Orders to Advance
On the far side from the Imperial encampment, past several ridges and low mountain ranges stacked one upon another, lay a basin.
A heavy silence had settled over the basin where the Kar Tribe was encamped.
The tension of a battle that could begin at any moment hung in the air. Tents stitched from beast hides fluttered low in the wind, and the flames of the torches planted throughout the camp tore and whipped this way and that in the fierce gusts.
At the heart of it all, the Kar Taman Barg Sravan suddenly froze and turned his head.
"……?"
His gaze swung, as if by instinct, toward the direction of the Imperial camp.
It was a distance beyond the mountains, far past anything the naked eye could possibly see. Layers of rocky peaks stood in the way, and the sky, drawing near to night, was blanketed in ash-gray clouds.
Durokam, who had been following at his side, asked with a puzzled look.
"……What is it, my lord?"
Even so, Barg said nothing for a long while, staring toward the Imperial lines.
He felt a subtle tremor in the air carried on the wind. More than that, a chill had settled, without reason, deep in his chest.
But……
"……No. Must have been my imagination."
Barg turned away as he spoke, then muttered under his breath as if chiding himself for what he had just done.
"Ridiculous."
He let out a breath that was almost a snort. Sensing another man's presence from a distance this great was absurd. And there was no one who could project enough power for him to feel it, either.
"I must be on edge without realizing it, with a major battle ahead."
"……You, Taman?"
Durokam's expression stiffened slightly.
Barg had never once shown a side like this. A strange unease touched Durokam, and his face grew troubled.
Barg, however, only clapped him on the arm as if to tell him not to worry.
"Never mind that. Are the preparations in order?"
"Give the order whenever you wish."
Barg nodded at Durokam's reply.
"In the end, the Empire dogs will signal the start. But if even then……"
If they tucked their tails and refused to move—
"We will have to move first."
Knowing that hour was not far off, Durokam nodded with a hard set to his face.
The Empire dogs would do well to savor this quiet while they still could. Once the war began, it would open with bloodstained agony and a merciless death.
As he walked on, Durokam too turned his head and looked toward the Imperial camp.
BOOM!
For an instant it felt as if his heart had dropped through his chest.
Just taking Arteon's released presence head-on was almost enough to drive him a step backward.
H-how……
Could a man change this much in a mere three years?
Isaac swallowed hard before the figure of Arteon standing in front of him.
But……
He tightened his grip on his sword and drew his own presence up.
Those three years had meant something to Arteon. And for Isaac as well—
I haven't……
He had not spent the past three years in vain.
As if to put that effort to the test—
"I'll take the first move."
THUD!
With a violent stamp of his foot, Isaac's form shot toward Arteon.
WHOOSH!
It was a crude, unfinished charge. But the sheer force behind it was threatening enough on its own.
……He's gotten stronger.
Incomparably so, next to three years ago.
Back then he had barely managed an incomplete grasp of aura. Now he not only wielded proper aura—
His mana balance is solid, too.
Once the body's balance for channeling mana fell into place, physical ability inevitably improved. This explosive rush was surely the fruit of that training.
Even so, his growth was not at a level that posed a true threat to Arteon.
For a moment Arteon considered treating it like an instructional spar—then discarded the thought. That would be an insult to Isaac.
Showing him, without holding anything back, what he himself had achieved over the past three years—that, he decided, was the proper respect.
So Arteon caught Isaac's incoming strike and slid swiftly backward.
FWOOSH!
Watching the distance open in an instant, Isaac's brow twitched.
……I couldn't see it.
He had only grasped what happened after the gap had already widened. That first movement had been nearly impossible even to track with the eye……
Monster of a bastard.
Isaac clenched his molars and drove power into his legs.
CRASH!
Closing the distance again, Isaac raised his sword.
He knew the man was dangerous even at point-blank range—but he still could not ignore the nature of a spear. The moment Arteon found his ideal range, there was no telling what would happen.
But Isaac never finished closing the gap.
"Watch yourself."
Mana poured from Arteon's body and was sucked straight into the spear in his hand. At the same time a violent presence rolled out. For a heartbeat an invisible pressure seemed to shove Isaac's body back.
Isaac's eyes flew wide, and his balance faltered.
W-what……?!
It was absurd. Simply drawing up mana and releasing aura was enough to produce an aftershock like this? Just how high had this man's realm climbed……
HUMMM!
There was no time to dwell on it.
The instant Arteon drove forward the spear he had drawn back, Isaac's vision drowned in gold.
FWAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
"……."
For years Isaac had lingered at the far edge of 3-Star without ever reaching 4-Star. A man who once could not even properly manifest aura had, in three years, completely shattered the wall of 4-Star and learned to wield it. He had even thought that with a little more time he might reach 5-Star.
"……."
Without a word, Isaac slowly lowered the sword in his hand.
That single strike Arteon had just shown him—if it had come straight at him—
……I don't think I would even have known I was dead.
The gap was so vast that the very idea of measuring himself through a spar was an insult. Completely broken in spirit, Isaac bowed his head without realizing it.
"……."
Arteon, watching him, fell silent as well.
Isaac had grown stronger—there was no question. In only three years he had mastered aura completely.
And to think he has the skill to look past that wall to what lies beyond……
By anyone else's measure, the progress was dazzling. Arteon had simply been a little faster.
But he also knew Isaac was not a man who would crumble from a setback like this. And that prediction held true.
Still looking down, Isaac finally lifted his face to the sky, then let out a long breath as if something had finally cleared inside him.
"Huu…… I've got nothing to say."
The difference was so overwhelming that even regret had nowhere to settle. Isaac sheathed his sword and walked over to Arteon with a flat, steady expression.
"Just how high did you climb, you monster?"
"It was hard work."
"……You're famous for that vicious reputation of yours, and you're telling me even you call it hard?"
"I nearly died for real a few times."
Arteon smiled faintly, and Isaac shook his head as if he had had enough.
Nearly dying while training. Catching up to a man like this would mean putting his life on the line in earnest.
And yet, at the same time, his heart was pounding with joy—because the Arteon he knew was still exactly that same man.
Isaac held out his hand.
"I've been waiting for you. The one who should lead this unit…… is no one but you."
"The post is more than I deserve. You've managed it well enough until now."
"I don't want to repeat myself. From this moment on…… I acknowledge you as unit commander and will follow you. No——I will follow your command."
A light kindled in Isaac's eyes. The unit he had been waiting for was complete at last.
Arteon let out a quiet breath. He knew there was no changing a decision Isaac had already set in stone.
Arteon took Isaac's hand.
"No taking it back later."
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
Isaac gave a light shake of their joined hands and broke into a laugh.
"……."
Velkain stared down at the documents in silence for a long while, then slowly nodded.
By regulation it should have been impossible. There was no precedent at all, which only made the deliberation deeper.
But given the merits Arteon had earned in the past—and the fact that the request had come directly from Isaac, the current commander of the Silent Sword unit—it was not something he could simply refuse.
"……Permission granted."
The words had barely left his mouth before Isaac clenched a fist and pressed it to his left chest.
"I am grateful for the Commander's consideration."
It might have looked like a formal courtesy, but the gratitude was genuine. Even for a commander, a reassignment like this was no simple matter.
Finishing his salute, Isaac turned to leave the commander's office. Just before he stepped out, Velkain stopped him.
"Lieutenant Colonel Isaac."
"Yes, Commander."
Isaac turned at once. Velkain leaned back in his chair and regarded him.
A brief silence stretched between them.
"……Having crossed blades with him yourself—what is Major Arteon's level?"
He laid bare the question that had been on his mind.
At that—
"……."
Isaac fell silent. Only for a moment—but the memory of sparring with Arteon flickered through him.
Isaac shook his head.
"……Forgive me, Commander. I cannot answer that question."
"Why not?"
"Because it is not a level at which I dare pass judgment."
An honest answer. Velkain's brow twitched, almost imperceptibly.
"……Is that so."
"I regret that I cannot give you a clear reply."
"No. That will be all. You may go."
"Yes, sir."
Isaac bowed once more and left the office. Silence settled over the room again.
Velkain exhaled softly.
Even in his eyes, beyond measure……
Velkain knew full well what level Isaac had reached. And if even Isaac said he could not judge—
"Summon Sergeant Major Claw."
"Yes, sir!"
From outside came the reply, followed by the sound of a soldier breaking into a run. Before long—
"Sergeant Major Claw, reporting as ordered, Commander."
Claw entered the commander's tent and saluted. Velkain spoke.
"Sergeant Major."
"Sir."
Velkain rose from his chair and looked at the map. There had been a moment of hesitation—but the deliberation was over.
With a firm expression, Velkain said,
"Prepare the advance."
Several red markers dotted the map, and at their center a low ridge held its ground.
Every preparation was complete. All that remained was a single thing: the march into enemy lines.
At Velkain's iron resolve, Claw clenched his fist tight and nodded.
"I will have it ready at once."
And so the entire army began to burn hot once more, as another war that would carve its mark into Imperial history took shape. Even the weather, which had seemed ready to turn savage, began to ease—the snow-laden wind softening, as if to lend them a hand.
And then……
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Amid the spectacle of fifty thousand Imperial soldiers arrayed in formation—
"Send out the vanguard."
The Supreme Commander's order to advance was given.