Against Two Warlords
“What nonsense is this?”
When the messenger returned from Hadel’s report and relayed its contents to Leorn, the corner of the commander’s mouth curled in open mockery.
Leorn cast his gaze past the ridge and muttered under his breath.
Going up against enemies who wield aura… just what kind of dog’s death is he trying to die?
Even so, Hadel had reported that they held the upper hand.
Leorn’s smile vanished at once.
His eyes grew heavy and cold, boring through the hills as if he could pierce them.
He had already withdrawn the plan to send reinforcements to the Second Defense Line and strike the enemy’s rear. Leorn ordered those troops to turn back; once they returned he meant to pull the entire front to the Fourth Defense Line and reorganize his strength.
If I can just hold out a few more months… I’ll leave this place.
Leorn’s calculation was clear. If he could not seize the region with certainty, it was far wiser to protect the territory he already held. So long as nothing catastrophic occurred, his promotion would remain unthreatened.
“Sharokl. How long until the messenger carrying orders to the Second Defense Line arrives?”
“He set out at sunset. At the earliest he will reach them by tomorrow morning.”
“Hm. Then we watch tonight. If those fools are truly desperate, they will bring some result before dawn.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Sharokl kept his head bowed, fighting to hide the twitch of his lips. He had served Leorn for a long time, yet the man’s ability as a commander had never changed. Did Leorn truly not understand who had held this Fourth Defense Line? Watching a commander who drove the very men who had earned the greatest merit—Hadel and Seran—into a death trap while he plotted to pull the main force back filled Sharokl with a bitterness close to revulsion.
Abandoning the most loyal ones… choosing only his own safety…
Yet, ironically, it was precisely because of Leorn’s folly that everything had gone so smoothly until now.
Sharokl lifted his head and looked toward the far ridge. The fight was stretching longer than expected; the outcome still hung in the balance. Even so, the face of Hadel—still thrashing desperately somewhere out there—rose unbidden in his mind.
…A pity.
He could not erase the regret of a capable soldier’s death. Yet if the Empire seized this lake, new problems would inevitably arise.
For their purposes… there is no other way.
A sacrifice unavoidable for the greater cause. Sharokl repeated the bitter truth to himself, then turned without a word and vanished into the darkness.
CLANG!
A thunderous impact rang out as Makcrowdon’s axe hurled Arteon backward. Even while he was driven off his feet, Arteon’s eyes never left the man.
…Strong.
He had felt it before, but the bastard was unmistakably powerful. More than that, Makcrowdon no longer sought a pure one-on-one duel. He had judged that crushing Arteon as quickly as possible mattered more than a warrior’s pride.
It would have been nicer if he’d clung to his stubbornness a little longer.
That was precisely what made Makcrowdon terrifying: the clear-eyed assessment of the present situation and the cold choice of whatever action most favored his side. He was still a warlike man who never shied from fierce combat, yet that very cool-headedness made him shine all the more.
But…
The fortunate thing was that their previous clash had already dulled the trauma. Arteon’s body no longer locked up at the sight of that scar-ravaged face.
And so—
SWISH! CRASH!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
“Kh!”
“Guh…!”
Arteon flung back the charging Kar warriors and caught his breath. Had he bought enough time?
He felt the presence behind him vanish completely. Yet at that very moment—
“Buying time so your comrades can push deeper, are you?”
“…You know, and you’re still giving me the time?”
Arteon asked Makcrowdon. The man’s senses were as sharp as his own; he must have vaguely sensed the other unit moving. The only reason he still stood here was one thing alone.
“In the end, the only ones who can use aura are you and that other fellow, aren’t they?”
“…”
“And he’s wounded. So the only aura-user left is you.”
Makcrowdon’s eyes sank to a chilling stillness. In that instant Arteon felt every hair on his body stand on end. Listening to the man speak, it no longer felt as though Arteon was holding them—
It feels as if I’m the one who’s been caught…
And that ominous premonition struck true.
WHOOSH!
“…!”
Something enormous came hurtling from the side. Arteon desperately hauled up his aura and thrust his spear.
KRAAAAAANG!
A sound like metal being torn apart filled the air, and Arteon’s face twisted. A truly unexpected assault.
It was Ulgraak.
“To come alone like this… I praise your guts.”
Ulgraak raised his axe, thick crimson aura boiling around the blade, and spoke in a low voice. Had Arteon failed to raise his aura just now, he would have lost his life in a single breath.
A thick bead of sweat rolled down Arteon’s cheek. Two commander-class warriors, each bearing four feather tattoos, now stood before him.
“…”
Arteon regarded them in silence. The Kar Tribe was a people who took fierce pride in battle; no one who had faced them as long as he had could forget that. Yet both sides now had unmistakable reasons they could not afford to lose.
The Kar sought better lands beyond their barren north. The Empire’s soldiers fought to protect their own territory from that assault. The struggle between the two would continue until one side was gone.
And so—
“…Hoo.”
Arteon gave his spear a light spin. The shift in his air made Makcrowdon’s pupils flicker. Then Arteon slung Iglis across his shoulders as though draping an arm around a friend and twisted his body so the spearhead pointed straight at them.
“Coming at me together… that must have been a hard decision for the two of you.”
Arteon murmured. From the moment he arrived, he had fretted over how to draw both of them onto himself. If they were willing to walk out and face him of their own free will, he had no reason to refuse.
So then… a contest of who lasts longer?
Whether he could endure against these two commanders, or whether the Imperial strike force that still had Seran—an aura-user—could finish off the Kar warriors first. He could not be certain which would come sooner.
“I’ll just have to hold.”
A fierce current began to surge around Arteon’s body. This was no longer the defensive struggle of a moment ago.
HUMMMMM!
Now it carried the single-minded will to bring the enemy down with everything he had.
At the sight of it—
“…”
The corner of Makcrowdon’s mouth stretched into a long, savage grin.
This damned bastard…
So all this time he had only been stalling against him. Forgetting the mutual checks that had bought them both time, a pure competitive fire began to boil up.
Ulgraak, too, formed his aura without hesitation.
HUMMMMM!
A battle of superhumans who had already stepped beyond the ordinary human realm. Naturally the ordinary Kar warriors drew back and hurried to reinforce elsewhere. Before long only Arteon, Makcrowdon, and Ulgraak remained on that stretch of ground.
From this moment another fight would begin within the larger battle.
But that was fine.
From the very beginning—
This was what I wanted.
He would survive by any means necessary. And if he could wrest Elbarphiel Lake from them and claim the Ether’s Heart that slept beneath its waters…
I can grow even stronger than I am now.
Perhaps the moment he obtained Ether’s Heart he would reach a realm beyond anything he had attained in his previous life.
Arteon’s eyes cooled to a glacial stillness.
“Two of you, and you’re still just staring? How long do you plan to keep that up?”
As he spoke, blue mana rippled across Arteon’s entire body and thick aura began to pour from the spear’s tip.
“If you won’t come, I’ll come first.”
Arteon launched himself at Ulgraak and Makcrowdon.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
A series of explosions shook the ground for a great distance. Seran whipped his head toward the sound. A cold tension pressed down on the field, and urgency flooded through him.
…Arteon.
Picturing the man fighting two aura-users over there, Seran turned back toward the Kar warriors.
“Attack them! Wipe them all out!”
Even though the injury to his left arm kept him from properly using aura, Seran clenched his sword tight in his right hand. Every movement sent a throb through his left elbow; blood seeped from the wound. He paid the pain no mind at all.
HUMMMM!
Blue aura flickered and settled along Seran’s blade. With that clear light he charged the Kar warrior in front of him.
SLASH!
In a single stroke he cut the man clean in two. The surrounding Kar warriors flinched and stared.
“Aura! Don’t meet him head-on!”
“His left arm’s hurt—circle left and attack!”
“Take the aura-user down first!”
An aura-user was always a threat to them, yet with both Taman absent they carried the duty of holding this ground. If they fell back any farther the enemy could reach the main camp where their wounded lay. The Kar warriors moved as one, driving in toward Seran’s flank.
“Got him…!”
“…!”
The warrior who had slipped behind Seran’s left side struck at that exact moment.
“Kh…!”
His left arm would not obey; the defense came a heartbeat late. Seran twisted his body hard to block, but the enemy’s sword was already there.
Then—
CLANG!
Hadel’s blade flashed like lightning and knocked the attack aside.
“I’ll handle the defense, Seran.”
“Thank you.”
THUD!
Seran did not waste the opening. He kicked off the ground, closed on the Kar warrior, and swung.
SLASH!
One more Kar fighter collapsed in a spray of blood. Seran swept the field with his eyes and shouted.
“We have to hurry!”
Hadel’s voice rang across the battlefield.
“While Arteon is holding those two monsters, we must finish this place completely!”
Every second for Arteon was a dance with death. One such monster was already too much; he was facing two aura-wielding beasts.
At Hadel’s cry a warrior bearing three feather tattoos on his left shoulder roared back.
“You Empire bastards…! Hold! The two Taman will return soon! We must defend this ground until then!”
The Kar warriors fought with the resolve of men who could not retreat. And so, in a battle where neither side would yield an inch, the numbers on both sides slowly dwindled.
Then—
KRAAAAAANG!
Another explosion tore through the battlefield. Imperial soldiers and Kar warriors alike snapped their heads toward the sound. A colossal pillar of flame punched through the dark night sky with a thunderous roar. For an instant the surroundings seemed to blaze as bright as day, seizing every eye.
And from within that fire—
“…!”
—a silhouette leapt skyward like a great beast of prey.