Heavy cavalry against infantry squares—the two protagonists most often seen in wars fought with cold steel. Each had victories and defeats against the other; neither could eliminate the other. Facing the West Empire's pike formations and its new weapons, the young Cadet Officers of the Unicorn Legion had the reckless courage of newborn calves.
In the eyes of the young cavalrymen, a matchlock was something like a new kind of crossbow, only with greater armor-piercing power. If accuracy was not a concern, a matchlock could reach two hundred yards (180 meters). At that distance, there was no need to aim. A scattered volley was enough, and the first wave of lead balls from the matchlocks poured into the cavalry.
When the gunfire ended, three to five cadet cavalrymen had fallen. To support the charge, Blackport County's longbowmen were already lofting arrows into the West Empire formations. Whenever cavalry charged, the longbowmen would fire several supporting volleys in an attempt to disrupt the enemy's formation.
The West Empire soldiers angled their shields upward to block the descending arrows. Their formations wavered slightly, then immediately returned to their solid shape. After firing, the first rank of matchlock infantry quickly withdrew to the rear to reload, and a second rank emerged through the gaps between the pikemen.
The cavalry was moving extremely fast. Just as the West Empire's second rank of matchlock infantry began to aim, the cadet cavalry had already closed to one hundred meters. At the same time, a dense hiss of fletching cutting through the air came from behind the West Empire formations.
Crossbow bolts! All-metal crossbow bolts had even greater armor-piercing power than arrows. The bolts arced through the air toward the Unicorn Legion's cadet cavalry, and at a distance of only a few dozen meters they were extremely lethal.
The cadet cavalry had run into a deadly problem. The crossbow bolts were descending from above, while the lead balls from the matchlocks came straight at them. Either type of ranged weapon could inflict enormous damage on a cavalryman's plate armor, but each rider had only one shield, and a shield could protect against an attack from only one direction.
It was time to choose...
Leo immediately urged his warhorse forward, breaking out ahead of the cavalry line. He pulled the horse left and placed himself directly in front of Catherine. He raised his long shield, using both the shield and his own body to block any lead balls that might be headed for her. Catherine understood his intention and raised her metal round shield to stop the crossbow bolts about to rain down from above.
The long shield blocked Leo's view. He looked upward, trying to spot any bolts that might be heading for Catherine—and then he saw something that shocked him.
Among the rain of crossbow bolts, more than a dozen were distinctly different. They were actually turning in midair. They did not merely trace parabolic arcs vertically; they were curving horizontally as well. Bolts like those could easily curve around the Unicorn Legion's round shields and strike the cavalrymen behind them from the side.
How was that possible? Haste Mages! Fallen Haste Mages!
...
First Principle of Fallen Superstring Mages — Principle of Out-of-Body Soul Tempering:
Pain is the source of the soul's strength. During spellcasting, the soul leaves the body and endures the hammering of nature's mighty forces. If one becomes accustomed to extreme pain, the soul's strength will increase.
...
Most of the abilities used by Order Haste Mages involved accelerating arrows. Once an arrow left their control, the spell ended, and the arrow continued its attack through inertia. Fallen Haste Mages, however, often chose to attach soul waves to their crossbow bolts and maintain control over them from a distance. This greatly increased the bolts' accuracy.
Fallen Haste Mages were also known as Shadow Hunters. They could always fire lethal arrows from angles no one would imagine possible. Leo also remembered a long-buried legend: the West Empire was famous for producing Shadow Hunters, and their powerful, precise ranged attacks had caused Order Mages endless trouble.
All Leo could do was hope that Catherine and Brad would survive this wave of crossbow bolts. At that moment, he increased the density of his helmet, pauldrons, and long shield to four times normal, giving those three most important pieces of defensive equipment enough protective strength. To keep his warhorse from being crushed by the sudden increase in weight, he reduced the density of the plate armor on his back to thirty percent of normal.
Even so, the warhorse let out a pained scream. Cipher Mages were not actually well suited to cavalry. Even if a knight could withstand weapons and armor suddenly becoming lighter or heavier, the warhorse beneath him could not adapt. That was why Cipher Mages rarely became cavalrymen; most chose to fight as infantry instead.
A lead ball suddenly slammed into the long shield. Within an instant, three explosive impacts rang out in succession. Three lead balls had struck Leo's shield. Fortunately, quadruple density was enough to stop them, and Leo's sense of security rose sharply. To his relief, his position projected ahead of the cavalry battalion's line, and no crossbow bolts struck him.
One heavy cavalryman after another crashed from the saddle. It was the sound cavalry troops least wanted to hear. For heavy cavalry, falling from the horse meant losing all combat effectiveness; their heavy armor made it extremely difficult for them to climb back onto a horse by themselves.
Leo looked back. Of the sixty cavalrymen who had set out, only forty-five remained. They had lost a full fifteen before the charge was even halfway over. Fortunately, Catherine was unharmed, and so was Brad.
Unfortunately, Catherine seemed to have had her ferocity roused and was charging forward even faster. Leo's warhorse was only an ordinary horse, while Catherine's was a purebred deliberately prepared for her by the Count's castle. Miss Catherine soon drew level with Leo, leaving him, who had been preparing to fall back into the cavalry formation, caught between advancing and retreating.
Leo's first priority was not smashing into the West Empire formation. He had to divide his attention to protect Miss Catherine, which also made him observe the battlefield more carefully. That was why he was the first to notice the change in the West formations.
Leo let out a howl of anguish.
“No!”
It was the first time Leo had shouted tonight, and the first time he had felt despair. He should have realized it! Whether he could protect Miss Catherine, whether he could earn the Third-Class Merit—at that moment, both became trivial concerns.
Leo turned his head and roared at Brad, “Run!”
Leo had no idea how much good that shout would do. He drove his warhorse forward frantically, forcing it to keep pace with Catherine. They had to break into the enemy formation in the shortest possible time. Retreat was impossible; the horses were already at full speed. They could only keep charging forward like mad. Only by going forward did they have a better chance of surviving.
Leo stared desperately at the two gaps between the West Empire's three formations. He should have thought of it sooner... If they had matchlocks, then of course they had cannons too...
Hidden beneath black cloth in the two gaps between the formations, almost invisible in the darkness, were four cannons. Their muzzles were not pointing straight forward. Instead, they were angled toward the centerline, giving the four guns overlapping crossfire that could cover most of the Unicorn Legion cavalry.
Only forty meters remained. The cannons would have only one chance to fire, which meant the most tightly packed part of the cavalry was also the most dangerous place to be.
Catherine and Leo charged forward desperately. Catherine did it out of anger; every cavalryman's death was a loss to the Cavendish family. Leo did it because he wanted to live. He had to break away from the main body and get clear of the densest concentration of cavalry.
He did not believe his D-Grade spell could stop an iron cannonball.
Boom!
The cannons were roaring!
The ground was shaking!
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