MTLNOVEL Chapter 20
Part 1, Chapter 20
In mid-range combat, the unit that boasts overwhelming performance is the mounted archers.
If it goes all the way to long-range, regular archers who shoot steadily from the ground gain the upper hand, and if it comes down to close-range, there's no way to overcome the strength of heavy cavalry.
But to be taken down this easily in mid-range, and by someone not even riding a horse—that wasn’t something that should happen easily.
‘He’s skilled.’
It was something they had vaguely sensed for a while, but now the mounted archers were able to clearly acknowledge it.
“Damn, just chase that bastard from earlier!”
One of the cavalry centurions leading the mounted archers at the front shouted out.
In his own way, it was a desperate cry to survive, but it was a surprisingly effective tactical command.
Because Blathyun had come out from behind the tree and charged at him, exposing his flank to the mounted archers.
“Shoot! Shoot, goddamn it, I said shoot!”
The Centurion, almost falling from his horse in surprise, kept shouting over and over.
Pishushuk!
Ten arrows flew through the forest.
Thwack.
Three arrows struck the ground.
Thud.
Two arrows struck the nearby trees.
Clang.
Three arrows were blocked by Blathyun’s left-handed sword.
Thwack.
Two arrows pierced into Blathyun’s thigh and shoulder.
“Hhhup!”
Blathyun shook off the pain surging through him and lunged toward the Centurion.
As he moved violently, the arrows embedded in him tore the wounds open, scraping bone and mixing with melting flesh, flinging thick blood around and adding a new color to the green forest.
Even so, for some reason, he couldn’t properly feel even a stinging pain.
“Don’t come! I said don’t come!”
The terrified Centurion, pulling the bowstring all the way back, finally released it.
He looked extremely flustered, likely experiencing this kind of ambush for the first time, but his hand technique wasn’t much different from usual.
The rear of the fired arrow wobbled up, down, left, and right, giving a sense of its power.
Getting hit by a strong bow at this distance would surely penetrate.
A shot to the head would spill brain matter, and one to the neck would drop him without even a scream.
And it wasn’t like getting hit elsewhere would end any better.
Instant death, or something close to it, surely awaited him.
Yet Blathyun didn’t care, eyes wide open as he charged.
He twisted his body, quickly raising his left shoulder.
As the twist came to a halt, his right-hand sword, lifted abruptly by inertia, met the arrow.
Blathyun felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.
A ripple of instinct vibrated from his toes to the top of his head, and the scent of death leaked from his lips.
In the briefest instant as the arrows flew, time shattered into an endless series of fragments.
And in those fragments—so finely split that even the beats of a heart could be counted—Blathyun's senses sharpened to a razor's edge.
His blade began to rise, its tip lifting slowly to meet the underside of the arrow gliding through the air.
Skreeeek!
The sword scraped the underside of the arrow with a metallic screech, and only then did time, which had been compressed, return to its normal flow for Blathyun.
Clang!
The sword cleanly split the arrow.
“Hrngh!”
Blathyun, drawing his fully raised left arm downward, struck.
The sword strike, descending in a whip-like motion from close to his body, dug into the captain’s shoulder like a bolt of lightning.
“Guh!”
Whether it was from the earlier arrow impact or the large movement splitting the wounded area open, intense pain swept through his entire body.
Clang-clang-clang!
Toward the rain of arrows flying at him, Blathyun spun his two swords, creating a kind of barrier.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Of course, it was merely part of dual-wielding technique—it only reduced the number of arrows that struck.
Focusing on blocking his core, no arrows hit a vital point, but arrows, by nature, were deadly no matter where they landed.
“Urrgh...”
Blathyun groaned.
A few arrows pierced through his barrier and embedded in his arms, making it difficult to spin his swords any longer.
“Hup!”
Blathyun slid, taking cover behind the captain’s horse along with the centurion.
“Fire!”
At another centurion’s command, a volley of arrows even greater than before rained down.
Neigh!
As the horse collapsed, Blathyun ducked low for cover.
Squelch.
His left hand was no longer usable, Blathyun abandoned the sword and drew a short dagger, stabbing it into the centurion’s heart.
“Urgh, so you want to keep going?”
Blathyun chuckled faintly.
He had no intention of returning alive anyway.
He simply thought that dying after taking a few more with him would be more stylish, honorable, and helpful.
“Fine, let’s go all the way!”
Blathyun rose in a sudden burst.
As the mounted archers were still reloading after their volley, he could see them.
Taah!
Blathyun kicked off the ground hard and charged at the archers.
Then, a one-handed axe flew toward his head.
“This is...!”
Recognizing the axe’s owner, Blathyun ground his teeth and swung his right-hand sword upward.
Craack!
Though it was a full-force blow, it was too slow, and the blade, struck slightly from the side by the axe, split apart.
Whirl!
The axe spun like a boomerang and returned to its owner, who now revealed himself in front of Blathyun.
A completely bald head, murky blood-red eyes, and a somewhat unkempt mustache.
And with his right arm missing—as if chopped off along with the axe—anyone could easily guess the identity of the middle-aged man.
“Turg...”
Blathyun bit his lip.
“Ha, so that’s the new reinforcement? Just some rat who knows how to throw a blade? What a joke.”
Turg furrowed his brow.
“Yeah, what a joke.”
Turg hurled his axe once more.
With a perfectly executed twist of his waist, the axe—driven by the full force of his body—flew toward Blathyun.
“Hrgh!”
Blathyun, using even his powerless left hand, thrust out his sword.
Craaack!
The blade struck the handle of the axe and shattered, scattering shards everywhere, and the broken sword dropped downward.
But the axe didn’t lose any speed—it spun once in midair and came crashing down toward Blathyun’s head.
“Guh!”
Dodging it with miraculous reflexes, Blathyun couldn’t keep his balance and tumbled to the ground.
“Keheuk!”
Blathyun coughed up blood and glared at Turg.
“You filthy, rotten barbarian bastard...”
“Pfft, the noble civilized man looks a mess, doesn’t he?”
Turg chuckled, then quickly stifled his laughter and gave orders to the mounted archers.
“We’ve used too many arrows. We’re not wasting any more on that bastard.”
As Turg caught the returning axe like a boomerang and stuck it back in his belt, Blathyun’s face twisted in frustration.
“There’s no time, so we keep advancing. Trample him to death.”
“...You goddamn piece of shit...”
Blathyun spat out the curse, blood mixed in—but his body no longer responded to his words.
***
Watchtower No. 3
Built at the heart of the forest, Watchtower No. 3 stood near the place where an old veteran—known as Aide’s laziest slacker, nicknamed ‘Honeybee’—had met his end.
Unlike the other two watchtowers, it had easier access to materials, and due to additional logging, it ended up being taller than originally planned—a full five stories high.
Even the towering trees nearby had to bare their noble crowns before this structure.
Because nearly all the Wardens of the Swamp had been stationed at the previously built towers, this one was guarded almost entirely by the main force of rangers.
As usual, Hughes and the others spent the day at the tower, keeping watch through idle banter and blank stares.
Paaang!
But everything changed when the fireworks exploded.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
The ten rangers in the tower instantly turned their attention to the burst of fire in the sky.
“Team One, establish communications! Team Two, go check the situation!”
Hughes quickly descended the tower and mounted his horse.
Today, he was assigned to Team Two—the team tasked with rushing to identify the enemy the moment trouble struck.
“Find any survivors!”
Shouting the order, Hughes led four rangers forward.
Though Fade hadn’t officially designated team leaders, the rangers naturally followed a hierarchy formed during training.
And Hughes had already been acknowledged, not just as the best in Team Two, but as the top ranger overall.
Whether Hughes himself realized this or not, it was a consensus among the others.
Once Teams One and Two departed, all that remained were a single Wardens of the Swamp who hadn’t been deployed to the front, and three infantrymen.
They, too, began preparing for their own fight.
“Go to the triggered traps and get them ready to deploy. I’m heading for the swamp.”
Delivering his order, the warden slid down the three-story-high tower column in an instant and mounted his horse.
There weren’t many horses available, but he had been assigned three.
That was because he needed to switch mounts to move faster than anyone else.
‘Captain, please… please be alive…!’
The warden clenched his fist tightly and kicked his horse into motion.
***
Ranger Team One’s role was to establish a communication network—linking the main base in Aide, the two strongholds, and all the soldiers engaged in battle elsewhere.
Of course, the soldiers and officers in those locations weren’t blind or deaf.
Naturally, they had seen the fireworks and realized what was happening.
The crucial part was ensuring proper communication afterward.
“An enemy attack!”
Tryaev stood up abruptly, his face a mix of excitement and concern.
“Officers, hurry and prepare to mobilize.”
After speaking to the nearby officers, Tryaev immediately began arming himself.
As much as he wanted to charge in and clash with the great Rakula’s army, he couldn’t recklessly move his troops without first establishing contact with Fade.
He only had fifteen cavalrymen assigned to him; the rest were all infantry. Rushing in blindly against a larger enemy force would be nothing short of suicidal.
No matter how he looked at it, this situation required caution.
If he wanted to keep commanding on the front lines and achieving great merit, he’d have to do his job as a centurion properly here.
Click.
Fully armed in an instant, Tryaev stepped outside the building of the Second Stronghold and gazed toward the rugged ridgeline shaped by men’s labor.
“Well now, they’re coming fast.”
A lone ranger came galloping at top speed along the ridgeline, driving his horse hard.
“Heh.”
With that, the communication line was complete.
Soon, they’d be able to get in touch with Fade’s side.
And if his instincts and intuition were right, things were about to erupt.
Tryaev licked his lips, savoring the thought of the feel of his blade cutting down the enemy.
It wouldn’t be long before his thrill for battle was tinged with a bit of rage.