Chapter 139: The Power of Order
Lakrak didn’t fear Redin BR Oser’s spear at all.
Right before their weapons reached each other, Redin dodged Lakrak’s spear.
‘This attack is nothing more than a battle of strength between beasts. There’s no reason to run into him like this.’
As Redin dodged Lakrak’s swing, the knights also split up and got out of Lakrak’s attack range. To be exact, they tried to do so.
“Coward!”
Lakrak jumped up and twisted his body in the air, throwing his spear straight toward the rear end of the knights. A few Elks collapsed, bringing the knights riding on their backs with them.
The Binding God’s Holy Knights then immediately got up and confronted Lakrak. Redin and the knights circled back.
‘He didn’t say anything. It seems that the Troll, Redin, can command the entire group without words.’
Lakrak charged toward the Holy Knights who had fallen off their Elks, and with the sound of thunder, his spear pierced through the first knight. He then shook off the body of the second knight his spear had pierced through and threw his spear at the third knight. With a kick from Lakrak, the third knight’s body flew tens of meters high into the air despite being over two meters tall and covered in steel armor.
‘Next up…huh?’
Lakrak bent his knees and lowered his body to throw himself to where the next knight was, but instead made a roll on the ground. With a swoosh, a shining arrow struck the spot where he had been.
Thud.
Lakrak stood up and looked at where the arrow had hit. There had been a small explosion.
‘It’s not a normal arrow.’
The arrows came from Redin and the knights charging at Lakrak. The Holy Knights demonstrated their marksmanship even while wearing heavy armor.
But Lakrak was also talented in archery. He extended his left hand and grabbed the air. And as he did so, a golden horn bow appeared in his left hand, while his right hand was now holding a shining lightning bolt. Lakrak notched the lightning bolt and pulled as hard as he could.
Redin commanded.
-Dodge it!
Lakrak’s shining arrow shot out. For one millisecond, a beam of light connected Lakrak and Redin, and the next moment, six of the Holy Knights got struck by the lightning bolt and fell off their Elks with black smoke rising from inside their armor.
‘Is there no part of the reputation of Night Sky’s apostle that is exaggerated?’
Redin mused. He had thought he was strong enough when he borrowed God’s power to kill his father, subjugated the knights and made them his own, and when he led the knights to quickly suppress the rebellions.
‘But I must admit that I have only taken the easy path until now.’
Redin had no choice but to avoid Lakrak’s first attack since it was obvious what would happen if he faced Lakrak then and there.
‘I would fall off my Elk, and the knights following me would fall as well.’
Lakrak literally possessed the fighting spirit to kill a God, and he also had the abilities to support that spirit.
‘He’s a monster that can kill a god. I am not the same as him.’
Redin judged that he needed to use a different method.
-Divide the troops into two. The vanguard will follow me, and the rearguard will follow the vice-captain. And vice-captain.
“Yes, sir!”
-Lead your troops to catch Lakrak.
“Alright.”
As Redin changed direction, half of the knights followed behind him.
-In the meantime, the rest will attack Black Scale’s main forces. Lakrak’s weaknesses are the retreating soldiers.?
***
As Lakrak struck his spear through the head of the last fallen knight, the knight he had kicked into the air before fell back onto the ground.
Crack.
Lakrak looked back and forth between the knights that had divided into two groups.
‘Are they trying to lose me somehow?’
Lakrak took a moment to think. It was possible to entrap the other group, but in that case, the other group of knights not led by Redin would attack Black Scale. Ultimately, no matter which side attacked Black Scale, Black Scale would suffer damage as they were short-handed.
“...Urgh!”
Lakrak noticed a Troll knight who had been struck down groaning and trying to get up from the ground. Black blood was pouring out from beneath their visor, but it seemed that they were still alive.
‘Their bodies are tougher than expected. I can’t get sloppy.’
Frowning, Lakrak realized that he didn’t have to do everything on his own. He briefly glanced at the sky before kicking the knight trying to get up in the head.
Thump!
The head tore off the body and flew far away.
***
Adjutant Su-Heon rode beside the commander of Black Scale’s army, General Vasen Lak Orazen.
“General, the reconnaissance team has returned.”
“How’s the situation?”
“It’s not good.The army of New Danyum is belatedly joining, but it seems that Asbestos’s army have already prepared their troops.”
Su-Heon told Vasen the number of Asbestos’s troops and their state of defense.
“Number wise, they only have 10,000, but that doesn’t seem to be the entirety of the enemy force.”
“What if you add them all up?”
“I don’t know for sure. We’re still getting more information from the reconnaissance team, but enemy forces are continuing to be discovered. There are about 30,000 at the moment. At first I thought they’d taken a bad direction to retreat to, but on second thought, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Asbestos’s troops are spread out in all directions, so it's pretty much a siege against us. I can’t seem to think of a way out of this.”
Vasen then said from on top of his Cockatoo, “That’s different from the number we knew before. And the same goes for the enemy’s state of defense.”
“What? Oh, yes. That is correct.”
“We usually conduct thorough reconnaissance.”
“Yes. Perhaps there was something we were neglecting this time…”
“No, there wasn’t. I checked myself. And Night Sky had also checked the areas that we couldn’t scout. Isn’t that why the priests are chasing after those swordsmen who smelled of iron?”
Su-Heon smiled at those words.
“Are you blaming Night Sky?”
“No. I’m saying that Asbestos and the Binding God prepared thoroughly.”
“Wouldn’t all war preparations be like that?”
“Yes, but they prepared themselves for today alone. It’s something to be happy about.”
“What do you mean?”
When Su-Heon gave him a puzzled look, Vasen said, “I think this will be the last fight against the alliance.”
Su-Heon laughed.
“That’s good.”
“Order the entire army to pick up the pace. If possible, tell them to go at full speed.”
“Would it be okay to tell them to run away faster?”
Vasen clicked his tongue.
“Adjutant.”
“Yes?”
“You still have lots to learn.”
Su-Heon looked at Vasen with wonder.
Vasen said, “If we’re surrounded, we’re not retreating anymore. We’re charging.”
Su-Heon’s face brightened as if he had realized something, and he slowed down his horse.
Someone then said something from the other side of Vasen. It was the reconnaissance team.
“We have bad news. The rear end of our troops have been captured!”
Vasen turned to look over his shoulder.
***
-Fire!
At Redin’s command, the knights shot their arrows. The shining arrows didn’t fall to the ground, but instead struck Black Scale’s soldiers. They were careless because a few arrows didn’t seem like much, but they twisted their bodies and screamed in pain when they were shot.
-Aack!
The areas hit by the arrows suddenly began to swell, and then their flesh tore apart, exposing their muscles, blood vessels, bones, and nerves, which deformed and rearranged themselves.
Even those who were fortunate enough to not be directly struck got slashed by the swords of the knights who had chased after and caught up to them. Once cut off, the arm immediately unraveled into muscles, blood vessels, bones, and nerves before scattering onto the ground. The screaming victim was then attacked in the neck.
‘...The power of order!’
Redin rejoiced at the sight of a new order being established.
The fundamental power of the Binding God was the power to intertwine and mix things. Originally, the Binding God’s power was related to complicatedly tangled balls of yarn or neatly woven works of art. The powers of many gods had the characteristics of both creation and destruction. For example, Night Sky could create insects, but Night Sky’s apostles could also drive insects away. Similarly, the priests of Binding God possessed the skill to not only unravel threads, but also to tie them together.
‘And the Holy Knights and I both possess power at a higher level.’
If something could be tied, it could also be untied.
‘This is the difference in perspective.’
Untying something could seem insignificant, but it was useful from a different perspective. In a way, everything in the world was interwoven. For example, a well-made suit of clothes, a wooden house made with only wood and no nails, a book, and even the complex mechanical equipment that alchemists had.
‘Therefore, living things are also made of interwoven tissues. Life is simply in a more complicated form, but its essence is no different from death.’
Redin stabbed the back of a Black Scale soldier who was running away, and the soldier completely unraveled.
‘Now this…is true…’
But Redin’s praise for the Binding God came to a sudden halt.
‘...Insects?’
When Redin and the knights lifted their bows again, a black swarm of beetles appeared as if taunting him to try and unravel them too.
‘Night Sky!’
Redin had thoroughly investigated all the gods of the continent, so he knew that Night Sky had been closely connected to insects in the past.
‘These insignificant insects…’
Redin judged that the less complicated something was, the easier it would be to unravel it. In fact, with the power of the Binding God, he could unweave objects such as clothes or books with a touch of his hand. However, contrary to his expectations, these insects didn’t easily unravel. When they got struck by the Trolls’ weapons, their shells, organs, and fluids tore apart and fell onto the ground, but that was all. When one beetle disappeared, another came, and when one beetle got struck, more came forth to replace it.
‘Is this the power of Night Sky? Or are insects normally…’
With their vision covered by beetles, the anxious Elks slowed down, hesitant to go forward. They then stopped or even turned back.
Struggling to fight against the sudden swarm of beetles, Redin felt a flash of light behind his back.
‘Damn it. Was he trying to buy time?’
It was Lakrak. Fortunately, Lakrak hadn’t defeated all the other knights, and there was a long tail of knights chasing after him.
‘No, that’s not it. He became anxious after seeing his troops get attacked. It’s a chance for us to attack him from the front and back!’
Redin then shouted to the knights.
-Charge at Lakrak! Shoot your arrows!
The knights escaped the swarm of beetles and charged toward Lakrak. Lakrak and Anaske were running through the plains, and the knights were riding on their Elks and shooting arrows at them from the front and back. No one would deny that they were great archers.
Eventually, an arrow hit Lakrak’s arm.
-It’s done! Now with the power of order injected…
The arrow had been immediately pulled out, but the arm struck by the arrow was already bubbling as if it were boiling. Lakrak’s internal organs were moving to rearrange themselves.
Lakrak took a deep breath and glared at his right arm.
“Hup!”
His arm then stopped moving as he tightened his muscles.
Lakrak started to charge forward again.
“Keep trying, Troll!”
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