VOLUME 3: CHAPTER 159 – MANEUVERING (1/2)
Of the holy knights of Germion Kingdom, the ones watching over the south were the Ripper Knight, Sivara, and the Sharp-Eyed Knight, Jize. They have been working together to avoid the Kushain believers as they accepted the refugees.
“We’ve finally secured the refugees. What are we going to do with all these documents? Jize, my stomach hurts, so—” Sivara said.
“Don’t worry. I know full well that despite what your mouth says, you’re actually a great man who can get things done,” Jize said.
“Umm, ok, but can you not say that while pointing your sword at my neck. What are you going to do if I die?” Sivara asked.
“Please, Lord Sivara, something of this level couldn’t possibly touch you. Here, look!” Jize said as he thrust his sword into Sivara’s neck.
The sword thrust swiftly, but Sivara reflexively dodged it by a hair’s breadth.
Sivara drew cold sweat as he asked, “…is there something you’re unhappy about?”
“Don’t worry, I have a policy of not letting my emotions affect my work. It just so happens that while I was busy handling the documents for those refugees, I overheard the soldiers making a fuss about some victory party. On top of that, one of the subordinate warriors I had my eyes on was taken away, and when I thought I would finally get the chance to duel someone, my partner was taken away. Not to mention, the florist, Ms. Chen whom I adored so much was speaking fondly of someone… But, don’t worry! Because I don’t mind any of these things one bit!” Jize said.
Sivara’s eyes started to water upon hearing of poor Jize’s misfortunes.
“Come, Lord Sivara,” Jize said as he pointed his sword at Sivara.
A great pressure emanated from his drawn blade.
Jize was a man in his middle 30s. He was full of vitality and – true to his name – one of his eyes was covered by a patch with a skull for design.
He was not a veteran as old as Gowen, but he was a veteran nonetheless, and much of his achievements have left its mark on history.
That very man had a smile on his face as if nothing else could be better.
Jize was a user of the eastern curved sword arts and was taller by a head compared to other soldiers. The smile he wore on his face that gave him the image of a good uncle was put together solely by the efforts of his muscles.
The man he was smiling at was the only general of the south, Sivara. He was a young knight who would be reaching 29 this year. Though not comparable to Gene, he was also born in a small noble household and had joined the army to feed himself. He had a good face and blonde hair that was sure to catch attention.
His serene personality was a hit among the women, such that even in the capital, he would be fighting for first or second rank in terms of fame.
As a result, in the cities he had been initially appointed to, he has also come to be known as the archenemy of husbands with daughters, ‘Ripper Knight, the Marriage Destroyer.’
“I get it! I get it already! I’ll go work, so please put away that dangerous thing. Also, I haven’t laid my hand on Noa, so I’m innocent!”
“So you say, even though I’ve never called her by name!”
Raging flames could be seen from the depths of Jize’s eyes.
“Wa, wa!?” Sivara screamed as he dodged Jize’s thrusts.
“Nu… It seems my lack of sleep has dulled my movements,” Jize said.
“S-Seems so. You know what they say, lack of sleep is the archenemy of a sword master,” Sivara said.
Sivara, who had been sleeping snugly last night, shivered as Jize smiled at him.
“In that case, I shall be resting for the next three days. I take it, you will be able to accomplish your duty without fail, right, Lord Sivara?” Jize asked.
“Of course,” Sivara said.
“While I don’t think it possible, but in the one-in-a-million chance that upon waking up I find that you did not do your job, then…”
Before Sivara had noticed it, Jize’s curved sword was already sheathed. Jize slowly drew that blade from its sheath once more, causing the light of day to bounce off it and illuminate his face.
The resulting image was a smiling demon.
After Jize vanished from the room like a ghost, Sivara sighed.
“Good grief, that guy is too serious,” he complained.
That being said he needed to do something about the pile of documents in front of him.
“I’m really unlucky,” Sivara said with a languid expression.
He put away one document, and then another. When he reached the fifth document, Sivara’s countenance suddenly paled.
“A request for reinforcements… From Lord Gowen?”
As he read the contents, Sivara was shocked.
“What day is it!?”
Hitting the table, Sivara jumped up and called out across the hallway in a cool voice unlike his usual self.
“Wake Lord Jize up and quickly gather the platoon commanders! Have the non-patrolling soldiers prepare their clothes, and instruct them to wait at the barracks!”
Sivara clicked his tongue as he watched his subordinate run through the hallway, then he looked back at the desk.
“To go west from here… The path would be… We’ll have to send a notice. What about the defense?” Sivara muttered to himself.
“Lord Sivara…” Jize called out.
“Lord Jize, look at this!” Sivara said as he handed the letter.
Jize had the face of a demon from hell, but upon seeing Sivara’s panicked face, even he could not help but reluctantly take the letter.
“A request for reinforcements from Lord Gowen… But this date…” Jize said.
“It probably got lost in the tumult of the enemy attacks,” Sivara said.
“What a disaster!” Jize cried.
All that sleepiness was blown away in one instant, and Sivara and Jize had to discuss how they would be moving.
Three days later, Sivara led 400 soldiers from the south to the west.
“Damn it all! Hurry, hurry!”
Within the Forest of Darkness was a horde of goblins desperately running.
“Pops, this pace is too fast!”
“Stupid! Stupid! I can’t believe I actually missed the king!”
The goblin at the lead swung his spear as he ran, pushing away the branches as he led his horde.
The goblin ran so fast that if the Paradua goblins could see him even they would be shocked.
The goblins running behind him could barely follow, and their weapons all showed signs of long use.
The goblin that called him ‘pops’, who was bigger than him by one size, used his axe to push away the thickets.
“Oi, you bastards! What do you think you’re doing running so slow!? Hurry up and follow pops!”
When that big goblin turned around, he rebuked the slower rare goblins and the even slower normal goblins.
In response, the goblins cried ‘Gya’ ‘Gya’ as they chased after their pops.
“Nu!?”
“Pops, there’s a beast up ahead! There’s three of ’em!”
The goblin leading and the goblin behind him noticed it at almost the same time.
“Kill them while running! No mercy shall be shown to those who impede this Gi Zu Ruo’s path! After me, Ved!”
The four-armed monkeys approached them, but they did not slow down their pace in the slightest. With four arms to help them wreak destruction, the four-armed monkey barrel was a powerful group of beasts
Gi Zu ran without hesitation into the gaps between the four-armed monkeys, then as he brought back the spear he’d been using to brush away the obstructing branches, he plunged into the barrel of monkeys.
Two of the four-armed monkeys jumped up the tree, while one stayed behind to receive Gi Zu’s attack.
If Gi Zu were to try and attack the 2 monkeys at the trees, he wouldn’t be able to dodge the attack of the monkey at the bottom, but if he were to ignore them and jump, they would attack him.
The monkeys at the top took out roughly shaved branches for weapons, while the monkey at the bottom started throwing rocks at Gi Zu.
Gi Zu only turned his neck to dodge those rocks as he made his way for that one monkey.
“GIGIyaaAAa!” The four-armed monkey cried out as it attacked Gi Zu with its arm.
A powerful wind erupted from that attack, causing the nearby branches to be blown away, but it could not even graze Gi Zu, for when Gi Zu saw the incoming attack, he immediately jumped onto the monkey, and using it as leverage, pushed himself even further.
When the monkeys at the top of the trees saw him jump, they jumped down with their weapons.
But Gi Zu was waiting for them.
“GURUUuOOAaAA!”
Gi Zu struck out with his iron spear, clashing with the monkey’s shaved branch. The shaved branch was no match for Gi Zu’s spear, and his spear easily penetrated the monkey’s body.
Gi Zu did not stop there. With his spear still lodged into the monkey’s body, he mustered his strength and threw the monkey into the other descending monkey.
“I don’t have time to play with monkeys!”
Gi Zu retrieved his spear, and without even bothering to turn around, started running.
“Out of the way, monkeys!”
Right after Gi Zu, came Zu Ved.
The monkey that Gi Zu jumped on was still dazed, but unfortunately for it, it would have no opportunity to make heads or tails of what happened, for an axe very quickly descended on its skull followed by a sharp blow.
Like that Zu Ved followed after Gi Zu.
After Zu Ved came the rest of the horde, one after another, each one leaving another blow on the helpless monkeys.
By the time Gi Zu’s entire horde had passed, there was nothing left of the monkeys but a bunch of corpses that looked like old rags.
◆◆◇
Yuan, who was tasked with the duty of protecting the colonial city, was worried over the goblins’ attack. Fortunately, the goblins couldn’t easily climb over the walls.
But then nightfall came.
To the humans who couldn’t see in the darkness, nighttime was a great disadvantage. After all, even their proud ballista would be useless if it couldn’t hit.
The goblins had tried to fill the moat behind the outer wall earlier, so Yuan had his men set up watch fires during the afternoon. That way they could light it up later in the night to let them see. He saw the goblins try to put them out, but they were prepared for them, so they had little success.
Other than sight, the howls of the beasts during the night were also a problem.
The howls of the beasts greatly unsettled the cattle, so much so that there were reports of them becoming highly strung.
The cattle were important to the colonial city. It would be horrible if they were to lose them.
By this time, Yuan had already been forced to reverse his sleeping schedule. Because of that his eyes were bloodshot and there was a deep crease on his forehead.
“Commander! The oil is ready!” A soldier reported.
“Good. Let’s teach those goblins a lesson,” Yuan said.
Since they couldn’t see well in the dark, they would remove that darkness. No matter how deep the bosom of the night god was, the power of the god of fire was greater.
Yuan picked out a good time, then he had his men ready their bows. As his soldiers took position at the top of the castle walls, Yuan was able to faintly see the goblins despite them hiding under the wings of Werdna (Goddess of Darkness).
“Oil!” Yuan ordered.
Immediately, his men dipped their arrowheads into the oil. The arrowheads were attached to a piece of wood that was easily combustible.
“Flames!” Yuan ordered.
Immediately, a soldier carrying a watch fire ran in front of the archers, lighting up the arrowheads that were pointed toward the ground
“Take aim… Shoot!”
The arrows shot in the black of the night, drawing a curve in the air as they descended. When the arrows hit the ground, the wood attached to the arrowhead caught fire, allowing it to illuminate its surroundings.
Yuan had cleverly turned his arrows into torches. When he saw the goblins and the orcs illuminated, he laughed.
When his platoon of archers had confirmed that the fire arrows had landed, they switched to normal arrows and shot at the now visible enemy.
“Ready the ballistae!”
“Shoot!”
The bowstrings drawn to the limits, the ballistae let loose powerful arrows that penetrated the orcs’ shields.
Screams resounded throughout the battlefield as the goblins were forced back.
Yuan watched smugly with his arms folded.
“We can’t lose! We have to hold until Lord Gowen arrives!”
The soldiers cheered in response.
“Well done! This evening is our victory!”
The city was in high spirits.
◆◆◇
Ra Gilmi Fishiga had his arms folded as he looked up at the twin moons veiled by the clouds. The plan they had been using until now had finally ended in defeat.
“They finally figured it out,” the orc king, Bui, said.
Gilmi nodded. “Humans truly are clever. I wonder if they have any limits at all.”
Watch fires illuminated the top of the castle walls. That small one over there was probably the enemy commander.
As Gilmi watched that figure, Bui spoke, “there’s still another card we can play.”
“The king wouldn’t want that, though. Our job is just to divert their attention,” Gilmi said.
“Right, but…” Bui said.
“Can’t stand losing and not getting even?” Gilmi asked.
When the goblin pointed out what he was feeling so bluntly, Bui couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
“The moat should be mostly filled by now,” Gilmi said.
“Yes, but…” Bui said.
The moat nearest to the forest was already traversable since yesterday. The humans removed some of the fillings, but they were too scared of the goblins attacking and couldn’t remove much.
It wouldn’t be a comfortable walk, but the moat was definitely traversable.
“Gather the chiefs,” Gilmi said, then he looked at Bui.
“We’ll destroy that outer wall first,” Gilmi said.
Resolve burned in Gilmi’s eyes as he hit Bui on the shoulder and vanished into the forest.
Tl Note: This is the extra chapter for the week. Thank you to all the patrons who made this possible.
Tl Note 2: Shouthout to Sidh L., our newest patron. Thank you very much for supporting Jiggly. I’ve added the new avatar as well as the donations for this month.