The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (187)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
59 Fierce Battle in the Southeast (4)
Iron realized that it would be difficult to request help from the North and even the Leonhardts after hearing Crimson’s words.
“They had been quiet up until now, so why so suddenly…”
― We don’t know. But we can assume one thing… We think that it’s somehow related to the dimensional cracks.
Iron frowned. Something had briefly flashed in his head but he couldn’t grasp it clearly.
“Are there no problems in the Dragon Plains?”
― I saw that the frost giants had started to awaken so I went there and investigated myself. Fortunately, there’s no big problem as of yet.
Jayden Wicks immediately answered Iron’s question.
If the ancient races were starting to awaken, then it was necessary for them to keep an eye on the place where the dragons had been buried.
“It’s close to the World Tree… will they help?”
― Perhaps… But we can only say one thing for sure, the frost giants beyond the mountain ranges have awakened faster. Whether the World Tree helps us or not… It’s still going to be a difficult battle.
Iron sighed at Crimson’s words.
“Hoo… Then, it’s going to be hard to expect help from the North.”
― Once we have completed setting up the defense line to some extent, I will send you at least part of the Ghosts and the Knight Order.
― I will also…
“No. If you’re dealing with the frost giants, then you will have no time to care about us. We’ll take care of everything on our side.”
Iron turned off the communication device after saying so.
“Frost giants…”
Was it because he heard about an unexpected being that Iron’s expression had turned rigid?
Frost giants.
They were known to be one of the active beings during the mythological era. According to the records only a few of them were left from that era. However, they did not disappear and only slumbered under the glaciers beyond the mountain ranges.
If these beings completely awakened, then it would be difficult to respond to their threat with just the Northern and Northeastern Armies alone. The entire Northern region of the Empire knew this too, that was why they were setting up a defensive line around the entire mountain ranges.
“Getting support… will be difficult.”
This was an unexpected situation.
Iron felt like something was driving him towards the edge of the cliff as the worst situation possible unfolded in front of him.
Crimson had told him when he left the Northeast that they could see signs and they were bad. However, he never expected that the frost giants would awaken at this point in time. There was also the awakening of the ancient gods in the Southern region of the continent. The West also had birdmen and the aerial monsters forming an alliance while God’s power directly intervened.
The entire continent was facing huge and major changes while he was busy and engaged in a fierce and chaotic battle here in the Southeast.
“What the hell is going on right now?”
Iron was finding it difficult to wrap his head around and properly grasp the events and phenomena that were happening all over the continent.
From ancient gods, to outside gods, to awakening ancient races. Iron felt like they were slowly returning to the mythological era. The mythological era was an era when deities and divine beings drove the world to ruins just so they could prove their hegemony. It was an era of complete and utter chaos.
“Is that what the God Game is about?”
Iron mumbled to himself as he pondered over the continent’s current situation. It was obvious that something big was happening under his watch, but it was something that he hadn’t been able to see yet.
“Does the manticore know?”
He wondered if the thing that he couldn’t see was something that the manticore had seen. Perhaps this was also the reason why it urged its subordinates to move at this point in time. If that was the case, then, the war in the Southeast would just be the beginning.
He did not know if this was the price that they had to pay for not protecting the heart of the Empire properly. But if that was the reason for the situation right now then…
“…Is it a planned destruction from the very beginning?”
If the gods appeared one after the other in the continent it would definitely bring a disaster that mankind would not be able to stop with their power alone.
To be honest, Iron wholly believed that the role of the God’s Orb in the Imperial Palace was simply preventing the dimensional cracks from opening and stopping the entry of the outside gods to this world. But it seemed like its power was stronger and more important than what he had expected.
Perhaps, it not only protected this world from the outside gods but it also prevented the ‘beings that should not be awakened’ sleeping all over the continent from opening their eyes once again.
It was a breakwall that kept mankind’s safety and protected them from danger. And this breakwall was slowly losing its power.
Since the boundary that protected the continent had cracked and turned weak, the beings that should have remained asleep began to slowly open their eyes.
“Ha… So, my previous life was really just the prologue.”
Now that he thought about things deeply, it seemed like his previous life was really nothing when compared to this.
It should be just around this much, right?
That was what he thought before, but that wasn’t the case at all. It seemed like the hardships that he experienced in his past life was just a preview of the real thing.
‘I’ll send you there and let you experience this much as a preview, huh?’
And just like that, they only sent the monsters. The same was true in his current life. Everything that he had experienced up to this point was just a warm up before the real thing began. It seemed like they were telling him that he did not have a chance in this game if he couldn’t do and survive this much.
“Ha… there’s no end to this.”
The moment that he thought that something was over and they had gone through the hardest part, something bigger and crazier would get thrown at them. It was extremely exhausting to the point that anyone would feel happier, more relaxed and more comfortable if they died early. It seemed like they were hell-bent on driving humanity into the pits of despair.
Of course, all of this was just his conjectures.
Maybe Iron was wrong and he could expect just this much danger but his intuition was clearly telling him that the things that were running through his mind were correct.
Even if he wasn’t sure about his conjectures there was one thing that he could say for sure. Starting with the war here in the Southeast, the entire continent would face a period of chaos and upheaval.
This was all Iron could infer from the information that he had on the current situation.
‘Is this what the World Tree had told me about?’
Iron sighed as he recalled the words that the World Tree had told him.
The temporary peace would continue until ‘that day’ arrived.
That was what the World Tree had promised him.
Iron also recalled the witch that he had met in the Northeast. She looked happy after sacrificing herself as if she was relieved that she was dying early. And right now, Iron think he knew the reason why.
― Ding! You have peeked through the secrets of the world. As a special privilege, your rate of growth will increase until the main quest ‘Apocalypse’ begins.
Iron’s eyes widened at the sudden sound of notifications that rang in his ears.
The notification told him that his conjectures were correct. It even gave him a buff in his growth as a reward for successfully peeking through the secrets of the world. It was as if the system was telling him ‘With this much growth rate, you shouldn’t say that you don’t have a way to fight and go against the currents in the future!’.
“Are you telling me that I should climb higher?”
Iron smiled wryly as he silently looked out of the window.
Right now, he only has two ways to climb higher. He could sign a contract with a divine beast with his last slot or become a grandmaster.
Perhaps a tough battle would continue to lie in front of him in the future even if he had achieved both. Besides, getting stronger alone did not necessarily mean that they would gain victory and everything would work well.
“My subordinates should also get stronger faster.”
The other-worlders and the chosen ones were all growing at an extremely fast pace that it was hard to explain with the existing common sense. And Iron finally knew the reason why after this incident. If that was the case, then his subordinates also needed to grow faster.
He had to preserve his strong subordinates while producing and training new strong subordinates. That was the only way for them to be able to withstand the apocalypse and this world’s scheduled destruction and ruin.
There was a possibility for the Empire if the two family heads had reached the grandmaster-rank. However, hope was still indefinite.
“Hoo…”
Iron let out a long breath and released the tension in his body after the pressure to become stronger suddenly weighed down on him.
Then, he headed straight to the communications’ room.
“To the entire army.”
The communications officer0 hurriedly opened the communication line to the entire army after hearing Iron’s orders.
Iron nodded his head calmly at the officer after hearing that everything was set and ready before calmly addressing his entire army.
“Crisis has come to our Empire.”
Iron started with saying that a crisis had come before briefly explaining the things that he just found.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Empire’s crisis had ended but another huge crisis was coming their way again.
Just when everyone was about to sigh and despair at the arrival of another great danger…
“Just like you’ve heard, it would be difficult to expect support from the other armies due to our current circumstances. That means that we need to completely modify our tactics and strategies.”
Everyone went silent at Iron’s words.
It would be hard for them to expect the security and safety that they expected in this battle now.
Everyone in the communications room was under tension as they looked at Iron, knowing that they would be taking a huge risk right now.
“We must overcome this difficulty with our power alone.”
Silence covered the entire room after hearing Iron’s words. Then, Ariel’s voice came in through the communication device.
― Please give us your order.
With Ariel as the catalyst, all of the commanding officers, starting with the corps commanders, asked for his orders.
Iron smiled lightly at their actions.
“I feel apologetic that I have to change my orders. But here are my orders again.”
Iron took a deep breath and composed himself before giving his orders to everyone loudly.
“A perfect victory. This is what your Commander wants. Can you do it?”
― Yes, sir! We can do it!
Iron nodded at everyone’s answer.
“We will continue to face dangers in the future, and they will prove to be a much greater threat than this. We’re just standing at the starting point. So, endure. Endure and survive this. Grow strong enough that you can overcome whatever threat the future will throw at us. I will be by your side.”
All of the troops answered Iron’s words all at once.
I understand.
We will definitely survive.
We will continue to stand beside you, Iron, and face any threat and crisis that the future will bring them without any fear.
Iron felt like he could hear those words ringing in his ears and it brought a wide smile to his face.
All of them believed in him.
Sometimes, their trust was so overwhelming that it weighed heavily on his shoulders but it wasn’t as heavy as before right now. The pressure and burden that he was feeling before had now become a belief that they would and could overcome the threats that they would face in the future.
Not long after the Mobile Field Army reaffirmed their trust on each other, the war in the Southeast began.
After suffering a huge damage from their attack before, the manticore no longer spread out and dispersed its army during the all-out war. It gathered as many subordinates that it could gather and brought them in one place before advancing as one group.
Cardro retreated slowly and tried to stop their advance as much as possible but the monster corps continued to silently gather and advance as if they did not care about the damage that they were incurring at all.
With their opponent coming out in this huge fan-fare, their plans of creating a defense line and hitting their rear had become useless.
“Should we return to our defense mission and return to Command?”
Iron shook his head at Nyx Cole’s question.
“Go and circle around with Raven and wait for my orders.”
Nyx Cole bowed his head after hearing Iron’s orders. He gathered all the rangers before climbing on the drake.
Iron saw through the manticore.
The manticore was still hell-bent on doing a short-term battle so it moved all at once despite the risk of huge damages. So, Iron mobilized the 23rd Corps to create a defense line that would slow down their advance as much as possible. That would make them slow down and step back for a bit.
Even though there was no support that would come, time was still on their side.
The manticore’s plan to win a short-term battle would end the moment the giant worm corps returned. The moment they returned, the Southeastern factions would once again entangle and they would be forced to keep each other in check once again.
‘Let’s stop there for now.’
This was all that they could do right now.
It was important for them to stall for time to achieve their first tactical goal.
The manticore was also recklessly charging towards Command right now despite the risk of receiving huge damage because he knew this fact. Since their target was not moving, they decided to charge crazily towards the Mobile Field Army Command.
This was the reason why they couldn’t form their defense line and kept on being pushed back. They did not receive any damage but the situation was so strange that they couldn’t stop that many monsters. In the end, a huge number of monsters were finally able to gather and create a camp in front of the Mobile Field Army.
Iron felt like he was looking at the most terrible experience that he had in his previous life, the monster wave. However, the situation right now was different. Iron was now standing in the highest position that he could get with the strongest force and power.
“You came quickly.”
He thought that they could stop them even just for a little bit. But the shrewd manticore just continued to move recklessly without any care for the damage.
However, no matter how much damage they incurred, the numerical advantage still remained on the monster corps’ side. As a result, the small skirmishes were won by the manticore’s side. But in their current situation, the small tactical victories did not matter at all. The situation was extremely bad. Caring about how many small battles they had won was just like a joke. They had to continue trying to form a battle line.
The manticore was aware of this so it continued to push forward, entering the battle without giving room for Iron and his troops to settle down. Akin to a monster wave, the monsters moved en masse. And all the troops that formed the battle line had no choice but to retreat and return back to Command.
Then, hundreds of airships and drakes appeared in the sky. Meanwhile, countless fortress cannons were ready to fire while a line of their new cannons aimed at the enemies. The knight order were all stationed at the gates while the soldiers positioned themselves on the walls.
“Storm troops, ready?”
The storm troops’ captain bowed his head and answered Iron’s question.
“Yes, sir!”
“Once the battle begins, go and circle around and make enough room for the rangers to create a disturbance.”
“I understand.”
The storm troops were ready to go and rush forward after receiving Iron’s orders.
The rangers had already left with Raven to create a disturbance in the monster corps’ rear units. And with the storm troops circling around and heading towards the monster corps’ rear units too, the monsters that had started advancing were able to run straight to the front of the Mobile Field Army Command.
The monsters continued to rush, not caring whether their battle line collapsed from the traps that bursted out.
At that moment, a rain of cannon shells fell down, signaling the start of the war.
In the end, the Southeastern region of the Empire ushered in a period of fierce battles.
***
