Chapter 160: Just who is that person……? (6)
“These bastards……!”
I immediately gritted my teeth and raised my sword. I, who even had the experience of forcibly evicting a demon fragment, why should I be treated like a demon?! This is unjust!
To eradicate this injustice, I immediately started self-defense.
“How dare you mere humans be plagued by suicidal urges! Before I grind your bones into a bloody paste, mix it with human oil, and fry it in hellfire for three months and ten days, surrender at once!”
The soldiers faltered at my dignified roar. In their eyes, there was anxiety that I might actually do it. Levidian sighed deeply and shook her head.
“That’s not helping the situation. More importantly, I’m hungry, so let’s not play with food.”
She cunningly licked her bright red lips with her red tongue, painting the soldiers’ faces white. I gave them the look of a man admiring a woman’s versatility.
“Hey! You two! Stop playing around and work! Work!”
Aila had already knocked down the officer she had targeted and was standing there holding him in one hand. She was standing on a pile of soldiers, carts, and various miscellaneous items.
As the soldiers’ gazes turned towards her, Aila quickly lifted the limp officer and proudly shouted.
“Everyone see this? Fresh officer, 100 gold coins! First come, first served!”
“Chief-nim―!”
One soldier cried out in anguish. I nodded with a deeply sympathetic expression. It’s understandable that a subordinate would be distressed to hear such words in such a situation. As expected of my friend.
Now, now, let’s stop playing around. Let’s fight a serious war!
I quietly raised my sword and spoke to them seriously.
“It’s clear that your chances of winning are slim. I advise you to not resist the obvious truth and adapt to the flow of the times.”
The soldiers in front of me flinched and looked at each other. Behind me, my soldiers, who had completely taken over the walls, were descending inward.
Soon, everyone would climb over the walls.
What are they thinking, seeing the enemy troops entering the castle only 20 minutes after the siege began?
So, what will their choice be?
“The enemy is small in number! Reinforcements will arrive soon! Fight―!”
Yes! That’s the spirit of the Imperial Army!
She and I looked at each other. And then, we threw ourselves towards the Hana Defense Force of the Imperial Western Army that was rushing towards us.
“Save the Chief-nim!”
Some started to climb the small hill where Aila was. Aila, who was standing peacefully on top, smirked and stretched her palm towards the ground.
“Friction Skip! 2nd level limited activation!”
Ugh. Friction this time? As soon as she finished speaking, the soldiers climbing from all directions dramatically raised their legs and fell, creating a comedic scene.
Aila laughed heartily at the sight.
“Ohohoho! A woman under a spell is sensitive! How dare you approach me without warning! You unmannerly things! Learn the fear of Mother Nature!”
“Let’s be serious! Please!”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to get distracted!”
“Why are you only picking on me!”
I yelled and then struck, stomped, kicked, and slashed at the soldiers rushing towards me. Levidian quickly moved behind me and leaned against my back.
“See you later.”
“You mean after the war?”
“No. After today’s battle.”
And then I heard the sound of her rushing out again. Hearing the intensified screams and groans of the soldiers behind me, my heart felt heavy. Should I get hurt a little?
“Die!”
“No!”
Screaming a cheesy line, I clashed swords with the charging soldier twice before bending at the waist and burrowing into his arms. Then, I suddenly thought that snuggling into a man’s arms was far from my preference.
“Let’s break up!”
My iron-clad hand reaches for his solar plexus.
Thump!
“Ugh!”
I knock the collapsing soldier over my shoulder and move forward. After dodging the spears thrusting from both sides, I tumble backward to avoid being swung at.
Whee!
The world spun vertically, and as soon as my feet touched the ground, I flung myself to the right. I only saw her for a moment, but the female soldier on the right was prettier.
“Huh?!”
“Borrowing this!”
I grabbed her spear and immediately thrust it towards the female soldier on the opposite side. The female soldier who ended up right next to me inadvertently stabbed her own ally with her own hands.
“Aaack!”
The soldier on the opposite side collapsed with a scream, and the soldier next to me turned pale. Tsk. Did I leave her with a bad memory?
“Sweet dreams!!”
I went behind the pale soldier and hit the back of her head with the hilt of my sword.
“Mary!”
A voice I heard as the female soldier collapsed. There was a small group of spearmen, presumably a squad, there. They looked back and forth between the fallen female soldier and me.
Their faces contorted.
“You demon!”
“Everyone calls me that.”
I shrugged and, without any preparatory movements, immediately plunged into the midst of them.
The spearmen, holding their spears, were immediately bewildered when I, with a sword, charged into their formation.
With the advantage of the enemy’s confusion from the start, I began to fight, moving my body between them.
My body feels light. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been in direct combat. I’ve been training through practice and sparring, but it’s been a really long time since I’ve experienced actual combat like this.
There’s almost no time lag between thought and action. The enemies’ movements feel slow, and in contrast, my body moves as I think.
My sharpened senses informed me of all attacks that came within the reach of my sword, and my body reacted accordingly.
Six spearmen, keeping their distance, launched a coordinated attack towards me, but I dodged by shuffling my feet, lowering my body, and tumbling.
As expected. I think I’ve definitely gotten stronger.
I can feel the air within a 2-meter radius around me as if I can grasp it with my hands.
“Th-this guy!”
“Damn it!”
I hear the enemies’ angry voices. I smiled faintly as I heard them.
Slow! You’re slow!
It was difficult when I had to break through countless soldiers to catch Pilledvan. I had to capture Pilledvan while protecting my and Levidian’s lives amidst countless soldiers.
Now it’s different.
Confidence wells up within me that if the same situation arises again, I can handle it with ease.
“Haha―! Hahaha!”
I burst out laughing at the feeling of my chest opening up. And in an instant, I broke all of the soldiers’ spears. Those who were holding the spears all had blank expressions on their faces.
No matter how sharp a sword is, it’s extremely difficult to break a sturdy military spear by striking it.
I looked around at them. They probably had expressions opposite to mine on their faces. I shouted at them.
“Are you going to fight barehanded!”
“Ugh!”
A shameful groan could be heard as they collapsed to the ground. A sign of surrender.
If anyone saw me now, they would think I’m intoxicated with superiority and taking a vulgar pleasure. It’s understandable, since I’m smiling amongst the soldiers whose spirits I’ve broken.
But I’m different from those bastards who flaunt their strength and disregard the world. The reason I’m smiling is because the stronger I become, the faster I can end the war.
With strong power, I can defeat the enemy faster, and as that time accumulates, it will eventually lead to a faster end to the war.
I’ve confirmed that.
How can I not rejoice! Haha!
After about 30 minutes, it seemed like things were starting to settle down. I could still hear the sounds of our troops and the defenders fighting, but overall, it sounded like our troops had the upper hand.
The surroundings were noisy with the sounds of weapons clashing, groans, and death throes. First, I need to stop this noise. Come to think of it, where did Levidian go? She disappeared at some point.
I wandered around looking for Levidian and knocked down the soldiers who were still resisting one by one. About 30 minutes passed like that, and it was around the time I suddenly remembered that I was the supreme commander of the siege force.
“General-nim!”
“Ah, First Sword Luxilen, you’ve come in too.”
“Where have you been? I was looking for you.”
“Hmm, I went to participate in the battle for a bit. I haven’t forgotten my duty. But is the gate open?”
When I asked as if nothing had happened with a brazen face, First Sword Luxilen sighed deeply. What insolence in front of a superior, I could say, but I stayed quiet because of my guilt. He looked like he had been running around quite a bit.
First Sword Hanos Luxilen began his report to his superior, whom he had been searching for for quite some time.
“The gate is open. The majority of the defending forces in front of the North Gate have been taken as prisoners. And General-nim’s…… that……”
“Special Forces.”
“Yes, thank you. Thanks to the Special Forces neutralizing the defenders on the walls, First Sword Exofi has seized the East Gate. The message is that they are currently accepting the surrender of the defending forces and heading towards the South Gate.”
As expected, their actions are swift since urban warfare is their specialty. I nodded with satisfaction. It’s the expression a happy general would make, having good subordinate officers.
Then, all that’s left is the inner castle.
Since most of the commanders and high-ranking officers, along with their troops, have withdrawn, the inner castle doesn’t hold much significance, but in order to seize control of the city, we need to completely occupy it.
“First, occupy the inner castle. Gather all the prisoners in one place and tie them up. If they choose to resist until the end, show them the end. And tell the citizens to stay inside their houses. Ah, you there, bring the prisoners over here for a moment!”
A good idea suddenly came to mind while I was giving orders. I called out to our soldiers who were taking the prisoners away a little distance away. They happened to be the six soldiers I had defeated, along with two injured and unconscious female soldiers.
The soldier saluted me sharply as soon as he saw me.
“Corporal Papalla Roaks of the 1st Company, 3rd Platoon, 1104th Cheonbyeongdae! Awaiting orders!”
“At ease, Corporal. I have something to say to the prisoners.”
“Yes, General-nim!”
Corporal Roaks moved aside like a puppet lacking joints. It’s the kind of walking posture you’d want to show a recruit in training.
I asked the Western Army soldiers who were looking at me with displeasure.
“What are your ranks?”
“We are Privates.”
“Is there no Squad Leader? No Platoon Leader?”
They raised their hands and pointed to the female soldier I had knocked unconscious. Come to think of it, she’s wearing a Corporal’s insignia. In addition, the other female soldier who was groaning and holding her thigh was a Private First Class.
I scratched my head in embarrassment and said to them.
“As of this moment, you are now prisoners of the Herduke Kingdom Army’s 8th Legion. You should be transported directly to the POW camp, but I will give you the right to choose according to your own will. One, stay here and hand yourselves over to the Kingdom Army soldiers who will follow. Two, immediately go around the city and announce the curfew. The content is that the citizens of Hana must remain inside their houses until the curfew is lifted. At the same time, you will also have the duty to inform the fleeing soldiers of this.”
“If we choose the latter, do we become part of the Kingdom Army?”
“No. We can accept you if you wish, but you can choose even if you don’t want to. The Herduke Kingdom Army occupies but does not conquer. Do you understand?”
Since they are all citizens of the Empire anyway, and although there are regional differences, they were and will soon be part of the same country, the intention is to minimize hostile relationships.
After pondering my words, the six soldiers soon made a firm decision.
“We are the Hana Defense Force.”
“Our duty is to protect Hana.”
“We will protect the citizens from the occupying forces.”
They meant they would cooperate. I nodded.
“Good. I hope you fulfill your duties. First Sword Luxilen, close the North Gate and, in agreement with First Sword Martin, send 200 men to the inner castle. I will allow them to wait for 15 minutes after arrival.”
“Understood, General-nim.”
First Sword Luxilen saluted and headed towards the North Gate. I turned to Corporal Roaks. He quickly straightened his posture as he caught my gaze.
“Corporal Papalla Roaks!”
“Corporal Roaks, go to the prisoner assembly point and tell them exactly what I just said, without missing a single word. And limit the number of volunteers to a maximum of 10. Select those who are physically healthy.”
“Yes! Sir!”
Hmm. I should go to the wall myself now. Aila will be there, and Levidian is probably there too.
The way to the North Gate wasn’t that long, and it wasn’t that uncomfortable either. Since I had ordered the soldiers to refrain from killing as much as possible, I didn’t see that many corpses.
It seems that my words about not needing to shed unnecessary blood in a battle we could win have been effective.
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