Chapter 41: Eastern Front (2)

The summons came in the middle of the night, a day after we had arrived.

“Gray, wake up!”

“Ugh… Madam, I’m not ready yet…”

“Just die, you.”

Gray, as usual, was mumbling in his sleep.

I shoved a pillow into his face.

Choking, he coughed and finally managed to sit up.

“What’s going on?”

“The summons have been issued. The demon beasts have started appearing.”

“Damn, those monsters don’t even sleep.”

The message delivered through the crystal orb was shocking.

Over a thousand demon beasts had begun to appear beyond the first line of defense.

It was a larger number than expected, but I didn’t think we would lose.

‘The knights are here, and reinforcements have arrived. We should be able to hold them off.’

Of course, the Third Knight Order, known as troublemakers in the empire, were still far more powerful than ordinary soldiers.

After meeting up with Isabel, we hurriedly headed towards the eastern gate.

The inn we were staying at was located in a district far from the east.

I thought many people would already be there, but…

“What’s this? Why are there so few?”

Only about half the expected number of people were at the gate.

“…They must be hiding.”

“Idiots.”

Those stationed here at the second line of defense were students from Arcane or children of nobles.

The fact that only this many had shown up after so much time meant that most had either hidden or fled.

“Forget it. What good would it do to bring along cowards like them? Let’s just go.”

Isabel sighed deeply, as if she had expected this, and resigned herself to the situation.

The others weren’t much different.

‘Incompetent allies are more dangerous than enemies.’

If they’re going to run away in fear, it’s better they leave now.

Once the formation is finalized, they won’t have the chance to escape.

“Hurry up and get on! We’re going to be late!”

“Just get on any carriage! We’ll sort out the groups later!”

Under the guidance of the imperial soldiers, we began boarding the carriages one by one.

“Let’s go, Gray.”

We chose a suitable carriage and headed towards the first line of defense.

.

.

.

.

The distance wasn’t too far.

By carriage, it would take about four to five hours.

We had left at dawn, and by the time we arrived, the morning light was beginning to rise.

“First squad, start checking the supplies!”

“Move it, you slugs!”

“Send the wounded to the rear! We don’t have time for funerals, so gather the dead and burn them!”

The front lines were a mess.

Commanders were shouting, and soldiers with grim expressions were busy with repairs.

There were even people burning the bodies of their former comrades.

“Ugh…”

As soon as I got off the carriage, I covered my nose with my hand.

The acrid smell of gunpowder and blood was something I could never get used to.

Gray was the same, but Isabel seemed unfazed, as if it didn’t bother her.

“Senior, where are you going?”

“I need to meet with the person in charge. We need to know our roles.”

Isabel confidently walked through the crowd of soldiers and quickly reached a bald middle-aged man sitting on a makeshift chair, holding his head.

“…You’ve arrived. We’ll discuss the events at the first line of defense later. The situation is urgent.”

“It looks like it.”

The bald man was the commander of the 5th Division, who had been in charge of the first line of defense.

He had offered to resign after the line was destroyed, but by imperial decree, he was to remain in command until this operation was over.

He wasn’t incompetent. 

The defensive line had held firm until now.

He was just unlucky.

“Your Highness… I plan to assign you to the support unit.”

“Support unit?”

“Yes, a unit composed of students from Arcane and those gathered by the summons. 

Since they don’t follow military ranks, it would be best if you, as the highest-ranking noble, took charge…”

“You think I’ll do it?”

“Ahem, I suppose so. Anyway, just pretending to lead would be enough. We’ll handle everything.”

“Why? I still have some strength left.”

“It’s not my decision. It’s… the decision of the noble with the blue banner.”

The commander gestured towards a group of people standing proudly in formation.

Knights in imperial uniforms with blue capes.

From a distance, they looked like a scene from a beautiful movie.

‘So flashy.’

Their equipment alone sets them apart.

The power they wielded was extraordinary.

‘The Imperial Knight Order is made up of elites.’

The Imperial Knight Order had earned a fearsome reputation on many battlefields.

They had achieved great feats, such as single-handedly capturing enemy commanders or turning the tide of battle in desperate situations.

Joining the Imperial Knight Order meant risking your life, but it also meant gaining wealth and honor.

It was still the most coveted position for many.

‘But that’s all in the past.’

The empire’s peace had lasted longer than expected.

As always, prolonged peace leads to stagnation.

The Third Knight Order, a collection of such stagnation, was a complete mess.

Despite their impressive appearance, they were no different from a group of brainless thugs.

‘The royal family must know, but…’

They couldn’t act rashly.

With no war, there was no justification.

‘Well, as long as they do their job, that’s enough. I don’t expect more.’

The knights were all capable of taking on a hundred enemies each.

They should handle the demon beasts easily.

“Let’s go too, Senior.”

“…Alright.”

Assigned to the rear with no chance of seeing battle, Isabel seemed conflicted.

She probably felt frustrated having to stay back despite her strength.

‘But orders are orders.’

We couldn’t disobey. 

We were here in a support capacity.

***

The demon beasts’ attack began in the afternoon.

As if synchronized, a thousand demon beasts charged simultaneously.

“This doesn’t feel right.”

“What?”

“They’re fighting for their lives out there, and we’re just sitting here watching.”

Gray also seemed uncomfortable with the situation.

We weren’t close enough to see clearly, but the screams of the soldiers reached us.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“You told me to volunteer, so why are you so calm?”

Gray looked at me with a questioning gaze, but I avoided his eyes and dodged the question.

‘Now, how will they reveal themselves?’

They succeeded in throwing the front lines into chaos, but that was it.

The empire wasn’t so weak as to collapse easily.

They must have planned for the recovery as well.

This wasn’t their endgame.

‘Let’s wait.’

As I patiently watched the front lines, the sun suddenly disappeared, plunging the land into darkness.

“…Clouds?”

Dark clouds covered the battlefield.

In the darkness that engulfed the land,

Plop, plop.

Something fell.

“That’s…”

Small objects falling onto the soldiers’ heads.

They weren’t simple hailstones.

“Senior! Gray! Run that way now!”

Yes. 

They were stones.

But they were imbued with an eerily dark magic.

The same stones we had seen in the black market.

“Help! Monsters… monsters!”

“Don’t break formation! Deal with those… ugh…”

“Damn it, shoot! Use magic or whatever, just hit them!”

Strange sounds accompanied the grotesque transformation of the black liquid.

They mercilessly consumed both demon beasts and humans.

‘Damn it, so that’s what they were after.’

It was unmistakable.

That wretched magic was unmistakable.

‘It was the black mages.’

The ones who spread the plague and caused chaos in the empire were the exiled black mages.

‘It’s not their time yet.’

The black mage group had tried to emerge from the shadows several times but were discovered by the protagonists and lost much of their strength.

After that, they made a deal with the final antagonist, Dark Heaven, but it fell through, and they disappeared without a trace.

Somehow, they were already causing major trouble.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“Chimeras. Favored by those black mage bastards.”

“Theonar, is that…”

“It’s what we saw in the black market.”

The chimeras came in various forms.

Whether they changed based on the creatures they consumed or were inherently different, I didn’t know.

But the concentration and size of their magical energy varied.

‘If they’re like the ones we saw back then, they won’t die easily.’

And their numbers.

They were overwhelming. 

There had to be at least a few hundred.

‘We can’t handle this alone. We need to find a way.’

The knight order? 

They won’t be able to kill all of them.

And having a large number of people here isn’t helpful.

Numerical superiority only matters when the formation is intact.

In this chaotic state, with chimeras pouring in indiscriminately from all sides, scattering everyone,

It’s meaningless.