The Ruthanian forces that appeared numbered around a thousand.
In these chaotic times, a small force like that was usually nothing more than a scouting party.
“Fenris... it’s the Mobile Corps,” Leonard muttered.
With his sharp eyes, Leonard quickly identified their identity.
Every single one of them was clad in proper full-plate armor. The emblem of the wolf etched onto their armor confirmed it—this was undoubtedly the Fenris Mobile Corps.
They didn’t approach the village directly but instead maintained a significant distance, forming a wide perimeter around the village.
At a glance, their encirclement seemed thin and sparse, leaving obvious gaps.
“Hmm...”
As Leonard silently observed, his subordinate asked, “What should we do? We have far more numbers. If we fight, we have the advantage.”
Even though only half of their battalions had arrived, the Revolutionary forces still numbered 5,000. If they were determined to flee, breaking through the encirclement wouldn’t be difficult.
“If you lead them, Commander, we could even annihilate them,” the subordinate added.
If Leonard joined the fray and commanded directly, their forces would undoubtedly gain an overwhelming edge.
Leonard despised revealing himself, but whenever he did, victory was almost always guaranteed.
Still, Leonard remained cautious.
“Let’s observe for a bit longer.”
His reluctance to charge headfirst was reminiscent of Helgenique, but the reasons differed slightly.
Helgenique lacked fear, trusting his immense skill and the unique combat style of necromancy, which didn’t require direct confrontation.
Leonard, however, was different. He wasn’t holding back to exhaust the enemy, as Aiden might.
Leonard only moved when he was absolutely certain he could strangle the enemy’s throat completely. He was, in every sense of the word, a cunning wolf.
It was precisely this meticulous and cautious nature that had allowed the Revolutionaries to survive for so long.
“But why aren’t they moving?”
Leonard furrowed his brow in confusion.
The Mobile Corps had encircled the village but made no further moves. The villagers had already noticed their presence and were in a state of unrest.
The villagers were likely debating what to do, given that such a military force showing up likely meant they’d been discovered.
Leonard clenched and unclenched his fist as he mulled over the situation.
“If I assume the Fenris Duke is present...”
Gatros had warned him multiple times about the dangers posed by the Fenris Duke. His reputation for strength was well-known.
Still, Leonard was an extraordinary figure in his own right—an awakened warrior who habitually concealed 30% of his true strength.
“If I unleash my full power... could I win?”
In Ghislain’s previous life, Leonard’s abilities were a topic of much speculation. He always avoided direct confrontation, choosing to flee instead.
Yet, even the strongest warriors on the continent couldn’t catch him. It was often joked that Leonard was secretly the eighth strongest figure on the continent.
Leonard was a man shrouded in mystery.
“The odds are fifty-fifty... no, slightly in our favor if I join the fight.”
The Revolutionary forces outnumbered the Mobile Corps five to one. Including the villagers, their numerical advantage grew even greater.
If Leonard could ambush part of the Mobile Corps and hinder the Fenris Duke’s movements...
“It might just work.”
No matter how strong the Mobile Corps was, not all of its members were knights. The Revolutionaries also had plenty of experienced fighters, including former knights.
Although Leonard typically avoided risking his forces unless he had at least an 80% chance of success, the opportunity was simply too tempting.
After confirming their escape routes once again, Leonard slowly stood up.
“Let’s test those bastards’ strength... see what they’re really capable of. We’ll strike from the rear.”
His subordinate broke into a wide grin. To him, it looked like a winnable fight.
“Yes, sir. Once you strike, the others will join in immediately.”
The Revolutionary members hiding throughout the village began to emerge one by one. By now, they had surely realized their cover had been blown.
As the Revolutionaries gathered and formed ranks, the Mobile Corps remained motionless, still maintaining their encirclement.
To any observer, it looked like the Mobile Corps was intimidated by the far superior numbers of the Revolutionary forces.
Tension hung heavily in the air as the two sides prepared for conflict.
Just as Leonard rose to give the signal, the ground trembled.
“Wait.”
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Another military force was approaching. This one was roughly the same size, numbering around a thousand, and they brought numerous wagons with them.
“The odds just got worse,” Leonard muttered.
Two thousand Mobile Corps soldiers could easily take on five thousand Revolutionary troops.
Leonard hesitated, weighing his options. When the odds were even, he preferred not to gamble.
Still, he couldn’t shake his frustration at the lost opportunity.
As he deliberated, the enemy began to act strangely.
“What are they doing?”
The Mobile Corps, who had been encircling the village, started gathering in groups and assembling something. They seemed to be connecting long spear shafts together.
The Revolutionaries in the village watched curiously, unsure of what they were witnessing.
In no time at all, the Mobile Corps had constructed a series of bizarre contraptions out of the spear shafts.
The newly arrived soldiers unloaded massive stones from their wagons, placing them next to the contraptions.
Leonard’s eyes widened as he finally understood what was happening.
“Could it be... those siege weapons?”
He had only heard rumors about them. Could they really exist?
Before he could process the situation, the stones began flying toward the village.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“What the hell?!”
The Revolutionaries gathered in the center of the village were suddenly bombarded by a relentless hail of stones.
Clustered as they were, the Revolutionaries made perfect targets.
The Mobile Corps said nothing. There were no calls for surrender, no declarations of war—nothing.
As soon as they were ready, they began indiscriminately launching stones, reducing the village to rubble.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Stonebrook Village was being obliterated. Buildings, people—it didn’t matter. Everything was being destroyed.
The attackers may have found satisfaction in their actions, but the victims certainly didn’t.
“Scatter!”
“Run!”
“Get out of here!”
There was no way to withstand the barrage in a place that wasn’t even a fortress.
There was nowhere to hide. The siege weapons were so powerful that they reduced buildings to rubble.
The Mobile Corps’ decision to maintain a wide perimeter suddenly made sense—they had positioned themselves to avoid the destruction caused by their own siege weapons.
The Revolutionaries tried to flee, but there was nowhere to run. The village was completely surrounded.
Those who attempted to escape were quickly intercepted and killed by the Mobile Corps.
“Urgh!”
“Please, spare me!”
“I surrender! I surrender!”
The Mobile Corps showed no mercy. Even those who surrendered were cut down.
They simply killed anyone who approached, without hesitation.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Meanwhile, the barrage continued, as if the attackers intended to completely annihilate the village.
Leonard watched the devastation in stunned silence.
“...”
Who else but the Fenris Duke would start a battle by hurling stones and obliterating everything in sight?
And yet, here it was.
The Fenris Duke was even more ruthless than the rumors had suggested.
Leonard crouched down, blending into the thick vegetation around him.
His subordinate, visibly shaken, asked, “What should we do?”
“...”
The battle was as good as over. If Leonard had intended to make a move, it should have been before the siege engines arrived.
Instead, they wasted time gauging the situation and forming ranks, missing their window of opportunity.
Of course, no one could have predicted such a devastating and unorthodox attack.
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Leonard bit his lip a few times before speaking decisively.
“We retreat.”
Victory was no longer an option. Leonard wasn’t a fool driven by pride.
He and his subordinate began to withdraw slowly, moving cautiously to avoid detection.
They carefully descended the mountain and moved a considerable distance away from the village, heading in the opposite direction.
But just as they thought they were safe—
“There they are!”
A crow appeared, squawking loudly. Upon closer inspection, more crows, utterly out of place in the forest, surrounded them.
Leonard muttered, his expression a mix of disbelief and irritation.
“A crow... talking?”
Dark’s third form, which had been scouting the area, yelled triumphantly, “You think you can escape from the great me—!”
Pop!
Leonard unsheathed his sword, slicing through the air in an instant. The crow exploded into a burst of feathers.
This bizarre incident barely registered with Leonard, his instincts screaming at him about the presence of an overwhelming aura rapidly approaching from afar.
“Run. If you get caught, you’ll die.”
“Huh?!”
His subordinate was confused, but Leonard didn’t bother to explain. He dashed forward at such a blinding speed that his subordinate struggled to keep up.
“Commander! Commander! What’s going on?!”
Despite his best efforts, Leonard’s figure quickly disappeared from view, leaving the subordinate far behind.
The uneven terrain of the mountains made running difficult, with obstacles like rocks and fallen trees everywhere.
The subordinate, clueless about what was happening, focused on fleeing, convinced they could escape.
That was until he heard the sound of destruction tearing through the forest.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Trees and rocks were obliterated in the wake of something barreling toward him.
“W-What is that?!”
He glanced back and screamed in terror. Something—or someone—was pursuing them at an absurd speed, leaving destruction in its wake.
Though he gritted his teeth and pushed his legs to their limit, the gap between him and his pursuer only grew smaller.
Thud!
“Ack!”
The subordinate was yanked back by the neck and thrown to the ground.
Standing over him was Ghislain, grinning as she looked down at her prey.
“Running already? And here I thought you’d put up a fight.”
“P-Please spare me!”
“And who are you?”
“I’m Leonard’s aide!”
“Is that so?”
Without hesitation, Ghislain drew her hand axe and drove it into the aide’s shoulder.
Crunch!
“Aaaagh!”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!”
Crunch!
“Argh! It’s the truth, I swear!”
Ghislain licked her lips, watching the man scream in agony.
He wasn’t lying. Leonard had always been this way, even in the previous timeline—observing battles from the shadows and fleeing at the first sign of trouble.
Despite deploying Dark’s scouts to track him earlier, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Leonard had been so cautious that his location only became evident when he finally broke cover to flee.
“Does he have a fallback point if he retreats from here?”
Ghislain had asked the same question earlier to Tarim, who claimed no such plans existed. The Revolutionaries had decided they’d regroup at Grimwell only after completing their mission to attack the Coalition's rear.
Still, Ghislain pressed the aide, hoping he might know something else.
“N-No, there’s nothing... but...”
“But what?”
“There’s a standing order to retreat to Grimwell if we lose!”
“Hmm...”
Ghislain had heard the same thing from Tarim. The Revolutionaries, trained to pillage and retreat, would have no trouble regrouping even after being scattered.
“Alright, if you’ve got nothing else to say, you can die now.”
“P-Please, spare me!”
Crunch!
Ghislain didn’t waste any more time, silencing the man with a final swing of her axe.
There was no more useful information to gain.
It was disappointing to lose Leonard, but wiping out the Revolutionary ambush force was enough to consider this a victory.
“Well, I never expected to catch him on the first try.”
The issue with Leonard had always been the same—he avoided direct combat at all costs. Capturing him would only be possible if Ghislain could force him into a corner.
Unlike Amelia, who confronted armies head-on, Leonard preferred to lurk and flee.
“I’ll have to set a proper trap for him soon.”
Once the Atraud Kingdom was crushed, Leonard would inevitably show himself again. This time, Ghislain would be ready.
As Ghislain descended the mountain, Dark chattered loudly beside her.
“Damn it! My third form got blown up! That guy was ridiculously fast—he’s definitely an awakened one!”
Dark’s extensive combat experience with awakened individuals made him a good judge of their capabilities.
Ghislain chuckled. “And how did it feel to take a hit?”
“Stronger than the Church’s executioners, I’d say. Their hits feel like bam! but his was more like BAM!”
“Hah, I see.”
Without engaging Leonard directly, Ghislain couldn’t gauge his full strength, but she knew he was formidable.
As they continued descending, a group of knights approached, dragging a bound man along with them.
The knights, despite their wounds and battered appearance, were visibly excited.
“Milord! Look at this!”
“He’s a big one—a real big shot!”
“He’s quite the fighter, too!”
Judging by their injuries, the knights had struggled against this man. The captive, however, had fared much worse—his body was covered in blood and bruises, and he could barely stand.
Ghislain bent down to examine the prisoner’s face.
“This guy...”
The man’s face was so swollen that it was almost unrecognizable.
He had clearly been beaten within an inch of his life.