Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Northern Conquest (8)
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"You bastard who deserves to die in disgrace, spilling your blood all over the ground! The heavenly god Tanguri will punish you!"
"You heathen scum not fit to be called bugs! Your vain ambition to become Khan ends here!"
After hurling those words, Ludwig and I kept clashing swords.
From up high on the left side of my head, I swung diagonally down toward his right knee, then up to his throat, riding that momentum to kick out with my right foot.
He blocked both of my attacks with infuriating ease using his own blade, and the right-foot kick I'd thought would land solidly...
He parried quite leisurely with his right arm, wrapped in chainmail.
My leg, sheathed in iron greaves, should've delivered a solid shock even through that chainmail... Damn it, he blocked it without a care.
As expected of the absolute powerhouse who'd clawed his way to become Khan among the northern barbarians, where only the law of the jungle reigned.
"That didn't hurt more than a mosquito bite! If you want to take on this old man, you'd better kick harder than that, eh?"
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but since my attack had missed, responding would've been pointless.
No, he'd just latch onto my reply to mock me further, and those words would spread through his entire army.
Our Imperial troops' morale would plummet, and the barbarians—who'd been encircled, waiting only for the moment of their death—would seize the chance to rally, slaughter our men, and break for escape.
"Can't even muster a reply, like a mute with a mouth full of honey? Trembling before this old man's dignity? How cute! Fine, I'll kill you and rip off that helmet to see just how adorable your face really is!"
With that, Ludwig stomped the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt.
My vision blurred for a moment, and he didn't miss it—thrusting precisely at the gap between my helmet and breastplate as he shouted.
"Avenger of my loyal subordinate Thunner! I'll kill you here for butchering my brave warriors! Die, you old bastard!"
I tried to deflect his strike with my sword, but I recalled the instructor's words: thrusts have such a narrow attack area that trying to block them often gets you killed when simply dodging would save you.
So I caught his attack with my left arm and managed to twist the blade's path as it came right up to my face.
But a numb, stinging sensation shot through my left arm, along with a heavy impact like being hammered.
Damn it all! If I took off the armor later, there'd be a massive bruise on my arm for sure.
Anyway, using the opening from his missed attack and his off-balance stance, I swung the arm that had blocked his sword to smash his face.
But he kicked my left arm hard with his right leg, the recoil leaving my arm and torso wide open.
"I'll send you straight to your dearly departed mother and father! Die!!"
Instead of slashing with his sword, he lifted his right leg and slammed the sole of his foot into my torso.
Thanks to my helmet and armor, I avoided any real injury.
But I was stunned for a split second, and Ludwig looked down at me with a rotten grin, raising his sword high before slamming it down as he spoke.
"Avenger of Thunner! Die here and become dog food!!"
He drove his blade like lightning toward the gap between my helmet and breastplate.
The whoosh of his sword slicing the air looked like slow motion to my eyes, and I rolled aside just before it hit.
"Cowardly bastard! Rolling in the dirt just to stay alive— that humiliating, eh?!"
Even amid the fierce melee, his subordinates laughed gleefully at me.
"Rolling around like a roast suckling pig!"
"The Khan avenges the Thunner clan himself! Long live the Khan!"
"Flailing about like a cornered deer in a hunt! Haha!"
My soldiers might lose morale hearing that crap, but right now, I had no luxury to worry about such things.
Because Ludwig was right in front of me, trying to mount me while the opportunity lasted.
In close-quarters combat, whoever mounts the other's torso first is guaranteed the win.
"Normally, I'd love to pin you down on my bed and admire that pretty face of yours. But looks like that won't happen! Rookie!!!"
"Your torn-up mouth sure spits filth! You rotten barbarian Khan scum—I could kill you a hundred times and it still wouldn't be enough!"
With that, I rolled backward once more and sprang to my feet, barely dodging his flying kick by a hair's breadth.
"Not bad—you're at least good enough to have killed Thunner! But if you just keep dodging like this, do you really think you can even scratch this old man's royal body?"
Sure enough, if I kept getting pushed around like this, it'd be impossible not only to kill Ludwig but even to wound him.
And if I ended up dead or gravely injured, our army's morale would collapse.
Ludwig might seize the momentum to escape, and if he did...
The North would descend into chaos again, and countless people would die.
Why, in this life-or-death crisis, did I suddenly think of how Major Laura's heart must be breaking?
So fuck that—I couldn't let myself be killed by this Ludwig corpse that not even dogs would eat.
"Rolling on the ground doesn't mean I'm weak enough to lose to vermin like you!"
"Barking is the one thing you Imperial dogs excel at! Even Tanguri must be impressed by your bluffing."
With that, Ludwig swung his sword in a massive arc from left to right, aiming for my armpit.
The sheer power and speed made me think less of countering or blocking.
Like before, I stepped back to evade, then smashed the pommel on my sword's hilt down onto his forehead.
Ludwig hadn't expected that—he ducked sharply to avoid the pommel strike.
Compared to how he'd casually blocked or deflected my earlier attacks, this was slight progress.
But riding the momentum of his duck, he charged into my guard to tackle me down.
I'd already rolled once because of him—no way I'd fall for the same trick twice.
"Do I look stupid enough to fall for the same move again?"
I twisted my body left, and Ludwig missed, grasping at empty air.
For a brief moment, he looked comical, but he acted unfazed, praising me leisurely.
"You've sure learned how to run away properly, rookie!"
"Yeah, I learned that trick from the Thunner scum who tucked tail and fled. You're next."
"You bastard! How dare you insult my loyal warrior?!"
This crazy fucker—curses himself plenty while losing, but flips out when I badmouth his dead subordinate.
With that, he gripped his sword one-handed in his right and slashed down from above his head toward my neck.
The whoosh of air it cut was loud enough to hear clearly through my helmet—fast and heavy.
"Die! You Imperial fly!"
Victory gleamed in the eyes of the barbarian chieftain before me, convinced of my death—but his strike seemed a bit exaggerated, almost empty.
Because swinging with his right hand made the motion needlessly large, his trajectory toward my neck was plain as day.
No, it even felt like he was baiting me to block it.
So instead of blocking or exploiting the gap, I glanced at his left side.
And sure enough—Ludwig's left hand held a cavalry saber gripped backward.
Sneaky bastard! If I'd focused solely on blocking his right-hand attack, I wouldn't have been ready for the left.
The moment I saw it, I considered drawing my dagger with my left hand to parry.
But a tiny dagger couldn't withstand that saber's weight.
I might not block perfectly and take a grievous wound.
Instead of dodging or blocking, I gripped my sword two-handed, aimed at his neck.
Then kicked off the ground with my right foot and shot forward like an arrow.
This let me slip inside the arc of his right-arm swing, while still able to parry any left-side attack with my sword.
The man who'd survived countless frontal clashes in this eat-or-be-eaten world to claim the Khan's throne sneered at me.
"Not bad at all, rookie!"
That's how I closed into his range, fully blocking the incoming left-side attack with my two-handed sword.
Suddenly, we were close enough to hear each other's breaths and heartbeats.
Before he could pull any tricks, I tilted my head sideways as hard as possible, slamming it into his helmet.
It wouldn't injure or kill Ludwig, but the unexpected hit flustered him for a moment.
Seizing that gap, I flicked away his left sword and gripped mine one-handed with my left.
Instead of retreating, I kicked off again, shoulder-checking him.
As Ludwig's body tilted.
I stepped deeper into his guard, twisting my whole body right and driving my steel gauntlet's back into his exposed face below the helmet.
Through the metal glove, I felt his teeth shatter, and Ludwig grimaced in pain.
Not a fatal blow, maybe, but for the first time, I'd landed a solid hit on him.
Now, if I pressed the attack like this, I could take his head.