Barbarian Quest

Come to think of it, Emperor Yanchinus mentioned a man who was blessed by the gods. As an emperor, he occasionally met extraordinary individuals—people with achievements that seemed unbelievable when heard of. The Sword Demon Ferzen was such a person, and so was Urich.

"Ah, aah."

Basha was horrified by the sight of human lives vanishing as if they were nothing.

Only the heads of soldiers remained in the path walked by the barbarian called Urich who had a shadowed face with fierce yellow eyes and a wide, savage mouth. Despite the rain, the blood on his face didn't wash away.

"Oooooooh!"

Urich continued the slaughter with the roar that one would expect from a bloodthirsty demon, not someone who did not want war.

"Aaaaah!"

Terror filled the faces of the soldiers facing Urich. It was an instinctive fear that even faith couldn't hide. A beast that had slaughtered countless people stood before them.

Slash!

Urich swung his sword widely, shattering the neck bone of a soldier with the blade that was dulled to the point of being akin to a club from cutting so many people. The broken neck wobbled limply like a puppet with its strings cut.

It was the pinnacle of violence achievable with the human body—pure violence that was devoid of justice or malice. It took the form of combat techniques ingrained in Urich's body and came to him as natural as breathing, engulfing the soldiers.

A stench, one so foul that not even the rain could wash away, spread as flesh and intestines fell to the ground.

"Hooo.”

Urich's hands only paused for a moment to catch his breath.

The soldiers couldn't even swing their weapons at Urich who stood at the front and stepped back. Urich rolled his eyes and glanced at a woman holding a banner.

‘Is the emperor not here?’

Urich suppressed the battle frenzy seeping into his body and cooly surveyed the battlefield in search of the emperor.

‘I’ll take care of that woman first…’

After catching his breath, Urich took a step forward. A few deep breaths were enough to calm his ragged breathing.

Swoosh!

Seeing the glint of silver, Urich tilted his head back to see the blade brush past his head.

"That one is Urich! Kill him!"

A group of soldiers with skillful swordsmanship stood in Urich's way.

‘Judging by their sturdy build, they must be knights.’

They were different from soldiers who swung their swords with just courage. Urich took a step back and gestured with his chin to call the surrounding warriors. He was the Great Chief. The western warriors were always behind him.

"Ooooooooh!”

The warriors, boosted by their numerical advantage, sliced through the rain and attacked the knights.

With the success of the ambush, the victory of the Porcana-Alliance army was a given. The remaining issues were whether they could capture the emperor and how much damage they could inflict.

"Why won't you grant us victory?"

Basha's eyes widened as she looked at the sun banner she was holding, which was soaked with rain and no longer fluttered.

The knights guarding Basha collapsed face-first in the mud, bleeding profusely.

‘Oh Lou, why do you take such good people first?’

Basha's eyes turned to the sky.

"Basha! Look at the people, not the sky!"

A guard knight turned his head and shouted. At that moment, Urich's axe blade severed the knight's neck.

"Sir Jorman!" Basha screamed as even the guard knight who had been protecting her lost his life.

"Ooooh! This is my gift to you, you bitch!" Urich shouted, throwing the severed knight’s head at Basha.

The knight's head struck Basha’s. Seeing the dead knight's eyes, Basha's pupils dilated.

"Ah, aaaah!" Basha screamed, wildly swinging the flagpole.

But such a sloppy attack was never going to work on Urich. He swung his arm and broke the flagpole before approaching within striking distance to swing his sword to kill Basha.

But his pupils trembled slightly as he looked directly at Basha’s face in the pouring rain.

Urich twisted his blade, striking Basha's head with the flat of the sword. Basha fell from her horse and rolled on the ground.

Her face was buried in the muddy ground that was soaked with blood and rain. The essence of human life seemed to seep into her nose.

"Oh, Lou…"

As Basha murmured with unfocused eyes, Urich stared at her blankly before ordering the surrounding warriors to capture her alive.

* * *

Belrua led the army she brought from the west and attacked the Imperial Army. She fought harder on the battlefield than anyone else.

‘Capturing the emperor here will benefit me in the future.’

Compared to Urich, the power of Belrua of the Red Sand was like a mere firefly, which showed the vast difference between a mere chief and a Great Chief. Urich could erase her influence in a heartbeat if he wanted to.

‘If Urich were as cruel as Samikan, I would already be dead.’

Belrua swung her greatsword widely to deliver a heavy blow that was unbelievable for a woman’s strength. Her greatsword was more for display than for combat effectiveness, and when she swung her huge greatsword, the surrounding soldiers were intimidated while the morale of the warriors rose.

‘We started as equals, but look at me now, at the bottom.’

Belrua laughed, shaking her shoulders. There was a time when the three chiefs of the Alliance were equals. Although Samikan was always somewhat superior, when Urich and Belrua joined forces, even Samikan couldn't act recklessly.

‘But it didn’t take long for that to change. Samikan grew his influence well with his political acumen to the point where Urich and I couldn’t do much even if we were to combine our forces.’

The western expedition made Samikan the undisputed Great Chief and Urich a respected warrior among others for his valor in battle, but it yielded nothing for Belrua.

‘I betrayed Urich to preserve my power and influence. Even when Urich was in danger, I didn't send reinforcements and even married Samikan.’

She wouldn’t repeat the same mistake if she could go back in time. In hindsight, it was something she should never have done.

‘Samikan wasn’t a good man. Especially as a husband, he was the worst.’

Belrua’s hoarse voice spread across the battlefield as she shouted with a bitter smile. Her greatsword cleaved a soldier in two.

Though more of her affection was toward Urich, she chose to marry Samikan to protect the power and status she had built.

‘Samikan…’

She had heard countless times about Samikan's downfall from others. Knowing Samikan and Urich's personalities better than anyone, Belrua could clearly see how things had unfolded.

‘It’s my fault.’

Samikan's decline began with the death of Noah Arten and Belrua blamed herself.

‘I know who killed Noah Arten.’

Belrua lifted her head and saw a group on horseback in the distance, likely nobles. Capturing them would be advantageous and the emperor might even be among them.

‘It was one of my subordinates.’

Belrua had planted one of her warriors out of fear that Noah Arten might betray the Alliance, who then, believing Noah had betrayed them, killed him and fled to the west where Belrua was.

By the time Belrua heard the warrior's report, it was too late to admit that her subordinate had killed Noah, and the situation of the Alliance was at a point where no one could come back from. She justified it by telling herself that she had simply taken action to prevent the Alliance from collapsing due to Noah's potential betrayal.

‘Looking back, I even wonder if Noah truly intended to betray.’

Many warriors disliked Noah, so it was entirely possible that Belrua's subordinate killed Noah just because he didn't like him and then lied about the betrayal.

“It’s all in the past,” Belrua muttered. What mattered now was securing her position within the Alliance by earning merit.

‘Urich accepted my submission and gave me a chance even though I’ve betrayed him once. I would never have done that. Someone who betrays once will do it again.’

Belrua knew Urich well. He was the purest warrior among them and had accomplished so much with the single-minded determination not to let his tribe and people become slaves, even enduring humiliation for the sake of all westerners, not just for his ambition.

Despite Samikan's unfair treatment, Urich endured for the alliance. How many warriors could be as magnanimous as Urich, who tolerated Samikan’s unfair treatment solely for the Alliance? If he had left in anger, the west would already be the empire's slaves. Samikan alone couldn't stand against the empire.

‘…He's truly admirable. Urich is indeed our Great Chief in every sense.’

But only a few in the Alliance thought to this depth. It wasn’t just because Urich was strong and brave that she acknowledged him as a Great Chief. Urich sacrificed himself for the west, showing that he truly had the qualities of a leader.

“Belrua! That’s their leader! Look at the eagle crest!”

A warrior with a face full of wrinkles shouted. Belrua also squinted and looked where he pointed.

‘Violet eagle.’

It was the symbol of the emperor. One of the nobles on horseback was wearing a cloak with the violet eagle embroidered.

“Chase them! The glory is ours!” Belrua shouted.

The warriors crossed the muddy terrain in no time thanks to only wearing light armor and having rested before the battle, unlike the Imperial Army.

Splash, splash.

Belrua's unit waded through the mud with rainwater coming up to their knees in pursuit of the violet eagle cloak.

“Crow-Tit!” Belrua called her subordinate, who was an excellent archer.

“This is a terrible condition to shoot in. I’m not too confident in the rain…”

The warrior, named Crow-Tit for his round and bright eyes, drew his bow and assumed his shooting stance.

“If you hit the target, I’ll give you the three of the finest women in our tribe!” Belrua urged him with a promise of reward.

“I’m tired of the dirt-smelling women of the west now. Did you know the women here smell nicer?”

Crow-Tit chuckled and steadied his breath.

Creak.

He drew the bowstring powerfully as he carefully aimed at the violet eagle cloak.

The air was heavy with humidity, and the rain hit the ground hard. The bowstring was slippery from the wet.

Ting!

Crow-Tit released the bowstring. The arrow flew, swaying left and right, and struck the violet eagle cloak amidst many soldiers.

Thud!

The violet eagle cloak fell from the horse. Belrua's eyes widened at the sight.

“Good! You’re the best, Crow-Tit!” Belrua shouted and led her warriors forward.

Crow-Tit wiped under his nose with satisfaction.

“If the conditions are bad, you just have to overcome them,” he muttered confidently, satisfied with a shot that was worth boasting about for the rest of his life.

Buuuuup!

“Huh?”

Belrua, who had been laughing, looked up and saw that there were many warriors blowing horn trumpets all around.

“It’s the emperor!”

“The emperor is right here!”

“The emperor’s running away! Get him!”

Warriors shouted that they had found the emperor from all over the battlefield. Belrua’s unit wasn’t the only one.

Among the Imperial Army, there was more than one person wearing the violet eagle cloak looking like the emperor and fleeing in all directions.

“Dammit!”

Belrua checked the face of the man Crow-Tit had shot, only to find out that it was completely different from the emperor's description.

The units aiming for glory scattered to chase after those presumed to be the emperor as the warriors went mad at the sight of the violet eagle cloak.

“You idiots! Do you think the real one would be wearing a cloak to announce where he is?!”

Belrua shouted as she realized, but the other units’ warriors didn’t believe her, thinking she was just trying to take all the glory for herself.

Blinded by the target, the warriors continued their hunt for those who would only turn out to be imposters.

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