Chapter 102 : Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The Road Ahead Will Be Long (2)

Saaaaa—

The Sword Aura that had surged through the air, distorting it, evaporated silently as if its light had been snuffed out. It left behind a thick cloud of dust.

Fragments of the Sword Aura flickered like dazzling afterimages in the haze.

“Hoo.”

I steadied my breath.

The encirclement that had surrounded me was half-dismantled.

Thanks to the soldiers sprawled out on either side and behind me, my field of vision was clear and unobstructed.

But ahead…

“Ha.”

“…”

Was this what they called a Spear Master?

The spearman stood firm, holding a shield as large as himself.

Though the formation behind him had collapsed, his men hadn’t been completely wiped out like the others.

They staggered, barely withstanding the aftershocks of my Sword Aura.

Thud!

The spearman slammed the edge of his shield into the ground, as if to boast he was unshaken.

“You won’t pass here, Bihen Benkou.”

Far behind him, the Solari Order loomed tall.

The composition was almost poetic, as if he were carrying it on his back.

He styled himself a gatekeeper.

Not bad.

It gave a clear sense of purpose.

Clang—

I crossed Zahara Toxeed in front of my face.

The lingering hum of Sword Aura on the blades tickled my nose.

Tat!

We charged at each other simultaneously, no one leading the other.

A duel between Imperial warriors is a clash of blades, a battle to see whose spark fades first.

Defense is never just for defense.

Even a heavy sword, seemingly defensive, is a domineering technique aiming for a fatal strike with a single, weighty blow.

Kwa-gak! Kwa-ga-gak!

The sound of Zahara Toxeed scraping the shield’s surface echoed loudly.

The spearman clung to defense with an almost perverse tenacity.

He hid behind his shield, occasionally thrusting his spear.

“Were you a turtle in a past life?”

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

Kwa—ang!

When we clashed, he used the mysteries of Balgyeong to push me back, creating distance.

Kampringen wasn’t going to work on this guy.

‘Frustrating.’

The matchup was bad.

To make matters worse, I was wielding dual short swords I hadn’t fully mastered.

I longed for an Imperial sword.

“Bihen Benkou. You seem impatient.”

“…”

The spearman tapped his shield with his spear shaft.

A short metallic clank rang out before he widened his stance and lowered his torso, as if locking a castle gate.

“I don’t intend to defeat you.”

Boom—!

A cloud of dust erupted from beneath his feet.

It soared above my head.

Such agility was unimaginable for someone in heavy armor with such a bulky frame.

“I intend to win this war!”

His bold spirit belied the ordinariness of his attack.

The moment I sidestepped his downward thrust—

His shield filled my vision.

He was pressing forward with his entire body.

Now I saw it: a versatile shield used for both offense and defense.

“Now! Bastion Unit 1!”

The spearman shouted as he charged with his shield, drastically narrowing my space.

“Ooooh—!”

The sound came from my blind spot.

Multiple voices roared in unison.

‘Behind!’

The moment I realized, they rushed in.

I kicked off the ground without time to identify them.

My body soared, spinning backward in midair like an acrobat.

Then I saw them.

Four soldiers, lined up side by side, had thrust their spears at the spot I’d just occupied.

I had no idea when they’d appeared.

“Unit 2!”

This time, from both edges of my vision. Black shapes, like shadows, leaped up, matching my height in midair.

More spearmen.

Two of them.

Each targeting my left and right.

‘Damn it.’

Completely blind-sided.

I was done for.

Screech! Hiss!

Spear blades tore through my clothes as they passed.

I’d twisted my body to avoid fatal wounds.

Thud!

I fell without even managing a proper landing…

“Unit 3! Finish him!”

This was too much.

I wanted to scream for a moment to catch my breath.

Still on the ground, I gripped Zahara Toxeed with the blades pointing downward and drove them into the earth.

‘Quake Earth.’

It came to me instinctively amid the chaos.

My body remembered.

The Kingdom’s vaunted spear formation.

I've faced it countless times.

Like all formations, its power varied wildly depending on individual skill and coordination.

This one annoyed me, so I’d give it high marks.

Rumble—

Feeling the tremor through my back, I sprang to my feet.

The spearmen charging me staggered, losing their balance.

Kwa-bang! Bang!

The ground split apart, rising in layers like misaligned stone slabs.

A localized earthquake.

I hadn’t put much force into it. Just enough to disrupt their formation.

In one swift motion, I took down the four from Unit 3 the spearman had called out.

The ground’s trembling had stopped.

“Huff, huff.”

Why was I so out of breath?

Then I noticed blood dripping from my left arm, sliced by a spear earlier.

For the record, I’m right-handed.

Dual-wielding was already awkward, and a left-arm injury was a problem.

Rip.

I tore a strip from my cloak and tightly bound my left hand to Zahara’s hilt, ensuring I wouldn’t drop it.

As I tied it with my teeth, I kept my eyes on the soldiers creeping closer like jackals.

“…”

Led by the spearman, the soldiers eyed me like I was some beast or Demonic Creature.

I could see their throats bobbing.

In times like this, a bit of bravado works wonders.

Part of psychological warfare.

“Come on.”

The moment I spoke—

‘…Huh?’

It wasn’t the aftershock of Quake Earth.

But suddenly, a vibration rose from beneath my feet.

It felt off.

Completely inexplicable.

Was it because my senses were honed to their peak?

As I thought that, I looked up.

And I realized it wasn’t just me.

Some soldiers had sensed it too.

One by one, they glanced around in panic.

The spearman was no exception.

Rrrrrrr—

My vision shook violently.

Was it sudden fear manifesting as reality?

Screams erupted from all directions.

Instinctively, I braced myself…

And the earthquake stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

‘What… what was that?’

Forgetting we were in the middle of a fight, I and the soldiers tried to assess the situation.

I was the first to notice the anomaly.

Of course, I was facing their backs, so it was right in front of me.

‘The Order…’

…was closer.

Rub, rub.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

No mistake.

The Solari Order, which had been faintly visible on the horizon moments ago, was now significantly closer.

‘What… what is this?’

That wasn’t all.

The smell of dust at my nose was now mixed with a faint briny sea scent.

The breeze on my face felt distinctly different.

Then I saw it.

Beyond the closer Order, what stretched out wasn’t a horizon but a sea line.

‘…’

My senses were screaming.

This wasn’t an illusion.

It was the opposite.

‘The Order’s magic formation has been undone.’

I declared it to myself without a shred of doubt.

My intuition was spot-on.

Had we been under the influence of a magic formation all this time?

As I turned to survey the area again—

“The… the magic formation…”

“It’s… gone?”

“It’s undone… The magic formation is undone!”

Our eyes met.

The spearman.

He was barely suppressing a smirk.

As if he’d been waiting, he shouted.

“Stop him! We must stop Bihen Benkou here at all costs!”

Before his command even finished—

I was already using Movement Techniques.

I leaped into the air, stepping on the heads of the soldiers lined up in front.

‘Damn it!’

Originally, I planned to finish the spearman here.

He was the last of the Four Wings.

It’d be better to eliminate him now.

Tat! Tat! Tat!

But that didn’t matter anymore.

If the Archduke took Adeline, it was all over.

‘!’

A tremendous killing intent surged from behind.

It had to be the spearman.

A turtle with wings, huh?

Klang—!

I stopped my charge, turned, and blocked.

A thrown spear.

The spearman himself was charging from a distance, closing the gap.

Throb.

Not bad.

My wrist ached to the bone.

Come to think of it, I've been pushing myself hard.

In a duel between masters, it’s a game of inches.

That moment… was his chance to turn the tide.

“Bastion—!”

He rushed straight at me, shouting.

Behind his broad back, spearmen sprang up like tendrils, screaming in chorus.

“Flames of Bastion!”

“We shall be the ashes of Conwell!”

Now I noticed their metal helmets fully covered their faces.

To hide their emotions?

They were like moths charging to their deaths.

Thwack! Crunch!

They swarmed me from all sides in an instant.

I couldn’t dodge.

They seemed trained solely for this moment.

No matter how I struggled, there were limits.

The number of enemies willing to die to close my space was greater than I’d expected, and I only had two arms.

“Got you… urk!”

Zahara had pierced through a gap in his armor.

He kept talking even then.

Only when I twisted my wrist did he scream and collapse.

My right hand, gripping Toxeed, was in the same state.

Just then, a heavy thud approached. It was coming to end this desperate fight.

“It’s over, Bihen Benkou!”

He came flying, practically tucked into his shield.

Blocking was impossible.

As I moved to step back, I realized the fallen soldiers were all grabbing my ankles.

Damn persistent.

“Thousaaaand—!”

A shiver ran down my spine.

A voice growing closer from behind.

Accompanied by a flash.

“Straight—!”

A beam of light grazed past me.

It shot toward the shield charging from the front.

Kwaaaaaang!

The clash of two titans triggered another earthquake.

The bodies of scattered soldiers jolted, and nearby trees shook their leaves frantically.

The ground where the two stood shattered into pieces.

I saw him after so long.

His cloak billowed, revealing chiseled back muscles.

He seemed to be grinning widely.

“Imperial youth! We’re here!”

We.

Bolero wasn’t alone.

Kwa-gak—!

A sound I’d grown familiar with.

The burst of a Mana Field.

Jayden had flown in and now stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bolero.

He was stabbing at the spearman’s opening with his rapier.

Then—

A sound from right beside me.

Someone was ruthlessly driving a spear into the soldiers sprawled at my feet, like stomping on bugs.

Even I found the brutality chilling.

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

“Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine…!”

Puh—uk!

“Forty!”

Janson.

He wiped blood splattered on his cheek with a finger, his face now distinctly masculine since I last saw him.

One thing was clear: I could definitely tell him apart from Bill now.

As if he sensed it, Janson pointed a thumb at his chest.

“Bihen, what do you think? I’m pretty…”

Kwa—ang!

Balgyeong erupted nearby.

The spearman, now thoroughly enraged, unleashed terrifying power.

Not just us, but the fallen soldiers around us were flung away with debris.

“Pesky flies.”

The spearman growled, eyes blazing.

He yanked his spear from the ground, his furious face a sight to behold.

Conveniently, he’d blown us all in one direction.

I had a moment to glance at the two beside me.

They say you feel different entering and leaving a latrine.

My mind cooled almost cruelly.

“Did you leave the Order empty? What about the Young Lady?”

Bolero stepped forward to answer, eyes fixed on the spearman, cracking his knuckles.

“The Young Lady wished to coordinate with you. She ordered us to strike the Archduke’s rear in a guerrilla tactic. Then the magic formation suddenly collapsed.”

Jayden added, also readying himself to face the spearman.

“The terrain distorted by the magic formation returned to normal. The illusion lifted. But our retreat is blocked. The Archduke’s forces have set up behind us.”

I didn’t know the exact nature of the Order’s magic formation.

It seemed like an illusion maze, similar to the Eight Gates Formation.

‘If it’s akin to a spell formation, dispelling it wouldn’t have been hard.’

…This was likely Kuhn’s doing.

“Bihen! Go now! It’s better for us to hold this one than face their main force!”

Bolero shouted, shedding his cloak.

His sweat-soaked, muscular torso gleamed like his bald head.

He turned and yelled.

“Shameless as it is, you’re the only one who can save everyone inside the Order!”

I sensed movement behind me, as if responding to Bolero’s cry.

A group of tall men in white monastic robes appeared.

Like Bolero, they were bald.

“Please!”

Among them were soldiers armed differently, and some looked like mercenaries.

Their faces were filled with resolve.

‘This should be enough…’

I turned, kicked off the ground, and ran.

Unfinished greetings could wait until it was all over.

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