The Mad Spearman's Siege
The breaths of the enemies surrounding them crushed the air itself.
Isaac's eyes widened sharply at the sight of the Kar Tribe warriors encircling both him and Arteon.
*I didn't realize... I would be surrounded like this.*
He had managed to block the attack only because Arteon had reacted faster.
If he had been alone...
Isaac swallowed hard, the gulp audible even to himself.
If he had suffered serious wounds from that flying strike earlier, it would have been no different from starting the battle under devastating risk.
Isaac scanned the enemies around him.
These warriors felt nothing like the Kar Tribe soldiers he had encountered before.
*Above all...*
Those crimson eyes.
The gaze wasn't mere killing intent—it was drenched in madness, sending a chill down one's spine just to look upon it.
Isaac unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword with crushing force.
*What the hell are these bastards?*
A note of tension laced Isaac's voice.
But Arteon stared at the enemies with a calm, composed gaze.
*...How did these guys end up here... right now?*
The Madmen Unit.
He had no exact details on their true identity. Yet a fragment of a story from his past life surfaced.
*They feed special drugs to those inside the Kar Tribe who commit crimes, turning them into madmen.*
Of course, such behind-the-scenes lore held no real importance.
What mattered was that these Madmen were immune to pain and remained nothing but killing machines, their minds reduced to pure slaughter instinct.
They possessed twice—or even three times—the strength and speed of ordinary humans.
But if their foundation lay in seasoned warriors who had spent their entire lives in the blood-soaked arena of endless war, the story changed dramatically.
Arteon kept one eye on his surroundings while speaking to Isaac in a steady voice.
"These fellows... they look as if they've been drugged."
"You saw it too?"
Arteon nodded at Isaac's question.
"In such cases, they might not feel pain, so they probably won't stop even after being hit."
"...That could be. I'll be careful."
It was possible to guess why the entire reconnaissance squad that had gone ahead had been wiped out.
If these were the ones who felt no pain due to drugs or had their physical abilities boosted...
*They've far surpassed every variable I could have predicted.*
Especially in the darkness, an ambush like this would have ended the fight in an instant.
It would have been as grotesque as being swallowed whole by the night.
But...
Isaac's gaze shifted to Arteon.
Even for the enemies, this was a situation filled with unfamiliar and terrifying elements.
*Why is he so composed...?*
Confidence in the power he held?
Or experience?
*...That doesn't make sense.*
No matter how skilled the enemies were at leaping and crawling, they couldn't possibly have such experience.
Isaac's mind churned.
Then.
"Lieutenant! Concentrate!"
Arteon's thunderous voice slammed into his eardrums.
The instant Isaac snapped back to his senses.
"Here they come!"
With Arteon's words.
"Kraaaaaak!"
"Kreeeerr!"
The Madmen Unit of the Kar Tribe unleashed their eerie cries.
A howl from somewhere between beast and human.
Together with the cry, the enemies surged forward and slammed into them with savage force.
Clang!
Steel met steel with a ringing clash, sparks flying.
Isaac's body was shoved backward in an instant.
"Hngh...!"
It was monstrous force.
It far exceeded the strength of the Kar Tribe warriors he had faced before.
No, not just raw power, but an overwhelming pressure that went beyond the visible, as if an aura of madness itself bore down.
But in that exact moment.
Whoosh!
A single spear shaft shot out with a piercing sonic boom, piercing clean through the neck of one Madman.
Shlup!
The spear tore through the shoulder and whipped around in a blur, left and right.
Blood gushed forth in a spray from the severed neck.
Overwhelming momentum.
The Madmen Unit flinched as though the killing intent had swallowed the entire battlefield in a heartbeat.
Isaac's pupils trembled too.
The sheer terror wasn't even directed at him personally, yet it was enough to make every hair stand on end.
At that instant, Arteon spoke in a low voice.
"If they push you with their momentum, you'll be pushed endlessly. Stay sharp."
"...Got it."
Isaac had clearly lost the flow in his bewilderment.
The cold glint in his eyes flashed at Arteon's sharp remark.
Yeah, they hadn't promised an easy fight from the start.
No matter who these bastards were...
*I will cut through them.*
Blue light rippled across Isaac's body, and a faint shimmer danced along the sword in his grip.
It had been quite some time since he had been stuck at the 3-star and 4-star border.
He couldn't use true aura, but he could at least fake something similar.
"Kraaaaaak!"
Isaac charged forward with all his might toward the Madmen Unit that was leaping at him.
The moment the enemy's axe whipped dangerously close to his temple.
Slash!
Isaac's blade carved completely through the side of the enemy's body.
But...
"Kyah!"
The Madman immediately spun around and swung his axe.
Isaac raised his sword in a desperate parry.
Clang!
Sparks exploded, and Isaac's eyes flickered.
*They really don't feel pain?*
Even a thoroughly trained human would freeze in place the instant they took such a deep cut.
But this Madman didn't even blink as he pressed his strength into the hand gripping the axe, blood still pouring from his side wound.
As Arteon had said.
"I'll just render you powerless."
Clang!
Isaac was sent flying by the impact and thrust his sword forward at blinding speed.
Slash! Slap!
In the blink of an eye, he severed the tendons of the enemy's arms, dropping both to his sides.
No pain, but he couldn't escape the basic laws of human anatomy.
"Confirmed. Die."
Puff!
Isaac swung his blade and turned to the next enemy.
Arteon was already taking on five Madmen at once, and Isaac bit his lip shut at the sight.
*Truly...*
Every time he looked, the enemies grew stronger, and Isaac could only stare in awe.
Earlier, during the Icylead operation, he hadn't gotten to see Arteon's true power.
The Chebilk Tribe warriors had only let him see the duo before they turned the base into a battlefield.
Because of such skill and guts...
"The commander trusts him, so he must be placing the right people in the right spots."
Isaac knew.
That his role on this scouting mission was to support Arteon.
It seemed Velkain had already known what kind of figure Arteon was.
Thud!
Meanwhile, Arteon hurled the Madmen away and swept his gaze across the surroundings.
*...There are too many.*
The number of enemies surrounding them easily topped fifty.
For ordinary Kar Tribe warriors, that wouldn't be a problem, but against the Madmen Unit, it changed everything.
Moreover...
*If we drag this out too long... others might arrive.*
Every situation was unfolding against them.
The one saving grace was that Isaac, having grasped the rhythm, was overpowering the Madmen Unit.
Looking at the mana flow, he was clearly on the verge of reaching the 4-star realm.
One small epiphany, and he would qualify as an aura user.
"Haaah..."
If Arteon had no worries about him, he could pour every ounce of his focus into the fight.
Arteon scanned the area quickly, searching for the 'target.'
*Where are you?*
The point of the Madmen Unit was to inject drugs that maximized physical abilities and drove them into a killing frenzy.
But to control those who had lost their sanity and gone mad with slaughter, a 'Balak' was absolutely required.
A Kar Tribe term meaning something like the 'Madman Lord.'
Without that Balak, these enemies were nothing more than monsters consumed by killing instinct.
"Kraaaaaak!"
"Krerrreng!"
Attacked simultaneously from front and side, Arteon was shoved backward.
He could have split the enemies in half with a single burst of aura, but...
*If I expend all my strength here... I won't be able to complete the mission ahead.*
Sharpen his senses.
Make them even more precise and razor-sharp.
The blade-like perception stood needle-straight, ready to probe and scratch at every single thing around him.
*There... must be one nearby.*
His eyes suddenly flashed.
The instant Arteon's gaze locked onto something beyond the darkness.
"Found."
Arteon murmured softly.
A uniquely alien aura among the dozens of Madmen.
Unlike those lost to madness, this one possessed a strangely cold and profound presence that felt crystal clear.
Pabat!
Arteon's figure leaped like a beast straight toward the spot.
The Madmen hurriedly blocked the path, their axes swinging wildly.
"Kraaaaaak!"
"Krerrreng!"
But before those axes could even touch Arteon.
Clang! Thud-thud!
"Kya!"
"Krerrreng!"
The Madmen were sent flying and tumbled across the ground.
Even without feeling pain, they couldn't block the physical force that propelled them.
And the moment he dove into the darkness.
"H-how...!"
"I need more training on hiding my presence."
Arteon spotted the figure with a face covered in chaotic red and black tattoos.
The man was staring back at Arteon with eyes full of shock as he realized his identity, but he quickly hid the expression.
"Yeah, no need for that."
Arteon showed no hesitation at all as he thrust his spear forward.
Whoosh!
Dense blue aura converged on the spearhead of Iglis.
The Kar Tribe Balak shouted in a booming voice at the intense aura.
"If you kill me, these enemies won't...!"
But before the words could finish.
Puff!
"...!"
Arteon's spear blade pierced straight through the Balak's heart.
The Balak's eyes widened as he stared at the spear that had gone through his own body.
Arteon said calmly.
"I'll handle that myself. Just die."
"Guuuh..."
The Balak's eyes dimmed as he collapsed to the ground with a hollow sigh.
Arteon pulled out his spear, turned, and looked toward the Madmen Unit.
"Kraaaaaak!"
"Krreeerrreng!"
The instant the Balak died, the Madmen lost all control and began attacking the 'comrades' beside them with wild, frenzied roars.
"Lieutenant Arteon! Retreat!"
Arteon shouted, and Isaac hurriedly slipped away from the fighting cluster and rushed toward him.
"What happened?"
"There was a bastard controlling these enemies. I got lucky and took him out..."
Pretending not to know, Arteon glanced toward the Madmen Unit.
A Madmen Unit that killed every visible target.
To them, the other Madmen were nothing but targets to be killed.
Since the Balak was dead, they would keep fighting until only one remained.
And as expected, as the last two enemies swung their axes desperately in a final struggle.
Crack!
The moment the final enemy fell, Arteon finished them off with ease.
Thud.
"Then... shall we move inside now?"
The Kar Tribe Madmen Unit that had killed dozens of Empire reconnaissance troops had met an utterly empty and miserable end.
And in Arteon's calm voice.
"...We will."
Isaac merely forced a surprised look while following right behind him.