Undying Berserker
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Chapter 43 - Back Attack
🕑 Added 2025-01-23 18:59:09 +0000 UTCThe current emperor only has a single heir, and it is a woman. That is why things are so chaotic and a lot of people are trying to take advantage of the chaos since no woman has ever ruled one of those countries. All the four countries around think that this country is done for, so they want a piece of it. Perhaps even those close to the imperial family want to dispose of her to buy their seat in the court of the countries that will take over this one.
“Wow… I didn’t think that the situation in our county was such a mess.”
Heirina was truly surprised… no one knew much about the imperial family, after all. Besides, she was busy trying to help her father, so she didn’t have time to think too much about that.
Kaitrine and Irlan also looked a bit surprised. They were the people most well informed of the group, but in the end, that kind of information was beyond their current means.
“... I didn’t know that things were this bad, but I knew that something was happening in the capital. Several times, the elders of my clan were called there for some reason.”
Everyone looked at Edea. They couldn’t even begin to imagine why anyone of her clan would be called when their trait was supposed to cancel other people’s traits. Perhaps that wasn’t all that they could do, or they had other traits… It was hard to say and Edea had no idea either. After thinking for a while, Zelos decided to ask a few more things.
“Why did you take a liking to her when she is the descendant of one of those that caused a lot of problems to your people?”
“... She didn’t try to hide who she was, and she didn’t try to apologize for the past, either. Still, I could tell that she was truly being honest. She was thankful for helping her and for looking after her while she stayed here. She focused on the present and the future, but she didn’t forget the past and learned from the mistakes of others.”
“Was that all? Maybe the feelings that you have about the past aren’t that strong, after all.”
“They are strong. That is why I hesitated after reading the letter. However, memories from five years ago began to resurface and then my mind wavered. You will understand if one day you meet her.”
“I will wish with all my heart that I won’t since that seems like a huge hassle.”
Heirina sighed and then facepalmed… It looked like Reina preferred honesty as policy, but she wondered if that much was still fine.
“You only have four horses… we don’t have extras.”
“Edea can ride with me. Are we going to move at a fast pace?”
“This area is free of people coming and going, but after arriving in the last part close to the border, some spies might find us. I want to surprise the enemies and decrease morale by causing as much damage as possible as soon as we arrive.”
Heirina nodded… but after crossing that distance, everyone and the horses would be tired… it seemed that Reina didn’t care about that, though. Regardless, the group soon began to mount the horses and followed Reina from close behind. She sent some of her warriors to the sides to make sure that they would spot anyone that got closer to them first than they could see their army approaching. When Reina was receiving some reports, Heirina decided to ask some questions.
“Kaitrine, did you hear anything about the enemy’s forces this time?”
“... Yes.”
“That bad, huh… how many enemies they had and how many we had?”
“Five thousand defending… and ten thousand attacking.”
Those were some bad odds… moreover, the enemies were looking for the best places to invade and should have found it by now.
Hei was studying the map while seeing the results of the previous day’s battle. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of headache almost overtaking him when he saw that… soon enough, Kai arrived all of a sudden and then gave him the reports of the battle of the morning.
“Carli’s clan is almost done for. They lost half of their forces and they have three hundred wounded. The enemies are determined to create their opening through them.”
Hei moved some pieces from the map that represented the results and then sighed. The other clans were mainly fine. They tried to help Carli clans, but the current head was too conscious of the possibility that he might lose his authority and territory. At that point in time and after those results, that was all but assured. If he doesn’t lose it, he will probably die in the next few days. Once again, Hei let out a sigh. Losing a clan like that was only going to make the battle harder, since the enemies barely suffered any losses so far.
“Give the order and I can take at least one of the generals down.”
“... We can’t risk that, while you aren’t a common figure in the front lines, you already pulled that trick too many times. That is why the enemy captains aren’t exposing themselves. Once they confirm that you are here, they will use the tactics to get you.”
Kai couldn’t deny that… Some enemies have already used such tactics. While they failed, it was only a matter of time before their plan started working. Kai wasn’t worried about that. He was worried about the fact that his daughter wanted to become a proper soldier and when their family’s trait, she was going to stand out too much.
“At least those kids aren’t here yet… I wonder for how long I can protect them, though.”
“You put a group of kids that you felt that deserves some protection, but have the skills to do other kinds of jobs. Still, that can only be done for so long when we have kids of their ages with us here.”
Hei could only nod… moreover, he received the message from Rux the other day and those five went to talk with the natives of the mountains. He didn’t know if he should feel happy about that or not. One could never know how the natives would react to anyone in their territory… even more so when the visitors had an imperial letter with them asking for their assistance in the war.
While he was thinking about that, one of the messengers arrived in his tent. He didn’t even have to say anything… it was obvious that the enemies were on the move, so he got up from his chair and then grabbed his sword.
“I am going to join the battle this time… don’t worry, I will remain incognito and don’t use my trait.”
Hei nodded at Kai’s words, and soon they left the tent. Everyone outside was already getting ready for the next battle… the issue was if they would arrive in time. Despite the resist of the last few days, Carli had decided to keep his camp from a certain distance from the others and that always helped the enemy. Hei wondered how suspicious of others a teenager had been to act like that.
The image of a younger but also suspicious of other boys came to Hei’s mind. At the same time, he recalled what happened in the last battle, so he wondered if Zelos would show up for this conflict.
While leading his clan’s cavalry, Hei eventually reached the battlefield. As one would expect, the enemies had already infiltrated Carli’s lines, which had set their camp at the top of the tallest hill in the area. While they had had their best fighting conditions in the last few days, they had already lost half of their camp, which was on fire. The clan warriors were trying to hold their ground, but that was getting harder.
Hei stopped and watched the battlefield for a moment… He could see Lua’s cavalry coming from the south, but soon they were stopped by the heavy infantry of the enemies. They were buying time for this attack finally end the Carli clan.
“Attack them directly and cover for the Carli’s clan retreat! We can’t let them die here” “
The warriors roared, and then they followed Hei with all of their might. The horses dashed violently toward the battlefield, but soon they slowed down a bit out of fear… Hei clicked his tongue. It was because of the heavy infantry. Elmer and his brother hired a clan to help them with that attack. They got the help of some giants that were really affecting the whole battlefield… they were all over two meters tall, and they were almost impossible to knock down with their heavy shields and spears. Countless horses had their heads smashed by those shields during the impacts.
When Hei saw the infantry of the Carli clan literally be stomped to death by the enemy’s horses, he charged toward them without hesitation. The enemies soon prepared to receive him, but Hei was no longer playing around. The enemies tried to stab him to death as he approached, but swung his glaive around faster than the wind and then claimed the heads of three enemies.
After that, Hei stopped to let his breathing calm down since it suddenly had gone up as he watched his warriors join the fight.
“They aren’t here… this would be easier if we could target them directly.”
When his heartbeat slowed down a bit, Hei charged in again. He tried to spare as much as possible the enemy’s horses since they were lacking them as well, but soon those horses began to kick theirs and then he was forced to attack them as well.
Usually, that would be the time when the enemies would retreat and wait for another chance to finish the job… but much to Hei’s surprise, they kept coming and coming. As if that wasn’t enough, the enemy’s formation which was thick and long began to spread around the area, and soon the heavy infantry began to reach all the cavalry in the area.
Hei opened his eyes widely when he saw the heavy infantry practically forming a single line to push all the defenders… and that was working pretty well. Now and then, Hei would see a shadow on the battlefield moving, and then one of those heavy infantrymen would fall afterward. Kai was doing his work as sneakily as possible, but that wasn’t enough.
“... We can’t let them lose this hill.”
Hei’s heart accelerated when he imagined both outcomes… if the enemies set their camp in that hill, they would be able to attack all the other areas as they saw fit. Carli clan would be decimated, and then the battle would at least last for several more weeks. In order to prevent that, Hei had to go all out and lose a lot of soldiers… they barely had time to get used to the clan… and recruiting a lot more of them so soon would be extremely hard.
While Hei was trying to consider what was the best option, he saw a bunch of riders and horses being knocked down on the ground and then impaled by the heavy infantry. After clicking his tongue, Hei made his choice and then raised his sword, but before he could give his orders… Hei suddenly saw a dust curtain coming from behind the enemy’s lines.
