Barbarian Quest

Olga looked at the man wearing the violet eagle cloak. Judging by the behavior of those around him, it was clear that he was the emperor.

‘I have the emperor right in front of me, yet I can't even move a finger.’

Olga's body was growing cold. Blood poured out, soaking the ground, and his eyes flickered like candle flames.

“Did you think such a crude night raid would succeed?”

Yanchinus prodded Olga's side wound with his sword.

“G-geuuugh.”

Olga howled like a beast, feeling as if his entrails were being torn apart.

The knights grabbed and bound Olga’s arms so that Yanchinus could take a step closer.

Olga was practically a corpse. No matter how great a warrior, they could not fight with a torn body, and anyone died when they bled out.

“Do you speak our language?” Yanchinus asked, shaking off the blood from his blade. Olga could only wheeze.

Olga mustered his strength to try to get back on his feet, but the knight beside him seized the moment to punch his face.

Crack!

Olga’s nose broke. He was on the brink of passing out as blood trickled down his throat with each breath.

“Is Urich alive? Or is he dead?”

Yanchinus asked regardless of whether Olga understood or not. At the mention of Urich, Olga reacted and lifted his head.

‘Am I going to burn to death?’

He had fought and lost. Olga awaited the enemy’s decision, knowing well that the fate of the defeated was in the hands of the victor.

‘Six-Fingered told me I had a fate of fire.’

But there was no such thing in sight.

‘The only thing I have left now is death, and if there is no flame even there, then what did I…?’

The knights dragged Olga by his arms.

“Hang him at the entrance of the imperial palace.”

Yanchinus lost interest in Olga. He was an ignorant barbarian who didn't even speak Hamelian. The disappointment was great because he had thought Olga was Urich, even if it was only for a brief moment.

The nearly dead Olga was dragged along by the soldiers. It wouldn’t have been surprising if he died at any moment.

“Don’t die just yet. There are a ton of people who want to see you suffer.”

A knight chuckled and slapped Olga’s cheek. Olga's face was covered in blood and his facial bones were fractured, making his features almost unrecognizable.

Wheeze, wheeze.

Olga faintly opened his eyes as he breathed steadily with bloody phlegm. Sunrise was still hours away.

There were many people milling around the entrance of the imperial palace, drawn by the nighttime commotion. They cheered at the sight of the barbarian being dragged out.

“You dirty barbarian scum!”

“Long live the emperor!”

“Kill him! Kill hiiiim!”

Olga looked at the civilized people who were shouting and hurling stones at him.

“Yanchinus, the guardian of the empire!”

Yanchinus deliberately showed himself before the citizens, displaying his vitality and the fate of the ambushing barbarians.

‘As long as His Majesty is here, Hamel will never fall.’

Yanchinus had successfully defended the city. The citizens of Hamel, who had been trembling with fear, finally went to bed peacefully.

“Long live the emperor! Hooray!”

The citizens of Hamel shouted loudly with joy, drawing even those who were asleep to open their windows and gather.

“Your Majesty, perhaps you would like to head inside now.”

“No, I’ll stay to see his end.”

The knights dragged Olga up to the palace gate, planning to hang him in front of the people.

Creak.

The knights placed a noose around Olga’s neck. His eyes widened, but it wasn’t because he was afraid of death.

‘I don’t see fire anywhere.’

What he saw were people throwing stones as their anger and hatred reached his skin.

“Kek, kek.”

Olga coughed up blood and laughed. There was no such thing as a fate of fire. Was it because he missed his chance to die in the sewers? The only thing that awaited him was a cold death.

‘I was a fool to seek the fate of fire after listening to Six-Fingered.’

The noose around his neck was rough. A knight pushed Olga to the edge of the platform with a sword in his back.

“Any last words, barbarian?”

Olga didn’t understand the words, but he got the message. After all, execution customs were similar everywhere.

Life was the most precious thing, and even the most despicable criminal was granted a final word as once the flame of life was extinguished, it was gone forever.

“…There are no flames.”

It was a laugh tinged with regret. He clung to the fate bestowed by the heavens because he believed there was a fate meant for him as well, just as Urich and Samikan embraced their great destinies.

A bizarre and mysterious shaman had foretold his fate. However, even in the face of death, the destiny foretold by the shaman did not appear.

Even at the very end of everything, there was no fate of fire.

Olga thought of Urich, whom he felt a sense of rejection toward, much like other warriors.

‘Urich does not believe in fate.’

If Urich was someone to believe in the heavens, he would not have crossed the Sky Mountains in the first place. Breaking taboos was always the act of an impure one. Although those of the Alliance felt and believed in Urich’s divinity, Urich himself acted as if he rejected it.

Olga knew there was no fate of fire for him and that it was all just a wordplay.

The cheers of those awaiting his death spread.

“…Urich.”

Olga tilted his head to the side. Amid the chilling crowd, someone in armor was running frantically.

A knight pushed his back. As his weight shifted downward, the rope tightened around his neck.

Squeeze.

Olga was running out of oxygen, but he merely laughed through the pain.

As Yanchinus saw Olga's laughter, he felt a chill in his chest. His previously stuck mind raced quickly.

“Your Majesty!”

A messenger rudely broke through the crowd, but Yanchinus frowned even before hearing the news that the messenger brought. It was not the time to leisurely watch an execution.

“Send troops to the city gates immediately!” Yanchinus shouted.

The knights hesitated momentarily, bewildered. The messenger, still catching his breath, continued.

“Barbarians have attacked the city gates!”

Some of the troops at the gates and the patrols had gathered at the palace, and the defense of the city gates was weakened just as much.

‘We can handle their external attacks as long as we need to, but if they attacked from within, that would make things different.’

How could the barbarians move so efficiently inside Hamel? A group of barbarians moved in two groups without being detected. It was a strategy far beyond Yanchinus’ expectations.

A commotion broke out, and Olga was dying in the midst of it. Blood-mixed saliva dripped from his mouth and his half-closed eyes were blurry. His consciousness lasted only for a moment.

His thoughts faded and darkness fell before his eyes, and soon, he saw nothing even when his eyes were open…

But Olga was certain of one thing. He saw the success of Urich in the desperate expression of the running soldier.

It was quiet. No sound could be heard. In the end, there were no flames.

* * *

The planned fire did not happen. Urich waited on a rooftop for the situation to unfold, but the city did not catch fire.

“Urich, we must consider the possibility that Olga failed.”

A warrior who had come scouting with Urich muttered. They lay flat on the roof, observing the movements below.

“If Olga fails, we fail too.”

Urich watched the city gates. Just the imperial troops they could see alone numbered over dozens. Inside the city, patrols with torches moved frequently.

Despite reaching the promised time, there were no grand explosions or fires. Instead, the sound of bells breaking the night’s silence spread through the alleys one by one.

“The barbarians have attacked the imperial palace!”

Not only the patrols but most of the troops guarding the gates rushed to the imperial palace as the scale of the barbarian raid unit was not known.

The imperial palace was where the emperor was, and if he died, even the greatest Imperial Army would lose its center and collapse.

“What are they saying, Urich?”

A warrior who didn’t understand the soldiers’ Hamelian asked Urich.

Urich closed and opened his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly. He too had no way of knowing what had happened to Olga.

‘One thing that’s clear is that things didn’t go as planned.’

Olga and the warriors attacked the imperial palace. There was no better way to draw attention. However, it was far more dangerous than setting the flame oil warehouse ablaze.

“Call the warriors in the sewers. It’s time to move.”

The warrior nodded at Urich’s words and awkwardly climbed down from the roof. He quickly crawled along the ground and peeked into the sewer entrance.

“Urich is calling us. Let’s go.”

The warriors resting at the sewer entrance opened their eyes and shortly after, one by one, they climbed to the surface and laughed as they breathed in fresh air for the first time in a while.

“Olga must have succeeded!”

“I knew it. You can always depend on Olga.”

While those watching the outside remained, the number of patrols and troops guarding the inside had reduced by half, significantly thinning out the security at the gate. The knights especially rode their horses in a hurry to protect the emperor without hesitation.

Emperor Yanchinus was a man who had a clear reward and punishment system. Saving the emperor’s life promised enormous rewards, and the knights, eager for glory, abandoned their posts in a heartbeat.

‘Olga did his part.’

Urich slid down from the roof and looked at the warriors gathered in the alley.

“Georg, as soon as the gate opens, ride to our camp and let them know that I am alive.”

Urich gestured toward Georg.

The warriors drew their weapons, waiting for Urich’s signal.

Deng, deng, deng!

The sound of the bell grew louder. The entire city was in chaos due to the attack on the imperial palace. Anxiety spread, and the area around the gate became disorderly.

The guards at the gate were also buzzing with the news of the barbarian night raid.

“Did you hear that the barbarians have attacked the imperial palace?”

“Must be the ones who survived from the sewers.”

“I’m not sure if it's lucky or unlucky that we’re not on palace guard duty.”

“Of course, it’s lucky. I wouldn’t face those barbarians directly no matter how much money I’m offered. They’re that terrifying.”

“Eh? Where’s Sir Pallen?”

“He rode off to go to the palace earlier.”

“Then it’s just us here.”

Realizing this made them anxious. They knew that the barbarians were attacking the imperial palace, but thinking that they were alone without the protection of the knights sent shivers down their spines.

“Don’t worry. Look up at the wall; that’s the infamous Urich hanging up there. Lou has finally shined his light upon us.”

“Do you really think that’s Urich’s body?”

A soldier standing under the gate looked up at the wall with uneasy eyes. The higher-ups had told them that the charred corpse on the pole was Urich, but there was no way to verify it because the body was burnt.

“I’ve seen Urich before during a jousting tournament. I bet on him and won quite a bit. I knew he was something special the moment I first saw him.”

A soldier who knew Urich reminisced.

Sssss.

The torches flickered as a shadow briefly fluttered behind the alley.

“Who’s there?”

“You go check. I bought the drinks last time, remember?”

“Ugh, fine.”

The soldier grumbled and walked forward.

‘Probably just a vagrant.’

Vagrants had been appearing more frequently lately with the combination of the proud security of Hamel deteriorating during the war and refugees who had lost their homes flocking to Hamel.

“I won’t banish you outside the walls in times like this, so just come out,” the soldier said, looking into the dark alley as he raised the tip of his spear.

“…You promise?”

A deep, low voice came from the alley.

“If you go outside the walls now, you’re as good as dead. I’m not that heartless.”

Footsteps echoed from the dark alley. In the faint moonlight, a figure emerged.

“Remember that mercy. That’s what saved your life.”

Crunch!

It all happened in a flash. The last thing he saw before collapsing unconscious to the ground was a huge fist.

Step, step.

Urich wiped the blood off his fist and stepped out into the alley.

“A-ah…!”

The soldier, who had just watched his comrade fly, felt his heart stop. He stared at Urich with wide eyes and clearly remembered the face and massive frame.

“U-U-U…rich!”

The soldier's body stiffened. He would have preferred to meet a bear in a forest instead of the monster that had destroyed the civilized world that was standing before him. His trousers were stained yellow as he wet himself without even realizing it, and his chattering teeth showed no signs of stopping.

Urich wasn’t the only one who emerged from the dark alley. Warriors with loosely held weapons followed him out, shaking their heads left and right, looking at the soldiers.

“For our lost brothers.”

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