Chapter 93: Ghostly Shadow (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 93: Ghostly Shadow (3)
Leaving the battlefield behind, Edwin Hector strode toward his tent.
Inside the makeshift canvas serving as the command headquarters, the leadership had already gathered at his summons.
"Jackson. Report the situation."
"Yes, Commander."
Jackson, commander of the Ranger Unit, stepped forward.
"Immediately after breaching the 1st Defense Line, I followed your orders and deployed the 3rd Battalion to sweep up the remnants. However, starting about an hour ago, we began losing contact with their companies one by one. At first, we assumed it was a simple communication issue, but with three companies going silent in succession, it appears they have been wiped out by the enemy."
"Estimated casualties?"
"Approximately three hundred men."
Edwin's expression hardened.
This war had been proceeding under a flawless plan for victory. The fact that Hector's warriors were dying due to a single unpredictable variable deeply displeased him.
"Most of the forces on the Southern Front have locked their gates and chosen to turtle up in their positions. Under these circumstances, our casualties must be the work of Roman Dmitry—the man who killed Baron McCleary at the 5th Defense Position. My fears have been realized. Instead of fleeing over the mountains, Roman Dmitry has chosen to remain on the Southern Front and fight back."
His voice sank.
The name "Roman Dmitry" had rubbed him the wrong way from the very beginning. The moment their clockwork plan first went awry, Edwin Hector had etched that name into his mind.
"A variable has entered our plan. If we leave Roman Dmitry unchecked, he will undoubtedly cause further trouble."
"Commander."
One of the high-ranking officers, a man with a square jaw, spoke up in a firm voice.
"As you said, a variable outside our initial plan has arisen. Baron McCleary is dead, and Roman Dmitry will likely rally the remnants to disrupt our operations. However, that is not our primary concern. The Southern Front consists of five frontline defense positions and one rear base. Now that the most crucial rear base and the 1st Defense Line are in our hands, the Southern Front will naturally collapse once we capture the remaining positions. Look at the forest, not the trees, Commander. Rather than hunting down a rat like Roman Dmitry, our priority should be crushing the defense positions right in front of us."
Losing the greater for the lesser.
Roman Dmitry was a minor variable. If they allowed themselves to be distracted by him and failed in their siege, the success of the entire campaign would be thrown into jeopardy.
Three days.
That time limit was not for Cairo's benefit. Even if the Cairo Kingdom harbored other schemes, Hector intended to completely demolish the defense positions and choke them out within three days.
That was why the officer tried to dissuade Edwin Hector.
Experience had taught them that whenever the Star of Hector showed displeasure, he would often take actions that defied common sense.
But Edwin Hector had already reached his conclusion.
"No. What is important right now is not focusing on the 2nd Defense Line, which cannot fight back as I predicted. It is eliminating the variable that is wrecking our plans in areas I cannot foresee. Withdraw the troops immediately. From this moment on, we will completely annihilate the rats of the Southern Front."
At those words, looks of bewilderment washed over the faces of the leadership.
* * *
The 2nd Defense Line would not hold out for long.
With victory so close at hand, they could not easily accept Edwin Hector's decision to withdraw their forces.
An officer spoke up.
"This is a reckless decision. The remnants are few in number. It won't be too late to hunt them down after we have captured all the defense lines. Besides, a force of that size cannot possibly turn the tide of this war, can they?"
It was a valid point.
Edwin Hector was well aware of that, but ever since he received the first report, an ominous feeling had been gnawing at him.
An instinctive premonition.
People often said instinct and common sense were two different things. Yet, in the end, instinct was born from common sense. Having reviewed the plan countless times over the past year, his instincts classified Roman Dmitry as a critical threat.
Edwin Hector spoke.
"I understand your concerns. But as a commander, I must always prepare for the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario I fear is not failing to breach all five defense lines within three days. It is the existence of Roman Dmitry running rampant on the Southern Front and creating unforeseen variables. We do not have time. If Roman Dmitry introduces an unpredictable element, we will face a situation far worse than merely failing to capture a few defense positions."
It was a simple matter of distinguishing between manageable problems and unmanageable ones.
Edwin Hector prioritized eliminating the latter.
The defense positions could be crushed eventually, but Roman Dmitry's movements were entirely unpredictable.
"I am merely choosing the lesser of two evils, avoiding the worst. If, even after my explanation, the majority still believes that crushing the 2nd Defense Line is our priority, I will yield and follow your counsel."
In truth, the leadership knew that whenever Edwin Hector made a decision, he had a good reason for it.
They had raised their logical objections only because even he was human and capable of making a mistake.
Everyone nodded, signaling their agreement.
Jackson spoke on behalf of the group.
"We will follow your command, Commander."
Did they know?
Because of this decision, the Hector Kingdom would step into the Southern Mountains—where Roman Dmitry lay in wait—much sooner than planned.
* * *
The sun dipped below the horizon.
At an hour when farmers would normally return home to eat dinner with their families, bright flames pierced the darkness, erupting in all directions.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Hector's soldiers lit their torches.
"If you spot the enemy, do not attack recklessly! Blow your whistles immediately! The remnants of Cairo include an Aura Swordsman. If we slowly corner them and launch a coordinated assault, we can wipe them out without taking heavy casualties!"
"Understood!"
The company commander of the 3rd Company, 2nd Battalion, raised his voice as he led the search in his designated sector.
The Southern Mountains were vast.
Searching blindly risked letting the enemy slip away, so they chose to spread their forces thin at the base and sweep upward slowly.
While this carried the risk of casualties if the enemy struck, the moment the enemy's location was revealed, they could completely surround them from all sides. This was Edwin Hector's strategy. Rather than wasting time with a half-hearted search, he aimed to completely eradicate the remnants in a single, decisive sweep.
Fwoosh.
The darkness receded before the flames.
The soldiers slowly climbed the mountain. They scanned their surroundings with extreme caution, jumping at the slightest rustle of dry leaves underfoot.
Huff, huff.
The company commander led the way.
Exhaling white puffs of breath, he swept his torch over the terrain with a tense expression.
According to the survivors who had served under Baron McCleary, Roman Dmitry was nothing short of a demon on the battlefield. A single moment of carelessness could mean death. No matter how much they had prepared for war and sworn to lay down their lives for their country, neither the company commander nor any of his men wanted to be the first to die.
Step by step, they advanced.
Where the torchlight reached, the darkness was dispelled, but the areas beyond remained shrouded in pitch-black shadows.
"How is the right?"
"All clear."
The soldier marching right beside him replied.
Seeing the soldier prodding the ground with a spear as he moved, the company commander deemed it safe and turned his head away.
In that instant—
Swish.
"...!"
The darkness swallowed the soldier.
He couldn't blow his whistle, nor could he cry out to his commander for help.
In a split second, his neck was twisted backward.
Killed before he could put up any resistance, the soldier collapsed face-first onto the ground with a dull thud. Yet, the company commander did not hear the sound. Not just him, but the other soldiers as well—they kept marching forward without looking back, completely unaware that their comrade had just died right beside them.
"How is the left?"
"All clear."
It was a signal of death.
Every time the company commander confirmed there were no issues, the encroaching darkness claimed another life.
One by one.
At first, he noticed nothing amiss.
But as the surrounding torches began to flicker out one after another, the company commander finally realized, far too late, that something was horribly wrong.
"W-what is this?!"
His face turned pale.
His soldiers were gone.
When they had first set out, a large number of men had been marching right beside him. But looking around now, the number of torches illuminating the dark had dwindled drastically. His heart sank. Terrified that this could happen despite maintaining their intervals, he hurriedly reached for his whistle.
Or rather, he tried to.
Crack.
The company commander's neck twisted.
With the whistle still clamped in his mouth, he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
That was only the beginning.
All across the mountain, Hector's soldiers began to die, one by one.
* * *
The secret could not be kept for long.
The deaths of the soldiers were soon discovered, and shrill whistle blasts pierced the silent darkness, echoing from all directions.
Screeech—!
Tweet, screeech—!
"Enemy spotted!"
"Check on your comrades! Block their retreat and corner them!"
Chaos erupted.
The soldiers scanned their surroundings with wide, frantic eyes. Among them were Aura Swordsmen illuminating the dark with magic artifacts, but no matter how hard they looked, the enemy was nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell are they?!"
It made no sense.
A comrade had died right next to them. The killer should have been nearby, yet they couldn't comprehend how someone could vanish without making a single sound.
Far away from them, shrouded in the deep shadows, stood a man.
'The Hector Kingdom's decision is bolder than I expected. I planned to maximize our gains through guerrilla tactics while they attacked the other defense positions, but they chose to abandon the 2nd Defense Line just to eliminate me as a variable. I wonder who their commander is. From the surprise attack to the decision to target the Warp Gate, they are certainly no ordinary strategist.'
A smirk played on his lips.
Rather than being flustered by their extreme reaction to his minor provocations, Roman felt his competitive spirit flare up.
Torches flickered all across the mountain.
It seemed they hadn't just sent a single battalion to search; they had brought almost everyone into the mountains, leaving only a bare minimum to keep pressure on the defense positions. The Southern Mountains were extremely rugged, offering limited terrain for concealment. The Hector Kingdom's commander understood this perfectly, boldly abandoning unnecessary areas to target the exact spots where Cairo's remnants would hide.
It was a correct assessment.
Indeed, Roman's forces were there, but the Hector Kingdom had failed to anticipate one crucial variable.
They did not know who Roman Dmitry truly was.
This did not merely refer to his level of martial prowess.
The rugged terrain and the pitch-black darkness, which should have hindered both sides, were no obstacle to Roman, who could move through the dark with absolute freedom.
'It has been a long time since I felt this way.'
Fighting by utilizing the darkness.
People assumed that the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk always preferred direct, head-on confrontations.
The truth was different.
Back when he still lacked power, Baek Joong-hyuk had to adapt to living in the dreary shadows to meet his father's expectations.
Back then, people called him by a certain name.
'Ghostly Shadow.'
The shadow of a ghost.
Roman had been waiting for Hector's decision.
Waiting for them to enter the mountains once darkness fell.
From this moment on, the stage belonged to the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk—no, the Ghostly Shadow Baek Joong-hyuk.