Translator: AnubisTL
Compounding the problem were frequent natural riverbed shifts, sudden landslides, and even minor geological subsidence. These constant geographical changes made it all the more difficult to pinpoint precise border control points.
The ultimate result was a vast and irreconcilable discrepancy between the two nations' claimed borderlines. On their respective maps, the lines representing their sovereignty claims formed a jagged, interlocking mess of mutually unrecognized disputed territories.
Against this backdrop, the scouts, sentries, and patrol teams stationed along the border were prone to explosive confrontations—or even violent clashes—whenever they encountered one another in these sensitive, contested zones.
For a long time, however, the Duchy of Abel and the Duchy of Haltai had maintained a remarkable level of restraint. This was because both were bound by the loose but effective framework of the Federation, and the two great powers above them—the Kingdom of Lothurn and the Kingdom of Ribos—exerted their influence to mediate and apply pressure.
Both sides strictly adhered to an unwritten set of rules:
Keep conflicts to a minimum. Limit them to shoving, verbal spats, or small-scale hand-to-hand scuffles. Avoid lethal weapons at all costs, let alone escalating a clash into a full-scale war.
Yet... tonight, an unusual tension seemed to hang over the Alva River Valley, a land claimed by both.
Beneath the calm surface, a dark current was surging.
The night was as thick as ink, with a sliver of a cold moon casting a pale, ghostly silver light that barely illuminated the rushing waters of the Alva River and the steep contours of its banks.
A border patrol team from the Duchy of Haltai was conducting its routine inspection, strictly following their designated route along the border they claimed as their own.
Their footsteps were heavy, their bronze scale armor shimmering with a cold, ghostly blue under the moonlight.
Unwittingly, they had crossed into the disputed territory—a region both duchies claimed as their own, where their sovereignties overlapped in a tense, contested zone.
As expected.
Almost the moment they stepped into this sensitive area, another patrol team from the Duchy of Abel emerged from the shadows of the coniferous forest on the opposite bank of the river valley, appearing like ghosts from the gloom.
Their heavy black-iron breastplates covered their upper bodies, absorbing all light under the moon and casting a somber, murderous aura.
Under the frigid moonlight, the turbulent surface of the Alva River was sliced into countless leaping, shimmering silver scales.
Soldiers from both patrols stepped warily from the dense coniferous forests on opposite sides of the valley at nearly the same time. Across the narrow stretch of water, their gazes clashed like drawn swords.
The captain of the Haltai guard was exceptionally burly, his signature thick red beard twitching slightly in the cold wind.
One hand gripped the hilt of the longsword at his waist, while the other raised to signal his men to halt.
"Fall back, Abelians!"
Captain Todd's thick red beard trembled violently as he roared. "This is the sacred land of Haltai, personally decreed by the Kingdom of Lothurn! Leave at once, or face the consequences!"
Opposite them stood the leader of the Duchy of Abel's patrol team—a one-eyed sergeant with a rugged face and a sharp gaze. A vicious scar, like a centipede, tore from his temple down to the base of his neck, looking particularly ghastly in the moonlight.
Faced with Todd's warning, the one-eyed sergeant, named Barton, did not flinch. Instead, he grinned and snarled.
"Old Todd, you can kiss my ass!" Barton retorted, his voice as harsh as a cracked gong. "Take your Haltaian runts and crawl back to your southern mountain hollows! Every inch of this valley, every single stone, has belonged to our Duchy of Abel since ancient times! This is our indivisible territory!"
With that, Barton unbuckled the sword belt at his waist without hesitation. The heavy fine-steel longsword, still in its scabbard, fell to the gravel with a resounding clatter.
Next, he unstrapped his heavy bracers. The fine-steel gauntlets slammed against his chainmail, producing a sharp, jarring metallic clang.
He cracked his thick neck with a series of pops, then began to walk, step by step, across the river toward the Haltaian party.
Behind him, the Abelian soldiers moved in perfect unison without a word. They cast aside their weapons—swords, shields, short axes—and let them crash heavily to the ground.
Calloused fists clenched tight, knuckles cracking with a series of bone-chilling pops.
On the opposite bank, the Haltai warriors were no less resolute.
"Disarm!"
At Todd's low, commanding order, bronze scale armor, swords, and short spears were stripped off and thrown aside. The golem guards that had been silently following them also cut their engines, slipping into standby mode.
The Haltai soldiers clenched their fists, their pride and defiance as warriors fueling their stance as they faced the advancing Abelians.
Soon, the tension reached its breaking point.
A single, low roar from an unknown soldier lit the fuse.
The battle erupted instantly.
Two armies from rival duchies, each sworn to their own cause, charged under their commanders' lead. Like two surging tides, they crashed together and merged into a chaotic melee on the frozen banks of the Alva River Valley.
The heavy, hard-soled military boots crushed the thin ice along the riverbank with a sharp, jarring crack.
The dull thuds of fists, fueled by rage and power, striking faces, chests, and ribs echoed relentlessly.
The heavy chainmail on the soldiers' bodies ground and clashed violently in the fierce melee, creating a continuous, tooth-grinding cacophony of metal scraping and colliding.
All these sounds, mingled with heavy gasps, furious roars, and pained groans, reverberated repeatedly through the deep Alva River Valley.
Todd threw Barton into the bone-chilling stream with a powerful takedown. Redbeard, his beard frosted with ice, snarled, "Surrender, and I'll let you—argh!"
Barton's knee suddenly drove into his groin. The Haltaian curled up like a shrimp in agony, yet still managed to swing his fist, smashing it into the Abelian's nose.
As time wore on, the chaos of the melee gradually took shape.
Though the soldiers of the Duchy of Abel fought bravely, they seemed slightly disadvantaged in both numbers and individual size.
Finally, as the last few Abelian guards were brought down by the Haltaian soldiers, groaning in pain and unable to rise... Captain Barton, his nose bleeding and his body swaying as he barely managed to stand after Todd's assault, finally raised his mud-and-blood-stained, trembling right hand.
This was the traditional gesture of surrender in border conflicts—a signal that one side admitted defeat and called for a ceasefire.
Seeing the gesture, Redbeard Todd forced himself to ignore the waves of excruciating pain and dizziness radiating from his critical wound. He finally released his left arm, which had been instinctively crushing Barton's throat, and tried to straighten up.
"Hmph!"
Todd spat a bloody glob of phlegm at Barton, his face twisted with the contempt and mockery of a victor. "Get your asses back to your Abel territory! Don't let me see you in this valley again!"
He assumed tonight's skirmish would end just like countless others before it.
However...
This time, defying all expectations, Barton—who had just painfully scrambled to his feet—did not silently retreat with his men as he always had after hearing Todd's taunts.
Instead, a complex mix of helplessness, ruthlessness, and a flicker of guilt crossed his rugged, blood-smeared face.
In that split second when Todd was completely off guard, even letting his defenses drop, Barton's right hand—the same one that had just signaled surrender—shot toward the small of his back like a striking viper!
Shink!
A matte-finished alchemical dagger, designed to reflect no moonlight, was drawn in a blur of motion.
Without a moment's hesitation—Squelch!
The razor-sharp blade tore through the air with the sound of ripping leather, plunging with ruthless precision into Todd's unprotected throat.
Then, with a brutal sideways yank, the blade carved a gaping, horrific wound. Blood erupted from Todd's neck like a fountain.
Barton watched as the light faded from Todd's eyes—eyes that had widened in a mix of agony and disbelief. His lips trembled, trying to form words that finally escaped as a barely audible whisper: "...Forgive me, Redbeard..."
"Tonight... the orders from above... they wanted a more... violent conflict... I had no choice..."
The warm, life-filled blood, thick as the densest dye, instantly stained the frigid stream beneath Todd, spreading into a jarringly vivid crimson under the moonlight.
Both the Haltai and Abel soldiers stood frozen, paralyzed by the sudden, savage slaughter.
After a brief, dead silence.
"Captain Todd—!!!"
"Barton! You bastard!!!"
Two languages, both roaring with the same absolute fury, grief, and incredulous rage, erupted from the soldiers' throats like a lit powder keg.
At that same instant—Vroom—BOOM!!!
The alchemy golems, which had been shut down and standing silently by, suddenly ignited with a blinding red light in their eyes. Their massive gears and drive shafts roared to life with deafening thunder, their heavy steel bodies instantly activated.
They stomped forward with heavy strides, rumbling into the fray.
Clang! Clang!
The swords and sabers that had been cast aside on the ground were snatched back up by countless furious hands.
The cold metal reflected a lethal glint under the moonlight. The border skirmish, which had been strictly contained to hand-to-hand combat, instantly spiraled out of control—amidst the destructive roar of the alchemy golems' engines, the jarring symphony of clashing blades, and the blood-and-tears-soaked roars of the soldiers.
It escalated into a completely mindless, bloody, and brutal... fight to the death.
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [282] Chapters behind.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [594] now, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
💸 Read up to Chapter [384] for 100% FREE!
📚 Read upto [13,000+] Chapters on Site with [10,400+] Free Chapters!
🚫 Also get FREE lifetime ad-free and join the giveaway by joining our Discord!
---------------------------