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Chapter 97 – Part 1

It was a day after the twenty gods had disguised as adventurers and joined Bern village, a place that had begun their bitter resistance. Close to four days after the Goblin army of five thousand strong had arrived in Bern village, the Goblins finally decided to take a break.

Compared to the forces of other races, the Goblin army was not a particularly well-disciplined formation. However, they were scattered in a corner of the dark wasteland as they raised fires by stacking stones or piling up soil and prepared their food.

The sun reclined in the middle of the sky, burning a crimson red.

The dark wasteland was a land devoid of life, with countless rocks of various sizes and dust dancing in the air. However, in the sixteen years after Dran’s birth, the pulse of life had been revived in this place and greenery had sprouted. Trees grew, and new creatures were starting to show their faces.

Dran’s efforts to prevent Bern village from starving were also reflected in the Golbins’ food supply. They were stocked up with a hoard of their staple food—meat.

Goblins were generally omnivorous and would consume anything, though they fed primarily on the meat of hunted prey in their base and livestock raised on pastures. The fodder needed to raise sufficient livestock was also being farmed on their base.

According to the information obtained by Magul’s familiar, Nero, these Goblins were far more disciplined and well-equipped than the ordinary Goblin. They were armed with iron breastplates and iron helmets, and most of them possessed long spears and short swords. Perhaps they were rather well-nourished too, resulting in them being burlier than the usual Goblin. Cavalrymen and mages were treated as elites among the troops, and these Goblins devoured more succulent meat than the ordinary foot soldier.

They had even sent out a pair of scouts to be on the lookout against attackers, ensuring that there was no oversight of their defense. For those who knew about Goblins, this impressive sight would no doubt leave them agape in wonderment.

One of the Goblin soldiers had the luck of slaying a long-clawed monkey during his marches in the dark wasteland. The monkey meat, sliced into chunks with the Goblin’s short sword and skewered, was roasting over the fire and producing a tantalizing fragrance. No longer able to control himself, the Goblin soldier, who had been drooling over the meat, was about to pounce on the food when the meat started trembling.

Though, the meat was not the only thing shaking. Even the short sword the meat was skewered on, the Goblin’s arm gripping the sword, and the Goblin’s vision were all starting to quiver.

「What’s going on?!」

The Goblins on patrol had yet to receive any smoke signals or whistles, and neither this Goblin nor the other Goblins were able to determine if this abnormality was due to a natural phenomenon or an enemy attack.

The mages guarding the High Goblin army commander were silent, so this strange occurrence was unlikely to be caused by magic.

「Ouuuuh?!」

A shocked groan escaped from the Goblin’s mouth.

The copper-colored wasteland with splotches of greenery had suddenly been invaded by a troop of horses. Thick smoke was rising along with the sound of approaching gallops. At the very front, a burly blond man was straddling a jet-black large horse. As he swung an unusually long spear over his head like a twig, he charged forward with an overwhelmingly intimidating force.

「Guaaaaaagh! I’ll take the first spear, Dragon, no, Dran!!」

Aldeath, the leading god of war, had been greatly limited in his powers and authority due to his descent to earth. However, he charged ahead valiantly, demonstrating the courage to take on over millions of troops that stood in his path.

Presently, Aldeath was straddling one of Dramina’s Sleipneir, who rarely accepted any other rider besides Dramina. Yet, its ancestor had once been Aldeath’s beloved horse, resulting in its obedience that disconcerted Dran a little.

Behind Aldeath, Amias and Dramina were also riding Sleipneirs. After the trio were Dran, Christina, Baran, and fifty others riding horse golems made by Dran. Most of these fifty Bern villagers were skilled at handling horses, though their use of horse golems was simply because the village’s horses were meant for farming rather than galloping on the battlefield.

「Brother, don’t be too reckless. Remember our goal!」

Amias, who was positioned at the back of the calvary, was in a spot to offer support with a bow at any time. She berated Aldeath, though Aldeath simply answered with a hearty chortle without even a glance back.

The voices of Aldeath and his sibling boomed loudly over the wind and the thundering of hooves as they rode at full speed, making them sound as though they were speaking right next to each other.

One quality of an excellent commander was a crisp and audible voice over a clamor of noises. As expected of a god of war like Aldeath, he was more than adequately equipped in this aspect. Even in the midst of this chaotic thunderstorm of tens of thousands of thunders booming, Aldeath’s voice could shatter thunder, reverberate in the soldier’s eardrums, and echo all the way to the depths of their stomachs.

「Got it. The target is the enemy’s rations. We’re going to make them fight on an empty stomach.」

In addition to this aim, there were also plans to prevent the Goblins from returning to their base. These Goblin troops would be redirected to Bern village, where they would be compelled to loot food to avoid starvation. Dran and his companions were also intending to induce internal strife during the days taken for the Goblins to reach Bern village by depriving these Goblins of proper meals.

With Aldeath, Amias, Dran, Dramina, and Christina, it was possible for these five to annihilate all five thousand Goblin troops. However, obtaining the bounty required inspection of the corpses. In order to save time and effort, they really needed to draw their enemy close to Bern village.

These plans, premised on the victory of Dran and his companions, would no doubt be criticized by experienced military folks to be overly complacent. Yet, in reality, Dran and the other four possessed the power to defeat more than just five thousand Goblin enemy troops.

No matter how Dran and the other few behaved complacently and let their guard down, such an attitude could not be taken as being foolish.

The commander of the calvary unit was Baran. He might be hardy from growing up on the frontier and experienced in battle, but he found it hard to command the greatest god of war in existence. As a result, he withdrew behind Aldeath as second-in-command and charged at the Goblin army fiercely.

The third and fourth in line were Dran and Dramina, who had her face covered with a veil. They galloped along side by side, sticking close to each other.

This time, the Goblins had allowed Dran and his companions to approach thus far due to the illusion that Dran and Dramina had conjured. Moreover, the duo had meddled with the atmosphere to snuff out all vibrations in the ground.

Usually, the Goblin mages would notice the use of magic and raise cautionary warnings. However, Dran’s faction had used magic to escape detection by magic users. Hence, the Goblins had failed to notice the approach of their enemies until Dran and his party had invaded to this extent.

「This is the first time I’m seeing this guy being so obedient to anyone other than me and my father.」

In addition to the veil hiding Dramina’s face, she was also clad in the sacred treasure Siekreinas, and Valkyrios, which had transformed into a long black bow, gripped in her right hand. As she spoke to Dran, her horse galloped to his left.

Since he was riding a horse this time, Dran had also lowered his favorite long sword to his waist. Presently, he was holding a Damascus long spear that he had hastily forged using alchemy.

「Somehow or other, he’s a guy who took a divine horse as his beloved stead. The Sleipneirs might even be jittery.」

Even as the two had their casual and relaxed conversation, Aldeath had already collided with the Goblin closest to him. He swung his treasured spear over his head and slammed it down, sending the Goblin flying miles away.

The scene right now was like a dream or an illusion. The numerous Goblins who had been preparing food for the fifty cavalrymen failed to react in time.

Following Aldeath, who was charging at the front and sweeping away Goblins within reach of his spear, Amias and Dramina also started drawing arrows on their bows.

Even under the sunlight, the combination of a royal vampire’s physical strength and elevated perception, along with the use of a sacred treasure allowed Dramina’s arrows to easily pierce the Goblins’ iron armor. In certain instances, her arrows even shot through their targets to penetrate other Goblins and large boulders behind.

On the other hand, Amias, who bore no godly powers, docked an infinite number of arrows between her five fingers and released them in rapid succession without even taking a breath.

Amias’s archery skills were terrifyingly precise, and all four arrows she had fired at the same time pierced the throats and foreheads of four Goblins. These four shots demonstrated the perfect one-hit kill.

Baran and the villages of Bern village were dumbstruck by the haphazard and erratic fighting style of Aldeath, Amias, and Dramina.

On a battlefield, these folks might be behaving rather unacceptably. However, this was an inevitable situation considering how Aldeath and the other two were far from the ordinary.

「Dran, Dramina, I’m going ahead.」

The one who had lunged forward after calling out to Dran and Dramina was Christina, who was straddling a horse golem made by Dran. She had yet to decide on a new name for Dragon Slayer, but it swayed from side to side on her waist with Elspada.

Instead, Christina gripped long spears with both of her hands, ones that were made of Damascus like Dran’s spear. Her legs dug tightly into the horse golem’s sides as she charged ahead at top speed.

Her silver hair fluttered in the wind, revealing her ethereal beauty akin to that of a goddess. Without a single trace of fear in her, she reached Aldeath’s side.

Dran found Dragon Slayer and Elspada looking rather lonely as they jangled at Christina’s waist.