'They must've been wiped out... Tsk.'
Sitting atop his white horse, Monclay thought of the companies under his command that he had left behind as a shield.
The sword known as the 1st Company, which had always served as the vanguard.
Along with the 2nd and 3rd Companies that supported it.
They had been five hundred soldiers in total.
Even within the battalion, they were a group renowned for their wealth of experience and fighting prowess.
Putting them in the lead had only been natural.
He had never once doubted that they would become a sharp arrowhead, carving the Imperial Army to pieces and opening the floodgates to victory.
Victory should have been a given.
'It definitely should've gone that way....'
The advance guard's attack had been powerless.
Not only had they failed to break through, but he had also witnessed the bizarre phenomenon of the Imperial Army's forces suddenly seeming to swell in number.
He had been left with no choice but to use the troops meant to be his weapon as a shield instead.
It was no different from offering them up as a sacrifice to preserve as much of his allied forces as possible.
Even so, there was one crucial fact he had gained from it.
'A unit with extraordinary attire and movements.'
Amidst the suddenly swollen ranks of the enemy, a group of exceptionally strong-looking men had caught his eye—men who used the iron armor plating wrapped around one arm as a shield, moving swiftly and nimbly as they trampled over his allies.
"There is no mistake."
They were the killing machines raised by Marquis Bueno Arjen, whom he had learned about through intelligence gathered by spies who had infiltrated the Empire.
Once he judged as much, the cause of their defeat became clear.
'They say it was formed by gathering those who lack the talent to become knights, yet possess an outstanding talent for slaughter.'
Therefore, he had been forced to withdraw his troops before suffering even greater sacrifices.
To preserve his forces as much as possible, and to play the card he would call in to turn the tables, he had needed to secure a location where he could tie down the Imperial Army's feet first.
"Stop them by any means necessary!!"
"We must not let those imperial scum cross Trevor Bridge!!"
"Do not forget that if this place falls, your families will be trampled and slaughtered by that cowardly Imperial Army!!"
"Lay down your lives! Fight! Do not retreat!!"
Monclay fixed his gaze on the battlefield unfolding in the middle of a bridge wide enough for twenty grown men to easily pass abreast.
With eyes seeking to forget their previous defeat and read the path to victory, he stood atop a gently sloping hillock and observed the tide of battle.
The blue-armored soldiers of the Azrion Kingdom built a wall out of friend and foe alike with corpses, blocking the red-armored soldiers of the Roden Empire.
Since it was a battle of offense and defense that had broken out after a relentless day-and-night chase, it was a stalemate where neither side could gauge victory.
'Yes. As long as they hold out like this a little longer....'
Monclay was quite satisfied with the hard fight his soldiers were putting up as they held the bridge.
If they held out like this, the forces he had prepared assuming the worst-case scenario would arrive soon.
Just as he was thinking that, the adjutant beside him pointed toward the battlefield and shouted.
"Battalion Commander!! Over there!!"
At his adjutant's cry, Monclay shifted his gaze along the pointing hand.
To be exact, it was beside the bridge where the battle was in full swing.
"Ah!"
Monclay was horrified.
In the Imperial Army camp across the Trevor River, someone radiating a blue light was slowly freezing the flowing river water solid.
"Those cowardly Imperial Army bastards hired a mage!!"
Turning deathly pale, Monclay ignored his adjutant's shout and asked an urgent question.
"Is there still no word from them?!"
***
'Since their retreat was fast....'
Having made his way out of the Dandelion Plains, Rian Kade ran through the Greenwave Forest, where low hillocks rolled like waves, and thought of where his allies might be.
'Trevor Bridge.'
If anyone tried to swim across the wide Trevor River, they would obviously be swept away by the swift current or drown.
Therefore, even just to reach 'Northheim', they had no choice but to pass through there.
Rian judged that unless Battalion Commander Monclay was an idiot, he would desperately defend that place to the death.
'Will he call for a knight?'
Of course, merely holding the line would not be enough to deal with the Roden Empire's forces, which were double their size.
To turn the tide, at least one knight would have to come down from the main battlefield at the Twin Gorge.
Only then would they be able to protect this place, which served as a detour to the main castle.
However, was that realistically even possible?
'They must already have their hands full just holding back the Empire's knight orders at the Twin Gorge.'
The moment a knight was pulled from there, the balance of the battle at the gorge could collapse and lead to an even greater defeat.
Then did the Azrion Kingdom have any force that could replace a knight?
He did not know about the duchies or counties, but at the very least, there was none here in the royal domain.
"Phew... That's going to be tough."
If only Monclay had listened to the company commanders' advice to meet the enemy at Trevor Bridge in the first place....
'Forget it. It's already happened. No need to look back. Battalion Commander Monclay isn't that much of an idiot.'
Rian Kade shook off the negative thoughts eating away at his mind bit by bit and focused on running.
It had been a night spent running alone.
At times he had dug into the dirt and covered his body with brush to rest.
He had washed himself in flowing streams and quenched his thirst, chewing on jerky and dried vegetables taken from the enemy to appease his hunger.
Through that process, he felt that his internal organs were just as ordinary as before.
No, had they actually surpassed the ordinary?
After all, he was effortlessly carrying out long periods of activity with minimal rest and food intake.
He could not tell whether his physical enhancement was an ability gained from overcoming death, or the result of steady training throughout his grueling life.
'Well, there's no need to view the two possibilities separately.'
As long as he had improved, that was enough.
So he just had to keep improving—to a degree where he could not even fathom how far he would go.
He simply had to survive without dying and press forward as he always had until his life came to an end.
Dash—!
Rian focused on running.
Climbing up and down the swaying greenery of the Greenwave Forest, his steps reached the final hillock.
He faced the wheat field stretching out before his eyes. It was a place where unripe green stalks rippled like waves.
And he spotted the soldiers of the Roden Empire swarming where they were stationed adjacent to the Trevor River.
Since it was broad daylight—welcomed after a brief rest at dawn and a morning spent running—he could roughly grasp the Imperial Army's movements even from afar.
"Prepare to advance!!"
"Once we cross this point, all the land we have passed through is yours!!"
"""Waaaaah—!!!!"""
The roars of the Roden Empire soldiers sensing victory reached his ears.
Rian wondered why they were letting out such cries of certain victory, but figuring out the cause was not very difficult.
'The river water....'
The river water, which rarely froze even in winter, had frozen over—wide enough for the main force of the Imperial Army to cross.
If so, there was only one answer. There was only one kind of being capable of creating such unnatural artifice.
"A mage."
The Imperial Army had hired a mage.
To be capable of freezing a river on that scale, they had to be at least an intermediate-grade mage.
The Empire had recruited a being so difficult to secure that one had to pay an astronomical sum for participation in a single battle—and even being able to settle the matter with money was considered a stroke of luck.
Had Monclay anticipated that?
He probably could not have.
Had he anticipated it, he would not have even attempted a battle on the plains.
'Whatever the case, I can't let the entire Imperial Army cross the river.'
Taking in the situation at the Trevor River, Rian worked his mind. Fortunately, although his allies across the river were scrambling in confusion, it did not look like they were about to retreat right away.
Even if the enemy crossed the frozen river, fighting on ice would be difficult for the Imperial Army as well, so it seemed his allies intended to hold them off somehow.
'In that case.......'
Rian shifted his eyes as though a method had occurred to him. Then he fixed his gaze on the section at the corner of the enemy camp where a blue light was rising.
Wearing an expression that said there might be something he could do, he moved his feet swiftly down the hillock.
Dash—!
'I'll stop the mage.'
If he could stop the mage, that alone would drown the Imperial Army marching across the ice.
Even for a mage, unless it was the dead of winter, keeping flowing river water frozen like that continuously could not be easy.
Only by disrupting the mage—who had to be maintaining the ice sheet through a continuous infusion of mana—could his allies seize the chance for victory.
'I'm the only one who can do it.'
He knew it was a reckless act.
He would not be able to avoid death, either.
There would also be guards protecting the mage. They might even be the elite soldiers called the Shadows.
If he considered why the Marquis's Shadows were here, assuming they were here to guard the mage made for a sound reason.
Even so, he could not just stand by and watch without doing anything. Even if it ended up being nothing more than a dog's death.
'I can do this. I have to do it. Because it's something I'm capable of doing.'
He would do it. Since the mage would be immersed in his spell, if Rian aimed for the moment the Imperial soldiers were crossing the ice, it might actually be easier than expected.
If the mage was manifesting magic on such a wide scale, he would not be able to spare his attention elsewhere.
Simply disrupting him at a point when he could not cancel the spell would obviously send the Imperial Army plunging into the water.
It was worth risking his life for.
Even if he were to meet eternal mortality on the off chance, it would be better than doing nothing and watching his allies' defeat.
So he put no hesitation whatsoever into his running steps.
Patter-pat—!
Rian swiftly crossed the wheat field and reached the Imperial Army camp.
Just then, a commander who sensed his presence and looked back spotted Rian.
"Huh?! Who're you!! What unit do you belong to?! Do you know how long ago the order to advance was given?!"
Stopping in his tracks as he was moving toward the ice path with the troops under his command, the commander strode over to Rian.
"I'm sorry, sir. Nature called urgently."
Clutching his stomach, Rian gave a brief military salute and hurried past the commander.
"Look at this half-witted bastard?! You should've just pissed your pants, how dare you desert your unit?! I asked what unit you belong to! Huh?! Get back here right now!!"
"I will correct my conduct, sir!"
Even though the grim-faced commander flew into a rage and called after him, Rian brushed it off with a stock reply and ran on, circling around where the Imperial troops were clustered.
Had the commander given the order, anyone nearby would certainly have detained Rian, yet that did not happen.
"Crazy bastard! I've memorized your face! We'll see each other after the battle's over!!"
The commander had no intention of chasing him any further either, merely bellowing after him as he hurried along toward the ice sheet with his men.
No one noticed that Rian belonged to the Kingdom Army.
Since he had already wiped out the cleanup unit on the plains and changed into Imperial Army armor, it was only a natural result.
'I disguised myself as an Imperial soldier just in case I got spotted on the move, and it's coming in handy.'
On top of that, the rapidly unfolding urgency of the battle left the Imperial Army no room to suspect Rian.
It was as though the Goddess of Fortune had briefly covered the Imperial Army's eyes.
Patter-patter—!
Rian swiftly passed the Imperial Army's makeshift barracks and ran toward where the mage was located.
WHOOOOSH—!!
A wind carrying a chill brushed past his cheek. It was a winter wind on a spring day, overturned by the mage.
"Phew...."
Rian slowed his pace and steadied his breathing.
Step—.
He walked between the barracks.
Members of the Shadow Unit came into his field of vision.
They numbered roughly thirty.
They were wearing the same style of attire as Gerard, the man who had taken his life before.
Not a single one of them was ordinary—from their builds to the intimidating presence radiating from their motionless postures as they guarded the mage.
"What is it, soldier? You could not have lost your way."
One of them spotted Rian and spoke to him with eyes and a voice full of wariness.
Step—.
Rian approached them calmly.
'He's not here,'
He confirmed that Gerard, who had driven a blade into his heart, was not among them.
Just then, a unit member who had closely examined the state of Rian's armor placed a hand on the sword at his waist and spoke.
"A wounded soldier? Shouldn't the medical barracks be on the other side?"
The traces of a stab wound and bloodstains around the abdomen seemed to have heightened his wariness.
"Deserting your unit means summary execution. If you don't want to croak, piss off. Take one step closer and I'll cut your head off."
Shing—.
The elite soldier issued the threat as though ready to kill Rian depending on his excuse.
It was a taut war of nerves formed across a distance of five paces.
Rian answered the soldier who had drawn his sword with a composed demeanor.
"Sir Gerard orders half of the guard force to reinforce Trevor Bridge."
It was an improvised remark thrown out on the spot.
Whether Gerard or whatever his name was happened to be at the bridge or not did not matter.
It was a statement meant to create a sliver of an opening by mentioning Gerard.
He had judged this a good time to make use of Gerard, who had revealed his own name.
However, the enemy before his eyes narrowed his brows as murderous intent filled his gaze.
"You're a spy."
Had that been the worst move possible?
Was his name not Gerard?
No, how could he possibly forget the name of the scum who had taken his life?
It was definitely Gerard.
First, he had no choice but to play dumb and deny it.
"How could... No, sir! I only came to deliver the orders I was given."
Perhaps it had not been a decent excuse.
The soldier before him with the drawn sword sneered.
"The order we must follow above all else is to protect Master Norpin. Would Gerard not know that?"
"......"
It had ended up pouring oil on a fire. As if to prove it, the other soldiers who had only been glancing over began to close in.
"Or maybe that bastard's a spy too?"
"We'll find out once we chop off his limbs and interrogate him first."
"We could use this chance to frame that stuck-up bastard Gerard as a real spy, couldn't we? How about it?"
"Keuk. I'm in."
Hmm. The situation seemed to be veering off on a tangent somehow, but that did not seem half bad.
Shing—.
"Come on now. I'm telling you, we're on the same side."
Rian drew his sword.