Chapter 94

Chapter 94. Battle of Halborn Plain (3)

However, he could not simply keep being pleased. Not every Knight had fallen.

Even amid that, as many as half the Knights were still charging in without falling.

Their speed had dropped slightly because they had staggered, but they were still just as threatening.

It was truly astonishing how they had regained their balance and carried out the charge despite clearly being in danger.

“This is bad.”

Balun muttered that with a dumbfounded expression.

‘No, why aren’t they falling?’

Didn’t that make no sense?

Honestly, that had quite a bit of force behind it.

Of course, the fact that he had spread the range wide meant the power had not come out as strongly as he expected, but even so, this seemed too much.

Horses were incredibly sensitive to earthquakes and vibrations.

And they were extremely timid too.

‘Did they train them like hell?’

He had heard that warhorses were drilled intensely so they would never be startled.

If they were horses like that, then perhaps this could happen.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!

The bastards approached.

Straight into the middle of the battlefield, now a mess from the fallen soldiers.

And the one person standing perfectly fine there was Balun.

Thanks to that, the Knights were able to aim at Balun even more clearly.

All the obstacles in the way had conveniently fallen on their own.

They drew close. Along with the violently rising dust, a fierce wind made his long hair flutter. Facing that cool air head-on, Balun drew Blue Moon from the left side of his waist.

“Blue Moon, I’m counting on you. You have to do this.”

VRRRR!

As if she understood, Blue Moon trembled finely. Balun immediately put strength into his left hand. His flesh, which had reached the Awakened State, released powerful force.

He looked straight ahead. He saw the Knights charging in a wedge formation. He saw the iron armor fitted over the horses’ heads, and he saw the plate armor worn by the Knights.

From the sight of those Knights, there was not a single gap visible from head to toe. The only thing visible was the thread-thin eye slit in each visor.

No matter how well one threw an axe, it could not damage that solid armor. That was far too obvious a piece of common sense.

But Balun took his stance as if he did not care about such things at all.

‘Phew.’

A deep breath, then a throw.

WHOOOOOSH—!

Blue Moon left Balun’s hand, drew a straight trajectory, and shot forward like a bullet, striking the chest of a charging Knight.

BOOM—!

Blue Moon let out a thunderous explosion, pierced the iron armor, and lodged in his chest. The Knight died instantly and tumbled to the ground.

NEEEEIGH!

The horse neighed loudly. That was because it had collided with the Knight who had fallen to the ground.

The Knights of the wedge formation, who had not budged even at the ground tremor, were flustered this time. The wedge-shaped formation shook violently, and the horses twisted their bodies and began moving in different directions.

“Damn it!”

He heard that sound very faintly. He did not know whose voice it was. How could he know when they were all wearing helmets pulled down?

Balun grinned. It did not particularly matter. What was the point of distinguishing the last words of bastards who were all going to die anyway?

“I’ll split you all!”

Balun shouted thunderously and ran toward the charging Knights. Just before their bodies collided, Balun abruptly twisted his body and swung Black Moon in a great arc.

SLASH—!

“Guh!”

NEEEEIGH!

Balun coughed up blood. It was because he had been struck by a horse’s hoof.

But he did not feel all that bad about it.

He had precisely cut the horse’s leg. The horse whose leg had been cut toppled over and rolled, and the remaining Knights charging behind it fell in an ugly sprawl.

‘You’re all dead.’

Balun let out a deep grin and ran toward them. He plunged in and grabbed the protruding helmet of one fallen Knight. He felt the hard, cold texture of iron.

I want to take this off. Will it not come off?

“Huuup!”

Balun exerted force. Soon, he tilted his head. Why is this thing so rigid?

‘Is this Magic Armor, maybe?’

It kind of seemed that way. He could feel mana.

“You bastard!”

He heard such a voice. When he raised his head, the Knights who had turned away were wheeling their horses around and charging in.

Balun shook his head.

‘Ugh, they’re persistent. Couldn’t they just go face someone else?’

Why me, of all people?

The battlefield is huge.

However, Balun was not afraid. Those Knights’ Lance Charge had already been countered. Balun was not a fool who would fall to a method he had already countered.

“Here. Take your comrade.”

Balun grabbed the Knight sprawled on the ground with both hands and hurled him. The man’s whole body was covered in iron armor, and everything was rounded, leaving nowhere to grip, but Balun had superhuman muscle strength and grip strength. He could lift a person’s body by holding only a tiny protrusion.

The Knight had a massive physique and was wrapped in iron armor, but despite that, he flew while fluttering like a piece of clothing and crashed into the charging Knights.

“This is insane!”

“Ugh!”

Struck by the flying Knight missile, three charging Knights were sent flying. Three remained.

As those bastards charged in, an impulsive thought suddenly came to him.

‘I think I can stop that. Couldn’t I just wait and grab it head-on as it comes?’

It was an absurd thought.

Stopping a charging horse? And by grabbing it with his hands?

But for some reason, Balun felt it would work.

If it were dozens charging, perhaps not, but there were only three.

At that level, he felt he could grab the charging horses head-on and stop them.

So Balun bent his legs slightly and took a stance, intending to receive the charge.

Then he suddenly saw the Knights slow down.

‘Huh?’

Then, of all things, they discarded their lances and drew their swords.

‘No, I finally got into position......!’

Whether they themselves thought it would not work or they had something else in mind, Balun somehow felt disappointed.

Left with no choice, he relaxed his stance and met the sword.

CLANG—!

A heavy shock traveled to his fingertips. He was about to knock the bastard’s sword away immediately, when the man’s voice came from inside the helmet.

“What is your name?”

A fairly deep voice.

Balun answered bluntly.

“Balun.”

“Balun. A truly brave name.”

“Then what’s your name?”

“Lev Roent. I am the head of the Roent Family and the Knight Order Commander in charge of the Wedge Knight Order.”

Balun nodded roughly. Even after hearing that, he did not know who this was.

However, the same was not true for others. The soldiers hovering around Balun all stepped back in shock.

“Why did you throw away your lances?”

“Only a fool insists on a tactic that does not work.”

“I see.”

“Do you belong to the Kingdom of Corint’s army?”

“I’m a mercenary.”

“As I thought. Then, Balun, I will make you an offer.”

Balun’s head tilted.

An offer?

“Come to the Kingdom of Croa. You suit the strong and fierce people of Croa better than feeble Corint.”

Viscount Roent immediately continued.

“If you come to Croa, we will spare no support for you. First, I shall grant you the Title of a Knight. Also, I shall let you stand in the Vanguard on whatever battlefield you desire, as often as you wish. If that happens, you will be able to swing your axe to your heart’s content in Croa’s embrace.”

‘No, even if he’s giving me something, why is he offering that crap?’

Balun was about to say something, then stopped.

He intended to at least hear what else the man had to say.

“I can give you anything else you want as well. Liquor and meat? You can eat until your stomach bursts for the rest of your life. Women? That goes without saying.”

“......”

“Is there anything else you want? Just say the word. I will give you anything, as long as you join us.”

After saying that, the Knight raised his visor. Calm eyes without even a ripple of emotion were revealed. Seeing those eyes, Balun could not contain his curiosity.

“Why are you making an offer like that to me?”

When Balun asked, Viscount Roent answered as though he had been waiting.

“Because you are remarkable.”

“......”

“I pride myself on having a fairly good eye for people. In my eyes, you are a man who will become great. I cannot tolerate such a man being in an enemy nation.”

“......”

“Come to Croa. We of Croa know how to respect the strong. We are different from hopelessly old-fashioned Corint. The Knights of Croa will respect you.”

‘Yeah right. That’s a lie.’

He did not believe it.

No matter the country or city, he had been treated the same. Would that country be any different?

“Also, there are already quite a few Barbarians in Croa. There are Knights of Barbarian origin, and there is even a guild founded by Barbarians gathering together.”

Oh. That was a little interesting.

“If you come with us, you will be able to meet them. A moving reunion with your own people in this unfamiliar foreign land. Looking toward the same place and going to the battlefield together. Is that not truly something you have dreamed of?”

Viscount Roent’s gaze became quite benevolent. His words were as persuasive as that benevolent gaze. Also, the conditions were attractive. A normal Barbarian would probably have been persuaded at once.

In fact, he had persuaded numerous Barbarians with that very mouth. But to Balun, those conditions were not attractive at all.

There were Barbarians?

So what?

I wouldn’t be especially glad to see them.

They would be from other tribes anyway.

Balun was about to say that but held back. Instead, he decided to ask something else.

There was no need to reject a transfer offer with a single-word answer. He should at least listen and judge.

“You said you’d grant anything. Is that true?”

“Hey! Barbarian! Are you insane?!”

That voice immediately came from behind him. When he turned his head, it was a commander from Corint’s side.

“You bastard! Are you trying to betray us?!”

Whether he did or not, Balun did not care. It was not as though he was truly betraying them, so what did it matter?

Once this war ended, they would be strangers anyway, and at that time, he could make a different choice.

That was because Balun was a being unbound by the interests of this world.

Every nation, every noble, every merchant, and every human in the world was Balun’s potential customer.

Viscount Roent also opened his mouth without giving the commander a glance.

“That is true. Is there something you want?”

“I want a territory.”

At those words, Viscount Roent’s eyes turned bewildered. That was because he had never imagined he would hear those words from a Barbarian.

He had persuaded more than twenty Barbarians. Among them, not a single one had shown any interest in a territory.

“For reference, the territory has to be very large and wide. And it must be Backed by a Mountain and Facing Water. In other words, it needs to have a mountain at its back and a river alongside it. It also has to be easy to defend. Can you give me a territory like that?”

“......That is difficult. But it is not impossible. If you earn additional merits, that is.”

At those words, Balun gave a small laugh. Where does this bastard think he’s playing games? Does he think I don’t know he’ll just leave himself room like that and never give it to me?

Of course, even those conditions were exceptional, but Balun had no intention of being won over unless the conditions were exceptional by a considerable margin.

Think about it. If he switched jobs here, would he not be branded a traitor by the people of Corint?

Every nation under the sun was a potential customer. If he was going to take the risk of throwing away the VIP customer that was an entire country, it was only natural that a super-special, exceptional reward had to follow.

“Cut the bullshit and answer properly. So can you give it to me, or not? Can you specify it in a contract?”

“I already told you. It is not impossible. You are an exceptional Warrior anyway, so you will earn merits, and if that happens, you will be able to obtain what you want.”

“You really are a scamming bastard.”

“What?”

“The way you speak so smoothly makes you exactly a scammer.”

Viscount Roent’s eyebrows twisted. Balun continued.

“So in the end, you’re saying you can’t give it to me, aren’t you? Saying that so smoothly is what makes you a scammer. Am I wrong?”

“You are misunderstanding something. What I mean is......”

“If you don’t want to be called a scammer, say it clearly. You’ll give me a large territory, or you won’t. If it’s a little difficult to give one right away, writing a contract stating that you will definitely give it to me once I earn this much merit would be fine too. Now, answer.”

“......”

“Answer. Can’t do it? I’ll count to five. If you can’t answer, that’s a refusal. Five, four, three......”

“It is not that I cannot give it. However, that is not within my discretion, so I cannot give a definite answer.”

In the end, Viscount Roent ended up telling the truth. Unaware that the man was breaking into a cold sweat inside his helmet, Balun delivered his final notice.

“Then negotiations have broken down. But Balun’s door to changing jobs is always open. I’m willing to negotiate anytime.”

“......”

“Go. Go call your superior. If they offer truly exceptional conditions, I’ll consider accepting then.”

“......”

“You don’t want to? Then die right now. I’ll send you to Buddha’s side.”