The Silent Spear's Charge
The sky was dyed ash-gray.
The swirling blizzard scoured the plain, blurring the line between friend and foe.
Yet even through that haze, one thing stood out with perfect clarity.
The instant a single blue trajectory cut across the battlefield and plunged down like a bolt of lightning.
KWAANG!
"Silent Spear unit!"
"Everyone, follow the unit commander! Kill every last bastard that stands in our way!"
Arteon's shout rang out, and right behind him Grein roared until his throat threatened to tear.
Aura erupted from the tip of Arteon's spear as he swung, splitting the frozen ground and punching a clean hole through the tightly packed enemy front.
They were deep in the heart of the enemy lines.
Even the path they had carved for retreat now looked ready to close under the press of Kar warriors.
Yet despite the danger, the Silent Spear unit drove forward as if a single body were moving—unified, precise, unstoppable.
Like one perfect spear.
And then—
"……"
Watching them, Velkain felt a tremor run through his body.
Not fear. Excitement.
He offered silent praise for the martial prowess that had overturned the flow of the entire battlefield with a single charge.
But if left alone they would be completely isolated.
Velkain spoke at once.
"Claw."
"Yes, Supreme Commander."
Claw answered immediately to that low, iron voice.
Velkain continued.
"Concentrate our forces on the center. Divert a portion of the troops to support against the enemy's right flank. We must keep the rear of the Silent Spear unit from being hit."
"Understood!"
Claw bowed deeply and sprinted away.
Moments later a trumpet blast rolled across the field.
BWOOOOOOOOO!
At the signal the soldiers moved as one.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
"Push them!"
"Kill them all!"
Fierce fighting raged across the frozen earth.
Steel rang against steel; blood sprayed and flesh tore free.
Meanwhile the support force raced toward the enemy right flank.
Isaac, leading the 1st Battalion's 3rd Company, drove his men at full speed toward the Kar right.
"That madman Arteon… what the hell has he pulled this time?"
Isaac muttered, swinging a sword thickly crusted with blood.
Surprise and admiration mixed in his voice, and a strange smile began to tug at his lips.
"Fine… you opened the path. I'll catch up somehow."
His eyes flashed.
"Block their rear before our allies get surrounded! Move!"
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers' answering roar mixed with battle cries and shook the plain.
And then—
"Out of the way!"
"Kill every last one blocking the front!"
"Ignore the ones that bounce off! Reaching the objective comes first!"
Isaac's 3rd Company thundered along the corridor the Silent Spear unit had carved, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
Elsewhere—
"Hyaaaaaah!"
KWAANG!
A massive explosion hurled six Kar warriors who had barred the way screaming through the air.
By now the Silent Spear unit had driven deep into the center.
Arteon swept his gaze left and right, fixing their position in an instant.
And then—
…They came.
At the sounds of combat rising behind them, Arteon glanced back.
As expected of Velkain.
True to his title as Supreme Commander of the North, he had sent support at the perfect moment.
The only reason Arteon had dared such a reckless thrust into the center was because he had trusted that much.
Velkain would read the battlefield and answer. That much had been certain.
Only…
The timing had simply been far faster than expected.
In that case—
"Grein!"
"Yes, Unit Commander!"
Grein answered at full volume. Arteon gave the order.
"We hold here and force a melee. Form the ten-man square defense formation."
"Form the ten-man square defense formation!"
"Ten-man square defense! Everyone move! Faster!"
The command rippled outward from Grein; squad leaders took it up at once and the unit snapped into place.
Clack! Clack-clack!
Not a single hesitation. The movements were pure instinct.
Every clubbing, every merciless physical drill Arteon had inflicted for the smallest mistake now paid its dividend on the real battlefield.
Bodies reacted before minds could think.
"Side! Cover the side!"
"Shields up, spears out!"
"Press tighter! No gaps!"
The men moved in a blur, shouting corrections even as they locked the formation into perfection.
The ten individual squares further linked into one great circular formation, turning the surrounding enemies into the ones now under threat.
At the very center stood Arteon.
His gaze raked across the Kar warriors fixed on them.
"…Hoo."
He exhaled softly.
"From this moment until our main force breaks through the center… we pin these bastards down."
Every pair of eyes in the unit went cold and sharp.
They all understood.
This was the line of death itself.
Enemies ringed them on every side.
Yet there was no fear.
Instead their hearts hammered and blood surged hot through every vein, the sensation vivid and fierce.
And then—
"What are you waiting for?! There's barely a hundred of them! Wipe them out!"
"Kill them all!"
"You imperial maggots dare set foot here?!"
"This place will be your grave!"
The Kar warriors charged with raw, guttural roars.
The lead warrior brought a massive axe down in a crushing arc.
CLANG!
The shield rebounded in a shower of sparks.
The impact slammed through the defender's entire body, yet he did not so much as blink.
Instead—
BANG!
"……!"
He shoved the attacker back and, in the fleeting gap that opened, drove his spear home.
THUD!
"Kraak!"
The spear punched through, sprayed bright blood, and snapped back into guard.
They had thought they faced a crouching turtle. What they met was a coiled viper with venomous fangs.
"P-push them!"
"There's only a handful! Crush them!"
Relying on sheer numbers, the Kar warriors forced their morale higher and hurled themselves forward again.
But—
CLANG! THUD! THUD! THUD! BOOM!
The densely packed defense never broke. Every failed assault cost them dozens of lives.
It was as if an impregnable fortress had risen in the very heart of the battlefield.
Faced with that iron hardness, the Kar warriors began to flinch, contenting themselves with a wary encirclement.
Barely a hundred men.
A mere handful.
W-what kind of eyes are those…
Are those things even human?
The gazes fixed on them felt less like those of men and more like the stare of hungry predators.
Arteon spoke into that hesitation.
"Just going to stand there and watch? Not coming in?"
"Y-you…!"
"How dare an imperial dog…!"
"You think a hundred of you can walk out of here alive? Every last one of you dies here…!"
A warrior who looked to be an officer-level fighter snarled with murderous eyes.
Arteon merely flicked a glance past him.
"…Sorry, but it's not a hundred."
"What?"
"Can't your ears hear that sound?"
Amid the desperate chaos of the surrounding battle, a pocket of eerie quiet had settled around them. Arteon cast his gaze toward their rear.
The Kar warriors flinched, then slowly turned.
"No way…"
The moment their heads swung around—
CLANG!
A thunderous impact cracked open a section of the Kar ranks; bodies toppled like felled timber.
At the head of the breakthrough stood a man who looked straight at Arteon and grinned.
"Looks like I'm not late."
"Perfect timing, Lord Isaac."
At Arteon's words, Isaac's smile widened.
Thick gray clouds blanketed the sky as if foreshadowing the merciless war still to come. The ground, already stained with blood and sweat, was darkening steadily toward a deep crimson.
Lives were crushed out beneath boots and hooves.
At the center of it all, shouts, screams, and the ringing clash of steel roared like some vast beast.
"…The flow has changed."
Krelmuk, watching the battlefield, muttered under his breath.
At first he had not noticed.
Their preemptive strike had seemed to seize the initiative.
But at some point a fine crack had appeared on the right flank.
That crack had become a fissure, and the fissure was now a widening hole.
An invisible wave of force.
Krelmuk's gaze followed it.
That way.
His eyes tracked steadily rightward.
There, thick dust and a mist of blood billowed. Screams rose with the sharp, unmistakable pressure of aura.
As Krelmuk narrowed his eyes, Baolk beside him asked carefully,
"What is it, Taman?"
"There."
"…Sir?"
Krelmuk rose to his feet.
Every officer around him sucked in a breath.
Even amid this slaughter, the pressure he radiated was that of a great beast.
But that was not the only problem.
Additional Imperial troops were already pouring along the path that had been opened.
Krelmuk's gaze swung back toward the Imperial command position.
In this short a time…
He had already read the shift and committed reserves.
A truly formidable commander.
In the pure art of directing troops, the man might even surpass him.
However—
"Baolk."
"Yes, Taman."
"Send Kortzan and Heritikan to the right flank."
"…Both of them?"
Clear shock colored Baolk's voice.
Both men bore five feather tattoos—Belikezel's finest warriors. Never before had two such officers been committed to the same point.
"If we do not move at once it will become irreversible. And…"
Krelmuk exhaled softly, eyes on the field.
Outside the zone affected by the right-flank collapse, the lines were at least even.
No—slightly in their favor.
Which meant—
If we seal that breach properly…
They could shatter the Imperial momentum completely.
Break the sharpest blade and the wound it leaves is all the deeper.
"Order Kortzan and Heritikan to kill every Imperial soldier there. Do that, and the momentum returns to us."
And once the momentum returned…
Killing intent flashed in Krelmuk's eyes.
"I will take the field myself."
He now knew with certainty that this was a battlefield where complacency meant death.
Therefore, as swiftly as possible—
We must cut their throats.
The longer the fighting dragged on, the greater the cost in Kar lives.
Baolk could not hide his astonishment.
Every order Krelmuk had just issued was far beyond the ordinary.
"…Understood."
He bowed deeply.
He was certain his Taman saw things he himself could not.
Among all who had ever ruled Belikezel, Krelmuk stood among the most exceptional.
"Issue the advance order to Kortzan and Heritikan!"
"Yes!"
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The trumpet blast announcing the command rolled across the plain.
"…Try to receive it, Imperial commander."
Krelmuk stared forward with eyes like drawn blades.