The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (138)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
48 Gathering the Scattered Central Army (1)
With the advice of Western Commander German, Iron decided to head to the Center. However, since he already came to help the West, he would give them proper assistance.
The first thing he did was to open his sanctuary.
“Waah… This is crazy.”
One of the soldiers couldn’t help but gaze blankly at the Death Corps that couldn’t use their strength the moment the sanctuary unfolded. They never expected these disastrous Death Corps to turn disorderly in just a blink of an eye.
The problem, whether it was for the Western Army or for the Death Corps, came after.
“It’s comfortable.”
“I know.”
The battle had become comfortable and lax.
Only one sanctuary had appeared but the Western Army’s battle pattern had changed and become stable to the point that their soldiers’ faces became calm and comfortable.
The sanctuary was a force that extinguished anything unclean while having the power to boost the vitality, heal the injuries and increase the morale of Iron’s allies. And with Baepsae’s power added on top of that, vitality began to sprout among the exhausted troops of the Western Army. The increase in vitality helped the soldiers fight more leisurely and relaxed. They couldn’t help but look at Iron’s sanctuary with admiration as they continued to fight against their enemies.
Two days later, the Special Mobile Unit, who had finished their maintenance, began to join the fight.
“We’ll be in charge of this side so please focus on the birdmen.”
Ariel led the Special Mobile Unit in cutting up the Death Corps which allowed the Western Army to focus on the birdmen. The same was true for the other leaders of the Special Mobile Unit including Cardro.
Countless Death Corps flocked and advanced to kill the humans to their heart’s content. Their continuous advance was halted only after Iron’s stroop began their slaughter.
“The birdmen are entering the fortress! Prepare to intercept!”
“They’re breaking through the fleets! Fire at every single one of them!”
The Western Army was able to immediately respond to the invasion of the birdmen.
Thanks to Iron’s Special Mobile Unit dealing with the Death Corps, they were able to focus on the birdmen and suffer less damage in their fight. They were even able to fight back once Iron’s divine beasts appeared. With Two Moons and Phoenix flying around the sky and fighting, the Western Army’s airship fleet and drake units were given room to breathe and fight back.
The morale of the Western Army, which remained stagnant for a long time, began to rise after experiencing this comfort.
The sanctuary and the divine beasts.
After experiencing Iron’s power, something that they had only heard in rumors, the Western Army hoped that Iron would stay in the West for another day.
Because of this, the Western Commander, who wanted to send him to the Center, did not urge Iron to leave until he himself told him that they were leaving. Iron also did not say anything. He was sure that the commander knew what he was doing. So, he waited for the Western Army’s forces to return and have enough rest.
“West’s 7th Corps has returned!”
“The 10th Corps in the Southwest is beginning their return to Command.”
“The 2nd Division has begun the restoration of the frontlines.”
With the Command’s safety secured, the Western Army was able to gather their scattered troops and strengthen their frontlines. They sent supplies to their new front while connecting the North and the South. Seeing a new frontline being created made the morale of the army increase even further.
One week.
That was the amount of time Iron and his troops spent at the Western Command. However, for the Western Army, that was a precious break that they couldn’t exchange for anything.
In just that one week, the Western Army was able to restore their broken communication network, strengthen their frontlines and gather their scattered units.
And the Western Commander could clearly see the tremendous help that he had received.
“I have received far more help than what I thought.”
“Is that so?”
Iron smiled brightly at German’s awkward look.
On Iron’s first day in the Western Command, German had questioned how much help he could give them with his brigade-level troops. However, German now had no choice but to feel embarrassed after receiving such great help from their Special Mobile Unit in just a span of a week.
“I’m glad we could be of help.”
“Hoho. This is bad. I’m getting a bit greedy. Should I just tell you not to go?”
German rambled with regret.
Only brigade-level troops.
However, Iron’s troops’ performance was so great. It was as if they were showing him that what was important was the fact that their commander was Iron. Although they were only dealing with the Death Corps, he was amazed by the fact that they could use their power to contradict these troops to the extreme and slaughter them leisurely and easily.
“We’ll try to stop them from coming towards the West as much as possible.”
“Don’t overdo it. Commander Crimson will scold me for letting you work too much.”
“Haha…”
Iron laughed awkwardly as he bowed his head at German’s playful words.
“Thank you for everything that you’ve done for us.”
“May fortune accompany you.”
“May the God of Luck be with you in the path that you will take…”
Iron looked up at the sky as he bid German farewell. A huge airship suddenly appeared above him as if it was waiting for him.
The Western Army bid him and his troops goodbye. They watched him board the airship with the help of Two Moons and gave them their salutes.
“From now on, we will rescue the Central Army.”
The eyes of the officers in the airship glowed at his words.
“Strengthen your determination. Dangerous battles await us and will be something that we will experience repeatedly. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Let’s depart.”
The airship began to move at his orders.
Their supplies, which had been consumed from their travel from the North to the West, were once again refilled as they slowly advanced towards the Center.
A day after leaving Western Command, they were able to see the collapsed and broken territorial castles that were ravaged by the Death Corps.
Traces of battles.
Half-damaged carriages.
Transported goods scattered everywhere.
They were able to see how much the West had suffered from the Death Corps that the Center had released in just one glance. The problem was that there were no bodies left. It was extremely strange to see supplies, as well as food, remain intact and scattered in the area where nobody could be seen.
“That’s terrible.”
A clean land without any single body which made it even more bizarre. And on this land they could see these words written…
[ Everything is equal in the face of death. ]
The Death Corps that made the Central Army collapse was gaining more fame from this phrase that they had written on the land that had turned a dark purple from contamination.
According to their logic that everything was equal in the face of death, they did not allow the humans to die. They forced them to become soldiers and make their corps huge. As if to prove that, the size of the corps that Iron and his unit encountered the further they went to the Center grew exponentially.
However, Iron’s Special Mobile Unit was also getting more proficient in dealing with them while they got stronger.
Even Iron himself realized that his holy power had increased dramatically while he gained a more sophisticated control on it. Not only that, even his divine beasts also continued to grow stronger. Even his stagnant swordsmanship also began to grow at a snail’s pace. After all, the more they fought the more sophisticated and quicker his sword needed to be. He needed to have the delicateness and sophistication that would allow him to crush his enemies’ cores at once. And since there were many who aimed for Iron, his swordsmanship was bound to improve.
If Iron was growing like this, then there was no doubt that his subordinates were also growing. The knights, rangers and assault units combat skills had improved significantly while the soldiers had grown skilled in using their mana.
In addition, there was a special power that appeared and aided the Special Mobile Unit under Iron’s command.
It was none other than holy power.
“Huh? Isn’t the color a bit weird?”
“I know, right?”
“Isn’t this holy power?”
A strange phenomena where holy power was mixed with their mana appeared making them release white mana as they used their force.
At first, only the knight could express their mana this way. However, whenever the soldiers, who had just awakened their mana, used their mana, faint light particles would appear from their bodies and spread throughout the entire troops. More and more faint light particles floated and surrounded the troops’ bodies the more battles they fought under the cover of the sanctuary. By the time they had left the West and entered the Central region, the entire troops were all able to use even just a bit of holy power.
“You guys… when did you become priests?”
Iron was dumbfounded as he asked the knights. However, just like a ritual, the knights told him that they only believed in their martial arts. In fact, even the soldiers who did not believe in martial arts or god were able to use holy power.
“Isn’t God giving away too much?”
Iron shook his head as he watched God bestow the humans who did not believe in him with holy power. He was wondering if they could really do something like this.
There were many people in the Divine Nation who devoted themselves to their studies and spirituality to become priests. Most of them were only barely able to realize their meager and humble holy power and became clergymen. However, his own troops were able to gain holy power despite only killing the Death Corps repeatedly every day without much thought. Perhaps the priests would feel shame and embarrassment for doing what they had done so far once they had witnessed this scene.
“Did we look more trustworthy to God because we’re beating these bastards to death?”
Iron mumbled to himself as he stared at the Death Corps from afar.
They had destroyed and slaughtered countless Death Corps to the point that they were already sick and tired of them. However, there was no end to them despite them killing and slaughtering them over and over again.
Thanks to the increase in their proficiency, they were able to save on magic bullets and shells by killing them in close combat. However, the faces of his soldiers were gradually being tainted with disgust as they grew tired of dealing with them.
‘In fact, this is a relief.’
Growing tired of the battlefield meant that they were safe. It also meant that they could handle the Death Corps without any sense of crisis. This was the best situation for any commander.
However, this was only true while they remained in the West.
They became very busy the moment they stepped foot in the Center.
“Run! Don’t stop!”
“Goddamn! How long will you run after me!”
“We can live in the North! Don’t lose hope! Only a bit more!”
Some of the troops that had been torn apart from the main forces of the Central Army were running away with all their might. The commanding officer, the company commander, was encouraging his remaining troops to somehow arrive at the North. However, as long as they remained human, they would eventually grow tired and exhausted. And once that happened, their enemies would catch up to them and kill them one by one.
The company commander took the initiative and tried to stop the Death Corps but he had already reached his limit.
“N… No…”
No matter what he did, these monsters were something that couldn’t be easily killed by their weapons that had been blessed and soaked in holy water.
The moment the company commander thought that his head would be bitten off…
Bang!
Humans began to descend from the sky with the accompanying sounds of artillery explosions. Then, a bright white light exploded in front of his eyes as a huge amount of holy power covered the area around him.
“Are you from the Central Army?”
“That… That’s right but… who…?”
“We’re the Northeast’s Special Mobile Unit under Brigadier General Iron Carter’s command.”
An officer of the Special Mobile Unit picked up his sword as he slashed a vampiric man while treating the injured company commander.
The company commander’s eyes widened when he saw the faint holy power emanating from his sword. He could tell that this holy power was not artificially made by applying holy water or bestowing a blessing on the weapon. The officer himself was able to use holy power.
When the company commander looked around, he could see that all of the troops of the Special Mobile Unit were emitting the faint light that signified holy power, just like the officer in front of him.
“If it’s them…”
The company commander mumbled to himself as he grabbed one of the officers of the Special Mobile Unit in desperation.
“Please… Please help us!”
The officer couldn’t help but tilt his head at the company commander’s request for help. He looked like he was wondering what he was talking about when they were already helping them.
“It’s not us!”
“Then…”
“There’s a unit not far from here.”
“Yes? Where are they? What’s their size?”
“Their size is not that big but they’re a very important unit!”
The officer nodded heavily at the words of the company commander.
“I will report this first to the Brigade Leader. Where are they?”
“They’re 40km south from here. The place where the 313-13 laboratory is located.”
