The ones leading Naurellia's front lines were all salaried soldiers.
They were people paid in crowns, devoting themselves solely to training.
They acted exactly as they had been trained and drilled.
The vanguard armed with shortbows—quick to serve as scouts when needed and swift light-armored archers in battle—all drew their bows.
Thudududung!
Shiiiiiiik!
Arrows cutting through the air embedded themselves into the massive shadow that hardly looked human.
Tadadadak!
Some soldiers were pleased that they had hit their mark.
Among them, some tilted their heads, puzzled as to why that tadadak sound kept occurring.
And yet others—
‘Why isn’t it stopping?’
They were bewildered by the fact that the shadow's charging speed didn’t slow.
Whoosh.
The mist parted. Beyond the fog pushed aside by the massive figure—
The creature's form was revealed. If it had been a bear, perhaps that would’ve made sense.
As the mist dispersed, even those in the rear could see their enemy.
Of course, it was visible to Enkrid as well.
Even though he was situated somewhere in the middle of the unit, the creature stood out clearly to him. It had to.
The hulking, inhuman figure ruined all sense of perspective.
At first glance, it looked like a massive porcupine.
The fact that it was enormous meant it was also a huge target.
The allied archers had shown excellent skill.
Dozens of arrows protruded from its body.
While it wasn’t possible to count them all, there were at least twenty or more.
Thus, with dozens of arrows sticking out of it, the creature's first impression was that of a giant porcupine.
Boom.
Afterward, the creature beyond the mist swung something in its hand, a massive, sweeping motion. A full swing from back to front.
Huaaang!
The sound of air splitting rang out. The mist scattered even further than before.
And then, from its back to the front, the object it held crashed to the ground.
Kwa-ang!
A deafening explosion erupted, as if a mage’s explosive spell had just gone off.
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It was as though a boulder had been launched from a catapult. The devastation was only natural.
“Kyaaak!”
“Aaaaa!”
A chorus of screams burst out.
Soldiers within the hammer’s range were crushed like tomatoes.
One soldier on the right had his legs shattered.
And that was him dodging as quickly as he could.
Another soldier on the left merely felt the wind pressure from the hammer and reflexively raised his shield.
Ujik. Kwajik.
The soldier heard the sound of half his body being torn apart. The oiled wooden buckler couldn’t even pretend to resist the creature’s force.
The shield shattered like a rotting twig, and the soldier’s right side was torn apart.
No, it exploded.
The hammer's almost spell-like impact sent the body flying sideways.
From the flung corpse, pink entrails burst out and sprayed into the air.
Blood, organs, bones, flesh—someone’s limbs—flew through the air.
They were once parts of a body, parts that had worked relentlessly to keep their owner alive.
But now, there was no need to wonder whose they had been. Anyone struck by that from the front would already be dead.
For today, one could only hope that Vengeance wasn’t standing on the front line.
Phuuu.
After delivering a single blow, the creature let out a long breath. The mere sound of its exhale rang clearly in their ears.
It was an overwhelming presence.
In its hands was a giant hammer.
The creature’s height far exceeded that of a human, and its solid skin and thick muscles marked its existence as something beyond ordinary.
It was a giant—a race as dangerous as the Frok.
Their strength was three to four times greater than that of humans, and their skin couldn’t be cut by just any blade.
They were often called the Red-Blooded Beasts.
The creature looked at the scene its hammer had created and hummed something akin to a tune.
“Krrunng!”
Its voice was like an echo booming from deep within a cave—low, deep, and wide-spreading.
As the cavernous humming spread, the allied soldiers’ atmosphere turned ice-cold.
A giant, of all things.
Where had something like this been hiding until now?
“Shit, move!”
A soldier, a step behind, shouted.
“I—iiid—iots.”
The giant muttered gleefully, as if it were truly enjoying itself.
The curses sounded as though they came from deep within a cave.
“Aaaah!”
Just because they were paid soldiers specializing in battle didn’t mean they were free of fear.
Of course they weren’t.
The frontline began to crack.
Terror settled in, and a few soldiers began to retreat.
That wasn’t something the commanders could allow, so the allied commander shouted.
“Do not retreat!”
Clang!
A few vanguard officers drew their swords, signaling that retreat would mean death.
“Damn it.”
What were they supposed to do?
The soldiers on the front line wanted to cry.
It was hell.
Being told to fight that.
Looking at the giant’s entire body, its armor appeared to be made of wood. Thin wooden planks covered its whole frame, with arrows embedded in them.
There were gaps near the joints where the armor didn’t cover.
But not even the arrows had grazed those spots.
Krruhuhu.
It was like watching a massive porcupine laugh.
The panicked soldiers, caught between screaming and freezing up, neither retreated nor advanced.
The giant took its time.
To it, they were all insects.
Unless those knights the humans prided themselves on appeared—
Everyone else was just bugs. Easy to crush, easy to kill.
It would smash, burst, and destroy.
The giant was enjoying this situation.
***
A giant.
Even Enkrid was stunned.
Where did something like that come from?
He recalled what he knew about giants, and naturally, the characteristics of each race he'd heard somewhere came to mind.
Froks were driven by dreams and desires.
Fairies revered nature.
Dwarves were obsessed with metal.
Beastmen prioritized reproduction above all.
Dragonfolk were said to walk alone.
And giants?
‘Creatures drunk on slaughter.’
They loved violence realized through death and killing, reveling in it, living for it.
And yet, they could never claim dominion over the continent.
Why was that?
In addition to intelligence inferior to humans, their instincts were far too dangerous to form an organized army.
Beings consumed by blood and slaughter.
They weren’t called the Red-Blooded Beasts for nothing.
Mad for battles of death and destruction.
Dominating a territory required political entities, but giants could never be that.
And among these races stood humans.
‘Humans can become anything.’
That was why they had become the center of the world, surpassing Froks, fairies, dwarves, beastmen, dragonfolk, and giants.
While the giant silently observed the surroundings and the soldiers at the front stiffened, narrowly avoiding wetting themselves—
Sughak.
Enkrid heard a peculiar sound.
A slicing noise, like flesh being cut by a well-honed blade.
It might have been instinct, a gut feeling, or intuition.
His head turned.
Sachsen, who had been standing beside Enkrid, was already looking in that direction.
“Guk.”
“Enemies!”
Not many. Enkrid squinted.
It was on the right flank.
They had closed the distance under cover of the fog, obscuring visibility.
It looked like a small unit of about ten or so individuals, all seeming quite skilled.
To attack this position with just that number? They must have confidence in their abilities.
“If they’re drawing attention with the giant and hitting the right flank, there’s probably something on the left as well. Damn, it looks like we’ve been caught properly.”
Kreiss muttered as he turned his head left and right. Could he see anything?
If even his eyes didn’t spot anything, then all Kreiss could see was the mist.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t terrified by the giant.
Instead, he rolled his eyes wildly and said,
“We have to hold here.”
In truth, Kreiss’s mind had already spun through various scenarios and assumptions.
He could see the enemy's intent.
He also thought the battlefield favored the enemy. But he roughly guessed what the allied commander was aiming for.
After all, the mist didn’t only benefit the enemy.
If the enemy used the river to target the rear base, why couldn’t the allies do the same?
That was likely why the border guard wasn’t visible on the battlefield now.
The enemy was hiding, and the allies had some room to maneuver.
The choices were greater on their side.
Thus, the commander had chosen.
‘The main unit will endure with sheer numbers.’
Since the previous battle had ended in victory, there was now a difference in numbers.
If their level of training and morale was roughly equal, who would have the advantage?
No matter how fiercely Grey Dog—the independent company called the Persistent Lovers—raged, there were limits.
How many men could an independent company even have? Two to three hundred at most.
On top of that, various pieces of information were known.
For example, one of his platoon commanders had killed some of Grey Dog’s forces in a skirmish near Cross Guard.
How many troops would remain, then?
Even if the unit had been generously organized with four hundred men, by now they would have maybe two hundred left.
The battalion commander would know that, too.
So what had the enemy chosen?
‘A full charge on the front.’
They had committed everything.
Victory here, or nearly total annihilation.
The giant wasn’t their only card.
Kreiss’s mind calculated all this in an instant and reached a conclusion.
But he didn’t explain it all. He merely made the best decision to survive in this moment, to keep breathing inside the platoon commander’s tent.
“The giant isn’t all there is. If we don’t stop the front here, it’s over.”
He threw out the plain truth. It wasn’t him who would resolve this now.
The border guard had vacated their position.
The allied main force was holding with the assumption they could endure.
If something went wrong, it would mean their side being wiped out instead.
So what options remained for them?
There weren’t none.
Kreiss looked at the platoon commander who had fought Froks.
And the platoon members who matched that commander.
“Commander.”
Kreiss called out to Enkrid and explained.
Enkrid nodded.
Even hearing Kreiss’s words, he couldn’t grasp the entire situation.
Yesterday, he’d been too busy sparring, and when he’d tried to sleep deeply, his dreams were a mess.
But now, Kreiss’s eyes seemed to be shining.
Like Ragna’s had yesterday.
Like Rem when he was thrilled.
Like Sachsen when he’d turned oddly kind.
Like Audin, when he finally looked at ease.
“Alright. Got it.”
So he responded.
Enkrid swept his gaze left and right.
The right flank appeared to have a single squad’s worth of forces.
Not just one or two—it seemed like at least five or more.
What about the left?
“The left seems to be kin.”
It was the fairy company commander, somehow already close.
Shouldn’t the commander have been holding further back?
“I’ll handle the left.”
Why was he saying that out loud before leaving?
The fairy company commander glanced at Enkrid.
Their eyes met.
“What? Need a kiss of blessing or something?”
“No, I don’t.”
Why did Esther come to mind in that moment?
The young leopard would be hiding safely somewhere, right?
Enkrid shook his head.
The fairy company commander, after dropping his joke, was the same as usual. He didn’t smile. He simply stared silently, then moved toward the left.
A portion of his troops followed him.
Even if it wasn’t the independent company made for Enkrid—
The fairy company commander had chosen a few of the swiftest and most skilled members of his company to accompany him.
A concept like a commander’s escort squad.
One could see it as the 4th Company’s elite.
And so the commander moved.
“Good. Great.”
Rem nodded.
Rem was in a great mood. Truly, exceptionally good.
The reason? If anything, it had to be yesterday’s spar.
Up until then, he’d been filled with irritation.
No real fights worth calling battles.
Stupid duels that meant nothing.
And then Enkrid wasn’t even there when he finally stepped up.
When Enkrid had returned, his wrist had been hurt?
The built-up frustration had been scratching at his heart, irritating him.
But just before it exploded, the platoon commander had returned.
And his body had recovered quickly.
Then they exchanged words with swords and axes.
How should he describe that moment?
‘It was fucking fun.’
The frustration disappeared in an instant.
Everything that had been bothering him vanished.
His heart felt light.
When had he last felt this way?
At least since arriving on this continent, it was the first time.
Not on this continent, but elsewhere—he had felt this before.
Rem recalled a time similar to this moment.
It was when he’d first stepped onto the battlefield.
Back then, it was so much fun. He had been so thrilled he’d stuck out his tongue and rampaged.
Shaking off the thoughts, Rem laughed. As he laughed, he said,
“Watch closely. This is what you’ll learn next.”
He said it and began striding forward.
He walked straight toward the giant, who was splitting his face into a grin, amused as he watched the terrified soldiers.
Rem pushed aside allied soldiers in his path.
A path opened as they staggered back powerlessly.
“Move aside, you bastards.”
Rem seemed his usual self.
But clearly, he was in an exceptional mood—so unusually upbeat it was rare to see.
Enkrid simply watched.
He had told them to watch closely, so they would.
“I’ll take that side.”
Ragna, too, seemed unusually eager. He headed toward the right, where the commotion was growing.
It was a completely different look from his usual self.
He, too, was like Rem.
The spar with Enkrid.
The pent-up desire had been released. His heart felt lighter. Rather than laze about, he wanted to pick up a sword and swing it.
“You can’t go alone.”
When Enkrid voiced his concern, Ragna paused briefly, then said,
“I’ll handle that after this. It shouldn’t take long.”
Whether allied troops were being cut down on the right or not—
Ragna seemed unconcerned.
Enkrid thought about engaging the enemy attacking the right flank.
It was clearly a mobile strike team.
Perhaps it was better to draw them in and face them.
While Enkrid was thinking, the allied commander moved first.
“Pull back! Don’t fight like idiots and die up front—gather together! Cover each other’s backs!”
A familiar voice—it was Vengeance.
He’s doing well.
If the enemies on the right were drawn inward, there would be some time.
They would need time to pull them in deeper so they couldn’t escape.
“Well then, I’ll head out now, too.”
Audin said, stepping forward decisively.
Sachsen was already nowhere to be seen.
All the platoon members, their unspoken frustrations lifted, now moved lightly.
The spar with Enkrid had changed them.
For a brief moment—while waiting for the enemies to advance on the right—Enkrid watched Rem.
Rem approached, uncaring.
The giant was lifting his hammer for another swing.
An overwhelming display of violence.
The giant’s strength was palpable in this blow.
It was dizzying to imagine.
How would he block something like that himself?
And then Rem effortlessly surpassed Enkrid’s expectations.
As expected, Rem was Rem.