The Immortal Genius Spearman

Chapter 171

“...Are they coming?”

Damian turned his head toward the distant presence that was approaching.

From within the darkness emerged a soldier.

“Lady Kiaran sent me.”

It was Kiaran’s messenger.

After receiving the orders, Damian looked at his unit and spoke.

“Caion Unit, deploy.”

Damian’s voice was small but resonated clearly.

At the command to mobilize, the eyes of the Caion Unit gleamed with sharp intensity.

Until now, they had done nothing but wait while the main force engaged in battle.

The order to deploy ignited their suppressed instincts like a wildfire.

With it, Damian channeled mana into the rod he was holding.

Clang!

The clear sound of metal rang out as his weapon transformed into a spear.

As Damian surged forward, the Caion Unit followed at a ferocious pace.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Their advance was swift and powerful, like a cavalry charge.

Just 300 men.

It was a modest number, small enough to be considered insignificant compared to the main force.

But with the Caion Unit—especially one led by Damian—their power was an entirely different story.

“An enemy unit is attacking!”

“A surprise attack from the eastern forces!”

“Shall we fire the signal flare?”

Relkaro, commanding the unit defending the eastern wall, shook his head at his lieutenant’s question.

He was not so incompetent as to call for reinforcements over a mere few hundred men.

“Unless there’s something extraordinary about them.”

Though their speed was notable, it wasn’t enough to breach the walls of Nardern.

Relkaro drew his sword.

“Fire the arrows! Don’t let them get close!”

“Fireeeeee!”

Swish-swish-swish!

Arrows rained down upon the approaching enemies. Relkaro smirked at the sight.

Sending a small unit to scatter his forces was a clever tactic, but it would ultimately backfire on them.

Relkaro was confident that the enemy would soon be reduced to porcupines by the storm of arrows.

But then—

“Square formation!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

At Damian’s command, the Caion Unit swiftly changed formation, raising their shields in unison.

Hit-and-run tactics.

The unit had adapted to guerrilla warfare, equipping themselves with shields and spears for this very purpose.

Maintaining their speed, they closed the gap in a flash, transforming into a solid shield wall.

Relkaro’s eyes widened as he watched the Caion Unit’s breathtakingly fast transformation.

“What... What is that?”

It was an unbelievable sight, even though he was witnessing it with his own eyes.

How could they change formation while advancing at that speed?

Thump! Thud-thud-thud-thump!

But it wasn’t just an illusion.

The 200 arrows they had fired didn’t slow the unit down; instead, the arrows fell harmlessly to the ground.

Relkaro furrowed his brow.

“Bring the boiling oil! Arrows are useless! Prepare the rocks and the boiling oil!”

If they managed to attack the gate, Relkaro planned to pour scalding oil on them from above.

No matter how sturdy their shields and armor were, they wouldn’t withstand liquid.

At his orders, the archers set their bows aside and began preparing the oil and large, head-sized stones.

However—

Fwip!

Damian, seeing that no more arrows were being fired, quickly broke formation and increased his speed.

As Damian rushed forward—

“Maintain our pace! Trust the captain!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

“We trust you!”

The Caion Unit’s charge was reckless to the point of seeming suicidal.

If they failed to breach the wall, they would be trapped below it.

But none of the soldiers showed any hesitation.

‘If the captain says it can be done, then it will be done.’

‘We just have to trust and follow him!’

Their unwavering faith in Damian left no room for doubt.

Tap-tap-tap!

Damian, running swiftly ahead, gripped his spear sideways.

He began gathering his mana, intensifying its flow.

Whooom!

The mana emanating from Damian’s body rippled through the air, and the spear in his hand glowed with a vivid blue aura.

The aura was so vivid that even Relkaro, standing atop the wall, could see it clearly.

But then—

Snicker.

“Heh. So he knows how to handle mana, does he?”

Although slightly surprised by the lone soldier rushing toward him, Relkaro quickly regained his composure.

The enemy’s energy might be strong, but at best, it would merely breach a small section of the wall.

‘If they create a gap, it’ll only make it easier for us to focus our attacks.’

But then—

Rooooar!

“...!”

An enormous vortex of mana swirled around Damian’s body, taking the shape of a massive, ash-colored general.

The spectral figure sat atop a horse with a flowing mane, holding a long spear. Its helmet obscured its face, but glowing red eyes pierced through the darkness.

Was this... a humanoid aura?

No—more than that.

“An Aura Master?!”

Why was an Aura Master appearing here?!

“D-Damn it! Fire the signal flare! Now!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Relkaro’s lieutenant fumbled for the flare at his waist.

As he lit it, he froze, staring blankly at Damian’s aura.

The ash-colored figure began to darken, taking on a deep black hue.

The aura surrounding Damian intensified, radiating an even more overwhelming presence.

Roooaaar!

With a thunderous roar, Damian raised his spear high.

The sight was like that of a legendary black knight stepping out of myth.

Damian’s form and that of the black knight overlapped perfectly, as if they were one.

And as Damian swung his spear downward, he spoke.

“Shatter.”

Boom!

The moment the black knight struck the wall, a deafening explosion erupted, and the wall shattered into fragments.

Rumble!

“Arghhhhhh!”

“It’s collapsing!”

“The wall is falling!”

The soldiers atop the wall, along with Relkaro and his lieutenants, screamed as they were thrown to the ground.

Some were crushed beneath massive chunks of stone from the wall, while others lay writhing in pain, their cries filling the air.

Amid the chaos, Relkaro barely managed to rise. His gaze fixed on the enemy approaching through the dense cloud of dust.

He couldn’t see them clearly, but his instincts told him they were already perilously close.

Yet—

“Ugh... Ughhh...”

There was nothing Relkaro could do.

The lieutenant who had held the signal flare lay motionless, trapped beneath a rock.

‘At this rate...’

If the enemy breached this point, they would charge straight toward the main gate where the bulk of their forces were stationed.

And if it was a unit led by an Aura Master, there was no one who could stop them.

Desperately, Relkaro grabbed the fallen signal flare.

Fortunately, it had landed close to the lieutenant, so he found it quickly.

As he hurriedly lit the flare and raised it toward the sky—

Slash!

A black shadow emerged through the dust, flashing in an instant. Relkaro’s head fell cleanly from his shoulders.

Thud.

His body collapsed to the ground, the lit signal flare slipping lifelessly from his grasp.

The black figure, wielding twin swords, extinguished the flare’s fuse with precision before turning toward the broken wall.

There, the Caion Unit surged forward in an unstoppable advance.

“I’ll clear the path, Captain,” Dianal said quietly, his gaze fixed on Damian.

Damian’s eyes swept over the chaos engulfing Nardern.

“Cut down anyone who stands in your way,” he commanded.

The hellish specters of war began to run rampant in Nardern.

***

“This... this can’t be happening,” Bertom muttered, his face contorted with disbelief.

The moment the eastern wall fell, his focus was briefly shattered.

But he had no time to dwell on it.

As if triggered by the collapse—

“Uaaaarghhhhhh!”

A massive wave of soldiers surged forward from the front, their roars deafening.

The sheer number of troops was staggering, many times greater than before.

Bertom’s jaw dropped at the endless sea of allied forces charging toward them.

“This... this is their true assault!”

Grinding his teeth, Bertom quickly assessed the situation.

His soldiers, who had been resting, were already at their positions and prepared for battle.

However, there were no reserves to send to the collapsed eastern wall.

Even if there were, it wouldn’t make a difference.

‘The signal flare wasn’t even fired before the wall collapsed…’

It meant the wall had been destroyed in a single strike.

Which also meant—

‘The Baroque Kingdom’s Aura Master is there.’

Aura Masters could only be stopped by other Aura Masters.

The power of their aura was insurmountable for ordinary soldiers or knights.

No, there was one way to deal with them.

Aura, as powerful as it was, placed tremendous strain on the user’s body.

Even Alexandro Falcoz, the Cartelia Empire’s foremost Aura Master, was said to have a limit of five or six uses.

The strategy was simple: force the Aura Master to exhaust their aura and overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

Of course, this method would cost the lives of two to three thousand soldiers.

Regardless, Bertom had no means to stop the Aura Master currently advancing through the breach.

“Damn it... Is this the end?”

Bertom unconsciously lowered his head.

Even the massive allied force advancing from the front was already a daunting challenge.

Nardern’s walls were not particularly suited for prolonged defense, and his troops were already fatigued from earlier skirmishes.

And now, with an Aura Master inside the walls…

‘If only we could hold out for one more day…’

Where did it all go wrong?

Was this truly the result of his arrogance?

Bertom sank into self-reproach.

But then—

“Sir Bertom!”

“...?”

A lieutenant called out urgently. Bertom turned to where the man was pointing.

From the north, signal flares shot into the sky—three in rapid succession.

Red signal flares.

The sign that reinforcements had arrived.

From the north.

At this timing…

“Piaren Tale!” Bertom exclaimed.

The Empire’s third-ranked Aura Master, Piaren Tale, had arrived with the reinforcements.