No Sacrifice This Time
Thud!
With rough, pounding footsteps, the two men's breathing grew heavier and heavier. They fought to control it, yet it frayed little by little.
Arteon turned his head and looked at Isaac. In the brief flash of his eyes lingered regret and apology.
...Did I take too long?
The fact that they were being hunted like this felt as though it had sprung from him, and the weight of it pressed on his chest. But then Arteon spoke to Isaac.
"Why are you wearing that foolish expression, Captain?"
"What?"
"Your face. You're frozen like a man who's committed some crime."
At those words Isaac blinked wordlessly. This bastard... has he learned mind-reading or something?
Yet Arteon continued calmly.
"Don't. It isn't because of you, Captain."
"...I'm sorry."
"I told you it isn't."
At Isaac's words a faint smile touched Arteon's lips. Even in a situation this dangerous.
Now or then... nothing's changed.
It was exactly the Isaac who remained in Arteon's memories of his past life. A superior rarely seen on the brutal battlefields of the north. No matter what came, he never shifted blame onto others; he always tried to shoulder it himself. Even that desperate thrashing to save even one more soldier. The image of him always standing at the very front, carving a path, rose vividly. And...
Even to the very end, when he lost his life that way.
Arteon said,
"This time, don't think of sacrificing yourself."
"What?"
"Don't go dying to the likes of them."
"Ha? Me? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Isaac looked at Arteon with an expression of pure disbelief. But then he glanced back at the pursuing pack and muttered,
"I didn't go through all that hell just to croak in a place like this."
"Exactly."
Whoosh!
A cutting wind barred their way, yet the Kar warriors still clung stubbornly to their heels. And at their center stood Bowukartaon. He frowned as he watched the two who seemed forever just out of reach.
I definitely took the shortcut to cut them off...
Yet the final distance between them refused to close. They must have run far farther than his own group. He and the warriors of his personal unit prided themselves on stamina second to none in the north. But at this rate, the uneasy feeling grew that the two would slip away.
That can't happen.
Kortzan's threatening face rose in his mind. If they lost these two by any chance, the aftermath would be impossible to handle.
Bowukartaon raised the bow in his grip. An arrow drawn from the quiver settled onto the string as smoothly as flowing water. And then...
Skrrrrrrrr!
The momentum of his run made both feet skid across the ground, bleeding off speed. Even so his gaze never left the two racing ahead. He drew the string taut, pouring power into the nocked arrow. Reddish mana already flowing from his body concentrated at the arrowhead. The moment Bowukartaon, who had been gliding across the earth, came to a full stop—
Swaaaaaaaaaak!
The arrow left the string and split the air like lightning. His target was the leg of Isaac, who ran behind. The reason he aimed for Isaac was simple.
Bind the weaker one first.
The one trailing looked a shade weaker than the one leading. Wound him, and the one in front would be constrained as well. But...
"You fucking bastard!"
Isaac spat a curse as he watched the arrow streak toward him. In the next instant his sword flashed.
Crash!
The arrow shattered and shot skyward. With it came a tingling sensation. Isaac's expression hardened. The destructive force imbued in the arrow had been far stronger than expected.
Just one arrow... and that much power...?
Only then did a clear unease drive itself into his mind. The one who had loosed that arrow was no ordinary Kar warrior.
At least my equal... no, maybe higher...?
Cold sweat rolled down Isaac's spine. The worst-case scenario suddenly felt all too possible.
"...I'm sorry."
Isaac said it again. The situation looked worse than he had thought, and fresh guilt toward Arteon rose in him. But Arteon answered as if it were nothing.
"Are you all right?"
"For now."
"As long as you're not hurt, that's enough."
His voice was calm. Yet there was no time to catch their breath. In the brief moment Isaac had turned to block the arrow, the pursuing Kar warriors surged in and sealed every direction. Escape routes were completely cut off. Moreover...
...These ones.
Arteon studied the Kar warriors surrounding them. Every one of them bore two feather tattoos on their shoulders. On previous battlefields that would mark them as special-forces or officer-level strength.
This is no ordinary unit.
And setting everything else aside, the one currently leveling a bow at them—though clothing hid his shoulders—
He's on the same level as Ulgraak, the one I met in the northeast.
Without that one, killing the rest and breaking out would not be difficult. But they had just seen how vicious his arrows were. If such shafts came flying while they fought the others, things would turn extremely ugly.
Arteon swept his gaze across the encircling Kar warriors. And then—
"Fuck, how are they so fast?"
"...?"
A voice rose from behind the pack. Arteon and Isaac's eyes snapped toward it. A man appeared next, baring his teeth in a low snarl.
"Almost lost them, damn it."
Another Kar officer who had been tracking alongside Bowukartaon—Ulke. Arteon's gaze turned ice-cold as he took in the man and the personal unit that had come with him.
Crunch, crunch.
Endless bootfalls trampled the snow, and tens of thousands of soldiers marched, shaking the northern earth. Ahead of them a vast darkness of a gorge loomed into view. The moment Helikel Canyon revealed itself, a shout rang out and the soldiers' steps halted.
Whicker!
"Whoa, easy."
A man atop a snorting, stamping horse looked forward.
"So that is Helikel Canyon."
"Yes, my lord Brentar."
Eyes beneath a pressed-down helmet cooled to steel. Thick fur draped over armor of steel-gray, and a cloak streaming from his shoulders snapped in the wind. Even at a glance his presence was extraordinary. Senses honed by long years on battlefields were already sending him signals.
"...Helikel Canyon."
Once they arrived there, a new page of imperial history would begin to be written. Land in the north that no one had ever truly set foot in. Until now they had been on the defensive against the southward thrusts of the Kar tribe. But—
Now... the situation has changed.
Now the chance had come for them to take the offensive. From this barren land—yet one that held infinite possibility—the Empire could seize boundless resources and grow still stronger.
Brentar's eyes sharpened toward the canyon.
"Then we hurry. The longer we linger, the more variables this place can spawn."
Though he had never fought in the north itself, he had experienced countless battlefields. At Brentar's words the aide beside him bowed his head.
"Understood. All units—move out! We will enter the Helikel Canyon fortifications before the sun sets today!"
"Move out! Move!"
"Move!"
At his command others bellowed and drove the soldiers forward. The tramp of the army beginning to advance made the northern ground tremble once more. Yet among those countless soldiers—
"..."
—the eyes of certain men who harbored other intentions gleamed as sharp as predators'.
Arteon frowned deeply as he studied the newly arrived group. The massive figure standing at the front radiated a strength greater than expected. Yet Bowukartaon's expression as he faced Arteon was even graver.
...That one.
The oppressive aura had been palpable even while they fled, but meeting it head-on made the presence far sharper and more dangerous.
I thought surrounding them would be the end of it...
Yet a presence that somehow chilled the spine. Bowukartaon spoke.
"Ulke, that one is dangerous. Don't let your guard down."
"...Who the hell are you ordering around? Just because you got one more mark doesn't mean you're above me. Don't get the wrong idea."
Ulke bared his teeth and snapped back roughly. But just as Bowukartaon had said, Arteon's presence was undeniably formidable. Ulke immediately pulled free his axe and rested it on his shoulder.
"I don't need you telling me. I'll handle it myself."
Bowukartaon nodded. Then he straightened at once and nocked an arrow.
"You go in first. I'll cover the rear."
"Close-quarters brawling is what our boys do best. We'll pin them down good and proper—so if the chance comes, loose everything you've got."
Ulke's eyes flashed with savagery. As the two Kar officers unleashed their auras together, Isaac swallowed hard without meaning to. The ones already surrounding them were dangerous enough; now a similar number of warriors had appeared as well. It was pure despair.
"...Arteon. You at least run. I'll open a path somehow."
If one of them committed fully to escape, one could get away. But at Isaac's low, cracked voice Arteon shook his head with a scornful smile.
"Captain. Have you already forgotten the conversation we just had?"
"What?"
"I told you not to think of dying here."
"..."
Under Arteon's utterly settled gaze Isaac felt for an instant as though his breath had stopped. Even in this situation the man had not abandoned the option of both of them returning alive.
While keeping the surrounding Kar warriors in check, Arteon scanned the other directions. A snowfield blanketed in flurries. Towering rocks and the reed bed that choked the ground before them. Terrain that would become a considerable obstacle when the main force later entered this plain—yet—
Right now... it might actually favor us.
Arteon kept his eyes fixed on the Kar officers ahead and said,
"Captain, do you see the largest rock in front?"
"The one inside the reed bed?"
"Yes. Run for it. Don't even breathe—just go as fast as you can. I'll buy time."
Isaac's eyes wavered.
"Can you do it?"
"At best I'll only manage a few seconds."
"...That's enough."
Isaac's resolve shifted as well. He would kill every last one of these bastards if that was what it took to get back alive. He steadied his breathing and concentrated mana into his legs. The surrounding Kar warriors flinched and stared. The atmosphere had suddenly changed.
"Those two...!"
But before they could act—
Wooooooong!
Iglis in Arteon's hand vibrated faintly and unleashed an aura of tremendous force. At the sight Ulke shouted urgently,
"A-Attack!"
With the cry, Ulke's personal warriors charged Arteon as one. Yet before they could close the distance—
"Hup!"
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!
Arteon slammed the spear tip into the ground. A thunderous roar erupted and snowflakes blasted upward like a storm. The swirling snow completely blotted out vision, and the vibration that shook the earth traveled all the way to their toes. Bowukartaon gritted his teeth and released the drawn string.
Sseeeeeeeek!
The arrow tore through the air with a piercing whistle, slicing a great circle through the snowflakes and opening a line of sight. But—
Where is he...?
Did he already flee toward the reed bed?!
At the absence of Arteon, Bowukartaon and Ulke both frowned. Bowukartaon launched himself toward the reeds. In that very instant—
"That arrow of yours is quite threatening."
"...?!"
A voice right beside him made Bowukartaon's eyes fly wide. Reflexively he yanked an arrow from the quiver and swung it toward the sound. But before the shaft could even pierce its target—
Slash!
His forearm split open and crimson blood sprayed across the snowfield.
"Gah!"
Bowukartaon's scream tore free.
"Bowukartaon!"
Ulke jerked and looked that way, and—
"You bastard, how dare you!"
"Die!"
The warriors of Bowukartaon's personal unit who had been right beside him swarmed Arteon in a rush. How he had gotten this close no one knew, but—
He's holding a spear!
This range favors us...!
Now that the distance had closed, they believed a spear would struggle to fend off their attacks. They meant to kill him in a single exchange. Yet—
Clang!
The spear blade flashed and swords and axes flying in from every direction were knocked aside. Several shattered blades and axe heads spun into the air; the Kar warriors who had lost their balance staggered, unable to hide their shock. And in that same breath—
Whoosh!
Arteon's body slid like water through the gaps between them. The formation collapsed in an instant. By then Isaac had already vanished into the reed bed, and Arteon plunged after him.
Ulke supported the wounded Bowukartaon and ground his teeth.
"You all right?"
But Bowukartaon, more than the blood streaming down his arm, stared after the receding Arteon in pure shock.
"That one..."
Just what the hell is he?