Volume 3, Chapter 232 - A Resolute Pursuit (2/2)
The two roaring beasts distanced themselves from each other for a moment, but very quickly came rushing for each other once more. Gi Zu raised up his spear from a low stance and Jize brushed it off. Jize kept on going like that and assumed a high stance, but Gi Zu read the trajectory of his attack and increased his pace.
He took his deflected spear and raised it above him, placing it along the trajectory of Jize’s descending sword. Normally, he should have been able to easily receive Jize’s blade, but instead it easily split his iron spear in two and buried itself into his shoulder. When his sword entered Gi Zu’s flesh, Jize smiled.
“Did you think I couldn’t cut iron!?”
But Gi Zu, who had lowered his hips a little, suddenly cried out and released his spirit.
“GURUUuUaAooOOO!!”
As he threw away the spear that had been cleanly cut in two, he unleashed the true nature of the Mad Dragon, the one who has heavily received the divine protection of the mad god. He ignored the blade buried into his shoulder and sent his fist toward Jize’s side.
“GU!?”
As the sound of ribs breaking resounded, Jize faltered a little. On top of that, Gi Zu bashed his head against Jize’s now lowered forehead, causing Jize to close his eyes, then Gi Zu swung his fist with all his strength. This was the same right fist that once thoroughly crushed Zu Ved. But since then, Gi Zu has evolved a class and its power was now greater than before.
It was a fist that could break the neck of a normal human. And even Jize was sent tumbling and flying 4 meters away. At the wake of the impact, the ground hollowed and clouds of dust were raised up. It was a power that could kill even goblins.
“…I thought you’d lost your mind due to pain, but it seems that this is your true nature.”
When Jize calmly appeared within the clouds of dust, everyone but the maddened Gi Zu was shocked. After throwing away the blade buried within his shoulder, Gi Zu roared in anger and once again chased after Jize.
“GURURUUuGAAAaAAa!!”
Jize wiped the blood that flowed out of his mouth and without hesitation stepped toward Gi Zu once again.
Unarmed, Jize lowered his hips and brought his left hand forward. Using that same left hand, he brushed aside Gi Zu’s fist that was swung only with power, then with all of his strength, he buried his right hand into Gi Zu
“—But!”
After hitting Gi Zu’s chin perfectly, he brought back his hands and talked himself up.
“I, who have mastered all martial arts, have no weakness!”
When the surrounding goblins saw Gi Zu falling after being hit, they could not help but be shaken.
“Bastard, how dare you do that to pops!”
From that crowd of shaken goblins appeared a proud Zu Ved, carrying a club on his shoulders.
“Save pops!”
He spurred on the goblins of the brawler faction and ran to where Gi Zu had collapsed.
“What good fortune. A one-on-one duel is the flower of the battlefield, but a battle like this is more fitting of a monster hunt—”
“—GURUuuUUOOAAA!”
But before he could even finish saying that, Bui, who had been sneaking around, suddenly appeared behind him and attacked him. That attack that was loaded with all of Bui’s strength crushed the ground, giving rise to clouds of dust and scattering fragments of stones.
“—Even the orcs came? What good fortune!”
After Jize immediately jumped out of the way, he took out his curved sword, and began cutting down the approaching goblins of the brawler faction. He was not using his sword like he did before where he aimed only for the neck. His sword now was like a storm of blades that literally crushed life.
“What good fortune! Ahh, what good fortune! This is the real pleasure of hunting monsters! KU KA KA KA KA KA!!”
Jize the One-Eyed laughed like a demon as he cut down the approaching goblins and orcs. He handled his curved sword with one hand and cut the monsters from head to crotch with a single stroke.
Then he used is other hand to push his fingers into the eyes of the orcs that approached. He threw the screaming orcs and crushed the head of the convulsing orcs underfoot.
“So this is all that orcs amount to.”
As Jize cut the monsters one after another, the circle of monsters around him had no choice but to distance itself from him.
“Damn it! That’s a real monster.”
Zu Ved clicked his tongue as he took Gi Zu and handed him to be protected by his subordinate. After that he gradually ordered everyone to step back. If Gi Zu hadn’t heard that they had to prioritize retreating beforehand, he would have definitely attacked here.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
After recovering Gi Zu, the monsters gradually retreated while keeping their distance.
The ones watching the rear was Bui who led the orcs and the demihumans who came late. Bui was dead scared of the holy knight’s strength, so he had the orcs equip themselves with heavy armor and steel shields. Although doing this slowed them down, if one looked at how it was able to reduce their casualties, it was the right choice.
The orcs pressed their shoulders against each other to eliminate any openings between them and gradually retreated. Jize tried to attack the orcs that were single-mindedly focused on defending, but the centaurs, who were furious from having their tribe members killed, interfered.
“Fire your arrows!”
The arrows of the centaurs could easily penetrate even iron. Much less the body of a human like Jize. Although his physical abilities were indeed amazing, the arrows shot by the centaur needed only a moment, on top of which, they themselves even moved quickly.
Though angered, the chief, Tianos, never forgot those two strong points of his army.
They were proud of their legs that allowed them to run. And their skill in archery that allowed them to hunt was their pride.
“Don’t stop. Just focus on covering them. But if there’s an opening, kill him!”
After drawing their bows to the limit and shooting three arrows successively, they sprinted off. Naturally, this left even Jize stumped, and he had no choice but to prioritize defending himself over chasing the goblins.
When the body of the God of Fire (Rodo) had risen, the arrows of the centaur were finally exhausted. Jize remained standing, but the area around him was now like a pincushion. By this point in time, however, the goblins have already gotten away and were already devoting their attention to fixing their formation.
“They escaped, but…”
Jize, who was covered in blood, turned around and looked behind him. The attack of the main force was too slow. He looked toward the horizon, wondering if something might happen, but after a while, the main force finally appeared across the shimmer of hot air.
After rendezvousing with the main force, the information he got shocked him.
“…The scouts were almost wiped out?”
“Yes, they all received wounds at the throat.”
There was no need to ask who was responsible for it.
When Jize found out that the scouts he sent were done in, he wryly smiled.
“…Not bad, goblins.”
“What shall we do now?”
“Hmm… We should leave the vanguard to Valdor-dono and the nobles’ army. If we throw ourselves into the dark, no matter how many lives we have, it won’t be enough.
“Haa…”
The soldier didn’t seem convinced, but Jize just laughed and went back to his tent to change clothes. Although he managed to slow down the goblins, they were still in good health. Jize knew that they would be at a disadvantage if attacked during the night, so he had his soldiers make a simple camp by the time the sun set.
“We’ll start chasing the enemy tomorrow morning. Rest well for now.”
It was a bold order, but the southern army obeyed Jize and rested for the time being.
◆◆◇
“Jize-dono is letting us take the vanguard?”
When Valdor the Holy Knight was informed of that through the messenger, he turned to the distant camp that was yet under construction and wondered within his helmet.
“Yes. He wishes to pass on the position of vanguard due to having lost his scouts.”
“First, they take out our legs. Now, they take out our eyes?”
Valdor became thoughtful for a moment, but he had no choice but to order his army to advance. Yesterday, the son of Lord Bedoru, the Minister of the Military, Victor, died. In light of that sad news, Valdor had no choice but to resolve himself to order the army to advance.
If they did not at least take back the Western Region, what face would he have to meet a father who’s lost his son.
“If the southern army is going to be making camp, then this is a good opportunity. We shall take the lead and advance for the enemy.”
There should be no problems with the supply base prepared at Jize’s camp. As Valdor decided in his mind that unless they caused inflicted catastrophic damage upon the goblin army, this battle would continue, he resumed his army’s march.
He relied on the information Jize sent to maintain his army’s march. Valdor’s army went deep into the Western Region. The imperial guards under the crown prince, the mages, and the nobles’ army were all gathered together behind the eastern army that served as the vanguard.
Just like Jize, Valdor could not just throw his army into the fray, so he quietly watched the enemy from within his army. Before long the skies were overturned by the Night God, and the Goddess of Darkness (Verdna) spread her wings. It was then that they made camp. Of course, they did not let their guard down even then.
They sent small platoons to every direction to keep watch, while they put up simple tents and slept.
The goblins they were so wary of did not attack, and the next day, they could see the backs of the goblins again.
It was on the next day since the humans started pursuing the goblins that Fanzel entered one of the three forests that dotted the plains. The nobles’ army said that they should enter the forest as soon as possible, but the mages were against it since it was difficult to use their spells in a place with poor vision.
The magic they used was mostly flame magic. Such magic wasn’t just difficult to use inside a forest, if a mistake were to be made, they would end up causing a fire, burning themselves to death.
“Victory is right before us! We should attack posthaste!”
It was the commissioned officer of the nobles’ army that insisted that.
“That is precisely why we must exercise caution! There is nothing good about rushing in vain!”
Valdor became thoughtful as he listened to the rebuttal of the mages’ commissioned officer. He wanted to give as much achievements as possible to the crown prince. But if they were to fight at the forest, they would be at a disadvantage. Given the circumstance, they had no choice but to drag the goblins out of the forest. Jize’s southern army was presently keeping watch of the surrounding area.
“Umu…”
As Jize fondled his eye patch, he became thoughtful.
“…What if we burned it down instead?”
In response to those few words, all eyes gathered. But that couldn’t be helped, after all, it was Crown Prince Ishtar himself who said that.
“The forest?”
“Yes. If the goblins were to show themselves, wouldn’t we then be able to get our battle?”
“True.”
Valdor considered it and nodded.
“A magnificent plan, Your Highness.”
Valdor bowed his head, then immediately turned to the other commissioned officers and had them prepare to burn the forest. On the next day, a fire was started in the forest that the Bow and Arrow
Army (Fanzel) was hiding in. Caught up in the spoke, Fanzel had no choice but to show themselves just as the humans had planned.
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