Chapter 36

Chapter 36 - The First Subjugation War (7)

The Pagan Magician was one who served Kalash, the God of Hungry Stigmas. He offered living sacrifices, engraved evil tattoos, and researched monsters. Since it cost much money and he could not reside in towns or cities, it reached the point where he joined a bandit pack.

'The knight I bestowed the baptism upon is dead. Accursed be it!' The Magician maintained a dignified expression before the bandits, yet he felt a bitter ache within. For he felt the magic he had engraved upon the knight dissipating. Even if a demonic beast is strong, there exists a realm where only a human knight can assist. That knight, who was intoxicated with power, had abandoned his humanity and joined Kalash, was the Magician's treasure.

"God damn it! Where are those knight fellows dallying? Are knights not supposed to be for catching monsters!" As the right-wing, where elite mercenaries were deployed, was slaughtered by the Wendigo, the aftermath reached the center and left-wings as well.

"Split them all apart!" As the Gord Mountain Tribe swung their axes and rushed the left-wing, both flanks began to be pushed back simultaneously. The slingers also had to retreat from the high ground as the ally line collapsed and the enemy burst in.

"Argh!" The Wendigo skewered two mercenaries on its antlers and shook them violently. Pieces of blood and entrails were scattered in all directions from the air.

"Waaaaah!" The mercenaries who were hit by it on their faces like rain, whether they were newcomers or veterans, lost their fighting spirit without exception.

"Maintain the formation! If you desert now, you shall be summarily executed..."

Crunch! The mercenary captain who was encouraging them was hit by a rock thrown by the Wendigo and turned into a bloody mess. The mercenaries who lost their captain scattered in all directions.

"Fire! I said fire!"

"B-But our allies..."

"Shut it and fire! Shall you just watch as that monster-scab comes before us?" One terrified mercenary captain urged his subordinates.

Crossbow bolts were fired in a volley, but the Wendigo cleverly moved while keeping the subjugation force in its path. Depending on the situation, it also ran while hugging the ground on all fours.

"Argh!"

"Ack!"

"You sons of bitches! Where are you firing?!" Thanks to that, only accidental friendly fire occurred. The members of the subjugation force fell while clutching their defenseless backs, buttocks, and thighs.

"D-Do not come! I said do not come!"

"Giggle. Making a living as a mercenary is truly hard. Is it not? That is why I also quit."

"Have mercy! I must return home..."

"I shall send you to a place better than home." The wounded met their death at the hands of the bandits who approached with a smirk.

Grrrr! The Wendigo, on all fours, charged and swung its antlers in all directions.

"Lower the shields! Block the lower part!" A veteran mercenary shouted, but it was of no use. Due to the difference in strength, the shields were knocked away in an instant. The mercenaries, whose ankles, shins, and thighs were caught and shattered or torn by the sharp antlers, fell all around and wailed.

"If the master magician is with us, no subjugation force shall be able to look down on us." The bandit chief had a smile across his face. He was one who had lived a life of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He plundered if he saw the weak, and fled if he saw the strong. Yet seeing the strong ones who came to catch him being smashed and fleeing instead... he felt a pleasure that was like a drug.

"For that purpose, more sacrifices are necessary."

"Of course! Even when plundering, I have made sure they absolutely do not touch the livestock. The merchant guild that has a secret pact with us shall also send cattle soon."

'It's not as if we are offering humans; a bit of livestock is naught.' Even for a bandit chief with a ruined life, he would not have joined if the Magician were one who performed human sacrifice. He would have fled out of fear before considering morality. But if he could receive this level of martial support by offering beasts, there was no reason to refuse.

"At this rate, we shall be annihilated! We must retreat!"

"Ask me to show my back in this situation?" At the lieutenant's words, the Guard Captain replied with a bewildered face.

"Even if we stay still, we shall all die anyway. We must deploy those to be placed in the rear and withdraw."

But with a monster approaching, decorated with human entrails hanging from its antlers and holding a burst head in each hand, who would wish to remain?

"God damn it! I shall block it, so everyone retreat!"

"Captain!"

"There is no time for useless talk, so shut it and move!" The reason the Bonyard Guard Captain could maintain leadership among the mercenary captains was because of this spirit of leading by example.

Just then, Eugene arrived at the hill on the right side of the subjugation force, leading the rescue party.

"Fire!"

Arrows rained down on the bandits who were carving into the collapsed right-wing of the subjugation force. Powerful composite bows, the archery of the Dark Elves, the high ground, and the defenseless exposed flank... as these four elements combined, the bandits who were hit in their vital spots toppled over in heaps.

* * *

"The knight fellow... nay, the Sir Knight has come!"

"It's the Victorious Knight!" As Eugene atop his warhorse appeared on the battlefield, a single ray of hope appeared on the faces of the fleeing subjugation force.

Twang! Twang! Even at that moment, the Dark Elves continued to fire their arrows.

"Urgh!"

"Argh!"

Backs, ankles, thighs, necks, flanks, armpits... an atrocious marksmanship that precisely planted arrows in the places not covered by a shield. The bandits fell without even knowing which part to cover.

"Master Magician!"

"I know. Those fellows shall also soon become corpses." At the chief's shout, the Magician of Kalash nodded.

'Just how are there so many of these knight fellows? They continue to crawl out no matter how many are killed.' The Magician grumbled while concentrating his mind on the stigma on his forehead. His will was transmitted to the stigma engraved on the Wendigo's forehead.

Fwip! The gaze of the monster, burning with a slaughterous instinct, turned toward Eugene. After letting out a fierce roar, it charged forward with its antlers leading the way.

"The Wendigo! To think they have summoned such a heinous demonic beast!" Valda was astonished at the Magician's level, which was more advanced than she had imagined.

"Ignore the bandits! Concentrate on that monster fellow!" At Rex's command, a concentrated fire was delivered to a single point.

"Eh?"

"Argh!" The Wendigo reached out its arms to both sides and grabbed two bandits. Its hands were so large that it could hold a grown man's torso with a single hand. Of course, it did not care for the safety of the people it had grabbed.

"Cough!"

"Ugh!" The bandits spat blood. Their abdominal skin was torn by claw-like nails, and their organs were crushed by the strength of its grip. Fortunately, their pain ended quickly.

Thump, thump! It was because the Wendigo used the two as shields to receive the arrows. The human shields died, but the Wendigo suffered no damage.

'The mounted flail shall not work. For he is such a fast fellow that he shall be upon us in an instant, and the chains might become entangled in those thick antlers.' Eugene organized his thoughts and gave another command.

"Continue to fire."

"Yes!" The Dark Elves also were afraid at the sight of the demonic beast closing in rapidly, yet they bit their lips. If they fled here, the name of the Blackhand tribe would be tarnished.

Thump, thump! The Wendigo also blocked the second volley with the corpses, but that was enough. The monster's vision being obscured by the human shields... that was all Eugene had wished for.

Whizzzzz! A javelin imbued with monstrous strength rushed through the air, tearing it apart.

Snort. At the recoil, Might even lost its posture and pulled back. By the time the Wendigo set aside the human shields, the javelin had arrived right before it.

Thwack! The javelin was planted in the Wendigo's right arm, and the fellow let out a scream full of pain for the first time.

"Damn it." He had aimed for the chest, but as Might moved, unable to endure the force, the aim strayed and the power also decreased.

Valda closed her eyes and recited an incantation. Grass seeds and vines that she had treated with magic were wrapped around the javelin.

"Sprout! Harbor thorns! Take the flesh and blood where you have taken root as nourishment!" The Wendigo pulled out the javelin, but the rapidly growing stems and thorns encircled its right arm.

Kyahhhhh! As the thorns dug into the perforated flesh and ravaged the muscle fibers, the fellow could not endure the intense pain. The Wendigo tried to brush away the vines wrapped around its arm, but it could not even touch them because of the horribleness of the sharp and tough thorns.

"Now it shall be unable to use its right arm."

"Splendid! Everyone, fall back!" The Wendigo, crazed with rage, had now almost reached them.

"Go! Might." Eugene jumped from the horse while slapping its rump to send it to the rear. And then he threw a second javelin. Unlike the first shot, it was a javelin with his strength properly imbued.

Whirrrr! The Wendigo, who was keeping its wits, quickly rolled to the side to avoid it. The javelin flew in a straight line as it was and was planted at the front of the bandit ranks.

Thud! Two bandits were skewered by the javelin and died without even being able to scream. The strength imbued in the javelin did not disappear even after that.

"Die, you dog... Hut!"

"W-What is that!" The members of the subjugation force and the bandits who were about to swing weapons at each other were startled and pulled back. The kebab of corpses rolled away as if bouncing between them.

"..."

"..." At that unbelievable sight, the fight was halted. Everyone's gaze moved to the place where the javelin had flown from.

Kuarhhhhh! There, a knight holding an iron shield and a silver sword was entering into battle with a black monster.

Whoosh! The Wendigo swung its right hand, but Eugene avoided it with ease. In an instant, the fellow's flank was exposed.

'It's a trap. I must not enter.' As the clawing failed, the Wendigo used rotation to deliver a roundhouse kick with its hoof. It was the attack that had crushed Knight Osram's chest. Eugene avoided even that and swung his sword.

Flash! As the silver sword-light flickered, the Wendigo's brawny chest was split open and blood poured out. From the feeling that reached his hand, it seemed he had even sliced through a rib.

Kyahahaha! The Wendigo, enraged as only it continued to be injured, performed a brute-force headbutt. The giant antlers covered Eugene's upper body. It was the attack that had pierced Knight Cain's belly.

'I cannot avoid this.' Eugene felt as if he had stepped into a trap where the floor gave way and he was falling into the stakes beneath the black earth.

Clang! The circular shield made of solid iron and the antlers collided, and brilliant sparks flew. The fellow's antlers were also of a material close to metallic. Eugene pressed his right arm holding the sword against the back of the shield to distribute the impact as he blocked it.

That roar! The yellow and red spark fragments flying in all directions! Everyone watching shuddered, imagining what would have happened to them had they been in that situation. However, Eugene firmly endured the headbutt with only a single step being dragged back.

Flash! As he immediately swung the sword, the Wendigo's left arm fell to the ground.

'It's indeed a divine object left by Luiamor.' The precious sword left by the ancient Elven royalty, the Blade of Last Autumn, severed the thick muscle and bone of the demonic beast in an instant.

Kerr-! For the first time, fear was harbored in the eyes of the Wendigo, which had been nothing but ferocious. Its trusted antler headbutt did not work and both its arms were neutralized, so it felt as if it would truly die at this rate. Above all, its instinct as a beast warned it. That the enemy before its eyes was an opponent it could never defeat.

But the realization was too late. Eugene's kick struck the Wendigo's knee.

Crunch! With the loud sound of bones breaking, the shin bone pierced through the skin at the back of the knee.

"Wooooooooh!" As the Wendigo fell to its knees, cheers filled the battlefield.

"The monster has knelt!"

"Kill it! Sir Knight!" The standing knight and the kneeling monster. At the symbolic sight, the subjugation force mercenaries shouted while clashing their weapons and shields.

"This is somehow..."

"Should we not be fleeing soon?" On the other hand, the sign of wanting to flee began to flow among the bandits as they scanned the situation.

'What are you doing? Fight back like a servant of Kalash!' The Magician continued to send thoughts through the tattoo, but the Wendigo did not follow the control. It tried to flee by crawling with its broken knee.

Flash! As the sword blade flickered once more, blood erupted from behind the knee of the intact side. As the ACL and meniscus were severed, the Wendigo toppled forward.

Eugene took the rear of the fallen fellow. Setting aside the shield, he firmly pulled the large antlers with his left hand and tried to thrust the sword into its neck.

Kuarhhhhhh! The Wendigo squeezed out its final strength and shook its head spasmodically. However, having its antlers caught by a hand wearing a gauntlet, it could not escape. Eugene struck the fellow's cheek with his fist holding the sword.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cough! From the steel punches, blood flowed from the Wendigo's nose and mouth. As the resistance subsided, the sword was driven into its neck.

Grrrrrrk! Eugene stepped on the fellow's back and gave even more strength to the hand holding the antlers.

Slit. The blade advanced, severing the esophagus and trachea, and emerged out. From the split neck, blood sprayed forward like a fountain.

Rip! Eugene tore off the head of the Wendigo, which was hanging precariously with only the back of the neck remaining. The headless monster's corpse shook for a moment and then fell forward.

Thud!

Eugene's appearance as he looked down upon the battlefield with the monster's head in his left hand and the sword in his right... it was a picture and described a 'Knight' in a single scene.

"Now is the time! All troops, charge!" At the Guard Captain's command, who had regained his senses, the subjugation force let out a shout and rushed in. The majority of the bandit pack were already fleeing while showing their backs.

"This is unbelievable... O Kalash. Just what, just what should I..." The Magician murmured, having lost his wits. The bandit chief who had been flattering him beside him had run off long ago.