Warlord Han Yegum

The battle between the Shang soldiers, desperately clinging to the palisade, and the U Kingdom soldiers, frantically stabbing and slashing to repel them, grew fiercer by the moment. Ladders began to hook onto the walls one by one, and the enemies climbed them, wielding spears, swords, and axes.

A ladder latched onto the palisade in front of Madal, and a shield-bearing enemy soldier stepped up first. With his shield raised high, he intended to push into the palisade and create space inside. But Madal wasn’t about to let that happen.

—Thwack!

Madal’s axe struck the center of the shield with all his strength. The enemy, who had just placed one foot on the palisade, lost his balance and tumbled down the ladder. Another enemy climbing nearby was stabbed in the face by one of Madal’s squadmates and fell backward.

Makjeong shouted and thrust his spear at the enemy climbing below.@@novelbin@@

“Yaaah—!”

—Clang!

“Urgh!”

His spearhead failed to pierce the enemy’s armor but succeeded in knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling down.

‘We can handle this! We can win!’

Makjeong could tell—the enemy was pushing hard, but they hadn’t managed to breach the palisade.

Even when shielded enemies tried to climb the ladders, their advance was blocked by concentrated attacks from U Kingdom soldiers stepping back to strike with spears.

Madal’s axe continued to chop at any hand that dared reach over the palisade, forcing the enemy to avoid his position altogether.

Gaesang, too, shouted as he skewered one climbing soldier after another with his spear. Yeopchi, wielding a captured enemy sword, mercilessly slashed at the necks and arms of those trying to cross.

With such fierce resistance from Madal, Makjeong, Gaesang, and Yeopchi, no enemy dared approach their section.

Behind them, Chobak and Mukjin fired arrows with deadly accuracy. Every enemy missed by the others fell, screaming, into the chaos below.

Seeing his squad holding the line so well, Nam Pae couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Well done! That’s it! Keep going! Come on—bring it on, you Shang bastards!”

The new recruits were proving more capable than those who had fallen before them. Nam Pae’s enthusiastic shouts ignited their fighting spirit even more. At this rate, Nam Pae’s squad seemed almost impenetrable.

The Shang soldiers, demoralized by their failure, hesitated and shifted their focus to weaker sections of the line.

“They’re not coming here anymore!”

With no more enemies scaling the walls, Nam Pae dared to peek over the palisade to assess the battlefield.

—Whizz!

“Shit!”

A Shang arrow shot past, narrowly missing his face. Nam Pae barely dodged, the fletching brushing against his ear as it flew by. He ducked back down, then quickly peered out again before another arrow could come.

His expression darkened. The enemy’s second wave had arrived.

Nam Pae signaled the squad to pull in tightly behind the palisade and shouted.

“They’re already here, those bastards! The second wave’s ready to charge! Get ready—same as before! You all know what to do now, right?!”

At his command, the soldiers gripped their weapons and pressed closer to the defenses, preparing themselves for another round.

Leaning against the bloodstained logs of the palisade, Makjeong took a deep breath. The blood didn’t belong to his comrades—it had to be from the enemies skewered earlier.

Suddenly, the sounds of battle in other sections quieted. Only the heavy breathing of the soldiers and the groans of the wounded filled the air.

Outside the walls, the enemy regrouped, their preparations audible. Makjeong’s eyes fixated on the blood dripping down the palisade.

The thick red fluid pooled and dripped slowly from a splintered knot in the wood. His shallow breaths seemed to ripple the blood.

Would the enemy wait until the next drop fell?

There was no time to think about anything else. All he could do was wait for the officer’s or Nam Pae’s next order.

“Wow... Did I stab five of them?”

Makjeong turned and saw Gaesang leaning against the palisade beside him.

“I think I cut down four or five myself.”

From behind Gaesang’s hulking frame, Yeopchi’s voice chimed in.

“I got at least one for sure! I stabbed him in the face—even if I missed, it must’ve been a deep cut!”

Makjeong’s heart was still pounding too hard for him to speak clearly.

“Not bad for the rookie. Didn’t even piss yourself—”

“Or maybe he already did! Check, Gaesang!”

“Hahaha!”

Laughter erupted among the squad. Their confidence soared after holding back the first wave.

But their moment of reprieve didn’t last. The enemy was on the move again.

“Kill them all! Raise Shang’s banners—!!”

“Yaaaaah—!!”

The second wave finally charged. The sound of boots pounding against the earth and the thuds of ladders slamming against the palisade rang out.

Nam Pae roared.

“Kill—!”

The soldiers leaped to their feet and met the onslaught.

Makjeong’s attention darted toward the palisade. He gripped his spear tightly, ignoring the fear of incoming arrows, and raised it high.

Instead of aiming first, he lifted his spear and searched for the closest enemy.

And there he was—an enemy chopping at the palisade with an axe, as if trying to carve it apart.

In an instant, Makjeong thrust his spear downward.

—Thud!

The tip sank deep into a gap in the armor, transmitting a heavy, dull sensation up the shaft. Over a hand’s length of the spear pierced the enemy’s body.

The soldier’s face twisted in pain, his dirt- and sweat-streaked features splattered with blood. Makjeong’s mind seared with the memory of his eyes—filled with agony and despair.

—Shlick.

Makjeong yanked the spear free and stumbled back two steps behind the palisade.

Finally...

For the first time...

He had killed someone with his own hands.

Though it was the spearhead that struck, the warmth of the man’s blood felt as though it had seeped directly into his palms.

Makjeong’s heart pounded wildly.

Blood surged through his veins, making his body feel lighter and more alive—as if it were burning.

Like someone had pushed him forward, Makjeong moved back to the palisade. A ladder had hooked onto the spot where he stood, and an enemy soldier with a sword was already climbing over.

Makjeong sensed Gaesang’s startled reaction as he dealt with another enemy nearby. Even Madal seemed to glance toward him.

‘I can do this!’

Makjeong pulled his spear back. The enemy raised his right hand high, preparing to swing his sword down.

At that moment, Makjeong shouted and thrust his spear forward with all his strength. The enemy jumped off the ladder, slashing at Makjeong as he fell.

—Thud!

The spear pierced through the enemy’s chest armor with a dull, heavy sound.

“Gaaah!”

Maybe it was the force of Makjeong’s lunge combined with the enemy’s descent, but the spearhead buried itself deep into the man’s chest.

The enemy’s sword dropped helplessly to the ground.

—Clatter.

“Yaaah!”

Makjeong shoved the spear forward before yanking it back out. The soldier collapsed lifelessly.

‘Two! That’s two now!’

Two enemies killed. And this time, he had pierced through armor on his own.

There was no time to check the condition of his spearhead—another soldier was already climbing over the palisade, jabbing a short spear.

Makjeong quickly stepped back to dodge, then surged forward, thrusting his spear again. This time, the blade glanced off the armor but slashed across the enemy’s neck, spraying blood.

“Nice one, you bastard!”

Someone shouted at Makjeong, but he didn’t know who it was.

Right now, all his focus was on dodging weapons and striking weak points.

Weapons clashed, and bodies fell—stabbed or slashed—either to the ground below or onto the battlefield.

Shouts to comrades were drowned out by screams of pain. The smell of sweat and blood mixed with the dust rising in the air.

Makjeong fought to keep the enemies from crossing the palisade. When ladders were set, he pressed down with his spear to push them back. Whenever there was a brief opening, he helped his squadmates strike enemies trying to climb over.

Sweat stung his eyes, but there was no time to wipe it away. His heart pounded so loudly under his helmet that it sounded like war drums echoing in his head.

His legs trembled, nearly giving out at times.

But still—Makjeong endured.

He poured everything he had into repelling the enemies, shoving them back and stabbing without pause.

—Slash!

Yeopchi’s sword flashed, spraying blood as he cut down an enemy trying to climb over.

That was enough.

They didn’t have time for clean kills—just wounding them severely would do.

Yeopchi glanced around after finishing his attack. To his relief, both Gaesang and Makjeong were still standing.

An enemy managed to climb up elsewhere, but an arrow from Chobak struck him in the face, sending him tumbling down.

‘We did it!’

Once again, they had held the line.

A few squadmates lay injured behind the palisade, but Nam Pae’s squad had managed to repel the enemy’s second wave.

Unable to risk peeking over the palisade because of enemy archers, Yeopchi stepped back to assess the situation.

The flanks of Nam Pae’s squad still held, as did the peak. The higher the position, the less serious the enemy’s attacks seemed.

But—

Something was wrong below.

A mass of enemies swarmed the lower palisade. It was the Shang’s third wave.

The enemy commander had studied the defenses during the first and second waves, then sent the third wave to exploit the weakest section at the base of the ridge.

“What the hell… Did they break through down there?”

Yeopchi’s uneasy words drew the attention of the others. Despite still reeling from the fight, they turned to look. Makjeong did the same.

Climbing onto a wooden barrel, Makjeong saw what was happening.

Enemies were pouring over the lower palisade like a flood.

Inside the defenses, soldiers were already locked in chaotic, close-quarters combat with the intruders.

“...!”

Makjeong was speechless.

They had fought so hard to defend their position—only for the enemy to break through elsewhere.

His arms and legs suddenly felt weak as he murmured under his breath.

“This is bad...”

—Thud, thud, thud!

Just then, officers from the peak came running down with more soldiers.

“Everyone, move! Reinforce the lower line—quickly!”