The Immortal Genius Spearman

A scraping sound echoed as the shields clashed.

“Push the guy in front away!”

“Attack!”

A soldier from the second row swung his sword at Milo.

Whoosh!

But Milo dodged the attack with just a slight tilt of his head.

The eyes of the soldier, who had thrust his sword, wavered at Milo’s incredible agility.

“…Did he dodge?”

And that was just the beginning.

As Milo pressed close, other knights followed, launching their attacks.

“You filthy pests…!”

A knight from the Rose knight Order aimed for the gap under Milo’s shield and swung.

Swish!

“Ugh!”

“Watch out!”

Despite their attempts to defend, the meticulous assault caused Terka to shout out.

But…

Slash!

“Aaah!”

They continued their attacks from behind the shields, but their strikes were missing, only resulting in more wounds.

At least they were covering their vital points, so no critical injuries yet.

‘We’re at a disadvantage the longer this goes on.’

Terka frowned as he looked at the knights ahead.

Each one had an overwhelming presence.

If they gave even the slightest opening in this state, it was only a matter of time before someone lost a leg.

“Push them away! Scatter, then regroup!”

“Yes!”

At Terka’s shout, the soldiers all yelled in unison, forcefully shoving their shields forward, pushing back the knights in front of them.

Clang!

The sudden advance of the Caion unit caused the Rose knight Order to quickly retreat.

Tap, tap!

In the blink of an eye, the Rose knight Order reformed their formation, pointing their swords at the Caion unit.

The Caion soldiers swallowed dryly at their swift movements and unshaken stance.

“…Damn it.”

It felt like facing a solid wall.

The Caion unit, who had fought and defeated enemies without hindrance so far, had never experienced something like this before.

But at that moment—

“Gaaaah!”

The sound from behind caused Milo’s eyes to waver.

‘What the hell is going on…!’

He was focused on wiping out the Caion soldiers in front, but screams kept coming from behind.

Milo turned his head to look back.

Thud.

As Damian’s spear splattered red blood, another knight from the Rose knight Order fell to the ground.

That was the third one already.

And the soldiers were forming groups of three or four to deal with the knights from the Rose knight Order, maintaining a delicate balance.

“Die, you bastard!”

“Hah!”

Two knights launched a joint attack on Damian.

They were sure they had him this time.

Whoosh!

Swish!

Their attacks sliced through empty air.

How many times was this now?

The expressions of the knights who swung their swords twisted in frustration.

‘It’s like he’s a ghost.’

‘How can he keep dodging so narrowly like this?’

If it was just once, it could be a coincidence.

If it was twice, they could attribute it to luck.

But when it happened three, four times in a row, a sense of hesitation crept in every time they swung their swords.

‘If he dodges again…’

If he would at least defend, it would be better, but their swords never even touched him, driving them insane.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

In contrast, his attacks were incredibly sharp.

The knight who barely blocked Damian’s attack had a rigid expression.

‘That last strike…’

One mistake and his side would have been pierced through.

Where did this guy even come from?

‘He doesn’t even seem like a knight.’

The Rose knight Order was one of the top five elite forces within the empire.

And this skill level was average, excluding their commander, Piaren.

If they were in a small kingdom, they could easily serve as a company commander.

But facing such knights, Damian was the one pressing them down.

“…Huff.”

Damian exhaled quietly, looking at the knights.

Five minutes.

It had been about five minutes since the battle started here.

In that time, he had killed three knights from the Rose knight Order.

Swish.

Damian turned his gaze to another side.

The soldiers led by Dianal and Kyle were also pushing the Rose knights back.

But…

‘The main force is in danger.’

He wanted to inflict more damage if possible, but if they delayed any longer, Terka’s main force could be in danger.

“Dianal!”

“Yes!”

“Proceed with the second plan!”

“Understood!”

Clang!

Dianal knocked away a knight with his two swords and blew a whistle with his fingers.

Whistle! Whistle!

Two sharp whistles.

Hearing them, Terka shouted as if he’d been waiting.

“Disperse and spread out! Form up with your designated groups!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

“Charge!”

At Terka’s shout, the Caion unit, forming groups of five, began to spread out in a fan shape.

Seeing the Caion unit starting to flee again, Milo’s rage exploded.

“Shameless bastards! Running away in the middle of a battle!”

Even if they die, they should face the enemy and fight.

That’s what a soldier on the battlefield is supposed to do.

But—

‘What nonsense.’

Damian snorted at Milo’s shout as he stepped back.

Facing the enemy and fighting to the death.

That was the mindset Damian hated the most.

If you die, it’s all over.

—

Because there is no such thing as a meaningful death.

“We’re pulling out too.”

“Yes.”

At Damian’s words, the nearby soldiers who had been fighting quickly began to retreat.

Seeing this, Milo’s eyes flared as he shouted.

“Do you think you can just run away like this? Chase them down!”

“Deputy Commander, it seems to be a trap.”

To chase down the enemies scattering in groups of five would mean that the Rose knight knights would have to spread out as well.

It was clearly a trap.

Milo bit his lip hard.

“In that case, we’ll only target those guys.”

Milo’s gaze fixed on Damian and the Caion soldiers up the hill.

If they were split into three groups, they should be manageable.

If they returned empty-handed after losing men…

‘Commander Piaren will be furious.’

At the very least, he needed to take the head of the enemy’s leader to have any excuse.

Milo immediately turned his attention to the enemy commander holding a spear.

He had already lost four knights to that man.

“Even if I take your head, it won’t be enough to balance the scales…!”

How dare he kill four knights of the mighty Rose knight Order of the Empire?

Milo looked at Damian, filled with rising fury.

But Damian, looking at Milo, said.

“This is only the beginning. All of you will die here.”

He imbued his voice with magical power to provoke them.

Milo shouted back.

“…Abandon any hope of a peaceful death.”

Milo’s eyes turned cold, and an icy killing intent emanated from his body, different from before.

The knights around him stiffened at the sudden burst of killing intent.

It had been a long time since Milo had been this enraged.

As the knights watched him with tense expressions, he said,

“We don’t need anyone else. Only him. Capture that man.”

Milo’s death sentence was declared for Damian.

* * *

Upon Edmund’s report, deep wrinkles formed on Kiaran’s brow.

“Piaren Tail?”

“…Yes.”

A name that shouldn’t have come up spilled from Edmund’s lips.

Kiaran involuntarily clenched his fist.

“Are you saying he’s intervened in the battlefield?”

“Yes, but there’s no need to worry too much. Colonel Riselotte had already anticipated this and planned accordingly.”

“But what’s this about the Rose knight Order and the Caion unit clashing? That makes no sense.”

The unit had only been established for less than a year.

For them to clash with one of the top knight orders in the Empire?

Riselotte wouldn’t give such an order unless she’d lost her mind.

At that moment, Edmund spoke.

“There’s no need to be overly concerned. Damian isn’t an idiot; he won’t directly engage an Aura Master.”

“That’s true. But it’s hard to understand why the Caion unit would clash with the Rose knight Order if Piaren joined the battlefield.”

“…Maybe they split up the Rose knight?”

It was a plausible explanation.

From the beginning, it was inevitable that Piaren would have to go to the main force.

If Piaren didn’t go, it would be 30,000 against 10,000.

No matter how elite the Empire’s army was, victory would be hard to predict.

So, as Edmund suggested, they might have split up the Rose knight, with Piaren leading one part to join the main force, while the rest faced the Caion unit.

Kiaran shook his head.

“Even so, it won’t work. Even if only half went, the Rose knight is still the Rose knight. The Caion unit can’t stand against them.”

The Rose knight Order was comprised of knights who far exceeded ordinary ones in skill.

No matter how rigorously trained the Caion unit was, they couldn’t match up to them.

But then, Edmund cautiously asked Kiaran.

“But, Kiaran, sir…”

“…What is it?”

“Hypothetically speaking, just hypothetically…”

Kiaran’s eyes widened slightly.

He had a feeling what Edmund was going to ask.

And, as expected—

“If the Caion unit manages to defeat the Rose knight Order… what would that mean?”

Edmund already knew the answer to this question.

He just wanted to hear it from Kiaran, who had a broader perspective.

Without hesitation, Kiaran replied.

“What would it mean? It would mean…”

Kiaran spoke with a slight irritation in his voice.

“The strongest independent unit of the kingdom… no, among non-knightly independent units….”

Kiaran paused for a moment, then continued.

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they’d be the strongest white-clad unit on the continent.”

Edmund nodded in agreement, as if he had been thinking the same.

* * *

Swoosh!

Sliding down the slope, Damian was quickly pursued by the Rose knights.

“You won’t escape!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, the Rose knights surrounded Damian.

With his retreat cut off, Damian frowned as he looked at them.

But at that moment—

“Argh!”

The sound came from the top of the hill.

The Caion soldiers, who had paired up into groups of five, were chasing and attacking the Rose knights from behind.

“You damned rats…!”

It was a truly comical scene.

The Rose knights chasing Damian, and the Caion unit chasing the Rose knights from behind.

In the end, the Rose knight Order had to split again to deal with both Damian and the Caion unit.

Milo, who had been encircling Damian, twisted his expression.

“You go help the others up there! We’ll handle this!”

The rapidly changing situation was making Milo’s head spin.

And at that moment—

“Feeling dizzy? It must be your first time being pushed like this.”

“…I’ll rip out that tongue of yours before I kill you.”

“Heh, it’s not proper for a noble knight to say such vulgar things.”

Grit!

Milo ground his teeth at Damian’s words.

It felt like they were constantly being dragged into the man’s pace.

“Let’s see how long you can keep up that attitude.”

Six knights, including Milo, surrounded Damian.

Meanwhile, about forty Rose knights went up to face the enemy forces.

If they could just kill this man, it would be over.

Milo pointed his sword at Damian and spoke.

“This will be your grave.”

“Well… I don’t think so.”

Damian sneered again.

He had to provoke him as much as possible before the fight began.

‘…Six of them.’

One of them was a high-ranking officer.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, but—

‘…I can handle it.’

Damian recalled the situation from the past.

That life-or-death crisis.

‘I survived back then…’

And he would survive now, too.

‘I won’t die.’

Mana surged from Damian’s body as he gripped his spear.

Unlike back then, he could now handle his mana quite proficiently.

Looking at the knights surrounding him, Damian said.

“Come at me, you flashy bastards.”

“Cut off his limbs! Attack!”

At Milo’s command, five knights charged at Damian.