Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Pursuit in the Kalon Mountains
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The Western forces had infiltrated deep into the Kalon Mountains.
Barrett, who was in command, gazed toward the Caliper army's position and let out a cold sneer.
“The continent bastards are nothing special after all. Hell, I'm starting to miss the days of civil war with the other leaders. Don't you think, Fisher?”
Standing beside him was a burly man with a sturdy face. The giant was sharpening his spear tip with a portable whetstone.
“Hmph, don't underestimate the enemy, Barrett. The Caliper army is the ones who killed that Lexit.”
“Hmm...”
“There had to have been complacency behind his death. If we get careless, we'll pay dearly for it.”
“Fair point. Lexit was an arrogant bastard if there ever was one. Dying from overconfidence suits him perfectly.”
“He was the real deal in terms of skill. That Wade guy they say killed him... he might be somewhere on this battlefield.”
“Haneman mentioned him too. We've got several guys in our ranks on that level.”
“That's right. And you're one of them, Barrett. Think you can live up to the lord's expectations?”
“Of course. Whether it's Wade or Juras Pamillion, they're no match for me. I'll prove it in this war.”
Barrett fanned himself with an ornate feather fan and curled up the corner of his mouth.
“...The sun should be rising soon.”
Just then, a scout appeared before him and bowed low.
“Report! The Caliper army is preparing to advance! They'll be moving out soon!”
“Good. Let's see how they come at us.”
Barrett assumed the Caliper army would attack. With their supply lines cut off, they had to be getting desperate.
By exploiting that desperation and inflicting losses, he could draw them fully into his scheme.
That was why he had positioned ambush units and prepared defenses—but the report that came was the exact opposite.
“Urgent news! The Caliper army is heading toward Bekavia! They're trying to escape the mountains!”
“What!?”
It was unexpected. They weren't making even a single move to reclaim their supply lines and were just coolly abandoning them.
‘That's a decision that's way too quick! Did they somehow see through my plan?’
He shook his head a moment later.
If they had seen through it, they wouldn't be heading toward Bekavia. They would have pushed toward the Crossing on the eastern side of the Kalon Mountains, no matter the cost.
Of course, he had countermeasures ready if the Caliper army did that.
“What the hell are they thinking...”
Barrett was thrown into confusion. Fisher pressed him.
“What are you hesitating for? Whatever the reason, things are going according to our plan. Contact them now and start the operation.”
“Guh...!”
Barrett swallowed his unease and shouted.
“Fine. Send the signal to Landon Crowe to commence the operation! We'll pursue the Caliper army!”
The Western army began chasing after the Caliper army.
The key to this plan was making it look like the Caliper army was the one being pursued. That would make it more likely to deceive Bekavia with the false information.
After a forced march, they finally caught up to the Caliper army's rear after an hour.
“Damn it, this is taking longer than expected!”
If Barrett had miscalculated anything, it was how quickly the Caliper army had chosen to flee.
That had cost them a lot of time just to catch their tail.
‘And we don't even have numerical superiority. Our forces are evenly matched right now. If they turn their army around with determination, we could end up getting devoured instead.’
That was why he couldn't just charge ahead recklessly.
Barrett wanted to calmly form his lines and engage, but if he did, the Caliper army would get even farther away.
‘If they pull too far ahead too quickly, the plan could fall apart... I need to pin their feet somehow....’
Normally, he'd use cavalry to do that, but they hadn't formed any for this mountain infiltration operation.
As a result, he lacked the mobility he needed.
That was when Fisher stepped forward.
“Give me 500 men. I'll hold them down somehow.”
“...Looks like that's our only option right now. I'm counting on you, Fisher.”
Fisher Partin.
He was one of the Five Dragons, the group of peerless martial artists that Haneman boasted about, known in the West as a prodigy of spearmanship.
He led 500 elite infantry and charged at the Caliper army's rear.
*
*
*
500 commandos charging toward us.
I felt an eerie chill from the burly man at their front.
“What the hell is that guy.”
A spine-tingling wave of murderous intent.
‘They plan to forcibly pin us down with overwhelming force.’
We hadn't suffered any losses yet, so the enemy couldn't pursue one-sidedly either. Their idea was to have the commandos grab our heels while the main force formed up and approached.
‘You think we'll play along?’
An order came down from General Delbadova right away.
“First and Second Archer Units, about-face!”
The archers spun around as if they'd been waiting, nocking their arrows.
Dorothy, commander of the Second Archer Unit, took a deep breath and shouted.
“Fire!”
Arrows scattered into the air.
But the enemy was no pushover.
Judging that stopping to block arrows would halt their pursuit, they chose the mad option of charging on while only shielding vitals with their shields.
This was something only elite troops could pull off. Regular soldiers would have panicked and failed to follow orders.
Over 100 soldiers collapsed with arrows in their thighs and shins, but the remaining 400 kept their speed and closed in.
“They're just bulldozing through...! Archers, keep firing as soon as you're loaded!”
Another volley of arrows downed about 150 more, halving their numbers, but the enemy still managed to reach us.
“Raaagh!”
Kwakwakwakwa! Massive spear tips piercing soldiers' heads.
The burly man at the front wasn't satisfied with that—he swung his spear wide. The razor-sharp blade sliced through the necks of five soldiers at once, as if it were a sword.
“M-Monster...!”
“Mercy!”
The soldiers scattered in terror.
Unfortunately, there was no time to save them.
Having chosen this plan, we had to accept the risks.
General Delbadova, having steeled himself for those risks, urged the retreat.
“Ignore the enemies who've broken through! Don't stop—keep moving forward!”
But in that moment.
Something happened that neither I nor General Delbadova had anticipated.
“Crush the enemy!”
“Save the rear guard!”
“We're here!”
Three groups suddenly charged toward the burly man.
Kesfer, Joshua, Denian. They were the cadet officers.
Each led 500 men—a total of 1,500—to rescue the rear.
At first glance, it seemed like a solid choice. Eliminate the infiltrators quickly and retreat, and theoretically, it was the best move.
If they could even kill that burly man who looked like their key force, it would be the perfect outcome.
The problem was that the enemy wasn't that sloppy.
“They walked right into it...!”
That's what it sounded like to me.
As eyes turned to him, the burly man wheeled his mount.
“Charge in! Follow me!”
Leading only 70 of his commandos, he began rampaging through the formation.
This completely pinned down the rear guard's feet.
We had planned to sacrifice the tail end to retreat, but the cadets' rash action stretched the connection between the tail and main body, tangling the overall formation and getting our ankles grabbed.
‘This is bad!’
The enemy's main force, already formed up, was approaching. At this rate, the rear might get wiped out.
‘We can't take one-sided losses!’
I immediately sent a messenger to General Delbadova, demanding he turn the army around.
The general was thinking the same thing. He shouted to the soldiers.
“Vanguard, turn back! All forces, counterattack the enemy!”
The soldiers about-faced in unison. And so, a full-scale battle began between the Western army's 20,000 and our Caliper army's 20,000.
*
*
*
Chaos engulfed the rear guard, now the vanguard after the army turned.
Kesfer bit his lip hard.
“Ruan...! That bastard...!”
Denian and Joshua had followed his signal, but not Ruan's unit.
That prevented a proper encirclement, giving Fisher an opening to break through.
“It's all that guy's fault!”
In reality, even if Ruan had come, they wouldn't have stopped Fisher—but Kesfer was convinced the failure was entirely Ruan's doing.
“Kesfer! What now!?”
Joshua asked, pale-faced. Kesfer ground his teeth.
‘Damn it, we're gonna get chewed out for this.’
It all came down to results in the end.
If the operation succeeded in saving the rear and killing the enemy commander, it would be merit. But failure meant punishment.
‘I need to turn this around!’
His eyes were fixed on Fisher Partin, who was breaking through and rampaging.
‘Capture that guy! If I take him down, everything gets smoothed over!’
That's when it happened.
Rumble! A unit heading toward Fisher—Ruan Chase's unit.
“Ruan! You sneaky rat!”
It was obvious he was trying to steal the glory.
“We're going too! Can't let Ruan take it!”
Kesfer and the cadets charged at Fisher. Noticing this, Fisher muttered softly.
“All eyes on me, huh. Perfect.”
Barrett, advancing with his main force, wouldn't miss this chance.
Fisher hurriedly scouted escape routes. It was time to pull out, after all.
That's when Ruan Chase lunged at him. An orange aura flickered along his sword.
“I'll take that head!”
“Ha, a little punk.”
The two clashed.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Spear strikes swift enough to tear the air.
“...!?”
Ruan could only pull back his attacks and focus on evasion.
Not wanting to drag it out, Fisher thrust straight for vitals.
“Guh! Haaah!”
Clang! Ruan deflected the spear with all his might. Admiration crossed Fisher's face.
“Not bad strength, but if you think that'll handle me, you're mistaken!”
Aura surged. Golden aura coated his massive spear, making it writhe like a dragon.
This was how the Western enthusiasts described it.
Yellow Dragon Fisher Partin.
The supreme among the Five Dragons, the mightiest and most ferocious.
“Die!”
The spear tip shot toward Ruan's heart, intent on piercing anything in its path. But it was Kesfer's group who blocked it, charging in.
“Kill him!”
“...!”
Distracted, Ruan rolled on the ground to dodge the spear.
“More flies buzzing around...!”
Kesfer's sudden move caught him off guard.
With the enemy main force closing in, this was a bad play from the big-picture view—but from the angle of definitely killing Fisher, it was brilliant.
‘Can't push this further.’
That's when it happened.
Boom! Barrett's detachment entered to open an escape route.
“You're here...! Good, fall back!”
Fisher brightened and began retreating.
Kesfer and Ruan tried to pursue, but clang! Each blocked a spear strike from Fisher and staggered back, unable to match his momentum.
Fisher had just chased off the cadets and was about to break free from the Caliper formation.
That's when he felt a chill down his neck.
“...!”
A spear tip flying in from the side.
“Another fly...!”
Fisher swung his spear shaft to knock it away, but Als pressed in one step further, drawing the sword from his back with his left hand and swinging it at his neck.