The knights’ spears rose high as if they were going to pierce the sky. The swords on their hips were sharp, and the shields on their arms were thick and sturdy. The battle horses were muscular and moved in a steady line, following right behind the tail of the horse in front of them. The knights looked as if they were apostles sent from heaven.
Behind them, people wearing white robes and holding a long staff rode on a wagon pulled by a working horse. There were also priests who prayed for the blessing and safety of their comrades who were going to battle and enact judgment and punishment upon their enemies.
All of them had the same symbols embedded on their clothes: the Karuwiman symbol. They were the military force that had gathered to fight against the Bellid. They gave off such a tense and sharp atmosphere that it was incredibly difficult to approach them. Their determination to go to war was motivated by the idea of sacrificing their lives for the cause. Even if they died in this battle, they would be merely departing from their flesh and going to Karuna’s side for a life of eternal happiness. Their faith relieved them from their fear and made them even more fearsome in battle.
Weig, who was advancing from the very front, raised his hand. In an instant, the entire military force halted. While holding the reins, Weig observed ahead. The vast wilderness he had seen lay before him. He saw the groove where he and Zich had hidden their horses last time, and from further away, he saw the large stone that led to the Bellids’ cave.
“It’s over there.” When Weig pointed his fingers at a rock from a distance, all the people of Karuwiman stared at the rock. “Beneath that rock, there is an entrance to an underground cave.”
“It’s finally starting.” Lubella tightly gripped her reins next to Weig. Her heart pounded in anticipation and nervousness.
“Yes. We are finally starting judgment against those blasted Bellids.” Even Weig was excited by the upcoming war; his eyes were already full of bloodlust. This was the same for the rest of the Karuwiman soldiers. Whether it was big or small, a fiery fire formed in the hearts of all the women and men of Karuwiman.
However, one person did not share their sentiments. Zich was extremely calm; no, the coldness of the sword he sharpened inside his heart made him emit a freezing atmosphere. His icy, cold heart completely contrasted the fiery hearts of the soldiers around him.
Zich let go of his reins and got down from his horse. It had already been agreed upon that Zich would go ahead and infiltrate the temple first.
“Please be careful.”
“Mr. Zich, be careful.”
Weig and Lubella expressed their concerns. It was an incredibly difficult task to secretly infiltrate a place. Moreover, the place he had to infiltrate was the infamous Bellid’s northern branch.
“Don’t worry. Even if I’m captured, there’s not much information I know.”
Karuwiman didn’t inform Zich about the details of their military force, and Zich also avoided any information about it intentionally. All of that had also been agreed upon.
Lubella glared at him and said, “You know we didn’t mean it like that.”
“Yes, you are right. All right. I will be careful, but you don’t have to be really worried about me. I’m going in first because I have a plan in mind. A shameful thing like being captured by the Bellids will never happen to me.”
Then Zich glanced next to Lubella; Hans and Snoc were on their horses. “Please take care of those two.”
Zich decided to leave the two of them behind. It was too much for even Zich to secretly infiltrate the Bellid temple while carrying those two luggages around.
“Don’t worry. I will take good ca—”
Even though it was Zich’s decision to go by himself, Weig felt bitter that he was pushing Zich to a very dangerous situation. In order to lighten Zich’s load, Weig was going to secure Hans and Snoc’s safety.
However, this was not what Zich wanted. “No, make sure to fully utilize them. Don’t protect them and push them onto the frontlines as much as possible.”
Hans and Snoc let out gasps at the same time. Zich was Zich.
“I trained them at least that much. They would at least be able to take care of themselves.”
“They could die on the battlefield.”
“I can’t just keep them in my nest the whole time. They need to learn how to fly by themselves. If they can’t and fall to the ground and die, it can’t be helped.”
Hans and Snoc’s bodies trembled. They felt bleak that they would jump head-first into battle without Zich’s support. But surprisingly, they felt nervous but not so afraid that their bodies would freeze. It was definitely a result of Zich’s gruesome training; they were not sure if they should be happy or horrified.
Weig also agreed with Zich’s decision. He was also a knight who wielded his sword and constantly faced life and death situations.
Weig nodded and said, “I understand.”
“Then I will go ahead.” Zich’s body quickly moved and soon disappeared below the rock. Weig, Lubella, and Hans never moved their eyes away from him until he fully disappeared.
Lubella asked, “…Will he really be alright?”
“To be honest, I don’t think the success rate is very high,” Weig coldly replied, and Lubella widened her eyes in shock.
“Then…!”
“But it’s Mr. Zich after all. If I think back to all the unimaginable feats he was able to do, I think it’s enough for us to put our faith in him. Also, look at those two.” Weig pointed towards Hans and Snoc. They were checking their weapons and doing image training on how they were going to fight.
“Those two closest to Zich show no signs of worry.”
It was not as if Snoc and Hans were not interested in Zich’s well-being. They just had firm trust in Zich’s ability to survive. They reached a point where they realized that worrying about Zich was the most pointless action in the world.
“…Is that so.”
“If Mr. Zich succeeds, it’ll be easier for us. So let’s all try trusting him for our sake.”
Weig raised his hand again and stretched it out in front of him. With this signal, the military force began moving again. Their destination was the Bellid temple inside the cave, and their goal was the complete extermination of all the Bellids.
* * *
Zich went through the cave speedily.
‘I’m sure they’ve noticed that the Karuwimans are here by now.’
The Karuwimans had an impressive ability to block information. Since they had also dispersed their troops secretively, the Bellids failed to detect the Karuwiman army until they were in front of the northern branch’s entrance. But now, there was no way the Bellids didn’t know.
‘How could they not know when the Karuwimans have gathered their troops in front of their base like this?’ Zich was sure that the Bellids were hurriedly making defense plans. ‘As expected, they don’t have many troops in the cave.’
The Bellids were probably going to use the lake’s geographical advantage to create a barrier between them and their enemy. Unlike the Karuwimans who had gathered their elite troops from their major branches, the Bellids had an army for only one base. Naturally, the Karuwimans had the upper hand. That was one of the key reasons why Zich had forced Hans and Snoc to participate in this war.
‘In a war, it’s very rare for one side to have so many advantages, including the element of surprise.”
Stomp!
Zich arrived in front of the lake. He saw people moving in a rush inside the Bellid’s temple. He placed the clothes and items he brought into his magic box. Then, he jumped into the lake, and with a small ripple, Zich’s body disappeared into the water. He slowly but carefully began to cross the lake.
* * *
Karuwiman’s forces began to enter the cave in full scale. Because the entrance under the rock looked small, it looked like it would take a long time for all the troops to enter. But Weig’s solution to that issue was simple.
Craaaash!
The entrance exploded with a loud sound. With one blow of his sword, a whole boulder that had stood on top of the wilderness for ages flew out of the ground. A cloud of dust flew out, and an entrance that was bigger than the original by multiple times appeared into view.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
They looked like an army of militant angels marching to Hell. They didn’t fear the cave’s pitch-black darkness without a strain of sunlight and continued their footsteps. Soon, Karuwiman’s army arrived in front of the lake. People admired the sheer size of the cave and the huge lake right in front of it. Then, when they saw the Bellid temple just across from them, they exuded out masses of bloodlust.
On the other side, the Bellids seemed to have noticed the size of the Karuwiman’s forces and their movements became much more intense. Mass of people soon came out of the building, and the Bellids and the Karuwimans faced each other with the lake between them. Even though they were still far away from each other, the tension and bloodthirst in the air were almost tangible. As the two groups were fixated on keeping each other in check, no one noticed a figure secretly sneaking into the side of the temple.
* * *
‘Let me see. Isn’t it around here?’
Taking advantage of the fact that the Bellids were preoccupied with the Karuwimans, Zich got out of the lake and crept into a deserted place. But he couldn’t avoid all confrontation, and some managed to spot him.
Slice!
“Ugh!”
Of course, the unfortunate ones who noticed Zich met their deaths. Zich placed the dead followers of Bellu into his magic box and continued moving.
‘This is quite a good sword.’
The sword he got from Steelwall broke from the time he fought the mysterious magician. The sword he was using right now was what the Karuwiman had given him, and it was much better than his previous one.
Zich continued to move. He followed the temple’s walls and went straight ahead.
‘It’s here!’
Zich saw a small door. It was incomparable to the majestic entrance of the temple, but the door was big enough for Zich to go through. Zich couldn’t feel a presence behind the door, and he opened it. The inside was dark. With all kinds of boxes and items piled up, it seemed like it was a storage room.
‘It’s the same.’
Zich smirked. He knew the temple’s structure well—and it wasn’t because he had an unbelievable skill that let him grasp the interior of the building just by seeing its exterior. It was actually the opposite.
“I remember breaking this place down to bits.’
Before his regression, Zich considered the Bellids as a thorn to his side and he completely dismantled this entire building. He didn’t even let his subordinates touch this place and did it all by himself. He broke, broke, and then broke some more. He broke down the place so thoroughly that he remembered the building’s interior even to this day. For Zich, who forgot trivial matters easily, this was very surprising.
“I also found many secret paths and rooms during that time.’
If the Bellids knew of this, they would have clutched onto the back of their necks in rage. Zich got out of the storage room. Bellid followers were running around the building, and Zich passed between them like a ghost. Since most of their focus was on the Karuwimans who were on the other side of the lake, it was difficult for them to notice Zich.
‘Trislowa must be outside.’
Since he was responsible for this base, it was certain that he would be outside to lead.
‘I should lead him back inside.’
After all, the whole reason why Zich had escalated the situation to this level was to finish off Trislowa. It was better to drag Trislowa back in to cause a diversion and create the best chance to torment him.
‘I can’t let the Karuwimans have him.’
Zich’s eyes shone menacingly.