Chapter 35

Chapter 35 - The First Subjugation War (6)

The subjugation force clashed with the main body of the bandit pack. The lieutenants were also flustered by having to engage in a full-scale war at such an early point.

"To think they would approach first, seeking a fight."

"Even those rascals know we've come to finish them. If they cannot avoid it, they probably wish to have a grand fight rather than being picked off individually."

Though the numbers were similar, the difference in the quality of the troops was severe. If they fought, the subjugation force would win comfortably. One concern was that not only the invited knights but also Eugene, their strongest martial force, had departed. A decisive factor to secure victory was not by their side.

From the bandit side, men draped in beast skins appeared in succession.

"Today is the memorial day for you fellows! Your blood and entrails shall become the fertilizer for this forest! I shall wash your skulls clean and use them as wine cups!" A man who was a head taller than the others wore a bear skin and held an axe. Behind him, dozens of stalwarts appeared and let out a shout.

"Are those not the fellows of the Gord Mountain Tribe?!"

"So even those rascals joined in?!"

"It's a damnable thing when one receives work in this vicinity. All manner of fellows appear as enemies."

A tense murmuring arose among the veteran mercenaries. Even among the large Gords, the mountain tribe was famous for being born stalwarts. They are nightmarish existences who plunder on the roads adjacent to the mountains and flee into the mountains to force a guerrilla war once a subjugation force arrives.

"The numbers are not enough to decide victory or defeat anyway! Since we are still at an advantage, all of you pull yourselves together and engage in battle! The knights shall also return soon!" At the Guard Captain's words, the agitation of the subjugation force subsided. Knights! Nothing gives more courage than the news that a knight is coming to help on a battlefield.

"Advance!"

While both sides held shields in a close formation, there was no feeling of solidness. For there were many who brought things like boards or shields that could not even cover their chests.

"Argh!" Thus, those who clutched where they were hit by bolts or arrows and fell appeared in succession.

"Fellows whose arms were hit, endure! Only those whose legs or bellies were hit, pull back!"

"No, god damn it! I cannot hold the shield!"

"Shut it! If you retreat, I shall hurl an axe into your belly!"

Unlike the subjugation force, which immediately replaced those who were hit regardless of where, the bandits did not do so. Their way was to make one serve as a meat shield as long as they could stand.

"Argh!" One bandit who clutched his arm after being hit by a bolt and tried to pull back was hit in the chest by an axe as an example.

"Just keep your place! Then victory shall be ours!" A bandit who held up a blood-stained axe shouted loudly, though just what he was believing in was unclear.

However, the tide of battle was gradually leaning toward the subjugation force. For even if the shields were equally poor, the proportion of those falling was greater among the bandits.

Thump!

"Argh!" A bandit whose nasal bone was crushed by a stone let out a horrific scream and fell. The Sinking Mercenaries, assigned to the high spots, were hurling terrifying sling stones.

Crunch!

Crude shields that were close to pot stands were even split in one go. It's truly a fearsome power.

"This is it! As expected, it's reassuring when those fellows are on the same side!"

"If you loathe to become a simpleton, begone already!"

The subjugation force, whose morale had risen, let out a shout.

Crunch!

Crack!

Unlike arrows or bolts, the thick stones made wooden splinters fly terrifyingly even when they struck a shield.

Thud!

"Argh!" A stone that was deflected after hitting a shield even struck the cheek of the neighboring bandit. Not all mercenaries can obtain sturdy helmets. For there are many poor fellows who wear padded caps that are close to winter hats. They became the prey of the slingers.

The bandits in the areas where bolts and sling stones were concentrated were delayed in their advance, and this meant that the line became imbalanced.

"Right-wing unit! Attack!" The Guard Captain did not miss such an opportunity. The right-wing, composed of elite soldiers, began to attack the protruding enemy left-wing in a semi-encirclement.

* * *

Eugene looked at Galia's subordinates.

"I shall temporarily command you. Will you follow my orders?"

"Pray, lead us, sir! We shall subjugate the bandits under your command and soothe the grievance of Sir Galia!"

"First, those with severe injuries, hide them in a secluded spot after giving them emergency treatment. For there is no time to take them and return to the main force right away."

"I understand."

True to being those who had followed a knight and had much combat experience, their movements were orderly. They stopped the bleeding of comrades with severe lacerations, fixed and tied broken parts, and then hid them in a secluded spot. They covered them with branches with leaves attached, meticulously camouflaging them.

"We shall surely return, so stay bated and quiet."

"Do not worry, for I have not even the strength to be rowdy even if I wished. I shall be stretched out as if dead. Even if the bandits discover me, they probably won't be able to tell the difference from a corpse."

"Let us see each other later this evening." Sharing short jokes, they shook hands and then parted.

"Sir Knight, we have joined." Twenty Dark Elf skirmishers also joined. They looked at the decapitated Galia, the robber knight with his head shattered, and Eugene's flail in order, then nodded as if they understood.

"From now on, we shall go to the place where the knights headed. Since we know not what enemy awaits, pay heed to the retreat path."

"I understand!"

Unlike Galia's squire, the servants were afraid to go to the place where the unidentified shriek was heard. However, with the squire having handed over the command, they could not refuse. Moreover, it felt as if they could overcome any enemy that appeared if they were with this knight.

"Let us go!" As Eugene rode his horse, the subordinates followed behind.

"Be careful. Engaging tattoo magic upon another to manifest power is an extremely difficult task. He must surely be a magician of a significant level."

"I also have no intention of making a life-and-death decision like a moth to a flame. Pray, be at ease, for I shall be the first to shout 'Rear!' if need be." Valda was reassured by Eugene's quick understanding. He was markedly different from other knights who would rush in recklessly while intoxicated with glory.

The servants of Galia, who arrived at the large campsite following Eugene, were left with dazed faces.

"Everyone... is dead." The servants and slaves who had shared leftover food and laughed and chattered at the banquet were all dead. Though there were more corpses of bandits and mercenaries, such a thing did not catch their eye.

"Ugh, sob..." Just then, a groan was heard from one spot.

"Robert!" Galia's squire ran and supported him. Robert was Sir Cain's squire, and he had received praise for telling the story of the bloody battle his master had fought with a hobgoblin during the banquet in a savory manner.

"A monster... there was a monster. My master too... and the other knights to that fellow..." The severely wounded squire spoke with difficulty.

"Robert! Can you tell me what manner of monster it was?"

"Cough... B-Black... be careful of the horns..." The squire, who had been speaking while trembling, spat a bowl's worth of blood and died, perhaps as his wound had worsened.

"This is bad!" Galia's squire had a miserable face. For it felt as if he had killed him by making him speak excessively.

"It's not because of you that he died. It was a wound he would have died from anyway, so do not reproach yourself."

"I thank you. Sir Knight." At Eugene's comfort, the squire bowed his head.

"I have found the bodies of the Sir Knights!" A servant who had been searching while scattered about waved his arm. There were two corpses there. A knight whose face was shattered and a knight whose chest was mangled.

"Sir Cain is here!" Another servant shouted. There was a knight who had breathed his last while clutching his belly. Something that had pierced through his chainmail in one go had made several large holes in his upper body.

"Just what manner of thing was he struck by..." Galia's squire closed Cain's staring eyes.

"It's sacrifice magic." Valda, who was scanning the campsite, pointed to one spot. At a place that looked like an altar, there were many carcasses of cows, horses, and deer.

"What is that?"

"It's a magic where one offers living beings and receives a price from another world, as its name suggests. It seems to be the work of the one who engraved the tattoos on the Pagan Knight."

"O God." The servants made the sign of the cross and prayed. They had attacked thinking it was simply a den of a bandit pack, yet it was a place where even more evil beings lurked.

"In the body of a demonic beast refined by a sacrificial ritual, a magic stone containing mystery is formed." While everyone was in astonishment, Valda approached and whispered in Eugene's ear.

"It is a type of pearl, then."

"It's similar, but the value is incomparably higher. The important thing is that even in failed corpses, poor quality magic stones are sometimes formed." She nudged the animal carcasses before the altar with her eyes so that only Eugene would notice. "If you search through all of those, you shall be able to salvage quite a bit."

"I shall speak to the Guard Captain later and claim them as my spoils."

Valda, having conveyed the secret, pulled away. She was the one who had become a magician of cold judgment, the girl who had bestowed unconditional sympathy having vanished.

"The number of sacrifices offered is not just one or 두. What do you think the magician would have obtained?"

"The most common thing is to refine a demonic beast. It's an evil creature distinguished from monsters that are within the providence of nature."

"It must be the fellow who killed the knights and let out the shriek." Valda nodded.

"A properly made demonic beast is a monster that crushes an ordinary knight as if they were a conscript."

"I must return to the main force at once."

"I shall create a shortcut with my magic."

"I pray you would." With Valda and Eugene in the lead, everyone exited the campsite swiftly. It's a demonic beast that murdered three knights. If it were to burst into the main force composed only of mercenaries, a disaster could occur.

* * *

The Guard Captain let out a satisfied smile as he watched the bandit pack whose formation was gradually collapsing.

"Good. If it continues this way, we shall win." The bandits kept their places as if they were believing in something even amidst the situation of being pushed back, but war is not something that can be overcome with persistence.

"He has come! The magician has come!"

"We have won!" Just then, a shout erupted from the enemy side, and the morale of the bandits rose rapidly.

"A magician?"

"Do bandit rascals call upon a magician?" The mercenary captains were flustered by the unexpected existence. At that moment, a large shadow descended upon the heads of the elite mercenaries deployed on the right-wing.

Crunch!

A subjugation force mercenary witnessed his comrade who was fighting beside him suddenly driven into the ground. A monster standing atop the corpse spitting blood bubbles looked down at him. It had a stag's head with horns, and its limbs were as thick as a grown man's torso.

Fssst! The hot breath from its nose reached his face, and it could not be more unpleasant. It felt like facing the steam of hell rather than the breath of a living creature.

Grrrr! Red eyes glared at him. His fifteen years of experience as a mercenary vanished in an instant, and the strength was drained from his legs.

"Hic." A large hoof flew at the face of the mercenary who had collapsed and was hiccupping.

Bang! Another corpse flew across the battlefield. Only then did the subjugation force recognize what manner of anomaly had occurred. A monster with a stag's head, one and a half times larger than a human, had appeared. Black fur covered it from head to toe, and its thick antlers were as long as short spears.

"W-What is that? Just what is that fellow!"

"Was this not a bandit subjugation?" The subjugation force mercenaries were plunged into a cauldron of chaos.

"M-Monster..."

"You fellows, do not be afraid! It shall not touch us! Though it is a monster, it's our monster!" The bandits were similarly struck with goosebumps, yet they desperately pushed away their fear.

"Have you come?" The leader heading the bandit pack bowed politely to the magician wearing a black robe.

"Processing the knights took some time. They clung on persistently even as they were dying."

"It's indeed amazing. There were several of those knight fellows."

A Pagan Magician and a monster from hell. The bandits' secret weapons had joined the battlefield.

"Wendigo. They are the impious ones who obstruct our faith. Tear and trample the enemies before your eyes. Decorate your horns with their entrails." At the magician's command, the Wendigo let out a roar.

Kuarhhhhh!

The subjugation force felt goosebumps across their entire bodies. It was a howling that pierced through experience, training, and even armor, to butcher the instinct of a mammal.

Neighhhhh! One lieutenant even fell from his horse as the horse he was riding went wild in surprise.

Similarly, Eugene and his subordinates, who had drawn closer to the main force, also heard the Wendigo's roar.

"Sir Knight! What we heard was that very thing!" Despite the servant's shout that was close to a scream, Eugene was calm. In contrast to even the Dark Elves having tense faces, his own instinct did not perceive the current situation as a crisis.

'I know not what manner of monster it is, but it is certainly worth a fight.'

Just as a predator gauges the superiority of strength through the scent of another predator's urine, Eugene too could feel something from the monster's roar. The instinct of a born warrior and the intuition being formed as combat experience accumulated... these two were whispering that there was no need to retreat.