Night of the Soulless Heathens – 415



#415. Tempest 4

“This is crazy!”

At Azadin’s command the heavy infantry led by Selim stood in the forefront carrying wooden shields and were all disheartened by the sight of the enemy’s defensive posture.

The musketeers and pikemen on the Vissen side occupied the high ground and they dug trenches in the bends of the steep rough road to place the musketeers and placed pikemen and musketeers in the relatively wide areas to block the path.

This is a formation where if you rush to attack the pikemen you see right away you will be hit with fierce fire from the trenches on both sides.

This was the part where you could see why the Bisen army had met the Azadin army. It was a strict defense system that even the lowest-ranking soldiers could understand as they could see how much blood would be shed to break through this truly natural fortress.

“Come on! Quit talking nonsense and let’s go! Or I’ll feed you to the hippogriff!?”

Selim drove his soldiers forward threatening them with a hippogriff despite Azadin’s warnings.

From the soldiers’ point of view dying to the Minotaur or being shot was all the same so they had no choice but to go towards the enemy where they had a slight chance of survival.

however….

-Shh!

The first attack came from the messenger clan.

The impatient Indim fired the arrow.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘The arrow that the future queen shot earlier flew incredibly far…’

‘How can you aim an arrow at something that looks like a dot in the distance? Even a catapult wouldn’t fly that far.’

If you shoot an arrow from 500 paces everyone will think it’s impossible.

But… a blue line of light is drawn in the enemy camp in the distance…

The soldiers fell down all at once spewing blood.

“uh?”

Four musketeers in the left trench were killed by a single arrow.

-Shhh!

Next Seraph’s arrow flew.

-Puff puff!

The musketeers in the right trench fall spurting blood.

“10 steps forward!”

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When Seraph asks for this Selim shouts.

“Everyone heard! Ten steps forward!”

“…and.”

The soldiers did as they were told. The Bisen army started firing their guns as they were in a hurry but the bullets did not hit properly because they were too far away.

The bullets that occasionally fly in have already lost much of their power and are simply blocked by the wooden shield.

In other words the messenger clan can hit enemies with arrows from a distance that even gunpowder weapons cannot reach.

‘To be exact it seems like there are only these two.’

‘You’re wizards. Those guys.’

The soldiers were amazed as they watched Indim and Seraph fire their arrows without hesitation.

“Forward again!”

Continue to close the gap 10 steps at a time.

As the line narrowed enemy fire would often arrive but the leading heavy soldiers were able to block most of the bullets simply by walking forward with wooden plank shields.

Even from afar the enemy’s commotion was visible.

As the soldiers became agitated officers were seen encouraging them to control them.

“Huh. I’m the commander so I guess I’m begging you to shoot me.”

Indim laughed and fired an arrow causing the officer to fall down after being hit by an arrow.

A cheer erupted among the allies.

“Okay move forward twenty steps!”

The clear voice of a girl in her late teens rang out.

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Medium. Medium who had the messenger’s bow tucked at his side encouraged the soldiers.

“Everyone rest assured! This fight is a winnable one!”

Medium said this and stood up as the soldiers’ eyes turned to him.

“My presence here is proof! The King intends to shed only the blood of his enemies in this battle!”

As Medium rose gunshots rang out from the outpost toward her.

The enemies were not planning to just sit back and let this happen so a specially selected sharpshooter from among the musketeers stood by and opened fire when the commander moved.

But Medium pulled out his dagger and blocked the flying bullet.

The bullet having lost its power as it passed its effective range lodged itself in the butt of her sword then fell deformed and stuck.

Medium kicked the deformed bullet and picked it up showing it to the soldiers and shouting.

“Look! In this street even that musket is nothing more than a toy that bounces lead balls. Don’t worry a slingshot is much more painful! On the other hand….”

At Midiam’s nod Ismail nocked an arrow and stepped forward.

“Open fire!”

The servants of the Etar bloodline who had been walking silently until now all raised their bows.

Arrows fly across the sky.

Arrows flew absurd distances like fish swimming in the current while wagging their tails raining down on the enemy lines and dealing heavy damage to them.

A cheer erupted from the Azadin army.

“Wow!”

As Medium said the battle could be won just by shooting arrows from this distance.

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The Bisen army unable to stand by belatedly pulled out a cannon. When the cannon pulled by a cart appeared even the servants of the Etar clan were startled…

“I can’t let the messenger clan be the only ones earning their keep.”

Two knights appeared at the rear of the Visen army.

One was a knight of penance Lord Jecht wearing a hempen veil over his head the other a middle-aged man with a pipe in his mouth dragging several iron stakes the size of a man’s thigh attached to leather straps.

Former Inquisitors Jecht and Astarte had taken a detour and appeared behind the Visen forces.

I wondered if just two knights could change the front line…

-Swish!

Zect’s hands are not visible. Only a blurry sword light extends from Zect’s two hands slaughtering the artillerymen.

-Pop!

The iron stakes that Sir Astarte flew pierced the pikemen. Each stake pierced four or five soldiers and in an instant the ranks collapsed and were reduced to rubble.

Jecht and Astarte trampled the enemies in the rear becoming a storm of death that killed everyone within range.

These two knights strode forward slaughtering all enemies within reach of their human-shaped death blades and leather straps proving first-hand why so many in Hybris feared the King’s Church and why the Inquisitor’s reputation was so great.

“Forward! Fear the enemy! Bang your shields and shout!”

When Selim gave the order to his hoplites they all approached the enemy lines as if they had been waiting and shouted.

The Visen army which was causing confusion with the appearance of Jecht and Astarte at the rear was mentally stressed and floundered just by this approach.

“Kwak! Don’t think you guys can do whatever you want!”

Crimson wings appeared among the Bisen army on the verge of collapse. Celestials with blood-stained wings appeared.

but….

“Sir Jecht. You’re saying you had a hard time with these guys?”

“No Sir Astarte. I was alone at the time.”

Astarte and Jecht took on each enemy one by one. In an instant they cut off Celestial’s wings with their swords and drove iron stakes into his thighs.

The long-range attacks of the Heralds the pressure of the heavy infantry led by Selim and the cooperation between Jecht and Astarteer combined to make the appearance of the Celestials of the Visen army nothing more than a last-ditch effort.

*********

Azadin’s soldiers did not actually do anything that could be called combat.

But now it was up to them to clear the battlefield repair the roads remove the dead and reorganize the supplies.

The Bisen army was completely robbed without even being able to destroy their supplies but as expected from Bisen which was famous for its high-quality iron ore they were able to obtain good weapons and gunpowder.

“I’m embarrassed. I couldn’t be of much help.”

Lord Karna who had come leading the light cavalry blushed.

Since the musketeers’ fire was a threat to the light cavalry and this was a straight line with no detours Azadin did not deploy light cavalry in this battle.

However Karna seems anxious because he seems to be only wasting food.

“But thanks to the light cavalry we’re also transporting supplies right?”

“That’s true but.”

Azadin was transporting much of the army’s supplies using the horses of his light cavalry.

Although the war horses of the light cavalry had less endurance than ordinary pack horses they could still carry more goods than people.

Then Jecht called Azadin.

“…Hmm. Your Majesty. You must see this.”

“ah.”

Azadin clicked his tongue at the sight of the corpse of the enemy commander killed by Jecht and Astarte.

The dead commander with his bloodshot wings out had pointed ears and was a full forearm taller than the average man. He also had blue tattoos along his neck and chest.

“Elf… no half-elf.”

The kingdom of Assander ruled by the Northern Emperor is a union kingdom with the elves.

During the Naga Empire the elves who had been loyal to the Nagas betrayed the Naga Empire and sided with the Yaegas tribe but instead received recognition of their autonomy.

The Yaegas gods who had already implemented the Quartz Throne had to form a united kingdom and rule over the Asander region so the elves were able to retain their original status despite being collaborators of the Naga Empire.

It is not unusual to find elves or half-elves among the Northern Qi’s military and agents.

however….

“This is…..”

Azadin frowned at the vial in the half-elf’s arms.

It’s a vial containing angel’s blood.

It was at Banreung Academy too but I didn’t think I’d see it here either.

“The Northern Emperor and the Wisdom Sect were leaking the blood of angels out. Perhaps they were casting some kind of spell on this blood to create those horrible Celestials.”

Although Heine testified as such it is only a guess.

“It’s a shame to kill him. There was a lot to interrogate if he was left alive.”

“Shall we ask the spirit of the dead through necromancy?”

Zect asked.

“No that kind of necromancy is not really good… From now on any kind of spell that touches the soul is forbidden. As for the body only do it when you have to. Even if they’re your enemy don’t touch their soul after they die.”

Although Azadin himself uses necromancy he is forbidden from touching souls.

“Okay then let’s hear the survivors’ testimonies.”

The surviving officers of the Bissen Army and the non-commissioned officers under the officers were dragged out. They were indignant when they saw Azadin.

“You dirty messenger clan! You brought your forces here to seize control of the kingdom! Are you planning to fill the entire continent of Hybris with your clan?!”

Azadin’s declaration of himself as king of Banling was a real blow to the Hybris people who hated Aragasa.

The Hybris people both hated and feared the Heralds so Azadin’s taking of the throne and recruiting Heralds as soldiers seemed to them like an invasion by the Heralds.

Azadin laughed.

‘You’re not even a king a duke or an earl so why are you worried about the conflict between the Heralds and the Hybris people? And now you’re saying such things after killing your own people?’