Chapter 25

Chapter 25.

The fierce shouts of battle died down like a receding wave. In their place came the groans of the wounded, the rough breathing of the survivors, and, instead of blood and gunpowder smoke, the acrid smell of burning flesh. There were no cheers of victory anywhere. Rather than relief at having barely survived, anxiety over the next wave that might rush in at any moment weighed heavily over the entire base.

The Kaien soldiers moved sluggishly like zombies as they cleaned up the battlefield. Beyond the broken barricade lay the corpses of imperial army soldiers, and just as many bodies of their own allies had fallen among them. Some cried out the names of their comrades, while others silently gathered the dead.

Amid that horrific and noisy scene, Rian fully descended the hill and entered the barracks area.

The worn-out longbow was still in his hand. It looked as natural there as if it were part of his body.

Each time Rian took a step, a strange phenomenon occurred. Soldiers supporting the wounded, men collecting scattered weapons, all stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Then, as if by agreement, an invisible circle formed around him, creating an empty space.

A soldier whose eyes met Rian’s flinched in surprise and looked away. A soldier who had failed to notice him and blocked his path jerked at the urgent gesture of the person beside him and stepped aside without realizing it. Their movements resembled a herd of herbivores hurriedly opening a path for a fierce beast passing through.

Rian paid not the slightest attention to their reaction. His gaze was fixed only straight ahead, on the barracks of Squad Three where he stayed. The wariness and fear around him were nothing more than meaningless background noise to him.

“......”

Den had been supporting a wounded squad member by the shoulder when he noticed Rian walking toward him and froze in place. The soldier he was helping let out a pained groan, but it did not reach Den’s ears.

His lips moved several times. He had to say something. Rian had saved his life, so saying thank you was the right thing to do. But as if a stone were lodged in his throat, not a single sound came out.

‘Thank him? That bastard? The one I despised and ignored, the one I treated like an insect until just yesterday?’

Humiliation surged like flames. At the same time, he recalled that overwhelming arrow from the hill, the one that had pierced the heart of the imperial army soldier aiming at him. His heart went cold.

Rian’s gaze seemed to rest on Den for a moment. But that was all. There was no emotion in his eyes. No expectation of gratitude, no display of superiority, not even contempt or indifference. It was simply a meaningless gaze, like looking at a stone by the roadside.

That apathy stabbed Den in the chest like a dagger. If Rian had at least mocked him, Den could have burst out in anger. But to Rian, Den was not even worth that.

Rian passed silently beside Den. Then he opened the old door of the Squad Three barracks and stepped inside.

Creeeak!

Thud.

At the sound of the door closing, Den realized that he had been holding his breath. When he let out the breath he had been holding all at once, the wound on his shoulder throbbed. But what hurt even more than that was the helplessness he could not explain.

The moment Rian stepped into the barracks, every bit of noise inside, which had been loud only a moment earlier, stopped as if it had been a lie.

The squad members, who were bandaging light wounds or staring blankly into the air, all turned their heads toward the entrance at once. And wariness, awkwardness, and fear they could not hide appeared on their faces.

Rian paid no attention to that heavy silence. He went to his bed with practiced ease. Sitting on the creaking wooden bed, he carefully set down the bow as if handling his most precious treasure.

Then he took the remaining arrows from the quiver and began inspecting them one by one.

Whether the fletching had been damaged, whether the arrowhead had dulled, whether the shaft had bent. His touch was extremely businesslike and mechanical. Like a blacksmith inspecting the sword he had forged, or a farmer examining his plow, there was no emotion in it.

The squad members merely watched Rian from a distance, as if looking at a strange being they could not possibly understand. Not one of them could open his mouth first. The weight of the silence he created pressed down on the entire barracks.

It was then.

Bang!

The barracks door opened far more violently than before.

All the squad members were startled and turned their heads. At the doorway stood Kairon, the commander whose deep facial scar left a strong impression. His armor still bore the traces of battle, and an even sharper air than usual radiated from his entire body.

“S-Sergeant!”

“Salute!”

The squad members scrambled to stand and salute. But Kairon raised his hand to stop them. It was a silent signal to be quiet.

His gaze did not sweep over the inside of the barracks. From beginning to end, it was fixed on only one person.

Rian, who had been inspecting his arrows.

As if he had already known Kairon was coming, Rian stopped what he was doing and slowly lifted his head. Their gazes collided in the air.

Kairon spoke in a low, resonant voice.

“Rian.”

In that instant, the eyes of every squad member in the barracks widened. It was out of surprise. This was the first time Kairon had called Rian directly by his name. Until now, he had always called him “hey, recruit” or “you there.”

Kairon said nothing else.

“Follow me.”

After stating only his business, he immediately turned and left the barracks.

Rian asked no questions. He did not ask why he was being called or what this was about. He simply set down the arrow he had been inspecting and rose from his seat. Then he silently followed behind Kairon.

Creeeak, thud.

The door closed again, and only the frozen squad members remained inside the barracks. They could only stare blankly back and forth between the empty bed where Rian had been sitting moments before and the door through which the two men had vanished. The invisible wall had now become a massive rampart visible to everyone, separating Rian from them.

***

Kairon’s command tent was a place where the noise of the battlefield had receded a step. A single faint lamp illuminated the old map spread across the table, and the smell of damp parchment mingled with the scent of ink that had not yet dried.

As soon as Kairon entered the tent, he headed to the table without hesitation. Rian stood near the entrance as quietly as a shadow and waited for his next action.

Thud.

Kairon set down a bundle of old parchment that had been rolled up on the map, almost as if throwing it. The dull sound split the silence inside the tent.

When he unfolded the parchment, drawings of several faces were revealed. They were crude, but they captured the essential features with uncanny precision.

Rian approached the table and looked down at the parchment.

Beside the drawings, information such as names, positions, and primary areas of activity had been briefly written in clumsy handwriting.

[Scout Captain Kal. Mustache and one eye. Mainly scouts the northern forest road.]

[Senior Archer Eric. Red hair. Watch the eastern ridge.]

[Messenger Team Leader Pero. Pockmarked face. Travels between the main camp and the outpost.]

The list continued. Rian’s gaze reached a familiar name near the very bottom, one he had seen not long ago.

[Haken the Slaughterer.]

Unlike the other drawings, Haken’s face had been carelessly blackened over with ink, making it impossible to recognize its shape. Only the weight carried by that name felt chilling.

Kairon tapped the drawing at the very top, Scout Captain Kal, with a rough finger.

“These bastards are the enemy’s eyes.”

His finger slid downward and pointed at the drawing of Messenger Team Leader Pero.

“These bastards are their ears.”

Finally, his finger slowly passed over the drawings of the commander-level figures, including Haken, as if cutting them out with a knife.

“And these bastards are the head.”

Kairon lifted his head and looked straight into Rian’s eyes. There was no longer any light of testing or doubt in his gaze. In its place was a coldly burning, chilling expectation.

“The imperial army’s main force is coming here. If they are fast, they will arrive in two days. Three at most.”

Kairon’s voice was low and calm, but what it contained held the fate of the entire base.

“Before those bastards arrive, cut off their eyes, their ears, and their head, in that order.”

There was no change in Rian’s expression. But he understood. This was not a simple order. It was an extension of the test that had weighed his worth, and now it was a full-fledged transaction, thrown at him after acknowledging his ability. You proved your ability, so now pay the price.

Instead of answering, Rian looked down for a moment at the blackened drawing of Haken on the parchment. He recalled the first order he had been given: kill him. Much had changed between then and now.

Soon, he lifted his head, met Kairon’s eyes, and gave a small nod.

At that moment, a faint smile passed across Kairon’s stiff mouth. It was a sign of satisfaction. He rolled the parchment back up and held it out to Rian.

When Rian accepted it, the rough texture of the parchment touched his palm.

“Do you need anything?”

Kairon asked.

Rian fell into thought for a moment. In his mind, the route of the hunt was already being drawn.

“Arrows. Usable ones. And I need a detailed map of this area.”

“I will have them ready by tomorrow morning.”

Kairon answered briefly, then pointed his chin toward the outside of the tent.

“Follow me.”

***

The cold night wind mercilessly dug into the collars of their worn military uniforms. They were atop the watchtower located at the highest point of the base. The wooden floor, roughly woven together, creaked precariously under the weight of the two men.

Without saying a word, Kairon leaned his arms on the railing and stared north, where pitch-black darkness lay spread out. It was the direction in which the imperial army had withdrawn.

Rian stood beside him and looked in the same direction.

The horizon was quiet. There was nothing except the occasional sound of the wind and the distant howling of wolves. As if the fierce battle from moments ago had been a lie.

After a long silence, Kairon raised his hand and pointed to a single spot far away in the darkness.

“Can you see it?”

Rian narrowed his eyes. When he focused his gaze on the place Kairon pointed to, his abnormally strengthened vision, enhanced by Advanced Archery, began to pierce through the curtain of darkness.

At first, nothing was visible. But soon, very faintly, he saw a tiny light flickering like a firefly. It was a distance so far that an ordinary person could never have perceived it.

It was at that very moment.

Beside that light, another light appeared.

Then another. And another.

Like stars rising in the night sky, dozens, then hundreds of torches appeared one after another along the horizon, which had been like a black sheet of drawing paper. The lights that had started as points gradually connected into lines, and soon formed a vast surface, beginning to dye the entire horizon red.

Ruuuuumble!

Along with a faint vibration shaking the ground, the shouts of tens of thousands of men could be dimly heard riding on the wind. It was not a roar of anger or joy. It was simply a sound flaunting their existence, like the roar of a giant beast.

The imperial army’s main force.

A vast tidal wave made of humans was advancing to swallow this small outpost.

The torchlight spilling over the watchtower illuminated Rian’s side profile. His seemingly empty eyes took in the red light staining the horizon and glinted eerily.

He tightened his grip on the parchment in his hand.

The crisp texture of the paper was vivid against his palm.

‘In that vast sea of light, I have to find the targets I must cut down.’

Kairon stole a glance at Rian’s profile. On his face, there was no fear or despair of a soldier facing an overwhelming enemy. There was only the chilling focus of a hungry hunter before a vast hunting ground.

Rian did not avoid the army surging toward them. He faced that enormous wave of death head-on, as if searching for his next prey.