Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Territory Battle (2)
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I mounted the camel-horse 'Dromas'.
Its appearance was unfamiliar, but riding was a required subject in etiquette for someone like me who had aimed to become the duke's chief attendant.
Composure comes from such thorough preparation.
Whiiing—
The night wind sliced across my skin like a blade.
We advanced silently toward the 'Red Canyon'.
The desert night was chillingly cold, making the daytime heat feel like a lie.
Thud, thud.
Hundreds of footsteps crunching on sand echoed through the quiet canyon.
Strangely, not a single person opened their mouth.
I'd thought they'd mindlessly shout "Charge!", but the tension of the impending battle had even sealed the lips of these barbaric warriors.
In the sky, a blood-red moon gazed down at us like a bloodshot eye.
'That damn red moon always puts me in a foul mood...'
It was when we reached the center of the canyon, a wide open clearing.
Karack growled lowly.
"Enemy... incoming!"
Hundreds of torches flickered in the darkness.
The Yagur tribe.
They had already formed ranks and were waiting for us.
Their imposing figures revealed under the torchlight were overwhelming.
Well-fed and well-rested around the oasis, they all had broad shoulders and glistening, muscular bodies oiled to shine.
The heat and killing intent they exuded heated even the canyon's cold air.
In contrast, what about us?
Sunken eyes from days of starvation, bony frames no different from beggars.
Compared to them, that is.
388 versus 127.
A hopeless disparity in numbers.
And our troops' quality was no match either.
"Hoo..."
Somewhere, the sound of someone swallowing dryly. Our warriors' hands trembled faintly.
Fear was spreading like a plague.
Yeah, it wouldn't make sense if they weren't scared.
They had come here prepared to die.
Suddenly, they seemed impressive.
Resolving to face death isn't as easy as it sounds.
At least, not in my experience.
I deliberately straightened my shoulders and strode forward boldly.
"Yagur bastards, you even came out to greet us? How polite. Who's your leader? Come out for a leader duel."
At my nonchalant voice, the enemies' gazes locked onto me all at once.
Hundreds of killing intents stabbed at my skin, but I forced the corner of my mouth to twist up.
And I looked at the massive man standing in their midst, the Yagur chieftain.
He was like a huge boulder.
Over two meters tall, his entire body covered in knife scars and wounds.
The two-handed axe he held looked vicious enough to cleave a tree as thick as a man's waist in one strike.
Compared to him?
Even with my first-stage tattoo, standing next to that monster, I looked like a mere anchovy.
"Kuhahaha! The Grom Kel bastards have finally gone mad! Sending out a weakling like that as their leader!"
Morqun slammed his axe into the ground with a thud! and sneered.
Behind him, laughter from the Yagur warriors crashed in like waves.
"He won't even last one punch."
"Chieftain! Don't hit too hard! Leave the body intact so they can find it!"
"Kuhahahaha!!"
Meanwhile, our side was silent.
I could see Karack gripping his axe handle so hard it might snap, trembling with rage.
I took a deep breath.
'Don't chicken out, Edel. You've faced worse than this.'
Slum slave traders, vicious loan sharks, corrupt guards...
Of course, they didn't look as physically imposing as this guy, but in terms of human depravity, they were worse.
I dragged Kel Kar along and stepped forward.
"Are you the Yagur chieftain?"
I opened my mouth in a cocky tone.
"That's right! I am the great Morqun of the Yagur!"
I approached right up to Morqun's nose and stared straight into the beastly eyes, dropping my voice low.
"You look just like a fat overgrown orc pup. Come at me, and I'll sever your ugly head."
"...What?"
Morqun's eyebrow twitched.
I whispered just loud enough for him to hear, enunciating every word.
"What? Can't hear me? Ears clogged with fat? Look at yourself. Is that a warrior? Just a flabby desert orc spawn."
I'd already learned from Karack the insults barbarians hated most.
To them, being compared to a 'desert orc' was as good as honor killing.
And sure enough.
A chieftain or not, this guy was just a simple savage.
His face flushed red and purple—my provocation was hitting perfectly.
"Y-You bastard...! Daring to hurl such insults in a sacred duel ground!"
"Insults? Hilarious."
I snorted.
"Hey, be honest. Didn't your mom roll around with orcs every night to pop you out? How else could a human look like that?"
"...!!"
"Oh, feeling bad for the orcs? They probably look better than you."
Morqun's eyes rolled back. The whites turned bloodshot.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you!!"
I smirked inwardly.
These guys are a riot.
Coming with that brutal axe to take my head, but flipping out over a few words?
Taking lives is fair game, but a little trash talk is unbearable?
What kind of logic is that—insults worse than murder?
Scum like this deserves even harsher words.
"What? Hit a nerve? Did your mom teach you axe work while showing you dance moves too? That grip screams it."
"Kraaaah!! Shut up!!!"
The effect was clear.
Morqun, lost to rage, swung his axe down with enough force to split the earth.
Kwaang—!!
A sandstorm erupted, and a massive crater formed where I'd stood.
But I was already gone.
'Slow.'
The swing arc, muscle movements, gaze—all too obvious.
Back-alley fights have invisible blades slipping into your side in 0.1 seconds.
Big motions mean death.
That was my common sense.
And I'd survived those alleys pretty well.
I slipped between Morqun's armpit and whispered venom in his ear again.
"Ew, man. Your armpit reeks like rotting orc corpse. Wash up. Didn't your mom teach you hygiene?"
"You rat bastard!!!"
Morqun swung his axe wildly.
Whoosh! Thud! Swoosh!
The deadly wind pressure tore at my clothes, stinging my skin on near misses.
But it never connected.
Precisely calculated movements.
I never clashed blades.
Blocking that axe handle—thicker than my arm—with Kel Kar would shatter my wrist first.
Like a snake, or a cockroach, I rolled on the ground, crawling between his legs to evade.
"Not there."
"Eyes like an orc's? Body like a mountain, and you still miss?"
"How'd you become chieftain? Be honest. Did they pick the one most orc-like?"
At my relentless taunts, Morqun's face turned beet red, like it might burst.
I wondered if his blood pressure would kill him.
"Shut up!! Shut up!! Shut up!!"
His attacks grew simpler and more reckless.
Power-packed swings were mighty but full of openings.
'Now.'
I deliberately tripped, stumbling as if my foot caught.
"Uh...?"
Morqun's eyes flashed.
"Got you!!"
His axe flew horizontally—an inescapable arc.
I screamed and raised Kel Kar to block, then let it fly from my grip as if overwhelmed.
Clang—!
The heavy greatsword plunged into the sand.
I tumbled back, landing on my butt.
"Kuhahaha! Stupid fool! A warrior dropping his weapon!"
Morqun burst into mad laughter, certain of victory.
Kel Kar looked tempting to anyone.
No barbaric warrior could resist coveting that overwhelming form.
"Doesn't suit a punk like you, but nice sword. It's mine now!"
Morqun grabbed the hilt of Kel Kar.
Slumped on the ground, I wiped the dirt from my face and curled my lips in a sinister smirk.
"...Idiot."
That instant.
Woooong—!!
Kel Kar emitted red light.
A ferocious, murderous crimson glow, like a starving beast finding prey.
"Wha...? Uhhh?"
Morqun's expression shifted from ecstasy to horror in a flash.
"Wh-What's this?! My hand! It won't come off!!"
The hilt stuck to his palm like glue.
And then.
Kwaduduk!
"Kraaaah!!"
A gruesome tearing sound echoed.
Morqun's arm muscles swelled unnaturally, veins writhing like worms.
The price for an unworthy hand coveting the king's sword.
Kel Kar rejected and tore his flesh apart.
"Sp-Spare me!! Let go!! Kaaaah!!"
I muttered coldly.
"Told you not to touch others' things without permission."
"Bad upbringing? Didn't they teach you hands get chopped for grabbing what's not yours?"
As my words ended.
Poof—!!
His right arm exploded like a bursting balloon.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Guhk... Kek..."
With his arm blown clean off, Morqun foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
But he didn't die instantly. Just lost the arm.
Thud—
I approached and lifted Kel Kar.
Murder? I'd done it countless times.
Blowing off a barbaric savage's head was easier than breathing for me.
Slash—
The Yagur chieftain's head separated from his body, life extinguished.
Silence.
The frenzied battlefield fell quiet as if doused with cold water.
The Yagur warriors froze, mouths agape at the unbelievable sight.
Their chieftain's arm exploded the moment he grabbed the sword.
And the scrawny opponent took his head.
"D-Divine punishment...!"
"The gods are angry!!"
"It's because we ambushed a sacred honorable battle!!"
Terror.
Overwhelming power, or primal fear of the unknown, gripped them.
Good, just as planned.
Bloody with gore, I slung Kel Kar over my shoulder.
And glared at the frozen Yagur tribe.
"Next."
"......"
"No more challengers? I haven't even broken a sweat."
Step, step.
As I took one step toward them, all 380 Yagur tribesmen recoiled in terror.
No one dared meet my eyes.
Then, an elder-like figure from the Yagur tribe trembled, dropped his weapon, and knelt.
"S-Surrender... We surrender! Kel Bark! Mercy, please!!"
That sparked it.
Clang! Clang!
Weapons dropped here and there.
"We lost!"
"Just spare us!!"
Situation over.
I let out a deep inward sigh of relief.
'Phew... That was close to dying for real.'
Good thing it went according to plan.
My heart pounded like it would leap out, but I kept a straight face and nodded arrogantly.
"Wise choice."
Turning back, Magra and Karack, along with our Grom Kel tribesmen, stared at me in stunned awe.
Eyes like they were beholding a god.
'What, that's embarrassing.'
Still, time for a victory cheer, right?
I raised Kel Kar high.
"Victory!! Tonight, the oasis belongs to us Grom Kel!!"
"Waaaaaaah!!"
"Kel Bark! Kel Bark! Kel Bark!"
Earth-shaking cheers pierced the desert night.
The most despicable and perfect victory, won without spilling a drop of our blood—purely through trash talk.
Not bad at all.
But the territory battle wasn't fully over yet.
We still had to decide what to do with them.
I called out loudly for Magra and Aila.
"Magra! Aila!"
The two shaman sisters hurried over with bewildered expressions.
"Y-You called, Kel Bark!"