Chapter 177
The War of the Weak (1)
We soundlessly moved along the valley of hills for a long time, our force like a thick spider stretching its legs as it marched. Rangers who had fallen away from the main unit returned and reported that there was an imperial camp beyond a series of nearby ridges.
“I haven’t heard reports of other legions yet, and their vigilance is not very tight.”
As the ranger platoon leader gave his report, I raised my hand.
“We will stop here for a moment.”
Arwen nodded and quietly rode her horse to the back of the ranks.
“All forces, halt.”
“All stop.”
“Get your perimeter in place.”
Her instructions were transmitted to the soldiers by the commanders of each unit, and there was a stir for a moment before the men stopped talking. Since everyone knew that we still had the element of surprise in our position, the disturbance along the ranks was not great. Thousands of sweaty riders upon their horses were awaiting my orders. I wanted to head to the battlefield right there and then, but horses and riders both needed a break.
“Short break.”
The commanders were repeating my orders in soft voices.
“All rest.”
“Each one rests on his own time.”
“I’m gonna dismount.”
The riders got off their horses and rested in their own way.
“Oh, I’m dying here!”
“I’m pretending to be a cavalryman. I’ve never signed up for this. I’ll die.”
Rangers casually laid themselves on the ground and soon started snoring.
“Each one rests in a comfortable position.”
“Report if your horse has a condition.”
The soldiers of the central region were not as lazy as the rangers, but likewise, they relieved their fatigue by sinking to the ground.
“Wow, whoa girl. Goood.”
“Be patient, just a bit more.”
The knights stood upright as they took care of their horses and checked their gear. It wasn’t that there were no signs of fatigue among them; rather, their fighting spirit won out over their exhaustion.
Everyone was doing better than I thought. Honestly, because the rangers do not know horses much, I didn’t expect them to follow the knights and soldiers of the center so well.
I looked at them for a long time with a bold heart when I suddenly felt a strange wave of energy.
I turned my head in the direction of the wave’s origin, and in front of me, the sky was dark yet bright above the ridge.
‘Rggmmbl~’ one second later, the faint sound of thunder came.
‘Shhk~’ the rangers who were snoring while lying flat now arose, and the soldiers of the center who were massaging their bodies to relieve their fatigue stopped doing so at once. The knights who were checking their horses and equipment now stared at the flashing sky.
“It looks like it started,” Arwen came and told me as she returned from the rear.
I looked up again and studied the night sky over the ridge. Night and day frequently intersected in that sky. It was a wondrous sight for those who looked on from afar, but a terrible disaster for the imperial army in the heart of that storm.
It was a magical light, and its cause was a pair of warlocks bombarding the ground, being flown about by Wyvern Knights.
“If I was hit by lightning in the middle of sleeping, my mind would not be in a happy place,” said Bernardo Eli, expressing casual condolences for the imperial troops upon who the warlocks were unleashing such a nightmare, troops who were tired and sleeping after a long day’s march.
“We must move again soon,” I said, and it seemed that the commanders had been awaiting this order, for they started to rush their soldiers.
“Ready to go! Why are you guys still sitting on the ground?”
“Hurry! I don’t want to kill only the dregs left by the Wyvern Knights!”
The ranks bustled and quickly formed themselves up.
“Count Brandenburg.”
“Yes, your Highness?”
The lord from the central region knelt before me, having awaited my order.
“Take the Iron Hawks and the Balahard Rangers up the hill. When the signal goes off, pour arrows down upon the camp.”
“I will prepare the advance without a hitch.”
Count Brandenburg led the Iron Hawks and the rangers away from the main unit.
“Erhim Kiringer.”
“Your Highness.”
“Lead the Templars and the heavy infantry and wait on that side of the hill.”
One hundred Templars and the mounted heavy infantry rode toward the hill.
“Arwen. Lead the regulars to the opposite side of the hill.
“According to your Highness’s will!”
Arwen looked up, buckled her sword to her chest, and left the main unit with the light infantry.
“Eli. Lead the Dusk, Dawn, Twilight, and Silver Fox Knights to the flank.”
Bernardo Eli disappeared with the knights, Gwain’s troupe going with him.
The only forces remaining were the cavalry, Black Lancers, and Winter Knights.
“We hit them head-on as soon as the warlocks’ magical bombing ends.”
“Yes, your Highness!”
“Go.”
The one-eyed cavalry commander and knights answered fiercely and kicked into their horses’ flanks.
I led them up the hill, and the Imperial Army encampment became visible.
‘Dwak! Krwak!’ the faint sound of thunder now became much louder.
“Wow! Woah, good,” I calmed down my horse, which was about to run wild as it became excited by the shock waves that shook the earth. We rode on for a long time, and finally, we reached the top of the hill that directly overlooked the battlefield.
“It’s a living hell.”
Flames were spreading at a rapid pace as they consumed tents, and soldiers were running around as the fires raged all over the place. The troops who yet maintained discipline were trying hard to extinguish the flames, but the inferno was too great. Most of the imperial troops scattered left and right, chased by fire.
A nasty smell poked at my nostrils, and the screams of soldiers wreathed in flame broke into my ears.
With one hand on the hilt of my sword, I waited quietly.
‘Rrmmbl~ Kdshwa~’ the thunder that had been bursting from the sky without ceasing now subsided, bit by bit.
“Prepare,” I said as I raised my hand and lowered my visor, ‘Cheolkup~’
The open view was now obscured, and all noise dulled. The narrow slit that was now my sight existed in shades, and the world beyond was red.
“Woo!” excitement and tension began to fill my body at the prospect of an impending battle.
I struggled to suppress my thumping heart and held my breath. My elevated fighting spirit and warm breath filled my helmet in no time, and I wanted to release that heat right away.
But I bided my time, trying to suppress my excitement. Then the thunder ceased completely, and the glare upon the night sky was seen no more – and the time finally came.
‘Goo-oh-oh-oh!’ a great energy rose from the direction in which there had been flashing lightning and rumbling thunder, and so strong was that presence that it felt as if my body was sizzling.
It was a sure sign the violent King of the Sky, of Dotrin, would soon descend upon the earth.
“Fwoo,” I took a deep breath – and before the Knights of the Sky attacked first before the monster of the Dotrin royal family devoured all the imperial forces – I exhaled that deep breath.
“Charge!”
My body was filled with boiling heat, and inwardly, I constantly shouted [Poetry of War].
‘Silent are the snowy peaks and the blood-drenched walls’
‘Only our horns of war are heard, for a new day dawns into which we advance!’
* * *
‘Kdwa~ Kdwa~’
“Help- Save me…”
Remion, a light infantryman of the 92nd Imperial Legion, quietly awakened to a faint noise he heard in the hazy night.
‘Kwrkwa!’ that’s when he heard a great cracking sound.
“What, what!” Surprised, Remion instinctively ran out of the tent, and in the next instant, something struck the barracks he had fled from in terror mere seconds ago.
‘Kwrak!’ and with that terrifying roar, the barracks collapsed.
‘Hwafruch!’ flames soared, and those soldiers who had remained in the tent now stumbled out, aflame.
“Arrghhh!”
“Help! Stop it!”
Remion stared blankly, and he had no time to even think about saving his comrades.
“This- What is this?”
A sea of fire raged everywhere; it was as if the entire camp had become infernal.
As Remion watched blankly on, something again struck from the sky.
‘Kwrakwa!’
Flames spread, and soldiers screamed their throats hoarse for help. They died in their droves. Remion turned his head and saw people who were charred into coals. Just a while ago, they had been the comrades who had laughed and chatted with him in the same tent.
There was no sorrow in Remion; he didn’t even understand what was happening. Having fallen onto the ground, he now stood up and stared at the flames.
‘Klang Klang Klang!’ the bell announcing the enemy sounded one moment later.
“It’s the enemy!” soldiers and knights ran out of their barracks and screamed.
“Draw your swords! Prepare for enemy attack!”
“Douse the fires first!” the commanders ordered.
It was then that Remion’s mind flashed as he drew his sword and started marching.
“Put out the fire first, soldier! You want the entire camp to burn down!” a commander shouted at him.
Remion could not decide whether he should ready his sword and prepare to fight or whether he should extinguish the fires first. He couldn’t do this; he couldn’t do that; so he just ran back and forth.
Other soldiers were also milling to and fro as they struggled to follow conflicting orders.
“Don’t be mindless! Leave the camp at once!” a knight in fancy armor screamed his order at Remion.
“Bah! I don’t know the direction because of the fires!” pleaded the infantryman.
“Ah, you fool! Follow!” The knight turned around, and Remion ran with him.
“Follow me!”
As the knight ran on, he took other confused soldiers under his command. At first, there was Remion alone; soon, there were dozens of them running after the knight.
“What the hell is going on!”
“It’s not us! Must be the Royal Dotrin Army!”
“Fuck them!”
The soldiers were loudly discussing events as they clumped together. After so many soldiers who had faced the same situation gathered and formed rank to some extent, Remion’s confusion started to clear up.
He looked at the knight before him, and in the chaotic situation, the appearance of the knight firmly leading them was a reliable assurance.
If Remion followed the knight, he could survive. He thought so, so he followed him all the more desperately so that he did not fall behind by any chance. It was pointless.
‘Bwak!’ Remion heard a great noise, and he felt his body fly through the air.
“Uh…” When the darkness fled from his mind, he found himself sprawled on the ground, and he heard no sounds, for the explosion had burst an eardrum. It was better, for Remion no longer heard the thunder and the screams, and his head was less dizzy. He stood up, but it wasn’t easy – his sense of balance was a mess.
Still, he somehow got up.
“Ah,” Remion barely managed to check his surroundings, and the sight devastated him. The iron-armored knight was twitching on the ground, and Remion snapped awake as he ran to him.
“Knight!” Remion hurriedly grabbed the man’s helmet.
‘Shkk~’ the helmet scorched his fingertips, and the smell of roasting flesh assailed his nose, but Remion was desperate to have a knight who would guide him out of this hell.
“Knight! Be patient!”
After Remion struggled for time to try and loosen the buckling of the armor, which he did not know how to do, he managed to remove the knight’s helmet slightly.
“Ugh!” There was only a bloody lump of flesh inside the helm, and suddenly, the knight’s seizure-like twitching stopped.
‘Kwash~’ Remion fell onto his buttocks and scrambled backward from the corpse.
“Ouch!” and as he did, the pain from his scorched palm hit him hard, and he screamed and screamed. As he did, the situation of his surroundings caught his eye. The soldiers with poorer armor than iron-armored knights were sprawled across the ground, their limbs twisted or torn off.
“This is a nightmare!”
Terrified, Remion continued to kick at the ground as he crawled back when suddenly, something caught his ankle. He turned his head, and his neck creaked.
“Uha! Save me… please.”
Remion looked into a horrible face, half-melted by the heat, with the flesh spilling and flowing from it.
“Hey, hak! Let go!” and without much resistance, the soldier’s hand stopped grasping Remion.
He staggered upright and started running, wishing to find a place with less heat. Under instinct, he ran and ran. Eventually, Remion reached the outskirts of the camp, where the tents had not been swept away in the inferno.
“I survived…”
Before Remion could even start cheering and shouting, the sound of horses’ hooves began shaking the earth.
“Ah.” Remion blankly looked at the distant hill, and cavalrymen were charging down it.
They certainly weren’t allies: The emblem of a crouching lion was woven into the banner at the head of the cavalry, an emblem of the enemy.
‘Dukudu~ Dukuduku~’
The cavalry charged down the hill and spread their line wide, and Remion looked around after seeing their tumultuous charge. There was nowhere for him to escape to, so he clutched his sword in his scorched hand.
“I didn’t come here to die, not in a place like this!”
He believed that maybe they would be able to win this battle and take over the lands of the small kingdom, that they might finally become a victorious army. Remion thought that he might get lucky and claim plunder.
“I am not dying. I will never die!”
He gripped his sword tightly as he caught a glimpse of the enemy charging on.
‘Dumdumtum~ Dumtumtum~’
And at that time, the imperial marching drums sounded out.
“Move!”
Remion reflexively moved aside as countless troops poured out of the camp. Although they were scorched and battered, they were most certainly proud knights of the empire.
“Longspearmen! To the front!”
The longspearmen who passed Remion by fixed the bases of their three-meter long pikes into the ground and all the pike heads were aimed squarely at the enemies coming down from the hill.
Remion started laughing as he remembered the hell he had just gone through.
“Is it over now?” Now that he truly knew he was alive, Remion sighed in relief. He didn’t doubt that the imperial spearmen and knights would crush less than a handful of cavalry.
His belief did not last long.
‘Peee eee pswha!’ and an arrow flew from the hill, crying with a sharp sound.
‘Buwooo wuwooo!’ the sound of a horn rang one instant later.
‘Swassassasak~’ and at that moment, a hail of arrows poured down into the spearmen.
“Aahhh!” the longspearmen screamed as many of their numbers fell, and it was at that moment that the spearhead of cavalry reached the bottom of the hill. There were no screams, nor the sound of horses crashing into pikes.
‘Schhkk!’
All Remion heard was the sound of something being severed – just that.
‘Dlup~ Dlup~’ the massed spearmen became headless corpses, and the pikes they had firmly held were already shattered as they clattered to the ground.
“The kingdom’s paladins!” the imperial knights lined up behind the spearmen shouted. And beyond their ranks, brilliant flashes of gold and blue erupted like dawn.
That was the last thing that Remion saw.
The infantryman, who had once dreamed of success, died where he stood, his entire body pierced in the rain of arrows that poured from the sky.
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