Chapter 19
The battle to determine the ruler of the farmland had begun.
Count Daggleton gradually moved his troops in preparation for the battle. He looked at his army, and he was certain of his victory.
‘Mollando, you fool. Did you really think that hiring a few nameless mercenaries was going to turn the tide in your favor?’
The military under Count Daggleton’s command had over fifty heavily armed soldiers. That was more than half of his entire army.
‘You probably had no idea that my half-brother was the leader of a mercenary squad.’
Out of the fifty heavily armed men, twenty were hired mercenaries from the Silver Lion Mercenaries. Daggleton and his half-brother had kept their contact behind doors to keep the strength of their army hidden from Count Mollando.
“That farmland shall soon be ours, my Count,” one of Daggleton’s lieges, one that was rather soft-looking for a man, said to him in a languid tone.
“Oh, Allian, this war is for you. I will gift you that farmland once I have taken it from Count Mollando,” Daggleton said with affection. The two of them were in a homosexual relationship, which was not uncommon in the noble society.
Allian blushed and looked away for a moment, then said, “I had no idea that the leader of the Silver Lion Mercenaries was your half-brother. The luck was in our favor.”
“Ten years ago, he ran away from home with ten other young men. Who knew he would become the leader of a mercenary squad? Not me, for sure.”
“The Silver Lion Mercenaries are one of the most well-known mercenary squads. They may not be large in number but their strength… I have heard their tales several times myself. Rumor has it that the Imperial Army had even tried to recruit them as their regular unit.”
“He was abandoned by our father, but he and I are on good terms. We spent a lot of time playing together growing up.”
“My Count, please back up for a moment. I think there are arrows coming our way,” Allian said as he gently pulled Daggleton back. As the distance between the two armies closed, arrows started flying. A few of Daggleton’s men fell to the ground after being struck.
“Hmm, we’re lacking in the number of archers. We better charge at them with our swords.”
Count Daggleton drew his sword. He drew in a big breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Chaaaaarge!”
His men shouted along with their leader.
“They’re coming! Daggleton’s army is coming!”
Soldiers with shields emerged from Count Mollando’s camp. They swallowed hard as they braced for the imminent clash.
“Daggleton has twice as many heavy infantries as we do. What the hell is that? How did this happen?” Mollando yelled as he frowned in frustration. His lieges were speechless at his question. They had been defeated in the intel war leading up to their battle.
In a smaller-scale battle like this, the number of heavily armed men decided the outcome. The measly gear of the conscripts was nowhere near enough to cause any significant harm to the solid armor of the heavily armed men.
‘If we hadn’t hired those mercenaries, it would have been over for us before we even got started,’ Mollando thought as he looked at Urich’s mercenaries on the left flank. Even among them, only a few were heavily armed. Although they were experienced warriors, most of them were still only lightly armed.
‘We have similar numbers, but we’re clearly outmatched.’
Boom!
“Wahhh!”
“Woooaaah!”
The two armies clashed. There were banging sounds of the shields clattering into each other and the warriors tangled ferociously. Screams and shouts intertwined, and the stench of blood spread throughout the field. Many lives fell helplessly.
“Let’s go make some money!” Urich shouted. The mercenaries who were in charge of the left flank moved forward.
“Haven’t fought in a war in a long time,” Sven strode heavily forward with his two-handed axe. With each swing of his arm, he took down one of Daggleton’s men. The spirit of the north flowed through him.
Sven was a northern warrior whom even the Imperial soldiers struggled to take down for ten years. Even with their poor armory and environment, the northern warriors survived purely on their robust physique and hardy mentality.
“Come on, come at me. Send me to the Field of Swords, hahahaha!” Sven broke out of the formation and pounced into the thick of his enemies. His eyes reflected his berserk as he sliced through the enemies’ spears like he was asking for death.
“The Field of Swords,’ Urich thought as he looked at the charging Sven. He was not afraid of death because of his certainty that he would end up in his heaven.
“Follow Sven! Their formation is broken!” Donovan did not miss the opportunity and ordered the mercenaries. The unmotivated conscripts of Daggleton were in a state of panic as the unhinged Sven charged at them. There wasn’t a single farmer in the world who would dare to stand in front of a hulking northerner charging their way with a double-handed axe in his hands.
“Their mercenaries are destroying our formation, Count Daggleton!”
“I can see that! Allian, send the heavy infantry over there!” Daggleton ordered his men. The heavily armed men moved toward Urich and his mercenaries. The men in chainmail glared at them. Their wooden shields were wrapped with leather and metal borders to add to their sturdiness, and their shoulder-to-shoulder formation was seamless.
“Those are their main warriors,” Urich said as he felt the hair on his arms stand. He could sense the imminent life-or-death battle, and no one knew who was going to come out alive.
“Give us life and victory, oh Lou.” The sound of prayer was heard. On the battlefield, the only things that could be relied upon were their own bodies, armor, and their gods.
“If Lou is on our side, then we’ll make it out of this alive!” Bachman cried out as he kissed his pendant. He raised his spear and advanced on the battlefield.
“Good, good, let’s go, my young comrades!” Sven nodded and licked off the blood splatter around his mouth.
“W-woaaah!”
The mercenaries fearlessly collapsed on Daggleton’s heavy infantry.
‘Death is breathing down my neck.’
Urich stabbed his enemies with his Imperial steel blade. The sharp tip penetrated both the chainmail and the leather lining underneath it with the help of Urich’s immense strength.
“Keugh!” The man in the chainmail coughed up blood and gazed up at Urich. The fire of the battle still remained in the bleeding man’s eyes.
‘These guys won’t stop fighting until their heads fall off.’
Urich was no amateur. He knew that any well-trained warrior fought until their breath completely stopped. He had to make sure warriors like these were completely dead before moving on to the next one.
Crush!
Urich buried the blade of his axe into the face of his enemy.
“Huff, huff,” Urich caught his breath. His shoulders were vigorously shrugging from the heavy breathing.
Twitch.
Urich jerked his head to the side without looking back. A javelin grazed the side of his face.
“H-how?” The soldier who had thrown the javelin looked at Urich, stunned.
‘Did he just dodge my javelin without even looking at it? Does he have eyes on the back of his head or something?’
Urich never wore a helmet. It only pushed on his hair and blocked his ears. It also slowed down the speed of his head movement and narrowed his field of vision.
When his hair was pressed down by a helmet, it felt as if his antennae were being disabled. Urich often felt as if he could detect the movement and location of his enemies by the twitch of his hair like insects do with their antennae. It very well could have been just an illusion, but it was important to a warrior like him regardless.
“Hey, you asshole! You nearly killed me!” The furious Urich pulled the same javelin out of the ground and chucked it right back.
Crush!
The javelin flew at the enemy and pieced his head.
The nobles watching the flow of the battle were stunned. The mercenary squad who was mostly only in light armor was dominating the heavy infantry. Both Counts were awestruck at the prowess of Urich and his mercenaries.
“God dammit, how are we being outmatched?”
“They have great warriors on their side, Count Daggleton. Our formation is falling apart.”
Daggleton shuffled his feet anxiously. The tide of the battle was turning against them.
‘Dammit, dammit!’
Daggleton could not bring himself to order a retreat. He stared out at the battlefield with a regretful tear in his eyes.
“H-huh? Stop that guy!”
Urich leapt out of the chaos and the men in heavy armor could not keep up with his speed. Urich ran across the hill and toward Count Daggleton. His lieges rushed on their horses to stop him in his tracks.
‘The horses here are something else.’
Back in Urich’s tribe, horses were not strong or big enough to carry people, let alone big warriors. The horses here, on the other hand, had long been bred for riding, making them large and strong.
Rubble.
Urich bent over to pick up a pebble on the ground.
Thud!
He threw the pebble at the horse. It struck the horse right in its eye.
“Neighhhh!”
The horses struggled as they were startled by the unexpected attack. Urich seized the opportunity and slashed at the lieges’ legs.
“Arghhh!”
The lieges, now without legs, dropped from their horses and rolled around on the ground. Urich ignored them and looked ahead.
‘I’m guessing that’s Count Daggleton.’
It was obvious who the Count was by looking at the colorful cloak. Urich drew his axe.
‘Do I hit his horse to make him fall off? Or should I hit his head with the hilt to make him pass out?’
While Urich hesitated for a split second, Count Daggleton turned his horse to flee the scene. This was his one and only chance at getting away.
“Hmph,” Urich exhaled and launched his axe.
Thud!
The axe was stopped in its tracks sooner than expected. Someone had intervened in its route.
“Allian!” Count Daggleton screamed out his liege’s name. Allian, his loyal liege and lover, took the axe in his place. Unfortunately, the blade was buried deep inside his chest.
“Alliaaaaaan!”
Daggleton tried to turn his horse around as he cried out his lover’s name. Allian looked at the Count with his dying eyes.
“G-go, my Count. I l-love…” Allian let out his last breath and dropped to the ground. Daggleton glared at Urich with his rage-filled teary eyes.
‘I will avenge you, Allian, my love! I promise, I promise!’
Daggleton spurred his horse and rode away. Even Urich could not run as fast as the horse.
“Damn, he got away.”
Urich stomped on Allian’s head and retrieved his axe from Allian’s chest.
“Your leader ran off without you, you damn losers!” Urich shouted as he glanced behind him. Daggleton’s men began to flee in disarray while some dropped their weapons and surrendered.
“Woaaaah!”
Count Mollando’s army’s morale was through the roof. They chased after the losers as they roared their battle cries. Urich decided to stay behind and stared at the battlefield in silence.
‘Where do their souls go? To the Sun god? To be reincarnated?’
Urich wondered how great it would be if he could see the souls with his eyes. He wanted to know what was waiting at the end of death.
“D-did we win? We won! We protected our land, how great! Hahaha!” Mollando laughed in disbelief. After gathering himself, he told his lieges.
“Treat those mercenaries with your utmost respect. Treat them like our proper guests!”
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