Boom.
That was the first sound I heard as I waddled around where I was standing.
A sharp throbbing pulse enveloped my head as though something was squeezing it tightly, accompanied by a high-pitched noise ringing relentlessly in my ear.
As I tried to grab a hold of myself, the floor was seemingly swaying left to right, violently causing me to lose balance as I fell to the floor once again. My vision blurred with the contribution of my headache, rendering me blind.
"KILL THE WAEGU! LEAVE NONE ALIVE!"
As soon as I heard the shoutings,
BOOM.
Something exploded on my right side. A burning sensation spread across half of my body as I found myself lifted off the floor and crashing to a railing. As I held on to my dear life, I looked up to see an entirely bloodied scene unfolding in front of me.
Hundreds of ships crash into one another as the occupants of the different ships clash against one another. The clash of swords filled the air with sharp ringing as metal clangs and scrapes echoed through the sea violently as the soldiers put every grit of strength they had in their blades, making sure the opposing side was dead at every swing. Fire engulfed an entire ship as some of the occupants jumped out for safety while others were trapped inside, burning to death.
Glancing around, it didn't take much for me to realise I was on a ship as well. Looking down, I could see that I was equipped with full-body armour and a sword by my side.
Thud-Thud-Thud
Then there was that. A powerful loud thud slammed relentlessly, echoing across the sea for all to hear. It was the sound of a drum being played.
Before I could gather more information, something crashed against the ship I was on. Invaders started to emerge and started running relentlessly onboard the ship. The soldiers around me started unsheathing their swords to retaliate as they too rushed forward towards the invaders.
Then, Bang.
The four soldiers who tried to engage first dropped to the ground, with a hole in their chest. Without hesitation, the invaders continued their attack, stepping on top of the dead bodies of the soldiers, and the violent clash of swords began.
"Kid. Move NOW!"
Before I could react, someone jumped in front of me as the sound of cracking fired, accompanied by the smell of gunpowder and iron.
A man in his forties grabbed my sleeve and yanked me to the starboard side of the ship as he stumbled violently to the floor while clutching onto his side. His breaths came in ragged gasps as he signalled me to take cover.
Dragging myself across the ship while keeping my head low, he dragged me towards him as he placed his sword onto my chest.
"Why did you save me?"
I asked weakly while compressing enough pressure on his wound to slow down the bleeding.
"I... have a son around your age. Can't let a kid who hasn't hit puberty die so soon."
As he struggled to catch his breath, he placed his sword even deeper on my chest as I grabbed and held it tightly.
"..Te ... Tell my wife, I love him____"
Before he could finish his sentence, his head was separated from his body as it flew overboard, lost in the sea.
"Shine, kono kitanai inudomome!"
An invader, protected with a helmet, full-body armour, and curved-shape sword, spoke as he swiped the blood off his sword and advanced towards me with his sword raised.
Engulfed in a sudden burst of rage, I unsheathed the sword entrusted to me and ran straight for my enemy. Death did not occur in my head at that moment. Revenge was my fuel of energy
"ARHHHHGHH!"
I charged in like a maniac, disregarding my surroundings as one of the invader's comrades stood behind him and raised his arquebus (long firearm), aiming at me. At that point, I knew I just sent myself to my death.
I'm still a virgin, damn it.
Those were the last words I thought to myself as I closed my eyes to prepare myself.
Whoosh, Thunk.
The shot never came. Instead, blood splurts out from the man's neck due to an arrow stuck in his throat as he tries to grab his comrades before being kicked into the sea.
As the invaders were distracted, I ran straight towards the group of them and I plunged my sword forward, impaling one of them.
"Argh!"
The enemy yells as I continue pushing their body with all my strength, digging my foot deeper into a wooden deck as the invader's body pushes the rest of his comrade down.
One by one, they fell to the sea as the only soldier left was the invader who killed the man who saved my life. With the sword still stuck inside his flesh, I yanked out the blade and kicked him off the ship, staring down at his eyes.
"See you in hell, you monster."
"Onor...."
He dropped before he could finish his sentence. His sword landed
I turned my head behind to find the archer who saved my life. It was an old man equipped with what I assume is a high-ranking officer's armour standing by a drum. He gave a nod before resuming his duty of hitting the drums as the storms picked up, fierce wind and violent waves crashed violently against the hull of the ship.
Then the drumming stopped.
The old man stood out and yelled with a powerful voice.
"WE ARE WINNING, THE WAEGU ARE RETREATING. LET'S FINISH THEM OFF SO THEY WILL NEVER HURT ANOTHER ONE OF OUR PEOPLE EVER AGAIN!"
With a single speech, the soldiers roared in response as every ship started advancing rapidly, chasing after the invaders.
The ship I was on started launching the cannons against the invader's ship while I fended off the invaders who were trying to climb onboard the ship.
As the old man continued drumming furiously to keep the morale of his men.
Suddenly, "Bang."
The old man was shot.
As he dropped to the ground, 2 soldiers ran towards him and aided him. The Waegu started rushing in onboard as one of them punched me with the hilt of his sword.
With my nose bloodied and vision blurred, I swang my sword wildly, trying to keep them off the old man. It didn't help when I couldn't even see what was in front of me as slowly every part of my body started receiving cuts.
Shit. My legs are giving up on me.
My legs had been shaking uncontrollably for some time from the moment I picked up the sword. I continued recklessly swinging the sword despite my injuries, keeping the invaders away from me. With my field of vision bloodied, all I could see in front of me was the colour red. I leaned my back against the ship, still desperately trying to swing my sword with what little strength was left in my body.
Then, Snrk.
A sword was then driven into my left shoulder. I dropped my sword as the invaders kicked it away from my reach, making sure I would never be able to reach it. The man who who stabbed me had a very distinctive scar across his face as he smiled and twisted his blade in my shoulder even deeper and pulled it out laughing as he watched me scream.
I screamed in agony as I immediately dropped on my knees, holding on my shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
The scarred man laughed heartily in a sick sadistic manner while his comrades avoided him, trying to finish off the rest of the soldiers left on the ship. That was where I saw something sparkling at where the previous invader fell. It was one of Waegu's swords.
While the rest of them were distracted, I practically dragged my body to where the sword was lying. As I was about to reach where the sword was, a sword came stabbing through my palm to the ground.
"Doko e ikou tte n da?" The insane bastard who stabbed me said with a wicked grin on his face.
F*ck. Not again.
I cursed to myself as the scarred man removed his sword and laughed again. He kicked the sword lying on the ground towards me and jeered me to come and fight him while laughing.
Grabbing the sword by its hilt and using it as a support, I lift myself as I assume a stance, jeering the crazy bastard and the rest of the men to come for me instead.
In all honesty, there was no way I could survive this fight. There were 7 of them, and they were all in fighting condition. There was only one way I could win against them, and that was to wipe them all in a single blow.
Since I knew there were at least 2 more soldiers near me attending to the old man, I shouted to reveal my plans, disguising it as a battle cry.
"THE MOMENT THEY ALL RUSHED IN TO FINISH ME, SEND A SIGNAL TO ONE OF OUR ALLY SHIPS TO FIRE IN MY DIRECTION!!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs, hoping the 2 of them were able to hear it. Suddenly, one of the invaders pushed the maniac man behind as he walked forward towards me. The man was probably someone with a higher status compared to the rest of the other soldiers as he was wearing prestigious armour compared to the rest of them. Maybe the commander from his ship?
The remaining 6 Waegus circled me as though they were making sure no one interrupted me and him.
He bowed and drew his sword. Looks like it was going to be a personal duel. I picked up the Waegu's sword with my right hand and charged at him. But as expected, I was no match as my opponent slashed diagonally across my chest once, having my blood splurt everywhere.
"Blugdhh"
I fell to the ground on my knees with blood filling up my mouth.
My opponent came up to me, prepared to deal the final blow when he saw me smiling.
Sensing something was wrong, the enemy commander yelled something to his comrades.
But it was too late.
A flame arrow was shot to the sky as a large explosion roared in my direction. The last thing I saw was the face of the invader's commander in panic as I smiled silently.
Boom.
"Those willing to die will live, and those willing to live will die." - Admiral Yi Sun-Sin.
Battle of Noryang - 16 Decemeber 1598.