The Extra Wants To Live

Chapter 73: Devastation [4]

Carl had done a really good job. It wasn't his fault.

However, if Carl said it was her fault and kept asking more, it felt like she was grabbing Carl's book.

"Where is Bilford?" Carl asked.

"He's looking around the wooden fence," Catherine replied.

"What about Bordeaux and the knights?" Carl continued.

"Encouraging the soldiers... He must be doing it," Catherine answered.

Encouraging... Carl said nothing more.

But somewhere in his heart, he felt regret for Corbin.

Although he was a commoner knight with no skills, character, or background, he was a man who risked his life for Carl at that moment and was able to fight so bravely.

"What do you think will happen in the future?" Carl, who had let go of his regrets about Corbin, asked calmly.

Catherine closed her mouth and thought about it before speaking.

"I think it will attack tonight or early morning. He's a smart gnoll, so he won't give us time to rest."

These were the words of Catherine, who had fought against the red gnoll herself.

Carl nodded and spoke while holding his head, whose dizziness had not yet subsided.

"Tell the soldiers to prepare well. I just need a little... I'll take a little rest and then go out."

"It's best to get some rest," Catherine advised.

"No, I can't do that," Carl replied.

Carl stood upright, spoke, and sent Catherine away. After Catherine left, Carl sat down weakly in his chair.

"The only injury was to your ankle, which healed perfectly. The fatigue is due to mana depletion, so it will get better soon."

"... ... Did you know?"

"Yes."

"Did you report it to His Majesty?"

"Yes."

Milton was with Carl when he recovered from his illness and even treated his body. Milton clearly felt that Carl's mana was copying his own magic and healing his body.

"Call me if you need anything." Milton bowed politely, stepped back, and quietly left the room.

Carl leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He had fought using mana, but absurdly, he had no idea how he did it. For now, he thought he needed to get some rest.

***

"It's an attack!"

Carl closed his eyes for a moment and tried to catch his breath.

However, when he was sound asleep and even drooling, Carl jumped up at the sound of the gnoll's attack, put on the helmet that was on the table, and hurried outside.

For just a moment, Carl needed time to understand the situation.

"Ready for battle!"

Carl's cries were answered immediately. The soldiers straightened their slumped shoulders and moved quickly when Carl came out looking fine and gave a loud command.

Carl quickly climbed the western fence. Catherine was already seated there with the imperial soldiers.

"What happened?" Carl was surprised to see the small number of imperial soldiers. 'Could it be that a lot of people died in the last battle?'

"Some of the troops have been deployed to the fortress," Catherine replied. Carl was momentarily taken aback by Catherine's words.

It seemed like the operation was too reckless due to the significant loss of troops.

"This is the battle. Even though it is risky, the decision must be made. Lord Carl, please trust me," Catherine looked directly at Carl and gave her firm advice.

If Catherine said that, Carl had only one thing to say.

"I believe in your judgment."

"I will definitely dedicate victory to Carl."

Catherine herself had no idea that Carl believed so firmly in her. Catherine paused for a moment, smiled a little under her visor, and then proudly promised victory.

In the meantime, all the soldiers had settled down, and waves of gnolls running out of the forest revealed themselves under the torchlight.

There were still many, but their numbers had decreased significantly compared to before.

"This is the place to win!"

Carl shouted loudly as he saw the approaching gnoll. Although his neck was scratchy from overuse, his voice rang out like thunder, catching everyone's ears.

"The gnolls have reached their limit! This is their final struggle! If we just get over this hurdle, it will be our victory!"

Carl encouraged the soldiers with a moderate amount of lies, but now there was no need to lie. This battle could really end!

"Look at that miserable sight! They're so exhausted, they're sticking out their tongues, crawling on all fours, and there's not much to do! Don't come this far and think about being defeated by those ugly bastards! We won't allow it!"

The appearance of the gnoll that approached under the light of the torch was literally a mess, just as Carl said.

Their strength was superior to that of humans, but their stamina was inferior. Humans were also exhausted and had not recovered, so the gnolls were in a similar state.

The gnolls attacked at night after a daytime battle, with no time to increase their numbers.

That showed how urgent they were.

"Fight For yourself! Fight for your family and friends! Let those insignificant creatures know clearly who is the true owner of this land!"

"Waaah!"

The soldiers, despite their exhaustion, let out loud shouts and grabbed their weapons.

Once again, as if by magic, or a miracle, or perhaps even a trick of the devil, the soldiers who did not even have the energy to stand waited for the battle with their morale soaring.

They had fought fiercely during the day and were now fighting again that night.

Normally, there would have been nothing they could do even if everyone ran away. But not a single person backed down.

"Lady Catherine, he will come. Stand back and save your strength."

"Yes, LordCarl."

Catherine stepped back without a second thought, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword and catching her breath.

Unlike her calm mind, her body gradually warmed up, ready to enter battle at any time.

Wooow! Wooow!

The gnolls frantically crawled on all fours, leaped with all their might, and hung onto the wooden fence. They threw away all their axes, realizing that the axes weren't much help.

"Die! Die!"

"Aaaah!"

The soldiers used their last strength to mercilessly attack the gnolls hanging on the fence.

They threw out spears and cut off the gnolls' hands holding onto the wooden fence with axes.

Wooow! Crrrrr!

However, the gnolls were no less desperate than humans.

Even if their hands were cut off by the axes, they held onto the wooden fence with their other hands, climbed up, bit the soldiers, caused a riot, and broke up their ranks.

"Whoa!"

Clap--!

Whoosh--!

Bilford ran steadily over the narrow wooden fence, cutting down the rising gnolls.

When he lightly raised the sword he had kept inside the village to avoid getting caught by the soldiers, the gnoll's neck got caught in his swordplay.

Grumble!

He decapitated the gnoll with just a flick of his wrist, then ran straight ahead and hit another on the shoulder.

Puck!

Due to Bilford's attack, the gnoll's body fell helplessly backward, tumbling outside and knocking down another gnoll that was climbing the wooden fence.

Bordeaux was also moving around on the fence, killing gnolls.

However, his technique was clearly inferior to the neatly controlled killing techniques shown by Bilford.

Although the Sound Axe Village was a little uneasy, it was holding up well.

But Fortress was literally no different from hell.

"Push them back!"

"Attack!"

Quang!

Likewise, the imperial soldiers stationed on the west side of Fortress simultaneously pushed a large shield with all their might.

With perfect speed control, it was cut off at the moment of collision, and the shock was passed on to the gnoll who was trying to climb up the wooden fence.

The gnoll tumbled down and rolled on the floor.

"Stab!"

"Attack!"

"Attack!"

Burbubbuk!

The imperial knights stuck their spears out of the wooden fence and pointed downwards. With that, about 10 gnolls were neutralized at once.

"Kwaaah!"

"Stop it! It must never be breached!"

However, the area guarded by the other soldiers seemed as if it would collapse at any moment. Hilfin's two knights were barely able to fill the gap.

"Keep stabbing! Kill everyone who comes in!"

Fortunately, Fortress was functioning well as planned. Gnolls rushed into the narrow gap between two wooden fences.

The gnolls, pushed by each other, fought against each other and waved their arms raised high, but they were unable to move.

Above, the soldiers excitedly threw out their spears and broke the gnolls' bones.

Less than five minutes after the battle began, the gnoll corpses piled up inside the death funnel created a wall. In the end, the space between the two fences became clogged with corpses, just as Catherine had intended.

Thanks to this, the soldiers stationed there were able to join elsewhere and create some space.

No matter how smart the red gnoll, the leader of the gnolls, was, in front of Catherine, the imperial knight who had made a plan and carefully prepared a strategy, gnolls could not show tactics beyond childish play.

If things continued like this, the battle would soon end in victory.

But there was still one mountain left to overcome.