What Do You Wish For With Murky Eyes: Record of Highserk War - Chapter 31

Among continued rumbling, Walm’s consciousness rapidly began to awaken. Stretching his legs from a dirty cloak, Walm lifted his head from the backpack and waist pouch that served as a makeshift pillow.

Feeling wetness in his left hand, Walm’s mood took a nosedive when he looked down at it. Noor had grabbed his hand in her sleep, and was drooling all over it. Annoyed by this unjust treatment, Walm used his free hand to cover Noor’s nose, aiming for suffocation. As he intended, Noor began to writhe in breathlessness.

The secondary victim was Barito. As the flailing limbs repeatedly struck Barito, he tried to protect his cockscomb hair, groaning while pressing his head with both hands. Satisfied, Walm released the hand pinching her nose and rubbed his hands on the ground, following up with fire attribute magic to burn away the dirt.

The rugged men slept shoulder to shoulder, and the Three Idiots, as usual, entangled themselves in their bad sleeping habits and Squad Leader Duwei snored loudly. In the distance, the sounds of magic impacts and resentful voices echoed. The wind carried the foul smell of entrails and filth. It was a typical day in Walm’s life.

Taking water from the canteen to quench his thirst, Walm chomped into a dried sweet potato. The sticky texture and sweetness spread on the tongue. After finishing every last piece, he tilted the canteen again and lay down once more.

Judging by the color of the sky and the rising sun, Walm concluded that it had been about two or three hours since the reserve team had taken over. It was still too early to wake up. Although Walm, worn out both physically and mentally, fell asleep quickly, the peaceful sleep didn’t last long.

“Wake up. Everyone get up! It’s a major enemy offensive. Get ready to go out immediately!”

The furious shout of Squad Leader Duwei, who had gotten up at some point, shook Walm’s eardrums. Rather than being forcefully awakened by enemy magic or skills, it was quite acceptable as a wake-up call.

Walm, who jumped up, skillfully put on equipment almost unconsciously. It took less than a minute to be ready for combat, and all squad members were in formation.

“Listen up, this squad has received orders from Platoon Leader Kozul to support Palmer Platoon. The enemy is forming cover from the trench they always dig and trying to push forward. We’ll interfere with this as much as possible, and when a breakthrough seems imminent, Walm will sweep them away with «Ignis Fatuus». It’s a simple job. Walm, conserve your magical power. Jose, take care of the newcomers. Willart, it might be a burden as Walm steps out as a magic soldier, but give it your all. Reinus, Tibard, Danfan, crush the gaps as usual. Let’s go. Today, let the Craist soldiers return to the earth and send them to the heavens!!”

“”Oooooh!!””

With a lively battle cry, the squad entered combat mode. Dust rose into the air from the impact of magic, and arrows accompanied by the sound of the wind flew between both armies.

Walm grabbed a fist-sized rock and aimed to throw it at the Craist soldier who struggled to maintain balance on the slope. After the dull sound of the impact that likely hit the body, the Craist soldier lost balance and fell headfirst down the slope.

The soldier desperately tried to regain composure, which was quite commendable. Impressed, Walm presented another fist-sized rock. The soldier, unable to endure any longer, rolled down to the bottom.

Still, the Craist soldiers, finding protrusions and small indentations, do not stop their advance. A fireball hits the upright shield planted on the slope, scattering wood chips and soil around. The soldier who had hidden in the shadows is ejected from the cover by the impact.

An arrow pierces the back of the soldier who tried to hide behind the wreckage. The atmosphere trembles as the string that propelled the projectile recoils. At the edge of Walm’s field of view, Noor, attempting a second shot, is reflected.

The second shot is also drawn into the collarbone of the Craist soldier who diverted from cover. Walm wanted to whistle in admiration for the flowing movement. Noor, a fellow newcomer with only average training in close combat among Highserk Empire soldiers, excelled in archery within the squad.

In this situation, the position of the other new recruit, Barito with his cockscomb, is in jeopardy. After contemplating about this, Walm has a realization.

“This isn’t good. I’m lost in thought again.”

It was Walm’s bad habit to divert thoughts to trivial matters during combat. He pushed his evaluation of new recruits to the back of his mind.

Even amid several offensives, the seriousness is evident this time. Regardless of how many soldiers fall, they persistently establish footholds and cover on the slope, attempting to breach the defensive line. Even the magic soldiers, who usually provide long-range firepower support from the rear, are pushing forward.

Whether bothered by the conspicuous cockscomb or not, magic is approaching Barito.

“Woah!?”

Barito lowered his head to the ground like a wild rabbit. When water attribute magic struck the embankment, it instantly formed pillars of ice. Walm crushed the bothersome ice pillars with a longsword that he pulled out.

Finely crushed ice particles showered over Barito, who let out a silly voice.

“Uhii!”

“Hah!”

Walm, who chuckled, received a somewhat embarrassed response from Barito.

“You don’t have to laugh like that—wait!”

This time it was Walm’s turn. Earth attribute magic, formed below, was sent as a projectile aimed at Walm. Earth attribute magic, one of the four elemental magics, was useful despite its understated appearance.

Territorial construction, siege warfare, reinforcement of forces with earth golems—Walm knew various types of earth attribute magic used on the battlefield. Among them «Earth Projectile» was a fundamental and mainstay magic of earth attribute.

Rather than creating something from nothing using magic, manipulating existing substances with magic proves to be significantly more efficient in terms of magical energy consumption. It’s not hard to see earth projectiles on the battlefield as it is shot in large numbers that cause everyone to duck their heads.

Walm saw the astonished face of a magic soldier behind the golem. It seemed quite shocking that their proud magic was shattered by a sword. In a tenacious manner, they continued to shoot «Earth Projectile» at Walm two or three times.

“It seems you want to play in the mud.”

After knocking it down for the third time, a fireball flew in from a different direction. Walm showed a semblance of avoiding it, but inwardly, he watched with a cold gaze. Fire attribute magic users are strong against the same attribute magic.

Even flames that would burn others are manageable for fire attribute magic users. After acquiring «Ignis Fatuus», Walm gained resistance to fire and heat and its performance, even from the point of view of other fire users, was unparalleled.

As a result, some flames attacked Walm, but covered by a magical membrane, including their equipment, Walm was literally unharmed. The problem were the hands reaching out from somewhere to restrain Walm’s body.

“Oi, are you using your comrade as a shield?”

Walm’s veins popped as he scolded Jose and the two new recruits who had taken cover behind him.

Despite having cover and the opportunity to escape, Walm was deeply frustrated by the choice of using their companion as a human shield as the best option.

“No way, Walm-san is amazing.”

“Uh, even a direct hit from that flame doesn’t do anything?”

“This is great, no need for fire-resistant gear.”

Black-bellied Jose, cocks-combed Barito, and archery enthusiast Noor each expressed their thoughts, and if looks could kill, Walm was confident he could harm or kill all three.

“Damn, annoying bunch.”

Walm wanted to confront the three, but seeing Walm’s team not revealing themselves from the recess, the enemy soldiers gained momentum, thinking they had taken care of the troublesome ones.

“Follow me!”

Soldiers leaped out in unison from the trench. There was a higher proportion of knights than before, catching Walm’s eye. Especially troublesome was the knight leading at the forefront.

Flowing purple hair and a slender physique that could be discerned even underneath armor. Walm wouldn’t have cared if she were just a woman who became a knight through her lineage.

However, when Walm saw the prepared round shield infused with magic, canceling out the «Wind Blade» and a friendly soldier leaning out from the embankment getting pierced by thrown spears, Walm’s thoughts changed.

An «Iron Wall» user, and one with a ridiculously large amount of magical power at that. Despite her appearance, she was a close combat powerhouse, a brute-force knight who jumped into deadly situations without hesitation. Walm didn’t want to deal with such opponents, especially one accompanied by brainless knights. If anyone was suitable, it would be Squad Leader Duwei. The squad leader smiled with shining eyes. Walm had no interest in engaging in hand-to-hand combat in such a situation.

“Walm, use it already!”

The desperate cry of Platoon Leader Kozul reached Walm’s ears. Understanding the intentions of the superior who didn’t want a chaotic melee, Walm took out the mask from his waist pouch. The mask vibrated as if it couldn’t wait any longer.

A terrifying—yet convenient—aspect of this mask is that it adheres to the face. Walm moved without hesitation, freely exerting magical power.

A rush of heat and flames enveloped the entire body, consuming the conserved magical power in one go. Still, the female knight before Walm did not flinch. Her almond-shaped eyes were fixed unwavering on Walm. Normally, if those eyes didn’t harbor murderous intent, Walm would have welcomed them. However, the current situation, lacking both conditions, was, to put it mildly, unacceptable.

Nevertheless, Walm’s advantage remained unshaken. There had been those who moved within «Ignis Fatuus» before. But Walm was in luck this time. Alongside support from friendly forces, the enemies were in the middle of charging up the slope. Walm just needed to unleash magical power to its fullest and scorch the enemies below.

In the moment of releasing «Ignis Fatuus», the group rapidly came to a halt, maintaining a low posture and maximizing their contact with the ground.

Some were even forming earthen walls and trenches. While ordinary magic might be countered, against «Ignis Fatuus» unless all directions were sealed off, defense was meaningless.

The expectation that enemies would boldly charge into the front of «Ignis Fatuus», which Walm had feared, was now gone. However, simultaneously, a question arose. Why, despite their initial momentum, did they perfectly stop and fortify their defense? Why did the Craist soldiers, who were burned just the other day, choose the same assault again? Walm tried to switch his thoughts, thinking he might be overthinking or going through unnecessary considerations as usual, but was left speechless by the swelling magical power in the rear trench.

“Are you kidding?”

Walm instantly focused his eyes, searching for the source of that statement. A mismatched pair—a black-haired, black-eyed boy and a chestnut-haired girl—were staring at him.

Walm only knew of a handful of visible magical powers. Yet, there were several surges. Upon closer inspection, numerous magic soldiers were lurking as well.

Goosebumps covered Walm’s entire body, and cold sweat trickled down.

While glaring at the boy and girl, Walm berated himself. They had been lured in. Caught in the enemy’s trap. Various types of magic spread across his field of vision, with one shining light captivating his eyes.

Leaning towards the slightly less dense side, he unleashed «Ignis Fatuus» at full power. The collision of countless magics resulted in a massive explosion. Hair fluttered in the shockwave, and the entire body was overwhelmed by flying debris and impact.

As if eroding his «Ignis Fatuus», magic surged toward Walm only slightly diminished. Manipulating the hot wind, Walm tried to divert his body slightly backward and levitate, but it wasn’t able to do so in time.

“Walm!!”

Squad Leader Duwei, calling Walm’s name, appeared at the edge of their field of vision, but somehow, the main stream of light swallowed even the squad.

“Ahh—”

As a last-ditch resistance, Walm folded and contracted his limbs, covered his ears, and exhaled. Pain surged through his stiffened body. Light, flames, and impact—he could feel his entire body being stripped away. Exposed to the mainstream of force with no sense of front, back, left, or right, his body lost its sensation.

Am I going to die again? With the sensation of being twisted, Walm’s vision darkened. The once noisy sounds disappeared, and his consciousness completely faded away.