The war didn’t just begin with the main force.
The sound of clashing weapons echoed from all directions. The Imperial Soldiers on the battlements pulled back their bows and cast spells to toss down the barbarian soldiers from Pineon trying to scale the walls.
A warrior from Pineon threw down a chain.
Swish!
Like a living serpent, the chain snatched an Imperial Soldier, dragging him down to the ground.
Crack─!
The Soldier’s head burst like a watermelon. The skull shattered, and blood sprayed everywhere.
Screams filled the battlefield. People were dying endlessly.
The movements of Pineon archers gliding along the ridges of the mountains belonging to Marquis Tornel showed no hesitation whatsoever.
The gigantic wolf, Fenris, was clever. He knew how to muffle his footsteps in moments when silence was paramount.
“Enemy…!”
The Ranger defending the Empire’s ridge shouted wide-eyed.
Phew!
And that shout became his last breath. A steel arrow, maximizing the strength and toughness of the Pineon Warrior, pierced through the Ranger’s temple.
Hector, the second commander of Pineon, spoke softly.
“Kill them all.”
“Gah!”
As his spear, filled with aura, tore through the heart of the Imperial Soldier before him, chunks of flesh fell onto the grass.
The tide of battle turned unfavorably for Marquis Tornel and the Imperial Army.
The massive axe clutched by Tornel was enveloped in a chilling aura.
“Uwaaaah!!”
Unidentifiable as a scream or a war cry, he charged and brought the axe down vertically towards the armored warrior.
Slash─────!
The warrior was split in half, dying instantly.
A living warrior was cut in two, reduced to a heap of meat on the ground.
Tornel glared for a moment at the axe he had slammed into the earth, then lifted his head, taking in the sight of enemies before him.
His hand gripping the axe was stained with sweat and blood.
Thud thud thud thud thud…
The rain still hadn’t stopped.
As if the sky had a hole in it, the dark sky continued to pour down rain.
The battlefield became damp. The rain weighed heavily upon the ground. The smell of blood swirled in the air. Marquis Tornel retreated, stepping over his fallen comrades.
The sensation of defeat pressed heavily in his mind. They had already lost over three hundred men. A number of treasured knights were dead.
Crack!
Tornel hurled away a Pineon soldier whose neck he had twisted with his massive hands.
Thousands of enemies stood at bay in the distance.
“Tornel Marquis.”
He also caught sight of hundreds of beasts salivating from the front lines.
The gigantic wolf, Fenris, much larger than a lion, loomed menacingly.
The turquoise light flickering in Fenris’ eyes exuded an oppressive aura. It created a sense of dread in the enemies, a feeling that he could attack at any moment, creeping fear crawling up their spines. This ability to instill such emotions in foes was a significant advantage on the battlefield.
Conqueror King Kament scanned the thirty or so Fenris and his hundred warriors, lifeless around him. There was no anger in the conqueror’s gaze. No pity either. It merely served to bolster his resolve.
Once again, very slowly. With great skill, he was determined to conquer a nation.
If he succeeded in conquering the Astes Empire.
No, even if he could just conquer the southern gatekeeper of the Empire standing right before him, Marquis Tornel, the deaths of his fallen soldiers and Fenris would be avenged.
If I can conquer the southern stronghold of the Marquis Tornel, which belongs to the Astes Empire right in front of me, the deaths of my fallen comrades and Fenris will be justified.
I will swallow the very edge of the Empire. This way, I will spread the fame of Pineon all over this continent. To achieve that, I brought along 30,000 soldiers.
The results of the first day of war were quite satisfying.
Every location where weapons clashed saw the Barbarian Nation claiming victory.
If we were to consider today’s results, it was a crushing defeat for the Empire.
“Let’s retreat for now. There’s still plenty of time,” said the conqueror king Kament.
Isn’t it better to push forward when you have the upper hand? That’s a fair point. But the damage to his own forces was significant.
A man with a lion mane hairstyle, King Kament, glared at the middle-aged man Tornel, who was intently staring back.
He truly deserved the title of ‘Destructive Tornel.’
The corpses rolling at his feet were the handiwork of Marquis Tornel.
For a commander who had lost a considerable number of troops, the fighting spirit in his gaze was still alive.
The southern guardian of the Empire, Tornel, slowly opened his mouth.
“You will regret daring to touch the Astes Empire.”
Kament smirked.
“Yeah, that’s the spirit! Just wait until I bring you down, so clean up well and prepare your neck.”
Tornel’s face crumpled at Kament’s barbaric words.
“Get lost.”
Kament let out a chuckle.
“Let’s head back, warriors.”
With Kament’s words, over 2,000 warriors began to slowly retreat.
“The swords of the esteemed Empire knights are quite weak! I wonder if they can pull it together at night!”
“Hahahaha!”
It was a ruckus loud enough to scare the night away.
Eventually, the knights of Marquis Tornel approached him.
“How many died?”
“If we count everywhere, it seems to be close to six hundred, Your Excellency.”
“…Huh.”
Tornel staggered at that statement.
The mental anguish weighed heavier than the fatigue in his body.
The long, dreadful night began to fade away when the warriors of Pineon disappeared from sight.
The sun began to rise.
It was the sunlight that had crossed between life and death more than fifty times. Never had the sun appeared so red, nor felt so hot.
It was a complete defeat.
*
Soldiers gathering the scattered corpses.
“Oh, Mother of the Sun… We firmly believe all this is to sharpen our blades, so please grant us the strength to call for light. Mother of the Sun.”
“I don’t want to die. Please shine light upon this sword…”
The weeping of comrades echoed through the air. Knights reciting prayers alone to shake off their fear, while soldiers clumsily echoed their words.
All those sounds felt like the cries of spirits to Marquis Tornel. They twisted grotesquely, almost making him want to tear his ears off. It sounded gloomy, like being stuck in a swamp that rose up to his neck.
The only thing weighing on him, smothering all his discomfort and guilt, was the responsibility. The burden of having to defend the southern front of the Empire.
He had no choice but to cling to the hope brought by the urgent news in the dawn.
Reinforcements were on the way, so they were told to hold out a little longer.
“It seems they won’t attack tonight. I guess they’ll charge at dawn tomorrow.”
“It seems they won’t come. Probably, they’ll charge in as soon as dawn breaks.”
Old and feeble.
Yet, the wise words of the aging chief of staff, Luciwud of the Tornel house.
“You must gather your thoughts, Your Excellency.”
Tornel slowly nodded.
There was no flaw in the old advisor’s words.
Having poured all his time into consolidating the front lines, a day flew by in the blink of an eye.
The sun rose once more.
Kugugugugugugu!!
The sound of giant wolves, the Fenris, pounding their feet echoed without hesitation.
As per Advisor Luciwud’s words, the Barbarian Nation of Pineon had raised their army the moment dawn broke.
War had begun anew.
The psychological warfare of the main forces started once more.
In Tornel’s view, a man with the head of a lion, the Conqueror King Kament, stood far off, observing his troops.
It wasn’t strange at all if either side decided to pull out their weapons and strike right then and there.
As Tornel remained on high alert, a knight rushed to his side in a frenzy.
“My lord Marquis!”
“What is it?”
The knight spoke rapidly, barely pausing for breath.
“Those claiming to be reinforcements have arrived at the outer walls, and they’ve actually started defeating the warriors of Pineon.”
Tornel furrowed his brow.
“Are they the special troops sent by the Empire?”
The knight shook his head.
“It doesn’t seem so. They introduced themselves as the Revolutionary Group.”
*
On the southern wall of the front line.
Red flags fluttered.
A scarlet flag. And within that red background, there was a golden circle, with a golden sword standing vertically inside it.
Cassiela, the leader of the Dawn Revolutionary Group, let her bright red hair flow in the wind.
She had faced Duke Yuma, the Emperor’s sword, on the magic train heading toward Arkan.
The revolutionary leader was convinced that Yuma was an old friend of her mother.
“We follow the same will as the God of War, Yuma! We don’t need a hollow revolution! For the glory of the Empire! Raise your swords!!”
Sling!
Sling!
A total of 72 Revolutionary Group members simultaneously brandished their weapons.
“For the glory of the Empire─!”
Each and every one of them was a mighty warrior augmenting their weapons with their spirit. They all held their swords in hopes of freeing the Empire from the decay ravaging it.
A Pineon warrior’s shoulder was cleaved by Cassiela’s azure blade.
And without hesitation, she sheathed her sword and lunged toward another warrior.
Starting from the southern wall, the tide of battle was gradually changing.
The eastern mountain ridge of the front line was already blocked by the Pineon warriors.
“Chase them to the end!”
Two Empire soldiers and one knight were fighting desperately to evade the pursuit of the Pineon warriors.
They had managed to escape to the mouth of the ridge but halted in their tracks.
Because they were at the edge of a cliff.
Thud…!
A stone, kicked by their toes, tumbled down the cliff edge.
The soldiers, surrounded by 42 Pineon warriors, gritted their teeth.
‘If I can harness my spirit, I might survive.’
‘Something’s bound to break. Then I’ll die at their hands.’
They were desperately wracking their brains to survive. At that moment, a voice suddenly came from below.
He was rolling along. Then, suddenly, a voice called out from below.
“You guys. Are you the Imperial Army?”
At the edge of the cliff, a man appeared in sight. On either side of him stood individuals in robes.
The man wore what looked like a black coat. And on the right shoulder of that black coat was a golden epaulet.
“I am the Commander of this battlefield. State your identity.”
One of the soldiers standing at the edge of the cliff shouted with all his might.
“We are the Imperial Army!”
The Pineon warriors surrounding the Imperial Army, pressed close together, gazed at Duke Yuma, the battlefield commander standing on the path below the cliff.
“Commander? Does the commander of the Empire only carry two subordinates? That’s quite amusing.”
The blue-haired Pineon Third Commander, Clid, drew his sword.
“If you’re the commander, then try to block this sword strike.”
Despite his sly voice, a brilliant golden aura gathered around the sword. The blazing golden sword energy.
Clid stepped forward and swung his sword.
Kwaaaang!!
It was a heavy strike. A spatial attack that shot forth with high concentration.
The golden spatial strike rushed toward Yuma like a tidal wave.
Yuma drew his dagger, the [Black Dragon Bernac’s Fang].
Kaaaang!
The blade of the dagger struck perfectly at the parrying point, the center of the spatial attack. A golden impact, signaling the successful parry, bloomed like a full moon.
Kwaaaang!!
The spatial attack reeled back.
But that wasn’t all.
As the spatial strike touched the tip of [Black Dragon Bernac’s Fang], two more spatial strikes unfurled alongside the original.
[Absolute Counter – Split Disaster]
[Absolute Counter – Split Disaster: Counter. Functions the same as [Absolute Counter] can be activated upon successfully parrying. When parrying, it can target up to 2 additional enemies, dealing the same attack power as [Absolute Counter].]
The original target was Pineon Third Commander Clid.
And the other two targets referred to the warriors positioned at the edges of the 42 Pineon warriors.
Kwaaaang!! Kwaaaaang!!
Three spatial strikes shot towards the Pineon warriors.
Clearly, according to the [Absolute Counter] skill, the direct targets were those three.
However, they were currently in a densely-packed formation to encircle.
Just because the skill was aimed at three, it didn’t mean only they would get hit.
Clid’s superior [Spatial Strike] was unleashed with ten times the power.
A massive explosion erupted.
Dust billowed thickly around the three Imperial soldiers standing at the edge of the cliff.
“…W-What is this… What the heck is going on!! You, you Imperial bastards! Did you sell your souls to the devil or something!!”
It was the warrior’s scream.
Of the 42 who formed the encirclement, only 10 survived.
There were no traces of corpses. It was as if a meteor had fallen into the forest, only the scorched remnants remained.
“Battlefield Commander, Yuma.”
The three standing on the cliff’s edge stared blankly down.
“Explain the current situation of the battlefield, Imperial Army.”
