Cohen of the Rebellion Volume 14 Chapter 1

Translated by Tianic, edited by Grammarly
That moment in that day, all men and women, both on and off Lissan City's wall, tens of thousands of them, fell silent.
At first, the Prime Minister was certain that he would get his hand on what he desired because he had Fischer as a deterrence. Everyone including Cohen Kheda came to know Luhrmann's plan as well. Therefore, given Luhrmann's army was within the range of Cohen's marksmen, he dared his enemy to shoot.
It was indeed as Luhrmann had thought.
From Cohen's perspective, though all his courtiers and officers were reluctant to, Cohen ordered his men to prepare to make peace with Luhrmann anyways. Even Cohen Kheda himself was ready to compromise under the condition that his best friend's life was his enemy's bargain chip. Fischer's life was everything to him. It was that simple.
Cohen had never realized that he had been treating Fischer as not only the king but also his best friend. Cohen did not realize that from this point in time, in this world, Fischer was the only one who can comprehend Cohen's ideology, and Fischer alone was able to indulge Cohen's bizarre behavior. Others may have tolerated Cohen, but none was able to understand him.
However, one thing was certain for this man who just suffered a loss: without Fischer, he will be like a leaf of duckweed struggling in a dangerous billow and he will forever be alone.
No matter what, everyone has underestimated Fischer. They've misjudged this king who had always been elegant and gentle. They've never foreseen the wit and courage he displayed when threatened by life. Much like his king father and queen mother, Fischer has chosen to sacrifice himself for friends and families.
No one had expected it and no one had foreseen this young king of Swabia will be killed so quickly by Luhrmann's arrow.
The perishment of Fischer Summers who stood for the rightful kingship triggered the wrath of entire Lissan City.
"Get Commander Cohen back down!" On Lissan's wall, Cohen Kheda's Chief of Staff Carlos took over the command job in the shortest time possible. His next order brought tens of thousands of furious arrows to his foes.
Luhrmann's giant shields weren't able to block Cohen Kheda's arrows that even feared by the Asmodian forces. Moments later, the rebels suffered a huge wave of splashing blood rain and groan.
This was just the beginning. Endless magic attacks came right after the arrows.
With anger no less than their commander, elf warlocks who have been idling on the wall released the magic that had been held back for so long: silver chain of lightning started dancing while blood-red exploding fireballs enlarged and empowered.
It did not take long before massive dark smoke, the smell of burned flesh, shrill cry and of course, extreme fear began circulating among the rebels.
Everything happened so rapidly since the moment Fischer fell. The swift, quick attack had given the once proud and confident rebels great casualties. Luhrmann's first light infantries were nearly annihilated.
Bad luck for anyone who stood at the frontmost. Before them was Lissan City's wall, behind was an army of intense formation. They had nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. All paled, the panic soldiers can do nothing but trying to dodge within the limited space. They were like targets on a training ground for magic, but unlike targets, they struggled to push their neighbors before them and keep their heads as low as possible.
Seeing the chaotic situation, Luhrmann, despite dumbfounded, intended to save the already messed-up day before he was forced onto a horse and taken to the commanding post, away from his collapsing army.
After a few earth-shattering noises, three drawbridges at the front of Lissan City were released. All gates opened wide. Dark City's finest guarding troops thrust out. With the sharpest weapons in their hands, they fused an iron current towards the rebels'.
In the meantime, Cohen's guarding members were trying to take control of their commander and take him to safety.
Cohen Kheda's eyes turned red. He bellowed, fisted, kicked his guards who struggled to drag him. One more step, he ascended the edge of the wall. All who saw his action exclaimed before Cohen Kheda lept away from the city.
At the very moment, Cohen Kheda's guarding mages took advantage of a glimpse of the time and buffed him with half a dozen spells.
Failing to catch his commander, Malphite cried out an order before his subordinates tossed ropes and slid down the wall to protect Cohen.
Cohen's feet impacted the earth with a bang accompanied by a circled strong wave pushing outwards. Even the water in the moat before him was tossed huge waves.
With a suit of armor, men can still see Cohen's body shivering under the black metal. His eyes were fixed to the ground, throat notch moved up and down. Low, beastly growl spread to the entire battlefield. No one knew this man of craziness was crying or laughing.
Everybody believed Cohen Kheda had suffered injuries from the jump earlier before he raised his eyes to the rebels not far beyond. Even with his helm on, his enemies could see Cohen's eyes and the tempestuous fury within.
Those were not human's eyes. No human could possess such a pair of crazy eyes.
"FISCHER!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!"
With the sorrowful cry of agony, Cohen drew his machete then he lept again over the moat that measured 20 arm's length!
Everyone was stunned. With magic buffs, a normal man, however strong he was, will definitely be wounded by jumping from 30 arm's length high. Cohen was different. He suffered nothing and suddenly gained the ability to jump over an astonishing distance.
Several elf warlocks from Cohen Kheda's guarding troops shared looks out of wonder. They saw a giant, disappearing fire-red ring of light circling about Cohen Kheda's body. Though the possessor of the ring was unaware of the change, the elves knew this was magic no elf or human was able to cast.
It was the unique magic of Protoss and Asmodian: the forbidden magic!
Ordinary magic buffed by humans or elves will create rings made from light as well. However, those rings would be tightly attached to the targets' bodies unlike the one circling around Cohen Kheda. It was technically attached but it was at least 10 arm's length from the magic-user. Also, the ring presented with textures and was constantly moving.
Every time Cohen stepped, when his foot touched the ground, the fire-red ring will show and expand violently. Everyone who was within the expanding range was beaten backward and die before making a cry.
"That's Roar of Fury! The first level! The roar of Fury!" An elf warlock cried despite that she was confident, "It's the upper race's magic!"
"But why Viceroy Cohen is using it!?" A second elf said then quickly she exclaimed, "Alert the troops to STAY away from Viceroy Cohen! First time he uses the magic, he's not able to tell friends from enemies!"
The elf's worry was unnecessary because Malphite and the rest of the guarding troops can't even catch up with Cohen's speed.
After striding over several chunks of scattered infantries, Cohen darted into the rebel's front troops.
Maybe in the meantime, he could remember the forbidden magic that granted him the extraordinary power was from his boots bestowed by the Protoss elder princess on the day Cohen Kheda was titled a Knight of Protoss.
Roar of Fury had 5 levels. The first level will give its user the ring of light capable of deflecting its foes and ultimately killing them. However, the first level was still relatively weak because any skilled warriors or mages were able to defend themselves by summoning battle aura or protective shields.
When the user managed to learn the 5th level of Roar of Fury, he will be able to take a man's life by just roaring. By that time, no man, save for the finest of the race supreme, will be able to defend it.
Now that Cohen was still too inadequate to be buffed with anything higher than lv.1 of the magic from the boots. Although it might be tickle tricks for races supreme, Cohen was faced with just regular human soldiers. Even if he encountered the Knights of the Light Temple who were currently guarding the rear of the army, he still stood a chance to win.
As of now, the Roar of Fury boots has awakened. They have become a part of Cohen Kheda's body. Cohen's mind would have taken control of the magic if he were wide awake.
The elves debriefed Cohen's situation to Carlos. The latter issued his orders with the loudest voice, "Tell our ground troops to stay away from Commander Cohen. Send the IGTs to protect him! All mages, prep to buff our soldiers. All wingmen take off!"
All of the Dark City knights that passed the drawbridges have received Carlos' orders as well. They adjusted marching directions, put away their spears then gradually spread out like a folding fan. One by one, the knights reached for their enhanced crossbows.
As the knight made their adjustments, the infantries that followed leaned to the opposite side, leaving the middle route that faced the biggest siege tower to Cohen and his IGTs.
Almost at the same moment, Luhrmann yelled to the knight from the light temple as he arrived the commanding post, "GO now! Get Fischer Summer's body!"
The knights followed the order hence they began rushing towards the place where Fischer fell. Although the king was dead, his physical body was still useful. At least for Luhrmann, he intended to extract the last bit of value from that body.
The battlefield was in turmoil. However, the place where the biggest siege tower was located was relatively quiet. For the fact that both parties' troops were still a distance away from it and the rebels guarding the tower shot to kill by Dark City's archers.
"Send my order, tell both armies, attack with absolute prejudice!" Carlos yelled to his staff members, "All civic hands, get your asses outta here! This is the last place you should be now!"
The second magic ball rose to the sky carrying Carlos' orders before 2 hostile armies impacted each other. On one side was Cohen Kheda alone, the other was an entire battalion of soldiers aiming for the siege tower.
"AHHHHH-A-HAAAAAA" Cohen's red eyes showed no signs of weakening. He dashed forward, straight to his enemies. The blade instantly saw a sky-shading mist of blood and flesh.
The mess Cohen Kheda created has brought his mind into absolute craziness and bewilderment regardless of anything else. The enormous pain tossed his heart, dismantled his senses. The last bit of nature left in his brain told him that he had to find a way to vent the agony.
The enemy soldiers in hand were the perfect targets. Kill, killing would be the best way to relieve it.
Now Cohen Kheda can't care less about anything but killing. He's abandoned his duty as a commander. Therefore, naturally, Carlos has become the one giving the orders. Immediately after he issued orders for the troops, he darted to the speaker magic effective area and yelled, "Get the siege tower, Mal!"
Dozens of rebels soldiers were tossed to the air as Cohen once again smashed himself into the enemy formation. The black steel machete he held spun like a windmill, making his targets cry.
Cohen's method was the most simple and effective clean sweep. With each step forward, the ring of light surrounding Cohen's body extended, hereafter bouncing dozens of men backward. Only when the ring withdrew were the rebels able to close distance, but before that, the black blade would be already inches away. Then with another clean sweep, the tornado of death reaped yet another batch of victims. No ordinary armor can fend black steel.
On Cohen Kheda's route of the sprint, no one lived; and behind him, no one could catch on.
Countless bodies rose to the sky then fell in halves. Later on, no one dared to face this mind-losing beast. Whenever people saw Cohen Kheda went for their direction, chaos arose, soldiers fled, stampede took place.
They howled, they cried, they died.
"CLANG" was the sound that parried Cohen's weapon in midair. The one who did it had a cloth veiling the face. Without armors, he was holding a single-handed sword with Protoss engraving on the body.
He was a member of the White Knight sent by the Light Temple!
Little did Cohen hesitated given that he was ultra bewildered.
He roared as he retrieved the blade and bounced backward, slashing a few soldiers who sneaked to attack from behind. At the same time, golden battle aura arose on the body of the black steel blade.
The white warrior has also been shocked by the impact of his weapon earlier. He exhaled then advanced. The tip of his sword swiftly thrust towards Cohen's forehead. However, at 10 arm's length, Cohen raised his arm that connected his weapon. The golden aura shrouded black blade slashed downward.
Two swords contacted. The White Knight's weapon broke in half like his user.
However, the temple's White Knights were not wusses. Amongst them, there were quite a few knowledgeable ones. After seeing Cohen Kheda once again killed a large number of soldiers with his Roar of Fury, a dozen of them cried out.
"Buff yourselves with Charity Halo! He's using forbidden magic!"
"Forbid your mother fucker!" Cohen cursed with a coarse voice. His speed had gone even faster. Before the White Knight could complete the buffing, Cohen's spinning blade claimed a few more victims.
"Front row take him down! Rear ones take the siege tower!" A Charity Halo-protected White Knight yelled as he stung his lance towards Cohen. Before he succeeded, he hovered the lance body, creating mirage lances that shaded his foe.
"You take my ass!" Cohen ignored the White Knight coming for him. He made an easy but heavy slash before the incoming lance touched his body, pushing the golden aura out from the tip of the blade. The early White Knight was naturally cut in half. Immediately after, one more knight leaped into midair from behind. Cohen's blade shook twice and chopped that knight's left leg off as well.
He cried miserably and fell onto the ground.
The White Knights suffered a great loss, which stunned the rebels. They feared Cohen from the beginning, however, they kept on fighting because they knew they had the white knights behind them.
They worshipped the race supreme, they had faith in the light temple. They knew the white knights were undefeatable. That was why they did not run. But now, other than being killed more decently than plain soldiers, the knights have proven to be not helpful.
All rebels who aimed the Fischer's siege tower dispersed in a rush. They would not willing to face the beast named Cohen Kheda. No, it was much more. Even being seen by this animal was extremely dangerous. They'd rather to fight Dark City riders and their own army supervisors. At least they stood a chance to live.
At this point in time, more Dark City army rushed out. The battle has fallen into heat.
Dark City's finest ripped the frontline of the enemy like a sharp knife ripping open a bird, it also spared a group of soldiers to intercept the rebels' head troops that have been pressuring Cohen.
Behind was the viceroy's guarding troops led by Malphite. They were determined to protect that giant siege tower from scattered rebel soldiers.
Seeing that sneak attacks have proven no avail, the captain of the White Knights shouted out to gather the remainder of his team behind himself including the few that were confronting Cohen Kheda.
"PUFF!" Chopping the last enemy dead, Cohen inserted his long blade into the earth, his eyes fixed on the tip of the metal.
At this moment, no plain soldiers from both armies could be found within the circle centering the siege tower. As the silence persisted, the atmosphere above the battlefield seemed to be extremely elusive from the eyes of a bystander. However, anyone who was within the circle would feel the gigantic, avenger-person-repellent pressure that smelled like death.
Hundreds of hostile men from both armies hence engaged in such a stressful tension, empowering the already murderous and brutal air.
Now on one side of the silent battlefield was Cohen's guarding troops at the number of 300-ish. All of them were extremely experienced warriors who have escaped death for a thousand times. Their defensive work concentrated on 2 directions. Behind them were the mages who had completed buffing the melee warriors and the marksmen held the arrows on the string, eyes fixed on their targets.
On the other side was the White Knight from the Light Temple. The number of the ones still standing approached 100. They've separated themselves into 3 stacks. Their action can be explained by their nature of work: assassination. The White Knight was an extremely dangerous force secretly cultivated by the Light Temple. The temple has been hiding them under its wings. The White Knights excelled in face-off combats as well as teamwork of 2 or 3. However, they've never trained for a situation that involves more than 10.
Even before today's confrontation, the deep feud between these 2 forces had already been forged: a dozen white knights abducted King Fischer under Cohen Kheda's nose! Though the kidnappers were well-hid, all members of Cohen's guarding troops considered it as a disgraceful incident on their resumes.
No one knew what would happen once the fight began. Nevertheless, the eyes of both sides slowly reddened.
The white captain inhaled deeply and drew his long sword. He gave an order. The 3 stacks of knights quickly moved.
As soon as the white captain issued his order, Cohen's eyes leveled up, he boomed as his body struck forward like a bolt of lightning toward the white leader.
Cohen's target was exceptionally peaceful while his teammates launched themselves to counterstrike.
The white captain knew that in order to offset Cohen's Roar of Fury, they had to consume a great amount of battle aura, which will essentially weaken the combat power. However, Cohen was only able to stop the middle knights, he can't stop all 3 stacks of white knights at the same time. Therefore, the free hands from Cohen's attacks will have time to get Fischer's body.
As long as the middle knights could contain Cohen Kheda for as long as the rest take the dead's body, the white captain was sure they can retreat the battlefield after completing the objective.
While the white leader's plan was perfect, Cohen's roar persisted, he speeded up as the golden battle aura shrouded his body, making him a golden statue.