novelraw Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105: Verbon Fortress (3)
“Anyone else? If not… get lost now.”
Evan’s provocative words spurred every warrior watching to rush forward.
They would have, had Grumbak not raised his hand to stop them.
“Chief!”
“Will you let that brat go? Duraman is dead!”
The warriors’ outraged cries erupted.
But Grumbak, unwavering, spoke in a firm voice.
“I have eyes. So shut up.”
Calming them, he continued, “Ganging up on that brat would look pathetic. Follow the order.”
As his words ended, a warrior of higher rank than Duraman stepped forward.
“Then I’ll go!”
Grumbak studied him and nodded.
“Boltan, good. Go and uphold Duraman’s and our honor.”
“Yes!”
Boltan landed in the dueling ground with a single leap.
Dust billowed around him, and Evan frowned slightly.
“I’m not running. Take your time.”
His consistently relaxed demeanor twisted Boltan’s face.
“That arrogant look ends now!”
Boltan swung his fist fiercely.
Evan countered, aligning his hand to target a vital point precisely.
But Boltan wasn’t a fool.
‘That’ll knock me out if it hits.’
Instinctively, Boltan swung his arm, deflecting Evan’s hand.
“Oh?”
Evan smiled, intrigued.
“If I don’t get hit, it’s nothing!”
Boltan focused entirely on Evan’s fingertips.
But what Evan learned from Kailam wasn’t limited to that.
‘There’s no rule saying I have to defeat them with strikes alone.’
As Boltan’s fist and Evan’s hand brushed past each other, Evan seized the moment, wrapping his arm around Boltan’s.
“Grabbing me won’t do anything!”
Boltan’s forearm swelled like taut steel.
But Evan merely grinned, recalling Kailam’s words.
―There are parts humans can’t train, like organs and joints.
If Kailam’s Spear, ‘Ashurat,’ pierced organs, what Evan now unleashed, ‘Tuwuban,’ was a grappling art that shattered joints.
―No matter how tough a human is, they can’t withstand a joint being twisted. Like… you right now.
A memory of sparring with Kailam flashed through his mind.
Like then, Evan leaped nimbly, twisting Boltan’s arm to subdue him.
Then, he put strength into his entire body.
―Crack!
“Ugh!”
With the sound of a joint breaking, Boltan’s arm twisted unnaturally.
Writhing in pain, he reflexively clutched his broken arm with his other hand.
‘Ah! No!’
He realized too late.
His eyes, a critical weak point, were exposed.
But it was already too late.
Before he could react, Evan’s fingertips shot toward his eye.
Yet Boltan, a skilled warrior, instinctively turned his head.
―Slash!
His eyebrow was cut instead, and blood flowed.
‘Ugh! My eye!’
Blood obscured one eye.
In that fleeting moment, as he opened it again, Evan was gone.
‘Where is he?’
Panicked, Boltan scanned his surroundings, feeling a chilling presence behind him.
‘Damn, behind!’
Evan’s arm was already wrapped around his neck, constricting tightly.
“Grr…”
Boltan tried to pry Evan’s arm off with his remaining hand, but the more he struggled, the tighter Evan squeezed.
“Guh…”
His breath faltered, and his vision blurred.
Then…
―Thud.
Boltan’s massive body collapsed forward.
“Waaaah!!!”
The duke’s lords erupted in cheers, unable to contain themselves.
A victory that turned the tide.
But Evan, heedless of the cheers, quietly looked down at the fallen Boltan.
Then, he leaped, crushing Boltan’s neck completely with his knee.
―Crunch!
In that moment, the cheering lords on the duke’s side
and the shocked warriors on Grumbak’s side fell into heavy silence.
“What? Isn’t this a duel that ends with death? You’ve done the same.”
Evan didn’t shed a drop of sweat.
Meanwhile, two of their warriors had fallen.
“Anyone else? I’m ready for more.”
Despite Evan’s taunt, waving his hand lightly, the warriors suppressed their belligerent instincts.
Only then did they realize the man before them wasn’t an ordinary warrior.
‘That guy’s dangerous.’
Grumbak didn’t miss the shift in their eyes.
The chief, unable to hide his displeasure, sank into thought.
‘That kid uses a fighting style I’ve never seen. Continuing this will only lead to pointless losses.’
If it were a simple duel, Grumbak would never have backed down.
But this was a war against the entire kingdom, not a mere fight.
Further losses would be catastrophic.
Grumbak made his decision.
“Enough. Let’s go.”
“Chief!”
“I don’t want to see more warriors die. Go collect the fallen.”
Knowing they couldn’t defy the chief, the remaining warriors followed, grumbling.
“Understood.”
The duel, meant to boost their morale despite their numerical disadvantage, had instead crushed the Rockturtle Tribe’s spirit.
‘As expected of a chief, he’s quick to catch on. I wanted to thin their numbers more.’
Evan swallowed his disappointment, watching their retreating figures.
Though he hadn’t reduced their numbers significantly, the consecutive victories had greatly boosted the duke’s side’s morale.
“Little Count! Truly remarkable!”
“I see you in a new light!”
The lords rushed to praise Evan.
The duke, watching them, set aside his worried gaze and spoke calmly.
“Well done. Truly.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m ashamed for doubting you. I won’t do it again.”
“No, it’s only natural you’d think that.”
Evan maintained a humble demeanor and quietly approached Gaiard.
“You learned martial arts? Your use of deadly techniques was impressive.”
“Well, a bit of this and that.”
Gaiard, arms crossed, looked at the retreating Rockturtle Tribe with interest.
“Thanks to you, their spirit’s broken. If we press now, we might have the advantage.”
“Maybe. But I’m worried about the opposite.”
Evan shook his head lightly, gazing at Grumbak’s back with a meaningful look.
After the duel, on the way back to the main camp, Evan walked beside the duke and spoke.
“Duke, what’s your plan moving forward?”
“Their morale’s down, so we should attack. Time’s pressing for us, not them.”
As Evan expected, the duke saw this as the optimal time to strike.
The soldiers’ morale was high, while the Kandahr warriors’ was broken.
The issue was that the target was Verbon Fortress.
“So we’ll hold a meeting as soon as we return. We need to strategize to breach that fortress.”
“I see. I’ll attend…”
“Evan, rest for now. I’ll discuss with the lords and continue later.”
The duke respected Evan but didn’t yet see him as an equal to the lords.
Though Evan wanted to voice his opinions, he held back.
‘Fine. I need to confirm something before executing my plan anyway. It’s not too late to talk later.’
He considered that the lords might propose a better strategy and decided to step back.
First, he needed to verify if his plan was feasible.
‘I’ll sneak out and check first.’
***
While Evan was briefly away from the camp, a heated debate raged in the duke’s tent.
Everyone offered their own ideas on how to conquer Verbon Fortress.
“Let’s move the entire army and charge now!”
“We should build siege weapons and attack cautiously…”
“We don’t have time! We need to press this momentum!”
“Momentum alone won’t breach a fortress!”
Amid the fierce arguments, the duke struggled to make a decision.
‘There’s no clear answer.’
He couldn’t ignore the fortress’s resilience.
Minimizing losses would take too long, while a swift assault would demand heavy sacrifices.
Neither choice was easy.
‘A solution that satisfies everything… these men don’t have it.’
Watching the endless debate, each convinced of their own rightness, the duke felt frustrated.
“I’ll step out for some air. We’ll resume the meeting later.”
Dismissing the lords, he stepped outside.
There, he ran into Evan waiting by the tent’s entrance.
“Evan, have you been waiting all this time?”
“No, I just arrived. Did the meeting go well?”
Evan already knew the answer.
He’d seen the lords still arguing as they left the tent.
“No conclusion yet. But we’ll decide by today.”
“Duke, what if we try this?”
“Hm?”
Hearing Evan’s proposal, the duke was momentarily speechless, caught off guard by the unexpected idea.
“Is that really possible?”
“Yes. If you follow my plan, it’s possible. And it’s the least costly option at this moment.”
Evan lacked real combat experience.
Yet he displayed unwavering confidence.
Though the source of that confidence was unclear, his proposal wasn’t absurd.
“Hm. It’s worth a try… I’ll think it over.”
“Please consider it and let me know. I’ll act on it immediately.”
Evan hoped the duke would decide by morning.
But, contrary to expectations, the duke returned just hours later and said, “Let’s go with your plan.”
Evan smiled.
“Have you convinced the lords?”
“Yes. They’ve agreed to join.”
“Good. The sooner we start, the better. Especially at night, like now.”
Thus, the duke adopted Evan’s plan, and they finally led the soldiers out of the camp.
Meanwhile, the Rockturtle Tribe’s warriors, unable to sleep, stared intently beyond the fortress walls.
They, too, judged this the ideal time for the allied forces to attack.
“Don’t let your guard down. If those cocky bastards charge recklessly, we’ll crush them.”
And indeed, the allied forces appeared before the fortress, but the scene was nothing like what they expected.
“What in the world are they doing?”
The allied soldiers carried not weapons but meat and liquor.
“Hahaha!”
Amid flowing music, they laughed, chatted, and danced, reveling in merriment.