Barbarian Quest

Chapter 169

Clang! Clang!

The imperial engineers hammered the wooden posts into the ground. They were constructing a campsite on top of the rugged gorge, fortifying the surroundings.

"Go cut down some more wood and bring them over here!"

The engineering officer raised his hand and shouted.

The engineering and construction skills of the imperial army were superior to that of most average professional carpenters. They even brought up workers who were working on the construction of Yailrud to fortify the campsite on the gorge.

"Duke Langster is worrying about nothing. To build a fortress in the middle of the mountains because he’s scared of some barbarians..."

The engineering officer grumbled.

'Building a fortress for barbarians who won't even come up here is a waste of manpower.'

Dissatisfaction was evident on the faces of the soldiers working on the construction. They were already plenty tired from the long construction of Yailrud.

Yailrud was a bridge made of blood, with people dying every time it underwent extension.

"There is a lot of dissatisfaction among the soldiers regarding the construction of this campsite, my lord," a knight reported to Duke Langster.

"They probably think it's a waste of manpower. It's natural to be unhappy about an increase in workload."

"Do you really think it is worth building a campsite here?"

Even the knight harbored doubts.

The barbarians were merely standing guard from afar. The thought of them attacking first didn't cross anyone's mind.

"What if they advance here and destroy Yailrud?" Langster asked the knight.

"They probably don't even know the existence of Yailrud, my lord."

"Better safe than sorry. If I can take some criticism from the soldiers and prepare for the worst, it's a gain."

Duke Langster chuckled, lightly patting his stomach.

‘The best-case scenario would be to avoid conflict with the barbarians altogether, but we must be prepared.'

Duke Langster surveyed the campsite under construction. His soldiers were diligently erecting fences to fortify the campsite.

'Yailrud.'

Duke Langster looked down the gorge. He could see the cliff-hugging Yailrud. At the end of Yailrud, workers were constructing a bridge, and from the direction connected to the base, porters laden with materials were heading toward the campsite.

"Lift!"

Soldiers used pulleys to transport the loads from Yailrud up to the gorge.

The campsite's supplies were steadily piling up. Over a hundred soldiers were stationed.

"We've put up the fences around the most vulnerable areas first. Even if the barbarians come, they won't be able to attack rashly."

The engineering officer reported to Duke Langster. He boasted, looking at the tightly set log fence.

Screeech!

Duke Langster raised his head as he received the report. A hawk cried out, soaring over the mountain ridge.

"Woaaaaaah!"

Shouts echoed from the direction the hawk came from.

Ding! Ding!

A soldier rang the bell in the campsite.

"Enemies! The barbarians are coming!"

Soldiers hurriedly climbed up to the fence. They prepared their crossbows, spotting the approaching barbarians through the trees.

“All men, stay in your positions!"

The adjutants encouraged the soldiers, shouting.

"It’s just as the Duke said. The barbarians have really come."

The soldiers murmured, looking at the barbarians. Their eyes were calm. Despite the surprise attack by the barbarians, they waited for orders from their officers without panicking.

"Fire!"

The soldiers released their crossbows in unison. Sharp arrows swept through the barbarians.

"Keugh!"

Urich watched as warriors fell beside him.

Crack!

Even the warriors with shields couldn't block the arrows from the crossbow. The arrow pierced through the shields, penetrating the warriors' bodies.

'These crossbows have stronger tension.'

Urich frowned.

The campsite's crossbowmen were using improved crossbows with stronger tension. The soldiers used tools to step on and reload the crossbows. This allowed them to load the crossbows with greater tension and made the arrows' impact more severe.

"Duck!"

Urich extended his arm, shouting. The warriors crouched and advanced.

"Stick closer together!"

As the arrows flew, more and more warriors collapsed and rolled on the ground.

Urich bit his lip in frustration, sweat dripping down his chin.

'We either retreat or continue advancing with sacrifices. But if we miss this opportunity... the fortress will only become stronger.'

Urich drew his bow. Amidst incoming attacks, he stretched his arm and pulled the bowstring.

Twang!

Urich's arrow flew toward the fortress. A crossbowman hit by the arrow fell down behind the fence.

"The Son of the Earth is with us!"

The warriors shouted. Those who were known for their archery skills took up their bows like Urich.

"Shields!"

The empire's crossbowmen were formidable. They raised shields above the fence, hiding behind them to reload their crossbows. Crossbowmen only poking their faces out to shoot were no longer hit by the tribe's arrows.

Fortunately, the slow reloading speed of the crossbows gave them a glimmer of hope. The warriors were able to reach the base of the fence.

"Go around the fence and break in!"

Urich shouted, hugging the fence. Dozens of warriors lay dead behind him. They had suffered immense losses just by advancing.

The fence did not completely encircle the campsite. Warriors moved along the fence, entering the interior of the campsite.

Schluck!

As soon as they turned the corner of the fence, the tribe warriors were impaled by spears.

The imperial army was patiently waiting inside the campsite, already in formation to greet the barbarians.

Barbarians crowded into the narrow path were slaughtered, falling one after another. Meanwhile, crossbowmen on the fence continued to shoot their arrows.

"These sons of bitches..."

Urich ground his teeth. The damage was anticipated, yet the anger was still hard to contain.

The warriors were much more poorly armed than the imperial army, and the attacking side was at a disadvantage. The only advantage the warriors had was their number.

"Get out of my way!"

Urich pushed through the hesitating warriors to move forward.

Clang!

Urich, leading the charge, fiercely knocked away a spear aimed at his neck. He threw his axe, shattering a spearman's head.

Schriiing!

Another spear dug into Urich's side. The spear slid off Urich's breastplate.

'Armor?'

The soldier with the spear was flustered. This barbarian was wearing a breastplate. On top of that, it was of such high quality that the spear slid off.

"Oooooo!"

Urich roared, seizing the moment the spear slipped to grab and pull it. The soldier with the spear was dragged out of formation and forward.

Crunch!

Urich swung his fist, smashing the soldier's face. The eyes that popped out from the sudden burst of pressure rolled on the ground.

Urich stomped on the fallen eyeball as he prepared himself to throw the spear that he had grabbed.

The soldier's spear was never made for throwing. It was heavy and long, making it difficult to throw.

Squeeeeze!

Urich used all his muscles to hurl the spear with all his might. His body leaned forward significantly as the spear flew among the imperial soldiers.

Crunch!

The spear thrown by Urich impaled three soldiers. Aghast cries erupted indiscriminately from both enemies and allies.

"T-target that big barbarian first!"

An officer shouted to the crossbowmen. However, the crossbowmen couldn't aim at Urich as they were busy shooting at the tribal warriors closing in on them instead.

Warriors roared as they advanced with the corpses of their brothers raised as shields.

"Dieeeee!"

Between the crossbowmen's reloads, the tribe warriors climbed over the barricade. The faces of the warriors, covered in the blood of their brothers and enemies, were flushed.

"Drop the crossbows and grab your swords! It's a melee!"

The imperial army's formation had already been broken. The tribal warriors had launched a reckless charge to break through the imperial ranks. Warriors roared as they broke through the imperial formation, stepping over the cold bodies of their brothers.

As the melee ensued, the numerically advantaged tribal warriors seemed to gain the upper hand. The fighting capability of each warrior was not inferior to that of the imperial soldiers.

"Ooooh!"

A warrior roaring as he was cutting through the throat of a soldier turned his head.

Clunk, clunk.

Something was making a strange noise. It was the sound of metal clashing and shaking.

"Iron... armor? Are those the ones Urich talked about?"

The warriors' eyes widened. Knights in full plate armor were emerging from a corner of the camp.

The ten approaching knights were Duke Langster's personal guards. They had called for their squires to don full plate armor as soon as the battle broke out. The tide of battle had shifted considerably in the meantime, but they had the power to change its course.

Clang!

The tribal warriors charged at the knights. Their weapons were axes, spears, and swords, all of which were lightweight because they couldn’t splurge on iron like the knights had done.

Clang! Clang!

The tribal warriors attacking the knights seemed like children playing, their hits barely making an impact on the plate armor.

"Fall back!"

Before Urich could even finish, the knights swept through the tribal warriors, cutting them down. Wherever the knights passed, tribal warriors fell in heaps.

The ferocity of the tribal warriors meant nothing in front of the brutally advanced weaponry.

"I... am coming," Urich murmured as he licked the blood off his lips.

"Kaaaa!"

He felt the screams of his brothers. The hot blood they shed was warming the cold mountains.

'Urich, this is a calamity that you have brought.'

The evil spirits of the mountains whispered to Urich.

'You are not a son of the earth.'

'You poor orphan.'

'The burning earth will become reality.'

Urich heard the voices as he picked up his axe and sword, swinging them again in the chaos where his brothers and foe were entangled.

Thuck!

As he was busy battling, his body staggered as a crossbow bolt lodged in his thigh.

"Aaagh!"

Urich screamed and threw his axe at the soldier who shot the crossbow. Despite the distance being too far for a throwing axe, Urich's impulsive throw managed to get his axe lodged in the crossbowman's head.

"That woke me right up."

Urich laughed as he snapped off the arrow in his thigh. He eyed the approaching knight.

Clang!

Urich parried the knight's sword with a steel blade and sidestepped. He kicked the knight's groin and broke down his stance. Urich had thought several times about how to fight a knight in full plate armor. His attacks flowed naturally.

Thump!

The knight fell to one knee after being kicked. Urich grabbed the knight's arm and pulled.

Crunch!

A grotesque sound came from the knight's arm. The joint dislocated and the muscles tore. The arm, extended by a palm's length, dangled loosely.

"Gaaah!"

The knight screamed. Urich stomped hard on the knight's head.

Crunch!

The thrashing knight's neck broke.

"With his bare hand...?"

Onlookers shouted in shock.

Urich had subdued and killed a knight in plate armor, almost too effortlessly. Such a feat required high concentration, a high understanding of the structure of plate armor, and the strength to crush human bones barehanded. The smallest mistake would have had Urich on the ground.

"Phew."

Urich exhaled deeply. His heated breath fluttered in the air. He shouted to the struggling warriors.

"Pick up the spears on the ground! Use the long spears to stab them! Make them fall!"

The warriors didn't confront the knights directly and retreated. They grabbed the spears dropped by the imperial soldiers and attacked the knights with them.

With the spears, several knights were entangled and fell.

'Hammer.'

Urich picked up a construction hammer used for building the campsite. Though way too heavy for combat, it was sufficient to ensure the fallen knight's demise.

Crash!

Urich smashed the fallen knight's head with the hammer. The recoil from the impact numbed his body.

Having killed two knights already, Urich glared menacingly at the other knights.

"What the hell is happening?"

The knights were bewildered. They were confident they could change the course of the battle with their strength.

'They fight as if they have experience battling against plate armor.'

The barbarians didn't seem like they were fighting the imperial army for the first time. They somehow found ways to defeat even the knights who were clad in the full plate armor.

"Retreat!"

Duke Langster made this decision. There were still at least two hundred tribal warriors left. The knights had not performed as well as expected, getting stuck against a single large barbarian and his warriors.

'Who on earth is that man!'

Duke Langster glared at the large barbarian who seemed to be the leader. His face was blackened with war paint, making his features indistinguishable.

There were about fifty remaining soldiers and knights. They were retreating after having lost half their forces. They abandoned the camp and fled.

At first glance, it might seem like a victory for the tribal warriors, but from over four hundred warriors, only half remained. It was a devastating trade. They were in a disadvantageous situation in every aspect, and they had practically used the lives of the warriors as a tool for victory.

"Urich! Urich!"

"Ooooooh!"

Urich looked at the corpses with half-closed eyes. The warriors shouted Urich's name, rejoicing in their near-mad victory against a strange civilization.

'We can't fight like this in the future.'

Urich felt more regret than joy. He pondered if there had been a better way. The death of his brothers weighed heavily on him.