VOLUME 3: CHAPTER 167 – (1/2)

After Ra Gilmi Fishiga broke the siege, a messenger came from the king, asking them to attack again.

The messenger was a member of the harpy tribe, so it could be seen how urgent the message was.

Gilmi had his questions, but they were asked to attack without question during the night.

“Are we really going to attack without any explanation?” The orc king, Bui, asked.

“What else can we do? Go against the king’s order?” Gilmi said.

“No, but…”

Bui looked up at the soaring castle walls.

“We have to do it. We believe in the king more than anyone else.”

“…Is that so?”

Gilmi glanced at Bui, who was still confused, but he didn’t say anything.

They were both exceptional commanders, so it wasn’t easy for either of them to just quietly obey.

Gilmi knew very well what he was carrying on his back, so he didn’t say anything.

“Lord Gilmi, can you leave the vanguard to us?” Nikea of the araneae interjected.

“I don’t mind, but…”

Are you sure? He asked with his gaze.

Nikea shrugged. “Someone has to fill that role anyhow, so we might as well take it. We’ve already gambled everything on your king. It’s only right for us to quietly obey his commands.”

“Thank you,” Gilmi bowed.

Nikea shook her head. “Besides, this is a good opportunity for us. There is no better opportunity than this to show the king our unwavering faith.”

Nikea stood imposingly with her arms crossed. Her powerful gaze questioned Bui and Gilmi’s loyalty. If you believe in the king, then you should obey, her eyes seemed to say.

“…Of course, that is how it should be,” Gilmi said, to which Bui also nodded.

The hero of Ganra, Gilmi, carried the fate of the tribe on his shoulders. Bui similarly carried the fate of the remaining orcs on his. Each one of them had their own reasons, but they all had one thing in common, they needed the king.

That was the same even for the demihuman known as Nikea.

Unless they are able to shave away the growing influence of the humans, they have no future. This wasn’t the time to argue because of one’s personal feelings.

“We’ll attack as soon as preparations are complete. Lord Nikea, we’ll leave the vanguard to you.”

That night Gilmi and his forces conquered the colonial city.

Without its main army, the colonial city did not have the strength to resist the goblin-demihuman coalition.

◇◇◆

The Goblin King did not bother to wait for the harpies’ report on the colonial city. He’d already taken his army and departed for the east by the time the city fell.

The Goblin King believed in Gi Za, so to him, the colonial city was already theirs.

As the goblin forces traveled east, the werewolves and the centaurs surrounded the villages along the way and conquered them.

The goblin army did not pay attention to the north or the west as they traveled, they focused their attention solely on the east and the south in order to defeat the army of the colonial city and the southern reinforcements.

After a day of travel, Gi Ji Arsil’s unit came back from the east. The king had sent him previously to scout the western capital, and now he has returned to report his findings.

“The biggest city of the humans only have short walls.”

Gi Ji believed they could easily conquer the city should they attack, but he didn’t mention that to the king. He did not wish to say needless things and inadvertently muddle the king’s thoughts.

Gi Ji nonchalantly reported the facts. As he concluded his report, he reported about the southern reinforcements that have finally reached the western capital.

“The southern reinforcements, huh…” The Goblin King said as he praised Gi Za for his efforts, then he dismissed him. “We have to move quickly.”

The Goblin King believed the only path to victory was to crush all of their enemies, so he ordered the goblins and the harpies to put more effort in scouting as he led the army deeper into the east and prepared for the upcoming battle.

“Gi Gu should be taking refuge, but…”

The only worry the king had was Gi Gu, who was moving with the wounded soldiers. They are supposed to move west as soon as their injuries have been treated, but while there was supposedly little chance of them encountering any humans, there was no telling what might happen.

The soldiers that holed themselves inside the colonial city were by no means strong, but Gi Gu and his men were wounded, so they might have a hard time with them.

Be that as it may, the Goblin King couldn’t ask them to head east either, as there was a high chance they would end up wasting too much time if they had to wait for them. The king had no choice but to believe in them.

Only a day and a half’s distance was left until the western capital.

◇◇◆

“Lord Gi Go,” a girl said as she tugged on Gi Go’s sleeves.

“Mu?” Gi Go Amatsuki said as he turned around.

Apparently, there a big gap had formed between him and the yugushiva.

“Sorry, but can we slow down a bit?” The girl asked with much embarrassment.

She found her lack of strength a shameful thing.

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Gi Go was really going too fast,” Yoshu said, gasping, after finally catching up.

Gi Go nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”

Gi Go had gathered the elite of the yugushiva to form a platoon of 30 soldiers. He was currently leading that platoon down to the south.

As for the rest of the yugushiva, they took shelter somewhere deep into the mountain range to avoid the northern army. Gi Go only took with him the best to participate in the king’s battle.

The yugushiva army had gotten some good results against the northern army using guerrilla tactics. At the very least, the tribe now had enough food to pass the winter.

Yoshu was the one who came up with the plans, but it was only thanks to Yustia’s leadership that they were able to pull it off. The reason the yugushiva were subservient was also because they revered her.

It was also thanks to them that Gulland couldn’t make it in time to aid Gowen. Their relentless harassment was not easy to deal with, and it made gathering the necessary resources for the trip south a big headache.

It wasn’t until Gulland left that the Yugushiva finally stopped their attacks and began their journey to the south. That was because Lili finally gained control of the northern army and started to defend against their harassment.

Lili was able to fortify the defenses of the north by building stronger walls and increasing the number of soldiers patrolling.

Yoshu was greatly troubled by Lili’s strategy, and he couldn’t help but wryly smile and complain. No matter how strong and quick the yugushiva soldiers might be, in the end, they were still too young.

Neither Yoshu nor the village elders wanted to push them too hard either, as they carried with them the future of the village.

Since their guerrilla tactics no longer worked and Gulland himself had already left, they decided to leave and head south themselves.

The yugushiva were much better at traversing the mountainous area compared to flatlanders, but there were still 30 of them, so they had to take care not to be found by the northern army.

As a result they ended up taking the route Gi Go had taken to reach the snow god’s mountains. Among the thirty yugushiva people accompanying Gi Go, a good number of them had never left the north, so they couldn’t help but look curiously at the new environment. That didn’t last long, however, as they gradually found their hands too full to play tourist.

That was because they couldn’t keep up with Gi Go, who was a duke class himself.

The young boys and girls of the yugushiva walked ceaselessly, heaving and puffing as they did, but not a single one of them cried nor uttered a word of complaint. They did their best for Yustia’s sake.

Though their numbers were few, a powerful platoon was heading south.

When Gowen returned to the western capital unconscious and heavily wounded, the reaction of the people was so grim it could not be put into words.

The army, in particular, were quite shaken by the events. The absence of both their commander and vice-commander caused them to panic.

Of those present, some suggested to fight to the bitter end, while others suggested to open a path and let at least Gowen escape.

If the knight-commander, Corseo, were still alive, the soldiers probably wouldn’t have fallen into such a state.

The platoon commanders were strong warriors in their own right, but they did not have the ability to bring everyone together. With that, Gowen’s army could only fall into the crucible of discord.

It didn’t take long for the soldier’s unrest to spread to the people, but it wasn’t like they actually had a choice.

Even the rich merchants, who tried to run to another city, couldn’t because the soldiers, who wanted to fight to the death, stopped them. Like ripples rippling off each other, the city fell into chaos.

That chaos continued even after the southern reinforcements led by Sivara arrived.

The people were already panicking even with the beacon between the colonial city and the western capital lit, so they naturally cared little for their arrival.

“I take it messengers have been sent to the capital?”

The Ripper Knight, Sivara, stood in place of Gowen, who was still unconscious.

Gowen’s staff could only hang their heads in shame to Sivara’s question.

Immediately, a messenger was sent. The north and the south already knew that the goblin threat had gone out of control, but by the time King Ashtal received word, the Goblin King was already at their throat.

The goblin army defeated the northern army and advanced southwest. The colonial city was only a day’s distance away, so it did not take long for Yuan’s army to meet the goblins.

Unfortunately for them, with the evolved Rashka and Gi Ba leading the army, they only ended up being driven away to the east of the western capital.

The goblins pursued the retreating soldiers. Like this the Goblin King managed to advance to the western capital.

The forces led by the Goblin King numbered 800, while the humans now also only numbered 800 due to losing too many times. Sivara watched the approaching goblins from the top of the spire and groaned.

“They sure are organized,” he said.

The goblins were dressed in leather armor and equipped with spears of the same length. They advanced steadily.

Standing at the vanguard was Gi Jii Yubu’s army.

Seeing the goblins move naturally with near perfect coordination left Sivara’s common sense in tatters.

“…Perhaps they’re stronger soldiers than humans.”

As Sivara watched the approaching army, he noted a black goblin that stood out from the rest.

“Is that the leader of the horde?”

Sivara brushed his golden hair up and wryly smiled.

“Monster hunting is supposed to be Gulland’s specialty… Sigh, did I end up pulling the short the end of the stick?”

Sivara grumbled as he smiled bitterly. Just a little, he was envious of Jize, who was probably currently buried in a mountain of documents.

“…Without Lord Gowen leading the army, that monster needs to be stopped. If not, this capital is hopeless.”

Only the big merchants were able to run from the western capital. They ran to the main capital as soon as the western capital calmed down after Sivara arrived.

Unfortunately, the rest of the citizens couldn’t just run and leave behind for fear that they would only starve to death without their livelihoods.

Because of that Sivara was forced to make a difficult decision.

He knew he was at a disadvantage, but there was no other choice but for him to go out himself. After all, the walls were short, there was literally nothing stopping the goblin army from marching into the city.

He was a holy knight. It was his duty to protect the people.

“Gather everyone, we need to talk.”

Sivara called for a war council. Attending that was Gowen’s company commanders, the commander of the colonial city, Yuan, and the commanders of the southern army. Sivara proposed to fight the enemy outside.

“I’ll take the southern army with me and bring the battle outside. While the goblins’ attention is focused on me, the western army should help Lord Gowen escape.”

The ever gentle Sivara nonchalantly proposed his plans, but contrary his tone, it was a cruel proposition.

Moreover, the one taking on the most dangerous role was none other than Sivara himself.

The commanders of the western capital were speechless.

“No, we can’t lose you now, Lord Sivara. That would prove too great a loss to the kingdom, I should be the one to go.”

It was none other than Yuan, who had been tricked by the goblins, who said that.

“That’s an attractive suggestion, but you can’t win against that goblin, can you?” Sivara said.

“That’s…”

“Just watch, I’ll show you the true power of the Ripper Knight. So, with that, the southern army shall be taking on the riskier role. Dismissed!”

“Yes, sir!” The western platoon commanders hit their chest as they showed agreement.

Of the seven holy knights in the Kingdom of Germion, the most popular and most skilled commander was none other than the veteran, Gowen.

After him was the hero who rescued the saint, Gulland; and then, for other reasons, the Ripper Knight, Sivara.

Sivara did not have Gowen’s aura nor did he have some special achievement like Gulland, but he was popular among the young soldiers.

His easygoing personality made it easy for others to connect to him. In fact, he’s so easygoing that others call him Marriage Killer. Of course, that’s without malice.

He also wasn’t the sort to expose his soldiers to unnecessary risks. Because of that he garnered a popularity unlike that of Gowen or Gulland’s.

It was that same person who gave the southern army a difficult task.

“We’ll assume a 3-stage length and width formation in the following order: spears, cavalry, archers.”

The western capital was surrounded mostly by level fields.

With the harvest still in season, the wheat fields stood tall.

A gust of wind blew from the south, passing over the bountiful wheat fields as the goblins and the humans confronted each other.

“…Still beats not doing it.”

At Sivara’s signal, a beacon was lit in the western capital.

“Please make it in time.”

Sivara fixed his iron helmet over his head and mounted a well-statured steed. That was not a horse but a monster with three eyes known as happy lion.

“Spears at the ready!”

A sharp light reflected from the spears of the southern army. It sought to pierce the goblins itself.

“Cavalry, ready to charge!”

The goblin formations expanded toward the flanks, suggesting that they wanted to surround them. The leader of the goblins was at the center.

“Let’s show these monsters how the southern army fights! Spears, closed formation!”

The spears closed in on each other and hid behind their shields as they readied their spear.

“First is defense! Spears, advance one step!”

The curtains on the western capital war was lifted at Sivara’s command.

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