Chapter 186 - Facing the Marshal (9)
The Star of Summer, Estelle Pouarrié, darted between the trees—swift as a ray of light, yet as fluid and sinuous as a snake—her presence utterly overwhelming even when compared to other Belliang Baltrachers.
Even those who had never seen Estelle in person could recognize her at a glance.
"W-wait! She's nothing like what we were told…!"
"Stop her!"
A 1st Company Baltracher sounded panicked as he caught sight of Estelle, but there was no time to hear him out.
At the 1st Company Commander's shout, six Baltrachers from the 2nd Battalion unleashed their Balt all at once.
Six Baltrachers combining their power could easily smash through even a sturdy stone building, or tear down any tree that blocked their view.
"Uh—"
But that only worked if their attacks actually landed.
As Estelle raced through the branches, she quickly scanned the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers and, without so much as a blink, abruptly changed direction, slipping through their barrier and telekinesis as fluidly as water and breaking straight into their formation.
"Get out of the way!"
Shaaak!
And before the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers could even attempt a counterattack, Estelle swept through their ranks with her trademark, violently resonating Balt, cutting down more than ten soldiers in her wake.
The moment they thought something had merely brushed past them, their bodies were already being sliced apart and torn to pieces.
Those who were hit didn't even know when or how it had happened.
"A-Aaah… Aaaaaah!"
"Save me! Please, save me!"
Those whose limbs had been severed fell to the ground, writhing in agony.
They were actually the lucky ones—in contrast, those whose heads or torsos had been swept away by Estelle's Balt had died instantly.
"What are you doing? Grab her!"
At the urgent shout of the 3rd Company Commander, the Baltrachers jolted out of their shock and tried to catch Estelle with their telekinesis. But Estelle had already leapt backward, shielding herself with her barrier. The telekinesis unleashed by the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers seemed to clutch at the air, barely snaring the edge of Estelle's barrier.
In that instant, Estelle's eyes darted toward a gap between soldiers where the 16th Regiment 2nd Battalion troops were clustered together.
"...."
"...."
Her green eyes, reminiscent of summer, met a pair of murky blue winter-like eyes.
Estelle realized that the eyes peeking fiercely through the soldiers were burning with raw hatred directed at her.
Her gaze narrowed slightly.
She sensed there was someone among the enemy who, while not necessarily a threat, was able to react to her movements.
Boom!
The telekinesis appeared to have almost captured Estelle.
But at the very moment their forces connected, Estelle explosively expanded her barrier, using the telekinetic force to propel herself further back.
Immediately, she dismissed her barrier and re-formed it in a smaller radius around her, ensuring her safety and avoiding capture.
Estelle escaped unscathed, not so much as a scratch from the 2nd Battalion's Baltracher attack.
It all happened in less than a second.
Estelle had experienced this kind of situation several times before, and more than once she had almost died from letting her guard down—even with her power that was nothing short of ruling the battlefield.
Every time, it had been because of Ernest that she'd suffered such humiliations.
Because of that, Estelle was always careful not to lose her mobility, and she was especially wary of being caught by Balt Psychokinesis.
Bang!
"Argh!"
The moment Estelle broke free, the Belliang Army opened fire and the 2nd Battalion soldiers collapsed in heaps like straw, mowed down by the barrage.
"Barrier! Get the barriers up!"
"No, wait—hold fire...!"
The 1st Company Commander frantically ordered them to raise barriers, but the 2nd Company Commander, conscious of Estelle's presence, hesitated to deploy the Baltrachers, worried about creating an opening.
Thud.
A thin, needle-like blade flew through the air and pierced the 2nd Company Commander right between the eyes, just below his helmet.
Thud.
"Aaaah!"
As the 2nd Company Commander fell helplessly to the ground, dead, the soldiers recoiled in terror, unsure of what had just happened.
"Pull yourselves together! Fire! Fire! Baltrachers, gather in one place!"
The 3rd Company Commander urgently gave the order to open fire and called the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers together.
The soldiers, desperate to survive, began firing at the Belliang Army, and for now, avoided being wiped out by the enemy's relentless gunfire.
"Damn it, how are we supposed to fight that thing!"
But the 2nd Battalion couldn't move an inch because of Estelle, who was circling around them with frightening speed.
Some soldiers, trying to avoid Estelle and get protection from the Baltrachers, nervously pressed toward the center of the formation, unable to take cover and thus left completely exposed to enemy fire.
"What are you doing? Spread out! Form a line!"
"Move! You're in the way!"
An even bigger problem was that with all the Baltrachers packed in the middle, their own soldiers crowded against them, preventing them from using their power at all.
The soldiers clung to the Baltrachers for protection, blocking their view and making it impossible for them to unleash their abilities.
The Imperial Army had gained valuable experience from fighting the Belliang Baltrachers and had come up with a number of countermeasures, which had actually produced some results.
But now, faced with a monster who defied all logic, all their carefully developed tactics and training were suddenly meaningless.
Estelle, seeing that the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers were completely pinned down, charged in without a care and started picking off the soldiers on the outskirts of the formation one by one.
"Damn it! Just push them back!"
The 3rd Company Commander, trapped in the center of the formation with the Baltrachers, cursed as he shouted.
At his order, the Baltrachers bit their lips hard and pushed aside the soldiers crowding around them, knocking them over as they launched an attack at the onrushing Estelle.
"To the side! It's coming from the side!"
But by the time the soldiers had fallen, Estelle had already retreated.
Instead, from both flanks of a 2nd Battalion Baltracher who'd been focused solely on Estelle, two Belliang Baltrachers came flying in like lightning.
Thanks to the Balt Battery supplied by Konchanya, they had plenty of power.
There was no need for Estelle to fight alone.
Boom!
"Argh!"
The 2nd Battalion Baltrachers hastily raised their Barriers, but because they'd been concentrating on Estelle, their reaction was sluggish and they couldn't focus their strength.
Only three Baltrachers managed to put up Barriers in time, and it was only after those three were hit hard by the Belliang Baltrachers' attack that a few more Barriers appeared.
Having dealt a blow to the 2nd Battalion Baltrachers, the Belliang Baltrachers quickly withdrew without overextending themselves.
"Got you."
At that moment, Marie—already small in stature and crouched low between the Baltrachers and the 3rd Company Commander, completely hiding herself from everyone's view—finally spoke up.
Vvvvvmmm!
A sound rose up like thousands of bees beating their wings.
In the instant when the 2nd Battalion Baltrachers were shaken by the attack from the two Belliang Baltrachers, Estelle charged in and a fierce storm of Balt whipped up around her.
Even while the other Baltrachers were focused on defense, Marie never took her eyes off Estelle She was so focused on killing Estelle that she didn't even bother to put up a Barrier, making no effort to defend herself at all.
Because of that, Marie's Balt Psychokinesis was able to grab hold of Estelle as she charged forward with incredible speed.
"Kh…!"
But up against Estelle's overwhelming power, Marie's Balt Psychokinesis collapsed as easily as a sandcastle struck by the tide.
Estelle's speed slowed only a bit, and Marie's Balt shattered and scattered in all directions.
"Grab her!"
"Argh!"
Still, what mattered was that they managed to slow Estelle down, even if only slightly.
The 3rd Company Commander immediately reacted to Marie's shout and gave the order, and the other Baltrachers combined their strength, projecting their Balt to seize Estelle.
At that moment, Estelle reshaped her Barrier and used her Psychokinesis to force her body sideways.
She'd been in this sort of crisis before—back when a Barrier she'd created gave Ernest an opening, leading to her capture as a prisoner.
Naturally, she'd prepared a countermeasure for just such a situation.
Estelle's Barrier took on an asymmetrical shape, with the front of the left side jutting outward.
Vwooom…! Bang!
The Psychokinesis struck the left side of Estelle's Barrier, landing first on the slanted surface she'd so carefully angled.
The recoil force pushed her body diagonally backward and to the right.
Maintaining her Barrier, Estelle used her own Psychokinesis to deflect the attack coming from the right side, and in the end, even with six Baltrachers attacking her with their Psychokinesis at once, she managed to slip away completely unscathed.
"No!"
A shrill scream rang out—utterly out of place on the battlefield.
In that instant, Estelle realized that the owner of those murky blue eyes glaring at her was a girl both smaller and younger than herself.
Estelle felt a discomfort as she met Marie's gaze.
She had faced countless stares on the battlefield, but never before had she encountered an enemy with such pure, undiluted killing intent.
Even Ernest hadn't been this intense.
When he'd captured Estelle as a prisoner in the forest in front of Lanosel, he had wanted to kill her, but he knew he couldn't—for the sake of himself, his friends, and his subordinates, he chose not to.
But this young girl poured everything she had into killing Estelle, disregarding even her own life.
Seeing Marie desperately shove her way forward among the others, stretching out her small hand, unable to let Estelle get away, Estelle felt as though she had discovered something in that moment.
Crack!
Marie gritted her teeth and, with all her might, unleashed her Balt, which instantly converged above Estelle's head and struck her Barrier like a bolt of lightning.
Fueled by an almost unbelievable killing will, Marie's determination flared with a force that was, even to herself, shockingly immense.
"..."
Yet Marie's power, judged by Baltracher standards, was still only exceptional—not extraordinary.
Without even thinking, Estelle's reflexively released Balt blocked and completely neutralized Marie's attack.
Even so, as Estelle moved backward, her body was suddenly jerked downward and stopped.
It was just a split-second opening.
And yet, as Estelle was distracted by Marie's eyes, it was enough for her to be startled, fear making the blood drain from her body.
In less than a second, a monster had used such an opening to lunge for her life, more than once.
But there was no one on this battlefield capable of exploiting the fleeting gap that Marie had managed to create.
Not even Marie herself, who had created the opening, could do anything more.
In truth, it would have been stranger if someone had managed to react to that split-second opening.
Besides herself, Estelle had only ever seen Ernest capable of something like that.
"Aaagh!"
"Help me!"
"R-run away!"
"No! Don't run! Stand and fight the enemy!"
Two Belliang Baltrachers charged in and tore two of the 2nd Battalion's Baltrachers to pieces, then broke through the formation, sweeping everyone into chaos.
Thud.
"Ugh!"
Marie, who had rushed forward and stretched out her arm with all her strength, collapsed helplessly to the ground.
Behind her, the Baltrachers tangled together in fierce combat, while the Belliang Army fired relentlessly at the retreating, disorganized 2nd Battalion.
The outcome of the battle had been decided.
Even if four Baltrachers attacked Estelle at once, unless a monster like Ernest was leading them, they wouldn't be able to stop her.
Now, there were only four surviving Baltrachers left in the 2nd Battalion, and one of them—Marie—was lying fallen before Estelle, who was flanked by two Belliang Baltrachers.
On top of that, the Belliang soldiers had gained the upper hand and were mercilessly slaughtering the Imperial troops.
The battle was already over.
"Haa! Haa!"
Marie, who had been trained by Ernest, realized that the battle was already over.
But she couldn't give up.
Even as she gasped for breath from exhaustion and dizziness after going all out in that one moment, Marie's cloudy blue eyes blazed fiercely as she sprang to her feet.
"Uaaaah!"
She drew a dagger from behind her waist and, letting out a tearing scream, charged straight at Estelle, who stood before her.
She didn't carry a gun—Marie was so small that even lugging around a rifle was a struggle for her.
Bang!
Marie's Balt struck Estelle first.
Of course, it was blocked.
The massive recoil sent Marie's small, light body reeling, but she bared her teeth and kept her eyes wide open, stubbornly hurling herself at Estelle.
Ting.
With a single glance from Estelle, the blade of the dagger Marie was gripping tightly snapped and flew off.
Still, Marie did not stop.
Grip.
Estelle grabbed Marie's wrist.
Then, putting her weight behind it, she pressed down hard.
"Aaargh…!"
Blood poured from Marie's nose, and her eyes burst with broken blood vessels, so tears of blood streamed down her cheeks.
She was unleashing her Balt with literally every ounce of strength she had left.
Marie's desperate, death-defying attack meant nothing in the face of Estelle's overwhelming power.
The moment Marie's Balt was released, it was instantly neutralized by Estelle's Balt—rendering it completely powerless.
A tremendous amount of Balt poured out of Marie's Balt Battery, only to be depleted in an instant.
Once her Balt was spent, all that remained of Marie was a girl full of killing intent but so small and weak it was hard to imagine her even running with a gun.
Estelle simply pressed Marie down and forced her to the ground.
Estelle might have been short and slender for a woman, but next to Marie, it was the difference between an adult and a child.
"Die! Just die already!"
Marie screamed with everything she had, even as her Balt was depleted and she was pinned and couldn't move—struggling frantically to kill Estelle any way she could.
Her anguished screams mirrored the bloody tears that streaked her face.
Estelle did not kill Marie.
She just looked down at her in silence.
To Estelle, Marie looked, at most, about fifteen years old.
"…Why are you looking at me like that…?"
Estelle, meeting Marie's eyes blazing with hatred and murderous intent, asked in a trembling voice.
Then, with her right hand—the one that had been holding Marie's slender left arm—she began to squeeze Marie's frail neck, as if it might snap at any moment.
For a brief second, the image of Ernest—his dark, intense eyes burning with killing intent as he gripped his own throat—flashed before Estelle's eyes.
"Because of you…! Because of you…!"
With her barely freed left hand, Marie slapped and clawed at Estelle's face.
Her voice, crushed and trembling, leaked out in what sounded like a pitiful whimper, fading away as if it would vanish completely.
Even now, Marie never once thought of shaking off Estelle's hand from her throat.
All she could think about was killing Estelle—who was right within her reach.
As her breath was choked off, clear tears mixed with the bloody ones streaming from her burst capillaries.
With her final breath, Marie cried out.
"You…! You killed my older brothers…!"
"..."
Estelle's face went cold and lifeless, like a corpse.
For a moment, it felt as if her heart had stopped.
A fleeting image of her gentle, affectionate younger brother, Clemence, passed before her eyes.
The moment she was confronted by the pure hatred, resentment, and killing intent of a girl so much smaller, younger, and weaker than herself— Only now, at this moment, did Estelle fully understand that all the countless people she had killed with her own hands had been, just like Clemence, someone's son, someone's older brother, someone's younger sibling.
She had known it—but she could never accept it.
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of the younger sibling she'd needed to protect.
And with thoughts of the sibling whose body she'd never even been able to recover.
Bang!
"..."
A jolt hit Estelle's side, snapping her out of her trance.
A single bullet pierced through her thinning Balt as her mind wandered.
As it shredded through the Balt, small fragments flew off and barely managed to pierce her tough military uniform, stinging as they jabbed into her side.
It was only a mild pain, but it was enough to bring Estelle back to her senses.
Even as she was on the verge of passing out, Estelle silently watched Marie, who was still slapping and clawing at her face.
Then, she let Marie go and staggered to her feet.
"Kaahk! Haaah! Haa...!"
Marie gasped desperately, barely filling her small chest with air.
Even in that state, she flailed wildly, trying to attack Estelle with nothing but the broken hilt of her dagger, but she no longer even had the strength to lift her head.
"..."
"..."
Amidst the chaos as the 2nd Battalion broke apart and fled, Estelle turned to look at the man who had fired the shot at her.
The 3rd Company Commander, thinking he finally saw an opening in Estelle's dazed state, had fired his gun at her, but now stood frozen in fear, unable to even move a finger as he aimed his unloaded weapon at her.
"...Take her."
Estelle muttered in a rough voice.
Then, as Marie trembled and started to lose consciousness, Estelle lifted her with telekinesis and threw her towards the 3rd Company Commander.
"Heup!"
The 3rd Company Commander was so startled he almost knocked Marie away with his rifle, but Estelle's telekinesis shattered his gun into pieces, and despite himself, he ended up catching Marie.
He stared at Estelle in bewilderment.
"..."
Estelle met Marie's bloodshot eyes, which were still fixed on her in defiance.
Then, slowly blinking, she turned away from that gaze as if fleeing, and trudged weakly toward her own lines.
The 3rd Company Commander hesitated, nervously debating whether to abandon Marie or not.
But when Estelle glanced back at him, he flinched in alarm, quickly hoisted Marie onto his back, and began to run for his life.
He figured that if he left Marie behind after Estelle had specifically told him to take her, she would not forgive him.
"I'm supposed… to kill her…"
Draped over the 3rd Company Commander's shoulder like a limp burden, Marie stretched out her hand toward Estelle, who continued to watch her through the haze of her bloodstained, trembling vision.
But her hand grasped nothing, and when she finally reached her absolute limit—a barrier no willpower could overcome—Marie lost consciousness.
Estelle watched until she was sure that, amid the chaotic retreat of the Imperial Army, Marie was not abandoned and made it out safely.
Only then did she lower her head and shuffle forward, almost tripping over a corpse, staggering, then regaining her balance.
Using her sleeve, she roughly wiped the blood that trickled down her face from where Marie's hand had scratched her.
Estelle couldn't bring herself to kill Marie.
Because she felt as if Marie was another version of herself.
Because that sense of kinship made her understand Marie—and because of that understanding, she could not help but feel deeply sorry.
Understanding stems from affinity.
When you realize that you share the same circumstances as another, when you imagine yourself in their pain, only then can you truly comprehend someone else through the lens of your own experience.
Maybe that's cowardly.
Maybe it's ridiculous.
The reason Estelle felt that sense of kinship with Marie—before anything else, before her murderous intent—was simply because Marie was a woman.
On a hellish battlefield like this, women were almost never seen.
Female Baltrachers were considered unfit for combat—they were assigned to rear units or put to work moving Balt for the batteries and other such labor.
That's why this was the first time Estelle had ever seen a woman in the same position as herself, revealing killing intent toward her.
It was in that moment she felt a sense of kinship and, along with it, guilt.
Estelle had killed hundreds—perhaps even more than a thousand people.
Only now, after all those deaths, did Estelle realize that what she had done was a crime.
With a small sob, Estelle lifted her head and trudged on to kill again.
Even though she now understood her actions were a crime, it was too late to stop.
She had come too far.
Of course, if she had known that the "older brothers" Marie had mentioned were still alive—and even more, if she had realized that they were Ernest and Robert—Estelle would have instantly killed Marie, snapping her neck with Balt right then and there.
Far from feeling guilty, she might have even laughed at the thought of making Ernest suffer as she had.
But who could possibly imagine that the "older brothers" of that scrawny little Aeblonian were actually Ernest and Robert, Imperial nobles and officers?
***
In the second battle in the forest, the Imperial Army suffered a catastrophic defeat—so complete that it could barely be put into words.
The 6th Division hastily sent more troops into the woods, but still couldn't halt the Belliang Army; at best, they managed to just barely establish a shaky front line on the forest's edge.
Bertrand didn't even bother to attack that line.
It was as good as nonexistent.
In fact, it was better to leave it be—so the Imperial Army would keep wasting resources trying to maintain their pointless position.
The forest once again fell firmly under the control of the Belliang Army; all the Imperial Army had left was a tiny strip of land clinging to the edge.
The 5th Division, which had been assaulting the defensive line at Konchanya, also had to pull back after hearing news of the disaster.
Their job had been to distract the enemy while the 6th Division attacked the forest, but with the 6th Division now in full retreat, there was no point in continuing the fight.
The Empire had completely failed to push back the defensive line at Konchanya, and, on top of that, now faced a situation where it would have to accept a weakened grip over Belliang due to the loss of troops.
The morale of the Imperial Army had hit rock bottom, while the spirits of Konchanya's forces soared sky-high.
At this point, it seemed the Empire had no choice but to halt the battle.