Ch.684The East Begins to Move

======[ Orhan ]======

Orhan’s main force of the Aishan, heading southward below the wall, joined with Targiyan’s forces that had been attacking the Dane border.

For Targiyan, who had been celebrating victories after capturing two fortresses and annihilating retreating forces, this was a bewildering development.

The arrival of the main force meant that his father, Kagan Orhan, had abandoned the assault on the wall.

“Father. Your arm…!”

“Don’t make a fuss. Losing an arm is a light price to pay for my carelessness.”

Moreover, Orhan’s appearance upon arrival was far from what anyone could call intact.

The empty left sleeve fluttering weakly proved why Aishan’s strongest warrior had abandoned the wall and chosen to retreat and take a detour.

Targiyan knew it too. While the Unyielding Flesh might be invincible, Orhan himself could not be invulnerable. Even the Unyielding Flesh, which could nullify any attack, couldn’t overcome the fundamental limitations of a spirit technique.

If one couldn’t break through the Unyielding Flesh, they simply needed to engage in a war of attrition until it could no longer be maintained.

Orhan’s accumulated Karma was deep but not infinite. With continuous attacks, it would eventually be depleted.

That’s why Orhan, despite possessing the Unyielding Flesh, avoided facing large armies alone.

In one-on-one combat, he was confident he could defeat anyone, and he could annihilate moderate numbers of enemies without a scratch. But…

If the enemy numbers were so vast that he couldn’t exterminate them all before his power was exhausted, he would inevitably be defeated.

Well aware of this, Targiyan assumed the battle at the wall must have been that fierce. His father had fought until all his power was depleted, yet failed to overcome the wall, ultimately losing an arm when his strength gave out.

Of course, the truth differed greatly from his assumption.

While it was true that Orhan’s power had been rapidly depleting after being trapped in Ludwig’s fire pit, the Unyielding Flesh hadn’t been completely dispelled. Orhan hadn’t lost his arm because the Unyielding Flesh was dispelled, but because he couldn’t block Haschal’s attack despite having the Unyielding Flesh.

‘It was an attack that couldn’t be blocked.’

Orhan was certain. Not just the Unyielding Flesh, but any spirit technique would have been unable to block the final technique Haschal had demonstrated.

The moment he lost his arm to that red lightning, Orhan understood the essence of the power within it.

A destructive force compressed to the extreme, that strike had cut through the Karma itself that constituted the Unyielding Flesh.

A blade that cut through spirit, through Karma. Literally a technique designed to kill heroes.

Before that strike, any spirit technique would be meaningless.

Neither the Reversal technique that returns attacks, nor the Thousand Pounds technique that amplifies weapon weight, nor even Joshua Blake’s Giant Slayer sword. All would be equally severed upon contact with that lightning.

To counter such a strike, rather than relying on spirit techniques, it would be better to wield a shield so sturdy that even the power within couldn’t break it. A steel shield made from a dragon’s reverse scale might block at least one strike.

Of course, Orhan possessed no such item.

The reverse scale, rarest among the already rare dragon scales. Even in ancient times, there were no madmen who would make shields from them.

Most ancestral weapons made from dragon scales were spears or swords, and the only weapon made from reverse scales in Aishan’s treasury was the single pair of Red Scale Twin Swords.

Creating a new one was equally impossible. In his era, dragons were merely ancient legends, and the scales of rare mystical beasts couldn’t match even the strength of ordinary dragon scales, let alone reverse scales.

—-

After joining the forces, Orhan told the astonished Targiyan and Hatan about the results of the wall battle and what he had learned from it.

That a section of the wall had collapsed, that Ibamay was severely injured, that Glar had fallen in battle.

And that unlike nine years ago, the current Empire lacked the forces to surround them from all sides.

“So… there’s no need to cross the wall. We march directly toward their homeland.”

“…Like nine years ago?”

Anxiety mixed into the expressions of the champions. Were they recalling the humiliation of nine years ago, when they had to retreat after being surrounded by the Empire’s army?

Or were they feeling a sense of crisis because Haschal, who would be recorded as an unprecedented traitor in the history of the steppes, had grown strong enough to severely wound Orhan, whom they thought invincible?

Judging by how their eyes unconsciously drifted to Orhan’s empty sleeve, it was probably closer to the latter.

‘Even with the Unyielding Flesh, you lost an arm after falling into a trap. When you face that traitor again, can you defeat him, Kagan?’

‘If you couldn’t win with both arms intact…’

‘Even if we defeat the Imperial army, what’s the point if the Kagan falls? The old saying that one hand can’t match ten has been proven false.’

Orhan read the anxiety in the warriors’ gazes.

‘They’re beginning to waver, as expected.’

Deep wrinkles formed between Orhan’s brows. Though he had anticipated this, it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He was no longer a symbol of invincibility.

The myth of invincibility maintained by the power of the Unyielding Flesh—the absolute belief that defeat would never come as long as they were with him—had shattered along with his severed arm.

He couldn’t rebuke them for becoming cowards. Even Orhan himself believed that if he faced Haschal again, he would likely lose.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could abandon the march toward the Empire.

If this was their reaction to merely retreating from the wall, what would happen if they withdrew all the way to Ordos? A perfect defeat with no room for excuses. The warriors’ morale would hit rock bottom, and the steppes he had worked so hard to unite would fragment once again.

It would take a long time—longer than the Empire would need to recover from the scars of war—to restore discipline among the restless warriors and clan leaders.

Therefore, Orhan had no choice but to move forward.

“If you’re afraid, go back. Return to the steppes and complain that you were too frightened of the enemy to fight and ran away instead. I won’t stop you.”

With one simple yet stern statement, he cut off the warriors’ retreat. Though he had effectively granted permission to return in the Kagan’s name, no warrior could withdraw after hearing such words.

Ka’har society was merciless to those who lost their qualification as warriors.

Better to die fighting than return to the steppes branded a coward.

In the end, all warriors had no choice but to follow Orhan’s command and advance through Dane territory toward the Empire. Whether they wanted to or not.

After unifying the warriors’ resolve, Orhan gathered all his forces and issued what might be their final marching orders.

“Ravage the Empire. Burn their wheat fields, forests, and villages! Pile up their corpses into mountains! So they can never rise again. So they can never again covet the steppes!”

Tens of thousands of hooves began to tear through the land of Dane.

—-

Despite their impressive advance, the Aishan army temporarily halted upon reaching the first city.

There was a compelling reason for this.

“No enemy?”

Orhan tilted his head at the report from the scout who had returned to the main camp. He had originally expected to fight several battles before reaching the Empire’s border.

After all, the Dane army wouldn’t just stand by and watch as they plundered Dane cities for supplies.

However, contrary to Orhan’s expectations, the Dane army was suspiciously quiet. Even after advancing for days, there hadn’t been a single battle, not even an ambush.

Therefore, Orhan suspected they had gathered in the cities to mount a defensive battle. Unable to match them on the plains, they were likely desperately trying to hold out behind city walls.

But upon arriving at the city, what was this? There wasn’t a single guard on the city walls. Finding this extremely suspicious, he sent scouts ahead before attacking, but the report they brought back was even stranger.

“Did they empty the entire city? This quickly?”

This posed a problem for Orhan. If the enemy was employing scorched earth tactics, his forces, who relied on plunder for supplies, would have to march while enduring hunger.

“No, sir. Only the soldiers have disappeared; the civilians remain. They seem completely unaware that a war has even broken out.”

“What does that… Are you saying the so-called warriors abandoned their civilians and fled?”

Targiyan, who had been listening to the report beside Orhan, frowned in disbelief. It was incomprehensible by his standards.

Unless they were slaves, he couldn’t imagine warriors abandoning ordinary clan members to die.

Orhan pondered, resting his chin on his one remaining arm. A city where only soldiers had vanished—it was bizarre even to him.

‘…Is it a trap? If so, for what purpose?’

Even the great Orhan couldn’t imagine a country that would sacrifice tens of thousands of its own citizens as living offerings, so he naturally assumed this must be a trap set by Dane.

His concern deepened.