Chapter 622

The conversation, which started with a story about how to catch the Ghost Sword, naturally led to a discussion about the battles he had experienced.

“Varama Hatan had reached the Realm of Heroes. Unlike before, it was difficult for me to handle him with my own strength.”

His tone suggested that I should obviously know the name.

Of course, I had never heard of such a name. Even among the Ka`har, whose names I could remember, there were less than ten.

‘Who is Varama Hatan?’

If he was a Ka`har who had reached the Realm of Heroes, he must be one of Or-han’s close subordinates. In other words, in the original story, he was likely torn apart by Hersela.

[He is the War Chief of the Enemy Army. Like other War Chiefs, he was competent enough to be trusted by Or-han, but not so competent as to challenge Or-han’s position. He didn’t even have the thought to do so. If he had crossed the wall… then Glar and Ibamai must have also reached the Realm of Heroes.]

I had heard of Ibamai.

Harun Ibamai. One of Hersela’s subordinates in the original story, he wasn’t on good terms with her and was eventually used as a disposable pawn and defeated.

I didn’t know who Glar was, but he was probably one of Or-han’s War Chiefs, like Hatan and Ibamai.

The fact that Hatan had reached the Realm of Heroes suggested that the other two had also crossed the wall, meaning they were at least as strong as Hatan, if not stronger.

So, excluding Or-han, there were three forces that had reached the Realm of Heroes. On our side, we only had the 3rd Legion Commander Frederick and Joshua.

“This is a headache… What do you mean by ‘difficult to handle’? Is he stronger than you, or is it just a bad matchup?”

“The latter. Hatan’s Heroic Tale… the technique called Thousand Autumns forces the opponent to bear a weight as heavy as a thousand pounds.”

So it was a bad matchup.

“Forces the weight?”

“Yes. The Crescent Moon Blade he wielded carried an unbearable weight, but Hatan and his horse seemed unaffected by it. Like my Heroic Tale, the Giant Hunting Sword.”

So it’s a power amplification type.

A blade that only becomes heavy for the opponent. Just as the Reversed Heaven Sword increases speed without increasing power, Thousand Autumns increases power without changing speed.

I don’t know how that’s possible, but…

“It was a bad matchup. Of all things, a Heroic Tale specialized in one-on-one combat.”

Unlike Joshua’s Heroic Tale, which excels in sweeping wide areas, Hatan’s Heroic Tale shows its true value in one-on-one combat with an equal opponent.

So it’s no wonder he struggled.

One side increases range, and the other increases power. If they clash head-on, which side would break? Obviously, the lighter one.

It’s a miracle he survived a duel with such a guy and returned in one piece.

—

“It’s been a while, Marquis Median. How have you been?”

“Well, so-so.”

The next person I met after Joshua was Frederick, the 3rd Legion Commander of the Imperial Army.

The Empire’s third hero. He looked like he had been through a lot, with dark circles under his eyes, a pale complexion, and an expression of utter exhaustion.

It seems the workload in the Empire’s mainland is beyond imagination. The man who was full of energy during the Einfeld battle now looks like a cross between a patient and a specter.

Frederick’s awakened Heroic Tale was quite powerful. The ability to explode the weapons he threw. It was akin to throwing explosive spears.

“I named it ‘Einfield’s Flash.’ Your throwing spear at the time left a deep impression on me.”

…That was an attack enhanced with all sorts of blessings and gunpowder.

Somehow, this guy, who doesn’t even know how to make gunpowder, managed to create something resembling an explosion.

“That’s reassuring. If you throw them from the wall, you could kill hundreds.”

Compared to Milia’s arrows, the range is a bit short, but the power alone might surpass her shots.

—

The conversation with Frederick didn’t last long.

As the commander of the Empire’s 3rd Legion and the overall commander of the Imperial reinforcements, he was swamped with preparations for war.

We weren’t particularly close to begin with.

We had fought on the same battlefield, but that didn’t make us comrades. Our relationship was somewhat distant.

—

Four days flew by like an arrow.

During that time, Heinrich, the second sword of Landenburg, returned to the camp.

Heinrich, who had returned through Dane’s territory, reported that Dane and Ka`har had clashed once, and Dane’s main force, which had been encroaching on Panam’s territory, was retreating to defend the border.

“Do you think they will clash again?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

Heinrich answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ludwig, with a smile on his face, was pleased. Despite losing 2,700 men, his strategy had worked.

I leaned on the balcony of my quarters, watching the scene just as I had when Joshua returned.

‘That guy hasn’t crossed the wall. He’s teetering on the edge, though.’

Heinrich was a typical Dane—tall, wiry, with blond hair and blue eyes—but unfortunately, he hadn’t reached the Realm of Heroes.

He had stopped just before the wall. He could easily defeat a Paladin, but if he faced a War Chief or stronger, he would likely be overwhelmed and defeated.

[He’s about the same level as that mediocre old swordsman. If he takes just one more step, he could become a useful force…]

‘Whether he takes that step or not is not up to us.’

That was entirely up to the Dane.

If a few words of advice from me could make someone cross the wall, I would have already formed a knight order made up of heroes.

Besides, it’s obvious that guy doesn’t like me much, so he probably wouldn’t listen to my advice anyway.

I watched him until my cigarette burned out, then returned to my room.

The news of Ka`har’s advance came two days later.

—

“It’s starting.”

Upon hearing the scout’s report, Ludwig’s face hardened, and he called for an emergency meeting.

A force of 47,000 wouldn’t just make a show of force and leave. They wanted war, and we had to stop them with all our might.

We couldn’t let a pack of hungry wolves loose on the Empire’s land.

“Ka`har… Aishan is coming. Estimated force: 47,000. It seems they’ve brought every warrior they have.”

18,000 infantry calling themselves the White Armies, 3,000 Blue Armies, about 9,000 Enemy Armies, and 8,000 Black Armies. Plus, what seemed like two newly formed legions.

They had brought their entire force.

“47,000…!”

“That’s too many…”

The knights and commanders gathered at the meeting all looked as if they had taken on the world’s sorrow and conflict.

In other words, they looked like they were about to die.

“Don’t be afraid. We all expected it to be around this number.”

Unable to bear their expressions, Ludwig offered words that were either comfort or encouragement.

“Our forces are also close to 40,000, so it’s not that much of a disadvantage. If we engage in a battle, we might lose, but we can hold the barrier.”

“…Do you have some kind of trick up your sleeve?”

A knight cautiously asked. Instead of answering, Ludwig smiled lightly and glanced at me.

As if remembering that I had asked the same question a few days ago.

His answer was the same.

“Against enemies who are faster, stronger, and tougher than us, do you think tricks are that common? First, we need to understand their movements and respond accordingly.”

Respond accordingly.

It was a vague expression, but there was no better answer.

No matter how thorough the strategy, if the situation changes unexpectedly, it becomes meaningless. Right now, it wasn’t the time to discuss strategies but to prepare for a standard defensive battle and understand the enemy’s movements.

There was one trick that might kill Or-han… or at least have a chance of killing him, but that wasn’t something to discuss now.

Whether Ka`har’s forces would charge the barrier head-on, attempt to flank through Dane, or attack in some other way. In the current situation, where we knew nothing, discussing strategies based on the assumption that they would charge head-on was meaningless.