Beyond the Wall of the Past
The taut air drove itself deep into his lungs, and his heart hammered hard against his ribs.
With the wind rattling the leaves, Arteon’s gaze locked onto the man before him.
Makcrowdon.
Meeting him in this place felt like anything but chance.
“……Is this telling me to climb over the wall of my past life and keep going?”
The searing memory of their first encounter rose up again—the moment he had truly known fear of the Kar tribe.
But……
His grip tightened.
“I’m not the same man I was then.”
“What the hell are you muttering about? You got something wrong with your head?”
Makcrowdon was already charging as he spoke. His axe was already plummeting toward Arteon’s face.
KWAANG!
Spear and axe collided in a shockwave that seemed to shake the entire ground.
“Keuh! That’s more like it!”
Makcrowdon roared through the impact.
He carried absolute faith in his own strength. In countless battles he had always crushed his opponents under sheer power.
And that first strike alone told him the man across from him was no ordinary foe.
Makcrowdon’s face flushed with bloodlust as he clenched the axe haft until his knuckles whitened.
“Every bastard I’ve met lately has been worthless…… You’re going to have to entertain me.”
He was smiling, yet his eyes burned with pure madness. The fighting spirit of a warrior who had survived the long slaughter of the front lines fixed itself wholly on Arteon.
But……
Jjeoeong!
“……!”
Arteon deflected the axe and stamped the earth.
Kung!
Closing the distance in a blur, Arteon’s form made Makcrowdon’s pupils flare wide.
He’s closing in?
Given that the boy’s weapon was a spear, the move was insane. The spear’s greatest advantage was reach—far longer than sword or axe—and the explosive thrust that distance allowed.
And yet……
He was throwing that advantage away and inviting death.
Makcrowdon’s aura of a wild beast flared as he raised the axe high.
I’ll crush you with raw power right here……!
He would teach this reckless fool who charged in with a spear what true terror looked like.
The axe came screaming down again.
Cheok—whirl!
Even under that threat Arteon did not retreat. Instead he shortened his grip, tucking the spear tight against his body.
Pababak!
He spun and whipped the shortened spear in a tight arc.
KWAANG!
A metallic shriek tore the air—destruction on a scale that dwarfed the first clash. The heavy jolt racing up Makcrowdon’s wrists left him stunned.
I’m being overpowered……?
Impossible. In pure strength he had never yielded even to a five-star warrior. Among the Kar he ranked among the strongest—yet a mere greenhorn was pushing him back!
“HRAAAAAAH!”
Makcrowdon bellowed and launched a flurry of axe blows. At this point-blank range, cutting the boy down should have been simple.
Yet……
Chaeng! Jjeoeong! Kwakwakwang!
“……!”
Somehow every accelerated strike was being turned aside. And that was not the end of it.
Whiririk!
The boy who had been carrying the spear across his shoulder suddenly slid it behind his waist, bent low, and darted sideways. The bizarre footwork nearly stole Makcrowdon’s soul—then a stinging sensation flared along his side.
Pit!
Makcrowdon’s brow twisted. The cut was shallow, yet a thin red line was already weeping blood. Only his instinctive twist of the body had saved him from a far worse wound.
“You little……!”
Makcrowdon bit down hard enough to taste iron. He wanted nothing more than to flood his aura and split the boy in two on the spot.
But he can use aura too.
Better to wait for the perfect opening. Aura could multiply destructive power, yet it exacted a heavy toll on body and mind. If he spent it first only to have it wasted, the delicate balance would shatter completely.
“Heup!”
Kwang!
Sparks flew as steel rang again and again. The spearwork was twisted, almost perverse—Makcrowdon had never seen anything like it.
Pakakakakang!
In the blink of an eye the spear tip flashed past his raised axe several times. If the momentum slipped any further he would never recover it.
“Hraap!”
Buuung!
Makcrowdon’s axe carved a great arc and sheared straight through a tree in its path. Arteon, already bent low, slipped the blow and—deliberately—let go of his spear.
He dropped it?!
Murderous light flooded Makcrowdon’s eyes. One clean stroke and the boy’s body would be cut in half—!
But at that exact instant Arteon, watching the falling shaft, slammed the butt of the spear with the sole of his right foot.
Kung!
Suaaaaaak!
Iglis shot upward like a launched arrow—the same technique that, once upon a time, had driven up through a Kar warrior’s jaw and out the crown of his skull.
“……!”
The spear came so fast that Makcrowdon’s arms rose of their own accord, axe lifting to intercept.
Jjeoeoeong!
“Keuaaak!”
For the first time a scream tore from Makcrowdon’s throat as pain like shattering bone lanced through his wrists. He staggered four or five steps backward under the force.
Arteon was already vaulting into the air after him.
Tuk.
He plucked the rebounding Iglis out of the air and, for a single heartbeat, poured mana into the weapon.
I’ll kill you…… Makcrowdon……!
Suaaaaaaaaaak!
The spear plunged straight down like a bolt of lightning. Makcrowdon’s face hardened to stone; he knew at once this strike could not be stopped lightly.
Uuuuuuung!
Crimson aura exploded around his axe, denser and more ferocious than any power he had yet shown.
“The Taman!”
“The Taman used aura first!”
Every watching warrior understood exactly what that meant.
But……
“I was waiting for that.”
Paat!
A clear, solid blue aura crystallized at the tip of Arteon’s spear—flawless, unwavering, as though a razor-edged blade had been forged over the point itself. The sight left Makcrowdon unable to hide his shock.
This—this is insane……!
He had never expected to see aura of such perfect refinement.
There was no time left to think.
“HRAAAAAAAH!”
KWAAAAAANG!
Blue and crimson collided in a detonation that split the air.
Kururururururung!
The very atmosphere seemed to rupture. Surrounding undergrowth whipped and bowed under the blast. Dust and leaves spun into a storm that swallowed all vision.
Geugeugeugeuk!
Both men were hurled backward by the shockwave; when they looked at each other again, Makcrowdon’s lips were pressed thin.
This bastard…… isn’t merely strong. Technique, power, and an overwhelming focus……
Those eyes held nothing but the single purpose of killing him. No thrill of battle, no tension of the front—only pure killing intent. No……
The iron will that appears when a man is trying to surpass something.
What in the world had forged a boy into this?
It no longer mattered. His original purpose had only been to pin the boy here.
By now……
“Your comrades are all dead by now.”
“……Don’t underestimate them.”
“What?”
Arteon raised his spear. His razor-sharp gaze drove into Makcrowdon like a thrown dagger.
“Lieutenant Colonel Hadel. Lord Seran. Neither of them will go down so easily.”
Even if the Kar had set an ambush, those two would respond in an instant.
“You meant to keep me here?”
“…….”
“No…… It’s the opposite.”
Arteon knew full well how dangerous Makcrowdon’s power was—and how dangerous the warriors under him were.
That was precisely why……
“You’re the one whose feet are bound here, Makcrowdon.”
“……Arrogant little brat.”
Fighting spirit flared again in Makcrowdon’s eyes. He had been watching the other fronts the entire time, yet now—
None of that matters anymore……
He finally understood why a warrior of Ulgraak’s caliber had taken such interest in a single imperial soldier.
This bastard……
He had a talent for driving men mad.
Makcrowdon forced his boiling blood back under control and spoke with deliberate calm.
“From here on the nature of this fight will change. I’ll grant you that your strength is nearly equal to mine…… but—”
He took one measured step backward.
“—in terrain like this, you will never beat our warriors.”
Makcrowdon’s voice rang out.
“Kill them all.”
The instant the order fell—
“HRAAAAAAAH!”
“KRAAAAAA!”
Kar warriors who had been holding their power in reserve surged toward Arteon’s unit.
But……
“Unit—defensive formation!”
Chwak! Chwachachak!
At Arteon’s command the soldiers snapped into formation with practiced speed, ready to meet the charge.
In pure individual skill…… the Kar are superior, just as he said.
Especially in this rough ground the difference would be even more glaring.
Yet……
We have our own way of fighting.
Tactics. Formation.
And the battle formations of the Imperial Army were……
“Strong.”
The moment the two forces crashed together, the mist-wreathed hill began to drink blood.
“Lord Rauben!”
Deputy Erd’s shout rang out as he sprinted toward the man studying a map in solitude. Rauben looked up with unruffled calm.
“What is it?”
“A letter has arrived!”
“……? Already? You’re telling me the message I sent to the corps commander has already returned?”
Barely a day had passed since the messenger left. Even if the contents had been relayed by mana communication from an intermediate city, the speed defied belief.
Yet the letter Erd held out was not from the corps commander. The seal belonged to Leoron, commander of the Northeast Fourth Defense Line.
Rauben’s brow furrowed.
Leoron? He knows we’re here, but a letter at this exact moment……?
The moment he broke the seal, the contents met his eyes. His expression hardened at once.
Erd asked carefully, “What is the matter, my lord?”
Rauben folded the letter and answered in a clipped tone.
“……Erd. Assemble the troops at once.”
“Sir?”
“We will take the rear path and clean out the Kar warriors still sitting in their main camp. There will be plenty of wounded who couldn’t join the front-line fighting. Given time they would rejoin the battle.”
Rauben’s eyes glinted coldly.
“We cut that sprout off completely.”
“Yes, sir!”
Erd asked nothing more and moved at once.
Alone again, Rauben gazed toward the front for a long moment.
“……Hmph. An amusing operation.”
His gaze remained ice-cold.
But if the fight up front fails, the main force could be overrun by the enemy’s momentum instead.
And in that case he himself would be unable to send reinforcements—something Leoron surely understood……
A slow smile touched Rauben’s lips.
“So you’re confident, then……?”
Either way, it made no difference to him. Whatever the result, the cost would fall squarely on Leoron’s shoulders.
And as for whose mind had conceived this intriguing plan—Rauben felt a spark of genuine curiosity as he turned and walked away with heavy, deliberate steps.