Every object on the battlefield became a weapon in Ghislain's hands. Every spear, every weapon seemed to come alive, dancing at his command.

No one knew when or where the next strike would come. The power behind each attack was as devastating as any knight’s blow.

Those who knew his reputation hoped never to face Ghislain on the battlefield.

A man capable of holding off thousands alone.

A man who could stand against an entire kingdom on his own.

The king of mercenaries was also the king of war.

The hunters looked on in awe as Ghislain and the knights pushed back the front line of monsters, driving them back as though they were nothing.

The thought of running didn’t even cross their minds.

“He’s... he’s that strong...”

“Doncard was nothing compared to this.”

“So this is what they call a Swordmaster?”

The monsters, overcome with bloodlust, had stopped fighting among themselves. They were all fixated on Ghislain and the knights.

Though it was unusual for monsters to band together, their primal instinct to eliminate the most dangerous foe remained intact.

“Let’s join the fight,” one hunter said, gripping his weapon tightly.

They had been separated from the rest. Standing back wouldn’t save them—if the front line faltered, they would die.

Though they rationalized it as a survival tactic, the truth was something else. Ghislain’s presence on the battlefield was infectious. His power stirred something within them, pulling them forward.

If they fought alongside him, they felt they might just survive this wave.

“Let’s go! We’re hunters!”

“Killing monsters is what we do!”

“Don’t let the new guy show us up!”

“Yeahhh!”

With a collective shout, the hunters charged forward.

They were battle-hardened veterans, seasoned by countless fights against monsters. As hundreds of them joined the fray, the monster horde started to lose ground.

Slash!

Ghislain cleaved through the body of a massive spider-like creature and glanced back, a slight smile on his face.

“Yes, that’s it. Just like that.”

Boom!

Ghislain then turned and continued pressing forward, carving a path through the monsters. He had been shielding the knights up to this point, but now his movements became even more aggressive.

With the hunters joining in, the monster's attacks were spread thinner. Ghislain tore through the center, utterly breaking the monsters' formation.

Roar!

As he cut deeper into the horde, the monsters, sensing the greatest threat, swarmed around him. This left fewer monsters to assault the knights and hunters.

Thanks to Ghislain’s relentless charge, the knights and hunters were able to take down the monsters with much greater ease.

Watching this from the fortress wall, Commander Grant was stunned.

“To think it’s even possible to fight like that...”

No one had ever attempted such a strategy against the monster wave before. Until now, everyone had depended on the fortress walls.

But Ghislain had been right. Against monsters, the walls offered limited protection. The moment the monsters moved beyond the reach of the siege weapons, they quickly scaled the walls. Flying monsters even carried others onto the battlements.

The monsters, driven to madness, felt no fear of death. They surged forward without pause, climbing over their fallen comrades.

In the narrow space atop the wall, the soldiers and hunters couldn’t maintain a proper formation and were forced into chaotic close-quarters combat.

“Still, abandoning the walls entirely... I never would have thought of it.”

The fortress walls provided a sense of security, a fixed idea that prevented them from thinking beyond their limits.

This reliance on the walls had come at a cost every time they faced the monster wave.

But look at those fighting outside.

With ample space, they could form ranks and coordinate their attacks. The knights and hunters naturally supported one another, fending off the monsters together.

The monsters, on the other hand, fought with no concept of strategy, attacking whatever was in front of them.

By abandoning the walls, the defenders had room to maneuver and organize. They could finally fight intelligently, using tactics to their advantage.

And the one who made all this possible, the one who led them from the front, was the figure who seemed almost superhuman.

Sure, the walls still offered some benefits. They prevented monsters from flooding the fortress all at once. Fighting outside meant giving up that advantage.

But for the first time, they didn’t need to depend solely on the walls.

“Right now... the walls aren’t what we should be relying on.”

The monsters’ advance began to slow. Grant realized that if he stayed back and watched his allies fall, it would only make things harder once the monsters reached the wall again.

When Ghislain and his forces fell, those left on the wall would face even greater danger.

Grant unclenched his fists, his palms damp with sweat.

At that moment, as a knight, he felt a deep sense of admiration.

He wanted to fight beside Ghislain.

He wanted to trust in him and follow his lead.

This wasn’t a commander’s tactical decision. It was the desire of a warrior moved by pure respect.

Finally making his decision, Grant turned to his lieutenant and spoke quietly.

“...Open the fortress gates.”