I am the Monarch Chapter 67: War and more war (5)

“The night air of Rinse kingdom is really good.”

Looter Beil took in a deep breath.
A chilly smile appeared on his mouth.

'It's a good weather to run for a while.'

His sight moved over to the foot of the mountain.
He saw hundreds of big and small barracks and wooden fences surrounding it.
The camp of Rinse kingdom.
At first glance it seemed solid, but Looter couldn't know.

'By now, they should be asleep right?'

Rinse kingdom would be careless.

'They would think that we are dead tired.'

Not at all.
He didn't think about that at all.

'Stealth like surprise attacks and raids are my specialty.'

The gale of Istel.
That was the nickname of Looter.
On top of that, he had a reason why he could only go with a night raid.

'The king said that the one with the most outstanding merits would receive half of the occupied territory.'

Half of the eastern region of Rinse kingdom.
He could only want it.
That was the reason why a corps commander like himself went out to do a night raid regardless of doing a forced march.

“Corps commander. We have finished preparations for the raid.”

At the soldier's report, Looter faintly smiled and nodded.

'Then, shall we also run a bit today?'

He went towards the entrance.
5.000 cavalrymen were showing a dignified look.
The horses had their mouths covered with a gag and the horse shoes were covered with cloths filled with grass.
Looter raised his right arm high.

“Let's show the strength of Istel kingdom to the Rinse bastards.”
“Yes.”

A low reply came from them.
A weird nervousness flowed with the wind.

“Charge!”

Looter grabbed the reins and walked.
He was pulling and walking the horse to not make any sounds.
5,000 cavalrymen followed behind his back.
5,000 cavalrymen.
That was the most suitable number to do a night raid.

'We retreat quickly after having messed them up.'

Even so, it wasn't that it ended with just one night raid.
When they were confused, he was planning to try raiding it once more.

'It wouldn't even cross their minds.'

A smile appeared on Looter's face.
He was the happiest in this moment.
Joy covered his body.
Soon, he could see the wooden fences that were set up in a solid fashion.

'We are charging in one go.'

Looter got up on his horse and took in a deep breath.
And the others also did the same.
He uncovered the gag of the horses and kicked them.

Dudududu.

The warhorse fiercely charged and then jumped over the fence nimbly.
Behind him, 5,000 soldiers followed him.

“Set it on fire! Run amok as you wish!”
“Waaaaaaaaaa!”

The soldiers, who were holding their breaths, let out cries.
They crumbled the bonfires and set the big and small tents on fire.

They were really spirited.
However, it didn't last long until they realized that something wasn't right.

“Huh?”
“Uh?”

The soldiers who were setting things on fire stopped with a perplexed expression.
Silence.
An uneasy silence roamed inside the camp.
They didn't see guards nor soldiers that got out of the tents.

'Damn! Something is wrong!'

Looter looked at his surroundings and grinded his teeth.
Tens and hundreds of tents were burning, but the people of Rinse kingdom didn't even stick out their noses.
Then, a sharp noise was heard.

Sweeeee!

'Arrow!'

Looter instinctively pulled the reins and moved towards the back of the burning tent.
At that same moment.

Pubububuk!

A rain of arrows poured over the cavalrymen.

“Kuk!”
“Kugh!”

They became porcupines who were not able to prepare themselves, and collapsed.

'Damn! The Rinse bastards were already aware of the night raid!'

Looter clenched his fists with a frustrated look.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The raid was a failure.
Retreating was the only option left if they wanted to live.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The cavalrymen repeated the command and pulled the reins.
They dodged the pouring arrows and ran towards the entrance of the camp.
But.

“When you enter, you can come as you wish. But if you want to leave, you have to receive permission!”
“Where do you want to go?!”

Thousands of swordsmen and spearmen lined up following the fence.
At the same time, cavalrymen appeared inside the camp.
It was a perfectly encircled situation.

'Damn. I can't do anything in this situation!'

Looter grinded his teeth.
There were no methods.
No, there was only one order he could lay out.

“Pierce through!”

And that was piercing through the blockade and returning to their camp.
At Looter's orders, the cavalrymen started to run towards the swordsmen and spearmen.
And Looter also followed his back.

“Block them!”
“Raise your spears!”
“Stab the horses!”

The spearmen of Rinse kingdom raised their spears high, grouped together, and made a root formation.
It was to stop them from piercing through.

Bang!

The people of the two kingdoms clashed.

Cheng! Checheng! Cheng!

The sound of metal clanging together was heard along with sparks.
An unavoidable battle occurred.
The spearmen and swordsmen didn't get pushed back easily.
And they didn't even let them pierce through.
Because of that, Looter and the 5,000 cavalrymen were trapped inside and wavered.
Meanwhile, the cavalrymen of Rinse kingdom attacked their backs.

“Let's show the strength of Rinse kingdom to these bastards!”
“We will send you to hell!”

A really spirited cry rang out.
The cavalrymen of Rinse kingdom pushed the other cavalrymen fiercely.
The cavalrymen of Istel kingdom collapsed helplessly at the attack from both sides.

“Kugh.”
“Kek.”

These last words were heard everywhere.

'Damn! Can't keep like this!'

Looter grinded his teeth and went to the front.

“Damn! Get away! Get away!”

He pulled up his mana and massacred the spearmen and swordsmen.

Slash! Stab!

The power of mana was amazing.
Looter faced the normal soldiers who had a big build like he was facing kids.
Every time he swung his blade, one or two soldiers lost their heads and collapsed.

“The ones that don't want to die get away! Get away!”

Looter yelled.
The soldiers and spearmen hesitated and fell back.
They became scared at his overwhelming power.

'Normal soldiers can't face a corps commander that knows how to use mana.'

Roan, who was facing the normal soldiers at a place a bit far away grinded his teeth.

'If I leave them be, our losses will only increase!'

He couldn't let them just dielike that.

He cut off the neck of one cavalryman charging at him and then looked towards Austin and Keep.

“Austin! Keep! Make me a foothold!”

Austin and Keep, who were facing the cavalrymen, understood Roan's orders in an instant.
The two people put the spears at both of their sides and looked at Roan.
Roan slightly nodded and then charged forward.
One thread of mana surged up from his mana hole.
The muscles of his two legs twitched and were filled with energy.
Austin and Keep looked at each other and then rebounded their knees.

'One, two, three!'

At the same time, Roan stepped on the two spears and jumped.

Pat!

Roan surged to the air using the rebound strength of the spear and his kicking strength.
Roan lightly jumped over the cavalrymen and flew towards Looter.

“Huh?”
“Uh?”

The cavalrymen of Istel kingdom looked at him and had surprised expressions.
Looter, who was massacring the soldiers, discovered that Roan was flying towards him too late.

“This imposible………!”

Looter hurriedly tried to pull back the spear to hit Roan, but it was already too late.
Roan's spear pierced the air and stabbed in towards Looter's chest.

'Damn!'

Looter twisted his upper body unavoidably and dodged below the horse.

Stab!

Roan's spear fell in the place he dodged.
The spear was deeply stabbed into the horse.

Hiiiiiiing!

The horse cried roughly and shook its body.
Roan kicked the head of the horse like that and lightly landed while out pulling his spear.
Meanwhile, Looter who was rolling on the ground with a perplexed look, glared at Roan and fixed his posture.

“Who are you?”
“I'm vice troop commander Roan of rose troop from the 7th corps.”
“Vice troop commander? Not even a general, but a mere adjutant? Hmph!”

Looter snorted and raised his longsword.

“Looter Bale of the 1st corps of the western forces of Istel kingdom will cut off your neck.”

He thought little of Roan.
Although he was at the intermediate-low level, his body had learned mana.
He wasn't at a level where a normal soldier could face him.
But of course, this guess of his was completely wrong.

Tat!

Looter got up from the ground quickly and ran towards Roan.
This was because it was dangerous to keep distance while facing someone holding a long distance weapon such as a spear.
Roan looked at Looter charging at himself and grinded his teeth.

'I'll get rid of him when he's careless.'

He couldn't use mana openly.
Roan swung his spear with all his strength.
It wasn't a simple spear technique, but Roan's spearmanship.

Spat!

A sharp sound was heard along the spear.

“Hph!”

Looter, who was charging in boldly, gulped some air and swung his sword.

Cheng!

A pleasing sound of metal against metal rang out.
The spear was bounced off to the side.

'Kugh. Certainly, the strength of mana……'

Roan grinded his teeth as he felt his palms going numb.
However, it wasn't to the point that he couldn't endure it.
He moved his two arms close to his body and pulled the spear that was bounced off with all his strength.
The spear that had lost its direction once again turned to attack Looter.

'Damn!'

Looter grinded his teeth and swung his sword when he looked at the spear that continued softly.

Cheng! Checheng! Cheng!

Sparks appeared alongside the noise of metal sound.
At first glance, they were even.
But Looter was getting closer to Roan little by little.

Tuk.

Finally, Looter's right foot reached Roan's left foot.

“Die!”

Looter tried to stab him with his blade.
This was the critical moment.
However, Roan's expression was still composed.

'I waited for this!'

He inserted mana to his eyes.
At that instant.

Pat!

The movements of the people became sickeningly slow and the whole world was dyed in golden light.
The golden light that filled his sight was mana.
Roan just looked at Looter's sword that was coming into him.

'So mana moves like this.'

As the proficiency he currently achieved was low, he couldn't grasp everything clearly. But, he could guess that the mana was flowing towards the blade from Looter's mana hole.
Most of all, the mana that moved along with Looter's movement was clearly seen.

'I'm ending it here.'

Roan already felt his eye getting hot.
As he used mana and also Kalian's tear, his eye was beginning to feel the burden.
He quickly twisted his body to dodge Looter's blade and then he closed in on him.

Swuuuuush.

A really slow movement.
Although Roan was also moving while utilizing mana, the movements he saw by utilizing mana was so slow, it could make him yawn.

'Reid's battling technique.'

He grabbed the spear with his right hand and executed the basic stances of Reid's battle technique.

Swush.

The fist moved towards Looter's abdomen.

“Kuuuuuuugh.”

The sound of Looter gulping down the sound became loud.
At the same time, he closed in on the shoulder that was swinging the sword and he twisted his body.

Spaaaaaat!

Roan's fist barely missed Looter's abdomen.
At that moment, he felt an expression of relief from Looter.

'There's no need to like it that much. As this isn't the end.'

Roan pressed down the shoulder with the fist that missed.
At that instant, the balance crumbled and his whole body twisted to the left.
It was a look that seemed like they would fall to the ground.
Roan wasn't perplexed and then pulled his left arm to his right side and turned his body.
At the same time he wrapped Looter's legs with his right leg.

Tuuuuuk!

Looter's leg was trapped between his thigh and calf.

“Uhhhhhhhh!”

Looter's surprised voice became long.
Roan just pulled his leg like that.
Looter couldn't endure it anymore and lost his balance.
Looter slowly collapsed.
Then.

'Kugh!'

Roan blinked at the pain he felt in his eyes.
At that instant, the world that was dyed in golden light turned to its original look.
Looter, who was falling so slowly it made you yawn, collapsed in an instant.

Boom!

“Uhh.”

Looter couldn't get a hold of himself.

'Damn! To wrap my legs in that situation.'

It was an attack he hadn't expected at all.

'It's dangerous like this!'

He tried to turn his body quickly and stand up.
At that moment.

Puk!

He felt a strong shock in his side.

“Kuhuk!”

A feeling like his breath was cut shot through him.
Roan had kicked his side.
Looter flipped and spread out while looking at the sky.

Tuk.

Roan aimed at Looter's throat with his spear.
Looter had a helpless expression.

“Kugh. Damn. To fall by a normal soldier and not even a general.”

He let out a sigh.

“Whew. Is the Gale of Istel ending here?”

At those words Roan put strength in his hands.

“You blew somewhere where you shouldn't have gone in the first place.”

At the same time, the spear moved.

Slash.

A line appeared on Looter's neck and then, his head became separated from his body.
Roan stabbed the head with his spear and raised it high to the sky.

“Vice troop commander Roan of rose troop from the 7th corps has slain the neck of the enemy commander!”

A loud yell resonated out.

“Huh? Corps commander Beil?!”
“Ah…….”
“Impossible.”

Even so, the army of Istel kingdom that was getting pushed back one sidedly, looked at Looter's head and suffered a setback.
The bastards that were struggling until the end threw their weapons and surrendered.

“Hahaha! Roan! It's a complete victory. A complete victory!”

Aaron approached while riding his horse.
He also saw the other commanders at his back.
They were a bit surprised as the night raid had happened just like Roan had predicted it.
Aaron looked at the big and small tents that were on fire.

“Put the fires out!”

If they acted later, the whole camp would be covered in fire.
Then, Roan stepped up.

“It would be good to put the fire off later.”
“Huh?”

Aaron asked back what he meant.
Roan looked at the camp of Istel kingdom that was located at the other side of the plains.

“If we catch the fire quickly, they may realize that the raid had failed. Now, rather than putting it out……”

He put strength in his voice.

“It's time to go for a counter raid.”
“Right. It may look like we are the ones in chaos.”

Aaron nodded.
After that, he prepared 5,000 cavalrymen with Mendel at the front.
Behind them, more than 10,000 infantrymen moved into formation.

“Then, we will also depart after we cover the horses with gags.”

Mendel had a really spirited expression.
At that look, Roan shook his head.

“No. It would be good to let the 5,000 cavalrymen advance like this.”
“Like this? Are you telling me that we have to advance without covering the horses with gags in a frontal attack?”

At Mendel's question, Roan nodded.

“Our camp is already on fire. And Istel kingdom will also be looking at this. They will be thinking that the raid was a success. Because of that, when 5,000 cavalrymen approach their camp they will think that their allies are returning to the camp after having succeeded in the raid.”
“Ah! Right. It will be impossible to check if they are friends or foes in this dark night!”

Roan nodded.

“Yes. So don't advance while covering the horses with gags, but instead approach them as fast as possible and the moment you enter their camp, set it on fire and run amok as you please.”

Continued by that, he looked at the 10,000 archers.

“Followed by that, the spearmen and swordsmen will sweep them up.”

At those words Mendel nodded.
And Aaron and the other commanders also did the same.

“Let's do as Roan says.”

At Aaron's order, Mendel slightly bowed and moved out of the camp while he was leading the cavalrymen.

Dudududu.

The sound of horse steps was clearly heard.
At the same time, the 10,000 swordsmen and spearmen left the camp without any sound.
They had all covered their faces and armour with dirt.
Because of that, they became one with the darkness.
And of course, the one in front of the 10,000 soldiers was Roan.

Sasasasak.

They crossed over the long grass.
A dense smell of blood was wafting through the air.
When they approached the camp of Istel kingdom.

Waaaaaa!

Flames surged up from the insides of the camp.
Roan's eyes shined.

'It's now our turn.'

< War and more war (5) > End

Translator's note: Sponsored chapter!

Thank you for reading!

Translator : Subak

Proofreader: st8_lupe.

Chapter end