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“SEND those Farunian demons back to hell once more!”
The Eylish soldiers felt sheer terror at the sight of their defeated enemies coming back to life, but at the order from Count Godwin, the crossbow unit assembled yet again on the front line. Then, the wizards in the back fired a wild barrage of attack spells.
But the Hundred didn’t dodge them. They just kept getting back up and moving toward the opposing line, even when they were sent flying after taking a direct hit. Maria continually recited words of prayer, but the area was too large, and even she couldn’t heal them all. Still, the Hundred pushed ahead, though they were becoming more and more bloodied and battered as they advanced. They were like a procession of immortal demons.
Finally, they entered crossbow range. The enemy unit lying in wait let loose a volley of arrows. The Hundred didn’t dodge them either—they did use their hands to block the bolts coming at their heads, but that was all they did. And when the bolts began to pierce their armor, they all broke into a run, as if they’d been given a sudden command.
While letting out incoherent screams, they endured the pain and, still riddled with crossbow bolts, rushed the enemy. With their bodies completely drenched in blood, the Hundred looked like nothing less than the most terrifying of monsters, to put it mildly.
“Eeek!”
Intimidated by the Farunian army’s unearthly vitality, the crossbow users broke formation and ran. Some even discarded their weapons, deciding that those heavy things could only get in their way.
“Don’t run! Fire the next volley!”
The commanders shouted themselves hoarse, but as the Hundred continued to charge even while pincushioned with crossbow bolts, the soldiers lost faith in the effectiveness of their weapons.
And the Hundred didn’t allow their foes to escape. They stayed hot on their heels, systematically cutting down the crossbow users in revenge for their previous defeat. Some of the Hundred’s warriors even pulled out the bolts in their own bodies and used them to stab their foes.
The other Eylish soldiers hurriedly headed to reinforce the crossbow unit, but the two armies were already in a confused tangle, and the battle turned into a fight at close range. In other words, the Hundred were right in their wheelhouse.
Clearly seriously injured, the Hundred howled and rampaged like wounded beasts. It was no longer possible to see them as human—they were monsters, and there were more than a thousand of them. It was more than enough to trigger a person’s instinctive, primal fear, and the Eylish army fell into a state of panic.
“Surround them! We’re ten times their size! Take advantage of our numbers!”
Count Godwin barked instructions, trying to reverse the tide of the battle. As he did so, he attempted to lead a unit under his direct command around the enemy’s rear—which only led to a group of knights charging at him. It was the Black Knights, freshly healed by Luida.
“The Hundred aren’t the only ones who have to redeem themselves! Count Godwin, I’ll be taking your head!” Chrom shouted, leading the Black Knights as they fell on the count’s unit.
“I won’t lose to the likes of you!” Count Godwin instantly activated his ancestral skill, a physical strength enhancement. He cloaked his body in a pale blue flame, then confronted Chrom.
This new Count Godwin was younger than his father had been, and more skilled with a sword. He was also quite adept with his ancestral physical strength boost. Plus, he had no intention of fighting a member of the Hundred one on one; his close subordinates, elites all, moved to support him.
However, Chrom broke through. While he usually cut down his foes with dexterous sword techniques, this time he brutally crushed his enemies in their suits of armor without any concern for his own injuries, using his incredible brute strength to force them to yield.
“That’s impossible!” Count Godwin shouted. He was unable to accept the reality unfolding before his eyes, that the capable knights who had served by his side since childhood were dying, one after the other. He had heard that the Hundred was powerful, but he hadn’t expected their strength to be so far above his.
Nevertheless, the count, with his strengthened physical abilities, rained fierce blows on Chrom. With this extra power, he thought he’d be able to force him back—but incredibly, they were only now evenly matched.
“How, how can a man have so much power?!”
Count Godwin swung his sword like mad, but no matter what he did, he was unable to defeat Chrom. Time passed, and when the effects of his strength enhancement expired, he found that he was the one being pushed back. He used his sword to catch a fierce overhead blow from Chrom, but that left him unable to change his stance. Contrary to his will, his arm steadily lowered under the gravity of Chrom’s blow. The young count could only watch with despair as—even though he had used his sword to fend off Chrom’s attack—he was forced back and, finally, cut apart.
The annihilation of their ace in the hole, the crossbow unit, and the death of Count Godwin were the twin cues for the Eylish army to retreat. As they fled, they shouted, “I never want to fight these people again!”
The Battle of Lind Plain was the first fight to result in large Farunian casualties. Ultimately, however, it made the Hundred come to their senses, and only solidified their strength.
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IV: A Vassal’s Resolve
“HURRAAAAAH!”
The Hundred let out a cry of triumph. They were excited about their victory, but they sounded like wild animals and it gave me the creeps. The battle had resulted in many wounded—or rather, many had been injured so badly that they normally would have died, but Maria was enthusiastically restoring them. Those whose wounds she healed were deeply moved, and glorified her name.
Don’t you know she only thinks of you guys as pawns to help her take Eyland?
“Now, all that’s left is the capital, Gardon!” Maria said, her eyes sparkling. She had healed the entire Farunian army, and seemed quite tired, but her excitement was apparently even greater than her exhaustion. She couldn’t even fully conceal her ambition like she usually did.
Honestly, I want to go home. Why should I have to go along with your greedy scheming?
I wanted to say that to her, but the members of the Hundred surrounding the two of us had scary looks in their eyes. I knew those looks. They were the eyes of agitated monsters, starved for blood and searching for battle. When monsters got like that, they’d keep fighting no matter how tired they got. These guys were probably the same.
“Let’s go to Gardon,” I said after a moment, and my subordinates once again let out a bellow. Their eyes were bloodshot; they were totally berserk. No one would have wanted to fight against people like them, not even me.
The king of Eyland must also be having a tough time of it, with the likes of the Hundred after him.
I sympathized with the enemy king from the bottom of my heart.