The Spear's Shadow on the Hill
“……?”
Ulke furrowed his brows, puzzled by the strange flow of events.
A considerable number of the Empire’s soldiers, who should have advanced toward the center, had remained here instead.
*What the hell happened?*
Ulke found himself pinned in place, unable to push forward any further against the thickening defensive line of imperial troops.
“They’ve stopped! Form up and surround the bastards!”
A commander of the Empire shouted loudly, and Ulke’s expression twisted in irritation.
They were clearly at a disadvantage on unfamiliar terrain, but now that their advance had halted, the imperial forces had seized the high ground, turning the slope against them.
In other words, the hill’s incline was beginning to work in Ulke’s favor.
“We have to break through here! Target their flanks from the center—hold on for a little longer!”
“Yes!”
“Aaaah!”
Following Ulke’s command, the Kar warriors around him charged the imperial soldiers without hesitation.
But piercing the shield wall was no easy task.
Moreover, even on the slight downward slope, they were bound to be at a disadvantage.
Worse still, the division of forces had backfired.
*Is this a choice that’s turned into poison…?!*
Ulke’s pupils shook violently.
There was only one way to turn the tide.
*Grit…!*
Ulke clenched his teeth and channeled his mana.
He still couldn’t wield full aura like Bowukartaon, but
*Uuuuuung!*
A faint red aura flared from his sword, unleashing an overwhelming aura.
By itself, it sent forth an immense pressure that ordinary soldiers dared not approach.
“Oh, aura!”
“He can use aura! Fall back!”
Most of the soldiers here had only just entered the first-star realm.
Even the commander, who had only just begun to manipulate mana, barely brushed the edge of first-star ability.
Fighting someone who wielded aura was nothing short of suicide.
But the one saving grace was
“The bastard’s aura isn’t stable! It’ll vanish soon—fall back and hold on!”
“Yes!”
“I understand!”
Usually, even manifesting aura consumed enormous stamina and mana.
On top of that, unstable aura required even less supporting mana.
At best, thirty minutes.
No, fifteen at the most.
The commander’s words sent the soldiers scrambling backward, forming ranks and hurling their spears.
*Swish! Thunk!*
The spears tore through the air and blocked the charging Kar warriors.
They didn’t need to hit exactly.
All that mattered was buying time.
It was just a pity that the aura’s power had been stronger than they anticipated.
*Boom!*
Ulke stomped the ground fiercely and charged straight toward the imperial soldiers.
“How dare you… keep fighting even after seeing aura?!”
Even if it was unstable, this wasn’t enough to stop him.
He was about to receive the four-feather tattoo soon—clearly no ordinary warrior.
*Uuuuuung!*
The unstable aura suddenly blazed with thick crimson light.
Though he’d forced it,
*Slash! Chop!*
“Aaaaargh!”
“M-my… my aaah!”
The round shield he held was barely large enough to cover his torso, but it was reinforced with solid iron.
Yet, together with the shield, his arm was severed clean off, blood spraying across the ground.
“Strike them down! Keep climbing without rest until we break their formation!”
“Yes!”
Ulke’s bravery ignited the Kar warriors’ morale, and they surged forward once more.
The moment the momentum broke, the defensive line began to collapse in pieces.
One warrior who could wield aura—how much influence he held on the battlefield was now clear.
But then—
*Whooshhhhh!*
A thunderous sonic boom, and Ulke, who had been charging forward, swung his sword desperately to meet the incoming threat.
*Clang!*
His wrist went numb, and the sword in his grip shook violently.
*What kind of spear carries that much force?*
Ulke snapped his head toward the direction the projectile had come from.
And there stood the man.
Behind him, dozens of soldiers appeared. He looked at Ulke and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“We meet again, you damned barbarian brat.”
“…You are.”
Ulke’s brows furrowed.
It had to be one of the two imperial scouts who had come here for reconnaissance not long ago.
Of course at that—
“Leaving your comrade and fleeing—how the hell are you still alive? The Empire’s sense of camaraderie sure is thin.”
At those words, Isaac’s eyebrows twitched. But soon he drew his sword without a word.
Leaving his comrade behind—true, that part was correct.
But…
*That’s why…*
He had to stop him here.
Even if only to correct his past shame, he had to reduce the casualties and kill them.
“The leadership is mine. While I hold him off, form the assault unit and drive them completely back.”
“Yes!”
The officer who had been commanding the soldiers answered Isaac’s order at once.
Isaac extended his sword toward Ulke.
“You dog that ran with your tail between your legs—what makes you think you can do anything?”
*Uuuuuung!*
The man who had been charging at him now advanced with explosive force.
And in that instant—
*Bang!*
The two swords clashed. A violent shockwave erupted, slamming into everyone nearby—including the Kar warriors.
The most shocked of all was Ulke.
“Y-You…?”
“Why… did you think you alone could handle aura?”
Isaac’s mocking tone belied the coldness in his eyes.
Isaac had already reached the edge of third-star.
It was no surprise he could reach fourth-star at any moment.
*Thanks to you, Arteon.*
When he returned to the world indebted to Arteon, Isaac unconsciously took another step forward.
Of course, his control was still far from perfect, but he could now wield aura.
But…
*We can’t drag this out.*
The bastard couldn’t wield aura for long either, so neither could he.
If he wasted time with sloppy aura,
*He’d die in one strike.*
He was certain of it now, from the clash moments ago.
Using full power to finish him quickly was the best course.
Of course, even if the fight dragged on, it was fine.
The longer time passed, the more desperate the bastard would become.
Perhaps because of that.
*Bang! Clang! Clang!*
One strike, then another.
With every clash of aura and aura, time passed, and Isaac pressed Ulke harder and harder.
At first the difference had been negligible, but as their situations diverged, the gap widened.
“Ugh!”
Ulke, desperate, forced his way inward.
He had planned to wound the man’s leg with this attack and retreat immediately.
But—
*Whish!*
“……!”
Isaac raised his right leg, sidestepping Ulke’s sword, then swung his blade downward.
*Chop!*
“Guhk!”
Ten minutes after the fight began, red blood first burst forth.
While Ulke screamed and flinched,
*Thud!*
With a heavy sound, his body flew through the air.
“Kuhk!”
Ulke, kicked in the chest, rolled across the ground and grimaced.
He tried to rise hurriedly, but
*Shudder. Shudder. Shudder. Shudder. Shudder.*
His hand gripping the sword trembled violently.
Because the tendons of his right arm had been severed by the wound moments ago.
And…
“It’s not over yet.”
Isaac rushed at the man, twisting his waist.
*Chop!*
Isaac’s stance lowered in front of Ulke.
“I’ll repay this humiliation.”
“You…!”
Ulke desperately raised his sword, but with an arm that had no strength left, there was nothing he could do.
Then Isaac’s eyes flashed.
*Swish!*
A diagonal overhead strike.
The moment it split Ulke’s sword, which had lost its aura,
*Slash!*
Isaac’s blade severed Ulke’s neck.
The head of the Kar warrior—Ulke—tumbled into the sky, and the eyes of the Kar warriors gathered around followed it upward.
Helplessness beyond description.
It had been a perfectly timed attack.
*H-How… Ulke-nim…?*
*With our strength alone… we can’t…!*
Their pupils shook violently.
And with them,
“Retreat to the center!”
“Scatter! Join the warriors in the center and fight!”
Though the situation was dire, they were still elite Kar warriors.
Since fighting to the death was out of the question, they had to find a way.
*Join the warriors led by Marhuldan.*
But…
*Damn it… what the hell are they doing over there?*
If the central force had started rampaging, reinforcements from this side shouldn’t have arrived.
It felt off—the first sign of trouble since the imperial soldier who had appeared out of nowhere and killed Ulke.
*Still, we can’t retreat like this.*
*Ulke-nim’s revenge… I’ll make sure he’s avenged.*
The Kar warriors scattered in every direction rushed toward the center of the hill, toward Marhuldan’s unit.
But…
*Pi iiii iiii iiii iiii!*
A shrill whistle echoed from the center of the hill.
The elite Kar warriors who had been running toward the sound halted abruptly.
Something pierced by a soldier’s spear, lifted into the sky.
“The enemy commander has been killed!”
“Surviving Kar, surrender! Otherwise, I will kill every last one of you here!”
“Drop your weapons and surrender!”
The elite warriors under Ulke, who had moved to join up, could not comprehend what was happening before them.
No, they didn’t want to understand.
“W-What…?”
“How in such a short time…?”
It was Marhuldan’s head, impaled on the spear and raised into the sky.
Along with him, the officers who had led the warriors had all met their deaths.
*Thud.*
“Ah… ah…”
The smell of blood, carried on the bodies of hundreds of Kar warriors piled at the base of the hill, stung the nose.
And in the center of it all,
“Drop your weapons.”
A young man with a youthful face stepped forward and looked at them.
Behind him, soldiers stood in formation, drenched in blood.
But what struck them most was the aura radiating from the man at the very front—making their bodies freeze in place.
This plain was theirs.
They had thought the enemies had walked into the tiger’s jaws… but
*Is… this fight…*
A gloomy premonition that they might have been thinking too simply seized their entire bodies.
A cold gust of wind swept across the frozen northern border, carrying with it the scent of blood and the distant howls of battle.
The hill trembled under the weight of clashing steel and splintering shields.
Ulke’s final moments flashed before his eyes in the instant his head rolled away.
The Kar warriors who had come to avenge the fallen commander now faced a new, far greater threat.
But at the heart of the chaos stood one man—Isaac Duraik, the spear that had rewritten the rules of the battlefield.
His blade still dripped with crimson light, steady and unyielding, as if the fight had only just begun.
“Central force—hold the line!” he commanded, voice calm yet commanding.
The soldiers who had been retreating now turned, spears raised once more.
Though the odds were stacked against them, they would not fall without a fight.
“For Ulke-nim!” one warrior roared, charging forward despite the odds.
Isaac’s eyes narrowed, but he remained motionless, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again.
The northern wind howled louder, as if mocking the futile resistance of the Kar tribe.
Revenge… was it worth the price of so many lives?
Isaac wondered briefly, the weight of past mistakes pressing heavily on his shoulders.
Yet he knew the answer.
Comradeship and the breaking of cycles demanded he finish what he had started.
“Marhuldan’s head—proof that even their greatest commanders fall.”
He whispered the words like a vow, then turned to face the next wave of attackers.
The battle for the hill was far from over.
And neither was the northern front.