Chapter 383: Holy War (3) |
The majority of humans were weak, especially in situations like this. Honestly, ordinary people wouldn’t be able to handle situations where they had to kill to live.
‘This is why a cause and justification is important…’
The soldiers had to be trained to think in a certain way—whether they would be fighting for god, their nation, or their families—it didn’t matter as long as they had that mindset. It was also important to make them think that they were righteous. Fighting to protect and fighting to invade were two different things, and the enemies basically didn’t have both.
The commanders in the command center yelled with all their might because of their sense of duty, but the ordinary soldiers couldn’t hear them because they had always been stewing in their doubts since the war started. All they could do was shoot arrows out of fear. The soldiers desperately trying to get out of this situation while screaming were in a better situation, and there were a lot of people who gave up on fighting. The more defensive they were, the worse the situation would become for them. The effects and facts they could see with their eyes were that powerful, and the scenes displayed on the goddess’ mirror right now were enough to make the soldiers feel even more confused.
- Die!
- …
- Die! You traitor!
- …
- Dieeeeee!!!
The battlefield was filled with screams and cries. As Lee Ji-Hye continued giving orders, I looked around quietly and saw the guild members working hard. I was proud to see them working so calmly, and among them, Park Deok-Gu stood out the most because his movements had changed drastically compared to before. He was climbing up the dirt wall while holding his shield, but he wasn’t really using his full potential. He would sometimes look around with wide eyes. He seemed to be having a hard time focusing on the battle. In comparison, Yoo Ah-Young next to him seemed to be doing better than him.
- Sunbae, in front of you!
- Hey, I know!
- Save… Save me…
- …
- We have to move. Sunbae! Sunbae! Are you not feeling well?
- It’s not that…
- We received an order. The fourth unit has started climbing up… We can start moving now, right?
- Yeah. I think… we should do that…
Park Deok-Gu was hesitating. He was obviously disturbed by the tragedy unfolding on the battlefield because he couldn’t take his eyes off of the enemy soldiers who were begging to be spared or calling out for their mothers.
‘Sigh… that pig.’
Naturally, I bit my lips because I had never imagined that he would show me such a ridiculous sight. I wasn’t expecting him to completely adapt to the situation, but I felt dumb thinking that he would be able to somehow adapt. It was to the point where I started thinking if I should make him retreat because people like him would easily get hit by an arrow because they were distracted. I had always been taking care of him as if he were my son, and I couldn’t help but think that he had become a social recluse upon seeing him unable to display his full potential on the battlefield. I started questioning why he was acting like this. I thought about if he had really gotten sick, but an idea I had been ignoring for quite a while now popped into my mind.
‘That pig… Does he even have experience?’
I thought about the things we had done together, and no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t remember if he had actually killed a human being. I was sure Park Deok-Gu had seen many human deaths from afar, but he had never actually killed someone else with his own hands. I could also remember that Park Deok-Gu’s eyes were closed when I killed Yoo Seok-Woo, and in situations like this, Park Deok-Gu would often leave quietly. Of course, he had fought with other humans before, but he had never actually killed people with his own hands.
‘I don’t think he has ever done it himself.’
I was honestly kind of shocked because those who managed to survive through the tutorial dungeon had to have done it at least once, and if they were unlucky, they would have killed someone in the tutorial dungeon as well. Otherwise, they would definitely kill someone else on the continent. Even if it were a humanoid monster, a criminal, or a thief, the meaning was still the same. At that, I couldn’t help but feel dumb because I actually didn’t notice that until now.
Park Deok-Gu’s heart had to be really soft because I could see him hesitating as he was trying his best to make a move. However, I was sure that there had to be a backstory behind all this.
I cursed under my breath. I was worried about him because I knew our pig’s mind was weak and that he had always been hiding that by acting tough.
- Sunbae! Sunbae!
- I-I’m going right now.
- Reinforcements!
- Yeah…
I was getting frustrated because it was so dumb to stand in the middle of the battlefield while hesitating and looking the other way. In the end, I had no other choice but to talk to Lee Ji-Hye.
“Park Deok-Gu and Yoo Ah-Young—”
Before I could finish, Lee Ji-Hye nodded and delivered a new order.
“The seventh unit will leave the battlefield and focus on protecting those who have surrendered and the priests. This is our top priority. The seventh unit will leave the battlefield and focus on protecting those who have surrendered and the priests.”
“Order received.”
They had to have received the order given to them from the command center because I saw Park Deok-Gu and Yoo Ah-Young talking again.
- Sunbae
- Yeah?
- We have received another order, and it’s different from the previous one. They told us to leave the battlefield and protect those who have surrendered and the priests. It’s the top priority.
- Ah, I see. H-Hurry…
- They have sent us the location. Shall I lead the way?
- No, I should lead.
- Okay.
- Careful!
- Thank you, Sunbae.
Park Deok-Gu seemed a bit happier, but that happiness started to change into anxiety just a few moments later. He seemed to have realized why the command center gave that kind of order all of a sudden. The seventh unit’s original goal wasn’t to protect the priests. There was another unit in charge of that task, and it was already announced during the briefing earlier. The seventh unit’s task was to support the other units that were climbing up the wall. Since we told everyone that we would issue orders while watching them from the goddess’ mirror, he was definitely thinking that I had seen him embarrass himself just now.
‘It’s a relief that he has calmed down, at the very least…’
If the battlefield were intense, I wouldn’t have been able to take him out.
It hadn’t been that long since the battle started, but the demon army worried about being under the influence of demons were already starting to lose their strength.
‘Priests are very important on the battlefield, everyone…’
I wondered if our plan was progressing a bit too smoothly, but…
‘Maybe it’s inevitable.’
The soldiers blocking the troops of Everia as well as the dirt walls were like empty sweet rice puffs. They were too big to be used as effective tools other than to buy time. In addition, they were actually planning a battle of attrition from the start rather than winning, so they had no reinforcements to back them up.
Honestly, there was no need for me to dig deeper and find out why because the masked scum, Jin Cheong, didn’t really have a lot of infantry soldiers because the battlefield was spread out across the entire continent.
‘They’re not in a comfortable spot either.’
Right now, it was paramount for them to conquer Castle Rock. I wasn’t really sure if the masked scum had abandoned the Everia front line. If that wasn’t the case, then he could be in a position where he had to make the soldiers fight rather than retreat. Well, the reason didn’t really matter because we just had to enjoy the ride. If the enemy’s main command center and the priests were close to each other, then I wouldn’t be able to do anything other than watch them conquer Castle Rock. Fortunately, it was the opposite. As such, their blockade of Everia was about to collapse completely. The enemy commander started telling the soldiers to retreat, and the soldiers did that without hesitation. I even saw some soldiers throwing their weapons away and directly surrendering. There were also priests who risked their lives by not participating in battle.
It had been eight hours since the battle started, and the battle was finally coming to an end. As for whether eight hours was long or not, it depended on the individual.
“I’ll be heading to the front lines, Miss Ji-Hye,” I told her.
“Okay, Father Lee Ki-Young. I’ll wrap my task up in the command center…”
“I’ll leave the rest to you,” I said.
“Okay.”
I still haven’t announced our victory, but I could already hear loud cheers. Both the commanders and ordinary soldiers could tell that we were going to win this battle. I looked at the battlefield and saw that we had already occupied more land than them. I would have to check the number of our troops later, but the casualties didn’t seem to be that much. We could say that we had won a landslide victory.
‘How did they climb up this?’
I started walking and eventually arrived at the base of the dirt wall. I knew it would be taller than what I had expected, but I couldn’t help but think that I wouldn’t be able to climb it up upon approaching it. I kept walking while greeting the nearby soldiers, and I eventually met up with Park Deok-Gu, who had captives and priests with him. He approached me slowly and lowered his head after glancing up at me. What he did seemed meaningless, but he seemed to be scolding himself because he looked sad. I honestly wanted to say something to him, but he wasn’t the top priority right now. In addition, I could always criticize and give him some advice later.
Before anything else, I had to know if Yevkarina was still alive. Checking Yevkarina’s vital status was originally Father Bishop’s task, but he died, so I had to give the task to someone else. If she repented, even though she was a demon servant, then our propaganda would be incredibly effective. In addition, that masked scum would definitely get hurt after being backstabbed by someone close to him.
I frowned when I heard a dull thud, but I smiled when I saw Lee Chang-Ryeol approaching me quietly.
“Is she still alive?” I asked.
“Yes, Sub Guild Master. She’s still alive,” Lee Chang-Ryeol replied.
“That’s a relief. How’s her condition?” I asked.
“She’s still unconscious. The first aid treatment went well, so her life isn’t in danger. She’ll probably wake up after resting up for a bit,” he answered.
“That’s great. Ah, I’d like to see her now. Is she in her room?” I asked.
“Yes…”
Lee Chang-Ryeol immediately led me inside the room, and as expected of a competent person, he performed well. I especially wanted to applaud him for performing first-aid treatment on Yevkarina, and I also liked how he took care of things without me saying it.
I entered the room and saw Father Bishop’s corpse. He definitely died a gruesome death because his head had caved in. On the bed, I saw Yevkarina lying quietly. I poked her cheek, and she looked at me.
“C-Commander?” she muttered.
“Unfortunately, it’s me, Miss Yevkarina. Hahaha.” I chuckled.
Comments 1