Ch.604Our Child Has Changed

Well then, what should I do now?

I unwrapped the bandages around my legs as I watched the enemies rapidly closing the distance. My top was extremely short, and my shorts barely covered my groin. I was essentially wearing armor over what amounted to underwear.

The blessing of the fire deity—the less you wear, the higher your defense. To maximize this trait, stripping completely would be most effective, but even in this situation, I honestly couldn’t bring myself to do that.

I understood that I wasn’t in a position to be picky, but still… that was too much.

Fighting completely naked in front of thousands of barbarians whose minds contained nothing but murder, plunder, and rape? Wouldn’t that be like sending a message saying “Please ravish me”?

I feared their excitement might strengthen them more than my defense would increase.

You know, I don’t remember who said it, but there’s that saying that someone intent on rape can summon seven times their normal strength.

If I fought until exhaustion and got captured, I might end up having a mass wedding ceremony with thousands of husbands right there on the spot. Would Orhan officiate?

Anyway, for these reasons, my current attire was my personal Maginot Line of exposure.

—-

As my allies grew more distant, the Ka’har cavalry drew closer. The vibration of thousands of hooves pounding the earth was beginning to reach me.

“There she is! That mongrel bitch is over there!”

They seemed to notice I had been left behind, as they began charging with renewed vigor, hurling insults with voices full of murderous intent.

‘Damn, there really are a lot of them.’

Five thousand? Six thousand? Seeing them up close, it looked about that many. With that many troops, there must be five or six Champions mixed in.

And beyond that, Orhan himself, whose presence was so massive it felt like a mountain even from this distance. With forces like these, they could have conquered Landenburg without the wall.

[What will you do?]

‘First… I need to keep their attention focused on me. If they split their forces and pursue the detachment, there’s no point in me holding out here.’

If this had been a narrow ravine, it would have been somewhat easier. But on this open plain, it was impossible to use terrain to block them.

Even if I managed a miraculous fight and held most of them back, if just five Champions and three hundred cavalry broke away to chase my allies, everything would be for nothing.

‘So, let’s make this flashy.’

So flashy they won’t even think about anyone but me.

======[ Blue Banner Army ]======

Haschal had broken away from the Imperial formation, turned her horse around, and stopped in the middle of the plain as if intending to single-handedly block the Blue Banner Army.

The decision seemed so irrationally suspicious, but the warriors of the Blue Banner Army didn’t care in the slightest about why Haschal had stopped.

For warriors who had drawn their weapons and begun charging, thinking was merely a waste of time.

Their role was not to contemplate but to fight. They left all the thinking and decision-making to their commanders, and simply advanced, retreated, and fought according to orders.

Therefore, the task of figuring out why Haschal had stopped alone fell to Orhan and the Champions.

‘She stopped? Then kill her!’

‘I’ll tear her to pieces!’

But the five Champions assigned to the pursuit had no thoughts beyond murderous intent.

This was natural. Champions were, after all, warriors who had reached enlightenment through karma after repeatedly emptying their minds and fighting.

Just because they had reached the level of Champion didn’t mean their brains—which had thought of nothing but fighting for over a decade—would suddenly fill with knowledge and wisdom.

In the end, Orhan was the only one who pondered why Haschal had stopped.

‘Single-handedly blocking an army of six thousand? To save just over two hundred subordinates? …That can’t be right.’

They say when positions change, actions change too, but the Haschal he remembered wasn’t soft-hearted enough to throw away her life to save her subordinates.

If anything, she’d be more likely to set her subordinates on fire and send them charging into enemy lines.

‘If she believed she could win alone, she wouldn’t have fled this far in the first place… Is this a trap?’

Orhan narrowed his eyes in contemplation. It was certainly not an ambush. In such an open space, the Empire would have needed to conscript an army of moles to hide troops.

‘Then… she must be trying to buy time until they can join with the main force and counterattack. That’s most likely. The retreating detachment is trying to buy time until they can reach the main force and advance together.’

The enemy’s movements played out clearly in Orhan’s mind.

The original plan must have been to reach Ludwig’s main force’s position and counterattack the Blue Banner Army together.

However, the Blue Banner Army’s pursuit was faster than expected, putting them in danger of being annihilated before reaching the main force.

So Haschal was staying behind alone to hold back the Blue Banner Army while the detachment delivered the news to the main force and advanced back here together.

In other words, if they delayed here, they would end up in a head-on collision with Ludwig’s main force, which would be thoroughly prepared to defeat him.

That’s what Orhan thought. He didn’t realize his reasoning was flawed from the premise.

He believed that ‘Haschal’ would never sacrifice herself recklessly to save her subordinates’ lives, but the Haschal he knew was already gone.

‘Split our forces to chase the fleeing detachment? No. Seeing her decision to hold out alone against six thousand troops, the main force must not be far. If they were too far to join up, this would just be suicide.’

Splitting their forces risked being defeated piecemeal by the enemy’s main force in the worst case.

‘To respond to Ludwig’s main force that will follow, our best option is to use all our troops here to subdue Haschal. And then…’

And then?

‘……’

Orhan deliberately stopped thinking. What to do with Haschal once captured. Even for him, that was a difficult decision to make.

A traitor who betrayed the Aishan and dabbled in sorcery. According to the laws of the steppe, she must be captured, subjected to all manner of shame and pain, and then killed. Orhan knew well that all Aishan warriors demanded this.

‘…Imelia.’

But a name buried in his memories brought a moment of hesitation.

If Amin knew Orhan’s feelings now, he would have writhed in indignation at such severe discrimination. Though he was already writhing in a pigsty anyway.

“What are your orders?”

One of the Blue Banner Army’s Champions, Poisira, carefully asked.

They were already close enough to the traitor Haschal that arrows could reach her. All the warriors of the Blue Banner Army were holding their reins, waiting for the Kagan’s command.

That question helped Orhan make his decision.

‘…I have no choice.’

He was the Kagan of the Aishan.

The ruler responsible for the entire great plain, standing above all warriors. He could no longer act solely on personal feelings as he had in his youth.

Cutting off his hesitation, Orhan drew his crescent blade, pointed it toward Haschal, and shouted loudly.

“Blue Banner Army! Fire at will, then advance! Surround the traitor! Don’t let her escape anywhere!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

As if they had been waiting for this order, six thousand cavalry simultaneously drew their bows and pulled their bowstrings.

Six thousand arrows cut through the air. The sky darkened as if a sudden downpour had arrived. The steel raindrops, tracing parabolas with their gleaming tips, poured down mercilessly toward a single human.

And then,

“Kenaz!”

A pillar of fire shot high into the sky, burning the rain of arrows and scattering ashes.

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

So they start with arrows, as expected.

Since I had anticipated this, the response was simple. I stretched my hand toward the sky and raised a pillar of fire to erase the arrows that would reach me.

I could have taken the arrow rain with my bare body without suffering a single wound, but this way was much better for drawing attention.

– Whoosh!

The rising pillar of flame swept through the arrow rain, burning it to ash. The ashes scattered in the wind like a whirlwind. It was just simple fire without karma, but that was enough to burn the wooden arrow shafts.

The arrowheads were also caught in the pillar of fire and updraft, flying away haphazardly.

“The traitor bitch’s sorcery! Arrows are useless!”

“That fire pillar…! So it was you who burned the entire steppe!”

“A Champion resorting to sorcery!”

The warriors of the Blue Banner Army charged forward, spitting contemptuous curses. Their war horses seemed to share their riders’ anger, moving even faster than before.

‘I’ll fight until I face Orhan directly. Is that okay?’

With Hersella’s Tale of Heros, Field of Mortality, I could probably kill about a thousand, but then I wouldn’t have strength left to fight Orhan.

Perhaps Hersella in her prime could have managed, but the current Hersella would deplete her Karma of Murder just maintaining the Field of Mortality.

Hersella’s Field of Mortality was undoubtedly a powerful heroic narrative, but due to Hersella’s own low proficiency, it wasn’t yet operating at full efficiency.

The area of effect was too narrow, yet the power consumption was enormous.

This was natural. Skills grow stronger the more they’re used. Wasn’t my “Defying Fate” the same?

Now, after repeated refinement, it had become a technique of a completely different caliber than when I first used it, but when I had just learned it, the limit was just making a single slash slightly faster.

So, if the enemy were a small force of about five hundred, the Field of Mortality might be viable, but against thousands, fighting with my own strength was several times more efficient.

[Very well. For fighting at a distance, you would be better.]

Hersella readily agreed without complaint, knowing this well.

‘Good. Then let’s get going.’

After our exchange, I struck Cascador’s reins and lightly kicked his side. The horned white horse that had been standing quietly awaiting my command let out a long roar and began to charge.