Ch.645While the Two Were Fighting, Above Them

The battle at the Wall of Berengaria inflicted massive casualties on both the Empire and the Ka’har.

Landenburg managed to force Orhan to withdraw from the battlefield by employing the extreme measure of collapsing part of the wall, instantly slaughtering thousands of enemy troops.

“Kiaaaah!”

Yet the Ka’har soldiers who had reached the top of the wall, far from being demoralized by this sight, fought like rabid dogs, swinging their spears and swords fiercely at the imperial forces.

The sight of the wall—dozens of meters high—collapsing like an avalanche was terrifying and overwhelming even to them.

However, once the dust that had risen like a wave settled and they recovered from the mental shock that had made them forget the battle, the steppe people interpreted the wall’s collapse not as an imperial trap but as their own military achievement.

The mighty Wall of Berengaria that had blocked them for hundreds of years—seeing a section of it transformed into a pile of rubble was, in a way, the realization of every steppe person’s dream.

The warriors’ eyes turned not to the corpses of those swept away in the collapse, but to the view of the sky visible beyond the broken wall.

Their morale inevitably soared. Some even believed that Orhan had brought down the wall with his bare fists.

“The wall has fallen! You too shall fall!”

“Weaklings who can’t handle bows or spears!”

While the war chiefs and experienced champions who could read the battlefield sensed that their lord had fallen into a trap, most of the steppe people—raised to know nothing but killing and plundering—simply fought with renewed ferocity and courage.

“Hold them back! They’re just small barbarians without their horses, despite their high spirits!”

“Aim for their lower bodies! Their legs are weak!”

Landenburg and the imperial knights encouraged their soldiers and fought to hold back the enemy warriors in the chaotic battle atop the wall. Screams and battle cries echoed as streams of blood flowed down the wall like tears.

The battle situation was difficult to describe as either advantageous or disadvantageous.

The elite soldiers of the 3rd Corps, hardened through numerous battles, could somehow hold their own against the Ka’har who charged with near disregard for their lives. However, the inexperienced recruits of the 2nd Corps lacked such ability.

Just as the Empire had crushed thousands of enemy soldiers by collapsing the wall, the Ka’har men—who had lived their entire lives hunting and plundering—slaughtered the imperial recruits like wolves descending upon a flock of sheep.

Countless deaths overflowed.

—-

The battle between the superhumans was equally matched.

Despite Ivamay’s interference, Joshua somehow managed to destroy both siege towers.

By the time he destroyed the last tower, many steppe people had already climbed onto the wall, but it was still a miraculous achievement. Targeting siege towers instead of focusing on an equally powerful enemy right in front of him was practically suicidal.

The only reason Joshua avoided death was because Ivamay couldn’t fully concentrate on their fight, being concerned about Orhan who might have been buried in the collapsed wall debris.

“You, Joshua!”

“I’ll bury you beneath the wall, Ivamay!”

Joshua, who had managed to destroy all the siege towers at the cost of only a penetrating wound to his side, clashed with the pursuing Ivamay and fell below the wall, engaging in a catastrophic battle.

Massive chunks of ice rained down like bizarre rock formations, while a pillar-like greatsword shattered the ice and tore up the earth. It was a clash of heroic tales focused on widespread destruction. Men nearby dared not approach for fear of being caught in the devastation.

Ivamay’s skill was originally a notch below Joshua’s, but the injuries Joshua had sustained while destroying the siege towers had narrowed the gap between them.

—-

While the two heroes caused a disaster below the wall, Landenburg’s masters surrounded and attacked War Chief Glar.

Led by Heinrich, Landenburg’s second sword, all the surviving swords rushed into battle. However, unlike Joshua’s evenly matched fight, they were struggling against Glar.

“Kugh… what kind of… monster is this…!”

Karim groaned, spitting blood as he leaned on his warhammer, which was shattered with only the handle remaining.

William, with both arms severed, was barely breathing as he leaned against an uneven part of the wall, while the usually cheerful Michel was grimacing in pain as he tried to pull out the spear that had pierced his abdomen.

Hayden, battered and bruised, was wielding swords borrowed from fallen knights after his twin blades had been pulverized, and Yan, who had lost his right leg and been knocked beyond the wall, was barely hanging on by his broken greatsword wedged into the wall.

“So this is… a Ka’har war chief…”

Nigel muttered through gritted teeth. Of Landenburg’s swords—the strongest knights excluding Joshua—only she and Heinrich remained standing after their simultaneous attack.

Moreover, Nigel’s survival wasn’t due to her skill. Without her weapon, the Holy Spear of Eberond, she would have long since ended up like the other masters.

A sacred spear that emitted holy lightning and returned to its owner’s hand even if dropped.

Glar was cautious of it and deliberately avoided approaching her, but even inflicting a wound on him would cost Nigel her life if she relied solely on her own skill.

In other words, it was entirely thanks to Heinrich that they could keep Glar pinned in place.

Heinrich, who hadn’t crossed the wall but had one foot on it, was gradually breaking through the barrier to herohood in a life-or-death struggle against a superior opponent.

“Imperial vermin. If you want to extend your insect-like lives, tuck your tails between your legs and flee like dogs right now!”

Glar shouted fiercely with contempt as he swung his curved blade. Impatience and anger seeped into his overwhelming offensive.

“Are you so worried about your master’s safety? I can’t tell which of you is the dog!”

However, Heinrich shook the earth to disrupt Glar’s offensive and parried the curved blade with his halberd’s axe blade, resisting with all his might.

The only reason Landenburg’s swords hadn’t been completely annihilated was solely thanks to Heinrich.

======[ Five Minutes Earlier ]======

Giran Glar, war chief of the Black Banner Army.

A man who was once the captain of the Aishan guard and Orhan’s closest confidant, an undisputed hero second only to the greatest on the steppe.

As soon as he saw Orhan being buried in the collapsing wall, he went berserk, swinging his two blood-soaked curved blades like a whirlwind.

His momentum easily surpassed that of Joshua, Landenburg’s strongest. None of Landenburg’s warriors could cut him down.

Glar neutralized Heinrich’s incomplete heroic tale with a stomp of his foot on the ground, and didn’t even bother dodging the spears and swords of the other masters, taking their attacks head-on while swinging his curved blades.

Fighting as if certain that nothing could wound him, taking the masters’ attacks with his bare body.

‘This, this couldn’t be…!’

‘Unyielding Flesh…!?’

The combat style was so familiar that the middle-aged masters who had fought the Ka’har before unconsciously superimposed Orhan’s image over Glar.

Of course, Glar hadn’t manifested Unyielding Flesh. That was Orhan’s mental technique, not his. His mental technique was far from Unyielding Flesh.

“Did you think it was Unyielding Flesh? That mental technique is granted only to the Kagan.”

Noticing the masters’ agitation, Glar mocked them and thrust his body toward their incoming attacks, projecting his soul, his will, toward the world.

The next moment, the masters attacking Glar were thrown backward, spraying blood as if hit by invisible attacks.

Those who had thrust spears found holes in their bodies, those who had swung swords had flesh and muscle sliced away. Karim, who had swung his warhammer, had his left shoulder bone shattered.

“Kheuk…! This, this power…!”

Though not reaching the realm of heroes, they were still experienced masters. They immediately understood what kind of power their opponent was using.

“Did he… return our attacks back at us…!?”

“You noticed. Yes. That is my mental technique. The power of the Body of Reversal.”

Glar answered in a cold tone, understanding their shock. Though he had never learned the western language, he understood a few simple words.

—-

From a very young age, Glar had admired Orhan.

The strongest warrior of the steppe who deserved respect.

Admiration is an emotion that makes one strive to resemble someone without ever truly understanding them.

The form his soul took reflected this.

【 Body of Reversal 】

It was a mental technique that reflected Glar’s ideology—admiring Orhan’s strength that remained unwounded by any attack, while believing it would be arrogant and disloyal to obtain the same power as Orhan.

He overlays his body with karma infused with his soul to block all attacks.

He overlays his body with karma infused with his soul to return the enemy’s weapons against them.

A defensive method that shared the concept with Unyielding Flesh but differed completely in principle and result.

This was the difference between Orhan, who had absolute confidence in his body, and Glar, who, like an ordinary human, had to rely on martial arts rather than his physical body.