Chapter 157
Our group disguised ourselves as Amir warriors.
Yuri and Eilin covered their faces with veils, and since Allen couldn't ride a horse, he sat behind Donnie.
"Damn it! Why are you picking a fight again?"
"I told you not to hold my waist!"
"Then what am I supposed to hold onto?"
"Just learn how to ride! It's been days—what is this mess?!"
"Then how about here?"
"Hey, where do you think you're touching?!"
"I have to grab onto something, right?"
"Will you get your hands off me right now?!"
Aigoo. Here they go again.
I pretended not to hear and rode ahead.
Eilin was covering her mouth, laughing.
It had been five days since we set off from the southernmost part of Verttern.
Ever since Allen first rode behind Donnie, the bickering started, and here it was again.
The squad split up and scattered to various places in the north of the south. In groups of three, we assaulted the governor's castle while moving north. Afterward, the plan was to regroup at the edge of the central mountains.
We headed to the hometown of the Tuji brothers. Along the way, we reclaimed two castles, but only Donnie and the Tuji brothers participated in the assaults. These were territories on the northern coast.
We were transporting the items we brought from those two castles and Allen's gold bundle in a cart. We'd also procured two more horses, making three carts in total.
/ / /
The group entered a reasonably large city.
Eilin and Yuri had been hidden in a nearby forest, so only Donnie, the Tuji brothers, and I entered the city.
The city was utterly miserable.
People were so emaciated their ribs stuck out, and straw-covered corpses lined the streets.
Once, this was the capital of a great kingdom.
Now, so many residents had died, and even the rulers were neglecting the city due to food shortages and financial collapse.
Tuji had mentioned before:
The Geroz Mercenary Corps was a mortal enemy of the southerners. Looking at the current state, they seemed more like devils than enemies.
"We have a place to stop by,"
Tuji said.
"All right."
The Tuji brothers got off their horses and knocked on a house door. Only after knocking three times did it open—a middle-aged woman recognized them.
"How did you boys get here?"
"You're alive. What about uncle?"
The woman shook her head. Her graying hair trembled as tears quickly welled up in her eyes. She collapsed into Tuji's arms. Uson embraced them both.
The woman hugged her nephews and wept uncontrollably. The Tuji brothers, and the rest of us, waited for her to compose herself.
"What about Turi and Ari?"
"The children died too. Turi was caught and killed fighting with the resistance. Ari was captured and taken to the castle, suffered cruelly, and eventually threw herself to her death."
The woman couldn't continue.
It seemed she had lost husband and children both.
"I don't know why you came back, but you must leave. You're the children of the resistance leader—if you're caught, you won't survive. Leave, hurry."
"Aunt..."
"I said, go."
"Just wait a moment."
Quite a few residents recognized the Tuji brothers out on the street. Some appeared to be Tuji's old friends, but all seemed to be resistance fighters disguised as civilians.
"Should we share?"
"Yes."
Tuji and Uson went to one of the carts we brought. That cart was crammed with all kinds of weapons. Knowing the resistance had no decent weapons, that's why we'd brought them.
Tuji pulled off the cart's cover.
The sight drew gasps from those watching. They had also been without weapons here.
"We're heading to the castle. We'll open the gate—if you want to fight, take these weapons."
With those words, the Tuji brothers headed for the castle. Donnie and I walked too, following the distant outline of the fortress. Tuji had already told me about the structure.
The fortress wall was quite tall. It seemed near impossible for the resistance to storm this place; if the enemy archers opened fire, any approach would be a massacre.
Then, a shout came from behind.
"Let's take up arms too!"
"They're giving us spears and swords! They've come to help us! To the castle!"
"Let's go!"
"Raise your blades!"
More and more people gathered behind us—young boys, grandfathers, all solemnly clutching spears, shields, and swords.
If we just opened this castle, the entire eastern coast would be liberated.
The resistance from this city would also support that of the neighboring territories. After all, they were originally all one country.
As we walked a little further...
The group of twenty became a hundred, and a hundred became two hundred. Everyone marched behind us, shouting. Anyone without a weapon brandished a pickaxe.
The castle soon loomed closer.
Soldiers appeared atop the fortress wall. Around thirty of them lined up and aimed their bows at us.
The wall stood over ten meters tall.
There was a protruding section just above the main gate.
I pointed it out to Allen.
"See that?"
"You want me to step on that and climb up?"
"Go inside and open the gate."
"What am I, the gatekeeper?!"
Allen dashed out immediately.
Suddenly—shuk, shuk, shuk—arrows rained toward Allen. But he was faster.
He sprinted straight ahead, bounced off the spot I pointed to, and leapt again—shooting up onto the wall with a single breath.
That was when the Tuji brothers began shooting arrows. Allen started beating up the archers on top and then dropped down.
KOONG—
There was a loud bang at the gate, and with a creaking whine, the massive fortress doors swung open.
"Waaaaaah!"
"The gate is open!"
"Seize the governor!"
Armed residents surged toward the gate. We walked in as well. Inside, Allen had already made a mess of things.
Some soldiers hastily formed ranks, but the resistance and enraged townsfolk simply pushed through. All we did was open the door—liberation was theirs to win.
So we entered with the people.
Freedom had to be taken with their own blood.
Only then would it have meaning.
"Donnie! Into the castle, with the Tuji brothers!"
"Yes!"
I sprinted straight to the rear of the castle. If the governor and his subordinates escaped, they would try to take a boat—the castle's back door led to the port.
At the rear, only soldiers were moving in a hurry. Between the castle and back door was a small courtyard, with narrow passageways leading to the front gate on either side.
Only the soldiers seemed aware of the emergency; everyone else hadn't come out yet. By now, they were surely scrambling to grab their valuables.
I sent out the Spirit's sword-dagger.
Four bi-geoms streaked chaotically through the soldiers at the back gate.
Puk—pupuk—
The thin, short bi-geoms pierced the soldiers' throats. In an instant, twelve soldiers went down.
Once all the soldiers at the back gate had fallen, I shut the door. Then crouched right in front. Soon, people started flooding out of the castle.
"Move! Open the gate!"
"What are you doing?! Open it now!"
Those pouring out yelled and screamed, unable to grasp the situation even with soldiers down and me present. You could tell how they'd lived until now.
Radiating an aura of magic power, I just stood there.
They tried again and again to leave through the back gate, but my magical resistance repelled them as if bouncing them back.
"What on earth is happening here?"
"That man is using some strange sorcery!"
"To the front gate!"
"But there are rioters rampaging that way!"
People kept pouring out behind them. At the front, they faced a lunatic blocking them with overwhelming magic—behind, the mob of furious residents pressed in.
Still, most of them took the situation lightly and came out leisurely. Many looked more annoyed than afraid, even scolding their soldiers.
"Open this gate, right now!"
"Who are you, and where are you from?!"
"What are you waiting for? Shove your way through!"
Those at the front were terrified by my aura, but those at the back just shouted, not even knowing why they couldn't get through.
"There's some weird power blocking us!"
"Push! The rioters will break in!"
"We must find another way!"
"Kill him!"
Four knights drew their swords and charged at me. But they couldn't penetrate the magical aura, like a barrier. They tried desperately to get through but to no avail.
Worse yet, the knights suffered internal injuries and were pushed back. By now more than two hundred people had packed into the courtyard. Every collaborator in the city was here.
It made sense—living in the city, they'd be assassinated by the resistance, so they took refuge in the castle.
They lived lavishly, only for themselves.
"What are you doing up there?"
"We can't break through!"
"He's an incredible powerhouse!"
"Who the hell is that guy?!"
"No idea!"
"The governor is coming!"
"Make way! Move!"
As the governor arrived, chaos erupted. Already so many people were jammed together that there was barely room to move, and a crowd of knights spilled out.
They crushed and trampled each other, the governor's knights even drawing their swords. Soldiers blocking both side passages were pushed back by the mob.
"Make way! Anyone in the way will be cut down!"
"Move, I said! Move!"
"Governor! You can't do this to us!"
"Damn it! Governor or not!"
"How dare these people commit insubordination?!"
"Kill!"
The cramped courtyard became a living hell in seconds. Pushing past others to try to live, some dashed at me, only to bounce off the barrier of magic.
"Damn it! What is this?!"
"We must go over the wall!"
"Ladder! Somebody get a ladder!"
"What are you all doing?! Scale the wall already!"
Soldiers and attendants clung to the five-meter-high wall. They got piggyback rides and tried holding each other up, but it was useless.
Both narrow side passages filled completely with townsfolk. Soldiers who had tried stopping them were being struck down one by one. Donnie and the Tuji brothers blocked the way further inside.
The ones punishing the collaborators were the townsfolk themselves. Many had already surged in, pressing from both sides. Most were wild with fury.
"Please—spare me!"
"You raped and murdered my wife!"
"Aaaah!"
"W-wait! It's me! I'm the one who sent your daughter to the governor! Thanks to me, you at least had food, so..."
"Yeah, you son of a bitch!"
Meanwhile, the governor shoved his way toward me, pushing his men aside. He couldn't even breathe properly from the magic aura, struggling desperately to survive.
"Hey! L-let's make a deal!"
The governor was corpulent and sweating.
The pulse of my aura made the fat on his cheeks wobble. His arms flailed as if swimming.
"I'll give you gold if you spare me!"
"Don't you hear the governor?!"
"I can't die like this!"
"Tern will wipe out the riot's root and every last dog like you! Filthy, lowborn scum daring to—!"
"Move back, I said!"
"Aaagh!"
A knight killed a man, and others retaliated, drawing swords—betrayal blossomed among the rulers and their accomplices.
"Listen! We're innocent! We just obeyed the governor!"
"Spare us! Why should we die?!"
"He's the bastard, not us!"
"Let's kill the governor! That's the only way we live!"
"Kill him! Kill the governor!"
"How dare you!"
All kinds of people revealed themselves.
They cursed, threatened, pleaded, and begged.
Wailed, raged, despaired.
They broke into a brawl amongst themselves.
Among them was a priest.
"O God! Punish these wicked men!"
"Step back from the governor! Any approach will be met with my sword!"
"O God! Why do you give us such hardship?!"
"To hell with God! Just get out of the way!"
The chaos became literal hell.
Did they truly believe that God was with them?
Had they lived believing so?
"There's the governor!"
"Get back, you vermin..."
Two knights who had been shouting took arrows to the face and went down. It was the Tuji brothers—the shot likely struck close retinue.
The governor fell to his knees before me.
"Please, spare me!"
"We'll leave this place!"
"I'm a steward of Tern! You—..."
The man who had shrieked in my face collapsed forward as two arrows struck him. Was this the Tuji brothers' nemesis? The brothers were weeping.
Only about thirty people remained now.
As the furious townsfolk surged in, they stabbed, hacked, and crushed the remnants.
"Please. Let me at least—..."
A blade burst out of the governor's chest.
And the priest, sitting next to him.
"God's wrath will come for you."
Thunk—
A pickaxe struck the priest's crown.
And that was the end.
With the priest the last to fall.
"We did it! We won!"
"The governor and the priest are dead!"
"Hooray! We won!"
"Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"
The blood-spattered residents shouted for joy, tears mixed with blood streaming down their faces. Donnie walked out calmly, the Tuji brothers wiping their tears as they followed.
I simply watched the dead.
Maybe that's why Elin put up the barrier.
Because humans are so easily swayed by evil.