Chapter 145

Chapter 145

From all sides, life hits hard, with hot breath, hot blood, and a hot body temperature.

Clang!

In front of him, Ivan deflects the axe coming straight down with his blade. He raises his arm and strikes. The sharp sound accompanies the deep cut in the enemys neck.

The one spilling blood as if gills were forming, yet even until the last moment, he swings his arm to block his path.

Immediately after, a thick forearm strikes down. Thicker than the thigh of an ordinary person, filled with muscles.

Taur nerves respond instantly. Ivan could perceive each split in the air as the small pockets of air disperse.

Clang! Clang!

At this point, every moment of battle is akin to acrobatics, allowing even one clean hit to drastically reduce combat performance.

Humans die when struck by a blade. With muscles torn, movement becomes impossible, and torn ligaments make even raising an arm difficult.

And the blade, always, is stronger than human flesh at any moment.

However.

Crunch!

Squeak.

The longsword begins its dance again. Its difficult to employ the technique of blocking one sense to enhance another, literally because all senses had to be fully utilized.

Smell detects the scent of beasts, hearing picks up the approaching noise of enemy troops, touch gropes through the currents of the wind, and sight observes the ever-changing battlefield.

A deluge of information floods his mind. This is always how one-on-one combat was.

Tiring. Its harder to endure mentally than physically. But not yet.

Clang! Clang!

Dodging the axe, cutting through the approaching foes forearm, dodging again, skirting the trajectory of the swinging warhammer, and stepping on it.

Grk?!

Ivan grabs enemy shoulder and stabs twice into the hollow of his muscle with a dagger. He severs the artery precisely and withdraws. Even without finishing, hes already a dead man.

So, next. He hurls himself toward the next one.

Clang!!

The dagger breaks. Its fine. He still has two more.

Clank! Thunk!

With a split-toothed longsword, he throws it, hitting one guys shin and charges forward. The stumbling figure seemed slow.

He grasps the falling axe and briefly gauges its weight. 11kg. Hes a mess to handle for a human. Essentially a lump of metal.

Just right.

When slaughtering cattle, you use a different knife to catch them.

Ivan starts swinging the axe. It moves differently from a sword. This time, its not about deflecting and thrusting, but about swinging and cleaving.

He walks the path.

Phew Phew.

Forward.

Forward towards the gorge. Towards them head-on. Slowly bringing down the approaching enemies, further ahead.

He clears the path. Without looking back at the dead, dying, or fatally wounded. Forward again.

Clearing a path through enemy lines could be considered a scouts duty. Forward.

Ignoring the calories depleted by intense activity, the rising body heat, the slowly tilting sun overhead, such unnecessary information is disregarded, and forward again.

Muscles exuding lactic acid, the pain of trying to inhale more oxygen, the tension pushing the brain to its limits until its throbbing.

Ignoring such useless information, and forward again.

Killing them, making the path.

Thats his role. Always stepping forward.

Huff Huh.

Emulating Einars battles, mimicking Maximilians stances, imitating Jills postures.

Piecing together the scattered lessons of past days like a mosaic, fitting them into the situation like a puzzle.

Forward.

*

Bargadals warband has disappeared.

Yes, My Lord.

Where? Where was the last place he was spotted?

It was Vertmon.

Yet

Im ten times better than you, Jill Ber.

From the gorge to this spot, there are probably more dead Taurs bodies in this forest than trees.

*

Its not too late, is it?

We couldnt have prepared any faster.

For several days now, Serte had been anxiously coaxing Noar, who had been on edge. They had done their best for the past four days.

With forces gathered hastily to the point where sleep was almost impossible, and lords coerced under the name of Etarique to gather.

Supply lines were out of the question, so the combat operation would last only a few days at most. After that, the army would naturally disband or defect.

But perhaps that was for the best. If an army of this size were to be maintained for a long time, it would undoubtedly be seen as an excuse for rebellion.

Fire! Fire spotted!

This direction its not related to the trench at all.

Lets go see. We might learn something about where the battle took place.

All forces, prepare for combat!

Black smoke was rising beyond the forest. Since Vertmon had been completely swallowed up by the demons, it was unlikely that the peaceful folk were working in the fields. Therefore, the fire was most likely caused by demons. It seemed to be some kind of camp.

That guy really did tie them up in this forest for five days. Truly alone.

Baron Noar led the soldiers with a soft admiration. Soldiers, made up of small farmers, followed them, wielding old spears.

Traces of battle!

It must have been a fierce battle!

About an hours walk later, the first corpse appeared. It was already a decaying Taurs corpse. From the severely mutilated state to the blood stains scattered around, and the trees around it, it was clear that the battle had been intense.

Five of them. They caught five head-on against the Taurs.

The path continues!

The knight leading the vanguard shouted. A wide path had been cleared enough for two thousand infantrymen to pass through with difficulty.

Through the crumbling forest, the soldiers, holding their spears tightly, advanced with fearful faces.

Looking at the corpses of dead demons and the unmistakable trail they had created, one couldnt help but feel fear. To peasant farmers, Taurs were nothing short of nightmares.

The deep forest was dimly lit under the afternoon sun. Despite the wide-open path, the darkness engulfed the forest horizontally, making it seem like demons could leap out at any moment.

After comforting the frightened peasants for a while longer, the vanguard shouted that they had found corpses.

Another battle took place here

From the traces, it seems more like tracking.

Using the terrain of the forest to engage little by little and buy time? For five days? It sends shivers down the spine.

Serte swallowed hard as he looked at the corpses. The shattered bodies of Taurs were scattered everywhere.

The vanguard shouted again that they had found corpses, only about ten more minutes away.

Again, five minutes later, he shouted that they had found corpses, following even larger signs of battle.

Again, and again, and again.

Now, no one in the group spoke up. Not even the vanguard reported back.

What is this?

They were in the forest. A forest made not of trees, but of corpses of Taurs.

No matter where they looked, all they saw was the debris of dead Taurs on the road.

The afternoon sun was setting in the west.

One person accomplished all this?

The path was cleared. A narrow, precarious, stinking path.

A path filled with the remains of intestines, muscles, flesh, blood, and countless crows pecking at corpses scattered everywhere.

At the end of the grim path lined with Taurs corpses, a small bonfire was burning.

Oh, Lord.

Serte murmured with a trembling hand reaching for the hilt of his sword, involuntarily tensing his muscles.

Slaughterer

I wouldnt be able to boast to that extent.

That was Einars nickname.

Ivan, who had been sitting in front of the bonfire, slowly stood up.

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