Runa Brink
A warrior who could not complete his coming-of-age ceremony.
A warrior who could not even properly swing a shamshir.
But in some aspects, his name was the same as fear itself.
Book 3-5.1 Metro Arrives
That day, there was a prisoner exchange between the Pareia and Wikaly tribes.
5,000 Wikaly warriors. Three thousand Pareia warriors and the two Greatest Warriors.
It was a trade that favored Pareia for sure.
The two Pareia’s Greatest Warriors that the Wikaly had captured were warriors who could probably slash their way across 10,000 warriors. This really was like letting a wolf that you barely managed to catch go.
The story about how Yulian had taken his personal group of warriors and caused havoc for the Wikaly soon rang throughout the desert, and everyone clicked their tongues at Yulian’s amazing courage and figured out why the WIkaly would agree to such an unfavorable trade.
Pareia’s meeting of Greatest Warriors.
“We ask for punishment for making the Glow do something that dangerous.”
The two Greatest Warriors kneeled in front of Yulian and their fellow Greatest Warriors.
Victory and defeat were normal in war, but for two Greatest Warriors to be captured alive and have such reckless action happen to save them, Vibli and Trebol really wanted to die.
“I have said that the Greatest Warriors will not kneel even in front of the Glow. Please stand up.”
Seeing the two Greatest Warriors still not standing up, Yulian approached them and made them stand up before starting to speak.
“Think about all the merits you have gained for the tribe in the past as well as how many warriors have been recovered thanks to you. What kind of person never makes a mistake? Even in your defeat, you still have the qualifications to lift your heads up high.”
“Yes. Greatest Warriors Vibli and Trebol. The Glow is right. Who would ask the reason for your defeat? If it is something that defeated both of you at the same time, anybody here would have ended up in the same situation. So stand up.”
As Yulian and the other Greatest Warriors continued to urge them, the two warriors stood up with red faces, but still could not lift up their heads.
Their defeat completely nullified the overwhelming victory they had achieved the first day.
“That was reckless of you.”
As the two Greatest Warriors returned to their spots, Egane started to scold Yulian.
“Why would you decide to do such a thing?”
Egane, as well as Vibli and Trebol who still had their heads down in shame, blamed Yulian regarding that aspect. Thankfully they had good results, but if it was the opposite, it would have caused a serious incident for Pareia.
“I can only think that the Glow still does not understand the importance of your position.”
“Stop! I understand the feelings of all of you Greatest Warriors. However, I was sure of my victory, which is why I decided to take those actions. Furthermore, if I did not do that, there was the fear that we would no longer be able to head toward our dream. As a result, I will not hear anymore scolding.”
Yulian’s words and actions were starting to take a majestic air as the days went by, so the Greatest Warriors could not nag him about everything that he did wrong as they did in the past.
ALl they could do was constantly warn him so that it became engraved in his heart.
“I hope that you will all put in your best effort to take down the Wikaly from here on out. It is a a clean slate. We should also start hearing news regarding the Wikaly’s central oases soon. We do not have to wait much longer.”
All of their faces became happier at Yulian’s words. They definitely needed to win this war, and they were using all possible methods to achieve it.
“Hurry up and fold the sail! Is this your first time doing this?”
“Is that all you can do?”
The original crew members were berating the warriors from all over the ship. They had trained enough and were properly doing the actions they were taught until now, but no matter how well they did, the original crew members were not going to stop their berating.
In some aspects, none of the things they were saying had to be said, but this was all done so that the warriors would be cautious. It served to prevent unnecessary accidents in the future.
The ten Desert Runner ships each stopped at the end of the quicksand river.
Since it was not a port, stopping a ship on the flowing quicksand required high levels of skill, but the original Desert Runner crew had been maneuvering the quicksand river for over ten years.
They could easily determine where the flow was strong and weak, as well as where it was not flowing at all, so it was not very difficult.
“Alright. The ships that are ready to unload can start first.”
Once Greatest Captain Thriger’s order fell, large wooden planks were lowered from the ships and Volley Stars were used to shoot those large arrows deep into the sand. Once that happened, there were thick, tight ropes between the ship and the sand.
Under them was the quicksand river. If they made a mistake, they would be killed before anybody could help them, so each warrior carefully disembarked one by one.
“Greatest Warrior Metro.”
Thriger called toward Greatest Warrior Metro who had come with him.
“What is it, Greatest Captain Thriger?”
“I will pass the Commanding Greatest Warrior flag to you. My mission ends here.”
As Thriger handed the small red flag over to Metro, Metro received the flag as he started to speak.
“I, Metro, have received the Commanding Greatest Warrior flag. You have worked hard until this point.”
“It was nothing. I spent my whole life in the ocean and now I just roll around in this quicksand river. I received a title matching that of a Greatest Warrior, but I know nothing about fighting on land.”
“You are the only person in the desert who knows the quicksand. It is a deserving title.”
“Thank you for saying so. Anyways, I hope we are not too late.”
Metro laughed at Thriger’s concern and started to speak.
“They are an enemy we can use normal methods to defeat. It is only because we are trying to lower our casualties that we have to use such methods. This is enough.”
“Then I shall return to Pareia and prepare to move the new batch of 5,000 warriors and rations.”
“I understand. But I feel like we will not need those 5,000 warriors.”
“I hope that is the case. That would be very good for us. Hahaha.”
“Hahaha. Then I must make my leave.”
“I understand. I look forward to hearing news of your victory.”
Thriger ordered the crew to board the ships once more.
It would be great if they could go along with them, but the truth was that they would be no help. Furthermore, they barely had enough crew members to expertly handle ten ships, so even if they were asked to go along, he would have declined that request.
‘I really need to train the warriors on how to maneuver the ships, but it is disappointing that they need warriors for a while.’
Thriger thought about a lot of things as he prepared to depart. Once they were ready, he gave the order to move. The ten ships of Pareia started to slowly head back to Pareia.
Once Metro saw the ten ships start to leave, he turned around to look at the 10,000 troops that were under his command. The reason that he, who was not one of Pareia’s third generation warriors, ended up with this important mission was because although his strength was not on par with them, he was the best when it came to leadership and strategy.
Since he knew very well that this was the case, Metro decided to not worry.
Now, they needed to quickly take over the Wikaly’s central oases.
He knew that the Wiklay had sent 30,000 warriors south to deal with the 20,000 warriors of Pareia.
‘That means that I need to fight against 15,000, and even then, they will be split up in multiple oases. Furthermore, am I not perfectly aiming for the enemy’s weakness?’
Metro had a confident smile on his face. Even the light of the sun was nice and warm to match his mood.
‘If I still cannot take over the central oases with all of these advantages, I should be killed. This time, it will be an overwhelming victory. Oh Wikaly, your history ends here.’
Metro lifted his shamshir high into the air.
“All units, forward march!”
Pareia’s 10,000 elite warriors started to move toward the Wikaly’s central oases.