“Form up!”
The commander's shout echoed. The approaching creatures were wolf monsters, eight of them. Monsters were threatening existences.
Especially since the Border Guard was a city where guilds and merchants frequently came and went, they were quite proactive in subjugating the surrounding monsters.
“Why are they so rampant in winter.”
A soldier grumbled as he raised his long spear. To Enkrid's ears, it sounded like words spoken deliberately to ease the tension. Following the order, twenty soldiers formed a solid formation against the wolf monsters.
It was standard to face monsters with superior numbers. The Platoon Leader was one to stick to the basics. And Enkrid found that uncomfortable.
‘This is a first.’
He was talking about the desire to rush out for a real battle, something that sparring couldn't satisfy. A fight that drew blood, the time to process what was gained from it, the very moment of taking a step forward. Those were the things Enkrid desired.
Not just holding a long spear and poking at the hides of the slowly approaching monsters. This wasn't helpful. It was to the point of feeling tedious.
Normally, one's knees would tremble at the sight of a monster. Rem, who was uncharacteristically obedient, chuckled beside him.
“You look like you’re suffering from some unfulfilled desire.”
Normally, he'd say to stab the monster's eyes instead of looking at his face, but the words came out on their own from frustration.
“Is it that obvious?”
“The Squad Leader has become a jagged stone now.”
Rem chuckled, saying something inscrutable. Then he added another word.
“Didn't you know there's a fine line between the extraordinary and the insane?”
He didn't know. What would happen if he jumped in among the eight monsters here? On the premise that Rem had his back.
It seemed like it would end much faster than pointlessly stabbing with twenty long spears to kill them one by one. At this rate, when would they ever clear out all the surrounding monsters? It would take a long time.
It felt like a waste of time. He had never once neglected his formation training. So his body naturally fulfilled its duty as a soldier, a part of the formation.
But the frustration remained. Rem kept chuckling beside him, and it felt like he was pushing him from behind. Why did he follow him here just to do this.
Enkrid thrust his long spear forward. The powerful spear tip grazed the hide of a monster's foreleg.
“Grrrr!”
The wolf monster reacted to the pain, baring its fangs. Seeing this, the Platoon Leader aimed for its head and thrust his spear, but the cunning monster dodged by pulling back. Having seen that much, Enkrid deliberately let his mind wander.
Otherwise, it seemed it would be hard to resist the urge to rush out, draw his sword, and cut them down. The panther he'd ended up raising came to his mind.
‘Aster.’
Not long after he returned from splitting the mad mage bastard's head in the sewers, the Lake Panther came back completely exhausted. It gave off a musty smell, as if it had been hunting and eating the rats that roamed the sewers.
Perhaps it had been too engrossed in hunting city rats; it was so drained of energy that it just lay on the floor, panting. Feeling sorry for it, he personally soaked some jerky in water, tore it up, and fed it to the panther. Aster gobbled it up without hesitation.
‘I wonder what it's been up to.’
Bark!
In the middle of his wandering thoughts, a wolf monster came within spear's reach. Enkrid pushed the thought of Aster to the back of his mind and stabbed the approaching wolf's head with his long spear.
Puk.
A piece of its scalp tore, and blood splattered.
“Don't lose your position!”
The Platoon Leader's shout was heard. The unit maintained its distance, threatening the approaching monsters and the area around them by thrusting their spearheads. This was not a fight that would end easily.
The pack of monsters, having been stabbed a few times by the spearheads, retreated. This was the right way. This was the textbook method.
But it was still frustrating. He could see the Platoon Leader leading the soldiers. He had a clean-cut appearance with a sturdy-looking physique.
Was that guy from the 2nd Company, or the 3rd? Filled with frustration and stuffiness, Enkrid wielded the long spear. It could hardly be called masterful skill.
All he did was thrust and pull. It felt like wearing clothes that didn't fit. The spear just never felt right in his hands.
He thought that if he had mainly used a spear, he would have been even worse with it than with a sword. Ragna had said.
“Depending on the weapon, be it a sword or a spear, how it feels in your hands can be different.”
Knights were generally encouraged to handle various weapons. So he had learned the basics, but only the sword felt like it stuck perfectly to his hand.
‘A sword.’
Only the sword. From the moment he first held it, it felt like meeting a friend he had known for a long time. The thrill of holding a sword for the first time.
The joy. The anticipation.
A pounding heart, the warmth of the sharp piece of metal.
‘Ah, I want to use a sword.’
I want to ruminate on the experience I gained in the mage's den. I want to swing a sword, not a long spear.
“I'll grant your wish.”
Rem muttered beside him. By the time Enkrid's gaze turned to him, Rem was already dashing forward.
“This will take all night!”
Rem charged out with a spirited shout. His voice was filled with cheerfulness. With every kick of the ground, dirt flew up.
It was dynamic. His running form looked fiercer than the wolf monsters.
“That crazy bastard!”
As if he'd been waiting for it, the Platoon Leader burst out in anger. The basic way to fight monsters was to maintain the formation. If the formation broke, the other soldiers' lives would be in danger.
It was true that charging out was wrong. Enkrid knew that well.
However.
‘We can just kill all the monsters.’
I can't take it anymore. He literally couldn't endure the desire itself. That lust to rush out right now, swing his sword, and relive the experience.
Enkrid inwardly closed his eyes. For a moment, he relied on his Sixth Sense rather than rational judgment. Following his instinct, Enkrid also threw away his long spear, kicked off the ground, and ran forward.
“Hey, why you too!”
The Platoon Leader's shout faded behind him. Rem's sudden action was within the Platoon Leader's scope of understanding. But Enkrid was not.
So he couldn't help but be startled.
“Excited, are you?”
Rem, noticing Enkrid following him, spoke as he began to swing two axes. The two axe blades drew arcs in the air. The end of those arcs was, of course, slaughter.
The first axe swing split the head of a wolf coming straight at him, and the second, a horizontal swing, split the jaw of a monster that kicked off the ground to circle around and bite his arm. The two axes were the blades of an executioner's block.
“A little.”
Acknowledging what needed to be acknowledged. Enkrid also drew his sword. As he drew, he made a wide horizontal cut.
A monster, in the middle of a charge, had its foreleg sliced.
“Yelp!”
Even for a monster, the groan it let out was similar to a dog's. Enkrid pulled back his horizontally extended arm and brought it down vertically. The wolf monster's head was caught and split.
Whack!
He pulled back the sword that had split the head and struck the head of another wolf rushing in from the side with his sword-gripping fist.
Thwack!
The one hit in the head rolled to the side. Just eight of them.
‘I don't know since when I started calling eight monsters 'just,' but.’
In any case, Enkrid didn't feel they were a threat right now. Axes split heads and a sword cut and sliced the wolves. The arming sword in his hand didn't have the same satisfaction in cutting as a longsword, but it still wasn't half bad.
Ragna had been disappointed that he couldn't come along. Of the eight, one died to the long spears of the soldiers in formation. Of the remaining seven, four fell to Rem's axes.
Three were split by Enkrid's sword. It was outstanding skill. It was as if it were proof that he hadn't earned the rank of high-rank soldier for nothing.
“Wow, damn, they fight well.”
One of the soldiers in the unit muttered in admiration. The Platoon Leader should have burst out in anger. He was supposed to.
‘They leave me speechless.’
They literally fight damn well. If forming a formation is the basis for fighting monsters. Then using that extraordinary fighting power is also part of a commander's quality.
Instead of getting angry, the Platoon Leader considered efficiency. This was a good thing for Enkrid and Rem. If you were to be rigid about it, the two of them had disobeyed orders.
More than anything, the Platoon Leader valued Enkrid's presence highly. He had seen him a few times in passing before, and he didn't seem like much back then. When did he develop such skill?
Did his skills suddenly improve as the rumors said? He didn't know. He couldn't be sure of anything.
He could only look at the result.
‘He's high-rank or higher.’
I'd believe it if you told me he was one of the garrison members called the Butchers of the Frontier. Because when they actually go out to subjugate monsters, they don't maintain formations like this but fight with their individual skills.
“You two.”
The Platoon Leader decided to give them a battlefield instead of rebuking them. If they want to fight, let them fight.
“There's a place where some troublesome monsters have appeared. Go there.”
“Is that so?”
Among the dead monsters, Enkrid the Spellbreaker nodded his head. At his nonchalant attitude, some of the soldiers let out something like a cheer. In any case, didn't they wipe out the monsters?
With this, the mission here was over, and this unit would go support another area, so they could rest for a bit. No one enjoys fighting monsters with their lives on the line. Unless they're extraordinary, or insane.
They'd have to be at least one of the two.
“We will return to the city and regroup.”
The Platoon Leader decided to lead the unit and withdraw. Enkrid glanced at Rem. Rem, who was roughly wiping the monster blood from his axe, grinned.
“Am I in your debt?”
“What debt.”
He said that, but thanks to him, he did feel refreshed. But the craving in his heart was still greater.
‘It's not enough.’
A thirst that couldn't be quenched by a few wolf monsters. A real battle, not sparring. The fire kindled in Enkrid's chest blazed fiercely.
“Let's go. He told us to go somewhere else.”
Rem said.
A few of the soldiers who were returning to the unit came over and tapped Enkrid's chest.
“Thanks to you, we get to leave first.”
The soldier's smiling face was familiar. Enkrid searched his memory. He was the soldier who was at the dice gambling table during the first repeated day.
He placed a piece of jerky wrapped in a clean cloth into Enkrid's hand.
“Try it. It's amazing.”
He said and turned away. It wasn't just that soldier; several others expressed their favor with their eyes. A soldier who fights well, an ally, is always well-treated.
On top of that, Enkrid had an easy-going personality, so his reputation wasn't bad either. He was different from Rem. Everyone kept a moderate distance from Rem.
It was partly because he was from a barbarian tribe, but his rough personality and his hobby of picking fights with anyone when he was bored were too well-known.
“We fought together, but the treatment seems different. What's this, discrimination?”
“It must be karma.”
Enkrid said, tearing the jerky and sharing it. And when he took a bite.
‘This is different.’
It was delicious. The soft piece of jerky swirled in his mouth before being swallowed. The seasoning was just right, and most of all, whatever spice had been applied gave it a sweet and savory taste.
“What is this? Why is it so good?”
“I know, I should ask for more later.”
He was just curious about what secret recipe was used to make it. Enkrid adjusted the gloves on his hands. The thick leather gloves snugly wrapped around his hands, protecting them sturdily.
It was one of the items from the corpse-loving mage who lived in the sewers. Especially when he struck the wolf, the impact that returned was much smaller than he expected. This meant it was also a decent item.
What the mage did was quite unsettling, but what crime had the item committed? The gloves were sturdy. They seemed to be made of several layers of leather, and not only was their defense good, but they were also great for punching, making them a good substitute for gauntlets.
The leather torso armor worn under his padded armor was just as reliable. After all, wasn't it the item that protected him from the mage's machinations? When Krais had said it was no ordinary item, he thought it was just a sturdy piece of gear.
Reliable equipment and newly gained insights. Enkrid's fighting spirit burned as he spoke.
“Let's go.”
It was the Platoon Leader's order. Enkrid and Rem moved to another area. Half a day south of the city.
They headed to where the friendly forces were gathered.
“Looks like this is the place.”
“Seems so.”
It was a place they found with just a simple map and directions. The place they arrived at had a full-fledged camp established. They wouldn't build a camp like this unless the monster subjugation was quite serious.
More importantly, a commotion was currently underway. Before they arrived, it seemed like something was flying in the sky. Enkrid muttered as he joined the battlefield.
Rem followed behind him, hopping along.
“Kkiaaak!”
A scream erupted overhead. A terrible monster announced its presence. Below it, he could see several soldiers rolling around, their eyeballs gouged out, or their arms, legs, and bodies scratched and torn.
“My eyes! My eyes!”
“Aaaaargh!”
“Fuck! Kill it! Kill it!”
A few crossbowmen fired bolts toward the sky.
Twang-twang-twang-twang!
The bolts cut through the air, but none of them hit their target.
“Kaaaaah!”
The monster's cry, a horrifying noise to the ears. It made one want to cover their ears instinctively. This was a battlefield.
The enemies were monsters. Directly beneath the flying monster, he could see a unit of heavily armored soldiers clustered in a platoon-sized formation. They were all heavily armored infantry wearing chainmail.
In other words, the First Company, a company comprised of heavy infantry.
“Everyone, hold your positions!”
The shout of the infantry company commander erupted. The name of the monster flying overhead was harpy. It was a monster with the upper body of a woman, wings instead of arms, and the lower body of an eagle.
Red feathers fluttered in the air, and the harpy's chest heaved. It was a chest like a woman's, but it didn't feel sexual in any way. It only gave a sense of discomfort.
Seeing the harpy, Enkrid's body froze for a moment. A past moment came to mind, a time when he had to turn his back on a comrade's death. The appearance of harpies meant that the desperate struggles of a few mercenaries were meaningless.
Death and death, and then escape. It was a painful memory. He couldn't call them friends, but he had lost over a dozen comrades.
Screeech!
The harpy's cry had the effect of shaking a person's mind. There were more than five of them floating in the air. Five crossbowmen were aiming at the sky.
But as he'd seen just a moment ago, it seemed impossible to hit and bring them down. It was right after he entered the battlefield.
“I had a feeling something fun would happen. You alright?”
Rem asked from the side, and at that moment, a harpy dove towards the two newcomers.
Swish!
A descent that cut through the wind. Its eagle-like talons were as hard as steel, so if one only had their eyeballs gouged out by them, they should consider themselves lucky. Otherwise, their head would have been torn open.
Seeing the approaching harpy, Enkrid chewed on the memory of his past, but only for a moment. He didn't leave regrets in things that had passed. Instead, he put strength into his steps forward.
Because that was how Enkrid lived his life.
Ch-ring.
He draws his sword. For a moment, the illusion that his surroundings were slowing down, and at the same time, he drew a path connecting dots and lines, and his Sixth Sense issued a warning. The boldness granted by the Heart of the Beast filled Enkrid's entire body with strength.
Matching the trajectory of the falling harpy, in a time he alone perceived as slow, Enkrid's sword moved.