Chapter 102: Abar
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: Abar
CRASH!
Even amidst the chaos, the carriage jolted violently. Mev’s arrow had found its mark, killing one of the horses. It wasn't enough to overturn the carriage, but it was the reason for the severe shudder. I figured the magician at the front must have seen the arrow strike the horse and taken some kind of action.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Amusingly, the jolt sent one of them flying off, but the carriage didn't stop; it just kept charging forward. With the number of horses pulling it down from six to five, I could feel its speed decrease slightly.
Their skill level was by no means low. I could see about thirty to forty of them. They were forced to fight in the cramped space atop the carriage, but in a situation like this, I figured having more men was actually a disadvantage.
My targets were the magician and the officers at the front of the carriage. A voice immediately shouted from ahead.
"Knock them off!"
Unfortunately for them, I wasn't the one who was going to fall. Just because I'd boarded the carriage didn't mean I intended to fight only on top of it. With one of their horses dead, we already had the advantage.
First, I threw a dagger at them. I immediately activated my unique ability, and the dagger, flying at high speed, began to switch places with the greatsword I had infused with magic. One of them, quick to react, raised a shield to block the greatsword, but the magically charged blade shattered the shield and plunged straight into his chest.
"Aaaaargh!"
'One down.'
"Priest! Priest!"
A priest rushed over, but Mev kept loosing arrows at them.
"You sons of bitches! Flame!"
In an instant, flames rushed toward us. Of course, I had no intention of taking the hit. I grabbed one of Mev’s arms and leaped off, landing on Abar’s back.
Grrrrrrrowl.
Abar let out a pleased sound, as if to declare this rocky mountain her battlefield. She tore across the terrain, weaving through the crags. As I held Mev steady, she continued to draw her bowstring.
The difference between us and them was that they could only move straight ahead. We, on the other hand, could change direction at will.
"Shield!"
The magicians kept deflecting the arrows with magic, but naturally, the more mana they spent on that, the slower the carriage would get. They had a high ratio of magicians, but having to maintain shields while also casting Silence and Haste was a welcome development for us.
Through it all, Abar deftly dodged the magic and arrows raining down on her. Yet she didn't fall behind. In fact, she was pulling ahead.
They would soon reach the location of our main force. Wanting to delay them a little longer, I started to rack my brain.
Our current situation wasn't bad, but there had to be a more certain way to block their path.
'Cut it loose.'
I'll detach the black carriage connected at the rear. It was probably built to be sturdy, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Abar!"
Grrrrrrrowl.
As if recognizing my command, she began to close in on the carriage. They must have given up on maintaining the Silence spell, because the roar of the carriage became audible. The magician was starting to conserve mana.
The sound of hooves striking the earth and carriage wheels grinding against the ground filled my ears. Just then, one of them leaped off toward me and Abar.
"Die, you crazy bastard!"
He was holding an enormous axe. I couldn't tell if it was a sacrifice for his guild or simple heroism, but he was coming down with enough force to split us in two.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Of course, he never reached Abar. She simply leaped away from the carriage, dodging him completely.
The man tumbled down with his axe, slamming into the ground and screaming. He seemed to have high vitality, so I doubted he was dead. But thinking his axe looked quite useful, I switched its position with my dagger the moment he passed us. A heavy axe was now in my hand.
[Giant's Mighty Axe]
[An axe once used by giants, who can no longer be found on the continent. In truth, this item was forged by a human blacksmith from collected fragments of a giant's axe, but it still retains a portion of its former power.]
[Strength +1]
A better item than I expected. Not bad for a guy who made such a foolish leap. It seemed a wealthy clan like theirs had quite a few decent items. In any case, I raised the axe and, gripping Abar's back with my legs, began to swing.
CRUUUNCH!
The sound of mana clashing against mana. As I'd expected, the carriage was protected by magic. Breaking it wouldn't be easy. To maintain this level of magic, there had to be a high-level magician. I glanced forward and saw one of them constantly chanting spells.
"Mev."
"Yeah."
Mev struggled to aim her bow while we were moving. Her target, of course, was the magician up front. But they weren't about to let an arrow hit him so easily. The melee fighters were constantly deflecting the arrows raining down on the magician.
"Block it! Block it! Fucking block it!"
Urgent shouts came from above. I imagined we were an incredible nuisance. If I were in their shoes, driving this carriage, I would have found Abar and me incredibly annoying. I could have just destroyed the wheels, which would have been easier, but I didn't choose that method because of the risk that the slaves inside might get hurt or killed.
My target was the coupling and nothing else. It wasn't easy to strike it with the axe while dodging the volley of arrows. The carriage was getting closer and closer to our main force.
It was then.
"For victory, and victory alone!"
"For Blood Dagger!"
"For Blood Dagger!"
Our main force must have been aware of the situation, as they had already deployed archers here. I couldn't tell if it was Hakajin's idea or Ragia's, but it was a move worthy of high praise. The speeding carriage would pass the archers in an instant, but the brief opening it created was all we needed.
"Fire!"
Arrows rained down on them. At the same time, the Goblin Three Sisters also began to leap toward the carriage.
"For Blood Dagger! Kkireuk!"
"Kkireuk! Flying!"
Despite their reckless appearance, the Goblin Sisters leaped toward me with surprising accuracy. I caught one with one hand, and Mev caught another. The last one, holding a hammer, was caught in the mouth by Abar, who had jumped into the air.
"Aack! Aack!"
She screamed in fear, but of course, she wouldn't be hurt.
I thought I understood why the main force had sent them. I steered Abar back toward the carriage. The men on top were too busy blocking arrows to pay us any mind, allowing the Goblin Sisters to easily get onto the carriage.
"We're going!"
"Kkireuk!"
With their small bodies, the Goblin Three Sisters clung to the carriage and began to move to its underside. Seeing them pull off a move straight out of a stealth-action movie, these goblins who had always seemed like children suddenly looked quite cool. Despite the dangerous situation, their faces looked rather cheerful.
The men on top of the carriage didn't even realize the goblins were crawling upside down beneath them. Soon, the goblins reached the coupling and began to hammer away at it.
BANG!
BANG!
"It's sturdy! Kkireuk kkireuk!"
Only after they passed the archers did the men seem to notice the goblins clinging to the coupling. They started shouting, but the Goblin Sisters just kept hammering at it while hanging upside down.
Just as I thought the link was starting to break, the men shot arrows toward the goblins, but they immediately clung to the underside of the carriage like spiders.
That was when I charged toward the coupling.
Using the time the goblins had bought me, I swung the axe, which I had been continuously infusing with mana.
CRACK!!
After a loud noise, the coupling broke completely. It seemed the Goblin Sisters' hammering had been more effective than I thought.
"Fuck! Fuck!"
Screams naturally erupted from above. We had succeeded in capturing the carriage holding the slaves.
"Alright! Kkireuk!"
RUUUUMBLE!
The horses and the front carriage continued to race forward, while the one we had detached came to a complete stop. Of course, inertia kept it rolling for a while, but it lost momentum in an instant. And then, the members of the Blood Dagger Clan who had been waiting above descended upon them.
"For Blood Dagger!"
From the perspective of the men on the detached black carriage, they were completely isolated. As we continued onward, I glanced back and saw that the Three Sisters, who had been clinging to the underside, were now on top, swinging their weapons at the stranded humans. A little worried, I glanced at Mev. She seemed to understand my intent and jumped off Abar as she slowed down.
"Chief! See you in a bit!"
"Finish them off and check inside the carriage."
"Okay!"
The fleeing carriage now had a choice to make. Stop and try to recover the slaves, or keep going and enter the tunnel. With our main force at the tunnel entrance, neither option was good, but it seemed they had decided to abandon their isolated comrades. Perhaps because they'd shed some weight, the carriage was now moving even faster.
Just then, roots began to erupt from the ground. Jung Hayeon had finished her preparations to block them. The enemy magician’s eyes widened as he used wind magic to blast away as many roots as he could, but once they started sprouting, they effectively blocked their path.
"Dammit..."
It looked like he was finally going to use a large-scale spell. A massive amount of mana began to surge atop the carriage, and the horses' speed started to drop. He no longer had the spare mana to pour into the running horses. Judging this to be the perfect opportunity, I rode Abar up and leaped at him once more.
I didn't even need to swing my sword. Abar bit down precisely on the magician's left shoulder as she passed the carriage. Having lost its driver, the carriage crashed into the wall of roots Jung Hayeon had created and was completely obliterated.
Of course, I heard an unidentified curse—"Sh... Shiiit!"—and a tremendous roar. With a deafening crash, the men were completely crushed into pulp. They had been moving at an incredible speed, so the impact was bound to be immense. Various fragments flew into the air, and among them were humans who had managed to defend themselves with mana.
Meanwhile, the magician in Abar's jaws was still screaming.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
"Abar, don't kill him."
Grrrrrrrowl.
She was without a doubt the MVP of the day. I couldn't help but stroke Abar's head.