“…Retreat, everyone!"
General Frog spoke with difficulty, managing to overcome the pressure.
Knight Jamal was dead. Could they kill that monster with the remaining troops?
The reason they called Knights a disaster was clearly imprinted on General Frog’s being.
Inside his heart armor, something was madly thrashing about.
"Why? You want more?"
Encrid spoke as he withdrew the pressure he had unintentionally spread in his excitement.
Frog stood stiff in front of him, gripping his weapon.
If he charged, he would be cut down. But he didn’t seem like he would charge.
His heightened senses, beyond his five senses, his sixth sense, and intuition were speaking to him.
Encrid was enjoying the moment, and he felt he had grown a bit more through his fight with Jamal. The joy of that was immense.
The fight with Knight Jamal had been a duel, and the result had been decisive, so there was no need to kill the rest of them.
Just because a Knight could kill a thousand didn’t mean they had to hunt down every single soldier.
That would be less of a Knight and more of a bloodthirsty madman.
"They say the blood-drinking Knight will come for you."
It was the kind of thing parents would say to a disobedient child. Like how the ghoul would get you.
Aker once said in passing that there had actually been a blood-drinking Knight.
A madman who indulged in blood, slaughter, and the killing of people.
"They say cutting giants is satisfying, humans are soft and good, and Frog is tough, so it’s fun."
Encrid had no intention of becoming that way. Was it a fight out of necessity or a craving for blood?
There needed to be a distinction.
With Frog, who was drenched in sweat from tension, behind him, Encrid retrieved his sword and Jamal's as well.
He hadn't even used his throwing spear.
After collecting the spear he had left at the entrance to the clearing.
'Not bad.'
Training with Aker had allowed him to handle Will much more easily than before.
That the drain had failed to work?
Jamal had a right to feel aggrieved.
The size of the Will within Encrid was like Usque, the one called a legend.
An inexhaustible lake, an ever-flowing well.
Thinking you could defeat that by draining it little by little was madness.
Of course, if Jamal had known Encrid, he wouldn’t have fought this way.
He would have adjusted his tactics to strike at the right moment.
Was his defeat due to a lack of information?
Encrid, out of habit, started to reflect.
"If you become stronger and faster, you should also learn how to use it more efficiently, shouldn’t you?"
That was what Luagarne had told him.
His sparring partners weren't just Rem and Ragna.
It was when she had suddenly poked his belly, despite having far superior strength and eyes than hers.
Was it because Luagarne was skilled at mind games?
Or had Encrid underestimated her because she wasn’t a Knight?
Neither.
She knew how to fight. She knew how to use what she had. Frog's body regenerated, so losing an arm or two didn't matter to her, and she showed Encrid Frog's combat style.
Sacrificing bone to gain flesh.
It wasn’t a critical hit. At best, it was a scratch.
But the important thing was that it had landed.
What is an efficient fight?
It’s thinking. It’s using the terrain. It’s rethinking what fighting is. That’s the realm of personal tactics.
Encrid didn’t stop learning just because he became a Knight.
It was the same now.
Encrid thought his current thinking was similar to the unit-level tactics that had charged at him earlier.
It must have been a strategy Frog had devised.
The kind of strategy where you’re willing to sacrifice bone and flesh to take at least one of the opponent’s nails.
"Just go."
Encrid spoke to Frog, who was still warily watching him.
".....You're just letting me go?"
"Is there a reason you must die here?"
If not, shouldn’t you go?
Frog rolled his eyes in suspicion before retreating. It was obvious his mind was full of questions like, 'Can I really go?'
Encrid let Frog go.
Killing Frog here wouldn’t change the outcome of the battle.
If this was a plan laid out by Krais, it would be better to let the one with a functioning brain live.
There was a plan that included Krang as well. Thinking about it, Krais, that wide-eyed guy, was a weirdo. He had already made plans for what would happen after, despite his anxiety.
Anyway, looking at it from that perspective, was it right to kill this Frog?
He didn’t want to.
In the end, he appreciated that Frog had sent all his men away and stayed behind alone, and judging by his current response, he wasn’t someone suited for a fight to the death.
'So I’ll let him go.'
Half of it was whim, and the other half was the judgment that it might help Krais’s plan.
No, to be honest, the real reason was that he simply didn’t feel like killing a man who had stayed behind alone after sending all his subordinates away.
The loss of Knight Jamal had already dealt a significant blow to Aspen, so letting one Frog go wasn’t going to suddenly result in Frog rallying an army against him.
If Frog led an all-out battle now, it would only result in needless sacrifice.
It was a judgment made in a short time, using intuition.
Honestly, if Krais were here watching, he’d probably say, "You’re just doing whatever you feel like, right?" and Encrid wouldn’t have anything to say.
He’d already forgotten that Frog had once kicked him in the side.
So there was no lingering resentment.
Encrid, having collected his weapons, started walking. He was heading toward the other units.
But someone moved before Encrid did.
A man with dark red hair emerged from the shadows in the corner of the clearing.
To Rem, the man looked sneaky and shady, but to others with more discerning eyes, he was handsome enough to be considered quite attractive.
"Is it over?"
The man asked.
"On my side."
"Hmm."
Normally, the next thing would be to suggest heading toward Rem or Ragna, but Jaxon remained silent, cleaning off his bloodstained dagger.
Encrid offered Jaxon a comment he’d appreciate.
"Let’s go. Let’s see how much Rem and Ragna are getting beaten up."
"Sure."
As they walked, Jaxon told Encrid about the enemies he’d encountered.
"Moonlight Fairies?"
"They were specialized in stealth combat, but the scouts are unharmed."
As expected, as they advanced, Finn and the scouts approached.
"I nearly died."
Finn said, glancing at Jaxon.
The image of Jaxon’s fight was still fresh in her mind.
The Moonlight Fairies were skilled at silently stabbing daggers into your back.
And they were unusually agile even for Fairies, trained for speed and swordsmanship.
When a group of such agile Fairy swordsmen rushed them, Jaxon had suddenly vanished.
"What the-!"
At first, Finn shouted in surprise, thinking they’d have to hold out and fight.
But in an instant, three or four Fairies had collapsed.
"Eeek!"
One Fairy reacted and swung a crescent-shaped sword in that direction, but there was nothing there.
Jaxon had become a grim reaper, flitting between shadows.
His dagger continuously sliced throats, pierced lungs, split hearts, and slashed thighs.
Blood splattered, but no shards of bone flew. Only blood kept splattering.
Not even the wooden armor the Fairies wore could stop his blade.
He just stabbed into the gaps.
Of course, there was the minor issue of the Fairies being so agile that they would leap to the tops of trees like birds, but that was really just a minor problem.
Finn had seen battles with Junior-Knights and had a lot of experience, but she had never seen a fight like this.
Was it amazing?
She wasn’t sure.
The enemies just collapsed and died.
All Finn and her scouts could do was step back and watch.
At some point, the Fairy who seemed to be their Commander was lying dead, a dagger buried in his forehead.
That spot became his grave.
The silent dagger and the grim reaper who flitted between shadows, slashing his blade.
No matter how much fear the Fairies had lost, what was lost was lost.
Especially after they lost their Commander. The fight ended sooner than expected. The Fairies scattered and disappeared.
And then the man reappeared.
To be honest, Finn found him a bit frightening.
Should she be relieved that he was on their side?
He looked like the type of person who could slit her throat without her even noticing.
And that dangerous person didn’t even say anything reassuring.
"We’re moving."
He just said that and started walking.
"Is he really an ally?"
One of her subordinates asked from behind.
Finn nodded.
Only then did she realize that she and the scouts had all unconsciously taken several steps back.
Why did they feel fear instead of relief from an ally killing the enemy?
It wasn’t just the overwhelming force Jaxon displayed. It was because there seemed to be no emotion behind his strikes.
It was like he was simply doing his job.
That’s what made Finn feel afraid.
"Uh, well."
Finn, recalling what had just happened, struggled to find the right words.
Encrid casually jabbed Jaxon in the side.
"Got blood on you here."
"...What is this?"
Jaxon frowned and asked.
It was understandable, Encrid had just used the heightened senses he gained from fighting Jamal to trick Jaxon’s perception and jab his side.
It was like mixing noise with a sound, like hiding the real message with static.
To be more precise, before jabbing him in the side, he’d raised his Will as if he was going to grab his throat or trip his leg.
Of course, Jaxon could have blocked it if he wanted, but he let it happen, knowing what Encrid was doing.
It was a joke, like a playful quarrel between people who knew what each other had done.
"Won’t your lover in the city hate the smell of blood?"
"Unlike some people, I wash up well."
"That 'some people' might have a grave in the East now."
"You’re giving Dunbachel too much credit."
"Not just anyone survives under a barbarian."
Was Jaxon giving Dunbachel credit because she survived under Rem?
So should everyone under Rem just die?
As these silly thoughts crossed his mind, Encrid looked at Finn.
She was a ranger. And for this battle, she had practically been living in the Pen-Hanil Mountains. So she was better at finding the way than he was.
Then why was she just standing still?
Finn was conflicted.
Seeing a man who could be anyone’s grim reaper making silly jokes was part of it, but more so because she realized it was Encrid who had sent that man.
With such power, wouldn’t it have been better for him to fight somewhere else, like alongside Encrid?
Just because the results were good didn’t mean everything was fine.
War involved sacrifice. Finn knew this well and was already prepared to be part of that sacrifice this time.
Wasn’t she happy to be alive? She was, but fear, joy, and relief were all tangled together, creating a complex emotion.
That complicated emotion moved her mouth.
"Why did you do that?"
All that complexity came together in that one question she didn’t even realize she was asking.
"What?"
"This is like sending a hundred infantrymen to kill a single ghoul. No one calls Knights to kill a single monster."
There were probably people in other battles fighting with a disadvantage so that she and her rangers could survive.
That’s what Finn’s words were about.
And she was right. That’s how it usually was.
Krais had once said there’s no battlefield without sacrifice.
Yes, he had said that.
As Encrid recalled various things, he calmly revealed his thoughts. It was something he hadn’t even told Krais.
"Because I thought I could."
“…..What?"
"I thought we could win without losing anyone."
To anyone else, that would sound like nonsense.
But Encrid had just slain a Knight. Though Finn didn’t know that, she had seen the traces of battle and witnessed what Jaxon had done.
So.
"You thought you could?"
Half dazed, Finn asked again.
"Yeah, I thought I could."
It wasn’t arrogance, but confidence.
It wasn’t recklessness, but a calculated fight. Since training with Aker, Encrid had been pushing Rem and Ragna hard.
"Barbarian. If you stay like this, you’ll fall behind."
"Me? Fall behind whom? The Captain?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Ragna’s sword has gotten heavier."
“…..Shit, grab your sword and get up. That was a good provocation."
To Rem, he said:
"Ragna, it’s okay to lose your way. But I wouldn’t enjoy watching you cry because Rem beat you up."
"I’m going to get beaten by someone?"
He said Rem, but Ragna didn’t hear it.
Instead, the energy that had been loose suddenly sharpened like a whetted blade.
"You want to go?"
"Defend well. You could get hurt."
It wasn’t hard to motivate them. Up until now, just training had been enough to naturally raise morale around him, but this time, Encrid had deliberately set out to provoke them.
Why?
"Keep fighting and keep testing yourselves."
It was Aker’s advice.
He had gained something from fighting him relentlessly.
This wasn’t something Aker had prepared for him. It was something Encrid had won for himself.
First, it was learning how to handle Will.
Like using leverage to move a huge boulder or cupping endless water in your hands, it wasn’t something that could be achieved by force alone. It required technique.
Like using a lever to move a stone or tilting your hands to gather water, it required finesse.
No one else could teach him that. Encrid instinctively knew it.
This was what he needed to dig into.
And so he did.
That’s how he learned to handle Will.
Next was the experience of dueling Knights.
Aker had told him to keep fighting Knights, not to learn from them, but to see them as equals.
"Fighting a hundred guys weaker than you is worth less than fighting one guy on your level."
Encrid had followed that advice. He had felt it in his body.
Right up until the war with Aspen, Encrid had practiced Valaf-Style Martial Arts with Audin, honed the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique by himself, sparred with Rem and Ragna, and played a game of ‘stab the back’ with Jaxon.
That’s how his confidence had grown. That’s how he calculated the strength of his allies.
'I think we can do it.'
There would be times when they’d need to use their allies as sacrificial pawns, but this time, maybe they didn’t have to.
Besides, they were all pretty skilled at getting out alive if things went south.
Would Rem risk his life to kill Aspen’s Knight and die in the process?
No way.
Let’s block them here and hit them back. Because we can.
If things went wrong, they could talk about sacrifices then.
"Which plan are we going with?"
"The first."
That’s how he answered Krais’s question.
Though Krais had muttered something about going crazy if Encrid expected a battle with no sacrifice, what could he do?
In matters like this, trust couldn’t be built with words. It had to be shown through actions.
Right now, Encrid was proving his will and words.
A war where no one dies, that was his intent. A bright, unwavering will that, to some, might seem like a pipe dream.
But those who followed Encrid, those who had watched him, naturally believed in him.
This was the result.
Thanks for the Chapter Bro!!! :DD
Thanks for the Chapter.
Is it updated regularly? Also what is release schedule
Creo que he leído el manhwa, talvez lo esté confundiendo.. 🤔