volume 2 - Chapter 149 (2/2)
“I do not know the composition of your men,” Brendel merely smiled in response without minding her remarks, and returned her glare: “But my order is simple. Ser Raban and you are to organize your mercenaries to guard the south gate and a.s.sault the west gate. There is only one condition. Three hours, before the dawn rises, I want to see your mercenaries’ flags on the city walls and control them—”
He turned his gaze to Cornelius: “Ser Cornelius, your mission is to lead your mercenaries and the remaining sellswords to attack the heart of Firburh with me.”
“I await to hear the details of your plan.” Cornelius bowed again and answered in an unhurried tone.
“Wait,” Jana interrupted with furious brows: “The west gate? Why are we attacking the west gate? Isn’t our target supposed to be Graudin’s manor so we can kill that d.a.m.ned worm?”
“I’ll be open with you. The enemies you are going to face are Madara’s undead army.”
“What?”
The three of them subconsciously looked at the pile of shattered bones behind Brendel and realized the strange situation before them.
“Graudin has colluded with Madara. The entirety of Madara’s undead army isn’t in the city— Perhaps there would be a small portion in it, but the majority of their army is definitely hiding nearby. My guess is the south-western forest. Your mission is to prevent them from entering the city until we are done with killing Graudin.” He said.
Jana and Raban looked at each other with uncertain eyes, before the latter spoke: “The inner walls of Firburh are no weaker than a fortress. If Graudin colluded with Madara then there must be powerful enemies in there as well. The mission of a.s.saulting Graudin must be more difficult than guarding the walls, so why doesn’t my lord choose us, the Firebrand Mercenaries? Are we that weak in your eyes?”
Cornelius frowned when he heard his words. But Brendel shook his head: “Did I just not mention I don’t know the composition of your men? The number of mercenaries behind the three of you are close enough for me to pick any one of your groups. Time is of the essence because this is a surprise attack, so obey my orders—”
The naked threat in his voice made the three commanders’ hearts skip a beat.
“We have to kill Graudin as soon as possible. Madara will retreat if he is killed. If anyone of you is thinking about running away now, be prepared for h.e.l.l. If we fail to take Graudin down he will definitely hunt you down. Your actions on surrounding Firburh have already caused things to go beyond a path of no return. Inform your men of our plans on our respective missions along the way. Now move out!”
Brendel turned around and carried Sifrid. He walked across the rubble and entered the city.
“Brother Brendel, you don’t need to fight for me. I heard Grandfather said if I go before Graudin, everything will be fine.” Sifrid said.
“Sifrid, you don’t understand, this isn’t only your fight—” Brendel answered softly as he glanced at the crosses extending into the darkness, his voice trailing off a little. “I chose to carve a b.l.o.o.d.y path for myself— that is all.”
In the end he chose to face everything. The road before him would now become difficult and th.o.r.n.y, straight into a fiery path filled with blood—
His anger in the afternoon held on to hesitation, but Sifrid and the Senia’s plight caused him to realize one thing; if he still chose to avoid conflict here, then he would have failed himself and the people before him.
[I might find victory through other means by finding Valhalla, conquer everything later by hiding in the shadows and ignoring everything else along the way. But is this really something that I want? Gaining power, but losing everything else?]
Brendel laughed.
In the end, he chose the most complicated plan yet again. He had tried countless ways to avoid involving himself from playing this game of roulette like a gambler, but every time he moved away from it, he found himself coming back to this plan.
He really wished to follow Amandina’s suggestions. It was so easy, so logical and so safe.
[But, we are still Brendel at the very end…..]
He mocked himself, but his expression was filled with resolution. Since he had chosen this path, he would charge forward against all odds to victory—
Or death.
Brendel stopped moving and turned around. Alistair had been following him closely. The latter took a moment to recompose himself and his expression was one of neutrality again.
“My lord?” Alistair said.
“Do you hear it?” Brendel asked.
“What?”
“The sounds of battle. Take care of Sifrid—” Brendel let the little girl down and took out a silver card.
The next instant, the cavalry under Graudin rushed out from the corner of a street—
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