Ch. 181
A large army advanced northward across the valley.
Yet, not all the troops there advanced at once.
The barbarians, led by Ungrim and Hrung-ga, stood at the front and shouted.
[Don't lose to the little ones!]
The thunderous cries of the barbarians shook heaven and earth.
Their impact was immense—their agility and familiarity with the forest, coupled with overwhelming physical prowess.
With them at the front, they would be able to get out of any situation with ease.
Naturally, this included their trust in Ungrim and Hrung-ga's martial strength.
However, not everything was without issue.
In the camps of Ungrim and Hrung-ga, scuffles occurred almost daily.
It was so-called "honorable duels" and the like, leading to non-combat losses.
Of course, whenever Ungrim saw such people, he dealt with them lightly.
But today, it was Hrung-ga who spoke first to Ungrim as he was handling such cases.
[They are fighting honorable duels. Don't meddle recklessly.]
[Honor, huh? What's honorable about these duels?]
[Our ancestors have always lived this way. Don't appear all of a sudden and start preaching.]
[I am the ancestor of your ancestors' ancestor. You truly don't know anything.]
Hrung-ga's face twitched.
He vaguely remembered hearing such tales—that Ungrim was one of the ancient forebears of the barbarians.
Yet Hrung-ga and the other barbarians could not understand Ungrim.
They had always lived this way, so when an ancient forebear appeared and claimed that such customs never existed, they couldn't simply accept it.
Thus, most of the barbarians, except for those influenced by Ungrim's ideology, did not easily agree with Ungrim.
Hrung-ga withdrew slowly, looking as if he might lunge at Ungrim any moment.
But Ungrim paid him no mind and scanned his surroundings.
[... It's quiet. This area used to be teeming with game.]
Ungrim squatted in front of the baffled Hrung-ga. He pressed his hand to the blackened, withered grass.
With a rustling sound, it crumbled and scattered as dust.
[The dead's aura seems to have spread this far. Not a blade of grass remains.]
[... Really. I can hardly believe it.]
[What? That I won't play along with your games?]
[If you insult us further—]
[And if I insult you further, what will you do? Under this sky and upon this earth, I'm the only one alive who can insult your primitive customs.]
Hrung-ga's breath faltered, but he couldn't bring himself to retort.
If it had been an imperial who knew nothing, he would have split their head open immediately.
But Ungrim was, in fact, an older barbarian than anyone present.
Calling it an insult felt a bit off—more like getting scolded by a grandfather.
Hrung-ga and the others felt a vague sense of ambiguity.
Ungrim brushed his hands off, completely unconcerned with Hrung-ga's reaction.
He continued.
[We'll reach the north in three days. Looking at the area corrupted by miasma, we might run into a large enemy force.]
[We'll take point.]
[Do as you please. Just remember why Erich sent us here.]
[... Why did he send us?]
Hrung-ga hesitated for a moment. It hurt his pride, but he could not figure out Erich's reasoning.
Ungrim, on the other hand, seemed to have already guessed why Erich had sent them here.
So, he answered Hrung-ga's query.
[We can move more-nimbly than the Empire's troops. It's easier for us to gather intel.]
[... So, he didn't send us out here to fight?]
[Do I have to say it twice?]
[Hmm...]
Hrung-ga grumbled. Even if he heard it many times, he doubted he'd truly understand.
Hrung-ga was certainly a fine warrior, an excellent leader.
But he had never experienced large-scale maneuvers involving hundreds of thousands of troops.
If it were a small squad, he'd grasp the concepts of gathering intel and launching ambushes or raids... but until now, most of their actions were on a tribal scale, so he had no sense for managing armies on this level.
As if understanding this, Ungrim added,
[Think of this great army as just three or four warriors. The enemy has, say, about ten more than us. Would you just charge at them?]
[... If I could handle them, yes.]
[Madness. And if you could barely handle even one?]
[... Then I'd act cautiously.]
[That's our task.]
Ungrim then calmly explained to Hrung-ga what they needed to do.
In fact, this was partly why Erich had put Ungrim and Hrung-ga together.
Ungrim, after all, had experience in great wars as part of the Watch, and even if not, had participated in large-scale wars as a noble of Leonor.
Ironically, he himself was a barbarian.
The calculation was that he could explain things to Hrung-ga better than anyone else.
Anyway, as Erich intended, Ungrim and Hrung-ga bickered as they led their followers northward.
And fortunately, Hrung-ga seemed to have grasped at least a bit about this "strategy"; among the other barbarians, he asked,
[... Do you know what we're supposed to do?]
He went around saying things like that...
Ungrim, seeing this, merely smirked bitterly and looked away.
Then, Ungrim's steps stopped. He swiftly raised a fist and halted the troops.
Dead had appeared ahead.
A red gaze shone from both his eyes.
[About five thousand, I'd say.]
[What's more, their leader looks pretty strong.]
Ungrim nodded.
The number of dead didn't matter—the barbarian vanguard was part of an army hundreds of thousands strong.
What was important was who was leading them.
No matter how many troops you had, a single powerful being endowed with ice could wipe out countless warriors in a single blow.
Ungrim glanced around as he replied,
[We don't have many shamans to protect us from their frost. So it's best to disperse our warriors if possible.]
[... Isn't intelligence gathering our goal?]
[We haven't even entered enemy territory, so what intel? We can only start gathering after we go in.]
[That's true. Learned another thing.]
Ungrim let out a low breath.
At the very least, you had to enter the dead's territory to learn anything.
So Ungrim chose to confront the enemy in this situation.
[Take five hundred under me, and you take five hundred under you, and face the enemy. You've set aside the elite warriors, right?]
[Only the strongest are ready.]
[The toughest ones will probably be those three upfront. Looks like they have about seven or eight cores each.]
[... Isn't that dangerous?]
[Hrung-ga. You seem confused...]
― Kwadduduk.
Hrung-ga's eyes went wide. The ground beneath where Ungrim sat caved in. It was as if a massive beast had pressed down on it.
Ungrim's red eyes glinted. He spoke to Hrung-ga.
[I lost to Erich. Remember that.]
At that moment, Hrung-ga felt the enormous gap between Ungrim and himself.
The force radiating from Ungrim's entire body was no ordinary thing—it was as if he were facing Erich as an enemy.
― Kwaaang!
Ungrim sprang out like a coiled spring, leaping into enemy lines before Hrung-ga could react.
The elite warriors following him ran after without hesitation, as if accustomed to it.
Hrung-ga, too, signaled the other warriors.
[Don't fall behind!]
― Waaaaa!
With shouts, the barbarian warriors burst out of the forest. Behind them, the shamans enveloped them in power to shield them from frost.
― Kwaaaaang!
The first to collide with the enemy was Ungrim. At his landing, the dead were shattered and strewn around.
Closest to him was a necromancer with seven cores glowing on his back. Yet before the necromancer could cast a spell, Ungrim's hand moved faster.
― Grrrck!
Ungrim's massive forearm bulged. His palm, large enough to grasp the necromancer's head, clenched with power.
With a terrible sound, along with blue blood, the creature's head splintered and burst apart.
At the same time, the dead swarmed Ungrim from all sides, ravenous.
Ungrim, unfazed by the stench and horrific sounds from the corpses, unleashed a flurry of punches in every direction.
― Kwagwang!
A massive shockwave exploded wherever his fists passed. No normal human could exert such power; he was a being of overwhelming might.
From behind, Hrung-ga battled a death knight with six cores, witnessing the scene.
In the midst of dead coming from all sides, there was one showing supreme martial prowess.
At that moment, Hrung-ga thought of Ungrim's epithet.
The mightiest beast.
Truly, there was no way to describe his strength except "beastly".
It wasn't about having some incredible weapon.
Nor was it a matter of having a remarkable aura.
His raw, physical power was Ungrim's true strength.
Ungrim unleashed that might in crimson brilliance, tearing through the battlefield.
But Hrung-ga had no intention of losing, either. Sidestepping the swinging greatsword of the death knight, he charged in.
― Kwadduduk!
Hrung-ga's club, imbued with biting wind, ripped the death knight's chest to shreds. As the creature slowed, Hrung-ga raised his club skyward.
― Kwaaaang!
But suddenly, Ungrim's massive body appeared.
With that immense form, he-nimbly delivered a kick in mid-air, knocking the head off the death knight that Hrung-ga had pinned down.
Landing gracefully with his red hair swirling, Ungrim looked down at Hrung-ga and spoke.
[You're slow.]
[....]
Hrung-ga bared his sharp fangs.
Ungrim's monstrous strength was one thing, but Hrung-ga's pride was wounded.
Ungrim, however, inwardly stifled a laugh.
'... So you handle Hrung-ga like this?'
He recalled what Erich had said.
"Touch Hrung-ga's pride without crossing the line, and he'll show his best."
Ungrim decided to try handling this amusing kid called Hrung-ga well.
Then he turned his gaze to the land of the dead, sure to be swarming with enemies.
A place that should have been covered in white snow. A place that should have been filled with conifers, now only fissured earth.
The snow and ice that should have piled up had melted and dried away.
The ground was an ashen color, as if death was lurking everywhere. Above Ungrim's head, a violet sky rumbled ominously.
'.......'
It resembled a scene Ungrim had seen before. Back when he'd fought the Lord of the Dead in a desperate battle.
When he'd endured the creature's assault. But things were different now.
Now, it was their side on the offensive.