Chapter 55: A Battlefield enveloped in a Rain of Arrows
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Kant stood at the top of the dune.
He looked calm, but glittering light was seen in his eyes.
In the distance, the fire spread wildly.
“Attack.”
Kant gave his order in a subdued voice.
Footsteps were heard from behind. His Swadian troops, who had all been ready, began to march forward.
s.h.i.+ng! Kant drew the short sword strapped to his waist.
He walked to the forefront.
His forces, which consisted of 295 infantry units, were arranged in three roles.
All of them held their spears high and started to jog, increasing their speed as they went.
The Jackalan Tribe was about 2,000 feet away. There were many Jackalans with grey and brown fur leaving their tents due to the fire at the west. They stood where they were, seemingly feeling dazed and confused about what was happening to the west.
None among them understood the concept of fire-fighting.
Water was the most precious resource found in the desert.
These Jackalans hardly had enough to even drink among them every day, so there was no way there was water left available fire-fighting.
The scene created an opening for Kant’s forces.
Due to the chaos taking place in the tribe, no one noticed that there was a force consisting of 300 human combatants moving quickly from the top of the due in the east. As they closed in on the edge of the tribe, all of them had unmistakable killing intent in their eyes.
Flaappp
Kant unraveled the Intimidation banner in his hand.
The red banner, which had a golden lion emblazoned on it, billowed without wind.
The banner enveloped the area within a 1,640-foot radius.
The Jackalans, who remained watching the fire happening to the west feeling confused, were suddenly hit with an inexplicable fear. It caused their hearts to race as if they had met some unknown fear.
They soon came to realize what was happening.
Kant quickly brought his forces forward.
The Jackalans were still unaware of the ambush in the dark.
The smirk on his face was one of ridicule, yet the seriousness in his eyes had long turned into intense killing intent.
“Rain of arrows.”
Kant shouted in a low voice, “First wave.”
He connected his mind to the system. A golden card in his mind was immediately activated.
It had begun.
Projectiles whoos.h.i.+ng above Kant’s head were heard.
The night was dark. One was only able to tell that the noise was getting increasingly closer and louder.
In reflex, the Jackalans up front all looked up into the sky. Their beast-like faces continued to look dazed and confused about what was happening.
Their capacity for intellect was hardly different from an eight-year-old human child.
The attack unfolded before their green eyes. Countless thin, black shadows swamped the sky where the dazzling stars had been. As the whooshes became increasingly apparent, the arrows reflected in their eyes became increasingly numerous and tight.
Shooo, shoo, shoo, shooo, shoo, shooo…
The 500 arrows tore through the sky and came down in beautiful, mystifying arcs.
The pointy iron arrowheads were wedge-shaped, which gave them excellent armor-piercing properties.
The arrows were extremely lethal.
Such arrows were high-grade iron arrows from the Kingdom of Vaegir. They were used specifically by Vaegir Marksmen.
Arrows were steadily raining down from the sky onto their targets.
The arrows easily penetrated the Jackalans’ coats of fur, killing the unlucky ones who were standing between the tents and unable to evade in them. The arrows made porcupines out of them. The Jackalans slumped to the floor and writhed for a bit before staying still altogether.
The rain of arrows caused the death of more than 200 Jackalans on the spot.
Voooommm
As more Jackalans dropped to the ground, the Intimidation banner billowed with an even mightier force. Its invisible powers spreading out all over the place.
Fear had overtaken the Jackalans’ minds.
A good number of them were survivors of the failed attack from a while ago. They had lived in extreme fear ever since. As they caught human forces lining up at the dark dune and coming at them from the corner of their eyes, they all felt as if their hearts had been tightly gripped.
The effect of the Intimidation banner continued to be at work, decimating the Jackalans’ morale.
That was the main reason Kant had dared to a.s.sault the Jackalan Tribe with a force of such mediocre numbers.
As long as one was to able to seize the opportunity and make good use of it, such a sacred item easily crushed an enemy before the battle was over.
This was the moment.
This was the opportunity Kant had sought.
“Kill them all!”
The Swadian troops moved forward side by side, moving increasingly faster as they went.
They leveled the spears in their hands, pointing them forward as they charged at the Jackalans struck down by the arrows. They charged all the way to the center of the tribe, which was already in chaos.
If Firentis and the Desert Bandits failed in their mission to cut down the leader, Kant and the infantry units would have been able to back them up.
Killing the Jackalan shaman was the most important part of their battle plan.
Kant held the Intimidation banner high as he charged quickly with his forces. He saw hundreds of Jackalans up front, who had all realized what was going on. With a calm expression, he ordered, “We’ll meet the enemy head-on! Kill them all!”
“Kill them all!” The Swadian troops skewered away with their spears in a frenzy.
The three rows of troops held their spears straight ahead as they remained in tight formation. The formation did not look impenetrable, such as one with spears being drawn and thrust repeatedly, which was how it was when defending on the spot. As the troops charged with the spears in their hands, it looked more like a simplified cavalry charge.
Jab, jab, jab, jab, jab…
Still, the spearheads easily penetrated the Jackalans’ bodies. The force used was enough that one spear went through several Jackalans in one go.
More than 60 Jackalans were instantly killed right before Kant’s forces.
However, more Jackalans quickly pounced on them in a frenzy. It was as if they realized their hopeless state of being. Despite suffering from increasingly intense fear from the deaths of their brethren, they continued to resist with their spiked clubs.
Bang, bang, bang…
Heavy bludgeons were soon heard. More than a dozen Swadian Recruits were quickly brought to the ground due to lacking real combat experience.
More Jackalans with bloodshot eyes appeared t and pounced on them.
It was especially so after they smelled the human blood. The Jackalans even closed in on the Swadian Recruits, who were not completely dead yet, with their beast-like heads. They chomped down on the exposed arms and thighs with their fang-filled mouths, tearing huge bits of flesh off and making the scene look even more brutal.
Jackalans never had a problem eating humans to begin with.
Forces from both sides clashed up close and personal. There were even Swadian troops who did not manage to get their spears out in time. It forced them to ditch their polearms and switch to single-handed weapons to fight.
Even Kant was under the protection of the Swadian Footmen, who wielded longswords and heater s.h.i.+elds. They had only been able to steady themselves under the relentless charge of the Jackalans, which no longer feared death. Kant maintained a tight hold on the Intimidation banner, which continued to reduce enemy morale and enable Kant’s forces to maintain their speed of advancement. As time pa.s.sed, casualties began to pile up.
“For Swadia!”
The infantry units from Swadia shouted.
They were drenched in the dirty stench of blood. However, bodies of dead Jackalans continued to build as they advanced.
Although they had suffered casualties, things were even worse for the Jackalans.
More than 100 Swadians were dead, but that had brought about at least 300 dead Jackalan bodies lying on the ground.
Kant’s forces gradually closed in on the center of the tribe. He was able to see more than a dozen riders charging about several hundred feet away. They headed straight for the huge tent as they rode.
The number of troops on Kant’s side continued to dwindle as the Jackalans feverously pounced at them.
“Rain of arrows!”
Kant extended his arm. Data streams immediately appeared in his eyes.
The sounds of projectile whoos.h.i.+ng in the air were heard again. It was yet another volley from the 500 Vaegir Marksmen being brought to the world. It appeared as if the arrows were a rain to cleanse the world as they immediately struck down more than 200 Jackalans right before him.
He wiped the dirty blood off of his face and looked on with a menacing expression. He shouted feverishly, “Keep on killing them all!”
“Kill them all!”
At that moment, the remaining Swadian warriors by his side seemed to have burst with hidden powers. They brought down their swords, combat shovels, and hand axes wildly on their enemies as they continued to move forward with increasing speeds.
On the other hand, the Jackalans seemed to have been overwhelmed by the growing enemy morale. The bloodl.u.s.t and killing intent in their eyes quickly subsided. Panic and fear were quickly seen taking over in their eyes.
Voommm
The Intimidation banner in Kant’s hand seemed to have burst with a solid wave, enveloping Kant’s surroundings.
“The Jackalan shaman is dead!”
A footman with good eyes pointed forward. He exclaimed with extreme excitement, “General Firentis has done it!”
Kant turned his gaze forward.
The Jackalan shaman, who had been holding a staff as he stood at the huge tent before, now had four or five javelins sticking out of his body. The shaman wobbled for a bit before slumping to the ground. His condition was unknown.
Judging from the effects brought about by the Intimidation banner and rapidly shrinking morale of the Jackalans, one could have easily guessed that the Jackalan shaman had been taken down. The enemy’s leader was dead.
Owwwwww
More and more Jackalan howls were heard all over the place.
However, there were even more who cast their spiked clubs away and ran out of the tribe.
None of them dared to continue resisting. Their forces had been completely crushed.
We won, Kant thought. He looked at the Jackalans, who had their backs against him as they fled. He held the Intimidation banner high without any bit of mercy. In a subdued voice, he said, “Chase them down and kill them all!”
He saw fit to continue slaughtering the Jackalans while the odds were with him, annihilating the Jackalans once and for all.
Kant had no current need for many prisoners.
The reasoning was simple. Dead Jackalans needed no supervision. By now, Kant’s forces had been reduced to less than 100 units.