The Kraugren's Rampage
The air split with a deafening roar that tore straight through the eardrums.
A blizzard erupted, and the snowflakes that had been swirling in the sky were whipped away in all directions by the beast’s bellow.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
With every step of the colossal form across the snowy plain, the ice beneath shattered and the ground trembled around it.
The soldiers stared in utter horror at the monster.
White fur that seemed to swallow the entire northern snowfield.
It had the shape of a bear, yet the long ivory tusks protruding from the sides of its mouth resembled those of an elephant.
Those eyes burned with murderous intent as it charged like a demon from hell.
No other word was needed.
Just pure disaster itself.
“W-what is that thing?!”
“Archers! Fire!”
North’s monstrous beast, the Kraugren.
The reason the commanders screamed in panic was simple: they could not understand why this creature was attacking them.
“FIRRRREEEEE!”
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Dozens, hundreds of arrows rose into the sky.
For an instant, black dots filled the heavens before they rained down upon the Kraugren’s head.
But…
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sound was exactly like arrows bouncing off a metal shield.
Hundreds of arrows failed to pierce the Kraugren’s hide and dropped powerlessly onto the snow.
The commanders’ eyes, and even the soldiers’, widened in disbelief.
“T-the arrows… aren’t working?!”
“This is insane! What kind of beast is this?!”
They shouted as if denying reality.
“KRRRRRRRRRRR!”
Soon the Kraugren, charging straight for the front line, roared and swung its protruding white tusks.
CRACK!
With a single blow, the soldier holding the tower shield was torn in half.
A red flower bloomed on the snow.
And that was only the beginning.
“S-stop it!”
“It’s a monster with overwhelming strength! Form ranks! Build a wall!”
The shield-bearing soldiers in heavy armor overlapped their bodies and poured every ounce of strength into holding the line.
They had no choice but to pin the beast down and strike before it could charge through.
Yet as if mocking their desperate effort, the Kraugren swept its front leg like lightning.
BOOOOOOM!
The metal shield shattered, and the armored soldiers flew into the air.
The soldier struck directly in the chest by the Kraugren’s hoof was split in two along with his armor.
His organs fell pattering onto the ground along with blood from his body.
“GAAAAAHHH!”
“GYAAAAAHHH!”
The soldiers who had been knocked aside nearby cried out in agony as their bones shattered.
“KRRRRRRRRRRR!”
But even that scream was swallowed by the overwhelming roar.
The moment the Kraugren’s gaze swept across the battlefield, the soldiers froze, as if they had seen the eyes of Medusa herself.
Fear seized their bodies, and the scene unfolding before their eyes was one they could not bear to watch.
Yet several soldiers managed to overcome their fear and hurled their spears.
CLANG!
They bounced away into the air without leaving even a scratch.
In fact, they only irritated the beast’s nerves.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrr…!”
The Kraugren turned its head, bared its fangs at the soldier who had thrown the spear, and growled.
The soldier who met its gaze hurriedly turned and tried to flee.
“KRRRRRRRRR!”
Before he had taken even a few steps, the Kraugren lunged at him.
“GYAAAAAHHH!”
The soldier who saw the beast pouncing on him crouched low and screamed.
But at that exact moment.
SWOOSH!
A sudden gust of wind reversed direction and something slammed into the space between the soldier and the Kraugren.
The beast’s eyes widened at whatever had suddenly appeared before it, and it swung its front leg.
Just as always, it planned to tear the body in half with one strike and devour the human who had thrown the spear along with it.
But…
CRACK!
An unfamiliar pain, something it had never felt before, began to travel up its front leg.
Plop. Plop…
Right after it realized the red blood falling to the ground was coming from its own leg.
“KRRRRRRRRRRR!”
The Kraugren howled in rage and stared at the human in front of it.
And in that instant.
“Ah… Lieutenant Isaac…?”
The soldier who had been crouching looked up at the man standing before him in utter shock.
Isaac shouted loudly.
“I’ll handle this one! Form up! The Kar tribe is coming!”
Because of the Kraugren’s rampage, he had not noticed, but the Kar tribe warriors on the hill had already begun to move.
Seeing this, the officers commanding the shield soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Form ranks! We will block the Kar tribe’s advance!”
“Archers! Turn toward the front! Fire! FIRE!”
The battlefield, which had been on the verge of becoming a chaotic melee, was quickly brought under control.
But…
‘…Unstable, yet they used aura to cut it down without even scratching the hide.’
The Kraugren.
Just how had the Kar tribe tamed this monster?
Whether it was anger boiling over from the previous strike or simply its nature, the Kraugren’s pupils had turned blood-red.
“Grrrrrrrrrr…”
The Kraugren let out a low howl while glaring at Isaac.
Soon, elite soldiers from the 3rd Platoon who handled mana with perfect skill surrounded the beast.
“We must pin its legs down. We finish this in one strike.”
“Understood.”
“…Yes!”
Isaac’s gaze grew cold as he heard his subordinates’ answers.
If it had been in the past, he would have severed its neck with a single blow.
Pause.
But right now, the creature was not here to cause trouble.
‘Here… I must stop it myself.’
Finally, watching the Kraugren howl and charge, Isaac began to draw in his aura.
***
At some point, snow began mixing with the blowing wind.
Under a sky covered in gray, watching the massive form emerge amid its thunderous roar, Arteon’s eyes shook.
“The Kraugren…?”
“W-what is that…?”
The Silent Spear unit members could not hide their shock at the beast’s roar shaking the snowfield and the sound of its footsteps.
But Arteon bit his lips tightly while staring at the Kraugren.
‘So there is someone here who controls a Kraugren…?’
Controlling the northern beast was one of the Kar tribe’s weapons.
It was something shamans with exceptional ability had brainwashed and trained for a long time to command.
Of course, besides them, there were also special beings that were not humans, like the madmen they had fought in the past.
In his previous life, Arteon had also encountered a few of those creatures.
Yet even after over ten years in the north, the number of times he had directly fought them was so few it was almost nothing.
It was because such warriors were rare even within the Kar tribe.
But the fact that such a monster was here was an extremely grim situation for the allied forces.
“KRRRRRRRRRRR!”
The allied formation was collapsing under the Kraugren’s furious charge and howl.
Broken spears and shields lay scattered across the ground mixed with blood and snow, and crushed bodies rolled over them.
Arteon’s eyes gradually darkened.
‘…The front line is collapsing. If left like this…’
To kill the Kraugren, they needed someone who could handle aura without fail.
Otherwise, at the very least, over a hundred soldiers—and perhaps more—would have to face it.
And even that would require heavy sacrifice to defeat it at all.
Most important was that the beast had to die as quickly as possible.
Just as Arteon took a step toward the Kraugren, a trumpet sounded that echoed across the battlefield.
Along with that sound, the Imperial Army unit began to move from the left flank.
The direction was exactly where the Kraugren had appeared.
‘…?’strong>
Arteon turned his head to look toward the distant commander’s flag fluttering in the wind.
“So you already know about this situation, Velkain?”
Whether he knew or not could not be determined clearly.
But the fact that Velkain had recognized the crisis and was acting quickly was the most important thing.
And then.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The sound of horse hooves approached from afar.
Someone was galloping toward Arteon at full speed.
“Lieutenant Arteon!”
The soldier who had been panting ran to the horse and dismounted, then said to Arteon.
“It is an order from the General Commander. When chaos broke out in the center, move to the reed field on the right side of the enemy camp.”
The messenger handed over a letter sealed with Velkain’s crest.
Arteon, having received the letter, muttered.
“The reed field on the right side…”
Among what Arteon knew, there was only one reed field on the right side of the enemy camp.
Reaching it required advancing quite far into the enemy’s territory.
An extremely difficult mission.
Arteon narrowed his eyes and exhaled softly.
But at that moment, the messenger continued.
“And the General Commander asked me to deliver this message to you.”
“…?”
Arteon looked at the messenger.
“If anyone can do it, it is you. I am sorry to assign you such a difficult task…”
“…”
Arteon remained silent for a long time.
Staring at Velkain’s flag visible through the snow, he slowly nodded.
“Tell the General Commander that I will surely complete the mission.”
“Understood.”
Finally, after the messenger turned the horse and rode away, Arteon stood facing his unit members.
Even in the blizzard, their gazes were the same—cold and sharp.
Arteon spoke.
“Order is given. From now on, our Silent Spear unit will move to the reed field on the right side of the enemy camp.”
His tone was calm, without any emotional change. But the unyielding firmness in his eyes made the unit members tense as they looked at him.
“The path to that place will likely lead us directly into the enemy forces.”
Because they were already inside the enemy camp, they had no choice but to encounter the enemy soldiers head-on.
Grein said.
“Then we should take a detour.”
Arteon shook his head.
“No, that would take too much time. The General Commander wants us to strike at the enemy’s weakness when the chaos in the center is at its peak.”
“Then how…”
“We kill the enemies before they notice and leave.”
“…Yes?”strong>
What kind of strategy was that?
The unit members, including Grein, could not hide their bewildered expressions at Arteon’s words.
Suggesting to kill them all to win a war was absurd.
But soon.
“Hehehe.”
Grein let out a small laugh.
It was an utterly ridiculous answer, but since Arteon had said it, it sounded possible.
Then Grein looked at the unit members and said.
“Everyone heard?”
“Haha… We’re going to die again this time.”
“We have no choice but to die, right?”
Soon the unit members seemed to have caught on to Arteon’s style.
Having enough composure to laugh at such a bizarre order.
Arteon then turned his gaze toward the center.
The Kar tribe warriors who had charged were now clashing with the allied forces in fierce battle.
Violent fighting where people killed each other right before their eyes.
When the chaos erupted, Arteon’s eyes grew cold.
Finally, Arteon turned to the unit members and said.
“Advance.”
Along with those words.
“We obey the order.”
The Silent Spear unit began to charge toward the enemy camp, following Arteon.