Into Hell Together
“Hah… hah… hah…”
Nothing but ragged panting filled the training grounds.
A few of the men still wheezed and gagged, struggling even to draw breath, but as the minutes ticked by most of them began to come back to life.
“……Hoo.”
Standing before them, Arteon removed the helmet he had been wearing and let out a quiet breath. Sweat dripped from his hair onto the frozen earth, yet his eyes remained as sharp and unyielding as they had been from the very beginning.
Arteon spoke.
“Doesn’t it feel good to work up a sweat?”
“…….”
Naturally, no one answered.
Arteon gave a short, dry chuckle and addressed the soldiers.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Arteon, newly appointed leader of the 3rd Platoon.”
There was no applause. No words of welcome. And that was only to be expected. The mere fact that their gazes held neither mockery nor open contempt was proof enough that the two hours of hell he had just put them through had not been wasted.
Time to drive the stake home.
Repeating this song and dance every time was a hassle, but right now he had no choice. Arteon looked over the soldiers and continued.
“As you can see, I’m young. Time flows equally for everyone. But the density and quality of the time I’ve lived through is far denser and superior to yours—beyond any comparison.”
Arteon gave his spear a light spin. The weapon moved as if it were an extension of his own body, drawing small gasps from several of the watching men. Then the smiling Arteon suddenly unleashed a razor-sharp killing intent.
Fwaat!
“……!”
The soldiers flinched as one and took a step back. It was as if the man standing before them had transformed into someone else entirely. But Arteon pressed on without the slightest hesitation.
“We don’t have time to drag this out, so I’ll limit it to just three of you. The method doesn’t matter. Weapons, bare-handed combat, a pure contest of strength—anything is fine.”
“Th-That’s…”
“Are you serious, sir?”
Grein asked, his expression stiff.
Arteon nodded.
“Even if I die, there will be no disciplinary action. I swear it on a soldier’s honor.”
But of course there had to be stakes on their side as well.
“However, once this is over, if you lose to me you will obey every single order I give from now on without a word of complaint. Disobey, and you’ll face immediate discipline and transfer to another platoon.”
“……And if you lose, Platoon Leader?”
“I’ll wash my hands of this place and leave cleanly.”
A superior making such a radical proposal was unheard of. Most only thought of crushing their subordinates with rank. Was he really going to prove himself through sheer skill?
Thud.
“1st Squad Leader, Sergeant Barter. Will you be using a real spear, not a practice one?”
“Of course.”
“……You could die.”
“Then that will simply be the end of my life. Once again: even if I die, no one will be punished. I’ve already spoken with Sergeant Bolgren, so you needn’t worry about proof.”
“Then I’ll go with spear techniques.”
Barter gripped his spear as he spoke. At once the soldiers quickly spread out, forming a wide circle around Arteon and Barter. Arteon nodded.
“Come.”
“Hup!”
The moment the word left Arteon’s mouth, Barter charged. His movement was quite fast. Barter’s spear thrust straight toward Arteon.
Whoosh!
But the spear sliced only empty air. Arteon had dodged with almost no visible motion, and the watching soldiers’ eyes wavered slightly. Barter’s thrusts were famous even within the platoon for their speed. Yet that was only the beginning.
“Hyaap!”
Retrieving his spear, Barter swung it low, aiming for Arteon’s legs—a deceptive attack that kept his gaze on the upper body while targeting the lower. It was a fairly solid move, but—
Whoosh!
Arteon simply lifted his leg lightly and let the spear pass beneath. After that—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh, swish!
Several more attacks came, yet Arteon evaded them all as if it were nothing at all.
He’s… pretty good.
Had he learned the spear outside before coming here? His fundamentals were too solid for someone who had only trained in this place. The type who built a strong foundation and then grew stronger through real combat. But he still had far too many unnecessary movements.
Arteon spoke.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“How long are you going to keep dodging like a damn rat?!”
An agitated Barter roared. He’d been cutting nothing but air for a full five minutes already. Anyone would be angry, but—
His mental game is weak.
As Barter’s movements grew larger with his excitement, Arteon’s eyes narrowed. Barter bit his lip hard and thrust his spear.
“Hyaaaaap!”
A powerful shout erupted. The spear tip shot forward with blistering speed, aiming straight for Arteon’s heart. But in that instant—
Clang!
The two spears collided, and the impact sent snow flying from the frozen ground like scattered blossoms. Barter’s eyes went wide. He barely managed to swallow the scream that nearly tore from his throat.
What the hell is this power…?
He’d thought Arteon had simply parried lightly, yet the shock felt like it would tear his palms apart. But the real problem was—
“Chest.”
“……?”
What Arteon had done was not merely block the attack. By knocking the spear aside, he had deliberately broken Barter’s balance. And as a result—
Whirl, whoooosh!
Arteon casually reversed his grip and drove the shaft—not the blade—into Barter’s chest.
Thud!
“Guhk!”
The scream he had been holding back finally burst free. His two feet, planted firmly on the earth, left the ground as his body lifted into the air.
Crash!
Watching Barter fly a good ten meters, the soldiers of the 3rd Platoon unconsciously swallowed hard.
Th-That…
Is that even possible…?
Sending a man flying ten meters with a single thrust of the shaft. Barter lay unmoving, apparently knocked out cold. Arteon looked at the soldiers.
“Next.”
“……There’s no need for a third. Let me finish this.”
Grein, who had been acting as temporary platoon leader, stepped forward and clenched his fists. Arteon planted his spear into the ground.
“Hand-to-hand, is it?”
“I don’t particularly want to kill the platoon leader. If you feel like you’re about to die, surrender.”
Grein raised both hands lightly toward his chin and took a stance.
“……Boxing?”
“You’ve got a good eye. Most people don’t recognize it.”
“A little.”
How could he not know? In his past life, one of the subordinates he had cherished had specialized in boxing.
……That bastard’s fists were truly vicious.
With bare fists alone, no one in the platoon—or even the entire company—could beat him. At this point in time…
He wouldn’t have come north yet.
It would be nice if he never came north and just lived doing whatever he wanted…
But I’ll definitely go find him later.
Arteon recalled the old memories and smiled faintly. Then he clenched his own fists and looked at Grein.
“Come.”
In that moment the atmosphere around them seemed to turn ice-cold. Unlike Barter, Grein did not charge immediately. He approached little by little, as if probing, closing the distance—
Whoosh!
His left hand shot toward Arteon’s face with lightning speed.
Whoosh! Shush! Swish!
The punches tore through the air with sharp cracks. Movements laced with well-timed feints. His gaze, the shift of his shoulders, the way he lowered his body—everything was accounted for. But the probing phase ended quickly.
“From here on, be careful.”
As if he had finished reading Arteon, Grein brought his fists back to his chin and crouched low. And then—
Bang!
He exploded forward as if springing off the ground. The distance vanished in an instant, and Arteon threw a punch of his own.
Whoom!
Grein ducked left, slipping past Arteon’s fist. At the same time his left fist whipped toward Arteon’s side.
Thud!
A clean, powerful punch. Arteon pulled his arm in and blocked it. A tingling sensation ran through him as his gaze locked onto the man.
……A liver shot.
A punch aimed precisely at the liver. If he had allowed it, his breath would have been stolen and he would have crumpled on the spot. His body was not yet fully tempered, so attacks like that demanded caution.
“Your reactions are quite fast. But…”
Grein’s eyes flashed. His fists came flying again. This time three honest jabs with no feints. Arteon slipped the first two and blocked the third with his arm.
“…….”
They were jabs, yet they carried real weight. The impact traveled all the way to his shoulder. Grein’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Don’t get the wrong idea just because you blocked them!”
He dropped his center of gravity. Closing in tightly, he twisted his body and stomped the ground hard.
Whoosh!
His target was an uppercut. Having seized the perfect timing, Grein launched a strike so fast the eye could barely follow, aimed at Arteon’s chin. But did he realize? That this was exactly what Arteon had been waiting for. That Grein had not forced his way in—
……I’ve got him.
That Arteon had drawn him in.
Whoom!
The uppercut, powered by the full rebound from the soles of his feet through his knees and waist, sliced through empty air. Grein’s eyes, which had expected to shatter Arteon’s jaw, shook violently.
H-How…?
How could he dodge that? But his thoughts did not last long.
Smack!
“Guhk!”
Stars exploded before his eyes as Arteon’s open palm slammed straight into Grein’s face. The wet crack of a breaking nose filled the air, and blood gushed from both nostrils. Grein snapped his head back down to look at Arteon, but—
“If we drag this out you’ll only get hurt, so let’s end it here.”
Arteon’s voice rang clearly in his ears. And with it, his fist—
I’m pretty sure… it went like this.
—lightly clipped Grein’s chin with a glancing blow. It was not a particularly strong punch. Yet something miraculous happened.
Thud.
Grein’s body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
“……Huh?”
His mind was perfectly clear, yet his legs refused to move. Seeing Grein’s flustered face, Arteon exhaled softly.
Perfect.
What he had learned from that man had worked. Looking down at Grein, Arteon said,
“If I attacked you right now… I could put you out of the fight in three seconds.”
“W-Wait…!”
He tried desperately to rise, but his legs would not obey. In a panic Grein slammed his own thighs hard, but Arteon turned to the surrounding soldiers.
“Anyone else want to test me? You have one last chance.”
“…….”
No one else stepped forward. After all, the two strongest men in the platoon had been defeated without accomplishing a thing. Belatedly Grein rose on trembling legs, but—
“Do you concede?”
“……I concede.”
He lowered his head and admitted defeat. Just as Arteon had said, if the man had attacked while he was down, it would have been over. Arteon nodded.
“Then from this moment on, anyone who disobeys an order will face discipline and immediate transfer to another platoon, no excuses. If anyone has a complaint, speak now.”
“…….”
“……None.”
When Grein answered as representative, Arteon nodded again. Then he spoke.
“From now on, our 3rd Platoon will train fiercely and harden ourselves in preparation for the coming war. And next time… when the battle to retake Elbarphiel Lake begins—”
Arteon looked each of the soldiers surrounding him in the eye, one by one. Then he voiced the thought he had been holding, clear and unhesitating.
“Our 3rd Platoon will stand at the very front of that battlefield.”
It was both a conviction to carry them forward and a vow.
“Let’s jump into hell together.”
And at that declaration—
“……Yeeeeeees, sir?!”
For the first time, the soldiers greeted Arteon with a passionate roar.