Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: It's Different From Back Then
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"The Empire bastards are turning tail!"
Eastern Front Commander.
Mikhail Sobkov roared.
His shout swept over the Red River.
"Ram your spears and swords into the invaders' backs! Don't let a single one escape! Sweep them all away!"
The command from the giant of the East.
"Waaaaah!"
The kingdom army's morale pierced the heavens.
Soldiers who had steeled themselves for death just moments ago.
Now madness gleamed in their eyes.
Dudududu!
Countless troops crossed the Red River in unison.
A pursuit of the retreating Empire forces.
The hunt drenched in blood had begun.
"Come to think of it, you there."
Mikhail, riding at the forefront, called out to Damian.
He had simply kept moving under the order to follow.
"I'll give you an opportunity."
Mikhail grinned fiercely.
The smile of a savage beast.
"Join the vanguard and rampage as you please. I'll see with my own eyes just how far your vessel goes."
The vanguard.
The most dangerous position.
Yet also the spot where the greatest merits could be earned.
There was no reason to refuse.
In fact, it was exactly what he wanted.
'More chances to devour.'
That was his sole purpose.
"Understood."
All the while, he maintained his breathing without pause.
The basic mana breathing technique Mikhail had taught him.
'Inhale, condense, exhale.'
Conscious, repeated breaths.
Each time, the surrounding mana seeped into his body.
Shwaaaaa...
A warm, powerful energy enveloped his entire form.
'So this is the power of mana.'
He could feel it distinctly.
A sensation worlds apart from just a few hours ago.
'I'm not getting tired.'
He had ridden day and night for days, fought countless battles.
His body should be a wreck by all rights.
Yet now...
'I'm overflowing with energy.'
Mana breathed vitality into his flesh.
His muscles felt alive and pulsing.
His bones seemed even more solid.
'I can see it.'
His senses sharpened to their limits.
The flow of the wind, the distant screams of the enemy.
Even the terror of the fleeing Empire soldiers far ahead.
Everything was crystal clear.
'Omnipotence.'
The feeling that he could do anything.
A power on another level entirely wrapped around Damian.
"Ahead! Enemy rear guard spotted! Collision imminent!"
The vanguard's shout rang out.
It had finally come.
'The hunt begins.'
A smile crept across Damian's lips.
He was the first to charge forward.
"Haaap!"
With a shout, he clashed with the Empire's rear guard.
"We've already been caught?!"
The Empire soldiers turned in panic the moment they noticed.
Sring!
Dawn traced a silver arc.
Slash!
['Soldier Anton' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Resilient Spirit.']
A single strike infused with mana power.
Its destructive force surpassed imagination.
It cleaved through the enemy's chest armor and all.
"Gahk!"
A new sensation washed over him alongside the blue text.
The terror and madness of the battlefield faded like a lie.
His mind cooled even further.
"You bastard!"
A spear-wielding soldier charged at him.
But.
Kaang!
Damian casually deflected the attack.
An overwhelming difference in strength.
The spear shaft snapped, throwing off the soldier's balance.
Puk!
['Soldier Demichelis' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Enhanced Leap.']
He didn't miss the opening.
Dawn pierced the soldier's heart.
His body felt even lighter.
His movements gained spring.
'With this...'
Damian leaped from his horse.
A motion born of 'Enhanced Leap.'
He plunged straight into the heart of the enemy lines.
"This monster freak!"
From all sides came spears, swords, and axes.
Damian allowed none to touch him.
'Kingdom Swordsmanship.'
And.
'Empire Swordsmanship.'
The two styles merged into a deadly sword dance.
Eccentric motions blending defense and offense simultaneously.
Add mana power to that?
Slash! Puk! Kwa-jik!
Empire soldiers fell like autumn leaves.
Fountains of blood sprayed, screams filled the air.
['Soldier Dmitri' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Keen Eyesight.']
['Soldier Igor' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Tenacious Vitality.']
['Squad Leader Fyodor' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Instant Acceleration.']
Countless abilities seeped into his body.
Minor but useful experiences piled up.
'I'm getting stronger.'
Damian couldn't be satisfied.
He craved more abilities.
"Rampage to your hearts' content, men!"
Mikhail arrived soon after, laughing heartily.
He too massacred the enemy with overwhelming force.
"Keep advancing! Don't give them a moment to breathe!"
The Coldwood Kingdom's eastern forces pursued relentlessly.
Their momentum seemed unstoppable.
Then.
"Halt! All forces, stop!"
Mikhail's urgent shout rang out.
His expression hardened gravely.
'What is it?'
Damian focused ahead.
Where their advance had stopped.
A narrow canyon.
A natural fortress flanked by sheer cliffs.
And blocking its entrance...
"Those guys...?"
They were different from before.
Not fleeing rabble.
Uniform movements, restrained aura.
Black heavy plate armor and massive tower shields.
"Iron Guard."
Mikhail growled.
"The final bulwark."
Iron Guard.
Guardians of steel, true to their name.
The last line left to cover the main force's retreat.
"This is troublesome."
A human wall made possible by the narrow canyon.
If they couldn't break through quickly, the pursuit ended here.
The longer it took, the farther the Empire main force would get.
"Vanguard! Clear the path! Break through no matter what!"
At the command, the vanguard moved again.
Damian was with them.
"Hold the line! For His Imperial Majesty!"
The Iron Guard commander countered with a shout.
His troops formed a tight-packed formation.
'Impenetrable.'
A perfect defensive line.
Kwaaaang!
The vanguard clashed head-on with the Iron Guard.
The impact like massive waves against rock.
"Kuhk!"
Vanguard soldiers screamed as they were repelled.
Their attacks did nothing.
"Haaap!"
Damian too charged with a shout.
He gathered mana into his sword.
A strike far stronger than before.
'This should do it!'
He was certain it would pierce.
The moment that conviction hit.
Kaaaang!
A dull shockwave echoed.
Recoil numbed his wrist.
"...!"
Blocked.
His attack perfectly blocked.
'How?'
The Iron Guard's signature tower shield phalanx.
A faint blue glow shimmered on its surface.
'Mana.'
They wielded mana too.
More precisely, a few shield knights who could handle mana were interspersed, forming a massive formation.
All their power focused on one thing: defense.
Known as the 'Shield Formation.'
'It won't work.'
No matter how he swung his sword, same result.
Blocked by their ironclad wall.
"Damn it all!"
Mikhail raged and stepped up personally.
Blue sword aura erupted from his greatsword.
A strike from a Sword Expert.
Yet.
Kwaaaang!
Still blocked.
Hundreds of Iron Guard raised their shields in unison.
The linked Shield Formation moved as one.
And not just that?
"Gahk...!"
Long spears thrust out from between the shields.
Fast as arrows, merciless.
Even approaching was nearly impossible.
'Find the gap.'
Damian strained his eyes.
Mobilizing 'Keen Eyesight' and his enhanced senses.
But.
'None.'
No matter how he looked, no openings.
Perfectly interlocked shields.
Solid flow of mana.
'Not from the front.'
So what then?
Damian's gaze drifted upward.
To the sheer cliffs and blue sky.
'...Above.'
Yes, above.
Over that wall of shields?
'Possible?'
Honestly, absurd.
Not just because of the double-stacked shield wall's height.
A mana barrier formed by countless shields in formation.
That blue wall was impossibly high.
Moreover.
'Even if I barely clear it, I'll be riddled with holes before I land.'
Long spears thrusting from the gaps.
In midair, he'd be a pincushion.
'...Wait, spears?'
Come to think of it.
Those spears were abnormally long.
Special-made lances, easily five meters.
'Use those...?'
A plan flashed in his mind.
The outline of a reckless, dangerous scheme.
'Proficient Acrobatics.'
'Enhanced Leap.'
'Innate Balance Sense.'
'Instant Acceleration.'
And so on.
The various abilities absorbed so far.
Mobilize them all.
Maybe.
'It could work. No, it will.'
Damian slowly approached the Shield Formation.
All eyes turned to his movement.
"What the hell is that guy doing?"
"Is he insane? Where's he going?"
"Fall back! Soldier! Get back now!"
Even allies were aghast.
Yet Damian didn't stop.
Calmly closing the distance.
'Now!'
The instant a spear tip thrust from between shields.
Pishuk!
Damian twisted his body.
Clack!
And grabbed the spear shaft.
Blood trickled from his left cheek.
This was a bargain.
"Wh-what?!"
The Iron Guard behind tried to pull back the spear, but.
"Haaap!"
Damian yanked with all his might.
Mana-enhanced overwhelming strength.
Kwangtang!
The long lance was yanked free from between the shields.
Damian, flung backward, regained his balance.
Weapon disarmed successfully.
As planned.
'Heavier than expected.'
A heavy, stable feel.
And a strange sensation.
'Never thought I'd pull something like this.'
Just recently.
He was a farmer wielding a plow in the fields.
A trembling rookie dragged to the battlefield.
A coward hiding under a wrecked wagon.
Now, in mere months, he had changed.
'All thanks to this damn ability.'
The power to kill and steal abilities.
It had transformed him.
'Into a proper madman.'
He wasn't scared at all.
His heart raced instead.
The countless experiences and talents absorbed.
They drove Damian into the jaws of death.
Right into the thrilling heart of it.
'Let's go.'
Damian gripped the lance firmly and charged.
Straight at the Shield Formation.
"That lunatic!"
As all gasped.
"Haaap!"
Damian slammed the lance tip into the ground.
Using the rebound, he launched his body skyward.
Pa-at!
The bow-like flex of the shaft propelled Damian into the air.
A height beyond the Shield Formation and even those five-meter spear tips.
An unreal altitude.
"...!"
The Iron Guard soldiers' eyes bulged.
A black shadow loomed over their heads.
Thud!
Damian landed inside the Shield Formation.
Perfect infiltration.
"Wh-what?!"
Panicked Iron Guard soldiers.
The shadow of calamity fell upon them.
'Collapse it in one go.'
They couldn't defend their rear while holding shields.
Damian seized that split-second gap.
Slash!
['Shield Soldier Arnold' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Innate Hearing.']
Slash!
['Shield Soldier Charles' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Innate Perseverance.']
Ssk!
['Shield Soldier Hansen' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Lower Body Strength.']
New sensations with the blue text.
But no time to savor them now.
"Block him! The inside's breached!"
The Iron Guard's ranks crumbled in an instant.
A massive crack split the perfect Shield Formation.
"Now! Push through!"
Mikhail seized the gap and charged.
Coldwood Kingdom soldiers flooded in like a tide.
"Waaaaah!"
"Kill them all!"
"For the king's honor!"
The melee reignited.
Damian didn't stop even then.
Slash!
['Shield Soldier Walter' defeated.]
[Acquired 'Understanding of Dense Formations.']
Slash, slash, slash again.
The most efficient action he could take now.
As various abilities and knowledge surged like waves.
"You scum!"
A gruff-voiced Empire soldier lunged at Damian.
An Iron Guard trooper.
No, a 'knight.'
Kaaaang!
An overwhelming presence.
A sharp aura from his sword.
A small buckler shield in his left hand.
"I'll make you pay for your tricks."
The Empire knight intoned and raised his sword.
Simultaneously, he began drawing in surrounding mana.
'Sword User.'
Like the knight from the Shadow Forest.
On par with that one.
'It's different from back then.'
The bloody fight in the Shadow Forest.
Aaron Holt had sacrificed himself then.
Allies had helped.
But now.
'One on one.'
He faced him alone.
"......"
Damian regripped Dawn.
His heart pounded.
Not tension, but anticipation.
'I'm different from back then too.'
He had gained mana sensitivity.
Learned breathing techniques, however rudimentary.
Absorbed countless abilities, grown stronger.
'I can take him. Easily.'