Ch.599The Tree-Planting Hashar

The broken logs spin around, spraying flesh from the clinging corpses like rain.

Like a drunken steel dinosaur charging through, the palisades at the front of the village burst apart completely, sweeping away the infantry gathered inside. Screams and wails were drowned out by the thunderous noise.

In the tsunami of wooden fragments sweeping in all directions, entrails, fresh blood, bones, and flesh undulated like waves.

– Crack!

Through the debris and dust that shot up, dark red tentacles whirled like a storm, erasing even the traces of the palisade. It took less than ten seconds for the sturdy wooden fence to be reduced to devastated flatland.

“Uh…”

The warriors of Honisegashia, preparing for a cavalry charge, stared blankly at the scene of massive destruction before them, forgetting even to whip their reins.

A transcendent strike rivaling the wrath of their Kagan, Orhan. The front of the village had instantly transformed into something like an open garden of flesh and entrails.

Warriors impaled on wooden stakes struggled while embedded in walls and ground everywhere, and corpses with their bodies torn by logs, spilling intestines, were scattered all around. It was an unbelievable sight to be the result of a person wielding a sword.

“Gaaaargh!”

“My stomach, my stomach…!”

The screams of the survivors… no, those not yet dead, echoed belatedly. Along with a clear laugh mixed between the screams.

“Kyahah. Ahah. Ahahaha!”

The warriors’ gazes turned to the center of the clearing.

In the slowly settling dust, the monster who had created hell with a single sword was smiling, baring her fangs as if admiring her own masterpiece. Her blue eyes sparkled as if she couldn’t contain her joy.

The warriors trembled involuntarily, feeling astonishment, terror, and an instinctive revulsion that couldn’t be expressed in words.

The traitor Haschal. Though the warriors had heard rumors of her return to the Great Plains, they could never have imagined she would appear as such a monster.

The next moment, her gaze turned behind her. More precisely, toward the Imperial medium cavalry who, like the warriors, had been rendered speechless.

“What are you doing!”

A fierce voice filled with killing intent and ecstasy. Haschal raised her sword high and pointed toward the inside of the village.

“Your obstacle is gone! Increase your speed! Create distance and turn back to strike! You can manage that much, can’t you?”

“Yes, sir!”

Karim, finally coming to his senses, responded loudly and led the knights.

“Landenburg Knights! Follow Baron Median! Everyone charge!”

The hooves of the medium cavalry, which had momentarily slowed, picked up speed again. The palisade that had blocked them was now nothing but debris. While the Ka’har cavalry hesitated, they could enter the village interior without any hindrance.

“Damn…! Don’t let those western bastards escape! Follow them!”

“Fight without sparing your lives! The Kagan will remember us!”

The Ka’har cavalry, regaining their senses at the Imperial medium cavalry’s charge, hastily spurred their horses and began to dash forward.

Due to the misaligned timing of the charge, the distance had widened somewhat, but as light cavalry, their charging speed exceeded that of the Imperial medium cavalry, making it possible for them to penetrate the rear of the Imperial forces if they continued at this pace.

Well aware of this, Haschal rode her horse in the opposite direction of the medium cavalry, advancing toward the Ka’har cavalry.

“Jahan! Nigel! Follow me! We’ll block the rear to buy time! The last twenty riders come with us too!”

“Yes!” “Understood!”

The man and woman responded without a moment’s hesitation, turning their reins. Along with twenty medium cavalry positioned at the rear of the unit. Haschal quickly rode to take the lead.

“Haschaaaaaal! You filthy traitor, how dare you-!”

The warriors at the front of the Ka’har cavalry contorted their faces and shouted. Trying to erase the fear seeping into their hearts with contempt and anger.

Haschal smiled. With a bright smile, she gripped her sword, now dimmed of its blue light, and charged forward.

“Bark all you want. Like dogs to be slaughtered and eaten!”

A dark red mist rose like a tidal wave.

—-

What followed was a battle close to a massacre. As Haschal collided with the front of the approaching cavalry, the vortex of Karma of Murder whirled like a mixer’s blade.

“Weak! Too weak! Can you even call yourselves warriors? Even if a sheep wears wolf’s skin, it remains a sheep. The stench of livestock assaults my nose!”

Jinyelyun. Mangin. Hwibyeok. Jeokpyeonin. Geukyeong.

The art of Karma of Murder, pushed to its extreme, mercilessly dismembered both horses and riders, tearing through the enemy ranks. Fresh blood spurted like fountains, scattering sticky streams across the earth.

“Kaaaah!”

“Receive the sword of Landenburg!”

Jahan and Nigel, the two Masters, followed her, diving into the midst of the cavalry. The black iron crescent blade dismembered warriors, and Eberond’s holy spear spewed lightning.

“Gaaaah!”

“That woman! That woman is using dark arts! Don’t block, avoid her!”

The front line of warriors collapsed, falling from their horses.

Following them, twenty medium cavalry formed a horizontal line and pierced through the enemy ranks that had been thrown into confusion by the three.

“For Landenburg!”

“Stinking Imperial bastards!”

The warriors, whose charging momentum had been broken, were either impaled by the knights’ lances and fell from their horses, or barely managed to block before engaging in melee. It was a moment when hundreds of cavalry were halted by just twenty-three people.

“Jahan-! You dog who clings to the traitor! Do you remember me, Honi Bonon?”

“…I don’t know someone like you.”

The cavalry captain of Honisegashia, Champion Bonon, thrust his cavalry spear toward Jahan. Jahan merely twitched his eyebrow slightly as he swung his crescent blade to deflect the spear.

Meanwhile, another Champion attached himself to Nigel.

“For one who has realized Karma to dabble in sorcery without shame. Filthy woman. Fitting for a subordinate of the shameless traitor who knows no disgrace!”

“……”

Though Nigel had learned the eastern language and could understand what he said, she felt no need to respond and remained silent. Eberond’s holy spear, shot like lightning, answered for her.

And not long after, the medium cavalry, having gained sufficient distance, pulled their reins and stopped.

“Landenburg Knights! Turn around!”

“Everyone in charging formation! We’ll penetrate their flanks!”

Karim and Yan moved to the side of the formation and gave the order to turn. The knights turned their horses’ heads in the opposite direction, forming two wedge formations.

“Charge!”

A thunderous command. The Landenburg medium cavalry fixed their lances under their arms and charged with thundering hoofbeats, as if retracing their path.

It was the moment that decided the outcome of the battle.

======[ Haschal ]======

It didn’t take long for the warriors of the Honi-whatever tribe to be annihilated.

The charge of one hundred and eighty medium cavalry who had created distance and turned around. The tribal warriors tenaciously resisted by turning their cavalry on both wings to block the medium cavalry, but the difference in power was too great to withstand.

How could ordinary warriors endure when Hersella was rampaging like a mad dog in the center of their formation?

“Phew…”

I sighed lightly as I felt the control of my body return to me after temporarily handing it over. My entire body was soaked in blood, reeking of iron.

‘Couldn’t you fight a bit more cleanly?’

[You’re one to talk? Your lost conscience must be desperately searching for its owner.]

Perhaps because she had been able to rampage properly after a long time, Hersella’s voice mocking my complaint was much lighter than usual.

“Here. Wipe off some blood, miss.”

“Ah, thanks.”

I looked around while wiping my face and hair with the cloth Leonore handed me.

The plains covered with corpses. The tribal warriors—cavalry and infantry, old and young alike—had all perished and were sprawled on the sea of blood, while masterless horses whinnied sadly, nudging the corpses.

It was an overwhelming victory. Everywhere I looked, all I could see were Ka’har corpses. The medium cavalry’s losses were only about four riders.

I had ordered the Masters to prioritize protecting our forces, but in a chaotic melee involving hundreds of cavalry, some losses were inevitable.

Leonore, Karim, and Yan did their best, but Jahan and Nigel had their hands full with the enemy Champions for a while and couldn’t pay attention to our forces.

Well, they both took down the Champions, so it’s fine.

I turned my gaze toward Jahan and Nigel.

Jahan was examining the face of the Champion he had cut in half, tilting his head, while Nigel was playing around, repeatedly throwing and retrieving her holy spear with the Champion’s head impaled on its tip.

Perhaps she was still bothered by the insults she had heard earlier.

—-

After annihilating all the warriors in the village… that is, all males over fifteen, we expelled the elderly, women, and children we had captured as prisoners outside the village. We gave them only the minimum amount of food they would need to survive on their way to Ordos.

Perhaps because they were medium cavalry carefully trained by the Margrave of Landenburg, there was no looting or rape that might typically occur in such situations.

According to Karim, unless I explicitly permitted looting, none of them would commit such indulgences without authorization.

“Vile traitor woman! May you be cursed! The curse of the great wolf upon you!”

Amidst the sea of tears, as they were forcibly expelled, an elderly tribesman with eyes full of hatred screamed curses at the top of his lungs… but to me, it was just noise not worth paying attention to.

Jahan seemed to think differently and tried to tear the old man in half, but I stopped him and let the old man go.

It was just an old man’s nonsense to begin with, and even if by some chance a curse really did come down, my Mana Resistance and Stigmata would block it anyway.

After driving out all the prisoners and taking three days’ worth of supplies, we burned the entire village and resumed our march.

For the next five days, marching, resting, fighting, and burning were repeatedly carried out.

We advanced to a position roughly halfway between the Wall of Berengaria and Ordos, attacking and annihilating the scattered Ka’har.

The Ka’har weren’t fools either; from the third day on, they gathered together to face us, which made things quite tricky.

Anyway, after five days had passed—

“It’s Ordos’ pursuit force! Their main army is coming!”

One of the three knights sent to scout the east, the only one who managed to return, reported that the time to retreat had come.

According to plan, we had drawn their attention, and now it was time to run away with our tails between our legs.