Chapter 49 : The Decisive Battle

Chapter 49: The Decisive Battle

“Sword?”

Haarun sneered.

“You’re pulling out a sword in a cavalry duel? Your spear looked good enough to use, even if it got a little bent. Why?”

I didn’t feel it was worth answering.

I pressed my thighs hard against the horse’s belly and aimed at Banroa.

Haarun chuckled, spinning his words with a smile.

“Hey.... So cold-hearted. Fine. Let’s finish this. You’ve hit your limit, haven’t you?”

What annoyed me about Haarun, that bastard,

was that he always said things like that, but never made the first move himself.

Just like before,

This time, too, one of his guards stepped forward first.

All dead, and now only two barely survived...

Slaaash–!

One poor guard’s head went flying.

Crunch!

The second head split open.

And in the short gap before I could pull back my sword,

a chill.

The hair on my body bristled.

Clop-clop—

The elongated sound of hooves rang in my ears.

A cold wind brushed through my raised hair.

The air, scorched by aura, smelled of burning.

From the tip of Haarun’s sword bloomed a radiant golden Aura Blade, enlarging before my eyes.

I kept feeling the same thing—

this... it was absurdly fast!

Clang!

I stepped back instantly.

As my horse sensed my intention and stepped back,

I kicked off its back completely and hurled myself backward.

“Huh...?”

He must not have imagined I would abandon my horse. A weak sound slipped from between Haarun’s lips.

And I saw it.

The Aura Blade, condensed so intensely it dazzled my eyes, wavered faintly as it passed the point it was meant to strike.

Haarun’s specialty was to unleash all his power at the end of a mounted charge, striking precisely at the target.

Blocking that head-on had left my body in shambles, but thanks to it, I had grasped the timing and the weakness.

‘First, avoid the exact moment when the power peaks....’

Then, following the subtle trembling line of the Aura Blade from below to above—

Slash!

Craaaash!

The stench of burning pierced my nose.

Our auras exploded outward, shattering into fragments in all directions.

Only,

This time it was different.

Now, it was Haarun’s golden aura that shattered far more than my dark-blue fragments.

“What the...!”

Haarun lost his balance, exposing an opening.

I wanted nothing more than to rush in and cut his throat, but the distance was just a little too far.

Instead,

Swish—

I unleashed an Aura Shooting and cut his horse’s head.

Thud—thump!

The steed that had borne Haarun’s terrifying charges collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Having already leapt from my horse, I landed lightly on the ground.

“You...! My Eldin...!”

Even as he fell, Haarun quickly regained his balance and landed, releasing a fierce killing intent.

Well, what. Why.

Earlier, even when he heard his lover had died, that bastard just kept grinning.

So the horse’s name was Eldin?

So what.

“That look on your face.... Fine. I’ll cut off all your legs first, and then we’ll talk.”

Why? What kind of face was I making?

Shiiing—

Haarun, clearly enraged, drew his sword and charged.

He was still as sharp as ever.

That bone-chilling speed. That terrifying aura gathering in anticipation of the moment of explosion.

But I had already finished analyzing it.

Claang!

It followed the same pattern.

The only difference was that instead of a thrust, it was a slash, so I leapt forward rather than back.

Before the concentrated aura could unleash its explosive might, I split its flow one step ahead.

“Ghhk!”

Haarun’s face twisted with pain.

He had poured so much aura into that strike, and having it forcibly shattered meant the backlash was enormous.

By now, a storm surge must have been raging within his body.

Bzzzzz—!

And yet, strength filled Haarun’s hand gripping the sword.

Another one of his specialties was his relentless chain strikes.

The aura that had been broken surged up the blade once more without giving even a moment’s gap.

It wouldn’t change anything, though.

“No matter how many times you try, it’s useless.”

“Ha! A cavalry commander without stubbornness wouldn’t be a commander at all!”

Clang! Cla-clang! Claaang!

The stench of burning brushed my nose. Shards of aura sparkled before my eyes. Haarun clenched his teeth, sharp breaths escaping through them.

He attacked me desperately, but every attempt ended in failure.

I had already analyzed his martial arts completely.

And in my hand right now was Banroa.

The power of the ancient sword arts varied vastly depending on the quality of the blade...

and Banroa was a peerless treasure sword.

What shocked me was, in fact, something else—

the very fact that Haarun’s sword still hadn’t broken in two.

Even though I was using Banroa’s sword techniques, targeting only the weaknesses, breaking him apart again and again... he endured this?

Just how much aura did this man have?

Clang! Crack!

Of course, Haarun wasn’t unscathed.

“Cough! Cough!”

From recklessly pouring out his aura, he spat out mouthfuls of blood.

Hot air. The acrid scent of burning mingled with the metallic stench of blood.

And yet, through his disheveled hair, his faint golden eyes still shone with a chilling light.

“Want to keep going?”

At my question, Haarun bared his teeth and growled.

“A cavalryman who stops... is nothing but a dead cavalryman...!”

Having lost all his guards he had used as meat shields, and even the steed that gave him mobility, only now did Haarun finally face me purely one-on-one.

He was a completely different man from the slippery one he had been at first.

Vwoooom—!

With the determination to burn everything away, he clashed with me head-on.

Far from faltering, he charged with his Aura Blade shining even brighter.

Whoooosh—!

The violent force of his Aura Blade tore the air apart.

A few cavalrymen who had been too slow to escape were caught in the storm, slamming into the ground with a thud! thud! along with their horses.

Blood splattered across my body in several places.

“Hyah! Hyaaah!”

Haarun charged, shouting meaningless battle cries.

His steps were simple.

He only rushed toward me.

If I stepped back once, he advanced one step.

If I pushed him back two steps, he rushed in three more.

‘Is he insane…?’

Even I, who had been certain of victory, felt cold sweat running down my back.

Haarun seemed intoxicated.

There was no doubt in him.

No matter how many times I blocked, he acted as if he only needed to break through just once.

With every moment, he unleashed his blade at full power.

A storm of relentless strikes, ending only when one of us died.

And then, suddenly—

Craaaash—!

“Gwaaagh….”

It was a particularly well-landed strike.

Aura shattered so violently it fell from the sky like snowflakes.

Haarun vomited blood.

He poured out far more blood than ever before, streaming endlessly.

Even then, the fact that his sword did not waver was astonishing.

Bleeding profusely, Haarun still smiled.

“The storm… never stops….”

From the sword gripped tightly in his twisting hand, another Aura Blade bloomed.

I braced myself, nerves taut, readjusting my stance.

But the one to end this fight wasn’t either of our blades.

“My Lord!”

A warrior suddenly galloped into the fray.

She looked familiar.

The Peak Expert who had delivered the final ultimatum to Kashu City.

Was her name Firze?

She abruptly seized Haarun by the collar, hoisted him onto her horse, and fled.

“....”

I had thought Haarun would struggle, but he said nothing. He just hung limply over the horse like a corpse.

That was when I realized.

‘So… he had already lost consciousness.’

Either way, I couldn’t let this chance slip.

I seized a horse and shouted with all my might.

“Haarun is fleeing! Everyone, pursue him! Catch him!”

That was the decisive blow.

The enemy commanders had already fallen across the battlefield.

Now, with their supreme commander Haarun in retreat,

It was like the final drop spilling into an already brimming cup.

“He… he lost?”

“Look there! The cavalry are all running away!”

“Damn it… just run!”

The formation of Haarun’s army, which had held on so stubbornly even after losing their commanders, collapsed in an instant.

Even among the mid-level commanders, discord broke out.

“Protect Lord Haarun!”

“No, what are you saying! If we stay here, we’ll all die!”

“But Lord Haarun’s life is in danger!”

“Shut up and hold the formation!”

“It’s already broken. Retreat!”

Should they protect Haarun?

Or hold the line and keep fighting?

Or abandon everything and flee?

Normally, the Peak Expert officers would have made that decision, but they were all either dead or tied down. Instead of calming, the confusion only grew.

In the end, what covered the battlefield were only the corpses of Ailun’s warriors, dying while hesitating and wavering.

I shouted until my throat was raw.

“Advance! Keep advancing! Don’t let a single one escape!”

*         *         *

At first, they must have been stunned.

“We… we won…?”

“Did we really win?”

“The army of one of the Five Kings is retreating…?”

Were those warriors fleeing up ahead really the famed elite soldiers of Ailun, said to be the strongest in Norberju? Then why were they running?

What came next was a shiver.

“So they’re just weaklings after all?”

“Damn bastards, they finally try to fight, then bolt?!”

“Khhhhh—! The Five Kings. Nothing special.”

“We won…. That’s 300 Dallon….”

And finally, what erupted was the most primal joy!

“Uwaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!”

“We wonnnnn!”

“300 Dallon! 300 Dallon!!!”

“We got it! We got it!”

“What did I tell you! I said we’d take it!!! I said we’d win!!! Uwaaaahhh!!”

Roaring, swelling!

The army surged like waves.

Where did such strength come from, after they had seemed utterly drained from the brutal battle?

“Kill them all!”

“Chase them to the end!”

Chasing Haarun’s retreating army, they ran with such vigor that even their heavy armor shook with each stride.

They cut down fleeing enemies with glee, hunted them, captured them, kept advancing, kept pressing forward—until gradually the fever cooled, and the forgotten fatigue began to seep back in.

And then, they saw.

The back of a man at the very front, leading them.

Dark-blue aura surged around him, and behind him lay countless corpses forming a road.

Whether elite warriors or Experts, anyone who tried to block him simply became new material paving the path.

Only then did Ransen’s warriors realize.

Focused only on the enemy in front of them, they hadn’t grasped the battle’s flow. Now, they slowly looked around.

Why had this situation come to be?

Why had the enemy suddenly broken into retreat?

Thanks to whom had they managed to win this gamble where they had staked their very lives?

“So… Count Ransen defeated Haarun…?”

“Didn’t you hear earlier? He shouted it loud enough.”

“No… I heard it, but… I wasn’t in my right mind. I had blades flashing right in front of my eyes.”

“Wow… I knew he was strong, but to actually defeat Haarun.”

“I saw it. He was carried away on a horse, looking like a complete wreck.”

“No way….”

“No way, my ass. To my eyes, he didn’t look like a wreck—he just looked like a corpse.”

“It wasn’t even one-on-one, was it?”

“Didn’t you see earlier? His Lordship single-handedly slaughtered the entire cavalry guards?”

“A new one of the Five Kings, maybe…?”

With no enemies left to cut down right in front of them,

and with their limbs heavy,

their movements slowed. Instead, they exchanged words with one another.

But unlike before, a deeper reality dawned on them. A creeping chill. A realization that resonated deep within their chests.

“This… could it be….”

“Could it really be….”

No one said it outright, but their eyes all conveyed the same meaning.

‘Didn’t we just hit the jackpot of our lives?’

I mean,

Our commander tore apart one of the Five Kings.

We saw it with our own eyes.

And he’s only twenty-seven years old….

Above all, he pays incredibly well.

And! We’re under him right now! Salaries and performance bonuses that are insanely generous…!

‘This is insane!!’

In the hearts of the warriors of Roberland, long called outlaws,

a spark was lit—

the spark of burning loyalty!

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.