Chapter 76: Monster Wave (1)
Clang clang clang―!
The bell rang three tis.
The miners who had been working inside the mountain range stopped their work and turned their heads when the sound of the bell echoed.
“All miners are to return to Chaplin Castle imdiately!”
The shouts of the Ork warriors, who were responsible for protecting the miners’ safety and guarding the mines, resounded from all directions.
The miners gathered their equipnt and hurried back to Chaplin Castle under the command of the group of Ork warriors.
As the Ork warriors moved alongside the miners.
Fully ard soldiers encountered them.
Kyle, standing at the very front, checked the Ork warrior leading the miners and nodded.
“After returning to Chaplin Castle, evacuate all miners to Ragnar Lord’s Castle.”
“Once the escort of the miners is complete, we will return imdiately.”
At the Ork warrior’s words, Kyle shook his head.
For three months, he had studied not only mine excavation but also various ways to deploy troops efficiently.
“No, you are to move afterward together with Seros.”
Leaving only those words to the Ork warrior, Kyle departed and hastened his advance, glancing back briefly.
The sound of the soldiers’ labored breathing was quite rough.
That was only natural, as they were soldiers tasked with dealing with Monsters, and thus were composed of heavy infantry.
Accordingly, their mobility was inevitably low.
Even walking across ordinary flat ground while wearing heavy armor was difficult, and Ragnar was mountainous terrain.
Fortunately, since it was a road the miners frequently traveled to and from the mine, the snow had been cleared, so movent itself was not too difficult.
Thanks to that, by moving without rest, Kyle was able to arrive at the Ork Tribe’s settlent faster than expected.
‘Looking at it now, the Ork Tribe’s settlent has changed a lot as well.’
Kyle, seeing many things different from three months ago, silently looked upward.
The Ork Tribe’s settlent, which had once had to rely solely on cliffs without any proper defensive walls.
But now, making use of the terrain, a tall defensive wall had been erected at the entrance.
They had even built a massive gate, turning it into a defensive fortress.
As the huge gate opened upon Kyle’s arrival, Yul was standing right in front of it, fully ard.
“Yul, where is Suri?”
“She went out scouting. More importantly, how is the operation proceeding?”
“I’ll move alone.”
“Kyle, that’s reckless by yourself.”
“Everyone must hold their positions so that no matter what variable arises, we can move organically. Depending on how I move, the entire situation will change.”
“I understand that, but just in case, I’ll follow you.”
“No, you absolutely must not leave your post.”
Seros, Yul, and Iron—those three had to hold their positions no matter what.
The advantage of having four Masters.
They had to make the most of it.
To do that, Kyle going alone raised the chances of success.
Yul, with his arms crossed, did not like Kyle’s resolute words, but it seed he could no longer stop him.
“If you get injured or die, all foundations will collapse. Keep that firmly in mind.”
It was reality that only if Kyle stood at the center could the Orks and Dwarves stand on Ragnar’s side.
If he did not exist, the alliance would inevitably break.
At Yul’s warning, Kyle nodded.
“Do not worry. The Monsters will never be able to rush at .”
To ease Yul’s concerns, Kyle raised the arm fitted with a bracer.
A piece of equipnt crafted from the scales of an Ice Dragon.
At its center, a red gem was embedded.
“Is that the piece of equipnt Iron crafted this ti?”
“Yes. You know what kind of gem is embedded in the center.”
“……I never thought he would embed the Everlasting Fla into equipnt.”
Kyle removed the wrist guard and turned it to the other side.
Seeing that a blue gem was also embedded, Yul let out a hollow laugh.
“Insane…… no, maybe not.”
“From a common-sense perspective, this really is insanity.”
Fire and cold.
They were attributes that weakened each other.
Equipping the Everlasting Fla, which possessed extre fire, and the Heart of the Ice Dragon, which possessed extre cold, into the sa piece of equipnt was insanity itself.
“With my current ability, I cannot fully use both divine artifacts.”
It was a workaround.
To overco the current situation, Kyle had no choice but to use the Heart of the Ice Dragon.
“Extre fire weakens cold. But in that case, the Heart of the Ice Dragon cannot be used properly. No matter how exceptional you are, Kyle.”
“Yes, that’s why I put my heads together with Chief Iron and agonized over it. This is the result of that deliberation.”
After reequipping the wrist guard, Kyle turned his body.
Yul did not need to know how he would move.
In effect, the success or failure of this operation depended on how Kyle moved.
“I wish you good fortune, Kyle.”
“I’ll do my best to bring back good news.”
Just then, Suri’s cry could be heard as well.
In an operation where mobility was life itself, Suri’s assistance was essential.
That was why Kyle had identified Suri’s location as soon as he arrived here.
‘She’ll arrive soon.’
Not long after, Suri, who had returned from scouting, entered the settlent along with the Ice Wolf pack.
Yahan, who had been riding on the back of an Ice Wolf, spotted Kyle and quickly bowed his head.
“What about the Monsters’ movents?”
“They are currently moving divided into three groups.”
“Three groups…….”
“Approximately thirty thousand Monsters are approaching this settlent, while the rest have set their direction toward Chaplin Castle and Casio Castle.”
As Kyle nodded at Yahan’s report, Suri approached.
Kyle placed his hand on Suri, who ca up beside him and rubbed her face against him.
“You’ve confird the number of Monsters?”
“It appeared to be over one hundred thousand. Since it was confird by eye, there may be so margin of error.”
Kyle imdiately mounted Suri’s back.
If the Monsters were divided into three groups, that was actually better.
“First, I’ll lure away the Monsters approaching this place.”
Lowering his posture, Kyle grasped Suri’s glossy blue fur.
At that sight, Yahan bowed his head with discipline.
Receiving Yahan’s salute, Kyle exited the settlent.
How long had they run?
From atop a mountain, Kyle could see a massive horde of Monsters slowly approaching.
From Suri’s back, Kyle looked at the wrist guard.
‘It would be best to leave the group heading toward Casio Castle alone and drive only the Monsters moving toward the Ork settlent and Chaplin Castle out of the North.’
Even if the Monsters were driven out of the North, Kyle did not know whether the Kingdom of Daon would have the capacity to stop them.
The ones he had faced in the Interior Lands and the Monsters of the North were on entirely different levels.
After all, a re three thousand Monsters had swept away two territories.
Of course, they had been small territories with few troops, but having collapsed without lasting even a single day, there was no reason to believe other territories would fare any differently.
But that was not sothing Kyle needed to worry about.
“Suri, let’s go. ”
At Kyle’s signal to depart, Suri turned her body to descend the mountain.
Suri, who charged forward at trendous speed, revealed herself directly in front of the advancing Monsters.
Bararing her fangs and growling, Suri showed no sign of fear.
Rather, she displayed even greater montum, lowering her posture as if she might charge at any mont.
Right then.
“ You cannot pass through here. ”
As Kyle drew his sword, Suri shot forward like an arrow straight toward the Monsters.
With the First Legion withdrawing, the Kingdom of Daon found itself able to breathe again.
To block just the First Legion, seventy thousand troops had been deployed along the border.
However, as the situation changed, so did the deploynt of forces.
Of the seventy thousand troops, twenty thousand were left at the border, while fifty thousand were layered and positioned near the North.
At the foremost line of the Northern Boundary Line, the Royal Knights Order Commander Daira had been appointed as supre commander, and he was currently gazing upon the silent lands of the North.
“The royal family should never have supported opposing Ragnar.”
“Commander…….”
“Look at the results of the Monsters spilling out of the North three months ago. Just three thousand Monsters turned two territories into scorched land.”
Daira could not forget that incident, which had occurred three months and ten days ago.
Trusting Ragnar’s presence in the North, the Kingdom of Daon had not deployed much military power to this region.
They believed that the North would block the Monsters to survive.
But the result had been horrific.
No—almost horrific.
Fortunately, Kyle Ragnar had personally led troops to deal with the Monsters that flowed down from the North, allowing the situation to end with minimal damage.
‘Of course, the royal family and my father were furious.’
They had mobilized as many as ten thousand troops, only for everything to be resolved before they even arrived…….
The very fact that Ragnar’s forces had crossed beyond the North was a major threat to the royal family, and on top of that, the Zaira Family had poured an enormous amount of funds into mobilizing troops.
“I think the sa, but the one I swear loyalty to is the ruler of the Kingdom of Daon. No matter what choice His Majesty makes, following that command is also the duty of a knight.”
Despite the knight’s words, Daira’s expression did not change.
Had he not t Kyle and Seros, Daira would have unwaveringly supported King Clover with all his might.
Above all, his father, Duke Zaira, and King Clover were bound together as a community of shared fate.
The mont one collapsed, the other would fall like dominoes, and so Daira had faithfully served King Clover as well.
However, now he found himself questioning that relationship.
‘Hah…… but it’s too late to turn back now.’
Only when either the Ragnar Family or the royal family collapsed would this situation be resolved.
But Daira did not believe the royal family could defeat Ragnar.
With not one but two Masters, no matter how much the royal family struggled, the outco seed obvious.
Washing his face with dry hands to steady his troubled mind, Daira once again stared at the northern mountain range.
“It’s been too quiet for the past three months.”
“It seems that the royal blockade has beco aningless. Ragnar has traded with the Continental War Front, and it’s said they’ve even discovered gold and silver mines.”
There was no one in the Kingdom of Daon who did not know this news.
Word had recently spread that not only iron ore mines, but gold and silver mines as well, were being developed and mined in the Monster Mountains.
Naturally, King Clover had flown into a rage, grinding his teeth and vowing to force Ragnar to kneel at once.
“There are widespread rumors that the ministers at court are currently establishing plans to attack Ragnar.”
The greedy King Clover was not the type to simply sit by and watch Ragnar’s current situation.
Everything produced within the kingdom had to be under his control for him to feel satisfied.
That disposition had turned Ragnar into an enemy, making his relationship with Kyle irreversibly hostile.
“……His greed is excessive.”
“Commander…….”
“The royal family will never defeat Ragnar. It’s not as if the difference in troop numbers is extre, nor is their overall power overwhelmingly superior.”
In particular, the martial might symbolized by two Masters carried extraordinary aning.
A Master was commonly described as an existence equal to an entire legion.
So even called a Master a one-man legion.
One legion numbered around ten thousand troops, which ant that to face two Masters, at least over twenty thousand would be required.
“Ragnar has long blocked the Monsters of the North, and even their knights possess outstanding martial power. On top of that, their soldiers are strong enough to be called an elite army without exaggeration.”
In a situation where not a single factor could be guaranteed, a massive rchant force—the Continental War Front—had attached itself to Ragnar.
No nation could block the trade of the Continental War Front. That was an unspoken rule.
‘If war breaks out, the Continental War Front will surely step in to supply Ragnar with food and weapons.’
At the news of King Clover pushing ahead with a reckless course, Daira let out a deep sigh.
As he continued to gaze toward the North, knights suddenly rushed toward Daira’s position in great urgency.
“Commander!”
“What is it?”
“There’s a report that Monsters are moving northward from the North! We’ve just received word that their numbers exceed sixty thousand!”
At the news brought by the knight, Daira’s expression instantly hardened.
“……Assemble all forces and imdiately request support from each legion stationed in the rear!”
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