Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
Chapter 12
CLANG!
The wolf beastman moved first.
With the sound of his feet kicking off the ground, he moved at a speed that escaped human sight.
He had clearly wrapped mana around his body.
I did not retreat.
Instead, I raised my sword a beat late.
A deliberate delay.
At the first collision, the sound of steel exploded outward.
In raw strength, I was clearly being pushed back. My wrist throbbed with numb pain.
'Right. I can't win with pure physical strength.'
A beastman's innate body far surpassed that of a human to begin with.
“Not bad, human! An ordinary human would have been sent flying in the first exchange!”
“I haven't been lazy. It's called training. Don't assume it's something only your kind can claim.”
“Let's see how long you can endure!”
Sparks flew one after another as the beastman pressed the attack.
I was being forced onto the defensive, but anyone with a trained eye for swordsmanship would have noticed it.
The sword the wolf warrior chieftain was swinging now was not swordsmanship, but brute force wearing the shape of it.
A chronic flaw of the beastmen.
'Because of the bodies they are born with, they neglect refined movement.'
Judging from the way he swung his blade, he did not seem to be a warrior chieftain of particularly high rank.
Still, the truth remained that even receiving his blows through sheer force was burdensome.
CLANG!
I knocked his sword away in a large beat and focused.
'Ego.'
-......
'I know you're listening. Stop fooling around with that ridiculous act and the weighty silence.'
-What is it?
'I need your power.'
-Can you not already win with your own strength as it is?
'How long are you going to play hard to get? Never have I been more certain that my path is right than at this very moment.'
-......
'Behind me stand countless people of the territory and soldiers. Do you dare judge the weight of that?'
-...Ten percent. I will lend you no more than that.
Then I poured mana into the sword.
Resistance?
No.
If anything, the blade swallowed my mana as though drinking it in, absorbing it.
And that mana became an aura.
“Aura?!”
“What, did you think some brat who couldn't even wield aura would come out here? What exactly were you relying on?”
“...Good! Then I too shall respond with my full strength!”
A blue light bloomed around the beastman warrior chieftain's sword, and a streak of aura rose from it.
“Come!”
'So, you have at least realized the realm of aura, warrior chieftain. But.'
“You're using aura the wrong way.”
It was true that aura could cut through magic and maximize cutting power.
But it was not something that should be confined to that alone.
The essence of aura was mana.
In other words, aura was a force that could become anything.
Just like magic.
For example....
“Like this.”
My incomplete mana heart pounded too hard.
Borrowing the power of a Sword Expert hadn't been enough—I had even drawn on the power of a Sword Master.
But it was the first time the sword had listened to me, so there could be no better moment to test the limits of my power.
So I dragged that strength out by force.
“What is this...?!”
“This is the difference between you and me, warrior chieftain.”
A massive tide of mana stirred to life.
At its center stood my black blade.
Sensing it, perhaps, the warrior chieftain tightened his grip on his sword, sweat cooling in his palm.
“...Sword Master?! Impossible! A brat like you?!”
“What exactly is impossible about it?”
If one lacked innate talent, the realm of Sword Master was something that might not appear even once in a decade.
I could understand why it would be hard to believe that a kid who looked barely in his teens had reached such a realm.
'But what can you do? Once you see it with your own eyes, you have to believe it.'
“A cheap illusion!”
“If you're an expert too, then you should know it isn't an illusion.”
“Ghk!”
As if he refused to lose like this, the warrior chieftain roared.
Then his eyes turned blood-red, gray fur whitening in streaks, and even his ivory claws darkened to black.
“...Bestial Release.”
“Grrrr....”
It was the exclusive domain of the truly exceptional among the other races.
As the warrior chieftain roared, the very air tore.
The movements of the beastman after activating Bestial Release could not be compared to before.
It wasn't just speed or strength. His very presence had changed.
Each time he took a step forward, the ground let out a low tremor.
'This is an entirely different phase.'
I tightened my grip on the sword.
The density of my aura rose, narrowing my vision. The noise around me disappeared, and all I could feel were the warrior chieftain's breathing and the contraction of his muscles.
He struck first.
A frontal slash.
I could evade it.
I could block it.
But I sidestepped instead.
His blade swept past, splitting the air at my shoulder.
My skin tore.
The pain came a beat late.
In exchange, my sword slipped into the opening.
CLANG—!
Aura crashed against Aura.
This time, I did not lose ground.
“Graaagh!”
The warrior chieftain staggered back a step.
Despite the amplified strength of Bestial Release, his rhythm had been broken.
'Right. Bestial Release grants power. But it pays for it with order.'
His breathing grew ragged.
The longer Bestial Release was maintained, the more it consumed the body.
That was why even the beastmen could not sustain it for long.
As for me—my mana heart screamed.
'Just a little longer.'
As I raised my sword, the light deepened.
Aura seemed to spill from the blade and seep into space itself.
It was not a complete domain, but within a radius of a few steps, my will took precedence.
The warrior chieftain instinctively stepped back.
“Fall back!”
A cry burst from the enemy camp of the other races.
Too late.
I took a single step forward.
There was no slashing motion.
And yet—the air split apart.
An invisible sword strike cut across the warrior chieftain's chest. Aura ripped through flesh and muscle, scattering in an explosive burst.
The warrior chieftain lurched violently.
“Ugh...!”
His knees hit the ground first.
As Bestial Release rapidly faded, the red left his eyes, and the claws that had turned black returned to their original ivory color.
I did not press forward any further.
I lowered my sword.
Silence.
The sound vanished from both the top of the wall and the beastman camp.
The warrior chieftain lifted his head. There was neither rage nor fear in his eyes.
Only acknowledgment.
“...Defeat.”
A short declaration.
At those words, weapons lowered all at once in the beastman camp.
I tried to steady my breathing, but it would not obey me. My heart pounded a beat late, and my vision swayed.
'Damn it....'
If I had not braced myself with the sword against the ground, I would have collapsed then and there.
The warrior chieftain ground his teeth at the sight.
“...The price was steep.”
“The same goes for Bestial Release.”
“What is your name?”
“...Kairun. Kairun Nordiar.”
A brief silence followed.
Then the warrior chieftain slowly rose to his feet.
Blood streamed from his wound, but he no longer had any will to fight.
“We withdraw today, human. I have staked the name of a warrior chieftain.”
“And next time?”
“Next time... it will be war. We will meet again on the battlefield.”
The warrior chieftain turned away. The beastman army began to retreat in perfect order. There was no chaos, no pursuit.
It was their way of honoring the result of the duel.
By the time that sight disappeared from view—my legs gave out.
“Kairun!”
Harel's shout came from the gate. Soldiers came running out, and Nine dashed over, his face drained white.
“Are you okay? Your condition—”
“I’m fine.”
That was a lie.
It felt as though something inside my body had split apart.
My mana was not circulating properly.
This was the backlash of forcing out a domain that wasn't truly mine.
Harel approached and dropped to one knee.
“...I will obey your orders.”
I shook my head.
“You're the commander. Tonight, focus on reinforcing the defensive lines in case something happens.”
“But....”
“Listen to me.”
Harel clenched his teeth and bowed his head.
The soldiers laid me onto a stretcher. The sky slowly spun overhead. At the edge of my vision, the beacon fire of the outpost flared up once more.
But this time, it was not a signal for rescue.
It was a signal of victory.
Just before my eyes closed, I heard Ego's voice.
-That was a reckless choice.
'I know.'
-I will not permit it next time.
'Then next time... I'll try persuading you better.'
A brief silence.
-...This once, I acknowledge it.
With those words, my consciousness went dark.
***
When consciousness returned, the first thing I felt was emptiness.
I could breathe, but mana did not flow.
No, to be precise, it felt as though it began to flow and then cut off halfway.
“...You're awake.”
A familiar voice.
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a tent.
The scent of medicinal herbs mingled with the smell of blood.
Beside the bed stood a gray-bearded military physician, and a short distance away Harel and Nine stood with anxious faces.
“How long... was I out?”
“About a day.”
The military physician answered in their stead.
“And from now on, it would be best if you spoke as little as possible, young master of the Grand Duke's House.”
“...Is my condition that bad?”
The military physician fell silent for a moment.
That silence was answer enough.
“There are fine cracks in your mana heart.”
Nine sucked in a breath.
“Cracks...?”
“It hasn't been completely shattered. But it is clearly damaged.”
The military physician continued in a calm voice.
“This is the backlash of forcibly drawing upon the Master's realm beyond the limits of an Expert. It is not a normal method.”
“Then does that mean I can never....”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“It does not mean you can never use it again. But for the time being.”
For the time being.
In the military, those words were always long.
“If you overuse aura again, then next time it may not be cracks, but collapse. To speak frankly—”
The military physician lowered his eyes.
“The fact that your mana heart did not break is miracle enough.”
I smiled quietly.
“If that's the case... I got off cheap.”
Harel clenched his teeth.
“...Why did you go that far?”
“It was better than abandoning the outpost.”
“But that—!”
“Enough.”
I cut him off.
“That's already in the past. What matters now is what comes next.”
At that moment—
commotion rose outside.
The sound of hoofbeats. Soldiers calling orders. Organized movement.
Harel lifted the tent flap and looked outside, his face hardening for an instant before settling again.
“...The main force has arrived.”
Philion Nordiar.
He entered the outpost looking every bit the image of a wartime commander.
His armor was caked in dust, and the moment he dismounted, he swept his gaze across the surroundings.
“Report the losses.”
“Seventeen dead. Thirty-one severely wounded. Many lightly wounded. Part of the wall has been damaged.”
“The enemy?”
“They withdrew after the duel.”
Philion's gaze stopped.
“A duel?”
Harel hesitated for a moment, then reported the truth exactly as it happened.
The letter. The warrior chieftain. The one-on-one duel. And the victory.
Throughout the report, Philion's expression did not change once.
Only when my name was spoken at the end did his gaze shift toward the tent.
“...Kairun.”
He came straight inside.
The brothers looked at one another in silence.
“That was a foolish thing to do.”
That was his first sentence.
“The results were certain enough, weren't they?”
“If you look only at the results, yes.”
Philion let out a sigh.
“But your body is a more important asset than that outpost. I dislike the fact that you put it on the scales.”
“There wasn't any other choice.”
“There was. The choice to abandon the fortress and fall back.”
“If we had done that, morale would have collapsed. And this front would have broken even faster.”
A brief silence.
Philion turned his head toward the military physician.
“How is he?”
“Damage to the mana heart. He is unfit for frontline combat for the time being.”
“...I see.”
Philion nodded. Then he looked back at me.
“From now on, you will remain by my side. For the time being, you will not draw a sword.”
“What, are you going to use me as a bodyguard?”
“No.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Because the eyes that read the board are still intact.”
At those words, Harel and Nine both let out their breath.
As Philion stepped out of the tent, he added one last thing.
“Today's events will be reduced in the official record. We will record it as 'the enemy withdrew after a clash between commanders.'”
“And the rumors?”
“We can't stop them.”
He paused for a moment before speaking again.
“But one thing has become certain.”
“What is it?”
“The other races will remember your name now.”
He went outside. The main force was fully taking control of the outpost. The defenses were being rebuilt, and the beacon fire was extinguished.
For the moment, the front had stabilized.
I slowly closed my eyes.
Within the emptiness where mana no longer flowed, Ego's voice echoed low.
-Next time, calculate better.
'I will.'
This time, I was lucky.
Next time, I couldn't rely on luck.