Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 891

891. The Prophet of the Border Guard

Luagarne’s mind was racing, busy observing and assessing the enemy’s approach and the movements of her allies. She reflected on some of the situations she had grasped.

Should I say crazy or bold?

Or maybe he’s just poking around?

‘I guess I’ll just stab him.’

If we fail to react to the movements of Lichenstätten’s army, the war will be over before it even begins.
Lichenstätten advanced, sending a force forward. The vanguard continued to press forward without stopping,
led by large biological weapons: elephants. Their gray-skinned bodies, untainted by monster blood, seemed capable of easily carrying a giant.
They had no intention of stopping. Their determination clearly stimulated their skin. Oil flowed over their surface, making them even more lustrous and smoother than usual. The momentum of the assembled army was a stimulant for Prok.
The sight of a troop of elephants wagging their trunks must have been dizzying for the soldiers. This was a loss of momentum. It was obvious that if they did nothing, that would happen.
Of course, Luagarne reacted immediately upon sensing their movements.

“If necessary, the Knights will step forward.”

The gray-haired knight spoke right beside him. Instead of responding to Cyprus’s words, Luagarne closed her eyes. She had been darting her eyes around so much that they were starting to feel heavy.

‘If necessary.’

That means one thing: Cyprus knows what Luagarne did while the situation was changing rapidly.

“You’re quick-witted.”

Prock opened his eyes and said.

“I lived seventy years on a single whim.”
“Yes, even at such a young age, you have extraordinary wit.”

Luagarne praised him again. Cyprus laughed at Prok’s joke.

“Seventy is a very old age for a human, Prock. You seem to have a lot of faith in the person standing before you.”

At those words, Frock’s cheeks puffed out. The round white part of his cheeks looked like it would burst if he touched it. His cheeks were that big.

“If he gets pushed back, then step up. If he’s knocked out by a single punch from his opponent, even if the Knights come out, this fight will be lost.”

Luagarne, drawing on her unique insight and accumulated experience, glimpsed the future.
It was a tomorrow that might or might not happen.
If the enemy were to fall behind, they would be surrounded and forced to face the enemy knights. The enemy could then deploy several knights in a wheeled battle, or they could attrite their troops and fight, wearing down the stamina and spirit of their own knights.

‘How many enemy knights are there?’

Three? Five? Ten? I don’t know. However, it won’t be small. At the very least, it’s fair to consider them equal in numbers. Even if the numbers differ, it’s fair when compared in terms of combat power.
The worst case scenario is that the enemy is superior.
Well, once the front lines start to get pushed back, that’s the end. And that’s not like they’re pouring all their strength into it.
It’s just a casual punch. If they collapse there, the fight won’t even be worth it. It’s a losing battle from the start. It’s a battle that shouldn’t have even started.
I could hear the will of the Great Emperor, or the words of the Great Emperor’s strategist.

“Okay, if you can’t stop this much, this is the end.”

I didn’t really say that, but isn’t their intention obvious?
They didn’t intend to prolong the fight.

‘It feels like watching an adult and a child fight.’

This was my honest opinion. However, this child was blessed with a unique talent, as if the heavens were watching over him.
Conversely, the one who seemed more like an adult was throwing down the gauntlet, seemingly testing him, regardless of his talent.

“As always, it’s nice to see trust and faith in someone.”

Cypress spoke with his arms crossed. Luagarne’s gaze briefly turned away from the battlefield and to the human named Cypress. Despite his calm tone, his eyes held a strange fervor.
They were like the eyes of someone sitting at a gambling table. They were the eyes of someone anticipating a thrilling thrill.

“That’s fun.”

He muttered again. A hint of Encred was evident in his tone.

‘Should I say that’s obvious?’

Even the guardian deity who had protected Naurilia for more than half his life glimpsed madness. The word “ordinary” might seem unsuitable for a knight, but Luagarne felt it was a madness unlike any ordinary knight.
Just like Encred and the madmen.
Her gaze returned to the battlefield. She recognized three figures positioned on either side.
One was a swordsman, unexpectedly entering enemy territory.
The other two were a barbarian and a beastman. Those two were intelligent—or, more accurately, the barbarian.
He would move with the beastman, instinctively searching for vulnerable spots and stabbing and prodding.

‘The key is you.’

The last is a young man leading a portion of the army from the center. Even by Cypress’s standards, he’s a young human male.
His name is Lawford. Excluding Encred, he’s the one who spent the most time with Luagarne, a genius who absorbed her experiences.

‘There are few who are better at leading troops and observing the battle situation than you.’

Luagarne’s trust in him is based on his past performance.
If Pell and Lawford were to fight one-on-one, Pell would have the upper hand. Lawford would barely keep up.
But what if they were to fight with a hundred soldiers?
In mock combat drills, Pell had never once defeated Lawford. Regardless of appearance, behavior, or training style, this is one reason Lawford was so much more popular among the soldiers than Pell. His judgment and talent shine in specific situations.
Lawford, as a leader of a unit, would be a force to be reckoned with, whether in the vanguard or on the left or right wing.
Asking him to lead a force meant preventing this battle from ending before it even began.

* * *

Lichenstetten’s army advanced, divided into four groups: the vanguard, the left and right wings, and the rearguard. The vanguard continued to advance without stopping. They appeared to have no intention of stopping.

‘An army that advances even if it means filling in rivers and building bridges over cliffs if necessary.’

That’s the Lichenstein that Lawford knows.

‘What does this mean?’

The first is belligerence.

‘The second is that he has a lot of fighting experience.’

Looking at the enemy formation, the words naturally came to mind. Lawford pondered. His specialty was a broad field of vision and situational awareness.
Understanding the surroundings wasn’t just about checking everything with the naked eye. It required more than that, and the foundation of that was reasoning.
It was like seeing someone walking and knowing where they would be three steps behind.
He added some of the sensory skills he’d learned from Sachsen, and added the tactics and variables he’d learned from Luagarne. Lawford felt his head heat up.
The enemy’s momentum, tingling against his skin, seemed to be mixed with their will.

‘The vanguard just charges in.’

The calculations began. Everything he knew was collated, piled up, and then shuffled again. This process repeated countless times.
His pupils flickered incessantly, as if he was seeing something.
Pel waited, the Idol Slayer slung over his shoulder.
It was quite unpleasant to act on the orders of a sage, but I had to admit it.
In a fight where he leads a unit, this sage becomes a completely different person.
While Pel stood there, waiting for his turn, Lawford opened his closed eyes. His vision caught two elements the enemy had overlooked.

‘Ragnar, Rem.’

The two of them moved. Knowing who they were, I could predict how they would move. It’s not like they moved exactly as I wanted.

‘Rem will irritate the enemy by poking them.’

In the end, you know what you’re going to do.

‘Ragnar is the opposite. He’ll point his sword at anything that stands in his way.’

Their usual tendencies might seem opposing, but Lawford knows. Rem is more clever than you might think, and Ragna is more reticent than you might think. Their personalities actually differ from their appearances.

‘What I have to do here is.’

It’s about taking the vanguard and preventing the enemy from taking up positions where they want.

‘The reason they sent out the vanguard.’

Lawford had seen it all. He had seen it, he knew it, he had predicted it, so his course of action was clear. And weren’t the variables of Rem and Ragna on his side?

“Pel.”
“Speak, sir.”

Fel stared at the massive creature approaching him. It was far larger than any sheep in the wilderness. It was his job to kill it.

“From now on, you are our unit’s guardian.”
“Okay, I’ll take that lump… what?”
“While the armies are fighting, run around until your feet sweat and help the soldier in danger.”

Lawford knew Fel, and he was confident he knew him better than anyone in the Order.

‘Outstanding stamina and agility.’

In simple sword-fighting, his judgment is first-rate.
However, when it comes to orchestrating the overall battle situation, all his abilities fade.

‘A talent that is unusually concentrated in one direction.’

That’s how Lawford sees Pell. He knows this because they’ve faced each other countless times. Lawford knew full well that if he were to risk his life in a fight, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Pell.

‘Of course, I won’t admit it with my own mouth.’

Even if my neck was half cut off, I had no intention of admitting it, not even the slightest bit.

“I’m busy. Get moving, you country bumpkin.”
“This crazy kid?”

Even as he spoke, Fel took his steps as Lawford had instructed. His intention was clear:
to infiltrate the friendly formation and fight. The objective was simple: as far as his perception would allow, approach the dangerous soldier, parry his attacks, and fight for him.

“All troops deployed in formation.”

Lawford then gathered his officers and spoke. Several junior commanders followed his orders.
These men, if they were elite, were elite. They survived the perilous battlefield.
The unit moving under Lawford’s command encountered elephants and giants wielding thorny hammers. From this perspective, they resembled a mantis blocking an approaching boulder.
Which of them would be crushed in a fight? There was no need to ponder the answer. It was clear who should be terrified.

‘If the soldiers’ spirits are broken, there’s no fighting in the first place.’

That’s what Lawford thought. In that sense, Pell’s decision to intervene between our troops was truly the right one.
That soldier ant caught between the locusts was a monster, capable of not only stopping a carriage on its own, but even destroying it.

“What are you looking at? They’re telling me to fight with you. I wanted to chop that lump up, but I’m dying of regret.”

Fel’s casual words boosted the morale of his allies. It was the effect of knights fighting shoulder to shoulder. Moreover, hadn’t Fel already engaged in antics that were clearly noticeable to his allies?
Drawing a line on the ground and dodging the arrows, spears, shields, and swords hurled by the enemy, he left a deep impression on everyone.
Furthermore, the king was right there to defend him and respect his wishes. While
it might be difficult to ask them to immediately trust him as the Knights of the Red Cloak, his position was sufficient to provide them with a similar sense of security.
Lawford stood on both feet and drew his sword.

Chiring.

He was slow, but his movements were powerful. He drew his sword and struck the spear of the soldier standing next to him, drawing everyone’s attention as he marched in front of the troops lined up in a horizontal formation.

earth.

A small noise rings out. The startled soldier turns around.

“Relax.”

He then swung his sword sideways again, striking the blade of the junior officer on his right. The officer blinked and looked back at Lawford.

“Are you worried about that lump?”

Lawford asked in a light tone. His tone alone conveyed no hint of threat, only calm.

“Isn’t the guy who feels relieved after seeing that crazy?”

The officer answered.
Standing in the vanguard was a testament to courage. The soldiers and the junior officers on the front lines, though nervous, were not terrified.

‘It’s a great army.’

Still, Lawford longed for the Border Guard’s standing force. Someday, he’d fight shoulder to shoulder with those he’d trained and fought alongside.
Shaking off his distracting thoughts, Lawford looked ahead. He saw a familiar silhouette moving beside a large mass, draped in tattered rags and a saddle that would have been a burden if placed on a horse.
Moving perpendicular to the enemy squad’s advance, he stood out easily.
Rem didn’t move like that. That’s why he knew who it was, even though his face was too far away.

“My nickname is the Prophet of the Border Guard. Here’s a prophecy: That lump will soon collapse and die.”

Lawford pointed to one side with his finger. The soldier holding the spear looked strange. He frowned and frowned.
He meant, “What the hell are you talking about?”
Of course, it was a lie, but several soldiers who had been training with him had said similar things to Lawford.

He is said to be one who hears the whispers of the god of fate.

When I thought about those words, I realized they had a similar meaning to a prophet. More precisely, it was the result of his unique insight into the battlefield. He
also mixed in the skill he’d learned from Encred: to speak the right words at the right moment.
The soldier’s expression changed abruptly. His gaze caught sight of the elephant, the southern nation’s prized giant biological weapon, toppling over.

Ku-ung.

Soon, a ground-shaking vibration rippled through the air, and blood gushed forth like a fountain. A massive fountain of blood, catching the eye of everyone in the area.
Ahead, a swordsman wielding a greatsword named Ilchul (Sunrise) would be present.

“I became a prophet because the prophecy came true.”

Lawford muttered, took a deep breath, and shouted, “What are you doing?”

“Even if you’re not in the same place!”

A charge is a bad move. That’s what Lawford thought. This unit would soon repeat Encred’s actions.
Furthermore, while Fel had previously drawn a line, creating an imaginary wall to block projectiles, this time, a wall of troops would block the enemy’s advance.

“We are the wall!”

Lawford shouted again. The power of the shout, unleashed as the prophecy came true, permeated all of the allies.
The West’s greatest hunter also took action at that moment.