25 Baron Harden

"Ahhhh!"

Brian had been knocked down with a single enemy spell; the impact, although not direct, had melted him and part of his armor.

Brown, who was another officer in charge at the fortress where Damian was, began to repel the attacks of the demons and those strange green monsters that Damian recognized as orcs.

Just after the demons were being exterminated by Damian's lightning bolts, it seemed that everything was going well until a rather cunning demon figured out how to deal with some people.

That dark-skinned demon was thrown upward by a group of orcs, and through attraction magic, it dragged Brown and two more veterans outside the fortress wall.

Each of the soldiers who had been thrown out stood up, and in the blink of an eye, they were torn apart by the claws of the demons that ended up tearing them into a thousand pieces.

"I need you to get the wounded out!" Damian didn't want to increase the power of his spells because it would damage the wall and change the course of the battle that was going well.

Damian's eyes closed for a few seconds in pain as he watched Brown being besieged. The time he spent with these captains was not much, but seeing them die that way was difficult to accept.

But in a state of war, friendship not only arises quickly but also proves extraordinary. If Brown hadn't stepped forward at that moment, it would have been Damian who would have ordered people to get Brian off the wall.

Brown died at the hands of the enemy, but Damian was still alive, and that's all that mattered to continue fighting this bitter war; he was only now discovering what it was like.

Faced with the tragic deaths of his comrades, Damian couldn't remain indifferent at all; he instantly lost his composure and clenched his fists as a fire spell descended from the sky.

At the same time, Damian's body filled with electricity, and he took a few steps back, drew his thin but heavy sword, and rushed at great speed toward the powerful demon that had managed to climb the wall.

That demon was fighting a dozen soldiers with his back to Damian. But in the face of Damian's enormous presence, as fast as lightning itself, the demon didn't notice him in time.

The battlefield was very chaotic, with swords, spears, spells, and halberds rumbling everywhere, making it difficult to sense each presence around.

The demon in heavy armor who had just killed three soldiers was about to continue his massacre when Damian appeared behind him and swung his sword fiercely from the side. The impetus along with the lightning made splitting this demon in half too easy, and with the impact's thrust, that demon was shot out of the wall.

Clang!

After killing that huge-bodied demon, Damian waved his hand, and numerous fireballs descended below the wall like meteorites.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At the most critical moment of the war, it was so urgent and intense that no one could relax for a single minute. Damian's only hope was that this would all end as quickly as possible.

"Have the archers on both flanks and the shields in the center!"

Damian could see the battlefield better, so he knew the best combat positions perfectly well. Besides, at this moment, the clerics were climbing up right now because taking the wounded down was taking longer than expected.

At these moments, Damian, who cared less and less about containing his spells, swept across the battlefield, and his lightning bolts descended from the sky as if it were the end of the world.

Among all this battle, now the ones who had suffered the most casualties were the sixth, fourth, and fifth squadrons facing the enemy's confined army.

The deputy leader of the squadron, Brown, fell off the wall and died. Also, nine squadron captains died, two were critically injured, and seven fell in combat.

The brutal battle had weakened the legs of most soldiers, and the Sixth Squadron was about to collapse.

A long horn sounded in the distance, and reinforcements finally arrived from the rear after General Erwin called for support from the main army.

Leading the reinforcements was Deputy Captain Sally, who was an extremely powerful warrior.

The reinforcements amounted to more than five thousand soldiers and two hundred mages, and all this help was enough to repel the demon's attack.

The demon army was being expelled from the central zone behind the first three fortresses, but knowing that the cavalry was entering the battlefield, Damian stopped.

The soldiers riding their horses shot out from behind against the demons and the orcs that looked like rabid dogs.

The officer in charge of this cavalry was Baron Harden, the supreme commander of the defense line in the non-mountainous area.

Baron Harden killed a monster that had been controlled by the demons as soon as he entered the formation of these enemies. None of the orc warriors he encountered on the way could stop him, even for a moment.

In a short time, more than six orcs and three demons died at his hands, including a demon who seemed to have more rank among the others.

Being suppressed by the humans' cavalry, the formation of the demons completely collapsed.

Baron Harden led his knights and followed the demons without hurry, killing the solitary orcs.

The orcs suffered more and more losses, lost their organization, and soon casualties exceeded half compared to the demons. They all ran wildly, avoiding the path and escaping into the jungle.

The knights were about to dismount and pursue when Baron Harden raised his left hand and said, "The situation in the forest is unknown. Maybe the demons have prepared an ambush. Do not pursue them!"

The cavalry lined up in response to the order and turned to eliminate the enemies still on the battlefield.

They won the first battle, but there was no joy in Damian's feelings.

Walking along the walls, Damian knew that many of these people had lost their loved ones—people with bright smiles that would never appear again.

Severed heads, pierced hearts, and limbs on the ground were scattered along the walls, and that heavy smell of blood spread around.

Damian arrived where Brian was; a priest was helping him, but his magic seemed to do nothing more than relieve his pain. "What's happening?"

"I can't save him..." The priest looked at Brian, who had half of his armor melted over his body, but his hand was still holding his sword.

Damian kneeled beside Brian and took his hand; this man was twice his age but now was on the brink of death. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing; I had no family, and my friends who are now dead, I'll soon see them... Boy, you shouldn't be here; this is the work of adults." Brian looked Damian in the eyes, conveying everything he felt in these moments.

Damian, who had no expression, asked Brian, "Do you want to keep fighting?"

"I want to keep helping humanity; I promised all my comrades many years ago."

"Then I need your will." Damian waved his hand, and a terrifying magical power began to emanate from his body. In a few moments, a blue gas came out from around him, and he said, "Just let yourself be guided; I'll give you a powerful body in which you can fight."

Brian didn't respond; his eyes were guided to a white light, and he soon died amidst the curiosity of where he would be sent after his death.

Damian, who had captured Brian's soul, held it in his hands, pulled out a metal object, and put it inside, sealing it with great magic power. "I didn't expect it to be this way."

With Brian's soul in his hands, he suppressed the painful feelings that sprang up in his heart and led the other soldiers to clear the battlefield.

There were hundreds of bodies to be picked up from the battlefield, demons to be incinerated, and enemies to still be exterminated.

Some of the orcs were captured, and as soon as the demons were all killed,.

As magicians, they must investigate, create new spells, and make them effective against enemies who have declared their war against humans.

As many squadrons of the eight that were in the Eighth Brigade had resulted in monstrous casualties, one of them had been almost completely exterminated.

It was Baron Harden's Cavalry Regiment that played a decisive role.

Everyone will share some of the merits of this battle.

After the war, Baron Harden again summoned all the remaining officers.

In addition to the knights under the baron's command and the officers of the Eighth Brigade, there are also officers from the squadron of the city's defense army and superiors.

"Have the losses been counted?" Baron Harden turned his head and asked his assistant.

"Three men of the cavalry regiment died; two of them died, and one was seriously wounded after the battle, but nothing could be done. One of the dead was a warrior who was aspiring to become a commander. One of the three main warriors was wounded."

"Who?"

"Richard."

Damian, as leader of the newly sent magicians, had heard of the meeting but was not required to look at Erwin from afar, who was sitting in silence studying the map on the table while Harden was talking to his assistant.

"How's Richard's injury?"

"At least he will rest for three months; his back is almost broken in half."

Richard is the nephew of Baron Harden, a quite powerful knight, and his combat skills can rival those of Harden in his youth.

When the cavalry regiment attacked the army of demons and orcs, Richard was besieged by four demons. He fell from the war horse and was immobilized by his armored horse, almost dying on the battlefield.

In the midst of a war, even experienced soldiers can die from the stupidest mistakes.

Baron Harden stood down, turned to his assistant, and asked him, "How is the situation of the Eighth Brigade?"

The captain in charge stood up and said, "Four squadrons have resulted in losses, but only the sixth chaos is exterminated, as far as the rest were not affected."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Baron Harden suddenly felt unhappy and said in a loud voice, "I want detailed figures of drops."

Although the baron said nothing too unpleasant, the captain named Gazef was still sweating abundantly.

He quickly summarized the situation of each squadron, stood up for the second time, and said seriously: "The Sixth Squadron suffered the most serious casualties, with 348 dead. Nine were seriously injured, and 26 were slightly wounded. The total number of casualties is more than 2,378 soldiers."

"Is the eighth squadron newly formed in its entirety?"

Baron Harden reacted quickly. Immediately after hearing the figures of defeats, he understood that one of the squadrons had been reformed in its entirety.

Deputy Captain Sally stood up and replied, "The Sixth Squadron's training time was only nine months, but we transferred more than a dozen key veterans and shortened the training time. It cannot be regarded as a new squadron. Of course, the effectiveness of combat is not worse than that of other squadrons."

"What are the officers' grades?"

"The deputy head of the Brown Squadron is dead; the deputy leader of the Damian Squadron is a magician who is considered to be of the first class."

Baron Harden asserted: "Deploy the best soldiers of the city's defensive army. Repeat the Sixth Squadron. What about the other squadrons?"

"The Third Squadron had six dead and a total of seventeen minor and serious wounded. The soldiers stationed in the rear fortresses have not been attacked."