Arc 4 Chapter 33 : Wildfire

[??? POV]

After searching for several days, we finally found evidence of Imperial forces causing trouble in this area. The commander then ordered us to enter the forest.

We spread out into several teams to cover a wider search area, extending as far as one and a half kilometers.

“Yaaawn... Why did the Commander order us to move so early in the morning?”

“You’re right. We’ve already blocked all their escape routes through this forest. They have nowhere to go except toward the mountains, and there’s no way they could possibly get through those, right?”

Many of my comrades complained.

Honestly, I felt the same way. There were a total of 2,000 troops involved in this operation. I had heard that the enemy numbered only around 150 to 200 men.

Was it really necessary to bring this many soldiers?

This war had already been going on for nearly three months. However, I had heard that the situation on both the Western and Eastern Fronts remained stagnant.

To be honest, I didn't know much about war, and this was my first time fighting in one.

The trees around us grew taller and denser the deeper we ventured into the forest. The villagers usually only hunted and gathered medicinal plants up to five kilometers into the forest.

That was why the trees in this area were much taller than those we had passed earlier.

“Hey, Tigre, why are you spacing out like that?”

Suddenly, the comrade beside me asked.

He was my childhood best friend—Gianco. The two of us came from Ostia Village, which wasn't far from this forest.

When soldiers were being recruited because of the war, we immediately enlisted. This was because, after the President and the Council changed several systems based on Miss Siena's recommendations, citizens with military service experience would be given priority when applying for positions as civil servants in the Republic.

Gianco had convinced me to enlist because, according to his prediction, the main focus of the war would be in the west, so I wouldn't have to worry about dying young in battle.

But reality was not as beautiful as our hopes.

The war had spread even into the eastern regions, and in the end, we had to fight here as well.

“Sorry, Gianco. I was just thinking about the enemies we'll be facing later,” I replied.

“They only have 200 men at most, while our forces are ten times their number!” Gianco exclaimed confidently. “Don't worry. We'll definitely be back in the village tonight after wiping out the enemies in this area!”

I could only force a bitter smile at his words.

That was Gianco for you—always confident and full of hope at all times.

I wished I had at least half the confidence he possessed, so that I could always think positively like he did.

“Don't worry, Tigre. If any enemy dares come near you, I'll—”

“Hmm...? Gianco?”

I stopped walking because Gianco's voice suddenly fell silent, unable to finish what he had been saying.

Turning around, I saw a fairly large hole in the ground, with Gianco's body lying inside after he had just fallen into it.

“Arrrgghh! Why did the ground suddenly collapse!?” Gianco screamed.

His expression was twisted in pain, and blood appeared to be coming from his mouth.

“Gianco!”

I hurried over and crouched down to help him.

But my eyes widened when I saw several sharpened wooden stakes inside the pit, piercing various parts of Gianco's body.

“Eerrggg... Damn it! I can't pull them out...” Gianco tried to remove the sharpened stakes impaling him.

His face was covered in sweat, and his breathing was beginning to grow ragged.

“No! Don't pull them out, or you'll lose blood even faster!” I warned him.

As the son of a hunter, I recognized the trap that had caught Gianco.

It was a booby trap commonly used to capture wild animals in the forest, whose hides would later be sold.

But judging from the size and length of the wooden stakes, it was obvious that this trap had been designed to catch humans.

“Wait here, Gianco. I'll get a Priest,” I told him.

Blood had already begun soaking through his clothes and the wooden stakes piercing his body.

“O-Okay... I-I'll wait for you, Tigre.”

I hurried back to call for one of the Priests accompanying us.

“Arrrgghhh!”

“Ughhhh! Watch your step! There are a lot of enemy traps around here!”

I could hear the other soldiers screaming in pain.

It seemed that our enemies really had been the ones who set these traps and prepared them for us.

Not long afterward, I found a Priest toward the rear of the formation.

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He was healing someone whose leg had been pierced by a sharp tree branch.

“Priest! Can you come forward and save my friend!?” I pleaded.

“All right. Give me a moment,” the Priest replied.

After healing the wounded soldier, I led him toward the place where Gianco had fallen into the trap.

However, the Priest ran more slowly than I did, causing him to fall slightly behind.

—Thud!

My body suddenly crashed to the ground.

It seemed that my foot had caught on some kind of rope while I was running.

—Swoosshh!

I felt something pass over my head.

I immediately got back to my feet and turned around to call for the Priest following behind me.

“Sorry, I fell just now, Pri—”

My voice caught in my throat when I saw what had happened to the Priest.

A huge wooden log suspended from a rope had slammed into the front of his body.

Looking more closely, I saw that the log was covered with numerous sword blades embedded in its surface.

I finally realized that what I had tripped over was the trigger for one of the enemy traps scattered throughout this area.

Looking at the Priest up close, I saw his eyes wide open and his mouth hanging open as blood poured from it.

His body was completely rigid and motionless, indicating that he had died instantly after being struck by the wooden log covered in sword blades.

My emotions became a tangled mess at the sight.

I clenched my fists tightly, trying to endure the misfortune that had befallen me.

But I had no time to mourn my terrible luck.

Turning around, I ran back toward the place where Gianco had fallen into the trap.

When I reached the pit, I saw that my childhood friend's body was completely motionless, just like the Priest's.

His eyes were closed, and his head hung limply.

“Gianco! Gianco! Answer me, my friend!” I called out desperately.

But he didn't respond at all.

I couldn't even feel a pulse in his neck.

The man who had been by my side since childhood was gone.

“Damn...”

Tears began to stream down my cheeks.

For nearly twenty years, I had always been with him.

I had always believed that our friendship would last until we grew old—that one day we'd each have children of our own and reminisce about our younger days together.

Why did this have to happen?

Just a few months ago, our lives in the village had been peaceful and tranquil.

“The enemy forces are attacking!”

“Quick! Reform the formation!”

That's right.

They were the reason this war had begun...

Because of those greedy people, the peaceful days we had known were taken away in an instant, causing countless people throughout this country to suffer...

I rose to my feet and saw enemy soldiers dressed entirely in black attacking our scattered and panicking forces, taking advantage of the series of traps that had been activated throughout the area.

I drew my sword and glared at them—the people who had brutally killed my best friend.

“I'll avenge your death, Gianco...”

I lunged toward one of them, a man who had just decapitated four more of my comrades.

The black-haired man turned around, noticing my presence.

“Die!”

I swung my sword diagonally toward him.

—Clang!

He easily blocked my strike.

But I wouldn't stop until every last one of them was dead here.

Strengthening my resolve, I continued attacking him recklessly.

Yet no matter how hard I tried to kill him, he effortlessly dodged and parried every slash of my sword.

Our eyes met.

For some reason, his gaze seemed almost sympathetic toward me.

“I don't need pity from bastards like you!”

I launched another powerful slash at the black-haired man.

On the other side, he swung his own sword as well, its blade beginning to emit light.

—Clang!

Our swords collided.

But I felt that his swing was far more powerful, sending the sword from my hands flying into the air.

—Bam!

My right ribs erupted in pain as he kicked me with tremendous force, sending my body flying into one of the trees in the forest.

My vision began to blur.

For some reason, thick smoke had started filling the forest around us.

The enemies who had been attacking us were also beginning to retreat toward the mountains.

No...

Don't let them escape...

Avenge the deaths of our comrades...

Don't let them get away like this...

I wanted to chase after them, but my vision grew blurrier and blurrier until, eventually, I lost consciousness...

“Damn...”

---

[Raul POV]

After Scarlett set the forest ablaze with her fire, we decided to retreat slowly, luring the Republic of Venetia's forces toward the landslide point we had prepared.

Smoke from the burning forest began filling the area, making it difficult for me and the others to breathe.

We covered our noses with wet cloths to prevent ourselves from passing out after inhaling too much smoke.

“Chase them! Cough! Cough!”

“Don't let them escape!”

Behind me, I could see enemy soldiers pursuing us.

Many of them had already begun collapsing or being burned by the flames raging throughout the forest.

“Retreat to the mountains! Don't stop running!” I ordered the troops under my command.

After running nonstop for about fifteen minutes, we finally escaped the forest and entered the mountainous region.

Many of my men immediately threw themselves onto the ground, trying to steady their breathing.

I counted the soldiers who had made it out of the forest.

Out of the 180 men I had brought with me, more than a dozen were still missing.

Had they been left behind or killed while we were ambushing the enemy forces inside?

Not long afterward, I saw two men running toward the edge of the forest.

They appeared to be arguing about something.

“This is all your fault! Because you fell earlier, we ended up getting left behind like this!”

“If you hadn't stopped suddenly right in front of me, I wouldn't have fallen!”

“You idiot! If I hadn't stopped, that fallen tree would have crushed me!”

They were Tom and Jerry.

I had no idea what they were arguing about, but I was relieved that they had survived.

“Tom, Jerry, did you see any enemy troops following behind you?” I asked after they emerged from the forest.

“Umm... I don't think so, Captain,” Tom replied.

“Most of the enemy troops passed out because they inhaled too much smoke from the forest fire, Captain,” Jerry added.

“I see...”

I hadn't expected our strategy to be so effective at bringing down those 2,000 troops.

That meant we no longer needed to detonate the remaining explosives to cause a landslide and summon rain with the artifact.

Looking back toward the forest, I saw thick black smoke billowing high into the sky.

A forest fire of this scale would certainly alert the other Republic of Venetia forces to what had happened in this area.

They would undoubtedly send additional troops to investigate the condition of the forces they had previously dispatched to eliminate us.

That meant...

Our battle was far from over.

---

[Siena POV]

After departing from Avelino City earlier that morning, we finally arrived at the forest where the 2,000 search troops had been combing the area suspected of hiding the Imperial forces causing trouble in this region.

Earlier, when we were still four kilometers away from the forest, I had seen thick black smoke rising high into the sky, signaling a forest fire.

Therefore, I ordered all the troops to move faster because I had a bad feeling about what was happening.

However, when we were about two kilometers from the forest, rain suddenly began pouring down, extinguishing the forest fire that had broken out in the area.

After entering deeper into the forest, we were all shocked to see many of our soldiers lying dead on the ground, having either suffocated from the smoke or been burned alive by the flames.

This made me wonder why they hadn't hurried out of the forest when the fire broke out.

However, after investigating further, we found the corpse of a soldier wearing an entirely black uniform.

It seemed that the 2,000 troops had been attacked by the enemy, preventing them from escaping freely.

We also discovered traps that had killed quite a number of soldiers in the area, prompting me to order our troops to be much more careful with every step they took.

“Captain, what should we do next?” Valen—the Vice Captain of the Cavalier Squad—asked me.

“We've only found a few corpses belonging to enemy soldiers,” I told him. “That means they're still somewhere around here.”

I then looked toward the mountains to the west.

It seemed that our enemies had fled toward the mountains.

My instincts told me that I should wait for reinforcements before confronting the Imperial forces currently in the Montana Mountains.

However, if I allowed them to escape this time, it would take even longer to complete this mission and would affect the process of sending logistical supplies to the Draconian Royal Army, which was currently operating within the Aragon Empire.

“We're heading toward the mountains, Valen.”