Chapter 323
Chapter 323
Iron Emperor — Chapter 323
"It's oil! Stop them!"
"Go ahead and try! I am Munso, a warrior of Gauri!"
Not a single soldier among the surging enemy could last more than a single exchange against Munso as he shouted his name. Even a knight who had gained the top of the wall lost his head after a mere three exchanges, and the soldiers of the Holy Empire, despite their numbers, began to back away.
"Energy Bolt!"
Thud-thud-thwack!
In an instant, from beyond the wall, several streaks of light accompanied the incantation and slammed into Munso's torso just as he had struck off another man's head.
"Kurgh!"
A groan of agony escaped Munso's lips.
The seams of his sturdy Chalgap tore apart in an instant, the impact hurling him against one side of the battlements. Not missing the chance, Holy Empire soldiers drove spears into the Gauri commander's body.
"Die!"
Thunk!
"Kyaaagh!"
With a dull sound, spear blades pierced his flank and thigh, and a scream like that of a furious spirit tore from him.
"Munso!"
The name burst from Muhyul's lips in anguish. Even so, the Gauri soldiers who had followed behind Munso threw themselves forward, hurling oil jars at the section of wall where the Holy Empire troops were pushing through, then threw their own bodies onto the oncoming spears and swords.
"O-oil!"
As the slick oil soaked them, the Holy Empire soldiers panicked and shoved forward, pressing urgently onward. They did not stop even when their comrades were trampled underfoot. They would all die anyway the moment a fireball landed, wouldn't they?
"Aagh!"
"I killed him!"
Amid tearing screams, a soldier running with a torch clutched his chest. A spear blade had pierced through his back and jutted arrogantly out through his ribcage.
"Cough, I'm sor—"
The boy-soldier could not finish his words before crumbling lifelessly before his eyes, and Munso, his own body impaled by enemy spears, roared.
"You damned bastards!"
The howl of a wounded beast echoed into futility.
"Loose fire arrows!"
At the command of the officer directing the archers, flaming arrows flew toward the Holy Empire soldiers who were catching their breath.
"Water Shield!"
The wizard who had sniped Munso once again saved the Holy Empire troops. The flying fire arrows were extinguished by the wizard's magic, which stood like a wall of iron in the void of the collapsed rampart.
"Fear no fire attack! Push forward!"
"Uwaaah!"
The sheer presence of the wizard hovering above their heads drew a roar from the Holy Empire soldiers. Watching the enemy's steps quicken, Muhyul let out a ragged, tearing cry.
"Munsooooo!"
Into Muhyul's eyes came the image of Munso, covered in blood, pouring oil over his own head. The Holy Empire soldiers who had stabbed him were already lying dead around him. Drenched in oil, Munso staggered forward using his Hwandudaedo as a staff, his hand clenched around a torch as he approached the boy who was already burning.
"Let us meet in the next life."
Munso murmured as he gently closed the nameless boy-soldier's eyes, still filled with bitter resentment. The flames writhing atop the boy's body leaped instantly along the oil and spread across Munso's entire form.
Fwoooosh!
"Uaaaaagh!"
"S-stop him!"
In his hand, the Hwandudaedo now wreathed in flame swung menacingly at the approaching enemies. And Munso, transformed into living fire, ran across what little remained of the wall.
"Wizard! Stop him!"
Viscount Kau, the Holy Empire's vanguard commander who had belatedly climbed the ruined rampart, shouted desperately as he saw Munso, now a fireball, leap from the wall. But the wizard himself could only flinch in panic.
The man enveloped in roaring flames came flying, the Hwandudaedo in his hands painting an arc of fire through the air as he fell.
When the wizard who had boasted his iron wall in midair fell to the ground cloven in two, the most desperate and beautiful blaze roared to life, consuming the Holy Empire soldiers' lives as its fuel.
"Kill them all!"
Screaming at the sight, Muhyul, together with his soldiers, rushed like a demon from hell toward the Holy Empire troops now cut off with fire at their backs.
Chapter 109 — Burning One's Soul......
A patch of brush stirred, and a band of warriors appeared.
"What's the situation?"
No sooner had the scouting party returned than Cheon Yuhwa, who had been sitting, rose and shot the question. Catching his breath for a moment, the soldier began with a dark expression.
"They're spread all over. Even if we break through in one place, in our current state, we'll be surrounded before we can even get close to Gaemun Mountain Fortress."
At the soldier's grim answer, Yuhwa bit his lip and looked at Eulji Buru. Having heard the report, Buru closed his eyes. The image of Gaemun Mountain Fortress as he had seen it from the ridge before crossing over rose in his mind.
Scorch marks everywhere.
Collapsed walls......
It might already have been too late. But they had to go. If the fortress fell, Gauri itself would be in danger. Even if they somehow held it, the damage could leave them beyond recovery. At the very least, while the enemy was as exhausted as it was now, their best course was to hold out for the relief force Dae Mu-deok was bringing.
"Ain't nothing for it but to swing around, punch through these Imperial bastards' encirclement, and ride like hell for Gaemun Mountain Fortress."
A calm voice flowed out. Buru opened his eyes, his tone utterly untroubled. The soldiers around him, who had been holding their breath as they waited for his decision, broke into grins. Unwashed, their faces were streaked with soot and sweat and caked with grime.
"What’re you bastards grinnin’ about? Faces all black like that—at night I’ll see nothin’ but your teeth."
"Keh-heh-heh."
"Pff-hah-hah."
At Buru's cracked joke, laughter spilled out, though heaven knew what they found funny. Buru laughed along with them, then turned his head to one side.
"You wounded are to take the supplies and horses we captured from the enemy and withdraw to the Haian Kingdom."
"General!"
The reason they had dragged the wounded this far was the hope, however slim, that there might be some gap to slip through. But now, even that hope was gone.
"Keep your voices down."
When the soldiers wrapped in bandages around head and limbs raised their voices, forgetting the situation for a moment, Buru snapped at them with a hard face. The men could no longer speak, only sending him looks of bitter resentment.
"Yuhwa, you lead them out."
"That's absurd! You know full well this doesn't even count as a real wound."
Yuhwa lifted his bandaged left arm and pressed forward without backing down. Other wounded men clamped their lips tight and sent pleading looks toward Buru, asking him to reconsider.
But Buru's reply did not change.
"Quit your yapping and head back."
At Buru's repeated words, Yuhwa sprang to his feet, clenched his jaw, and spoke with a face set in refusal.
"Does that even make sense? After yesterday's battle our strength dropped from forty-five hundred to under three thousand. Of that not-even-three-thousand, roughly seven hundred and fifty are wounded. You're telling me you'll strip us away when without us you'll be lucky to have two thousand men!"
"That's so. You'd just be baggage. Fall out."
At Yuhwa's objection, Buru cut him off flatly.
"I absolutely cannot. I can't do it."
Yuhwa said again.
"I can still fight. Losing one limb doesn't make me dead weight."
"Don't feed me horse shit. You turning into Ung-sam? A lefty with a busted left arm—if that ain't dead weight, what is?"
"I still have my right arm!"
Yuhwa shook his right arm defiantly as he spoke. Buru then rose and showed his own great axe.
"It's an order. Argue any more and I'll deal with it under military law."
"General!"
As Yuhwa dropped to his knees and cried out, Buru cut him off once more.
"It's an order."
"......."
At Buru's firm and unwavering answer, Yuhwa let his head fall, his shoulders trembling as he knelt. The wounded gathered to one side likewise beat the ground, venting their bitter rage.
"Let’s move out first."
"Yes...... General."
At Buru's order, those whose bodies were whole left a few words to those who remained, then departed.
Live on, in my place......
"Give my regards to my family..."
When the war ends, let's share a drink at Gaemun Mountain Fortress......
Watching them grow distant, those left behind wept in silence.
* * *
As the flames rose from the collapsed rampart, Marquis Bello von Luchia's brow knitted.
"The resistance is considerably fierce."
"Indeed."
By rights, the fortress should have fallen already, yet Holy Empire soldiers were still being hurled back down from the walls. A great deal of time had passed since soldiers first set foot on the rampart, but they still could not advance and remained locked in close combat.
"What—?"
A flustered sound escaped Earl Pelloman's lips as he watched the battle with growing frustration. The Holy Empire soldiers who had been trading blows back and forth atop the wall had suddenly begun to waver and mill about in confusion.
"Find out what's happening, quickly."
Marquis Luchia also frowned at the sight and issued his command. But Earl Pelloman did not even need to move. A messenger came running and delivered two pieces of news.
"Viscount Kau, the vanguard commander, has fallen in battle!"
"What! What is the meaning of this!"
As Earl Pelloman recoiled in shock, the messenger answered with a somber expression.
"He was personally leading the soldiers in through the collapsed wall when he was engulfed in flames and......"
"Hmm."
"Imbecile."
Unlike Earl Pelloman's somber reaction, Marquis Luchia appraised the death with a single cold word.
He should have entered after the area around the breach was brought under some degree of control, but his eagerness to claim credit had made him rash, which had invited disaster. Or perhaps the pressure of failing to fully seize the wall as time dragged on had driven him to personally intervene, and that was how he met his end.
"And......"
The messenger's face as he continued grew darker even than when he had reported Viscount Kau's death.
"What else?"
At Earl Pelloman's question, the soldier bowed his head and delivered further dire news.
"Word has come back from the force sent this morning to search for the follow-up column."
"Speak up!"
At Earl Pelloman's bark, the messenger lowered his head and answered.
"During the night they were struck by an enemy raid. Roughly four thousand men are dead or wounded. About two-thirds of the supplies they were bringing were burned, and a large number of horses were also captured."
"Imbeciles! Why was this news not reported sooner?!"
A shout burst from Earl Pelloman, a man not normally given to raising his voice. Though none of this was his own fault, the messenger continued like a criminal with his head bowed.
"I am told the enemy set fire to the wizards' quarters the moment they struck. In the chaos, the remaining wizards were all killed, and the command echelon was annihilated in the ensuing attack, so......"
"They've really outdone themselves."
The cold mask of Marquis Luchia's face shattered and flushed red with fury. Earl Pelloman flinched momentarily at the Marquis's rage, then rapidly fired off another question at the messenger.
"Then what became of the surviving troops!"
"Excluding casualties, roughly five thousand fled into the forest and were difficult to rally. Only about four thousand men remain, and they are barely managing to bring up the supplies that were left. I am told the strength of the force that struck them last night could not be determined. They only say it likely did not exceed ten thousand......"
The messenger could not continue. From Marquis Luchia, who had moved beyond mere fury, a suffocating killing intent poured outward in all directions. A common soldier could not possibly withstand the killing intent of one of the Ten Masters of the Continent.
"C-compose yourself, Marquis!"
Only when Earl Pelloman regained control of himself with effort and forced out the words did the choking flood of killing intent recede as abruptly as it had come.
"Viscount Jamin! Take additional troops and relieve the vanguard unit—restore order."
"U-understood!"
At Marquis Luchia's frost-cold command, Viscount Jamin stepped forward to answer. The Marquis sent a frigid look toward the rigid man, his lips moving again.
"Take it today. Do so, and I will grant you a great reward. Fail, and I will cut off your limbs and have the wizards make sure you cannot even die."
"I’ll take it without fail!"