Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 47 : Meteor Shower
Meanwhile, in the dense forest, Reichart's troops were moving busily.
“Mages, do not forget to cast enhancement magic on the harpoons. You do not need to make separate attacks, so you must focus on maintaining the enhancement magic and guidance magic cast on the harpoons.”
Bolpar, who was commanding all the mages participating in the operation, encouraged the mages by repeatedly emphasizing the importance of enhancement magic.
“Just keep the ones that fell fixed so the harpoons do not come out, and aim for other ones. We have to drag down as many as possible before they come to their senses!”
“Do not necessarily try to aim for the neck! You can drag them down as long as you hit them somehow. So focus on hitting them first!”
Centurions in charge of specially made harpoons and pulleys were running around taking care of the soldiers.
“How is it! You lizard bastards!”
“We will make skewers out of you today!”
As if in response to this, cheers burst out repeatedly from the mouths of soldiers winding chains and firing harpoons.
In fact, a month ago, when the operation to intercept Sub-Dragons using harpoons in the Baskal Mountain Range came out of my mouth, they had shown a lukewarm reaction.
‘It is not that we do not know the Young Master's intention, but wouldn't it be better to rely on the castle walls to fight against Sub-Dragons?’
Abandoning the castle walls and defense towers, which had quite a variety of defensive magic cast on them, to go outdoors and engage in an interception battle was considered foolish.
“If we designate the battle location as the Inner Castle, massive damage will be inflicted on the territory residents, and then even if we achieve victory, it will be meaningless.”
“A head-on confrontation is not a wise method. To raid them unexpectedly, we have no choice but to intercept them in the middle. Because they will not be able to think that we would possibly come out to greet them.”
“The biggest problem when dealing with Sub-Dragons is that we have to narrow the distance with them. Considering this point, the summit of the Baskal Mountain Range, where the distance with them narrows the most, is the optimal place.”
I persuaded the commanders and soldiers by presenting the grounds I prepared step by step, and for a month, I mobilized all the family's spare power to build a forward base here.
And the current war situation was proving that my judgment was correct.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sub-Dragons were plummeting repeatedly.
Towards the side of a Sub-Dragon that fell to the ground with a harpoon stuck in it like that,
“Maintain formation! The 3rd row with Aura Shields deployed stands at the very front!”
A detached unit composed of high-ranking knights including knight order executives approached.
Even though they lost freedom of movement and fell to the ground with their magic also sealed, the Sub-Dragons' massive bodies and flame breaths were still threatening.
Therefore, the role of finishing them off was entrusted to high-ranking knights capable of operating Aura Shields, not regular soldiers.
“Charge!”
Larmus gave instructions in a booming voice and then stood at the very front himself and charged toward the Sub-Dragon.
“Kieeeek!”
The Sub-Dragon hit directly by the simultaneous charge let out a death throe scream and closed its eyes as it was.
Compared to the massive body of the Sub-Dragon, the knights' charge looked insignificant at a glance, but there is no strength against continuous beating, so eventually, unable to overcome the repeated attacks, it breathed its last.
“Do not spare potions and take them! You must finish off the ones that fell to the ground before they come to their senses! Understood?”
Everyone was already well past middle age, but the commanders of each knight order ran around the battlefield like beasts, displaying their old age vigor.
And just when the heat of the battlefield reached its peak.
Thud!
“Young Master!”
I appeared in the void along with one headless Sub-Dragon corpse.
As if to tell the traces of the fierce aerial battle, my armor and cloak were heavily stained with the Sub-Dragons' blood and soot.
“Wow! Young Master Hein finished off another one!”
However, my face revealed outside the armor was clean without a single scratch.
That dignified appearance explosively increased the soldiers' morale.
Clang!
I, who answered the soldiers' cheers by clashing two swords in the void, immediately moved to the place where my help was needed and entered into analyzing the war situation.
‘At this rate, the first half of the interception battle seems to be roughly successful.’
At that moment, a clear voice rang in my head.
[Master, what did I tell you! I said these guys would unconditionally come this way!]
“…….”
That day a month ago came to my mind.
***
On the night Redin left for the capital, Sherazade, who heard the circumstances from me, immediately unfolded a map and said.
“It is here, Master. You have to intercept them at this point.”
“Intercept? You mean wage a field battle against them?”
“Yeah. If you fight in the castle, countless people excluding soldiers will die and get hurt. That is not what the Master wants, right?”
Sherazade nodded with a confident expression.
“If we built a forward base here but they move in a different direction or bypass this place and directly strike the Inner Castle, what are you going to do? If that happens, the territory, which is no different from being defenseless, will be thoroughly trampled by them?”
“No, such a thing will never happen. Kelbes's subordinates will unconditionally go straight from the point where they woke up, and even if they are ambushed, they will not avoid this place.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Simple. Because they think of humans as livestock.”
Sherazade's expression frowned slightly when mentioning ‘livestock’, but soon she composed her expression and said.
“Kelbes's pride would never tolerate retreating and aiming for the rear just because they were ambushed by humans. If there is such a person among his subordinates, they will die by Kelbes' hand first before heading to the territory.”
“…….”
Of course, Sherazade's remark was persuasive.
But despite that, the risk to be taken was too great, so I could not easily nod my head.
“Master, trust me just this once. This is the best way to reduce damage.”
Then Sherazade stretched out both hands, grabbed my hand, and said with an earnest expression.
At this moment, Sherazade's eyes had the appearance of the Sub-Dragon Princess, not the girl she had been showing all along.
“……Fine, I will try to trust you.”
***
Sherazade's voice, confirming that her prediction had hit the mark like that, repeatedly filled my head.
[Ahaha! Actually, I knew it all. That although the Master accepted my proposal, you did not trust my prediction 100%. But everything happened as I said, right? Right?]
“…….”
[Ahem ahem!]
“…….”
[Hey Master, are you listening to me?]
“I am listening.”
[Ah, Master. In a moment, ‘those guys’ will reveal themselves. I will also move there soon. Preparation is finished here!]
In the meantime, having slaughtered one fallen Sub-Dragon with another sword stroke, I examined the surrounding situation.
There were about 50 Sub-Dragons still floating in the sky.
There were also about 50 Sub-Dragons that fell to the ground and had not yet breathed their last.
Unlike the fact that about half of the total Sub-Dragon pack was defeated, the allies' damage was slight thanks to the huge success of the interception operation.
However, despite such a smooth war situation, my expression was not entirely bright.
‘Now Kelbes's hidden card will slowly reveal itself.’
Kelbes still had a hidden move.
I carefully examined the sky while finishing off the Sub-Dragons that fell to the ground.
And around that time the number of Sub-Dragons floating in the air was reduced to 30…….
Kaooooooo!
Along with a huge cry shaking the earth's axis, Kelbes and his royal guards finally revealed themselves.
“W-What is so big!”
Seeing that appearance, sounds close to astonishment burst out from the soldiers' mouths.
The Sub-Dragons they had hunted so far also had huge builds reaching a whopping 10 meters, but the 10 or so Sub-Dragons that newly revealed themselves had huge builds that far exceeded the others.
“T-Two times, no, it must be three times.”
As ten royal guard Sub-Dragons reaching a size of at least 25 to 30 meters revealed themselves all at once, a tremendous coercion was felt as if huge dark clouds were casting a shadow.
Kelbes, the Lord of the ‘Blood Fang’ clan located in the middle of that Sub-Dragon pack, vomited a ferocious cry once again.
Kuoooooo.
Unlike other Sub-Dragons having dark red scales, Kelbes's body usurped from Sherazade was emitting a dazzling golden light.
However, a turbid voice befitting a traitor's soul burst out from Kelbes's mouth.
Even though he witnessed the scene where countless colleagues ended their lives becoming skewers, Kelbes shouted in a voice full of anger, where no emotion of mourning could be felt.
-Rain of death shall pour down on all foolish ones.
And Kelbes's royal guard Sub-Dragons stepped forward one step and began to prepare flame breaths.
Blaze!
“Fuck.”
“After fighting to the death, it is a foul if something like that comes out!”
“Anyone is fine, so do something! If we stay like this, we are going to become roasted whole in the forest!”
Seeing the massive scale of flames forming between their snouts, sighs naturally burst out from the soldiers' mouths.
The flames spewed by the Sub-Dragons dealt with so far did not have destructive power corresponding to the level of human magic.
However, the flame breaths of the royal guard Sub-Dragons seemed to have firepower identical to magic of 5th Circle or higher for each breath.
In other words, the Reichart army was placed in a situation where they had to be hit directly by dozens of Sub-Dragon magic shots they had sealed with great effort.
And that in the middle of a forest is good for blazing up.
“Fire!”
The soldiers fired harpoons with all their might as if struggling.
But because the royal guard Sub-Dragons inherently had superior specs than regular Sub-Dragons, they dodged the harpoon attacks with agile body movements even within Sherazade's barrier.
Piiing!
The harpoons shot at them could not reach and fell to the ground in vain.
“Up…….”
Perhaps despairing at the too distinct height difference, sighs burst out from the soldiers' mouths.
-Since the resistance of livestock is merely worthless, blame your leader's foolishness!
To enjoy the humans' fear, Kelbes focused his gaze towards the soldiers with blank expressions.
“……Up above?”
However, the soldiers were not looking at him terrified.
Noticing that the humans' gazes were heading a little higher than the firmament where he was staying, Kelbes unwittingly looked up.
Shooooosh.
And he faced numerous meteors falling with fierce momentum cutting through the atmosphere.
“Haiya!”
The targets of the meteors pouring down while vomiting shouts that did not match the unrealistic scene as if ending the world were none other than the royal guard Sub-Dragons preparing to vomit flame breaths.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Krarark!”
Screams burst out repeatedly from the mouths of the Sub-Dragons hit directly by the unexpected meteor shower.
The meteors poured from the firmament charged at each targeted Sub-Dragon and began to raise their voices repeatedly.
“Are you the arrogant salamander bastards saying you will chew on human-nim's flesh!”
“Daring to kill our Commander! Fine, today we will fillet every single piece of your flesh!”
Weapons were held in each of their hands, and all of them were emitting a mysterious blue light.
And screams full of pain burst out repeatedly from the mouths of the royal guard Sub-Dragons hit directly by those weapons emitting blue light.
“Kaaaaak!”
“Kuaaaa!”
Sizzle!
Every time blue smoke rose from the Sub-Dragon's body, earnest screams not befitting the huge build burst out.
Passionate cheers burst out from the soldiers on the ground watching the performance of the meteor shower that turned the tide in an instant.
“Haken Knight Order! Reichart's wolves are here!”
“Young Master, it is the Young Master's royal guard knight order!”
At the appearance of the Haken Knight Order flying freely in the air and delivering sword strikes, the soldiers' morale soared.
‘Good!’
Confirming that appearance, I prepared to fly up into the air once again.
“Haa, haa. I told you.”
Just as I was about to take my feet off the ground, I turned my head to that voice which had become quite familiar now.
“That I would accomplish what I promised Master without a single inch of error.”
Perhaps because she produced too many miracles in a short time, Sherazade had a pale complexion unlike usual.
But she soon showed a smile like usual and said.
“Hehe, I did well, right?”