The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (19)

There were dozens of soldiers surrounding the area, but not a single one stepped forward.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t the atmosphere for anyone to step forward.

“What the hell is this…?”

Tertian looked at the Kar Tribe warrior collapsed on the ground.

There were already five of them turned into corpses, and even the remaining one…

Clang!

“Guk!”

He was sent flying with a grimace from the young soldier’s spear.

Tertian’s gaze turned to the Kar Tribe warrior facing the young soldier.

Two feather tattoos carved on his shoulder.

Those feather tattoos held great significance among the Kar Tribe.

This was because their rank was determined by the number of feathers.

All regular warriors bore a single feather.

Therefore, having two feather tattoos on his shoulder meant he was an intermediate warrior within the Kar Tribe.

‘Any ordinary soldier would die in the blink of an eye.’

Yet that young soldier was not just holding his ground, but pushing back the Kar Tribe warrior with two feather tattoos.

Swoosh!

Arteon charged forward with his spear pulled back.

Using the momentum of his forward rush, he swung the spear he had pulled back in a wide arc.

Clang!

It was just a wide swing of the spear, but the trajectory was peculiar.

It felt almost impossible to dodge.

‘This bastard…’

This wasn’t the typical spear technique used by Empire soldiers.

A strange spear technique he’d never seen before.

It was threatening even at a distance, but…

‘He doesn’t fear getting close.’

Rather, wasn’t he, the one wielding a sword, the one creating distance from this guy?

How could someone who seemed like just a regular soldier possess such skill…?

“What are you spacing out about?”

“…!”

At Arteon’s voice coming from right beside him, Rokudam bit his lips tightly.

He couldn’t shake off the guy’s movements that seemed to glide like sliding.

Rokudam gripped his sword tighter and immediately thrust it toward Arteon’s shoulder.

Whoosh!

He would surely react to this attack.

‘But…’

Attacking the shoulder was merely a feint.

The moment the guy leaned back or moved his spear to defend his shoulder…

‘I’ll immediately slash his leg and escape from here.’

The mission had already failed.

Then it was important to somehow injure this threatening guy and retreat.

His pride as an intermediate warrior of the Kar Tribe was hurt, but…

‘Better to plan for later than die a dog’s death.’

Rokudam’s plan was perfect.

Until Arteon’s voice was heard.

“I can see it all, you idiot.”

Whoosh!

Rather than dodging or blocking his attack, Arteon crouched down and closed the distance.

Rokudam’s sword barely grazed over Arteon’s head, slicing through empty air.

Unbelievable boldness and the decisiveness to execute it.

‘This bastard…!’

The situation at the 1st Defense Line had changed.

Right now, they weren’t accurately grasping the Empire’s military strength.

‘I need to report…’

Rokudam bit his lips tightly and hastily pulled his body back.

Escaping from this place somehow had to be his priority.

However, Arteon was persistent.

Arteon closed in and struck the guy’s chest hard with his shoulder.

With a dull sound, the guy’s body swayed for a moment.

“…!”

Arteon hooked the spear he was holding between the shoulder and neck, then rotated with his right foot as the axis.

Slash!

Red blood sprayed through the air as Rokudam’s eyes shook greatly.

He had felt it precisely at his fingertips just now.

The sensation of cutting through the guy’s flesh and scraping against his sternum.

“Kraak!”

Rokudam, his chest split open, screamed and staggered.

No matter how much of an intermediate warrior of the Kar Tribe he was, he couldn’t move properly with such a deep wound.

And Fearland, who had been watching the battle while protected by soldiers, shouted.

“Capture that bastard!”

“Yes!”

Following Fearland’s command, soldiers carefully approached the wounded Rokudam.

Rokudam looked at the soldiers approaching him and bit his lips tightly.

He had already crossed a path of no return.

‘Then…!’

The guy who seemed ready to collapse at any moment put strength in his legs and clenched his molars.

Seeing this, Arteon calmly observed Rokudam.

The guy’s thoughts seemed to show on his expression.

‘At least this bastard…!’

Intense killing intent to kill at least him, even if it meant dying.

Seeing such a Rokudam, Arteon spoke with an indifferent expression.

“You think this is the first or second time I’ve seen guys like you?”

He knew that the guy wouldn’t give up.

In fighting, in combat, the Kar Tribe were crazy bastards who couldn’t be understood by common sense.

When Rokudam, who they thought would collapse, leaped toward Arteon again.

“Huh?!”

“Dangerous!”

The soldiers watching from around shouted loudly.

They had thought the fight was over.

But the moment Rokudam kicked off the ground and leaped up.

Swiiiiish!

Arteon’s spear extended straight and struck the guy’s neck.

“Gueok…!”

Not the spear blade, but the end of the spear shaft.

Rokudam was sent flying backward with the same momentum he had been charging with.

The guy collapsed to the ground, knocked unconscious without being able to put up proper resistance even once.

After seeing this, Arteon let out a small breath.

“…Huu.”

Although he had won overwhelmingly.

‘I’m still far from enough.’

There had been several close moments.

If that guy had been familiar with this type of spear technique.

‘No… if he had even fought against it once before.’

The situation might have changed.

Being flustered by this new type of combat style that mixed spear technique with body technique had a major impact.

Of course, even so, it was true that Arteon had defeated a mid-level warrior of the Kar Tribe.

Ten years ago in the past.

He had already grown to a level where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with his past self from that time.

But…

‘Still not enough. I need to… become even stronger.’

Considering what lay ahead, this level of strength wouldn’t be enough to accomplish anything.

Arteon clenched his fist as he looked at the fallen mid-level warrior of the Kar Tribe.

But then.

“Wow… that’s impressive.”

“…?!”

At the voice that came from behind him, Arteon startled and quickly created distance.

Tertian unconsciously clapped at his quick reflexes.

“Pass. What unit are you from?”

Arteon swallowed nervously as he looked ahead.

He had only sensed the presence after the man had come close.

Despite having quite a large build too.

But Arteon soon formally greeted him.

“Steel hearts! 3rd Company 4th Platoon 4th Squad, Arteon!”

“…”

Looking at that youthful face, he had hoped it wasn’t so…

‘Really just a regular soldier?’

In terms of skill alone, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was at least platoon leader level, or… even higher.

Unless he was someone with major flaws like himself.

“That was impressive skill. Do you know who you killed?”

“Based on the two feather tattoos on his left shoulder, I estimate he was a mid-level warrior of the Kar Tribe.”

“…Correct.”

Mid-level warriors of the Kar Tribe possess at least 2nd Star level skill or higher.

That meant this guy was also at that level or above.

But then.

“Tertian, I think I need to see that soldier first.”

“Steel hearts!”

“Steel hearts!”

Fearland, who was being escorted by soldiers, approached Arteon.

Arteon and Tertian.

Both men saluted Fearland almost simultaneously.

Fearland ordered the soldiers to restrain Rokudam and search for any other enemy forces that might have entered the formation.

Then he looked at Arteon and said.

“Come to my barracks.”

“Understood.”

Arteon followed Fearland into his barracks.

Twelve soldiers stood guard outside the barracks, and once inside, Fearland picked up a bottle of alcohol.

“Do you drink?”

“If you offer it, I’ll gladly drink.”

“Straightforward.”

Fearland poured wine into a cup.

Though unexpected, if there was one advantage to this barren Northern Region, it was being able to drink wine ice-cold.

The wine that commanders drank like water was mostly low quality.

There was nothing worse than drinking such low-quality wine lukewarm.

But in the Northern Region, you could drink wine so cold it made your teeth ache just by leaving it outside.

Especially when your body was heated from battle, this cold wine had quite a calming effect.

Gulp gulp.

A faint sweetness felt on the tip of his tongue.

After that came a heavy yet astringent taste, but the cold wine seemed to wash even that away.

“Huu.”

Arteon, who had downed it in one go, let out a big breath.

It was stronger wine than expected.

Fearland looked at Arteon with an incredulous expression.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

He burst into cheerful laughter.

“Are you alright? It’s stronger than expected. I didn’t think you’d drink it all at once.”

“I’m fine.”

“Hehe, quite likeable.”

Fearland took a seat. But soon spoke with a bitter expression.

“The guys you faced earlier are a unit of the Kar Tribe called Jirn.”

“…Jirn.”

As expected.

Jirn, which means “to shoot” in the Kar Tribe language, also refers to these small guerrilla units.

Jirn units composed of carefully selected warriors who were agile and skilled even within the Kar Tribe.

As much as their skill, they were quite dangerous for those on the receiving end.

“I knew about it but couldn’t prevent the current situation, which can be considered quite serious. I heard you were the one who discovered the Jirn?”

“I was lucky. I was training not far away when I spotted them passing nearby.”

“Luck.”

Fearland let out a chuckle.

Usually in situations like this, most soldiers would exaggerate their achievements.

‘Is he still naive, or… is he trying to appear naive?’

Looking at his appearance, it seemed natural that he’d be naive, but looking at his eyes changed that impression.

He was an unpredictable fellow.

Fearland spoke.

“Whatever the process, you made a great contribution to victory in the previous battle by breaking through the Kar Tribe’s attack and striking the enemy army’s rear. On top of that, you discovered enemy forces attacking our main camp and prevented their operation in advance. And you even captured a mid-level warrior who could be considered the enemy leader.”

It was tremendous achievement, unthinkable for a single person to accomplish.

Fearland took a sip of the alcohol in his cup and turned his head to the side.

“This battle caused tremendous damage to them. We even detected signs of them pulling their formation back.”

It was an unprecedented phenomenon… never before seen at the 1st Defense Line.

“I thought this battle would… result in great sacrifice again.”

Perhaps they might lose about half of their forces.

But in reality, the soldiers who died were less than 10%, and there weren’t many wounded either.

All of this…

‘…What am I thinking.’

There are so many variables involved in battle.

He didn’t think all of those were resolved by this young man’s actions alone.

Of course, that didn’t diminish his achievements either.

Fearland smiled faintly.

“This victory will be reported through the Division Commander all the way up to higher command. Unless there are special circumstances, there will be a grand ceremony to reward merit. At that time, we will formally commend your achievements.”

“Steel Heart! We are grateful for the Company Commander’s consideration!”

“Then, until the next order comes, 3rd Company 4th Platoon is excluded from combat. This is the only reward I can give you right now.”

“Thank you!”

“Now, you may withdraw.”

* * *

And the next day.

As Fearland had said, news came that the Kar Tribe warriors had withdrawn from the battlefield and returned to their formation.

The brutal battles that had lasted for days vanished as if they were a lie.

“We, we, we’re alive!”

“Ahhhhh! Those bastards are retreating!”

“We’re alive! We’re alive!”

The 4th Platoon members of 3rd Company who had come to the 1st Defense Line as reinforcements cheered as they watched the retreating Kar Tribe warriors.

Everyone had said they would die.

The situation had been that dire.

But they had survived like this.

No, hadn’t they gone one step further than that?

And then…

“3rd Company 4th Platoon.”

A messenger came from Fearland.

“Orders to prepare, as the ceremony to reward merit is beginning.”

The achievements made in this hellish battlefield.

The time had come to receive their reward.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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