Fish in Water, or the Unbridled Foal (3)
Opinions were sharply divided over the mercenary king. Some said he was the best knight of his time, while others criticized him for acting like a lazy bum.
It was all right, for he never fought without being given a reward. Once he was paid, he did only enough for the amount that he received, no more and no less. At times he entered the battlefield and fought in a lowly manner, while at other times, he struck the battlefield in an extraordinary fashion. At times, the word ‘hero’ truly did describe him.
Yet others say he was overly calculating and profit-driven, yet this was no so: Instead of being calculating, he always did his best. The true reason for his strength in each battle being so different was the peculiar nature of his poem.
Embarrassingly, the [Golden Poem] differs in power depending on the amount of promised remuneration. So what about me, now?
I glanced at my enemies: Dozens of heads worth thirty gold coins; thousands of heads worth six silver coins. I guessed the price of the fortress, knowing that there was no reason to give myself a headache by doing a total calculation.
‘Hwwaaaak!’
Great energy surged from my heart and instantly spread through my body. My limbs were filled with vitality, and not a even a handful of energy leaked from me to be wasted.
I continued to enjoy the feeling of vitality and knew that I had reached the highest possible level with the [Golden Poem], which was a power corresponding to the [Heroic] level.
‘Suuu,’ the Aura Blade faded, and Dragon Slayer, which had cried constantly, stopped doing so. I faced the oncoming imperial army with my swords hanging slack.
“He is already exhausted!”
The morale and momentum of the knights rose as they mistook my lack of energy as exhaustion after my battle with the paladin. It was just a feature of the poem, a poem which pursued efficiency to such a degree that it suppressed the release of all energy.
“Haab!” a knight roared as he lifted his sword overhead. I blocked his strike with my left-hand sword and simultaneously slashed out from left to right with my right-hand sword.
The knight’s chest opened in a welter of gore, and he passed out as blood spurted from the wound. More enemies appeared behind him.
My swords flew in to meet them as I blocked attacks with one sword and slashed out at them with the other.
My next opponent came into my eyes: Block and stab, dodge and sever.
The knights faltered, and in the meantime, the imperial officers forced their soldiers into an advance. Spears and blades started to strike at me, and I repeated the same maneuvers again. I batted away the spears and struck out with my swords, and always sliced into my foes before their blades could touch me.
Soldiers kept pushing in.
They tried to kill me, regardless of whether it was because they wanted to get the job done, were being forced to push on by their officers, or had murder in hearts.
Their bodies started to pile up. Every time I stepped forward and pulled my swords back for strikes, I could hear the sounds of dying soldiers.
How many now? Fifty? A Hundred? Or more?
I did not know how many times I have swung my swords and how many foes I had killed.
And I wasn’t interested in knowing.
The only thing that mattered to me was that I was still full of energy. My eyes flashed as I looked for my next foe. The soldier I locked eyes with screamed in a bizarre fashion as he slumped to the ground. Beyond his line, I saw crossbowmen lined up in two rows, dozens of them. Their bolts were made to pierce through the heavy armor and flesh of knights, and they were all aimed at me.
I stepped out, grabbing onto the stomach of the collapsed soldier as I raised him up before me, tight against my body. In the next moment, dozens of bolts were released and flew at us.
‘Papapak!’
The soldier convulsed as the bolts slammed into his flesh, a few even passing through him and at me, yet not one of them could leave a scratch. It was a facet of the [Golden Poem]. The reciter of the poem could avoid certain forms of damage.
“Hurgh!” the soldier vomited blood, looked at me blankly, and collapsed, dead.
The rain of bolts had stopped, so I threw the body aside and studied the crossbowmen. When they met my gaze, their faces turned pale as they struggled to reload. I stared at them and then threw one of my swords.
‘Blililikschlak!’
‘Kwook!’
The officer of the crossbowmen was pierced through the chest by my flying blade. I could hear the infantry commander shouting out threats as the infantry stumbled on and advanced at me. The knights had stepped back, awaiting their chance once I got tired.
I started laughing: That so many soldiers were now blocked by me alone, unable to withdraw – It was funny. I fixed my sword and advanced. Normally I would have held back, but not now. By killing the commanders, one man can do a lot, and for every knight, I killed here, another of Dotrin’s knights may yet still live.
It’s easy: I just had to make sure that I sliced through the throat of the enemy who was sticking out his neck to kill me. I raised my sword and quietly recited the chorus of the poem under my breath.
“Coins of gold stained in blood for me a fair price be, that is my strength.”
At that moment, my blade took on a yellow energy, flashing as if it was made of pure gold.
Yet my sword was not as soft as gold, for everything that was touched by its edge was severed.
The Imperial Army’s battle lines collapsed.
“Uh?” the soldiers made stupid sounds as they fled from me in a haphazard fashion while their lines collapsed. Even those pathetic fleeing men were cut down.
‘Fwaaald!’
I vaulted from the ground and dove into the center of the collapsed ranks. From there on out, I swung my blade in random directions. I slashed it from left to right, jumping like crazy all the while.
Suddenly, something came into my mind.
I only then realized that I had gone out too far from gates, so wildly was I running amok.
I slashed a few more vigorous slashes, then shook the blood from my blade, retrieved my other sword, and walked back toward the city gate.
No one stopped me; the imperials simply looked at me from a distance.
Then, once I stopped before the gate, I heard someone say, “A monster, a monster.”
Terror spread through the imperial forces.
I raised my energy so that their fear could grow all the greater, so that the entire Imperial Army would come to know true terror.
I proved to them I was not tired, that I still had great energy and all my health.
The soldiers exposed to my energy directly fell to the ground, dropping spears and swords.
The surviving knights furiously rotated their rings and resisted, yet the energies they summoned were just enough to protect their bodies.
The morale of the Imperial Army plummeted. I could see the flags of the enemy being lowered in all directions. I am only one, and yet so many people were terrified by me.
I wagered that the empire would not be able to show the same might as I was showing now, even if they had a row of quad-chain knights here.
The mana of the knights of this era was only accumulated in the body, and so would be insufficient to change the tide of war. They could surely change the mortal realm to their tastes but did not have enough power to go beyond that.
It was probably so, for the Sword Masters of today have lost all their glorious power-modifiers of old. But even if such things were things of the past, I would recreate the ancient glory here and now.
So I declared, “Tell your generals,” and through my voice, I channeled the glorious achievements of the past Sword Masters, “if they wish to best me, they will have to lose one legion.”
I was showing off my prestige as a one-man legion.
The energy around me shook, and it changed.
It was like a weapon that could be felt by thousands of soldiers, and my declaration resonated all over the battlefield. It was at that moment that the horn signaling the retreat was sounded.
The imperial troops looked at me with crushed faces and then turned around, retreating from the battlefield.
I silently stared at their backs.
‘Pawoooo Pawooooo Pawoooo!’
The horn of retreat was still ringing urgently.
“It looks like a success.”
* * *
The imperial forces had been frightened into a retreat and only then did Bernardo, Gwain, and Gunn appear. Their attire was scorched and scratched, and their faces showed their exhaustion. Still, their expressions did not look grim.
Bernardo held out two bags when he saw me.
“One was caught off guard and easily killed, and we somehow managed to kill the second one. After that, we couldn’t risk going after anymore.”
As Bernardo reported their progress, his voice sounded slightly amazed. My orders had been well executed, yet I did not praise Bernardo. Even if it was no small feat, I made it a point to rarely praise him.
Then the old commander appeared, and he looked at me for a long time. He opened and closed his mouth several times, for even if he had something to say, he could not easily form the words. Then after a long time, he spoke up, his expression complex.
“You said you were going to buy us some time, and you managed to get rid of the enemy after all.
His voice went beyond wonderment and even disbelief.
I gave a bloody smile as I held out one of the sacks after taking it from Bernardo.
“This is the head of an imperial wizard.”
The expression of the commander changed from instant to instant after he had verified the contents of the sack.
“How much will you be paying us for this?” I asked as I watched his complex emotions.
He gave me an absurd look, yet only for a moment, as he soon laughed and said he would give us whatever we wanted.
“Then, you would go bankrupt.”
I had a lot of family members.
* * *
The discussion on the defense and further troop deployment was a short one. The situation was so bad that it was almost not worth it to discuss such issues.
“The state of our troops is grave. If we count every single person that can fight, they are still less than three-hundred. I am adding additional troops drawn up from the civilians in the fortress, but I don’t expect they’ll do much for us.”
The commander groaned as he heard his officer’s report. It was a victory, but it was a victory that came with only wounds.
I knew that if the enemy returned, we would have little choice. It was impossible to keep a fortress with three-hundred exhausted soldiers and a few civilians. In the last battle, the enemy forces had attacked the gates so that they could gain easy entry, not counting on my presence. There was no guarantee that they would do so again.
They would, predictably, attack all the walls at once, I was very sure of this. And if I had to run all over the wall, it would eventually be breached somewhere, and the soldiers of the fort would be slaughtered by the imperials.
I had driven the imperial forces away for a while, but I knew this delay would be short.
The commander had immediately gathered the leaders and convened a meeting to formulate countermeasures. I attended the meeting in my capacity as head of the reinforcements.
The commanders of the citadel gave various opinions.
Some of them suggested retreat, and everyone agreed that it was the only option. The problem was when and how. All the soldiers were exhausted after the night-long assault, and they needed a break. If they escape now, it would be a futile effort, for they would not be able to run far. Even if the situation was urgent, they could not be pulled out at this time.
“From my experience up till now, the overall commander of the imperial forces is a prudent person. We suffered a lot of damage these past few days, so he will launch an all-out offensive, redraw the siege lines, and employ the remaining imperial wizards to attack the fort.
“In the meantime, we must take care of the wounded and the civilians and find a way to get out here safely.”
The commander and his officers still thought they had time. My thoughts on the matter were the exact opposite.
“The Imperial Army will launch its next offensive tomorrow.”
I suddenly stepped into the debate, and everyone looked at me and frowned. But I had shown them what I was in the recent battle, so not one of them spoke up to oppose me.
It was somewhat regrettable; after all, I was the mercenary rambling ‘Blah blah blah blah, I’ll show you the escape I’ve prepared.’
“Why do you think so?” the commander asked.
“Because they have a reason to hurry,” I replied.
“What is their reason?” came his next question.
“There is some idiot who is coming here, and he will remain after the battle has been won.”
Just before I attended the meeting, Gunn had gestured to me.
She had seen the knights of the imperial family in the enemy camp, and only then did I recall who the paladin was that had died by hand.
“The Third Imperial Princeps is coming here.”
He had been the third princeps’ paladin.
“If I was the imperial commander, I would make sure the battle is won before the third princeps arrives.”
We had a chance: An idiot who could destroy the empire would surely give us the chance of overturning this battle. And I guessed that there was no way the imperial commander knew what I knew.
I knew that the imperial commander had one more reason to capture the fort as soon as possible: It was because of his orders today that the paladin of the princeps died. So, to save his life, the imperial commander had to capture the fort to at least offset the loss of a paladin.
Of course, that was what the enemy commander hoped for.
I made a formal recommendation to the commander-in-chief.
“Even if we will abandon the fortress and retreat, let’s hold on at least until the third princeps comes.”
The old commander asked what will be different if we hold on until then.
“I bet a whole lot will change if we manage to hold out until that time.”
And I added, “Once the third princeps arrives, the tight encirclement might flare wide open.”
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