Chapter 843: The Last (76)
The heat of the battlefield was palpable. Anyone would find it unpleasant.
I was certain anyone who had ever stood on the battlefield even once wouldn’t welcome it.
They passed by wounded comrades, encountered enemies, and clashed with their swords and spears. A deafening roar was heard, along with screams from all directions.
I was out of breath. I felt malice, hostility, and madness spread through the air, and the foul smell of blood and sweat made it difficult to breathe properly.
My body was drenched in sweat, and it was impossible to distinguish what was truly happening. For ordinary people, the battlefield was something they feared and would never want to experience again.
Of course, some enjoyed this environment.
The brigade trash, the sad psychopath killers, and some of the war-addicted veterans and retired mercenaries.
I honestly had never understood what it felt like to be addicted to war, but I thought I might upon seeing the Red Mercenaries.
‘They’re unusual indeed.’
They were definitely unusual.
-Let’s go! Comrades!
-Whoooooooooooooooooaaaaa!!
-To battle, my brothers and sisters!
-Don’t stop! Charge! Charge! Charge!
-Fight, bastards, fight!
-Don’t die! Do not die! Let’s meet again after all of this is over!
‘Really…’
I knew that the atmosphere of the Red Mercenary Guild was inherently wild, but it seemed more disorganized than I’d thought. There were people like Choi Young-ki who judged the situation fairly coldly, and although they were made of muscles, there was a feeling that they were rational muscleheads.
They had fairly good manners, and the proportion of those looking dandy was also quite high. Of course, the rules defined by the guild instilled reason in them, but as those reputations piled up…
‘I forgot about it.’
For a moment, I forgot that it was Cha Heera holding back those gangs of delinquents. I had forgotten that if she put them out in the world immediately, they would become criminals or were already people who would cause trouble somewhere.
-Kill them! Kill!!!
-Die, you dirty bastards!! Wizards, bring support! Support!!
-Move! Bastard! Move!!
-Bring it on, you demon insects!! Come on!!
It wasn’t the first time I had seen the Red Mercenaries on the battlefield, but it felt so unfamiliar to me. They weren’t fighting like trained soldiers in formation. It was more like watching beasts with their leashes removed.
‘They’re a real mess.’
Some had axes, and some had shields. Just like the weapons they held, their fighting styles were also different.
Some fought without their armor because it was hot, and some used their staffs as blunt weapons despite being wizards.
Some threw huge weapons, while others laughed out loud after being attacked by the enemy wizards. Some fought recklessly with their messed up bodies, pulling out arrows stuck in their arms, and some scanned the battlefield with eyes that looked like they had gone mad.
The battlefield was in so much chaos that I could understand why she hadn’t loosened their leashes until now…
—They are barbarians.
“Do you have to call them that?”
—Regardless, it was the battlefield I designed. I don’t have the desire or right to meddle anymore, but I’m not comfortable watching a battle like that. I’d rather not witness it.
“Let’s not pretend to be dignified, really. What would a man raised like an orchid in a greenhouse know? What would a man who grew up with good parents, reared with the utmost care and affection know? Where is dignity on the battlefield?”
—Don’t try to insult me by saying useless things, Lee Kiyoung. I am also not a person who seeks dignity on the battlefield, but…
“But?”
—But there is a line that mustn’t be crossed. You can’t even call that war. Tell me how that’s different than cheap and drunk mercenaries fighting in random taverns. The Red Mercenary, which is one of Lindel’s three major guilds, is like that. I opened the way for them, but I feel like I’ve become garbage in return.
“So that’s why you’re sitting here like this right now. What do you know? A guy who knows nothing about such passionate fighting sits in a chair and talks about strategy and tactics. Have you ever felt that kind of heat? That’s why office workers are not fit for their roles. People who are busy discussing the tabletop talk wouldn’t survive their onslaught.”
—At least compared to you…
“It’s because I didn’t say anything, but I’d rather be on that side than yours. If I’d gone there, I would have adapted well. I prefer to be on the field. I’m fundamentally different from the military.”
—That’s bullsh*t, and you know it.
‘You bastard…’
He frowned, expressing his disdain. I could understand his feelings to some extent, but perhaps what he’d just said wasn’t the truth. He was just feeling bothered.
Perhaps he just didn’t want to admit that. How could he understand that they were achieving results despite fighting like that?
Perhaps the values he had established in his own way had been shattered into pieces.
How many battlefields would that bastard have gone through on the continent? How many battlefields had he written a thesis on?
Through a lot of trial and error, I could be certain that he had defined war in his own way.
He was a bastard full of arrogance anyway… I couldn’t even imagine how much pride he had in his theories.
In the end, a new theory had emerged that would threaten his studies, or to be more precise, cases that contradicted his works had appeared.
‘While it definitely doesn’t look organized…’
It felt organized at the same time.
I didn’t even know how to express that. Their military classes were not properly divided, and the lines were not normal. They were just charging ignorantly, and there was no proper commander in sight.
Some of them wore the Commander’s Badge, but even they just focused on shoving their axes through the demons’ heads.
The faces and bodies of those cursing while foaming at their mouths were soaked in demon blood.
To be honest, it was hard to tell who the demon was in that scenario. Some scenes were so cruel that they made me think of the demons as the victims.
I couldn’t even use it for publicity.
But…
‘Why do they look so organized?’
I wasn’t talking bullsh*t because of the result, but there were definitely rules to their movements.
It looked like they were simply running rampant, but it also looked like what they were doing had been agreed upon beforehand.
Their casualties were minimal, and there were guidelines that even they weren’t aware of but still followed. The way they acted and moved in different ways looked like they were moving as a single unit. Nonsensical puzzles came together to fill each other’s shortcomings and drew a picture. It was…
“Perfect.”
It was the most amazing masterpiece.
“They probably wouldn’t be able to do this the same way even if they did it again.”
I could guarantee it.
It had to have been a product of chance. They had been fighting together before this, so their bodies had somehow gotten used to it, and now they just fit perfectly. If I asked them to do it again, they really wouldn’t be able to.
If Cha Hee-ra weren’t the one leading the battlefield, this scene wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.
The Red Mercenary broke the rules and broke the leash because Cha Heera had told them to do so, and there was no other reason.
Now that I thought of it, Cha Hee-ra really had made such a decision…
‘Because of the demon summoner trash.’
Ironically, it had to have been thanks to the Republic’s genius soldiers. They provided a strong stage where they wouldn’t collapse.
-Kill them! Kill them!! Kill!!!
-Charge! Don’t stop! Don’t look back or retreat!
A roar was heard, along with another thunderous sound.
Holding a two-handed ax and a sword in one hand each, she swung around randomly.
Those who were hit by her giant sword had their upper bodies blown away, and those who were hit by the ax were smashed.
With each step, the earth quaked, and with every offense, a gust of wind blew.
Sound effects that I had never heard before in my life kept hitting me.
The soldiers who walked the path opened by the god of war looked at her, believed in her, followed her, and gave their all for her. She blocked the enemy’s attack with a shield, laughed in madness, and stepped into the darkness.
She believed that she wouldn’t die. No, it seemed more accurate to say that she wasn’t afraid of death. Even if she died, she seemed to think that she would go to Valhalla, the hall of warriors in the afterlife.
“The god of war is with us!”
“The Red Mercenary is with us!”
“Today, this will be our grave! We will face the most glorious death next to the god of war. Onwards, warriors! Comrades! My brothers and sisters! Let us mow down our enemies for her!”
“Nothing can stand in our way! We will sing the song of victory as always!”
‘Gosh. These bastards must be drunk.’
They seemed to be on drugs, drunk on madness, and drunk on the battlefield. They continued to say lines that they wouldn’t have been able to utter were they sane.
‘I can see why Ahn Ki-mo couldn’t get used to it.’
Given that he’d probably had to stand shyly among the massive Red Mercenaries drenched in madness, it was definitely understandable why he’d come to the Blue.
They sang victorious melodies and praised the god of war. Cha Hee-ra simply laughed.
She kept on slashing the enemies and crushing them like insects, explaining why they should believe in her. Witnessing this was simply overwhelming.
Booooooooooooooooooooooooom!!
But she was even more so.
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!
Her power was enough to make me feel awe.
“Ha… Hahahahahahahahaha!!”
“Magic! Wizards!”
“Advance! Advance! Don’t look back!”
“We will die beside the god of war!
“I will give my life to her!”
‘These bastards are out of their minds.’
Crossing the bridge the demon summoner trash had made was not an easy task.
The plague trash wouldn’t have been stupid enough to leave that road wide open.
They’d tried to reinforce the frontlines and block the holes by deploying more troops, but none of those actions had been influential enough and became meaningless.
Although they might have to face their physical limitations, the soldiers of the Red Mercenary, led by their leader, didn’t get tired.
‘How flustering would that be?’
—…
‘How annoyed is he?’
Perhaps the plague trash was more stressed than the demon summoner trash.
—…
‘…’
—That disgusting insect… those filthy insects… they dare… dare!!
Boooooooooooooooooom!!
An explosion could then be heard.
Cha Hee-ra held the plague trash’s hair with one hand and threw him against the wall.
Craaaaaaaaaaash!
-Long time no see, honey.
-Yoooooou!!!! You crazy red bitch who doesn’t even know your place!!!!!!
-Shut up, bastard.
Her huge fists slammed into the man’s face.
Booooooooooooooooooom!!!
‘Gosh… I can’t watch this.’
Booooooooooooom!
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaash!!
Craaaaaaaaack!!!
Boooooooooooooooooooooom!!!
‘I really can’t watch this…’