27.
27.
Ælla sent Uhtred to spy on us, but gazing into the abyss inherently meant risking being read in return.
We knew that Ælla and Osberht were in a desperate situation, and we could see that they were beasts burning to bite their prey.
'You can never just back down. Isn't that right, Ælla? Osberht?'
"Blow the horns! Raise the banners high! Advance! Warriors of Árós!"
[Bwooong- Buuuu-]
[Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!]
Along with the long horn blast, the sound of fists striking shields in unison engulfed all directions, and we walked toward the enemy.
In response, the enemy's line also surged greatly and began moving toward us.
'As I thought. I knew it.'
Even though Olaf's attack, which struck Strathclyde, the ally of Northumbria in their rear, had put their own homeland in danger, Ælla and Osberht could not turn around with us clinging to their tail.
For they would risk being attacked from above and below.
Now the only choice left to them was to face us. Their line was still longer. So I set a trap. A trap to draw Ælla out.
The centers of both armies advanced toward each other without hesitation. Soon, as they entered arrow range, both sides raised their shields in unison.
"Skjoldr!"
"Scyld!"
[Sssweaek-! Thududuck! Thududuck!]
Norsemen and Angles, forming shield walls at similar timing with strikingly similar words.
Soon, the arrows flying in forcefully struck the lines of both sides, which had briefly slowed, and after enduring three more volleys, the two lines, slowly approaching each other, finally charged forward like mad, only looking ahead.
"Forward! Forward!"
"Kill them all!"
"In God's name!"
"Yaaaaaa-!"
[Thud! Kwajik! Chaeng! Seogeok! Kwang!]
Adding speed to weight gave it force.
Throwing aside their own safety, the warriors who charged at each other like mad fell and were felled with a thunderous roar.
It was a struggle and momentum that one could scarcely believe from those wearied by a full week of siege. But that was of no concern to me.
[Hwing- Puk! Hwoong- Kwajik!]
As if striking with the weight behind the blade rather than the sharp edge of the axe, my blows smashed and tore apart shields of hard wood and iron helmets alike, without distinction.
So fast and sharp was my swinging that not a single tooth of the axe blade chipped, and before me, as I cut and broke everything around, no one remained standing properly.
Faced with a brutality that sliced and hurled foes before they could even scream, the warriors of Ælla and Osberht only stared at me in terror, not daring to charge.
Thanks to that brief hesitation, I could sense the shape of the battlefield with my superior senses.
Though there was pushing and being pushed back everywhere, overall it was a stalemate. I hadn't thought it would be easy, but it certainly was not a battle that would end quickly. If left this way, we would eventually be worn down and die due to the numbers.
'Then I must create an opening.'
Beyond the terrified eyes, this time Ælla and Osberht were not far off but waiting in a position from which they could charge at any moment. I had to lure those two out.
"Warriors! Form the shield wall!"
"Form the shield wall!"
My booming voice resounded across the battlefield where both sides were locked in a contest of strength, and the warriors, remembering what had been agreed beforehand, hurriedly stepped back, gaining distance from the opponent, and built a wall of shields.
"Hold!"
"Protect the left! Guard the left!"
"Val-halla!"
"Do not chase the enemy! Do not chase!"
Of course, some, caught up in the battle frenzy, failed to join the withdrawing line and fell to concentrated enemy attacks, but this instead became a better bait, and the Angles in the center of the battlefield began attacking us with all their might.
[Bung! Seogeok!]
As the enemy before my eyes began to step back, one of them, wild-eyed, swung a sword at my neck, which I lightly deflected and instead took his exposed wrist.
"Kueuaaggh-!"
"Fall back slowly!"
"Fall back! Protect the line!"
"Do not break the line!"
At the sight of our line falling back slowly while shouting like mad at my command, the enemy reserves finally began to move.
'Just a little more.'
The Northumbrian warriors now face-to-face with me sensed something wrong from my cold expression, but with the pressure continuously pushing in from behind and their flanks, they had no other choice.
They had no choice but to go forward. Toward that shield wall that would not budge.
*****
"Over there! The enemy center is faltering! We must press them now! Hahaha!"
The Cynings' rumps were lifting. Both Cynings had smelled the strong scent of victory on the wind.
Now was the time; every sense screamed that this was the chance to thrust those heathen barbarians back into the cold pit of hell they had crawled out of.
"Attack! We attack!"
As Ælla and Osberht excitedly charged toward the enemy line that was faltering and withdrawing, Uhtred, who had been ordered to take charge of the rear reserves as a reward for having risked his life to propose the king's negotiations, sensed something strange.
'So quickly?'
The mutual charges had just been made; it was far too early for one side to collapse. Unless, that meant some circumstance unknown even to him had befallen the Norsemen.
'It probably didn't matter anyway...'
Because of the two kings' blatant checks, using Bamburgh as their base, he had been placed in the rear even after returning from enemy territory. Even if he gave advice, he would be lucky not to be laughed at.
Uhtred looked at the two kings charging headlong and prayed earnestly that his concerns were unfounded.
*****
If one looked down upon this battlefield from the high sky, the line of us Norsemen would have been curved into a perfect crescent. Convexly, drawing the Angles in.
The center of the line, which seemed on the verge of collapse. Our warriors of Árós held firm, giving the enemy only as much ground as I had ordered, and at the moment when, from a certain point, the shield wall did not budge at all and the pressure from behind made the Angles breathless.
Finally, confirming that even the enemy reserves had moved, I knew the time had come.
"Now! Hrolf! Open the gate!"
"A-ros! Push!"
"Push!"
The shield wall that had seemed it would stand there forever surged up and pushed away the weakened enemy vanguard with force; not missing that brief opening, I dashed straight forward.
"Hel-a!"
"Hel-!"
"Árós!"
Behind me, the warriors who ran, shouting a cry that boiled up from their chests, held not shields but two-handed axes in their hands, and all wore sturdy armor of good iron.
Behind me, as I dashed like the wind, Seutorolpe followed close, his long banner fluttering, and he swung the sword in his other hand. The warriors who plunged into the enemy ranks behind me, cleaving them apart, brought their axes down with utter disregard for their own lives, as if nothing but attack occupied their minds.
[Gwajik—! Peok! Gwajik!]
"Ugh!"
"Ack!"
So sudden was the assault that the enemy vanguard, unable to find time to react, was swept away in an instant. The breakthrough, which should have lost momentum, gained even greater fury thanks to my presence at its head, my blade tracing a vivid red line and tearing the enemy ranks to shreds.
"Those who stand in the way! All die!"
[Huung—! Peok! Huuuung— Keok! Pajik!]
I advanced, sending three or four of the tightly clustered enemy bodies flying with every stroke, until at last I hurled aside my shattered axe, drew the sword from my belt, and, with a speed that left little more than a shadow of light, carved open every gap in sight before me.
"Aaaagh—!"
"Charge! Charge!"
"Look only ahead and run!"
My worry for Björn and Ivar, who had taken on the hardest task at the far ends of both flanks, lasted only a moment. Beyond the war cries of the Norsemen, who reversed as one and poured into the breach I had opened, Ælla and Osberht finally came into view.
"Ælla—!"
A harrowing shout, hard to believe issued from my own body, rose from my gut, passed through my chest, and tore out of my throat.
In the same instant, I felt the cord that held my reason in check snap with a 'tuk—', and relying only on bestial instinct, I carved down everything that barred my way and pressed forward.
"Stop him—! Aaaagh!"
[Chwak! Seogeok—! Kung!]
I evaded the blades that sought every part of my body a step ahead of them, kicked aside any troublesome shields, and cut down the warrior beyond.
Yet the force of my forward charge gathered ever greater acceleration, so that by the time I reached Ælla, the strange spectacle of severed heads rising into the air only after I had passed them had unfolded as well.
But such things were not what mattered now.
"Huuuu—"
With a single deep breath, I quelled my burning body, which felt as though it might combust entirely, and strove to regard my opponent as rationally as possible.
"Th... this... devil...! Are you a devil!?"
Seemingly struck hard by the sight of even his own bodyguards lying slaughtered, Ælla stammered, though his expression could not be confirmed, for it was hidden by the grotesque face-guard that masked his features.
But it did not matter. The bastard was now within my reach.
"Unbelievable... I do not believe it...! O Lord! Protect Your servant! Defend him! For God—!"
Unlike Ælla, who could do no more than raise his shield and sword with trembling hands, never daring to move, Osberht crossed himself and charged me boldly.
'Has he gone mad?'
Had this fellow not fully grasped what had just unfolded before his eyes?
Wondering if he perhaps had some hidden trick, I dodged the sword thrust aimed at my face and then, out of habit, brought my blade down toward his glaringly exposed head.
[Peogeok!]
"Ack!"
Too keen and heavy was the stroke that landed; it easily split open Osberht's fragile helmet—and the skull beneath it—leaving the man, full of courage but utterly without a trick, dead.
[Kung!]
"Aaaagh! My Cyning!"
"You, Norseman! May you be cursed by God!"
Osberht's loyal Huskarls, having witnessed their king's miserable death, screamed as one and rushed at me, and I, respecting the warriors' will, cut down every last one of them.
[Seogeok—!]
"Kreuk! Kreuk...!"
[Teolsseok]
"..."
"A devil... a devil..."
Osberht died face-down in a spot where, as it happened, the ground was a bit soggy.
Having fallen forward in the very posture with which he had lunged to stab me, Osberht lay dead in a pose like an eagle with outstretched wings. Around him, the blood of the warriors who had fallen as one, as if to protect him even in death, pooled and formed a small puddle.
'Like an eagle steeped in blood. Osberht. Still, you met a warrior's death.'
What will you do, Ælla?
Ælla and his guards appeared incapable of normal thought, faced with the vain and pitiful death of the rival with whom he had contended for the throne for so many years.
When I took one step forward, they retreated two. Upon their lips, they kept muttering the word 'devil.'
Before long, all the surrounding noise had died down. Those who had survived this reeking, bloody battle seemed now to sense that the end was drawing near, and every single one of them was watching this spot.
"Ælla, Cyning of Northumbria. Lest there be any confusion, I inform you once more. I am Helgi Ragnarsson."
[Seuk—]
I roughly wiped the blood-red blade upon my clothes. The blade, once gleaming blue, was now nicked here and there, but still looked sufficient. Enough to cut down one more bastard.
"You may not remember, but the Ragnar Sigurdsson whom you killed was my father."
"St—stop! Cease! Come no closer to me! What are the Huskarls doing! What are the warriors doing! Kill that wretch! I command you to kill that wretch!"
Far off in the distance, Uhtred could be seen flinching. He had not been visible on the field of battle; there must have been some circumstances. For whatever reason, he showed no sign of moving.
A fortunate thing. I would have been a little more tired.
The king's authority had vanished, and in its place, only fear remained.
No one raised a sword for Ælla any longer.
"You Judas-traitor wretches! Be accursed! Be unforgiven! Men without honor! Not even men!"
In step with my slow approach, not even a gaze of pity reached the king any longer as he screamed, pointed fingers all around, and shouted.
"Do you know who I am! Norseman! Unbeliever! Barbarian! I am Ælla! It is I who rules all Angles above the Humber!"
At last, Ælla ceased his backward steps and, facing me like a warrior, gave a great bellow to the heavens and then charged straight at me.
"O Lord! Defend me—!"
A textbook, heavy attack. The skill of one who had long honed himself under a good teacher.
[Hwik— Heung— Huung—]
[Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!]
A short, darting thrust meant to draw my shield; a follow-up combination arcing low before targeting the head.
But when I received all of it without any difficulty, Ælla at last raised his sword high above his head in a great, sweeping motion.
"Die—!"
'Only three blows, and that was the end of your patience.'
Meanwhile, I had endured until now, just to catch you.
Lightly slipping inside the enemy's wide-sweeping Örn arm, I drove my fist straight up into Ælla's chin.
[Ppeok—!]