Chapter 74 Advance!
Translator: Tchu
Editor: Superposhposh, Kidyeon
“Who?! Who is at cursing me?!”
He shouted a few times, and when received no response, Shaar put on a weird expression. After looking outside the tent without finding anything, his eyes finally landed on the crystal in his bed. With a startled expression he asked, “……Is it you that’s cursing at me?”
In his mind, the dry and emotionless voice finally appeared once again, “I’m in front of you, can’t you see?”
This time, Shaar could clearly see the faint red light that washed over the crystal, changing the gray stone into a red one!
“Huh? The stone? Did the stone really just start talking?” Thinking to himself that he was going crazy, Shaar cautiously approached the stone with his fiery pitchfork in his hand, before gently prodding it. Shaar could suddenly hear an angry shout, “What?!”
“You cursed human! You absorbed my blood with your sword, you touched your dirty body with it, and you even had the audacity to wear my scales……” that voice suddenly revealed a trace of frustration, “Do you even know who I am?”
Shaar was dumbfounded as his mouth opened and closed like a fish, before fiercely stabbing the stone.
“Damn! Y-you’re that dragon!!! You, you… you didn’t die?!”
※※※
The setting sun’s afterglow fell on the mouth of the mountain valley, and the sleepy, setting sun’s rays reflected on the soldier’s armors and weapons, emanating a chilling glow.
With his hawk-like eyes, he stared at the dense and numerous Odin soldiers that slowly poured out of the valley in waves.
This brave general of the Byzantine Empire grunted coldly and sneered, ordering with a serious voice, “Line up in formation!”
Under the general’s orders, the Byzantine elite soldiers immediately began to take action.
The first legion made of heavy infantry had already left their warhorses in the rear, and began arranging into two long and dense lines at the command. Although the infantry formation looked somewhat thin, each of the soldiers of the 13th clearly let out auras of firmness and resolution! Not one soldier had the slightest hesitation!
The formation was quickly arranged, forming a tight, compact arrangement that was ready for battle. The strongest soldiers were chosen to be in front – they wore thick heavy-infantry armor with a great shield that was a meter long. The men created a wall of shields, their faces showing no fear as they moved into formation. It was as neat as a chef’s cooking gear in his kitchen!
In the presence of cold air, the soldiers’ hot breath formed a white fog, billowing out in front of the square formation.
Slightly behind the infantry formation’s two wings, the cavalry of the second and fourth legion stood at the ready. They were waiting to fulfil their duties—to firmly protect the two wings—and were ready to attack.
“Well, let’s see what the Odins are made of.”
Wielding a spear in his hand, Adrick put on an aggressive, awe-inspiring, and battle hungry expression, and said,”Let’s see how superhuman the Odins that were able to devour one of my legions are!”
From both mountain tops of the valley, rapid and vigorous horns could be heard. Soon, the Odin ranks started to burst out frantic cries and made roars.
“Uarrr! Uaarrr! Uaarr!!”
Innumerable Odin soldiers, who fell into an excited and frenzied, started to beat their shields like mad while raising their swords and axes. After a small amount of time, the horn sounded. With a final scream, the Odin soldiers rushed over like a tide!
It was as if a swarm of ants crazily swept towards the Byzantine army formation!
The Odin soldiers had unkempt hair, and wore a variety of leather armor. In their hands, they wielded various types of weapons such as axes, heavy spears, and sabers. Their boots trampled on the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust behind them as they ran, their weapons clinking.
Looking at the dust cloud, General Adrick had a sharp, needle-like glint in his eyes as he lifted the corner of his mouth into a sneer, “Hmph! Still using the old tactic……”
Adrick lifted his right hand and with the long spear raised high, he traced a circle in the air.
With a twang, around 100 archers who were standing behind the front lines shot the first volley!
The arrows fell like rain on the ranks crowded with advancing Odin and immediately evoked painful screams. Among the running Odin soldiers, a dozen of them were slain. However, among the violent and sturdy Odin soldiers, most of the men who were hit by the arrows, while in a berserk state, actually cut off the arrows that were stuck in their body as they continued their frenzied roar, increasing their pace.
The archers only managed to send out three volleys of arrows; the third round flew in almost a straight line due to the short distance of the Odin troops!
Although the three volleys of arrows from the archers caused more than a hundred casualties among the Odin soldiers, with the war-fanatic Odins, it actually stimulated their violent nature.
Soon after, a dense mass of men clashed against the wall of shields of the Byzantine infantry square formation like a wave and started their mad assault. The mighty wave of soldiers seemed to crash into a rocky shore, immediately exploding into a flower of steel from the momentum!!
The powerful Odin attacked the formation of the Byzantine infantry with their crazy brute force, and intense sounds banging and clashing could be heard. The front row of the shield row was slightly distorted by the first impact, but the soldiers of 13th Army stubbornly withstood it with their shields and bodies, while the second and third row of the infantry formation pressed forward to support the front row. They used their strong formation to resist again the Odin’s fierce impact!
(TL: THIS IS SPARTA! Ehm… I mean, THIS IS BYZANTINE!!!!)
Before the shield wall, layers upon layers of Odin were blocked like a dam interrupting the flow of a river. While stopped there, the Odins madly collided against the wall, but were greeted by the Byzantine soldiers’ sharp spears. The spears took advantage of the gap between the oval shields and pierced through every time the officer in the back ordered it. With every cry, nearly an entire line of enemies were killed, and each thrust of the hundreds of spears in the front brought a tragic red carnage. The Odin soldiers who ran ahead were soon all stabbed, and over two hundred people were easily slaughtered like cattle in the front!
At this moment, the archers still carried on with their volleys at the rear of the battlefield. Their spread arrows rained upon the Odin and still harvested the life of those soldiers, like farmers on harvest day.
In an instant, the Odin’s howling, their screams, the roaring of the Byzantine infantry and the killing on the battlefield all mixed together……
With the Odins frenzied charge becoming even fiercer, the front layer of the shield wall was finally suppressed and pushed back a layer. The soldiers did their best, and before the shield wall laid 400 dead Odins. However, even the injured Odin that fell to the ground was trampled into a pile of flesh by their uninterrupted advancing companions from behind!
As the shield wall was gradually broken down, the Odin’s ferocity was amplified, driven by their aggressiveness and lack of fear to die. Wave after wave smashed against the defense, leaving behind dead Odin soldiers.. The Odin soldiers didn’t seem to have the slightest trace of hesitation, and some even opened their arms to maximise the surface area of their body that would maliciously collide with the Byzantine soldiers’ deadly spears! There were also some Odin soldiers who were pierced by the spears and use their life to desperately pull away the spears from their attackers…….
Shortly after, the shield wall finally broke and showed a gap. Those crazy fanatical Odins immediately used this opportunity to rush in through the gaps. However, the Odins who first got inside were soon greeted by the Byzantine soldiers’ swords at the back of the shield wall!
Blood rained everywhere, and flesh was flying in all directions! The dull sound of spears piercing bodies, the squeezing sound of swords that were cutting into armor, the sound of shattering armor – it was everywhere……
Still sitting on his horse, Adrick looked coldly at the formation in the front, and right now this general’s expression was like a rock – indifferent and stern. His eyes were firm and iron clad, with no shaking at all as he coldly stared towards the countless men and enemies dying and screaming on the battlefield…….
Finally, when the shield wall was broken through with seven or eight tries, Adrick firmly waved his arm while wielding the long spear in his hands. After a Byzantine’s trumpet sound, the remaining shield soldiers pushed forwards and let the wall collapse. The soldiers voluntarily discarded their shields and raised their longsword, before engaging the Odins in melee combat.
With both enemies interlocked closely with each other side by side, both sides stubbornly fought each other making it an inextricably situation. However, this actually let the elite soldiers of Byzantine displayed their full might! Although the Odins were valorous by nature, they pursued their personal valor and fell in utter confusion during this tangled warfare. The Byzantine infantry, on the other hand, quickly formed groups of three or five people. They either held their round shields to defend, or raised their swords to kill the enemy with only one task in mind. These small battle groups coordinated with each other so well, that they easily massacred the brave Odin warriors inside the shield wall. One after another, those brave Odin warriors fell from the Byzantine soldiers’ double-edged swords which became a death sentence for the Odins at the front. With each step they pushed forward, they started to leave more and more bodies behind!
“They still used the same old way with their chaotic mass charges. These Odins will never learn to fight with their brains……” An officer with a face full of beard behind Adrick sneered. His broad shoulders almost forced open his armor and his majestic stature was just explosive!
Adrick’s mouth hinted an evil sneer full of killing intent, before turning his head to look at that man: “Alright, Saucier, time for us to join the field!”
Saucier was the centurion of the second legion, which was the most elite unit in the 13th cavalry Army. Giving out an excited cry, he led his personal guards to rush towards the right wing along the formation – where his army the second legion consisting of heavy armored cavalry stood!
While the infantry formation tenaciously blocked the waves of Odins, the most elite unit could punch through their ranks with the other soldiers of the 13th resisting the Odin’s advance. However, because the infantry ranks were too thin, they were getting pressed by the dense and numerous Odins……
Finally, when the assault horn sounded, Adrick’s majestic and heroic roar could be heard from the left wing of the formation!
“Advance!! Rhodelia!! Advance!!!”
This resonant roar spread over the entire battlefield with the help of the power of battle ki. Immediately all the soldiers of the 13th Army screamed in a similar way!
“Rhodelia! Advance!!”
Like the sound of thunder, the horse’s hoof could be heard from the two wings – and inside a dust cloud, another dust cloud appeared!!