Chapter 31 - Set It on Fire

'Somehow, it feels like setting tents on fire has become my specialty.'

Encrid thought this as he leaned against a tree and briefly explained the plan.

None of the squad members added a word; they merely listened.

Because now, they were truly no different from being on a fired arrow.

After that, Encrid made his move.

"I'll go first."

He stepped out so quietly that not even a footstep could be heard. Later, he lowered his posture and simply lay on the ground to crawl.

All the squad members watched Encrid crawling on the ground.

The plan he had ordered was simple.

It was a basic trick: make noise in the east and strike in the west.

The ones making noise were Mac and all the remaining squad members.

Only three were excluded from the noise-making group.

Encrid, Andrew, and the ex-thug soldier.

"I'll do it."

Mac took the initiative to draw the sentry's attention.

He spoke readily, without a single complaint.

Mac's attitude had suddenly changed, but Encrid didn't think much of it.

If he was going to listen well, then it was a good thing.

Mac stealthily warmed up in the dark, picked up a stone, and hurled it with all his might.

The flying stone struck a soldier's head.

SMACK!

The stone bounced off the helmet, and the struck soldier let out a yelp.

"... God damn it."

"What is it!"

The four soldiers standing guard turned their bodies to one side.

Encrid held his breath and watched them.

Words were unnecessary.

"Intruders!"

A soldier shouted. A commotion broke out.

And Encrid tried to press himself closely against the tent right at that timing, but...

"You rat-like bastard."

He was caught red-handed.

There was no need to panic.

It was something he had learned through several repeats of today.

'I can't do it alone.'

Beside the tent, a soldier holding a spear glared fiercely.

Encrid raised his body before the opponent could rush at him.

The dirt clinging to his chest crumbled and fell to the ground.

Without even a battle cry, the soldier, with his back to the torch stand, thrust his spear.

Watching the violently flying spear until the very end, Encrid twisted his body to dodge.

No, it didn't end with just dodging.

He took a gamble, risking about half his life.

It was a crazy stunt he could pull off because the Heart of a Beast gave him boldness.

He moved forward while dodging.

The spearhead grazed his shoulder. It was a narrow escape.

A burning heat could be felt from his shoulder.

In exchange, Encrid managed to reach right under the enemy's nose.

Closing the distance, he slashed his sword upward.

Spotting the blade, the enemy soldier lowered his spear shaft to block like a shield.

And Encrid drove the knife in his left hand, which he had kept hidden since his initial charge, straight toward the opponent's collarbone.

SHCK!

The blade struck, cleaving through bone and flesh all at once.

"Urgh!"

The enemy soldier let out a groan.

Encrid then immediately slammed his forehead into the man's nose.

CRACK!

The struck soldier fell backward and collapsed without even being able to groan.

It was the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique, three-sword style.

The first sword was a feint; the real attacks were the knife held in the left hand and the Headbutt.

To pull this off, he had charged at the spear, risking about half his life.

He had taken down the enemy soldier.

However, since he had already been spotted, setting fire to the barracks became a distant prospect.

Because another soldier appeared behind the fallen enemy, holding a torch and a sword.

The man with a scar around his eye truly looked formidable.

It was obvious just from his gait and demeanor.

That he was no amateur.

"Pathetic."

He clicked his tongue and spoke.

There was a sense of leisure in his approaching steps.

Even though he had just seen an assailant jump out of the dark, he didn't show a single hint of fear.

"Whew, taking a while, aren't they."

Encrid muttered.

The man furrowed his brows at those words.

FWOOSH.

It was behind the man.

Flames were soaring up. Before they knew it, the tent had caught fire.

"... Put it out!"

The man shouted. Watching him, Encrid dashed forward and thrust his sword.

He pushed off the ground with his right foot and stamped down with his left.

"Everything starts from the feet."

This was the foundation of swordsmanship that Rem and Ragna, two of his squad members, had both emphasized.

Encrid did exactly that.

From the feet.

He kicked the ground and advanced. In an instant, the figure of the soldier holding a sword and torch in each hand grew larger in his vision.

The man was looking back. He was completely wide open.

Encrid thrust his sword.

Loaded with the elasticity of his entire body, it was that exact thrust from the soldier who had killed Encrid countless times at the beginning.

SWOOSH.

The blade cleaved the air and reached its destination.

It was truly an instant.

Out of all the thrusts he had ever executed, this one was the absolute best.

That held true throughout all his repeated todays.

Encrid thought he had killed his opponent.

In Encrid's focused eyes, objects seemed to move slowly.

Everything slowed down. His own sword, the man's hand.

In that slowed world, the enemy soldier's hand twitched. Soon, the enemy's sword surged up from below.

CLASH!

SPURT!

Encrid moved as if he were bouncing off to the side, passing the man, and came to a stop while clutching his stomach.

The enemy soldier, who had his head turned backward, looked forward again.

He looked at Encrid and raised an eyebrow.

"You arrogant little shit."

The opponent looked incredibly pissed off.

Of course, him being angry wasn't an issue at all.

If there was a problem, it was because of his astonishing sword skills.

'In that split second?'

The thrust had been perfect. Satisfying beyond measure.

It was the kind of thrust that even Rem wouldn't have dared try to block unless he was using that whip-like curving axe.

Yet, he dodged it.

Though it left a shallow cut on his neck, it was a wound that could easily be considered a mere scratch, far from a fatal blow.

On the other hand, the sword the enemy had reflexively drawn upward had accurately slashed near Encrid's side.

It wasn't a deep wound. The bone wasn't damaged either.

It wasn't a fatal wound, but...

'I was caught off guard.'

And yet, this was the result.

Moreover, how familiar was this 'today' to Encrid?

Even so.

It felt as though a massive river flowed between him and the enemy soldier.

Except the opponent could cross that river to stab and slash him at any given moment.

Whereas he felt like he could barely even dip his toes in the water.

There was a clear gap in skill between the two.

So what?

Had he ever only fought opponents weaker than himself?

Encrid regulated his breathing and gripped his sword.

If this was today's turning point, he would simply do his best.

It was a skill gap that felt daunting.

Even so, nothing changed.

If others felt that daunting gap as despair and a sheer cliff...

Encrid perceived it as a staircase.

The kind of staircase he could step on and climb up someday.

A thrilling euphoria filled him from the tips of his toes to his chest.

Look at this.

How is repeating today a curse?

By overcoming all those countless todays, he would eventually be able to defeat that tremendous expert.

He absolutely would.

He would never settle for just today.

That was why euphoria welled up inside him.

Encrid's feelings were revealed through his face.

"You're smiling?"

The face of the enemy soldier holding the sword contorted. While Encrid showed euphoria, this man wore blatant fury on his face.

"I'll tear you apart and throw you to the dogs."

Encrid had a premonition of death.

Because right now, no matter what he did, this was an opponent he couldn't beat.

Not that he intended to go down quietly.

He braced himself for the pain. He wouldn't back down. Just as he gripped his sword and steadied his resolve...

FWOOSH.

Flames surged upward behind the man. As if mocking the fire from moments ago as a mere joke, it looked as though a dragon was breathing fire.

The fire spread to the entire tent.

CRACKLE!

Sparks flew in all directions.

Multiple urgent voices could be heard beyond the flames rising from the tent.

"These bastards! Put it out!"

"Someone poured oil on it, Platoon Commander!"

"The torch stands fell over!"

'Oh my, they're doing a great job.'

To set fire to this tent, Encrid had drawn their attention twice.

Once with Mac and the squad members.

And the other time by himself directly.

The fire had been set by Andrew and the ex-thug squad member.

The ex-thug squad member had fully demonstrated the skills he acquired from causing trouble in the city right here.

"The flagpole is burning!"

Seeing the flames soaring right next to the tent, a man suddenly shouted.

He was a man with bizarrely shaped tattoos on his face.

"Platoon Commander! Do you not know what's important right now!"

He scolded the man standing in front of Encrid.

Watching this, Encrid discreetly stepped back.

No matter how much lower his skill level was compared to the opponent, he wouldn't die to just one or two strikes.

The opponent knew that too. If he made up his mind to stall, he could hold out until those flames burned down the tent and the flagpole inside it entirely.

Honestly, Encrid couldn't understand why they were risking their lives over a few mere flagpoles.

The only thing he knew was this.

That the enemy cherished it.

Much more than the lives of a few enemy soldiers, at that.

"You, just wait."

The opponent, the bastard who was the Platoon Commander of the Aspen unit, glared at Encrid before abruptly spinning around.

He had decided it was more urgent to deal with the guys setting fires in the back than to fight Encrid here.

Encrid let out an inward sigh of relief.

It truly felt like he had come back from the dead.

Dying was something he couldn't get used to, no matter how many times he experienced it while repeating today.

If this was a curse, then it was indeed a curse.

Because he had to suffer through that horrific moment over and over again.

Of course, all the pain and agony that came from facing death wasn't a major issue for Encrid.

If he could move forward through this.

If his skills improved through this.

Why wouldn't he be able to endure it?

"We need to go."

As he briefly kept his guard up, Andrew's voice rang out from behind him.

Glancing back, he saw Andrew's face covered in soot.

"We are retreating."

Encrid spoke and began to move.

The ex-thug soldier followed behind him.

While running, Andrew pulled a whistle from his chest and blew it.

WHEEEET, WHEEEET!

Upon two long blows, Mac came running from afar, leading the remaining squad members.

Looking closely, Henri was bleeding from his arm, and there were no other soldiers following Mac.

The squad, which had initially been ten men, was now halved.

And the path of escape Encrid had wanted was now open.

"They've gotten busy. There won't be a large-scale pursuit, right?"

It sounded as though Mac was asking if this was what he'd been aiming for. As if proving that things had been rough on their end as well, his forehead was split open. Blood could be seen trickling down his brow.

"Probably."

Encrid answered and kept his feet moving.

Blood continued to flow from his side, too.

He thought it wasn't a very deep wound, but since he kept running without stemming the bleeding, the blood showed no signs of stopping.

There was nothing he could do for now, so he just pressed down on it with his hand and ran.

Because from this point on it was an unknown today, Encrid kept a watchful eye on their rear.

There was an enemy pursuit. Five bastards were chasing them.

"These crazy bastards!"

They were relatively fresh.

Though they had soot on their faces, they didn't have a single scratch on them.

For those five, Encrid, Andrew, and Mac were enough.

Henri had a hole in his stomach, and perhaps due to the blood flowing from his abdomen, he was staggering. The ex-thug squad member was busy supporting him, unable to fight properly.

"Damn it, we're all gonna die at this rate, so get a grip!"

Although the ex-thug soldier scolded Henri, he didn't abandon him.

Encrid's side wound opened up more from fighting the pursuit team.

Still, it wasn't enough to kill him.

Mac had his thigh slashed while killing two of the pursuit soldiers.

However, he pulled out a linen bandage, tied it tight, and followed along without falling behind.

Andrew's skills seemed to have rapidly improved from just a few battles.

'No, that's not it.'

Encrid realized that it wasn't a sudden improvement in skill.

It would be more accurate to say that his true abilities were coming out after experiencing the intense battlefield.

If Andrew's sword hadn't fiercely whipped around and instantly killed two of the pursuers, their escape probably would have failed.

Or it would have been much rougher.

Blood seeped out once again from the wound on Andrew's cheek that he had gotten earlier.

They were all battered and bruised, but they didn't just die like that.

After getting their bearings and fleeing through the night, Henri spoke up halfway through in a dying voice.

"If we go west from here, there's a habitat for plains foxes and snakes. If we head there, they won't be able to chase us easily."

Various animals lived in this plain, known as the Green Pearl.

Among them were foxes and snakes. However, while foxes were one thing, it was dangerous because there were many venomous snakes.

"If we go there, we'll get bitten to death by venomous snakes first before we even shake off the enemy soldiers."

Mac said.

At that, Henri opened his mouth with a faint smile.

"There's a place where the fox habitat and the snake habitat overlap. I know it. It's the border between the snake and fox habitats, so it's safe. It's the Hunter's Path."

Looking at Henri, Encrid thought it was amazing how he could still smile while looking so pale.

To offer to guide them in that condition.

This guy's mental strength wasn't ordinary either.

Everyone looked at Encrid.

Because the decision was up to him.

"That way."

Encrid spoke and moved. There was no hesitation.

As he walked, he fell into different thoughts.

'That's the first time I've seen that bastard.'

That bastard who was the enemy's Platoon Commander remained deeply etched in his mind.

If that Platoon Commander bastard had popped out every single time, he would have been too busy dying.

But it was the first time.

He probably only showed up because they had pushed the situation this far.

'Wait, is that it?'

Come to think of it, he felt like he had heard that voice before.

It was when he had sneaked into the burning barracks after repeating today several times previously.

When he barely managed to enter the barracks guarded by the enemy soldiers, a bizarre sight had greeted Encrid's eyes.

A flagpole and a flag.

A bowl emitting strange smoke, and a man whose face was covered in tattoos.

He had wondered if the guy was doing some kind of fortune-telling.

But the opponent's reaction had been overly aggressive.

"Catch him!"

Hadn't he completely freaked out when Encrid kicked the flagpole?

He had realized it then.

That this flagpole was something important to them.

And at that time, there had been a guy who slashed his neck from behind.

"What the hell is this bastard."

Thinking about it, it seemed to be the exact same bastard who owned that voice.

Lost in thought, as he walked guided by Henri, the surroundings began to be dyed in blue.

Blue light enveloped the surroundings from top to bottom, announcing the start of the day.

It was dawn.

Before he knew it, the day had begun to break.

Encrid realized that he had overcome today once again.

Heading toward the main force until the sun rose and the surroundings became brightly illuminated, Encrid's Recon Squad met the main reconnaissance force.

"What is with that state of yours?"

The Recon Platoon Commander asked as soon as they faced each other.

Encrid had many things more urgent than giving an explanation.

Because there were more than just one or two injured people.

Reporting on the way back would be enough.

For now, simply being alive was enough.

"Whew, I am going to pass out now."

Henri said from behind him.

Encrid didn't bother replying.

Because a guy who had already passed out wouldn't hear anything he said anyway.