Chapter 132
“Should we go further?”
“Hmm.”
Arte responded to Satan’s question with a triumphant tone while surveying her surroundings.
The space, which had been full of humans just hours ago, was now devoid of any living souls.
All that remained were countless lifeless bodies, slaughtered by the monsters.
“From here, we will split the army.”
“Yes! Give the order, and I will carry it out immediately.”
Following Satan’s command, the invasion had begun a day earlier than previously announced to the humans.
The start was promising.
The monster army, empowered by Satan’s strength, was far stronger than Arte had anticipated.
As the one directly controlling the monsters, Arte could feel this strength firsthand.
The monsters not only followed orders without hesitation, but they also carried them out without fear of death, responding instantly.
It was like moving tens of thousands of creatures as if they were her own limbs.
For Arte, who found immense pleasure in creating and commanding her creatures, this was an unparalleled paradise.
“Split the army appropriately into three groups.”
Satan seemed to contemplate briefly before quickly making his decision.
Hearing his command, Arte immediately sprang into action.
She divided the monsters into three groups in her mind and directed them to form ranks accordingly.
The tens of thousands of monsters moved in perfect unison, following Arte’s mental commands.
“Proceed without stopping until we reach Crescent.”
“Understood!!”
Satan murmured to himself while gazing at the torn and tattered flag of the Peace Coalition lying on the ground.
The country founded by Crescent, the one who had sealed him away.
Satan found himself mildly curious about what that nation might look like now.
***
“Haa, what about the retreating forces?”
“It’s likely that all remaining troops at the top were annihilated.”
“So, you’re the only one who escaped?”
“Not quite. The forces heading toward the north, including Crescent, have probably been informed of the situation.”
“Hah.”
Ordin of the O’Neill Kingdom frowned deeply as he listened to the breathless report of the soldier.
According to the urgent messenger, Satan’s army had begun their march south far sooner than expected.
Caught completely off guard, the coalition forces, unprepared for such an attack, were utterly decimated.
The plan had been to reach the northern front by early morning and prepare for a proper defense.
“Is there any way to contact the commanders of the other reinforcements?”
“Unfortunately, no. We had prepared communication devices in advance, but it seems the monsters destroyed them all…”
Ordin didn’t need to hear the rest of the sentence to understand what the soldier was implying.
They had likely fled in such haste that there was no time to salvage the coalition’s supplies.
Even the soldier broadcasting the situation had been attacked mid-stream, abruptly cutting off the feed.
Ordin’s party, having watched the situation unfold in real-time, had tried to hasten their pace, but it had not been enough.
“Can’t we broadcast the situation globally through the same channel as before? It seemed to work well in the north.”
The northern continent was known for its unstable mana flow, making long-distance communication and other large-scale magic difficult.
Magical tools like communication devices that relied on frequencies were essentially useless beyond a certain point in the north.
That was why they had initially thought there was no way to communicate before reaching their destination.
However, the real-time broadcast earlier had come as a surprise.
“Thanks to Lady Yuria’s specially designed communication device, it was possible. However, it seems that when the broadcaster was attacked, the device was destroyed as well.”
“Hmm.”
Hearing the grim reports one after another, Ordin’s expression darkened even further.
Judging by the brief glimpse of the monster forces in the earlier broadcast, advancing further north was tantamount to suicide.
Even the valiant O’Neill troops had their limits.
“It would be wise to retreat to an area where communication is still possible!”
“…”
Ordin did not immediately respond to the messenger’s suggestion.
He knew the situation all too well.
Continuing forward now would be like stepping into the flames of hell.
But—
“If we retreat to where communication is possible, we’ll be heading straight toward civilian cities.”
That was what caused Ordin to hesitate.
To contact reinforcements from other nations, they would have to head south, close to the border of civilian settlements.
“Captain!”
“Haa, is there truly no other way?”
With a deep sigh, Ordin finally made his decision.
They would retrace their steps and move south.
“Let’s retreat as quickly as possible!”
Just as Ordin’s O’Neill Kingdom forces abandoned their advance and turned back, the support troops from other nations near the Northern Continent were making similar decisions.
All of them halted their advances and began retreating to areas where the mana flow was stable.
“We’ll need to set up a defensive line as soon as we get down there.”
Ordin hoped that the commanders of other nations were thinking the same as he hastened his forces to retrace their steps southward.
***
“So, just for today, let’s go quickly, okay? Old man, you saw the video earlier, didn’t you? The world’s in chaos right now, absolute chaos!”
“And what does that have to do with launching the ship early? Besides, you’re not the only passenger! We have to wait for the others, too.”
“Ugh.”
The red-haired man, whose hair glistened even more brightly under the sunlight, tied it back and sighed in frustration.
Despite his exasperation, the old man arguing with him didn’t budge.
The red-haired man fiddled with the spear strapped to his back for a moment before letting it go.
“Sigh. I’m telling you, I’m in a real hurry, old man.”
“Tsk, you’re so insistent. Just because you’re in a rush doesn’t mean we can break the rules and launch the ship early.”
The red-haired man, Philippe, wanted to retort, but he couldn’t find the words.
After all, the old man was right. Just because he was in a rush didn’t mean everyone else was.
“I didn’t think things would escalate this much.”
Philippe, the captain of the 3rd Squad of the Black Shadow Corps, was currently on an island far to the east of the Arkaria Continent.
When he had received the call to assemble, he had dismissed it, thinking it was nothing serious.
But as soon as he saw the monstrous horde pouring out of the Northern Continent, he immediately realized the situation was far from trivial.
“I felt like I was on the verge of a breakthrough.”
That was why Philippe had come to this distant island, which could be called the edge of the world.
A breakthrough.
Years ago, when he had asked the commander how he became so strong, the commander had seriously responded.
“There’s a legendary island to the east of the continent.”
“If you train there, not only can you rapidly become stronger, but you can also reach new heights.”
Philippe had believed him completely, as it was well-known that the commander often traveled to the uninhabited islands in the east.
So Philippe had wandered through the islands in the eastern seas until he finally found what he believed to be the “legendary island” the commander had mentioned.
A barren rock formation far from any inhabited island.
Philippe had been training there, shuttling back and forth between the inhabited and legendary islands.
He had felt like he was on the brink of a breakthrough—until now.
“There’s got to be a way.”
Philippe racked his brain for a way to leave the island as quickly as possible.
The best option was for the commander to use his Spatial Movement ability to come and fetch him.
But that was practically impossible.
This place was so remote that even the long-range magic of communication devices couldn’t reach it.
“Wait, then how was that video broadcast?”
A question crossed Philippe’s mind as he stood there in thought.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just the video he had seen earlier.
The emergency assembly order from the Black Shadow Corps had also reached him.
If that was the case—
“Could it work here, too?”
Philippe instinctively looked down at his belt.
There was nothing visible on the surface, but hidden inside was a magical tool designed for emergencies, capable of sending a distress signal.
If the signal could reach the commander, knowing his personality, he would come running immediately.
“Ah.”
Realizing the solution, Philippe let out a low exclamation and turned around.
“Hey! Where are you going? Weren’t you in a hurry to leave?”
“That’s why I’m doing this!!”
Without bothering to listen to the old man’s response, Philippe sprinted off.
The commander’s Spatial Movement wasn’t a power that allowed unrestricted teleportation.
It only worked for places the commander had been to in person.
“The legendary island!”
Philippe ran at full speed toward the legendary island.
It was a place the commander had been to before—perhaps even frequently.
If Philippe sent an emergency signal from there, the commander would likely come to fetch him immediately.
“Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”
Leaping and bounding as if he were flying, Philippe clenched his fists tightly.
If he had realized this earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted time arguing with the old man on the inhabited island.
Splash!
Philippe dashed across the water without hesitation, channeling mana into the emergency signal device hidden in his belt.
“Hurry up and come get me, commander!!”
In the middle of the ocean, racing toward the “legendary island,” Philippe shouted at the top of his lungs.
—
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