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Though they had all undergone intense training in their previous units,

‘Is this the first real combat for everyone?’

Only Dianal and Kyle had real combat experience from fighting monsters in the Bronselian Forest.

Damian looked at the others and asked.

“I’ll be blunt. Has anyone here ever killed a person?”

“……”

At Damian’s question, everyone remained silent, like mute fish with their mouths shut.

It was clear that none of them had that kind of experience.

‘Jerka and Terka aren’t the types to hesitate about something like that.’

Moreover, Dianal and Kyle had experience with real battles against monsters, so they should be fine.

The issue was the rest of the group.

Damian didn’t know enough about them to handle this situation effectively.

Damian turned to Vincent and suggested.

“Commander, how about dividing into three groups: Jerka and Terka, Dianal and Kyle, and the rest?”

“That would be efficient, but we must take down the enemies quickly. If any of them escape, we could be in serious danger.”

This operation was also a race against time.

Damian nodded at Vincent’s words.

“If each of them handles one enemy, and you take care of one… I’ll handle the rest.”

“…?”

Vincent blinked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

What was Damian saying?

“What do you mean by that?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll make sure to get it done.”

“But…”

Vincent frowned, about to say something when he suddenly remembered Leonhark’s words.

—Do you think age correlates with skill?

If it was about skill, Damian had already defeated a knight of the Monster Knight Order.

‘I’ll trust him.’

If it turns out to be too much, Vincent could always step in to help.

Vincent quietly drew his sword, prompting the other unit members to ready their weapons as well.

Creak. Creak.

Damian connected two rods from his back.

It was a spear customized in Erkal, designed to be split into two parts and secured at the waist, ideal for mountainous or fast-moving terrain.

As Damian swiftly assembled the spear, Vincent looked on in surprise.

‘Was there… something like this?’

It was an uncommon design.

Though it seemed slightly fragile, it appeared highly useful in emergencies.

Vincent looked at his unit members.

They all seemed prepared, their eyes filled with determination.

Vincent led the way, slowly closing the distance toward the enemies.

After moving as close as they could.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

They could hear someone’s heavy breathing.

The tension was pressing down on their chests.

However, the heavy breathing made it impossible to get any closer without being detected.

Vincent bit his lip.

“Now!”

Whoosh!

At Vincent’s quiet command, the unit members charged toward the enemies.

“What, what’s going on?!”

“It’s an attack!”

The surprised enemies quickly stood up and grabbed their weapons.

Their reaction was surprisingly fast for being caught off guard.

Damian’s eyes gleamed.

‘As expected…’

They were no ordinary foes.

Damian darted like lightning toward the closest enemy.

Swish!

“Damn!”

The enemy hastily swung his sword at Damian’s attack.

He needed time to deflect the attack and regroup.

Swoosh!

“…!”

But just as the spear flying toward his shoulder sharply changed direction.

Thunk!

“Argh!”

Damian’s spear stabbed deeply into the enemy’s left thigh.

As the enemy winced in pain and staggered.

Slash!

Damian cut through his abdomen.

Thrust!

Then pierced his throat.

“Gah…!”

The man, with the spear lodged in his neck, staggered and collapsed, gurgling on the ground.

The battle ended so quickly that even the enemies and allied forces were taken aback.

And then…

“Run!”

“They’re not ordinary! Run for your lives!”

The ambushing enemies shouted in panic and began to scatter.

“Do you think you can escape?”

“There’s no way out!”

With a minimum of two-person teams, and at most four per group, escaping was nearly impossible.

Whoosh!

Damian swiftly closed in on a fleeing enemy, stabbing his spear into the man’s back.

‘End it with full force.’

These were not foes they could afford to fight half-heartedly.

Had it not been an ambush, the battle would have been evenly matched.

But with three or four already dead, the advantage had fully swung in their favor.

“Don’t kill them all! Capture them!”

Vincent shouted to the other unit members, but Jerka had already killed one enemy.

“Dianal, Kyle! Capture that one!”

“Heh, don’t worry!”

Kyle smashed an enemy with his shield and quickly seized him from behind.

Crack!

“Aaaargh!”

The enemy let out a scream as Kyle’s overwhelming strength crushed his bones.

As the captured man continued to scream.

“Be quiet.”

Dianal tore a piece of another enemy’s clothing and roughly stuffed it into his mouth.

The battle was over in an instant.

Two enemies were captured, and eleven were killed.

Half of the dead were Damian’s.

“Huff… Huff…!”

As the situation settled, a few unit members were left with trembling hands.

Their first experience of killing.

The indescribable emotions coursed through their bodies.

But at that moment.

Thud.

“It’s alright. We did what we had to do.”

Damian grabbed their shoulders firmly with both hands as he spoke.

At that moment, the trembling in his hands ceased.

“…Th-thank you.”

He spoke to Damian.

“…”

Meanwhile, Vincent quietly watched Damian.

It was a situation that defied any rational explanation.

“…Let’s hurry back. The others might come if they heard the noise.”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

The captured enemies struggled violently.

Smack! Thud!

Damian struck the back of their necks with the shaft of his spear.

Thump.

The two captives immediately quieted down, and Damian said,

“We’ll return as quickly as possible.”

Damian spoke calmly.

He was truly a remarkable person.

* * *

“…Phew!”

Returning to the border defense headquarters, the members of the Caion Unit collapsed to the ground, sprawling out as if they had been drained of energy.

They had been tense and on edge until they handed over the prisoners.

Once the situation was over, the tension finally eased.

“…I don’t quite understand what just happened.”

Dianal spoke softly as he entered the barracks.

The battle they had fought against the enemy was still vividly fresh in his mind.

Jerka added.

“Phew… At least thanks to the ambush, we were able to kill them cleanly. Those bastards were pretty tough.”

Although they won, they were no easy opponents.

Even after being ambushed, they had put up a fierce resistance.

Damian looked at his comrades and said.

“The Commander is currently in a meeting with the Border Defense Commander. Rest until then… Anyone injured?”

“No injuries.”

“I got a slight scratch, but it’s nothing serious.”

Thankfully, it seemed no one was seriously hurt.

Damian sat down and let out a small sigh.

“…Hoo.”

In a way, this was his first battle against ‘humans’ since his return.

Damian clenched and unclenched his fist.

It wasn’t as bad as he thought.

His body’s movements.

The atmosphere of the battlefield.

And even his current skills.

However, there were still many areas that needed improvement.

Particularly, his ability to handle magic required continued practice through real combat.

‘In actual combat, something… felt a bit off.’

It was harder to use it naturally compared to during practice.

“What are you thinking about?” Kyle asked, approaching Damian.

Damian shook his head.

“Nothing. How was it earlier?”

“…What do you mean?”

“It was your first real battle. Against people.”

“…”

Kyle and the others fell silent at his words.

They didn’t reply immediately but instead recalled their memories of that moment.

“Honestly… it didn’t feel good.”

Kyle let out a small sigh.

Fighting against monsters never gave him this feeling, but after fighting against people, he felt deeply uneasy.

Kyle continued.

“I’ve been in many fights, but… something feels strange.”

“War is different from a fight because you have to kill your enemies.”

That’s the nature of war.

You can’t predict what will happen, and no matter how skilled you are, you can be crushed by the weight of it all.

Damian addressed his comrades.

“Remember one thing when fighting on the battlefield.”

Everyone turned to look at Damian.

He continued.

“No matter if you roll, get torn, or crawl on your knees and beg….”

Damian repeated the lesson he always emphasized to his subordinates.

“Do whatever it takes to survive. Gold and treasures mean nothing if you’re dead.”

Staying alive.

That was Damian’s most important message on the battlefield.

To that, one of them replied.

“…Vice-commander, just make sure you don’t die. I saw you fighting like a beast back there.”

“Haha, I saw it too.”

Dianal’s comment made Jerka burst into laughter.

The heavy mood lightened instantly.

Damian chuckled.

“I’m strong, you idiot.”

As they exchanged light-hearted banter.

“Is everyone unharmed?”

Vincent returned after finishing his meeting.

Everyone nodded at Vincent’s question.

“We’re fine. What about you, Commander?”

“I’m fine.”

“Did you learn anything from the captives?”

Damian asked Vincent.

This was the most important matter.

Vincent nodded.

“Experts are working on it, so we should find out soon. But the general situation… doesn’t look good.”

They had already requested support from the 1st and 2nd Divisions, as well as the rear units.

“If the enemy retreats, that’s fine… but if they opt for a full-scale battle, things could get complicated.”

“A full-scale battle would mean a declaration of war, wouldn’t it?”

At Damian’s question, everyone’s expressions hardened.

“A war?”

“War? No way… not now…”

“There’s no justification… is there?”

Everyone spoke in denial.

It was only natural.

‘These guys living in this era probably never thought a war could break out.’

Conflicts between countries were all being resolved diplomatically.

Military clashes were almost nonexistent.

Especially for large kingdoms like the Baroque Kingdom.

‘That’s why, when the Empire started a war, the chaos only grew.’

Even after the war began, people continued to believe it wouldn’t affect their lives.

Some called this a ‘sense of false security.’

But it wasn’t until nearly half of the kingdom’s citizens were dragged to the battlefield that everyone realized the severity of the situation.

And the current state.

Damian thought about the forces gathering at the border.

‘The truth will be revealed soon…’

The situation couldn’t be clearly defined at the moment.

However, there was one thing he could surmise.

‘The war has already begun.’

Damian’s eyes darkened with calm resolve.