Tower of Karma

“I-impossible.”

The black armored crumbled down. The white beast glared at them.

“Yes, thank you for the effort.”

Willian was dancing at the battlefield. Most of the black armored bodies lying on the ground were an army of dead bodies Willian created himself. Both enemies and allies couldn´t recklessly move. It was only a single part; only a small part of the battlefield. But even so, that was a part Willian completely ruled over.

“Guh! How dare you.”

The ones that were just defeated was a ten-man heavy infantry squad of Ostoberg. For the heavy infantry, which all of its soldiers were regulars of the army, a ten man squad was definitely not a small number. It wasn´t a small number, but even so…

“”It´s not enough.””

Right now, Willian was risking himself. He was taking the risk of making himself stand out too much while fighting at the frontlines. He was obviously scared of being surrounded and taken down, but the chance of friendly fire from behind was also very possible. It was a considerably risky situation for him.

“”I can avoid the risks with my abilities. I can simply act whenever necessary. Now is the time. And so, I want a better recommendation. But for that, it is still not enough.”

Soon, he would need to pull back. The vanguard army seemed like it was going to be broken, and soon it would be the time for the heavy infantry, which were the tigers of Arcadia. There was a limit for how long Willian could act.

““Come, come, come!””

Willian prayed. Even if he killed that many, all it would happen was that everything he did would simply become evaluation for the small fries around him. Because of that, his deeds wouldn´t reach the ears of the top-bra.s.s. He wouldn´t be able to reach out for them. What he needed was something that would certainly spread his name. This was something that was impossible for him to get his hands on no matter how many small fries he killed.

“”Come!””

He needed a head.

“Hey, hey, it looks like you´ve been making my subordinates suffer quite a bit, aren´t you?”

The mood completely changed.

“Willian!”

Karl´s voice filled with worry the reached his ears.

“”I know that. Now, it seems you´ve finally revealed yourself, centurion!””(TL note: Centurion =A hundred man commander)

A centurion. If one was to go find similarities between Arcadia and Ostoberg, it would be that their core army was their heavy infantry. That core army was divided in squads of a hundred man, and the ones who commanded those were called centurions. In the battlefield, they were the stars among the stars. If Willian was to take the head of one, it would be possible to raise his name in one go.

“You have quite the showy hair, brat. Did you dye it?”

The man was lump of self confidence. However, Willian would definitely…

“”He isn´t just a fox that made his way there by borrowing authority.”

This one wasn´t a simple fake. Until now, Willian´s opponents had only been soldiers of the heavy infantry division. However, the man in front of his eyes wasn´t simply only a single man. He was the man that commanded a strong army. It was the man that would mold his army with strength.

“Centurion of Ostoberg´s heavy infantry division, my name is Haian Von Krokkas.”

“Soldier of the Arcadian light infantry, sword of Karl Von Teirah, Willian Rivius.”

The two of them named themselves. There was a overwhelming difference in their character. Haian was surrounded by many black shinigami. Willian was only a simple soldier. Perhaps this would seen like a funny play for the people watching from the sidelines.

“You have a nice spirit. Come.”

An oppressing aura surrounded Haian.

“”…This thing once again?”

A cold feeling a.s.saulted Willian. It was the feeling he felt when he fought against Kail. Although it was of a different nature, he had also felt the same feeling from Lord Teirah and the air that wafted around that n.o.ble district.

“…Really, I can´t understand.”

Willian sighed in a way that couldn´t be considered him either letting out a sigh or gasping.

“Won´t you come?”

“…I will.”

The warning Kail gave him etched in his mind. He shouldn´t fight people that gave off this kind of cold feeling. However…

““If I take the risk…. I will be able to go to the top!””

There was no way Willian could stop. His heart screamed him to go forward. The ardor in his stomach increased. Eat, eat, eat, eat. Something inside him was insanely screaming that.

“Hyu!*”(ひゅッ！)

“”Besides, I´m not feeling the same amount of cold I felt from Kail! Physique, technique; there are no factors that suggest I will lose. I can win!””

Therefore, Willian advanced forward. Like always, he charged, attacking at the gap of the armor and aiming for the neck.

“You are very light, white brat.”

“!?”

Haian blocked Willian´s attack that would have brought death if it hit too much easily. In a rational way, the attack went through the shortest trajectory to hit, and therefore it was the fastest Willian could bring. It was the sword that represented the acc.u.mulation of much knowledge and training. This sword was stopped.

“Sorah!”(そォらッ！)

Haian forcibly came out from his position of having blocked the attack and swung his big sword at Willian.

Willian´s eyes became wide-open. Both were pushing their swords on each other, but Willian had the advantage in the stance. In terms of physique, Willian was only slightly unfavored, but there was no way there could have been so much difference. There was no way Willian, who had been training his body, could be falling behind in strength for that much.

“I said so, didn´t I? That you are [light].”

“!?”

Despite all that, Willian felt confused. The disadvantageous stance of his opponent, the rationality, and everything else too was blown away. Willian was overthrown and was blown away in the same way.

“”Wait… a second.””

Willian couldn´t follow what was happening. Because of that delay…

“You don´t have the time to be dazing around!”

An opening Willian would normally not have given away appeared. It was a diagonal slash that went by the books. Even though he was in panic, he was able to properly ready his sword with both hands and protect his head. Blocking the attack, he slashed back…

“Gah!?”

Or so he had intended to. In the end, the result was that the skin of his neck was slightly cut and his body was sent flying. Even if his stance was hadn´t been good, the attack that he was supposed to have completely blocked was too much heavy.

“This… impossible!”

Willian couldn´t have imagined that there would be so much difference between them simply because Haian had better strength. He couldn´t see the difference between the build of their bodies. But even so…

“”Why does the gap feels so big!?””

An one-sided defensive battle. Willian was gritting his teeth. It wasn´t supposed to be like that. He was supposed to win and ascertain how superior he himself was. He was strong. And now, it was when he was supposed to be confirming that fact. That was what should have happened.

“Don´t you know? You don´t know, right? Your sword is light. Your own existence is light. You didn´t go through any trouble in your life, you see.”

His life… was light.

“You can stop acting all brave now. You are indeed very good. Your swordplay is beautiful and your movements were impressive. Your physique isn´t bad. But that´s all. You aren´t [strong]!”

While he was blocking the attacks, Willian had his head hanging down.

His heart exploded.

There was no way Willian could tolerate the things the man in front of his eyes was babbling. Willian had lived a life he had to drink water from the ditch. He lost his sister and was now living for the sake of vengeance. He had been desperately acc.u.mulating knowledge, and besides that, he also trained his body. He had the confidence he had lived the most effective way possible. He would brag he lived while making use of every moment of his life.(TL note: Not sure about this last line. 最短を生きてきた自負がある。)

“…op”

Willian was superior than others. It was fine even if he wasn´t a genius. He didn´t mind even if he didn´t have any talents. It would be enough if he was just a normal person. A simple slave that had trained himself while aiming for the skies. He desperately trained, not letting even one second go to waste. He desperately used up everything all for being able to improve himself. There was no way someone like [him]…

“ShUt Up.”

There was no way [he] was lower than someone of the level of the man in front of his eyes.

“Th-this guy!? Were you hiding such face all along!?”

It was a face his allies behind him couldn´t see. Haian didn´t know what the thing in front of him was.

“I am awesome, you know, nee-san!? We are better than anyone! So watch thiiss.”

“St-stop kidding me! There is, there is no way someone like this…!?”

Willian pushed away the sword. It was the completely opposite of the fight that was happening moments ago. The surroundings didn´t know what was happening there. All they knew was that Willian was pushing Haian back. They understood it. But despite that, n.o.body was able to move.

They continued to fight, and after the sword reached next to Haian´s neck, he couldn´t act anymore.

A feeling of dread wrapped around the battlefield. Those were scorching feelings. Haian was being buried by the strong pressure that surrounded him.

“ThaANkSsS fOr The MeALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.”

Hopelessness could be seen in Haian´s face. He was pushed down, and as his neck was eaten by the blade, his meat was raising sounds of being split apart. Calmly, steadily, with any resistance being in vain…

“Sto- save me!”

The flesh blood dyed the two of them. The white beast was dyed in red. It was a red, a crimson and beautiful beast.

“See, in the end I was superior.”

The allied soldiers didn´t know of the expression he was making. However, the soldiers of Ostoberg could see that face.

It was a beautiful and terrifying thing. It was to the point one would have to swallow a mouthful of saliva after looking at it. They couldn´t believe that [thing] with a face full of ecstasy and bathed in blood was of the same race of them. It was as beautiful as it was insane…

The white beast stood alone in the battlefield.

“W-willian?”

Karl timidly spoke to Willian. He couldn´t understand what happened, but he could more or less see that that was an unnatural situation. However…

“Hm? What is the matter, Karl-sama?”

The face Willian had when he turned his head to him was his usual one. His hair and clothes were dyed in red, but it was the usual Willian that stood there.

“Please, take this.”

Willian cut off Haian´s neck into a proper shape and threw it to Karl´s hands. Karl took the head in panic. That face with dead eyes made Karl want to throw up.

“Did something happen?”

The Arcadian heavy infantry finally arrived after all this time. They made a puzzled face because of the weird mood that wafted around the place.

Willian showed a happy smile.

“Karl Von Teirah has taken down the centurion Haian Von Krokkas!”

The well sounded voice echoed through battlefield. As to be expected, when looking at the battlefield as a whole, it had been only a small part of it. However, all the people that were present at the place had the name of Karl Von Teirah carved in their memory. The voice that declared that had both a charming power and a devilish feeling one couldn´t resist.

“Wai-, Willian!? It wasn´t me, but yo…”

Even if Karl raised his voice in order to correct the misunderstanding, it was already too late…

“Uoooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Many loud cheering voices resounded.  Willian drew Karl´s sword and stuck it at Haian´s head. When confirming it was firmly stuck into the sword, he had Karl hold it and have it displayed to the soldiers.

The bursting shouts of joy became even stronger.

“A lowly light infantry soldier killed a centurion of the heavy infantry army?”

The white heavy infantry had this doubt in their minds. Willian stood in front of Karl.

“This person is the son of a baron, you know? I, Willian Rivius, won´t tolerate the disrespect of looking at Karl-sama in the same eyes of simple light infantry soldier.”

The son of a baron. In other words, a n.o.ble. Most of the heavy infantry soldiers were common civilians. Karl´s military position was lower than theirs, but in terms of hierarchy set by the state, Karl was overwhelmingly ahead of them.

“Wh-why is the son of a n.o.ble together with the light infantry army?”

Seeing that the soldier was backing off, Willian looked at him with eyes of scorn.

“This is something the likes of you don´t need to know. Let´s go, Karl-sama.”

Willian extended his hand to Karl. Karl hesitated.

“Eh, but, for us to be going as we please….”

“The light infantry is supposed to pull back when it is time for the heavy infantry to burst in. Or could Karl-sama be intending to have the light infantry keep fighting?”

It was an argument one couldn´t say anything against. To begin with, the heavy infantry was late to take the place of the light infantry because of the confusion at the rear. But even in that case, Willian normally wouldn´t be someone that would be able to leave the battlefield as he wished. However, right now, he had actual results(the head of a centurion) and Karl (a n.o.ble) to back him up. Therefore, they could go.

“Then, let´s go.”

“Ye-yes.”

Willian and Karl leisurely went to the backlines. The astonishing thing wasn´t only that Ostoberg had its command killed, but the Arcadian army itself. It was that much of a striking duel. And the victory went to Arcadia. After that, shouts of cheer that were as if they had already won the battle itself kept resounding.

The heavy infantry, which until now had remained unused, appeared unexpectedly, and the Ostoberg army, which had already been losing their momentum, was pushed back. The ones to make up for the mistakes of this first battle was the heavy infantry. The white army divided the Ostoberg army in two from the [center], which was where the Ostoberg army hadn´t been able to push through for some reason. They were successfully able to break in at the center of their army.

Because of this battle, the one to seize the initiative of the field was decided.

The first war of the first campaign of both Willian and Karl ended up in victory after a turnaround.