Chapter – 58
A little while ago.
“They say that up until about 50 years ago, this area was the largest battleground in the region. I heard the magic stone deposits were enormous,” Bergman mentioned offhandedly, sharing an old story about the area.
It was around that time.
[Alert: Traces left by the deceased have been detected.]
[Alert: A residual thought remains somewhere nearby.]
‘Huh?’
Kalyle, seeing the alert window floating before his eyes, looked around and spotted a rusty sword stuck in the ground.
The sword was missing teeth here and there, half-broken, and so rusted it looked like it would crumble to dust at any moment.
It was clearly a sword abandoned during one of the dozens, no, hundreds of battles that had taken place here.
And the residual thought of the deceased was lodged within that sword.
[Alert: A residual thought has been found.]
[Alert: Reading the traces left by the deceased in this world.]
The memory of the deceased, their final moment, unfolded before Kalyle’s eyes.
‘Die!’
‘Keuheuheuheu! You weaklings from the continent! I’ll slaughter every last one of you!’
The number of barbarian warriors was vast.
In contrast, the number of Decaron troops was ridiculously small.
It was a situation no different from the one Kalyle and his group were in now.
‘I will hold them off.’
A single knight stepped forward alone to block the enemies.
‘Ah, you can’t! You must come with us!’
‘Hurry!’
The knight shouted at the subordinates following him.
‘Go, now. Do not stop your footsteps, and do not look back. That is my final command.’
Saying that, the knight drew upon all the power he possessed.
It was the knight’s last resort.
Not only did he explosively release all his mana at once, he even drew upon his life force.
‘My back shall face my allies, but my sword shall face the enemies. Here, I shall burn myself out with all my soul.’
With the knight’s last words and the image of the swarming barbarian warriors, the phantom vision disappeared.
[Alert: The residual thought has been read.]
[Alert: The residual thought can be absorbed.]
Swish. Kalyle’s hand touched the hilt of the rusted, broken sword.
[Alert: The residual thought has been absorbed!]
[Alert: You have acquired the skill <One Man Army>!]
Swoosh!
A new power settled into Kalyle’s body.
It was the noble and sublime will of the knight who had once stood alone against the enemy to protect his loyal subordinates.
[One Man Army]
None shall pass me.
Effect:
– All stats +200% when fighting multiple enemies alone.
“Everyone, go on ahead! I’ll hold them off here!”
Kalyle’s shout resonated loudly across the battlefield.
“You madman! What nonsense is that!”
“Nonsense!”
“Your dying alone won’t save the rest of us!”
The scouts shouted as if it were unthinkable.
All except for one person.
“Hmm.”
Only [Squinty-eyed] Kudo looked at Kalyle carefully, seeming to believe his words.
“Captain! Let’s just go!”
“What?”
“Private Kalyle seems to have some plan, so I think we should go ahead first!”
“You bastard, really! Why are you like this too! Ugh! We’re all going to die anyway, and you spout that kind of bullshit in this situation…”
“It’s Sigurd! Sigurd! Don’t you know the saying! Don’t worry about a Sigurd!”
Kudo shouted while cutting down one of the charging barbarian warriors.
Indeed, there was such a saying in the North.
*Don’t worry about a Sigurd.*
*The only ones who can worry about a Sigurd are other Sigurds.*
It was a saying that arose because those with Sigurd bloodline had shown incomparable, monstrous power over the past hundreds of years.
So much so that there were even rumors they were a different species.
Kudo’s words were decisive.
‘It’s like a mouse worrying about a cat.’
‘Come to think of it, that guy is a Sigurd.’
‘Right. Who’s worrying about whom?’
Kalyle was, by all accounts, one who inherited the bloodline of the Sigurd family.
And wasn’t he a direct descendant, a pureblood among purebloods?
“I’m going ahead first!”
Kudo, taking the engineers with him, broke away from the battlefield and sprinted towards Bowden Fortress.
“S, shall we go?”
“Hmm.”
Starting with Kudo’s retreat, the scouts also began to slowly, stealthily, back away.
“I, is it really okay?”
“It’s fine, so please go. You’re in the way.”
“In, in the way?”
“Yes, in the way.”
“O, okay then. We’ll go ahead, so you come quickly. Absolutely don’t die. We’re not abandoning you, we’re going because we trust you…”
“Ah, enough.”
“Right! We’re going, going!”
Bergman, limping, put Kalyle behind him.
And so, as the scouts and engineers left the battlefield one by one, Kalyle was left alone.
Just like the knight who had once fought alone against the enemies to save his allies and died a heroic death.
***
The barbarian warriors, the Raging Hoof cavalry, did not pursue the retreating Decaron troops.
They merely laughed scornfully.
“Puhahaha!”
“They’re something else!”
“Do they really think that scrawny brat can stop us?”
The reason the Raging Hoof cavalry let the Decaron troops go was because they were confident they could catch them again anytime.
If they chased on their boars, they could catch up in the blink of an eye; they felt no need to rush.
“You there.”
Orca, the captain of the Raging Hoof cavalry, casually opened his mouth.
“You, is it true you’re a Sigurd?”
“I might be, I might not be.”
“What does that mean?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
“Insolent brat.”
Orca frowned.
“Your antics were cute, so I was going to go easy on you, but it seems you’re a rude bastard who doesn’t even know a warrior’s honor. Don’t you know it’s courtesy for warriors to exchange names before battle?”
“Bullshit.”
Kalyle cut him off sharply.
“What good is knowing the names of people we’re going to kill each other?”
“What did you say?”
“I don’t want to know the names of the people I’m going to kill.”
“Keuk!”
Orca laughed, baring his yellowed teeth.
“Are you saying now that you can take us all on by yourself? Don’t tell me?”
“Of course.”
“Did you all hear that? This brat says he’s going to kill us all!”
“Puhahahaha!”
The barbarian warriors burst into roaring laughter.
“He’s a real thunderstruck fool! Keuk keuk! Keuk keuk keuk!”
“Hey! Brat! Go suck your mother’s milk some more and come back! Kuhahahahat!”
The barbarian warriors thoroughly ignored Kalyle and mocked him.
From their perspective, Kalyle was utterly weak.
He was tall, but wasn’t his build rather slight?
His appearance also had no scars on his face and wasn’t fierce-looking.
Moreover, the military uniform he wore was shabby, and his rank insignia was that of a lowly private.
So, in a way, it was natural for the barbarian warriors to find Kalyle cute.
From the start, the reason the Raging Hoof cavalry didn’t pursue the Decaron troops was because they planned to toy with Kalyle, torment him, and then kill him…
“Inom.”
Orca suddenly made a fearsome expression.
“I thought you were a brave young pup, but it turns out you’re just a fool who doesn’t know his place. If you had at least shown a frightened, trembling face, I would have thought more highly of you.”
“I have no desire to get a good evaluation from people who are going to die anyway, so stop yapping and just come at me.”
“Heuh! I’ll make sure to kill you as cruelly as possible. Let’s see if you still spout such nonsense after I skin you alive and hang you out to dry.”
No sooner had Orca’s words ended than a rider charged towards Kalyle on his boar.
“Yah, yah!”
“Squeeeeek!”
“I’ll make jerky out of you! Kuhahahat!”
*Thump thump thump!*
The boar, wearing a helmet on its head and armor on its shoulders and chest, was like a chariot.
Combining a weight of several hundred kilograms with high speed, its destructive power was more than enough to completely crush a person.
Kalyle did not avoid the charging boar.
*Flash!*
As Kalyle swung Gramungand, a black light flashed.
And…
“…!”
The eyes of the watching barbarian warriors widened as if they were about to pop out.
*Thump, kuh-ung!*
The boar that had tried to ram Kalyle—or more precisely, the body of what used to be a boar—was cut in two and slammed into the ground.
Along with the barbarian rider on it.
“Other things aside…”
Kalyle slowly opened his mouth.
“…Having been trampled to death once, I refuse to be trampled to death again.”
“W, what does that mean?”
“Don’t mind it. I’m just talking to myself.”
Kalyle flicked Gramungand lightly and activated his newly acquired skill.
*One Man Army*, activate.
*Whooosh!*
A majestic energy erupted from Kalyle.
He looked as if he were wrapped in sacred flames.
“Who is the predator, and who is the prey?”
Kalyle launched himself towards the barbarian warriors.
***
“Dammit, I knew we shouldn’t have just left him and come!”
Bergman, who had safely returned to the fortress, stamped his feet anxiously, unable to sit still.
“Let’s go get him, even now!”
“Captain.”
Kudo spoke quietly, as if trying to dissuade him.
“What would change if we went to get him now?”
“But the rookie is alone…”
“You keep forgetting, Private Kalyle is also a Sigurd.”
“W, well, that’s true.”
“No matter how much of a scoundrel or a black sheep he is, that bloodline doesn’t just disappear. Let’s wait quietly. Private Kalyle must have sent us ahead because he had something he could rely on.”
“Hmm.”
Bergman seemed to agree with Kudo’s words, but couldn’t help worrying about Kalyle as he gazed blankly outside the fortress.
“Marlder, you bastard! What happened to the rookie? I told you to send your familiar to check!”
“I’ve already told you four times, the trees are too dense, I can’t see anything!”
“O, oh, did you?”
“If you were going to be like this, you should have stayed behind too, Captain. You also ran away leaving the rookie behind.”
“What, you bastard?!”
Bergman glared at Marlder.
“That’s because the rookie told us to go because we were in the way!”
“So if he tells you to go, you just go? When a lowly private says he’ll stay behind alone?”
“Keuk.”
“I know you’re worried, but this isn’t going to change anything. For now, let’s trust the rookie and wait!”
There was another person worried about Kalyle.
‘Private Kalyle. Though unreliable, you are a Sigurd, are you not? If you’re a Sigurd, then be like a Sigurd and please return alive.’
Just as Helene was thinking of Kalyle and hoping for his safe return…
“L, look there! Look over there!”
“…!”
Everyone’s gaze turned in the direction Russell was pointing.
Outside the fortress.
A blood-soaked handsome man, covered head to toe in blood, was trudging wearily towards the fortress.
He was so drenched in blood that a long trail of bloodstains marked the path he had taken.
“Open the gate! Open the gate! Quickly!”
Helene shouted urgently.
*Creeeak, kuh-ung!*
The gate opened, and he returned to Bowden Fortress.
Kalyle looked no different from usual.
Although his expression was a bit more sullen than usual…
“Uha ha ha!”
Bergman limped as he ran towards Kalyle in a single breath.
“You’re alive! You came back alive! You bastard! How on earth did you survive? Huh? How in that situation…”
“I killed them.”
“Wha?”
Bergman was taken aback by Kalyle’s answer.
“Y, you killed them?”
“Yes.”
“You mean… all those barbarians? By yourself?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Bergman was left speechless.
He simply couldn’t imagine a single person slaughtering nearly fifty barbarian warriors.
