Chapter 183: Twenty-second Episode : Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 183: Twenty-second Episode : Chapter 2

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The warm sunlight engulfed the Hetto Plains in an imaginary cloak; in the serenity, the vast piece of greenery was just like a giant's carpet, its lines demonstrating the roads and paths which had been there for ages, its color showcasing the liveliness and energy.

At this moment, two mirages formed from the white clouds appeared in the sky, looking just like two balls of mist rising from the blue lake. They sat atop a huge tent as if they were about to pull the tents off the ground.

From the fields, mountains and hills, serene villages and the bustling cities, the Imperial Guards were drawn to the vast opening by youth and the evilest feeling in the world. They lined up into rows, formed into teams, gathered into groups, donned in their complete armor and looked peaceful. The goddess of youth and Hades of the hell stood at the two sides of the plains respectively; the goddess prayed for their blessings while Hades commanded his pawns as usual, as if he were calculating how many souls his palace could obtain.

The clouds above the Guards kept on transforming along with the quiet illumination of sunlight. Looking from afar, the horizon beneath the people's footsteps and breaths vibrated vigorously, as if the morning dews were evaporating maniacally. Suddenly! The tide seemed struggled against the boundaries of the horizon. Light and mist vanished into thin air, and the scenery turned crystal clear. Amidst the flourishing bushes, a massive army formation appeared. The formation seemed to be splitting, but at the same time it looked as if it was being gathered as well. Long guns formed forests, the cavalry troops transformed into active streams, and the sunlight reflected from the shields and armor appeared like waves of metal. Everything seemed to be moving, but upon closer inspection, everything seemed absolutely still and silent.

One thousand warriors of the Third Group, Third Division, Nineteenth Cavalry Corp of the Sixth Column were being assigned to the frontlines of the left wing. The superior of the knights, Major Karlchette Divoli, who had named 49.7 the Highland of the Fire-Eyed Girl, was riding a greenish grey hybrid horse. He did not know if the bloodline of this animal was as royal as the people had said it to be, he only knew that the little fellow had thrown tantrums often.

The Major lowered his head and looked. A red sakura flower had been sewn onto his armor by his wife. The huge and appealing sakura embroidery from between his chest plates and arms all the way to the saddle. All of a sudden, an image appeared before him. His wife was sitting beside the stove of a small house with fire-red threads in her hands. Just like fresh blood, the color was very attention-garnering.

Karlchette quickly turned his head away, he did not dare to continue his line of thought.

”Hey! Are you hot?” the Major poked a knight beside him with his elbow, who was wearing a helmet several-kilograms-heavy. While his voice echoed within the boundaries of the helmet, his words were incomprehensible to the outside world. Karlchette waved his arm in defeat. The contest had yet to begin, but he was already slightly exhausted.

The young Major spared a final glance at the knight to his left. He was rather familiar with the troop of soldiers at the frontlines. There was his offensive advisor, his flag-bearer, assistant general and many other youngsters whose faces were unrecognizable. Karlchette did not care much for others. In his eyes, he could only see the Golden Lion Flag which represented his country and everything he had worked so hard for. He tied the flag-bearer's left arm together with the flag with a red rope. So, nobody could snatch the flag, at the very least … it looked a little more assuring.

The group comprised of numerous spearmen were in the center of the formation. Corporal Karlchette, the tall Commander of Spearmen, looked to his left and right. To his dismay, falling right behind him were the soldiers clad in metal armor, and it was rather difficult for them to see into the distance. The scorching sun transformed the troop of spearmen into a glimmering forest, and the reflection at the tip of the guns switched into different shades of mirrors along with the changing sunlight. Tears flowed from Corporal Karlchette's eyes, not because he was touched, but by the pain inflicted by the striking reflections of metal.

”So unlucky!” the spearman Corporal cursed.

A fellow soldier looked at him with amusement, ”Big brother, what's the progress of your task?”

Karlchette regained concentration again, and swang the gun in his hand, ”Things are going well … it's just fine as usual!”

The soldier said no more, while Karlchette did not spit nonsense like how he would always do. He focused his concentration to the right wing of the formation, and deafening cheers had already sounded from that direction.

Each and every soldier directed their line of sight to the direction. Very soon, they saw an old Marshal with grey hair clad in grey armor on a big white horse, who arrived at the battlefield with lightning speed.

Corporal Karlchette gripped his long gun and extended his neck just like how all the other spearmen did.

”The Marshal is coming … the Marshal is coming!” the spearmen were all waiting, so was Karlchette. Booming cheers and the clanking sounds of swords and shields could be heard from the right side of the formation.

Karlchette said to the soldiers near him in a low voice, ”We must not fall behind them, understand?”

The old Marshal with silver hair and armor sped past the troop of spearmen! Instantly, the hundreds of thousands of warriors lifted their guns, and the combination of sunlight and the reflection at the gun tip struck once again. With all his might, Karlchette vibrated the weapon in his hand with the greatest speed he could muster, resulting in waves of shining light illuminating from his weapon! Then, he cleared his throat to shout at the Marshal who had went past them.

”All hail the Marshal … all hail the Marshal!”

The old Marshal smiled. The spearmen could see that the grin of his implied that the Supreme Commander appreciated the spirits of the spearmen of the Guards. The soldiers then shouted even louder, until a raspy low voice sounded in the air.

The Marshal said, ”All hail Mother Titan!”

Then, the spearmen injected more passion into their current performance.

”All hail Titan… all hail Titan!”

Karlchette seemed to have broken his voice He opened his mouth wide, and fell into the same pattern with his fellow soldiers with his thick accent. He might have realized that the vibrations of his gun had slowed down, so he started to stomp his feet. As a result, the tip of his gun radiated with blinding light again.

The huge white horse carried the Commander of the Guards from the right wing of the formation all the way to the center of the left wing. It was only after ten minutes, had the old Marshal finished inspecting his troops. Sergeant Karlchette, whom his colleagues from the Military Intelligence Bureau called ”Robin”, retracted his salute only after the old Marshal had returned to his original position.

The Sergeant slightly shook his shoulders, which had been a bit numb after sustaining the salute for an extended duration. Karlchette stared at the vast opening before him in envy. From his perspective, the Hetto Plains transformed into a lively lake, and the breaths of hundreds of thousands of people gathered into a lingering ball of mist on the plains. The ball of mist constantly switched between high and low, fast and slow. Just like a massive helmet, it sat above the heads of the warriors.

”Is there water in the jar?” Robin suddenly turned his head.

Karlchette's registrar shook his head. It seemed as if he had encountered ghosts when surveying the jar.

Disinterested, Robin stomped back to his old hut. There was a chair made of cane in the hut, and the fine wine was no longer there. Karlchette had finished the wine in his efforts to worship the God of Light with the traditional methods, but the God had not responded at all.

”I must get a better wine next time!” the Corporal mumbled to himself. Then, he grabbed onto the young correspondent as if he had just thought of something, ”Hey, what do you think of Borodino Village's oat wine?”

The little correspondent nodded his head hard, ”Not bad, not bad! It's a popular fine wine!”

Karlchette leaped onto the old cane chair. He felt a little guilty and had thought that he was to be blamed for the lack of rain. He felt that he had committed some sort of crime, leaving him with overwhelming guilt regarding this incident. He could neither breathe nor eat. He could not even sit still for a while.

Again, Robin barged out of his observation post. He was well aware that the old hut behind him no longer bore any meaning. He wished to invade into some random base camp in the lands beyond and murder a few Western bastards. By doing so, he could at least have some momentary peace in his soul.

There were clouds above the battlefield, but not much. A grey crane appeared from the cluster of clouds. It just wanted to find a spot to rest, but realized that the humans beneath the dome had no intentions of leaving any space for it to tidy up its feathers. The grey crane was not satisfied. It let out a cry, and headed back into the refreshing air current.

Flying past the plains and the shimmering river surface, the grey crane flapped its wings against the still Shawob River. Subtle ripples appeared in the waters, but vanished soon enough. However, the grey crane was fond of this feeling. It found a silent corner on the river bank, and bent its body downward elegantly as usual.

The grey crane stuck its long beak into the river, and then started to tidy up its feathers. Its feathers were the foundations of its capability of flight, and it was proud of them. At the same time, it was also troubled by its feathers, as there would always be people who had ill intentions toward them.

”Big fellow? Have you stared enough?” the grey crane finally lost its patience. It turned its head backward with slight fury, and glared at the beast behind it with round, black eyes.

”Sorry! I'm just passing by the area …” Little Karlchette came near the riverside in low spirits. It bent its neck, and sipped a mouthful of lukewarm river water.

The grey crane could sense the friendliness in each and every word and action of the bigger animal. It did not mind having a casual conversation with the lonely passer-by to kill time.

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”With that being said … I'm so sorry! I've initially thought that you planned to bite me. These feathers of mine can be made into a basket of feather pens, I was worried that you were having something in your mind.”

Little Karlchette let out a puff, ”I'm a soldier, I'll never do anything like that!”

”You're a soldier?” the grey crane's eyes widened in disbelief.

Little Karlchette wagged its butt, as if it was trying to show off its mark of the Abedoly Military Stable.

”Well then … dear soldier, what brings you here?”

Little Karlchette turned its head away in shame, ”I've lost my way …”

The mean and sarcastic grey crane showed a mocking expression, ”Then you're no soldier. A soldier won't get lost, and only a lost stray horse would look as pathetic as you.”

Little Karlchette's eyes widened, ”But I'm really a soldier!”

”No! You're not!” the grey crane stretched its long neck. It seemed to be sizing up the frowning Little Karlchette with its despicable facial expression.

Little Karlchette was losing its patience. To be arguing with a grey crane which was infamous for its constant rambling, what else did it mean other than it was too free? Furthermore, Little Karlchette was so starved to the point that it was seeing stars.

”Get away from me, will you?”

The grey crane shrugged nonchalantly, ”To be frank, I plan to do so!”

The grey crane had won. It wagged to the other side arrogantly, and continued tidying up its feathers. Let the huge foolish horse continue to reflect on itself here! A lost soldier? The grey crane had never heard of such a thing!

Little Karlchette surveyed its surroundings and came to a conclusion that it had never visited the place. Its butt was screaming in pain, and its hooves were hurt by the constant friction. Its master … Little Karlchette felt wronged whenever it thought of its master who had stabbed it, how could he do so?

Tears flowed from the horse's eyes. It admitted that it was bad in recognizing directions, and it also accepted the fact that it had been blinded by its wrath that it had been stabbed in the butt. Nevertheless, it was an excellent breed of horse from the Abedoly Military Stable.

It should not have been in such circumstances. Moreover … how was his master doing right now? Although it had been stabbed, Little Karlchette was still worried about its master's situation.

”Hey! Big guy! If I were you, I'd fly to the sky to have a look!” it was hard to come by a sympathetic grey crane.

Little Karlchette was stunned momentarily. It looked at the grey crane's feathers, and looked at its huge butt. After some time, it recovered from the stun and said, ”Enough, I'm sick of being unlucky. Please leave me alone.”

The grey crane waddled over, and pointed at the river bank opposite them with its wing.

”My friend, for the sake of the God of Light, I must give you some guidance! Walk along the river bank, and you'll come to a place with humans. As long as there are humans, there'll be hope. You're not like me, so I bet those farmers will definitely welcome you.”

Little Karlchette's eyes widened in disbelief, ”Really?”

The grey crane flapped its wings, and leapt into the air, ”It's true, my friend! Good luck to you!”

Little Karlchette immediately recovered its senses, and went on its way. It seemed to be saying along the lines of :

”Thank you! You've been such a great help!”

However, Little Karlchette did not understand the grey crane's words well. It ran along the river bank, and came to a crossroad soon after.

Although it had known that its master had hidden something on its body, it was not as intelligent as it appeared. The horse which was simply running around aimlessly traversed along the road away from the river. When realization had dawned on it that it had lost its way again, it could only pray. It could only wish that it could meet an old horse which knew the way the next time it stopped, or if there were no other options … a mule would do the trick too! At the very least, there would not be any problems in their communication.

”It seems that … it's true that some people simply don't understand the language of others!” the Hoilland King, Luth VII, sat in the huge military tent, and mocked the Faran Intelligence Officer, who was standing at the side in courtesy, with his usual high and mighty demeanor.

The king clenched the document in his hands. Amused, he sized up Colonel Karlchette, who had a pointy mouth and sunken cheeks, ”Hey … regardless of the details of the report a monkey like you sent, please do open the tent and look outside!”

The Faran Intelligence Officer followed suit and opened the tent.

”What do you see?”

Colonel Karlchette could only respond, ”Reporting, your Majesty, I see the Titan Guards' Offensive Army Group One, which had been on standby to launch their attacks!”

”Offensive Army Group One? Offensive Army Group One?” Luth VII turned his head away with slight annoyance, ”Are you saying that … you still firmly believe that the Titan Guards' Offensive Army Group Two is just nearby?”

Colonel Karlchette nodded in affirmation. He looked at the high-ranking officers in the tent who seemed to be reluctant to comment on the matter. Nevertheless, Karlchette understood that the smart bunch had the same concerns as he.

”Your Majesty, although the Major of the Titan's Military Intelligence Bureau did not reveal any valuable information, I believe that his mere appearance at the location near the harbor already implies that … Offensive Army Group Two, which is led by Marshal O'Neil is currently executing their tasks. On the other hand, we will be split into two groups by the river, and will be completely cornered in the end!”

The Hoilland King used his golden cane to knock on a specific location on the map, ”These are this morning's reports, the Marshal of the Guards, Prince O'Neil's Offensive Army Group Two is still in some province 140 kilometers away from the battlefield! Do you think that the Titans are all marathon champions? Is it possible for them to travel 140 kilometers in just four hours?” Colonel Karlchette subconsciously squinted his scheming grey eyes, ”Your Majesty, it is indeed unfeasible for the infantry troops, but if the cavalries are to give their all … it might be possible!”

The Hoilland King pointed at the battlefield outside the door, ”What do you want me to do then? Greet Alan, and flee after asking him to have the battle another day?”

”Your Majesty, this is the best course of action!”

”Get out!” Luth VII slumped into the chair angrily. If the person in front of him was not a part of the Faran camp, he would have stuffed the bastard into the spittoon long ago.

Colonel Karlchette walked out of the huge tent without looking back. The scene immediately quieted down. The officers of the alliance had all stopped their whisperings and secretly sized up the king who sat with a dignified appearance. Then, they directed their complicated gaze toward the battlefield outside. The Titans had already assembled themselves into neat rows, and the Northern horizon was brimming with an intense murderous atmosphere.

”Alright! We can finally concentrate on dealing with Alan!” Luth VII suddenly applauded, attracting everyone's attention.

”I now announce that …” the king stood up from his golden seat which was decorated with jewelry.

”The competition begins!”

It was Church's year 800, fifteenth day of the seventh month. The time was thirteen minutes to ten. The largest scaled military competition in all of the Westland's history was about to commence. Opening up the historical readings of ”History of Titan's Defending War”, every single detail of the events transpired on the fifteenth day had been described in great detail. However, the only limitation was that the people had read only read about Alan Marshal's words and actions most of the time. As for the other lives on the battlefield, the people had no concrete idea of them. Thus, the people were incapable of understanding their emotions and the impending occurrences.

It was nine o'clock and fifty-six minutes. The messenger's flag language was late! Had it been late for one minute? Or two? Colonel Karlchette Divoli who had been standing at the position of 619.33 was not clear at all. With the short span of waiting time, he had come up with a poem internally.

Oh beautiful …, I am waiting for you. Your embrace...”Guards, advance!”

Upon hearing the familiar shout, Major Karlchette regained his attention and turned toward his fellow warriors. ….