Chapter 174. Celebrity (3)

The cold air flowing from Mt. Calcarus created a tranquil atmosphere across the Lagrium Plains.

A horrorous rumbling was spreading amongst the hordes of Outsiders. “… … What is that?”

“Awwwwooooooo!”

Deep and majestic howls filled the Lagrium Plains. They sounded like direwolves, violent monsters whose very howl curdled the blood of all those who heard it.

The northern battle line of the Lagrium Plains.

Soldiers in heavy armor, riding direwolves, advanced towards the Outsiders. A blue aura seemed to cling to their armor. The steel of Calcarus was characterized by this soft blue glow. The sight of them advancing with blue glowing armor felt like a great wave one might see at a shoreline by the sea.

Their fierce eyes bore holes into their enemies.

At the forefront of the group, there was a warrior with a massive physique that stood out amongst them.

Donape Aslan, the King of the North.

The force he exuded overwhelmed everyone near him. “Do-Donape Aslan!”

The name began to spread like wildfire amongst the Outsiders.

There was no one who could match up against Donape Aslan’s military prestige. Despite his tribe’s seclusion, there was no one on the continent that didn’t know his name.

However, it was hard to believe that a king would willingly lead his troops from the incredibly dangerous frontline… even if their ability was excellent.

Outsiders were embarrassed at falling into confusion due to a trifling issue, like where the enemy King decided to fight from, as well as falling prey to the stifling aura Donape exuded. “D-Don’t be afraid! They don’t have any magical artillery supporting them! Pour magic into this attack so they can’t reach us!”

“Once we pick up his head, the battle will fall in our favor!” The Outsiders’ commander shouted in anger.

The barbarians did not have artillery units. Even their commander had to stand at the forefront to make up for their lack of ranged fire power.

These strategies defied common sense. It seemed like they were eager to get killed. “Artillery units, unleash your spells at the enemy commander!”

A plethora of spells were unleashed on the barbarians.

Spells, far too many to count, blotted out the sky.

The magic got closer and closer to Donape. However, he didn’t seem to even acknowledge these spells rapidly approaching him. Instead, choosing to draw his weapon in utter calmness. *Briiiiim*

Aura flared up and covered the axe like fire.

Donape swung it in front of him.

The action was simple, but the result was anything but. *BAMMM*

A storm of aura surged out of the axe and fanned out through the ground, counteracting the spells aimed at him.

With only one swing, the ground shook and a mix of aura and soil burst upwards like a geyser. Donape himself pierced through the cloud of dust and dirt, quickly reaching the Outsiders’ infantry unit. “What? What?!”

They were all fixed in place out of shock.

The axe shrouded in flaming aura carved out ten Outsider soldiers at a time.

Donape held the axe, still dripping with blood, forward in a declaration of dominance. “Advance!”

A towering amalgamation of aura surged sky-high as the armored wolf riders followed him. There was not a single one of them that was not at the Bishop Class. They all had mastery of aura. They were the elite of the elite amongst the barbarians, known as the hunters.

“Khaaaa”

“Aaaak!”

The Outsiders knew that all of the barbarian soldiers were very skilled. That was why they focused on defense rather than offense. They tried to prevent their advance by taking defensive formations that made the most out of their spears and shields.

But it was to no avail.

The hunter army, led by Donape, cleaved through their formations like a hot knife through butter.

“Oh my gosh.”

The spears were broken and the shields were smashed into shards.

They were crushed, ground, and ripped apart.

No one could open their mouth in front of the overwhelming disparity in power. They could only tremble silently in fear.

*BAAAAMM*

And amongst all of this, there was a presence that overwhelmed the battlefield with its sheer violence.

Donape Aslan’s axe was a catastrophe unto itself for the Outsiders.

It smashed and broke through the standard tactics that form the modern understanding of war. All of this with the power of a single person.

“S-Stop them!”

“You can’t let him break through! Do not allow them to approach artillery units!” *Booom*

In just a few moments after the crash, Donape had reached the artillery unit at the rear of the Outsiders formation.

The infantry troops were useless in front of his unashamed violence. You could draw a straight line between his position at the start of the battle, and the artillery unit he was currently located at.

The barbarian hunters were not too far behind and began to ravage these remaining artillery units.

In a fight at close quarters, a magician is just helpless prey. “Khaaaaak!”

The Outsiders artillery units were trampled thoroughly.

The barbarian hunters didn’t allow them the opportunity to arrange any spells. “Rodelis, you lead half of the troops and take the right flank.”

Rodelis, the chieftain of the Bear Tribe, led a portion of the troops under the command of Donape and headed to the right flank.

“Uria, take the left flank with the rest of the forces.”

The best hunter, Uria nodded.

The hunters unit split and surrounded the Outsiders’ infantry units. In the meantime, the barbarian infantry units were also slowly advancing towards Outsiders’ vanguard.

The Outsiders were crushed simultaneously in the front and rear.

After confirming this, Donape moved towards the unit where the commander of the Outsiders was last reported.

A few strong looking soldiers intercepted him in an attempt to stop him. They were notorious, known as the elite members of this Outsider force.

Donape hardened his face after encountering them.

But there was the slightest bit of tension present on their faces.

“How come troops as strong as yourselves were assigned to protect this commander? Does the person leading you even understand anything about battle at all?”

This situation was incomprehensible to him.

“What can a King, who survives alone, do after their soldiers are all dead?!”

He led the soldiers by standing at the forefront. Not only that, he defeated more enemies than anyone else.

He didn’t use the soldiers for himself. He used himself for his soldiers.

That was the creed of Donape.

However, the Outsiders had assigned the strongest to defensive positions in the rear to protect the commander.

Donape got off the direwolf he was riding. And he shook his head as if looking down on them as being pathetic.

“It’s pathetic.”

A swordsman with a greatsword shouted out of humiliation.

“How dare you speak about us. You’re just a beast of the mountains… … !” *Slice*

However, he couldn’t finish his thought as he was split into two by Donape’s axe. Donape sighed and pulled the axe out of the ground to his side.

[Heaven’s Aura]

The axe, that flared like a flame, drew a long trajectory and shredded everything in its path. The bodies of assassins, who had been lurking at the rear of the army, lunged at Donape and were instantly cleaved apart. Black Wave, the assassination organization which had a considerable reputation, was completely wiped out with the single blow.

Donape swung his axe down with all of his might. [Mountain Stamp]

*CRACK*

As the ground cracked, an eerie sound leaked out from the cracks. Subsequently, the ground was infused with a reddish aura and rose into the air.

The wicked deeds of Rogiref’s Knights, which had killed countless innocent civilians and were even un-knighted, ended with this strike.

He swung his axe in the air, freeing it of the blood and gore that had accumulated on it. No one else dared rush at Donape after that.

“This-This… … is not a human.”

One or two people turned tail and ran away.

As one or two people gripped with fear fled, the fear began to spread like a contagion, and before too long, many others joined them.

He had single-handedly overwhelmed hundreds of people.

This was the power of the King of the North.

One of the strongest humans to have ever come from the north was Donape Aslan. He didn’t chase those who ran away.

It was a meaningless struggle. Either way, they wouldn’t be able to leave this place.

With the warriors lacking confidence all gone now, the leaders of this Outsider force were left shocked.

One of them drew their sword and wrapped it in aura, swinging it at Donape. But he didn’t avoid the blow. No, there was no need to avoid it.

*CRASH*

The moment the aura-wrapped sword hit Donape, it shattered. It couldn’t penetrate the aura wrapped around his body.

Donape grabbed the head of the person who swung the sword. *Crack*

The head he caught exploded.

His face utterly devoid of emotion, he began to slaughter all of those who remained.

Donape, who destroyed the Outsider commanders in charge of the northern battle line, confirmed his surroundings.

The battle was rapidly drawing to an end.

The Outsiders, who were overwhelming in force at the beginning, suffered without even being able to put up a proper fight.

It was the barbarians’ third great victory.

They had never been defeated in battle.

‘These enemies are weaker than the first ones.’

As the Outsiders continued to lose, their remaining battle forces were weakened with every battle.

Donape turned his gaze to the side. In the distance, the castle currently under control of the Outsiders caught his eye.

The Outsiders’ base, Jormungand Citadel.

The pitiful remains of the Outsiders forces were all that was left of the terrorist organization that took on the entire world.

‘This war will come to an end soon.’

It was as he was thinking about the future, that Donape frowned. “… … ?”

A strong flow of mana could be felt from the Jormungand Citadel. A stream of mana that was so powerful that it was beyond comprehension.

A light briefly twinkled.

However, it was a momentary phenomenon.

When he sensed danger and tried to react, a dazzling glare filled his sight. A beam of light streaked towards him, burning everything in orbit. *BAAAAMMM*

There was a huge explosion on the battlefield where the battle had not quite concluded. A huge crater formed, as if a giant had scratched out a big chunk of the ground.

The white flash indiscriminately ended the life of both enemy and allies.

It was a disaster.