Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Cavalry Ambush
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The orc horde halted its advance.
No, it could advance no further.
Because an unidentified army had blocked their path on the plain directly ahead.
A human army clad in black leather armor.
Great Chieftain Tiguma, struggling to suppress his shock, turned to his adjutant.
"Is this just a simple rebellion?"
"Well..."
He had no idea which dimwitted orc pup had filed that initial report.
But whoever it was, their throat needed ripping out and hanging before the governor right now.
Look at that formation and discipline.
No matter how long he'd been away from the battlefield, he wasn't so rusty that he couldn't tell militia from trained soldiers.
Tiguma sighed.
"It's the Northern Army."
This wasn't some rebellion or impulsive uprising.
It was a long-prepared revolt—a harbinger of a new power's rise.
If Ogmar hadn't sent him, what would have become of the Northern colonies?
Their encampments would surely have been picked off one by one, their strength ebbing away.
"...You owe me one, Ogmar."
But now that he'd brought his army, their territorial ambitions ended here.
Tiguma resolved to crush them in the bud before they could grow any larger.
"Adjutant!"
Snorting, Tiguma rose from his seat and called for the sergeants and adjutants.
Dozens of orcs rushed over with flushed faces, bowing deeply in respect.
"Yes! Your orders, Chieftain!"
"Send a messenger to the Governor! Report the full situation without omission! And Sergeants!"
"Yes, Chieftain!"
"We prepare to attack."
These humans had gone to great lengths to hide their identity until now.
Yet here they were, brazenly marching an army out to face them head-on, as if daring a fight.
How arrogant.
Wearing the same weapons and armor didn't make them equal warriors.
Tiguma felt the forgotten blood of a warrior surging through his veins after so long.
"Light the fires!"
"Units, form up! Form up!"
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
The drums beat a slow rhythm.
The orc warriors sprang to their feet with swift precision, shaking off the chill from their frozen bodies as they hurried to their assigned units.
Damn, it was filthy cold.
If this was merely early winter, how much worse would it get?
Warming their frigid weapons and limbs by the fires, the orc warriors desperately prayed this would be the last war fought in the North.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Tiguma dismounted his cart and climbed atop his warhorse, clad in grotesque barding.
A sergeant asked in surprise.
"You're going in yourself?"
"No sign of the enemy's cavalry. We're perfect bait for a flank attack."
The battlefield was a vast plain.
In such terrain, fast-moving cavalry was paramount.
Yet scanning the enemy lines yielded no cavalry—not even anti-cavalry stakes or spikes.
Was their commander a fool?
Even with hordes of infantry, they were nothing but prime prey before a charging medium cavalry.
Whinny!
Orc warhorses, raised on human flesh and blood, fiercer and more vicious than any beast.
Tiguma stroked his beloved mount while glaring at the advancing enemy lines.
Sniff, sniff.
Whinny!
"H-hey, don't..."
Growing bored from the long wait, White Wind nuzzled Snow-Covered, who was hidden in the snowdrift.
Snow-Covered could manage only a timid shake of her head in feeble protest.
Satisfied with his prank, the rascal White Wind let out a contented whicker.
The watching cavalrymen clenched their jaws to stifle their laughter.
Damn it, stay focused.
I shot them a warning glance and scanned our surroundings.
Ears perked up twitchingly.
"Shh."
The White-Horned Deer cavalry under my command and Snow-Covered's had slipped away from the formation before the orcs could set camp on the plain ahead.
We'd burrowed into the snow on a hill overlooking the plain, our natural camouflage courtesy of the deer's white fur and horns making concealment effortless.
Sharing body heat with our warm mounts, Snow-Covered and I waited for the moment.
Below the hill, two armies bearing different banners advanced slowly across the plain.
"...Phew."
Perfect—they'd taken the bait.
Judging the Northern Army cavalry-less, the orc commander had personally mounted up and swung toward the right flank.
Moving to an ideal position for the hammer-and-anvil tactic fundamental to such grand plain battles.
But it was a flawless blunder by an enemy leader who hadn't scouted the terrain.
For our White-Horned Deer cavalry lay in perfect ambush atop the very hill they were bypassing.
Our target wasn't the shield wall.
The instant the armies clashed, we'd drop camouflage and smash the enemy cavalry aiming for the Northern Army's flank—annihilating them.
Success meant capturing their key cavalry force... and even the enemy commander.
I watched the battle unfold, praying Gray Wolf and Blue Hand would hold strong in the meantime.
Even from this distant hill, the fervor and roars felt vivid.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Toooooot!
Drums, horns, guttural war cries.
Forces on a scale beyond any war we'd fought before faced off in line.
Lines fully formed, both sides fell silent as if by agreement.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed dryly.
The suffocating hush, devoid even of breathing, only heightened the tension.
Like beasts gauging each other, the armies stared in stillness.
In the iron rigidity, only the war banners fluttered.
But the silence didn't last.
Thoom!
The drum sounded.
The orcs took a single step forward.
Thoom! Thoom!
Two beats.
The orcs advanced, spears to the fore.
Step! Step! Step! Step!
A rippling green wave like the sea.
Snorts and heat from the horde hung thick like sea mist.
That majesty—the ferocious steel wave that had toppled the Northern Kingdom.
The orc army launched its mass charge.
"Kraaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"For Honor!"
Tremble in fear.
Follow your obsolete fate.
Eyes blazing from within steel helms glared as if to incinerate frail humans.
But the rebuilt Northern Army held firm.
As if they'd awaited this, they raised shields and bows to meet the onrushing orcs.
Brothers, do you remember?
The countless ancestors buried beneath this soil.
Today, let us raise spear and shield to carry forth the convictions they left behind.
"For Mother North!"
"Waaaaaaaah!!!"
Thud thud thud thud!
The surging heat devoured all sound.
Only my comrade's breath beside me and my own heartbeat rang in my ears.
The white expanse between them shrank steadily,
And when something transcending death chilled my spine.
The soldiers beheld time itself slowing.
"........."
Silence.
And then.
The waves collided.
Boom!
Crunch!
Aaaaaagh!
Crunch! Boom!
They clashed, clashed, clashed again.
Shuddering destruction chained across the field as both armies sank into the mire.
No stopping now.
In the heart of the battlefield, amid sprays of blood and mud, orcs and humans hurled themselves to grind each other down.
Chain-crush, chain-crush.
Desperation beyond valor melted beneath the falling arrow storm.
Even noble life, born to survive, meant nothing before war's maw.
It was harsh reality, bereft of creed or ideal.
Clop clop clop clop!
As the ceaseless crescendo crested toward its end, the enemy cavalry lurched into motion.
Blue Hand's archers, who'd hounded them relentlessly, had finally let them slip.
Hyenas scenting necks.
Drooling as they charged.
I clenched my fist and raised it high.
Grip.
The deer rose to their feet.
Snow concealing us cascaded away; proud antlers thrust skyward.
Snow-Covered mounted first, followed by the spearmen atop their White-Horned Deer.
Huuu.
Deep breath.
We charged toward the vast snowy plain.
Thud thud thud thud!
Squeal!
"Damn these accursed arrows!"
Clang!
Tiguma swung his aura-infused axe, batting away a swiftly flying arrow.
But the human archer commander loosed aura-laced arrows in relentless succession, doggedly pinning the flanking cavalry.
Damn filthy wench.
Tiguma ground his teeth, glaring daggers at the bitch leading the archers.
Just wait.
Once out of range, he'd tear into her flank and rip her apart limb from limb.
Clang!
Tiguma deflected another arrow and spurred his mount urgently onward.
The orc cavalry accelerated, breaking free of direct firing range.
Good—arrows couldn't touch them now.
Spitting a thick gob into the air, Tiguma lifted his gaze to survey the battle.
Crunch!
The war raged on.
Yet contrary to expectations, the orc forces held superiority without dominance.
Their feet mired against humans inferior in numbers and prowess.
Crunch!
"For Mother North!"
And that human draped in wolf pelt!
The warrior swinging a greatsword at the shield wall's forefront had already felled his fourth sergeant.
No—every sergeant failed to breach him; he alone upheld the wall.
Where the hell had a human warrior wielding such aura sprung from?
That presence, that army...
Just like the old Knight King...
"...!!!"
Tiguma recoiled in horror.
Realization dawned—what he'd overlooked—and every puzzle piece snapped into place.
Northern Kingdom's rebirth. Old heroes rallying!
He barely snatched the slipping reins, clamping his thick molars.
"Chieftain! You alright?!"
"...Fine! Prepare to wheel!"
The word "retreat" flickered unbidden.
But with the battle peaking, it demanded a final call from Tiguma, leader of the cavalry.
Yes, they still held the edge.
If the plan worked, their valor ended here today.
Clop clop clop clop!
Ordering the wheel, Tiguma yanked the reins, veering toward the flank.
There waited the enemy female general and her light archers who'd harried them.
Tiguma bellowed.
"Groooooaaargh!!"
Steel lances thrust forward.
The fully barded orc cavalry thundered toward the Northern Army's flank.
Accelerate—and accelerate again!
The massive warhorses snorted thick blasts, launching their charge.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
Acceleration peaked.
p>Formation razor-sharp.
They'd punch the flank, loop rearward, and shatter lines and wall alike.
Tiguma eyed the archer prey and she-general, victory assured.
"........."
'She's smiling?'
But at a mere 200 meters, the enemy general's face bore not fear—but a refreshing grin.
As if she'd drawn her bowstring precisely for this moment, wiping bloodied hands.
Chill raced down his spine.
Hairs prickled erect.
Ears, numb from battle-rush, finally cleared.
Tiguma whipped his head around.
And beheld it.
White deer crashing upon the cavalry.
BOOM!!!
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