Chapter 175: Achilles' Heel (3)
Chapter 175: Achilles' Heel (3)
Translator:EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor:EndlessFantasy Translation
In the Roland barracks, in a big tent, the atmosphere was depressive. The thick tent canvas kept the sea breeze at bay. The army officers in the tent were gloomy.
Tiger's face was ashen, looking coldly at the two Royal Knights of the Sauron Kingdom. They were both Deputy Commanders; their Regimental Commander was killed in the battle. Right now, the two knight's faces were somber, their eyes filled with guilt.
Tiger firmly clenched his teeth, not saying a word. What to say? What more was there to say? Give them a good scolding? Tell them they were useless? That none of them could stop the Radiant Empire's Lightning God Whip? That the Royal Knights were a bunch of rubbish?
Tiger himself was from the Sauron Kingdom while some other people in the tent now were from the various kingdoms of the Roland Continent.
In fact, Tiger was puzzled — he himself was a Sauron Kingdom Royal Knight. In this Holy War, he was the Regiment Commander of the Sauron Kingdom Royal Knights! He had personally trained these men from the Royal Knights — he could not understand why the Roland Continent's second strongest cavalry, in front of the Lightning God's Whip, could not even win a single fight, that they had lost so quickly.
He intentionally covered up and kept quiet. But the others present here were different. A knight at the side laughed coldly; a knight in armor with a lean face. Tiger took a look at him and thought: Him again!
Tiger said to himself: "This bastard Goethe man." That man who laughed was a general from the Goethe Kingdom.
This time the coalition army comprised armies from 10 plus Roland kingdoms. The Sauron Kingdom army was the strongest and also the biggest so, naturally, the Sauron Kingdom commander, Tiger, would be the Supreme Commander of the coalition army. But this did not mean that the other people were happy with it. After all, the 10 plus kingdoms might not have the same objective.
What's more, there had always been some disagreements, some friendships, some hatred. Even though before this expedition, the Temple had mediated, these grievances were accumulated over many years. So how can it be resolved just like that through mediation?
This representative from Goethe had clashed previously with Tiger on many occasions, intentionally as well as unintentionally. Even now, while the Gordon Kingdom was allied with the Sauron Kingdom, there would also be some friction on normal days.
The Sauron Kingdom was the strongest so no one would openly oppose them. But now that the
Sauron Kingdom's Royal Knights had suffered a crushing defeat and gave rise to such a wonderful opportunity, who would reject it? But the commander had forgotten that just a day ago, their own Goethe infantry were slaughtered by the Empire's armored infantry.
Listening to the other party's unrestrained ridicule, Tiger had already turned extremely angry.
"This is extremely shameful! Our so called strongest Sauron Knights lost right in the first fight... Sauron Knights, are you not ashamed!" That Goethe knight's voice was sharp and shrill.
The two Deputy Commanders of the Royal Knights looked somber, their faces red, trembling non-stop.
Tiger looked squarely at the Goethe knight and said, " General Golan, you are not qualified to judge the honor of the Sauron Knights!" He immediately continued, asking his knights, "You two, why did our knights lose so badly?"
The two Deputy Regimental Commanders looked at each other and hesitated. One of them then said, "General! It is not that we have dishonored the Knights — those soldiers are just not human! They are demons. Each time they hear the horn they turn into invincible monsters! They are not mere heretics. They are a bunch of fanatical disciples of the devil. They most certainly carry a curse on themselves! They are a bunch of crazy fanatics..."
After a pause, the other knight said, "General, you saw it too. How crazy they were — this battle. We could not capture any prisoner, any injured soldier! Instead, any injured warrior would pounce on our knights and give up their lives to kill us... This is crazy! Our faith in God had never wavered, but we are human, we are not crazy!"
The first knight then said in a low voice, "But... its that Lightning God's Whip commander, that Duke of the Tulip Family... He is the embodiment of the devil ..."
Hearing the words 'Duke of the Tulip Family', the men in the tent seemed to tremble a little. That day, hundreds of thousands saw with their own eyes how fearsome the Duke was.
The Royal Knight Regimental Commander died in one stroke of the sword. Two Senior Holy Knights; one died and the other taken prisoner. Then there were countless others killed by that demon sword.
As many had witnessed, that devilish warrior rode a black horse, a blazing golden aura about him, running and galloping in and out of the thousands of warring soldiers. Nothing could stop him! Just by himself, he managed to lead his warriors out of the multiple layers of enemies that had trapped them!
So many swords and arrows struck him, but he seemed totally unharmed! That was just not human! "Hmph!" The Goethe knight laughed coldly, not wishing to say anything. Tiger said, "General Golan, you said that the defeated knights are shameful. Then, are the Holy Knights in the same category? Then what about the infantry regiment that was defeated?"
Golan's face changed. He dared not offend the Holy Knights — once you offend the Holy Knights, you have offended the Temple. He stole a look at the two Senior Holy Knights then finally kept his mouth shut...
The Holy Knights suddenly stood up and looked at Tiger. One of them said in a low voice, "General, that Duke, there's something odd. If I am not mistaken, that Duke's strength has reached the level of the Radiant Empire's so-called Sacred Swordsman."
"Sacred Swordsman?" Tiger furrowed his eyes. "I heard that the Radiant Empire's one and only legendary Sacred Swordsman is their Palace Chief Warrior, Master Autumn."
"Yes, General Tiger." One of the Holy Knights said. "That was the rumor. But as is evidenced by the fight yesterday, a second Sacred Swordsman has emerged in the Radiant Empire! The Duke of the Tulip Family! Both Gerta and Stagu were our elite Holy Knights. They have both already achieved the highest levels of the Knights. But they could not stop the Duke at all! General Tiger, this is the reason for the disparity in strength. There is no reason to regret. A disparity in strength leads to death, not shame! As a knight that defends God, we would sacrifice our lives at any moment."
"Disparity in strength … " Tiger furrowed his head and asked, "Even if the Duke is a Sacred Swordsman, our two Senior Holy Knights should not be much different from him, strength wise. A Senior Holy Knight should be about the same level as a Grade 5 swordsman. Even if they could not face up to a Sacred Swordsman, they should not lose so quickly."
One of the Holy Knights then said in a low voice, "General, like what you have said, two Senior Holy Knights together, even if they are not strong enough to fight a Sacred Swordsman, they should at least be able to hold him for a while. But, at the time, I happened to be near them, and what I saw was extremely shocking..."
Thus, this Holy Knight related what he saw on the battlefield. He told how when the Holy Knight's spear struck the Duke it had totally no effect on him, and instead, as he reacted instantly he could easily kill the Holy Knight...
The other knight then sighed and said, "If after that, the Duke was attacked many times by warriors with normal swords and arrows with no effect it was expected. But, receiving a full power attack by a Senior Holy Knight is another matter!
It is not possible for a Sacred Swordsman to block with his body and escape totally unscathed if a Senior Holy Knight unleashed a full attack! You should know. Our two Senior Holy Knights are not weaker than any Sacred Swordsman. Even if they might be weaker, they could not take a direct body blow from a full power strike of a Senior Holy Knight's spear."
The men in the tent seemed to look a little fearful. A glint crossed Tiger's eyes, then he said in a trembling voice, "Unless... unless... this Duke has exceeded the Sacred Swordsman level, he had obtained … the Domain Force?" An immediate silence froze the tent at the mention of the words 'Domain Force'. The expressions on their faces were extremely pitiful.
Domain Force?
What is the concept of Domain Force? A warrior with Domain Force is almost at the level of God!
It is impossible for a knight or a warrior to kill a Domain Force guy. Legend says that a warrior with Domain Force can change the rules of space and time, can annihilate an army with just a finger...
Normal people would not be able to understand a Domain Force guy...
That is not to say that a Domain Force practitioner cannot be killed. He is still a human, not a god. His power is not inexhaustible — in the legend of God and Devil war, a human general sacrificed 100,000 soldiers to kill a Domain Force practitioner of the Kara clan.
At the time of the God and Devil War's, that was the most powerful human cavalry regiment.
100,000 men!.
To kill one man, a hundred thousand men sacrificed!
But now … hmmph, hmmph.
Tiger could not help but look around at the men in the tent, men from the various kingdoms in the Roland Continent. These kingdom warriors basically were a mixed bag of good and bad soldiers. Don't talk about comparing with man's most powerful regiment during the time of the God and Devil Wars. These men would fall far short when compared with just the Sauron Kingdom's Royal Knights.
According to some people, today only the Temple's Holy Knights could maintain the standard of man's most powerful regiment that existed a thousand years ago in that war...
What about now? Where do I find 100,000 men to kill the Duke? Even if we send the entire Holy Knight Regiment to kill the Duke, we are sending 100,000 men to die... 100,000 Holy Knights? That's crazy!
"The Holy Knight Regiment had a total of 200,000 men. It is the Roland Continent's most powerful army. To sacrifice half of that just to kill one man. Then what about the rest of the war? And the Radiant Empire had another 4 elite armies, and the famous Lightning God's Whip!" As the men in the tent came to this realization their faces turned white.
The Holy Knight who said this coughed a little, then said in a low voice, "General Tiger, don;t worry. I believe the Duke has not achieved Domain Force yet. In fact, Domain Force practitioners have not emerged for hundreds of years. It only existed in the legends, no one has actually seen one with his own eyes."
After a pause, he said softly, "Even then, if the Duke is really a Domain Force practitioner then in the war today the Lightning God's Whip would not have suffered so many losses. They successfully repelled our attacks but they lost quite a lot of soldiers too. Therefore, that Duke certainly cannot be a Domain Force practitioner!"
The other Holy Knight said, " Yes, General Tiger! I believe the Duke is not a Domain Force practitioner. He had only just reached the Sacred Swordsman level. Although he is powerful we just need to wait for our Paladin to arrive. We would then be able to defeat him. But … "
"But what?" Tiger asked.
That Holy Knight said, "But he is a bit odd... His body is exceptionally strong. A Senior Holy Knight's attack would have no effect on him. I think he must have a strange technique to increase his body resilience..."
This Holy Knight stopped for a while, as though he was hesitating. But he eventually spoke, "General, everyone, are you familiar with the Temple's legendary tale? The God of War Achilles' Heels?"
"Legend of God of War Achilles' Heels?"
Everyone again became silent ...
"In the legendary God and Devil War, the God's clan's God of War, Achilles, was the most powerful god. He was strong and valiant. In the war against the Kara clan, he was unrivaled.The Kara Devil clan's most powerful experts were no match for him. Even Kara himself could not vanquish the God of War, Achilles.
The reason: Achilles had a weapons-proof body. It was said that when Achilles was born, the Mother Goddess took him by his legs and dipped him into the Holy Water of the Heavenly River. A body that had been soaked in the Holy Water would be extremely strong. His body was invulnerable to any worldly weapon.
Therefore, the God of War, Achilles, was the strongest amongst all the gods. But in the legends, Achilles was killed in the God and Devil War. It was because even though his body was impervious to harm, he had a weak point ... his leg! That's because, when the Mother Goddess grabbed his legs to dip him into the Holy Water, his legs were held by his mother and were not soaked in the Holy Water.
Therefore, the legs were that invincible God of War's only weak point!
In the final battle, Kara shot Achilles with an arrow that had been steeped in the dragon clan's poison... "
The men in the tent, of course, are familiar with this story. Tiger's eyes flashed. He said, "You are saying, this Duke...his body was soaked in…? Hmm... the Holy River's Holy Water is actually a legend about God. Then it cannot be the Holy Water... that soaked the Duke... Can it be a dragon's blood? It was in the legends that dipping in a dragon's blood would make one invincible!"
That Holy Knight somberly said, "Yes, a dragon's blood certainly would have this peculiar effect... But, dragon blood is not all empowering... at least, there must be a way to break a dragon's blood … "
While these Roland men were discussing in the tent, in Thunder City, Rody took off his armor that was drenched with blood. His hair, his face was bloodied; sweat and tears were mixed together soaking his golden hair in sticky ropes that hang down his face.
Rody was calm and did not speak as he listened to Sieg's report of the army's losses. Even though a great loss was expected, the strong Lightning God's Whip actually lost thousands of men, and if including the injured, then more than 10,000 men were lost.
The armored infantry guarding the city also lost almost 10,000 men. Of course, the enemy's losses were even more disastrous. According to some estimates, in the opponent's attack on the city, their infantry was a total loss. Apart from the loss of 20,000 to 30,000 men, the rest were crushed by the Lightning God's Whip in the assault. The opponent had thrown in two regiments and had lost at least 400,000 men.
Also, that Holy Knight Regiment, in their clash with the Lightning God's Whip, lost about 10,000 men. In comparison, the Empire's losses were very small.
He handed his armor to the guard and held his Dragon Fang Sword. He said, "The man I caught. Is he dead?"
"No."
"Good." Rody nodded his head. "I have a question for him!"