Chapter 36: First Subjugation (7)
Chapter 36: First Subjugation (7)
The heretic mage was a servant of Kalash, the god of the hungry brand.
He offered living sacrifices, carved wicked tattoos, and studied monsters. It cost a great deal of coin, and since he could not dwell in any village or city, he had been reduced to throwing in with a bandit gang.
'The knight I baptized is dead. Damn it!'
The mage maintained a dignified expression before the bandits, but his stomach churned. It was because he had felt the magic carved into the knight scatter and disperse.
However powerful a magical beast might be, there were still roles that only a human knight could fill beside it. The knight who had grown drunk on power, cast aside his humanity, and devoted himself to Kalash had been the mage's treasure.
"Oh hell! Where are those knights dallying about? Knights exist precisely to catch monsters!"
As the right wing, where the elite mercenaries were arrayed, was slaughtered by the Wendigo, the shockwaves rippled outward to the center army and the left wing as well.
"Smash them all!"
When the Gord mountain tribe came crashing down upon the left wing, swinging their axes, both flanks began to be pushed back simultaneously.
The slingers too were forced to retreat from the high ground as the allied lines collapsed and the enemy surged in.
"Ghhk!"
The Wendigo impaled two mercenaries upon its antlers and shook them wildly. Fragments of blood and entrails scattered in all directions through the air.
"Aaaaaah!"
The mercenaries who caught it in their faces like rain—green recruits and veterans alike—lost their will to fight.
"Hold the line! If you break away now, summary execution—"
CRUNCH!
The mercenary captain who had been rallying them was struck by a boulder hurled by the Wendigo and reduced to a bloody pulp. With their captain lost, those mercenaries scattered in every direction.
"Shoot! I said shoot!"
"B-but our own men are—"
"Shut up and shoot! Are you just going to watch that monster come right up to us?"
One mercenary captain, gripped by terror, drove his men onward.
A volley of bolts flew out, but the Wendigo cunningly kept the subjugation force in its line of approach. When necessary, it even dropped to all fours and ran low to the ground.
"Aaargh!"
"Ghk!"
"You sons of bitches! Where the hell are you aiming?"
The only result was friendly fire. Men in the subjugation force collapsed clutching their exposed backs, buttocks, and thighs, pierced where their defenses were weakest.
"D-don't come! I said don't come near me!"
"Heh heh. Mercenary work is really hard, isn't it? That's why I quit, too."
"Spare me! I have to go home—"
"I'll send you to a place even better than home."
The wounded met their deaths at the hands of the bandits, who approached them with giggling grins.
GRRRR—!
The Wendigo charged on all fours and swept its antlers in every direction.
"Shields down! Guard your legs!"
A veteran mercenary shouted, but it was useless. The shields were sent flying in an instant by the sheer difference in power.
Mercenaries collapsed everywhere, howling as the sharp antlers crushed and tore through ankles, shins, and thighs.
"If the mage is with us, no subjugation force will dare challenge us."
The bandit chief smiled broadly. He was a man who had lived a life solely of preying on the weak and fearing the strong. Seeing the weak, he plundered; seeing the strong, he fled.
But now, watching the strong who had come to catch him be shattered and flee instead, he felt a pleasure akin to a drug.
"Then we need more sacrifices."
"Of course! Even when we raid, I make sure the livestock are never touched. The trading company we have a secret pact with will be sending cattle along soon as well."
'It's not like we're offering people; it's just livestock.'
Even the bandit chief, whose life had hit rock bottom, would not have joined the mage if the man had been one to perform human sacrifices.
Before even considering morality, he would have fled out of fear. But if it was beasts being offered and this level of military might was granted in return, there was no reason to refuse.
"At this rate, it's annihilation! We must retreat!"
"You're telling me to show our backs in this situation?"
The guard captain answered his adjutant with a stricken expression.
"Even if we stay still, we'll all die. We have to assign men to the rear guard and pull out."
But with a monster approaching—its antlers festooned with dangling human entrails, clutching a burst head in each hand—who would volunteer to stay behind?
"Goddammit! I'll hold it off! Everyone, retreat!"
"Captain!"
"There's no time for useless talk, so shut up and move!"
The reason the captain of the Bonyard Guard could maintain leadership among the mercenary captains was precisely this spirit of leading by example.
It was then that Eugene arrived atop the hill on the right flank of the subjugation force, leading his relief troops.
"Loose!"
Arrows poured down upon the bandits who were surging into the collapsed right wing of the subjugation force.
Powerful composite bows, the dark elves' archery skill, the high ground, and an unguarded exposed flank. With those four elements combined, the bandits toppled in droves, struck in their vitals.
"That knight bastard—no, Sir Knight is here!"
"It's the All-Conquering Knight!"
When Eugene, mounted upon his warhorse, appeared on the battlefield, a ray of hope dawned upon the faces of the subjugation force who had been routing.
Ping! Ping!
Even in that moment, the dark elves continued loosing their arrows.
"Ghk!"
"Aaargh!"
Backs, ankles, thighs, necks, flanks, armpits.
The vicious shots struck precisely where the shields did not cover. The bandits fell without even knowing which part of themselves to protect.
"Mage!"
"I know. Those bastards will be corpses soon enough, too."
At the chief's cry, the mage of Kalash nodded.
'Why the hell are there so many knights? No matter how many I kill, more keep crawling out.'
The mage grumbled inwardly as he focused his mind upon the brand on his own forehead. His will was transmitted to the brand carved upon the Wendigo's forehead.
WHOOSH!
The monster's eyes, blazing with bloodlust, fixed on Eugene. It gave a ferocious roar, lowered its antlers, and charged.
"A Wendigo! To think he summoned such a vicious magical beast!"
Varda was appalled at the heretic mage's level of attainment, which went beyond anything she had imagined.
"Ignore the bandits! Focus all fire on that monster!"
At Rex's command, the dark elves concentrated their fire on a single point.
"Huh?!"
"Agh!"
The Wendigo stretched out its arms to either side and seized two bandits. So vast were its hands that it could grasp a grown man's torso in one fist. Naturally, the safety of those caught was of no concern whatsoever.
"Cough!"
"Blech!"
The bandits vomited blood. Hook-like claws ripped open their bellies, and the Wendigo's grip crushed their organs. Fortunately for them, the agony ended quickly.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
It was because the Wendigo had held the two up to receive the arrows. The human shields perished, but the Wendigo took no damage.
'The cavalry flail won't work. It's too fast; it'll close in instantly, and the chain might snag on those branching antlers.'
Eugene organized his thoughts and issued a fresh command.
"Keep shooting."
"Yes!"
The dark elves were afraid at the sight of the magical beast closing in at terrifying speed, but they gritted their teeth. If they fled here, the name of the Black Hand Tribe would be disgraced.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
The Wendigo blocked the second volley with corpses too, but that was enough. The human shields blocked its vision, and that was all Eugene needed.
WHOOSH!
The javelin, driven by prodigious strength, ripped through the air.
Snort.
The recoil was such that Might lost its footing and was forced backward.
By the time the Wendigo shoved the human shields aside, the javelin was already upon it.
WHAM!
The javelin embedded itself in the Wendigo's right arm, and for the first time, the creature screamed in agony.
"Damn."
He had aimed for the chest, but Might shifted under the force of the throw, spoiling Eugene's aim and bleeding off some of its power.
Varda closed her eyes and recited a spell. Wound around the javelin were grass seeds and vines she had treated with magic.
"Sprout! Grow thorns! Feed on the flesh and blood you have rooted in!"
The Wendigo pulled the javelin free, but the rapidly growing stalks and thorns enveloped its right arm.
SKREEEE—!
Thorns bored into the punctured flesh and ravaged the muscle fibers—even it could not endure such violent agony.
The Wendigo tried to tear away the vines wrapped around its arm, but the viciously sharp, resilient thorns made them impossible to grab.
"Now it won't be able to use the right arm."
"Magnificent! Everyone, pull back!"
The Wendigo, driven mad with rage, had nearly finished its ascent now.
"Go! Might."
Eugene leapt down from the horse and slapped its rump to send it to the rear.
Then he threw the second javelin. Unlike the first, this one carried his full strength.
WHOOOOSH!
Fully alert, the Wendigo rolled aside in time. The javelin flew straight on and slammed into the front ranks of the bandit line.
WHAM!
Two bandits, skewered on the javelin, died without even a scream. Even then, the force behind the thrown spear did not dissipate.
"Die, you son of a— huh!"
"Wh-what is that!"
The subjugation troops and bandits who had been about to strike one another recoiled in horror. The skewered corpses tumbled between them like a grotesque kebab.
"..."
"..."
At that preposterous sight, the fighting ceased. Everyone's eyes shifted toward the place from which the javelin had flown.
ROOOOAAAR—!
There, a knight with an iron shield and a silver sword was locked in battle with a pitch-black monster.
WHOOSH!
The Wendigo swung its right hand, but Eugene evaded it with ease. For an instant, the creature's flank lay exposed.
'It's a trap. Don't take the opening.'
When its swipe failed, the Wendigo followed through with the rotation and lashed out with its hoof in a spinning kick. It was the attack that had crushed Knight Osram's chest.
Eugene evaded even that and swung his sword.
SLASH!
The silver blade flashed, splitting the Wendigo's massive chest and sending blood pouring out. From the feel of the strike, Eugene had cut through at least one rib as well.
SKREEEE—!
Enraged at being the only one taking wounds, the Wendigo threw itself into a brute-force headbutt. Its enormous antlers engulfed Eugene's upper body—the same attack that had punched through Knight Kain's abdomen.
'I can't dodge this.'
Eugene felt as though he had stepped into a pitfall trap whose floor had given way, plunging into the dark earth below toward a bed of stakes.
CLANG!
The circular shield made of solid steel and the antlers collided, casting off a dazzling shower of sparks. The creature's antlers too were of a material near-metallic in nature.
Eugene braced his sword arm behind the shield as he blocked, spreading the impact through both arms.
That thunderous roar!
Those fragments of yellow and red sparks scattering in every direction!
Everyone watching shuddered, imagining what would have become of them had they been in that situation.
But Eugene held firm, sliding back only a single step under the headbutt.
SLASH!
He swung his sword at once, and the Wendigo's left arm fell to the ground.
'As expected of a sacred relic left by Rui Amor.'
A treasured sword left by the ancient elven royal line, Last Autumn cut through the magical beast's thick muscle and bone in a single stroke.
SKREEE—!
For the first time, fear entered the Wendigo's savage eyes. Its trusted antler charge had failed, and now both arms were disabled. At this rate, it really would die.
Above all, its beast's instinct warned it. The enemy before its eyes was an opponent it could never defeat.
But the realization came far too late. Eugene's kick smashed into the Wendigo's knee.
CRUNCH!
With the clamorous sound of shattering bone, the shinbone tore through the skin behind the knee and burst out.
"YEAHHHH!"
As the Wendigo fell to its knees, cheers filled the battlefield.
"The monster is kneeling!"
"Kill it! Sir Knight!"
A standing knight and a kneeling monster. The image was so symbolic that the mercenaries of the subjugation force began banging weapons against shields and roaring.
"Well, it's looking like..."
"Shouldn't we be getting the hell out of here?"
On the other hand, the bandits began to show signs of watching for their chance to flee.
'What are you doing? Fight like a servant of Lord Kalash!'
The mage continued to transmit his thoughts through the tattoo, but the Wendigo would not obey his control. Even if it had to drag its shattered knee and crawl, it meant to escape.
SLASH!
The blade flashed once more, and blood spurted from behind the uninjured knee. As the cruciate ligaments and meniscus were severed, the Wendigo toppled forward.
Eugene moved behind the fallen creature. Dropping his shield, he grabbed one enormous antler with his left hand and hauled its head back, trying to drive his sword into its neck.
ROOOOAAAR—!
The Wendigo convulsively thrashed its head, dredging up the last of its strength. But with the gauntleted hand gripping its antler, it could not break free.
Eugene slammed his fist, still gripping the sword, into the creature's cheek.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
GURK!
Blood streamed from the Wendigo's nose and mouth under the steel-clad punches. As its resistance weakened, Eugene drove the sword straight into its neck.
GRRRRGL—!
Eugene planted his foot on the creature's back and put even more strength into the hand gripping its antler.
Sliiiide.
The blade advanced, severing the esophagus and trachea before bursting out the other side. From the split-open throat, blood sprayed forward like a fountain.
RIIIP!
Eugene tore free the Wendigo's head, which had been hanging by only the nape of its neck. The headless carcass swayed for a moment before toppling forward.
THUD!
Eugene stood surveying the battlefield with the monster's head in his left hand and his sword in his right. It was an image that captured the very idea of a knight in a single scene.
"Now! All forces, charge!"
The guard captain finally came to his senses and gave the order. The subjugation force charged with a roar while most of the bandits were already fleeing with their backs turned.
"This can't be... Lord Kalash. What... what am I supposed to do...?"
The mage muttered blankly. The bandit chief who had been fawning beside him had fled long ago.