Bum, Bum, Bum

  The sound of 20,000 boots marching shook the ground. The peaceful and serene Ardinne Forest was now disturbed by humans. Animals ran away, insects hid inside their burrows, and birds migrated early. The Ardinne forest that used to be a bastion of nature, was now a battlefield.

  Krieg was talking with his lieutenant. He was recently appointed as a captain for a 150-man company. His first task was to be a part of a division of 20,000 chasing the retreating army of Oliver Claudio Riberio.

  It was his first battle. Oliver’s army of 10,000 ambushed their main army of 60,000 who were marching towards the south, trying to back up another army who was currently engaging Kaisar. 10,000 men came out from the edge of the forest, and their artillery bombarded the marching column.

  The initial damage was huge, but thanks to their brilliant general, Tarren D’Orlan Ambren, they managed to form up quickly and engaged Oliver’s army, reducing their casualties to around 4,000 while killing 2,000 of Oliver’s men.

  In a matter of hours, Oliver’s army scurried back inside the forest, retreating like the cowards they were. General Tarren decided to have a division of 20,000 men chased after them, ensuring they cannot interfere with the battle against Kaisar. While the remaining 36,000 men will continue marching south.

  Krieg’s company was part of that 20,000. His company was put in the center-left of the formation. His was an easy role, after all his company was not a skirmishers company. All he need to do was march.

  Whizz

  A stray bullet flew past him. However Krieg was not concerned. Such stray bullets might be lethal for the majority of his men. But for a knight such as Krieg, that was but a minor inconvenience. Even in an Era of guns and cannons, knights still maintained prominence in the battlefield. One of the qualifications to be a knight was mastery of [Iron Body], which allowed their body to deflect small-arms bullets. Ball-bearing bullets of this era could barely scratch a Knight’s skin. Knights could even take on a cannonball head on. Of course they won’t come out of it unscratched, but it would not kill them.

  Knights of this era also wore runic armor. While expensive, the production of runic armor started to become more common, thus increasing the survivability of knights - even against cannon fire. If the knights knew defensive magic, they could take on a barrage of cannon fire. From a historical perspective, knights could be considered a human tank. And Krieg Burhan was one of them.

  Whiiiz, Plak.

  Another stray bullet flew towards him, this time hitting him on his forehead. It did not injure him, but it definitely annoyed him.

  Oliver had 2,000 of his men as rearguards. Skirmishing to slow down their pursuer while their main army of 6,000 escaped. What a pointless battle, Krieg thought. Even though this was a guaranteed achievement in his record, there was no glory to be had. Their army outnumbered Oliver’s two to one. Yet, Oliver foolishly sacrificed his 2,000 men so that what little of his army could survive. He should have just surrendered his head, that way a single life could be used to save 8,000. Truly, what a waste of lives. He would have preferred to join the rest of the army that was marching south. At least then he’ll have a chance to contribute in a real battle that way - a battle against Kaisar.

  Shooo - BlAAM!!!

  A cannon ball landed near Krieg. It was so close the debris hit him and his horse, shooking it and throwing Krieg off from it.

  Luckily he wasn’t badly injured from it. But that near miss confused him. Where did that cannon came from? Did Oliver and his men really fired a cannon from inside the forest? That was foolish, the cannon would have hit the trees near them rather than hitting their target. Before Krieg could finish his train of thought…

  Shooo - BlAAM!!! Shooo - BlAAM!!! Shooo - BlAAM!!! BLAAM!!! BLAAM!!!

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  More cannon fire came, hitting their army. That’s when Krieg realized the cannon fire came from the rear.

  “WHAT THE HELL IS ARTILLERY DOING!!!” shouted Krieg in exasperation. Something weird was happening. Why were they being hit by their own artillery in the back? But then Krieg remembered … they did not bring a single artillery with them.

  Before they began the chase, they were briefed that they were not bringing a single artillery company with them. Not only could they not use them inside the forest, it would also slow them down, risking letting Oliver escape with his army intact. It would be more beneficial to have the main army marching south bring all the artillery. That way they’ll have the artillery advantage when fighting against Kaisar.

  The question was - who was raining down artillery fire at them. Krieg’s question was answered soon enough, screams of confusion could be heard from the rear. Even though his vision was obscured by the trees - he could see a banner, a banner not belonging to their army.

  “Ho- how the Hell!?” Krieg recognized that banner. It was a crimson banner emblazoned with the figure of a man drawing a giant bow as its crest…

  …It was Odyssus.

  *******

  Krieg was awakened from his slumber. It was the usual nightmare. A vivid dream of his past. A dream of his first and last battle. Abject of his regret, fear, and humiliation … Odyssus.

  He then heard a commotion downstairs, his men were being more rowdy than usual. He found it weird, they were a bunch of idiots and good for nothing, and yet they should know better to be so loud to wake him from his usual nap.

  Ever since he became a gang leader, Krieg was more active in the dead of night than the heart of day. Business for scums like him were more lucrative at night. Last night was not an exception, he was busy in the gambling house, dealing with the usual trash that gambled too much and borrowed more than they could afford. He had to personally beat them up. Some he sent to the slaughter house for their organs, some he sent to his slave-traders associate.

  Bang

  It was a familiar sound. The sound of gunfire… Wait. Why were his men firing guns inside their base? He realized they were under attack.

  “Goddamnit.” Krieg grumbled. He lifted his huge body from his bed. Once, it was a muscular and beautiful body, as it was sculpted by the Gods themselves. Now, a shadow of its former self, it was a huge and overweight body. His six-pack was replaced with one giant beer belly. His only comfort was his arm was as muscular as ever. It was a necessary tool for business after all. His fists need to be tough and deadly - he also needed them to be able to carry his current weapon of choice, his giant steel axe.

  “Boss, Boss” the annoying sound of his right-hand man could be heard. He was rushing through the stairs toward his room.

  Blam

  He slammed through the door. “Boss!! We’re under attack!!” he yelled panickedly.

  “I heard the commotion,” said Krieg calmly. He already wore his breastplate and his metal glove. They were not particularly as good as the runic armor he once wore, but they were good enough. They also had some defensive enchantment on them, making them a mid-tier armor.

  Krieg grabbed his giant axe that was lying near his bed. “Tell me the situation,” he said as he walked out of his chamber and down the stairs, towards the brazen attackers. His right-hand man sheepishly followed him behind.

  “It’s … it’s a single man … or kid … or monster?” said the right-hand man, struggling to describe what exactly the invader was.

  “Wha…” Krieg was confused, and honestly he was annoyed by the lack of information. However he still had the composure of a military officer, even though his career was a short one. He held back his rage and talked in a firm tone, “Alright, let’s just say monster. Was it only one of them?”

  “Yes boss. Only one of them.”

  “And you can’t handle it?”

  “No boss, our weapons don't work and it’s massacring our boys.”

  Krieg was wondering what kind of monster they were facing. There were a lot of monsters in this world, but most of them can be killed with either bullets or blades. Those who couldn’t be harmed by such things were usually large monsters. If such a monster was inside the city, there would be a bigger uproar. Could it be…

  “Don’t tell me it’s a loose Sewer King?”

  “No boss, I don’t …”

  They were almost at the ground level. Krieg could see the commotion from on top of the staircase. He did not see a monster, all he could see were bodies of his men laying around, torn apart. Some of his men who are still alive were either shaking on their boots or hiding behind whatever makeshift cover they could find.

  He also saw a small black figure.

  And that figure was getting closer, like a cannonball fired straight at him.

  His instinct kicked in. He put his giant axe in front of him to block. He strengthened his leg with mana, to help him dodge faster. He reflexively covered his entire torso and part of his face with [Iron body], in case he got hit.

  Shooo - BlAAM!!!

  Krieg managed to dodge it cleanly, but the shock of the impact made him tumble down the stairs. As soon as he landed, he immediately stood up, preparing himself against whatever that thing was.

  He couldn’t clearly see it yet, the dust from the impact still obscured it. He could, however, smell it. It was the worst smell he ever smell in his life, and he smelled battlefield littered with corpse before,

  Once the dust settled, he saw a small, black figure covered with long jet black hair, standing on top of the crushed body of what once was his right-hand man.

  Krieg then saw its black arms poking out from its hair. He was a knight who spent decades training in martial arts. He understood once he saw those black arms, those were no longer arms covered in [Iron body]. It was something else, something better, something no mere mortal could ever achieve.

  Seeing that … Thing. Krieg was reminded of a fear of a past not yet forgotten. It was just like the first time he saw Odyssus.