27 – 27. Recon Team 5

*Kooong!*

“The giants at the main gate have begun their throws!”

“I’m on my way.”

The full-scale assault of the great swarm had begun.

With fiends of intelligence and wisdom in command, the battle took on the shape of war.

“Team 5, prepare.”

Silberna, gripping her spear, assumed her stance.

Their target, the fiends known as ‘Giants,’ tossing boulders from afar.

Isaac and the rest of the recon team gathered around Silberna above the rampart.

Confirming their numbers, Silberna leapt straight down from the wall.

*Whoosh!*

Falling, Silberna swung her spear wide.

Like Helmunt’s descent.

Silberna’s white aura erupted like a storm, swirling outward at her landing,

and the snowmen and other fiends clinging to the wall were torn to shreds by her aura.

*Tadaak!*

Silberna’s gaze, grounded, settled on the distant giant.

Behind her, the rest of the scouting party touched down below the wall.

Normally, such a height would have meant broken legs, or worse, a fatal fall.

But Silberna’s aura cushioned their landing, guiding them down as gently as a breeze.

The spear arts of Caldias were notably restrictive in their use of aura.

Aura, after all, was the domain of the chosen, and held a distance from the more versatile spear arts of Caldias.

Yet, here and now.

Silberna instead was focusing on handling her aura, developing, moving forward.

‘She really grows fast.’

It was still early to compare her to Rianna, but Silberna would indeed swiftly grow and push forward.

“Chee!”

Sharen, another user of aura, pouted, muttering to herself.

Just days ago, she had been the one superior in aura mastery.

But Silberna’s growth each passing day had become something to envy.

“I’ll take point.”

Silberna surged forward, becoming like a single, piercing spear.

Her footwork and spear techniques, lunging and tearing through, didn’t give the monsters the space to even swing their limbs.

Close behind her were Anna, Jonathan, and Meladic.

They faced the beasts that attempted to squeeze through the path Silberna had cleared.

They didn’t usually kill them, instead just unsettling or pushing them away.

Because the finishing blow was the task of Isaac, who was right behind them.

His sword was light, giving him a faster swing than others.

And, Isaac never missed a vital point of an unsettled enemy.

He was fulfilling the role of the team’s finisher, perfectly.

Of course, Sharen was a staunch support behind him as well.

The team, like a tank, marched through, crushing the monster horde.

“My Lady! We’re getting out of the wall’s defense range!”

“We’re picking up the pace now!”

At Anna’s report, Silberna gripped her spear tighter. She began to dash forward faster, the rest of the party speeding up to keep pace.

And then.

“Begin!”

The giant lumbered into range, and Silverna, planting her feet, stilled, and drew back for a javelin throw.

Anna and Jonathan, on her heels, swept past to flank her this time, taking up guard.

*Whoosh!*

As Silverna launched, Sharen, timed perfectly, slashed his greatsword skyward.

Against the canvas of pale sky, a blush of rose-red *Jeokgang* sprayed outward.

Propelled by the *Jeokgang*, Silverna’s spear slammed straight into the giant’s brow.

*Thud!*

The four-meter behemoth crashed to the ground.

Despite the mission’s success, no one celebrated; instead, they immediately began charting their retreat.

“Frost Howlers are coming!”

Melladic, weaving and striking down fiends alongside Isaac, called out in alarm.

From all sides, immense wolves of ice surged toward them.

Isaac was first to whip around his greatblade, attempting to halt their advance.

But the moment a Howler lashed out with a paw,

*Shatter!*

The thin greatblade snapped like an icicle, broken clean in two.

“Ah, for real!”

His hand shot to the Pulse-line at his hip.

Grasping it in reverse grip, he pulled it out and, in the same motion, beheaded the Howler that had broken his blade.

The seamless transition to a new weapon showed how practiced they were—how many times this had already happened.

“Sir Isaac, your blade broke again! Lady, what about your spear?!”

“Hold on! Come on, come on, hurry up and come!”

Silverna, palm outstretched to the heavens.

She waited for her thrown spear to return to her.

“Can’t you throw it softer?! It takes too long to come back!”

“I controlled my power! It’s the crimson wave’s fault!”

“Do you know how hard it is to tell Helmund to control his strength, you dummies?!”

Even amidst the bickering, the group continued to mow down the ever-approaching Frost Howlers.

“Can’t we just ditch it? There’s too many!”

“Should’ve brought a hammer!”

Jonathan and Meladic added their own complaints.

The Frosthowler, though a beast, felt like striking an ice sculpture, each blow sending shivers up the arm.

“If you knew what it was made of, you wouldn’t say to throw it away so easily! In the first place, it’s because of me we got that giant without a scratch—!”

*Clack!*

The spear snaked into Sylverna’s hand.

Her aura, linked to the spear, allowed for this kind of retrieval.

“Alright, fall back!”

At Sylverna’s word, they all spun and began retreating.

Isaac, jogging, clicked his tongue at the broken blade.

“What was it he said? That it would never break? So sure of himself!”

“Antonio, that old geezer, he seems to have quite the brag!” Jonathan chimed in, agreeing with Isaac’s grumbling.

He had laughed, telling them to swing it to their hearts’ content today since it would never break.

Looks like that blacksmith just had bragging rights that kept growing.

They were able to quickly get back to the wall, helped by the fact that the barrier was concentrated on this side of the battlefield once they entered the range of its support.

Back inside, as everyone recovered, Isaac grumbled.

“I’m going to go have a word with that blacksmith today, I swear.”

Isaac, uncharacteristically emotional.

He was rolling up his sleeves, ready to dash off, but Anna offered him a towel, asking:

“Isaac, did this feel… off to you this time? Like the Frosthowler was waiting for us?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt.”

Jonathan nodded at Anna’s words.

Sylverna also folded her arms, waiting for Isaac’s opinion.

He nodded, tucking the broken blade back into its sheath.

“Makes sense. How many times have we countered the giants’ surprise attacks like this? They must be setting traps now.”

They had probably anticipated an assassination attempt on the giant and set up the ambush.

“Drink this.”

Sharen handed over a water bottle.

Taking a sip, Isaac reorganized his thoughts before continuing.

“Historically, these great swarms are led by exceptionally intelligent beasts. It’ll be the same this time, too.”

In truth, Isaac already knew.

Knew what beast commanded the great swarm.

Knew, also, the manner of its demise.

‘It hasn’t moved yet.’

But, the time for it to stir seemed not yet nigh.

Such a being was not one that could be found by mere searching, anyway.

Unless it moved of its own will, no human could even lay eyes upon it.

‘Because you told me so.’

He cast a glance towards Sylverna.

Drawing on memories gleaned from Sylverna’s words in his past life, the beast leading the swarm was no ordinary foe.

He’d heard that even Uldrian Caldias himself struggled against it.

“W-what? Why?”

“Right?! Exactly! That’s right. This operation might get tricky too!”

Anna stepped in front of Sylverna, who was blushing and looking embarrassed.

Though on the battlefield she was composed, in ordinary situations, Sylverna still had trouble concealing her emotions.

Press, press.

“Ouch!”

“Ah, sorry.”

Isaac yelped, startled as Sharen began massaging his shoulder.

Despite being told off, Sharen didn’t stop, but continued her gentle massage.

Seeing this, Jonathan spoke.

“It seems Lady Sharen has grown rather kind to Isaac-nim lately.”

“Ah, that’s right. I saw it too. Just the other day, when Isaac said he was hungry, she went all the way to the mess hall to get him a sandwich.”

When Meladic added to the story, all eyes turned towards Sharen.

But Sharen, with a confident shrug, replied.

“What’s wrong with being nice to my brother-in-law?”

That was true, he supposed.

After all, they were family.

While there was no logical flaw to her words, it was Sharen who spoke them, making the situation all the more disconcerting.

“Isaac, is it cool?”

“……”

“Cool?”

“……”

“Cool?”

Isaac, lips clamped to the water bottle, evading the answer, finally nodded.

“Yeah, it’s cool.”

If asked if it was cool, it was. Sharen then promptly moved forward and nudged her head.

A signal to pet.

Half demand.

It was barely three days ago she’d headbutt his back all day for not petting her.

Shhk shhk.

“Heheheh!”

Sharen, in high spirits.

Suddenly, seeing this, Jonathan approached Isaac and asked,

“Anywhere feeling stiff, perhaps? I give a truly exceptional massage, you see.”

Why, after seeing him pet her head, did he suddenly want to give a massage too?

Isaac refused, and then turned his gaze beyond the wall.

“They’re retreating.”

“Because the Giant is dead. They lack the firepower to breach the wall.”

The retreating monsters.

In truth, this attack was nothing more than a probe.

Before breaking the wall, they tapped, as if knocking, to see just how sturdy it was.

‘I should ask the Marcher for some advice.’

Joining as Silverna’s adjutant would allow him access to the meetings.

The Great Hive was mostly handled by the Malridian Wall in his past life, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

Still, minimizing losses would make it easier to deal with the threats that would come later.

‘More importantly, I need to go to the smithy.’

He moved, intent on confronting them about the attitude of saying it wouldn’t break, then breaking like glass.

“Isaac!”

Silvana, armor shed, coat donned, suddenly jabs a finger at Isaac, declaring,

“You cut your hair! Don’t tie it up!”

“……Huh?”

“That’s an order from the captain! Cut it! A full buzz! It’s ugly to look at!”

And then, sulking, Silvana stalks off. While Isaac stands there, bewildered by her apparent anger, Sharen beside him whines, bewildered.

“What’s gotten into her? He looks deadly and good with his hair tied up.”

“Haha-”

Hearing that, Anna awkwardly scratches her cheek and adds quietly,

“That’s why.”