The green land stretched far into the distance, and atop it, a number of soldiers were advancing. The sound of their armor could be heard from afar, their random chatter whispering through the air as their shadows moved behind them, cast by the shining sun—the hot summer sun. Yet, the soldiers pressed forward without stopping.
"That lunatic Vinnel thinks my troops can fight," muttered a knight wearing a helmet that covered his face. He was dressed in a white cloak, a clear sign he was the one in charge of the army.
"I can see that. The sun and this march are brutal. I think it was a dumb decision, but what can we do? It's an emergency," replied a teenage boy with slightly blond hair and a white armor—Tom.
Their march continued until the border finally came into view. Then it looked like the border guards had spotted them, for they raised the kingdom's banners. When the army arrived, joy appeared on the faces of the border guards. After a long period of fear, hope had finally arrived. One of the guards stepped forward, a tall, muscular man wearing leather armor. He approached the army commander with a smile.
"You finally made it. Talvan troops are approaching. You should prepare yourselves now," the guard said.
"Alright, soldiers! Drink water and rest until the enemy arrives."
"Rest? They'll be here soon! We need to plan!"
"You bastard, do you know how far we marched under this damn sun to get here?! Shut up and get out of my face," barked the white-cloaked knight before dusting off his cloak and walking away.
After that, the soldiers began opening their ration boxes, pulling out their water skins and drinking like beasts. Some even started sneaking extra bites of food. It seemed the journey had been truly exhausting, because even sitting under the sun felt like a chore. Some soldiers began hiding in the shadows of the watchtowers or entering rooms that didn't belong to them at the border outpost.
"Here, Stephanie," said Tom, handing a green-haired girl a leather water flask.
"These flasks are way better than plastic ones back in our world. They actually keep the water cold," Stephanie said after drinking a bit of the cool water.
"Yeah… Should I get some food?" Tom asked.
"No, no. Water is enough—we'll need it later."
"Alright, I'm gonna go lie down," Tom mumbled, walking away.
◆ ◆ ◆
The sound of marching footsteps rose, accompanied by clouds of dust swirling high into the air—some even covering the banners. They bore the image of a flower on a green background, the symbol of the Kingdom of Talvan. They advanced toward the nearby border, the border of Yavan. Far away, at the outpost, someone spotted them from atop a watchtower and quickly rushed to alert everyone.
"Talvan soldiers have arrived!!" someone shouted from the tower.
"Goddess! We haven't even come up with a plan yet!! We're done for!!!" cried the tall, muscular border captain.
The soldiers began to gather, along with the priests, gripping their weapons and staring at the enemy slowly approaching. Tom stepped forward after doing some warm-ups, then unsheathed his black blade. His steps were confident, and his eyes showed skill and strength. Suddenly, he pulled the blade back and flashed a terrifying grin as he shouted: "Cutter!!!"
At that moment, a barrage of bright white slashes was launched. Yarum's soldiers could spot the blood splattering as Tom's attack reached the enemy. Huge smiles spread across their faces, and they began cheering. It looked like hope had risen once again. Attacks like these weren't just flashy moves from a teenager trying to show off—they were more than that. It was the first successful strike, one that lifted the army's spirits.
Several of Talvan's front-line soldiers fell. After realizing advancing would be difficult, they drew their bows and arrows and began firing at the border. Yarum's soldiers raised their shields and protected themselves from the hail of arrows. Then, the commander shouted at the top of his lungs: "Charge them!!!"
Yarum's soldiers ran. Talvan's soldiers ran too. After a while, they collided. It was a fierce clash—blood flew through the air, screams echoed, and the sound of swords colliding filled the battlefield. Among the soldiers, Tom moved like a shadow, cutting off heads, stabbing, slipping between men like a feather.
"That's the hero! Watch out for him!!" shouted one of Talvan's men, but unfortunately, he too lost his head to the black blade—his head landing somewhere else in the chaos.
Tom pressed forward, but this time, he was surrounded by several soldiers. There were three of them, all tall and clearly muscular. One charged first with an axe, but Tom blocked him easily and quickly stabbed his knee. The man retreated swiftly, and the other two advanced—one wielding a spear, the other a war hammer.
"I've fought demons—ones craftier and faster than you… You stand no chance against me," Tom said as he pulled his blade back.
"Blades!"
With that shout, Tom released two X-shaped slashes from his blade. They shot forward toward the two knights. A flash of blood sprayed into the air, followed by the sound of two lifeless bodies crashing to the ground. The sheer force of the strike had killed them instantly. Tom stepped over their corpses and made his way to the knight who was barely standing, still limping from the wound in his knee.
"Goodnight," Tom whispered before slashing his head off.
Without wasting a moment, he rushed back into the fight—this time with madness in his eyes. He continued slashing heads and stabbing every Talvan soldier near him, moving at blinding speed. Blood covered his face and hair, and his once-white armor was stained red. He looked like an artist whose clothes were splashed with color—but Tom only painted with red.
"Damn, relying on agility in combat is insane! I'm jealous of Kevin!" Tom shouted with a crazed smile as he kept slicing through Talvan heads.
After a while, the number of Talvan soldiers had dropped significantly. Eventually, no one was left alive in the area. The Yarum soldiers threw down their weapons and collapsed to the ground, panting. One of them, however, was screaming his lungs out. At first glance, it was unclear what had happened—he was kneeling and shouting. But as soldiers approached him, they saw that his arm had been severed.
"Lady Stephanie! We need you here!" one of them yelled.
While the priests were tending to the wounded, Stephanie rushed over. The soldier's arm was gushing blood. Stephanie stretched out her hands and chanted, "Heal." A glowing green light enveloped the soldier's injury, and slowly his arm began to regenerate—until it was fully restored. Suddenly, he jumped up and hugged her tightly, crying: "Thank you—I can't believe this! Thank you! Thank you!!"
Stephanie gave him a soft smile and returned to assist the other priests. Meanwhile, Tom stood away from the others, gazing silently at the piles of corpses. But he didn't look sad—his face was cold, as if lost in thought. It didn't seem like he cared about how many people he'd butchered. He just stared, his eyes void of emotion.
"Stats," he muttered.
TomLvl: 10Class: KnightWeapon: BladeArmor: Silver ArmorAttack: 1466Defense: 1333Strength: 422Magic: 122Agility: 550Skills: Slash + Cutter + Blades
"Nice, Agility increased! That's what I wanted. Good—my plan's working. Now I just need to keep leveling by killing as many as possible. But I need better methods for fast leveling."
Far from Tom and Yarum's victory, other soldiers were still suffering. Unlike the border troops, the allied army still had overwhelming numbers and continued to dominate Yarum's forces. Only two warriors were making notable progress: Vinnel and Laos. Which clearly meant… they were losing.
"You bastard… how long until your rune runs out?" muttered Oxort, standing with his sword.
Suddenly, Vinnel appeared behind him and tried to stab him, but failed. A glowing green aura surrounded Oxort, blocking the surprise attack. Far off, some mages seemed to be supporting him with their magic. Oxort raised his sword to strike back, but Vinnel blocked it with strength and pushed him back.
"Soon I'll gouge out your other eye, you coward," Oxort spat.
Suddenly, Vinnel sheathed his sword and stepped back. He looked around quickly—finally spotting who he was searching for: Laos, a teenager with white hair, surrounded by a huge number of enemies, casting abilities left and right, clearly overwhelmed and struggling.
"Thalesa, how long until your power runs out?"
"Soon."
Laos blasted the wall of soldiers in front of him with a water ball, creating a gap, then ran through it and escaped the trap. Once out, he looked around and saw most of Yarum's soldiers lying on the ground—maybe not even most, but all. From the start, this battle was unfair. The allied army vastly outnumbered Yarum's forces.
"Retreat!!" Vinnel shouted, vanishing.
Surviving soldiers began to run, and so did Laos. They fled while the allied army chased and shouted behind them. The retreat was toward the palace—but after some distance, even the palace was abandoned. They kept running farther. The allied forces stopped at the palace, indicating it had been their main objective.
"What do we do now?!" Laos yelled at Vinnel.
"Don't worry, the palace was evacuated. I gave the order," Vinnel replied.
Fuck! We lost!! Oh god, this is so embarrassing. I never thought I'd be running again after killing Slytha. Ughhh, I want to go back and crush them. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I hate retreating. It feels horrible. But you have to understand! Their numbers were huge—it wasn't fair. And war is a trick. Strength doesn't always decide the winner.
"Thalesa, can I use that secret ability?"
"Are you insane? Accept your loss and rest like the others. You only lost a battle—not the entire war. And don't act like you're some king who just lost a chunk of his kingdom. You're just a mercenary."
"Mercenary? Maybe you're right. But even a mercenary hates the taste of defeat. And what about my goal to become rank one in the Heroic Order? Fuck! I'm sure Tom won his battle and now he's ahead of me… Ughhh!!!"
We kept running… running at full speed. This run—it reminded me of when I escaped. I can't believe it—it's the same run, the same place. We even passed the ruins. Oh god, this is unreal!! What's next, is Gaziel going to show up out of nowhere? After a long run, we finally reached a quiet place. Vinnel ordered everyone to stop.
"Go to Tom's army. Bring them here," Vinnel told one of the scouts.
First defeat? Unbelievable. I feel disgusted. I even feel like throwing up. Great! But I shouldn't let this battle get to me. Well… I'm not angry because we lost. I'm angry because I failed to make an impact. Yeah, I failed—but that doesn't mean the story ends here. I'll show you, you fuckers… My revenge is going to be insane. Just wait.