Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: 1:6
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With the blue text appearing once more.
Damian's mind churned again.
'Spear technique...?'
A foreign sensation, different from swordsmanship.
How to grip a spear, the angle to thrust, how to gauge distance to an opponent.
The experiences that the soldier Alex had accumulated over a lifetime were injected in an instant.
"...".
All of it happened in a flash.
That brief silence was broken by the imperial soldiers.
"Alex! Alex is down!"
"What the hell, this bastard! How in one hit...!"
Shock and confusion.
And then ensuing rage.
The leisure they had in mocking Damian just moments ago was completely gone.
The blue text floated up once more.
This time, power surged through his entire body.
"Th-this bastard...!"
The imperial soldiers stepped back.
A natural reaction.
A lone routed soldier had butchered two comrades in an instant.
"Don't be scared!"
The one who looked like the oldest among the soldiers shouted.
A man with a red mustache.
Probably the squad leader.
"It was just luck! Surround him! Rush him all at once!"
At his shout, the soldiers reignited their will to fight.
"Yeah, we can overwhelm him with numbers!"
"Don't chicken out! Four of us can't take down one guy?!"
They surrounded Damian once more.
Closing the distance as if not to give him any openings.
'Can I win this?'
Damian swallowed dryly.
No matter how bizarre a power he'd gained, this was impossible.
Even if Arger Veil came back to life, it wouldn't be easy.
"This time, you won't die easy."
Spear, sword, iron mace.
Weapons flying in from all directions.
Clang! Chaeng! Kagang!
Damian swung his sword desperately.
Block, deflect, dodge.
His mind was going hazy.
'No, too many!'
Too busy defending to find an opening to attack.
At this rate, he'd exhaust himself to death.
'Need to create a gap.'
In that moment.
Something caught Damian's eye.
The spear on the ground.
The weapon of the first soldier he'd killed.
'That.'
Damian threw his body largely to the right.
"Opening! Kill him!"
The moment the imperial soldiers pounced without missing that gap.
"Hup!"
Damian rolled on the ground and snatched up the spear.
'Practical Spear Technique.'
The instant he gripped the spear.
He instinctively knew what to do.
'Throw it!'
The spear sliced through the air and embedded in the torso of the charging soldier.
"Gahk!"
The third casualty.
'Eloquent Speech?'
A random skill in the middle of battle.
But now wasn't the time to question it.
"Damn it all!"
The unexpected counterattack shattered the imperial soldiers' formation.
Three left.
'Now!'
Damian regripped his sword.
He dove into the gap in their broken formation.
Slash!
The sword traced a silver arc through the air.
At the same time, the squad leader's arm was severed.
"Arrrgh!"
The soldier rolled away screaming.
Damian had no time to finish him off.
He launched himself at the next opponent.
'I can see it. Their movements.'
It was strange.
Their gazes, movements, attack trajectories.
It felt like time was flowing slower.
'Is this... the sense of battle?'
A sensation foreign to a farmer who'd spent his life with the smell of soil.
But in this moment, it was more familiar than anything.
Puk!
The fourth.
Slash!
The fifth.
The tide turned in an instant.
Now, only one enemy remained.
The red-mustached squad leader with his arm severed.
"H-how can this...".
The squad leader muttered in a dazed expression.
A reaction of disbelief at the scene before his eyes.
"Y-you, what are you? A knight?"
Damian didn't answer.
Instead, he slowly approached him.
Blood dripped from the sword tip.
"Sp-spare me! Please...!"
The squad leader prostrated himself on the ground.
Begging for his life pathetically.
'Can't do that.'
This was a battlefield.
Feeble mercy led straight to death.
Besides.
'That guy's abilities look tempting too...'
He didn't know why this power had suddenly appeared.
But since it had happened.
He had to exploit it thoroughly.
"Sorry about this."
Damian said flatly.
And without hesitation, brought down his sword.
Puk!
The squad leader's body shuddered before going limp.
With this, he'd taken out all six imperial soldiers.
Damian, who had been an ordinary farmer not long ago.
This was the feat achieved single-handedly by that conscript.
"Huuuu...".
Only then did his held breath burst out.
As the tension released, his whole body throbbed.
'I... I killed them all.'
Damian blankly looked around.
Six corpses strewn about.
People who had been alive and breathing just minutes ago.
'Not guilt... more like dazed.'
Different from when he'd first killed Arger.
Back then, his heart had pounded like it would burst.
Now, he was surprisingly calm.
Thanks to Arger Veil's experiences?
'Doesn't matter. What counts is I survived.'
And that he had to keep surviving from now on.
Damian rummaged through the corpses, gathering food and water.
The bare minimum preparation to survive this hell.
'Where to now?'
Returning to the kingdom army base was dangerous.
It was perfect for being labeled a deserter.
'Hide in the southern forest for now. Then slowly...'
The moment he reached that conclusion.
Dudududu!
Hoofbeats.
Dust rose from far away.
At least several dozen cavalry.
"Whoa!"
The cavalry finally appeared.
Damian's expression hardened as he confirmed their banner.
'...Blue Hawk.'
The symbol of the Coldwood Kingdom.
Undoubtedly allies.
"This is...".
The knight at the lead looked around.
He frowned at the gruesome scene.
"Imperial bastards."
Having roughly grasped the situation, the knight looked at Damian.
"A survivor?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you take down all these?"
A mere foot soldier defeating six imperials?
Saying it straight would only invite suspicion.
Damian quickly turned his brain.
"No, sir. The knight fallen over there... Sir Arger Veil fought alongside me."
"...What? Sir Arger Veil?"
At those words, the entire cavalry's gazes turned to the fallen Arger Veil.
"Sir Veil!"
"There you are!"
And not just that.
They dismounted en masse and rushed to Arger's body.
He seemed to hold a fairly high position even among knights.
'Gotta speak now.'
Damian took the initiative.
"While retreating with Sir Arger Veil, we were surrounded by imperial soldiers. Sir Arger and I fought for our lives and took down all six, but as you see, Sir Veil..."
Damian trailed off somberly.
He quickly offered Arger's sword to the knight.
"This sword was given to me by Sir Arger Veil before he passed, after seeing my broken spear. He ordered me to fight with this sword if I met more enemies and to survive and return no matter what."
Thanks to Eloquent Speech stolen from that imperial soldier?
Words that he couldn't have dreamed of as a farmer flowed smoothly.
"I see."
The knight who received Arger Veil's sword.
Aaron Holt nodded with a sad expression.
"All hands, recover Sir Arger's body and return to base. And soldier, what's your name?"
"...Damian Winter, of the 6th Legion's 5th Spear Unit."
"Damian Winter, you upheld Sir Arger Veil's final dignity. As a knight, I offer my thanks and respects. I'll make sure to report this to the Commander-in-Chief as well."
Sure, he'd been the one to cut off Arger Veil's breath.
And even tried to strip him of his armor.
But good was good, right?
No risk of being mistaken for a deserter either.
'Eh, whatever.'
Letting himself go with the flow.
Damian hardened his resolve.
He spoke once more.
"It was only my duty as a soldier of the kingdom."
Thanks to Eloquent Speech?
"Fine military spirit."
Aaron Holt nodded in satisfaction.
"Can you ride?"
"...Probably."
A strange answer.
Aaron didn't mind.
"Mount up. The situation isn't good."