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Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 8

So far, Irvin didn’t regain his consciousness. His pulse was still incredibly weak, but at the very least it felt like his breathing has calmed down, so right now they have no other choice but to patiently wait.

「Let’s bring him back to Theo. 」

Emma nodded at Luna and lifted Irvin up, making him rest limply on her shoulder.

(Everyone, I hope you’re all safe and sound…)

And with such thoughts on their minds, the twin Werewolf sisters made their way towards the battlefield.

* * *

(It’s starting.)

Siluca felt that the anxiety and anticipation of both armies was rising and was about to reach its limit.

For Theo, this was going to be his third battle waged on open field, first one being the one against Nabir Gerje, the King of Selvis during the Battle of Selvis, and the second one being the battle against the army of Veltava when it tried to invade The Forest of Eternal Darkness. Aside from these two, all the other fights and skirmishes that they were fighting in until this point could be classified as the smaller-scale ones.

It takes a lot of courage from every individual soldier to confront the enemy in the open field. However, no one in Theo’s army was even thinking about trying to escape. They were all prepared to face this battle head-on, no matter what its outcome might be.
It seems that the army of the Rossini family was ready to do the same as well.

In front of the line of Rossini’s army was the figure of a man with a reddish-black coat of arms, riding from the left corner of the troops to the right as he was performing their final inspection.

「That must be Pederico Rossini’s eldest son, Doni Rossini… 」

Siluca said to Theo.

「According to the rumors, he is supposed to be know as The Wild Beast of the Rossini. 」

「I have to say, he certainly does look like a wild beast. 」

Theo had to agree with the rumors.

「So, how do you think we should proceed with the battle? And what our chances of winning it?」

「As far as the formation is concerned, everything on our side seems to be in perfect order, and the morale of our troops are high. I think our chances of winning this battle are decent enough. 」

Siluca answered Theo’s question.
「Then…「

Theo nodded at her.

「Since we outnumber them, we should try overwhelming them as soon as possible. 」

「 I agree with you… 」

Siluca smiled.

On the other hand, they’re facing the opponent whose mindset is such that he cannot afford to lose, so they should assume that even though the army of the Rossini family is outnumbered, they’re still probably going to encounter fierce resistance on their side.

「Aside from the Dhoni, are there any other Lords or their subordinate Lords riding horses? Because so far, all I see are the members of infantry. 」

「Since there are hundreds of them, if it were me, I would have formed a unit with just one type of forces. If they all act as one, they won’t exhaust their mobility as fast as if when they’d be formed of different types of troops. 」

「Their weapons and armors also look as if they were all brand-new. 」

Theo said while looking down on the armor he was wearing. Irvin was taking care of it for him so it couldn’t be said that it was dirty, but it was riddled with scratches from all the blows that this armor reflected ever since Theo started wearing it.

「But unlike them, you were training with your armor on for quite a while, right? 」
If a soldier comes to the battlefield while wearing a suit of armor that clearly doesn’t fit them, then that is nothing but a sign of inexperience. And even if they were wearing a matching one, then you cannot really know if that armor is really for you or not unless you actually tried to move around in it in a vigorous manner.

「Now then, how shall we fight them? 」

Theo asks for Siluca’s opinion once again.

「Since the enemy commander didn’t give the order for his troops to charge straight at us, our best choice would be to keep our formation and advance forward. 」

Siluca replied. Right now, she couldn’t even come up with any other strategy for them to utilize than to just overwhelm their enemy from the front.

I can’t even come up with a strategy. It’s just a bukkake from the front.

「If this is the only choice that we have, then we shouldn’t hesitate. 」

Theo smiled and looked back at the formation that his soldiers have formed, took a deep breath and then shouted:

「As long as the Rossini family remains the lord of Sistina, they will continue to persecute and kill us without any valid reason! Such style of governance is unacceptable anywhere else but here, where their wors is law! But today, we have decided to stood up against them, and bury their tyranny and despair with the power of our hopes and courage! Today, we will fight against the tyranny of the Rossini family and prevail, because unlike them, we’re fighting for that which we love and for those whom we need to protect! 」

When Theo finished his short speech, he clenched his right hand and threw it high towards the sky. On the tip of his right hand, a sliver light began to shine, and then its light flew even higher and formed a giant blanket of energy which then descended upon all of Theo’s troops. It was Theo’s 「Patriot」Banner. It was bestowing its protection to everyone who decided to follow Theo into battle, giving them the symbol that was the same as Theo’s Crest on their right hands, causing te soldiers to cheer loudly for their leader.

「Now charge! 」

Theo gave the command, picked up his sword and shield and started walking at the head of his army. Siluca was following closely behind him. She also readied her magic wand and concentrated in increasing the density of Chaos in the air so that she could still cast spells if the need for it arose. That way, if anyone tried to attack Theo using some cowardly tactics, she’d be ready to counteract the threat immediately.

And so the line of soldiers rebelling against the Rossini family proceeded to advance. As they progressed, their steps, which had been scattered at first, began to come together, and soon enough, with each of their steps, a loud, rhythmical sound of the army’s march filled the air around it.

Now that the forces of the two armies began the fight in earnest, archers of the Rossini family began to shoot arrows towards the rebels. Arrows rained down upon them, and some of the rebel soldiers fell onto the ground while gasping loudly from the depths of their lungs.

And yet, even in face of that, the ranks of Theo’s soldiers remained undisturbed. The soldiers kept on moving as they were without losing their rhythm or slowing down their pace. Nobody said anything, but it was not because they were too terrified to speak. They were all in an euphoric state that compelled them to go forward, and Siluca could clearly feel that euphoria of their getting transmitted onto her through her back.

* * *

「Impudent little rodents!!!! 」

Doni Rossini grunted while grinding his teeth together.

A wall of rebel soldiers continued to march forward undisturbed, and even though the archers of the Rossini family continued to shoot their arrows at them, it didn’t seem like they were bothered by it at all.

All of them were proudly displaying the 「Patriot」Banner bestowed upon them by Theo Cornero, almost as if they wanted to taunt their enemies.

Doni assumed that once they start getting picked by archers they would flee in fear, but the rebels continued to march on, unfazed by more and more of their comrades falling to the ground by their sides.

「Then I guess it’s time for the boot to finally drop. Soldiers of the Rossini family! Show your loyalty to your Lords by fulfilling your blood oath! 」

Doni shouted so, and lifted his right fist towards Theo Cornero, who continued to march in front of his army or rebels. The light shone on that right hand of his, displaying the Crest that his father had bestowed upon him, and he materialized the Banner of 「Omerta」. Just like it was with Theo’s Banner, its power was passed from person to person, until it encompassed the entire army of the Rossini family.
However, many of the soldiers from Doni’s current army were the slum dwellers who were forcefully added to it against their will, and so they didn’t have a strong enough spiritual connection with Doni for the 「Omerta」Banner to actually work on them.