Covert assault

The Vikings' camp lay hidden in a dense forest in a low-lying hollow. Objectively speaking, this was a disastrous place to station troops, leaving them vulnerable to encirclement and attacks from above. But the Vikings, who prided themselves on their courage and prowess, had no fear of such things. Besides, just as the Qi Kingdom general had said, they still did not know that the Viking squad covering their rear had been wiped out. The Purple-Pattern Leader who had left that squad behind was busy searching the forest for the knight commander.

Just like the corpses they had seen on the battlefield earlier, these Vikings were tall and powerfully built, and almost all wore full beards. In the Southern Savage Lands, the coldest and most desolate region on the continent, layers of fat and thick hair were the most effective protection against the cold.

That, together with their natural love of battle, had made the Vikings as fierce and brutal as they were today. Ordinary knights and soldiers were no match for them. Faced with such a disparity in size and strength, the Holy Temple and the Seven Kingdoms relied chiefly on warhorses and bows.

Of the three great powers, the Viking Tribes had the fewest people. They were also poor mounted fighters, and their archery was nowhere near as dangerous as that of the Seven Kingdoms, so they seldom launched distant campaigns. At the same time, neither the Holy Temple nor the Seven Kingdoms dared openly commit their entire armies to an invasion of the Viking Tribes. Rivers crisscrossed the Savage Territory, and shipbuilding and naval warfare were the Vikings' greatest strengths.

The western lands occupied by the Holy Temple had treacherous terrain and frequent sandstorms; horses outside its military corps could easily lose their way. The Seven Kingdoms had strength in numbers and a motley population. In peaceful times, they fought one another openly and in secret, but when danger came, they could unite in an alliance, making them impossible to subdue in a single campaign. All these factors had brought about the Hundred Years' War.

The river of stars had vanished, and the silver moon had quietly withdrawn. Like watered-down ink, the darkness of night held a hint of white, silently awaiting the increasingly distinct pale line along the eastern horizon.

The Vikings were savage, but they were not stupid. They had lit no fires in camp. Rising smoke would reveal their position, and an enemy surprise attack might follow at any moment.

Perhaps their powerful bodies needed more sleep, or perhaps their long stay had made them somewhat lax. At this hour, apart from a handful of sentries, everyone still lay snoring on beds made of branches.

Beneath a lean-to built from dead branches and moss, a Viking sentry watched the sky brighten and grumbled, "Damn it, it's been so long, and we still haven't pinned down the enemy's location. Those bastards really know how to hide."

Another Viking beside him took a sip of dew collected on the moss, then looked over at him. "Don't be impatient. The leader's right on their heels. Their knight commander is badly wounded. There's no way he can escape the leader's grasp. We just need to wait for the signal, then we can move."

"I don't have your patience. You can spend days doing nothing in this boring forest without a word of complaint. I can't wait any longer, like a hungry bear that can't settle into hibernation. Honestly, I want to forget everything else, charge out of these dead woods right now, and hack into that knight corps taking the long way around a few hundred times. Thinking of that fresh blood spraying everywhere makes this boredom even harder to bear."

"Nothing we can do. Those Holy Temple bastards can be even craftier than the people of the Seven Kingdoms. Their knight commander must have figured out what we're planning, which is why he keeps hiding. He's deliberately buying time for his knights to withdraw."

He stood and let out a long plume of white breath, his beard trembling, then cursed with even greater resentment. "Once I find them, I'll skin them and use their hides to wipe my feet."

He had barely finished speaking when something suddenly whistled through the air from the distant woods, moving too fast for him to react.

Before the eyes of the other man crouched on the ground, an arrow punched through his breastplate with a wet thud, buried itself deep in his flesh, and drove into his vigorously beating heart.

His body toppled stiffly to the ground, blood splashing across his beard. At the same time, another whistle cut through the air.

With that warning and a brief moment to react, the seasoned warrior was ready. Almost instantly, his hand reached the axe on his back. In the blink of an eye, he swung it up and blocked the arrow growing larger before his eyes.

Whoosh, whoosh! Arrows kept coming like rain from a broad spread of positions. No matter how fierce a warrior he was, he could not block them all with an axe only a palm wide.

Blood sprayed everywhere. Apart from the vital areas he protected, his arms and legs were already riddled with bloody holes. He looked scarcely different from a hedgehog.

"Loose together!" Sensing something was wrong, the general in the forest immediately barked the order.

The arrows no longer whistled individually. Instead, they roared like rushing water, converging from across a wide front and leaving nowhere to dodge.

The warrior drove his axe into the ground. A mocking smile strained across his blood-covered face, and he used every last scrap of strength to shout:

"Enemy attack!"

A moment later, his body fell stiffly to the ground, following his comrade into eternal sleep.

"Damn it!" the silver-marked general snarled through gritted teeth as he watched.

Seeing that the ambush had been exposed, he drew his sword and shouted an order. "Kill them!"

"Kill!" the soldiers roared. Abandoning their bows, they took up spears and lances, drew their swords, and charged down toward the camp.

The earlier shout had instantly roused the Viking warriors. Years of fighting brought them swiftly out of their dreams and back to reality. They grabbed the axes beside them and rushed from beneath their lean-tos, clashing with the arriving Qi Kingdom soldiers.

The Viking warriors' strength revealed itself at that moment. Though the enemy had seized the initiative, it did nothing to hinder their counterattack.

The Qi Kingdom soldiers' swords gained no advantage against iron axes nearly an inch thick. Even when the Vikings struck second, the superior strength in their arms was enough to send some soldiers staggering backward.

Soldiers armed with spears and lances could briefly suppress their enemies thanks to their greater reach. Unfortunately, many heavy weapons such as spears, lances, and halberds had been discarded during the pursuit, leaving relatively few soldiers wielding them. As a result, the Viking warriors were not forced onto the back foot.

Less than half a minute into the fighting, the ground was already stained red. Whenever a Viking warrior fell, one or two Qi Kingdom soldiers fell with him. The smell of blood spread, while roars, metallic clashes, splattering blood, and falling bodies mingled into a din that rang throughout the area.

Amid this brutal battlefield, one cloaked figure seemed utterly at ease. Every swing of the bronze sword in his hand sent a rugged head tumbling to the ground. As his feet moved nimbly, the blade seemed almost insubstantial, sweeping through the air without carrying a single drop of blood. It truly cut through iron as though it were mud.

On a distant slope, a pair of eyes watched that figure. "Looks like he's not just some bootlicker after all. He really does have some skill. That sword of his is excellent, though. Let's see if we can get our hands on it later. It's ten times better than that lousy iron sword on your back."

Lying beside him, Zeng Mu also watched the general and said admiringly, "He seems just as fast as you. His swordsmanship is swift, fierce, and direct. If we faced him head-on, he might kill both of us."

Though reluctant to admit it, Kanni had to answer honestly. "Yes, his speed really is impressive. I reckon he's built up a great deal of elemental power inside him. Unfortunately, like me and most people, he lacks that final one percent of talent. Otherwise, he probably would have become an Elementalist long ago."

"Still, his swordsmanship isn't anything special compared to mine," he added, a look of haughty pride entering his eyes.

Zeng Mu did not agree. To him, the silver-marked general was demonstrating what truly godlike might looked like.

Every movement of the general's feet turned his body with it. The bronze sword in his hand seemed to have replaced his eyes, each swing perfectly intercepting an axe aimed at him by surprise. Then it cut downward along the axe head or haft, separating his enemy's head from his body. Blood spurted skyward from the severed neck, and the man could only fall in bitter defeat.

Both men knew that if he kept killing like this, the Vikings would soon lose. That would mean the Qi Kingdom soldiers suffered few casualties. Without the mutual devastation they had hoped for, there would be no profit to reap; their attempt to let both sides fight while they collected the spoils would have failed.

But just as disappointment began to show on their faces, a huge figure suddenly fought his way out of the melee and darted straight toward the general.

Scalding blood streamed down his face, all of it his enemies'. The axe in his hand was a size larger than the others, and a silver axe emblem at the center of his horned helmet proclaimed his rank.

"Take my axe!" he bellowed. His arm came crashing down like a mountain, and the enormous axe cleaved through the air from above. Its terrifying pressure made even Kanni, watching from afar, sense danger.

"Still struggling!" The general did not retreat a single step. Gripping his sword with both hands, he turned his body to channel the greatest possible force into his blow and met the descending rush head-on.

Clang! At the instant they clashed, blood poured from the ears of several people nearby. Some were briefly dazed as well, and that moment of disorientation cost them their lives in the next second.

The fierce metallic clashes came faster and faster. This Viking leader's attacks were plainly far quicker than an ordinary man's. He, in turn, marveled at the strength carried by his enemy's sword, which was every bit the equal of his own.

In just a few breaths, the two had exchanged no fewer than twenty blows. From afar, Zeng Mu could not follow how they swung their sword and axe, or how they moved and dodged. Even Kanni could not clearly make out some of their movements, and immediately felt that his earlier claim had been rather overconfident.

Facing this life-and-death struggle, the general showed not a trace of fear. He even had enough attention to spare to speak while swinging his sword. "I have to admit, you're quite skilled."

"Hmph! An ignorant ant from the Qi Kingdom!" the leader cursed.

"Now I'll use my full strength. You're worthy of a fight where I give everything I have." The corners of his mouth lifted into a satisfied smile. On his blood-covered face, that smile was unsettling.

"Then fight! You prattle like a woman!"

After one heavy clash, both men retreated several steps. With a sweep of his arm, the general shed his cloak and armor, which struck the ground with a heavy thud.

"He's gone mad! He actually dared to take off his armor at a time like this," Zeng Mu exclaimed as he watched.

"He hasn't gone mad," Kanni said calmly. "Didn't you notice that his armor weighs twice as much as an ordinary suit? It was specially made with two layers. Now that he's shed that extra burden, he can finally unleash the prowess it was holding back."

Sure enough, the instant he shed his cloak and armor, the general's speed and strength surged. The clashes between sword and axe began to change.

The great axe no longer pressed steadily forward as it had before. Instead, it was being driven back. Astonishment flashed in the silver-marked leader's large eyes beneath his thick brows. He had never expected that his opponent, wearing such heavy armor, could still have held his own against him.

Now, feeling the bronze sword's ferocious assault, he understood just how terrifying an enemy he had encountered.

"Qi Kingdom Person, you've roused my fury too!" he roared. He shed his armor as well, and, like his opponent, fought wearing only light armor amid the flashing blades of the battlefield.