Berserk: The Prophet

“...Oh, that looks like Edward’s golden eagle.” Gurenberu narrowed his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, the golden eagle landed on Gurenberu’s forearm, which was covered by arm armor.

It was a letter from Edward. Gurunberdo instructed his soldiers to open the envelope and read it to him.

"Hmm, General, Lord Edward said this mission is a bit suspicious, and we shouldn't go into battle rashly. There's a high probability that the Grand Duke has already colluded with Juda, so we must do our best to defend the Fire Dragon's Nest."

"...What!?" Upon hearing this, Gurunberdo frowned, and a serious expression immediately flashed in his eyes.

He then waved his hand and immediately summoned the messenger to stop the troops behind him. This was rather reckless, as he was only concerned with venting his frustration by having a big battle.

The terrain here is mountainous and forested, making it extremely easy to be ambushed. No wonder he had a bad feeling from the beginning.

Gurunberudo stood on the chariot, his eyes scanning the surrounding mountains and forests with keen eyes. Sure enough, even the birdsong that was usually the most common was nowhere to be heard.

He knew that if the Grand Duke and Judas were indeed colluding, then what they would face was not a simple battle, but a conspiracy concerning their life and death.

"Pass on my order: the entire army disperses into defensive formation, using the terrain for concealment!" Gurenberudo's deep, powerful voice echoed through the mountains and forests. The soldiers moved swiftly, the neighing of warhorses mingling with the clatter of their armor.

"Enemy attack!! All troops turn their horses around, maintain formation, and advance at full speed towards the Fire Dragon's Nest!!" After the soldiers had created space between each other to avoid chaos, Gurenbeldo immediately issued the order to the entire army with his earth-shattering roar.

Downhill is much easier than uphill, and as long as the cavalry runs fast enough, Juda's ambush troops won't be able to catch them.

This unusual movement naturally alerted the "Giant"—Abecassis—who was leading 2 Juda soldiers in an ambush at Gurunberudo.

His eyes appeared sleepy, his lips full, his cheeks drooping, and his hair long and black. His appearance was exactly the same as when he had subjected Gurenbeldo to assimilation. Far from looking older, he appeared even taller and more muscular.

A massive two-handed sword hung at Abecassis's waist.

The thin man beside him was Kadi, the mastermind behind the plot to sow discord among the three.

"It seems to be only a mounted force, about 1000 men..." In order to accurately ascertain the strength of the troops led by Gurenbelud, Abecassis did not even send out scouts, but only a messenger who had been in the battlefield for many years reported from the ground.

"Hmm..." Using the feigned operation arranged by He Kun, they lured Gurenberudo here. So far, everything has gone according to plan. According to the agreement, Gurenberudo's right-hand man, Edward, should have appeared here with the hostages by now.

However, Abecasius now felt there was no need to threaten with hostages anymore.

Gurunberdo has left the "Dragon's Nest," leaving him with only a thousand troops, while our side has already prepared an ambush with 2 men. If we don't seize the opportunity to attack immediately, we might actually allow the enemy to escape...

"...Archers, prepare!"

Just as Abecassis was giving the order, the high-pitched cries of eagles drew his attention.

"Eh? That's..."

"That's the messenger hawk of the Duchy of Grant. Has our plan been exposed?" Kadi narrowed his eyes, speaking with some hesitation. He'd been racking his brains lately, but thankfully, everything was going according to plan...

...I hope nothing goes wrong.

Abecasius remained calm and composed, saying, "So what if we've been exposed? We have 20,000 troops, while he only has a thousand. He's nothing to fear!"

As the hawk landed in the distance, which seemed to be the location of Gurunberudo, Kadi felt increasingly uneasy.

And just as he had expected, with a cacophony of hoofbeats and a slight tremor of the earth, Gulenberudo's roar pierced through the entire forest.

"Oh no! Gurunberdo is trying to escape!!" Kadi's deep blue eyes turned cold as he spoke urgently, as if he had seen a cooked duck about to fly away.

"Archers, fire!" With Abecassis's command, thousands of arrows rained down on Gurenbelud's troops in an instant.

But Gurunberdo was prepared, and even a dense rain of arrows could hardly hit a few loosely packed cavalrymen in the mountains and forests.

"Don't panic! I'll cover the rear! The entire army, retreat immediately!!" Gurunberdo held a huge, heavy shield and wore exceptionally thick armor. Even if he were hit by arrows, it wouldn't hurt him much, and most of the crossbow bolts that came this far were blocked by Gurunberdo's shield and warhammer.

He glanced back at the vast army of Juda and Abecassis covering the mountains and plains, and his golden eyes narrowed with a hint of danger.

Abecassis sneered, "Trying to run? Not so easy!" He drew his greatsword from his waist and raised it high.

"Charge! We cannot let Gurunberdo escape!" Twenty thousand troops surged towards Gurunberdo's thousand-strong force like a tidal wave.

Fortunately, the carrier eagle arrived in time, preventing him from being completely surrounded by Abekasias.

However, he was positioned a little too deep. The spearmen, who had not yet formed their ranks, intercepted a hundred or so fleeing cavalrymen and were about to attack Gurenberudo.

"The general's head has delivered itself to our door!" shouted a commander of a thousand spearmen. Rows of spears, as large as sea urchins, hurriedly took their positions in front of Gurunberudo, ready to thrust at him.

"Hmph!" Gurenberudo did not want his warhorse to be stabbed to death; he still needed to get back to the Fire Dragon's Nest. He jumped off his chariot at the front of the battle.

Immediately following, a truly thrilling and blood-pumping scene unfolded on the ground where Judas's pikemen stood, a scene of utter carnage...

Wherever the warhammer swept, spears snapped in two, and Juda soldiers were sent flying by the immense force of the spears in their hands. Soon, unfortunate souls appeared, their armor and all, smashed into a bloody pulp.

"What...what a joke!!" These spearmen, who had never fought against Gurenbeldo before, were so terrified by the bloody scene that they wet their pants. Even the centurion, who had already witnessed Gurenbeldo's power, was once again shocked.

He wasn't human, he was a fire dragon—that appearance once again reminded Juda of the origin and legend of that title.

All the Juda spearmen had only one thought in their minds: to survive under the feet of this evil dragon!

With several rounds of attacks from Gurunberudo, the formation that the Juda spearmen had painstakingly established was gradually broken!

"I hate joking!"

Gurunberdo spun the warhammer around by the end of its shaft, instantly transforming it into a steel tornado on the battlefield.

Those Juda soldiers who were accidentally caught in the chaos were instantly shredded into pieces, blood, flesh, and intestines splattering everywhere. Heads and feet shattered into a cloud of blood mist and vanished. Eyeballs, teeth, and fragments of skulls were scattered all over the ground.

With just one strike, it created a pile of corpses that looked like people had been thrown into a mortar and mashed.

The morale of the Juda spearmen collapsed instantly, and they fled in a desperate rout, abandoning their armor and weapons.

"What are you doing?" Abecassis shouted excitedly... "There's only one enemy!!"

Gurenberdo gave Abecassis a mocking sneer, then stepped onto the chariot, abandoning the fight, and sped off towards the dragon's lair.

Abecassis watched helplessly as Gurenbelud broke through the spearmen's blockade, and he flew into a rage. He personally led a troop of elite cavalry, chasing after Gurenbelud like a whirlwind in the direction he had gone, their hooves kicking up clouds of dust.

"Gurunberdo!! Today is your death day!"

Knowing the danger behind him, Gurenbelludo instructed his grooms to urge the warhorses on while directing the remaining cavalry to maintain a tight formation, fighting and retreating.

"Comrades, hold on! As long as we get back to the Fire Dragon's Nest, we'll have a chance to survive!" His voice was firm and powerful, giving the soldiers unwavering faith.