Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion (3)
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Pa-bat!
Lian kicked off the ground and leaped up, gripping the spear shaft with his left hand while pressing his right palm against its end.
And in the moment he vaulted over the bushes, he spotted the fierce tribesmen crouching on the ground.
“ANJDI TMQRUR!”
“vlg-!”
Pook!
The sudden appearance of Lian threw them into panic, and they hurriedly tried to stand.
But with their bodies covered in dirt and gravel, their reactions were inevitably a bit slow.
Pook!
At that instant, Lian’s spear pierced the throat of the one on the far left.
Though his strength was somewhat lacking, the precise strike to the vital point meant that one fierce tribesman died on the spot without accomplishing anything.
“Hua!”
Pulling the spear free, Lian immediately pressed his right palm back against its end.
It was just a technique he’d glimpsed from afar,
Whiric!
As he spun the spear shaft with his right palm while twisting it with his left hand.
Lian’s spear shot forward like a spinning javelin, piercing the chest of the one in front of him.
Peok!
With a dull thud, the enemy raising its glaive froze in place.
“Keoluk!”
It soon spat blood, and the hand holding the glaive dropped limply.
But,
‘Too shallow……!’
Damn it. Even using a technique, it was impossible to kill an adult fierce tribesman in one blow.
He’d stabbed precisely into the left chest, but the pierced fierce tribesman tossed aside its glaive and seized Lian’s spear with both hands.
“ZNFMTK-!”
As it shouted something, a young fierce tribesman nearby charged at Lian with a ferocious glare.
The glaive it drew swung straight down toward Lian’s head.
Pa-bat!
But in that instant, Lian released the spear and rolled across the ground.
The fierce tribesman’s attack barely missed Lian, slicing through empty air.
“Kruk-!”
Thud!
Finally, the fierce tribesman with the spear in its chest toppled backward.
The fortunate part was that this scouting party of fierce tribesmen consisted of only one squad.
“Kraaaah!”
But the remaining fierce tribesmen roared as they rushed at Lian, now unarmed.
“Uwaak!”
Lian cried out and thrust his hand toward the fierce tribesman that pounced on him.
The fierce tribesman mounted the fallen Lian and thrust its glaive straight at his face.
But,
Kwa-jik!
“Kuk!”
The moment the blade plunged toward his face, Lian instinctively grabbed it with both hands.
His palms split open around the blade, blood dripping down onto his face.
“Uaaaaah!”
“Kkeueueueu!”
A desperate struggle ensued between the fierce tribesman leaning its weight on the blade and Lian gripping the edge.
‘I, I’m gonna die like this……!’
Blood dripping onto his face grew heavier, and his hands trembled around the blade.
He knew he couldn’t hold out like this.
“Uaaaaah!”
Lian shoved the blade aside while turning his head the other way.
Pook!
In that moment, the glaive barely grazed the side of Lian’s face and stabbed into the ground.
“WNRUQJFLREK-!”
As the fierce tribesman tried to pull the glaive free again,
Kwa-jik!
“Gek-!”
Lian smashed a rock in his hand against the side of its head.
The enemy’s eyes glazed over, momentarily losing consciousness.
“Uaaaaah!”
Lian flipped over, pinning the fierce tribesman to the ground and mounting it.
Puk! Puk! Kwa-jik! Puk! Puk!
Lian relentlessly bashed its head with the rock.
When blood splattered and the body went still,
“Hoo, hoo, huuk!”
Lian gasped for breath raggedly.
“……Damn it, freaking hell.”
Judging by their actions, they seemed like total rookies.
To end up in this state after ambushing three greenhorns like this.
Lian raised his trembling hand and looked at it.
Only now did the pain from the gashes in his palm register.
He frowned at the wound caked with dirt and sand. But he didn’t have time to linger.
‘Gotta get back fast……!’
Lian grabbed a glaive and severed the neck of the one he’d just killed. He roughly tucked the glaive into his waistband, picked up his spear and the fierce tribesman’s head, and hurriedly moved out.
If any comrades were nearby, he’d be dead meat.
Kwa-dang!
But his body, tense to the limit, tripped over a rock after just a few steps.
‘Everything’s going wrong, really.’
Springing back up, Lian dashed toward where the group was.
The uphill climb was exhausting enough to kill him,
‘But I did it……!’
His mood felt as light as if he could fly.
* * *
“Where the hell is that bastard going?”
Lian had already vanished from sight.
He’d gone all the way to the end of the opposite gorge, so it was inevitable.
‘That damn bastard…… When he gets back, I’m gonna beat the crap out of him.’
From climbing the steep gorge to acting alone, there wasn’t a single thing to like.
Tauran was fuming, waiting for Lian to return. But then,
“Squad Leader Tauran!”
A shout from below, and Lian’s figure came into view.
There was still some distance, but they could confirm each other with the naked eye.
“Lian, you bastard!”
Tauran spotted him and ran down, yelling.
He felt like he wouldn’t calm down without slapping the kid’s cheek at least.
As Tauran rushed toward Lian, he noticed something Lian was holding up.
“Sir Tauran! Ambush!”
“What the hell is that……?”
Tauran squinted, peering at what Lian held.
Dripping with red blood.
“Hiiiik!”
Realizing it was a human head, Tauran freaked out and plopped down right there.
Lian stared at him, dumbfounded.
‘What’s with this guy?’
Freaking out like that just from seeing a severed head?
“……Haa.”
Well, what could you expect from a greenhorn squad leader like him.
Letting out a small sigh, Lian quickly schooled his expression and ran to Tauran.
“Sir Tauran, it’s an ambush!”
“W-where did you get that…… No, wait, you fought?”
Only then did Tauran notice Lian’s disheveled state.
Covered in dirt like he’d rolled on the ground, with blood smeared all over his face and hands.
Lian nodded.
But as if it didn’t matter, he hoisted up the fierce tribesman’s head.
“We need to report back fast. Fierce tribesmen are ambushing at the end of the gorge, and I’ve roughly gauged their numbers.”
“H-how many?”
“Not exact, but probably more than our army.”
“…….”
Tauran’s face hardened at those words.
He couldn’t blindly trust a rookie’s report, and taking scouts to check the gorge’s end risked unexpected combat.
But what really pressured Tauran was something else.
All this merit had been claimed ‘alone’ by the rookie Lian.
But then,
“Thanks to you, Sir Tauran, we discovered the enemy ambush.”
“……Huh?”
“You sent me to scout the end of the gorge, didn’t you? It’s not standard procedure…… As expected of someone with so much experience.”
Tauran’s expression brightened instantly.
“Y-yeah? Haha, you did well too.”
“Then we should hurry back.”
“Yeah, let’s go!”
At Tauran’s words, Lian turned with the other scouts and rushed back to main camp.
* * *
“Hey, you hear?”
“What the hell did that rookie do?”
The mood in 3rd Platoon was different from usual.
And for good reason—a rookie scout had returned with massive results.
“Ran all the way to the end of the gorge, they say?”
“Crazy bastard, how far is that?”
“Well, you could if you tried. Phelon Gorge isn’t that long.”
“True. But scouting the gorge end during a gorge recon? That’s insane.”
Veteran soldiers muttered, piecing together the situation.
They wanted to ask Tauran straight up,
“Just leave it. He’s probably pissed.”
Bark spoke while eyeing 6th Squad Leader Vector staring at the tent.
He’d led the scout team, but only Lian had been called to the emergency meeting.
It’d bruise any squad leader’s pride.
“Anyway, what’s with this super long meeting?”
They just kept glancing at the tent being used as the emergency conference room.
“It’s a fierce tribe tattoo, alright.”
The tattoo on the severed head Lian brought was a signature fierce tribe pattern.
Though patterns varied by tribe, it confirmed the head belonged to a fierce tribesman.
“An ambush right after the gorge ends?”
Eagle Company’s Company Commander Raymond felt cold sweat trickle down his neck.
It was completely unexpected.
“How many?”
“……Sorry, sir. I couldn’t judge precisely. But in my personal assessment, around our forces or more.”
“Basis?”
“Fierce tribesmen fight based on overwhelming numbers. Plus, in these nearly windless plains, I spotted bushes shaking. I could see the whole area where the gorge end meets the plains start. So…… If they’re spaced out for ambush, it’d match our army. If packed tight, more than us.”
He already knew the ambushing fierce tribesmen numbered nearly five hundred.
But he couldn’t say that outright.
‘No way a rookie has the skill to gauge that.’
Just report what he saw, roughly.
That was fitting for a rookie mildly interested in army and war.
Brian, 1st Platoon Leader listening beside him, clicked his tongue.
“No need to heed a rookie’s opinion, sir. Finding the enemy scout is impressive, but anything beyond is meaningless.”
“Agreed. We should send a new scout team to the gorge end now and confirm properly.”
5th Platoon Leader Telloal followed up on 1st Platoon Leader’s words.
But the company commander stared at the map on the table, deep in thought.
An ambush in the widening plains after the gorge.
It was plausible for that many to hide in a fan shape there.
And seeing that,
‘This…… maybe?’
Lian didn’t know much about Raymond.
Raymond had died in the first battle, Phelon Gorge.
Eagle Company disbanded afterward, scattering to others, so no chance to learn.
But now, something familiar overlapped with Raymond.
“Uh, sir, Company Commander.”
“……Hm?”
“A mere rookie interrupting officers!”
As Lian interjected, Brian raised his voice slightly. But Raymond held up a hand to silence him.
His gaze fixed on Lian.
“What is it? Speak.”
Straightforward eyes.
Knowing it was reckless, Lian spoke to him anyway.