The nomad footmen did their best to band together even after losing their telepaths. With the first company in full retreat and harassed by archers, the rest rushed to catch up to them.
That must have been the smartest decision to make, but it still couldn't save them.
Not from Konrad. In the confines of the Halaima Pass, they had nowhere left to hide from him.
They had no idea what happened to the fourth company, or that there was a dragon ready to strike. Nor that the rest of the ducal men-at-arms had already reached the pass.
Kasserlane's forces advanced downhill at a brisk pace to meet them.
And well, Konrad didn't sit idle, either.
He gathered everyone he could—both his men and the Aset Defenders—to push them from the other side. Thanks to his illusions, his army even looked like the bigger one of the two.
Thanks to that, the nomads soon lost their nerves.
Sandwiched between the Kasserlane all-stars—and outnumbered for the first time. The enemy laid down their arms five minutes into the first contact.
Konrad lost only a few wounded, but gained hundreds in prisoners and gear.
Dealing with them started to become a logistics nightmare, and he had so much more to come.
"Now let's do this again, but bigger," Vargas suggested, eager to glory-hunt with the duke's men.
That said, Konrad noticed how wary his eyes were whenever he looked at him or at the sky.
He made sure Maple stayed out of sight, but the captain didn't forget the unspoken threat.
Bad as he might've felt about it, Konrad didn't mind the result at all.
'Oh, did we awaken something in our sweet innocent Konny boy?' Lily purred in his mind. 'Do we have a tyrant in the making? The next Demon Lord to take over this world? Can't wait to see.'
Exaggerating much.
As if Konrad wasn't already embarrassed for how things turned out with the old schemer.
But hey, it was self-defense, and it worked.
As a duke, he couldn't let people take advantage of him or his subjects.
Especially not when they were underneath him in rank. Or working for a rival.
A rival whose daughter he married—
Things were becoming complicated.
But even so, he didn't plan to turn into a tyrant to deal with them.
'Better focus on the fight ahead,' that daughter warned him. 'You're close to your first great victory, but this is only the start. Maou Midori won't go this easy on you, Konrad.'
'And give me something more to burn,' Maple interjected before he could complain.
Yes, that was his life now. Focusing on fights all the time.
Navigating the world as a duke in a kingdom without a king, and satisfying the whims of his wives. Some multi-dimensional chess, fighting a secret war and a well-known one at once.
'Okay, now someone's being dramatic,' Lily noted, and he could almost see her rolling her eyes.
'Am I wrong, though?' Konrad asked, overseeing how his men disarmed the nomads and led them back behind the front lines. Business as usual. 'Four thousand more to go.'
And then the main forces. He didn't even want to think about it.
'They're approaching,' Maple said on cue. 'It's quite the sight, actually.'
She gave him a glimpse, and if he had to guess, he saw the world through a wyvern's eyes.
The mountain road was full. Packed with horse archers advancing at a steady pace and in a loose formation. It was a sight to behold indeed, their column at least two miles long.
But they were like fish in a barrel.
Horse archers. Feared by many, the true rulers of the steppes.
Fast, mobile, hard to catch, and armed with excellent and expensive recurve bows.
And yet, they struggled to move without bumping into each other. The narrow road negated their mobility. And as with the footmen, they had nowhere to go if anything happened.
In fact, they had it much worse.
And something was about to happen, if he could help it.
"This area here," Konrad poked at the map once he gathered his commanders. "A steep drop on one side, a cliff on the other. Perfect for our ambushers. And we'll cut them off from both ends."
The smaller formation on foot might've had a chance to resist them, but these archers?
Their numbers became their greatest enemy. It made them vulnerable.
It was no wonder they marched last with all the safety precautions.
But his plans and precision—if he tried his best to forget about the dragon's rampage—finally paid off. Konrad didn't feel this confident and calm since he took command of the pass.
"Can I request that the Aset Defenders—"
"They'll be the blocking force. Prevent them from escaping," Konrad snapped before Vargas even finished. The captain shuddered, but seconds later, he was already rubbing his palms.
If it was glory he wanted, he gave him plenty.
"Use the same shortcut as before, but you have to go further down this time," he said.
It was an enormous envelopment after all.
"My men will do most of the harassing from the cliffsides," he continued. "Since we have the only proper archers, the rest of the men-at-arms will attack them head-on."
"What about the garrison?" Bor asked, shooting wary glances at the disarmed nomads.
Konrad had similar thoughts.
"They earned their rest, and the privilege to lead the captured men back," he offered. "And stay in the reserve camp to guard them. We'll organise a prisoner train as soon as the battle is over."
Defeated or not, the nomadic captives already outnumbered them.
Once he added the almost four thousand horse archers, he'd have less than a single guard for every five of them. If he wasn't careful, he wouldn't defeat, but invite them into the country.
'They're close,' Maple warned him. 'The captain's men better hurry now.'
Konrad nodded, barking a few more orders before the briefing was over.
"Don't kill them if not necessary," he said next. "But rather kill than have your men killed. And I keep looting rights for all the weapons, armour, and valuables they carry."
That had the commanders complain, but Konrad was firm on the issue.
"I feed you all from my own pockets," he reminded them. "You'd better not put me in debt."
And that was enough to convince them most. It wasn't that difficult to put his heel down now, even if he didn't have to threaten with force. Or blackmail. He was getting the hang of it.
'They grow up so fast,' Lily chirped, as if she couldn't help a jab.
'Right,' Gabrielle joined in. 'It only took him about seventy years and two lives. You're welcome.'
'Are you two hellbent on pissing me off?' he complained. 'Not like you did anything to get me reincarnated. And you—your demonic highness—made my previous life hell.'
'Ah, well,' the ginger's voice trailed off for a moment there. 'But you're a duke with a harem now.'
Which sounded great on paper, but in these times, it felt like a downgrade.
'I guess I'm better off focusing on the battle ahead,' he thought, grabbing his sword and taking one last glance at the map.
He still needed some time to refill his mana reserves, but he was more than ready.
The horse archers, though?
They had no idea what was coming for them.