The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations (light Novel)

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOM!

A barrage of massive fireballs rained down, slamming into the charging cavalry of the Atrodé Army.
The riders were caught completely off guard. In any normal situation, skilled soldiers might have been able to dodge or block the attacks. But now, they were too focused on driving their mounts forward, and in the tightly packed formation, there was no room to maneuver.
No one could have anticipated such an attack in a cavalry skirmish.

“AAARRGGHHH!”
NEEEEIIIGH!
The fireballs spared neither man nor horse. Riders and mounts tangled together as they fell, crashing to the ground.

The Fenris Cavalry Corps had stretched their formation wide to match the Atrodé Army, and the fireballs covered a similarly broad area, engulfing the front lines of the Atrodé cavalry.
The majority of the Atrodé Army's vanguard collapsed. Those following close behind couldn’t stop in time and tripped over their fallen comrades.
As the front lines crumbled, the riders further back frantically tried to halt their horses to avoid the same fate.

But the assault wasn’t over yet.
WHOOSH!
More fireballs shot out from the rear lines of the Fenris Cavalry Corps.

These weren’t precision strikes aimed at specific targets—they were indiscriminate. The random explosions swept through the Atrodé ranks yet again.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fiery blasts wreaked havoc, toppling even more soldiers. Some managed to evade or block the fireballs headed their way, but when a horse was struck, it inevitably brought its rider down with it.

“Move! MOVE!”
“I can’t!”
CRASH!

Even the cavalry further back, those who had tried to slow down, were unable to stop in time and collided with their fallen comrades.
Screams filled the air as soldiers and horses piled up, tangled in a chaotic mess. Most were severely injured from the crashes, unable to get back on their feet.
The Atrodé formation completely disintegrated.
Yet amidst the chaos, the thunderous sound of hooves still echoed across the battlefield.

THUD THUD THUD THUD!
The fireballs had stopped. But now, the Fenris Cavalry Corps, with their formation intact, charged forward at full speed, emanating a terrifying aura of momentum and power.
“Get up! Get up now!”

“Reform the lines! Quickly!”
“Hold the line! We must hold the line!”
The Atrodé commanders screamed their orders.

If they allowed the charge to strike in their current state, they would be completely overrun. Somehow, they needed to regroup and reform their lines.
Soldiers who could still move abandoned their fallen horses and grabbed their weapons. Some managed to mount fresh horses, scrambling in desperation.
But their time was too short.

Before they could properly regroup, the Fenris Cavalry Corps was upon them.
CRAAASH!
“AAARGGHH!”

The Fenris Cavalry Corps ripped through the Atrodé ranks like a knife through butter.
This cavalry unit had been personally trained by Ghislain Fenris since its inception. As he had hoped, they had grown to become an elite force through countless battles. Grueling training and brutal combat had forged them into an unparalleled military machine.
CRACK!

The rear lines of the Fenris cavalry pushed into the gaps left by the first wave, executing a double charge to maximize their impact. This tactic, which could easily harm one’s own side if poorly coordinated, was flawlessly executed by the Fenris troops.
Aiden, regaining his senses, screamed in frustration.
“Where are the mages?! What are the mages doing?!”

He didn’t know how such an overwhelming attack was even possible, but he was certain it was magic.
He had ordered his mages to risk their lives countering enemy spells, so why were fireballs still raining down?!
Turning to check on his mages, Aiden’s face twisted into a grimace.

“Kuh... Kugh…”
The Atrodé mages, even those as high as 6th Circle, were bleeding from their noses, desperately countering the enemy’s magic. Some of them had even turned white-haired—a sign that they had overdrawn their life force due to mana depletion.
Above both armies, the sky flashed intermittently with red and blue light—spells being cast and subsequently dispelled in quick succession. The Atrodé mages were literally gambling their lives to neutralize the Fenris spells.

Yet the Fenris Cavalry Corps still managed to cast magic.
Aiden bit his lip, his confusion mounting.
“How… How the hell are they doing this?”

The Atrodé mages weren’t neglecting their duties. Some of the enemy’s spells had indeed been dispelled. Once the Fenris magic entered the Atrodé mana field, countering it wasn’t difficult. The problem was the sheer volume of spells.
The Atrodé mages were already being overpowered by the Fenris mages. Then, on top of that, an enormous number of additional fireballs had been launched. The Atrodé mages could only block a fraction of them.
Watching his army crumble so swiftly, Ghislain let out a chuckle.

“They never would have imagined an attack like this.”
Even with Vanessa absent, the Fenris mages were more than capable of suppressing the enemy’s magic. Vanessa, however, had chosen to step in, pressuring the Atrodé mages even further, forcing them to burn through their mana reserves as if their lives depended on it.
On top of that, the sudden influx of low-circle mages, equivalent to 20,000 in number, had tipped the scales.

The total amount of mana unleashed in an instant was staggering. Even a transcendent could barely protect themselves, let alone dispel all the spells.
Faced with such an absurd situation, Aiden felt like he was losing his mind.
“How… How is this even possible?! The entire cavalry can’t all be mages!”

One of the mages nearby, gasping for breath, managed to respond.
“I… I think they’re using artifacts…”
“Artifacts? Do you think that’s plausible? That many troops using artifacts? Do you think Fenris is swimming in money? How many runestones…”

Aiden’s voice trailed off as realization struck him.
Runestones.
The rise of the Fenris Duke had been built on runestones.

By pioneering the development of the Beast Forest and exploiting its resources, the Fenris Duke had become a wealthy and powerful figure. And the cornerstone of his wealth had been the runestones.
Some time ago, however, Fenris had drastically reduced their sales.
“After the drought… They shifted everything to food production… Stockpiling all those runestones…”

Now it made sense. They had hoarded enough runestones to create an arsenal of artifacts.
The Fenris Duke had also been capturing and recruiting mages throughout the war, even adding an 8th-Circle mage to his ranks. In other words, Fenris had both the resources and manpower to produce low-circle artifacts in bulk.
“Unbelievable… They were making all of this… just for me?”

Although it wasn’t specifically aimed at Aiden, the self-centered knight couldn’t help but take it personally.
Regardless of his thoughts, the result was clear: the Fenris Army had equipped themselves with monstrous gear, and the Atrodé Army was on the brink of defeat.
Desperate, Aiden turned to the White Knights and roared.

“Attack them! Attack those bastards now!”
He had no choice but to play his trump card. He would leave the Fenris Duke and the 7th-Circle mage to the priests.
BOOOOM!

The White Knights unleashed their mana and charged forward.
They had already dismounted—it was no longer a situation where fighting on horseback was feasible.
The White Knights were renowned as the strongest knight order on the continent. Each member was at least a mid-tier warrior, and their total strength numbered 100—a force capable of overwhelming even a transcendent through coordinated effort.

If they intervened, they could halt the cavalry’s advance. The White Knights alone could crush thousands of enemy soldiers in mere moments.
Meanwhile, the remaining Atrodé troops could regroup and reorganize.
Observing Aiden’s move, Ghislain smiled faintly and waved his hand.

“Now, move out. Two per target. Show them who the strongest knights on the continent really are.”
“Time to break a sweat today!”
“YAAARGHHH! LET’S GO!”

Paladin Gordon and Lukas let out a thunderous battle cry as they charged forward, with 200 knights of the Fenris Order following closely behind.
This group had grown as formidable as the White Knights. Each of them had surpassed the level of mid-tier knights by far. Gordon had ascended to high-tier, and Lukas was approaching the pinnacle of mastery.
Not only that, but their numbers were greater.

Watching them rush into battle, Ghislain Fenris let out a satisfied smile.
"In my past life, I was truly wronged."
Ghislain recalled the bitter memory of losing his forces and sustaining injuries, only to be swarmed by the White Knights in a coordinated assault. Although he managed to kill them all, he had been too weakened and ultimately fell to Aiden in a humiliating defeat.

Fueled by that memory, he had trained his knights with a vengeance. Knowing the strength of the White Knights, he had raised every member of his order to at least mid-tier level.
He even shared his secret mana cultivation techniques with them.
The result was 400 elite knights painstakingly trained under his watch. While only half of them were present in this battle, they were more than enough to overwhelm the White Knights.

“Charge faster!”
BOOM!
Lukas surged ahead, his mana exploding as he led the charge. The other knights followed suit, unleashing their mana as they dashed forward, determined not to be outpaced.

The White Knights, meanwhile, struggled to navigate through their fallen allies. In contrast, the Fenris Cavalry Corps, as if anticipating this, had instinctively spread out, giving their knights a clear path to engage.
Thanks to this coordination, the Fenris Order intercepted the White Knights before they could reach the Cavalry Corps.
Seeing the White Knights moving to attack the Fenris Cavalry, the Fenris knights widened their formation.

“Hey, hey, hey! You’ll have to deal with us first!”
Gordon shouted, diving into the fray. Over a hundred knights clashed simultaneously, and the battle quickly escalated into something far beyond the level of ordinary soldiers.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Mana exploded in every direction as the knights fought with lethal precision. Soldiers instinctively retreated to avoid being caught in the storm of their combat.
At first glance, the battle seemed evenly matched, with knights of similar skill locked in combat. However, the Fenris knights fought in pairs, coordinating their attacks seamlessly.
CLANG!

When one knight’s sword locked with their opponent’s, their partner moved in for the kill, cutting the enemy down.
The knights of Fenris were veterans who had lived through countless life-or-death battles, often working as mercenaries before joining the order. Concepts like honor and chivalry were utterly foreign to them.
They fought to win, by any means necessary.

“Hey, hey! Look at this!”
One Fenris knight distracted his opponent mid-combat by tossing sand into their eyes. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Another knight, who had been waiting for an opening, tackled the blinded foe, knocking them to the ground.
Some knights even spat in their opponent’s face when their attacks were blocked, doing whatever they could to gain an advantage.

The White Knights were appalled. This wasn’t a battle against honorable knights—it was like fighting lunatics.
“You filthy scum! How dare you call yourselves knights! Have you no honor?!”
“Honor? We don’t give a damn about that, you bastard! Here, eat this!”

WHOOSH!
One Fenris knight pulled out a pouch of Belinda’s special spicy powder and threw it at his opponent. This was a trick they had picked up from Kaor, who had used it to great effect in the past.
Two knights ganged up on a single opponent, fighting dirty and relentlessly. Even against similarly skilled adversaries, this underhanded fighting style made them nearly impossible to deal with.

Moreover, the Fenris Order’s teamwork was flawless. This was the result of Ghislain’s infamous "hell training," which had honed their synergy to perfection.
“Urgh!”
All across the battlefield, White Knights coughed up blood and collapsed.

The White Knights, who had never experienced such disgraceful and underhanded tactics, were overwhelmed and confused. They fell one by one.
Even the soldiers fighting nearby couldn’t help but glance at the chaotic melee.
‘Wow… thank the gods they’re on our side.’

‘Seriously, they’re disgusting. But yeah, they’re our disgusting guys.’
‘So this is what the strongest knights on the continent look like. The strongest and the dirtiest.’
Oblivious to the soldiers’ thoughts, the Fenris knights were in high spirits. Victory was within their grasp, and they were having the time of their lives.

“Ha ha ha! These guys are weak! They’re just posers in fancy armor!”
“Even the monsters in the Beast Forest are tougher than this!”
“We’re the strongest in the north! No, in the entire kingdom! Hell, we’re the strongest on the continent now!”

STAB! STAB! STAB!
They made sure to finish off the fallen White Knights. The tide of battle had decisively turned in Fenris’s favor.
Aiden’s face turned pale as he watched.

“M-my knights…”
The pride of the continent, the knights he had so arrogantly declared invincible, were being decimated far too easily.
This couldn’t be happening. They were supposed to win. They were supposed to die gloriously in his name.

At the very least, they should have weakened Ghislain before falling. How could they die so pathetically, without achieving anything?
“No… No! Stop them! Kill those bastards!”
In a fit of rage, Aiden screamed at the priests. Any semblance of composure was gone.

The priests, recognizing the dire situation, knew they couldn’t wait any longer. They had to act, even if it meant leaving their primary objective behind. They needed to thin the ranks of the Fenris Order and the Cavalry Corps.
But before they could move, Ghislain himself had drawn his sword and was already charging toward them.
BOOOOM!

His speed, even on foot, was blinding. He moved like a streak of crimson light.
Seeing the blazing figure approach, Aiden changed his strategy.
“Kill him first!”

There was still time before his entire army was destroyed. If they could kill Ghislain, the tide of battle might turn. With the Duke dead, the remaining Fenris forces could be wiped out.
The priests rushed at Ghislain, abandoning everything else. Aiden hesitated for a moment but ultimately followed. He had no other options.
‘We’ll take him down now, while he’s chosen to fight on his own!’

Aiden considered leaving Ghislain to the priests while he focused on reducing Fenris’s numbers, but he couldn’t risk it. If the priests failed, he’d be isolated in the middle of the enemy forces.
As Ghislain reached the center of the battlefield, he roared.
“Fall back, all of you!”

There were still enemy soldiers present, but they were no longer significant enough to pose a threat. Any further fighting here would only risk friendly fire.
The Fenris knights and cavalry immediately dispersed, retreating to the flanks.
BOOOOM!

Ghislain’s sword clashed with the energy radiating from the priests.
The combined power of the four priests was formidable, but Ghislain held his ground. Their strength was not enough to overwhelm him.
But the priests weren’t the true threat.

SWOOSH!
Behind the priests, a brilliant blue blade materialized, cutting through the air as it descended toward Ghislain’s head.