Chapter 392: The Power of Friendship, Love, and Faith (3) |
“The fog is thick,” I[1] commented.
“How about we take a break, Miss Katia? This area gets foggy at dawn, so enemies could be hiding in ambush here, and it’ll be dangerous for us to continue because we can’t really see. The troops are exhausted as well…” a soldier suggested.
“No, we’ll continue marching, but we’ll move a bit slower. We’re already late. Have you confirmed which side the Everia soldiers are moving toward?” I asked.
“The scout unit is checking, but we haven’t heard back from them. They’re a large army, so we received a report that they passed Laios, but after the fog appeared…” a soldier replied.
“So they are heading toward the Republic,” I commented.
“That’s right.”
“What about Castle Rock?” I asked.
“I haven’t received any message,” they replied.
“We just have to wait for the good news. What about the other units?” I asked.
“A dragon…” I repeated.
I grabbed the sword on my waist.
‘It’s too quiet.’
It felt like the overall situation was going according to how we envisioned it, and even though it was a big area, we were closing in on the enemy soldiers inside. It also felt like we were actually suppressing them. The small number of troops that had been pulled out from the Eastern Front surrounded the entire forest, so I was sure that the enemy was suffocating right now. In addition, the only thing they could do was move forward.
‘Because we have already blocked their path of retreat...’
The forest was making me feel anxious for some reason, but I didn’t feel anxious because of the fog. It was more like the silence filling every corner of the forest was eerie.
The enemy soldiers had to be roaming around here—no, they had to be running away from their pursuers right now. This was actually the best place for them to hide because they would leave barely any traces due to the terrain, and the fog was thick as well.
The enemies would not be able to break through our encirclement.
At this point, they were just buying time for themselves. I thought about the possibility of guerilla warfare, but I couldn’t sense any movements, and they weren’t trying to start a fight or spying on us either.
‘It’s strange.’
I thought about the cards their side had up their sleeves, and I couldn’t help but think that it didn’t make sense for them to be moving like this.
“Let’s stop for a second,” I ordered.
For a moment, a bad thought popped into my head, but…
‘No, the enemy is here.’
We continued receiving reports about traces of a large group.
“Is something wrong?” a soldier asked.
“Where’s the nearest ally?” I asked.
“The unit Miss Chunwi is leading is nearby. I know they’re coming down from the southwest…” they answered.
“I think we should join them. Actually, let’s wait for them here. We’ll set up camp here. Let the soldiers rest. We’ll rest for exactly five hours,” I ordered.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Please tell the scout unit to keep tabs on the surroundings. Tell them to report immediately if they find anything strange or other traces,” I added.
“Is there something troubling you, Ma’am?” the soldier asked.
“Yes, there is. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but it feels like the concentration of mana here has increased. Is this place usually filled with fog?” I asked.
“That’s right. It’s not usually as thick as today, but this place is usually foggy,” they answered.
‘It’s strange.’
I wasn’t just imagining it. I felt ticklish, and when I took a deep breath, the air that entered my lungs felt suffocating to the point that I started to feel dizzy. An unknown discomfort filled me, and it wasn’t because of the wet ground and the stuffy air. I looked around and saw that the others were experiencing the same symptoms as me.
At first, I thought it was just because I was anxious, but my body kept telling me that it was uncomfortable.
‘Shit.’
“How frustrating,” I commented unknowingly.
I was surprised that I said that out loud. All of a sudden, there was a loud noise behind me. However, I didn’t pay attention to it because I had long gotten used to that noise.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I think a monster appeared,” a soldier replied.
“Is it the eighth one now?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I recall the monsters in this area being amiable… I’ll deal, no, I’ll take a look at it myself,” I told them.
“There’s no need for that,” the soldier said.
“No, I want to see it for myself,” I said.
I started walking and saw the rearguard surrounding a monster. It was a mid-sized monster with a large frame. The monster had to be really worked up because its eyes were bloodshot. The monster kept roaring and resisting us, but it wasn’t strong enough to deal with a large group of humans—more specifically, a large group of elite soldiers.
An epic-ranked monster wouldn’t be able to deal with our soldiers.
I was about to unsheathe my sword, but a voice interrupted me.
“I’ll deal with it.”
I turned toward the voice and saw the adjutant. For some reason, their eyes were bloodshot. It wasn’t just them. Everyone’s eyes were bloodshot as well.
‘Something is wrong.’
I haven’t noticed it until now, but when I looked around, I started noticing strange things.
The monster eventually let out its death throes and fell to the ground. The adjutant had cut the monster in half, and I turned toward them before saying, “Please examine the monsters we have captured, and the monsters we will encounter from now on should be captured immediately. You must examine them and see what kind of spell or curse is influencing them. Check on the soldiers and see if there are any issues with their mental or physical health as well as the food and water we’re drinking.”
“There aren’t any traces of spells or curses. The water and supplies seem fine as well…” replied the adjutant.
“Alchemy. Is there a mage in the unit who’s knowledgeable in alchemy? It doesn’t matter who it is. Please make them examine the monster as soon as possible and as fast as possible,” I requested.
“Yes, Ma’am,” they replied.
‘Something is strange.’
I could feel a subtle change in my body. It wasn’t that much of a change, but it wasn’t something I could overlook. When I recalled how Lee Ki-Young was a talented alchemist, my anxiety shot to the roof because we could have fallen into a trap. It was possible that the enemy troops were targeting the detachment of soldiers heading for the capital and decided to set up a trap for the latter. However, even with that assumption, there were still many things that were unclear.
‘Would they actually abandon Castle Rock just to target a detachment?’
It didn’t make sense because the enemy was currently in a desperate situation. The siege of Castle Rock had just started a while ago, and once that was over, the main unit would head to the capital. There was no way the enemy didn’t know that. This was a race against time. If they wanted to make us suffer an equivalent amount of damage, then they would have to inflict a pretty deep wound on the Republic. Moreover, buying time by wiping out their soldiers was something we should be doing. They knew better than anyone that they would be at a disadvantage the more they dragged this war out.
The behavior of the enemy inside this forest made it feel like they wanted us to stay in this forest. It felt like they were trying to stop us. When I put together the small hints they left, I could see that it was creating a bigger picture.
‘There’s too many of them to say that they’re just bait.’
There were a lot of them, and if I were to exaggerate a little, the force was big enough to go up against our main force. It was even more applicable when I thought about how competent the people they chose to be a part of their forces here. Even though we still had no idea of their exact number, it didn’t make sense that they would use this large force that could fight in a siege just to delay the movement of a mere detachment.
‘What are they up to? What…’
“Excuse me, Miss Katia.”
“Yes?” I answered.
However, a hole suddenly appeared on the forehead of the mage in front of me.
“I…”
“...”
“Prepare for battle!” I yelled.
“Prepare for battleeee!”
I heard a loud noise before the mage’s corpse landed on the ground.
“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!!!”
“Where did the arrow come from?” I asked.
“From the northeast. The northeast!” the soldier yelled.
“Prepare for battle right away. Get into formation and create a special unit and order them to find the exact location of the enemy troops,” I ordered.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Another arrow flew and pierced a soldier.
“Shit, how? We must move fast. Tell the soldiers to move back and head in the opposite direction. We must send as many signals as possible so that the soldiers won’t get lost. They have to keep moving as fast as possible!” I commanded.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“I’ll cast shield magic to stop their second wave—”
“Aaaahhh!”
“Ah!”
“D-Die! You dirty servants of the demon!”
“You bastards!”
“I’ll purify you! You dirty demons!”
‘Shit.’
I heard a scream beside me, and even though I had no idea where the enemies were coming from, I could feel our formation falling apart as time went on.
‘This is bad.’
Even if we had more soldiers, no competent commander alive would fight in a place as foggy as this.
“Maintain formation! Maintain formation! Don’t break formation. Maintain close formation using shields and stay in line! Don’t fall out of line!”
“Gather! Hurry up and gather!”
“Aaaahhh!”
Naturally, I stomped in frustration when I heard the screams. When I drew my sword, a man emerged from the white fog next to me. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling as well. His grotesque, distorted face made him look like a horror movie villain, and the way he charged at me with his dagger filled me with fear.
“Dirty demons! Heuuuuuk! Die! Die!”
“What?”
“You bastards, hehehe! Do you really think that we’ll just let you live?! You dirty bastards! G-God will not forgive you!”
“Y-You crazy…” I stuttered.
“Dieeeeeeeee!”
“Bastard!”
I swung my sword and saw the man collapse as his head went flying.
“W-What the? What’s… this…?”
I couldn’t pull myself together due to the screams from all over the place. In addition, the noises and screams were only getting louder.
“What is this?”
The outfit of the man whose head I had just severed caught my attention.
“Varian’s followers…”
I was sure it was the same uniform worn by the priests of the Republic.
1. Katia’s POV ☜
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