Chapter 100: The Knights

Edric spoke.

“Let’s hurry back for now. The situation still can’t be seen as good.”

It was just as he said.

We had managed to send back the King of the Demonic Realm, Great Stone Mountain, Mogron, but in the process, one of Winter Castle’s main military powers, Baronet Eldran, was assassinated by a mysterious assassin, and Albino almost never woke up again.

On top of that, this place was the middle of the Demonic Realm, which was like the hometown of the demonic beasts.

It was a situation that couldn’t be called good, even in words.

“Eum.”

“It won’t be easy.”

As if to prove that fact, Conlan’s, Albino’s, and Alicia’s expressions stiffened.

“Don’t make such faces. It’s also true that we’ve passed the biggest crisis, for now.”

Edric laughed heartily.

Like that, the return to Winter Castle began in earnest.

The saving grace, fortunately, was that perhaps because of the Great Stone Mountain, Mogron’s appearance, the demonic beasts’ movements decreased noticeably while we were escaping.

-Krrreung!

-Kkureuk! Kkururu!

Of course, despite that, since the location was what it was, demonic beasts still rushed in from all directions, but the important thing was that the frequency was relatively low.

“Ugh…… These damn bastards are really endless!”

“Stop whining, big guy. It’s only because it’s at this level that we’re still alive.”

“I know that too! Damn it!”

Conlan and Albino swung their respective weapons while shouting.

Perhaps because of what happened a while ago, Albino seemed to be refraining from using magic, and because of that, he was struggling even with demonic beasts he would have normally handled easily.

Despite such crises, we did not stop and moved forward.

To escape this hellish place.

“Everyone, hang in there! We’ll be able to escape the Demonic Realm soon!”

“I think I heard those exact same words about thirty minutes ago!”

At Conlan’s weak protest, Edric laughed heartily.

“Then just endure for another thirty minutes!”

“Damn Captain!”

Somehow, I felt like the number of demonic beasts was increasing as we got closer to the outskirts of the Demonic Realm.

It probably wasn’t just a feeling.

I pulled the trigger, and pulled it again, at the demonic beasts, dashing towards the end of the Demonic Realm.

“Be careful!”

Taang!

Just how long had we run.

There was a sweet taste in my mouth from exertion, and a liquid mixed with blood, sweat, and the bodily fluids of demonic beasts obscured my vision.

Even though I felt like I would breathe my last at any moment, the reason I couldn’t stop my steps was because I knew that moment would be my last moment.

“Everyone, hang in there! We’re almost there!”

Like that, with Edric in the lead, we pushed through the carcasses of the demonic beasts, and before we knew it, the end of the long Sea of Trees came into view.

It was the end of the Demonic Realm.

“Heok, heok……!”

“Uup…… Did we finally escape?”

We had finally escaped the Demonic Realm, but among the task force members, no one breathed a sigh of relief.

We couldn’t.

Because what we saw, as soon as we escaped the Demonic Realm, was an endlessly unfurled army of demonic beasts.

“Damn it…… Is that all demonic beasts? That’s disgustingly many.”

“Damn it.”

“There are too many.”

Conlan, Albino, and Alicia couldn’t hide their astonishment and despair as they looked at the endlessly unfurled army of demonic beasts.

The unfurled army of demonic beasts continued all the way to the front of Winter Castle.

In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that the army of demonic beasts completely filled the snowfield from the Demonic Realm to Winter Castle.

“Damn it. What do we do now?”

“It’ll easily exceed one hundred thousand. That’s an enormous number.”

“Eum.”

I looked at Edric and spoke.

“Captain, can Winter Castle handle that many demonic beasts?”

“Winter Castle is optimized for blocking the attacks of demonic beasts. In fact, it has only been captured a few times over its long history.”

“Which means it has been.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Of course, we had succeeded in eliminating the King of the Demonic Realm, so the worst-case scenario of Winter Castle completely collapsing would not happen.

The problem was that if Winter Castle suffered great damage this time, it wouldn’t be able to withstand the next attack.

“Let’s go to Winter Castle for now.”

“Yes.”

We couldn’t break through the snowfield teeming with demonic beasts right away, so we had to take a considerable detour.

It was not an easy task.

No matter how much we tried to avoid the snowfield, the demonic beasts that had already run out of the Demonic Realm were teeming everywhere.

Like that, cutting, shooting, and shouting at the demonic beasts, we reached the eastern plain where Winter Castle was visible.

And…….

“Eum.”

Should I say it was as expected.

The surroundings of Winter Castle, which soon became visible, were completely surrounded by demonic beasts.

“Hm, the situation is worse than I thought. It will be difficult to get inside Winter Castle.”

“In that case?”

“We’ll have to do what we can here. You already know what mission the 4th Special Task Force is assigned during wartime, don’t you?”

“Assassination of mutants or chieftain demonic beasts leading the pack.”

“Precisely. Excellent, as expected.”

I knew what the 4th Special Task Force had to do, but there was one big problem.

“But everyone is already at their limit. If we go on a mission again, there will be great damage.”

The condition of the 4th Special Task Force members, including me, couldn’t be called good even in words.

We had continued the forced march without a break, and on top of that, we were covered in wounds and in a state of exhaustion from continuously fighting demonic beasts.

The only reason they weren’t dead already was thanks to Edric, who fought at the very front, and the Orb of Water.

“I agree. That’s why, for this mission, only you and I will move separately.”

“Just the two of us?”

“It seems you and I are the only ones who can move, here and now.”

My condition couldn’t be called good either, but it was true that I was slightly better off than the others.

“That……! No. I’ll go with you too.”

As Alicia, who had been listening to the conversation, interjected, Edric shook his head.

“You’re already at your limit. Are you telling us to fight while protecting you?”

“……If I become a burden, you can leave me behind halfway.”

“Denied. Taking a soldier who can’t even fight onto the battlefield is something a mortician would do, not a commander.”

At Edric’s words, Alicia tried to say something, but soon pressed her lips firmly shut.

Because she knew that no matter what she said now, she couldn’t win against Edric’s reasoning.

“Don’t make that face. You all have a separate mission as well.”

“……A mission?”

“That’s right. A very heavy, and difficult mission.”

Conlan shook his head back and forth, as if fed up.

“Damn it, I knew this would happen. We just can’t rest quietly.”

Conlan’s, Albino’s, and Alicia’s gazes focused on Edric.

“Survive, somehow.”

The faces of the task force members who heard those words were momentarily dumbfounded.

Whether they were or not, Edric laughed heartily and looked at me, speaking.

“Let’s depart. We don’t have time.”

“You’re not even giving us time to rest?”

“One can rest plenty even after death.”

It seemed Edric had a great misunderstanding about the correlation between rest and work efficiency, but regrettably, this wasn’t a situation where I could make such a complaint.

Because Winter Castle was collapsing even now.

‘It’s not that there’s no way…….’

If I used the same method I used in Bernhard here, I might be able to resolve this situation with less damage than expected.

But the problem is that my identity could be exposed afterward, and if I see any sign of that, I must leave Winter Castle immediately.

‘More than anything, The Lightning Emperor won’t fall for it twice.’

Of course, The Lightning Emperor wasn’t the only one who held a grudge against Cain, but it was very rare to find someone as easy to use as The Lightning Emperor.

Someone who achieved a harmony of outstanding martial prowess and naive intellect wasn’t so easy to find.

‘Well, that aside…….’

I reached a conclusion about the solution to the current situation.

‘For now, it’s right to wait for the Empire’s support to resolve this situation.’

The other method was something to be used as a last resort when that wasn’t possible, not one to be considered first.

Therefore, the thing I had to do right now was to make Winter Castle hold out until the Empire’s support arrived.

“Captain, I think we need to go up on that hill over there now.”

“Hm? Up there?”

“Yes. I will intercept the mutants and chieftain demonic beasts from that spot.”

“Eum, I know your magic is capable of long-range attacks, but are you saying that’s possible from that distance?”

It would have been impossible before, but now I had the newly honed art of sniping, along with the Demonic Bullet.

“It’s sufficiently possible.”

“Heo, surprising. Understood. Then let’s depart immediately.”

“Yes.”

All preparations were complete.

All that was left now was to move to the sniping point and begin the hunt in earnest.

“The moment I use magic on the hill, demonic beasts will swarm from all directions because of the loud noise. Thanks to the terrain, it won’t be easy for the demonic beasts to climb, but please take care of the demonic beasts that come near me.”

“I know that too.”

Of course, if that happened, not only Edric and I, but also the other task force members would be in danger, but right now, we had to reduce Winter Castle’s burden, even with such a decoy tactic.

“Then, let’s depart now─”

Just as Edric and I were about to set off on the assassination mission.

Buuuuuuuuung───

A horn sound, heard from somewhere.

“This is…….”

“Hm, I didn’t expect this.”

At the incredibly grand sound, everyone’s gaze turned to the south, where the sound came from.

And from beyond the horizon, the high-soaring flag of the Empire finally revealed itself.

It was a flag that announced a turning point had finally arrived in this long war.

***

From beyond the horizon, dozens of flags rose up one after another, and the figures of cavalry, numbering over several thousand at a glance, were revealed.

It wasn’t just the flag bearers with only flags at the front who had come; proper support had arrived.

Buuuuuuuuung────

And the horn that rang out again.

Crossing the pure white snowfield, the Empire’s cavalry unit began its advance in earnest.

The cold wind sent ice fragments flying, and the demonic beasts burst out with bizarre cries and wails, spewing bestial roars towards the cavalry unit.

-Kaaaaaaak!

-Kroooooooo──!

With the first charge, the cavalry unit’s rush broke right through the demonic beasts’ blocking line, trampling everything their fingertips touched.

Just seeing the warhorses that didn’t back down an inch upon seeing the demonic beasts, it was a sight that showed why the Empire’s cavalry unit was called the continent’s strongest.

Edric, who had been watching the sight silently with bated breath, opened his lips.

“Heo…… I didn’t know the Empire’s support would be this fast. It shouldn’t even be time for a messenger to have arrived yet.”

It was just as Edric said.

Even if Winter Castle had sent a messenger right after detecting the anomaly in the Demonic Realm, there are still procedures and processes that must be done for the Empire to raise troops and come in support.

But the Empire’s support had already arrived at Winter Castle?

It was an impossible thing unless the Empire had already known the King of the Demonic Realm would awaken and had been preparing for it.

“In any case, isn’t it a good thing?”

“That’s true, but…… it’s also true that it feels somewhat disquieting.”

The sense of wrongness Edric was feeling wasn’t particularly strange.

In fact, I, too, was feeling something similar.

‘The information transfer is excessively fast. Did the Empire already expect this? No…… that the King of the Demonic Realm would awaken isn’t something that even the Empire could predict. If so, it means the information transfer happened instantaneously…….’

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that such a means of information transfer didn’t exist in this world.

A means of information transfer far faster than messengers, of course, or beacons, or other methods.

‘The Anonymous Bulletin Board.’

It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought of that method at all, but exposing information about Winter Castle was the same as exposing my location, so I deliberately didn’t do it.

More than anything, even if I risked exposing my identity and announced that fact through the Anonymous Bulletin Board, there was no certainty that it would reach the Empire.

‘But consequently, someone announced that fact on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, and someone else relayed that fact to the Empire.’

If so, then who?

The answer to the first person wasn’t very difficult to find.

Because posts left on the Anonymous Bulletin Board usually leave traces.

[Connecting to the Anonymous Bulletin Board.]

I immediately connected to the Anonymous Bulletin Board and searched for related information.

[Title Search : Demonic Realm]

‘……Huh?’

The moment I checked the nickname of the culprit that came up, I felt a pleasant absurdity.

A feeling that was absurd, yet welcoming.

When I thought about it, it was because I already knew one Player who was aware of the current situation in the Demonic Realm.

-Kim Yohan : A large-scale wave is occurring in the northern Demonic Realm right now. Be careful.

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