Chapter 129

– Bang! Boom!

– Tootataata!

The rain of shells and the barrage of bullets poured down.

And there, small dwarves struggled desperately to survive.

“Move faster, you kargalag fools!”

“Elphir, these bastards! They’ve already turned on each other! They said we were allies!”

“Ally my ass! Did you trust those weaklings?! We can only trust ourselves!”

Roarock Ironhammer was unable to collect his thoughts under the indiscriminate barrage of shells falling down the hillside. His short legs wobbled.

‘I am, right now…’

Where am I? Where is this place? What is happening now?

Who am I?

Roarock’s mind turned blank, as white as a blank sheet of paper. Killing humans, humans killing us. The scenes he had seen countless times over the past few years flickered before him like a panorama.

“Raise your shields! I said raise your shields!”

“Lift your hammers, you idiots! If you have nothing, grab a shovel!”

“Don’t think about coming back alive! We bury our bones here! The 3rd Mountain Division is done for today!!”

“Five minutes until the charge!”

Through elimination, rational thoughts began to be excluded from Roarock’s increasingly blank mind. One by one, the only thought that remained was one.

‘I want it to stop.’

I’m tired. I’m fed up. Suddenly, Roarock felt a surge of nausea coming up.

“Enemy shell drop—!!”

“Dammit! It’s coming!”

“Shield up—.”

– Kwaaang! Bang—!

…..

…..

Beeeee———.

“You cowardly bastard! Get a grip!”

A dwarf beside him in the trench approached and slapped Roarock hard across the face. Roarock refocused his hazy vision.

“Get a grip!”

“I’m fine! Stop hitting me! Dammit!”

“Oh, you coward! You were just hiding in the back!”

“What nonsense are you talking about! Get away from me!”

Roarock roughly shoved his fellow dwarf and leaned against the wall of the trench. His newly supplied rifle glinted coldly.

It was a rifle he had just received a short while ago. His previous weapon had been destroyed in the last battle, allowing him to be among the first to receive the new model.

He didn’t particularly like the rifle. Roarock had grown accustomed to his previous weapon, but in war, no one cares if you complain like a child. Roarock shouldered the rifle he had gotten used to and aimed outside the trench.

“Damn it. It’s a complete mess.”

“Orr’ztak! Oh, Mother Mountain! Goodness…!”

His eyes caught sight of shells falling all over the trench, and the corpses of dwarves who hadn’t escaped the fragments lay strewn about.

Large craters had formed where the shells had fallen. The fortunate thing was that the trench hadn’t collapsed.

Dwarves were skilled builders. That was true for the trench too. Roarock felt truly reassured by the sturdy trench wall he was leaning against.

“Whew…! Cough! Cough! Damn it. The dust is really swirling around.”

As another dwarf had said, the dust swirling around was irritating Roarock’s lungs. He scoffed in response.

“We’re alright thanks to our beards, but the humans are probably having a rough time!”

“That’s true!”

“Stop chatting and grab your rifles! Are you going out for a stroll, you fools!”

At the shout of the wandering dwarf officer, Roarock frowned and readied his rifle. The acrid smoke rising from all around was repulsive. Roarock waited for the smoke obscuring his vision to settle and surveyed the battlefield.

The sounds of wailing came from everywhere in the trench. Injured dwarves were calling out for the Mother Mountain.

These were things he had not noticed until just now. He spat out the beard that had stuck to his lips.

“This is bad.”

Even with rose-tinted glasses, this battle had already taken a turn for the worse. No, to speak more coldly, the flow of this great war itself was unfavorable.

The dwarves fought bravely. At first, thanks to their alliance with the elves, they seemed to have pushed the humans into a corner, yet the humans’ resilience was not to be underestimated.

As they shot human soldiers filling the front line, other human soldiers soon overflowed the opposing trench.

To put it bluntly, a gun is a weapon that can be used by merely pulling the trigger. A ten-year-old child could kill a twenty-year-old youth with just a flick of a finger.

It is somewhat true that harsh training increases the quality of the military, but it is utterly useless before an overwhelming numerical disparity and the adaptability shown by the race.

The new human soldiers being deployed were noticeably lower in quality, filled with nothing but rookies. Once, he had laughed at the humans for that point.

But not now. They were more numerous than one could ever imagine.

It wasn’t just the number of heads being thrown into the front lines. The immense population that matched the arrogant name of the Empire, paired with the staggering industrial output that stemmed from it, was another weapon for the humans.

There were rumors that the amount of ammunition produced by the Empire in a single day exceeded the quantity currently supplied to the entire dwarf army. The dwarves’ technological prowess was indeed superior to that of other races, but that superiority was not of a stark difference.

Moreover, humans held extraordinary national strength as well.

They were the progenitors of the mysterious power known as magic. Even now, elves and dwarves who could not use magic often envied the mystical powers wielded by humans.

So, in the end, it is that. Humans were not as weak as expected.

And Roarock knew well that the longer the war dragged on, the more favorable the flow would become for the humans.

‘Ker’zit! Damn it!’

In the human nation of the Empire, he had heard that they hadn’t even reached the level of total mobilization yet. Yet, this kind of resilience!

In the Hammer Council, they had underestimated the power of the Empire, dismissing it as merely the lowly power of a single human. That was a grave mistake, and even ten or a hundred years from now, when the mountain range had transformed into a completely different form, this miscalculation would remain.

“This war should never have been started in the first place.”

“You’re right.”

“The stupid old bastards of the Hammer Council… When this war is over, we’ll have to drag those idiots down first.”

“Hey! Keep it down!”

The previous dwarf officer pointed at Roarock and shouted. Roarock grumbled under his breath with a displeased expression on his face.

“Before that, I need to kill that bastard first.”

“He’s been too noisy from earlier, that kargalag. His blabbering is just unbearable.”

“Maybe a few hits to the face will knock some sense into him.”

“Ha ha! Yeah. If we survive this battle, that is.”

The dwarf soldier muttered as he adjusted his cap. Roarock glanced at him with a strange gaze.

“…By the way, what’s your name?”

“What? You don’t know my name?”

The dwarf soldier looked momentarily dazed. Roarock shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah. It’s my first time seeing you. Are you a rookie?”

“I’m a rookie. I just got transferred yesterday.”

“…You just got transferred yesterday?”

Yesterday had been full of fighting all day. He had no memory of receiving any new recruits. Roarock turned to the dwarf standing next to him with a blank expression without realizing it.

“You…”

“…Hey, sorry.”

After that, Roarock’s body instinctively reacted. He quickly drew the hammer hanging at his waist and shot his hand out to block something heading for his head.

– Kacang—!

“W-What the hell…! What are you?!”

“Kuhk…! You should have just died peacefully!”

– Kacang! Clash!

When he regained his senses, trench warfare had erupted all at once inside the trench.

The dwarf soldiers belonging to the 3rd Mountain Division, of which Roarock was a part, were swinging their hammers at each other.

Roarock finally understood what was happening. His reddish-brown beard trembled.

“Damn it…! You treacherous bastards! Kargalag! I will kill you!”

“Ah ha…! I’m already fed up with this damn war!”

“Grah…!”

“If we just kill you, we’ll be free! Freedom awaits!”

He had heard. The story that humans lured captured dwarf prisoners with promises of “freedom” and “protection on the land of the Empire,” dressed them in uniforms, and secretly infiltrated them to cause chaos.

“It may be tough living among humans, but if this messing war ends…. I will do anything! So just die peacefully!”

The eyes of the dwarf, shaking with a steel hammer in hand. When Roarock faced those bloodshot, glimmering eyes filled with madness, he instinctively felt fear.

‘I can’t die here…!’

“Ugh, Aaaah—!”

Roarock squeezed every last ounce of strength he had. Caught in a moment of primal instinct, superhuman strength surged through him with the speed of lightning, flowing through his hammer.

“Ah, no…!”

“Die! You traitor of the mountains!”

– Kwasash!

The head that simply caved in under Roarock’s hammer drooped down. Roarock flung that heavy body onto the trench floor.

“Whew…! Hah…!”

However, the trench was already turning into a sea of blood. Just like the bastard he had just killed, the dwarves who had secretly snuck into the trench had launched a sudden ambush. Roarock hurriedly grabbed his rifle and dashed through the trench.

“Kraaaah—!”

“Die! Just die!”

“You traitorous bastards! Aren’t you afraid of the name of the Mother Mountain!”

“The Mother Mountain is bullshit! That mountain doesn’t set me free!”

They were crazy. Everyone was insane.

Roarock looked up over the back of the trench. He could already see some soldiers who had begun to abandon the trench and flee.

“Whew…! Hoo…!”

Roarock gripped his rifle tightly. From beyond the trench where the humans were stationed, the guttural scream of battle demons faintly echoed.

“Damn it…!”

Roarock urgently covered his head and sat down on the ground. Immediately after, a barrage of shells began fiercely pounding the trench.

– Kwang! Bang!

“Graaah!”

“Damn it! Stop shooting! It’s our side! Our side…! Oof…!”

“Damn it! You promised you’d save us! Promised you’d set us free!”

“We’ve been deceived! The humans tricked us!”

Foolish fools. Did they really believe the humans promised freedom?

They were simply seeking an efficient way to deal with prisoners. Though it was a blatant violation of international law, it was not something the elves and dwarves, who had a history of mercilessly slaughtering prisoners at the beginning of the war, could comment on.

“…Damn it!”

As the gunfire subsided, Roarock finally broke out of the trench. He pressed against the wall of the trench and sprang up, barely managing to climb out with his short body.

Leaving behind the torn cries and gunfire, Roarock sprinted into the mountains. It was sheer coincidence that the trench was situated at the entrance of some nameless mountain, but at least for Roarock, it was an opportunity that might never come again.

Roarock ran. He sprinted into the woods where tall trees grew thickly, running frantically.

“Damn it, damn it…!”

Until the sound of gunfire ceased. Until the familiar shouts and screams quieted down, and until they were no longer heard in his ears.

Eventually, until the fading sound of guns could no longer reach his ears.

In a frantic dash, Roarock finally stopped his weary body. Only then did he take in the surroundings.

“Huh…. Hah….”

In the middle of a forest filled with trees dozens of times taller than Roarock.

Roarock found himself trapped in thick greenery.

“Damn it….”

Without even having a map.