The NTR Knight Commander has Decided to Desert

Chapter 10

Sparkling lights embroidered the surroundings.

Smooth, crystal-clear chunks of ice floated in the air like gemstones.

Covered in a chilling frost, the scene was almost dreamlike—something that, under normal circumstances, could have been considered a work of art.

However,

Given that this place was a battlefield,

And that those beautiful chunks of ice were aimed this way like sharpened spears,

The faces of the Imperial Army soldiers turned pale with fear.

And then—

Before they could even properly respond to what was happening...

The female general with the blue hair slowly lowered her hand.

And then...

- —Fwoosh!

Like a torrential downpour, spears of ice began to rain down upon the soldiers.

The ice spears, reminiscent of a coordinated volley from hundreds of soldiers, pierced straight through their bodies.

"Gaaaargh!"

"Aaaaargh!!"

Soldiers screamed in agony, coughing up blood.

Getting their hands or feet skewered by the ice spears was actually the lucky outcome.

Some had their abdomens pierced, others lost their heads entirely,

And some were struck in places too terrible to describe, rolling on the ground in agony without even being able to scream.

In a single magical strike, the already small number of defending soldiers were completely overwhelmed.

Immediately after, the rebel soldiers seized the opening and began to move swiftly through the now-empty camp.

And then...

"Burn it all! Ammunition, tents—leave nothing behind! Turn it all to ash!"

"Yes, General!"

The female general with the blue hair.

Following Franklin's orders, the 500 rebel soldiers lit their torches and began hurling them in every direction.

- —BOOM!!!

An explosion erupted as a makeshift warehouse filled with ammunition went up in flames.

Watching the military tents and all the stored supplies of the Imperial Army turn to ash, Franklin and her aide began to smile deeply.

"Hahaha! Truly impressive. I never imagined we'd hit them this hard with such a small force."

"Didn't I say it? If it's Cromwell's strategy, it's bound to work. Now, we don't have time to dawdle here. While they're distracted over there, we need to inflict as much damage on the Imperial Army as possible."

"Yes, General! Then as planned, we'll finish clearing the southern camp here and retreat immediately."

"Good. I'll see you at the fortress soon."

With that, the aide began moving, leading a group of soldiers.

Franklin then started heading east with the remaining troops.

The Imperial Army, caught off guard by the rebels' sudden appearance, was thrown into chaos due to the lack of timely intel.

Riding swiftly through their disorganized ranks—

Franklin unleashed the magical power surging around her in an instant.

"!"

- —CRACKLE!!!

Countless spears of ice erupted from the ground, freezing everything in their path.

In a single, devastating blow, the 40-meter radius was engulfed in ice, and the Imperial soldiers were annihilated before they could even scream.

After wiping out another group of defenders, Franklin continued setting fires throughout the camp with her troops.

Just as Cromwell had predicted, the number of enemies defending this vast camp was absurdly low.

For a moment, Franklin's gaze turned toward the man fighting on the mountainside...

Toward Edward Cromwell, the mastermind behind this entire plan.

'So that's the last piece left? I hope everything continues to go according to plan until the very end...'

*

'Tch...'

The good times had passed, and with my aura running dry, I could no longer maintain the Absolute Magic Seal.

Thanks to the Divine Blessing buff, my rebel soldiers had managed to hold out for nearly an hour.

However,

While we had sealed off their magic completely, I couldn't stop their bullets.

As a result, out of the original 200 rebels, over 80 had become casualties.

Fortunately, the natural cover of trees and rocks in the high ground had kept the damage to this level, but even that was reaching its limit.

Most critically, now that we could no longer block magic, the enemies who had been biding their time would soon begin their full-scale assault.

Honestly, holding out this long against an enemy ten times our size in a place without even a proper fortress was already a miracle—but now, the end was in sight.

And in this situation, the aide beside me showed not fear of death, but a sense of joy.

"Judging by that smoke... it seems General Franklin is doing her job well."

"It appears so. Thankfully, it looks like the objective was achieved."

The black smoke rising into the sky was the signal that the enemy camp had been successfully raided, just as planned.

Satisfied with what it signified, the aide gave a small bow and said,

"Thank you. For giving me a chance to die meaningfully. Honestly, at first I doubted Commander Cromwell's words, but now I want to apologize for that."

With firm trust and a tone that carried the weight of a final message, the aide spoke.

However,

Seeing him like this, I smiled deeply and said,

"Don't talk like you're already dead. It's not over yet."

"...Huh? What do you mean...?"

The aide looked puzzled at my words.

In response, instead of answering, I turned my gaze toward the Imperial camp, which was suddenly growing noisy.

'Of course... I knew it. That bastard... He was a pain when he was on our side, but as an enemy? He's practically a savior.'

*

"What did you just say? You still haven't defeated them?"

"M-My apologies, General Neto. General William has led several attacks with his troops, but they say he still hasn't achieved any clear results."

The aide's report came in real time.

Hearing it, General Neto wore an expression of disbelief and showed clear anger.

Because of Richard's earlier call for support, General Neto had no choice but to return to the command post.

At this moment, his face was filled with barely concealed irritation and rage.

The fact that they still hadn't achieved victory against an enemy less than half their size, despite deploying such a large force, was a problem—

But more than that, the fact that his sweet time with Clara had been forcefully cut short was what truly stoked his fury toward Richard.

"Pathetic fools. The deployed force there is 2,000 strong. There are even 300 mages among them—how can they be struggling like this?"

"W-Well... from what I heard, the mages haven't been able to use their powers at all."

"What? What are you talking about now?"

"We're not sure if it's due to Commander Cromwell's power, but apparently all the mages' spells are being blocked. On top of that, the terrain favors the enemy, so even the bullets haven't been effective, and the situation has been dragging on."

"So you're telling me that thousands of our troops are being stalled by just a few hundred enemies because of something like that? Ridiculous... If magic doesn't work, then they should break through with their bodies! When did Britannian Imperial soldiers become such weaklings?"

Even without ranged attacks, with such a difference in numbers, they should have been able to crush the enemy with sheer force.

Yet the cowardly hesitation and drawn-out battle from his subordinates only worsened General Neto's already foul mood.

"A-At this rate, shouldn't we send in more reinforcements?"

"What nonsense! You want to deploy the main force over a few hundred enemies? Cut the crap and send them a message right now! If they don't crush the enemy within 30 minutes, they'd better be ready to lose their general's rank!"

"Y-Yessir! U-Understood, General!"

In truth, it hadn't even been an hour since William had begun his assault.

Still, General Neto was unusually irritable, all because his sweet time with a beautiful woman had been interrupted.

Especially since the cause was none other than Cromwell—a man whose dazzling achievements had long made Neto feel inferior, and even threatened his position.

'That lowborn commoner dares to disgrace me? Just wait—I won't let you die easily once I get my hands on you.'

Burning with the desire to see that wretched commoner dragged before him, begging for his life in disgrace, General Neto anxiously waited as every minute felt like an eternity.

But just then—

"S-Sir! General!"

"What is it? Have you captured that bastard Cromwell?"

General Neto asked the soldier who had rushed in, his voice filled with anticipation.

However, the soldier, panting for breath, responded urgently.

"It's an emergency! The rebels... the rebels are attacking!"

"What? The rebels? Are you saying Cromwell actually broke through our forces and is attacking us now?"

At the mere possibility, General Neto asked with a stiffened expression.

But the soldier shook his head and, through ragged breaths, struggled to continue.

"That's not it... R-Reports say rebel troops have appeared in the south and east! T-They've... they've broken into our camp and set it on fire!"

"What... what are you talking about? Aren't they in the north right now? Rebels in the south? Are you saying reinforcements have arrived? How many of them are there?"

"I-I'm not sure of the exact number either. But what's certain is that they're attacking us now! Because of the smoke and flames, it's hard to tell, but reports say there are at least several hundred of them!"

A shocking report that was almost impossible to believe.

General Neto felt as if he'd been struck on the back of the head with a hammer.

And at that very moment—

- —KWA-BOOOM!!!

"!?"

A sudden, deafening explosion rang out.

At the sound of something blowing up, General Neto realized the soldier's report was true and instinctively began to scowl.

'Enemies from the south?... Don't tell me reinforcements arrived from somewhere we didn't know about?'

Since Cromwell had been holding out against their assault for nearly an hour, it seemed unlikely he had split his forces.

Neto still clung to a sliver of hope that, no matter how foolish William and Richard were, they wouldn't be struggling against an enemy four to five times their size.

'William may be an idiot, but even Richard wouldn't just stand by and watch his comrade get overwhelmed. If the battle's still dragging on, that means the rebels must number around a thousand... In that case, the ones who attacked our camp must be...'

A force of around a thousand was nearly the entire garrison that had been stationed at Stanwick Fortress.

And yet, hundreds—maybe more—had appeared from somewhere else.

In this situation, General Neto came to one conclusion.

Somewhere out there...

Reinforcements from the enemy had arrived.

'If we can already see several hundred reinforcements, then the actual number must be at least double that. If we hesitate here... we might be the ones in danger.'

Had someone braver and a bit more reckless been in his place, they might have drawn a different conclusion.

But General Neto, always cunning and cautious by nature, began to overthink things.

And in the end, he started imagining the worst-case scenario.

That the rebels inside the fortress had lured the Imperial Army into disarray,

And that their reinforcements had secretly moved in and struck from the rear.

And as the result of these tangled thoughts—

General Neto, now in a panic, issued a command.

"Notify all troops. We're pulling our lines back to the west for now. Send word to Richard and William as well!"

"Huh?"