Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Main Force of the Rheinpalts Empire (4)
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Dalton spoke with brimming energy, but the soldiers couldn't muster the same enthusiasm in their response.
"Yes, Captain."
Squad Leaders and Ten-Man Leaders like them tried their best to follow Dalton's lead and rally the men.
"Listen up, lads. Once we capture that Viscount Visi, it's all over. Just a bit more, come on, damn it."
The encouragers were already showing signs of exhaustion themselves. Fat chance the listeners would feel pumped up.
Should I have pushed the rookies harder with guerrilla drills if I'd known it would come to this?
No, they would've all died if I had. Regret like this stirs up pointless second-guessing.
"Martin Platoon, if we shake off that dog of a viscount and win this, I'll blow my entire month's pay to treat you all to a feast."
Our platoon's eyes lit up at those words.
At that moment, men who looked like Viscount Visi's guards or elite troops charged toward us, weapons raised.
"Whether you're White Beard or White Thread, we'll smash every last one of you!"
"For insulting our viscount, we'll rip off your limbs before you die!"
"You lowly, pathetic scum—die!"
The ones charging at me, and the banner up front symbolizing the 'viscount'—a massive flag emblazoned with his family crest.
Taking in those two sights, I steeled my resolve and gripped the swords in both hands tight.
To win with the guys following behind me, I have to show them what I do best, above all else.
With my determination set, I launched myself straight at the enemy.
"What the hell are you weaklings yapping about?!"
I squeezed every drop of Aura from my body and began cutting down the foes one by one.
"Damn it! Take that bastard out first!"
Were they the cream of the crop among Viscount Visi's regular forces?
Their swordplay was sharp and powerful enough.
"Die, you mad dog!"
One guy who wasn't even a knight was using his Aura to attack me.
It wasn't much of a threat, but for a regular soldier who didn't seem like an officer to wield Aura...
Viscount Visi's elites, huh.
Dalton's voice rang out from across the way.
"Look at how they handle their blades—these are definitely Viscount Visi's elite troops! We're almost there! Hang in there!"
It felt like we were close, but maybe because I'd cut down so many enemies already...
My body was signaling that it was running out of steam. My breath was getting a little short, too.
Then, a booming voice laced with Aura came from Viscount Visi's unit.
"Clear the way, all of you! I, Louis Zackree, senior knight of the Viscount Visi house, will handle him myself!"
The elite enemies smirked at me and parted to make way.
"That mad dog is as good as dead now. No matter how he thrashes, he can't beat Sir Zackree."
"His flailing was getting on my nerves—perfect timing."
"He'll learn there's always someone better, right before he dies."
The knight called Zackree swung his sword through the air with whooshes to build a heavy tension, then pointed the tip at me and asked,
"You there, young mercenary. What's your name? A warrior of your caliber deserves to have his name known before I kill you."
Every knight I'd met so far had looked down on mercenaries as a given, but this guy at least had some manners in his words.
But to me, that attitude felt even more ominous and unpleasant.
If he underestimated me, I could exploit that carelessness and strike. Damn it.
Tension making cold sweat trickle from my hands gripping the sword and down my body.
"Martin Meyer, Platoon Leader of the White Beard Mercenary Corps."
Sir Zackree looked intrigued as he responded to my words.
"Your voice sounds young. Already a platoon leader in a mercenary company? The ones I knew were all grizzled veterans. Must've earned it through skill."
I nodded at that.
"Good. Then, seeing your skill and confidence, I'll go all out as well."
With that, Zackree concentrated his Aura on his body.
Faint compared to Dalton's, but a blue mist-like Aura began faintly rising over his entire form.
He seemed like a knight who'd just reached Expert level—a seriously tough matchup for me right now.
Time to brace myself.
Thinking that, I pointed my sword at him and started scanning for weaknesses.
Zackree swung his sword at my helmet right away.
"Let's see if you can dodge this."
Against an ordinary sword, I'd have trusted the helmet's durability and tanked it.
But taking an Expert-surpassing strike on the helmet...
This mithril-alloyed armor wouldn't shatter, but the impact would be like getting my head bashed with an iron mace—I might be dazed for a while.
So I twisted my body in an instant to dodge the attack somehow.
"Not bad."
Saying that, he immediately swung at my waist next.
I couldn't twist or back away like before.
My options now were just two: dive inside his guard or block with the sword from Dalton.
"Damn it. You're filthy strong."
Instead of close-quarters, I fully blocked my waist with my sword.
When Zackree's sword clashed with mine, a heavy thud echoed like a massive hammer striking thick iron plate.
The shock from that spread through my hands and arms like I'd been hammered myself.
"Ugh, that's filthy heavy."
After I blocked, Zackree quickly retreated and reset his stance.
"You're better than I thought. Blocking a strike from me, who's reached the Expert realm."
"A bit light for an Expert, no?"
Zackree shot back angrily at my words.
"You seem skilled beyond expectations, but that's as far as you go."
With that, he gathered his Aura and shot toward me like an arrow—fast and light.
"It's over now!"
He came thrusting for my throat, so I figured I'd deflect and exploit the opening.
Time his thrust from upper right perfectly, then slam my sword down as hard as I can.
I shifted my stance accordingly and waited for the stab.
"You're young, so your swordplay is full of amateur holes!"
When the distance closed to just 2-3 meters, he suddenly changed his grip.
Now an overhead chop from his right shoulder to my neck.
This ruined my plan to deflect and counter.
Is this the Expert level? Even in dirty tricks like this...
It hammered home the wall between Expert and me.
In the end, I had no choice but to raise my sword again and take the blow like before.
"Kuh. Damn."
The same crushing burden transmitted through sword and hands to my arms.
"You're lacking the skill to beat me!"
His bright tone suggested he had a plan like this in mind.
Keep hammering me with attacks too powerful for me to handle, wear down my arms until I can't hold the sword, then finish me.
It'd cost him effort too, draining my strength.
But against a somewhat inferior foe, exhausting them first then killing is the safest way.
No risky plays means no mistakes—he stays safe, while I gradually lose even the stamina to lift my sword and collapse.
Damn Expert...
Despite his skill, fighting a weaker opponent so slyly and relentlessly with the sword.
"You won't fold from just this much, right?"
"Not yet! I'll take your head, Martin!"
"Good. Then how about this?"
With those words, the misty Aura pouring from Zackree's body surged stronger.
At the same time, he unleashed fluid, flowing attacks like water, pressing me relentlessly.
Overhead and waist swings, underarm thrusts, strikes at various vitals.
The heavy, continuous barrage felt like fighting not a man, but a raging river current.
"Ugh..."
My arms, blocking several blows, started to go numb like pins and needles.
My grip on the sword's weakening. Damn it.
This sensation was the first since facing Schmitz, that platoon leader who used Aura.
Looking at him felt like a wall dozens of meters high blocked my path.
Daunting, but I had to climb it somehow.
"You held up well, but this is the end!"
Zackree swung down at me once more.
Then an arrow whistled past my side toward him.
Seeing it, Zackree hastily twisted his sword's path to deflect the arrow.
"Damn it."
I glanced toward where the arrow came from. Karin smirked, one corner of her mouth lifted.
"Feel free to go more aggressive. I'll cover you from behind."