Chapter 37: The Irreplaceable Heroic Bearing

The shouts of battle from the city wall kept rising and falling, but they never stopped from the very beginning. The guard I had sent out faithfully did his duty, and every so often he came back to report the situation on the battlefield to me. I didn’t need him to describe it. I knew how brutal this battle was. My brave comrades defended our city with endurance beyond common sense. The Winstons paid a heavy price for every battlement they climbed onto. There were times when we were nearly on the verge of total collapse. Winstons who had climbed onto the wall had already secured two battlements, letting their follow-up troops keep pouring in. At that critical moment, Carlson led our remaining “donkey cavalry” in a charge along the wall, and forced them back.

Rodrick gathered as many men in the city as he could. Although they knew that defending this city meant defending their own homes and families, what real use could ordinary people who could barely hold a sword or saber be in a war at such a short notice? Perhaps they would only get in the way of their own army. Perhaps at the final moment, they could swarm forward and make the Winstons slow down while they were caught up in slaughter. But that would only be using a small-scale slaughter to temporarily delay a large-scale slaughter.

Besides them, there was no reserve force left. Even the wounded soldiers had become the main strength of the city’s defense. There was no more tactics on the battlefield. It was completely a struggle of trading blood for blood. The only reason our soldiers had not broken yet was because of a single belief that remained:

When Fred returned to the city wall, that would be the moment we celebrated victory.

I didn’t know how much longer this biggest lie I had made up could hold up. Maybe forever, maybe it would be exposed in an instant.

If Fred could still fight, maybe everything would have been different. Even when facing such a huge disadvantage, he could no longer use clever tactics to cause more trouble for the enemy. But as long as he appeared on the wall, letting the soldiers see him, see his black war blade, the situation would be different.

He always could bring courage and strength to others. Wasn’t he just born to be that kind of person?

“Report!” The guard appeared before me again. “The Winstons have almost taken half of the wall. We have lost all our cavalry. A seesaw battle has started on the wall. Our situation is extremely critical.”

Had we finally reached our limit? I gave a bitter smile.

I pushed open the door and walked into Fred’s room. Millia made a quiet gesture to me, telling me not to disturb the patient. I obediently nodded and walked to Fred’s bedside.

There, I took off my light armor and picked up Fred’s black armor.

My friend, rest well. If you are truly destined to be a hero of legend, then let me use your name to create a miracle for you.

I quietly dressed myself properly, and tried to take that “Ink Shadow” from his side.

“Tap!” Fred’s hand lightly tapped the back of my hand, stopping me.

“Jeff, you’re wearing the wrong clothes.” He smiled weakly, shaking his head as he looked at me.

“This outfit is more handsome. Let me borrow it for a day. I’ll return it when I come back.” I couldn’t help laughing too.

“That won’t do.” He struggled to get up. “Worn on you, it would ruin such good clothes.”

“You can’t get up, sir.” Millia tried to stop him.

“And who are you, Miss?” Fred broke free from the lady’s gentle restraint.

“I am the doctor, and you are my patient. You must listen to me.” Millia did not change her expression and insisted on taking the blade from his hand.

Fred still smiled gently. He said, “I can’t let my friend go to his death in my name. That is an insult to a warrior.” He stood up, and, feeling dizzy, grabbed my shoulder for support. “If I must die, I would rather die in my friend’s arms…”

“Like Tommy?” Millia lowered her head, was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked.

Fred had not expected her to ask such a question. He was stunned for a moment, then answered firmly, “Yes, like Tommy.”

I guessed that if he knew why Millia knew about Tommy, he probably wouldn’t have answered so firmly and strongly.

Millia no longer tried to stop him from putting on his armor. After he put on his helmet, she handed him his war blade.

“I’m going with you.” She said with her head held high.

“That is not a place for Miss to go.” Fred answered with a grim face.

“Wherever the patient is, that is where the doctor should go.”

Louder battle cries came over from the city wall not far away. There was no more time to hesitate.

“Fine, do whatever you want.” With my support, Fred mounted his warhorse, and we headed for the wall.

This indeed was no longer a place for Miss to come. The top of the wall was piled with all kinds of corpses, and many corpses had lost their original delicate flesh, exposing ghastly white bones.

But Millia’s nerves were surprisingly tough. She stared straight at the horrible scene without any reaction.

I stayed in front of Fred the whole way, stabbing down one by one the enemies who came rushing at him. I had never known that I could be this fierce. No enemy had ever lasted three exchanges in front of me.

I had only one thought: protect my friend, and never let them get to Fred.

They couldn’t charge in, but Fred could charge out. In the moment when I was careless, he squeezed his warhorse with his legs, let out a long cry, and charged into the fight. As black light flashed from his hand, an officer in bright armor on the wall had his head roll to the ground. That strike came too suddenly. His headless body still stood in place, and even the weapon in his hand did not fall. Blood sprayed continuously from his flesh-red neck, and soon covered his whole corpse.

One strike established his power—the whole field was stunned!

Cowed by Fred’s might, no one dared attack him until the headless corpse fell.

“Soldiers! Reinforcements from Saraposa City will arrive at any moment. This will be the Winstons’ final attack. Drive them off the wall—we have already won!”

Fred’s voice was firm and loud, carrying a sincerity that made people believe him in spite of themselves. His warhorse seemed to sense its master’s heroic bearing, raised its front legs high, and let out a loud neigh. The setting sun painted a majestic color on Fred’s face, which had been so pale that it no longer looked human. In that instant, he was just like the hero statues standing in the squares of many cities.

I couldn’t help but let tears stream down my face. Here, perhaps only my Millia knew that this brave young man had made that slash and let out that shout while dragging a body wounded badly enough to make an ordinary person lose consciousness. By now, he no longer had the strength to block even the lightest attack. Any probing strike would cost him his life. He knew all this, yet he still charged out, into the place with the most enemies, and cut off an enemy’s head. He was not a reckless fighter, but when needed, he could be fiercer than anyone.

Everything changed. The Winstons, who had already had victory in their grasp, wavered. The young, brave warrior before them had left too deep an impression on them. His heroic bearing on horseback was enough to make the Winstons, who had grown up on horseback, feel ashamed. His performance in battle could also make even the bravest Winston warrior feel ashamed. More importantly, whenever he appeared, what they had to face was no longer a group of exhausted soldiers, but a group of fierce soldiers comparable to lions, just like the soldiers they were facing now.

Everything changed. The Delanmaya soldiers, who had been pushed to the edge of the wall and had only been resisting with their last trace of instinctive awareness, felt their fighting spirit rise again. The battle cry that once made them feel their own worth rang out from their mouths once more. Notched swords were stained with blood again, and spears that had almost become blunt-tipped once again stabbed into enemies’ bodies. This was our city wall. This was our home. This was our line of defense. This was the final position that even the ghosts of dead enemies could not pass.

Everything changed. The soldiers who had been lying in pools of blood groaning now burned their last bit of life in battle: those who had lost a leg dragged the enemy before them to the ground; those who had lost an arm slammed into the enemy with their shoulders; those who had lost their weapons pulled out the blades embedded in their own bodies; even those who could take only one more step by using up their last bit of strength still hugged a Winston and jumped off the wall. This was a line of defense no one was willing to face—all because of Fred.

Millia said to me, as I did my best to protect her and move toward Fred, “You’re wrong.”

“What am I wrong about?” I blankly parried a spear that came at me, while another spear pierced through the enemy who was threatening my life.

“You’re wrong!” She hid beside me, but her eyes were burning with a strange fire, shooting toward Fred not far away. “You once wanted to impersonate him to inspire the soldiers, but you couldn’t do it.” She bit her lip and calmly turned to me. “He is unique. No one can replace him.”

I was not the least bit jealous of such a judgment. When I thought about the clumsy act I might have put on wearing his armor on the wall, even I blushed a little. I rushed to Fred’s side, pushed Millia between us, and together with Kelsey and Red Flame, carried out our duty of protecting the leader.

Once again, the Winstons sounded the horn of retreat. Fred swung his blade once and brought us the most critical victory. I thought, no matter what this battle’s outcome was, Fred’s slash might be recorded in history, becoming a shining entry in those thick books he loved. Would I be included in that entry?

I dismissed this useless thought and wanted to help Fred down from his horse. He shook his head to stop me. I suddenly realized: his weak body no longer had the strength to go through the motion of mounting and dismounting once more. He could only hold on until the end on horseback. If the soldiers saw him roll off his horse in a sorry state, this line of defense would collapse in an instant.

The Winstons below the wall were quiet for a long time. They seemed to be thinking about whether the reinforcements Fred spoke of were real or fake. They had already paid a heavy price for their attack. After the sneak attack on the river and the repeated brave resistance, more than ten thousand soldiers had been reduced to fewer than six thousand. Among them, a considerable number were wounded soldiers who could not fight. There were also many Heavy Infantry who were unsuited for siege warfare, and archers who could hardly be of any use. They didn’t need many—just another thousand soldiers with enough fighting strength would be enough to hold this wall and completely crush this attack.

But no new flags or new troops had appeared on the wall. That in itself was a deception. I had to thank Duke Rivera for being a conservative commander. Fred said that his every move was as correct as a textbook. If not for his somewhat rigid troop deployment, he might have become the victor of this war long ago. But he couldn’t be deceived like this forever.

Finally, the Winstons could not hold back any longer. They assembled, formed ranks, and prepared to attack once more. Riley rearranged the defensive formation, but the soldiers in the formation couldn’t help but keep looking toward Fred: Where were the reinforcements he talked about? Hadn’t we already won?

Even at this moment, Fred still sat upright on his horse without changing his expression. Beside him, Millia secretly cast healing spells on him again and again. But this could only help the wounds heal; it could not make up for the weakness caused by loss of blood.

Seeing Fred’s calm, the soldiers were filled with courage again. They believed their commander had long since made all the arrangements, and victory was already in their hands.

This time, the Winstons did not swarm in. They slowly came along the harbor road, testing our reaction step by step: the arrows had not increased, and the soldiers on the wall were still just a few. When their scaling ladders were once again set against the wall, the lie about reinforcements seemed to have been exposed.

“Kill!!” War cries sounded again from outside the city. Ashamed of their cowardice in having been scared back by one man’s words just before, the Winstons tried to win back their honor with an even fiercer attack.

They collapsed at the first touch. The soldiers, exhausted after two days, could no longer withstand such an assault. They were gradually pressed into the middle of the wall, gathered around Fred. Everything seemed already settled. We had lost.

“Kill!!” In the midst of despair, an even fiercer shout suddenly rose from inside the city. Behind us were rank after rank of soldiers wearing familiar armor, and leading them at the front were the two guards I had sent out. They led this army at full speed through the city’s streets, straight up onto the wall, and into the midst of the Winston soldiers on the wall. Our equally exhausted enemies could no longer face such a counterattack, and the despair in their hearts had completely shattered their desire to seize victory.

At the final moment, our reinforcements finally arrived.

Everything was as Fred had expected: the reinforcements from Saraposa City had come—two thousand of them.

There were no more cheers, no celebration ceremonies, no smiles of victory.

The soldiers, who had rolled on the edge of death, were crying.

We had won. That did not matter. What mattered was that we had survived.

No one paid attention to the commander of the reinforcements shouting loudly on the wall. Even though he looked at us weeping soldiers with contempt in his eyes, he was not the hero of this city, nor was he the master of this city.

When he stepped onto the wall, the master of this city had already fallen and been carried back to the sickbed that had originally been his.

Everything had changed because of him.