(There are a few typos in this chapter.)
The battle cry of the Vordak Clan shook the air. They hit the palisade like a wild storm, hitting the wood with axes and spears, trying to climb with brutal force. But Arka has already prepared everything.
"First row, Pierce from the gap! Leave no room!"exclaimed Arka.
His soldiers thrust long spears through the gaps between the logs. Iron tips pierced the chest and abdomen of the enemy. Blood splattered on the ground. The vordak soldiers groaned, shocked by a coordinated attack they had never faced before.
"Second row, change positions! Push them back!"
Oaken wooden shields covered with cowhide moved forward, resisting the violent blows of the Barbarians ' weapons. The Wood shook, but did not collapse.
Garok the Bull roared furiously from behind the enemy lines. "Destroy them! Destroy everything!!"
He himself came forward, swinging a giant ax to the palisade. Every blow sounded like thunder hitting the mountain. Wood begins to crack.
Arka saw that with sharp eyes. "Drakios!"
"Ready, leader!"
"Bring five people! Don't let him destroy the wall!"
Drakios ran to the side of the palisade, jumped onto a hastily created multi‑tiered platform. He and five other soldiers raised a short spear and threw it at Garok.
One spear missed.
One was restrained by thick armor.
But two spears pierced Garok's left shoulder.
Garok wailed—not pain, but anger.
"AAARGHH!!"
He grabbed the two spears and simply pulled them out with terrible force. The blood dripped, but he remained standing as if he felt no pain at all.
Drakios cursed. "He's not a human... he's a real bull!"
Arka gazed up from the small tower. "Let him continue to hit the palisade. It's part of my plan."
Lyria, who was in a safe place yet not far from the command field, was dumbfounded. "What do you mean, Arka? The Palisade could collapse!"
"That was the intention," replied Arka coldly.
Shortly thereafter, the walls of the central part of the palisade cracked heavily, and then collapsed.
Behind the pass, Garok and about thirty vordak Warriors lunged in screaming.
"That's it!"exclaimed Arka. "All troops-phalanx formation inside the fortress! Now!"
Twenty core warriors formed two tight rows in an open area within the fortress. When the enemy entered the gap of the wall, they were immediately greeted by a shield wall and a spearhead pointing forward.
The cries of the enemy turned into screams.
The first three vordak Warriors were immediately impaled and uprooted. Their bodies were pushed back, blocking the entrance of the other soldiers.
Garok saw that and went berserk. "Get out of my way! LET ME DESTROY THEM!!"
He lunged, swinging his giant axe at the front shield.
BOOOM!
The Arka warrior bounced back, crashing a few steps to his knees. Garok swung his axe again, this time towards Drakios who was standing on the side of the formation.
Drakios parried with a shield, but the impact nearly broke his arm.
"Oh my God-he really is a monster!"hissed Drakios.
Arka jumped down from the tower.
"Formation, stay! I'll take care of the leader!"
He walked forward with a short spear in his right hand and a small shield in his left.
Garok looked at him, growling.
"You ... little leader... you dare to challenge me?"
Arka did not answer. He just stared intently, reading every muscle movement of the enemy.
Garok attacks first. The ax slides from above, aiming at the head of the arc.
The arc jumped to the side, the ground split where it had stood a second earlier. Garok rotates the body, striking horizontally. The arc is lowered, Garok's spear is just about the air.
The arc pierced quickly into Garok's stomach-but was held back by the thick bronze armor.
But this is not a real attack.
Arka just wanted to test a weak point.
Garok laughed. "You are too weak, boy!"
It strikes again, wild and brutal.
Arka took a few steps back, learning Garok's rough yet unusually powerful attack pattern.
Then Arka smiled.
"You're strong, but you're slow."
Garok groaned furiously and ran like a raging bull.
Arka waited until the distance was one meter.
"Left ... right... now!"
Arka turned sideways-Garok missed the target.
In one swift motion, the arc slashed the tendons of Garok's legs using his backup dagger.
Blood gushes.
Scratching staggered. "ARGHHH!!"
Before Garok could regain his balance, Arka thrust his short spear into the gap of the armor under his left armpit—the deadliest gap that bronze didn't protect.
The Pike pierces the meat.
Garok wriggled wildly. However Arka turns his spear inside the wound, destroying the muscle tissue that left Garok's arm paralyzed.
Garok fell to his knees.
Arka looked at him from above.
"I told you. I don't need to be stronger than you."
Arka pulled out the spear, then thrust it right into Garok's neck.
Garok the Bull fell. The ground shook as his giant body hit the Earth.
Silence rules the field.
A few seconds later, the entire vordak army was shocked and began to waver morally.
Arka stood, the body smeared with blood, the face cold as steel.
He lifted Garok's head high.
"YOUR LEADER IS DEAD!!"shouted Arka. "SURRENDER... OR CATCH UP WITH HIM!"
The cry echoed like The Voice of the God of war.
The vordak Warriors stared at each other in horror. Their courage collapsed. Dozens dropped weapons.
Some tried to escape into the forest.
"Go after them!"exclaimed Arka. "Capture alive!"
Drakios and eight Warriors gave chase, conquering the rest in a matter of minutes.
When the war was over, the fortress was echoed by cheers and cries of victory.
"We won!"
"Arka! Arka! Arka!"
The villagers, who were watching from safety, cheered loudly. Lyria covered her mouth, holding back tears of pride and shock all at once.
Arka, standing in the middle of a field full of corpses, whispered to himself:
"This is the first big victory. And from this war ... we will build something much bigger."
He looked south, toward the mother village.
"From today on, we are not just a village."
He took a deep breath.
"We are country."
And above the sky, flying birds brought word throughout the eastern valleys of ancient Greece:
A new leader is born.
And he will conquer the world.