Gi Ba swung his axe, and Saldin easily met it with his long sword, but the strength of a noble goblin was no joke, so Saldin couldn’t help but click his tongue. Still, he managed to step in toward Gi Ba’s chest, and though Gi Ba’s long sword suddenly came like a tempest, Saldin somehow managed to receive it again.
Saldin drew cold sweat as he stifled his cries from leaking.
Gi Ba, who had received Verid’s divine protection, had completely stopped Saldin in his tracks.
Saldin spat as he looked for an opening in the goblin before him, but there wasn’t even a crack. He was starting to panic, but he ignored that and jumped back to get some distance.
When Saldin glanced behind him for a moment, he saw that some of his men had fallen into pitfalls while some had found their legs bound in rope. The army’s movement had completely been stopped.
What should he do? Saldin pondered for a moment.
Should he retreat? Or should he force the issue?
The rear had unexpectedly fallen for the goblin’s wiles. If they were to keep pushing like this, they would surely only incur losses. But then again, if they turned around and tried to retreat, they would only be opening themselves to an attack. Having difficulties with the likes of goblins would not hurt only Saldin’s pride but also the dignity of the Red King.
But just as Saldin was thinking of pushing on, he smelled something that resembled oil. Immediately, cold sweat slid down his back.
“Fuck!”
Saldin knew he had to do something about the goblin before him. As he confirmed that Gi Ba was maintaining their distance, Saldin turned aside and lopped the head off of a nearby goblin.
“You bastard!”
As Gi Ba chased after him with open anger, he suddenly turned around and immediately closed the distance between him and Gi Ba. He must’ve thought that he was going to run. Because of that his reactions were slower by a moment, allowing Saldin to attack him.
Gi Ba was pushed by Saldin’s full powered attack. Gi Ba had the advantage in constitution and arm strength, but Saldin had more experience. And after losing his posture, Saldin pressed the attack further.
“Got you!”
“GU!?”
Saldin focused his attacks on Gi Ba’s neck. At the last attack, Gi Ba inadvertently covered his neck. Saldin took that opportunity to cut Gi Ba’s legs, then he immediately turned tail and ran.
Saldin cut the goblin that tried to cling to him, then he ran past the anti-cavalry fences and called for a retreat.
Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to regather a panicked army.
Saldin steeled himself as he decided to abandon the people that could no longer move after getting caught in a trap.
“We can take down these pesky goblins if we just push a little more!”
“Shut up! Retreat! Now!”
An officer tried to argue with Saldin, but he just hit him in the face and pushed for the retreat.
“What are you doing!? You—”
The officer spit out the blood in his mouth, but just as he was about to continue, he suddenly froze. Screams had resounded from behind while hot air touched him.
At that, Saldin turned around.
“I said run! Damn it!”
The billowing flames rolled into the winds and onto the nearby knights. In no time at all, the flames turned into a great flame that threatened everything nearby.
“Mages! Earth walls! Pay attention to the direction of the wind! Get to it!”
As Saldin spat orders at the nearby mages, he yelled at the soldiers who got caught in the flames to fall back away from the flames.
Although there were those who were too slow and died, there were some who managed to retreat.
The soldiers dragged their legs as they covered the burns on their arms and fled.
But even with the men he’s saved, Saldin had no more than 20% of his soldiers.
“Bring the injured back! Healers heal them!”
As the healers tended to the wounded, Saldin ordered the safe platoons to the front, while leaving the rear to protect the wounded. He had the mages erect walls of earth to keep the fire from spreading to the meadows.
“Who would’ve thought stupid goblins would use their heads… But with this, the fire can’t spread!”
Saldin ordered the spearmen to line up and advance.
“Tch. If we dawdle here, those Kushain fanatics might just show up,” Saldin said.
But there was truth in his words for Vilan Do Zul was currently 10 km south where the goblins and the Red King were currently fighting. With giant flames burning in the meadows unhindered by any structures, the billowing black smokes should have long been spotted. As such, it wouldn’t be strange, if they were to take advantage of this situation and attack.
In fact, the Kushain believers did just that. When they spotted the black smoke, they sent out their scouts and gradually approached. [1]
Saldin had acquired information prior that the Red King had an advantage. It was because of that that he attacked like this despite not wholly seeing the situation at hand. Unfortunately, the goblins were a lot stronger than expected, and on top of that, they even used traps, causing them to fall back.
After starting a battle, it wasn’t easy to just up and leave. At this rate, he wouldn’t have any way to explain to the soldiers for what reason they died.
They at least had to wipe out the goblins and meet the Kushain forces, Saldin thought. Unfortunately, when he realized that they were also fighting against elves that could control the winds, he had to rethink his plan again.
Flames were indeed unable to get past walls of earth, but that wasn’t true for the smoke. If the black smoke were to cover their sight, advancing would prove impossible.
Moreover, Saldin had an ill foreboding as he looked to the east.
The officers from Elrain Kingdom asked him if he was going to give the signal to attack, but Saldin only scratched his head as he clicked his tongue.
“Damn it all! Begin preparations! We’re retreating! The foot soldiers will form the rear guard. We’ll suppress the goblins while we make our escape!”
“Retreat?”
The officers started making a commotion, but Saldin ignored them as he ordered the retreat.
“The foot soldiers and I will be at the rear end. We will suppress the goblins while retreating! So you lot just gatherer the unhurt and the injured and make your way back to the capital!” Saldin said to his trusted adventurers.
“Hurry! I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t know if it’s the Kushain fanatics or the goblins, but I can sense it! Someone’s coming!”
[1] – A bit confused with this one. Just take this one line with a grain of salt.
