Shadows Beyond the Ridge
The chill wind that had blown through the night still lingered, carrying the damp scent of earth and the cool fragrance of grass.
Faint frost clung to the tips of the blades, crumbling with a soft rustle whenever a soldier’s foot brushed past.
Tadak, tadadadak.
They moved at a swift pace across the hills.
From the base, the far side of the ridge lay veiled in ashen mist. The fog that swallowed the view twisted its contours with every gust, and each time a strange tension settled over the surroundings.
“Hoo… Halt.”
The Silent Sword… no, the Silent Spear unit selected as the vanguard, together with the 3rd Battalion forces led by Tairen, climbed both hills at once. Their numbers alone totaled two thousand. As the overwhelming force split to either side and ascended as if enveloping the flanks of the hill, it looked as though something sundered was wrapping around the rise.
Lowering their bodies and coming to a stop, Isaac approached Arteon’s side.
“Reconnaissance up to the hill ahead has been completed.”
Arteon briefly lifted his gaze and scanned the surroundings. The flow of wind brushing through the grass, the faint scent of blood mixed into the earthy smell, even the distant, barely perceptible vibrations of presence—he expanded his senses as if confirming every detail.
Arteon spoke.
“Still, the situation may have changed, so we will move while remaining as vigilant as possible of the surroundings… no. We move. Relay that to all unit members.”
The end of his words had been carefully refined. Though he still was not completely accustomed to it, the manner of speech befitting a commander was gradually seeping into him.
Isaac nodded and immediately passed the order to the subordinate commanders. At the same time, Arteon stretched his ki sense forward. His senses had always been exceptional, yet after Rionhart’s harsh training they now clearly transcended the boundaries of humanity.
“……”
Arteon wordlessly watched the ridge of the hill ahead. Grass swayed irregularly in the wind, obscuring the view, but the presence beyond was excessively still.
This side of the hill… empty?
It was too quiet. No traces of troops having hidden, no residual echoes of hasty movement could be felt. In that case…
After drawing us a little further in… they’re aiming for an engagement?
His thoughts multiplied. Yet as the parts they were aiming for gradually grew clear, what he needed to do took shape in his mind.
Arteon said,
“From now on we increase speed. And request cooperation from Major Tairen on the opposite hill.”
“Cooperation? What kind do you mean?”
Isaac asked.
Arteon briefly scanned the surroundings once more, then spoke quietly to Isaac. At those words—
“……Can you guarantee it? It could be dangerous.”
“I plan to close the distance a bit more and check again. Don’t worry.”
“Understood.”
At Arteon’s firm reply, Isaac nodded without hesitation. Then he called over five swift-footed soldiers.
“You will immediately deliver the operational orders to Major Tairen on the opposite hill. Hurry as much as possible, but always prepare for any possible enemies.”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
“If anything happens, don’t hesitate to fire a signal flare.”
“Yes!”
Short, concise replies followed, and the soldiers vanished quickly as if scattering along the shadows of the ridge. After they completely disappeared from view, Isaac looked again at Arteon’s back.
An excessively bold operation.
Avoiding a frontal clash and using the enemy’s predictions against them. If successful, they could sever one axis of the enemy entirely before the battle even properly began. But if it failed, the vanguard would be isolated deep in enemy territory—a position where neither retreat nor immediate support could be expected.
But…
Isaac clenched his teeth. It was a difficult battlefield. On such a field there was no operation that could guarantee victory while securing absolute safety. That was why he followed the decision of Arteon, who was silently opening the path ahead.
“Hurry and follow the unit commander.”
As the order fell, tension filled the flow of the troops once more. And the movements of the Silent Spear unit following Arteon continued stealthily without rest until they climbed the next hill.
A strange stillness had settled over the Kar Tribe’s camp. As if facing the moment just before a storm, the Kar warriors coldly grasped the movements of the Imperial army.
And then—
“The Imperial dogs have begun to move.”
A lookout positioned on the ridge called out lowly. At those words, Barg did not so much as twitch as he gazed forward. His slow gaze swept the hill ahead. Beneath the sky where thick clouds had settled, the Imperial army’s formation was beginning to rise like a great beast.
Barg, looking at it, asked Durokam beside him.
“Have you identified any Imperial units peeling off in other directions?”
“Nothing confirmed yet.”
At that moment Barg’s eyes sank coldly. Having been on the battlefield for a long time, he felt a strange sense of unease in the current situation. At Barg’s unusual appearance, Durokam asked,
“Is there something that concerns you?”
“……Summon the swift-footed warriors. Ones familiar with the mountains.”
Surely somewhere out there, Imperial forces were moving stealthily. Didn’t the long history up to now prove it? They never started a war by moving only the main force alone.
“Those cunning Imperial dogs wouldn’t move only the main force straightforwardly. The shadow always moves first from places unseen.”
Durokam bowed his head and asked,
“How far should we set the reconnaissance range?”
Barg once more gazed at the hill ahead. Below it lay complexly intertwined mountain paths and valleys, and low forests swaying in the wind. Barg pointed with his finger to a point on the ridge.
“From behind that ridge. Mountain paths, valleys, forests… scour every place the Imperial dogs might sneak into.”
His eyes sank even deeper.
“Surely somewhere out there, the blade sown by the Imperial army’s commander is flying this way. If we fail to find it, it will become a great calamity later.”
At those words Durokam immediately nodded and replied.
“I will organize the warriors right away and send them. We will not miss their traces and will definitely find them.”
“Keep this in mind. We must draw them completely into the ambush and cut them down in a single stroke.”
Durokam accepted those words heavily and bowed his head.
“Understood, Taman.”
Presently, as Durokam turned, Barg narrowed his eyes and swept the ridge. This war would have its future direction decided by how it began. A single moment of carelessness could greatly tip the balance of both sides.
“……”
Barg watched their movements calmly without carelessness. These were Imperial dogs who had dared to set their sights this far. Though he looked down on them, if he also made light of the power they possessed, he would shed much blood.
“I am curious, though.”
What level the Imperial dogs, reversed from before, had reached. Barg’s eyes as he gazed at the ridge sank endlessly.
The Imperial army’s main force was advancing in a long line along the winding narrow path between the hills. To the left and right, hills of varying heights rose in layers, and between them mountainous terrain dotted with rocks rose high, blocking the view.
The coldly laid wind. There, the regular footsteps of tens of thousands of soldiers treading the dirt path resounded.
However…
“……Commander, the main force’s advance speed seems a bit fast.”
At the main force’s advance speed that felt somewhat hurried compared to usual, Claw carefully asked. It was a situation where, if one was careless for a moment, the distance between the vanguard and the rear could suddenly widen.
“The vanguard’s reconnaissance is not yet fully complete. Entering deep into the narrow path in this state… wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
At those words Velkain slightly narrowed his eyes beneath his helmet. His gaze seemed to pierce through the unseen space beyond the hills.
Velkain said,
“I am doing so deliberately.”
“……Yes?”
At his short but firm words, Claw made an expression of incomprehension. But Velkain paid no mind and gazed forward. The continuously overlapping hills and mountains. Due to that, their view was inevitably restricted, and because of the narrow and winding path, the troops’ movements could not help but be severed in places.
Would the Kar Tribe allow the Imperial army’s approach without using such terrain advantages?
Velkain’s mouth twisted ever so slightly.
“Nonsense.”
Most of the central Imperial nobles and officers called the Kar Tribe barbarians and looked down on them—saying they had no systematic military system, no standardized tactics. But he, who had fought them for over a decade in the north, knew better than anyone. That not having a system did not mean they did not know war.
They…
Survival itself was combat and daily life. Born as hunters and warriors, the tactics and combat methods they used were mostly things that could not be understood with ordinary Imperial common sense.
But…
The fact that they are strong remains unchanged.
A single moment of carelessness could devastate this many troops. That was why he had to use a method that was bold yet surpassed their numbers.
“They have probably prepared a bizarre operation that we cannot pursue with our thinking.”
Velkain’s gaze slowly moved. The grass thickets swaying in the wind. The shadows of rocks and the ridges of hills. Nothing that met the eye looked safe. Whatever they did, they would surely have prepared a move that surpassed imagination.
Predicting their moves is impossible.
That was why. That one small gap. He had no choice but to lead them to create it themselves.
Velkain continued.
“If the main force presses quickly, those bastards will have no choice but to grow impatient.”
The closer the distance, the more those with something to hide would grow impatient. Inducing those who were waiting to show gaps themselves and reveal their forms—that was the reason Velkain was raising the main force’s speed and pressing them even while taking risks.
And at the moment when the ambushing enemies revealed themselves—
“The vanguard we sent ahead… will find and dispose of them.”
“……”
Claw unconsciously gulped. This great army was a blade pressing the enemy and at the same time bait. As a method to draw out the Kar Tribe’s hidden ambushes and forces, it could be somewhat dangerous.
“Is that why, Commander?”
“Yes.”
Velkain answered without hesitation. The possibility that ‘he’ had shown before this advance began. Without such grounds, he could not have carried out an operation like this with the safety of this many soldiers as collateral. Of course it was a war that could be fought as conservatively… and defensively as possible, but Claw also knew. That this war too could never be ended that way. It was not a war to defend, but a war to seize, was it not?
Claw exhaled briefly and nodded.
“……Understood.”
He said no more. He returned to his position and checked the soldiers’ formation and speed, and Velkain silently led the army from the front. Thousands of troops advanced as if sliding along the winding path. And over their shoulders, a tension imbued with cruel killing intent began to settle.