Barbarian Quest

Chapter 182

The alliance army fled at the sound of the horn. Waves of retreating barbarian warriors covered the grasslands.

The imperial army eagerly pursued the alliance, but aside from their light cavalry, they couldn't catch up with the marching speed of the barbarians.

"So that’s what heavy cavalry is like...?"

Samikan clutched his wounded chest as he ran. He had witnessed the power of the heavy cavalry and trembled with awe. The sight of steel masses, towering over fully grown men, rushing toward them wasn’t something that any amount of bravery or superior combat skills could stop.

The barbarians were tragically trampled under the might of the so-called strongest arms, leaving nothing but mangled corpses in their wake. Even forces with numbers of multiples of their number were meaningless before the heavy cavalry.

‘That is truly terrifying, even worse than Noah's warning.’

He had heard about them many times. But seeing with his own eyes, the power of the heavy cavalry far exceeded Samikan's expectations.

The alliance army trembled at the power of the heavy cavalry. All of the alliance's strategies were sound. Strategically, the alliance was the winner of the battle, but the sheer force of the heavy cavalry destroyed even those strategies.

But the alliance army wasn’t the only one that was shocked by the flow of this battle. The imperial army was also greatly rattled by the unexpected losses.

"What the hell happened, Commander Odinst!"

Nobles, having lost their private soldiers, furiously demanded answers. Odinst looked toward the horizon.

"We’ve still got a pursuit to do, so save your questions for later!"

Odinst shouted, breaking away from the nobles.

‘The heavy cavalry also suffered great losses. We lost many knights fighting against some mere barbarians.’

Odinst rode across the battlefield, gathering damage reports from the officers.

The heavy cavalry had charged recklessly to turn the strategic disadvantage of the imperial army around. Their usual role was to destroy the enemy’s formation by penetrating enemy lines with lance charges and replenishing after. The shock charge deep into the enemy’s ranks was meant to be saved until the enemy had been sufficiently disrupted.

However, in this battle, the heavy cavalry fought surrounded by unbroken barbarians. Dozens of warhorses were lost, and they also suffered over fifty heavy cavalrymen casualties. Considering most heavy cavalrymen were nobility's offspring and official knights, it was a devastating loss.

By exchange rates, the victory seemed like it was taken by the imperial army, but the imperial army was also the one on an expedition. Continuing to battle this way on barbarian land might lead to the legion's defeat.

‘We have to chase them down and inflict more damage while we can.’

Odinst watched the advancing light cavalry.

The light cavalry, excited, pursued the barbarians' rear. They decapitated the slower barbarians, shouting.

"You disgusting barbarians!"

"We are coming!"

"Stick out your stinky asses!"

The light cavalry leaned low, spurring their horses on. Being mostly commoners with horses or from a mercenary background, the light cavalry had harsh tongues and loose discipline.

"Great Chief! The ones on horses are chasing us!"

The alliance's rear was being cut down. The light cavalry, with their superior mobility, picked off the retreating alliance forces. The alliance couldn’t engage with the light cavalry either, as it would only lead to being caught by the imperial army and suffering even greater losses.

"Call the Phergamon warriors!"

Samikan had anticipated a retreat from the beginning. It was remarkable for barbarian warriors to have fought this way in their first engagement with the imperial army. Even though the alliance was the one retreating as if they had lost, all of their strategies had worked out as planned.

Buuuuuuup!

A warrior blew the horn. As if they had been waiting, three hundred Phergamon mountain goat warriors appeared on the hilltop.

Samikan had positioned the mountain goat warriors as a blocking force in anticipation of a pursuit.

"Esteemed brothers, today is not for hunting humans but for hunting demons that came from beyond the mountains."

Chikaka, standing at the forefront, spoke. He led the mountain goat warriors as the representative of the Phergamo Tribe. Phergamo, being a large tribe that was of kingdom scale, was more of an ally than a member of the alliance. In terms of the location of the tribe and the difference in the people, Phergamo was by far the most distinct tribe in the alliance.

"Let's protect these weak long-legs from the hands of these demons!"

"Hoooooouuuu!"

Chikaka and the mountain goat warriors donned their unique wooden masks. Their eyes gleamed from behind the masks.

The warriors spread out, making way for the mountain goat warriors.

Battle goats were treasured assets that were carefully raised. The Phergamo Tribe selected the biggest young goats, starved them for a long time, and then fed them meat-mixed fodder. Those that accepted the carnivorous diet then became battle goats.

"W-what is that!"

The light cavalry screamed upon seeing the mountain goats charging at them with small-statured warriors on top of them.

Fed on nutrient-rich meat fodder, the goats grew larger and more muscular. Their temperament became more ferocious, and the eyes of the battle goats were as wild as those of predators.

"An army of demons!"

The light cavalry exclaimed upon seeing the mountain goat warriors.

The Phergamon warriors were from a tribe so unique even in the eyes of the westerners that they were given the notorious title of human hunters. Naturally, they looked like legendary monsters in the eyes of civilization.

Creaaaak!

The mountain goat warriors pulled their bows. They carried two types of bows, one being a wooden bow and the other a horn bow made from cow horns. To achieve strong tension with their small stature, they needed to use horn bows, but in the distinct dry and wet seasons of the west, operating horn bows in the wet season was challenging. The glue they used as adhesive tended to dissolve in humidity, easily damaging the bow.

But the weather today was clear and dry. The mountain goat warriors picked up their horn bows, which were much more powerful than wooden bows of the same size.

Twang!

The mountain goat warriors fired their arrows. Being small in stature, they preferred archery over melee combat. Mountain goat warriors spent their lives mastering their goat-mounted archery skills.

"Kaaagh!"

The mountain goat warriors circled the pursuing light cavalry, unleashing their arrows. The light cavalry was utterly helpless against them.

The concept of mounted archers was nonexistent in the empire. Riding while shooting arrows required tremendous skill and was difficult to cultivate. Moreover, the light cavalries carrying crossbows somewhat fulfilled the role of mounted archers.

"Draw your crossbows!"

However, reloading crossbows was slow, and it was especially more challenging while riding on the back of a horse. After managing to fire a single shot, the light cavalry fell one by one to the mountain goat warriors' arrows.

"Remember my name. I am Chikaka of Phergamo."

Chikaka nocked two arrows on the bowstring and fired. The split arrows struck two charging light cavalrymen. The mountain goat warriors, being rather weak in melee combat, learned to simultaneously shoot arrows at approaching enemies.

Thwip!

An arrow whizzed past Chikaka's mask.

As the mountain goat warriors engaged with the light cavalry, the imperial army's light infantry joined in. They too fired their long-range weapons at the mountain goat warriors.

"Retreat!"

Chikaka shouted.

The mountain goat warriors swiftly regrouped and followed the alliance's rear. The battle goats, not having participated in the earlier battle, still had plenty of strength left in their legs.

In contrast, the light cavalry's horses, which had been engaged in the battle from the start and now were conducting a pursuit, were exhausted. They couldn't keep up with the mountain goats whose legs were shorter than theirs.

"Demons. An army of demons. Oh, Lou..."

A fallen light cavalryman coughed up blood and muttered. The mountain goat warriors, wearing colorful wooden masks, instilled terror in the civilized people.

Chikaka and the mountain goat warriors had achieved a tremendous feat. They did not just delay the light cavalry but overwhelmed them in combat. The mountain goat warriors completely cut off the pursuit force.

‘The mountain goat warriors are excellent. There was a reason why Urich wanted to bring them in no matter what.’

Samikan also admired the accomplishments of the mountain goat warriors.

Other alliance chiefs and warriors nodded and greeted the joining mountain goat warriors. There wasn’t a single soul that treated them lightly because of their smaller stature. The mountain goat warriors were among the most formidable warriors even in the alliance army.

The alliance army kept marching even after the imperial army was no longer in sight. They had to get themselves as far away as possible from the imperial army.

"Did everything go according to the plan, Samikan?"

The chiefs asked with anxious eyes. Although the aim of the first battle wasn’t to claim victory in the first place, the defeated retreat made them uneasy.

"Keep walking. Persistence and patience will bring us victory."

Samikan clutched his chest. He had pulled out the arrow and cauterized the wound on his chest. Because they had to continue marching despite him needing to rest for his injury, the wound did not heal quickly.

‘If I show any weakness now, it will be the end. Not just the warriors but the chiefs are anxious too.’

Samikan walked with deliberate confidence. He swallowed the blood and showed no sign of pain.

After a fortnight of marching, the alliance army finally tallied their losses upon reaching the Blue Mist Tribe's village. Only then could the warriors relax and rest comfortably. The Blue Mist Tribe had enough food stored by the alliance army.

"We've lost forces equivalent to three thousand-man units."

Noah surveyed the alliance army and reported to Samikan.

"Once Belrua returns from crossing the wasteland, we should be able to replenish that number of troops."

Samikan clutched his chest, gasping for breath. His wound was clearly aggravated.

The alliance’s forces were still not completely assembled. The tribes far to the west were still out of Samikan's reach, so Belrua of the Red Sand had gone west to personally recruit more warriors.

"You better get some proper treatment first. You don’t look too well. Should I call Six-Fingered?"

Noah looked at Samikan's face and suggested.

"Keke, I can't entrust my treatment to that sly dog. Better to entrust it to a shaman from the Stone Axe."

Samikan chuckled lowly and called a trustworthy shaman. He meticulously asked about every step of the treatment process. He always took care of his personal safety.

The alliance always had its share of large and small disputes. Naturally, there were forces hostile to Samikan.

‘If something happens to me now, the alliance falls apart. I am the alliance.’

Samikan's arrogance was also the truth. He was the focal point of the alliance, and he was undoubtedly irreplaceable by anyone.

"It’s going to rain soon. It will erase our tracks and slow down the imperial army."

Samikan sniffed the humid air and smiled wearily. During the rainy season, once the rain started to pour, it could continue for days. The imperial army' advance would certainly be hindered.

"If Urich managed to cut off the supply route, we might stand a chance," Noah sat in front of Samikan and spoke.

"Thank you, Noah, for saying 'we'. I know that you are facing the army of your homeland. I can't imagine how much pain that brings you."

Samikan trusted Noah. Noah and Urich were Samikan's left and right arms. Without them, Samikan couldn't have built the alliance.

Noah too had gone through much deliberation before standing against the imperial army. It just wasn't shown outwardly. But he regarded Samikan as a brother and couldn't just stand by and watch as his brother was in need of his help.

‘Samikan can't show weakness to anyone else. Not even to Urich, his equal brother, since he's a competitor.’

Noah was a civilized man who wasn't a competitor for power, nor did he vie for it. He saw much more of Samikan's personal side than anyone else.

"Rest well, Samikan. Until your wound heals, try not to worry too much."

"How nice would it be if I could do that?" Samikan lay down in the tent and spoke.

Noah headed outside but then walked back toward Samikan.

"This is a talisman of the god I believe in."

Noah took off his sun pendant and held it out.

"This is the Sun God Lou, the one you always talked about."

Samikan lay and lifted the sun pendant to look at it. In the west, there were hardly any tribes that worshiped the sun. Westerners revered the sky itself more than the sun.

"If fighting alongside you is my fate arranged by Lou... then it will also help you."

"I'm not interested in a god of your world, but I'll accept it as a sign of our friendship."

Samikan put on the pendant and fiddled with the sun.

"That's good enough for me."

Noah nodded and left Samikan's tent.