The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 339

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

Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (339)
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Dawn had not yet fully broken; the sun remained hidden below the horizon.
Thick darkness pressed down upon the mountainside, and the damp earth exhaled the dew that had fallen throughout the night in slow, rising wisps.
The faint glow of torches flickered in the wind, casting the shadows of soldiers long and distorted across the ground.
Within that silence, a tremor—subtle and faint—began to manifest.
Thud-thud… thud-thud-thud….
At first, it was so faint one might mistake it for illusion.
But it grew steadily clearer, and the vibration rising through the earth traveled from the soles of my feet up through my calves.
“…?”
The soldier standing patrol narrowed his eyes. Slowly, he gripped his Spear tighter and lifted his head.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The tremor intensified with each passing moment.
“What is it? What’s that sound?”
The senior soldier who had been sleeping just behind him rose with an irritated expression.
The junior soldier quickly turned to him and spoke urgently.
“S-Sergeant Max, sir. The ground… it’s trembling?”
“What?”
It was at that very moment when the senior soldier called Max furrowed his brow and raised his upper body.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
A thunderous sound, as though the very earth itself was being trampled.
And beyond the mountain, something gleaming tore through the darkness and burst forth.
“…!”
The soldier’s eyes widened.
Like a black wave crashing toward us.
Max recognized it at once.
“Damn… damn it!”
Max cursed harshly.
And as the outline of the black wave became visible, its true form revealed itself.
“The K-Kar Tribe!”
One by one.
Axes and Spears in their hands, eyes burning with bloodlust.
Max screamed out as they surged forward with tremendous speed.
“Sound the emergency Whistle, now!”
Shrieeeeeeek!
The alarm pierced through the air in urgent succession.
But it was already too late.
“The K-Kar Tribe is attacking! The Kar Tribe has invaded us!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
The emergency bell shook the entire Camp.
Soldiers sleeping in the Barracks jolted awake and scrambled for their weapons.
“What, what’s happening?!”
“It’s an attack from the Kar Tribe!”
The Officer, rising in panic, spat curses at the soldier’s report and bellowed orders.
“All troops, get up on the Wall and form a Formation! Archers and Shield Bearers, move quickly!”
“Archers! Archers, fall back to the rear ranks!”
“Even those without equipment yet, get out here now!”
But….
Craaaaaash!
The first collision was already underway.
The wooden palisade shattered to pieces as a massive Kar Tribe Warrior smashed straight through.
Before a single arrow could be properly loosed, their assault came pouring in.
As the palisade crumbled so pathetically, the Imperial Army Officer guarding that position couldn’t hide his shock.
‘How, how is this possible…?’
But it didn’t take long to discover the reason.
The Kar Tribe Warriors who had broken through the palisade and poured inside.
And the Blue Aura shimmering on the Sword held by the one leading them.
At that sight, the Officer’s pupils dilated sharply.
“An, an Aura… a User, how is this possible….”
How could one reach this remote outpost?
This wasn’t even a particularly strategic location, merely one section of the Patrol line.
Faced with such a sudden and overwhelming assault, his mind went blank for a moment.
And….
“…I don’t understand why we need to occupy this place, but orders are orders, I suppose.”
The Five-Feather Warrior, with five Feather Tattoos etched on his left shoulder.
He had questioned why he needed to be deployed to such a remote outpost.
But now that he was here.
“Trampling these Imperial bastards like this isn’t so bad after all.”
We had only ever suffered at the hands of these Imperial dogs.
I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d had a battle where we could slaughter them so one-sidedly.
The Five-Feather Warrior thrust his Sword forward and spoke to his Warriors.
“We have no need for Prisoners—kill them all!”
These Imperial bastards will shit themselves in terror just at the sight of us!
And with his Command, dozens and hundreds of Warriors came pouring forth.
“Dieeeeeeeee!”
A bestial roar tore through the air.
“Hold the line! Hold it back!”
The Imperial Army Soldiers desperately raised their Shields.
Crack! Boom!
With just one collision, the Shields were torn asunder.
Bones cracked and shattered as soldiers were hurled backward.
“Krraaaagh!”
“Ugh, uuuaaaah!”
Blood sprayed. Screams erupted.
The Archers hastily dropped their bows and drew Swords, but—
Thwack!
“Gack!”
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
There was nothing they could do. They could only suffer helplessly.
At the sight of this, an Officer cried out urgently.
“R-Retreat! Abandon the Camp and flee!”
“Retreat! Fall back to the Rear Camp! All troops, retreat now!”
The Retreat order echoed across the field, and soldiers turned and fled.
At this sight, a laugh bordering on madness burst from the lips of the pursuing Kar Tribe Warrior.
“Khahahahahaha!”
“Chase them down! Kill them all!”
Red eyes gleamed with feral intensity.
Crimson blood soaked the Ground, and Imperial Army corpses began to mount.
Early Dawn.
Hours yet before the sun would fully rise.
The Imperial Army’s Camp was being swept away by the Kar Tribe’s tide, drenched in red.
* * *
Crash!
The thick doors of the Imperial Palace burst open roughly.
The hour when the sun had not yet fully risen.
A Messenger stumbled into the Great Hall, which had been shrouded in Silence.
“Th-This is dire!”
With breath ragged and gasping, the kneeling Messenger’s shoulders heaved violently.
The gaze of all the ministers gathered in the Great Hall fixed upon him at once.
“The Belikejel Western Outpost and… the Freldior Eastern Outpost….”
As he continued, his voice trembled.
“Were attacked simultaneously… and have fallen!”
In that instant, the air froze.
“…What did you say?”
Someone muttered softly, but no further words followed.
The Messenger gritted his teeth and continued his report.
“Both Camps… completely burned. Recovery is impossible… and the death toll already exceeds one thousand…!”
Thud.
As his words ended, a heavy Silence fell upon the Great Hall.
Sedrian’s eyes narrowed slowly.
‘Is Supreme Commander Belkain’s prediction coming true…?’
Days earlier.
I recalled Belkain’s composed face as he pointed across the map.
―They will move. In a manner different from before.
At the time, I had accepted it merely as one possibility.
But now.
‘It has begun.’
Tendons stood taut across Sedrian’s knuckles.
Though both were merely outpost positions.
Not a fatal blow that would collapse the entire front line.
Yet the loss of a thousand soldiers was no trivial matter.
‘However….’
What mattered most at this moment was that the soldiers’ morale had been severely shattered by the loss of the strongholds.
Sedrian’s gaze slowly lifted. Then, a minister carefully opened his mouth.
“Your Majesty. Of course there are casualties, but… they are merely two outposts. From a strategic perspective, it is not a significant loss….”
Before he could finish.
A sharp glance.
Sedrian’s gaze turned toward him.
Eyes cold and sunken.
“… Do you truly believe that?”
A low but weighty voice resonated through the Great Hall.
In that moment, the minister’s words caught in his throat.
Sedrian rose slowly from his seat.
“Merely two peripheral regions and a thousand soldiers.”
His footsteps advanced, one after another.
“You assess the situation based on that alone?”
“I, Your Majesty… I merely….”
“Do you not see it?”
CRASH!
Sedrian’s hand struck the table.
The map trembled violently.
“Simultaneously.”
A single, brief word.
“West and East. Two separate fronts fell at the same moment.”
The ministers in the Great Hall began exchanging nervous glances.
Sedrian’s eyes gleamed with even sharper intensity.
A precisely calculated strike.
Already….
“They… have finished preparing to wage war against us.”
The air grew suffocating.
Someone swallowed hard.
“The purpose of this attack is not territorial conquest.”
Sedrian’s gaze swept across the ministers.
“It is to strike at our very resolve.”
A thousand deaths.
A camp consumed by flames.
With merely that news alone.
“They spread terror across the entire Northern Front and shatter the fighting spirit of our army.”
Only then did several ministers’ faces turn ashen. The gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in.
Sedrian continued without pause.
“And next, a full-scale invasion will commence.”
The moment those words left his lips, silence descended upon the Great Hall.
No one dared speak.
It was not merely another Kar Tribe attack as they had always known—the very method was different.
‘Does His Majesty….’
‘Know something we do not?’
Even Sedrian’s demeanor in responding to the Kar Tribe seemed far graver than usual.
Sedrian then addressed the ministers before him.
“Effective immediately, I declare war upon the Northern Region.”
“…!”
“Your Majesty!”
To declare war.
It meant something entirely different from simply reinforcing troops and mounting a defense.
A campaign to subjugate the North.
What they had only imagined would now become reality.
Taifren too regarded Sedrian with a tense expression.
Sedrian had not yet received full imperial succession.
Yet for him to make such a bold decision….
‘One thing….’
Taifren also had seen and heard certain things.
If they hesitated now, a great calamity could befall the Empire’s Northern Region.
Taifren stepped forward with a resolute expression.
“I, Taifren Pauriut, pledge my allegiance to Your Majesty’s decision.”
“The, the Prime Minister.”
“Hmm….”
Taifren’s single statement transformed the atmosphere of the Great Hall.
Though all seemed hesitant at first.
“I, Roedin Silvar, likewise pledge my allegiance to Your Majesty’s decision.”
When even Marquis Roedin Silvar, the Minister of Finance, came forward, the mood shifted entirely.
Following his lead, all the ministers declared their names and pledged their support to Sedrian’s decision.
And at that sight.
“The support of the nobles is most reassuring.”
Sedrian turned his body and sat back down in his seat.
A solemn atmosphere descended upon the Great Hall, and Sedrian uttered his final words.
“From this moment forward, relocate all troops stationed in Central Command to the Northern Region.”
And at that order.
“Yes, Your Majesty! We understand!”
All the ministers bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
This was a battle that could not be avoided.
Now… the time had come to end the long war with the North.

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