Chapter 97 : The Mercenary Bureau’s First Request (11)
Chapter 97: The Mercenary Bureau’s First Request (11)
‘Waldheim! You damned bastard!’
Renalf gritted his teeth and thought of the leader of the serfs who had proposed this mission to him.
That arrogant fellow had dared to give orders to a noble despite being a mere serf, and now he had brought about this stupid result once again.
“W-What should we do?”
“It is much thicker than we thought!”
The knights spoke as they stared at the defensive square. Renalf watched them closely while observing the enemy.
The square was somehow different from the ones Waldheim had created while leading the serfs.
The soldiers were holding things that looked like axes with somewhat thin and ambiguous lengths.
He felt as though he could break through and shatter it if he tried.
Having made his decision, Renalf immediately shouted.
“They are nothing but mere mercenaries!!! Increase your speed and ram straight into them!”
“Good idea, Sir Renalf!”
“Even if we are unhorsed, six per person should be no problem, right?”
“Uhahaha. What do you take us for? Of course, even ten will be easy.”
The subordinate knights answered confidently. It was not merely groundless confidence. They were all knights who had achieved a certain level of fame. Their equipment and skill were on a different level compared to mercenaries.
At least, that was what they had thought…
“Kwahahaha. I will kill every last one of those mercenaries!”
At that moment, a shower of bolts poured down from the sky.
-Swish, swish!
-Neighhhh!
-Aghhhh!
The knights were flustered by the sudden ambush. A few comrades nearby collapsed after being hit by the attack. However, they soon pulled their ranks together.
“It is fine! There is no significant damage!”
“The reload speed is slow. Do not worry and charge in!”
“We just need to push through like this. Narrow the formation!”
However, just before the lance charge made contact, the pike wall formation suddenly transformed.
Renalf’s eyes were dyed with horror.
‘T-This makes no sense! How can they move so fast!!!’
He felt as if he were possessed by magic. The pike barrier, which had been only two rows deep, increased to four rows in an instant and became too dense to penetrate.
The knights crashed helplessly into the pike wall.
* * *
-Neighhhhhh!
-Crack! Crunch! Crack!
-Agghhhh!
The rebel knights failed to break through the thick pike barrier. This was because the speed of the pikemen joining the rear rows was much faster than the speed at which the knights had charged.
‘Come on! You idiots!’
Shatien sprinted as if flying toward these foolish knights who were ramming head-on into the pike barrier and swung his warhammer.
-Smash!
A cheerful sound echoed as a helmet was dented. The sensation in his hands was quite refreshing and thrilling.
“Halberdiers! Attack!”
-Waaahhhh!
“Kill those rebel bastards!”
The Halberdiers sprang out all at once toward the rebel knights who were tangled and blocked by the pike square. They performed savage axe strokes toward the heads of the knights who had fallen to the ground.
-Smash!
-Clang. Clack. Clack! Craaaack!
The mercenaries, who had once been robbed by Northern bandits, were literally seeing red. The rebel knights who were rolling on the ground and being defeated helplessly pleaded for mercy.
“Follow the custom! Please show mercy!”
“Aha? Mercy? Ehehehe. Sure, I will kill you very mercifully! Hup!”
-Crack!
The knight who had just cried for mercy was crushed to death along with his armor. Another knight who saw this blurted out words that mercenaries would likely appreciate.
“W-Wait! I can give a ransom. My family is… Ack!”
“What kind of ransom do rebel scum have?”
Again, crack!
“Please, I have a sick old mother!”
“Then go first and wait for her! You bastard.”
Smash! Smash!
The mercenaries' angry attacks continued without any excuses working. Only then did the rebel knights shout in desperation.
“Hey! Hey! Bundle up!”
“Huddle your shoulders in one place! We must watch each other’s backs and fight together!”
However…
-Rumble-
“......?”
“?!”
A massive supply wagon began to approach in front of them.
* * *
-Waaaaaaah-!
-Clang, clang! Clang!
-Kill the rebels!
-Capture Ragnarsson!!!
It was the middle of a melee where blood was rampant. Sparks flew from the weapons. And in the middle of that living hell stood a man covered in blood.
It was Ragnarsson.
“Ptoo!”
Ragnarsson spat on the ground and glared. Hundreds of serfs were trembling before his eyes.
“Kuhehehe. Why? Aren’t you coming? Then I will go myself. Kuhahahahahat!”
Ragnarsson advanced toward the serfs while letting out a boisterous laugh. With a single gesture, a couple of serfs fell while spraying blood.
A few brave officers tried to attack him, but it was useless. Not only was there a massive difference in physique, but the difference in polished combat techniques was as wide as heaven and earth.
-Crack! Smash! Clang!
He was a disaster that had merely taken the skin of a human. There was no other way to describe it.
“V-Viscount! It is dangerous!”
The Elf knights discovered Ragnarsson acting in such a riotous manner and rushed over, but it was to no avail.
“Puhahaha. Danger? Who? Me? You? Or the serfs?”
“......”
The Elf knights were momentarily speechless upon seeing those eyes smoldering with madness. Since they had stood on the battlefield with him for a long time, they knew very well that stopping Ragnarsson in his current state was truly a mad act.
“Kuhahahaha! Kuhaha, hahahahaha!”
Ragnarsson, consumed by madness, began to destroy everything in sight indiscriminately.
-Crack! Craaack!
-Agghhhh!
“Stop Ragnarsson!”
“Fuck, you try stopping him! How are we supposed to stop that monster? We have to run. Run!”
It was a slaughter that dyed the earth red. It was a feast of blood and madness that Ragnarsson had desired so much.
‘This is crazy.’
‘He truly is a great warrior loved by God.’
The Elf knights only looked at Ragnarsson with awe at the chilling ferocity. One could only imagine what it was like for the serfs who were being victimized.
“Run if you don't want to die!”
“This is not a human! It is not something we should stop.”
“What on earth are our knights doing!”
“Damn it. What are we supposed to do. What sin did we commit!”
As the serfs retreated, Ragnarsson burst into a loud laugh as if it were entertaining.
“Where did all that fighting spirit from earlier go!! Now come. Play with me. Let us burn through this day toward an honorable death! You Northerners!”
Ragnarsson shouted as he dove into the serfs. He was the incarnation of war and the man of one against a hundred.
At this point, such simple modifiers could not describe the unleashed Ragnarsson. It would be better to call him a demon instead.
“Huff… Huff…”
Ragnarsson steadied his breathing a few times. When he came to his senses and looked around, he was the only one standing. There were only splashing pools of blood and lumps of flesh beneath his feet.
Eventually, the rebel commander could not endure it and ordered a retreat.
-Everyone, retreat!
-Bwooooooo!
-Dammit, run!
As soon as those words were spoken, the rebels scattered in all directions.
“Viscount! We will pursue the fleeing commander!”
The Elf knights who rushed over shouted that. However, Ragnarsson laughed and stopped them.
“Do not bother. Their destination is decided anyway. They will only gather at Holsten in the end. We can just kill them all then.”
“Understood.”
Ragnarsson scanned the surroundings. He saw the Northern soldiers who had fought a fierce battle in the place where they almost died together.
‘You have done well. My warriors.’
Ragnarsson raised his weapon high and shouted.
“Everyone, shout the cry of victory!”
-Waaaaaaah!
“Ragnarsson! Ragnarsson!”
“The Berserk Knight! Ragnarsson!”
The soldiers shouted Ragnarsson’s name loudly. However, the joy of victory lasted only a moment.
“......?!”
Ragnarson’s expression stiffened as he scanned the battlefield.
-Chaaaarge!
-Crack, crack.
-Aghhhhh!
Off in the distance, he saw the battle between the rebel knights and the mercenary group led by Shatien.
“Oh no! I forgot about the rear!”
Ragnarsson blamed himself.
In this situation, it was certain that the enemy would have targeted the rear. If everyone was blinded by the fight in the front, it was the perfect time to raid the supplies.
“Get a horse quickly! I will support our allies!”
Or so he planned…
-Craaack!
-Aghhhhh!
-W-We have to run!!!
As he approached hurriedly on horseback, he saw the knights being slaughtered, unable to move due to the maneuvers of the supply wagons and pikemen.
“?!?!?!”
“W-What the?”
The elves were horrified. This included Ragnarsson himself.
* * *
“Phew. This should be enough.”
Shatien brushed off his hands.
Among the corpses lying on the ground, mercenaries were extremely rare.
Most of the corpses belonged to the rebel knights. From knights with dented helmets to those who had been crushed to death because they could not overcome the wall made of supply wagons. It was nothing short of a total mess.
“Kuheeeck! Kuheeeck! Shatien!”
“You were alive! I was worried, Miles.”
“You rotten bastard. Why are you so perfectly fine. Ughhhh!”
Shatien smirked and replied to Miles' words.
“That is why I told you to train properly on a regular basis.”
“Ugh! How can anyone keep up with your training amount. Are you even human? You’re just the monster.”
Miles shouted in a tone of disgust. Since he had once followed Shatien’s training and ended up lying in bed for several days with body aches, Miles never followed Shatien’s training again.
“Anyway, so… what should we do now?”
“What do you mean? Shouldn’t we obviously go to save our noble Elf lords?”
He did not know how the situation turned out, but it was certain to be dangerous. Since the rear was stabilized, he thought they needed to go and support them.
-Clop. clop.
However, that was a vain delusion. As soon as Shatien turned his head, he discovered Ragnarsson and the Elf knights approaching.
He also saw the rebel serfs scattering like a swarm of ants in the distance.
‘He really pulverized them huh.’
Not content with turning the unfavorable tide, he had nailed down the victory. Indeed, he was nothing short of a monster. It was merely frustrating for a fragile(?) person like himself to be called a monster.
‘Truly amazing. Isn’t his reputation actually underestimated?’
He knew well that Ragnarsson represented the Elf knights of the North, but he did not expect it to be to this extent.
-Neighh.
Ragnarsson dismounted from his horse and ran over.
“Sir Shatien! Are you alright!”
“I am full of energy. You are fine too, Viscount?”
“Hahaha. I am perfectly fine. More than that, I doubted my eyes just now! To repel the rebel knights so easily. Amazing!!”
“You flatter me. Your performance was much more impressive, Viscount.”
The two monsters complimented each other’s destructive power with enthusiasm.
‘Please stop it, you crazy bastards!’
Of course, Miles felt like cursing internally as he listened. Though he thought of himself as a strong person, his courage shrank whenever he saw these monsters.
How could the world be so unfair like this!
Miles, a mere commoner (?), lamented how unfair the world was.