Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World

Chapter 13: Risking Everything

Henry's slash was followed by a heavy and hot air current that opened a shallow and straight fissure line on the snow that spread rapidly towards the barbarians, like an invisible ghost scratching his claws against the ground.

It was like an extra line on an apocalyptic painting, a simple complement to those numerous holes on the ground, created by the seeds' explosions.

However, the furious Barbarian Leader paid no heed to this attack, or the hundreds armored soldiers coming behind the young king. At the moment, the only thing in his mind was to exterminate the unholy being in front of him, who dared to disrespect and curse his brother's souls.

The desire for the treasures and the food stock behind the city's walls paled in comparison to the complete extermination of this enemy. He had to kill this sinner, or his fallen brother wouldn't be able to meet his ancestors.

This wasn't an individual idea. It was a collective thought shared between every single barbarian in the battlefield. They had to recover their brother's soul from this land and allow him to reach salvation and the only way to accomplish this mission was by ending the king's life.

The barbarians had no fear of dying in a battlefield or in an honorable duel, but they feared being cursed forever. Henry's action could be considered the heaviest of all crimes in their culture. The barbarians would allow that to go unpunished.

"I will kill him!" – This was the common thought in their minds…and the clear proof of Henry's plan working.

In the first moment, by creating this scene, every single barbarian would only focus their attacks on him and not his soldiers, which would give the First Battalion the gap necessary to attain victory without incurring major losses.

"It won't be easy…but…" – Henry thought, already preparing to meet his enemies. – "We can do it."

On the other side, the barbarian leader tightened his grip on the crudely made axe and contracted every fiber in his legs, dashing forwards without stimulating a single Mana Circuit, only pure body strength.

He met the coming hot and invisible slash head on, like a mountain dividing the wind from the ocean the air was redirected to the sides, resulting in only a few strands of his long red hair being burned but not enough to reduce his momentum.

He was like a mad and uncontrollable bull.

Using his peripheral vision, Henry confirmed that his army was already close enough and dashed forwards with his fire sword in hand. He had to intercept the enemy powerhouse.

"In Formation!"– The captain of the First Battalion commanded, making his subordinates divide in two sides, like a waning moon hugging Henry.

They would directly attack their enemies and open enough space for Henry and the barbarian powerhouse to fight. Although they were less in number, they had conviction in fighting against these mad barbarians, even more so in their actual state of mind.

"Here it is!" – Henry whispered, clenching his teeth.

The barbarian leader was almost six steps away and right behind him were a mad army, an army ready to rip Henry's skin off and offer it to their gods.

Seeing the distance between each other and after letting the leader pass through him, the skilled captain gave his command.

"MOVE!!" – The captain yelled – "Shield Wall!"

At his shout, the First Battalion began to surround the crazy horde of barbarians in a full circle, like a pack of wolves hunting their prey. It was way easier since their primary focus was on Henry, who was already behind the shield wall.

They were only mindlessly trying to break out of the wall, but that only got them increasingly strangled in the formation. The shields were pressing them against each other as the tips of the spears which came out of the narrow spaces between the wooden shields pierced through their bodies.

Even with countless holes in their bodies, the barbarians didn't stop rampaging against the wall. However, no matter how strongly the barbarians brandished their crudely made weapons, Stahl's line only made the encirclement tighter and tighter, crushing them slowly.

Some of the barbarians understood the perilous situation, but the few and low voices were not able to wake up their crazy and vengeful brothers. The crowd continued to shout incomprehensible words, which sounded like animal grunts, while looking towards Henry's position.

It was too late when they finally woke up to the hundreds of corpses on the ground being trampled by their near enemies. They were already wrapped in a cobweb, unable to utilize their superior strength and being crushed against each other.

The closed and narrow space made them unable to perform wide movements to break the shield wall. The First Battalion Captain created a way to control this horde. Some barbarians were not able to even lift their arms up. It was only a question of time before they were completely exterminated.

Seeing the desperate looks of those savages, the captain couldn't help but flash out a cold but satisfied smile. He was safely behind the shield wall while holding a spear smeared by his enemies' blood.

"If not for this, we would have to lose at least a hundred soldiers" – He thought, trying to look behind and spot his king – "I have been under this foolish king for ten years and I have never seen him act like a proper king. He only walked around the city bragging about his superior blood and drinking himself to death. He changed and…I hope that's good for the people."

The captain felt apprehensive by the king's sudden change. He was afraid that he would use his power to put pressure on the population like before and not utilize his intellect to help the kingdom and its people.

"I just have to trust him!" – The captain thought, stabbing forwards and injuring another enemy.

On the other side of the battlefield, Henry was fighting against the last leader. They had already traded tens of attacks. Henry could feel his muscles and Mana circuits overloading with each attack received.

The stress over his body and mind intensified even more as he maintained The First Form of the Imperial Sun God Technique, Fire Blade. He could feel the Mana burning everything inside him with each complete circulation.

He was parrying attack after attack, not finding the right chance to counterattack.

"He is way faster than the other one. I can't find an opening" -Henry thought, parrying another attack coming to his neck – "His body is lighter and his muscles seemingly developed to sustain this speed."

This barbarian didn't have the massive body of the last one, even though his well-defined muscles could be clearly noticed. He was attacking at an incredible speed, like a cheetah.

Henry could only calm himself down and pay attention to the trajectory of the axe. Until now, he successfully blocked every single fatal attack, but not all of them. He had already received a couple of slashes in his arms and chest.

However, due to his technique, he couldn't feel the hot blood dripping from the wounds. He was focused only on his enemy's next attack, who was barraging him from all sides.

*Ting*

Henry blocked another attack coming towards his neck.

"He is in some kind of trance and is attacking randomly" – Henry confirmed as time passed – "He is not thinking about the trajectory or the best way to attack…or I should already be dead."

Henry knew that he couldn't compare with the speed shown by this guy. He should have already been killed in the first minute of fight. The barbarian was like a tempestuous wind, strong and unpredictable.

However, despite knowing his enemy's flaws, Henry wasn't able to find the right gap to counterattack. If he changed to a more aggressive way of fighting, he would certainly risk being beheaded by an unknown and fast attack.

Henry was parrying attack after attack, coming from multiple directions, all aimed to kill.

"My Mana Circuits are about to burn. I can't stay like this" – Henry gritted his teeth from the pain – "I need to risk it."

Henry calmed himself down as his eyes emanated a decisive light. It was everything or nothing. Henry continued to parry the attacks of the mad beast until he saw his chance.

It was an attack aimed at his ribs, threatening to slash him in two.

At that moment, Henry yelled in his mind. - "Second Form – Fire Guardian"

He took all the remaining Mana in his heart and exploded it, like a volcano, forcing it to rapidly traverse his body.