I'll Kill You in One Blow
The scrape of steel on steel plunged the battlefield into chaos in an instant.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The earth itself seemed to shudder under the pounding charge of the Silent Spear unit led by Arteon. They drove a swift preemptive strike straight toward Krelmuk and his personal guard.
Then Arteon’s gaze and Krelmuk’s collided in midair.
Krelmuk’s eyes narrowed.
“So you’ve chosen close combat.”
A clever brat. Once they were locked together in a melee, neither of them would be able to unleash aura across a wide area—not Arteon, and not Krelmuk himself.
Krelmuk read the intention perfectly and poured aura into his blade. Clever thinking, yes—
“But even if we fight at arm’s length, nothing changes.”
At those words, the pupils of the charging Arteon rippled once. There was not the slightest tremor of doubt in that flicker—only the iron will to execute a calculated plan.
Pa-bat!
Arteon accelerated again, closing the distance to Krelmuk. For a force as outnumbered as Silent Spear, this was the only path left—even if it meant plunging headlong into the heart of the enemy.
Krelmuk’s eyes flashed as Arteon came near.
“This is your mistake.”
His voice rolled out heavy and cold. Had they kept their distance and traded aura, Krelmuk’s men might have fallen, but Arteon’s side would have suffered just as badly. On this field, only Krelmuk himself could withstand aura of that purity.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The horse beneath Krelmuk thundered even harder toward Arteon. In the space of a few strides the gap vanished.
“Die.”
The long sword rose high and swept down at Arteon in a single merciless arc.
Swaaaaaaah!
It was a monstrous blade most Kar warriors could not even lift with one hand. In Krelmuk’s grip, it became something else entirely.
Arteon ducked hard beneath the blistering cut.
Chwaak!
A few strands of hair drifted on the wind where the sword had passed. Arteon rolled across the ground—
“Hieeeeeeeng!”
“……!”
—and the horse that carried Krelmuk screamed and collapsed. In the fleeting instant they crossed, Arteon’s spear had punched straight through its flank.
“Lord Krelmuk!”
“Taman!”
Kar warriors cried out as their commander toppled. But the moment the horse’s head slammed into the dirt—
Pa-bat!
—Krelmuk sprang into the air and landed cleanly on his feet.
“……That was a decent strike.”
His voice had gone flat and cold. The look he fixed on Arteon was no longer the same as before; he was no longer dismissing the man as easy prey. He was acknowledging a genuine rival.
“But…….”
Sreung.
Krelmuk raised his sword and leveled it at Arteon.
“Do you truly think you have a chance if we cross blades directly?”
Close combat was an entirely different matter from whether one could unleash high-purity aura. What mattered now was pure swordsmanship—and the fine control of mana through the body rather than through aura.
Mana control is not something talent alone can ever achieve.
It was forged only by using it, again and again, across countless battlefields. In other words, the one who had spent the longest years commanding mana would always hold the edge.
And in that light—
“Feel your own helplessness as you die.”
Krelmuk lifted the long blade high. It had been far too long since an enemy had made his heart pound like this. To the absolute ruler of Belikezel, the present moment was nothing more than amusement.
In the end……
This war is ours.
The imperial dogs who had blundered into this land without knowing their place would pay a heavy price before they fled. And as the opening signal of that victory—
“I will take your head and hang it at the center of the battlefield.”
“……You talk too much.”
Arteon raised his spear and answered in a calm, level voice. All around them the sounds of Silent Spear fighting Kar warriors already filled the air. The longer this dragged on, the more danger his outnumbered men would face.
There was only one way to seize the momentum of this battle and break free with his unit intact.
Kkeuk.
Arteon’s grip on Iglis tightened. His eyes lanced toward Krelmuk like a blade.
Seuk.
He sank into a low stance and spoke.
“I’ll kill you in one blow.”
“Do your best, pup.”
Krelmuk’s mouth smiled, yet the eyes that watched Arteon never once let their guard down. The killing intent pouring from both men collided—
Kwaang!
Kung!
—and Arteon and Krelmuk charged at each other at the same instant.
In the heart of the battlefield the copper reek of blood rode the wind and tangled together. The soldiers of Silent Spear who had stepped into that hell clung to their fraying sanity by the thinnest of threads and swung their weapons like madmen.
Ssuak!
A blade skimmed past a throat. Grein barely twisted clear of a flanking strike and drove his fist into the face of the Kar warrior who had closed in.
Peok!
“Ghk!”
The man’s body reeled from the punch that smashed into his jaw. In that same heartbeat the spear of another Silent Spear soldier, Latian, shot forward.
Puk!
The point punched through the neck; a wet, gurgling sound spilled out.
“Grrk……!”
The Kar warrior’s eyes rolled back as he spat blood. There was no time even to watch him fall.
“Watch out!”
Two more blades came scything in from the side. Grein bit down hard and whipped his sword across them.
Chaeng, chaeng!
Thick beads of sweat ran down Grein’s brow. Short, ragged breaths hissed between his teeth.
“You bastards! At least give us room to breathe!”
Drawing up his mana, Grein carved through both enemies at once and shouted. His sword hand had begun to tremble; the flow of mana inside him was starting to waver.
Then—
“Kuaaaaaagh!”
“……!”
“Belcaron!”
Silent Spear’s Belcaron screamed. The blade that had stabbed his side was wrenched free, and bright blood poured out in a rush. His knees buckled; he clenched his teeth, but a crimson edge was already falling toward his skull.
In that instant—
Seogeok!
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
The arm that held the sword was sheared clean off. The Kar warrior staggered, shrieking, and First Squad Leader Barter drove his spear through the man’s chest in the opening.
“Grrk…….”
The warrior crumpled. Barter hauled the reeling Belcaron upright and roared,
“Get a grip! You’re not going down from something this small!”
“Ghk…… Squad Leader……!”
Barter hastily staunched the wound in the man’s side, yanked out a spare bandage, and wound it tight. Blood still soaked through the cloth from the deep gash, yet it was far better than nothing.
But then—
“S-Squad Leadeeeer!”
Belcaron, half-sunk to the ground, screamed at the two Kar warriors charging Barter’s back. Barter snatched up the spear he had laid aside and spun around—
“Die!”
“To look away in the middle of a fight!”
—yet their axes were already dropping toward his head.
Puk! Seogeok!
Kamarkan and Lupian slammed into the attackers first and planted themselves on either side of Barter and Belcaron.
Kamarkan bellowed,
“Where the hell is your head at!”
“Belcaron, get to the center and finish binding that wound! You can do it yourself!”
“Y-yeah.”
Belcaron clenched his jaw and forced himself deeper among his comrades at Lupian’s shout. Before long the Silent Spear soldiers had locked into a circular formation, eyes sharp as they glared at the surrounding Kar warriors.
Grein shouted,
“Hold! Just hold a little longer and the commander will finish his fight and join us!”
They all knew Arteon was locked in a battle even fiercer and more dangerous than theirs—fighting the monster whose mere presence made their knees go weak.
But…….
It did not matter who stood against him. The idea that Arteon could lose to anyone was simply unthinkable. They had already clawed their way out of impossible battlefields at his side more than once.
This time would be no different.
We……
“Every last one of us is going home alive! Grit your teeth and hold until the commander gets here!”
“Yes, sir!”
Grein’s desperate roar rekindled the light in eyes that had been fading. They wanted nothing more than to drop and give up, yet the thought of Arteon somehow kindled hope.
“All of us……!”
We’re going home alive.
“Uwaaaaaaaaagh!”
“Kiiiiill them!”
“Hold the liiiine!”
Howls that were half screams tore free, and the melee of rending flesh and spraying blood exploded once more.
Jjeoeong!
The instant spear and sword met, a shockwave that shook the earth blasted outward. Metallic crashes rang again and again until both men were fighting for breath.
“Heup!”
“Heup!”
Kwaang!
Arteon and Krelmuk. The weapons they swung crashed together without yielding so much as an inch. Their eyes flicked across each other; then both stepped back as one and reset their grips.
Pa-bat!
Arteon moved first. As if he had no luxury of retreat, he dropped low and thrust Iglis straight at Krelmuk’s throat.
Ssuuaaak!
Golden light shimmered along the spear as it tore through the air. But before the tip could reach him—
Jjeong!
—Krelmuk twisted his blade and batted Iglis aside. Aura-coated steel scraped against aura-coated steel; threads of power scattered into the air and quivered.
Not bad…….
Krelmuk’s pupils trembled faintly. A thin sheen of sweat had gathered on his brow; strain was beginning to load his muscles.
Arteon was just as surprised. He had judged they were now evenly matched and had meant to force a quick decision.
Such precise movement with a sword that size…….
He had believed Vargas Northern Spearmanship would let him dominate at close range. That had been nothing more than a delusion.
“Heup!”
“Huaaaaaah!”
Their war cries erupted as sword and spear locked in a frenzy of blows. Every collision made the ground shudder and split; waves of force that felt ready to shred flesh rolled outward.
The longer they fought, the clearer it became just how strong the man before him truly was.
If…….
If not for the experience of his previous life. If he had never received Vargas’s legacy. If he had never absorbed Ether’s Heart.
The what-ifs chased one another in an endless chain.
But…….
Jjeoeong!
“……!”
For the first time Krelmuk was driven back two full steps by a swing of Arteon’s spear. His eyes shook; his face twisted.
They had seemed evenly matched, yet until now he had held a slight edge. And now—
“……You’re growing? In the middle of this fight?”
Krelmuk bit down hard. It was impossible.
Arteon simply exhaled a short breath and looked at him. Entertaining every one of those hypotheticals was—
“Pointless.”
He already possessed them all. The decades of life-and-death combat. Vargas’s spearmanship and mana cultivation method. Ether’s Heart.
And……
“Everything up to this very moment.”
He had no intention of stopping.
Stronger…… stronger…… even stronger.
Arteon’s eyes deepened into a dense gold. The aura pouring from his body concentrated into Iglis.
He raised the spear and spoke.
“Take this.”
Between Arteon and Krelmuk, a single golden line was drawn.