VOLUME 3: CHAPTER 193 – RAZUEL DEFENSIVE BATTLE
The location of the military camp that the Goblin King had chosen was situated south of a narrow path from the north. They built their camp in such a way that they blocked that path.
To the north could be seen Razuel Town. It was about 1 kilometer away.
To the west was the Great Ashunasan Desert, about 100 kilometers away.
To the east was Guena Village.
When Hal lured the first humans to their camp, they couldn’t help but laugh at the small fortress of the goblins.
“Trying to act smart, goblins!?” Saldin said.
Those words signified the opening of the battle.
Saldin was a skilled commander when it came to battles, he was not thinking at all about the overall war. And because of that he made a poor decision.
That blunder was to the goblins’ good fortune, however, for by the time Hal had led the enemy to their camp, the goblins had already mostly finished their camp.
“A big army doesn’t need insignificant tactics! Onwards!” Saldin said, and the army under his lead cried out in response.
Like that the Defensive Battle of Razuel began, and perhaps because of some stroke of luck, the battle favored the goblins at the start.
The humans crashed like waves against the double layered fences of the goblins. With their cavalry at the lead, it could be seen that the humans were trying to crush the goblins in one fell swoop.
“Attack! Kill those goblins!”
As the commander of the Red King’s vanguard, Saldin personally led on horseback from the front. As he lifted his spear over his head, the soldiers of Elrain Kingdom from behind all raised their voices.
“For victory! For victory! For victory!”
Brushing aside the tall gra.s.ses that reached up their knees, the soldiers of Elrain Kingdom rode onwards. Horses donned in armor, the sound of the rustling metal poured oil into the soldiers’ burning fervor, giving rise to a pressure that could crush even humans.
When the soldiers bellowed out a war cry, spells for the army’s advanced cast upwards, leaving a streak of red as a fire bullet shot toward the sky.
“Front row, attaAaaAck!”
The very earth and air seemed to tremble as horses and men alike approached.
“Stand by!”
Yet the goblins were so quiet it was almost terrifying.
Their teeth chattered in fear, but as if uttering a word was some great sin, not one of them spoke, and even the normal goblins who were shaking forcefully stifled the fear they felt as they held nothing but their spear. One could only imagine how lonely they were to have only that thin stick to rely upon.
They seemed so feeble as they stood before the great wave approaching.
“Stand by!”
Atop the earth left dry by the fine weather, clouds of dust rose as the armored horses galloped through the gra.s.sy plains.
As sweat trickled down the goblins’ back, they started wondering if they were really holding their spears, but despite that they held their ground.
Behind them the battle demon, Gi Jii Yubu, held his own spear as he spoke loudly, encouraging the normal cla.s.s goblins.
Before the approaching stampede of hooves, the rare cla.s.s would glance at Gi Jii from time to time, hoping he would give the order to retreat, while the normal goblins just kept on groaning.
But Gi Jii Yubu ignored all of those and quietly waited for the enemy to come.
“As long as our lord lives, we shall stand undefeated!” Gi Jii said loudly to the quivering goblins as he took the b.u.t.t of his spear and pierced it into the ground.
“Has our lord ever lost!? Has our lord ever been mistaken!?” Gi Jii struck the ground with the b.u.t.t of his spear once more.
“Never! For as long as we believe, our lord shall never lose, and we shall never be defeated!”
When the enemy was within 50 meters, Gi Jii filled his stomach with strength and bellowed loudly as he gave out a command to his goblins.
“Now! Raise the anti-cavalry fences!!”
The normals threw the spears in their hands, and in the next moment, pulled some ropes, revealing the anti-cavalry fences beneath in the ground.
The anti-cavalry fences were made of logs about 30 centimeters in diameter and positioned in such a way that they would pierce into the oncoming horses.
Ropes were tied around the edges of the anti-cavalry fences, which when pulled allowed them to serve as spears.
As soon as the normal goblins pulled the ropes, a powerful impact ran through their hands. It was almost as if a giant spider had hit them as they cried out in pain. But that was only a given, after all, the approaching cavalry had crashed straight into the anti-cavalry fences.
Neighs resounded as the horses found themselves in great pain. Most of the riders had been blown away in the crash and their limbs were all twisted into weird shapes.
But then fire shot forth from the enemy’s side, almost as if the spluttering blood was in the way.
“Magic! Defend!” Gi Jii said.
“Let those humans have a taste of real magic!” Felbi said as if responding to Gi Jii Yubu.
In the next moment, wind magic shot out from the elves, extinguishing the volleys of flame.
Bullets of flame sought to scorch the skies, but with a breath, the G.o.d of wind blew them away.
A battle of spells began atop the goblins’ camp, but they did not have the luxury to watch the fireworks for the survivors of the earlier crash and soldiers who managed to get over the poorly made fences were approaching.
“Spears a.s.semble! Don’t let the enemy approach!”
Gi Ba Hagar gruffly encouraged the normal goblins as he ordered them to strike their spears against the humans who were wading their way through the double-layered fences.
Iron armors weren’t common in the southern deserts, and the leather armor that the southern people wore was easily pierced through by the goblins.
“Attack!!”
At Gi Ba’s command, a line of spears simultaneously struck out, stabbing into the humans trying to get over the fences. The edge of the spears made out of black iron in the Forest of Darkness penetrated the armor of the humans, burying themselves into their hearts.
“Think we’ll just let you goblins do as you please!?” Saldin, who had been dismounted, said angrily as he cut down the anti-cavalry fences.
Although he was not one of those great warriors who could take a thousand alone, he was still one of the upper bra.s.s of the giant organization, the Red King. His strength was not one to make light of.
In the blink of an eye, he managed to get past the anti-cavalry fences, then with frightening speed, threw his spear past the other fences.
“GI!?”
Saldin’s spear immediately found itself within a normal goblin, but it didn’t stop there. It kept on going and penetrated even the goblin behind that goblin.
After that Saldin raised up his sword and called out to the army behind him.
“This is where we break out!”
But as soon as he cut down the anti-cavalry fences and tried to cling to the double-layered fences—
“Attack!” Gi Ba said, then the goblins struck out with their spears toward Saldin.
“Think that’s enough to hurt me!?”
But Saldin brushed them away with his long sword, and then he went for the fences.
“Lowly goblins!”
Saldin cut through the goblins behind the fences, but the spears kept coming for him, and eventually, he was forced to take a step back.
“Tch! Tricky b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
Still, with the strength of his will, Saldin somehow managed to kick down a part of the fences, allowing him to enter the goblin camp.
“Die!”
Saldin swung down his sword toward a spear-wielding goblin, and cut it in half with a single stroke, then he struck the unresponsive goblin corpse and kicked it up, allowing him to use it as a shield as he encroached into the goblin camp.
“It’s dirty, but!”
Bathed in goblin blood, Saldin swung his sword and lopped off the head of a nearby goblin. He tried to go for another as he turned around, but a powerful force repelled him.
An axe accompanied by a powerful voice had descended.
“Tch, a big one.”
“Human, don’t get ahead of yourself!”
With a sword in one hand and an axe in another, Gi Ba faced Saldin valiantly.
“Cut the rear!”
Gi Ba kept his cool even as he fought a human.
Seeing him give orders like that, Saldin clicked his tongue and swung his axe as if he wanted to ram his body into Gi Ba.
“You shall not pa.s.s! This here shall be your grave!”
“d.a.m.ned goblin! Don’t talk as if you’re my match!”
Sparks flashed as their weapons clashed.
Gi Ba swung his axe, and Saldin easily met it with his long sword, but the strength of a n.o.ble goblin was no joke, so Saldin couldn’t help but click his tongue. Still, he managed to step in toward Gi Ba’s chest, and though Gi Ba’s long sword suddenly came like a tempest, Saldin somehow managed to receive it again.
Saldin drew cold sweat as he stifled his cries from leaking.
Gi Ba, who had received Verid’s divine protection, had completely stopped Saldin in his tracks.
Saldin spat as he looked for an opening in the goblin before him, but there wasn’t even a crack. He was starting to panic, but he ignored that and jumped back to get some distance.
When Saldin glanced behind him for a moment, he saw that some of his men had fallen into pitfalls while some had found their legs bound in rope. The army’s movement had completely been stopped.
What should he do? Saldin pondered for a moment.
Should he retreat? Or should he force the issue?
The rear had unexpectedly fallen for the goblin’s wiles. If they were to keep pushing like this, they would surely only incur losses. But then again, if they turned around and tried to retreat, they would only be opening themselves to an attack. Having difficulties with the likes of goblins would not hurt only Saldin’s pride but also the dignity of the Red King.
But just as Saldin was thinking of pushing on, he smelled something that resembled oil. Immediately, cold sweat slid down his back.
“f.u.c.k!”
Saldin knew he had to do something about the goblin before him. As he confirmed that Gi Ba was maintaining their distance, Saldin turned aside and lopped the head off of a nearby goblin.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
As Gi Ba chased after him with open anger, he suddenly turned around and immediately closed the distance between him and Gi Ba. He must’ve thought that he was going to run. Because of that his reactions were slower by a moment, allowing Saldin to attack him.
Gi Ba was pushed by Saldin’s full powered attack. Gi Ba had the advantage in const.i.tution and arm strength, but Saldin had more experience. And after losing his posture, Saldin pressed the attack further.
“Got you!”
“GU!?”
Saldin focused his attacks on Gi Ba’s neck. At the last attack, Gi Ba inadvertently covered his neck. Saldin took that opportunity to cut Gi Ba’s legs, then he immediately turned tail and ran.
Saldin cut the goblin that tried to cling to him, then he ran past the anti-cavalry fences and called for a retreat.
Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to regather a panicked army.
Saldin steeled himself as he decided to abandon the people that could no longer move after getting caught in a trap.
“We can take down these pesky goblins if we just push a little more!”
“Shut up! Retreat! Now!”
An officer tried to argue with Saldin, but he just hit him in the face and pushed for the retreat.
“What are you doing!? You—”
The officer spit out the blood in his mouth, but just as he was about to continue, he suddenly froze. Screams had resounded from behind while hot air touched him.
At that, Saldin turned around.
“I said run! d.a.m.n it!”
The billowing flames rolled into the winds and onto the nearby knights. In no time at all, the flames turned into a great flame that threatened everything nearby.
“Mages! Earth walls! Pay attention to the direction of the wind! Get to it!”
As Saldin spat orders at the nearby mages, he yelled at the soldiers who got caught in the flames to fall back away from the flames.
Although there were those who were too slow and died, there were some who managed to retreat.
The soldiers dragged their legs as they covered the burns on their arms and fled.
But even with the men he’s saved, Saldin had no more than 20% of his soldiers.
“Bring the injured back! Healers heal them!”
As the healers tended to the wounded, Saldin ordered the safe platoons to the front, while leaving the rear to protect the wounded. He had the mages erect walls of earth to keep the fire from spreading to the meadows.
“Who would’ve thought stupid goblins would use their heads… But with this, the fire can’t spread!”
Saldin ordered the spearmen to line up and advance.
“Tch. If we dawdle here, those Kushain fanatics might just show up,” Saldin said.
But there was truth in his words for Vilan Do Zul was currently 10 km south where the goblins and the Red King were currently fighting. With giant flames burning in the meadows unhindered by any structures, the billowing black smokes should have long been spotted. As such, it wouldn’t be strange, if they were to take advantage of this situation and attack.
The Kushain Believer’s army under his lead would surely send out a scout while gradually approaching them.
Saldin had acquired information prior that the Red King had an advantage. It was because of that that he attacked like this despite not wholly seeing the situation at hand. Unfortunately, the goblins were a lot stronger than expected, and on top of that, they even used traps, causing them to fall back.
After starting a battle, it wasn’t easy to just up and leave. At this rate, he wouldn’t have any way to explain to the soldiers for what reason they died.
They at least had to wipe out the goblins and meet the Kushain forces, Saldin thought. Unfortunately, when he realized that they were also fighting against elves that could control the winds, he had to rethink his plan again.
Flames were indeed unable to get past walls of earth, but that wasn’t true for the smoke. If the black smoke were to cover their sight, advancing would prove impossible.
Moreover, Saldin had an ill foreboding as he looked to the east.
The officers from Elrain Kingdom asked him if he was going to give the signal to attack, but Saldin only scratched his head as he clicked his tongue.
“d.a.m.n it all! Begin preparations! We’re retreating! The foot soldiers will form the rear guard. We’ll suppress the goblins while we make our escape!”
“Retreat?”
The officers started making a commotion, but Saldin ignored them as he ordered the retreat.
“The foot soldiers and I will be at the rear end. We will suppress the goblins while retreating! So you lot just gatherer the unhurt and the injured and make your way back to the capital!” Saldin said to his trusted adventurers.
“Hurry! I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t know if it’s the Kushain fanatics or the goblins, but I can sense it! Someone’s coming!”
The army of Elrain Kingdom gradually retreated.
As black smoke spread everywhere, the goblin army looking to hunt the retreating army appeared.
“They want to run,” Gi Za Zakuend turned to the king beside him as he laid low in the meadow.
“Follow Gi Ji Arsil and crush them. Don’t put the efforts of Gi Jii’s squad to waste.”
Gi Ji and Gi Za silently nodded.
The goblins advanced as if st.i.tching tall gra.s.ses. Before them was none other than the retreating human army that had gathered their wounded. Unfortunately for them, because the goblins took a large detour to the right, they failed to notice the looming threat.
“GURUUuuuAAaaA!”
The goblin king’s great howl shook the heavens and the earth, and in that instant, for just a moment, the humans stopped. It was at that very moment that spells came raining down from Gi Za and his druids, while Gi Ji Arsil led his a.s.sa.s.sins to charge straight into the enemy forces.
The humans. .h.i.t by the druids’ spells were nothing short of miserable. Without even the opportunity to eek out a cry, winds of blade tore them apart, while bullets of water broke their legs. Only a few spells were casted when they stopped, but Gi Ji Arsil’s surprise attack came right after.
To make things worse, the clever goblins tried to confuse the humans even more, as Gi Ji’s squad ran in between the humans that stopped. Gi Ji and his squad of a.s.sa.s.sins never stopped moving. As a result, even the wounded of the humans had to take a good look at their surroundings to figure out what was going on, and when they tried to attack the goblins, they were utterly destroyed by the goblins under the direct control of the king.
The goblins under the direct control of the king were the wounded goblins from the last battle, who were all under the lead of Gi Go Amatsuki and Rashka, the chief of the Gaidga, though the latter acted by himself.
Although they were only goblins, having two individuals possessing strength just below the king’s left the crowded and immobile humans with no choice but to be crushed.
In the blink of an eye, Gi Go Amatsuki’s curved blade cut down three humans, while Rashka’s powerful blow crushed the humans along with their helm, and every swing of the Goblin King’s blade clad in the black flames of the underworld sent human limbs flying into the air.
“Onwards! Don’t stop until we tear them through!”
As the goblin king led the charge, the crippled goblins followed, blood flowing down their hastily made prosthetics, and there were even those missing an arm or two among them. Yet the goblins cried and bellowed as the Goblin King led, bringing their morale up a level. They reached out their spears and buried them into the backs of the retreating humans, while they used their swords to slit the necks of those who dared stand their ground.
An armless goblin jumped at a man and tore apart his neck with his jaws. A goblin with a spear lodged into his chest took his own spear and penetrated a man before pa.s.sing. The goblins who fought with no regard for their lives struck fear into the heart of the humans, causing them to fall further into panic.
Desperate to return to the capital, the humans abandoned all of their possessions as they ran back to the capital of the kingdom.
The retreating Army of the Elrain Kingdom with 5000 wounded soldiers took on a one-sided beating due to the Goblin King’s surprise attack.
◆◇◆
On the other hand, Saldin who had a.s.sumed the position of the rearguard and sought to retreat from the encampment while trying to avoid any surprise attack from the goblins under the blanket of the thick black smoke, was unaware that the goblins had already attacked.
Saldin continued to encourage his soldiers as they gradually retreated.
“If it was going to be like this, then it would have been better to leave together!”
Saldin lopped off the arm of the normal goblin that jumped out from the smoke and immediately slit its throat. A second one and a third one came after, but he easily killed them too.
Saldin divided the soldiers into small groups and had them retreat one by one. Saldin has always had a sketchy personality, so Brandika had some high-ranked officials from Elrain Kingdom accompany him, but with half of those having gone back ahead due to infighting, his original personality was starting to show.
That bandit-like character of Saldin where he would mercilessly kill anyone who fled was back.
“Kill anyone who runs!”
Saldin said as he cut down the soldier before him who tried to retreat.
“Kill anyone who runs!”
Saldin said as he mercilessly cut down the retreating soldier before him without hesistation.
Like that fear gripped the heart of the soldiers and kept them from moving.
Saldin chose the wildest among the adventurers and made them into platoon commanders, then they fought back the incoming goblins as the retreated.
“Don’t get scared, alright!? In the battlefield, there’s only one end for cowards! Death!”
It was an irrational thought, but the way Saldin said it made it seem so amazing, causing the soldiers to agree with him.
“Don’t get scared! Thrust your spears!”
The spears lined up and struck out for 3 goblins that came out of that smoke, mercilessly skewering them.
“Saldin!”
As Saldin retreated in order, the platoon that retreated in advance came back with news. When Saldin found out that the platoons at the back have been wiped out, he clicked his tongue, but he didn’t seem to have cared much.
“Well, that’s war for you! Focus on what you’re doing and secure a path of retreat!!”
“A big one came out!”
When Saldin heard that, he stopped the retreat and stepped out with his soldiers again, forming a line of spears.
Saldin watched the black smokes in front carefully. When he thought he’d heard a faint sound, Saldin gave the orders and the soldiers struck out with their spears.
As their spears cut through the black smoke, the figure of a goblin appeared.
When he saw that the goblin had been skewered, his cheeks twisted and he smiled. But just as he was about to order a retreat, the words that came out of that goblin’s mouth stopped him.
“Not just once, but twice!”
“Is this that goblin from before!?”
Gi Ba Hagar swung his axe with all of his strength, but Saldin was able to rely on his instincts to parry the attack with his sword. Because of Gi Ba’s foolhardiness, his posture broke, leaving an opening for Saldin to use.
Gi Ba’s eyes opened wide as he watched the blade descend. With his posture broken, he wouldn’t be able to change anything even if he were to try react. For a moment, Gi Ba saw death. On his eyes reflected Saldin’s sneer, though it seemed to be twitching, and very quickly, Gi Ba realized that that expression wasn’t pointed at him but toward someone else.
In the next instant, sparks erupted.
Before the blade could reach Gi Ba, someone had jumped in between him and Saldin.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Aren’t you human!?” Saldin asked in confusion as he failed to wrap his head around why a human would fight alongside a goblin.
Unfortunately, he would receive no answer, for the human that had jumped in only quietly attacked him wish his spear that had had curved blades.
It was like a giant scythe was trying to reap Saldin’s life. The range difference between Saldin’s long sword and Zaurosh’s spear scythe was simply too big.
Saldin had a long history as a warrior, so he did have a way to fight against people with this big of a range. Unfortunately, his surroundings weren’t about to let him do as he pleased. The normal goblins that followed Gi Ba started popping out one after another from the smoke. There were even some humans.
Shocked, Saldin had no choice but to retreat.
He was calm enough to figure out that if they were to be captured, with how little morale they had left, they would be at a severe disadvantagee.
Saldin resolutely decided to retreat.
Neither Zaurosh nor Gi Ba pursued them because the king had instructed them to minimize casualties. With the Elrain Kingdom’s army retreating, the goblin army had successfully defended the brooder land. But they also had to prepare for the unknown movements of the Kushain Believers’ Army’s.
“…Sorry. Thanks,” Gi Ba said.
Zaurosh remained alert and continued to look toward Saldin’s direction.
“We’re comrades in arms, aren’t we?” Zaurosh said with a stern face.
Gi Ba nodded.
◆◇◆
Like this the defensive battle of Southern Razuel came to an end. The goblins suffered 300 casualties, while Elrain Kingdom suffered 3,500 casualties and retreated. Of those 3,500 some were killed by the goblins, some preyed upon by the monster beasts, and some killed by their own allies while retreating.
The Goblin King was able to hold onto the border lands, as they came under the control of the Leon Heart Clan. The Goblin King gradually increased his influence. At the same time, due to all the battles, the goblin king’s subordinates also grew in power.
As for the Kushain Believers, in the end, they aided no one, only pressuring all the military camps, and then packing up to leave when the various conflicts were starting to gather together. This was a decision Vilan Do Zul made after considering that he did not want to lose his men. The Kushain Believers were achieved their goal.
As a result, Elrain Kingdom’s breath was completely silenced. They failed to invade the Kushain Believers. They failed to grasp victory during the Defensive Battle of Razuel. And they even lost many officers pivotal to the kingdom. But at the same time, this allowed the Red King to completely take control of the army. Right now, without the Red King, Elrain Kingdom was so weak that they couldn’t even function politically.
The clan leader thus came to be known as Brandika Rual Fatina or Archduke Brandika, and Elrain Kingdom came to be fully under their rule.
King Yuguno was forced to leave the political scene, while the Red King filled the positions with their own people. With the army fully under Brandika’s rule, no one could say no to his wishes.
At the same time, Brandika also extended his hand toward the Merchant Nation of Pena, and Archduke Brandika married Raksha El Pena. Originally, Pena wasn’t keen on the idea, but after losing over half of the Blue Knights, which were their last ray of hope, and seeing the prosperity of Red King, they changed their tune.
Half the reason the Red King was able to achieve these amazing results, however, was because the Red King pulled strings to influence the surviving crafty n.o.bles.
After acquiring both kingdoms, the Red King came to be the strongest force in the south.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
Protagonist level up.
96 → 100
Gi Do Buruga level up.
34 → 64
Gi Za Zakuend level up.
93 → 5 (Cla.s.s Promotion)
Gi Ji Arsil level up.
65 → 2 (Cla.s.s Promotion)
Gi Zu Ruo level up.
90 → 6 (Cla.s.s Promotion)
Gi Ba Hagar level up.
3 → 47
Gi Jii Yubu level up.
45 ⇨ 62
Gi Ga Rax level up.
29 ⇨ 45
Gi Gi Orudo level up.
65 ⇨ 86
Gi Gu Verbena level up.
59 ⇨ 87
Gi Go Amatsuki level up.
43 ⇨ 64
Gi Bi level up.
23 ⇨ 46
Haru level up.
40 ⇨ 65
Cynthia level up.
49 ⇨ 52
Shumea level up.
90 ⇨ 96
Yoshu level up.
74 ⇨ 76
Hasu level up.
1 ⇨ 56
Bui level up.
95 ⇨ 96
Rashka level up.
1 ⇨ 17
Ra Gilmi Fishiga level up.
31 ⇨ 52
Felbi level up.
75 ⇨ 94
Pale level up.
89 ⇨ 97
Tl Note: Sorry for finshing this late. I said I’d complete it tomorrow, but alas… There’ll be another chapter part for GK this week. Most probably at the end of the week after TMPG. I still need to confirm that the donations for GK are really for GK, so no extra chapters yet. Also, don’t worry, the donation bar threshold will be significantly lowered since the releases for Gk are really slow and short. Oh, and I decided to just edit this chapter since the last part is so small.