Awakening the Great Chapter 70

Chapter 70 – Rabbit Hole

The gap between mountain ranges. Mist clung low along the ridgeline, and cold air clung to the skin like dew.

Calix silently surveyed the place that would beco the battlefield. The hues of Mana Stones colored his vision, but in his mind, the image of the military map produced by the Elvra Holy Empire lay spread open. He didn't fully trust them, but Hadiya's judgnt was worth relying on.

'It's been almost accurate so far. The troop deploynt differs slightly, but the terrain is properly marked.'

If he said so, then it was so.

"We need to go a little higher. There should be a turning point soon. Where the waterway and the forest overlap."

Calix pulled on the reins and drew a line down the ridge with his fingertips. Not a straight movent, but a short, segnted pattern. The path of a predator tracking prey.

Volga took up the words as if he'd been waiting.

"Alright. Everyone get your backsides moving! Just a little further!"

Behind him followed a dozen or so mid-ranking rcenaries. All of them, personnel Calix was responsible for.

anwhile, the veteran rcenaries had scattered in groups of four or five, spreading out in all directions. No one had given the order, yet they naturally dispersed, and no one was uneasy.

The Antelopes no longer walked.

They ran.

An enhanced Neural Accelerator.

Northern warhorses.

And terrain as an ally.

He raised his head and looked up at the mountain. The high-rising mountain range blocked his view, but the battlefield within was entirely theirs.

* * *

The Blutspheer vanguard cut through the forest without hesitation. Their spirit was overflowing, and beneath their helts, expressions full of mockery leaked through.

"Calling us in just to chase down a few rabbits."

"Still, don't let your guard down. They've got warhorses and proper armor."

"Hah! What's the point of a shiny exterior when the substance inside is the sa?"

The mist-touched forest stretched endlessly before their eyes, and the terrain beneath their horses' hooves was gradually growing rougher. Yet not a single one of them bothered with caution.

"This is just a warm-up to satisfy the central nobles—nothing more than that."

"Right. Let's finish it quickly."

The premise was clear.

But soon, a strange sense of déjà vu crept over them.

"……The tracks have ended. Where did they go?"

"Looks like they used the waterway."

The twenty-odd knights crossed a shallow stream and examined the ground. No footprints there either.

"These bastards……. They're using their heads. We'll have to spread out and search."

"Spread out even further here?"

"Just maintain a consistent interval."

Soon they fanned out and combed through the forest. Their companions were no longer in sight, but the sound of clashing swords would still carry well enough.

Then, at so point, one by one they found traces of the rabbits.

"The brush is bent. And there are hoof marks as well……. They clearly passed through here."

A knight muttered. Simultaneously, others found similar traces at different points. Before any sense of unease could set in, each moved to follow what they had found.

Most advanced while maintaining their formation, but three knights drifted to the right without realizing it.

And as a result—

"Enberry?"

"Jonas."

Rustle.

"……Hm?"

"Astaldo's here too."

The three had gathered again in one place.

A brief mont of relief.

The knights of the Niboria Empire readjusted their reins, and through that process, a faint wariness seeped through. Correspondingly, the output of their Neural Accelerators surged to sixty percent.

"The tracks were certain. But sothing feels off."

"Agreed. These bastards……. They're luring us."

"How dare they……."

It was then.

Fsss, thwack!

The sound of brush being parted rang out nearby. Hard on its heels ca the noise of earth being churned up, and the warhorses reflexively shot forward in accordance with their riders' will.

"There you are!"

The lead knight let out a boisterous cry. The other two followed, and beneath their helts their eyes flashed with what seed like absolute certainty of victory. The barding roughly shoved aside leaves and branches, and in the blink of an eye they arrived at the source of the sound.

But the place they arrived at was—completely empty.

"……What?"

The horses reared up, front legs lifting as they stopped sharply.

Ahead, only a single riderless warhorse remained. There were traces of soone having ridden it, but no rider. On its back lingered faint evidence of a human's weight, and strangely, grotesquely enough……Between its hindquarters, it was sared with filth.

"What is this……. Where did the rider go—"

Suddenly, a chilling sensation shot down their spines.

* * *

Within the brush, Calix knelt and asured the right mont. Those around him held their breath and waited for his signal to fall.

Soon, the knights ca to a halt in one place, betraying their bewildernt. While one scanned the surroundings, another raised his shield close.

Whoosh.

In response, Calix turned his head and t that gaze.

It was Volga's turn to step forward.

The mont he pushed the output of his Neural Accelerator to its limit, dark red capillaries burst up along his forearm. In an instant his shoulder rotated, and a thunderous sound erupted. The short spear Volga threw tore through the air and slamd head-on into the shield.

Crash!

Throwing a spear to kill a knight was impossible, but creating an opening—that much was doable. The short spear shattered into fragnts upon eting the blade, and the warhorse lurched back in great alarm.

The signal flare announcing the start of battle.

In that instant, the Antelopes burst forward.

'There wasn't enough ti to adapt to the new Neural Accelerator. I need to take at least two of them myself.'

Calix moved with agility. He cleared the brush faster than anyone, half-drawing his blade. At the napes of his opponents' necks, blue light pulsed and swelled.

'Two mid-ranking knights. Can't afford to be careless. Going full force.'

The afterglow of the Mana Stone swept past his vision, and then the core at his heart stretched and yawned. Trendous mana rose up along the sword's grip. He held back Falling Fire due to concerns over the weapon's durability, but the overwhelming output of the Neural Accelerator backed him up.

[Reality Acceleration 2.6x]

[Enemy Neural Accelerator identified]

[Confird as 'Valder Legion' a degraded version of this unit]

[Destroy it]

ssages he couldn't make sense of floated before his eyes, but he had already drawn his sword.

Shhiiing!

A simple swing, and the air scread and was pushed back; the enemy's warhorse tried to evade by shuffling its footing. But it was not a speed that a re beast could escape.

Kraack!

The blade severed one of the knight's feet and cleaved the horse's body in two. And as he drew the sword back, once more—the Wind's Scar flew out.

Shwick!

Hiiiiigh—thud!

The warhorse standing to the left buckled in its hind legs and collapsed. Three cut down in a single stroke. The knights could no longer remain mounted.

From here on, it was a fight on the ground.

Equal conditions.

"Jo-onaas, are you oka-aaay!"

"You baastard……."

Regrettably, he hadn't managed to sever the knight's calf clean through. The surface of the armor was viciously twisted, and blood seeped out through the gap, but the bone remained intact.

So he charged again.

The target was the knight limping on one leg. He would need ti to recover. The mont Calix kicked off the ground and shot forward, the sound of the earth bursting followed behind him.

"I'll kiill you——"

That was how great the gap was between the two in the ti they each occupied. Calix was fast, and the knights were slow. Only, the enemy's numbers were greater.

So mid-charge, Calix pulled back his sword. Instead of a slashing motion, he thrust his left foot forward and drove it straight into an abdon.

The opponent flew back with a thunderous sound, and he imdiately changed direction to the left. A different knight was already swinging his sword.

Shwiiiish!

Calix took it all in with his eyes. The blade, the wrist, the movent of the elbow, the signals of the neural network, even the Wind's Scar. He watched in vivid detail as the opponent's mana spilled out beyond the blade's edge and bore down on him, then dodged.

Then, breaking to the side, he lowered his center of gravity.

Only one thing remained.

How to finish this?

At that mont, the prince of Latia suddenly surfaced in his mind. Adrian Deconti's sly smile, and his half-baked advice thrown in as a bonus.

'There's no need to fire it off as one mass.'

'All it takes is understanding the sword's structure, and a change in the awareness of the one gripping that sword.'

'Since the mana is compressed and then spreads, even if divided into smaller portions, the power doesn't diminish.'

Words he'd let go in one ear and out the other at the ti.

But in this mont, Calix drew an imaginary line through the air. One at the flank of the knight whose stance had broken, two at the nape of his neck, and three at the other knight who had been staggering as he tried to rise again.

The core pounded with a fierce beat, his breath refined and aligned with the flow of mana, and compressed force shot out beyond the blade's edge. What began as one—at so point beca three.

Fwcrack!

Thump, crash!

Just hearing the sound was enough to know the result. The knight who had been close crumpled with his flank caved in, and the Neural Accelerator at his nape went dark.

The other knight fared no differently. He had taken a direct hit to the heart and lay on the ground, retching blood. Looking at how deeply his armor was dented, it wouldn't be strange if he died at any mont.

"……It has its uses."

It was one step below Falling Fire, so there was no sense of accomplishnt or satisfaction. In Calix's view, he had done it simply because he could. However, it was clear that his understanding of swordsmanship had grown compared to before.

That alone was satisfying.

No sooner had he thought that than the sound of clashing steel from the opposite direction made him imdiately turn his body. The scene of mid-ranking rcenaries and a knight locked in combat. The numbers favored them, but victory would hinge on how the Neural Accelerator was used.

Yet the foot he was stepping forward with gradually ca to a stop.

The atmosphere on the battlefield was different from what he'd expected.

"Grrr……."

The knight kept staggering. A small wound on the shoulder was all there was, yet he looked as though he might collapse at any mont. The reason wasn't hard to figure out.

"Do you know what the most dreadful poison in the world is?"

Volga posed the question with a face devoid of any humor. The knight contorted his expression, but thanks to the helt, it didn't show.

Which was fortunate for him.

"It's filth. Human filth. I sared it right onto my sword."

"……."

"No answer, I see. Well, filth-poison is that frightening, after all."

"……Wretched creatures."

Griiind.

The knight gnashed his teeth, but trembling had crept into his voice.

At that, Calix let out an exclamation of admiration before he even realized it. That was psychological warfare. No matter how deadly the poison, it couldn't spread this quickly.

And not only that—what followed was masterful as well.

Crash!

The mont the opponent lost his composure and lunged forward, Romance pivoted to the side and swung his sword. Less for the purpose of fighting, more to kill his montum.

Wheatley covered the opposite flank, and from the rear, Kotchap ca charging.

"We cannot give our necks to those who know nothing of honor!"

And then, all of a sudden, the knight vented his fury and drove straight forward. At that mont, two mid-ranking rcenaries yanked on a rope. Not to catch with the rope. But the opposite—pulling it the mont he stepped on a set position—it was a small trap.

Of course, it wasn't without risk.

Zzt zzt zzt.

"Whoa……. I'm being dragged!"

"Volga, watch out!"

The knight did not cut the rope. By sheer strength alone he pressed forward, and in the end swung his sword at Volga. Had there been no counterasure, a serious injury would have been inevitable.

Thunk!

"……Volga, you alright?"

"Yes!"

Gregor deflected the blade aid at Volga with his shield, then drove it down onto the enemy's helt. With a crack, the tal plate caved in, and the opponent lost consciousness and fell.

A prepared coordinated attack.

Perfect division of roles.

And—

"Off you go."

Crunch!

A clean finish as well.

Truly, it was just like the Antelopes.

"Calix, we're pretty good too, right?"

"……."

He silently nodded at Volga's question. The fact that they had kept pace with the knights' reaction speed was impressive, but above all, he was pleased to see the experience they had built up over ti showing through.

Furthermore, through this, information on both allies and enemies had been gathered. Five mid-ranking rcenaries should be more than enough to handle one knight.

Phweet.

He let out a whistle, and the warhorses that had scattered through the forest ca back. Without a mont's hesitation, Calix left the scene of slaughter behind.

"Move to the next target. We need to reduce their numbers as much as possible before reinforcents arrive."

"So it's a race against ti?"

"Right."

Clop clop clop clop.

While moving on horseback.

When he turned his head, he could see the light of Mana Stones blinking here and there across the mountain range. The veteran rcenaries were repeatedly scattering and regrouping like pieces of cloud.

Multiple greens swallowed blues, and occasionally a purple snuffed out several lights. The sll of blood, screams, and the sound of cutting blades were quietly blanketed by the mist.

It was just as everything seed to be going well—that mont.

[Warning, Combat Alert]

[A high-to-upper ranked entity is approaching nearby.]

The Neural Accelerator whispered ominously. Calix's gaze turned toward enemy lines. Beyond the ridge, parting the thin mist, a mass of light was drawing closer.

Deep violet. But within it, faint gold was mingled in as well.

"……Just before reaching the peak rank."

Calix steadied his breathing atop his horse.

He had only just stepped into the upper rank. But that figure was wrapped in violet, standing at the threshold of gold.

The Blutspheer's Vice-commander.

The mont that presence appeared, even the air across the battlefield changed color.

And so, at last—the Antelopes were placed upon a true proving ground.