Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The Trap Springs
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“Gaaahhh!”
“My eyes! My eyes!”
No matter how crude they were, arrows were still arrows.
The arrows loosed haphazardly by the militia rained down like a blessing from gravity itself.
Even with shields held high, orcs were getting pierced by the blind shots left and right, and the muddy ground below the walls was already filling up with bleeding corpses.
But the more the militia squeezed out their last scraps of courage, the more venomous the orcs grew.
Hatred and rage toward the enemy alone—that was the drug that made the contradictions of war bearable.
“Shields up over your heads!”
“Krahaha, keep shooting, you little shits!”
The battlefield was drowning in uncontrollable madness.
The orc mercenaries, knowing this was their final assault, bellowed war cries as they hooked their siege ladders onto the walls.
Naturally, the militia swung axes to knock them down, and chain reactions of concentrated firepower erupted on both sides.
Those trying to breach and those trying to hold.
The two races, staking their fates, clashed ferociously with the wall between them.
“Eeeeek!”
“Taylor! Taylor, no!”
But as time passed, the side starting to give ground was, predictably, the militia atop the walls—lacking in combat experience and overall morale.
No matter how much last-ditch courage they mustered, they couldn’t overcome the seasoned orc man-at-arms who’d killed humans like it was breakfast.
Casualties mounted everywhere.
The young men, led to the walls by volunteering townsfolk, writhed in agony until they passed out.
“Damn it!”
How long had the assault been going? Already they had to commit the reorganized reserves.
Sodom, barely holding on through numerical superiority, was like a candle flickering in the wind.
“Much smoother now.”
Glattan and his captains watched with satisfied grins.
They’d worried over the unexpected variable, but the first wave’s results weren’t bad at all.
If things kept going like this, they could rack up enough merit to bury past failures.
Glattan rose from his seat and commanded his captains, parched for a sure victory.
“The moment the gates open, pull back the assaulting troops and advance the main body directly. Captains, lead your men and follow behind me.”
“An excellent plan, Commander!”
The units currently sieging were subordinates under the Redskin Mercenary Corps.
Subcontractors, essentially, who’d bled themselves dry. Now it was time for the Redskin main force to reel in the prey.
The captains eagerly agreed, grabbing their weapons at the promise of joining the fray.
The main body, which had focused on preserving strength until now, finally lifted its heavy asses.
“————!!”
The militia on the walls, locked in combat, began to waver noticeably.
A shout that shouldn’t have been audible—no, couldn’t be audible—struck the heart of the battlefield.
“The gates! The gates are opening!”
Boom! Clank!
Screeech, creak!
Black smoke billowed up from behind the walls.
At the same time, the tightly sealed gates cracked open with a small gap.
The traitor had kept his promise after all!
Glattan smirked triumphantly and charged the gates with a massive roar.
“Redskins! Charge!!”
“Uraaaa————!!!”
With the gates open, victory was a foregone conclusion.
The Redskin main force, braver than ever, charged with crimson banners flying.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Who could stop this advance?
Even allied orc mercenaries scrambled aside before the ferocious Redskin charge.
Screech, rumble!
The massive gates swung fully open.
Glattan and the captains, leading triumphantly at the front, bellowed the order to slaughter.
“Kill them all!”
They’d never intended to honor any promises from the start.
The orcs pouring into the city scanned with bloodshot eyes for their first victims.
Crackle, pat.
“————?”
But what entered their sight wasn’t terrified militia or townsfolk—it was the bonfires lit to produce the artificial smoke.
A pungent, spicy aroma from eastern herbs assaulted their noses.
The area was shrouded like fog from the smoke billowing from the fires everywhere.
Bwooooooo————!
A horn blared from somewhere.
The low, dark tone, like brooding ink, resonated grandly, echoing the east’s pent-up humiliation and despair.
Step! Step! Step! Step!
And then the orcs saw it.
At the end of the smoke-choked street, a porcupine formation of pikes emerging silently.
Gulp.
Not one unit. Two? Three? No, too many to count.
But one thing was clear: the porcupines filling the streets and squares were slowly closing in.
Shrrrrrk————!
Thud!
In that instant, the chains supporting the gates snapped, and they slammed shut with a boom.
Before they could even think of countermeasures, their only retreat was sealed.
It was a trap. Definitely a trap.
Glattan, who’d never dreamed they’d use Sodom as bait, bellowed to mask the rising panic.
“Hold formation! They’re just militia, even bunched up!”
Fortunately, the gates closed after the Redskin main force had fully entered.
No matter the trap, they were still wall-less humans.
“You idiots! Shields up!”
“Prepare to charge!”
The belatedly snapping-to captains rallied the flustered Redskin mercenaries.
As Glattan said, they’d safely entered the city—no changing that fact.
“Charge!!”
“Uraaaa————!!!”
The reformed main body pierced the smoke toward the nearest pike formation.
And as always, they aimed to smash human skulls with halberds.
“Kruk?”
But before their estimated reach connected, sharp blades gleamed.
The hazy pikes hidden in the thick smoke were suddenly right in their faces.
Wha—what?
Dodge. Block.
Their minds knew, but their bodies wouldn’t obey, pushed from behind.
Stab!
Thus, the brave orc mercenary charging at the front was skewered through by the sharp pike.
He never knew what hit him until consciousness faded.
“H-heek!”
“Push! Keep pushing!”
The pike formation was a mess, as expected.
Terror of the orcs hung thick over the militia; even in their advantageous position, they couldn’t mount an aggressive offense.
Yet strangely, the sloppy pike formation wasn’t buckling—it was shoving the orcs who’d entered Sodom right back out.
Not pushing forward.
Pushing them back.
Humans and orcs mixed like water and oil, refusing to blend.
And the advantage went to the eastern humans, who outnumbered them several times over.
How had the militia, losing even with walls at their back, turned the tables like this?
Helena, who’d half-doubted it until now, muttered like someone entranced.
“...I can’t believe it. It’s only been three days. What the hell changed?”
It was simple, really.
The pike’s long reach gave tactical superiority and overcame low morale.
And the circular formation maximized pike density without needing high skill.
I’d merely drawn out the potential the original soldiers had and combined it into tactics suited for the smaller eastern humans.
Well. If she wanted to hear what changed straight from the horse’s mouth, the Black Arrow riding behind me on the saddle would answer for her.
“The commander changed.”
“R-right! The commander...”
Helena’s doubts resolved, she beamed.
But remembering who the previous commander was soured her face, and she bowed her head.
Black Arrow burst into giggles, while Richard quietly comforted Helena.
We’d shared one last joke before sortieing, but now we sensed it was time for the cavalry to move.
Waaaaah————!!
Don’t retreat! Hold to the end!
As time passed, pike intervals and circular formation gaps tightened steadily.
Probably the morale boost from driving the enemy right to the walls.
But their low skill still lacked the decisive blow to clinch victory.
That’s why I’d trained Helena and the riders in mounted charges.
If the militia were the shield holding the attack, we’d be the spear piercing the foe.
After circling the city outskirts with the cavalry for a while, I lowered my visor and shouted.
“Accelerate!”
The wheeling cavalry gradually picked up speed.
Exiting the narrow streets, our practiced wedge formation unfurled naturally.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!
The cavalry thundered through Sodom’s streets.
Townsfolk hiding in houses thrust orange cloths through narrow windows.
Like twilight draped across the sky, countless orange banners hung over Sodom.
We filled our vision through narrow visor slits with the breathtaking sight.
Snort!
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud————!!
Hoofbeats synchronized.
Riders, eyes locked on their mounts’ heads, slowly leaned forward.
Accelerate, and accelerate again!
Pouring every ounce of energy into one charge, we held our breath.
The target loomed far ahead.
Squeeee!
One rider spotted the cavalry charge and blew the retreat whistle urgently.
The pike formations scattered hastily to the sides, clearing the path.
Move aside!
Uwaaa! Kill ’em all!
Every step of the plan clicked perfectly.
Passing the cheering militia, I bellowed the final order in a thunderous voice.
“Concentrate————!!”
Gather the coiled power at your spear tips.
Gritting teeth, the cavalry raised lances against the fierce wind blocking our path.
Shhh.
Spear tips sliced the air.
The crushing wind vanished like a lie, focus narrowing to a single point.
“Wha—what?”
The Redskin mercenaries, trapped in dense pike walls, unable to advance or retreat.
No time to rejoice at the sudden clear line of sight—their flank was pierced by the cavalry charge.
“For our Northern Mother!”
Kwaaaang————!
Crack!
The cavalry lance impaled two orcs.
The White-Horned Deer following rammed with its massive horns, turning an orc to mincemeat.
Thud! Boom!
A charge at max acceleration.
The wedge behind me exploded through their lines like a bomb, collapsing the formation chain-reaction style; the orcs could only take it helplessly.
Gaaahhh!
R-retreat! Retreat!
Behind: walls blocked.
Ahead: pikes pushing.
And now even the flank—their last escape—was swarming with cavalry.
Cough!
Crack! Bang!
The heavy steel armor the mercenaries boasted became poison, shackling their ankles.
In the blood-and-guts mud, they couldn’t even stand properly.
Surrender! We surrender!
S-spare us!
Orcs pounded and clawed the gates bare-handed to flee.
But we showed no mercy, lances and swords reaping the isolated ones.
Corpses piled up, blood formed rivers.
The militia, who’d helplessly endured until now, rushed in with blades to slit throats of those still twitching.
What remained: chunks of flesh instead of dirt, and desperate nail marks before the gates.
I set down my broken-tipped cavalry lance and opened my visor.
Everyone was dazed.
We’d just thrust forward with spears, yet our bodies were drenched in blood.
We’d fought a real war.
The easterners, lifetime victims of plunder and exploitation, finally understood battle fervor only after coating their hands in gore.
And the long-forgotten rage—the one they’d bottled to the end—erupted.
A roar like a rebirth announced victory to all of Sodom.
Waaaaaaaah————!!
The militia embraced, laughing.
Townsfolk shed tears of relief, frantically seeking family who’d fought.
Now, the counteroffensive began.
I smirked at Helena and Richard, embracing amid joyful cheers.