🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 5
‘How easy. Far too easy.’
Thrust! Slash! Splatter!
Gerard, holding a short sword in his hand, strolled leisurely across Trevor Bridge.
His red hair streamed in the wind as his calm, indifferent eyes—brimming with killing intent—snuffed out the lives of Azrion’s soldiers.
Whenever he spotted soldiers desperately struggling to survive, killing Imperial troops as they went, he would step in without fail—slashing throats, stabbing holes through their hearts.
It had been a wall that refused to break.
The bridge had been one they couldn’t easily cross, because of the soldiers’ determination to defend it with their lives.
They piled up corpses like bricks to block the way; even shadows as skilled in slaughter as Gerard’s unit found it difficult.
Then the spell, long in preparation, was unleashed.
The river froze. Imperial soldiers of Roden crossed in formation upon the ice with solemn grandeur.
That alone was enough to crush the hearts of the Azrion soldiers who had guarded the bridge so firmly.
“No! No way!”
“Roden’s soldiers are crossing the river!”
“We can’t hold like this…!”
Fear gnawed at the defenders. Breaking soldiers who had lost their will was not difficult.
Cut them, stab them, strike them down.
That was what Gerard, his shadows, and the Imperial soldiers did. They drove Azrion’s defenders off the bridge.
‘That mad mage obsessed with water—didn’t they say he was given authority over the rivers here?’
It was wiser than paying out a month’s wages for the entire army.
Besides, that promise only mattered if Azrion became part of Roden’s territory.
That wouldn’t take long. The true aim of this battle was to seize Northheim, to claim the fertile lands of Philosorion.
While the kingdom’s territory was gradually devoured, corrupting one mage was hardly difficult.
In short, that arrogant magician—who thought himself above men—would gain nothing from this war.
‘I’ll at least spare his life, so long as he doesn’t die outright.’
Gerard slew the last Azrion soldier stubbornly defending the bridgehead. Then, preparing to aid the Imperials advancing over the ice, he moved to lead his men across.
But before he could give a battle cry, a thunderous noise erupted from beneath the bridge.
Rumble—!!
At the same time, the screams of Imperial soldiers pierced his ears.
“What the—!!”
Gerard leapt onto the bridge’s railing, looking toward the place where the mage had been stationed.
“Aaaaah!!! Graul!!!”
Seeing the mage’s corpse, Gerard roared. To his eyes, it seemed as though Graul and his men had killed him.
“Betrayal?!”
“Those bastards!! I knew it was suspicious how such weaklings got into the unit!!”
“Careful! That’s an insult to our commander. We were all admitted after thorough scrutiny!”
“Scrutiny, my ass! Those lackeys guarding Norfin only got in because they were nobles—they never underwent the same vetting as us!”
“Quiet, all of you!”
Gerard silenced the chaos among his men.
Then he turned and spoke firmly:
“We retreat.”
There was no time to waste.
The magic was undone. The kingdom’s army was swiftly regrouping, preparing to march on the bridge.
‘No chance of victory like this.’
What mattered now was preserving the few hundred Imperial soldiers left alive.
Clop-clop!
As Gerard began to fall back, a mounted figure charged toward him with fury in his eyes.
“Gerard!!! What is the meaning of this?!!!”
It was Battalion Commander Williams, in charge of the Northheim flanking operation.
Neigh—!!
Wearing a full plate with the red eagle crest draped over his shoulder, Williams drew his sword and leveled it at Gerard.
“Norfin is dead!! His men were slaughtered!! How will you answer for this?! You and your unit should slit your bellies here and now!!!”
Gerard, calm in contrast to Williams’ rage, replied:
“Compose yourself. If we don’t want total annihilation, there’s no time for this.”
“You insolent cur!! Gerard!! Even if the Supreme Commander entrusted you with the shadows, the operation here falls under my authority! How dare a lowborn—!!”
Williams tried to crush Gerard with rank. But the thunderous cries of the kingdom’s soldiers carried across the bridge. There was no time for argument.
“There are traitors among Norfin’s guards. We’ll uncover them, then face death if we must. For now, lead the retreat, Commander Williams.”
Gerard’s words were sharp, his eyes overflowing with killing intent.
“Ghh…! Fine! We’ll break through this crisis first. After that, I’ll see you punished under military law—know that well!”
Suppressing his fury, Williams stepped back.
Gerard saluted him, then rushed with his surviving hundred men to where the mage had been slain.
Williams ordered the remaining soldiers on the bridge to barricade it with corpses, then joined the retreat.
They walked the road of death.
A body aflame, vision sunk in darkness—awareness lingered in that state.
Awareness. Could there be such a thing in true death?
His heart had been pierced. Blood spilled from his body. He felt as if thrown into fire before sinking into shadow.
‘At least my head’s intact.’
Perhaps his enemies had cut it off, but he felt no such sensation. He was certain his head remained.
Their angry voices had reached him after the last spear skewered him.
“All this over some brat?”
“Guess his parents weren’t ghouls after all, since he actually died.”
“Joking now? We’re all dead men!”
“Maybe we should take his head, frame Gerard as a traitor?”
Lian found it strange, hearing the shadows’ voices now.
It was different from before.
A pierced heart should mean all functions ceased—leaving only a speck of consciousness drifting in darkness.
But now? His awareness lingered, as though rooted in his body.
‘Was the strike shallow?’
Even so, it should have stopped his heart. He’d felt it, even felt consciousness fade. Yet like a blink, awareness returned.
Faint hearing picked up sounds around him.
The burning heat faded, cooling. He realized—he was still alive.
‘But what if they cut my head off?’
They were already talking about it. Unless Monclay moved troops, he’d be beheaded.
Surely the Imperials wouldn’t abandon the survivors.
Still, Lian grew anxious. If they severed his head, he’d truly die. Part of him thought unconsciousness would be easier.
Then—
“No need! Look! Gerard’s here!!”
“…Wait, this is bad. What if he pins treachery on us instead?”
“Do we have time for this?! Look, Azrion’s army is massing at the bridge! Stay here and we’re dead!”
The shadows guarding the mage spoke in frightened tones.
At least the threat of decapitation was gone.
But they were in no position to accuse Gerard of betrayal.
Still, they tried to twist things.
“We caught Gerard’s spy!! He planted him among us to kill the mage!!”
Graul, his voice breaking, shouted as he yanked Lian Cade’s hair, showing his corpse.
“See! This bastard deceived us and killed the mage! Gerard colluded with Azrion! Here’s the proof!!”
Gerard arrived with his men. His hundred soldiers surrounded the mere dozen left of Graul’s unit.
Even outnumbered, Graul thrust Lian forward as “evidence.”
But the dead cannot speak.
“Seize them.”
Gerard’s order fell.
“Damn it!! It’s not true! This man knew Gerard! He disguised himself as an Imperial soldier to infiltrate us!!”
Graul resisted. His comrades looked both enraged and terrified.
Gerard’s gaze flicked toward Lian Cade.
‘That face… familiar?’
A face he felt he’d seen before.
It was hard to tell through the blood, but such dark hair was rare.
Gerard couldn’t shake the thought that he knew him.
Yet he couldn’t admit it here. Whether he remembered him or not, this was someone who shouldn’t exist.
“If you were born to a mediocre noble house, you should’ve worked harder. You failed to protect Norfin with thirty men. That crime cannot be excused.”
“You lowborn dog! How dare you speak of bloodlines!!”
Graul snapped. He charged at Gerard with murderous intent.
“Time’s short. I’ll handle this.”
Gerard met him head-on. Hot fury clashed with cold killing intent.
Slash—
Graul’s head rolled.
Gerard flicked his blade clean of blood and declared:
“The pursuers are close. Questions of betrayal will be left to their houses. For now, the failed guards are summarily executed.”
On his command, his shadows slaughtered the mage’s guards.
Then, as Azrion’s army advanced across the bridge, Gerard ordered retreat.
As he turned to follow, something compelled him to look back.
“…”
His eyes met Lian Cade’s. Black pearls dulled by death… yet they seemed as though they might flicker back to life.
“Ah!”
Gerard finally remembered—the man who’d resisted to the bitter end at Dandelion Plains.
But it was impossible. He’d been killed. There was no way he could be here.
‘A twin?’
That must be it. Otherwise, it would mean that rare face had survived, killed his men, and slain the mage.
Impossible. It had to be a twin.
And clearly, Azrion had infiltrated spies disguised as Imperials.
The leak of the operation must trace back to one of the noble families whose sons were in Norfin’s guard.
‘Perfect. Enough of a story to purge those useless nobles.’
“Hyah!”
Gerard gathered his thoughts, then sprinted after his men.
Crack—creak—
Stirring…
None noticed Lian’s body quietly beginning to heal itself.
