Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World

Chapter 130  The end of a battle

After parting ways with the king, Gedhe led his soldiers through the forest, their movements resembled a pack of wolves navigating through the trees and leaving deep footprints in the piled snow. Within minutes, they could already see the silhouettes of their enemies through the gaps in the foliage.

"Brothers!"- Gedhe's voice echoed, the cold wind hitting against his bare chest as the Tribal Tattoo of a wolf on his back gleamed in red, strengthening his muscles and sharpening his senses, his reaction time skyrocketing - "It's time to send offerings to our ancestors!"

With lightning speed, Gedhe's back arched as he hurled the massive axe in his hands toward an enemy lurking near the trees, the weapon spinning rapidly like a wood chip. The axe sliced through the gaps in the foliage, finding its mark in the target's skull. The enemy staggered for a moment before collapsing lifelessly to the frozen ground, eyes wide open in a fierce gaze that still carried a will to fight.

"Halt! Enemies!"- Zuna's voice thundered, seeing that one of her soldiers in the last line had fallen to an ambush attack, a massive axe almost beheading him - "Form a wall! Take your positions!"

Zuna had stopped her charge when she blocked an arrow that appeared on her peripheral vision, prompting her to gaze at the origin of the attack, the forest to her left side. With her back to the destroyed and burning walls of Eisenburg, she ordered the soldiers to stop and form a wall as she positioned herself in the center of the shield wall, accompanied by the nobles. She felt safe to give commands.

"Where are they?" - Zuna asked herself anxiously, not anticipating a battalion outside the walls.

An unsettling silence followed the soldier's death, leaving Zuna and the soldiers gazing at the lone dead body on the clearing. It was broken by eerie and primal screams that echoed from all sides, as if they were surrounded by hungry wild animals, ready to pounce at the trespassers.

The cries of the forest seemed to engulf the cracking of flames and the anguished screams coming from Eisenburg's walls. Luak's soldiers stood fixed on their spots, shields raised as fear gripped their hearts, sweat covered their palms and made difficult to wield their weapons.

All of sudden, a massive figure burst forth from the forest, swiftly retrieving the giant axe lodged in the enemy's skull. Without slowing down, the figure rushed towards the shield wall standing roughly a hundred feet (~30 meters) from Eisenburg. Behind him, hundreds of figures appeared, following his track. A strange smile covered the barbarian's lips, one that seemed to be anticipating the battle, finding joy in the carnage that was about to happen. "Barbarians!"- a soldier at the front line exclaimed, his voice trembling, almost dropping the shield in his hands as he witnessed the huge figures crazily charging at them. The morale gained from the mage's spells seemed to disappear almost instantly.

The stories of the inhabitants of the Frozen Forest in the extreme North also circulated within the neighborhood countries outside of Stahl. Tales of giant men and woman who ravaged Stahl's lands every year, demons that consumed the flesh of their enemies and laid entire cities to waste in tribute to their spirits and ancestors, demons that spread fear through their hearts and plagued their minds.

"Stand firm! Hold your position!" - Zuna commanded, her voice striving to instill confidence amidst the chaos.

Despite Zuna's command, fear kept rippling through the ranks of Luak's soldiers as the barbarian horde descended upon them like an unstoppable force of nature. The snowy ground shook beneath the weight of their charge, and the air crackled with their war cries.

Gedhe was at the forefront of the barbarians, his muscles pulsating with energy as the tattoo gave him more strength and speed, his axe lifted upwards.

His axe descended with a powerful and swift slash, his body clashing like a bull through the line of soldiers. It was a crazy and mindless action, without a single strategy, befit of the barbarian's way of thinking. Straightforward.

"Dam-" - The curse of the first enemy was interrupted in the middle. He firmed his foothold on the snowy ground as he raised his wooden shield to protect himself. However, Gedhe's massive axe destroyed it immediately, slicing his body in half. It was an impressive but bloody scene.

Gedhe didn't stop there. Unbothered by the huge weight of his weapon and not losing his momentum, he seamlessly connected a swift horizontal attack, like a crescent moon, beheading everyone around him and opening a huge path for his soldiers. Gedhe gave them no time to react. He was like a spearhead, opening way for his allies.

"Follow the village leader!"

"This one is mine!"

"Haha" n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Die!"

"Six heads! I am winning!"

The barbarians screamed as they pierced through the line of defense, drenching their blades in blood. Heads and bodies falling one after the other as they charged.

There was a clear lack of strategy and organization, one that had been slowly developing in Stahl's main army. There wasn't a single ounce of fear in their steps and attacks. It was this complete lack of fear and their superior strength that allowed these few hundreds of people to clash and instill fear in the hearts of thousands of Luak's soldiers.

In the middle of the troops, Zuna and the nobles exchanged anxious gazes. They could feel the cold ground beneath their feet warming up with their soldiers's blood.

"We can't win! The mage! Where is the mage?" - One of the soldiers screamed in fright, his eyes searching around but finding no sight of the mage. He could see the drops of blood flying through the air as the soldiers fell one after the other.

"Raise your fucking shields!" - A noble screamed and kicked a dazed soldier, who had taken a step back as the wailing cries of his comrades spread through the air and their blood reached the sole of their boots - "I will behead you and your whole family"

Albeit their trembling hands, the threat seemed to be effective, prompting them to raise their shields.

"Prepare to engage!" - Zuna's voice echoed as she issued a command to the six nobles around her, tightening her grip in the handle of her sword - "We will hold position until the mage comes to our help!"

The nobles wanted to get away and go back to their kingdom to seek more help. They had come to this kingdom with a few dozens of nobles, much less than Aritreia. However, most of them had died while pursuing the black demons to the mountain and a few others were injured in a mysterious explosion when they entered the kingdom of Stahl. They didn't have enough warriors to fight against the barbarians, who even though were less than them in numbers, still found it easier to hunt them down than it was to hunt down rabbits inside the Frozen Forest.

However, before the nobles could make their minds to fight against the barbarians or run away, something happened.

Before Zuna's eyes, all the nobles around her were beheaded, as if the air around them had become a sharp scythe that reaped their lives in a single blow. It was so fast that the blood only gushed out of their necks when their bodies reached the floor.

She bewildered caressed her neck, trying to confirm if her head was still attached to her body and if there was no blood. She was afraid that she had died even before she could notice if she died.

"I will leave one of you alive" - an ethereal female voice reached her ears - "Maybe, you are worth a few manuals and texts. Now, I need to go help that weak man who entitled himself as a king"

It was the end of the battle.