Berserk: The Prophet

.........

The battle was fierce, with shouts of battle filling the air. With the addition of Cheko and his men, the fighting became even more intense and evenly matched, making it difficult for the cavalry to join the fray.

After quickly treating and bandaging his wounds, he dismounted and removed the axe that had been embedded in the old horse's flesh.

"Hiss!! Sizzle... Sizzle..."

The old horse paced back and forth in pain, but because Green was holding the reins, the old horse only circled Green once, snorted twice, and rubbed Green's head.

"Thanks for your hard work, old buddy."

Green took out a strip of cloth and pressed it on the old horse's wound. Animals have a fast self-healing ability, and the bleeding stopped after a while.

Cavalrymen and their mounts usually have a good relationship. Of course, there are occasional times when they are accidentally injured, but the horses usually hold back and don't cause too much trouble.

After resting for a while, they returned to the vicinity of the battlefield. The battle was nearing its end, and several Vanskerry people were trying to escape. The person being protected by the pirates in the middle seemed to be the female pirate they had fought earlier.

Green wouldn't let them get away so easily.

"Those with lances, line up in the front row; those with only swords, line up in the second row. Capture the enemy leader! Cavalry, charge!!"

The eight men quickly lined up in two rows, with Green also retreating to the second row, gripping his two-handed greatsword tightly.

"drive!!"

"Tap Tap"

"Damn it, protect the boss!!" The group also noticed Green and his group, but unfortunately they were out of throwing axes and spears, so they could only raise their round shields and axes to barely defend themselves. The pirates looked quite young.

"Kill!!" The cavalrymen roared, and the riders in the second rank had already set their sights on their prey, raising their swords and ready to slit the enemy's throat at any moment.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Sizzle!"

"Sizzle" "Glint"

"Ugh!!" "Heh..." "Ugh..."

Two Vanscare pirates were knocked away and lost consciousness; two were fed lances, and two had their throats slit by longswords.

"Bang!" "Smash!" [Speed ​​boost, horse ramming deals 8 damage to the opponent, inflicting 38 damage in total, stunning Queen Agnus's guard bandits, gaining 316 experience points]

"Ugh..." The woman let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The battle had ended by then. Both sides had fought fiercely, to the point that their brains were practically popping out of their heads. It was estimated that those Vanskellians had never seen such intense resistance in their lives.

Cheko and another man who looked like the leader gathered their respective troops. Sixty men were killed and 64 were wounded to varying degrees. The two men frowned. Although this was a pretty good result for the militia, even a regular army would have to suffer a lot against more than sixty Vanskerry men.

There were only twenty or thirty people standing behind them, which meant a significant loss of labor for the three villages. How could they not be worried?

Green threw the captured female pirate onto his horse and, along with the cavalry, approached Cheko and his men.

"How about it?"

"Well, the battle record is good, but things might not be so easy for the village from now on..."

The militiamen who were still standing were the ones following behind Cheko. Relansel's militia regiment had been completely wiped out, and none of them were still standing. The villagers also opened their doors one after another and carried the wounded into the village on their own. The whole village was filled with a sorrowful and heavy atmosphere.

These young men couldn't bear to let their fellow villagers, who didn't know how to handle weapons, die in vain.

"Tap tap tap" "Tap tap tap"

Just as Cheko and Green were enveloped in a somber atmosphere, the distant sound of galloping hooves drew their attention. A scout was approaching with a dozen or so Imperial Knights on patrol. Looking at the scene around him, the scout's face was filled with shock, followed by grief—his comrades, his loved ones...

It was so tragic; it was unprecedented.

"Oh, that's too horrific..." Even the leading knight captain couldn't help but gasp.

There were at least fifty or sixty Vanskellians lying on the ground; such a large number of pirates would be a disaster for a village.

Perhaps not wanting to stay in this heavy atmosphere, Cheko left the injured men in Relancel and set off alone with 28 young men who were mostly fine to take the villagers to the city. After all, they were almost there, and the tall city seemed so close.

Green's group now has only two city thugs left, both slightly injured; another is recuperating in the village; and two others are dead.

Ali was fine because he had been with Cheko the whole time. He was holding the Vanskerry Warrior Debo, whom he had captured earlier, hostage. Even after he woke up, Debo was restless. Ali had no choice but to stuff his smelly wool socks, which he had worn for over ten years, into Debo's filthy mouth that could only spew filth.

......

"Tread" "Tread"

The group traveled in silence for half the journey. The villagers of Krilla, their faces full of guilt, pulled the handcarts behind them. The sound of horses' hooves caught up from behind. The militia patrol had been left in Relancel village to care for the wounded, as their horses and the militia members themselves were also injured.

The group turned around curiously and saw the group of knights. The leading knight came to Cheko's side.

"Xu."

“Captain Cheko, my name is Gist, and I am the captain of this patrol of knights. Let us escort you into the city.”

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you, Captain Gissite."

.........

There's a saying, isn't there? Good things never come in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly. Just as they were about to enter the city, a group of Vanskerry people appeared out of nowhere and lay in ambush. They were especially 'special' to Green, who was carrying the female pirate, and threw axes and spears at him.

Despite using a shield he'd picked up to deflect a lot of random debris, he was still struck on the right shoulder by a flying axe, his collarbone seemingly severed. Now his right arm was completely immobile. Fortunately, with the help of the knights, they achieved victory. Of the 28 men, 15 were wounded, and 3 were seriously injured. They could only help each other into the city. More than twenty of them were covered in blood, and they couldn't tell whether the blood belonged to the enemy or themselves. The guards were shocked to see this, and seeing that the Imperial knights were also covered in blood, they quickly let them pass. Only one farmer from Kreira died in this ambush.

It was already evening when they reached the nearest tavern.

"This is..." The tavern owner was also startled. Judging from their attire, they were clearly from the local militia. Their miserable state immediately reminded him of the rampant Vanscare pirates.

The people in the tavern put down their glasses. The room, filled with the smell of alcohol and blood, was filled with a stench of blood. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the people who walked in.

"We fought the Vanskerrys all day, 35 of them. You can arrange rooms for them." Cheko, who was also quite injured, weakly took out his money bag to pay.

"Oh dear, who needs money? Look at the state you've been in! You're covered in blood!!"

"Quickly, go and arrange rooms for them!!" Upon seeing this, the tavern owner hurriedly called out to people to prepare rooms.

"Thank you so much, but I still have to pay you." Cheko thanked him and placed twenty dinars on the table as he watched the shopkeeper leave to get busy.

"Ugh."

Chekhov sighed, unsure how he would explain things to his fellow villagers when he returned.