The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 325

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (325)
“Prepare supplies for Gracekal Mine immediately. And deliver this news to the Marquis at once.”
The order fell like a blade.
Brief, yet absolute.
Rishiven, who had been overseeing preparations for the relocation from Almers to Wolfheim, swiftly adapted to the sudden crisis unfolding before him.
He moved toward the carriages laden with goods and personally inspected each item one by one.
“Redirect all of this to the Northern Region! Double the insulated blankets!”
These were goods meant for the Merchant Guild, but such considerations paled in the face of current circumstances.
Since they were destined for Arteon, every item had to be of the highest quality.
“Prepare extra horses as well. If they tire and we lose time in transit, we’ll fall behind schedule.”
“Understood, Guild Master.”
The workers of the Shadowteon Merchant Guild moved with urgency despite the biting northern wind, sweat streaming down their faces.
Keyton, standing beside him, posed a question.
“Is there truly such urgency? It seems we still have time.”
“The Marquis will move himself. Knowing his nature, I cannot guarantee we’ll be ready in time even if we prepare this very moment.”
At Rishiven’s resolute words, Keyton’s expression grew uncertain.
“But… can the army move without orders from higher command?”
No matter that Arteon had risen to the rank of Marquis, mobilizing the military was an entirely different matter.
Moreover, hadn’t the procedures for moving troops been further strengthened following Belkakrode’s recent rebellion?
Keyton’s doubt was reasonable.
Yet Rishiven shook his head.
“He will move first, then report afterward. Or rather, if they prevent him from moving the army….”
Rishiven spoke with unwavering conviction.
“He will move alone.”
In any case, Arteon was not one to remain idle.
At Rishiven’s response,
Keyton’s eyes flickered with subtle tremor.
Rishiven’s gaze turned toward him.
“Supreme Commander Belkain means that much to him.”
Arteon has always prioritized people above all else.
So when he learns that someone he reveres like a mentor faces danger, he simply remains still?
Never.
‘That is not who he is….’
Having observed him for so long, I understood this truth.
He had never abandoned a single soul.
That was Arteon.
Rishiven turned his gaze away.
The mobilization site already in motion.
Supplies being loaded onto carts, soldiers tightening reins, horses prepared for departure cutting through the snow.
Everything was turning toward war.
“Supplies must not arrive later than he does.”
A resolute command.
“Make haste.”
“Understood!”
Keyton immediately spun on his heel and bolted away.
His footsteps crunched through the snow, fading rapidly into the distance.
As the commotion subsided, silence settled once more.
Rishiven moved slowly forward, placing a hand upon the cargo loaded in the carriage.
There was only one reason such things were possible.
‘Because he existed… I exist now.’
Had it not been for Arteon, I would have been used like a dog under Shadow Fang’s command and lost my life somewhere in the Back Alleys.
All of my current wealth and honor.
I could achieve them only through his aid.
Rishiven lifted his gaze to the heavens.
The gray sky peculiar to the Northern Region stretched above.
Clouds hung low and heavy, and the wind cut with merciless bite.
Rishiven’s eyes narrowed.
In this Northern Region…
‘It feels as though an ominous tempest is gathering.’
Just when I thought the war had ended.
An even greater war seemed to be approaching.
Rishiven’s fist clenched involuntarily.
“I must prepare.”
For what, exactly?
Though he had no answer to that question, Rishiven hastened to contemplate the trials that lay ahead.
* * *
Tension permeated all of Wolfheim.
The Training Ground, which would normally echo with soldiers’ laughter and the roar of drills, now lay strangely subdued.
Horses exhaled roughly, their breath crystallizing white in the frigid air before scattering.
The war horses lined up before the Stable were already saddled, standing ready to charge forth at any moment.
And gathered in the center were the members of the Silent Spear Battalion.
Isaac, standing before the unit members, spoke.
“Silent Spear Battalion, all personnel prepared for deployment.”
Isaac’s report rang out clearly.
At those words, Arteon turned his gaze wordlessly toward the direction where Gracekal Mine lay.
Considering the distance from here to Gracekal Mine…
‘No matter how we hurry… it will take four days.’
On the battlefield, circumstances could shift by the hour.
In that span of time, those who could live might die, and those who should die might be saved.
Arteon spoke.
“Everyone, mount your horses. From this moment on, we minimize rest and move as swiftly as possible.”
“Yes, sir!”
Though none of them had ridden before, not a single soldier hesitated.
The thought that the Empire’s Supreme Commander might perish if they were late filled them with solemn resolve.
Arteon mounted his horse and spoke to Isaac beside him.
“Did you deliver the letter to Rishiven?”
“Yes, sir. I sent it by express courier this morning.”
“…That will suffice.”
With just this small fact, Rishiven would make her own judgment.
Arteon thought of Rishiven.
‘When I return… I must express my gratitude once more.’
Without her, such a reckless advance would have been impossible.
Leading a thousand squad members across such vast distances was no trivial matter.
There was considerable preparation required, and above all, many political considerations to account for.
Yet the ability to move so boldly was possible only because of her support.
Moreover, without her, securing a thousand such exceptional war horses would have been impossible.
‘I thought riding would come… much later.’
I never expected it would happen this soon.
Arteon gripped the reins tightly and lifted his head.
Now I cast aside all other distractions.
No matter what circumstances arise.
No one, whoever they may be, could stop the unit’s deployment now.
Even if their mounted forms appeared somewhat awkward.
“Silent Spear Battalion, advance at full speed toward our objective.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Arteon’s command, the squad members cried out loudly and pulled their reins.
And with that.
“Hyeeeeee!”
“Hyeeeee!”
Could the war horses themselves sense the desperate resolve in these men’s hearts?
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
A thousand war horses thundered across the ground, charging toward the direction of Gracekal Mine.
This was the Silent Spear Battalion’s first deployment as a new cavalry unit, no longer mere infantry.
* * *
Where the torchlight had vanished, a tense silence now lingered.
“….”
The Kar Tribe Warriors, hidden behind nearby rocks and bare trees stripped of leaves, could not comprehend what had just occurred.
‘Th-that just now….’
‘What in the world happened…?’
The mountain terrain before Gracekal Mine.
Where torches had blazed mere moments before, the space had transformed into something entirely different.
As light vanished, the world twisted in an instant.
Pitch-black darkness.
The Blizzard swirled, obscuring vision and devouring the very contours of the terrain in murky shadow.
The snow beneath my feet was treacherous, the air razor-sharp.
And from within that darkness, hundreds of arrows descended.
I had thought they merely sought to demolish walls and block the strategic pass to buy time….
‘It was a deception.’
Morganteron’s eyes narrowed to slits.
I had never anticipated such versatile, improvisational tactics in so brief a span.
As a result, thirty Kar Tribe Warriors who had charged forward with momentum became pincushions in an instant, arrows bristling from their bodies as they fell.
Morganteron’s gaze swept rapidly left and right.
The enemy’s Surprise Attack with arrows was formidable enough, but the true problem was….
‘The direction from which the arrows were being loosed… it was not from a single location.’
From the front, certainly, but also from the left and right.
And even from the angles atop the low Hill to the right.
From there, arrows were being unleashed relentlessly toward the entry route.
‘Ordinary warriors would become target practice before they could even enter the passage.’
The strategic pass was blockaded so flawlessly that no opening existed.
Morganteron gripped the Axe tighter.
Had it been daylight, I would have charged in and torn them to shreds.
But the circumstances now were vastly different.
The Darkness prevented precise identification of positions, and more critically… the scale of their forces remained unclear.
And beyond that.
Morganteron’s brow furrowed deeply.
‘At this rate… I will lose them all.’
Though we had surged forward with momentum, the sudden loss of thirty Warriors had completely shifted the atmosphere.
Morganteron’s gaze hardened with lethal intensity.
Our Surprise Attack had struck at the perfect moment, piercing the Imperial Army’s vulnerability.
They had been unable to react, left with no choice but to endure.
‘Yet it was so….’
The situation had transformed in an instant.
The enemy Commander had reversed everything in that fleeting moment before we entered the passage.
Though they were the enemy….
‘Instantaneous judgment.’
And crisis response capability.
A bold decision made despite accepting casualties.
All of this had been accomplished in the blink of an eye.
Enemy or not, it was an ability that sent chills down my spine.
And yet, I would spare such a foe?
‘In the future, he will become an extremely grave threat to us.’
Morganteron’s gaze pierced beyond the darkness.
The Imperial Army soldiers had already scattered into dozens of routes, executing their retreat.
Beyond the straightened path, they dispersed across the mountain terrain in all directions.
To maximize the number of survivors.
Perhaps this too was an order from the Imperial Army Commander.
“Hah….”
Morganteron exhaled softly and lifted his head.
Though the arrows’ trajectories were exquisite, their numbers did not appear overwhelming.
I wanted to advance while conserving as much strength as possible.
‘But there’s no choice now.’
Uuuuuuung!
As Morganteron drew up his Aura, the Axe gripped in his hand trembled faintly.
The blade, already stained crimson with blood, gleamed with a ferocity that seemed ready to cleave through the enemy’s body at any moment.
Morganteron spoke.
“Broadcast to the warriors. From this moment forward, we… hunt down the enemy’s Supreme Commander.”
The others are irrelevant.
Just one.
Kill only the one capable of orchestrating such mad improvisation.
If we succeed, it will be an enormous loss for the Imperial Army.
‘If not now, such an opportunity may never come again.’
As time passed, even finding him would become increasingly difficult.
Morganteron raised his Axe.
Rather than wrapping his Aura around the Axe, the form of ‘Discharge’ consumed Aura at a devastating rate, so I wished to avoid it if possible.
But in the current situation.
‘There’s no choice.’
Morganteron’s eyes flashed with cold intensity.
And in that very moment of his decision.
Boom!
Morganteron kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air.
At that sight.
“…!”
“Wh, what?!”
The Archers positioned at various locations flinched, watching Morganteron.
For a moment, they could not decide which direction to loose their arrows.
But before they could draw their bowstrings again.
“All of you, die.”
Suspended in the air, Morganteron discharged his Aura toward the positions where the Archers lay.
Dozens of semicircular Auras extended into the darkness.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Boom!
The surrounding area began to crumble beneath the cascading torrent of crimson Aura.

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