Chapter 163 – Chapter 31: Overwhelming #4
Swords and bows were both weapons which could be used in a fight, but their usage was different. It wasn’t just the sword and bow. There were various types which existed in the huge category of swords, and there were many ways to use them.
Strength was the same. Vandal was strong, and among the senior generals, he was the one with the strongest brute force. It was probably possible for him to take out a monster with one blow. However, he couldn’t attack dozens of people at the same time. So, it was impossible for Vandal to confront an army alone.
Among the senior generals, there was a man called, Vi Carulo. He had the nickname of ‘One-man Army’ due to his actions being enough to rival an army.
Vi Carulo was a powerful necromancer. If the number of bodies was enough, then he could create a majestic undead legion anytime and anywhere. He didn’t distinguish between friend or foe when raising the corpses, and it didn’t matter to him as long as he could overwhelm the other side. Additionally, he preferred massacres since that would lead to more corpses.
This meant Vi Carulo was able to fight an army alone, but it didn’t mean he was definitely stronger than Vandal. In fact, Vandal would be the victor if they competed in a one-on-one fight.
Anastasia’s strength was different from In-gong’s. She was a magician as well as a born enslaver.
Anastasia’s unicorn, Windwalker, charged forward. She wasn’t charging toward the cavalry but passing by them.
The area which the 500 cavalry occupied was more than she had imagined. Even if Anastasia was a brilliant magician, it was impossible to strike such a large area all at the same time. Moreover, her purpose wasn’t to exterminate the cavalry as it was enough just to cause confusion and break the will of the enemy. This was the same as what In-gong had done at the central fortress.
The orcs and kobolds, which made up the cavalry, weren’t surrounded by a red aura. Due to this, Anastasia was able to utilize her specialty. After witnessing Anastasia’s charge, the cavalry changed to spears or swords, instead of a bow, in order to attack Anastasia as she rushed past. There was the sound of yelling, and 500 cavalry charged, causing the earth to shake.
Anastasia chanted a spell while looking straight at the cavalry. Then her purple eyes flashed, and something unexpected occurred.
“Hihihing!”
“Hihing!”
As Anastasia watched on, the horses reared up abruptly. They also shook their bodies roughly to try and drop their owners. At most, it only happened to 20 of them. However, it was important since they were on the outskirts. As the front suddenly stopped moving, the formation of the cavalry became a mess. There were those who fell off when bumping into the riders in front of them or from trying to stop quickly.
Anastasia continued to use her magic to enchant other horses. The nightmares running alongside her poured all sorts of attack spells toward the orcs on the ground.
Anastasia’s unicorn was uniquely intelligent. Windwalker moved lightly and maintained a proper distance from the cavalry. He seemed to walk around the cavalry in circles. However, there was a problem with Anastasia. She couldn’t rest after a big battle and had a hard time running all night. Moreover, it wasn’t just running. Her body and mind were extremely exhausted from using recovery magic several times.
Anastasia felt dizzy while charging forward, and as she frowned from the pain, dozens of cavalry members shot arrows at her. There also were a few who came rushing toward her. Anastasia gritted her teeth. The nightmares acted to block the arrows, while Windwalker ran harder than before.
Then In-gong plunged forward. White Eagle and Black Eagle created a force field which fended off attacks from In-gong. Five fireballs flew from his fingertips toward the cavalry which was running toward him and exploded.
The soldiers and horses collapsed, but there were 500 cavalry members, so there were still many remaining. A group of them rushed over the fallen ones. In order to surround the party, the cavalry members moved in different directions and aimed arrows and firebombs.
Explosions occurred everywhere. Windwalker jumped over the explosions and avoided the cavalry. However, then Windwalker shook his head because his back had become lighter.
Anastasia’s eyes widened. She was in the air, and In-gong’s arm was wrapped around her waist. The moment an explosion occurred in front of Windwalker, In-gong had grabbed Anastasia.
The confused Windwalker continued to run around the cavalry. The nightmares also ran along with Windwalker, slowing down the speed of the cavalry using magic. Anastasia confirmed the distance between the party and the cavalry before turning to In-gong. His face was close to hers because In-gong was holding her with one arm.
“Are you okay?”
In-gong smiled lightly, and Anastasia frowned. She glanced at In-gong’s arm around her waist and said,
“Shutra, you shouldn’t grab the waist of a virtuous woman at any time.”
Even if he hadn’t grabbed her, she would have escaped thanks to Windwalker.
‘Yes, Master. Master was wrong. You should grab my waist.’
Green Wind whispered to In-gong. Instead of asking what she was talking about, he just restored his breathing and didn’t speak. Rather, it was more important to drop Anastasia off somewhere.
“Shutra?”
Anastasia asked him suddenly. Instead of responding, In-gong continued flying toward Windwalker. After putting Anastasia back on Windwalker, he reversed the position. Green Wind whispered again,
‘Master, the orc in red armour seems to be the leader. He is shouting orders.’
In-gong agreed. After a glance at Anastasia, he flew forward using the power of Night Watch.
The cavalry had split in two and were surrounding Anastasia. In-gong moved his gaze away from her. There was no time to deal with all 500 cavalry members, so the best tactic was to strike the leader.
White Eagle and Black Eagle revolved around In-gong and blocked the arrows. In-gong shot toward the orc in red armour.
&
After losing their leader, the cavalry opted to escape instead of fight. The damage to the cavalry was quite large. A few horses had fallen to the ground due to Anastasia, while others were killed or injured through direct combat.
In-gong sighed with relief as the cavalry ran away.
By using Divine Sura Authority while being protected by White Eagle and Black Eagle, In-gong had great power. However, he couldn’t handle hundreds of enemies. The super special moves had a limited number of daily uses, so he was glad they had given up early
After restoring his breathing, In-gong looked at Anastasia. Instead of rejoicing in the victory, she seemed to be enchanting one of the wounded enemies who seemed to be in a decent condition. She was either trying to interrogate the enemy on the spot or enchanting him to ride with them.
“Noona, we need to hurry.”
Anastasia nodded as In-gong rode over on White Eagle. They had to hurry in order to catch up with the central fortress defenders. With In-gong at the forefront on White Eagle, the party ran forward again.
Some time passed by. They found the central fortress defenders where they were running, and In-gong moved to the front of the line on White Eagle. While holding the flag of light, Carack shouted,
“Prince!”
Carack’s stamina and endurance were comparable to In-gong’s. So, his face and voice were filled with welcome instead of fatigue. However, the soldiers around them were different. Everyone’s expressions showed that they were suffering. Below the King’s Flag and Protection of the Wind weren’t enough. In order to move faster than the wind, recovery magic was necessary.
“Anastasia noona! Please!”
In-gong shouted as Anastasia barely reached the front. Anastasia’s expression became momentarily tearful, but she soon restored her expression. She repeatedly cast the recovery magic over the 3,000 central fortress defenders.
&
“Um, I am exhausted. Prince is really too much.”
After the frantic sprint, the central fortress defenders were able to reach the 12th base. However, the price was great. The central fortress defenders seemed like they had their souls sucked out, while Anastasia was lying on the back of her unicorn. She was sweating and gasping for breath.
“I had a feeling this would happen.”
Felicia, who had arrived at the 12th base first, said while staring at Anastasia. Anastasia was an excellent magician in many ways, but this was probably the first time she had collapsed due to magic power exhaustion.
Felicia stared at her with sympathy and then gazed at In-gong with narrowed eyes. In-gong just grinned and pretended not to know.
“I’m here, Felicia noona. Were you worried?”
The bright smile made the most of his gandharva beauty, so Felicia couldn’t help laughing.
“You aren’t hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine.”
In-gong knocked against his chest, and Felicia sighed with relief. She had been very worried about In-gong. So, she was glad that he had returned safely.
Felicia covered her face with a fan and said,
“Let’s settle this situation first. We need to greet the troops of the 12th base.”
The 3,000 soldiers were collapsed on the ground. In-gong nodded at Felicia’s words and gazed a little further away. The lizardman Makkulpin, the leader of the 12th base, was running this way.
&
Berkintox, who arrived at the central fortress, felt more confusion than anger.
The central fortress was empty. He understood up to here. Berkintox had been expecting it to some extent. There was no reason for Anastasia to be sitting in the central fortress when Actius had loosened the encirclement.
However, he hadn’t thought it would be so empty. It wasn’t just the troops of the central fortress… The warehouse was completely empty. There was no evidence of the food, weapons or other goods which would have been stored in the central fortress.
Surely, they hadn’t brought the items with them while running away? It was crazy. Emptying a warehouse wasn’t easy. The central fortress was the supply base for the fortresses near the Western Limit Line, so it stockpiled a tremendous quantity of supplies. Just taking them out of the warehouse and packing them would take a full day.
There was a problem even after the warehouse was cleared. As the amount of supplies being carried increased, the movement speed would slow down. Wasn’t it better to lighten their body as much as possible in order to run away?
Yet surprisingly, Anastasia had done it. Moreover, they had escaped the western part of Curtis in just one day, so Berkintox wondered about what type of magic had been used.
Every one of the fortresses, which had missed Anastasia, said the same thing through the communicator.
Their movement speed had been too fast; the marching speed of the infantry hadn’t been normal. Therefore, they hadn’t been able to block the infantry properly due to their unexpected speed.
Now, Berkintox could only laugh. 4th Princess Anastasia Nekrion…
He had known she was capable, but he hadn’t expected this. She far surpassed his expectations.
Berkintox controlled his emotions. It was just a change in order, but this way, he could bring all the Paran clan members together.
‘I can use this time as well.’
The Paran clan warriors were already gathering from all over the place, and the number of Hwarin members who had pledged allegiance personally was over 100.
Berkintox gave orders to each fortress and base in the western region.
“Hit the 12th base. Smash it so that not one trace remains and show our strength to all of Curtis.”
The troops of the western area all obeyed Berkintox’s command. Except for the barbarians led by Actius, all the forces of the west started moving.