Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 90
Hadro, once bestowed with the title of Regiment Commander of the Southern Army of the Highserk Empire, reflected on his position.
The Northern and Western Armies bore the brunt of the battles against Canoa, Felius and Mayard, while the Eastern Army faced daily clashes with the Libertoa Trade Federation. Compared to these, the Southern Army, to which Hadro belonged, was modest and unassuming within the extensive military history of the Empire.
Geographically it was a strategic location, facing the large demonic territories and situated near the Galmud Archipelago, one of the three great nations.
However, with the expansion phase over and the great nations enjoying abundant resources and funds, the Highserk Empire saw little value in invading the area, and the demonic territories remained stable throughout the year due to the efforts of the three great nations. Thus, the Southern Army was considered a second-class unit, unfamiliar with battle.
Despite being considered a safe zone within the Empire, similar to the central regions, the South served as a strategic source, continuously adapting to personnel shortages and supply needs. Its soldiers silently supported the Empire, and though their existence was overshadowed, Hadro devoted himself to enhancing and training his troops.
Then came the day when the containment of the Great Rampage, fueled by the combined forces of the North, West and all surplus troops, was shattered by the invasion of the Flame Emperor Dragon, a living natural disaster. The capital’s defense ended in ashes, along with the central units.
Rushing from the South to aid, Hadro would never forget the sight of people and soldiers who had lost their homes, families, and even their nation, standing helplessly, wandering without direction, truly becoming refugees.
Hadro was able to act because a portion of the South remained intact, and after ravaging the capital, the Flame Emperor Dragon had moved between Lake Selta and Libertoa. Otherwise, Hadro might have ended his life overlooking the capital from a hill.
He rallied the demoralized soldiers with shouts of encouragement, striking those who laughed and cried about dying for their country, and gathered the forces back to the South.
“Something to protect still exists,” he offered as a sliver of hope, leading the people while continuing to fight the aftermath of the Great Rampage. In comparison to the brilliant diversion of monsters to the Libertoa Trade Federation by the Jeyf Cavalry Battalion and several battalions stationed in the East, Hadro’s regiment was embarrassingly makeshift.
Originally, the Southern Army’s defense plans were devised according to the assumption of external to internal threats. However, facing the demonic invasion stemming from the Great Rampage, their orientation was completely reversed. The defense network, stretching from the center to the South, was thinly spread. Buildings and facilities were repurposed, yet the demonic forces were unstoppable.
Hadro’s command was straightforward: motivate the troops for the sake of the people and their families.
His regiment, having shared the majority of his life, achieved neither honor nor significant victories, merely dwindling against the main force of monsters, retreating continuously until they suffered damages so severe that the unit was reduced to a battalion’s size.
Then came the consideration of a total mobilization, regardless of conditions. Even those without combat experience or aptitude could serve as a force to buy time if their numbers were overwhelming.
Hadro understood that these were the nation’s precious assets and foundations. Losing farmers and craftsmen meant losing the country’s ability to function. Without its people, the nation could neither recover nor survive.
Thus, he ordered his troops, as dear to him as his own children, to fight to their deaths, leaving a rear guard to destroy all bridges behind them.
The soldiers on the other side, without resentment, only said with trembling voices, “Please take care of our homeland. May the fortune be with you.” If only they had cursed him, it might have been easier to bear. Those words became a curse within Hadro, igniting an undying, dark emotion.
The Southern Army, along with survivors from the North, West, and Central armies who had narrowly escaped death, continued to struggle in the hellish reality a year later. And then, this day arrived.
“Aah, it’s beautiful, just as before.”
What saved the soldiers, prepared for death and continuing to fight, was a blue flame known as Demon Fire. This sudden phenomenon at the brink of collapse burned, scorched, and eradicated the monsters.
To the enemy, it must have been a scene of utter despair, inducing nausea. But for the soldiers, who had accepted their own deaths and realized they couldn’t protect everything, it was a priceless, warm salvation.
Hadro had been informed by a miraculously surviving soldier from the Western Army about the Knight who could control the Demon Fire, the Hellfire Beacon. He was thrilled and pursued the shadow of that knight across the scorched earth, only for his search to end in vain.
Among the soldiers, there were whispers that a hero, concerned for his country even after falling to the underworld, had sent this fire from beyond. Whether true or not, Hadro cared little. What mattered was that now, in this crucial battle determining the fate of Highserk, the Demon Fire had reappeared.
Unable to articulate his overflowing emotions, Hadro found his soldiers felt the same.
“Regiment Commander! The blue flame!”
A soldier who had survived the Great Rampage with him called out in confusion, using Hadro’s former rank. It was understandable; even Hadro, seasoned as he was, felt his heart race like a maiden’s.
“The legacy of Lord Gerald wasn’t just Jeyf… Yes, that’s it. The blue flame of Dandurg, the only place in Mayard that did not fall to the Great Rampage, lit by the hero returning from the underworld to illuminate Highserk once again.”
Hadro’s usually reserved speech flowed unceasingly, met with no disdain from his soldiers. They had shared the same heart, the same scenery, on that day, at that time.
“Send a message to Viscount Edgar: My Hadro Battalion will assault the enemy at the supporting castle, annihilate them, and then draw the remnants to the enemy’s headquarters.”
The messenger, receiving the order, ran without looking back to Viscount Edgar’s camp.
“Listen up, soldiers! Show those half-equipped fools what the undefeated and victorious Highserk Empire is all about. The Empire has not fallen! The military god who crossed to the underworld has granted us a chance for redemption. If not now, when will we fight!”
“NOW!” The responding voices of the soldiers thundered like an earthquake, gathering around Hadro.
“Charge! Don’t look aside, pierce through, crush, trample! Beat the drums, raise your voices! Remind them of war! Everyone, CHARGE!”
Once considered a second-class force, these soldiers no longer existed. Surviving through disgrace and carnage, enduring mad training and a year of combat, these warriors, unleashed onto the battlefield, had eyes ablaze like wild flames, each a killing machine set to reduce the enemy to ashes.
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Translator – Lyxxna