At the front of the formation.
A group of twenty thousand ragged soldiers were trudging forward. They were not slow, however, for behind them was a team of Ghost Wolf Cavalry, each member holding a long knife.
Should anyone lag behind, they would be killed outright. Thus, their pace was swift.
“Captain, they’re not really going to kill us, are they?” a trembling soldier asked a man with braids.
This man was Aguda, a captain who held high prestige among the remaining South Land soldiers. He was an exceptional fighter and had an impressive record. For this reason, he had been chosen to lead this ragtag group of soldiers. Still, they referred to him as captain.
After all, they were South Landers and they wished to return home.
“Don’t worry, we South Landers have a sense of loyalty. We will certainly be allowed to return home. When the time comes, I will hold back the overseers with others. There are not many of them, just a few hundred. We can hold them off. You guys should then quickly flee back home and bring help,” Aguda reassured, thumping his chest.
As a captain, Aguda was not just a formidable fighter with high prestige. He was also a man of honor and sentimentality.
He and more than a dozen other captains had agreed to hold back the overseers and let their comrades escape. Then they would return with a larger army. At that time, the few hundred Ghost Wolf Cavalry would surely be scared away.
Then, they could escape their predicament.
Although they had surrendered before, it was only out of desperation. They were prepared to face court-martial when they returned to South Land. Any punishment would be acceptable as long as they could return to South Land.
However, what Aguda couldn’t understand was why there were only a few hundred overseers this time. Although they were remnants of an army, they still had twenty thousand soldiers. A few hundred against twenty thousand seemed too careless.
Aguda gave up trying to understand. When they were close to the South Land army, he signaled to the other captains, and they all turned back to fight.
Aguda shouted, “We are not traitors!”
Dozens of captains, all martial arts experts, emanated an imposing aura.
Behind them were a thousand suicide squad members, their personal guards, tasked with interception. They were no weaker!
However, the Ghost Wolf Cavalry remained still, seemingly oblivious to the scene before them. Only when Aguda approached did he see a smirk on their faces.
A smirk? What were they smirking at?
Suddenly, screams of horror echoed from behind.
“What?!” Aguda turned around to see a bloodbath. Gunshots rang out, bodies fell one by one, among them his dearest kin, his own younger brother. One of the reasons Aguda had stayed back was to let his brother escape.
His brother had snuck in, only sixteen years old. Aguda hadn’t realized until his brother had become a soldier under his command.
But now, a bullet had pierced his brother’s chest. His brother was young, not yet a warrior. Even with training, he was weak from days of hunger and under gunfire.
He couldn’t withstand it.
“No!” Aguda’s eyes turned red as he shouted frenziedly, “No, why, why?!”
“Brother, I can’t accept this. Avenge me,” his brother muttered with his dying breath.
He couldn’t accept it.
He was only sixteen years old. He had joined the army full of passion, and what had he faced? Not defeat-he could understand defeat. He had prepared for it when he joined the battlefield.
But he had been abandoned.
Abandoned in the Valley of Wolf. And now, abandoned again.
He didn’t want to surrender. He was a South Lander. He wanted to return. They had all prepared to return, ready to accept any punishment. But what he was facing now was slaughter!
Slaughter from his own people, the merciless trigger pull, the cold sensation as the bullet passed through his chest.
He couldn’t accept it.
He had joined the battlefield full of passion, why had he been abandoned time and time again, only to die at the hands of his own people?
“No!” Aguda and the other captains roared. Those fleeing ahead were their comrades, their brothers in arms. Now they were being slaughtered. They rushed over in fury.
But by the time they got there, the soldiers at the rear had barely escaped. Those at the front had not survived.
“No, no…” Aguda held his dead brother, looking into his resentful eyes, and screamed at the sky.
Not long after, he stood up, facing the enemy army, and bellowed, “Who gave this order? Who?!”
He was a formidable fighter, his roar sending a shockwave through the enemy.
But there was no response.
“P”ierre Calder, it must be him. Only he could be so heartless. I swear here and now, as long as I live, I will kill Pierre Calder to avenge my brother. I will do it,” Aguda declared, his eyes bloodshot with a murderous aura.
Yet, he remained rational and did not charge forward. Instead, he issued an order: “Retreat.”
“Yes,” the other captains responded, their faces also filled with murderous intent. But this time, they all obeyed Aguda.
In this moment, Aguda truly seemed like the leader of this army.
Indeed, he had the capability to lead this army, but he didn’t have the heart for it. All he wanted to do was to protect his brother and find a way to get him home. His brother was his only family. But now, he was gone.
As though a yoke had been lifted from his heart, Aguda seemed to change. He grew more assertive, more ferocious. Cradling his brother’s body he walked back, and no one dared to speak.
Finally, Aguda came up to the Ghost Wolf Cavalry and said, “I swear by the God of South Land, I am willing to serve the War God of Kisia faithfully. But I ask the War God to allow me, one day, to kill Pierre Calder.”
He did not kneel.
Aguda was a proud man, even in defeat. He believed that only the War God of Kisia was worthy of his kneeling. No one else was.
“From today, you are the commander, and your army is called Destruction,” one of the Ghost Wolf Cavalry announced.
The Ghost Wolf Cavalry member looked at Aguda with cold eyes, not resenting Aguda’s refusal to kneel. He was not even sure if he could defeat Aguda.
Moreover, the War God had decreed that Aguda was now the commander of a Kisia army.
“Yes,” Aguda replied. He turned to look at his soldiers, their faces a mix of emotions, and said, “Brothers, we have no way back. South Land has abandoned us. From today, we are Destruction.”
Just as Robin had said on that day, “You have no way back.”