Chapter 53: Pride That Can Only Be Protected Through Strength (1)

The western and eastern subjugation units continued to advance along the outer ridge of the Clamen Mountain Range.

They were able to move quickly, slaying every monster that appeared in their path.

Then, as Raion was checking the map through Detection, a large red dot caught his eye.

Smaller red dots were clustered around it.

“What’s this?”

Jade, who was guarding Raion’s side, approached him curiously. Since the map generated by Detection wasn’t visible to him, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Master, is something wrong?”

“There seems to be a group of dangerous monsters about 1,250 mirs west of here.”

“If even you say they’re dangerous, how strong are they?”

At that, Raion used Specific Analysis and pressed the large red dot.

[Target Information]

Name: Crimson Wolf

Grade: B

Life: 1,249 / 1,249

Health: 5,030 / 5,030

Mana: 3,210 / 3,210

Abilities:

Howling Cannon Lv 5

Scarlet Claw Lv 6

After checking the information, Raion frowned slightly.

“This one won’t be easy. It’s a Crimson Wolf.”

At that response, Jade’s expression immediately hardened.

“Is it really a Crimson Wolf?”

“It seems so, for now.”

In truth, Raion hadn’t seen most monsters even in the future.

All he knew came from books that recorded and described various kinds of monsters.

Naturally, the Crimson Wolf was one he only roughly recognized from those written descriptions.

“Crimson Wolves are dangerous. We should avoid that area if possible.”

“Is it that dangerous?”

Orcs and Saliva Wolves were D-grade monsters.

The B-grade, two levels higher, was vastly different even from the C-grade just below it.

A single Crimson Wolf could easily annihilate an entire Orc habitat.

“It’s an extremely dangerous monster. I once encountered one while on a subjugation mission with the Knights, and it took ten mid-level knights to bring it down.”

Mid-level royal knights were those just below the rank of captain — skilled combatants.

If it required ten of them, that alone proved how formidable the monster was.

Of course, there was no guarantee that this Crimson Wolf was the same as the one from that time.

“I’d like to avoid it too, but that’s going to be difficult.”

“Why is that, Master?”

“The Crimson Wolf and the other monsters are running straight toward a nearby village.”

On the Detection screen, the red dots were rapidly moving.

There was no more time to waste.

‘Our forces are closer than the Crimson Wolf. If I block the Crimson Wolf myself, the others should be able to defend the village.’

Having made his decision, Raion spoke urgently to Jade.

“I’ll go ahead and stop the Crimson Wolf. You head straight to the village and set up a defensive formation.”

“That’s impossible! I already told you—the Crimson Wolf is dangerous!”

“There’s no time for chatter! Just move as ordered! The village is about 1,300 mirs in that direction!”

After pointing out the precise direction, Raion kicked off the ground with Absolute Step, infusing it with mana.

In an instant, his body shot forward at incredible speed.

“…….”

Jade stood dazed for a moment, astonished by the speed he had never seen from Raion before.

Then, Pavilion, noticing the tense atmosphere between the two, approached and asked worriedly,

“Where is His Highness rushing off to?”

“A large group of monsters is approaching a nearby village. We must hurry there and set up defensive lines.”

“Truly? His Highness can detect such things now?”

“You can hear the explanation from him later—just focus on getting there as fast as possible!”

Jade and Pavilion shouted commands to the soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers, driving them to move quickly.

Meanwhile, Raion, running alone, soon arrived at a hill overlooking the area below.

When he lowered his gaze, he saw a pack of wolves cutting through the forest.

“There they are.”

Looking farther ahead, he could see the village as well.

It had only a short fence, and few people were stationed outside to keep watch.

If the wolves attacked now, they would be defenseless.

And judging by their speed, the monsters would reach the village sooner than expected.

It was already too late to calculate the situation any further.

Raion immediately dashed toward the village even faster.

Dadadadadak—!

At the head of the pack, a Crimson Wolf with brilliant scarlet fur was leading the charge.

Accelerating, Raion weaved between trees, overtaking the wolves.

At the same time, he drew his sword and slashed at the wolves running behind him.

Shwaaaaaak!

Two Saliva Wolves were sliced cleanly in half along the fierce trajectory of my sword and rolled across the forest floor.

Of course, I didn’t stop running, unleashing a tremendous amount of mana throughout my entire body.

Startled by the intense energy, the wolf pack froze in place along with the Crimson Wolf.

Grrrrr! Arf! Arrgh!

At the Crimson Wolf’s growl, the Saliva Wolves scattered and surrounded me.

“So, I managed to hold them here. But… somehow I feel like I’ve taken the fall for this one.”

Originally, my plan was to stall their advance, deal only with the Crimson Wolf myself, and leave the Saliva Wolves to the subjugation troops.

But as things stood, I had no choice but to face them all on my own.

“Well, it’s not like I can just let them go either. Guess I’ll go all out!”

I traced a magic formula with my fingers and swung my sword toward the wolves.

Jade arrived at the village with Pavilion, Baron, and Cayman, leading their troops. At once, they formed a defensive line to prepare for the monster assault.

The sudden sight left the villagers on watch completely bewildered.

There was still no sign of monsters in the forest across from the village.

As the tension thickened, Jade swallowed hard.

Gulp—!

“When will they arrive?”

Pavilion, anxious at Jade’s restlessness, voiced his concern.

“If His Highness went ahead alone, shouldn’t we be going after him?”

But orders were orders—they had to hold their ground.

“We’ll advance slowly for now.”

“Understood.”

After concluding their brief discussion, Jade advanced with the formation intact.

Rumble—!

Just then, a massive pillar of flame erupted into the sky ahead.

“What was that?”

Startled, everyone turned their gaze forward. In that instant, a bad feeling struck both Jade and the other knights.

“Let’s move, quickly!”

“We’ll handle things here!”

Baron and Cayman stayed behind to lead the troops, while Jade and Pavilion sprinted ahead.

When they arrived a short while later, the scene was a wasteland.

Part of the forest had been burned pitch-black.

The ground was littered with the ashes and corpses of Saliva Wolves.

Naturally, the two of them were left speechless.

At the center of that devastation stood Raion, facing the Crimson Wolf.

The fight wasn’t ongoing—the Crimson Wolf was already covered in grievous wounds. It was doubtful it could even lunge at him again.

“Your Highness!”

“Are you all right, Your Highness?”

Jade and Pavilion hurried over and called out.

Raion sheathed his sword.

“It’s over.”

“What do you mean?”

Ssshhk… Thud!

The Crimson Wolf, which had somehow remained standing, collapsed with a loud crash.

It was already dead.

Raion had taken down not only the Crimson Wolf but also over eighty Saliva Wolves—all by himself.

Pavilion, still stunned, asked cautiously,

“Your Highness… what in the world did you do to make this happen?”

“I just tried using a spell I was experimenting with. Turns out, it was more powerful than expected.”

At Raion’s explanation, Pavilion’s eyes widened even more.

“You can use magic as well, Your Highness?”

“A little.”

“But this… this is…”

The burned area stretched nearly 50 meters across.

The once-towering trees had turned to charcoal, broken and scattered alongside the wolves’ remains.

No ordinary spell could have caused this level of destruction.

“There’s a spell that can do this. I’ll explain it later—right now, let’s clean up the area first.”

Before long, the unit led by Baron and Cayman arrived.

Pavilion took command, ordering the cleanup of the Crimson Wolf and Saliva Wolves’ corpses.

Meanwhile, Raion gazed silently at the aftermath he had created.

The spell responsible for this scene was made from just two first-circle spells: Wind and Fire.

The principle was simple.

First, I had used a sea breeze to compress air toward the center, then ignited it with a spark.

The immense pressure of the condensed air caused that tiny spark to explode into a massive inferno that spread uncontrollably in all directions.

The amount of mana used to cast the initial spell had been minimal.

However, the mana I spent to block the resulting explosion had easily exceeded 4,000 out of my 10,000 total.

If not for the mana barrier I had formed in time, even I would have been in danger.

And without it, the blast would have spread far beyond that 50-meter radius.

‘If I’d been even a moment slower, it could’ve ended badly.’

As I thought that, I recalled how I’d barely managed to deploy the mana barrier in that split second.

“The cleanup is almost complete.”

Jade, after inspecting the site, reported back.

“Then let’s head back. How’s the village?”

“The people are badly shaken, Your Highness.”

“Leave them some provisions, then let’s move on.”

Raion and his troops turned back toward the village they had intended to protect.

It had been seven days since leaving the Subjugation Fortress.

Knight Commander Alkas Derion led the southern subjugation force past the western outskirts, reaching the northern edge of Kanas.

At a predetermined point, they finally met up with the northern subjugation force.

Today was the day they had agreed to conclude the subjugation campaign.

“Are they finally arriving?”

Even as the sun was setting, the western and eastern subjugation forces had yet to appear.

Then, from the forest bathed in the crimson light of dusk, a long column of soldiers began to emerge.

At the head were Raion, his red hair flowing in the wind, and beside him, Jade, Pavilion, Baron, and Cayman.

Alkas recognized Raion and Jade at once—they had been introduced to him through the lord.

At that, Alkas and the other knights knelt on one knee before Raion.

“Knight Commander Alkas Derion formally greets His Highness.”

At that formal salute, Raion scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling a faintly heavy atmosphere around him.

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