Chapter 154: My Dear Brother

As the Teutonic Order and Berengar's Army clashed in the field below, Berengar gazed upon the bloody scene with a smirk. Everything was going according to plan. Berengar investigated the melee below through a spyglass, desperately searching for Lambert's location, unfortunately for him, Lambert was clad in a full set of plate armor, and his great bascinet's visor was down; as such, it was not easy to spot him in the chaotic scene.

Lambert, on the other hand, was currently engaging in combat against one of Berengar's infantrymen; as the soldier thrust his bayonet at Lambert's direct, the boy swiftly dodged the strike and lunged with his longsword piercing through the gap in the man's helmet and into his eyes, killing him on the spot. Lambert had trained his whole life in the art of combat, and though bayonet training was much simpler than the sword against a true master, it was too easy to cut down Berengar's professional army. 

The surviving knights of the order's army surrounded Lambert, and they engaged in brutal combat with Berengar's soldiers. When grouped together, they made an easy target for the grenadiers, one of which lobbed a grenade into the mix that detonated shortly after. Shredding the nearby knights and forcing the others to redirect their efforts into protecting their flanks. Lambert was too busy in combat to realize that the explosive blast had torn the visor of his helmet, revealing his face, which was spotted from afar by Berengar and his spyglass. A wicked grin appeared on Berengar's face as he spotted Lambert from a great distance.

"There you are, little brother! It is time to pay for your sins!"

After putting away his spyglass, Berengar unsheathed his heavy cavalry sword and pulled out one of the pistols from his saddle Before declaring to his cavalry forces in a loud shout.

"God with us!" 

The infamous battle cry was the signal for the charge, as such thousands of cuirassiers began to descend on the encircled Teutonic order from both sides of the ravine. Before long, a new wave of gunfire was unleashed by the pistols in their hands as they charged into the fray. The stray bullets went in many directions; due to the chaotic situation, it was unknown whether or not any of Berengar's forces were injured or killed by friendly fire. However, the attack was effective in breaking open a path into the melee. 

After crashing into the wall of steel, which was the Teutonic Order's forces, the cavalry began to cut their way through the massive horde of enemies. Berengar was leading his forces straight to Lambert, who was busy fighting off the ranks of Berengar's grenadiers, who were a far more elite group of soldiers than the standard line infantry, and as such, presented a greater challenge for him and his knights. 

However, Before Berengar could reach Lambert, the chaos of battle affected his trajectory. While he was rushing towards his brother on horseback, a lucky spear thrust through the gaps in Erwin's armor and pierced itself into the horse's hide, gravely injuring the mighty beast. Berengar fell to the ground amidst the chaos and found himself surrounded by the spearman, where he quickly deflected the oncoming blow into his breastplate, which he knew would prevent its advance, and used this time to stab the 38-inch blade of his Damascus steel sword into the crusader's eye socket. 

Berengar certainly had a reach advantage as his single-handed sword was greater in blade length than most longswords; as such, he adeptly moved from his position after killing the man and slashed into the poorly guarded torso of a levy who got in his path. Seeing the target of his ire was only a few yards in front of him, Berengar shouted out above the chaotic sounds of battle in a voice so loud it would even garner Lambert's attention whose longsword was currently bound with the bayonet of a grenadier. 

"Lambert! I've come for your head!"

Noticing the voice of his brother taunting him in the distance, Lambert quickly unbound from the Grenadier's bayonet and stuck his blade through the man's face before gazing over at Berengar, who stood a few yards away next to his dead horse.

Lambert instantly charged at his older brother while calling out to him 

"Today, you will die by my blade Berengar! Why could you not just die peacefully in your sleep from the poison? Instead, you have taken everything from me!"

Berengar grinned wickedly as he clashed with Lambert's longsword; what the boy said was true, Berengar had taken everything from him, but in his eyes, it was the price to pay for plotting against him so many times. As such, he felt no guilt for his actions. Lambert quickly slashed at Berengar, which the garishly outfitted Count parried; Berengar counter-attacked with a lunge which Lambert swiftly dodged. Finally, the lessons of swordsmanship in which Bernegar had so painstakingly engaged in every day for the last year were beginning to show their effects. 

As the battle waged around these two commanders, Lambert and Berengar danced with their swords. However, after a while, it soon became apparent that despite the advantages Berengar's sword had over a traditional longsword, he was not nearly skilled enough to keep up with Lambert. Eventually, a vertical slash passed through Berengar's defense, and right under the protection of his Burgonet grazing past his right eye, cutting through the soft tissue and spilling his blood on the ground. Berengar reeled in pain as the sting of the cut electrified his brain. 

Despite losing his vision in his dominant eye, Berengar desperately tried to raise his sword in defense. Instead, the sword was quickly disarmed from his hand, and he was kicked by Lambert's steel-clad foot onto the ground, lying against the corpse of his once-proud destrier. 

"Sixteen years! Sixteen years I have had to watch you make a fool of yourself and our family. The sheer damage you did to the von Kufstein name throughout your life through your childish fits of anger and indolent behavior was enough to set back our family's prestige by generations! Can you honestly blame me for wanting to kill you and take your position! I would never have imagined that I would have actually succeeded on my first attempt and invite a demon into our midst."

Hearing the last few words of Lambert's monologue made Berengar break out in uncontrolled laughter; despite losing sight in his right eye and bleeding profusely from the wound, Berengar could not contain himself. Seeing his older brother seemingly lose his sanity in the moment before his death, Lambert instinctively lowered his defenses and questioned Berengar for his odd behavior.

"What is so funny?"

Berengar stopped laughing and glared at Lambert like a demon mocking a mortal for being foolish enough to believe that they had cornered him. As his lips curled up into a sinister sneer, Berengar spoke in a chilling tone to Lambert.

"Oh, my dear brother... You have no idea how right you are!"

With that, Berengar quickly grabbed the remaining pistol from Erwin's saddle and cocked the hammer while pointing it at Lambert's chest, which was not three feet away. Berengar was only a second faster than Lambert as the boy reacted to Berengar's actions by lifting his sword into the air with a killing blow. The thunder of the flintlock pistol exploded into the air as the musket ball within left the barrel's chamber and flew point-blank into Lambert's breastplate before passing through it and into the youth's heart. Lambert's slash came down upon Berengar, but due to the damage dealt by the musket ball to the young Teutonic Knight, the trajectory of the sword was altered and slashed into the steel armor that was atop Erwin's corpse before lambert himself fell to the ground bleeding out from his wounded heart. 

Berengar used this opportunity to clamber to his feet before grabbing ahold of his sword; due to the damage inflicted upon his right eye and the difference in depth perception, it took him a few attempts to get ahold of it. Afterward, Berengar walked over to his brother and gazed upon him as he slowly bled to death. In the process he removed the boy's helmet before saying something Lambert would never expect.

"I really have to thank you, Lambert; if you had not poisoned this body to the brink of death, I might not have been able to enter this world. For that, you have my sincerest gratitude. However, the moment I came into this world, there was only one of two ways this would end. With my death or yours, and unfortunately for you, the entity you brought into this Earth is beyond your comprehension. A bit of advice from one who has already pierced the veil. Try to do better in your next life!"

After hearing these words, life finally faded from Lambert's eyes as he entered the void. Whether or not he would be reincarnated, Berengar did not know; after all, even after experiencing death, Berengar saw neither heaven nor hell; he simply awoke in another body. It was completely unknown to him if that was everyone's fate or a one-time thing. Lambert had passed from this world in a state of total fear and confusion. He genuinely died believing that Berengar was possessed by a demon, one in which he had personally brought into the world. Berengar on the other hand had merely spoken the truth, albeit in a deliberately vague way to mess with Lambert's mind one last time.