Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Left Flank Highlands
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Left flank highlands.
Having read the Caliper army's scheme, Fisher Partin immediately tried to withdraw from the battlefield.
‘I need to hurry and rescue Barrett!’
He planned to leave it to his aides and depart, but Delbadova noticed his intent and shouted.
“Seize him! Don’t let him escape no matter what!”
Delbadova knew full well. If Fisher slipped away at this early timing, the plan might fail, and even if it had already succeeded, Als would be in danger.
‘I can’t let that guy die!’
Grinding his teeth, Delbadova.
He pushed forward recklessly to capture Fisher somehow.
“Raaagh!”
“You filthy worm!”
Fisher was furious to the tips of his hair at that tenacious persistence. He judged that at this rate, his feet would be held down. Instead, he decided to swiftly deal with them here.
“Die, you arrogant bastards—!”
Fisher swung his spear with a murderous glare. He focused solely on taking their lives, heedless of his own wounds.
In the process, his thigh was slashed and his forearm cut, but he succeeded in killing a significant number of Delbadova’s aides and driving his spear into the right side of Delbadova’s chest.
“Cough!?”
Delbadova collapsed, vomiting blood.
At Fisher’s display of force, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.
“Haa…! Haa…! Anyone else who wants to die, step up! I’ll kill you with my single spear!”
He even turned his murderous gaze toward the cadets.
“Eek!?”
Joshua and Denian cowered in overwhelming fear. Casper’s legs were trembling too.
They had finally realized it.
That the man before them was someone they couldn’t even dream of opposing. That if Delbadova and his aides hadn’t fought with their lives on the line, they would already be dead.
“Th-that can’t be….”
Ruan Chase felt the shock especially keenly. He had believed his martial prowess had already reached a profound realm.
With his talent in martial arts and his innate qualities as a victor, he thought Fisher was merely an obstacle that would eventually kneel before him.
Realizing that was a grave delusion shattered the very definition of strength he had believed in.
Then, terror of death came crashing over him like a tidal wave.
“Ah!”
Ruan despaired at the fact that he had unwittingly fallen on his rear. As Fisher looked down at him like a bug, his mind could no longer hold.
“Uwaaaah—!”
He scrambled away in pathetic flight.
Casper’s group was no different. The only distinction was that they couldn’t even think of fleeing properly.
“W-Wade! Do something! Please!”
“Wade! What are you doing!”
Joshua and Denian’s urgings.
Casper’s mind was at its limit too.
“Wade? You’re Wade?”
Fisher, having overheard, turned his gaze, and Casper froze like a frog facing a snake.
As the killing intent turned toward him, he began trembling uncontrollably.
He barely managed to move his lips.
“A-ah, aaah, no! I’m not W-Wade! I’m j-just imitating him…!”
“Hmph.”
Fisher snorted. He deemed him unworthy of engagement.
He declared coldly.
“If you thought you could reach me, you were mistaken. I am the continent’s foremost spear master. Trash like you lot from the continent aren’t fit to be my opponents!”
At his roar, the Caliper soldiers, including the cadets, lost all will to fight.
With their supreme commander Delbadova already down, the soldiers were gripped by fear, and Joshua and Denian were on the verge of wetting themselves.
“Hmph.”
Fisher smiled in satisfaction.
Even if he withdrew now, this battlefield wouldn’t collapse. The Caliper forces might even retreat.
‘No time to dawdle any longer. I must hurry and rescue Barrett…!’
But then.
Stab! A sharp pain shot through his calf.
The fallen Delbadova had grabbed a shard of his broken sword with bare hands and stabbed Fisher’s calf.
“Don’t… let him… go…!”
Delbadova spat out his blood-mingled cry.
“Don’t fear! Fight…!”
“You…!”
Thwack! Fisher smashed the butt of his spear down on Delbadova’s head, pulverizing it. His expression was contorted in rage.
“Sniff…! We’ll follow the general! Attack!”
“Show no mercy to the western barbarians!”
The Caliper forces, holding back tears, reignited their battle spirit.
Fisher was so annoyed he wanted to kill every last Caliper soldier here, but he had no time.
“Aide, hold the line. I’ll return right after rescuing Barrett!”
“Yes, sir!”
Thus, Fisher headed alone toward Als’s position.
*
*
*
Meanwhile, at the Salleon family residence in Alpenserd.
It was a grand mansion, but its purpose was merely a temporary home purchased for Erina’s convenience in commuting to the academy.
Erina was there to receive Estelle.
“It’s been a while, Estelle.”
“Yes….”
Estelle couldn’t relax her expression. Not since hearing that the Caliper forces had begun clashing with the western army.
To quell that uncontrollable anxiety, she needed someone to talk to.
Her father Lutger was too busy with internal affairs due to Olaf’s sudden disappearance to spare time.
So, she had asked her friend Beryl to arrange a visit to Alpenserd to meet Erina.
“I’m sorry, but all I know is that they’ve entered combat.”
The supply lines had been cut, and the intelligence network severed in an instant.
Estelle’s face clouded over.
“I wonder if Lord Als is safe.”
“Cadets are protected by the continental treaty—should they be captured as prisoners, they’re to be released without ransom. So….”
“But the enemy are western barbarians. Do you really think they’ll honor the treaty….”
“Steel yourself. Lord Als wouldn’t lose his life in a place like this. He’ll return with that same nonchalant look, just like always.”
“Sniff…!”
Estelle choked up.
Erina let out a small sigh and sat beside her, gently embracing her.
“That anxious?”
“…”
“Don’t worry too much. He came back from the Chimera War too. I heard this war is less dangerous than that one.”
The overall situation was indeed better than during the Chimera War.
But Estelle felt an instinctive unease. A fear on an entirely different level from before.
“I don’t know why, but my heart is pounding so much…!”
“It’s probably because you haven’t slept. Stay here tonight. There are plenty of rooms. Joan! Show her to a room.”
Estelle left the drawing room dejectedly.
Erina had encouraged her to stay strong, but she was just as distraught.
She fiddled with her fan to calm herself, but crack! It snapped with an odd sound.
“Maybe I’ve used it too long….”
Even so, she had no intention of discarding it.
It was the fan Als had given her back then.
The fact that it broke at this timing brought on a wave of anxiety, but she dismissed it as superstition and forced her expression to steady.
*
*
*
After felling the enemy commander, I planned to withdraw immediately. If the enemy caught on and came here, the risk of isolation was too high.
However, the enemy guards numbered more than expected, dragging things out.
It had barely been any time since I broke free.
A chill crept up my body.
“You bastard….”
A hulking man had appeared out of nowhere, glaring at me.
He eyed me and the head of the enemy commander Barrett that Dillas had secured, radiating killing intent.
“You’ve done quite the deed. Barrett is the strategist most favored by Lord Hanneman. The price for taking his life can’t be paid even with all your heads.”
Even those grizzled mercenaries quailed under his pressure.
“C-Commander. That guy is the one from before…!”
“Yes. According to what the prisoner we captured spilled, he’s called Fisher Partin. One of Hanneman’s Five Dragons or whatever. Seems skilled enough.”
Dillas gripped his weapon tightly as he spoke.
“Commander, if we don’t deal with them, we won’t escape.”
“So it seems.”
He must have called for reinforcements on his way here—some seventy troops followed behind.
I searched for another variable, but he had no intention of giving me time.
“Kill them all!”
Enraged, Fisher charged straight at me alone.
Thus began the melee.
If Fisher rampaged freely, the other soldiers would die too quickly, so I had no choice but to tie him down one-on-one.
“Hup!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Spear tip aimed only at vitals. I focused entirely on defense with both sword and spear.
‘Compared to before, his sharpness has clearly dulled!’
Having clashed with General Delbadova, he bore wounds all over, and his movements looked labored.
‘Moreover, the spear style he’s using is unmistakably….’
No doubt about it.
Garand Style spearmanship.
It dated back to my childhood, when we sought a spearmanship instructor.
Father had tried to hire a continentally renowned Garand Style master, but their rigid formalities and excessive pride made it impossible.
Thanks to that, we met Master Ilyia instead—a fortunate outcome—but I remained interested in Garand Style afterward.
Because in the game, Als—who wielded only a single spear—likely used Garand Style.
As a child, vaguely trying to follow the game’s story, I wanted to know about it.
When I asked, my master said,
[Then I’ll show you.]
He had personally demonstrated Garand Style for me.
It wasn’t superficial. While lacking depth, he knew every movement intimately.
When I inquired further, he told me in confidence, as our secret.
[Truth is, Garand Style branched off from our Chester Style fifty years ago. These days, we’ve diverged quite a bit, though.]
[What happened?]
[It’s complicated. I’ll tell you when the time comes.]
In any case, I had some exposure to Garand Style through my master.
The man before me was a Garand Style expert, so I wasn’t sure how far my knowledge would take me, but I had to try my utmost.
Whoosh! Fisher swung the spear shaft to strike. I knew what that motion was.
‘Feint a swing, then thrust!’
Whoosh! I narrowly dodged and closed in, swinging my left-hand sword.
The moment Fisher leaned back to evade.
‘Got you!’
I crossed sword and spear to seize his spear shaft, which hadn’t fully withdrawn.
‘Chester Style secret art: Moon-Sun Union!’
Unlike Sun-Moon Union, which seized the opponent’s weapon with their own attack’s momentum, this was the opposite.
I directly grabbed their weapon to disarm them.
‘If I take his spear…!’
But whoosh! As he retreated, Fisher drew a dagger from his waist and hurled it at me.
The dagger flew toward my heart. I abandoned the technique to deflect it.
Seeing my shock, Fisher murmured lowly.
“How did I know? Same way you know about our Garand Style. You think we don’t know Chester Style?”
“Guh…!”
“Sorry, kid—little tricks won’t work!”
His attacks grew fiercer.
I was barely keeping up defense.
‘Damn, I have an ace up my sleeve, but no opening to use it!’
At best, thirty exchanges more. Wounds began accumulating on my body too.
Unable to watch, Dillas shouted.
“Aegert! Help the commander!”
“Haa! Haa! Got it!”
Aegert, who had been holding off the enemy soldiers, charged straight at Fisher.
“Scram, you small fry!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Fisher tried to brush him off easily, but Aegert dodged nimbly this way and that, then crunch! Gripping his sword with both hands, clang!! He repelled Fisher with an aura-infused blade.
Slide! Fisher was pushed back. He had blocked, but the impact reopened a cheek wound, blood trickling down.
“Heh heh! How’s that taste!”
“…!”
Fisher’s expression hardened. And rightly so—Aegert’s skill was below mine but on par with Ruan Chase.
More than enough to burden a fatigued opponent.
I glimpsed a ray of hope.
“Good, Aegert! Sync with me!”
“Got it, pretty commander!”
With Aegert sharing some of the attacks, I could finally breathe and time my ace.
‘Not much time.’
My subordinates were holding well, letting me focus on Fisher, but more enemies could swarm anytime.
They seemed disorganized without command structure, but that wouldn’t last.
The silver lining: the enemy wasn’t stalling for time. He aimed to end it here, ignoring his surroundings.
Then, at last, an opening.
It started when one of our soldiers aimed a crossbow at Fisher’s nape from behind.
“Hmph!”
Sensing the intent, Fisher ducked, evading the bolt.
The bolt hurtled toward my face in his frontal line.
“Uwah!?”
Suddenly facing the bolt head-on, I barely turned my head aside. It grazed my temple.
In that moment our movements slowed. Aegert seized the chance.
“Raaagh!”
Sword swung at the head-down Fisher’s neck.
Fisher drew another waist dagger to block, but it couldn’t withstand Aegert’s power. It snapped, slash! Slicing near Fisher’s chest.
Originally aimed at the neck, the block diverted it to the chest.
Blood sprayed.
“Groooar!”
Infuriated, Fisher swung his spear shaft wide at Aegert.
“Guhk!?”
Thud! Hit in the side, Aegert tumbled wildly before crashing into a tree. A rib had pierced his lung; he vomited blood.
‘Now!’
I dove into the gap created by his spear swing.
I aimed straight for the throat, but his recovery was too swift. He shortened his grip and targeted my head.
‘Tch!’
Continuing would likely end in mutual destruction, so I changed plans.
Clang! I blocked his thrust upright with my spear shaft, then used the recoil to slip right.
Mid-spin, I yanked my left sword hard.
Slash! His left arm severed just above the elbow along the blade’s path.