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Thud.

It felt like dying.

His whole body felt shattered, and just standing up made his legs tremble.

“Hey… you okay?”

“My arms won’t move.”

Holding up shields all day had left even their arms shaking. But…

“Hehehehehehe.”

“What the hell, why’s this guy laughing? Hehehe.”

Seeing his companion join in the laughter, the one who started it asked.

“Then why are you laughing while lying there?”

“I don’t know, I just felt like laughing.”

“Heh, laughing when we’re all about to die in a few days.”

The training was almost at its end.

They had trained to the brink of death, every hour feeling like a full day.

Each day has been spent like this.

“Hey, how long have you been here?”

“About… a year?”

The man’s answer brought a small chuckle from the one who asked.

“Heh, damn, you’ve managed to survive.”

“Same goes for you. You’ve been here about a year too, right?”

“I got here before you did.”

The man glanced over at Damian, who was still strategizing even while they rested.

The one watching Damian muttered softly.

“I’ve never met someone as ruthless as that guy in my life.”

“…Same.”

Throughout their lives, they’d rarely felt fear from people. They’d only ever cowered under the weight of authority and power.

But Damian was different.

Looking into his eyes, which burned with a chilling intent, genuinely made one feel afraid.

Yet…

“You know, this is probably the first time I’ve worked this hard for something.”

“…Yeah, same here.”

The soldiers who came to this place always looked at them like they were insects, knowing that many of them would be dead within days.

But Damian was different.

In some ways, he was the most ruthless and foul-tempered of all the soldiers who’d ever come here.

But while he called them trash, he also showed them how to survive, giving them a path forward.

For the first time, it felt like they might actually escape this place alive if they followed his lead.

The man who had been watching Damian spoke up.

“Can’t believe I’m feeling this way about a guy who’s lived maybe half as long as me.”

He let out a bittersweet smile, and the man next to him nodded in agreement.

Just then…

“You trash! If you’ve rested enough, get your asses up now!”

“Yes, sir! Commander!”

“Understood!”

They shot to their feet, responding automatically to Damian’s command.

But unlike the terror they felt at first, now there was a sense of calm and—more importantly—a goal.

The goal of surviving and escaping this place alive.

Damian addressed the assembled soldiers on the training grounds.

“Tomorrow is the day.”

Through negotiations with the regular forces stationed on the outskirts, it had been decided that the battle would take place three days before the truce ended. This allowed time for the regular troops to take the base if the Makstri unit failed.

Damian continued.

“Tomorrow, we will drive the Iren Kingdom soldiers out of the gold mine base and take control.”

If they failed, they would all die there.

Damian didn’t bother saying this part out loud.

Because they would win.

“So today, we will conduct the final test. I will attack while you advance. Your task is to maintain formation and keep pushing forward.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Remember, if you fail this test today, tomorrow… you will all die, just as fate has dictated.”

Damian’s eyes flashed with a fierce determination.

The men swallowed nervously, staring at him.

“Any questions?”

“No, sir!”

They all wore determined expressions. Damian nodded.

“Form assault formation.”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

At Damian’s command, they swiftly moved into formation.

For over 20 days, they had repeated this drill.

All seven squads, about 150 men.

Even those who had been nursing minor injuries were fully recovered, slightly boosting their overall strength.

Damian smirked slightly as he observed them skillfully forming the assault formation.

‘This… might just be enough.’

It was borderline, but they were good enough to pass.

Damian glanced at the long rods piled nearby.

Grabbing one of the rods, he hurled it directly at the advancing formation.

Whoosh!

The rod flew straight, striking one of the men at the front with a loud crash.

Bang!

The front man flinched, but…

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

After a brief hesitation, they resumed their advance, their steps synchronized and their speed impressive.

“Not bad.”

Damian’s eyes gleamed as he grabbed another rod.

Now it was time for the real challenge.

Whoosh! Bang!

Whoosh! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Damian increased the pace, throwing the rods in rapid succession.

Each throw caused the men to flinch as loud booms erupted around them, the sounds battering their ears.

Their heavy breaths filled the tight formation.

Despite the tension of the final test eating away at their stamina…

“Advance!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

They stomped harder, pressing forward with renewed strength.

As the formation closed in on Damian, stopping just short of his reach…

“This is the last one.”

Damian grabbed the final rod. Then…

Voom!

Drawing power from his mana core, Damian channeled it into the rod.

He focused on the soldier at the front, his eyes meeting the soldier’s determined gaze.

With one final effort, Damian hurled the rod with all his might.

Whoosh!

The rod shot forward, moving faster than any of the previous throws, a streak of raw, concentrated force aimed directly at the heart of the formation.

The impact was explosive, enough to dent the shield.

The soldier hit by the attack momentarily lost consciousness from the intense force.

As his body flew backward, clutching the crumpled shield—

Thud!

The comrades behind him reached out, supporting his back.

“Snap out of it!”

“Hey!”

The shouts from his comrades jolted him awake, as if he had only been asleep for a moment.

“Huff… huff… huff…!”

The lingering shock in his body was all too real.

He took deep, ragged breaths and charged forward once more.

Damian straightened his back, looking at the soldiers.

“Pass.”

Turning around, Damian glanced toward the dining area.

“Bring out all the meat from storage. Rest up and eat well today.”

Tomorrow was the decisive battle.

Damian listened to the cheers of his troops as he made his way back to his tent.

* * *

Whooosh!

Today, the wind seemed particularly fierce.

One of the Iren Kingdom soldiers guarding the gold mine commented, “The wind’s really strong today, huh?”

“Yeah. If we shoot arrows today, they’ll probably veer off course with this wind.”

It was difficult to shoot arrows accurately in such strong winds.

The soldiers of Iren Kingdom stared out into the empty expanse ahead.

“You think those Baroque bastards have really given up? We haven’t seen them for weeks now.”

“…Who knows.”

Only three days remained until the truce would end.

Typically, by now, the Baroque Kingdom would have sent all their prisoners to die, followed by their regular forces.

It was a pattern they had seen many times, but…

“Still, it feels weird not having been attacked yet.”

But in the end, it was just a ragtag group of criminals.

No matter how much they struggled, they couldn’t break through unless the Baroque Kingdom’s regular army intervened.

The Iren Kingdom soldiers chatted casually, confident in their defenses.

But then—

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a massive group appeared in the distance.

It was the Baroque Kingdom’s army.

“They’re here!”

“Is it the regulars?”

They checked, hoping it wasn’t, but it was not the regular army.

One soldier quickly rang the bell and shouted, “The Baroque Kingdom’s forces! The Baroque bastards have shown up!”

Hearing the call, Iren Kingdom’s commander, Goodwin, rushed forward to view the forces from the hilltop.

“…So they finally decided to show up.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t the regular army.

But once these men died, the regulars would surely follow.

‘If we’re going down, we’ll take as many with us as we can.’

Goodwin shouted orders.

“Archers, to your positions!”

The gold mine base was carved into the hillside, creating a natural cover and defensive position.

Without true walls to protect them, the key was to thin the enemy ranks before they could approach.

Responding to Goodwin’s command, the stationed soldiers drew their bows, ready to fire.

To defend this base, archery skills were essential.

“Annihilate them before they get close! Wait for my signal!”

Goodwin watched the advancing Baroque forces and yelled.

“…What the hell is that?”

As the enemy approached, their formation became visible, and Goodwin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?”

The criminals usually wore mismatched, ragged armor, but this time was different.

They were outfitted with proper armor and shields, somehow obtained from somewhere.

“Assault formation!”

“…?!”

At someone’s command, they raised their shields, forming a rectangular wall.

Goodwin’s face twisted with frustration.

“Formation?”

These criminals had formed a proper military formation, something only regular soldiers would normally do.

The improvised wall seemed well-constructed; the shields were so tightly packed there wasn’t even room for an arrow to slip through.

Goodwin bit his lip.

‘It’s just for show.’

While it might look impressive, effective formation combat required perfect coordination with one’s comrades.

No matter how much they trained, they’d had less than a month.

‘If we keep hammering, a crack will show.’

Goodwin’s gaze grew cold.

He drew his sword and roared.

“Fire!”

Swish, swish, swish!

At Goodwin’s command, hundreds of arrows rained down on the Makstri troops.

And then…

Gulp.

The Makstri soldiers marching forward gulped as they saw the sky darken with arrows.

For a moment, their bodies stiffened, and their legs felt like they might stop.

But at that instant—

“Don’t be scared! No matter how many of those arrows fly, they’re weaker than a single rod I’ve thrown! Believe in yourselves!”

Damian’s shout rang out from the front, and the soldiers gripped their shields tightly.

As the arrows began to fall—

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound was chaotic, like a torrential downpour, but it wasn’t as dangerous as it seemed.

“…What the hell?”

“What was that? Did anything even happen?”

“Hey, I didn’t feel a thing! Hahaha!”

Someone burst into laughter.

The arrows, which had once seemed so terrifying, barely made a dent.

The soldiers’ confidence surged.

They had trained relentlessly, and now they saw firsthand that their efforts were real.

Damian grinned and declared, “Now it’s their turn to feel fear.”