Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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Even in Phelon Gorge, they had clashed with a fair number of enemy troops.
But when the scale shifted to thousands, the pressure changed completely.
“Hoo… Hoo…”
“Why are you shaking like this?”
“Aren’t you tense at all, Squad Leader?”
“Is this your first large-scale battle?”
“…Yes.”
Arthur was one of the more seasoned soldiers in the 6th Squad when it came to military life.
But even he couldn’t help trembling in a situation like this.
Seeing a guy built like a mountain beast shaking like a leaf was enough to bring a smile.
Pfft.
“You seem awfully relaxed, Squad Leader.”
“Well…”
He’d been through battles like this countless times.
In fact, it would be more accurate to say he’d fought in far worse conditions more often.
Lian gazed at the fierce tribesmen glaring at them from less than a hundred meters away.
Galrel stood at the very front.
He seemed to have changed into long pants to hide the injury on his leg, but his weight was oddly shifted toward the right.
‘Well, I did pierce it clean through, so he can’t ignore it completely.’
But that didn’t mean a single hole in his calf had crippled his combat ability.
Lian was simply coldly assessing the situation and checking his own condition.
“Focus on the shield wall first and foremost. If the formation breaks for any reason, remember the plan I laid out.”
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
They all nodded and replied.
Lian glanced at Isaac.
“…”
This kid really was born for this.
Not just Arthur, but Kyle and Brandt were unable to hide their tension either.
And why wouldn’t they be?
Less than a hundred meters away, around fifteen hundred beast-like enemies were grinding their teeth, ready to kill them.
Yet Isaac’s eyes remained calmly composed amid it all.
His muscles maintained just the right tension, ready to draw his sword at any moment, while his breathing stayed steady.
These were things you only got used to after experiencing them over a long time.
Lian could manage it because he’d been on battlefields like this for over twenty years,
‘But a mere thirteen-year-old…’
He couldn’t help but marvel every time he saw it.
But soon, Lian turned his gaze forward again.
He could see the signs that the enemy was about to move.
“Waaaaah—!”
“Kill them all!”
“We’ll slaughter every last one—!”
With a thunderous roar, the crouched fierce tribesmen exploded forward like a storm.
Their eyes said it all.
They would make these arrogant fools who dared leave the castle regret it bitterly.
Bwoooo—!
At the same time, a horn blared loudly from their side.
And in that instant,
Thud! Click—!
The soldiers forming the outer wall of the square formation raised their shields and pressed them tight against their bodies.
Every one of them wore armor and helmets, shielding their bodies with thick tower shields.
It was no exaggeration to call it a moving fortress.
Thud thud thud thud! Thud thud thud thud thud!
The soldiers held their breath as they watched the fierce tribesmen charging.
“They’re coming! They’re coming!”
“Hold! Don’t break formation!”
“Press the shields tight to your bodies! Closer!”
The allied shieldbearers shouted to one another, bracing for the collision as the fierce tribesmen bore down.
And the moment the fierce tribesmen crashed in,
Kwaaaang—!
A massive boom rang out, and the shieldbearers’ bodies shook violently.
But after staggering back a few steps, the formation held perfectly.
“Now!”
“Waaaaah—!”
As the shields lowered and the shieldbearers slightly shifted aside,
“Die!”
“Drop dead, you bastards!”
Stab! Thunk! Stab!
“Gaaaaah!”
“Aaaaagh!”
The spearmen seized the openings, mercilessly thrusting at the fierce tribe warriors in front.
A perfect harmony of spear and shield.
Dozens of the frontline fierce tribe warriors lost their lives without accomplishing a thing.
“Push! Show them our spirit!”
“When they attack, strike together! That’s their opening!”
But these weren’t foes who would take it lying down.
The fierce tribe warriors trampled over their fallen comrades’ bodies and began hammering at the Artian Kingdom’s shields.
“Hold! Raise the shields higher!”
“If we give ground, it’s over! Hold!”
The shieldbearers gritted their teeth against the fierce tribesmen’s powerful blows. But then, Kwaaaang—!
An unnatural boom came from the side, followed by screams erupting one after another.
“The flank’s breached! Shields up, block it now!”
“T-That’s the enemy commander!”
“The enemy leader’s here!”
At that moment, Lian’s head snapped to the opposite side.
Galrel had circled around to the flank, his blood-red eyes flashing as he swung his axe.
‘No one can block an Aura-wreathed attack…!’
Of course, he probably couldn’t use it often. And it wasn’t even fully formed Aura.
But that didn’t make it something to take lightly.
The moment he wrapped his weapon in even faint Aura, steel shields would crumple like paper.
“Kyle! Arthur!”
“Yes!”
“We head straight there and block the enemy leader. Remember the plan I mentioned, but absolutely do not get close to him!”
“Urgh…!”
“…Mother, today your son will go meet Father first!”
Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and charged straight ahead.
When the bear-like man committed to brute force, even the fierce tribe warriors who matched him in strength were helpless.
Boom!
“Gack!”
Kyle swung the tower shield in his hand, sending one fierce tribe warrior flying into the sky.
“…Wow.”
The guy who’d been launched was no lightweight, yet he was nothing to Kyle.
“Kyle! Left side!”
Just then, a fierce tribe warrior lunged at Kyle’s left like a beast as he charged like a raging bull.
Brandt hurriedly shouted and raised his spear, but
Swoooosh! Thunk—!
Lian’s arrow pierced the fierce tribe warrior’s throat faster.
Brandt, who had been raising his spear, blinked in astonishment at Lian over the split-second event.
“Don’t let your guard down. Assume everything around you is the enemy.”
“Yes, sir!”
Brandt swallowed hard and replied.
Unlike his usual self, Lian’s aura felt chillingly cold.
‘The formation’s already crumbling.’
And all because of a single hole punched by one man.
They were scrambling to reform, but a sturdy formation was hard to restore once broken.
‘We need to buy time.’
Lian coldly assessed their own forces.
Ten men or not, charging head-on at Galrel, who could use Aura, was suicide.
‘At least five more times…’
Lian had seen plenty of foes on the battlefield who used Aura as immaturely as Galrel.
The one who’d led three hundred fierce tribesmen in Phelon Gorge before was the same.
That was why he knew their clear weakness stemmed from their inexperience.
Using Aura itself consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
‘Unless they’re Swordmaster level, each use is a huge burden even for them.’
Lian glanced at the bracelet, ring, and gloves on his hand.
He still didn’t know exactly what functions the ring and gloves had.
‘Haven’t had time to figure it out.’
Which left only the bracelet he could use.
Crack!
“Kyle! Break through the front!”
“Raaaaah!”
The ten-man 6th Squad broke off and charged toward Galrel, shoving aside the nearby fierce tribe warriors.
It was such a chaotic melee with numbers on both sides that a wrong move could mean getting hit from behind.
Stab!
“Right side, careful!”
“I see it!”
But Lian’s squad members were carrying out their roles perfectly.
They paired up in twos to watch each other’s backs, while Kyle and Arthur preemptively blocked any who got too close with their shields.
As a result, space began to open up around Lian’s squad members.
“Isaac!”
“Yes!”
At Lian’s call, Isaac drew the two swords at his waist.
Now it was time for the crouching genius to make his name known.
Slash, shwick—!
Wielding dual swords, Isaac was like a miniature storm.
Though his frame was under 170cm, he was swift and sharp.
Especially compared to when he used a spear—there was no gap between thrust and recovery; right after one attack with the twin blades ended, the next flowed seamlessly.
‘That’s it! That’s your strength, Isaac!’
A relentless storm of attacks without pause.
But his body was still too immature to fight exactly as he envisioned.
He felled three fierce tribe warriors in an instant, but as he lowered his stance and rose again, Isaac staggered.
“Isaac!”
“Danger, Isaac!”
The squad members shouted at him.
Because the moment Isaac staggered, a fierce tribe warrior in front of him glared and raised his sword.
“You rat bastard, die—!”
The enemy’s sword was coming down on his head, but Isaac’s eyes didn’t waver.
Thunk!
Before the fierce tribe warrior’s sword could smash Isaac’s head, an arrow struck the warrior’s first.
“Nice one, Squad Leader.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
Isaac had absolute faith.
That Lian had his back.
That was why he could fight so fearlessly.
Easier said than done—it took real guts, staking your life on it.
“6th Squad! Rally here!”
Tadadadadak!
Even in the fierce battle, Lian kept scanning the situation, striving to hold a more advantageous position.
With Lian’s call, the 6th Squad reformed into a circle, rebuilding their formation.
Peerless performance.
The number of dead fierce tribesmen around them already exceeded fifty—an astonishing tally.
And compared to that, the 6th Squad’s casualties were practically zero.
“…Those damn whelps.”
Galrel had also clocked their standout performance.
Leaving them be would disrupt the flow.
“Guess I need to kill that one first.”
Not for revenge, but even looking at the overall battlefield picture, the young one took priority.
Everywhere else was even or slightly favoring them.
But that spot alone was distinctly different.
Before their momentum built further, it needed to be crushed decisively.
“Teobalr.”
“Yes, Commander.”
A fierce tribe warrior named Teobalr, who guarded Galrel’s side, replied.
He was a man with a scar running from his left eye down to his jaw—an impressive sight. He was a head shorter than Galrel.
At his response, Galrel said,
“We hit those guys directly.”
“…Those ones?”
Pushing through the enemy’s defense to strike inside could kill their commander.
So why bother with a mere squad of soldiers?
Teobalr looked at Galrel with doubt. But,
“Understood.”
Under Galrel’s gaze, Teobalr nodded.
Galrel was one of the fiercest warriors among the tribes. And beyond raw power, he knew ‘war.’
All they had to do was follow his lead.
“Then we deal with that big lug first.”
Teobalr eyed Kyle, who held a shield at the forefront. To that, Galrel declared lowly,
“No. We kill that whelp.”