The Genius Archer Who Became a One-Man Army

Chapter 21

Crackle, crackle.

Raymond sat in silence, staring at the blazing campfire.

‘Not yet….’

They hadn’t even set up a temporary tent as they needed to move soon.

The dawn wind was biting cold, but Raymond was oblivious to it.

“Captain, dawn is breaking soon.”

“…Did we fail?”

It was a difficult operation to begin with.

Even if they arrived on time, it wouldn’t be easy to find a shallow spot in the water.

And even if they did find such a spot, there was no guarantee they could cross it.

“He’s putting in a lot of effort.”

“From what we’ve seen of him so far, it’s evident. He failed, but it’s not something to blame him for.”

Raymond spoke in response to Tyler’s words.

Although it was disappointing, they had prepared for the possibility of failure.

They could just return to their plan.

Raymond dusted himself off and stood up.

As soon as dawn broke, the entire unit had to move.

They had to arrive as quickly as possible to ambush the enemy before their forces reached the area.

“Then the whole unit…”

But at that moment,

Pheeeew-!

Suddenly, a sound came from far away.

Raymond quickly turned his head towards the sound.

Tyler, standing next to him, opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

“Captain, could that be…?”

“Move immediately! Locate the source of the flare!”

* * *

Splash.

As soon as his foot entered the river, Kyle felt a chill that seemed to cut through his ankle.

Gritting his teeth, he began to wade into the river.

Splash!

“Ugh!”

“Kyle!”

He stumbled over a stone but quickly regained his balance and continued walking through the river.

‘The current is strong.’

It felt as if a bull was pushing against him from the left.

Even taking a single step was difficult due to the strong current, but Kyle smiled, curling his lips upward.

‘It’s a good thing I came.’

If their young squad leader had entered the river, he would have been swept away by the current after just a few steps.

Everyone knew, despite his attempts to appear strong, that he was constantly pushing himself to be a model for his squad members.

“Grr…”

The river was about 50 meters wide.

Under normal circumstances, it would take 1-2 minutes to cross, but with the strong current and the need to constantly check the ground ahead, progress was slow.

The others holding the rope were just as nervous.

“Stay alert, everyone. An accident could happen at any moment.”

“You hold on tight. You seem to be losing strength.”

“What are you talking about?”

Brent gripped the rope tighter and shouted.

The squad members were on high alert in case Kyle slipped or couldn’t overcome the current.

Lian, standing nearby, occasionally fired flaming arrows to light Kyle’s way.

It was a tense moment.

After about 10 minutes,

The squad members, their mouths dry, watched as Kyle struggled alone in the darkness.

“I’ve crossed!”

A deep voice roared through the darkness like a bear’s growl.

Lian clenched his fist at Kyle’s shout.

“We did it!”

“We did it! We succeeded, Captain!”

“Fire the flare immediately! Fire all the flares at 1-minute intervals!”

“Yes, sir!”

As the flare shot into the sky, Lian pulled the rope Kyle had used and tied it to a stake.

Now, they just had to wait for the main force to arrive.

“Phew…”

Lian sat down with the squad members, watching the rising sun.

* * *

Baron Viertal of Saleron felt his lips dry up.

He could already see the enemy troops in the distance.

“Has the reinforcement not arrived yet?”

“We received word from Temerion two days ago. They should arrive in half a day.”

A mere thousand troops.

But if they didn’t arrive on time, it would be disastrous for Saleron.

Moreover, the enemy forces had arrived faster than expected.

As the sun rose, the real battle would begin.

Saleron’s own forces couldn’t hold them back.

“We need to buy time. We must prevent them from advancing so that the reinforcements can enter the fortress.”

“…”

Diora, the strategist, remained silent at Baron Viertal’s words.

The situation was so dire that they couldn’t even think of a strategy.

Although they had repaired the walls and set traps outside the fortress, there was no guarantee they could buy enough time.

They planned to slow the enemy’s advance with inclined wooden stakes and defend with archers.

But without the reinforcement of the archer unit, this plan was meaningless.

There were fewer than thirty capable archers in Saleron.

The standoff was tense.

The enemy set up temporary camps and lit fires, resting at their leisure.

They had the advantage of choice.

Gallel silently watched Saleron.

He wanted to attack the fortress immediately, but his warriors needed rest after the long journey.

Moreover, the cold was more intense at night.

Even though their warriors were strong, there was no reason to fight in such cold.

“Leader! There are no changes in their movements!”

“How much food do we have left?”

“Some individuals have a bit of food, but overall, it’s almost gone.”

“When they wake up, have them eat all their food. They need to be fully prepared for the battle.”

The longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would be for them.

Now, when the enemy was still unprepared,

‘We must quickly finish this and take Saleron.’

Saleron was just a stepping stone.

They planned to plunder food from here and then move south to take control of the northern part of the kingdom.

By then, Damian’s direct army would have crossed over.

“The real war with the kingdom will begin then.”

This could be a golden opportunity for them as well.

The internal affairs of the Kingdom of Artian are in shambles, and even their proud army is unable to demonstrate its full strength due to power struggles.

“Once we get past the walls of Saleron, everything will proceed quickly.”

And to them, the walls of Saleron don’t seem that high at all right now.

May there be peace for them only during this dawn.

By morning, a storm of blood will descend upon Saleron.

* * *

Eagle Company, holding tightly onto the securely connected ropes, successfully crossed the river to the opposite side.

Their bodies were soaked from the river, but that didn’t matter at all.

“Captain, everyone has successfully crossed!”

Despite the strong current, they managed to cross without a single injury.

Raymond looked at the opposite side of the river they had just crossed with disbelief.

‘In just a few hours…’

All three hundred of them had crossed the river.

It was truly an unbelievable sight unfolding before him.

“At this rate, we can save at least two days.”

“Don’t let your guard down and hurry. We can’t be sure how they will move.”

They had a rough understanding of the pattern of the southern-moving enemy, but they couldn’t be 100% sure.

They could only do their best with what they could.

“Where is Lian?”

“He’s with the squad members. The formation is already set.”

“Move out immediately!”

At Raymond’s command, Eagle Company swiftly began moving towards Saleron.

* * *

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drums that sounded before the battle were a tradition of Gallel’s unit.

And the sound of drums meant they were preparing to attack.

“Oh my… they’re coming now…?”

“Hold your ground! How are they going to climb up here!”

“If we break, our families are dead! Don’t go soft; stay strong!”

The soldiers holding spears on the wall bit their lips tightly.

Half of the troops stationed on the wall were local residents.

For those who had never received military training and had spent their lives farming, it was a harsh situation, but,

‘I must protect my family…!’

‘Come and try! I’ll take you down!’

Drum roll-

But as the enemies charged and the ground trembled, their hearts began to race.

The sound of their own heartbeats became distinctly audible.

“…?”

“What is that?”

Suddenly, a fire broke out on the side of the approaching enemy, and the flames rapidly engulfed the enemy warriors. Then, boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions followed in quick succession, causing the enemy warriors to scream and fall.

“Argh!”

“It’s the enemy! We’re under attack!”

“Where is the attack coming from?”

Gallel looked around in confusion at the sudden explosion.

There hadn’t been any attack from Saleron so far.

Not a single arrow had been fired, so how could such explosions occur?

‘A mage?!’

Could a kingdom’s mage be here?

But Gallel shook his head.

Why would a mage, an elite force, come here just to defend a small northern territory like Saleron?

It would be like a Sword Master coming out to fight in a minor battle from the kingdom’s perspective.

But Gallel didn’t have time to think long.

Pheeeew-!

As soon as the explosions occurred, dozens of flares were fired into the sky.

And from the left side of their unit, a black mass appeared.

“Slaughter all the enemies!”

“Now! Sweep them all away!”

A unit bearing a flag with a golden eagle emblem and red eyes appeared.

Gallel’s eyes widened at the sight of the Eagle unit.

About two hundred? No, three hundred?

Despite being vastly outnumbered, the surprise attack and the flank assault made it difficult to handle.

“Deal with the enemies on the left! They have nowhere to run or hide! Surround them and kill them all! Attack Saleron afterward!”

Gallel shouted urgently and turned towards the attackers. But that wasn’t the end.

“Uraaaah-!”

“Kill them!”

Another massive shout erupted from the rear.

The sheer number of soldiers, almost a thousand strong, was overwhelming.

Where had they been hiding?

And then,

Swish-!

A tremendous sound of something cutting through the air made Gallel instinctively duck.

Thud!

An arrow pierced the top of Gallel’s helmet, knocking it off.

Gallel stumbled from the impact but quickly opened his eyes wide and looked in the direction the arrow came from.

“…A kid?”

There stood a small-framed man.

Though small in build,

“How dare you-!”

Gallel roared, feeling as if the man’s eyes were piercing through him.

“Fu…”

It was a perfect opportunity.

But it didn’t matter.

Because of this, the enemy’s attention would be entirely on him.

‘I will annihilate them now…!’

The strength of the enemy comes from a powerful leader.

If the leader is tied up in one place, the subordinates will become disorganized.

And at this moment…!

“Come, head.”

I will be the one to capture the enemy commander.

Lian nocked another arrow and aimed at Gallel.