Tale of the Fake Hero

Chapter 26 – The Slaughter of 3,000, Kerknude Evacuation Plan (1)

August, 1697 A.D.

After the all-out attack from the demon races, the Inferno Line collapsed, bringing down both Aristapo, the maritime strategic point of the old empire, and the capital of Terbenople.

“The Eastern Front’s plan to defend the Inferno Line and block the demon advance was also crushed.”

An allied army’s defeated remnants suffered a crushing defeat and were chased away. The uruk army, after annihilating the small army’s main forces, cut off their retreat and surrounded the final soldiers.

“This is when the main forces of humanity dispatched from each country to protect the Inferno Line were in danger of being surrounded and annihilated.”

Several fortresses attempted to reorganize the remnants of the defeated forces and counterattack, but it ended in a meaningless and cruel disaster.

Ultimately, 230,000 survivors and 2.46 million refugees were besieged by the uruk army on the Kerknude Coast.

Finally, the Tahuf Clan stepped forward to completely destroy the remainder of the allied forces.

“Tahuf, meaning ‘atonement’, was a Hai-tark clan. It is also the uruk clan most notorious for its barbarity.”

“Professor, why is that?”

“They made various tools from human bones and skin, and it’s said they extracted the bones and removed the skin while the victims were alive.”

“…!”

“Because their rituals were performed with other humans watching, fear of the Tahuf Clan quickly spread among the soldiers. Many gave up everything and chose to commit suicide.”

The Kerknude evacuation plan, one of the two major battles that marked the end of the ‘Red Summer’, began amidst this setting.

“The Eastern Front dispatched Kaisen Alter Aradamantel, who had completed his investiture ceremony, to assist them. What we will cover today is the largest maritime evacuation operation in the history of this continent.”

As stated, the Kerknude evacuation operation was where Kaisen Alter Aradamantel’s legendary ‘The Slaughter of 3,000’ campaign began.

* * *

Kaisen would always vividly remember what he witnessed when he arrived at the Kerknude Coast.

Most evident was the odor of rotting corpses mingling with the salty scent of the sea. As far as the eye could see, torn and crushed corpses littered the coast.

He would never forget the tens of thousands of eyes that looked his way as he landed on the pontoon bridge or the despair those eyes held.

“It’s a Fake Warrior…”

“A Fake Warrior…”

“A Fake Warrior…”

On the other side of the coast, beyond the city, volcanic ash surged in a blizzard of darkness. The abyss was coming.

Since the sea and land fronts suffered crushing defeats and the defenders were scattered, there were no land routes left. Thus, refugees from all over flocked to Kerknude after hearing rumors of the evacuation plans.

“The combined forces of the Dunos Royal Navy and the City Alliance Navy are sending more ships for a sea evacuation. Buy them some time.”

“Why is it taking so long?”

“The sea route is under extreme pressure from those damn nagas.”

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Any human ships to make it through the undersea blockade of enemy mages and witches ended up crushed and dead in the sea. The starving refugees looked at the remnants of their so-called rescue fleet washing ashore, faces blank.

For them, hope was a concept that was either dead or never existed in the first place.

‘I wonder if enough boats will make it through to carry all of these people. Even if they do, will there be time…?’

Kaisen saw it all upon his arrival on the coast. Only a handful of human troops were there.

The Royal Cavalry Regiment of the Alconde Kingdom, the combined forces of the seven small kingdoms, the remnants of the old empire, and the contingents of the Dunos Kingdom—that was all that remained to protect the city.

Many were injured or had gone mad, and there were less than 100,000 defenders in total who were still capable of fighting.

“Marshal Krauzan formed a three-sided defense line centered around Tourenham Pier and is in the process of an evacuation plan with the help of the Witches of the Turquoise Rose Coven.” The officer meeting them at the shore spoke in a gloomy tone.

Isla laughed. “Don’t worry! Isla, the Super Fake Warrior, has arrived! Kaaaaang kaaaang!”

“H-huh?”

“It’s nothing. Isla has a habit of imitating the roar of a dragon.”

“That’s a dragon roar…?”

“What’s with that look? Are you dissatisfied with dragons?”

“No, no…”

They rode a carriage through the devastated city and moved to the city hall, which was being used as a temporary headquarters.

There, a heroine with hair as white as snow gave various orders to the soldiers. When she saw Kaisen, her eyes widened, and she fell into silence.

“It’s been a while.” Sharon broke the awkward silence and greeted him first. His dead teacher’s friend smiled sadly.

Sharon Alter Tas Alfo… Her hair had lost more luster and vitality than when he’d seen her on the southern front half a year prior and was stained gray. Just like Kamila before her death, the change was sad.

Sharon stretched out her arm and lightly stroked Kaisen’s white hair, speaking regretfully. “I heard, but you really have become a Fake Warrior, even inheriting Kamila’s Aradamantel.”

Aradamantel let out its red energy, and Holy Sword Tas Alfo resonated with its blue aura.

“I heard from Wolf that you saved Kamila from Kishun through a Kaltake?” she asked.

“I couldn’t save her. It was too late,” Kaisen said.

“There is no such thing as being late. Kamila would have been proud of you. Even Wolf is proud of you.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“She acknowledged you as her disciple with her own words, right? If that’s not proof, then what is? We both know that Kamila was dishonest with herself.”

His teacher had died with a smile on her face. When he thought of that smile, the only thing that came to him was a never-ending sadness.

He didn’t have the strength to continue the topic. “It’s been a while, Lia.” When Kaisen looked at Lia Riley, who was cautiously glancing in his direction, a cough mixed with hiccups was the reply he received.

Lia had matured beautifully in the half a year it’d been since he last saw her. Did flowers that bloomed on the battlefield grow more beautiful through bloodshed?

Kaisen wondered if such a thing was possible, even though blood, gore, and sweat made a mess of Lia’s blonde, curly hair.

“A long time? Yes, yes! It’s been a long time!”

“You sound strange. Like Isla.”

“Isla?”

“Kwaaang! He’s talking about this one. My name is Isla Alter Gaumris. The owner of Holy Sword Gaumris, I am a Super Fake Warrior!” Isla swung Gaumris back and forth as if to show off.

Light shimmered and bounced on her blade, and the wind made her hair and the hem of her clothes flutter wildly.

Sharon grabbed her horn and smiled sweetly yet eerily. “You can’t do that, Isla. If you swing your holy sword like that, people will get scared, right? A Fake Warrior shouldn’t do that. Didn’t Runelle teach you as much?”

That feeling of intimidation…

Isla’s face turned white. “K-Kaisen taught me to greet you like this. Actually, I didn’t want to do this. Really.”

“?”

“Kaisen is not that type of kid.”

“I am a dragon! Dragons only tell the truth! Kaisen is a human. Humans do not tell the truth like dragons.”

Kaisen responded to Sharon’s gaze with a sigh and a shrug, as if to say she was always that way.

“Is that so? Actually, I don’t really care what you do, Isla, but you can’t touch Kaisen. Our Lia has first dibs on him.”

“M-Master? What are you talking about?” Lia stuttered.

* * *

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* * *

Isla’s Dragon Hammer Corps and Sharon’s Black Rose Corps were chatting on the other side.

The Black Rose Corps was a cavalry unit, and the Dragon Hammer Corps was an armored unit. They were the core forces of the defensive battle.

Originally led by Runelle, the survivors of the Dragon Hammer Corps had waited at ‘Haraldoniki’ for Isla and came to the front again.

It was painful to watch because it reminded Kaisen of the past and made him dream the impossible dream. He thought it would be great if he could meet the White Bone Corps again.

“Kaisen, what Master said was a joke! You know that, right? A play on words! Oh, she’s so funny, hahaha,” Lia tried to comfort him.

Not minding Lia flapping her arms, Sharon observed the two corps. “I wanted them to send Roro, the current deputy seat… but it looks like the central front is much more important.”

“Am I not trustworthy? You don’t believe in me!” Isla shouted.

Sharon held Isla’s horns again and smiled. “You’re good, but you’re a bit rude, huh? In the past, I let Kaisen go since he’s a boy, but I’m strict with women, you see.”

“Am I not trustwor… thy?”

“Pfft, okay, that’s not to say that you guys aren’t trustworthy. This is just a very harsh place.” Sharon looked at the city.

The wounded on stretchers groaned in misery as they were being escorted from the front lines to the central medical unit.

“I was hoping for reinforcements from the empire. It’s not easy.”

The Holy Human Empire, the largest and most powerful nation in the world, was plunged into chaos under the name of ‘religious reform’.

Reforming religion… How could they have time to fight among themselves when the demons were right around the corner?

“The empire is divided and fighting between whether to follow the True Religion or the Heathen Religion. Still, it seems strange. Could it be the work of the Black Church?” Lia asked.

Sharon shrugged. “Perhaps they are making excuses because they are tired of war. The empire has also been caught up in all kinds of wars.”

“That’s the same for all countries. Master’s home country, the Dunos Kingdom, continues to strive for war… um, I’m really sorry.”

“What does Lia have to be sorry for? It’s probably just a trick by the high-ranking adults of the empire,” Isla said. “That’s right! Humans are stupid! They just lie! They’re different from a good dragon like me!”

Lia lowered her gaze as if she were embarrassed that she was the child of one of the three great swordsmen of the empire.

Kaisen could not and did not want to understand the Holy Human Empire, the home of his mother and teacher. If the empire had sent reinforcements without caring for the reform, then maybe his teacher…

“Kaisen, you know about the Hai-tark, right?” Sharon asked.

“Of course.” It was a synonym for fear and nightmares that referred to the top 21 clans of the uruk race. Their lead clan was, of course, the Balkrush. Second was the Kiral, who destroyed the White Bone Corps in Aristapo.

“The clan we’ll be fighting here is the Tahuf Clan, which goes beyond Hai-tark and is a Hai-khun-tark.” The name was an honor earned by the top seven clans among the 21 clans of Hai-tark.

Unlike the Hai-tark clans, whose ranking fluctuated depending on the times and circumstances and whose statuses could sometimes be taken away, Hai-khun-tark clans were said to have remained unchanged for a long time until the ‘Black Summer’.

The Balkrush Clan took over a vacant Hai-khun-tark position during the ‘Black Summer’ and became the top clan.

Kaisen spoke. “Tahuf means ‘atonement’. I learned that they did not participate in the invasion during the ‘Black Summer’ at the Temple of the Sword of Bravery.”

“Yes. No one knows what kind of power they use. That’s the problem. The lack of information is very ominous.”

“It’s not that there is no information, Master,” Lia said. “There is a unit that survived an encounter with the Tahuf Clan.”

“Everyone is so shocked that they can’t even say a word. There is no information on the enemy who has always ranked 4th among their kind.”

It was only later that they learned of the barbaric customs of Tahuf, which reduced those who encountered them to madness.

The terrible Tahuf flayed humans alive, ate them, pulled out their bones, and used the skin to make clothes. They opened the skulls of young children, extracted their brains and spinal cords, and used them for rituals.

Their surviving victims were made to watch the entire process. At the time, they weren’t able to discuss it in a sane manner. Even if they could, there wasn’t time.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

A bell rang as ominously as the scream of a burning man.

The bell resounded low and cried loudly.

The refugees searching the city for food and water ran toward the coast.

Sharon sighed. “They didn’t even give us time to catch our breaths. Talk to that perverted old marshal next time.”

Soldiers bearing communications rushed through the rooms of the building.

“Welcome to Kerknude, Kaisen.” Sharon walked down the hallway, her helmet at her side.

Kaisen immediately followed her.

Lia, who was walking by his side and wearing combat gear, said, “Brace yourself. We’re headed to hell.”

Kaisen was surprised by the comment. Every time he touched the stigma of fate on his cheek, he felt resentment, sadness, and the grief of the distant past rise in his chest.

“If that’s the case, then there’s no need to worry.”

There was no way out of his hellish grief, and the road ahead seemed endless. If they continued to spill their enemies’ blood, wouldn’t the hellish flame burning at his soul subside?

“From the moment this brand was engraved on my cheek, my life was already hell.”