The Immortal Genius Spear Knight (18)
Step by step.
Since the squad competition had taken place, it was the first time Damian had come out as the leader.
He had to lead his squad members and protect the flag as a squad leader.
It had its own merits, but Damian had already shown enough of what he could do as a squad leader.
‘Now is the time…’
Swish.
This was the last squad competition.
And it was the 1st squad’s turn to attack.
If he made a strong impression on the instructors while leading from the front at this time,
‘Best trainee confirmed.’
Especially if he won against the 3rd squad, which had Apel in it, he could clearly widen the gap between himself and Apel.
‘Sorry, but don’t hold a grudge.’
Apel had incredible talent.
Even if he didn’t get an artifact here, it wouldn’t change anything.
“Everyone, I plan to finish this fight in no time.”
Since he was leading from the front, he wasn’t going to hold back.
At Damian’s words, all the squad members nodded seriously.
Damian said,
“We’ll start at full speed from the beginning. Stay focused and follow me.”
“Roger!”
“Hehe, let’s give it a try!”
As the 1st squad quickly formed a triangular formation, the 3rd squad also began to form a square formation and prepared to defend.
Ideally, Damian would have preferred a different formation, but,
‘Given the situation, I have to use what I’ve learned.’
Damian looked at Apel within the square formation.
Apel had moved to the center, likely due to having expended quite a bit of energy from the recent attack.
It seemed they had decided to use Apel to guard the flag.
And that meant,
‘…I can’t avoid a direct confrontation with that guy.’
To capture the flag, he would have to fight Apel.
“Hoo…”
As everything came into view, Damian let out a small breath and gripped his spear tightly.
Then, he cleared his mind of thoughts about the instructors, the scores, and everything else.
At this moment,
‘I will win.’
His mind was filled only with the thought of crushing the opponent.
“1st Squad attack, 3rd Squad defense. The final squad competition begins now!”
With the instructor’s signal, Damian, who was at the front, began to move.
Tadak!
His speed wasn’t too fast, but it wasn’t slow either.
He maintained a pace that the squad members could easily follow, while also being intimidating enough to pressure the defending 3rd Squad.
Damian charged toward the 3rd Squad’s defensive formation from the front of the triangular formation, maintaining just the right level of intensity.
“Why are those guys coming so fast…?”
The members of the 3rd Squad, caught off guard by the unexpectedly fast speed, gripped their shields and spears with uneasy expressions.
But what was amazing was that even while advancing so quickly, the formation didn’t break.
‘Impressive.’
‘…This is no joke.’
Everyone kept these thoughts to themselves, as voicing them would feel like admitting defeat.
But at that moment…
Pabat!
Damian, who was leading the 1st Squad, suddenly accelerated, closing the distance in an instant.
And when he was within range of his spear,
Woooooong.
Damian’s eyes gleamed as he gripped his spear with both hands.
‘In a single night…’
‘In a single strike…’
He would pierce through!
Kwang!
In the gap between the soldiers and their shields,
When Damian focused his mana and thrust his spear into that space, the wooden shields of the enemy soldiers were torn apart.
It was as if Damian’s spear had penetrated right through the shields.
“Ugh, what the…!”
“What’s happening?!”
“Grab that spear! Hurry!”
As Damian’s spear broke through into their formation, the 3rd Squad soldiers shouted in panic.
If that spear started to wreak havoc inside the formation…
“Haaah!”
One of the soldiers lunged to grab the spear, but the spear moved first.
Puhpuk!
“Ugh!”
“Kuhuk!”
As the spear rapidly swung left and right between the soldiers, a path opened up.
The two soldiers who were struck by the spear collapsed to the side with pained expressions.
Their sides and arms, which had been hit by the spear, throbbed with intense pain, leaving them unable to move.
“Charge!”
With that, Damian shouted.
Pababababat!
The spearmen of the 1st Squad charged through the gap Damian had created, attacking the enemies in front before the gap could be closed.
“Damian!”
“Hurry, get in here!”
The squad members who had wedged their shields into the gap and pried it open shouted loudly at Damian.
But before they could even shout,
‘I’m already on my way…!’
Like a swift panther, Damian leaped through the opened gap, shoving aside the 3rd Squad members who tried to block him as he entered.
“Stop that guy!”
“He won’t have enough space to move! Take him down now!”
“Bring him down!”
As soon as Damian entered the 3rd Squad’s formation, four soldiers rushed at him simultaneously.
Srrrk.
Damian’s gaze fixed on the approaching 3rd Squad members.
He tracked their gazes.
The direction of their footsteps.
The angle of their shoulders, and even the twist of their waists.
In an instant, all of this information pierced into Damian’s mind.
Whirl!
In the blink of an eye,
Damian, who had already assessed their movements, lowered his stance and spun his body.
Whoosh!
“What?!”
The spear thrust forward and struck one of their comrades on the opposite side.
The hands reaching out to grab Damian swiped through empty air in vain.
It was as if he moved like a ghost.
For a moment, the 3rd Squad members felt as if Damian had vanished.
But in that instant,
Puh-puh-puh-puh-puh!
“Aagh!”
“Argh!”
“Ouch! My ankle!”
Damian, who had lowered his stance, spun around and struck their ankles with his spear.
As the four of them were lifted into the air and crashed down on their backsides, Damian shouted loudly.
“1st Squad!”
“We’re already here!”
“Break their formation! Raise your shields!”
Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Chuk!
The 1st Squad members, who had surrounded Damian on both sides, raised their shields and split the 3rd Squad’s formation in half.
It was a tactic they had used when facing the 2nd and 4th Squads.
Thud!
“Ugh! These guys…!”
The 3rd Squad soldiers, who were flung back, tried desperately to push forward, but they couldn’t break through the solid shield wall of the 1st Squad.
“…This is unbelievable.”
Gerard looked in disbelief at the sight of their formation being split in two in an instant.
Could this really be something that trainees in a training camp could do?
In that situation, Apel silently watched Damian.
“That guy is the main target anyway. As long as we take him down, they won’t be able to capture the flag.”
Even though their formation had been split, their strength was still intact.
Apel grabbed his spear and stepped forward.
“I’ll stop him.”
Gerard gripped the flag he was holding tightly.
To think that he had to rely on Apel, who was five years younger than him, in such a situation.
He felt too ashamed to even lift his head.
Apel walked toward Damian.
Damian looked at Apel as he approached.
A head-on confrontation with this guy was something he couldn’t avoid from the start.
‘The future Grand General…!’
He thought that if there was a chance to defeat him, it might be now.
‘It’s not like we’re meeting as enemies on the battlefield.’
Right here, in this place.
‘I’ll do my best to take you down.’
As Damian’s eyes gleamed with determination,
Pahvat!
It was Apel who made the first move.
“Hup!”
With a short breath, Apel sprang forward, kicking off the ground, and Damian shifted his body to the side.
Psh!
Apel’s spear shot out in a straight line, slicing through the air.
But the first strike was a feint.
Tatak!
Apel quickly moved to the side, twisting his spear to target Damian.
‘I see it.’
In the future, Apel would become much faster and far stronger.
‘And his specialty is actually the sword.’
Of course, he was far more skilled than the other trainees.
But it wouldn’t work against Damian.
Tak!
Damian lightly deflected the spear to the side, and his own spear shot forward as if it was being drawn toward Apel’s hand.
Apel frowned as the unexpected strike targeted his hand, and he quickly withdrew his spear.
But that was exactly what Damian intended.
As Apel slightly withdrew his spear and stepped back.
Swaaaaak!
Damian’s spear shot straight toward Apel’s chest.
A strike infused with magical energy.
Apel’s eyes flashed as he swung his spear from below, deflecting Damian’s spear.
Bam!
A sound echoed as if the spear had snapped.
Apel’s expression briefly tightened.
The spear shaft shook violently, and Apel felt a tingling sensation in his palm from the impact.
It was a far stronger strike than he had anticipated.
‘He’s that skilled at handling magical energy?’
Was this guy not a commoner after all?
Or was he someone like me…?
His mind became muddled with thoughts.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Pahvat!
Damian, now with the momentum, quickly closed in, thrusting his spear in a series of rapid attacks.
Apel urgently pulled back.
It wasn’t something he could simply block.
‘How…?’
How could such spear techniques exist?
Even though the spear wasn’t his main weapon, he had been trained with various weapons and tactics since he could walk.
‘But how is it…?’
In this mere training camp, how could there be such an insurmountable wall?
A wall so high it seemed impossible to gauge its height.
To the current Apel, Damian felt like that.
Vrrrum!
Swaaak!
As a small tremor accompanied the incoming attack, Apel quickly raised his spear.
‘Can’t dodge it…’
He instinctively blocked the attack with the spear he had raised.
Crack!
Apel’s spear broke.
“Argh!”
Apel screamed as he was flung backward.
Thud.
Apel, who had completely fallen to the ground, hurriedly tried to get back on his feet.
Flutter!
But by then, the flag was already in Damian’s hand.
Gerard, who had fallen at Damian’s feet, seemed completely unconscious and was unable to get up.
Then Damian raised the flag.
And at that sight,
“Woah, woaaahhh!”
“We won!”
The members of the 1st Squad shouted loudly, basking in the joy of victory.
On the other hand, the 3rd Squad looked somewhat dejected.
“You all did well.”
“…Apel, I’m sorry. We couldn’t hold out properly.”
“Is Gerard okay? It looked like he fainted for a moment.”
Instead of dwelling on the sadness of defeat, they encouraged each other and soothed their regrets.
Apel looked at Damian.
Damian also looked at Apel.
The two locked eyes in the air.
Then,
Swoosh,
Apel approached Damian and extended his hand.
“Congratulations. But next time… I won’t lose.”
“Next time, let’s fight on the same side. I don’t think I can beat you twice.”
At Damian’s words, Apel let out a small laugh.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
Apel lightly tapped Damian’s chest and turned away.
‘Although I lost this time…’
His determined eyes glimmered with a cool intensity.
Damian smiled, his expression unreadable as he watched Apel walk away.
‘Did I… really just defeat Apel Vanstriol?’
Perhaps, because of this event, that guy might become even more of a monster.
You never know what the future holds.
‘But for now…’
“Wooahhhhh!”
As Damian turned his head, the squad members rushed toward him, shouting.
“We won! Hahahaha!”
Everyone knew what this squad competition meant.
The joy of victory was all the more precious because they had worked hard for it.
The instructors, who had been watching the match, also stood up as the competition came to an end.
“It was a meaningful squad competition.”
“If this level of performance were shown every time, this training camp could gain a reputation as the best in the kingdom. It’s a bit of a shame.”
“Hahaha, but seeing those guys makes me feel a surge of motivation.”
“Let’s make sure they finish the remaining training well.”
With half of the training period over, two weeks remained.
At Raymond’s words, the instructors’ eyes gleamed. And then,
Leonhardt silently watched Damian.
