Regressor of the Fallen Family

“The Viscount is still alive!”

“Escape! We must escape and find the Viscount….”

The death of Senior Knight Raul came as a severe shock not only to the ordinary soldiers but also to the knights of Teslon. However, the duty to protect their lord was a stronger call for them.

The remaining Teslon knights began to band together to escape.

Of course, the Maclaine forces and Logan had no intention of letting them go.

“Surrender! Surrender or face death!”

Logan’s voice, once again booming with recovered strength, now carried the overwhelming momentum of the battlefield.

Yet despite witnessing his prowess and the victories he had achieved, there were those who could not accept reality.

“Don’t make me laugh, boy!”

A Teslon knight, towering at almost 2 meters, charged forward like lightning, swinging a two-handed sword.

His attack was not only swift, unbefitting his large size, but also retained its powerful force. He unleashed a perfect slash, utilizing the advantages of his great stature and longsword.

But.

Scccrrriiiitch.

The one cleaved was, in fact, the knight himself.

Thud.

“If you at least want to leave a proper corpse, surrender!”

Logan, covered in the splattered blood of his bisected foe, bared his teeth as he bellowed once more.

His bloodstained form only amplified the dominating effect he had on the battlefield.

“The Crown Prince has cut down a knight in a single stroke….”

“Did the Prince really possess such skill?”

Logan’s feats had surprised even his allied knights, let alone the knights of Teslon who felt an immense wave of pressure.

“Damn. Could he be high-ranking?”

“That damn monster! Where did he come from!”

“Are we doomed then….”

Logan, with his chilling appearance drenched in blood, charged forward leading the Maclaine knights and soldiers, while among them, Padric revealed his resilience by dealing with four middle-ranking knights despite his severe wounds.

Only after nine stubbornly resisting knights fell did the remaining 32 knights of Teslon surrender.

* * *

“Where’s the Viscount of Teslon?”

“He seems to have fled.”

“Is that so? Hah, but his destinations are limited.”

Logan observed his father sprinkling potion on his wounds, seated on the ground without even the comfort of a tent. His gaze was complicated.

“Are you alright?”

“Of course, I’m fine. I couldn’t be better.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

“Well, there’s much I’d like to ask you, but let’s save that for after the war.”

Sensing his father’s will, Logan silently nodded.

“Good, let’s go finish this war.”

His voice carrying a cheerful energy was a clear indication that he was feeling at ease.

“Prepare the Knights! We’ll head straight for the Teslon Castle.”

Padric’s appearance was truly valiant, but this was not what Logan had hoped for.

‘That would be problematic.’

Anticipating his father’s response, Logan had prepared his words in advance.

“Please don’t overexert yourself. Ensure that your wounds are fully healed. I will lead the mercenaries first towards the Teslon’s main stronghold and end this war.”

Fortunately, his father did not catch the nuance hidden between the lines of Logan’s speech.

“Hmm… Yes, go ahead with that.”

His father simply nodded with an easily granted acceptance.

“Then.”

Feeling inexplicably hurried, Logan nodded and turned around.

“Logan.”

At that moment, his father, who had slumped back to his seat, called him in a soft voice.

“Yes?”

As Logan turned back, Padric, who met his eyes, seemed about to say something but instead simply waved his hand.

“…No, it’s nothing. You may go.”

Despite his father’s demeanor eliciting a curious tilt of Logan’s head, he turned back.

“…Thank you.”

With a startle.

The voice was so small, it was a wonder if someone right beside him could have heard it.

But it was heard clearly by Logan, whose senses had been transcended due to the Force Core.

A strange warmth tinged with emotion tapped at his heart.

A part of the regret from his past life seemed to dissolve with it.

‘No. I was the one who should apologize.’

Logan bowed his head at the remembrance of his previous life’s failings, yet strangely, a smile crossed his face.

It was a new feeling when recalling his former existence.

Despite its odd dissonance, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation.

He had much he wanted to say, but the words never quite made it past his lips.

“…I’ll be back.”

All that came out was a voice hardly louder than his father’s.

On the road chasing after Teslon.

At the front of the march, Logan’s lips carried a slightly contented smile.

* * *

A solitary warhorse charged across the open field.

“Hyah!”

Reflecting the rider’s anxious heart, he spurred the weary horse relentlessly.

‘Where did it all go wrong?’

The visage of the rider, Haman Teslon, was contorted with confusion.

‘I had prepared everything perfectly.’

He had spent a full three years preparing, enhancing the soldiers’ equipment, and not only regularly training the official troops but also the conscripts.

To expand his knight Order from 70 to 100 men, he had even reached out to other nobles.

Moreover, Raul, the head of the knight Order, had recently risen to become a Senior Knight, a fortunate twist.

With Raul’s new strength confirmed, Haman had devised this plan for territory war, assured of victory.

Yet unforeseen foes had appeared, turning all plans to dust.

‘Those bastards! That cavalry ruined everything, especially those weapons!’

The relentless bolts of death from the unprecedented crossbows were virtually impossible to counter from such distances — a weapon so overpowered that, even had they been aware, marshaling the knight Order would be the only conceivable response.

‘Even so, would we have been able to stop them?’

As he fled the battlefield in the garb of an ordinary soldier, he saw the red-haired man cleaving through soldiers, effortlessly beheading a knight.

The man at the forefront of the cavalry, bearing crossbows, was unmistakably the one.

If that man possessed such ferocity, maybe others did too…

“No! That’s impossible!”

Haman scoffed, repelling the ominous thoughts with a shake of his head.

The red-headed man had to be Padric’s son.

It was improbable that such a monstrous individual was common.

Nevertheless, this was no longer of importance. The war he had staked everything on was lost, and his ambitions had crumbled.

But things had not yet reached their end.

‘If I can just get there, I can survive. With that information, if I make good use of it….’

Haman continued his relentless urge toward Teslon Castle.

Whether by fortune or misfortune, just as the horse neared the castle gates, it collapsed and vomited blood.

Hiiiiiiinh.

Thud.

Barely averting a tumble, Haman dismounted and yelled up at the walls.

“Open the gate! Your lord has returned!”

Though wearing a simple soldier’s attire, luckily one of the gatekeepers recognized him.

Barely entering through the opening gate, an urgent shout arose.

“Look, something’s approaching!”

“Looks like a cavalry!”

With the soldiers’ words echoing, Haman felt a chill dawn upon him.

“Close the gates! Defend! At all costs!”

“…What?”

He knew well it was an impossible demand for the few dozen soldiers guarding the gate.

Yet he could give no other command.

“Don’t let anyone through!”

Leaving behind frantic declarations, he dashed toward the inner keep.

“Hurry! Gather anything of value! Beloua, where’s Beloua! Prepare to flee at once!”

Bursting into the inner keep, Haman’s screams had the urgency of a death knell.

The perplexed looks of the servants, he dismissed with irritation as he hurried to his office.

He had fled the battlefield without rest, yet the enemy was already at his heels.

The chill of death’s scythe seemed to graze the back of his neck.

That haunting presence spurred him on as he dashed into his office and slammed the door shut.

Immediately, he found his secret space, opening the safe.

‘I must take the gold at least. It’s the only way….’

Haman frantically swept the last remnants of his life’s fortunes into a shabby bag.

At that moment, a breathless servant burst in to deliver dire news.

“Th-the gate, the gate has been breached!”

The grim proclamation drained all color from Haman’s face.

* * *

The distance between the battlefield and Teslon Castle, even when riding non-stop on horseback, was over five hours.

They had ridden relentlessly without even the briefest respite for the horses and had only managed to catch mere glimpses of the enemy’s rear.

The man who slipped into the closing gate wore ragged clothing, but an ordinary soldier would surely not receive such respectful treatment by another.

“He fled quite fast, indeed.”

Logan’s brows furrowed, but his command did not waver.

“Take Teslon Castle and capture the Viscount!”

“Yes!”

The troops visible atop the fortifications barely numbered 100.

Clearly, Teslon’s domain had nearly emptied its forces for the battle.

For this reason, directing a siege assault with merely 300 men met no opposition.

Taking the lead, Logan charged toward the castle.

“Teslon has been defeated! Open your gates and welcome the rightful victors!”

His shout resounded across the plains, reaching the ears of the Teslon soldiers huddled on the ramparts, causing them to flinch at the sight.

As Logan surged forward, a mere few arrows flew out, not warranting any covering fire from his mercenaries.

Thus, Logan reached the gate’s forefront, kicked off from his horse, and leaped into the air.

Discarding the heavy armor rent asunder by the enemy’s senior knight and donning lighter leather armor made his movements easy. Enhanced by his physical might and the power of the Force, he easily scaled the wall, reaching the top.

“Open the gate. If you don’t wish to die.”

Before they knew it, the Teslon commander’s neck was at Logan’s sword point.

Just that alone was more than enough to open the gates of Teslon Castle.

“Move! Find Haman Teslon!”

Locating the Viscount was effortless.

Before Logan could even brandish his sword, servile hands pointed him in the right direction.

And then, arriving at the inner keep, a servant subtly indicated a gap in the bookshelf, leading Logan to spot the Viscount, practically adhered to the wall in hiding.

“Hiaaak!”

Haman Teslon shook like a ghost had accosted him, having long discarded any semblance of a noble’s dignity.

“Finally caught you.”

Crunch.

Logan ground his teeth, infusing his current and past life’s regrets.

‘This bastard single-handedly brought doom to my house in my past life…’

As he approached with rising anger, the moment arrived.

“I, I surrender. I’ll compensate in whatever manner necessary according to the laws of territory war. Spare my life and my family’s, I beg you.”

Haman’s sudden shift in demeanor was striking, immediately dropping to his knees.

“In accordance with the law?”

Logan almost laughed at the absurdity.

“First, you declare war on your own terms, invading after just a day, and now you speak of laws and customs to us… Haman Teslon, do you even have a shred of conscience?”

Thud. The once dignified Viscount now sat collapsed on the floor.

As Logan casually walked toward him,

Step. Step.

The increasing panic in Haman magnified.

“Honor among nobility! The tradition of territory war grants prisoners their lives…”

“Honor among nobility? Right. Our Maclaine house respects honor, so we shall conform to these customs. Thus, your life, Haman Teslon, shall be spared, and you’ll have time to gather a modest sum and your family before you leave.”

“…Th-thank you.”

Haman sighed in relief, but Logan’s malice didn’t wane.

“Why do you look at me with those eyes….”

“Truly, my father would’ve said this. He would’ve accepted your surrender even without conditions because he cherishes honor above all else.”

“Aaaah!”

As Logan took another step forward, Haman, sensing impending doom, screeched and scurried backward in terror.

Ignoring him, Logan took a beautifully jeweled dagger from the wide open safe.

“…It’s a nice blade.”

“T-take it. It’s crafted by Sephina, the kingdom’s finest artisan….”

Haman babbled ceaselessly, overtaken by a suffocating fear.

But Logan just slowly shook his head.

“No. This shall stay with you.”

“W-what?”

“Here….”

Sssshhhk!

Logan smoothly drew the dagger, its sharp edge gleaming. He forcibly placed it in Haman’s trembling hand.

With a bright smile, Logan watched the panic in Haman’s eyes and…

* * *