Tale of the Fake Hero

Chapter 8

The forest, cloaked in summer, was dry and parched.

Like it was dying, the green foliage, robbed of moisture, withered and shriveled.

Of course, it was only natural. Summer took everything from this land.

“I only asked you to bring fire and oil. Why’d you bring steam rifles?”

Kaisen, who was walking ahead, asked.

The two student soldiers following him spoke with disbelief, their voices trembling with fear, as if their lips had dried up.

“Well... If, if the Uruk show up, we’ll have to fight them.”

“Fight? You’re shaking like leaves.”

“N-no, I’m not!”

Humanity used the steam rifle, the pinnacle of the steam civilization created by the Ains.

The advantages of the steam rifle were obvious.

It drastically reduced the overwhelming gap in strength and miraculously shortened the training period for new recruits. But it also had its downsides.

“Just think about running if things go south. But how are you going to escape carrying something that heavy?”

The main issue was the steam engine, as a small steam engine had to be strapped to their backs.

Several hoses extended from the engine, connecting to gas canisters on either side of their waist.

The firearm, connected to these canisters, received power to fire bullets.

“We can handle ourselves!”

Around then, Kaisen stopped.

The young soldiers flinched, their hands instinctively gripping the barrels of their rifles.

Kaisen spoke.

“Pour the oil here. Then set it on fire.”

The boys grumbled but started pouring oil on the trees and lit their torches.

Early summer had left the world dry. It was the perfect condition for a fire.

The flames, which followed the oil with a hiss, began to greedily lick through the forest, spreading the smell of burning wood.

“All right, now run. You have ten seconds. Drop your rifles.”

“...?”

“No, make that five seconds. Hurry up!”

That was the moment it began... The dance of death.

“Huh?”

A flash of white.

In the blink of an eye, the head of the boy holding the torch split in two, his brain matter and bone fragments splattering through the air.

Then, the darkness emerged.

The other boy, who had been backing away in shock, had his upper body smashed by a mace, leaving only his spine before his body crumpled into the shadows.

“Damn it, I told you to run!”

A fraction of a second too late, Kaisen bit his lip and gripped his sword hilt tightly.

‘The smell of blood and gunpowder is mixing.’

As the torch rolled on the ground, shadows from the fire danced madly across the forest. Amidst those shadows, monstrous figures emerged.

“Kun Ta Ni shiRaooooOOOO!”

The voice was tinged with joy.

Kaisen stared at the scene with a blank expression, only his eyes glinting coldly.

“What’s so damn funny?”

Whether this one or that one.

All of them, grinning with their dog-like faces as if they were delighted...

When he drew his tachi from his waist, flames rippled along the blade like the fire swallowing the mountain. Kaisen spoke.

“Oshide (Come at me).”

It happened almost simultaneously.

The Uruk warrior charged with his mace, and Kaisen kicked off the ground, launching himself into the air.

Whoosh—!

Avoiding the mace that swept beneath him, Kaisen spun twice in midair, swinging his blade like a top.

—Clack.

The moment Kaisen finished his slash and landed.

A thin red line appeared across the Uruk’s head and torso, and in the next instant, a geyser of blood erupted as his body split in two.

Splaaash—!

One down.

Kaisen swung his sword downward.

The blood on the blade painted the dirt red along its arc.

“Stop messing around and attack all at once!”

Kaisen spoke in the Uruk language, now quite fluent.

Massive figures emerged from the shadows where the torchlight didn’t reach.

The flames continued to rage, growing large and powerful enough to devour the entire mountain.

The Uruk’s outer unit, focused on the battle with Kaisen, missed their chance to extinguish the fire.

“Kaisen, you little...”

Even from this distance, the wildfire was vividly visible. Wolf, sitting on the ridge with stars coldly glinting above, smiled.

“He did it in less than half a day?”

Hmph. Camilla stood up, strapping the Supreme Holy Sword Aradamantel to her waist. The beastkin captain Eltoram shouted at the corps.

“Get up, you useless brats! It’s party time!”

At that same moment, Kaisen lowered his stance, crossing his sword and scabbard.

Tenfold Cross Blade, Form One: Circular Guard.

The fundamental stance of the Tenfold Cross Blade and the ultimate defensive posture from which all other forms connected.

“GGGGGGSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!”

The axe blade rushed in.

By driving a cross into the path of the attack, the technique of the Tenfold Cross Blade began.

Clang—!

The rebound of blades clashing.

He saw it—a brief opening.

Suppressing the jarring pain in his wrist, he instantly sheathed his sword.

—Tenfold Cross Blade, Form Four: Release.

Draw and slash.

He cut through the opening and stepped back.

When he moved back, the Uruk warrior collapsed at Kaisen’s feet, coughing up blood.

Go on, smile.

Let’s see if it’s still so funny.

He stomped on the Uruk’s head and slashed deep into its neck.

The creature wailed in agony, clutching its neck as blood and froth spewed from its throat.

The other Uruk warriors hesitated, trying to grasp the strange situation.

“Waaaaarrr...?”

“Anu on Shikeraber...?”

Two warriors down in a single exchange.

And by a human kid, no less...

As the bewildered Uruk stood dumbfounded, Kaisen beckoned with his finger.

“What are you waiting for? Come on!”

While Kaisen’s fierce battle continued, the Uruk were suddenly struck by the unexpected offensive of the militia.

Exploiting this gap.

The Feiquaria Corps crashed into the Uruk flank, ravaging their ranks.

“First line, draw, fire!”

“Second line, ready, fire!”

“Third line, draw, fire!”

Bang, bang, bang!

With every shot, the Uruk fell like crumbling stones. Some of the colossal creatures continued charging despite being riddled with bullets.

“It’s a battle chieftain!”

“My Lady!”

The fake hero, Camilla, stood before the massive chieftain, far larger than the average Uruk.

“I am Camilla Alter Aradamantel.”

The Holy Sword responded to its wielder’s call.

A rough, crimson blade aura roared, spilling from the Supreme Holy Sword, Aradamantel. Its unique hue washed the blood-soaked world in red.

"I will kill you."

It could hardly be called a battle.

The Republic soldiers certainly saw the clash between the chieftain and the Feiquaria.

But the moment the blood-red lightning flashed from Aradamantel’s blade, the chieftain’s massive body was sliced cleanly in two, spraying blood in all directions.

“T-that’s the lead Feiquaria...!”

The militia, who happened to witness it, shivered with exhilaration, while the Uruk lost their morale and began to retreat one by one.

“Wipe them all out. Don’t leave a single one alive.”

Standing on the chieftain’s corpse, Camilla flicked the blood from her blade, her eyes burning fiercely.

Amid the grotesque and nauseating stench of blood, the slaughter began.

Gunfire rang endlessly as the burning forest mixed with the stench of smoldering bodies. It was the age of war.

The Dark Age, 1696.

In that year, as the fighting along the Inferno Line grew fiercer, Kaisen wandered through battlefields like this one.

At the time, the boy was only seventeen.

***

"What's the casualty count?"

The battle ended in a decisive victory.

As Camilla sheathed Aradamantel, Eltoram reported.

“Thirty-three dead and fifty-seven wounded.”

“And?”

“We estimate over four thousand Uruk killed.”

The soldiers of the corps were still going around, finishing off any Uruk who weren’t quite dead. They dragged out and cut down those hiding or fleeing into the forest.

“That’s quite a lot for a strike force. And we must’ve used at least four thousand bullets.”

They would need to resupply.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Over four thousand Uruk strike troops inside the Inferno Line... How did they get in here?

‘This is unsettling. I’d better report this to that old man as soon as possible.’

Around that time, Haltene militia captain Jack approached.

“Th-thank you. I don’t know how to express my gratitude...”

Jack, who had bowed his head, was briefly stunned. It was his first time seeing a Feiquaria, and Camilla’s beauty was striking. She spoke.

“There was a brat here, right? One with no manners?”

“A brat? Ah, yes.”

“Where is he?”

“He said he was going to light the signal fire and hasn’t returned. But was that kid really part of the Feiquaria Corps?”

“That kid?”

At those words, Long Rifle Jin, one of the corps' veterans, cracked his neck with a snap and growled.

“Isn’t it a bit strange to talk like that when you owe your life to us?”

“P-pardon?”

“You should know you’re alive thanks to Kaisen. Ha, seriously, what’s with all the Republic idiots?”

Johann Wolf Frost stepped in, holding up a hand to mediate.

“Calm down, Jin. I apologize. Everyone’s a bit on edge after the battle.”

At that moment, Eltoram lifted his bear-like head, sniffing the air, then grinned.

Camilla followed the direction he indicated and found Kaisen covering a grave with dirt.

The boy, using an Uruk axe as a shovel, did not show his face to the Feiquaria.

“What are you doing?”

“The ones who helped me start the fire. They died in the Uruk ambush.”

“Were they friends?”

“No. If I were as strong as you, I could have protected them.”

Camilla approached, watching Kaisen finish covering the dirt mound. She placed a few pebbles atop the earthen grave, making a makeshift headstone.

“Summer hasn’t even really started. If you get caught up in every little thing like this, you’ll dry up and die before summer’s over.”

She slapped Kaisen’s back.

Unlike her usual rough hits, this time it was strangely gentle... as if praising him for what he had done.

“So don’t cry.”

That was the last time.

The last moment after a battle when they could exchange lighthearted words.

The day the Inferno Line, humanity’s southern boundary, was breached remains vividly in memory.

When a griffin rider arrived with a breathless, urgent report... Yes, it was that moment.

Before that, Camilla’s corps, including Kaisen, had been stationed in Aquitaine for resupply.

“Look, it’s the White Skull Corps.”

“They’re victorious wherever they go.”

“I’ve actually fought with them. They’re not human—they’re monsters.”

Aquitaine.

This ancient military city was originally a small western city of the Old Republic.

Along the Bellisor River, it connected the major central city of Aurelinople and the southwestern port of Aristapo.

With its railway link to the Inferno Line, which allowed for logistical supply trains, it naturally became a vital strategic point in the Republic’s central-western region.

“Jin, you’re in charge of checking the supplies.”

Even amid the prolonged war, Aquitaine retained its vibrance.

Its roads were paved with stone slabs, and refugees worked in factories to earn fair food rations.

Walking down the street under the deep shadow of the clock tower, Camilla issued her orders.

“If anyone tries giving us cheap bullets or guns, bring them to me. I’ll knock their teeth out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Why am I your mother, you bastard?”

“No, my lady, I meant ma’am as in ‘madam’!”

Jin ducked away from Camilla’s punch, protesting. She continued.

“Wolf, check if the Church is paying us properly.”

“Got it.”

“Eltoram, keep an eye on the men. Make sure they’re not lazing around or spending all day with the ladies. We might have to move out quickly.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll go report to that perverted old Grand Marshal.”

The citizens, standing aside with respectful gazes, did not dare move. At that moment, someone stepped into the corps’ path.

“...?”

Everyone’s eyes filled with confusion, but as soon as they saw who it was, they understood.

“It’s been a while, Camilla.”

Her hair was white as well.

Her eyes were golden—serpentine.

“You managed to survive, huh?”

The long sword at her waist, set in an exquisitely crafted scabbard, was the Supreme Holy Sword Tas’alpo.

As Tas’alpo emitted a cool blue aura from its sheath, Aradamantel responded in kind, exhaling a crimson glow from Camilla’s side.

“Your lifespan is as stubborn as ever, Sharon.”