Volume 3, Chapter 26 – Now Is the Time to Draw Our Swords

Although the Kingdom’s army was only about half the size of the Stronghold’s forces, when it came to intelligence, both sides had detected each other’s presence at roughly the same time.

But in truth…

The Kingdom’s army was already fully prepared, while the Stronghold’s army had not considered such a situation at all…

More accurately, it was the mistakes of the Stronghold’s decision-makers that caused the two armies to be in completely different states now.

Although the Stronghold held a natural numerical advantage, the Kingdom’s forces were far more prepared.

Because of all this, the Kingdom’s forces unexpectedly regained some advantage in this mistaken yet fortunate move before the coming battle.

But that is something for later.

Right now, after receiving the frontline reports from Lancelot and the others, the knight girl Fisiel issued her orders with absolute decisiveness.

The entire Knights of the Round Table, acting as the vanguard, would use their advantage of mounted mobility to reach the Northern Fortress before the Beastmen.

Then, before the Beastman army arrived, they would hide in the shadows around the fortress and prepare an ambush.

The remaining bulk of the main force would deliberately slow their march to restore their stamina.

Without question, this was the correct strategy.

Thus, under Fisiel’s command, the ten-thousand-strong Knights of the Round Table bypassed the Kingdom’s main army and marched straight toward the Northern Fortress.

Of course, Fisiel still considered the possibility that such a large-scale march could alert the Stronghold’s scouts.

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So before setting off, she had the mage unit cast a group spell that could hide the presence and silhouettes of the entire knight order for a short period of time.

Undoubtedly, this spell gave Fisiel the perfect advantage to set up an ambush at the Northern Fortress ahead of time.

……

Meanwhile, while the Kingdom’s forces were making all these preparations, on the Stronghold’s side, the four-hundred-thousand-strong Beastman army continued toward the Northern Fortress with calm and unhurried steps.

Their commander, Grinrui the Skullcrusher, also failed to notice anything amiss.

Of course, the main reason was that Grinrui’s thoughts were entirely consumed by the report of the two hundred thousand Half-beasts in Eden. He paid almost no attention to what lay immediately ahead.

At the same time…

Following the army, the Half-beast girl Yeluo felt something was wrong after marching for a while.

Logically speaking, although the Stronghold’s Beastman army was already very close to the Northern Fortress, there was still some distance left.

But at this moment, Yeluo, who “seemingly” had no combat power at all… felt a vague, inexplicable sense of unease rising inside.

Yes, unease.

This feeling had no apparent source, yet it undeniably existed. In this moment, the inexplicable uneasiness in Yeluo’s heart felt like a huge shadow… impossible to disperse.

“What is this…”

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Her soft, catlike ears trembled uncontrollably. Yeluo pressed a hand to her chest, feeling a suffocating heaviness there.

“Am I… sick?”

Unable to understand the cause, Yeluo instinctively assumed the abnormality in her body meant she had “fallen ill.”

But Yeluo never realized that the suffocating pressure she felt had nothing to do with “illness.”

It was…

Fear. Fear of what was about to happen…

……

One hour later, the ruined walls of the Northern Fortress, destroyed by the undead after its fall, appeared in the Beastmen’s line of sight.

At this time, Grinrui gathered the scattered Half-beast scouts around the fortress and began questioning them about the surroundings.

After learning that aside from a few human paladins appearing near the fortress, there were no other issues, the uneasiness in Grinrui’s heart slowly faded away.

“Relay my order to the entire army: set up camp here. We will rest for the day. Tomorrow, we will begin repairing the Northern Fortress!”

Very quickly, Grinrui’s command for the Beastman army to make camp was delivered throughout the troops.

Upon receiving the order, the Beastmen began selecting areas around the Northern Fortress to set up their camps, building crude tents in an orderly manner.

Of course, Grinrui did send a portion of the troops to patrol the surroundings. In this regard, he was still cautious.

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But… if that was all…

“If that’s all, then I really did overestimate these Beastmen’s sense of caution…”

Hidden in the shadows with the paladins, the knight girl watched the Beastmen openly building tents right beneath her nose and could not help letting out a sigh.

“Captain, we can strike now while they’re building their camp! We can deal a devastating blow!”

“Captain, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Captain, please give the order to attack!”

Seeing the same scene, the paladins’ eyes lit up as they offered their advice one after another.

However, at their words, the knight girl shook her head with firm seriousness.

“Now is not the time.”

Yes.

It was not the time.

Although the Beastmen were completely defenseless as they built their camp, an absolutely excellent chance for a sneak attack, Fisiel was not in favor of taking such a risky gamble.

Indeed, if successful, they could possibly defeat the Beastman army in one decisive stroke.

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But in truth…

Looking at the overwhelming number of Beastmen before her, that possibility remained only a possibility… Therefore, Fisiel would never risk the lives of her paladins on an attack that might fail.

“It is not the most suitable moment.”

Finally, Fisiel shook her head, rejecting all the paladins’ proposals in one breath.

“Captain, then when is the best moment?”

The paladin who looked to be the oldest among them, Lancelot, stepped forward and asked.

To his question, Fisiel simply fixed her golden eyes upon the Beastmen who were still busy building their camp, completely unaware that their every movement was already in the enemy’s line of sight.

Then, after a few minutes of silence…

On the horizon beyond the Northern Fortress, a banner embroidered with a sword and shield slowly appeared in the paladins’ field of view…

“Everyone, now… is the time to draw our swords!”

At that moment…

The knight girl drew the knight sword at her waist in one swift, lightning-fast motion.