Chapter 293
Chapter 293
Iron Emperor — Chapter 293
"Huh. What in the world..."
Public Marquis gaped at the scene before him, his composure gone.
The crumbled section of the wall was practically rebuilt with the corpses of Holy Empire soldiers, and strewn across the ground were the knights he had dispatched earlier—Baron Pau, Baron Lueng, and the others—lying dead with their eyes glaring wide.
Nor was it only them; at least fifty knights lay slain.
Counting the common soldiers, the dead numbered well over three hundred.
"Don't tell me... those three alone did all this."
Even as Public Marquis stared in disbelief, another victim was charging at them. The man was one of his own escort knights, deeply close to the fallen.
The blood-drenched man at the front parried the rushing knight's sword upward with his own dao, then drove a kick into his abdomen.
With the knight bent double like a shrimp, the man reversed the blade he had just raised and brought it slashing down onto the exposed nape of his neck.
Thuck!
"Kraaaagh!"
It had taken only three exchanges.
"Sir Chris!"
A knight who had witnessed his comrade's death tried to rush forward, but Public Marquis restrained him. Then he slowly dismounted.
"Marquis... surely not..."
Count Turbes watched the marquis's movements with growing unease. And his fear proved well-founded.
Public Marquis had drawn his cherished blade and was advancing on foot.
"Black hair and black eyes..."
He did not raise his voice as he walked forward and muttered, but it was loud enough for the soldiers nearby to catch.
"Seed of the Demon Tribe..."
The marquis's unhurried speech and movements brimmed with absolute composure.
Slowly raising his sword vertically before him, Public Marquis quietly began reciting the holy code of the Holy Knights.
"O Lord God, who drove the Demon Tribe from this land and bestowed upon mankind a life of light..."
As he spoke, Public Marquis began to circle the Gauri warriors at a deliberate pace.
"As a descendant of the great faithful who inherited that sanctity, first, the duty to exterminate the Demon Tribe..."
Everyone held their breath. The tension mounted by the moment.
"Secondly, to fulfill the obligation of cleansing all evil; and thirdly, to convey the will of the Lord God to every being upon this land, so that at the final end..."
His steps came to a halt.
"We may return to the Lord God's side and become His sword, immortal and eternal."
"Yaaah!"
It was Igi and Yangdeok who struck first against his halted figure. Splitting into a left-right pincer, they swept their Hwandudaedo in unison, one slashing high, the other low.
"Hap!"
As Public Marquis gave a sharp battle cry, the radiant Aura Blade marking one of the Ten of the Continent flared to life. Almost simultaneously, he casually deflected Igi and Yangdeok's descending Hwandudaedo.
Clang!
"Huh—what!"
A white-light Aura Blade, the emblem of Saint Public himself.
That absolute symbol had failed to shear through the weapons of two men.
Yet it had delivered enough of a shock: as Igi and Yangdeok were repelled, crimson blood sprayed from their lips.
"Igi! Yangdeok!"
"Koff. Do not worry!"
"Guh. That old man seems to be quite the bigshot."
Public answered their appraisal with a booming laugh.
"I am called Saint Public, friends of the Demon Tribe."
At Public's words, Igi and Yangdeok charged again, shouting.
"Watch out!"
"Then killin' just you will make this whole war a lot easier!"
"Fools."
Despite Geolmurang's warning cry, Igi and Yangdeok mustered every ounce of their strength and lunged in. But Public's martial might was overwhelming.
Without waiting for their combined attack, he hurled himself toward Yangdeok as he sprinted on the left. Yangdeok's Hwandudaedo drew back and aimed for the Marquis, but the strike found nothing but empty air.
SPURT!
"Yangdeok!"
Yangdeok's torso was bisected at the waist, blood fountaining into the air.
Screaming Yangdeok's name, Igi raised his Hwandudaedo and leaped, bringing the blade down from above in a vertical chop. But Public pivoted in a wide half-circle, rising to meet Igi's descending form from below.
"Igi, get out of there!"
Not even Geolmurang's shout could stop Igi's death.
The Hwandudaedo was sheared apart, and in the same heartbeat, Igi's heart was torn away by Public's blade strike.
"Son of a..."
Unable to finish the curse, Igi's body pitched forward.
"Now, that leaves just one, does it?"
Public Marquis's voice ignited the fury within Geolmurang.
"Hoooooh."
A long, steadying breath escaped him.
"Chest, hot with rage. Mind, cold with reason."
That was what Geolmurang murmured to himself as he slowly lifted his Hwandudaedo.
"Ho-ho. That is a fine saying."
Public Marquis stood directly facing Geolmurang and echoed his words with approval.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I hold the rank of Daehyeong within the Great Gauri Empire and am currently dispatched as the commander responsible for the defense of Palaka Fortress. My name is Geolmurang."
"I am Saint Public, Grand Master of the Holy Knight Order of the Henesia Holy Empire and a marquis by rank. Presently, I serve as the supreme commander of the Roselin expeditionary force."
With the formal introductions concluded, Geolmurang extended his right hand, Hwandudaedo gripped within it, and stretched his left arm out to the side.
"I, Geolmurang, if I die on this battlefield, shall be reborn as a three-legged crow and dwell in Gauri forevermore."
The moment those words ended, Geolmurang's body shot forward.
Public Marquis's beloved sword slashed downward to meet the Hwandudaedo hurtling toward him at blinding speed. Just as they were about to collide, Geolmurang's off-hand spread open, and he caught the marquis's blade edge-on along his palm.
"Huh—!"
Geolmurang's arm split lengthwise from the palm upward. But the Hwandudaedo in his other hand became a streak of light aimed straight at Public Marquis's throat.
It was the consequence of Public's own overconfidence.
"It is over, Public Marquis!"
At Geolmurang's roar, Public tried to alter his blade's trajectory, but Geolmurang's left arm held the sword fast, as though it had become its very scabbard.
Shrrrk!
Clang!
The sound of tearing flesh, followed by the ringing echo of metal.
A head soared into the air.
Embroidering the sky with crimson blood, the severed head slowly tumbled toward the earth.
Tup. Rumble-roll.
The head's owner was smiling.
"Your Excellency! Are you unharmed?!"
"Protect the Marquis!"
The escort knights who had broken into the duel scrambled to prop up Public, whose legs had given out beneath him, and fled in chaos. Geolmurang, now naught but a head, watched them go with a look of scorn.
* * *
"Ah! They're trying to set the supply depot on fire!"
A Holy Empire soldier, ransacking the interior of Palaka Fortress, reached the supply depot and cried out in alarm, summoning his comrades.
"It's too good for the likes of you anyway."
Count Trenis grinned sourly and flung the torch. The fire crept slowly from the brand at first, then suddenly billowed into a grand conflagration.
"That madman!"
The knights who had followed the soldiers swiftly subdued Count Trenis and rushed about frantically to extinguish the flames.
Luckily, a wizard arrived in haste and was able to put out the depot fire, keeping the loss to a minimum.
Thwack!
"Guhk!"
A knight's kick sent Count Trenis tumbling to one side.
"Damn it. We nearly lost all those precious rations. Guard him well. He was the commander responsible for Palaka Fortress."
"Yes, sir!"
Boom!
The soldier shouted his response in a booming voice and snapped to stiff attention.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik-kik!"
Count Trenis's laughter erupted from within the cell. The guard posted outside stole a glance inside, then snorted in disdain and muttered,
"Madman."
Dismissing the count's behavior with a single word, the soldier grinned to himself at the thought that he would finally have a proper meal for the first time in ages.
* * *
Though the battle had concluded, Public Marquis still lay abed.
'You coward!'
Geolmurang's denunciation echoed inside his skull.
"Hurk!"
Public Marquis bolted upright. The cold sweat streaming down his face was a far cry from his customary poise.
"Have you regained your senses somewhat, my lord?"
"Hurk. That—that wretch!"
Guessing whom the marquis meant, his escort knight answered evenly.
"He is already dead."
"Was he...?"
Public Marquis closed his eyes.
This day's duel would likely remain a stain upon his name for the rest of his life.
"We captured and imprisoned Count Trenis, the lord of this fortress. Fortunately, his attempt to torch the supply depot was suppressed early, and we were able to secure nearly all provisions except for a small portion. The soldiers are all delighted that they will have a proper meal this evening."
"Leave me."
"As you command."
None of it registered in Public's ears. All he wanted was to rest. It had been that kind of day.
* * *
That evening, a party was held atop the blood of Roselin's soldiers.
As the cheers of the Holy Empire soldiers resounded, Count Trenis, for some unknowable reason, kept on laughing. The reason for his mirth soon became clear.
Bang!
The cell door was wrenched open, and Count Turbes stormed in, his face crimson. He kicked the count—still chuckling to himself in the corner—full in the chest.
"You son of a bitch!"
Thwack!
Crash-clatter.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik-kik!"
Even after being hurled into the corner, Count Trenis kept howling with laughter at whatever pleased him so much.
"What did you do to the food?!"
"Puhahahah! I gave it my own special seasoning!"
They should have suspected something sooner.
Since he had been caught trying to burn the supplies with his own hands, no one had imagined he would have already poisoned the food. The soldiers who received the first portions had not long after begun to convulse, then breathed their last.
"Heh-heh-heh. The more I take with me, the easier it'll be for those who remain to hold out, won't it?"
From the shadows where he had been cackling, Count Trenis tossed something into his own mouth.
"Ah—!"
"Tch. Bitter."
With no one able to restrain him in time, Count Trenis, through his lone effort, personally dispatched more than two thousand victory-drunk Holy Empire soldiers to the embrace of the Lord God they so adored.
And then he too departed for the place where Geolmurang awaited.
The Battle of Palaka Fortress, Concluded.
Geolmurang, Igi, Yangdeok—killed in action. Count Trenis—killed in action.
Roselin Forces: Total 11,520. 8,764 killed in action, 1,752 wounded, 920 captured. 84 escaped.
Holy Empire Forces:
Total 148,230. 18,520 killed, 22,022 wounded.
Though they distinguished themselves by capturing the fortress on the first day, the battle would be remembered as one of the bloodiest engagements of the war.