Academy’s Barbarian

* The Ka`har-style expression of the Heroic Tale has been changed from ‘Seongmyeongjeolgi’ to ‘Uinyeomgi’! Because it’s cooler!

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“Joshua Blake-! The enemy army’s War Chief, Barama Hatan, is here!”

Hatan, leading the enemy army, raised his Crescent Moon Blade high and swung it fiercely, shouting. Like the axe of a god splitting the earth, he condensed an immense weight into the blade and struck down. It was a strike imbued with the power of his Uinyeomgi, ‘Cheonchu.’

“A War Chief, huh? Seems you’ve risen quite high, Hatan!”

Joshua released his Giant Hunting Sword and swung his longsword toward Hatan’s Crescent Moon Blade.

The Giant Hunting Sword was a Heroic Tale specialized for sweeping away multiple enemies or taking down giant monsters. In a one-on-one duel against a hero-level warrior, it wasn’t an efficient technique.

In a one-on-one fight, it was more effective to pour all his combat power into the blade and swing it directly.

“I’ll send you straight to the afterlife!”

“You’re the one who’s going!”

The blade of Cheonchu and the hero’s sword clashed mercilessly, unleashing a massive explosion. The blinding flash obscured everyone’s vision, and the shockwave swept across the ground. The surrounding cavalry, caught in the aftermath, lost their balance and staggered.

“Ugh…! This power, you’ve got quite the weapon there!”

Joshua felt as if his arms, which had blocked the Crescent Moon Blade, were electrocuted.

At the moment of impact, he sensed an immense force in Hatan’s Crescent Moon Blade. Even though he twisted his blade to deflect the shock, the residual force alone was enough to momentarily numb his arms.

“You deflected Cheonchu? Let’s see how long you can keep that up!”

On the other hand, Hatan swung his Crescent Moon Blade again with a confident smirk. While Joshua was superior in the depth of his feats and the finesse of his martial arts, Hatan was still confident of victory.

Because the compatibility of their Uinyeomgi was overwhelmingly in his favor.

Unlike Joshua’s Uinyeomgi, which was specialized for sweeping away multiple enemies, Hatan’s Uinyeomgi—Cheonchu—was a technique that truly shone in one-on-one duels.

“Crush under the weight of the heavens and die!”

The Crescent Moon Blade of Cheonchu roared with a heavy resonance as it flew toward Joshua.

—-

“Landenburg bastards, they’ve gathered all their elites here!”

Targien, who had been entrusted with the command of the enemy army by Hatan, gnashed his teeth in frustration and swung his greatsword.

He had thought that with Hatan tying down Joshua, a warrior of War Chief level, there would be no one left to stop the enemy army’s advance. But the resistance was fiercer than he had expected.

Even while facing an enemy army twice their size, they somehow managed to defend their rear and hold out.

“Did you think you could break Landenburg’s sword with just this? How arrogant and reckless.”

Klaus, who had blocked Targien’s greatsword, sneered.

The Fourth Sword of Landenburg, Klaus. He had lost his right arm in a previous battle and now wielded his sword with his left arm, but since Targien also couldn’t use his left arm, it wasn’t a significant disadvantage.

Though he couldn’t cut down Targien, blocking him wasn’t a big issue. He was being pushed back little by little, but he could hold out for at least a few more tens of minutes.

And it wasn’t just Klaus.

Hayden, Michel, William, Heinrich—five masters of Landenburg’s sword, known as the Western Wall, were gathered here.

On the other hand, the enemy army had only four Paladins, including Targien. The remaining two Paladins were searching elsewhere and hadn’t yet joined the battle.

Even if one Paladin took on one master each, one master would be free to wreak havoc without any hindrance.

“Slow, slow! Is your left arm just for show?!”

The twin swords of Hayden, the Seventh Sword of Landenburg, swung like a storm.

The Paladin wielding a greatsword couldn’t keep up with the speed of the twin swords and was gradually accumulating wounds.

“Ugh. This guy is tough to deal with…!”

The Sixth Sword, Michel, ran alongside the enemy Paladin, repeatedly thrusting and parrying each other’s vital points with spears.

Michel was faster in thrusting his spear, but the overwhelming difference in horsemanship meant that no matter how much he thrust, he couldn’t reach his opponent.

Even if he thrust at the perfect moment, the opponent would leap sideways with just the tip of his foot on the saddle, dodging, and then use the rebound of his knee to land back in the saddle—such was his horsemanship.

“Can I shake him off…?!”

The Third Sword, William’s axe, parried the halberd swung by the Paladin, ringing out with a clear metallic sound.

William, being one of the top swordsmen of Landenburg, was handling the enemy Paladin without much difficulty, but his expression was still grim.

For now, thanks to their efforts, they were charging forward without major losses, but once the enemy army flanking them started raining arrows, it would be difficult for them to handle alone.

‘I have no choice but to trust Sir Heinrich.’

William’s eyes turned to the Second Sword of Landenburg, Heinrich.

The only knight from Dane among Landenburg’s swords, and a powerhouse who, like the Ghost Sword Valenstein, was just one step away from the Realm of Heroes.

Unlike the other masters who were tied down by the Paladins, only he was freely roaming the battlefield, turning Ka`har’s warriors into puddles of blood.

“Come at me as much as you want, you ugly barbarian savages! I am Heinrich of Landenburg. This is the retribution you will face!”

With each swing of Heinrich’s halberd, warriors fell like autumn leaves, scattering blood. If they survived a single strike, it was sheer luck. No warrior could block the strikes of a quasi-hero running rampant.

“What’s this, the ground…!”

“An earthquake? No, it can’t be…?”

Even the warriors who managed to get close to Heinrich, trying to exploit his openings, couldn’t maintain their balance and tumbled off their horses, falling helplessly.

“Do you understand? The earth itself rejects your existence. This is the ‘Wrath of Keres’!”

Heinrich’s halberd slammed into the warriors who had lost their balance and were staggering.

—-

In the days when humans were not allowed beyond the wall.

Even in those days, the strong who reached the wall caught glimpses of the milestones they needed to pass through the tightly shut cracks in the door.

The Ghost Sword awakened by Werner Valenstein, the steel body obtained by Ai-shan Gi-or Or-han—the starting point and fragments of the Heroic Tale, an incomplete power.

Heinrich, who had stopped before the wall, had not reached the Realm of Heroes, but he had grasped a fragment of the Heroic Tale.

【Wrath of Keres】

It was a technique that sent his feats into the earth, violently shaking the ground within a radius of several meters, creating a localized earthquake.

“Dammit, with this, we can’t even get close…!”

The ground shook violently in all directions. The enemy warriors couldn’t even dare to approach Heinrich.

If they tried to approach on horseback, the hooves would break, and they’d be thrown off. Even if they approached on foot, maintaining balance was nearly impossible.

With their skills, they couldn’t even swing or thrust their spears—they just staggered and fell, becoming prey for Heinrich’s halberd.

“Don’t obsess over him! Just tying him down is enough! How many can he kill alone?!”

“Third Thousand-Man Unit! Bypass him and attack the Western bastards! Follow me!”

Of course, even as Heinrich displayed astonishing martial prowess, there was a limit to what he could do alone.

For every five Ka`har warriors he cut down, twenty of Landenburg’s cavalry were dying on the other side.

Unless one possessed the martial power to sweep away dozens of warriors in a single strike like Hasharl, it was impossible for one person to turn the tide of battle.

“Ugh…! Damn savages…!”

“Ugh…!”

“Long live Landenburg-!”

One by one, Landenburg’s cavalry and knights fell, scattering blood and flesh across the grasslands.

—-

Several tens of minutes later.

After a brutal battle, Landenburg’s main force managed to shake off the enemy army’s pursuit once.

Whether reducing a force of 2100 to 200 could be called a success was a matter of opinion.

Even with the efforts of five masters and a hero, it was impossible to perfectly protect their forces against a threefold difference in numbers.

About ten minutes into the battle, the two thousand enemy troops that had flanked them finally arrived and began raining arrows, and from that point on, Landenburg’s casualties snowballed.

Hayden and William had taken down the enemy Paladins, but even that couldn’t reverse the tide of battle that had started to turn against them.

If the battle continued, the cavalry and knights would be completely annihilated, and the ‘Swords of Landenburg’ would be trapped among thousands of enemies and lose their lives.

So, Landenburg’s cavalry abandoned any hope of survival and threw themselves into a suicidal charge to block the enemy. They would all die, but in that gap, the Swords of Landenburg and the knights could retreat safely.

That was the last order Ludwig had given before the knights set out.

‘If you cannot shake off Ka`har’s pursuit…sacrifice your lives for the next battle.’

It was a cruel order, but with no other options, Landenburg’s soldiers obeyed their lord.

The gap for escape bought by the lives of eighteen hundred cavalry and one hundred knights.

The ‘Swords of Landenburg’ and two hundred knights, gritting their teeth in grief, turned their backs on the dying cries of their subordinates and galloped away. Toward the border of Dane, which had now come within reach.

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