Chapter 155: Between Excitement and Calculation

Akulda led the thousand warriors from their city, Siol, toward the north. Considering that one Rakshasa warrior could take on ten Pangolins, it was definitely a large number.

However, what worried Akulda was the sticks that made thunder-like sounds that the outsiders had brought, but Akulda had an idea about what to do with them.

‘I heard that there were Wizards among the fishes. That weapon must be related to magic. But if it is able to make that big of a sound, then ultimately, it must be mere deception with no substance.’

Putting together the stories told by the Rakshasas who had escaped the village, Akulda came to the conclusion that the weapon might not be anything to write home about. Once it let out a loud sound and spewed fire, it required preparations such as struggling to fold another small stick into the initial stick, which took a long time. When Akulda asked one of the fugitives why they didn’t attack the enemies while they were getting their weapons ready, they replied that the enemies had been stationed all over, preventing them from predicting which sticks would fire next.

‘However dangerous the weapons may be, they would’ve come to crush us without even giving us a chance to resist if they really were that impressive. As long as our warriors take advantage of the downtime when they are preparing their weapons and charge, attacking should be no problem.’

***

“Oh no. According to the news from the south, Governor Akulda from the north has gathered a thousand warriors and is coming our way…”

At Margo’s words, Vasen Lak Orazen replied, “A thousand? Is that all they can gather?”

“Probably not.” Margo then added, “But one Rakshasa can handle ten Pangolins… I wonder if we’ll be okay…”

Margo looked at the Pangolins who were currently training. Each village had sent a good number of Pangolin warriors, making an army of 800 in total. Their numbers being equal, however, Pangolins would never defeat Rakshasas even with the help of gunpowder weapons. In that sense, the Pangolins’ army was small.

In Margo’s perspective, the Pangolin warriors looked like nothing but a rabble. The braver and stronger Pangolins had already rebelled against the Rakshasas and died, or they had been sacrificed as offerings to the Rakshasa guardians. The only reason these Pangolins could even serve as warriors was that they did not reflexively turn into a ball when facing enemies. And this requirement had only been set by Vasen to determine whether they would be able to use the weapons that were brought from across the sea.

When Vasen had first gathered the Pangolin warriors, it was a mess. The moment Vasen fired a matchlock into the air, one fourth of the Pangolins that gathered there reflexively rolled themselves into balls. So Vasen had to somewhat sternly tell them to get back to their feet, and some Pangolins did follow his words.

With a tone that suggested there was nothing for them to worry about, Vasen confidently reassured them by saying, “We won’t be using edged weapons but these matchlocks, so what’s there to be concerned about?”

“Hmmm…”

Vasen looked at Margo. This small Pangolin had lots of fears, but still had courage and was flexible in different situations.

‘Which means they are quick-witted.’

In Vasen’s opinion, being quick-witted meant having lots of thoughts running through their head. And Vasen believed that this trait of Margo’s, who had been a slave, enabled them to survive among the Rakshasas and seize opportunities when things turned upside down.

“Tell me what concerns you. If there’s something that I didn’t think of, then we might have to make up for those things.”

“Yes…well, that is. We are quite good at shooting these objects called matchlocks…” Margo said, “Even though they do shoot farther than crossbows, however, they aren’t as accurate. Also, because the recoil is stronger than when shooting crossbows, using thin leather to protect our shoulders isn't that effective, and it’s not like they can be reloaded faster than crossbows either…and there aren’t enough matchlocks…”

Vasen agreed with Margo’s last point. Counting those on the communication ship as well as the ones hurriedly brought over from Doltan Island, there were only 200 matchlocks in total. After those, supplies would have to be brought directly from Black Scale, which would take a long time. Therefore, only 200 out of the 800 Pangolins would be gunners, another 100 would be crossbowmen, and the remaining would be spearmen.

Vasen then said, “But we can still deploy more gunners than skilled crossbowmen right away. That should be enough. And you also have us.”

“Even so, there’s only around 50 of you…”

“Then let’s trust Hillove.”

With eyes filled with anticipation, Margo finally looked up at Hillove, who was perching on top of the small temple. To Vasen, it seemed like Margo thought the fight was worth trying because of Hillove.

‘But that won’t be the case.’

Vasen’s goal wasn’t simply winning the battle. It was to completely defeat the Rakshasas with the Pangolins alone.

Vasen looked at the village. Only about fifteen days had passed, but the landscape had changed significantly. While the Pangolin gunners continued their training and making banging sounds, niter was being carried back in carts from nearby mountains, and trees had been chopped down and put into mud furnaces to make charcoal. Inside tall buildings made of wood, molten iron was dripping one drop at a time. Every drop fell and solidified in a circular shape, which became a bullet for the matchlocks.

Although Hillove might have triggered the beginning of their salvation, if the Pangolins weren’t able to save themselves, then future fights would be difficult. On the contrary, if the Pangolins were able to save themselves, the battle ahead of them would become easier.

To make sure that they would be ready when the time came, Vasen taught the gunners the formation he had come up with himself.

***

A Rakshasa warrior whispered to Akulda, “I see the Pangolins over there.”

“I see them too… What a bunch of fools.”

The Rakshasa troops hid within the jungle and observed the hilltop where the Pangolins were. About 100 Pangolins were on the hill, where the ground was covered in flat rocks and stones. Due to that, there were barely any tall trees, and the grass that grew between the rocks barely covered the ankles.

‘If they’re in such an open space, there will be no bushes for warriors to hide in.’

Akulda believed there were a few rules to war. One of them was to not reveal their presence to the enemy until the fight began.

‘Of course, the distance is quite far for stone throwing or shooting crossbows. But if they don’t know our locations and we know theirs, we can attack whenever and wherever we want.’

Additionally, there seemed to be a smoky burnt smell coming from the Pangolins for some reason. And the smell was how the Rakshasas had located the Pangolins in the first place.

Akulda said, “We need to quickly overpower them first.”

“Would it be okay to not check the upper hill?”

“To check that hill, we would have to go past them from the front anyway. And if we don’t want to do that, we would have to take a longer route around. We can’t afford to miss this chance by wasting time to do so.”

The warriors agreed with what Akulda said. There were merely a hundred Pangolins, and they were only armed with clubs and spears. Given the Rakshasas only thought of the Pangolins as slaves, the fight the Pangolins were putting up seemed disgraceful at best.

Akulda pointed at a warrior and said, “Lead the blood-related warriors and charge.”

“Thank you for giving me the honor to lead the charge, Akulda.”

Akulda smothered a laugh and thought,

‘Although they’re only Pangolins, we still haven’t figured out what the sticks that make thunder-like sounds are. Them being there wouldn’t just be a coincidence.’

Around 200 Rakshasa warriors charged toward the Pangolins.

And at that moment, Margo, who was among the 100 Pangolins, shouted, “Aim!”

The Pangolins all took aim at the Rakshasas.

“Fire!”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Flames shot up following the loud noises, and white smoke rose over the hill. The Rakshasa warriors who were charging under Akulda’s command fell to the ground. With their long tails and low center of gravity, Pangolins were at an advantage when it came to withstanding recoils. Training also allowed the Pangolins to not be surprised at the sound of gunfire, so after they shot their guns, they immediately reloaded and moved to the back.

Margo then shouted again, “Aim!”

When the Rakshasa warriors saw those running in front of them fall to the ground, they reflexively slowed down their pace. And once they realized that not only themselves, but the warriors around them were all hesitating, they debated whether to keep charging forward or run away. The tremendous gunfire sounds had robbed them of their excitement for war and made them do cold calculations for survival. And staying stuck between their excitement and calculations turned out to be their fatal mistake.

“Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!?

Round metal bullets tore through the tough skin of the Rakshasas and broke their bones.

Akulda felt his mind go black.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this bad…!’

But Akulda’s judgment hadn’t been completely wrong. After the two rows of Pangolins fired, there came a chance when they had to pause to reload their guns.

“Now’s the time! Charge!”

With the Rakshasa troops that had charged first injured, Akulda belatedly commanded the next troops to advance. However, the path up the hill was not very wide. And Akulda then realized that even the open terrain was a part of the enemy’s calculations.

‘Are there more on top of the hill too…?’

Before Akulda could raise his head, Vasen had already led the remaining gunners forward to aim at the Rakshasas.

“Fire!”

The fight didn’t last long, and Hillove, who had been waiting nearby, didn’t even get the chance to participate in the fight. The only ones to survive were Akulda and a few subordinates, who were clever enough to immediately retreat rather than take part in the fight.

***

Inside the jungle, Akulda ran in a different direction than the subordinates before coming to a stop. It had been a while since Akulda, who was built strong as a Rakshasa and had earned a high-ranking position, last ran until he no longer could.

“Damn it, how did those Pangolins…”

Akulda had certainly seen not only the Pangolins but also the outsiders. There had been Lizardmen and other various species. Akulda thought he needed to inform the great Ashurada about this, and even though he could lose the position of governor and perhaps even his own life, Akulda thought he needed to hurry.

“This isn’t a matter of my own safety. This can be a threat to the Rakshasas and maybe even the whole Ashurada tribe…”

Akulda then suddenly heard a rustle from the bushes and drew his sword. A familiar figure had emerged through the trees.

“Koprik…!”

-You look exhausted, Akulda.

“Please forgive me. We have lost in the fight against the Pangolins.”

Bowing down, Akulda thought this could be the end. However, an unexpected reply came.

-Oh, that’s unfortunate. I gladly forgive you.

“You…forgive me?”

-Isn’t that what I said?

“Th…thank you.”

Akulda was puzzled, but thought that Koprik could have been satisfied after filling its stomach with lots of Pangolins.

Akulda said, “They have a significant weapon. I think they got it from the outsiders, and there was no way for us to fight against them.”

-Then what will you do now?

“I must visit the Great Ashurada.”

Koprik nodded as if that was the right thing to do, but then suddenly stopped.

-No, are you going to just accept defeat like this?

“There is nothing I can do to fight back.”

-Do you think the Great Ashurada will forgive you when you’ve suffered a great defeat??

“I might not be forgiven…”

Koprik then said.

-In my opinion…yes, that’s right. Why don’t you gather all the remaining warriors and fight again? I can help this time.

“A…are you being serious?”

Akulda was taken aback. Perhaps because of the defeat it had suffered at the hands of Ashurada, who ruled over the Rakshasas, Koprik never showed any affection toward them. The only reason Koprik cooperated was that Akulda was the governor, and Koprik would ignore any request it deemed to be even the least bit unreasonable. Thus, Akulda had to be satisfied with Koprik going around the village and creating an atmosphere of fear rather than asking Koprik to directly fight.

.

Koprik then said.

-Yes. I want to taste those outsiders before Ashurada eats them all.?

Akilda was partly relieved at Koprik’s attitude. Akulda had faced the great Ashurada several times before. If it was the great Ashurada, they could resolve anything, so this situation might not even be that serious.

“Oh, okay. Then I’ll gather the warriors again. Now I will never underestimate them, and most importantly, with your help…we will certainly win.”

Akulda bowed to Koprik.

Koprik, or more specifically, Gordius who had taken over Koprik’s body, then said to Sung-Woon.

-Father, Night Sky, it has been done as you wished.

Sung-Woon replied.

-Good. Let’s start by annihilating the Rakshasas of the north.?