Cardia Invasion (Part 2)
Has it been about an hour since we invaded the small city of Cardia? We quickly seized the city walls. But maybe because it was a city where considerable wealth gathered, or perhaps their defense system was surprisingly well-organized—barricades sprang up along the streets in an instant.
If we weren't careful, we could've wasted a ton of time breaking through those defensive lines.
But whoosh!!
"What if we just turn into ninjas like this?!"
"The Empire's buildings are stupidly tall, which is why we can pull this off!"
"Drengr!! Look at those guys!!"
"Hahaha! All those troops just standing there, helpless!!"
This was the ultimate urban assault tactic: Viking Ninja!!
Thanks to hopping across the rooftops, we ignored every street fight and pushed forward. How could they stop us?! Every roadside defense line became useless. Even the Empire's powerful mages, who needed long casting times at the cost of massive firepower, lost all meaning.
But since we planned to Geunbbae the upper-class district, we had to think ahead.
"Third Longship warriors, deploy!!"
"""Yeah!!"""
I'd positioned warriors here and there with retreat routes in mind. Then I split the vanguard with me into advance and rear guards.
I gave the rear guard a special order: flip over and haul every cart they saw on the streets.
Of course, the guys who'd have to carry carts while rooftop-hopping would suffer a bit—
"Leave it to us, Drengr!!!"
"Don't worry about us—push forward!!"
"We'll make this mission a success!"
"I believe in you!"
Seeing those eager warriors realize how crucial their role was made me feel rock-solid.
After that, we charged ahead with total disregard, and the city guards fell into utter chaos.
Their command structure was a mess anyway. Unless you were roof-running like us, the streets were a tangled nightmare, with barricades popping up everywhere.
They probably wouldn't move until we'd Geunbbae'd the entire upper-class district.
Anyway, my advance guard and I made it to the target without a single casualty.
"Whoa, talk about Empire-level wealth gap."
"...This street is on another level from the city entrance."
"Tsk tsk tsk, Ulfrik. Is this what the Empire's church means by 'charity'?"
"That 'charity' is just hypocrisy to fill their own bellies."
We clucked our tongues at the Empire's honorless underbelly.
The heart of the city—and its highest point—the upper-class district was pristine and elegant, like they'd poured a fortune into it.
"But that's all over now. Everyone, commence Geunbbae!!"
""""Yeah!""""
The upper-class district must've evacuated everyone in case of trouble. That made this a goldmine with no owners!!
"Burn it all!"
"Oh, this is nice?"
"Grab this too?"
"We gotta sort it, so let's pull everything out first."
We were Geunbbae'ing everything at top speed when knights—looking like it—rushed in from afar.
"Damn!! Can't ride horses in a city!!"
"Run faster. The barbarians are already—"
"Th-there! They're over there!"
These guys looked way stronger than the free knights we'd met before. Probably the Empire nobles' elite: knights from a knight order.
My fellow Vikings shuddered, all thinking the same. I grinned and spoke up.
"Everyone scared?"
"W-we're trembling with excitement…!!"
"Give us the order, Drengr!!"
"Right now!!"
We were perfectly in sync. And maybe our ancestors were thrilled by our battle spirit? Steam started rising from our bodies.
The knights froze at the anomaly, but we weren't waiting!!
"You bastards… Kiyol!!! Slaughter them!!"
""""Waaaaah!!""""
And so, we Vikings clashed with the Empire's knight order.
Of course, our first charge got us wrecked.
Whoosh!! Slash!!!
The knight order's handed-down secret techniques were impressive. For me, I killed them before they could use any, so no issue.
But the other Vikings got pierced through the heart in a flash, or lost a limb—utterly overwhelmed by techniques honed purely for killing.
"But battle spirit surpasses all!!"
"Wh-what the—?!"
"Gods above!!"
Even with a sword through the heart, battle spirit lets you survive! Limbs regrow naturally with battle spirit!
"This is 'He who seeks death shall live, and he who seeks life shall die'!! True martial spirit! Everyone, attack!! True Marine spirit! Everyone, attack!!"
""""Ha!!""""
The knight order panicked at the overwhelming regeneration of our Berserkr state. Most of their techniques became meaningless, and in the ensuing brawl, we sent them all to the heaven they'd craved.
Of course, more well-armed guards were approaching besides that wiped-out knight order, but no big deal.
"Sorry we're late, Drengr!"
"Damn!! Missed the glorious fight!!"
"We'll make up for it here."
The rear guard arrived with every cart they could find.
With our forces whole again, the upper-class district got three skulls.
We annihilated every knight and guard that came to intercept us.
But we had our own issues.
"Huff… huff…."
"Cough! Cough!"
"Those bastards… I told you to pace yourselves."
"S-sorry!"
"We have no excuse."
From the wall battle to now, the Vikings had been moving and fighting nonstop. Even with ancestors' protection, we'd hit our physical limits.
In the end, the exhausted ones Geunbbae'd the upper-class goods, while I took a handful of still-fresh warriors and headed for the city's richest spot.
"Ulfrik, is that the church?"
"Whoa, thought it was some high Empire noble's castle."
"Tsk tsk… Leeches on the gods, as expected."
"Suddenly feel bad for the gods."
The church building, shinier than any other upper-class structure, left us dumbfounded.
Geunbbae'ing it would fill all our waiting carts and then some.
Either the recent fight wiped out the upper district's mobile defenders, or the elites wouldn't deploy their private guards to save their own skins—who knows. Either way, few troops at the church, so we slipped inside fast.
"Even inside it's—"
"G-gold on the chairs?!"
"Heh… Real gold?"
"Probably just gold leaf."
Whoa… dazzling.
Usually, if a treasure chest looks this flashy outside, the contents are epic too.
But fancy treasure chests like this always have guardians to stop guys like us.
Bam!!!
"Halt!!"
A pretty knight in pure white armor appeared.
One of my crew knew the type.
"A holy knight, huh."
"Ah, knights empowered by the gods?"
So, elite among knights. I was dying to see what she could do.
"Barbarians of the North Sea! Why commit such heinous acts?!"
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
U-us, heinous? We burst out laughing at the holy knight's words.
"Ahahaha!! We're the heinous ones, Drengr!!"
"Pffft!! If that was Flyting, we'd be crushed!"
"Life with Ulfrik is a riot every day! Hahaha!!"
"Damn!! Holy knight!! Are you the rap battle champ too?!"
Flyting! Viking insult battles—or rap battles.
Never expected a holy knight to drop such a hilarious, satirical punchline!
I snapped back to reality as the leader.
"Heh… Can a hypocrite like you even say that?"
"What—!!"
"How much exploitation did it take for you to get that hair and skin? And did your shiny armor and weapons grow from the dirt?"
She called us "barbarians" instead of Nordics or North Sea folk—pure chosen-people bullshit. Plus, this was the upper-class district, worlds apart from the rest. She was part of the exploiting elite.
"This was made from the faithful's advance payments and donations!"
"Yeah, yeah… Must be nice raking in those near-mandatory tithes."
Back home, donate ten grand to shady charities: 8k to their pockets, 1k marketing, 500 shipping, rest to some warlord. Poor get nothing. Where does the church's tithes go here?
"Straight to feeding hypocrites like you."
"Shut up!!!"
The holy knight swung her sword in rage, but I deflected the fierce blow with my shield.
The Vikings watching her sneak attack jeered.
"Coward—!!"
"And you call yourself a knight of the gods!!"
"We can hear your god's sorrowful sighs!"
"Easy, everyone."
Honestly, whether she was a hellbound hypocrite or not didn't matter to me.
For heathens like me killing her, it'd remit her sins enough to send even a hypocrite to heaven!
"I'll absolve all your sins!!"
Salvation strikes again!
As the duel between the holy knight and Ulfrik began in the church.
Kraaack!!
"This enough?"
"Tch… Gotta account for Drengr's loot too."
"We'll grab more carts from around."
"Wait, think about how much fits in the longships."
"Toss the bulky, low-value stuff."
The Vikings who'd Geunbbae'd the upper district formed defensive lines against intercepts and loaded carts fast.
"Tch, if I wasn't wrecked, I'd be with Ulfrik…."
"Took every hit and technique head-on?"
"You too!"
"Even with ancestors watching, use some technique."
"True enough."
In this city raid, the Vikings quickly reviewed their flaws.
As their fired-up descendants shone, the ancestors must've grinned warmly—
Kabooom!!!
"Huh?"
"That…?"
"Drengr went that way?!"
A massive explosion rocked the church.