Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Endless March
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"Hoo..."
Lute Nyaom.
The face of this female lord who ruled Mara—one of the six city-states of the Moabmon Alliance—was etched with deep worry at this moment.
Though she had no choice but to join the war due to the Pope's declaration of holy war and pressure from the surrounding lords, Lute still opposed it deep down.
'Everyone's lost their minds... Even if it's the Pope's command, rushing into this so recklessly...'
What was war, after all?
No matter the grand titles attached to it, wasn't it fundamentally an act that drove the common folk to their deaths?
Sure, on the surface it was about purging heretics and such, but in reality, it was nothing more than gambling away precious lives to satisfy the church's so-called "honor" and the greed of Commander Lot and the other lords.
Even in victory, countless lives would vanish in the process.
And in defeat, they stood to lose not just the soldiers' lives, but far more.
The Kanan Kingdom hadn't even shown any signs of invading them.
They worshipped an evil god, became heretics—whatever. That was their internal affair.
With the six city-states constantly at odds and their own houses in turmoil, it was foolish to waste precious lives and funds meddling so casually in the neighbors' business.
Harboring deep resentment toward this war, driven by nothing but a hollow pretext.
And tormented by her own powerlessness in ultimately allowing it.
Lute let out a heavy sigh and pressed on with the march in silence.
Jeremiah Mountain loomed small before her eyes.
Once they crossed it, Nehemia Fortress would be right there.
Feeling a thick tension at the war that would truly begin afterward,
While hoping they could end it all with as few casualties as possible.
Lute gripped the reins tightly with both hands.
All the while sensing the strange feeling that Jeremiah Mountain seemed to grow smaller and smaller as time passed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Is everyone assembled?"
"Yes, Captain."
Eva, the temporary commander of Nehemia Fortress.
Right away, she assembled not only her own forces but every soldier in the fortress.
Combining the troops she had brought with the hastily gathered militia, they numbered around 6,000.
After scanning their ranks, Eva spoke in a clear voice.
"First, I thank you all for stepping up to defend our nation. But as you've heard, the enemy's forces outnumber ours by more than ten to one. Even if we hold out until reinforcements arrive, most of those who stand to defend this fortress will meet their deaths."
"..."
"Gulp..."
Eva started with such grim words.
Unsurprisingly, anxiety began to swell in the soldiers' hearts,
And toward them, Eva continued in a cold voice.
"Human life is precious. Your families are surely waiting for you to return alive. If any of you wish to preserve your lives for their sake, you may leave this place now. Go home and live for your families."
"!"
"Mm."
"But if you lay down your lives here and succeed in defending this place, your names will be etched forever in the kingdom's history. The people of this nation will thank us for generations, and our descendants will live with pride, knowing they have such honorable ancestors. Those who seek this glory, stay here. This nation, this land's people, will remember your names!"
Those afraid could leave, but those who desired glory should remain—that was her declaration.
Hearing this, unrest stirred among the soldiers.
"Wh-what do we do?"
"I... I'm going home. Better to roll in a dung field in this life than die like this."
"But the fortress..."
"Ah, whatever. They'll handle it somehow. It's not like it'll fall just because I'm gone."
Though they had stepped up to defend the place, most soldiers were conscripts dragged here against their will.
Having heard they were likely to die if they stayed, it was only natural their morale plummeted.
In the end, only 2,000 of the 6,000 remained.
Watching this, Eva's adjutant Liv asked in a voice laced with concern.
"Um... Captain? Isn't this bad? Just 2,000? Facing the enemy with this many..."
"Too many."
"P-pardon?"
Eva spoke in a cold tone.
Liv, momentarily failing to grasp her meaning, asked cautiously.
"Too many...? You don't mean these 2,000 are too many, do you?"
"That's exactly right. We'll need to thin them out once more."
"!?"
Liv's expression hardened further at her incomprehensible captain's words.
She had already been feeling uneasy about how Eva had changed in various ways since encountering that Seraphim god.
Though Liv had seen the Seraphim herself,
And still trusted her captain as before... this bizarre behavior left her with no choice but to harbor doubts.
Meanwhile, ignoring Liv's attitude, Eva gazed at the soldiers before her and issued her command.
"Those who remain, follow me. The enemy won't arrive for a while yet, so we'll patrol the area briefly."
And so, the 2,000 soldiers began their patrol at Eva's order.
Though called a patrol, the rugged mountainous terrain made even moving around difficult.
And the weather was the scorching midsummer sun.
After half a day of marching, the soldiers were utterly exhausted.
Then, guided by Eva, they arrived at a stream.
"Rest here for a bit."
After half a day of forced march under the blazing sun.
The soldiers, parched as if burning up inside, rushed straight to the stream.
"Glug! Glug!"
"Haa... Feels like I can live now..."
The soldiers gulped down water desperately.
Overcome by extreme thirst and heat, most dunked their heads into the stream and drank frantically.
However.
A few among them.
Including the knights under Eva's command and some soldiers, even in their thirst, scooped water with their hands and licked it carefully.
In wartime, you never knew when or where the enemy might strike.
No matter how safe it seemed, they kept watch on their surroundings even while drinking, prepared for anything.
Those numbered exactly 300.
A faint smile crept across Eva's lips as she watched...
"Um... Captain? You're not thinking what I think you are... right?"
"Hee hee..."
"Please tell me no..."
As Liv felt her insides burning with anxiety over her captain's eccentricity.
Eva merely chuckled softly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lot, commander of the alliance army.
Gazing at Jeremiah Mountain ahead, he had been in high spirits just that morning.
Word was, the garrison at Nehemia Fortress beyond that mountain numbered barely 6,000.
Less than a tenth of their own forces. He figured striking before reinforcements arrived would be like eating cold porridge—easy as pie.
Seize Nehemia Fortress, then ride the momentum straight to the capital and lop off King David's head. Done.
Though that Seraphim god the heretics worshipped was a concern, he now carried a holy relic sent from the Papal Court in his bosom.
He didn't know exactly what it was, but with the power of the Baal God within, it should dispatch their evil deity in one blow.
Marching buoyantly all morning, Lot's mood was sky-high.
But as noon passed into afternoon,
His expectations began turning to doubt.
"Hey... shouldn't we be there by now? That Jeremiah Mountain. We've marched this far; we should've at least reached the base."
"Indeed. Even I don't know what's going on..."
Despite marching over half a day, the distance to Jeremiah Mountain showed no sign of shrinking.
Looking around, they began sensing something off.
"That rock over there... Didn't we see it earlier?"
"Y-yeah... Even the olive tree beside it is the same."
"No way... Are we circling the same spot...?"
"Impossible! We've been heading straight toward Jeremiah Mountain the whole time. What could make us lost? Get your heads straight and keep marching! We need to get out of this creepy place now!"
Lot raised his voice to quell his subordinates' unease.
But even as he forced the march, he knew.
This situation was blatantly abnormal.
Jeremiah Mountain, which they should have reached long ago, still loomed far off,
And the surrounding scenery matched perfectly what they had passed earlier.
The mystery born of this eerie phenomenon.
And that mystery.
As the sun began to set, it turned to terror.
Not just for Lot.
But commonly in the hearts of every soldier in the Moabmon Alliance army here.
"No matter how far we go, the end's not in sight."
"N-no way... We won't keep wandering here forever, right?"
"Th-that can't be..."
The current scenery was already creepily familiar to them.
Exactly the landscape from that morning.
The difference? The sun was now setting.
And their bodies were wrapped in deep fatigue.
Thanks to Commander Lot's stubbornness about resting only after reaching the mountain, they had marched nonstop.
Their legs trembled,
Their throats burned with thirst.
Yet this repeating path pressed ever harder on their minds.
'Damn it...! Wh-what the hell is happening...? H-how long do we have to keep walking...?!'
Fatigue, anxiety, terror.
In that state, one soldier unwittingly looked up at the sky.
Then...
"A... Aaaahhh!!!"
"!?"
"Wh-what?"
"Wh-what happened?"
A sudden scream tore from his mouth.
Nearby soldiers approached in shock.
And...
"Th-the sky... The sky...!"
The soldier flailed one arm in terror, pointing somewhere.
The others looked, a heavy dread rising.
But...
"...What...?"
"Wh-what about the sky?"
"Th-there! Look! That thing in the sky!"
Despite his cries, they saw only the ordinary dusk sky.
The other soldiers assumed exhaustion had made him hallucinate and tried to calm him.
All while inwardly feeling a deep foreboding at this bizarre reaction amid the chaos.
"Calm down! There's nothing in the sky!"
"I-I see it! It's... It's watching... Watching us!!!"