“I will follow your will.”
To be honest, I was a bit taken aback by her response. It was because of her terrified eyes that were staring at me.
I did not say much before heading out, since her words could be contradictory to her actions. If an actual battle were to arise, they could run away. Heading outside, many of the Green Skins looked towards me. Seeing me armed, they cleared a way for me with their uneasy expressions locked onto me.
Soon, Ragia left the tent and announced.
“We will fight together. We will fight together with Blood Dagger and achieve victory. We will regain our honor.”
It was a small voice, but it was enough to convey the message to the rest of her subordinates. To fight together with me. I never knew Ragia would decide on this choice, but it was good. As such, a few of the females that were not of the same thought as Ragia, began to slowly back away.
I heard how the group was breaking apart, but for it to reach this extent. I never imagined there would be someone who could willingly ignore the words of their leader, whom has led their group until now. In the end, a few actually turned their backs and began to flee. Ragia did not try to stop those who were fleeing.
The remaining ones were Ragia, those who followed her, and myself. A few were already preparing for battle, as others were raising their weapons in anticipation of the humans.
“For Victory.”
It seems she was an Assassin, as she held two daggers in each hand while she stared at me. They were eyes without confidence, and despite being nervous, she had already decided to follow me. The remaining members were only about ten in total. Though the humans weren’t rushing over here like last time, they were however, slowly advancing over to this tribe, as they probed threateningly.
As if they were casting magic, the mana began to rise around the surroundings. They were intending to make the first preemptive strike with a flame spell.
“Bang!!!”
A thunderous sound exploded over as one of the walls was completely destroyed by the preparations for the human invaders to enter. I looked at Ragia’s eyes once more. She was still staring at me.
Seeing that, I cried out loudly.
“Victory! For Victory Only!”
The motto of the Blood Dagger Clan. Ragia with an uneasy look began to scream.
“For Blood Dagger!”
Her display of loyalty was shown. But, my shout wasn’t to test if she would echo out her loyalty amidst danger. It was a signal to the Blood Dagger Clan to prepare for war. Hearing my loud roar, voices from all over the vicinity began to shout out.
“For Blood Dagger!”
“For Blood Dagger!!”
“Victory! For Victory Only!”
“For Blood Dagger!”
As if thunder was striking down onto the ground, their voices was so loud that my ears started to ring.
Then…
Ragia’s anxious eyes instantaneously were filled with confidence. There was no sign of her fearful expression at all. She was constantly looking around her with a thrilled eyes. As if she was amused by the large, thunderous roar, she chuckled.
It could be a sign of simple joy.
It could also be a sign of relief.
But…
Seeing that smile, he began to think of the possibility.
‘So you knew.’
It appears that she already noticed this was a test. Though the probability was slim, but for some reason, he was confident that she knew.
If she truly knew things concerning the exam, then they were just playing around in the palm of her hands. Cutting off all of those who did not follow her, and only having her faction merge with Blood Dagger. In Ragia’s situation, that was the most ideal, and a beautiful scenario despite risking her life.
But this was the most defining way of cutting off those who were not of her faction.
He would confirm his theory afterwards but for now…
She truly is a snake-like woman.
“Interesting…truly interesting.”
I laughed just like before with Hakajin. Ragia seeing my expression became uneasy once again. It seemed like what I had just mentioned was circulating through her mind.
Instead of continuing to pay attention to Ragia, I drew my sword slowly and rushed after the attacking humans. The uneasy Ragia followed behind me, as the Blood Dagger clan members charge in from all sides. I held my sword up high.
Then…
“…………..”
Hayeon shouted from afar that the humans were fully entrapped by large plants. Any of the humans who had escaped were shot down by Mev’s arrows. The fact that she was able to control all of those competent humans with a single action was surprising. Then, one of the humans, cut off the plant bindings with a Wind Magic spell and stared at me. The magician wasn’t coming towards me, but it seems that he was preparing for the next attack. Rather than dispersing, they held onto their discipline and maintained their formation while attempting to escape the plants.
Nevertheless…
The momentum had shifted.
Blood Dagger clansmen began to rush over here and there, as Hark, Gark, the Three Goblin Sisters all clashed against them – fully prepared for battle.
It was not my role to help them advance into the village. I injected mana into the Ancient Flame sword and laid into them with some flames.
“Sizzzle!”
“Fu…fuck…what is this?!”
Before the clamorous voices of, ‘For Blood Dagger,’ could be heard, the humans were already shouting retreat, as they tried to back away. But, with my flames, the current landscape was even in more chaotic than it already was, as Hayeon’s plants continued to squirm and move around amidst the flames. Thanks to that, from the epicentre out, their formation began to break apart.
Then, the Blood Dagger Clan spearheaded the charge, driving a devastating assault to the humans. Screams and cries of despair filled the skies, as the battlefield’s momentum once again shifting but this time to a one-sided ambush.
Ragia continued to follow behind me. These humans were definitely not weak, but, despite that, Gark suddenly appeared out of nowhere and crushed a man’s skull. The results were the same for the Magicians. While they were trying their best to endure against the arrows, the plants and roots from beneath caught them by surprise and impaled them to the ground.
I, initially being worried that we might have casualties, began to madly swing my Ancient Flame and Greatsword Too Large to be a Sword against them, as blood and brains began to splatter all around.
Whether it was because of the heat emanating from my body or something else, Ibar joined me as she began ripping the heads off of the humans in front of her.
I smiled towards Ibar before speaking to the other clansmen.
“Don’t die.”
An immediate response.
“For Blood Dagger!”
Thanks to that, my eyes began to redden as I became excited from the spur of the moment. But I had to settle down for the sake of my clan. At a critical point in growth, I could not recklessly incur casualties in this battle.
This was a basic battle to minimize deaths as much as possible. The injured were taken back when they couldn’t endure against their opponents. Rather than fighting them face-to-face, we had to chip away patiently. Those were the basics of this battle. But, those were not methods that the Green Skins were used to.
Those that were even slightly injured ran to the back to be treated by Hakajin before joining the others again, as we focused on reducing their troops as much as possible. By concentrating more on ranged bow attacks and dagger attacks, we tried to minimize fighting sword versus sword.
In the meantime, I began to monitor how Ragia fought. There was no superfluity in her movements, as she portrayed a fine display as an assassin. Using the walls that the Orc Warriors were using, she only went forward when the kill was certain. It was the same for her subordinates. In other words, they were watching the battle at a broader scale.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhk!”
“Aughhhhhhhhhh!”
“Run…run away!”
“Fu…ck!”
Those human screams and cries were continually heard, which meant that the battle was going well. It was evidence that the Blood Dagger clan was fighting and enduring well. Then, I clashed against a guy who was holding a large shield, which had endured up until this point.
I slammed my greatsword into his shield, before pounding his shield down with my Ancient Flame. He was using whatever strength he could to absorb the blow.
Then a, ‘sizzle,’ sound could be heard, as the heat caused him to drop his shield. With the guy screaming, I ruthlessly thrust the sword into the man’s face.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhk!”
This battle was a little lacking in some ways, when I think about it. When I had reached this conclusion about the battle being dull, the voices of the humans began to dwindle down, as those who were still enduring, had their heads completely smashed in by Gark and Hark.
In the end, the last remaining guy abandoned his weapon trying to escape, and the Three Goblin Sisters soon finished the battle by pulverizing his head.
“Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Victory! Victory!”
“For Blood Dagger!”
Blood and organs filled the floor. It had been a while since I had experienced such a battle. Seeing the overjoyed faces of the clan members, I slowly scoured my surroundings. Ragia with an uneasy expression, including Mev and Hayeon. There was also bit of a strange expression from Hakajin. Then, looking towards me with an exhausted expression, she spoke.
“Th…thank you. About those…that fled…”
Seeing her bow her head and spewing such gibberish, I laughed before I grabbed her throat high into the air.
“Fled…Ahhhk!”
As if she was befuddled at what was transpiring, those that followed Ragia tried to approach her in the hope of saving her. However, they were bound down by Gark, Hark and the other subordinates. It seems that they had constrained them for now. Seeing how they were more quick-witted than I thought, I smiled as Ragia’s subordinates began to scream.
“Ragia-nim!”
“Ra…Ragia! Bl…Blood Dagger-nim…..what..what is this…”
“Kek….Kek…”
She was struggling, but she was not resisting. It seemed for now that she roughly knew why I was doing this. Her eyes definitely emanated that. In order to revive her expectations, I growled before speaking to her. Staring at her eyes directly, a fear-stricken, pale face entered my sight.
“You. YOU knew.”
That one remark, which contained a lot of implications. Ragia’s expression became increasingly distressed.
TL Afterword
Calvis: Finally, caught between her tails. Tsk Tsk.
TL Notice: I’ve been sick the last 3 days now due to a severe cold, but will definitely do my best to not delay any releases! Thanks for all the support!
PR Afterword
Sai101: Ahh – such troublesome matters when dealing with love potential partners… while your side chicks looks on.
BM: Yay! FINISH HER!
Translator: Calvis
Proofreader: Sai101, BorderlineMasochist