The Coming Blizzard
Whoooooosh—!
An endless blizzard was swallowing the canyon whole.
Arteon stood still, watching the white fury, and Lukael's words rose unbidden in his mind.
We'll move on the night the blizzard is at its worst. Even they won't be able to keep a clear line of sight—so they won't easily notice our advance.
True enough… in that moment we could slip free of their eyes. But…
The blizzard could hide their shapes from the enemy, yet that same storm would become a massive risk for their own side. Moving when even the path itself vanished from sight meant allies could scatter, or someone could misstep and plunge from the canyon walls.
And now a greater problem had surfaced on top of that.
The Chebilk Tribe…
Had the Chebilk ever appeared at Aikulred in the past?
At least while he had been there, they had never caused trouble.
Which meant—
This, too… is a future slightly twisted out of shape…
A faint unease crept in at the thought of a future that was changing, little by little. Arteon drew a quiet breath and narrowed his eyes.
Then the image of the Chebilk he had seen in the past rose sharp and clear in his mind.
I've clashed with them a few times…
Their combat strength far outstripped ordinary Kar. Those among them who could handle mana casually displayed the skill of a 3-Star. Compared to the typical Kar, who sat around the 1- or 2-Star level, the gap was easily tenfold.
And yet for all that power, the Chebilk were treated as slaves by the Kar for one simple reason.
In the end… it's the families they hold hostage.
Among the Chebilk, the idea of family ran deeper than the idea of tribe. Their numbers were small by nature, so their attachment and cohesion within a bloodline were ferociously strong. Protecting aging parents whose strength had faded, or shielding their children, was simply what one did.
The Kar had driven a knife straight into that sense of responsibility.
The Empire sneers at them as primitive savages…
But Arteon, who had fought the Kar for so long, knew better. He knew how cunning and how vile they could be. That was why they made deals even with the Empire they hated like mortal enemies.
Thoughts chained into thoughts. Arteon shook his head. Right now he needed to be thinking about how to deal with the Chebilk, not the Kar.
If I at least had some solid information on them… things would be easier.
But charging into the canyon in this weather without proper preparation was suicide. Wanting intelligence and being able to get it were two different things.
He sank back onto his bunk.
There was nothing he could do at the moment.
For now… we wait.
Sooner or later Lukael would make a decision of some kind. Once that order dropped, then he could think.
Several days passed like that.
Nothing particularly noteworthy happened, but in that span Arteon was adapting to Aikulred's cold. The blizzards here were fiercer, the temperatures lower, than in other northern regions. Perhaps for that reason, unless they were standing watch or some other duty demanded it, the soldiers avoided stepping outside their tents as much as possible.
"…So the cold is the real problem."
Arteon lifted the tent flap a fraction and murmured as he looked out. Even among northern posts, Aikulred's wind-chill felt distinctly different.
Bringing this bracelet… was the best choice I made.
The effect might have seemed minor elsewhere, but in the North, cold resistance alone was a serious weapon.
He tipped his head back toward the sky. For the past few days the storm had seemed to ease a little—
"…But something big is coming soon."
A man who had lived long in the North knew the signs. This lull was only the brief rest before a truly monstrous blizzard.
And when that fierce white gale hit…
That's when we'll march.
Arteon's gaze drifted toward Lukael's tent.
At that same hour—
"…Is that so."
Lukael sat facing a senior officer who had been stationed at Aikulred for a long time, murmuring the words. The officer nodded.
"In another two or three days… the blizzard will hit hard. At a guess… we won't have even half a meter of visibility—nowhere near a full meter."
"Then they won't be able to keep watch on us either."
"But… will you be all right? The storm will be just as brutal for us. Even walking won't be easy."
"We'll do it. Otherwise we lose this chance entirely."
Lukael's eyes cooled and settled. He knew, of course, that it would not be easy. After arriving here he had learned just how savage Aikulred's blizzards could be.
But…
Only by pushing through it could they cross that impossibly narrow canyon path.
If we refuse the risk as well, passage becomes impossible.
That was why he had gathered only the elite of the North for this. The officer across from him nodded at his words.
"Then I'll begin preparing the necessary supplies at once. Please… take every care."
"I'm counting on you."
When the conversation ended, Lukael rose and immediately summoned the entire special unit. Some looked puzzled at the sudden call; most wore the expression of men who had known this was coming.
"Is everyone here?"
"All present except the wounded."
"Status of the wounded?"
"Three. One is still critical… the other two can move now, at least."
Even so, they were in no condition to join the operation. Lukael nodded and addressed the special unit.
"In two or three days, when the blizzard blows at full strength… we will pass between those canyon walls and move on the Kar lines."
At last—the sortie.
Fists clenched throughout the gathering. This was the fundamental reason they had been brought here.
The narrow path through Aikulred Canyon was a road of death for both sides. That was why the Kar and the Empire had only ever faced each other across it for so long, neither daring to invade the other's ground.
But that balance was about to break. Helikel Canyon and Elbarphiel Lake had already fallen to one side; the rest followed naturally. If they crossed the Aikulred path and seized the Kar positions beyond, the road into the deeper North would finally be open.
It was only that last piece of the puzzle that was so brutally hard to place.
"Ordinarily… we would pour in overwhelming numbers and force a breach. But as you all know, that would collapse the balance elsewhere."
Narrow path or not, sheer mass always had its way. Pile corpses on corpses and keep shoving forward over the dead, and you could punch through. Do that, however, and the North's entire equilibrium might shatter. Northern warfare meant defending every sector with limited troops.
"Which is why, if we fail this time, there is no guarantee when we will ever be able to assault this canyon again."
They would have to wait endlessly for another chance they had already seized. Lukael's fist tightened.
"This one attempt. We will cross this canyon and open the road that leads into the North."
If they succeeded… tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers could pour into Kar territory and finally end the war that had dragged on for so long.
No more… will our men have to bleed on this ground.
For decades the North had shed too much blood. A conflict handed down through generations was a disaster in itself; that was why the North had always been a land of dread.
But if they could sever that chain this time—
"Prepare carefully and mind the cold. The fierce blizzard will serve as our shield—but it will also seize our ankles hard."
"Understood!"
"Yes, sir!"
The assembled soldiers answered in a strong chorus. Then—
"What about countermeasures for the Chebilk who appeared recently? I hear they handle cold and blizzards far better than ordinary Kar."
Isaac put the question to Lukael. The newcomers were a sudden variable, and a dangerously threatening one.
Lukael had not ignored that either. He simply had no immediate answer for cutting them off. Still—
"The moment their attack begins, I will deal with them myself."
There were things only Lukael could do.
Arteon looked at him.
Has he already… stepped into the 6-Star realm?
No—by the timeline it was more accurate to place him at the very end of the 5-Star stage. Even so, the peak of the 5-Star was a level of power that transcended ordinary humans.
One worry remained, however: Aikulred's terrain was completely different from any battlefield Lukael had fought on before. A swordsman of his caliber possessed senses in an entirely different dimension from other men—but this was a place where the blizzard could erase the world ahead of you. And on uneven canyon paths that were anything but flat, swinging a sword exactly as one intended was no simple matter.
"…Commander. May I offer a suggestion?"
"Hm?"
Arteon raised a hand slightly as he spoke. Lukael and the rest of the unit turned toward him. Lukael nodded.
"Go ahead. What is it?"
"If their harassment is the concern, what if a small number of us use the blizzard as cover and move separately to locate them?"
"That sounds dangerous. Without perfect knowledge of the canyon path… you could easily fall."
The route was narrow, and in places it split into two or three deceptive forks. Lose your bearings in the white-out and plummet, and you could be picked off one by one. Moreover—
"They can also climb partway up the walls using the outcrops, or hide in hollows. Terrain like this is ideal for ambushes."
The walls flanking Aikulred's path held deep caves here and there that could serve as hiding places—information gleaned from soldiers who had long been stationed here. Without a proper grasp of that, splitting forces would only be more dangerous.
But—
"Not long ago I obtained a fortuitous opportunity, and my senses have been heightened. No matter how fierce the blizzard, I can still read those things."
He could not claim to know the terrain itself. Reaching the 4-Star realm, however, was reason enough to persuade them.
The real problem was that they still had no idea how many Chebilk there were… or what level of strength they possessed.
In open ground it might be different, but this kind of rough country favors them.
Even so, he could at least buy time. Arteon organized his thoughts and spoke.
"I will find them."
"…Are you certain? This is extremely dangerous work."
Lukael asked. Ordinarily he would have cut the idea down at once as too risky. But this was the same Arteon who had already fought and defeated two Kar commanders at Elbarphiel Lake. The sharpened senses born of that growth could prove a real asset in this fight.
Arteon nodded.
"Trust me."
His voice did not waver. Lukael hesitated for a breath—then:
"Vice Commander. Once the operation begins, you will take command of the unit."
"…Sir?"
Isaac stared in surprise. Lukael looked at Arteon as he continued.
"I will go with Lieutenant Arteon to find the Chebilk lying in ambush."
At those words, every face in the gathering turned toward him in shock.