Chapter 86: The Second Variable (2)

A building at the Southern Training Camp.

Macbarni leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

“Huff, huff.”

His condition was dire.

The armor made of intricately woven chains was already torn off, exposing his bare skin, and blood streamed from his split abdomen.

Fortunately, his intestines hadn’t spilled out.

If he were an ordinary person, he would have clutched his abdomen with one hand, but Macbarni couldn’t do that because he was holding his sword with his one good arm, aiming it at his enemies.

“Why don’t you just leave me here to die?”

“Why don’t you give up? If you do, I’ll kill you painlessly.”

Hector’s soldiers approached, sneering.

There were three of them.

They slowly surrounded Macbarni, weapons at the ready, ready to attack at any moment.

The situation was tense.

Macbarni’s mouth was dry.

His vision blurred from dizziness, but he bit the inside of his cheek to try to regain his senses.

“Fuck off, you bastards.”

A bitter taste spread in his mouth.

The blood, though a small amount, helped to quench his thirst.

“Whoever attacks first, I swear I’ll kill you with my life. So come on. If you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for your comrades, try attacking me. I’ll personally bite your neck with my teeth.”

He growled fiercely.

His eyes glinted with malice.

Seeing Macbarni’s unwavering stance, Hector’s soldiers hesitated to attack.

It wasn’t just a threat.

A soldier who had underestimated Macbarni and tried to attack was now cooling on the cold floor.

‘Damn it.’

He swallowed his curse.

He tried not to show it, but his condition was truly dire.

He could collapse at any moment.

He was holding on by sheer willpower, and Hector’s soldiers knew it, so they were stalling for time.

‘If only my right arm was still intact, I could kill them all.’

Faced with the reality before him, a sense of despair washed over him.

When he was active on the Western Front, Macbarni could easily take on 2-3 enemies with a single sword.

He hadn’t systematically trained in swordsmanship.

His combat skills were honed through experience on the battlefield, and his aggressive sword techniques, which surpassed his opponents’ expectations, had killed countless Kronos soldiers.

But now, things were different.

His left arm wouldn’t move, and he had been beaten to a pulp without even managing to kill a few of them.

It was over.

Death was imminent.

Macbarni, knowing he was about to die, wanted to take at least one more with him.

‘What happened to Lord Roman Dmitri?’

Suddenly, the face of someone he had found impressive came to mind.

Roman Dmitri was the first proper noble he had met at the Southern Training Camp, and unlike the others, he had shown a readiness for war.

The only person who maintained his vigilance on the Southern Front.

Though assigned to the 5th Defense Line, Roman Dmitri seemed capable of doing something.

He was curious.

What was he doing?

Strangely, the person he thought of at the brink of death was not his family or friends, but Roman Dmitri.

‘It means I still have lingering attachments to the battlefield.’

He gripped his sword tightly.

He lowered his stance, ready to charge at any moment.

Blood flowed from his abdomen, but his sharp eyes searched for his opponent’s weaknesses.

At that moment,

Bang!

“Gah!”

“Attack!”

Outside the building, loud noises began.

* * *

Roman was a step too late.

The Southern Training Camp was already in ruins when he arrived, with soldiers’ bodies scattered everywhere.

A gruesome scene.

There was still noise around.

Judging that not all the enemies had fled, Roman gave the order.

“Eliminate the remaining enemies and rescue any survivors immediately.”

“Understood.”

Soldiers, including Chris, spread out in all directions.

Roman carefully surveyed the surroundings.

The Southern Training Camp seemed to have been attacked by the Kingdom of Hector, as the soldiers’ last words suggested.

Among the scattered bodies, there were also soldiers from the Kingdom of Hector, who wore light leather armor, presumably for quick mobility.

Most of the bodies were from the Kingdom of Cairo.

The bodies alone indicated that Hector’s surprise attack had been effective.

He drew mana.

Expanding his senses, he listened to the surrounding sounds.

‘...Macbarni?’

Among the many sounds, a familiar one caught his ear.

Macbarni was fighting someone, and from his labored breathing, it seemed he was in a very dangerous situation.

He immediately pushed off the ground.

A building not far away.

When he entered the building, the scene he expected unfolded.

“What, what is this?!”

“Has Cairo already sent reinforcements?”

Hector’s soldiers showed signs of panic.

According to their calculations,

There should have been no reinforcements for the Southern Training Camp.

In the current situation, with the front-line defenses under attack, they didn’t expect reinforcements to be sent to this insignificant place.

But who was this person?

As Hector’s soldiers aimed their weapons with hostility, Roman alternated his gaze between them and Macbarni, assessing the situation.

‘He’s still alive.’

Macbarni was one of the survivors.

Though he looked like he was about to die, he still had the strength to stand on his two feet.

Macbarni’s eyes widened in shock.

Leaving that gaze behind, Roman approached the enemies.

‘I’ll capture them alive.’

As Hector’s soldiers shouted for him not to come closer, Roman suddenly appeared before them.

Thud.

Crack!

A fist struck the face of a Hector soldier.

The soldier’s pupils dilated as blood spurted, and Roman immediately sealed his blood points, causing him to collapse.

Even if he regained consciousness, he wouldn’t be able to move.

As another Hector soldier tried to attack in anger, Roman deflected the attack and subdued him with the same method.

Thud!

The striking fist.

And the finger sealing the blood points.

The situation unfolded in an instant.

Despite being seasoned veterans, they were subdued in a split second.

The last one.

He tried to flee.

As he ran to the opposite door, sacrificing his comrades, he was caught by an unexpected presence.

Thud.

“Gah.”

“I said I’d take one with me.”

It was Macbarni.

He was quick-witted.

Realizing Roman intended to capture the enemy alive, he didn’t cut the opponent with his sword but strangled him with his left arm.

With only one arm, the resistance was strong.

But Macbarni gritted his teeth and continued to strangle the opponent, and soon the Hector soldier fainted.

Thud.

“Huff, huff.”

Macbarni collapsed on the floor.

He had reached his limit.

His mind was hazy, and a bitter taste rose in his throat.

In his field of vision,

Roman’s face appeared.

“You’ve done well. From now on, leave it to me and rest for a moment.”

Squish.

Roman sprayed a potion on Macbarni’s body.

Macbarni couldn’t express his gratitude.

As the potion’s energy spread through his body, he lost consciousness.

* * *

The situation was under control.

After checking the surroundings of the Southern Training Camp, Chris reported to Roman.

“There weren’t many soldiers from the Kingdom of Hector. We found 12 enemies and dealt with them on the spot. We rescued 5 survivors from the Southern Training Camp. According to the survivors, Viscount Vale fought the soldiers from the Kingdom of Hector, was injured, and fled into the mountains.”

It was unexpected.

Viscount Vale.

Like Baron Bruce, he was expected to flee immediately, but he had shown some resistance.

But that was all.

The outcome didn’t change.

Due to his negligence, most of the soldiers at the Southern Training Camp were dead, and only a handful, less than ten, survived.

‘The main force of the Kingdom of Hector attacked the Southern Training Camp and then moved elsewhere. According to the survivors, the number of enemies was at least several hundred. There must be a reason for their use of the strategy of feinting east and attacking west.’

One possibility.

His certainty grew stronger.

While he had some idea of the enemy’s purpose, he couldn’t make a hasty judgment.

Many lives depended on his decision.

Understanding the weight of that, Roman didn’t rush.

“What about Hector’s soldiers?”

“They are all confined in one building.”

There was only one way to confirm the truth.

As Roman moved, he said,

“Chris, don’t let anyone enter the building until I give the order. That’s an order.”

“Understood.”

Thus,

Creak.

Thud.

The door of the building that swallowed Roman closed.

* * *

Inside the building.

Hector’s soldiers were restrained.

As Roman entered, one of the soldiers, with a battered face, shouted,

“Don’t spare us; just kill us! I have nothing to say to Cairo’s cowards. Cough, spit!”

Thick saliva fell to the floor.

Roman paid no attention.

He neither reacted to the soldier’s words nor responded.

Instead,

He spoke coldly, explaining his plan.

“I will give each of you 3 minutes. I can’t allow more time. The rule is simple. Answer my questions. If you give me the answer I want within 3 minutes, I’ll kill you painlessly. Otherwise, you’ll experience terrible pain until the moment of death.”

“Damn you!”

“Kill me, just kill me!”

Hector’s soldiers raged.

Roman calmly looked at one of them and asked,

“The first question. What is the Kingdom of Hector’s objective?”

“Fuck off!”

He clamped his mouth shut.

The troops deployed for this operation were composed of soldiers with strong patriotism.

They showed a firm resolve to never reveal any secrets, even if it meant death.

Time passed.

As the Hector soldiers’ one-sided shouting ended, Roman pronounced the death sentence.

“3 minutes are up.”

Thud.

He pressed a blood point.

At that moment, the Hector soldier still didn’t understand what it meant.

Suddenly,

His eyes widened.

His muscles twisted, and intense pain overwhelmed him.

“Aaaaaah!”

“This is what I call the technique of ‘dividing the tendons and dislocating the bones.’ You will suffer as your muscles and bones twist, and then die very slowly. You are enemies who attacked the Kingdom of Cairo. I have no intention of sparing you, and the only exception is if you cooperate with me.”

The expressions of the other soldiers quickly hardened.

Seeing their steadfast comrade scream in agony, exposing the whites of his eyes, was terrifying.

“The second question. Why are you here at the Southern Training Camp?”

It was a question from the Grim Reaper.

The soldier swallowed hard.

He wanted to surrender, but the moment he took the secret oath came to mind, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

In the end,

“3 minutes are up.”

“Aaaaaah!”

He, too, fell into the depths of hell.

Now, it was the last one.

As Roman approached, the third soldier, without even being questioned, raged,

“Do you think your actions will change anything? It’s already over. Even if you hear Hector’s ‘plan’ from my mouth, it’s beyond what you can stop! So do whatever you want. The Kingdom of Cairo will pay the price for its complacency, and you will be remembered in the shameful history! Hahaha!”

He laughed.

Laughing wildly to hide his fear.

Suddenly,

Roman looked at him and showed an incomprehensible smile.

“I was waiting for that answer.”

“What?”

“I never wanted the truth from you. I just wanted to see your reaction. If you are this confident, I can infer one possibility.”

The soldier was taken aback.

Roman dropped a bomb on him.

“The rear defense line. That’s your real objective.”

At those words,

The soldier lost his composure.

That was enough.

The answer he didn’t want was just a bait to elicit that reaction.

“Die now.”

Thud.

He pressed a blood point.

Leaving the last soldier screaming, Roman left the building.

‘The simultaneous attack on the Southern Front was just a feint. Their real objective is elsewhere. If they have truly succeeded in their plan, the Southern Front is as good as fallen.’

His blood ran cold.

It was now clear.

The Southern Front was in far greater danger than people expected.

The leak of what was thought to be a perfect plan was the second unexpected variable for the Kingdom of Hector.