Chapter 509 - The One In Charge
Dave followed Ralph until they reached the area where their hundred samurai warriors were stationed. They were all tending carefully to their weapons, cleaning them, and making sure they were sharp and their sheaths were well oiled.
Dave clapped his hand loud for all to hear him.
"Fellow warriors, we"re tasked to take back the hills from the invaders. I know it"s going to be a difficult job, but I"ll do my best so that we don"t suffer casualties."
"To h.e.l.l with being safe! We came here to die! We came here for honor! We do not need any plans to keep us safe. We will fight and kill all those who oppose the Shogun!" One of the burlier men present shouted.
The rest of the samurais all shouted in unison, agreeing with the burly samurai"s words.
Dave frowned, "Honor doesn"t mean to throw your life away, that"s just being reckless. If you"re dead, that means that your lord has one less a.s.set to use in battle. Don"t talk stupid s.h.i.+t. Follow my orders and shut up." Dave spoke back.
The men were clearly annoyed at Dave"s words. It seems that his idea was against their beliefs. No wonder the samurai age died when gunpowder was produced. They charged right in the face of machine guns. Ignoring their safety. For honor. Dave could only shake his head.
"Listen up, I need a few men to break down those crates, we need s.h.i.+elds," Dave said, and began demonstrating, he tore one of the crates wheels, which brought a lot of attention to him. They didn"t see him as an undead, so his immense strength was a surprise to many of the people there. He then removed some of the extra wood on the crate to make it as light as possible then carried the crate above his head.
Normally a single person will find the crate too heavy to carry. But with many samurais, all of them pulling their own weight, the crate shouldn"t hinder them much.
"Like this," Dave said. This way we won"t be arrowed down to the last man standing, the wood will keep us relatively safe."
"What if they throw hot oil on us?" another person said.
"That"s improbable," Dave said as he put down the crate, "There is no way the enemy would have prepared oil for this battle, especially since it is expensive, and it is usually used for sieging. My only worry are boulders. But I saw the pa.s.sage, if we"re fast enough, we"ll get to the other side of the valley before they could even think of using rocks."
"This feels cowardly. Hiding behind a s.h.i.+eld." The burly man said.
"Cowardice is to die and leave your partners with more burden. You"re a soldier, you have you a bit to do in war. If you are to die, you"ll only create more difficulty for your brethren. Follow orders! This may not feel like the way of a samurai, but right now and right here. You"re bound by duty to fulfill your task to your Shogun, no matter the mean. Do you understand?!"
Dave said and the burly man let out a dissatisfied humph.
This was what caused Dave to snap.
Dave drew Durandal, "You refuse to listen and obey, I challenge you to a battle to the death."
This made the burly samurai take a step back.
"What are you doing Dave?" Ralph asked.
"I can"t have idiots who think they can do whatever they want, an army is like a chain, and it is only as strong as its weakest link. If I have someone no matter who ruining the atmosphere with his idiocy, then I"m better with him dead than alive." Dave spoke back.
The man in question turned to his friends and comrades, no one was going to help him.
He drew his sword still. "I accept your challenge!"
"d.a.m.n idiot," Dave cursed and charged the man. His swing was too obvious, a downward cut that a kid would be able to dodge.
Once Dave was in the range of the man"s sword, he unceremoniously lifted one of his hands from his sword and grabbed the man"s katana.
Surprise overcame the burly samurai as his swing was stopped with a single hand.
Dave pulled on the sword causing the samurai to jerk forward then he headb.u.t.ted him. The burly man was dazed and let go of the sword. He took a few stunned steppes back and fell on his a.s.s.
Dave swung Durandal but stopped it right at the man"s neck.
"You died." Dave said, "Now your life belongs to me. Obey." Dave said.
The man suddenly woke up from his stupor, once he realized his predicament he growled, "Never! I"d rather kill myself than be another person"s slave! My honor doesn"t permit me to!"
Dave kicked the man in the face and said, "Are you stupid? You are dead! You have no honor. You have nothing, only I have the right to allow you to die or live. Here are your witnesses."
Dave pointed at the men that were watching.
"They have seen it, they have seen you accept the challenge. If you kill yourself, then you dishonored yourself. You will be a liar and go against your own code. Serve, obey, do well and I may bring you back to life. For now, you"re Dead!"
The man was at a loss, he looked around once again, hoping to find solace or someone to help and a.s.sist him, but everyone was shaking their head. For them, Dave was right, he had spared the man, and the man now owes his life to Dave, he must do what he is told.
The man struck the ground with a fist then said, "I comply."
"Good, now," Dave didn"t give a second glance at the samurai as he turned to the rest.
"Anyone here has an objection against my way of doing things?!"
No one spoke, "As I thought, now get to work!"
Dave called and the samurais scattered like sheep seeing a wolf. They began breaking down the crates as fast as possible, making the makes.h.i.+ft protective s.h.i.+elds that they could carry.
"Bruh, you"re kinda mean." Ralph grinned.
"Mean? Bro, this is an army, they have to learn to respect their superiors and follow orders. If you have one rotten person in an army it"s going to decrease the overall potential of your units. They all must learn their places, and they all must follow orders."
"Right then, so what"s your plan? We"ll go with the army and hope we don"t get squashed under a rock?"
"Nah, You and me we"ll be doing something else. Thankfully I still have my Undead Strength, it"s going to help us a lot in the following mission."
A couple of hours later, all the crates were formed to what Dave had ordered. Dave then approached the burly man and said.
"You"ll be leading the men to go through the valley."
"What about you, general? It is your plan, are you not going to come with us?"
"Don"t you dare think that I won"t be coming with you because I"m a coward or afraid of some rocks? My task is far more dangerous than yours. Just keep going through the valley, you"ll hear my signal."
"You there," Dave pointed at a group of samurais that were cl.u.s.tered together.
"Flip the crate, get under."
The samurais did as told.
Dave began turning around the crate, making sure that the samurais were inside the perimeter of the crate.
"The crate could hold about ten people. Good, I want five to carry the crate, and the other five to rest, swap with each other every ten minutes." Dave gave the orders and turned to Ralph.
"Blaster, with me." And went sprinting toward the valley.
"Man, I feel like I"m tagging along on your own quest," Ralph said.
"Military warfare is more my specialty, don"t worry about it, you"ll definitely have your own roles with your own tasks and missions."
"Granted, it"s my legacy. So, tell me where are we heading?" Ralph said.
"To the valley."
"Sometimes I have no idea what you"re thinking."
"Keep following," Dave said and the two went straight forward.
The rest of Dave and Ralph"s troops were in awe as they saw the two charging headfirst into the Valley, they didn"t want to be left in the dust, so they picked up the crates and took them. It was extremely light once more than five samurais split the weight between them carrying the crates over their heads. A few samurais didn"t do much in a.s.sistance but were keeping their strength to swap with the others once It becomes heavier.
Dave and ralph approached the valley pretty soon, it was getting dark, a perfect time for the night"s attack. Dave and ralph made sure to use the cover of bushes and trees to not be spotted.
Thankfully, they approached the valley"s steep edge without being noticed. The valley"s entrance was like the gullet of a beast opening its mouth, the rifts on its side were high and steep, an arrow from the bottom side will find it a grueling task to make it all the way up. But an archer from the high grounds will be shooting fish in a barrel.
"If we go through the valley, we"ll probably be seen," Ralph said.
"We"re not going through the valley." Dave said, he crouched on his knees and said, "get on my back."
"Dude, are you serious."
"Dead serious, this is the only way to get up, and you don"t have the strength for it. Trust me, get on my back."
"d.a.m.n this feels awkward," Ralph said.
"Just don"t tell anyone about it."
Ralph shook his head and awkwardly got on Dave"s back.
"Hang on tight," Dave said and once Ralph secured his hands around Dave"s neck.
"Right, let"s go!" Dave gave his legs some power and jumped up.
The sudden jump made Ralph"s heart drop. Dave had simply jumped more than thirty feet in one go.
He grabbed at one of the protruding jagged rocks on the edge of the cliff, the lurched himself up using the strength of his arms.
Dave was jumping the cliff like a professional rock climber, only he jumped farther, faster and didn"t need any product to keep his hands from slipping from the rocks. His superhuman strength gave him enough pressure that he could carry his and Ralph"s weight with just his index and thumb finger.
Dave kept climbing and it didn"t take long before the two were all the way on the top of the valley.
"d.a.m.n, that"s sick."
"I know right. Listen up, this is where things get a bit crazy. Dave said as he raised his head a bit and took a look at his surrounding.
"There is a group of six samurais on this side of the cliff. They are probably the scouts. We"ll need to clear them. Quietly."
"We can probably manage, but what about the other side? I mean we"ll have to go down and climb back up, that"s definitely gonna waste time." Ralph pointed.
"I"ll take care of that side later; I"m sure I can make the jump from here to there."
"I admire your jumping power, but that"s definitely more than fifty feet away," Ralph said.
"I know, you"re heavy, if I was the only one jumping against the cliff"s side, I could have jumped faster and higher, I"m sure I can make the jump. But before that, we need to at least have one area clear of hostiles. Ready?"
"Yeah man, let"s go then."
"Alright, let"s go."
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