Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Clash in the Canyon
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“Uwaaaah—!”
“Kill them! Kill them all!”
The moment they clashed with the barbarians defending the rear of the canyon, the melee erupted.
‘The enemy outnumbers us…!’
Even after linking up with the 5th Squad returning from the opposite side, the barbarians numbered well over a hundred by rough estimate.
“Charge! Kill the enemy!”
“Die! Die!”
The soldiers thrust their spears at the barbarians charging with their long falchions raised high.
But the moment the battle broke out, the green recruits froze in place.
“Get it together, you fool!”
“You freeze, you die! Hold that spear straight and stab!”
“Uwaaaah!”
Amid the shouts and screams bursting out everywhere, Lian quickly scanned his surroundings.
“P-Please, spare me!”
At that moment, a soldier collapsed on the ground cried out loudly.
Lian didn’t know his name, but he was wearing the kingdom’s armor.
Tadak!
In that instant, Lian nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring.
Kkiriik!
The bowstring bent in an instant, and his left hand holding the bow trembled slightly.
This familiar sensation.
The moment Lian drew and aimed, he released the string without a second thought.
Sheeeek—!
Thuk!
The arrow shot straight, embedding itself in the barbarian soldier’s chest.
“Gurk—!”
The barbarian let out a choked scream and collapsed to the ground.
The soldier who had fallen before the barbarian blinked in astonishment, unable to hide his bewilderment.
Pabat—!
Lian dashed over, snatched the soldier’s spear, and stabbed the fallen barbarian through the throat.
“Snap out of it!”
Lian shouted at him.
From his expression alone, it was clear he was a raw recruit who had enlisted around the same time as Lian.
‘Get swallowed by the battlefield’s aura, and your mind will snap.’
Just like this guy right now.
Before experiencing real war, plenty of hotheads talked big.
Claiming they’d slaughter every enemy soldier or boasting about topping the training grounds.
But once swept up in the heat of actual battle, their minds went blank, and all their prior thoughts vanished.
“Hold onto your wits. Don’t go stabbing your own side like a madman! Got it!?”
“Y-Yeah!”
Lian gripped the soldier’s shoulder hard and shoved the spear back into his hands. Then he turned, yanked the arrow from the barbarian’s chest.
‘Not enough arrows.’
Too few compared to the enemy numbers.
Maximizing the use of what he had was crucial.
‘Roughly a hundred fifty or more enemies.’
Lian had fewer than twenty arrows left.
‘At least thirty of them die by my hand.’
If he could kill thirty alone, he could end this melee quickly and open a path.
Lian turned to look toward the end of the canyon.
The chaos was already in full swing.
‘Our forces… about even?’
Thanks to the surprise attack, they were holding their own, but as time passed, the element of surprise would fade fast.
He had to finish before momentum waned.
Pabat!
Lian plunged deeper in, glancing around.
‘The captain…?’
Not visible here—must be further inside.
‘He’s the biggest threat…!’
Lian recalled the war records from when he had blinked into Phelon Canyon in the past.
He hadn’t noticed amid the frenzy, but the records detailed the Phelon Canyon battle thoroughly.
The ambush was bad enough, but the barbarian captain leading them was a monster beyond reason.
-Every swing of the barbarian captain’s halberd severed the heads of two or three soldiers, and not even the officers could stop him.
The memory burned clear.
Without taking down that captain somehow, victory was impossible.
“Guess that means… head inside.”
Gulp.
But this was a foreseen scenario.
He wasn’t some clueless fledgling anymore…
‘Rack up solid merits in this battle…’
『I will become a grand general.』
Finishing his thoughts, Lian rose and drew the bowstring.
Kkiriik!
It wasn’t a great bow, creaking with every draw.
But it didn’t matter.
The shooter was what counted.
“Hoo…!”
He inhaled, exhaled halfway,
Kkuuk!
Held his breath, and drew the string to full.
His body’s underdeveloped strength set clear limits.
But giving his all within those limits—that’s what a soldier did.
Pisyung—!
“…!”
Derek flinched as an arrow whistled past him. Then, kwajik!
“Urk—!”
The arrow struck the barbarian soldier’s chest, making him stagger with a scream.
But that was enough.
“Hraaaah—!”
As the hit barbarian faltered, Derek’s sword plunged into his gut.
Puk!
Derek kicked him over, then glanced back at Lian.
‘Hit this spot from there…?’
The distance wasn’t far. But in this tangle of friend and foe, could a raw recruit pinpoint an enemy like that?
It wasn’t about archery skill.
Without nerves of steel, most couldn’t even draw for fear of hitting allies.
“Heh.”
Derek chuckled in disbelief, then faced forward.
“Push! Break through fast!”
“Uwaaaah—!”
“Die, you bastards!”
Something bolstered their backs.
With Derek’s roar, the Eagle Company soldiers’ morale surged.
But unlike Derek, Lian’s face twisted.
‘Damn, missed…!’
He’d aimed for the nape to end it in one shot.
But in this frail body, not his original, aiming was a struggle.
‘Focus, Lian…!’
Grimacing, Lian leaped toward the canyon wall.
Covering from behind allies in this unsteady aim was risky.
Better to shoot from the open high ground—far superior for situational awareness and precision.
Tadak! Tadadak!
Sweat poured down Lian’s forehead.
Reaching the hillside ledge, Lian peered below.
“Good.”
Not many hiding spots, but a jutting rock crevice would do.
Plus, elevated above the fighters, it offered a full view of the battlefield.
“Kuaaaah!”
“Slaughter them! Kill!”
“Fight! Charge!”
The barbarians bellowed their cries.
They faltered briefly under Eagle Company’s fierce momentum, but a shout from what looked like an officer evened the odds again.
Lian’s eyes flashed.
‘That one?’
From above, it was obvious.
The barbarians guarding the rear clustered around that massive brute.
“Kuroararara!”
Kwajik!
His falchion, twice the size of others, smashed a soldier’s head.
The helmet crumpled completely, and the soldier dropped in one blow.
“Bronta! Uwaaaah! You bastard!”
An Eagle Company man, enraged at losing his comrade before his eyes, charged the brute.
“D-Dangerous!”
Rage doesn’t make you stronger.
It clouds judgment, leading to emotional suicide.
As expected, he screamed and thrust his spear at the barbarian officer.
Tak!
But the officer caught it effortlessly.
The Eagle Company man stared in shock.
One motion revealed the vast gap in skill, but instinct screamed it was too late.
“Pathetic worm!”
The barbarian officer sneered and raised his falchion.
Aiming to crush the skull in one go.
Tsheeeek—!
Then, a tearing whistle—an arrow streaked toward the barbarian officer’s head.
A surprise shot as his focus locked on the Eagle man…
Jeeng!
Instinctively, the officer raised his falchion, deflecting with the flat.
Nearly pure luck.
Even the officer looked stunned, glancing toward the arrow’s origin.
“Kuroaaaaaah!”
Fury from the near-death?
He reversed the snatched spear and hurled it at Lian with a massive leap.
Swooooosh—!
A monstrous throw.
Could anyone hurl a two-meter spear that accurately?
With just a few steps’ run-up, the empowered spear flew.
“Urk!”
Lian ducked urgently, hiding behind the rock.
Kwang!
The spear smashed the rock’s top, ricocheting aside.
“…Insane.”
The throw gouged deep into the rock.
What monstrous strength allowed such a javelin toss?
But that wasn’t the end.
“Come out, coward!”
The rogue barbarian officer charged Lian.
Not without reason—he knew the danger of such a precise archer.
“Shit.”
Lian cursed at the approaching brute.
Too fast.
‘Can’t escape…!’
Veteran instinct screamed it.
Even fleeing back, he’d be caught quick. Dodging luckily just dumps the monster into allies.
‘Casualties too high…!’
Soldier deaths would skyrocket.
Might cost the whole squad to take him down.
‘End it here.’
Fortune: Lian alone here. The brute charged straight.
Kung! Kung!
Heart pounded wildly again.
But he’d faced worse.
Kkiriik.
Body moved before mind.
Lian nocked and drew hard.
Good: still over twenty meters away.
Distance for one, maybe two shots.
Lian released without hesitation.
Shaaaak!
Targeting the brute’s left thigh.
Puk!
“Keuk!”
The charging brute lurched violently.
No surprise.
Close range, and he’d expect chest or head shots.
‘Seal movement first.’
A dire moment, but Lian spun, widening the gap.
Thigh hit, speed should drop.
After ten meters, Lian turned, arrow ready.
Now, pierce the heart and finish.
“…Huh?”
But turning, the brute was nearly upon him—Lian’s eyes shook.
‘Was I… too slow?’
He’d gauged the brute’s speed and his own run by his old self.
This 14-year-old Lian, muscles undeveloped, was weak and slow.
“Damn it.”
“Kuwaaaah!”
The brute kicked off, leaping—blood spurted from his left thigh.
Rock-hard muscles flexed, his longsword-length falchion arcing down.
‘Dying again like this…?’
“Uwaaaah!”
World froze; Lian hurled sideways.
Kung! Charruk! Deguldegul!
Left shoulder and waist felt crushed, world spun.
Barely dodging, Lian tumbled a dozen meters down, stopping against a boulder.
“Kuh!”
Mind nearly blanked, but lapse meant death.
Lian forced his eyes open, rose fast. Glanced at the charging brute.
“Die—!”
The brute roared triumphantly, charging.
An undersized whelp? Child’s play.
Pabat!
Lian ducked behind the rock.
“Coward!”
The brute’s bellow rang like thunder right beside, body vibrating.
Heart raced in sync.
‘One chance…’
Now truly the last.
Kill…
‘Or die.’
Even on death’s edge, Lian steadied breath, gripped arrow. Then, pabat—!