Chapter 22

Two flags fluttered in the air in Count Daggleton’s camp. The red bear of Daggleton, and other the Silver Lion.

“This is a good land,” Garcio the Silver Lion said as he squinted his eyes. The land smelled of rich dirt—the kind that produces quality crops by just sowing the seeds.

“Allian... you have my word. You will be avenged,” Count Daggleton said to himself as he stared at Count Mollando’s camp.

“It looks like they thought they could beat us by going on the defensive. Do they really think that their scrap of an army can defend against the Silver Lion Mercenaries? That’s funny.”

“All they have is a fence and a few watch towers, leader. That’s barely an inconvenience for us,” an adjutant with good vision remarked after taking a look around the enemy camp. The Silver Lions had a few sieges under their belt. The wooden fortress of Count Mollando was like a shield made of straw compared to the stone walls of the castles.

“My brother, I will make sure that your flag flutters proudly on that land by sundown.”

Garcio drew his sword and raised it in the air. It was the signal. His mercenary squad began their advance as their horseman waved their flag from side to side.

Clunk, clunk.

The metallic sound of the heavy armor rang throughout the land. The Silver Lion Mercenaries were solely composed of men in heavy armor with the exception of their archers. Most were equipped with chainmail, and a few were in the southern-style scale armor. Regardless of the shape, an armory forged with metal was the trademark of heavy infantry.

“This is a sight to behold.’

Daggleton’s eyes widened. Men in metal were marching toward his enemies. Under their pressed-down helmets, the eyes of the mercenaries glowed with a fearsome intensity. Warriors—they were men who killed for a living.

“Eek, w-we have to fight those guys?” The conscripts who were watching from the top of the fences were taken by fear. Their spear and leather armory looked like toys compared to what they were seeing from the Silver Lions.

“Wow, they are not joking about,” Bachman remarked as he watched the enemies get closer and closer. A cold sweat ran down his forehead.

‘Shit, maybe I should have listened to Donovan and ran away.’

He had no choice now, but to fight. He recited his prayer as he clasped the sun necklace around his neck.

“Oh, Lou, please don’t take me just yet.”

On one side of Mollando’s camp, the minister of the territory was giving his blessings to the soldiers as many of them had come to him for any help that they could get.

“If you think about it, it’s actually quite funny. Our enemies also believe in the god of Sun, just like we do. And look at what we’re doing, we’re going to war! Lou must be a god with quite a bit of favoritism,” Bachman said with a chuckle. Whoever won the battle must be loved more than the other by Lou.

“Archers!” the captain of the guards shouted. The archers on the top of the watch towers nocked their arrows, and the soldiers fell into their positions.

Rattle rattle.

The conscripts’ legs were trembling at the sight of their well-armed enemies. They all wanted to drop their spears and run back to their home, but whoever attempted to do so would be murdered by someone from their own side.

“I’m a farmer, not a soldier. A farmer, for fuck’s sake.”

The conscripts could not understand why they were fighting this war. They were treated as disposable items, sent into battles just to die in place of the actual nobles who started the war.

“Shoot!” The guard captain signaled. With his signal, the archers released their arrows in unison. Their aim was not half bad, as the conscripted archers were hunters with sharp eyes. Unlike farmers, hunters always made good soldiers.

Thwip!

Some of the Silver Lion Mercenaries were struck and fell to the ground. Those less fortunate than others got the arrows buried deep inside their bodies and died.

“Woahhhh!”

The Silver Lion Mercenaries charged at Mollando’s fences with their shields raised. The shower of arrows could not stop them in their tracks. After all, it was quite unlikely for someone to have their armor penetrated by arrows in this kind of battle unless they were extremely unlucky.

“They’re coming!” The soldiers on the ground of Mollando’s camp shouted as they stepped forward. The intimidation of the Silver Lion Mercenaries was enough to tear down every last bit of confidence that Mollando’s men had managed to muster up.

“Fight with everything you’ve got! Bachman shouted to the men inside the fence as he pointed his spear forward. The mercenaries widened their eyes and locked their gaze on the Silver Lion squad.

“Woahhh!”

Daggleton’s army had made a significant advance, close enough for Mollando’s men to see the deathly glares of the Silver Lion Mercenaries.

Crush!

The Silver Lion Mercenaries had finally reached the fences. The poorly raised fences shook as if they were on the brink of tipping over.

“Stab them! Kill them!”

The soldiers on top of the fences attacked the Silver Lions. As the ground soon became a chaotic mosh pit of war, there were screams and screeches as the men intertwined. Garcio’s men were boosting their fellow men over the fences.

“Three of them made it over, let’s finish them!” Bachman commanded as he glanced back.

The Silver Lion mercenaries who had made it over the fence had their backs against each other with their shields raised, which allowed them to parry the measly spears of the conscripts.

This was no longer a defensive battle. Their fences were ruined, and the two sides soon began their melee battle.

‘Dammit, they’re coming right through our line of resistance. The quality of their men is much higher than ours.’

Count Mollando’s men were desperately missing the mercenaries who were not with them. All the ones that they usually relied on had followed Urich into the pile of filth.

‘They’ll kill us all at this rate.’

Bachman bit his lips as he stared at Count Daggleton who was quite the distance away.

‘Go Urich, go capture this Count and end this war.’

* * *

“If you ever suggest a plan like this again, I’ll kill you myself. That’s a promise,” Donovan snarked at Urich as he picked his head up from the filth. His nose was numbed by the foul stench, and his whole body itched as if there were bugs crawling all over it.

“Whatever you say,” Urich smirked and opened his eyes. The battle was in full swing.

“Make sure to cover up even the smallest of your cuts. You might get infected in all this shit and die,” Sven said as he lifted his head out of the filth.

The ambush was a success so far. Count Daggleton’s army had not bothered to check the field of waste that Urich and his mercenaries found themselves in as they got busy stomping on Mollando’s camp with the certainty of victory.

“Daggleton is on his horse with eight heavily armed soldiers protecting him,” Urich said as he observed Daggleton, who was quite a distance away. For the other men, Daggleton was only a small smidge in their eyes.

“It’s over if we let him run off on his horse again. We have one chance and one chance only,” Donovan said to Urich. Urich nodded in agreement and stealthily emerged from the pile of filth. Keeping himself close to the ground, he picked up the bow and arrow that he had covered with dirt. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hmph,” he took a large breath in as he pulled the bowstring.

Creak—

His rock-solid muscles stabilized the bow. He gazed at his target as he pulled the bowstring even further back.

For a tribal warrior like Urich, being a good warrior and a good hunter were almost synonymous as hunting skills were just as important as battle skills. No warrior in his tribe couldn’t shoot an arrow.

Ting—

Urich released the bowstring with a clear ring.

Thwip.

The arrow ripped through the air toward Daggleton.

“Neighhhh!”

Daggleton was shocked. His horse collapsed to the ground just as he noticed the arrow buried in its head. He twisted his leg as he fell off the horse. Grabbing his aching leg, he nervously looked around.

“A-an arrow? Where did it come from?” The men guarding the Count whirled around, looking in all directions.

Thwip.

Another arrow came at them, hitting one of the guards in the head to kill him instantly.

“It’s an ambush!” Daggleton yelled as he finally noticed the men covered in tar-black filth. In his eyes, they looked like demons emerging from hell.

“Run, run!” Donovan shouted. The mercenaries sprinted toward Count Daggleton as they spat out the filth that was flowing down their faces into their mouths.

“Protect Lord Daggleton!” The guards surrounded Daggleton and raised their shields. Urich dropped his bow and followed the other mercenaries.

“Hmph,” He outpaced the other mercenaries in the blink of an eye.

“Woah, woahhhh!”

Urich and his mercenaries finally clashed with the guards in a frenzy of blades.

“Bring your head over here!” Urich chased after Daggleton with glaring eyes. Unlike his words, he wasn’t actually intending to kill him, but he was fully comfortable with crippling him.

He drew one of his axes and launched it at Daggleton.

Clank!

The axe was parried by a sword.

“You used your brains pretty well. I didn’t expect you to be hiding there,” The Silver Lion Garcio said after deflecting Urich’s axe with his sword and looked at the filth-covered Urich.

“Don’t you think you have a bit too much gray hair for someone your age?” Urich cackled and drew his sword and the second axe. He quickly recognized his opponent as the leader of the Silver Lion Mercenaries because of the description he had heard in advance, but even if it weren’t for the gray hair, his opponent exuded the aura of someone strong.

“So, you’re the skilled mercenaries that my brother talked about? The battle is almost finished, and you are not winning. If you surrender now, I’ll take you in as my mercenaries under the Silver Lions,” Garcio said as he held his sword with both hands. He had the stance of a well-trained swordsman—as expected from a noble’s bastardized son.

Urich clashed his axe and sword together and twisted his neck from side to side. He had a ferocious grin on his face.

“Haha, thanks for the offer. But, unfortunately for you, I don’t work for someone who’s weaker than me.”

“That’s a shame, nameless mercenary.”

Urich and Garcio were about to face off. Urich felt the hair on his arms stand.

‘He’s not just all talk.’

Garcio’s stance left very few windows for Urich to attack, and even those were covered by his chainmail. Urich was aware of how little time he had. If he dragged this on too long, the rest of Daggleton’s army would join Garcio and surround Urich and his mercenaries. Daggleton had to be captured before that happened.

‘I have to attack first, no matter what.’

Urich’s arms moved busily as he swung his weapons like a storm.

Clink! Clank!

The weapons of the two mercenaries clashed. Garcio’s eyes widened at the sound of the distinct metallic sound.

‘That’s a damn good weapon for a nameless mercenary,’ Garcio thought to himself. His sword was also forged with high-quality steel, fitting for the leader of the Silver Lion Mercenaries. However, he was still out-weaponed by Urich’s formidable sword.

Shring!

Urich’s sword slashed through Garcio’s chainmail. He managed to split the links of the chain but couldn’t cut through the leather lining.

Crack!

Garcio intended to leave his side open with the trust in his armor, and fully focus on splitting Urich’s head. But the sudden burst of intense pain in his side made him take a step back.

‘My ribs are broken.’

Normally, a sword wouldn’t be able to deliver a strong blow after having its force diffused by the chainmail and leather lining. And even if the swordsman were to deliver enough force to do so, the blade wouldn’t hold up and bend or completely break.

“Imperial steel,” Garcio muttered under his breath. The blade of Urich’s sword was still fresh. Even after slashing through his chainmail, the blade flashed like a wolf’s teeth. A weapon of such high quality could only be forged with imperial steel, something that was hard to come by even with money.