The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of burnt orange. The fires lit around the village crackled softly, casting flickering shadows along the palisades.
Lucen was doing his rounds with Harlik. Despite it only having been made in a day with few materials, the fortification of Dorsen was done better than he expected.
"Do you think the Viscount Drenwick will really send someone to finish us off?" Harlik, who was walking beside Lucen, asked.
"Based on my years of reading novels, the villain would be like-" Lucen then spoke in a way that made him look sleazy. "We can’t have any loose ends. Kill them all. Don’t bother coming back if you fail."
"Huh? You’re basing this on the novels you read? Also, for many years, you’ve spoken as if you’ve lived a long time now."
Harlik shrugged his shoulders. "How many books could a thirteen year old could have read? Little leader, you do know that reality is different from a novel, right? Why would someone mess with the Iron Duke’s men, especially his son?"
Lucen stopped walking and then looked at Harlik.
"Not many people know how I look since I don’t socialize much. Also, most people who had seen me before would have seen a different look from the way I am now. I was much thinner before, and my face was paler."
"Even then, we’re still the Duke’s soldiers, right? Will he really try attacking us? Isn’t he afraid of the Iron Duke retaliating?"
"A stupid and desperate person wouldn’t think too deeply about it. If Viscount Drenwick really thinks killing all of us erases the trail back to him, then he’ll convince himself it’s worth the risk. After all, corpses don’t talk."
"Still, if his son dies, the Iron Duke would most likely attack Drenwick’s territory, and hang the b*stard by the backside."
"I’m not sure about that," Lucen replied with a crooked smile on his lips. "You heard how my father thinks about this situation. It’s possible that he wouldn’t do anything since the priority of a Thornehart is to defend the North, to defend Norvaegard."
"You really believe that, little leader?" Harlik’s voice had a rare softness to it.
"... Well, anyway, the Viscount has his own allies and should have some sort of backing that makes him confident even if Father does retaliate. It’s better that we’re prepared."
"..." Harlik stared at Lucen as if he were looking for something in Lucen’s expression.
"What’s with this depressing atmosphere?" Lucen’s grin grew wider, his demeanor once again changing. "Don’t worry too much. You’re making things a bit too complicated. If the b*stard of a Viscount sends people to kill us, we just need to defend ourselves and win."
Of course, Harlik noticed that Lucen was trying to change the subject, so he shrugged his shoulders and followed along.
"Are you that confident, little leader? We’re less than forty who can fight. Even if you include the civilians, we’re still less than a hundred. It’s possible that the Viscount would send a proper force to destroy us."
"I believe that if you have a problem, we just need to solve it with firepower. If the problem isn’t solved by then, it just means we weren’t using enough firepower. Since we have enough firepower in this place, we’re going to blow them up if they dare come."
A vicious-looking grin appeared on Lucen’s face as he polished his arquebus while walking. Seeing the rather creepy grin on Lucen’s face, Harlik shrugged his shoulders and sighed.
While patrolling, Lucen and Harlik were mid-conversation when the sudden sound of a horn being blown interrupted them. It was coming from the southern side of the village.
"Little leader!" Mark’s voice called from atop the watchtower. "Large group incoming—over a hundred men!"
He slid down the makeshift ladder, already loading his weapon.
Lucen’s tone hardened. "Harlik. Do as we planned."
Harlik gave a sharp nod and sprinted toward the inn, guiding the civilians to the cellar where they’d barricade themselves in.
Across the village, Thornefang’s mercenaries moved into position. The men who were on the east side of the village, hidden among the trees, already had the Thunderspear ready to fire.
On the west side, which was on a slope, were preparing their arquebuses, while the Mages were chanting to use their first circle fire spells.
"It’s time to show these b*stards what overwhelming firepower can do!"
In the distance, they saw a wave of people wearing things like fur coats and mismatched gear. At first glance, they looked like some bandits who came to raid the village, but the sheer number of them attacking a small village was already suspicious.
There was also the fact that they were running towards them in a rather uniform manner, which bandits don’t usually have.
’So they’re going to make this like a group of bandits came to finish us off.’
Lucen remained calm. Even outnumbered, so long as they had no third-circle mage or third-mantle aura user, they were manageable. It doesn’t really matter if they had the advantage in numbers.
’Well, even if they did have a fourth circle mage, I think we’ll be able to do something.’
Lucen, who had been to quite a few real-life battles, had gained confidence in his own abilities. He was no longer the boy who trembled from glacier hares.
When the fake bandits were in a good position, the men who were on the east side fired the Thunderspear. A loud BOOMING sound echoed through the village.
The trees and the people in the way of the giant ball that came out of the Thunderspear were broken. The tall trees fell, and the people who were in the way of the giant metal ball, well, immediate death would have been a mercy.
Those that got hit had their bones broken, their limbs disappear, and a few had their bodies pretty much obliterated. Those who weren’t hit but were in the vicinity of where the giant metal ball landed were knocked down by the shockwave.
Under normal circumstances, the normal reaction of someone witnessing the destruction of the Thunderspear for the first time would stop them in their tracks. That was what Lucen was expecting as well, but there was no reaction from the opposing group as they continued to charge at them.
In fact, it was Lucen’s group that was stunned by the reaction of their enemies, or lack thereof.
"Continue firing!" Lucen shouted, and Harlik repeated using his voice empowered by his aura.
The stunned men and women of Thornefang shook their confusion away and once again started bombarding the enemies.
The mages had already finished their spell chants and cast the basic fireball spell, which consumed a lot of mana, but it was the strongest first circle spell available to them. After they had finished with one fireball spell, they proceeded to ready their arquebuses and started firing from their elevated position.
In the east, where the Thunderspear is, the group had finished loading a new metal ball and once again fired on the enemies.
They didn’t even need to aim as properly since there were so many enemies that just pointing the Thunderspear in their general direction would result in destruction.
Still, even with that and many enemies having been slain, they continued their charge forward without care for their own safety.
Even those who had lost legs continued crawling, blood smearing behind them. No screams. No hesitation. Just blank, murderous intent.
"What are those b*stards doing?!" A soldier of Thornefang spoke unnerved.
"They’re like some vengeful ghosts." Another spoke, her voice trembling. Even someone as hardened as Harlik seems to be uncomfortable by the sight of the enemies.
’These guys should be some sort of mindless soldiers, only knowing how to charge and kill. If they fail, death is acceptable. There were quite a few people in my past life.’
Lucen thought to himself as he remembered watching some documentaries about such people in his past life.
Seeing the sight before them, the members of Thornefang were quite shaken. They had been on too many battlefields as mercenaries, but even the fanatics they had seen weren’t .
"Don’t falter! You are men and women of Thornefang! We have slain a dragon! What’s there to fear facing just a bunch of lunatics?! Keep on shooting! Do not fear, for I am with you!"
Lucen shouted as he fired his arquebus at the approaching fake bandits. The members of Thornefang felt their courage returning as they smiled.
"Yeah, we’re dragon slayers!"
"As long as the little leader is with us, we’ll never lose!"
The group shouted as their trembling hands became steady again and they started firing at charging fake bandits. There was no sound of screaming or wailing, despite so many dying.
Only the sound of thunder from the arquebuses and the roar of the Thunderspear echoed across the battlefield. Not a scream. Not a cry. Just gunfire and death.