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59 Fierce Battle in the Southeast (2)

With the urgent report, the Mobile Field Army Command was plunged into another busy schedule.

From Ariel’s corps all the way in the east to Cardro and Saeriden’s corps in the borders, all of them ordered to return Command. Even all of the divisions under the direct orders of Command were tasked to return from their reconnaissance and missions. Iron ordering all of the troops back to Command meant that a large-scale battle was scheduled ahead of them so everyone returned as soon as they possibly could.

They also informed the Eastern and Southern Commands of the situation. However, it was difficult for the Eastern Command to send help since they were being tied up by the imoogi and the giant worm corps. The giant worm corps, which had expanded in size and numbers, was already threatening enough but the fact that the Eastern Command’s main force was the navy made it all the more harder for them to defend. This meant that their ground forces had to hold out and put out all of their efforts into stopping the giant worm corps.

The only place where they could look to for help was the Southern Command. However, the Southern Command also said that it would be difficult for them to send them help. It was because they received intelligence reports that monsters from the great forest were suddenly moving at a large-scale towards the Empire.

“Monsters from the great forest are suddenly coming in…”

Iron narrowed his eyes as he knocked his fingers on his desk after reading the report that he had just received. This was Iron’s habit. It always came out whenever he was deep in his thoughts.

Seeing this, Carl just stayed still and waited until he opened his mouth to talk.

“Call the intelligence chief of staff.”

“Yes!”

Carl quickly left the Commander’s Office after receiving Iron’s orders.

A while later, Faulden came inside.

“You called for me?”

“Look into the great forest.”

Faulden titled his head after hearing Iron’s orders.

“By any chance… is it because of the Southern Command?”

“That’s right. There’s something that bothers me.”

“Is it because of the timing?”

Iron frowned at Faulden’s question.

“I’m not too sure, but I believe the manticore is involved in this somehow.”

Faulden’s eyes widened at Iron’s conjectures.

“No way… are you saying that the manticore created this situation?”

“…That’s right.”

Faulden went silent at Iron’s answer.

Even though the manticore was known for its intelligence and shrewdness, this was still a bit too much. After all, it was still a monster. But Iron was not prejudiced and only looked at their current situation.

The territory that the manticore had expanded had already stretched towards the vicinity of the great forest. At first, it only stayed near the border of the Empire and the Southern kingdoms. However, it’s confidence grew so it gradually expanded its sphere of influence by devouring the destroyed kingdoms’ territories, effectively increasing its power and force.

“Come to think of it… the place where the manticore and the Confederation’s master fought was not that far from the great forest.”

Iron believed that his thoughts were mostly confirmed after hearing Faulden’s words.

Even the imoogi, which was once a giant armored worm, had gained intelligence after devouring the energy of the void. What more of the manticore? What would happen if the originally clever and shrewd bastard absorbed the energy of the void?

The bastard, which was considered to be as strong as the imoogi, was already smart to begin with, coupled with the evolution from the void energy, it was no exaggeration to say that it could now be considered as smart as the human geniuses.

But what would happen if it could read the situation and knew how to use tactics and strategies?

‘It seems like this fight… won’t be an easy one.’

Iron looked at Faulden with a solemn and heavy expression when this thought passed through his head.

“…Investigate right away.”

“Yes!”

Faulden0 immediately bowed his head after receiving Iron’s orders.

After seeing his younger brother off, Iron also went ahead and used the emergency communications network and ordered Gaon to stop all work in the South and focus everything in the investigation of the great forest.

“Of all situations… the worst appeared.”

A bastard, who knew how to use their head, suddenly appeared and made his head ache.

If it was just the giant armored worm, then he simply needed to go all out. But now, he had to go out with his army with the assumption that their opponent was a skilled and experienced tactician.

It was clear that their opponent had been preparing steadily just to give them a big shot.

1 Expand towards the south and absorb various forces to increase the scale of its own force.

2 Avoid large-scale battles until their power has reached a certain level.

3 Hide their abilities until the time comes for them to attack.

This was the process and preparations that the manticore had done so far.

The manticore had hidden its powers to the point that no one knew who the real figure was that led the south. It only revealed its powers and abilities the moment they started their expansion further down south. Moving as if it had finally found the chance the moment the imoogi left the Southeast. It also pushed further down south, securing the path of the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation’s main army and pushing them further away. But the biggest shot that it made was making some kind of deal with the monsters in the great forest.

The shots that it made effectively isolated the Mobile Field Army.

1 The Eastern Command was tied fighting against the imoogi.

2 The Southern Command was trying to stop the monsters from the great forest.

3 Asking for help from the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation while they attacked was only a shot in the wind.

The final thing that the clever bastard, who created this situation, had checked was whether it could win against a master-rank individual. It could roughly assume that the masters were nothing after having a bout with the confederation’s master.

Someone who moved after all of its pieces were placed properly on the board was no different than an experienced tactician. An opponent who worked simply on creating and working on their ideal board all the while enduring the urge to fight and conquer until all of their pieces were placed perfectly on the board was quite a demanding opponent.

However, a smile still appeared on Iron’s lips.

‘…This would be fun.’

He felt happy that he was finally going to go against an opponent who wasn’t just strong but could also use their head. After all, it has been a while since he had used his head to fight too. In his past life, he had been weak. He had no choice but to keep on rolling his head trying to think of ways to survive. But in this present life, he was strong and could rely on his divine beasts. Most of the time, he could just use force and solve his problems.

But right now, an opponent that was suitable for tactical warfare suddenly appeared.

In the Commander’s point of view, it was obviously a troublesome opponent. But personally, he found it to be an interesting and fun opponent.

“Since you made me eat a shot, I’ll make sure to give it back to you completely.”

Iron stood up as he muttered those words to himself.

There were countless documents in front of him but they were already invisible in Iron’s eyes.

Iron told Carl to prepare the drake units the moment he stepped out of his Commander’s office. He also called all of the leaders of the division under the Command’s direct control, who had returned one after the other.

“Storm Troops.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Can you attract attention from the southwest?”

“We can do it!”

Iron nodded in satisfaction at the storm troops’ leader’s confident answer. Then, he turned to look at the artillery unit leader.

“Good. Dominic, lead the artillery unit and provide cover for the storm troops.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Knight order, focus on protecting the artillery unit and the other divisions under the Command’s direct control.”

“…I understand.”

Rodem replied in dissatisfaction but he remained calm. He knew the situation well and raging in dissatisfaction would do them no good.

Iron smiled at his reaction before turning to look at the rangers’ leader.

“The rangers will move with me and the drake unit.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Carl, contact Cardro right away and tell him to put pressure on our opponent.”

“Yes, sir!”

Iron’s operation would take advantage of the pressure that Cardro and his corps would put on the south together with the fuss that the storm troops and the artillery unit would create in the southwest. While the opponent’s attention was focused on these two, Iron and the rangers would go deep into the enemy’s camp and wreak havoc in their rear.

“The 23rd Corps should return directly to Command and help the storm troops and the artillery unit create a safe path for return.”

“What about the 21st Corps, do you have any orders for them?”

Iron nodded at Carl’s question.

“Just tell them to focus on returning to Command. Leave the port to Eastern Command and bring back all of our troops.”

It would take time for them to return to Command from Meindania Port so he couldn’t order them to do a separate operation.

“Since our enemies gave us a shot, shouldn’t we give them one in return?”

All of the commanding officers grinned as they nodded at Iron’s words.

“Good. Let’s warm our bodies up a bit.”

All of the commanding officers scattered to their posts at once after hearing his words.

The first to move were Iron and the rangers. The rangers were armed to the teeth as they climbed behind the drake knights.

“What you need to do is something simple. While I draw the monsters’ attention, go to their rear.”

“Are you going to draw their attention alone?”

The ranger leader, Nyx Cole, looked at him worriedly.But Iron just smiled as he said…

“It seems like the manticore is looking down on me. Shouldn’t I show it my level?”

Iron might have said it like that, but it wasn’t just because of his pride.

It would take time for Ariel and her 21st Corps to return. In addition, the Southern and Eastern Commands were both tied, but not the Northeast and Northern Commands. It would take time for them to send support once they asked them for support but they would definitely send support. This meant that they could support a long-term battle.

In other words, time was still on their side.

“Let us let the manticore know that our army’s power is not that easy to ignore.”

“We’ll do our best!”

Iron nodded at Nyx Cole’s loud and reliable answer.

The rangers would stir a mess in the rear while he drew attention. Upfront would be Cardro and his 22nd Corps. They would continue to put pressure on the south while the storm troops and artillery units, who were drawing attention somewhere else, would go and join the 23rd Corps and secure a safe path back.

No matter how strong their monster corps was, once they received damage, the pace of their progress would inevitably slow down.

‘Let’s gain victory over this skirmish.’

This thought flashed in Iron’s head as he climbed on top of a drake and flew up in the sky.

Meanwhile, Cardro and the 22nd Corps began to move the moment they heard Iron’s orders.

“Start the attack.”

With Cardro’s orders, the 22nd Corps’ air force, the corps boasting the largest number of airships in the Mobile Field Army, launched an attack all at once.

There were many mutant birds and harpies that came out to stop the 22nd Corps’ air force but the manticore’s main force was focused further down south so even if they tried to resist with all their might, they still couldn’t withstand the offensive that Cardro had issued.

With the air force’s overwhelming power, it was able to easily pierce through the monsters’ defense line in the air. They dominated the skies and slaughtered the ones in the ground. They continued to advance forward and massacre the monsters that were maintaining the monster frontlines with their airship bombs. Realizing the situation, the monster corps urgently moved to where Cardro and his corps were.

Contrary to the army’s expectations of a difficult fight, gaps began to appear in the monsters’ ranks as they rushed forward to attack Cardro and his corps with their full power. The storm troops immediately took advantage of the gaps that appeared as they dug through and charged forward fiercely. The fierce charge of the storm troops effectively created a huge stir in the southwest as they trampled on the monster units that were left to protect the area. The traps that they had set were completely useless in front of the reckless storm troops. After all, the hundreds of reconnaissance missions before had already identified where the monster units were hidden.

While the storm troops devoured the empty house devoid of their main force, the artillery unit properly kept the monsters that followed after them in check and drew their attention away from the storm troops.

“It’s been a while since I last tasted blood like this.”

Ludem looked completely satisfied.

Since he became one of the commanding officers and the leader of his own unit, he was warned not to run too far ahead and just give orders. So, after finally being placed in a position where he can go wild and move directly after a long time, Ludem’s mood completely eased.

Seeing their superior rushing forward with delight, the members of the storm troops also cheered loudly as they rushed more fiercely.

While the monsters were being ravaged like that, small monster units began to flock to where the artillery unit was. It seemed like they wanted to prove that not all monsters were fools. However, they still failed to bypass the tight wall of the knight order and ended up collapsing.

“So eager.”

Rodem couldn’t help but click his tongue when he realized that he couldn’t even get a few hits on the monsters.

The number of monsters flocking to the artillery unit was too small compared to what they had expected. It wasn’t enough for his eager men at all.

“Hmm… Did they rush to Command?”

Rodem mumbled to himself as he looked at the direction where Command was located.

Just like he predicted, a herd of water buffalo had made a decision to directly attack Command believing that it would be empty.

― Mooooooooo!

The mutant water buffaloes, who looked more hideous and more powerful compared to their original appearance when they first appeared in the Southeast, charged towards Command all at once.

However, despite the absence of the Commander, all of the corps and most of the divisions under the direct control of Command, Command was still able to successfully block them. The wizards’ large-scale magic, the spiritists’ support and the remaining defense units cooperated almost perfectly, successfully blocking their charge at Command.

They used slippery earth and raised walls as much as possible to slow down the water buffaloes’ rush. After that, they activated the traps and created a swamp on the ground to restrict their movements. To top it off, the artillery units also made sure to drill holes in their bodies.

― Moo… Mooo…

The water buffaloes had no choice but to suffer.

Hearing their pathetic cries, Peter Marvio, the leader of the magic unit, smirked.

“We’re different from before.”

Peter Marvio spoke as he watched the giant water buffaloes retreat.

They were no longer the foolish and naive people who could only depend on Iron. Although they still lacked experience, he was confident that they were as good as any other soldier in the army right now. They also completely abandoned their obsession with powerful magic. They now left it as a habit that should only be left in their childhood.

“Wipe them out completely so it wouldn’t bother the Commander once he returns.”

The wizards immediately cast their magic the moment he gave his orders.

Fireballs immediately covered the skies above the castle as they flew towards the giant water buffaloes trapped in the swamp.

***