Those Who Opened the Path
The thick stench of blood rode the wind and crushed down upon the battlefield.
Even as a relentless clash raged on without the slightest concession from either side, Velkain watched them with cold, unreadable eyes.
Four shield-bearers stood guard around him. Beside them, Claw waited in silence.
"…Claw."
"Yes, Commander."
Claw turned at Velkain's call.
Velkain kept his gaze fixed on the field as he spoke.
"If the center gives, the entire formation collapses. Even if we have to pull troops from other sectors, we hold the center."
"Understood."
The Kar Tribe was strange in its simplicity. Their absolute fixation on the center went beyond mere stubbornness—it almost carried the weight of true resolve. It meant they had absolute confidence in their strength.
And that was exactly why Velkain understood: this balance could shatter under the lightest of breezes.
"…Hah."
Every stretch of the front line shuddered. The situation shifted by the second; even a moment's delay in response could see them driven back outright. Velkain observed it all, directed it all, then turned his gaze without a word.
A complex emotion settled in his eyes. His expression, like a man walking over thin ice, was nothing like his usual calm.
Slowly, Velkain shifted his attention to the left flank of the Kar formation—deep into its heart.
There, Isaac and Tairen had led the cavalry and the assault force in a breakthrough, and the Silent Spear unit had already driven deep into the enemy's interior.
Among the Belikezel punitive army, they were counted among the finest. And that was precisely why the worry pressed so hard. Losing them would be a blow of devastating magnitude.
"…Did they make it through safely?"
How deep did the fear have to run for the words to slip out at all? The anxiety that had clung to him like a shadow of disaster lingered on his face.
Seven years had already passed since Velkain came north. In that time he had commanded soldiers across countless northern battlefields. But never before had he felt this helpless. The present, where he could be certain of nothing, sat on his chest like a stone.
Looking down at feet that felt shackled in place, Velkain let out a long breath.
"So all I can do… is trust them."
Please. Come back alive.
No one could say with certainty what judgment would fall at the end of this blood-soaked field. Velkain simply kept his face composed… and hoped with everything he had.
"Gahk!"
Krelmuk screamed as Isaac's spear punched through the right side of his chest and went down hard.
"K-Krelmuk!"
"Tamaaaaan!"
The Kar warriors' rage erupted at once. They charged Isaac, but Isaac had no intention of letting them do as they pleased.
"You bastards… I'll kill every last one of you…!"
The sight of Arteon collapsed on the ground tore the fury out of him. But—
"Captain Isaac! We have to fall back!"
Tairen had caught up and was shouting at him even as he took in the fallen Arteon. The man's consciousness was faint, but still there. The moment Tairen hauled Arteon into his arms, Isaac too cried out.
"Arteon! Arteon!"
Through a fading awareness, that voice rang clear. Arteon's eyes fluttered open and found him.
"Major… Isaac…?"
For an instant the image overlaid another—the man who had once dragged him back from the brink of death. Isaac paid none of that any mind. He slung Arteon across his shoulders.
"We get out of here alive."
Light flared in Isaac's eyes. The Kar forces were already closing in around them, but—
"Third Company! Fall back! Open a path!"
"Fourth Company, cover the Third and punch us through!"
Isaac and Tairen roared the orders. Getting free would not be easy—both companies were already ringed by Kar warriors. And with Krelmuk down, the Kar had no intention of letting them leave quietly.
"How dare you… touch Lord Krelmuk…!"
"Not one of you leaves this place alive!"
Officers bearing three and four feather tattoos glared and bellowed. Escaping would be anything but simple.
Then—
"We'll open the path."
"…?"
Isaac's eyes wavered as men pressed in from the flanks, forming a ring. The Silent Spear unit—the same force that had just broken the Kar encirclement with their intervention—was preparing to charge.
Grein, at their head, spoke.
"Once we open the way… don't look back for us. Take Arteon and get out of here."
Blood dripped steadily from the sword in his hand. Cuts scored his arms and legs; blood from his brow ran down his chin. But his eyes—
This kid…
—were the eyes of a man ready to die.
Isaac nodded at Grein's words.
"Don't worry. That's exactly what I'll do."
Arteon had run out of strength and lost at the end, but—
How many people on this entire continent could land a blow like that…
That golden strike, as if a thunder god itself had descended, was something even Isaac had never seen. It was not a level that could be reduced to a single word like "6-Star."
He has to live. If this one dies…
Isaac shook his head. In this moment, he would do everything he could.
And then—
"Silent Speaaaaar!"
Grein's cry rolled across the field like thunder. Even the shout alone made the body prickle. The Silent Spear unit poured out a crushing fighting spirit.
Grein continued.
"We will break through this place and bring the unit leader home. Not a single one of them can stop us. Remember this—if we fail, he dies."
Every man in the unit filled his eyes with murderous resolve. I may die, but the unit leader lives. As they bound themselves to a single purpose, a pressure that made the flesh tremble settled over the surroundings.
Isaac's eyes shook.
These guys…?
Sometimes it happened. On the battlefield, something would trigger a sudden awakening. Rare as it was, those who awoke that way became stronger than anything they had been before. And now—
…An entire unit awakening?
The impossible was unfolding right in front of him.
Isaac's grip tightened on Arteon across his shoulders. The instant a path opened, there could be no hesitation.
The Silent Spear soldiers looked out at the Kar warriors surrounding them. Every enemy glared back with killing intent, but—
"Silent Spear."
Grein, standing in Arteon's place, spoke.
"Open the path."
With those words, one hundred Silent Spear soldiers became a single spear and charged the Kar warriors.
Consciousness sank.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say it was being swallowed into the earth. In the deep dark, every sense dulled. He could not even tell whether he was drawing breath or letting it go—a space like the bottom of a deep lake, pulling him under.
Why… am I…
Confusion surged over him as if he stood on the shards of a shattered mirror. Then—
—Arteon!
—Arteon!
Unknown voices rose from the abyss. Arteon flinched.
…Who?
In that instant the darkness peeled away, and a face he could never forget rose before him. At the heart of a burning gorge, smiling vilely among the bodies of dead comrades—
Moldrek…!
In the last breath of that life, Arteon had lifted his head and looked into that face. In this new life he had killed the man at the very beginning and avenged his comrades. No—
The revenge isn't finished yet.
The power standing behind Moldrek. He had only just learned it was the Second Prince, and he had not even reached them yet. A deep, tangled chain of evil, knotted like endless thread. If he went back without severing every link, everything he had done would mean nothing.
You people… I will never forgive.
He had clawed his way this far for a reason. In this life, he was prepared to shatter their ambitions no matter what it took.
Then—
The world around him crumbled like sand, and the dark rushed in again. Just as the pressure of the abyss began to drag him under—
—Arteon!
—Arteon!
From far off in the dark, a faint thread of light stretched toward him. A single stem of rescue. And—
"Arteooooon!"
A cry like a clean rush of water drove straight through Arteon's consciousness.
"Hah—!"
Arteon opened his eyes and dragged in a ragged breath. His head felt ready to split. Then—
"You with us?"
A familiar voice. Arteon's gaze turned. Isaac.
"Where…"
In a flash, everything that had happened tore past him—driving into the Kar formation, drawing their attention, the fight with Krelmuk. Arteon asked urgently.
"W-what happened to him? I fought their supreme commander—"
"Easy. Their supreme commander went down with a serious wound. Because of that, the Kar are falling back."
Isaac went on calmly.
"Thanks to you, our forces seized the momentum and are driving them out completely. We may even finish this war by the end of the day."
This brutal campaign was finally drawing to a close.
"…Ah."
At Isaac's words, Arteon let out a breath he hadn't meant to. Something about it felt hollow, and yet it was as if a weight had slid from his shoulders.
…So it meant something after all.
He hadn't won—but the fight with that man had not been meaningless. A faint smile touched Arteon's lips.
But—
"…?"
A subtle wrongness made him lift his head and look around. The atmosphere among the unit members—among everyone present—was strange. Arteon frowned.
"…Where are the unit members? Where is Vice Platoon Leader Grein?"
What he saw didn't match what he expected. Where the ranks should have been full, there was a hollow emptiness. He turned to the man beside him—Barter, 1st Squad Leader.
And—
"That's…"
"Hic…!"
A sob broke from nearby. Several of the soldiers could no longer hold it back; their shoulders shook.
"…Barter?"
A chill went through Arteon's chest. Barter slowly bowed his head, and the soldiers around them dropped their eyes. Some clenched their teeth; some swallowed hard against nothing.
Arteon shouted, desperate.
"Where is Vice Platoon Leader Grein…! Answer me!"
His voice shook. An anxiety he could not name set his heart hammering.
He tried to rise—
"Kh—!"
—and nearly went down. His body was nowhere near ready to move. As he crumpled again, Barter and the others rushed to support him.
"Unit Leader!"
"Arteon!"
But Arteon shook their hands off and forced strength into his legs. And in that moment, over their shoulders, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
Bodies laid out in a careful row. One by one… every face was one he knew.
"Silent… Spear?"
And among them, to the very end—Vice Platoon Leader Grein.
"…No."
Despair flooded Arteon's eyes. Through every battle they had fought until now, the Silent Spear unit had not lost a single man. Of course, winning a war without a single death was impossible—they always stood on the line between life and death. But still—
"Everyone did everything they could to save you, Unit Leader."
"…That's right. Everything you gave us… let us save you. Those men left without regret."
The voices of the survivors were thin as knives and impossibly heavy. Only then did Arteon truly look at them. Even among those still standing, not one was whole. All of them were painted in blood and badly wounded, and their number was less than half of what it had been.
Arteon staggered toward the soldiers lying with their eyes closed.
"Ah… ah…"
And before them—
he dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
"I'm… sorry. I'm sorry… because of me, because I was too weak…"
His head sank lower and lower toward the ground. And when he had folded himself completely over them—
"Aaaahhhhh!"
A scream tore out of him across the cracked earth. Arteon clutched the blood-soaked bodies to him and wept.
Far off, the sun was slowly rising, casting its light over the change that had come to Belikezel.