Chapter 170 – Encirclement Battle (1)
There was a pause after Crockta’s words. He declared that he would face the imperial army alone. Rommel and the troops were all silent. The plain was silent.
“I see.” After a moment, Rommel raised his hand as he turned his horse. It was an attack command. He tried to move back to his position. Crockta had no intention of letting him go. Crockta jumped forward. The two knights escorting Rommel hurriedly raised their swords.
Kaaang!
One knight’s blade was broken. The horse jumped with fright as Crockta headed towards it. The knight held the reins tightly. Rommel rushed away. Crockta missed the opportunity. He grinned as he cut down the horse and knight.
The battle was about to begin. The large army stretched out in front of him. They didn’t move.
He would go if they didn’t come. Crockta started to run. Ogre Slayer cried out. It appeared to be excited about the upcoming feast. It was the same for Crockta. The soldiers were still hesitant about fighting. They would die if they didn’t concentrate.
Crockta jumped. His greatsword collided with the formation of the imperial army. The greatsword moved. Crockta crashed into the troops.
Kwaang!
The soldiers fell at once. He stepped on them and struck the next row. As Crockta pushed into the imperial army, it grew. He was gradually surrounded. But he didn’t care. This was the excitement of melee combat. He split the enemy apart with his greatsword and caused a fountain of blood.
An individual versus an army. There was an overwhelming number of adversaries as enemies surrounded him on all sides. But it was the army that was being sliced away. It wasn’t enough to surround him on all sides.
Crockta’s horizontal slash split apart all the enemies in front of him. It was an explosive advance.
“Only this much──────!”
The entire army shook at his roar. Crockta took a step forward. The imperial army moved out of the way. Crockta laughed and raised his greatsword. The enemies burst forward. The blades on every side didn’t reach him.
Now that his assimilation rate reached 100%, Crockta’s senses were sharper than ever. He fought everything on the battlefield. He could feel the excitement. The feeling of the flesh of his enemies being torn, as well as the terrified swords shaking.
“Those looking to kill me──────!”
Crockta smiled as he saw Rommel’s confused face. He stabbed a soldier’s neck and grabbed his spear. Ogre Slayer spun around once, securing space for Crockta. The enemies collapsed. In that gap, the spear rushed towards Rommel.
It tore through the air. Two soldiers and one knight were pierced. Nevertheless, the spear headed towards Rommel’s heart without losing strength.
Kakang!
Crockta turned around without seeing the results. Rommel would live or die. He concentrated on the soldiers rushing towards him. At that moment, he crossed swords with a somehow familiar face. It was a face he had seen previously.
He cut the person’s throat, causing blood to splatter all over. His vision was blocked and he struck both soldiers at once. Their upper and lower bodies mixed together. He kicked them away. Then his greatsword aimed at those who had fallen back from the horrible sight.
Their bodies were split apart and their guts flowed down.
“Rommel──────!”
He shouted the names of his enemies.
“Keynes──────!”
Their faces were pale.
“Luin──────!”
He knocked down the enemies around him. The terrified soldiers retreated. There was a lot of space around Crockta. There were no enemies at all in this area. His greatsword lowered as he lost his opponents. He looked at the dead bodies at his feet. Limbs and flesh were scattered.
Crockta laughed. The soldiers were terrified. The enemy’s fear was is friend. The blood and flesh covered Crockta shouted.
“Betring──────!”
The people in the distance were surprised. The flag of the White Lion Knights was fluttering. Why didn’t they come? The soldiers in front of them were in such a poor state, so why didn’t the knights appear yet?
“Bluno──────!”
Then he called out the name of the Blue Dragon Lancer’s leader. If they wouldn’t come then he would directly go to them. Crockta wielded his greatsword as he barged forward. The soldiers around him were crushed. They were cut, split apart and stabbed. These actions were repeated and he steadily opened the way.
The troops filled up. Once again, they were cut, split apart and stabbed.
“Adandator──────!”
Adandator’s face was visible near Rommel. Rommel’s side was bleeding. It had hit. It was probably Adandator who broke the spear. Crockta saw that Adandator’s pupils were enlarged. Adandator’s eyelids fluttered as sweat fell down and his lips trembled. Crockta laughed again.
His senses even picked up the wildly beating heartbeat. He had said it. Don’t meet him on the battlefield.
Crockta shouted again.
“Come──────!”
The earth shook. Rommel gritted his teeth and gave the signal. The command shifted. Arrows poured out towards Crockta. Crockta grabbed a soldier and used him as a shield. His body was pierced. However, all the soldiers around him were sacrificed.
The blood of the dead soldier flowed down towards Crockta. Bodies filled with arrows, riddled with holes like a beehive, were scattered around him. Their allies abandoned them.
“Kulkulkul.”
Only this much, Rommel.
Crockta hurled the body. He smiled at Rommel. The soldiers witnessed the sacrifice of their companions and couldn’t approach.
Crockta raised his greatsword and wandered forward. The soldiers moved back. The enemies retreated. The gap between him and the imperial army was getting closer. The crowd soon reached the limitations of this space. The soldiers, who were unable to retreat anymore, crouched and raised their weapons.
After a moment, there was a new call sign from the commander. The flags of the knights started to move from their formation. It was a cavalry assault. The sound of horseshoes started to quicken. It was the soldiers who reacted first. They ran away so they wouldn’t be hurt from the assault. The knights’ flags were gradually getting closer.
Crockta followed behind the soldiers. The formation became a mess. He entered deeply through the barriers. Once again, he stood in the middle of soldiers. The charging knights didn’t stop. The commander didn’t order a retreat.
They literally trampled the soldiers to get at Crockta. There were terrible screams.
Crockta lowered his posture and cut a horse’s ankles. The horse fell down on the soldiers. The knight’s charge was a disaster for their allies.
“I thought you were on the same side.”
Crockta laughed at them. They flocked to their own destruction. They were only fighting against one enemy. The troops assumed that the person would be wiped out by the army. The confused imperial troops used every means of attack without knowing how to stop Crockta.
Arrows flew while the cavalry charged. However, it was the soldiers who were consumed, not Crockta.
Rommel shouted. It was uncommon for Rommel to raise his voice. “General soldiers get out of the way! The knights are committed to stopping Crockta! Knights charge!”
Crockta didn’t just wait for them. He persistently pursued the fleeing soldiers. The soldiers, who couldn’t choose between retreating or their own army, were overwhelmed and killed. It was like jumping into a flock of sheep.
His dignified appearance rose far above them.
***
The blades of the knights crept towards Crockta through the gap caused by infantry soldiers dying. After a battle of attrition, they finally reached Crockta.
“Die, monster!” A knight boldly yelled.
Crockta admired it and gave him Ogre Slayer as the prize. The greatsword tore his mouth and half his face. The upper jaw was separated from the lower jaw. Then Crockta kicked the body, stopping the knights behind him. He swung the greatsword from left to right. It hit the bodies of the knights who were tangled up together.
A fountain of blood.
Duk.
A head that soared into the sky fell and bounced off Crockta’s helmet. The face of the one who called Crockta a monster was stiff. He hadn’t wanted this ending.
Crockta stepped on his face. It was the same for Crockta.
The imperial army finally separated the soldiers from Crockta. The knights surrounded him. They were different from regulars soldiers. The elites of the empire, led by Bluno, Betring, and Adandator surrounded him.
Tension filled him. Crockta felt his enemies enter the realm of the Pinnacle. Knight after knight after knight, while the soldiers surrounded him. There was no place to escape. He was isolated. He finally stood in a Colosseum. A cruel stage where he would die if he didn’t kill.
Crockta’s body accelerated. The realm of the Pinnacle. This moment felt like a eternity. At some point, Crockta was the one who moved first. It was a subtle moment that the knights didn’t realize. The greatsword flew towards them.
Kakang!
It was Adandator who stopped him. He confronted Crockta. He overcame the pressure of Ogre Slayer and countered Crockta. The other knights recognized their movements only after several blows had been exchanged.
They tried to find a gap, only for Adandator to be punched in the face. A few teeth flew away.
In the meantime, the knights’ blades flooded towards Crockta. They couldn’t be avoided. At that moment, he transcended to the realm of a Hero. He was supposed to be cut, but the swords hit their masters instead. The knights’ armor was crushed as they were thrown back. But,
A trickle of blood flowed down Crockta’s cheek.
“……”
Crockta turned to the knight at his side. It was the leader of the Blue Dragon Lancers, Bluno. As if he felt it, the knight’s spear had reached into the realm of a Hero. He overcame Crockta’s control of causality and hit Crockta.
He was better than expected.
Crockta aimed Ogre Slayer at Bluno. He panicked and twisted his body. However, he couldn’t escape and his forehead was torn. His life was saved by a whisker. At the same time, Adandator and Betring approached Crockta.
The knights united. The attacks of the knights surrounded him from all four sides. Crockta countered the threat with the power of the Hero, but the strength of the knights, including Adadantor, was also incredible.
Some of the blades that he couldn’t stop cut at Crockta.
Crockta tightened his grip on his greatsword. Many knights were torn apart as blood flowed down Crockta’s body. The vacancy of the dead knights was filled with other knights.
He kept killing and killing. This was what he wanted.
Crockta grinned and his spirit cleared. His body reaccelerated. At that moment, he struck a knight who lost concentration. The knight couldn’t respond to the rapid attack and the helmet belonging to the dead rolled across the ground.
Crockta looked around and laughed, “Kulkulkul…”
The knights retreated, spreading out carefully as they watched him. Crockta licked his lips. The absurd difference in numbers and the limits of an individual started to be revealed. At that moment, Adandator suddenly raised his head. Betring and the other knights looked somewhere else. A long shadow was covering them. Crockta also looked back.
From the hill, someone on a horse was coming down. He whistled at the sight in front of his eyes and said with a grin “I’m not too late.”