Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 2 - Chapter 9

The Cavalry 

That day’s battle was one none of us would ever forget. 

“The enemy’s cavalry is on its way?” I asked. 

“Yes, Your Majesty. A group of twenty-five thousand cavaliers. They seem intent on clashing with us here.” 

“Hmm. So they’re trying to bring this fight to a head...” 

For some reason, the Ripper Swarm’s report filled me with a sense of déjà vu. 

Didn’t I see something like this before? 

“Well, it’s all right. I’ll think of a countermeasure. Mobilize the Worker Swarms.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

I was confident I’d be able to handle the cavalry. The Arachnea didn’t have any mounted units, so an Arachnea player had to use her head if she wanted to take care of them. Now was the time to show off the strategies I’d been working on. 

“Are you tracking the enemy’s movements?” I asked. 

“We have Digger Swarms deployed around the perimeter, functioning as scouts. Based on their observations, we know the cavalry are traveling fast along the main thoroughfare and advancing on our position.” 

Hmm. Charging headlong at us, huh? 

A cavalier’s charge was menacing. I had no intention of underestimating them. 

“Have my orders reached the Worker Swarms?” 

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Worker Swarms have already begun working as per your specifications.” 

I had given the Worker Swarms an order to produce something for me... Something that would surely change the course of the upcoming battle. 

“Summon Sérignan and Lysa for me, please.” 

“Understood, Your Majesty.” 

Those two were my most treasured subordinates; they were crucial to securing our victory. 

“You called for us, Your Majesty?” 

“Reporting for duty!” 

Five minutes later, Sérignan and Lysa showed up. 

“Ah, there you are. Did you know we have an army of cavaliers advancing on our position?” 

“Yes, I heard it through the collective consciousness,” Sérignan nodded. 

“You two will be playing a key role in intercepting them. Your task is simple. Cavaliers are problematic because of their charge, which is both fast and powerful. Their speed bolsters the impact of their blows. But if we can take away their momentum, they’ll just be infantry on horseback.” 

In the game, mounted units were quick and had a charging bonus, but if you were able to reduce their momentum, they were easy to defeat. 

“The march so far has diminished our forces to a mere fifty thousand, but that should be more than enough to annihilate them. Let’s make a show of it, shall we?” 

Many of the Ripper Swarms were exhausted. They hadn’t come out of our latest battles unscathed, and each fortress or city we’d occupied had caused us significant losses. Their numbers were decreasing faster than I would’ve liked. 

To top it all off, I’d had to station Ripper Swarms in our newly occupied territories to defend them and maintain control. Some enemy soldiers might try to circumvent our main army and strike the areas we’d conquered, so leaving a garrison in those territories was absolutely necessary. 

We were preparing to create new Swarms, of course, but we were also working on something else entirely. If I could amass large enough numbers, our new unit would soon overturn the war. I was looking forward to it. 

“There are a few ways of slowing down a cavalier. On one hand, we could create some sort of obstacle; putting down obstructions horses can’t run or break through will force them to stop. On the other, we could meet their charge with a larger number of soldiers and whittle them down.” 

The methods I had listed were pretty orthodox anti-cavalry tactics. 

“I see. What path will we take, then, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked. 

“It’s simple,” I said with a smirk. “I’m going to have you two become obstacles. Big obstacles the enemy will never be able to power through.” 

“Gentlemen! It is time to destroy the invaders violating our land!” 

Roland was in the middle of rallying the 25,000 cavaliers, his paladin’s medal gleaming on his chest. 

“Make no mistake; our enemy is powerful. The nobles’ army tried to keep them at bay, but those soldiers were massacred by the enemy. We’re the only force capable of defending this country now. The Popedom of Frantz’s army isn’t coming fast enough. At this rate, Doris will fall and its citizens will be butchered. A terrible fate will befall your friends, family, and loved ones.” 

In response, the cavaliers roared with anger. 

“That’s right, brothers! We should be angry! Turn your rage into a weapon, and use it to cut down your foes! We are the mightiest warriors on the continent, unmatched in both skill and bravery! The sounds of our hoofbeats will rattle our enemies’ hearts! Our charge will send them scuttling away like the spiders they are!” 

For all his zeal, Roland didn’t believe a word he was saying. He knew the strongest cavaliers on the continent were the Empire of Nyrnal’s Black Horse Knights, and he hadn’t heard anything to suggest the Arachnea were even capable of fear. They always stormed in like berserkers and fought until life abandoned them. 

Regardless, he wove lie after lie into his speech in order to inspire his men. 

“We will capture their leader, the infernal Queen of the Arachnea! Without their queen, the invaders will be nothing but monsters. While hunting monsters is normally an adventurer’s job, they’re all currently quivering under the teats of the Eastern Trade Union, so it’ll be ours instead.” 

Roland’s words elicited a bit of laughter from the soldiers. Adventurers were by no means mercenaries. They had all quickly fled the Dukedom once it became clear it was about to become a battlefield. Now they were all hiding out in the Eastern Trade Union, which sat between the Empire of Nyrnal and the Popedom of Frantz. Here, the guild’s influence was strong. 

Still, it was only natural that they would escape, since even innocent adventurers weren’t exempt from Leopold’s political purge. The queen of the Arachnea had seen this firsthand when she’d visited the ruins of Marine. These few adventurers who’d decided to flee had lost all love or loyalty for the Dukedom of Schtraut and had run for their lives. 

“We will crush the enemy! Once we capture their leader, we will put an end to the invasion! We shall be victorious!” 

“Yeaaahhh!” the 25,000 cavaliers cheered, clashing their weapons together. 

“Our scouts say the Arachnea’s stronghold is located in the village beyond this narrow road. There’s no doubting the enemy lies in wait for us, but we are the Dukedom’s last hope. Keep that in mind!” 

All that remained of Schtraut’s military forces was Doris’ defensive garrison and this group of cavaliers. But since Doris couldn’t afford to deploy the garrison, the only real offensive force was the cavalry. At this point, Roland wasn’t relying on Frantz’s reinforcements at all. 

“Let’s go, gentlemen! Glory to the Dukedom of Schtraut!” 

“Glory to the Dukedom of Schtraut!” 

Thus, the cavalry set out to attack. They surged forward, avoiding or breaking through any obstacles in their way. Mobility was the cavalry’s forte, and Roland capitalized on it to deftly break through the Arachnea’s outer defenses and enter the rear gates. His cavaliers rushed into the heart of the village. 

A few minutes later, they reached a narrow road situated between two steep cliffs. 

“They should be at the end of this road!” Roland shouted. 

“Sir! We’ve completed our reconnaissance,” said one cavalier, riding up to Roland. 

“Good work. What’s the situation?” 

“The enemy’s waiting for us, and they’re on high alert. There’s thirty thousand bugs up there, standing in a line formation. They’re completely blocking the path to their stronghold.” 

“Thank you. Good work. Gentlemen! Prepare to charge! We are going to trample the enemy underfoot! Are you ready?!” 

“Glory to the motherland!” 

“Chaaaarge!” 

The entire force of 25,000 cavaliers galloped down the road, with Roland leading the charge. 

“Enemy sighted! Enemy sighted!” 

True to the reports, the end of the road was crawling with giant insects. 

“Forget it! Keep moving!” Roland shouted. He used his lance to run through the bugs at the center of the Arachnea’s army. The Ripper Swarms were pierced by weapons and crushed beneath the horse’s hooves as they, too, advanced forward. 

“Aaaaah!” 

But as Roland was riding ahead, he suddenly heard screams from both sides of the cavalry. 

“What? Are those traps?! Where did they hide them?!” 

As it turned out, there were anti-cavalry obstacles set up on either flank of the Swarms’ formation. Sharpened tree spikes poked out from the ground like porcupine quills. The horses were spooked by the objects and stopped in their tracks, which prompted the Ripper Swarms to lunge at the cavaliers and rip them to shreds. 

Cavaliers riding behind the front lines ended up colliding with the ones who’d stopped. Their horses tripped over the spikes, only to topple over and get skewered. The spikes had been hidden well; Ripper Swarms had stood in front of them on either side in order to conceal them. The cavaliers had charged directly at the Swarms, taking the bait. 

“Blast, they’ve hit both our flanks! But we can still break through the front!” Roland yelled, spurring his horse onward. 

Roland’s path was littered with Ripper Swarm corpses, which his men trampled as they followed his lead. Though their left and right flanks had perished, the remaining soldiers gripped their lances and sabers with fervor. 

“Just a little more, men! We’re almost through!” 

The tail end of the Ripper Swarm army was in sight; they had nearly reached the Arachnea’s stronghold. 

“This is as far as you go!” 

Suddenly, a monster with the lower half of an insect and an upper half of a beautiful woman stood in his path. 

“Out of the way!” Roland shouted. 

“I refuse! Now, turn back or die!” Sérignan said, brandishing her black sword. 

“If you won’t move, we’ll have to use force!” Roland thrust his lance forward. 

“Try it, if you can! Soon you’ll be kneeling under the weight of your own helplessness!” Sérignan lunged at the paladin. 

With a single swing of her sword, she sliced through Roland’s armor and into his abdomen. Blood gushed out from the wound as he slipped off his horse and onto the ground. 

“Who’s next?!” 

Sérignan wasn’t merely there to fight Roland, but also the many cavaliers accompanying him. Her corrupted holy sword flitted through the air, gracefully slashing this way and that. As she danced around her enemies, she reaped their lives one after another. 

“Here I go!” Lysa, who had been standing behind Sérignan, began using her longbow to shoot down the remaining cavaliers. 

Her victims tumbled to the ground with arrows in their heads, and then they were crushed by their own dying horses. 

“Are we still trying to break through?!” 

“It’s pointless! We have to fall back! Fall back!” 

The remaining cavaliers had lost their fighting spirit and were now trying to escape, but it was far too late. The Ripper Swarms’ fangs and scythes shredded into the opposition, lacerating the horses and making mincemeat out of their riders. 

“Retreeeat!” 

“But what about Sir Roland?!” 

A few cavaliers who’d been held back by the spikes began to flee. 

“Who cares about him?! Our lives are more important right now!” 

Before they could go anywhere, however, more Ripper Swarms swooped down from the cliffs. They ripped the cavaliers off their mounts and tore them to pieces. 

“So this is where it ends...” Roland uttered, cradling his bleeding stomach. 

“Oh, so it’s you who’s in charge of this whole affair,” said a voice from behind him. 

It was the girl he’d met during the party, Grevillea. 

“You... I met you in Marine...” 

“That’s right. You gave me a hand back then.” 

“No... Don’t tell me you’re the Arachnea’s queen...” 

“Sorry, pal, but that’s precisely who I am,” she shrugged. The gesture was almost comical, considering the situation. “Sérignan, apply pressure to his wound. He has information we need, so we can’t let him die here.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

At Grevillea’s—the queen’s—order, Sérignan stopped Roland’s bleeding. 

“Tell me, is Duke Sharon still alive?” Grevillea asked. 

“Leopold killed him. Just like he killed everyone else who opposed him, so he’d be the only one with any power.” 

“Do you think what your brother did was a mistake?” 

“I do. He’s in the wrong here. He’s playing the role of a despot who believes in the Popedom, but in the end, they turned their backs on him. If only we hadn’t listened to him and impeached Caesar de Sharon, we’d be much better off now...” 

Roland was suddenly assailed by a fit of coughing. Blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth. 

“I hear venom in your words. Do you hate Leopold?” 

“I do... I hate him,” Roland wheezed, his voice thick with loathing. “Leopold reduced the Dukedom to ashes, and he’ll probably flee so he doesn’t have to face the consequences. How could I not hate him for this?! I love this country! I wanted to see it flourish! But Leopold ruined everything! No one can put this shattered nation back together anymore!” His shoulders drooped. 

“How would you feel if I told you there is still a way for you to fight for Schtraut?” asked the queen. 

“Fight? With these wounds? That’s impossible.” 

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. A way for you to take revenge on your brother for what he did to your country.” Grevillea’s lips curled into a devious smile.