Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 124 - Unending Army

In fact, several knights and soldiers fighting for Revelo fief had already begun turning against their former allies, whirling around and cutting down the homunculi that surrounded them. Sensing their hostility, the artificial lifeforms soon responded in kind, casting the battlefield into a special kind of chaos that was only possible thanks to the sudden shift in loyalties. While the defection was largely localized in clusters, that was bound to change as a group of knights and soldiers began cutting their way toward Marilyn's unit.

"Dame Marilyn!" A knight shouted as he drew near the cadre of knights who decimated the homunculi around them in a crazed frenzy. "I am Jakob of Revelo fief! I and those who follow me wish to join your righteous cause!"

Seeing as the senior knight continued cleaving through her enemies without response, Jakob repeated his words once more, earning yet another bout of fruitless silence accompanied by the sounds of metal shearing through clay flesh and the splattering of crimson liquid originating from dubious origins. Of Marilyn and her entire group, none were lucid save Medrauta.

"Dame Marilyn has shut out everything aside from combat!" Medrauta shouted to Jakob. "You will defer to me with any arrangements!"

Normally, the silver-haired knight would never dare take command in such an overt manner while in the presence of multiple senior knights, but Marilyn and her cohorts had descended into a battle-fueled trance that Medrauta could only describe as a "berserker rage." She doubted that the senior knight could comprehend anything outside of violence, much less make informed decisions and issue orders. Besides, the situation was highly irregular already with their opponents being homunculi, forcing Medrauta to adapt and take some liberties. If she were to be reprimanded later, then so be it.

"Understood!" Jakob responded as he cut through another swathe of homunculi to reach Medrauta's position, fighting the swarm of artificial soldiers alongside the silver-haired knight. It was only now that he was close to Medrauta that he noticed her youthful features, causing a frown to touch his face. "Hold on, aren't you a little too young to be an officer?"

Medrauta shot the man a pained look as she dispatched several homunculi with quick swipes of her blade. As artificial lifeforms who lived solely to serve their creator's design, the homunculi spared no concern for their own safety, making them incredibly easy targets to take down despite their tenacity. "Are you serious, Sir Jakob!? My age is hardly the concern here!"

"You may be right, but I still cannot—"

"Medrauta!" Viviane's voice cut through the din of battle easily as the noblewoman amplified it using her ki. She urged her mount forward, pushing through the sea of soldiers and homunculi to reach Medrauta's position. As the artificial troops cared nothing for their own lives, Viviane's warhorse trampled through them with an almost sickening ease. "We have an emergency!"

"Viviane!? What are you doing here on the front lines!?" Medrauta shouted. In a fit of panic and worry, the knight summoned all her strength and whirled her sword around her body in several rapid strokes, clearing the area around herself and allowing the baron's men to fill the void in an effort to create a temporary safe haven for Viviane and her mount.

"Like I said, it's an emergency! You can't see from your angle, but a ton of reinforcements just came out of the castle! They'll join the main unit within a minute and everyone here will be overwhelmed!"

Medrauta blinked, staring up at her lady. It wasn't as if she doubted Viviane's words, but the knight could hardly believe that there were still more homunculi despite the enormous amount they'd already slain. Of course, there was a chance that they were human soldiers like the ones who made up the front line when battle first began, but those men had long deserted or turned on their former allies after realizing their true nature.