A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 861: The Crushing of Pace - Part 2

Of course, Oliver wasn't likely to wait there. The tight ranks of a spear wall were vulnerable to breaches as deep as Oliver's. Those lengthy weapons had no business in super close quarters like this.

Oliver's blade painted a red picture. He hacked through a shoulder, his blade feeling even sharper than usual. It bit through both armour and flesh with the same lack of resistance. The next man he cut down with a slash across his stomach, widening the space he had to three.

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By then, Blackthorn reached him, and just in time – the spearmen were already fiddling for their swords, and with Oliver's recklessness, the flow of battle had been set to spring right back at him.

Blackthorn took care of the swords that were set to come Oliver's way. Two quick lunges from the blindspots of two men, and she sent them falling to the ground, with holes in their necks. There was no hesitation there, despite her days of inactivity. There was only a thirst for violence that one wouldn't expect from a woman.

Together, their rampage extended outwards. Blackthorn gave Oliver the breathing room he needed, and he refocused his attack even more furiously, putting fear into the enemy.

"There it is! There it is!" Ingolsol cackled in delight. There was a potent concoction being cooked. The sulphurous smell of smokey fear hung in the air.

"Kill," Oliver told any man that would meet his eye. Three men took up the command, understanding its intent, more than the simple word itself. They dropped their spears and drew their swords, beginning a furious series of attacks on allied men, each of them driving their blades through undefended cracks in armour.

More chaos reigned, more and more. When Judas' men finally arrived, with Judas soon joining them, the lifespan of that left spear-wall seemed to be well over. The entire line was breached when the Patrick men hit them, tossing bodies high into the air. The men bellowed out battle cries, as they saw how easy they took apart the enemy.

Their cries alighted a fiery morale on all who exited to the tunnel. As soon as they caught a glimpse of battle, they could only draw one conclusion: the Patricks were set to press a crushing victory.

Yet Oliver could not share in that excitement, for the trembling of earth did not stop, and now finally, his senses could pick up on what was approaching. By then, though, it was far too late.

He turned his head, just in time for them to round the first of the low log-built barrack buildings. A legion of cavalry, fifty strong, pointed by four men of such strength as to appear monstrous. The man in the middle exuded a violent aura that to Oliver even surpassed the likes of Dominus.

It was quickly apparent to him that he'd made a grave, grave mistake. He wondered how it could be that he wouldn't notice beings of such magnitude, but then, the answer was in the question itself. The masked man in the middle boasted such a magnitude that even in seeing it, Oliver could hardly define him.

It wasn't only the aura of the Fourth Boundary – a mightily well-cultivated Fourth Boundary at that – it was the weight of experience that clung to the man. It was as though hundreds of thousands of lives were riding with him, sharing in his killing intent, and all of that killing intent, then and there, was focusing entirely on Oliver Patrick.

"AH! THAT'S THE LOOK!" General Talon said, grinning widely. It was the sort of look that he would have expected from Dominus. The slight furrow of those eyebrows, the slightest trace of irritation. Hardly an emotion worth writing home about, but from men such as the Patrick's, it was worth all that much.

The General put his spurs to the horse and urged him harder. He wielded his glaive in a single hand. The fools of the Skullic army dressed in their purple attempted to rush out to stop him. There was a flurry of commands, but Talon cut through them all. With a single swing of his glaive, the way reopened, and his men streamed after him.

Oomly went wild to his left, whilst Gadar stayed measured to his right. Even Rivera rode amongst them, despite his wounded arm.

"THERE IS NO ESCAPE, PATRICK! TODAY, YOU DINE IN THE HALLS OF THE DEAD!" General Talon said, and his words were by no means an exaggeration. Oliver was still trapped within the heart of the left spear-wall. They'd killed more than half of those men, but the pursuit had locked them in place.

Now they had no momentum. They were caught flat-footed. Even now, when they attempted to move, they had to overcome the reforming Macalister spear wall once again. Not only that, the Macalister men were now beginning to stream down from the central wall. Their bows were useless here, when their arrows could just as likely hit enemies as they could allies. They raced to get spears instead.

Racks of the pointed weapons awaited them at the bottom of the stairs. The trap was meticulously planned.

It was not only Oliver that realized the direness of his situation either. Blackthorn was overcome by a similar level of awe. She was frozen still by the might of the men charging towards them.

"…Father?" She asked aloud. How could this level of aggression and bloodthirstiness belong to anyone else? This was the might of the foremost Attacking General in the entire country. It should have belonged to the Blackthorn's alone. Yet this man did not have the beastly physiques of the Blackthorns. His stature was broad, but his proportions were not as overwhelming.

His strength was of a different sort.

Even as she watched, men were tossed into the air. The enemy shouldn't have cavalry left at all, and yet this was the havoc that they dealt with a mere fifty.

"STOP THOSE MEN!" Northman bellowed, the desperation obvious in his voice. He was running forward himself, but he was still too far away to do anything. His men attempted to slow the enemy with spear points, thinking the length of the weapons would free them from the recoil of the enemy's brutal momentum – they were wrong.

Even at such a distance, any who made contact with that charging column was cast aside.