Within a Week
Darkness settled over the plain, and with it came the cold northern wind.
The leather cloak around his shoulders and his hair whipped like banners, yet Krelmuk stared ahead as if none of it touched him.
“…….”
Today’s battle had clearly ended in their victory. The number of dead Imperial soldiers was beyond counting, and above all, the enemy’s supply depot had gone up in flames.
Still, something heavy lingered in his eyes—thoughts that refused to settle.
Just then—
“Taman, Kortzan has awakened.”
“……I’ll go now.”
At the report from the subordinate who had approached unnoticed, Krelmuk turned as if he had been waiting for those very words. His heavy footsteps carried him toward the tent.
Inside, the air mixed the scent of medicinal herbs with the stench of blood. The moment he arrived, the men treating Kortzan beside the cot hurriedly stepped aside.
“You’ve come.”
“How is he?”
“He’s past the worst of it. He came to a short while ago.”
When Krelmuk looked down at him, Kortzan—wrapped head to toe in herbs and bandages—tried to push himself upright.
Krelmuk’s low voice cut through the tent, sharp as a blade.
“Stay down.”
“……Yes.”
Kortzan froze mid-rise and sank awkwardly back onto the cot. Krelmuk looked down at him. Cold words followed at once.
“You put on a pathetic display.”
“……I am sorry.”
Kortzan squeezed his eyes shut without meaning to. His clenched fists trembled. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear.
It was not only that he had lost the fight. The Taman himself—Krelmuk—had been forced to save him. For a warrior, that humiliation was unforgivable.
His lips moved.
“If you order it…… I will pay with my life.”
“Die? Is that what a great warrior says?”
Krelmuk’s gaze pinned him like a spear.
“If you’re sorry, then live and keep fighting.”
The words were short and hard.
“Survive by any means. Fight at my side again and again. That is the atonement you owe.”
With that, Krelmuk left the tent.
The night air rushed cold into his lungs. Outside, the senior officers Baolk and Herkan were already waiting.
“We greet the Taman.”
“Are you well, Taman?”
Krelmuk nodded at their greetings.
“You both did well. Prepare for the next battle.”
“Understood.”
There was nothing more. Only the brief, ordinary exchange, and then Krelmuk walked on. When his broad shoulders vanished into the dark, Baolk glanced at Herkan and muttered low.
“Why is the Taman so harsh only with Kortzan?”
Defeat was unforgivable for a warrior, true—but the man had fought to the very brink of death without giving up.
Herkan looked at him for a moment, then gave a faint, knowing smile.
“Do you really think that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s because he values him that much.”
“……?”
Confusion flickered in Baolk’s eyes. Herkan glanced up at the sky.
“Kortzan grew up with the Taman. He never had any great talent as a warrior. The only reason he earned five feather tattoos is because he stared at the Taman’s back and drove himself half to death training.”
“They come from the same tribe?”
“It’s complicated.”
Baolk’s eyes narrowed in surprise. He had never imagined the two shared such a past.
Herkan said, “Forget it. Most people don’t know.”
“……Understood.”
“More importantly, we should prepare properly ourselves.”
The faint smile vanished. Murderous intent settled back into Herkan’s eyes. He wanted every last one of those damned Imperials who had killed his daughter dead—and now that moment was finally within reach.
“The Taman will take the field himself.”
“The Taman? We already hold the advantage from this battle. Why would he need to step in personally?”
“He will.”
Herkan spoke with absolute certainty. Fighting beside the Taman, he feared nothing in the world. Only Baolk was left staring after the direction Krelmuk had gone, still unable to understand.
And for someone, the bitterly cold night only grew deeper.
Silence hung heavy in the conference room where the officers sat. No one even knew what to say or how to begin.
Yet they could not simply sit there mute forever.
“Our supply situation is catastrophic. We must send a messenger to the Helikel Canyon fort at once and request additional provisions.”
When First Battalion Commander Luokal opened the discussion, Claw answered immediately.
“A messenger has already been dispatched. However…… when we set out we brought nearly all our stores with us. Expecting anything substantial right away is unrealistic.”
“How much food remains? We need that number if we’re to form any plan.”
“At current rations, five days. If we cut back, a week—perhaps ten days at the absolute maximum.”
In this brutal cold, reduced rations would crush the men’s morale at once. Gloom settled over the tent again. The lamp flame flickered, making the lines on the map tremble.
Then Fourth Battalion Commander Hadmel spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be better to fall back to the Helikel Canyon fort, reorganize, and return? This temporary position barely keeps the wind off us.”
And the longer they stayed, the worse the food pressure would become.
“That’s not all. We’re short on medicine and bandages for the wounded—even weapons.”
In every respect it was the worst possible situation. With each passing day the gap in strength would only widen.
Luokal’s brow furrowed at the suggestion.
“Fall back? After everything it took to get this far? And don’t you realize that turning around now is exactly what the spies inside us want most?”
“So you’d rather get every last soldier killed?”
“Who said anything about dying?!”
Their voices rose. As the battalion commanders locked horns, the others kept silent and held their places.
Then Tairen, Fourth Company Commander under the Fourth Battalion, spoke up.
“If the supply depot hadn’t burned, we would have won this battle.”
Supreme Commander Velkain’s strategy had shone brilliantly.
“We wiped out their hidden card—the shamans—and the Silent Spear unit slipped deep into the enemy center and struck them from the side.”
Hadmel’s face twisted. One of his own direct subordinates was contradicting him.
“That is…….”
As Hadmel’s irritation showed, Velkain cut in.
“Continue.”
Tairen looked at Velkain and pressed on.
“Having spies among us is extremely dangerous, yes. But retreating now would be far too great a waste.”
Tairen was certain. He had yet to make any major contribution himself, but he believed they could still win this war.
Hadmel shot back, “You can’t fight without supplies! They know our situation now. From here on they’ll dig in and defend. Time will only turn against us, and more of our men will die.”
Better to pull back, reorganize, and come again than return having lost everything.
Luokal answered, “The moment we withdraw, they will fortify even harder for the next fight. They’ll call for reinforcements. They might even raise walls across this plain.”
If that happened, they would never get another chance like this. They would need far more troops and pay a far higher price in blood.
“Even so, right now—!”
“Enough.”
Just as Hadmel was about to shout, Velkain intervened. At that single word every mouth closed and every eye turned to him.
Velkain studied the map on the table with cool eyes. When he had ordered his thoughts, he looked at the officers around him.
“I will not deny that this is, in many ways, the worst possible moment. And yet…… that is exactly why I believe it is also an opportunity.”
He turned to Claw.
“You said the remaining food would last a week?”
“Ten days at most, but that would begin to affect combat readiness.”
“A week.”
Velkain nodded.
“We will end this war within a week.”
His eyes flashed sharp as steel, and a heavy tension settled over the conference room.
Ssshhhhh—!
A fierce wind drove snow across the land, wrapping the frozen earth. The air bit like ice, yet Arteon sat motionless at its center.
Isaac approached Grein, who stood watch over him.
“Still at it?”
“This is the second day. He hasn’t moved…… just kept the same posture, circulating the mana cultivation method.”
What in the world was he thinking? Grein’s face was tight with worry at the sight of Arteon performing the cultivation method for two full days without so much as a sip of water.
Isaac let out a quiet sigh.
“If it’s him, there’s a reason. Keep watching. Outside interference could turn dangerous.”
“Yes. The men and I are rotating and guarding him like iron.”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
Isaac clapped Grein on the shoulder and turned away. He would have preferred to stay, but too many other duties demanded him.
Left alone, Grein watched Arteon with anxious eyes. The man’s entire body was already soaked in sweat.
Two days. Ever since beginning the cultivation method he had thrown every technique he possessed into absorbing Ether’s Heart without rest. Without the cold-resistance bracelet he had received from the Imperial treasure vault, he would have frozen to death long ago. That bracelet alone had let him push the Vargas Mana Cultivation Method to its absolute limit.
Is it…… impossible after all?
Even the Vargas method—most effective in extreme cold—could not absorb Ether’s Heart. Arteon’s mind and body were finally hitting their limits. Cold resistance could only do so much; there was still a threshold.
“…….”
In the middle of cultivation he could not even open his mouth. All he could do was clench his fists until the knuckles whitened.
In the end……
He was staring at the completely unresponsive Ether’s Heart, the thought of giving up beginning to form, when—
Woooooom—!
“……?”
Iglis, hanging at his waist, suddenly vibrated. In that same instant—
“……!”
Inside his mana hole, Ether’s Heart—which had not so much as twitched until now—began to move, slowly.
The unfamiliar motion made Arteon’s heart hammer. At the same time—
Suaaaaaaah—!
A portion of the power held within Ether’s Heart poured out of Arteon’s body and was sucked straight into Iglis.
Wooooooom! Woooooom!
Iglis, absorbing the Heart’s power, vibrated even harder. And then—
Pakang!
As if it were a living creature, Iglis shot into the air, transformed into its true spear form, and—
Kwang!
—drove itself point-first into the ground directly in front of Arteon.
“C-Commander!”
Grein cried out in shock at the sudden spectacle. What on earth was happening?
But then—
Paaat!
A golden light suddenly enveloped Arteon’s entire body. Grein’s eyes went wide at a sight he had never seen or heard of before.
“What…… is that?”
As the golden radiance flooded the surroundings, Grein instinctively shut his eyes and turned his head away.