The Three-Minute Trial
Darkness had seeped deep into the camp, and black shadows moved across the lightless plain.
Arteon stood in silence, gazing out over the plain where night had settled.
With the supply warehouse burned, the situation had changed completely. Eighty percent of their supplies were gone, leaving them able to hold out for barely a week. And of that time, three days had already slipped away in vain.
Of course, they had succeeded in completely rooting out the internal spies in the meantime, but they were the ones pressed for time. From the Kar Tribe’s perspective, simply defending and stalling would put them at a clear advantage.
But…
If it was the Kar Tribe he knew.
They wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by…
Just wait for the Imperial army that had invaded their land to withdraw on its own? No—considering their nature, they would never leave them alone.
Rather… they might be thinking of killing us all with this chance.
Moreover, if the Kar Tribe struck them by surprise now, the entire force could be badly shaken.
Arteon, staring toward the front, furrowed his brow.
But then—
“What are you worrying about so much?”
Before he knew it, Isaac had drawn up beside him. Grein hurriedly saluted and stepped back several paces.
Arteon looked at Isaac and said, “I have an ominous feeling. I think it would be wise to strengthen the outer perimeter.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Too much attention seems focused on the internal spies. I’m worried the external watch has grown weaker than usual.”
At Arteon’s words, Isaac gave a bitter smile. Their current situation was truly the worst.
“That’s true, but… as long as they have heads on their shoulders, they won’t attack us first right now.”
They would know the supply warehouse had suffered heavy damage as well.
“I’m more worried they’ll shut the gates and refuse to come out…”
As time passed, they were the ones at a disadvantage.
Isaac’s words were certainly correct in general. But Arteon’s intuition, forged through long years of fighting the Kar Tribe, said otherwise.
“…Are you uneasy about something?”
“Yes.”
At Arteon’s expression, Isaac let out a small sigh. Sometimes the man seemed overly sensitive, but…
“I’ll handle it. I’ll also inform the commander holding the other formation.”
“Thank you.”
Arteon inclined his head slightly. Even in this situation, Isaac listened to him—and for that he was simply grateful.
Isaac chuckled and changed the subject. “But… how on earth did you do it?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Trying to hide it? Climbing to an absurd realm like that?”
Arteon scratched his cheek. “I can only say I was lucky. Seeing the enemy’s supreme commander during this operation seems to have given me a great realization.”
“Supreme commander?”
Isaac’s eyes wavered. This guy still hadn’t reported something that big?
Reading the thought, Arteon continued quickly. “There was no time. Not just this—there was no chance to report the other matters either, was there?”
“That’s true, but… you still should have told me first.”
“That’s why I’m telling you now, isn’t it?”
Arteon said it with a small smile. Isaac lightly punched his chest.
“You sly bastard. Well… it wasn’t the time for reports anyway.”
After the warehouse burned they had been frantic putting things in order. And the moment that was done they had launched a large-scale operation to root out the spies. Without Arteon’s prior insight, even that would have taken far longer.
…The more I work with him, the more remarkable this guy becomes.
Could a single soldier really exert this much influence on a battlefield? In combat, combat. In internal management, management. Even in rapidly pushing new supply lines when the situation grew critical—he had heard Arteon was involved there too. One man touching every field.
In all his long years of service, Isaac had never seen anyone like him. A man of unmatched capability. Perhaps that was why he no longer believed this war would simply end as things stood.
“We need to hurry.”
“Right.”
At Arteon’s words Isaac turned at once. He would have liked to stay longer, but there was far too much still to do.
Once Isaac had gone, Arteon stood silently staring ahead.
“….”
Things that had to be done. He was doing everything within his power, yet to win this war he still had to surpass that man.
Can I win?
By fully absorbing Ether’s Heart he had completely stepped into the next realm.
6-Star.
To think… I would actually reach this height.
With this, the gap that had once seemed an unscalable wall might have narrowed a little. But—
I can’t be certain until I face him again.
The power Krelmuk had shown then had been only a fraction of the whole.
Arteon recalled their encounter and let out a quiet breath.
And then—
“Are you thinking of the man you saw a few days ago?”
Grein had drawn up beside him without notice and spoke while looking at Arteon.
Arteon glanced at him. “Have you learned mind-reading?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You’ll have to meet him again someday.”
Yet with those words Grein’s expression darkened. A strange bitterness colored his voice.
Arteon studied Grein’s face. He felt it again—he knew exactly what worries the Silent Spear members carried. Especially those from the old 3rd Platoon who had served under him at Elbarphiel Lake. They had been the first to receive his training and had run the harshest battlefields together.
That was why…
…A natural worry, then.
Arteon seemed to consider something, then turned on his heel.
“Follow me.”
“…Sir?”
As Arteon strode off without hesitation, Grein followed with a puzzled look.
“Silent Spear unit—full assembly.”
At the single command more than a hundred men gathered in moments. Inside the camp the search for spies had left the area outside the tents restless and disordered. At Arteon’s sudden order the soldiers formed up before him with uncertain faces.
Then Arteon pointed to one man among them.
“Ret. Take your weapon and step forward.”
“Sir? Ah—yes.”
Ret started, then hurriedly seized his spear and came out. The entire unit watched the two face each other with blank incomprehension. Why weapons, this late at night?
But Arteon had chosen Ret for a clear reason.
Among the old 3rd Platoon men… Ret is relatively on the weaker side.
He had no desire to rank them, yet if force alone set the order, Ret would stand second or third from the bottom of that group.
Which is why…
What he was about to do would carry even greater weight.
Arteon looked at the man standing before him, then spoke so every soldier could hear.
“I know the worries you carry right now. I also know some of you in this Silent Spear unit have begun to doubt your own strength.”
Many felt a hollow futility at the vast gulf between themselves and their powerful commander. Yet there was one thing they did not understand.
“Ret. From this moment we begin a spar.”
Arteon’s serious face made Ret’s eyes widen. But the words were not finished.
“The time limit is three minutes. If you fail to land a proper strike on me within that time…”
Arteon’s gaze swept lightly across the ranks. From his coolly settled eyes a tremendous fighting spirit poured forth.
“I will expel you from this unit.”
“…!”
“U-Unit Leader!”
Ret’s pupils shook violently. Grein, watching from the side, called out urgently, but—
“The decision will not be reversed. Ret, prepare.”
“Unit Leader… am I… someone the unit no longer needs?”
“Prove your worth yourself.”
It would feel sudden. It would feel unfair. Arteon knew exactly how absurd what he was doing appeared. But the battlefield had always been such a place—a place where a man had to be ready to fight at any moment, under any conditions.
“I’ll go first.”
Arteon drew up his mana and charged. With a powerful stomp he closed the distance at terrifying speed. Ret thrust his spear in desperate haste.
Swish!
A clean thrust—yet it cut only empty air.
“Ret—below!”
Arteon dropped his stance and swung the spear in the same motion.
Clang!
“Kuaak!”
Ret cried out and staggered back. He kept his grip, but the palm holding the spear tore open and blood began to flow. Only then did the truth hit him.
H-He’s serious…!
Arteon was facing him in earnest. Ret’s eyes changed. This harsh northern front where death could come at any moment was still home to him so long as he belonged to Silent Spear.
I don’t want to leave.
Even if the unit leader he respected most was trying to cast him out—
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”
He would endure somehow!
Ret roared and drove his spear at Arteon. Swish! Whoosh! Crash! A storm of linked techniques poured forth—the fundamentals drilled into him in training, everything the brutal battlefields had taught him. And because he had never neglected the mana cultivation method, his mana moved with steady control.
Clang! Clang!
Yet Arteon turned every attack aside. For an instant Ret looked shaken, then—
Grit!
He clenched his teeth and charged again. Thrust! Clang! Whoosh! The exchange continued. Ret’s skill, far beyond what anyone expected, gradually drew every watching eye; the unit stood captivated by the spar.
And then—
“S-Stop!”
The moment exactly three minutes passed, Grein shouted.
Thud.
Ret collapsed to the ground, chest heaving.
“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…!”
Sweat poured like rain; the hand on his spear trembled violently. Every time he had blocked one of Arteon’s blows he had felt pain as if his bones were shattering. This was the gap between the Unit Leader and—
Myself…?
Of course, had Arteon used aura the fight would have ended in a single stroke. Ret gasped with a look of despair, unable even to raise his head.
But then—
Swoosh.
Arteon’s hand appeared before his eyes. Ret looked up in surprise.
“You did well, Ret.”
“I-I’m not expelled…?”
“Of course not. I can’t send a capable soldier like you anywhere else.”
Arteon grinned. Ret took the offered hand and rose.
Only then did Arteon turn to the assembled unit.
“Did you all see that clearly? What do you make of Ret’s skill?”
“Amazing.”
“I never knew he was this good.”
Mairn, squad leader of Ret’s own squad, spoke. Arteon nodded.
“I used no aura, yet in that fight I fought with mana exceeding the 3-Star level.”
Ret had held his own against that for a full three minutes.
Simply by realm, he has already far surpassed 2-Star.
If his mana capacity caught up even a little more, the skill would easily warrant the title of 3-Star.
But mana ultimately requires time.
Men who had once been ordinary soldiers without even a single star had already reached a level comparable to 3-Star through their own efforts.
“You are already proving your strength.”
They fought on equal terms with the personal guards of Kar Tribe officers. They simply could not feel it because Arteon, standing so far above them, was always in front.
“And you are still growing stronger. When this war ends… you will be stronger than you are now.”
So they had only one path: survive, and survive again, and keep fighting.
“Do not doubt yourselves. Focus on today’s battle. Understood?”
A brief silence hung, then—
“Yes! Understood!”
The thunderous reply rolled across the camp.
But at that very moment—
Bwooooooooooooo!
A trumpet blast swept through the entire encampment.
The Kar Tribe was attacking.