Dungeon Defense (WN)

Saintess Longwy parted her red lips.

– Strength is something that only I can verify.

Her voice rang clearly throughout the blue sky. She had been waiting for this moment after staying silent throughout the entire battle. A position that was filled by only 1 person per nation, so only 12 of them existed on the continent. The number had actually shrunken down to 11 since the saintess of Habsburg was executed for secretly communicating with the demon lord army. One of the 11 saintesses had begun to sing.

– The mind was once that of God before it eventually became that of a commoner and a slave. O Goddess, those destined to perish are once again blessing your hymn once more. Please dance with the feet of a great tribe and forgive all life for becoming luxuriant.

The cavalrymen formed a wide line.

The Saintess’ singing seeped into the cracks of their dented armor, between their helmets and breastplates, and through the manes of the tired horses that had been soaked by dust and blood. Even the spirits who had fled from the sound of combat came to peak out of the forest.

Henrietta only had 6,000 cavalrymen left. It would be difficult for even a saintess to reinvigorate all of them by even the smallest amount. Saintess Longwy felt as if her entire body was being stabbed by needles.

Nonetheless, she was still a saintess. She didn’t even furrow her brows. She continued to pray as if she were utterly in peace.

– In truth, we are far from death. However, we wish to bask in the one and only freedom granted to us; the freedom to face death. We know that this is the one and only immortal trait which those destined to perish possess. O Goddess Athena.

A blue glow appeared on the soldiers and the warhorses for a moment before fading away. It almost felt like the cavalrymen who had charged at the enemy’s defenses more than four times already had suddenly regained their strength like travelers who finally got a drink of cold water after traversing through a desert. The warhorses let out beastly growls like they once did six hours ago.

The Saintess brought her hands together.

– Please allow their deaths to be deaths.

Saintess Longwy fell from her horse after saying those words. She had passed out. The attendants that were around her horse had safely caught the Saintess’ body. Her entire body was drenched in sweat even though the prayer she had given was only about a minute long.

“That was excellent, Jacqueline Longwy. My friend.”

Queen Henrietta made her horse take a step forward.

The scarlet-haired queen turned her horse around and faced the thousands of cavalrymen in front of her. The scarlet-haired queen let out a light laugh as she received their intense gazes.

“My beloved soldiers, when do armies lose?”

The Queen activated the amplification spell on her necklace as she spoke.

“Do they lose when they are defeated in battle? Do they lose when they are defeated in war? Do soldiers lose when they have lost their commander or when their flags have been pillaged? No, that is not the case.”

The Queen shook her head.

“Warriors, your battle is elsewhere.”

She pointed at her own nose.

“It is here. This is our battlefield. When you decide whether to help your allies or turn a blind eye to them, that is where your fight lies. Your fight is deciding whether to flinch before an oncoming spear or not. Will you face excruciating pain and accept your death? That is where your battle is.”

Queen Henrietta pointed at the ground.

“Let us say that there is a single person here. He is living a normal life. He was born average, lived an average life with his family, and died after living like that for 60 years. And.”

She raised her left hand and pointed at the sky.

“There is a single person there as well. She jumps down from the same height as the moon. She descends to this earth slowly, but unwaveringly. She falls for 60 years―before eventually landing and dying. A human who lived on the ground for 60 years before dying and a human who fell for 60 years and died. What is the difference between these two deaths?”

The Queen’s 6,000 soldiers listened to her quietly. Henrietta’s tone was firm and sonorous. It was like the roots and branches of a tree firmly holding on to her words that were like the leaves.

“There may not be any differences. A life that lived normally on the surface for 60 years and a life that had fallen for the same duration, are these two not the same? Men, this is humanity’s problem and will continue to be so eternally. A question among questions. What is the difference? Are you all not falling as well? Is something not rotting and decomposing?”

The Queen let out a deep breath before continuing.

“You are standing here on a battlefield today. You are being forced to answer these questions. This is because battlefields are a place where these questions are forced upon you the most intensely. How lamentable! Even if you wish to avoid these questions, you cannot.”

Queen Henrietta laughed.

“Every second. These questions will assault you like a storm with every passing moment. Will you turn away when your comrades are in danger? Will you close your eyes when the enemy stabs their spears at you? Will you turn away from death when you are dying slowly after being injured gruesomely?”

Thousands of warhorses started to stomp their front hooves, kicking up a small cloud of dust in the process. The cavalrymen took in deep breaths as they roused their fighting spirits. Queen Henrietta let out a shout once she saw this.

“Men, you have not lived until this moment. You will be tested here today to determine whether you are alive or have been dying all this time. This is your victory and defeat. Wars and battles are only secondary when it comes to figuring out the answer to this apex question!”

Henrietta’s black warhorse raised its front hooves high in the air. The Queen looked down at her soldiers from this elevated height.

“Will you slowly collapse for the last remaining decades of your lives!? Or will you take another step forward!? Warriors, be reborn as humans on this continent of wandering corpses! Take a step forward and face the hardship. A life that is genuinely worth living lies beyond that hardship!”

Queen Henrietta raised her lance up to the sky.

Her army couldn’t hold back their voices any longer as they let out a roar and their warhorses neighed. 6,000 lances stabbed at the sky and 12,000 front hooves stomped on the ground.

“Only then will the humans trying to die today will continue to live while the humans trying to live will continue to die! I have never once believed that my army has lost and I never will. Warriors! Sons and daughters of Pallas Athena! Warriors who will grandly win a battle where the odds were against them!”

Queen Henrietta turned her horse back around. Before her were Frankia’s 12,000 cavalrymen. Not only were they twice the size of the Queen’s army, but they were completely energetic since they hadn’t fought yet. The Queen let out a shout.

“―Charge!”

The Queen’s horse began to move first.

The cavalrymen behind her let out war cries as they urged their horses forward. Their warhorses let out beastly growls. There were Brittans, Frankians, Bernicians, and Castilians among them. Knights and mercenaries. However, at this very moment, they all served under a single ruler: Henrietta de Brittany. They were all being led by this single person.

The 12,000 cavalrymen on the enemy’s side started to move as well. Supreme Commander Duke Guise was also with them. Befitting his title as an honorable knight and a splendid high noble, the Duke stood alongside his cavalry unit. The Duke had also given a speech that instigated Frankia’s cavalrymen to ride their horses courageously. The space between the two armies gradually narrowed.

“They have 10,000!”

Queen Henrietta cried out. She weakened her amplification spell so that only the nobles around her could hear her.

“They are twice our size! Are you afraid, men!?”

“No!”

“We will charge at them twice and split them into four. We will crush each of the enemy’s fragments after they have been divided into groups of 2,500. Do you understand? They are not twice our size. We will be twice their size!”

Queen Henrietta roared.

“Generals under my wing should be more than able to wipe out an army that is only the size of half our army with ease!”

“Your Highness is right!”

“If there is a general who is unable to take at least ten heads, then know that today will be your funeral!”

The Queen lowered her helmet’s visor. The other nobles did the same. All of the Queen’s close aides followed after her excluding the advisors who were not fighters.

Henrietta’s horse was renowned for being unmatched, so she naturally took the lead. The noble commanders whose horses weren’t as good but were still excellent followed right behind her. Behind them were 6,000 cavalrymen. With the Queen as the vanguard, they created a triangle formation as they dashed across the plains.

Trot. The cavalrymen increased their speed to a trot once they were about 200 meters from the enemy. The cries let out by the soldiers kicked up a cloud of dust.

Canter. The cavalrymen tightened their grips on their horses’ reins once they were 100 meters away. The sound of hooves slamming into the earth started to resonate more loudly than the soldiers’ shouting. They directed their lances forward.

“For Her Majesty the Queen!”

“For the glory of Henrietta de Brittany!”

Gallop. Once they were only 40 meters away from each other, the warhorses sped up to their highest speed. The flags hanging at the ends of their spears fluttered wildly. A second of time was trampled by the hooves and―the two armies collided.

– Claash! Clash!

Cavalrymen and cavalrymen collided. First, the 8-meter-long lances were enveloped by swirling layers of aura as they pierced through the hearts of the other cavalrymen. The 3 to 5 meter-long lances pierced into each other.

An iron spear pierced through the shoulder of a man named Pierre. The strength of the spear knocked Pierre off of his horse and made him fall face-first into the dirt.

Another spear pierced out the back of the neck of a knight named Maximillian, making his large build fall to the ground. The brilliant pieces of armor on the corpse clanked loudly.

A soldier named Deore managed to dodge a lance, but he was sent flying off of his horse as he was unable to endure the impact. Deore fell into the cloud of dust and struggled to breathe. He stuck his hands out trying to find his comrades. At that moment, a warhorse kicked up another cloud of dust and stepped on Deore’s abdomen. Its hooves crushed his abdomen mercilessly and made his guts burst out. Deore’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he screamed.

“Kuuuuaaaah!”

Henrietta tossed her lance and unsheathed her sword. An enemy soldier’s chest would get crushed and an arm would fly into the air every time her sword was wrapped in blue light.

Red blood splattered everywhere. An ear-shattering sound would resonate every time a spear struck armor and swords clashed. The warriors let out a roar. A single collision was enough to fill the plains with blood and guts. The sound of slaughter echoed all around Henrietta de Brittany, numbing her ears.

The Queen reached a state of perfect self-effacement as she swung her sword. Her beloved horse bit and kicked the other horses. The Queen became one with her warhorse as they annihilated everything in their path. Hands, arms, and heads would float for a moment with blue light in the places the Queen had passed before falling to the ground without mercy.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

One of the nobles shouted. The Queen immediately came back to her senses.

The enemy soldiers were no longer in front of her. She could now see the enemy’s wooden fences and spearmen in the distance. They had gotten through! Queen Henrietta skillfully turned her horse around and raised her sword.

“Let us turn this around! Follow me!”

The Queen’s army pierced through Frankia’s 12,000 soldiers. They had become a sword and sliced through the curtain of humans. It was now time for them to split the enemy army that had been divided into 4 pieces. The Queen saw something at that moment. In the middle of the enemy’s formation, there was a flag with a white rose on it.

Queen Henrietta shouted.

“There you are, Henry de Guise!”

Her warhorse became a cannonball as it shot forward. There was no need to give any orders. Henrietta’s Black Crow knew instinctively that the most appetizing prey was right before it. The warhorse that had a monster for a father let out a terrifying growl as it charged.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’ve lost count of the days that went by. Did I actually get any rest? Honestly, at this point of translating this segment, I think I sort of got tired of this whole war sequence. It might just be my own personal taste, but translating Dantalian’s banters with other characters is far more enjoyable. Nevertheless, you can’t really have a functional story if it’s nothing but banter from start to finish (or can you?). Truly sad. If you’re like me, then don’t worry! This Frankia arc(?) is ending soon! The early access chapters finally escaped this battle. 

Welp, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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