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Chapter 29 – Baptism (5)
The Serpens warriors were expelled from the Empire by the imperial army. These men didn’t give up on their religion just because it was vindicated as a cult. They became bandits and wandered as fugitives.
“When we shed our bodies, only eternity awaits us.”
The Serpens warriors murmured to themselves while looking at the enemies. There were only five of them.
“Let’s kill them quickly and leave.”
As long as their brother died, they had to get their revenge. They planned to leave after killing Urich, thinking that it wouldn’t take too much time.
CRUSH!
The Serpens warriors quickly realized that they were mistaken. Even though he was surrounded by over twenty bandits, Urich wasn’t easily caught.
‘He’s skilled in using the forest to fight.’
Urich weaved between the trees to dodge arrows and steadily killed each approaching enemy by putting an axe in their head.
‘It doesn’t feel advantageous for us at all. Rather, it feels like we’re slowly getting dragged into the mud…’
The Serpens warriors carefully surrounded Urich. If they ran in one by one, the only thing that would happen was them dying one by one. Thus, they planned to attack him from all sides.
“Hah, now you’re finally using your heads. Snake-tattooed bastards.”
The main group in the bandit group were the Serpens believers, but there were also some of them that joined because they couldn’t handle the hardships of life. The majority of that group were escaped slaves. Nobody would join hands with the Serpens unless they were also on the bottom of the social ladder.
‘The snake-tattooed guys are pretty strong. Other than them, there isn’t much to look at.’
Urich’s eyes moved quickly. He looked at where his enemies were. A plan of where to move while fighting naturally entered his head. He was skilled at fighting in the forest.
“Fuuu.”
His breaths got heavier. He had already slain four bandits. During that time, the other soldiers that came with him had already died.
‘So I’m the only one left.’
Death crept all the way up to right below Urich’s chin. A cool chill ran across his neck.
‘Come here, Urich.’
‘There’s nowhere for us to rest after we die.’
‘We only wander around this world.’
It felt like the evil spirits were whispering into his ear. Urich shook his head after hearing the delusions.
“Did I go insane?”
Urich focused his eyes. The Serpens warriors all rushed into him.
Urich cut a notch into the tree with his axe to give him leverage to climb up the tree. When he reached the midpoint, he jumped high and over the Serpens warriors.
He instantly escaped being surrounded and even had his opponents’ rear. It was an extraordinary movement.
SLICE.
Urich rolled around the floor while cutting the Serpens warriors’ legs. Their screams continued as the archers took aim at Urich.
Fssss.
An arrow flew towards him in the dark. Urich curled his body to cover his face and stomach.
Ffft!
Arrows landed in his arms and legs. His hot anger burst out of his mouth.
“UWAAAAAAAH!”
Urich roared while twisting off the arrows that were stuck in his limbs. He threw his axe to split the head of an approaching Serpens warrior. He kept up the momentum and hit another warrior with his remaining axe.
Using his free hand, he picked up a fallen warrior’s curved sword and swung it around. It was a sword specialized in slicing. The strength carried over properly, and the enemy that received his attack with a shield faltered.
‘His side is open.’
A Serpens warrior ran in from behind Urich to aim for his side. His curved sword drew a perfect line.
WHACK!
Urich dropped his elbow to change the direction of the curved blade that was aiming for his side. The curved sword changed directions and slid by after cutting Urich’s thigh.
‘What’s with that reaction speed…’
The Serpens warrior that aimed for Urich’s side was terrified.
“That fucking huuuuuurts!”
THUD!
Urich raged as he swung his fist. He landed a clean hit on the warrior’s face. The warrior’s cheekbones collapsed and an eye popped out from the force.
Limp.
Urich’s left leg started limping.
‘I avoided having him cut my side, but he cut deep into my leg.’
The reason Urich was able to hold on against the bandits was because of his mobility.
‘Even though I was able to cut them off one by one by escaping whenever they surrounded me, my left leg won’t move like how I want it to anymore. Every time my foot hits the floor, blood will pour out and the wound will get bigger.’
The Serpens warriors didn’t look down on Urich. They carefully started to surround him again. Several brothers had already died to his hands.
‘He’s someone with a lot of reserved strength.’
No expert would be able to defend against blades that come in from all directions. It’s because humans only had two hands.
He would avoid situations where they would all attack at once, create one-on-one situations, and reduce the number of enemies. It was the most important rule when fighting against multiple enemies, and it relied on mobility at its core. Urich, who had lost that, was no different from dead.
Limp.
He tried to slowly back away, but the enemies started to close the distance. Whenever he tried to move away from the tree, an arrow would fly toward him.
Squirm, squirm.
He then saw an apparition. Evil spirits were waiting for him in the darkness.
Souls that roamed the world for eternity without rest.
Right now, Urich wasn’t afraid of death. He was terrified of the eternal wandering he would have to do after it.
“Hah, haha.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. He rubbed his finger on the wound on his thigh and rubbed the blood all over his finger. The pain shot up his spine and up to his brain. He felt alert.
Lick.
Urich licked the blood on his finger. He tasted death.
‘There are still things I want to see.’
Urich’s eyes shone. He recalled his ambitions.
A wheat field of golden light, a burning land, the vast sea, the world’s edge…
“Over there!”
BAOOOOOOO!
He heard the sound of the subjugation force’s horn.
* * *
“Are you alive, Urich?”
Bakman looked at Urich who was laying down on the ground.
“I think I’m going to die.”
Urich spoke while pushing away the corpses. At the last moment, the bandits attacked Urich altogether. He rolled on the floor and stubbornly held on.
‘It looks like I’m still alive.’
He was lucky. If the subjugation force arrived even a moment later, Urich wouldn’t be alive.
“Don’t kill them. We have to publicly execute them at the square. These damned bandits.”
The soldiers spoke while binding the bandits. The bandit subjugation was a success. There was a cave where the bandits were staying not too far away. They weren’t able to find it until now due to the entrance to the cave being small.
The bandits were dragged around while being tied up. The soldiers pissed on their heads and spat on them to taunt them.
“How many did you kill on your own? Haha. Amazing. You really are our leader.”
Bakman spoke while looking at the bandits’ corpses. Corpses that looked like they were killed by Urich were scattered here and there.
‘He didn’t just hang on by himself. He even killed some of them. Is he a monster?’
Marshal Seton took glances at Urich. The soldiers he sent weren’t able to last at all. They were all dead at an earlier spot. As they followed Urich’s path, the one he took when he was escaping, bandit corpses were laid throughout.
‘He killed at least four or five people all while being chased.’
Seton was purely amazed by it. Urich was a warrior of exceptional skill. Rather than the feeling of rejection he initially had due to him being a barbarian, Seton felt a sense of kinship with him as a warrior.
“So the bards’ stories weren’t completely exaggerated,” Seton muttered while clearing the battlefield. The bandits were captured, and they were able to take the spoils that were hidden in the hideout.
Urich was in the middle of getting treated. He was injured to the point that it wouldn’t have been strange if he had fainted.
“Clench hard. It’s going to hurt.”
Bakman spoke while bringing in tweezers. He pulled out the arrows that were embedded in Urich’s arms and legs.
“Umph.”
Urich clenched his teeth hard while flinching.
“Want something to bite on?”
“No, I don’t need it. Just bring some alcohol.”
Urich heated up a blade on the campfire while talking. He planned to cauterize his wounds with it.
Shhhhck.
As his skin was cut, arrowheads came out of his wounds. Four of them came out.
“You got it all now, right? I’m sweating just watching it.”
Bakman wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He would wash the tweezers, sterilize them in the flames, and then hand them over to the next person.
Fssssss.
Urich put the hot blade next to his thighs. They could hear the sound of flesh burning.
“Tch, it hurts like a bitch.”
Even though it was Urich, what hurts, hurts. His teeth were chattering.
“You’ll feel better if you drink this.”
Gotval came up to him before anyone realized it and spoke. He was sharing something with the injured.
“What is it?”
Urich looked at the liquid that was in the cup.
“It’s wine that has been cooked with honey and cinnamon. This helps rejuvenate your body after you shed a lot of blood.”
Serving soldiers was one of the roles of the clergy. Such as taking care of tired soldiers and looking after the wounded. The clergy had a lot of knowledge in various fields.
“It doesn’t taste like alcohol at all.”
Urich spoke after giving it a taste.
“It is because it was brought to a boil.”
“Hm.”
After drinking it, his body certainly felt warmer. He felt sluggish and wanted to close his eyes like that.
“I can’t believe it was the Serpens. I can’t believe remnants of them are still left. They are a notorious cult.”
Gotval scowled.
“Is that a bad thing?”
Urich spoke with drowsy eyes.
“They kidnap children to sacrifice them. And they share the children’s flesh with each other to consume.”
“Really? Human meat isn’t really that edible, though. Are kids different?”
Urich spoke calmly. Gotval stared at Urich with tense eyes.
“H-Have you eaten it?”
After looking at Gotval’s reaction, Urich awkwardly laughed as if to say ‘Oops.’ He didn’t answer the question.
“Ru, please forgive those who are guilty. Please bring light upon their ignorance and lead them down the righteous path…”
Gotval prayed as if he had fallen to despair.
“Gotval, I think it’s working. I’m getting sleepy now that my body’s warm.”
Urich spoke while raising his empty cup. He leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. He slowly nodded off. Now that everything was over, he finally relaxed and fell asleep.
There were four Serpens warriors left. They glared at Urich while they were being bound.
It was obvious what the fate was for captured bandits. The only thing that was left for them was to be hung at the square. They were going to brutally die as examples. They won’t even be allowed to rest in peace after death. Their heads will be cut off and put in front of the gates as an example and warning towards other bandits.
“Hieek! What is this?! U-Uwaah!”
A soldier who was carrying one of the spoils shouted. When he opened the pot lid, snakes slowly slithered out.
Hissss, hisss.
The snakes quickly split up. After seeing that, the Serpens warriors put their lips together to whistle and make strange sounds.
“Fweeet, hisss!”
The snakes suddenly turned to the offensive as if they were reacting to those sounds. A snake popped out and bit a nearby soldier.
“Gaaargh!”
“Block those bastards’ mouths!”
The soldiers gagged the Serpens warriors. There were already a few people who had been bitten during that time.
Hsssssss.
A snake was moving through the grass, slithering towards Urich.
Hisss!
It coiled up its body and lunged. It was on a path to bite Urich’s neck. If it were the usual Urich, he would have already woken up from the noise. However, he was deep into his subconscious.
“Urgh.”
Gotval extended his arm to hit the snake away, but the snake bit into his hand and refused to let go.
“Monk Gotval!” a soldier shouted while cutting the snake.
“These are venomous snakes!”
The soldiers who were bitten by the snakes were foaming at the mouth as they collapsed.
“Please tie up my arm!”
Gotval spoke while putting forth his arm. The soldiers tore up Gotval’s clothes and tied up his forearm. It was tight to the point that blood wouldn’t flow through.
His arm swelled up and changed colors due to the venom.
‘It’s really venomous.’
The chaos subsided. All of the snakes were caught, and the Serpens warriors were gagged so that they wouldn’t be able to talk.
“What happened?”
Urich, who just woke up, smiled bitterly. He completely came to his senses. A soldier looked at Urich and spoke to him.
“Monk Gotval was bitten by a snake while trying to protect you.”
At first, it sounded like a joke. He realized it was the truth after seeing Gotval awkwardly laughing.
‘That weak man… To protect me…’
Urich looked at Gotval’s arm. He had a menacing scowl after seeing the snake’s bite mark and the clergyman’s tied-up forearm. He was upset at himself for closing his eyes and resting.
“Damn it!”
Urich kicked a tree with his injured leg.
“It’s alright, Urich. I won’t die from this.”
Gotval spoke like he was trying to comfort Urich who had a fierce look in his eyes.
“But we will have to cut off that arm.”
Urich spoke and Gotval just kept awkwardly laughing.
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