Chapter 131 - A Duel That Changed the Battlefield
Chapter 131 - A Duel That Changed the Battlefield
Rem was elated.
Ragna, feeling the spark, burned with newfound determination.
Audin, through his duel with Enkrid, felt as if he had received an answer.
His prayers to the Lord had always been questions, yet no answer ever came.
The Lord wielded silence as a weapon.
And within that silence, it was their duty to seek the answers.
Still, at times—very rarely—Audin believed the Lord did grant answers.
Even if He did not speak in voice, He conveyed His will through other means.
Through that duel, Audin felt he had received an answer from Enkrid.
Or at least, it felt that way.
"For all his efforts, what does that man hope to gain? Will his efforts bear fruit?"
It took but a moment for one man's struggle to reach the depths of Audin's long-held questions.
"If we are commanded to protect the weak, why do you not shield them, Lord? Why do you not grant them the rewards of their struggle?"
Strength and weakness.
Good and evil.
The age-old questions.
Why did those he deemed evil prosper, while those he considered righteous suffered?
He had witnessed both the fall of virtuous weaklings and the collapse of noble warriors.
Even in the temples, supposed to be the Lord's cradle and foundation, evil had flourished.
Why did the Lord merely watch?
Why did He not cast judgment?
Why did the inquisitors only bind the weak to carts lined with thorns?
And why did the Lord remain silent in the face of it all?
Yet amidst all this, there was a man who lived as if he could drink the river dry with sheer will.
A man who always stood unwavering before him, like the sun rising every morning, unchanged.
If the Lord truly existed, He ought to answer to him.
A man who burned himself alive in his convictions should not be forsaken.
Was there truly divine intervention?
Audin did not know.
He could not know.
But it did not matter.
Because in knowing Enkrid, in the days spent by his side, Audin had learned something.
"The questions lie within me."
And the answers, too, were within himself.
Through that duel, he felt as though he had found the answer to his questions.
To speak honestly and truthfully—
A sense of liberation filled his chest.
Enough that he would not mind crushing a few enemy skulls in this very moment.
Thus, Enkrid's duel had spurred Audin into action.
Just as it had roused Rem.
Just as it had ignited Ragna.
No one had known before, and no one would know after, but in that moment—
It was Enkrid's relentless spirit that had shifted the tides of the battlefield.
His duel had shaken the hearts of the entire squad, sending them forth into the fray.
"Lord, today I send these souls to Your side."
Killing could be a sin.
Yet, it could also not be.
All religions were reflections of their time.
Audin was no exception.
His Lord did not shy away from bloodshed.
If necessary, he would not hesitate.
Without restraint, he would send new souls to serve at the Lord's side.
Audin strode forward.
His allies murmured as they recognized him, then fell silent.
"Those who have received the coin of the goddess of fortune would do well to step aside."
Audin spoke with benevolence and mercy.
The mist clouded their vision, allowing them to see only what lay immediately before them.
One enemy soldier caught sight of Audin and sneered.
"Trying to imitate our giant, are you?"
It was an understandable mistake.
Audin's faint smile did not waver.
He was neither offended nor irritated.
There was no need for anger when he could simply send his foe to the Lord's side to seek forgiveness.
There was no room for a man's petty displeasure in this moment.
"I do not pretend to be anything else, brother."
"Brother, my ass."
The enemy stood a few paces away, spears at the ready.
Audin slowly began to count.
"Five."
No one understood the meaning of his numbers.
"The hell is he saying? Kill him!"
The battlefield had ignited at the arrival of a giant.
The soldiers were now swept up in that heat.
One of the enemy spearmen lunged forward.
Tap.
Audin brushed the spearhead aside with the back of his hand.
Softly, outward.
The blade lost its trajectory along the flow of his movement.
The soldier nearly toppled over before regaining his balance.
"Four."
Audin continued his count.
"You bastard!"
The soldier gestured to his men.
He was their squad leader.
The unit quickly surrounded Audin.
Spears were the finest weapons an infantryman could wield.
Now, ten spear tips were trained on Audin.
One man, encircled by a squad of ten.
"Three."
Audin counted again.
"What a lunatic."
Even as he spoke, the squad leader felt a creeping unease.
A chill ran down his back, and his stomach churned.
What had that been earlier?
How had he brushed away a spear with his bare hand?
Was he wearing something?
He had gloves on—thin, white ones—but they did not look like combat gauntlets.
And his hands... were abnormally large.
"Two."
As he thought, the count continued.
The squad leader spat onto the ground.
"Tch, kill him."
The command was given.
"One."
Audin's final number left his lips.
It was a final mercy.
A last kindness, for those who had received the goddess's coin, to step away.
"Just for today."
For today, he answered the call of the War God.
But he would not become the War God's apostle.
Not yet.
Audin hoped an enemy as formidable as the giant would appear before him.
If he was to invoke the name of the War God, he wished for a worthy battle.
"Then."
As the spears lunged toward him, he uttered a single, emotionless word.
"Zero."
The instant it fell, Audin drew his weapon.
Not a cherished blade.
His beloved weapon had been left behind at the temple.
This was merely a substitute.
A wooden club, oiled for durability.
No metal reinforcements, no iron spikes—just wood.
And yet, it was enough.
Whoosh.
To the enemy spearmen, it seemed as if Audin had vanished.
Of course, that was not the case.
He had merely bent backward at the waist, nearly reclining to avoid their thrusts.
Three spears came at him simultaneously, all aimed at his chest.
Audin, displaying a flexibility unbefitting his massive frame, pushed off the ground with the soles of his feet and rose to his feet.
Then, he casually swung his club once.
Whoosh.
Crash!
With a single sweeping arc, three spear shafts were sent clattering to the right.
"Whoa!"
As the three spear-wielding soldiers lost their balance and staggered, Audin took another bold step forward.
Then, his club came crashing down on an enemy soldier's head.
Thud!
One head, one strike.
Whoosh, thud! Whoosh, thud!
One by one, three heads burst open in an instant.
Audin, despite his bulk, was as swift as a squirrel.
"...Huh?"
It was the same pattern over and over.
Whether it was a spear thrust or a throwing knife, he either dodged them roughly or caught them midair and flung them right back.
Then, as he closed the distance and struck with his club—
Thud!
Their heads burst like ripe pumpkins.
No, at this rate, heads seemed even softer than pumpkins.
A Naurilian soldier observing from behind clicked his tongue.
"That's a monster."
Dodge and strike—that's all it took to win.
But knowing that and executing it were two entirely different things.
Thud—another head exploded.
At first, he used only two clubs.
Then, when the enemy began firing arrows and charging in, he started using his feet.
At that point, it felt like watching a charging cavalry unit.
Every opponent who came near was sent flying.
"Hahahaha!"
The monstrous ally let out a hearty laugh.
"May the blessing of the whole body be with me!"
And then he shouted again.
'That guy is mad.'
Still, for the Naurilian soldiers watching, there was some relief—at least this lunatic was on their side.
"Charge forward, all of you!"
The command unit was quick to grasp the situation.
As the tide shifted, the entire army surged forward.
Amidst it all, Audin rampaged at the center of the enemy ranks.
"You! Where do you think you're going?!"
A few exceptional warriors from the Grey Hounds unit leaped in to challenge him.
However—
"Welcome, brothers!"
Audin feigned an opening with his club, then swiftly withdrew it, pivoted on his left foot, and launched a kick.
A kick executed with thighs as thick as logs, seamlessly connected with his entire body's weight.
Smash!
Crack!
A casual mid-kick folded the opponent in half.
How could a kick have such power?
Did he have steel greaves strapped to his legs or something?
With a single blow, a man's body bent in half, his organs rupturing.
His face turned crimson as the capillaries in his eyes burst.
The impact sent the victim flying, knocking over three or four other enemy soldiers.
"The hell is this?!"
The enemy troops could only stare in disbelief.
Audin fought like an antlion's pit—devouring everything that approached.
***
The fairy company commander fixed his gaze on the approaching opponent.
The enemy was also a fairy.
Encountering a fellow kin on the battlefield was no longer a rarity.
Times had changed.
Gone were the days when fairies huddled together in secluded forests.
A closed-off society inevitably decayed.
And once forgotten, whether gods or fairies, they would eventually lose their homes to invading hands.
The choices of past generations had shaped the lives of their descendants.
Some had traded their years for krona.
That meant serving in the military, either as mercenaries or for other forms of compensation.
Thus, Fairy Company Commander Shinar saw little difference between herself and her opponent.
Whether for krona or some other reason—
Once they stood as enemies, they had no choice but to fight.
"A Needle Sword?"
There were two distinct swords among the fairies.
The Leaf Blade—Naidyr.
And the piercing weapon, the Needle Sword—Needle.
Exclusive weapons of their kind, now facing off with different purposes.
"So, there's another fairy."
The Aspen fairy was a sharp-eyed man.
His hair was cut short, and his lips were set in a firm, determined line.
Well, most fairies were stubborn.
Even Shinar had to admit that.
The tip of his opponent's blade was stained red, droplets of blood falling to the ground.
By now, the surrounding troops had withdrawn into a loose circle around them.
One was a company commander.
The other, a hidden blade prepared by the army.
"If you run, I won't chase you down to kill you."
The man spoke.
Shinar, looking at the bloodstained Needle in his hands, drew her own sword.
Ting.
A Leaf Blade—Naidyr.
"That should've been my line."
In the next moment, their swords clashed.
The duel did not last long.
Shinar was several steps ahead of the Needle-wielding fairy.
Talent, skill, experience, and cunningness—
Her opponent could not surpass her in any of these.
After a few swift exchanges, Shinar's Leaf Blade grazed the man's throat.
Slash!
From the sensation in her hands, she knew she had secured the kill.
The fairy clutched his neck and collapsed forward.
Watching him fall, Shinar felt a wave of irritation.
'Bastards.'
This was a trap.
The real attack was coming next.
While she fought this one, at least three killing intents had locked onto her.
They had used bait to draw her attention and then aimed to strike from behind.
An assassination attempt on a commander—this was their method.
Their objective was blatantly obvious.
The only anomaly was that none of this man's allies had come to save him before his death.
That's why his eyes remained wide open in death.
'Pathetic.'
Of course, in war, underhanded tactics could be an advantage—
If they succeeded.
Unfortunately, the enemy lost their chance to display their disgrace.
There had been a murderous intent, but it had vanished.
There could be two reasons for this.
One, the enemy gave up and fled.
The other, an external force had intervened.
The answer was the latter.
A man was wiping his sword against the clothes of a corpse.
His brown eyes carried a tinge of red.
His hair, a similar reddish-brown hue, was of moderate length and entirely free of blood splatters.
No, Fairy Company Commander Shinar had never once seen that man covered in blood.
He was always impeccably clean.
Ah, except for when he was mingling with prostitutes—his attire would be in shambles then.
She had seen him like that before.
Walking out after finishing his business with a woman.
"Here?"
"Had nothing better to do."
Jaxen responded to the company commander's question.
Not that he was any different.
Watching Enkrid, Jaxen couldn't help but feel pleased with his growth.
If he stayed by his side, he wouldn't be able to resist commenting on it.
His mouth itched to say something.
His hands, too, itched for action.
Somewhere, he wanted to let it all out.
And it seemed some fitting targets had just stepped up.
Jaxen pushed through the fog and followed behind the Fairy Company Commander.
He slit the throats of three assassins.
It wasn't difficult.
His opponents were fairies, whose skills were remarkable by ordinary standards, yet to Jaxen, they were nothing special.
Rather than properly trained fighters, they were more like those who had honed their natural talent through experience.
In a way, they were the easiest kind of enemies for Jaxen to handle.
"Just leaving your captain behind?"
At the fairy's question, Jaxen tilted his head.
"If he were going to die in a place like this, he would've been dead long ago."
It was the highest praise.
Because it meant he believed in Enkrid.
He no longer needed to watch over him.
'Next time.'
Rather than footwork, it was time to teach him something else.
Once he sharpened his senses, what came next in training?
After opening the gate of the sixth sense—
'Observe well and respond accordingly.'
Still things that required time and effort to master.
Had he ever properly taught something like this before?
Didn't seem like it.
"Sigh."
Lost in thought, Jaxen let out a sigh, wondering why he was taking this so seriously.
Truthfully, it wasn't even something he needed to teach.
The Fairy Company Commander took note of this and spoke.
"This battalion commander is no fool. He knows how to read the flow of battle."
Did she think he sighed because the unit wasn't moving?
That wasn't it.
Jaxen was someone who rarely revealed his true thoughts.
The Fairy Company Commander didn't misinterpret his sigh.
What interest would that madman have in matters like this?
It was just that Jaxen happened to be there.
And he had just demonstrated his skills by eliminating three assassins.
Her words meant that the tides were shifting.
And her voice reached the ears of the surrounding soldiers, not Jaxen.
The momentum was about to change, and with it, victory would follow.
"All units, form up!"
At her command, the five company members who had merely been standing by as escorts now took position behind her.
The moment those words left her mouth, war horns blared from all directions, and messengers began to run.
Just as she had said—
Marcus knew how to seize the flow of battle.