Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 61

“Walm, Wartime Battalion Commander!”

Walm, still unaccustomed to his new rank, called out to the soldiers on either side as he twisted and sliced through the entrails of an impaled hobgoblin.

“Make some room.”

“Yes, sir! Leave it to us!”

Reassured by their reliable response, Walm turned to the soldier who had called out to him. The messenger, gasping for breath, had a face so pale it seemed he might collapse at any moment.

“What happened?”

Static noise rose from the waterlogged ground beneath their feet, like a broken radio. Walm pressed his halberd deeper, thinking it wasn’t his concern. Although the hobgoblin was large in stature, its death cries were no different from those of a regular goblin. With company commanders and above now all summoned to heaven, Walm, albeit reluctantly, was granted the rank of Wartime Battalion Commander. He couldn’t just focus on the monsters. The messenger continued with a trembling voice.

“Urgent orders from Justus, the Wartime Brigade Commander.”

The battalion commander, Justus, who had taken command on the wall during the Flame Emperor Dragon’s attack and narrowly escaped its breath, was now the Wartime Brigade Commander. Walm was still fortunate, considering the complexity and busyness of handling supplies and personnel without the soldiers and officers who were originally the pillars of the brigade.

“From the brigade commander? Speak quickly.”

Walm intended not to be surprised by anything, but his heart rate increased as he grasped the gravity of the situation. An unwelcome reality was being thrust upon him.

“Request for reinforcements at the northern wall. A horde of ogres has breached the wall. Many soldiers and evacuees are dead; they possess Skills and Magic!”

“The northern wall has been breached…?”

The weakened wall should have been the first to fall. Walm had felt the increase in lesser monsters, but never imagined the main attack would come from the northern city wall, which he had just stripped of its guards.

With a significant number of soldiers stationed there, the wall being breached so quickly meant that the enemy must undoubtedly include the most elite of monsters, led by a capable commander. Walm needed to gather his troops for a rescue mission, but the challenge was maintaining the defense of the broken wall he was in charge of.

The number of monsters attempting to break through still reached nearly 10,000. Pulling troops carelessly could lead to the collapse of two walls. If that happened, Dandurg Castle would be completely doomed.

The remaining soldiers under Walm’s command included 500 regulars and 1,300 militiamen. Many showed signs of injury and fatigue, and among the militiamen, those wearing armor were in the minority. For the recapture of the walls and pushing back within the city, relying on the barricades and focusing only on the front, the militiamen, who weren’t trained for chaotic battles, would be of little use. He needed a cohesive group of regular soldiers strong in melee.

“Where is Leader Friug?”

The name Walm shouted was the commander of a company entrusted by Justus, the wartime Brigade Commander.

“I am here!”

Though haggard and filthy, his eyes still held a sharpness.

“The northern wall has been breached by a powerful group of ogres. We need to divert troops from the broken wall for the cleanup inside the castle and to retake the ramparts.”

“The northern wall, you say…”

Stunned, Friug quickly pondered the situation.

“I entrust the command here to Leader Friug. I will lead the troops for the retake. Now, how many regulars do we need to maintain this position?”

After a moment of hesitation, Friug asked a question.

“How many experienced soldiers can you leave behind?”

“Platoon Leader Nepolk, Amy, and Deborah’s family will stay.”

“Are you joking? We’re just civilians.”

Walm almost burst out laughing at the thought of a civilian holding two twisted horns of a bicorne but swallowed his words at the last moment.

“You are already militiamen. Deborah, many already call you a Platoon Leader.”

In the current state of Dandurg Castle, where even capable militiamen were being promoted to platoon and squad leaders, there was no room for niceties. If they could be useful, even a dog or cat’s paw would do.

“Haha, Highserk is crazy, huh!”

Deborah laughed heartily, though she didn’t explicitly refuse.

During the exchange with Deborah, Friug came to a decision.

“With half the regular soldiers, 250 men, I can maintain this for half a day.”

With a clear answer from Friug, Walm started calling out the names of commanders under his command.

“Wake, gather your platoon. We’re heading for the northern wall to assist. Yor, your platoon as well.”

Wake’s company had suffered losses, and with Yor’s platoon, they just managed to gather 250 soldiers. The commanders of both small units started gathering their scattered troops.

Walm then called out to two adventurers who had been showcasing their skills on the front lines.

“Al, Fleck, you two come as well. We need experts in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Am I staying behind?”

“Amy, your ‘Strong Bow’ skill shines in defense. It can’t be helped.”

“But now, without a moment’s respite, a horde of ogres?”

“It’s too much, I’ll die from overworking at this rate.”

The adventurers, seemingly fed up with their encounters with monsters, had nonetheless adapted enough to the battlefield to joke about it.

After the assembly of Wake’s and Yor’s teams, Walm set out to retake the northern wall.

◆

As Walm neared the northern walls, chaos intensified. Navigating through the fleeing civilians, he raised his voice above the uproar.

“Don’t stop, we must reclaim the breakthrough point at all costs!”

He plunged his halberd into a wolf pouncing on the back of a fleeing civilian, twisting and slamming it into the cobblestone. The soldiers who had been defending the northern walls were almost entirely gone, with only a few remaining. Monsters kept sliding down from the walls into the castle.

The carnage among the densely packed civilians was horrendous, the cobblestones awash in fresh blood. Soldiers were stepping on guts and viscera, almost falling over the dead bodies. Places without corpses were in the minority; it had turned into a slaughterhouse by the monsters. Walm was part of a rescue force that was indiscriminately exterminating the monsters, and soon their attention turned to them.

Walm was no exception, as four goblins that were mutilating corpses approached him. He scooped up one of the goblins, which brandished a shabby dagger, with his halberd from below, shattering its jaw and stirring its brain.

Walm switched his stance and reversed direction, smashing the temple of the second goblin that stepped into his range with the butt of his halberd. The goblin’s eyes quivered, looking in an impossible direction.

He took a small backstep and thrust his halberd. The spot Walm had just vacated was now struck by the club of the third goblin, which now had a fist-sized hole in its throat.

The last goblin swung its hatchet and lunged at Walm, but he thrust his halberd into its torso, skewering it in mid-air. He carelessly smashed it onto the cobblestones, crushing its head under his foot.

“Yaqui Squad, secure the ramparts with the remaining northern wall defense forces. The rest of you, join me in clearing out the monsters inside the castle!”

Inside the castle, soldiers and civilians were mixed with monsters, preventing the use of widespread attacks like “Demon Fire.” Using Demon Fire by Walm would result in more human than monster casualties.

There was no choice but to kill each monster individually. The surrounding soldiers, not wanting to hinder Walm, began to spread out and engage the monsters.

Three ogres blocked Walm’s path. Their armor, while crudely made, showed signs of craftsmanship, and their demeanor hinted at intelligence.

Clearly, these were the elite of the monsters, probably leading the main monster force, Walm surmised.

He wanted to overwhelm them with numbers, but the soldiers were already struggling against a group of powerful ogres. Al and Fleck, skilled adventurers, were engaged in a deadly battle with six ogres adept at wielding greatswords.

Walm cast a fireball at the feet of an ogre approaching with a round shield. The leading ogre couldn’t evade and was engulfed in the explosion, its limbs torn off, writhing in the blue flames.

The problem was the remaining two that had scattered to the sides. One wielded a greatsword, the other a war hammer, both closing in on Walm. He dodged the greatsword at the last moment and sidestepped the war hammer.

The ogre with the greatsword attempted a follow-up attack, while the one with the war hammer closed the distance in sync. Walm faced the greatsword-wielding ogre while keeping an eye on the ogre approaching from the side.

“Burst.”

Walm accelerated instantly, consuming magical power, and used “Strong Strike” to sever the arm from the elbow. He thrust his halberd into the space created, its axe-like blade slicing through the ogre’s throat. The remaining ogre roared and approached, carefully maneuvering its greatsword around the halberd. Yet, against the superior reach and finesse of the halberd, small wounds began to accumulate in the gaps of its armor.

The ogre dodged the thrusts, but Walm, on the pullback, sliced behind its knee with the hook of his halberd. With its tendons severed, the ogre’s posture collapsed, and Walm turned his wrist to smash its temple with the butt of his halberd. Without missing a beat, Walm brought down his halberd from above. The ogre’s helmet split open, its brain matter scattered, and it fell to the ground. The demon mask on Walm’s face trembled with joy. Not because he had slain three ogres, but because the surrounding atmosphere was thick with killing intent and the rustling of countless beings.

“What are you looking at?”

Armed ogres were beginning to surround him. Though Walm’s troops continued to fight, a dozen ogres had their fiery gaze fixed on Walm.

“You big, useless brutes, scared, are you? I’ll kill every last one of you!”

Provoked by Walm’s taunts, the ogres responded with a unified roar. There was no turning back now. Walm too, from the depths of his gut, let out a cry to meet the challenge.

◆

A two-handed sword grazed his neck, drawing blood. The gauntlet that took the blow of the war hammer failed to completely absorb the shock, weakening the grip of his left hand. His armor was covered in wounds, and blood oozed from a gash in his abdomen. Walm did not despair or lament. He simply put his brain into full operation, moving his body based on intuition backed by experience. Even in his blind spots, he perceived the ogres through the sound, the touch of air and magic, and evaded them at the last moment.

Outnumbered, Walm had sealed off his wide-range attack “Demon Fire” to avoid friendly fire. Yet, he continued to slay the armed ogres, one after another. An ogre, burned from the feet to the head by a pillar of fire, began convulsing as its bones were exposed. Another, sliced from shoulder to waist, was still slightly moving its left hand, unable to die completely.

Walm cut off the ankle of an ogre charging at him with the hook of his halberd, then circled to its side. As the ogre tried to adjust on one leg, its head flew off into the void. Walm pierced the belly of another ogre approaching from behind with a spear thrust, but the ogre, undaunted, lunged at Walm. Pulling out his longsword from his waist while severing the ogre’s left hand, he swung it over his head and then back, cutting off the right hand.

The ogre, now missing both hands, tried to bite at Walm’s throat, but the sword’s tip was quicker, piercing through the carotid artery and spine. Walm quickly pulled the halberd from the corpse with his left hand and aimed it at another sneaking ogre.

“Release.”

Using a magic once employed by assassins, Walm shot the halberd. It stabbed into the right shoulder of the ogre, causing the giant creature to flinch from pain and shock.

“Burst.”

With wind magic accelerating his movements, Walm was too quick for the ogre to react. He decapitated it as they passed each other, then thrust his longsword into the side of the freshly halberd-wounded ogre. Blue flames emitted from the blade, burning the ogre from the inside. The great monster’s cries did not last long.

A faintly glowing mace approached from the side. Walm, embedding magic into his weapon for a “Strong Strike,” lowered his center of gravity and diverted it upwards. His ears caught the slight sound of cutting wind and shuffling feet. Twisting his neck, he spotted a shadow at the edge of his vision. A cross-shaped spear hurled from a strong arm was aimed at his throat.

Instinctively, he ducked his head. The Saverlia chain hanging from his neck was shaved off, leaving a deep gash in his conical helmet. The armor prevented a cut, but not the impact. His brain shaken, Walm staggered as two ogres tried to finish him off.

As the spear was pulled back for another strike at Walm, he entangled it with his halberd’s side hook. The ogre tried to pull it off with brute force. Seeing the entangled halberd, the other ogre swung down its war hammer. Walm’s mind was still reeling, but his cloudy eyes didn’t miss the motion.

Swiftly releasing his halberd, Walm drew his longsword and slid the blade against the war hammer, gliding along its surface. The ogre leapt back in an instant, but Walm, who had steeled his resolve, was a step ahead.

He cut off the fingers of the ogre gripping the pole, causing the weapon to drop. Even as it tried to strike with its fist, Walm beheaded the great monster with one swift motion. He immediately turned to face the remaining ogre, who had clumsily disentangled the halberd and was attempting a thrust with his cross spear.

Their sword and spear crossed in several exchanges. When the ogre’s fully extended spear retracted, Walm leaped in. The ogre twisted its face, reversing its grip to use the spear’s butt for a strike, but Walm quickly folded his arm and blocked it with his gauntlet. His arm went numb as if electrocuted, but with his remaining hand, he thrust the longsword.

The sword’s tip caught the ogre’s knee, tilting its half-body onto the cobblestone. Yet, the great monster’s fighting spirit did not wane, and it extended its spear along the ground. Walm evaded and circled to the side. The ogre, compensating, pivoted on its remaining leg.

Walm rapidly leaned in the opposite direction and kicked off the ground. The ogre tried to block with the spear’s shaft, but the sword’s tip pierced its throat first. Watching the ogre spew blood, Walm twisted and withdrew his sword. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the massive body sank.

In what felt like five minutes, only Walm’s breathing remained. He swung his sword in the void to shake off the blood, regulating his breath. A slight sense of relief began to loosen Walm’s tension. It was then that he felt it.

A piercing sense of intimidation, cold sweat ran down his back. He spat out blood-mixed saliva from his cut mouth and faced it. There it stood, in the center of the ogre corpses.