Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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Lian looked at the selected group.
He had trained them diligently for the short time available.
But only five had passed the final test.
“I’m sorry. I should have pushed them harder.”
Isaac said to Lian as he gazed at the five who had made it through.
Even as deputy commander, he should have paid more attention to such a crucial operation.
Lian shook his head.
“No, it was voluntary training. Why should you apologize? And...”
Lian looked at the five standing before him.
Five out of a hundred had passed the final test.
Five people, no less.
Honestly, he would have considered even one or two a success.
‘This is remarkable progress.’
Lian sincerely admired the five in front of him.
If he quantified their efforts over this time, how immense would it be?
But he quickly set aside the sentiment.
Lian spoke to them.
“Do you know why I called you here?”
“We do!”
“Yes!”
Lian nodded at their responses.
“Then I’ll get straight to the point. I won’t force you. You could lose your lives. It’s that dangerous... but will you do it?”
Silence fell instantly at Lian’s question.
They knew what was coming, but now that the moment of decision had arrived, they hesitated a bit.
It was a matter of staking their lives, just as Lian had said.
At that moment, a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with brown hair, spoke up.
“Deputy Commander, do you remember what you said to us when this training first began?”
“What I said at first?”
“Yes.”
He nodded and continued.
“You said that once this battle ends and the Arrowhead Unit grows larger, the results of this training could change our positions.”
“I remember.”
How could he forget?
It wasn’t just to motivate them.
It was that important, and he was certain that anyone willing to put in the effort for this could achieve great things.
At Lian’s response, he paused briefly before slowly continuing.
“I... have a father who’s in poor health. Because of that, my mother works day and night without rest.”
That was why he had enlisted.
With one less mouth to feed, the household burden would lighten.
Plus, in the military, at least food and shelter were guaranteed.
He sent most of his soldier’s pay home.
But even so, his mother couldn’t rest.
A soldier’s wage was barely more than a pittance.
“I think you said those words back then for this very moment. To make this operation succeed.”
“You’re right. It’s a crucial operation that must succeed to exterminate those barbarians.”
“If I succeed in this operation, climb that gorge wall... and return alive, could my position in the even larger Arrowhead Unit change?”
He was straightforward.
He had his reasons for needing success.
He was in a desperate situation where he absolutely had to reach the top.
Lian glanced at his fingers. No, at all of theirs.
Less than a year had passed, yet their fingertips were already covered in thick calluses.
How many times had wounds formed, burst, and healed again?
What mindset had driven him through that training?
‘Most would drop out from regular training alone.’
And that was without any compulsion.
Lian looked at him again.
He would give the answer the man wanted.
“I plan to create a unit within the Arrowhead Unit capable of handling various special missions.”
Battlefields bring countless situations, and victory requires many things.
Just as Lian excelled with a bow, the unit needed close-combat specialists, defense experts, fast runners, sharp-eyed scouts, and more—diverse talents.
“Such operations might become frequent in the future. We may face even steeper walls ahead.”
As Lian spoke softly, they all wore expressions of firm resolve.
Lian asked them,
“You asked what would happen if you succeed in this operation and survive?”
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
“Each of you will become the leader of that special unit. As executives leading the Arrowhead Unit together, you’ll aim for much higher positions than now.”
No sooner had Lian finished than the brown-haired man spoke.
“I’ll do it.”
Then, one after another,
“I’ll do it too.”
“I have a family I must take responsibility for. I’ll survive no matter what!”
“Me too!”
Lian nodded at their unanimous response.
He asked them,
“What are your names?”
“Benat, sir.”
The brown-haired man’s name was Benat. Next to him,
“Jamellon, sir.”
“Gragal!”
“Ziarok!”
“Pam!”
Lian looked at Isaac at their replies.
“Isaac, assemble all the troops.”
Now it was time to put the finishing touch on this war.
* * *
Bwooooooo—!
““Uwaaaaaah—!””
The horn’s majestic blast pierced the darkness and echoed into the sky.
With it, the Bieltuna forces gathered facing Porhen Gorge let out fierce roars.
Nearly a thousand men began forming ranks before the gorge.
The barbarians keeping watch from Porhen Gorge scrambled to block the gorge’s entrance.
“They’re moving.”
“They’ve probably already sealed the entrance.”
“But there should be fewer ambush troops near the walls than before.”
“Still, this is their main battlefield, so we stay cautious.”
Barus chatted with Homel while glancing left.
Homel asked Barus,
“Do you really think it’ll work? Climbing that wall... Honestly, I still think it’s impossible.”
He followed orders from above, but after spending so long here, Homel couldn’t accept it.
He’d once thought the same.
What if they climbed that gorge wall and struck the barbarians’ rear? Couldn’t that end the fight?
The reason no one had was simple.
They’d judged the wall impossible to climb.
Barus replied calmly,
“We have to trust Lian.”
If no signal came from Lian, all forces would withdraw to Bieltuna.
Then, who knew when this war would end?
As a strange mix of tension and anticipation weighed on their chests,
“Lian will pull it off.”
Raymond, commander of Eagle Company standing nearby, said.
Homel turned to him.
“You have strong faith in Lieutenant Lian.”
“I do. He’s always accomplished what others thought impossible.”
Finding the barbarians’ ambush in Phelon Gorge? That could be chalked up to luck.
But the Isis River crossing that followed? Pure luck?
No—his terrain knowledge, bold execution, and above all, the thorough preparation backing it.
“He’s not some fool chasing impossibilities.”
If Lian said he could, then it was possible.
Homel fell silent, lips pressed tight.
That task he deemed impossible without a miracle...
‘He’ll create a miracle...?’
Homel and the other officers gazed toward where the Arrowhead Unit had gone.
* * *
It was a foggy night, thick mist blanketing everything.
It freed them from enemy sight—an advantage, but
“...This could be dangerous.”
“Hoo...”
Lian, staring at the wall, let out a small breath.
The fog made climbing far more difficult.
But retreat was impossible now.
No, even if he backed out, these men wouldn’t.
Lian turned to the five behind him.
“Ready?”
““Yes!””
They replied with resolute expressions.
Beside each now stood a bag as large as their torsos.
Packed with huge iron spikes, hammers, and ropes over a hundred meters long.
Far heavier than full battle gear.
They had to climb the gorge wall carrying bags over half their body weight.
Something ordinary people wouldn’t even attempt.
Yet they silently shouldered and secured the bags.
“Let’s go.”
Benat stepped up first.
He carefully placed his first step, gripping a rock on the wall.
Swish.
As he began climbing, the other four followed one by one.
Once they vanished into the fog, Isaac, watching, spoke.
“Will they be okay...?”
“Yeah, they’ll be fine.”
Lian answered without hesitation. Isaac looked surprised and asked,
“You sound certain.”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t easy, no doubt.
The conditions were worse than expected.
Luck would play a part too.
But Lian had seen it clearly in their eyes.
They would succeed.
“Let’s trust them and wait.”
Climbing a hundred-meter wall with no safety gear, plus bags half their weight? Insanity.
No sane person would try.
Yet Lian had sent them.
Because he trusted their desperate need for success more than his own doubts—and their past efforts.
So Lian simply waited in silence.
* * *
“Huff... huff... huff...!”
The thick fog hid protruding rocks.
But Benat reached out slowly, carefully, feeling the wall.
The first ten meters felt strangely heavy.
Naturally so.
Carrying this absurd weight.
Yet at some point, focusing on the climb, the weight seemed to vanish.
As if it had always been this way.
‘Still...’
And the irony of the situation.
During training under the deputy commander, they’d climbed using holds barely a finger’s width.
At first, even hanging was impossible, but repetition made progress.
Real combat was a different beast.
Grip!
Benat grabbed a handful of gorge wall and tested it.
The rock crevice felt like a perfect handhold.
Training in impossible conditions was paying off now.
Memories of Bieltuna training flooded Benat.
After Arrowhead Unit’s hellish basics, he’d climbed trees till dawn.
Fingers split like knife cuts, pus oozing—dozens of times.
Bandage when bleeding, scream and cry from pain sometimes.
Voluntary, yet he never quit.
For one reason.
The faces of the two who raised him through hardship always appeared.
And now,
Grip.
“I can do this.”
Benat climbed toward a new leap.