500-men phalanx might not sound impressive but when all of the people and horses were arranged neatly in a row, it was still quite a majestic sight, especially since the huge group of cavalry were all wearing the same uniform made of some sort of leather armor equipped with the same machete by their waist. It made them look elite, giving of an impression that was completely different from the usual Steppe Barbarians.
Unsurprisingly, the cavalry team was the elite team that was directly under the King's command. Looking at the phalanx in front of him, Baiyi made a rough estimate, the cavalry would be more than enough to annihilate most tribes that exist in that world.
Still, the Divine Warriors who were riding on the goats behind Baiyi had no sense of tension nor fear at all watching the majestic sight in front of them. Instead, Zar'Zar even grunted in disappointment, "Huh? That's all? This is so different from the stories that we heard..."
Only God knew what stories he had heard...
Anyway, if it wasn't for Baiyi who had forcefully suppressed their urge to charge forward to kill everybody in sight with his magic, a bloodshed would most likely already be taking place. Instead the four of them rode on the goats, slowly making their way towards the phalanx.
Their speed was not fast at all. But then, it was that kind of leisurely pace that made the Steppe Cavalries across the grassland even more anxious with nervousness. Although they were still in their majestic formation, almost every one of them was gripping the hilt of their sword tightly, but not even one dared to take the sword out from its sheath. That was the force of the Divine Warriors. Thousands years of war had given them a deep insight on how formidable and terrifying their enemy was. In the face of only those three people, the fear that was deeply engraved in their hearts had held them back from acting rashly.
When Baiyi and the three of them finally got close enough to talk, the phalanx alas showed some response. They silently spread out their formation in both direction, leaving a small group standing still in the middle of the phalanx. The rest of the cavalry used that as the middle point and formed a circular arc around them, surrounding the four of them from all sides.
--- And the last remaining cavalry was actually a beautiful girl dressed in white tulle? Before, the girl was surrounded so Baiyi did not notice her at all but from the look of it, the cavalry seemed to be using her position as the center when they formed the arc. Baiyi found it to be a little strange, could it be that she was a princess or something?
The young girl gently pulled on the reins in her hands. As she did that, the black horse that she was riding slowly moved forward a few steps, then in barbarian language, she asked, "Huskar from the alpine, why are you here?"
Two feuding races spoke exactly the same language?
Huskar chuckled loudly before he asked rhetorically, "You're the new king? Haha, I did not expect the king to be just a young girl!"
The moment the words were out of his mouth, the faces of the barbarian cavalry turned dark immediately as they almost pulled their swords out before being stopped by the King with just a wave of her hand. Although she was called a 'young girl', no sign of anger could be seen on her face at all. Still composed, she calmly replied, "In front of you, yes, I'm indeed a young girl but this has nothing to do with my question at all. Enlighten me please, why did you leave the mountains and appear on the grassland?"
The girl was actually the king of the Steppe Barbarians? The information instantly roused Baiyi's interest. He could not stop himself from glancing at her a few more times, he expressed his observation in the Void, Looks like she's pretty young but she seems to be maintaining her composure quite well. It's quite impressive of her for being able to keep her poise in the face of a Huskar. Not only that, she still had a King's majestic aura faced with the pressure from the four of us. Speaking of that, I could faintly feel a special aura exuding from her body... a powerful aura. Could this be her source of prestige?
"That must be the aura of the War God's Sword," the Caveman explained, "The legend has it that this weapon was used by their God of War when he was still in this world. The person who is chosen by this sword will become the King of the Steppe Barbarian. The War God's Sword is a very powerful weapon. It should be something like Divine Weapon, I think? I've come across this weapon once during a battle between the Steppe Barbarians King and I. This sword can inflict harm on me."
Oh? Then I suppose it must be really powerful then, to be able to inflict harm on that body which is immune to a dragon's bite! But, I don't remember seeing any of this in your memory at all though? Baiyi asked curiously.
"... Er... Well, because in the end I did not win the battle, nor did I lose for that matter..." The Caveman seemed to be a little embarrassed by that fact, "Anyway, just be careful. That sword is extremely dangerous. I think the reason why that little girl is able to rise up to the throne must be because of this sword as well..."
"So what if it's powerful? I don't think it can be as formidable as the bow of our Lady Fairy," The Archmage interjected out of nowhere, "Then again, this does remind of the story of Artoria 1 . She also rose up to the throne after wielding a sword that was embedded in a stone, right? Although in the end, her country was torn asunder by civil unrest... Tsk tsk tsk! This is exactly why we can't just simply chose a King just like that..."
Why are you comparing her with a fictional character from Earth?! And look at these Steppe Barbarians in front of us, aren't they doing pretty well under her leadership? Strong soldiers, tough horses, and much more levelheaded than how they used to be. I first thought that they would charge at us as soon as they saw us!
"Why are you guys still talking about such boring things? Why does nobody else seem to think that this girl is cute? Look at her! She has the features of a standard beautiful girl. Oh, and that sexy bronze skin! Although she is a little lacking in the feminine department but she is still a tasty, super bishoujo, isn't she?" Out of the blue, the Paladin chimed in, changing the topic abruptly.
"Come to think of it, these young ladies who rose up to the throne by wielding sword seems to have one particularly similar trait--- they are all flat-chested! Is this the price that they have to pay to become a King?" The Astrologer also joined in.
"Why do you have to assume that she can only become King because of the sword? Can't it be that she is recognized by her people because of her wisdom and courage? Look at her! She's doing quite well, don't you think so? More importantly, I really appreciate the way she dressed herself up, very open-mindedly showing off her nice body to everybody. She really does have a good grasp on fashion..." The Cleric opined as well.
"OH, YES! Bronze skin is my favorite! Ah, I really want to lick it! Pero pero!"
Seems like these guys haven't been voicing out their hentai comments for quite a while and now they're exploding with all those suppressed opinions, aren't they? So, you still cannot help but want to vent your desire and impulses even though you guys know that you'd be banned from speaking? Speechless, Baiyi could only shook his head and nonchalantly banned them from speaking for 10 minutes before directing the topic back on track.
The discussion about the bizzare tradition between the War God's Sword and the Steppe Barbarian continued to go on in the Void. Back in the reality, the Huskar--- under Baiyi's instruction--- announced loudly, "I heard that your Warrior Gala is about to start so I'm here to watch. Why? We're not welcome at all?"
The reason elicited a smile on the King's face which was solemn and serious, it made her appeared to be more beautiful, "Ah... So, now, a Huskar can also tell lies, huh?"
"The whole Northern Wasteland knows that we, the heir of the mountains, will never lie. Why should I lie to you anyway?" Huskar said confidently before pointing to Baiyi and continue, "This is my new friend. He's the one who suggested that I come to have a look!"
The Barbarian King looked at Baiyi. With a slight frown, she asked, "A Soul Armature?"
No doubt such a question instantly raised the nervousness of the cavalry a notch. Compared to the Alpine Barbarians who hid themselves far away from the world and only minded their own business, the Steppe Barbarians who had more contact with civilization had an inkling about what Soul Armature was--- unlike Zar'Zar who was enquiring what a Soul Armature was--- and they knew what it implied if the Alpine Barbarians partnered up with a Soul Armature.
The Divine Warriors were already like a nightmare to them. Still, thanks to the scarce population of the warriors, the Steppe Barbarians at least could still be on par with the Alpine Barbarians. BUT if the Soul Armature, a powerful existence, suddenly decided to join forces with them, then the Steppe Barbarians would have their status quo threatened. For that reason, just one short question from the King was enough make the cavalry tensed. If it was not for the fact that they were well-trained, chaos would have probably erupted at that instance.
"No, no, no! I'm not a Soul Armature!" Now that everybody had their attention on him, Baiyi quickly denied that fact. In order to make them believe him, he took his visor off and revealed the face of an ordinary man. It revealed a standard common face that would not stand out in a group of people.
That face was created by Baiyi using the illusion and trick of the Charlatan. He deliberately made his face insignificant and unattractive. Under the exquisite skills of the deceitful Charlatan, his face took on a strikingly realistic look that appeared vivid and lively, even other professional illusionist would never be able to see through the flawless trick, let alone the Steppe Barbarians who probably had never even heard of illusion tricks.
The instance they saw a human face underneath that visor, the cavalry let out a sigh of relief. It appeared that Baiyi had succeeded in deceiving that group of small-minded savage. Still, the King who was much smarter than her followers did not seem to be completely fooled by the trick, the corner of her eyes twitched slightly as she carefully stared at Baiyi with her piercing look. After a while, she replied, "You must be quite a man to be able to become the friend of Divine Warriors. I should call you a warrior, too, for being able to do that. Then, this mighty warrior, do tell us, why are you interested in coming to our Warrior Gala?"
Well, DUH!! It's because I'm afraid you'd kill Undine off without any hesitation! Otherwise, I'd have already brought a big group of Divine Warriors with me and charge into your tipi, you fool! Do you think I want to go through this tiresome charade? Baiyi yelled inwardly, but outside, with the use of the Charlatan's skill, he put on a delightful and hearty facade as he said, "I'm Hope, an adventurer who has duelled with many other strong opponents before. This time, my purpose here is to have a taste of the strength of the Steppe Barbarians. Since, My Lord, you've said that I am a warrior, too, then I should be able to take part in the Warrior Gala, right? As far as I know, there's no rules stating that outsiders are not able to join the Warrior Gala, is there?"
Although his reasoning was a little far-fetched, it was indeed true that the Warrior Gala of the Steppe Barbarian never had a written rule that outsiders were not allowed to participate in the competition. In that event, Baiyi was able to use that loophole to openly impose himself in the fiesta of their tribe.
Be that as it may, such a reasoning certainly could not fool the Barbarian King. She was almost sure that the reason Baiyi came was to rescue that beautiful fair lady who was tied up in her tipi. Then again, what use was there even if her suspiscion was confirmed? She could not do anything about it anyway. She could not possibly initiate a battle with him because his reason was valid and irrefutable. Not only that, he even brought along a Huskar to back him up just in case anything went wrong. Unless it was really necessary, she really did not want to declare another war with the Alpine Barbarians. At once, the King of the Steppe Barbarians found herself in a dilemma.
Saber from Fate/Stay Night