Genius Blacksmith's Game
Chapter 587: Soldier (7)
Soldier.
It referred to those who belonged to the lowest rank within the organization called an army.
Those who had first taken up a sword and entered the military.
Those with no talent, who lived by putting their lives on the line just to earn their meals.
Those who lived an entire year on a salary of a few gold.
The lowest rank, beneath hundred-man commanders and thousand-man commanders.
We called them “soldiers.”
******
There were truly many ways to enjoy Ares.
Fishing, or going camping.
There were even people who traveled all over the world inside it as though they were going overseas, since real overseas travel cost so much, and they felt the same level of satisfaction.
After all, in this land set against a medieval era, they could see tourist sites, take in all kinds of magnificent scenery, and eat delicious food.
Like that, the number of hobbies was beyond counting.
Among them, there was horseback riding.
In reality, raising an actual horse was difficult.
And riding a horse across a vast stretch of land was close to impossible.
In the modern age, there was nowhere for horses to run.
That was why there were many people in Ares who enjoyed horseback riding.
However, horseback riding was not an easy hobby to “share.”
That was why, long ago, the “Horse Lovers Club” had come into being for users who rode horses.
Horse Lovers Club.
It was nothing more than an ordinary social group.
“Today, we’ll be riding across the Gapao Plains. First come, first served.”
“Recruiting for a flash meetup. Let’s ride through the Galeo Mountains together.”
“Hehe, I bought a famous horse this time. Yes, I’m bragging!”
“Our Dungy had a foal!”
They had enjoyed Ares in their own way and formed bonds with horses.
In the early days, the Horse Lovers Club had numbered only a few hundred, but at some point, it had grown to more than 100,000 members worldwide.
“Let’s show the whole world how we ride!”
They were pure, and they were having fun.
On the same day—
The sight of 100,000 members of the Horse Lovers Club gathering and crossing the plains together.
It recorded tens of millions of views, and that day, when everyone ran as one, became a memory given to them like a gift.
But then—
“It is an honor to be loyal to His Majesty.”
One empire grew greedy for the horses they had raised with such care.
“Offer up the horses you possess. If you do not, we will kill those horses right now.”
There was one thing all users had in common.
Even if they died, they came back to life.
But horses did not.
They raided the Horse Lovers Club’s gatherings, seized the horses, and if anyone resisted, they killed the horses on the spot as an example.
“Your horses will be used for our cavalry, so know it as an honor.”
Users mounted their horses and fled, but the Empire issued an order.
“The horses ridden by outsiders under the name of the Horse Lovers Club all belong to the Empire. Capture them all.”
Users were forcibly logged out, and they had no choice but to watch their horses be taken away before their eyes.
The horses they had raised with such love and care.
Healthy horses that followed their owners better than anyone and had crossed the world with them were used like that as tools of the “battlefield.”
Then news arrived.
Parion Empire knight. Careo.
They heard that he was raising a cavalry force with the horses they had raised and reporting victory after victory.
They had swallowed their resentment all this time.
Then one day—
[Parion Fuckers.]
“......?”
“......?”
A JoyTube live broadcast with an unusual title caught their attention.
They entered the broadcast of the world-famous BJ Rollo.
In the middle of his words, asking whether they were not furious that things had been taken from them, and whether they would run away—
“Soldiers.”
Through the man in the darkness who had answered that way—
Neeeeeeigh!
The 10,000 horses mounted by the people who had cherished and loved horses more than anyone let out their cries.
“S-Soldiers? You know that’s not what I’m asking. Who sent you? State your affiliation!”
Their forms were revealed as the candles were lit.
Hundreds of nations existed in Ares, and some people did not belong to any nation at all.
Also, if Parion knew which nation they belonged to, it only needed to send troops immediately and sweep that nation away.
“Yes, I can see it now. I can see where you bastards came from!”
Careo rejoiced.
Behind the candlelight, the emblems worn on their arms and equipment began to appear.
“Elao?”
The nation of Elao, which had an emblem like an angel spreading its wings.
But soon, Careo was flustered.
“Is it Rejenz?”
Rejenz, with the emblem of a howling wolf.
But soon, Careo’s eyes shook.
The nation of Beka, with an emblem like a standing bear.
The nation of Jireo, with an emblem of a knight crossing both arms.
The nation of Eliser, with an emblem of a knight’s helmet.
Fodua, Alanda, Casuo, Bus, Benya, Kaizen, Rokoa......
The emblems they carried were all different, and they belonged to hundreds of countries.
Careo realized it.
They cannot be punished......
No matter how massive Parion was, it could not do anything about those people wearing the emblems of hundreds of nations.
But Careo regained his composure.
So what?
It was true that their numbers surpassed his.
It was also true that the candlelights filling the mountains numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
But strength was relative.
“Kill them all!”
The 100,000 cavalry drew their swords and tried to walk the path of massacre.
But......
[The horses will not move.]
Snort—
The horses themselves did not budge.
Horses were animals with advanced intelligence.
The soldiers who had forced them through dozens of battles had abused them.
The members of the Horse Lovers Club had not.
Fweeeeeet!
It began when one man whistled.
Thud!
The horses carrying the cavalry soldiers simultaneously reared up and roared.
Neeeeeeigh!
Neeeigh!
The soldiers riding on their backs fell from the horses.
Thud, thud, thud!
“Aaagh!”
“Gah!”
“Maxiu, what the......!”
“These damn horses dare!”
“I’ll kill every last one of—!”
The elite soldiers, thrown down by mere ignorant beasts, were enraged.
At that moment—
Thud!
The horses kicked backward all at once, and the soldiers struck in the chest were sent flying.
“Guh!”
“Aaaaaagh!”
“Kkeugh!”
Thud, thud-thud, thud-thud-thud!
The horses rampaged, tossing their manes as they swept away the soldiers.
The place they ran and ran toward—
“Maximus!”
“Ereo!”
“Sweetie!”
It was where their original owners were.
[Horses are beings with advanced intelligence.]
[The horses recognize their original owners and run to them for shelter!]
[They will never obey the Parion Empire Army’s commands!]
A considerable number of the Horse Lovers Club had come here without horses.
They had been led by those whose horses had not yet been “taken.”
And cavalry.
The moment those called the Parion Empire’s most beautiful vanguard lost their horses, the result was bound to be miserable.
[All stats decrease by 26%!]
Cavalry displayed their strength on horseback.
Careo grew flustered as he watched the cavalrymen who had fallen to the ground roll about.
However, as mentioned, strength was relative.
“Kill them all and reclaim His Majesty’s horses!”
“As you command!”
The men who had lost their horses began to charge like mad.
Stab, stab-stab, stab!
“Khaaaaak!”
“Ugh...... But it’s okay. Roundy, let’s go back together!”
They were full of people who could not even put up a proper fight and scattered helplessly.
However, the members of the Horse Lovers Club also possessed “subspace” where they could store their horses.
Many sent their horses into subspace and then died, and even in the moment of death, they smiled with relief.
Slash!
Stab, stab-stab-stab, stab-stab-stab-stab!
Careo’s sword cut them down at high speed, and he had already surpassed dozens.
The elite soldiers’ performance was dazzling as well.
“You are nothing but a rabble!”
But Careo was soon flustered.
Were the only people here members of the Horse Lovers Club?
No.
Users were originally beings who did not gather under one banner.
They prioritized their own individual greed above all else, and that was the reason the Parion Empire had thought it was easiest to take things from outsiders.
However, there were times when they could gather under one banner.
When something had been taken from them.
Trigger, ranked second among the world’s assassins.
He was an assassin, but he was the successor of a special group and a class user called Assassin of the Wicked.
The one who had passed the assassin class down to him was someone who, in the past, had assassinated hundreds of extraordinary people.
However, after realizing just how wrong such acts were, his teacher had created a new group.
That group began conducting assassinations meant to save people.
With him at the center, over one thousand assassins had gathered, and they operated across the continent.
Who were their main assassination targets?
Corrupt officials, bandits, pirates, boss monsters that swept through villages, and more.
Then, one day—
The Emperor’s knights came and killed Trigger’s teacher.
The reason?
It was simple.
Because he had refused their request.
The Parion Empire’s request had been to assassinate the princess of a kingdom who knew nothing.
As far as they knew, it was because the Empire did not like the amount of grain that kingdom offered.
Before his teacher’s blood as it scattered, Trigger, ranked second among the world’s assassins, may have been waiting for this very day.
“Carry on the will.”
Fwoooooosh!
Atop the hills on the mountainside—
Thousands of assassins.
They carried on their teacher’s will.
The assassins, wearing masks, poured down toward the soldiers as they struck.
Stab, stab-stab, stab-stab-stab-stab-stab!
Claaaang!
Every time Trigger, called the master of speed, left an afterimage behind, dozens of soldiers fell while clutching their throats.
Their arteries had been sliced, and they died on the spot.
Claaaang!
Another soldier, whose heart had been pierced, asked,
“Who the hell are you people......”
“Soldiers.”
Slash!
After cutting off his head, Trigger began to charge.
And he was not the only one playing an active role.
“Holy shit, more than 400,000 gathered.”
“Rollo is fucking insane.”
“Legends begin that way!”
Users who recited the words Rollo had spoken joined the battlefield.
Among them, of course, were high-level users and hidden figures such as unofficial rankers.
Also—
Although Rollo was not there, there were users broadcasting the current situation live.
Even with Trigger and the assassins, high-level users, and rankers playing active roles, it was not a battle they could easily win.
There was one man watching that broadcast.
Dmitri.
He was an infighter and ranked first among priests.
He was the strongest priest, someone who attacked enemies with powerful fists and could heal himself.
Dmitri had met Nell.
At that time, Nell had realized one fact.
The “soldiers” Hyunsoo had named while calling out the list—
Astonishingly, all of them were people who had lost something or suffered damage because of the Parion Empire.
“I refuse. It’s a fight with no chance of winning.”
However, Dmitri had initially expressed his refusal.
But he was now truly realizing the meaning of the name “soldier.”
On the screen—
Trigger and the assassins, the high-level users, and the rankers were playing active roles, but it was not enough.
Careo, in particular, was an absurd monster.
On the screen, the sound of cutting rang out, and watching 500 users be massacred was a horrific sight.
“The nation of Hyun......”
Dmitri.
He admired Hyun, who had created this situation.
What did that situation mean?
Fshhh!
It meant logging in for the sake of the users who were beginning to be pushed back by Careo.
“Ares’s Mercy.”
Boooooom!
A fist enlarged to five meters filled the battlefield.
“How the fuck is that mercy!?”
Careo questioned Ares, who was bestowing mercy with a fist, and Dmitri’s wide-area skill struck in every direction, crushing one thousand troops, including Careo.
Kwaaaaaaang!
All those crushed beneath it had their bodies shattered and died.
The only one who had not died was Careo, who spat blood from his mouth.
“Cough......!”
Dmitri still knew.
We cannot beat Parion with this number of people.
Of course, Dmitri had heard from Nell about the soldiers Hyunsoo had reached out to.
And soon, he was certain that they, too, would realize one thing and log in.
At first—
The reason Dmitri had refused Nell’s proposal was that there was no chance of victory.
Even now, that was true.
Even if they annihilated the 100,000 troops here, 400,000 soldiers of the Parion Empire Army would remain.
But at the time, Dmitri had reached that thought and felt chills run down his spine.
Who is it?
Those chills came from the design created by the nation of Hyun.
Just who is the knight?
If there were soldiers—
There would also be a knight.
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