Ch.607Melee and Massacre

“Kihihihing!”

The terrified warhorses began to rampage, ignoring their riders’ commands and running wild. As if determined to prove the origin of the idiom “unbridled colt.”

They leaped up and down, raised their front legs high and thrashed about, striking other horses with their heads and hind legs in a violent frenzy.

“Prrrrrr!”

The struck warhorses also became excited and began to rampage, turning the Blue Banner Army’s encirclement formation into a chaotic disaster zone in an instant.

*Thud!*

A rampaging warhorse crashed into another, knocking it down, while yet another horse tripped over the fallen body and tumbled forward, throwing its rider.

“Aaaaargh!”

A Ka’har soldier who fell helplessly was trampled under hooves, crushed like meat paste. The screams of horses and shouts of riders blended together into a harmony of wails that echoed across the battlefield.

“Damn it. Calm down, I said calm down!”

Even warriors who barely managed not to fall off could only cling to their frenzied mounts, unable to calm the foaming, raging warhorses.

—-

In the chaos filled with the stench of blood and horse dung, I sensed Orhan’s momentum, which had been following closely behind me, suddenly halt, and I smiled.

That’s right. You can’t break through, can you?

To reach where I was, he would have to penetrate through the center of the rampaging horde of warhorses.

Even with the strength of a hero or greater, it would be impossible to charge through at the same speed as before without killing them. He would only add hundreds more collision accidents to the already horrifically chaotic battlefield.

Even if he skillfully targeted only the horses, once the mounts died, their riders would roll on the ground and be trampled to death.

The Blue Banner cavalry, having lost control, had definitely stopped Orhan’s charge.

Orhan had two options left: either approach slowly while carefully avoiding each cavalryman’s movements, or crush all obstacles in his path before even reaching them.

Or he could leap high into the air over the warriors. Though that would be futile if I simply changed direction to avoid him.

I wasn’t sure what choice Orhan would make.

Whether he would charge through while killing his own subordinates, leap over like the two foolish Champions who had died, or try somehow to calm the cavalrymen.

Well, it didn’t really matter which he chose. He had paused momentarily to make his decision, and that brief moment of time was exactly what I needed.

—-

“Kyaaaah!”

Frosting and Durandal danced, raising a storm of blood.

Undulating tentacles became crimson spears, stabbing in all directions.

Swirling flames swept up and burned fragments of flesh.

The warhorse I had commandeered collapsed, turned to minced meat by the warriors’ swords and spears. I leaped off as if dismounting, then swam through the wave of screaming cavalrymen like a salmon with blades, slaughtering every enemy in sight.

Reducing the number of enemies. One more.

Buying time. As long as possible.

With only those thoughts in mind.

“Haschal!”

A spear thrust down from atop a rampaging horse. I extended my leg to wrap around the warrior’s spear shaft, then launched myself up to grab the exposed neck between the armor plates.

“Hagalaz!”

The destructive mana turned him to dust. I spurred the riderless, rampaging horse and leaped toward the next warrior like a swooping hawk.

“Traitorous wench!”

I deflected the crescent blade aimed at my waist with Durandal. Sparks flew with a clear metallic sound.

“Huk…!”

I kicked the warrior who was staring dejectedly at his bisected crescent blade, and with the sound of tearing leather, his upper body burst open.

“Kaaaah!”

Dozens of blades flew at me in succession. I deflected them with my sword, crushed them with my arm, and slashed them away with tentacles. Warriors, dismembered along with their weapons, tumbled across the ground and were crushed.

“A whore’s bloodline-!”

[How dare that bastard!]

Hersella, who had been quiet during other insults, erupted with fiery rage and grabbed the warrior who had mentioned “whore” with her karma tentacles, meticulously tearing him apart piece by piece.

The chaotic battle continued without pause. After slaughtering five or six enemies and advancing a few steps forward, twice as many warriors would charge at me the next moment.

My body was so thoroughly soaked in enemy blood that it was hard to find a spot that wasn’t red, and bits of flesh and entrails clung to my armor like decorations, as I had no time to remove them. The putrid stench was overwhelming.

“I’ll tear you limb from limb and hang you!”

Warriors jumped off their uncontrollable horses and charged at me, risking being trampled by hooves.

Spears, curved swords, axes, fire lances, crescent blades, and tang blades—all manner of weapons flew at me from every direction.

…This is endless.

A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

Thirty seconds since I had blocked Orhan’s path and begun slaughtering the Blue Banner Army troops.

Despite consuming my power like water and instantly killing over two hundred enemies, they showed no signs of faltering. Instead, they charged at me with even greater fury, like moths to a flame.

At this rate, this truly might not end until all six thousand were dead.

“Huu…”

I exhaled a breath full of heat, regulated my breathing, and gathered the power of murder karma in my left foot before stomping down on the ground.

Murder karma technique, Extreme Shadow.

Crimson thorns shot up through the shadows, impaling the enemies’ bodies like stakes. Warriors, vertically pierced, staggered like puppets with cut strings before collapsing.

“Kuk…!”

“Monster woman…!”

The warriors’ footsteps halted for a moment. Rather than stopping out of fear, they seemed to be cautiously assessing, unable to think of a way to respond.

“Don’t retreat! She’s human too. She must tire eventually! Even if you die, die after inflicting a wound!”

“She is Aishan’s—no, Ka’har’s shame! If you retreat in fear of such a thing, can you still call yourself warriors?”

The commands of those who appeared to be Champions.

“Uooooo-!!”

The warriors immediately regained their composure and charged at me with fierce battle cries. Following their commanders’ orders, they seemed determined to inflict at least one wound on me before dying.

That won’t be possible.

“Kenaz!”

Pillars of fire erupted everywhere. Fat and protein turned to ash. Boiling blood became red steam swirling in the air.

“Kyaaaak!”

The warriors charging at me melted into balls of fire, letting out miserable screams.

“That sorcery again!”

“Cursed demon woman!”

“Well—”

I charged through the vortex of flames I had created and thrust Frosting into the mouth of a warrior hurling insults. With a cracking sound, my left arm penetrated his face, embedding itself up to the elbow.

“Guh…”

“Isn’t it your problem that you keep falling for the same trick?”

I pulled out my embedded hand and sliced the next warrior with Durandal, then kicked away and shattered the axe of a third warrior who tried to exploit an opening, before twisting my body to trap his head between my thigh and calf, then ripping it off.

“Grrrrek!”

The half-crushed skull was pulled out with the spine dangling below it like a tail.

“Still far to go!”

Indeed. Still far to go.

Another group of warriors charged at me. Truly, these were men who wouldn’t stop no matter how many I killed.

*Crack!*

I twisted my waist to avoid a sword, then ripped off a head with Frosting and threw it away.

*Rip!*

I deflected a thrusting spear with my armor, then kicked the groin, splitting the body in half.

*Slash!*

I caught a dagger aimed at my neck with my teeth and shattered it, then fired a vacuum blade to cut down the attacker.

Cutting, piercing, tearing, crushing, smashing, burning.

A festival of overwhelming violence. The warriors endlessly blocked my path, and I ran without pause, slaughtering them.

Blood and screams surged like waves. Like driving a bladed car through a crowded plaza.

After dozens of seconds like this.

Finally, their attack reached me.

—-

*Thud!*

A heavy, intense impact struck my spine. The air in my lungs was forced out of my mouth, and a groan escaped involuntarily.

“Kuhuk…!”

My spine tingled, and my teeth clenched automatically. My body, which had been running forward, staggered, and my vision flipped.

I tumbled to the ground, face-planting into the mud of blood and entrails.

“Now’s our chance!”

“Die-!”

The warriors rushed in all at once, as if their opportunity had finally come. Countless killing intents bore down on my back.

[Get up!]

Ignoring the blades targeting my back, I pushed myself up from the ground with my arms. Dozens of blades scraped against my armor and back, sliding off.

Without inflicting a single wound.

“I cut her…! No, there’s no wound…?”

“It didn’t pierce?! What sorcery is this now?”

The warriors who had been grinning with confidence let out bewildered shouts.

Yes. For a moment, they must have been certain they had killed me.

Even if one has reached the realm of heroes, the body itself is still human flesh. Anyone would die instantly if dozens of blades pierced their back.

Anyone except me and Orhan.

“It’s not sorcery, but divine protection. You uncivilized bandit bastards!”

I whirled around and cut the necks of the warriors who couldn’t escape their shock, like harvesting grain.

Protection of the Unyielding Flesh.

It was worth hiding this ability by blocking attacks I could have safely taken, in case of unexpected crises during battle.

Though I did get hit and roll on the ground because the first effective hit happened to be from a Champion’s blunt weapon.

“Not a single wound despite being stabbed by so many swords and spears…? That’s, that’s just like… Lord Orhan’s…!”

“Could it be, could it be the Unyielding Flesh! That traitor woman inherited his sacred technique?!”

The confused warriors.

In truth, it had nothing to do with Orhan, and if anything, it was a divine protection I received thanks to my maternal bloodline… but from their perspective, not knowing the truth, they could only think of Orhan’s heroic tale.

“What did you say-! Unyielding Flesh-?!”

The next moment, a thunderous roar echoed from the air above.

Orhan’s voice. After struggling for about a minute to pursue me while pushing aside warriors without killing them, he had apparently given up and leaped into the air.

“You say you’ve mastered the Unyielding Flesh-! Let me see it-!”

Orhan was falling toward me, having clearly misunderstood something. What would it feel like to look directly at a meteor? The immense force imbued in the crescent blade he held aloft was clearly transmitted even from a distance of over ten meters.

“Stay away!”

I threw a ball of fire toward Orhan as he cut through the air, then made a great leap sideways to avoid him.

I wasn’t thinking that ordinary flames would work against the Unyielding Flesh rather than karma fire—I just wanted to create a momentary gap to increase the distance between us again.

It’s too early for a reunion. I’ve only killed a few hundred so far.

“Ha! This petty sorcery!”

Looking down at the fireball flying toward him, Orhan roared fiercely and swung his left arm to strike the empty air.

*Boom!*

A deafening explosion that shook the air. I involuntarily widened my eyes and gaped.

“What the hell is that!”

A cry of astonishment escaped me.

The empty space struck by Orhan’s left arm was bursting with a roar, propelling his body in the opposite direction!

Good heavens. Changing direction by striking empty air? With his fist?! Is that something a human should be able to do?

“You won’t escape any further!”

Orhan avoided the fireball using the recoil from striking the air. He kicked the empty space once more, bursting it, and flew toward me like a catapult projectile!

[I see, so the Unyielding Flesh makes such feats possible!]

Hersella exclaimed in a tone mixing shock and admiration. She seemed to understand the principle after seeing it just twice.

‘How is he doing that?!’

[It’s a karma explosion! He’s detonating the karma power stored in his hands and feet the moment he strikes the air! While withstanding the impact on his arms with the Unyielding Flesh!]

Thanks to her explanation, I too could understand what he was doing.

So Orhan was essentially doing something similar to holding a bomb in his hand and detonating it, using the blast and recoil to fly around!

This guy is absolutely insane.