Academy’s Barbarian

“Ha-shal-leur…!”

Glar, wary of my right hand, stepped aside as if dodging the line of fire and spoke to me. His gaze was filled with disgust and hostility, like looking at a larva that had jumped out of a bowl.

“Was it you who severed Kagan’s left arm?”

“Yeah, it was me. I broke his Indestructible Body and cut off his arm. It wasn’t that hard.”

I smirked and boasted. In truth, it wasn’t me who cut Or-han’s arm—it was Hersela. For me, it was still impossible… but there was no need to tell the truth, right?

“You traitorous scum, how dare you…!”

Apparently, my answer was too much for him to bear, as Glar trembled with rage. Not that I cared about his feelings.

“Calling me a scum is a bit harsh. I’m going through all this hardship to avenge my mother, so shouldn’t you be calling me a filial daughter instead?”

“Enough of your nonsense!”

I sneered and swung my right arm, kicking Joshua aside and charging at Glar.

【ᚲ】

“Kenaz.”

The mana concentrated in my wrist turned into a wave of flames, scorching the earth.

—

It didn’t take long for Glar to meet his end.

Even without using Up-hwa, the flames of my mana alone were enough to neutralize his Heroic Tale. Though I wasn’t in perfect condition, I was still capable of countering his attacks.

Moreover, Joshua, while unable to attack Glar directly, could still block his strikes aimed at me.

And thanks to my intervention, the battle priests managed to recover Heinrich with their clumsy healing spells, allowing him to rejoin the fight.

Suddenly facing three knight-level opponents alone, Glar thrashed like a beast caught in a trap, but as the ancient saying goes, “three against one,” he couldn’t hold out for long and collapsed.

It was an inevitable outcome. In my prime, I could have taken on Glar, Joshua, and Heinrich all by myself and still had strength to spare. So, with me on their side, there was no way Glar could withstand us.

– Thud!

Less than ten minutes after the battle began, Glar lay on the grassland, his limbs burned to a crisp.

“Kuh… Huh… Is this… the end…?”

His condition was pitiful. His beloved twin Dao swords had been shattered by Joshua’s powerful strikes, scattering fragments everywhere. The black armor of the Black Armies had melted beyond recognition, clinging to his charred flesh.

“Not even a single wound… How frustrating…!”

Glar coughed up blood, his face twisted in agony.

Of course, it was frustrating. He had relentlessly targeted my life, yet he couldn’t even touch me.

Thanks to Joshua and Heinrich’s thorough protection, I only had a few scratches on my armor and didn’t shed a single drop of blood.

“Is that all for your last words?”

I grabbed his neck with my right hand and lifted him up.

“Go ahead and wait for me. I’ll send every warrior over to you. There’ll be enough to rebuild Ai-shan in the afterlife.”

Glar coughed up blood and muttered as if wailing.

“Kuh…! Why… why do you resent Kagan…? You know it’s unjust…!”

Hmm.

Hersela said it was because he didn’t run away with her and our mother. Is that proof that he chose Ai-shan over our mother?

“Because he abandoned our mother.”

I spoke the words Hersela would have spat out in her stead.

“I don’t understand. I can’t understand…! Your mother’s bloodline is so merciful and loyal… yet the other side is so cruel…!”

Are you really asking because you don’t know?

“That’s exactly why you have to die.”

Bandits who, as soon as they gain strength, think only of killing and plundering, now cry foul when it’s their turn to die. How laughable.

I tightened my grip on his neck and ignited the rune of fire. Let him burn to death, suffocating.

Until his agonized screams faded with the smoke.

—

======[ Ka`har ]======

After escaping the range of the Imperial Army’s arrow barrage, Ibamai collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

His vision blurred, and his heart convulsed as if it would burst. This was the limit. He had managed to stop the bleeding in his leg with ice, but he had no strength left to go any further.

Not that he needed to.

“Kagan!”

“War Chief Ibamai?! What happened…!”

The warriors of Ai-shan rushed out in shock, supporting the two of them. Six thousand cavalrymen who had just returned after pouring a relentless assault on the barrier, following Or-han’s orders.

They were a reserve force, prepared to counterattack and annihilate any pursuers in case the siege failed and they had to retreat.

‘But we didn’t fall for it.’

Or-han sighed deeply as he glared at the barrier.

The reserve force was merely insurance for the worst-case scenario. Without any pursuers, the strategy was meaningless.

‘Crafty and cautious Ludwig wouldn’t send pursuers. So I didn’t have high hopes…’

Still, it was a pity.

If the Imperial Army had been blinded by the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill Or-han and charged in, he could have hunted most of them down right here.

“Kagan, what happened?”

“…We fell into a trap and were defeated. There was no chance of winning, so we retreated.”

Or-han summarized the brutal siege in two sentences, then ordered the cavalrymen, who were looking at him in confusion, to treat Ibamai and cover the retreating allies.

“We will do so. Kagan, you should…”

“I need to return to the base, treat my left arm, and prepare for the next battle. Though we lost this battle… it wasn’t without gains.”

As he answered the warriors’ questions, Or-han’s eyes remained fixed on the barrier. There, his War Chief was fighting with all his might to hold off the enemy.

He wanted to return to the barrier immediately and rescue Glar, but in his current state, it would be tantamount to suicide.

Not only would he fail to save Glar, but Or-han himself would also end up buried beneath the barrier.

Knowing this, returning to the barrier would trample on the resolve of Ibamai and Glar, who had staked their lives to ensure his safe retreat.

“…I’m sorry, Glar.”

Or-han turned away with a deep sigh.

—

======[ Ha-shal-leur ]======

With Glar’s—no, the ashes that were once Glar—scattered across the grassland, the barrier defense battle came to an end.

“Is it over…? Finally?”

“We survived, we survived! Thank you, Elpinel!”

“We won!”

The soldiers’ cheers echoed.

Following Ludwig’s order not to pursue Ka`har beyond the arrow’s range, the knights and soldiers collapsed to the ground, savoring the joy of life as soon as Ai-shan’s army retreated.

Those who couldn’t lay down on the barrier, savoring the peace of death.

It had been a brutal battle.

Everywhere on the barrier, corpses were piled high, and the once-gray walls were stained a deep crimson, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.

Ka`har warriors had fought to the last breath, so cleanly killed corpses were rare.

Corpses with over ten gashes on their upper bodies, flesh riddled with holes like sponges, heads split open with brains and eyeballs dangling, and half-burnt remains.

It was a sight that would make even the strong-willed vomit the contents of their stomachs.

“Gwahhhh-!”

Yeah, like that.

The overwhelming stench of blood and guts, mixed with the sour reek of vomit, filled the air.

As the soldiers came down from the adrenaline of battle and regained their senses, they felt not pride but disgust at the scene they had created, vomiting everywhere.

I tried to conserve my breath, avoiding the dizzying stench, and walked with Nigel toward the command headquarters where Ludwig was waiting.

“Are you okay?”

“I can manage. Are you alright, Ha-shal-leur?”

Nigel looked down at my leg, which I was dragging along the ground, and asked with concern.

As the healing priest had warned, moving too vigorously to dodge Glar’s attacks had caused the bone that had been healing to split again, throbbing with pain.

“…My nose hurts more than my leg.”

But compared to this smell, it was bearable.

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