Chapter 133
“Hmm.”
The Ironclad Knight, Royce Sinclair, let out a low murmur as he surveyed his surroundings.
The mages were busy setting up a barrier, while the knights erected a makeshift wooden fortification within its bounds.
This was a situation Royce had not anticipated at all.
It was fortunate they had brought materials for an emergency fortification just in case. Otherwise, he didn’t even want to imagine how far they would have had to retreat.
“Within the next hour, the defensive line will be completed.”
“I’m not sure if this will be enough to stop those monsters.”
“…”
The red-haired woman did not respond to Royce’s almost self-directed muttering.
Her thoughts aligned perfectly with his.
The coldest yet most passionate woman in Crescent—Miriam Bernstein.
The forces dispatched by the Crescent Empire included members from three of the Six Great Houses, which was a significant power in itself.
The overall commander was Royce Sinclair, the Ironclad Knight.
His deputy commander was Miriam Bernstein.
And the leader of the mage division was Yuria Prisis.
Having representatives from three of the Six Great Houses working together for the same purpose was both a huge issue and a formidable force.
Yet, neither Royce nor Miriam could feel at ease.
The envoy from the Lorelai Alliance they had encountered earlier, coupled with the sudden invasion of monsters relayed beforehand, heightened their unease.
The sheer number of monsters visible through the small communication sphere was overwhelming.
The moment Royce heard the envoy’s report, he immediately turned his horse around and began the retreat.
As soon as they reached an area where the communication sphere functioned properly, they set up camp and began constructing a makeshift fortification.
“Is there any news from the other nations?”
“Not yet. It seems no troops have managed to escape the interference zones.”
“Hmm.”
Uncertainty lingered in Royce’s voice.
If all the monsters seen through the communication sphere truly descended upon them, both the barrier and the makeshift fortifications would be rendered useless.
These defenses were nowhere near sufficient to stop such a massive horde of monsters.
‘It’s already challenging enough to defend in one place.’
Even if all the forces currently en route to the north gathered here, Royce doubted they could withstand the monstrous onslaught he had witnessed.
What if they encountered the monsters while still scattered, before fully regrouping?
‘They’ve played their cards well.’
Royce thought it was a testament to Satan’s cunning, befitting of a demon.
By announcing a three-day delay, Satan gave people a brief sense of relief, only to suddenly move southward.
This lapse in vigilance led to greater devastation.
If not for the false assurance of three days, the alliance forces would not have been caught so off guard earlier.
They would have maintained their highest level of alertness and prepared for Satan’s invasion.
“Ah! Something’s moving!”
Royce was pulled out of his troubling thoughts by a soldier’s loud cry.
The soldier, who had been scanning the surroundings through a telescope, was now fixated on a specific direction.
With a swift leap, Royce landed beside the soldier on the temporary lookout post.
Taking the telescope, Royce focused on the area the soldier had been observing.
‘Is that…?’
What he saw was a relatively common type of monster—goblins.
These small creatures darted swiftly through the forest, weaving between the trees.
However, unlike regular goblins with their greenish skin that blended into the forest, these goblins had jet-black skin.
“They’re already descending.”
Royce muttered with a voice laced with worry as he adjusted the telescope to look farther beyond the first sighting.
As he focused deeper into the forest, the scene became clearer.
A swarm of black goblins was racing through the trees, heading swiftly downhill.
“Tsk.”
The thought of facing these monsters with defenses that were still incomplete made Royce’s expression harden.
The only consolation was that no other types of monsters were visible yet.
“Miriam! I’ll leave this place in your hands for now! I’ll lead my knights to buy us some time outside.”
Without waiting for her response, Royce leaped down from the lookout and sprinted off in a direction.
Miriam opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw Royce’s retreating figure.
It was Royce Sinclair, the Ironclad Knight.
For now, she had no choice but to trust him.
Moreover—
“I’ll go out and help buy time with the commander.”
“…Do as you wish.”
Miriam gave a faint nod to Yuria Prisis, a woman as cold as ice.
Although Yuria wasn’t fond of people in general, her abilities were undeniable.
If Royce Sinclair and Yuria Prisis worked together, things would likely be fine.
“Phew.”
A sigh of tension escaped Miriam’s lips.
***
“It’s an emergency signal…?”
“What?”
“Where is it coming from?”
Erica let out a long sigh at Addy’s words, and I immediately asked Addy for Philippe’s location.
This was a critical situation, and the one who came to us wasn’t the awaited Philippe.
Or perhaps, it could be said that it was Philippe.
After all, it was an emergency signal sent by Philippe.
‘What kind of mess has he gotten himself into this time?’
Following a meeting that excluded Philippe among the four commanders, our direction was clearly set.
Once Philippe rejoined us, the entire Black Shadow Corps would move north to face Satan.
We had been waiting for Philippe to return when an unexpected situation arose.
Satan’s forces began advancing south faster than anticipated.
No one expected his army to charge at such a time, catching everyone off guard and swiftly destroying the main camp of the Lorelai Alliance.
With real-time reports of the monsters’ movements, Yuria had already taken Jacqueline and headed north.
I considered joining them but eventually decided to stay here at Addy’s persuasion.
Her reasoning was that if I spent too much time in the north and couldn’t return to the base on time, it would delay both Philippe and Erica’s deployment to the battlefield.
In hindsight, she was right.
Moreover, the main camp of the Lorelai Alliance we saw in the video was already annihilated.
There was nothing we could do by arriving late.
So, after dropping Yuria and Jacqueline off in the northern continent, I returned to wait for Philippe.
“East… Just how far have you gone?”
Addy muttered in disbelief.
Muttering to herself, Addy tracked the location of the emergency signal. Her fingers finally stopped.
It was marked at the very edge of the map, dangerously close to the border.
An island in the eastern part of the continent.
As soon as I saw the location, I understood why Philippe couldn’t return immediately.
Unlike me, who could use Spatial Movement, it was remarkable that he had even made it that far.
“Commander, can you get there?”
Erica looked at me with a frustrated expression as she asked.
The eastern islands of the continent were places I had occasionally visited.
They were my go-to spots for redirecting various attacks and also where I recently had a massive fight with Kilbis.
“Exactly where?”
“Here.”
“Oh…”
The place Addy pointed to, unfortunately, was somewhere I had never been.
The closest place I had been to was still quite a distance from where the emergency signal originated.
“Sigh. What could he possibly have found there to go so far?”
“Well, I’ll give it a try.”
Although it was far, now wasn’t the time to hesitate.
Crossing islands might be tricky, but with Yongyong, I could manage.
Vrrr—
Leaving Erica behind with her disapproving look, I used Spatial Movement to head to the closest island to the emergency signal.
For some reason, I’d been coming to this island quite often recently.
Taking a quick look around, I noticed the traces of my recent battle with Kilbis were still present. Without wasting time, I summoned Yongyong.
Boom—
Yongyong’s presence caused a slight tremor, and fine sand scattered as his foot landed on the beach.
Climbing onto Yongyong’s head without hesitation, I gave him instructions.
“Yongyongi, let’s go quickly, okay?”
Grroooar—
Yongyong responded with a low growl and began accelerating.
Flying toward the signal’s origin, I saw islands passing below us.
These were probably places I had visited once or twice before in the past.
I couldn’t remember them clearly, but they felt familiar.
‘Come to think of it, why is Philippe here… Oh, wait.’
With a moment of calm, a memory flashed through my mind.
Philippe had once asked me for recommendations on training locations, and I had half-jokingly mentioned the eastern islands of the continent.
At the time, I had been exploring the east for suitable islands, so I had mentioned it casually.
‘Don’t tell me he came all the way here because of that?’
Thinking about it, it seemed entirely plausible considering Philippe’s personality. I patted Yongyong’s head.
Feeling my touch, Yongyongi increased his speed.
When we were nearly at the location of the signal—
“Almost there… Whoa!”
Screeeech—
Just as the island came into view, a sharp noise pierced the air, and Yongyong’s body shook violently.
Something sharp had collided with Yongyong’s claws.
“This Undead! How dare you follow me here!”
“…Huh?”
The next moment, a booming and familiar voice echoed in my ears.
A red-haired man wielding a massive spear hovered in the air.
It was Philippe, Captain of the 3rd Squad in the Black Shadow Corps.
“Hey!”
“So you’re the master of this Undead… Oh?”
Emergency, my foot.
It seemed he just called for a ride.
Seeing me, Philippe looked surprised, glanced over Yongyong, and finally lowered his spear.
—
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