Chapter 187 : Chapter 187
Chapter 187
“It’s all because of me.”
After the fierce wave ended, Kelvin, left alone with me, quietly bowed his head. He, who had always been light-hearted and loved to joke, was now not saying anything and just shedding tears.
“I was the same.”
Looking at the endlessly crying Kelvin, I spoke a single, silent word.
“I was the same, so. You just have to do better, somehow.”
The feelings of apology and guilt do not disappear. In the end, the guilt for the subordinates who lost their lives due to the commander’s decision was a part that could not disappear.
Even so, he had to move forward. That was a kind of fate that a commander and a leader had to carry.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Facing Kelvin, I silently placed a hand on his shoulder and left only that one word.
“…”
Kelvin lowered his head at my seemingly indifferent but worldly warm comfort.
“Because of me, innocent members lost their lives….”
In front of the self-blaming Kelvin, I did not speak. Here, whether it was his fault or not was meaningless. He was already blaming himself that everything had happened because of his judgment.
Knowing that better than anyone, I just silently listened to Kelvin’s story by his side.
***
The situation of monsters setting traps and launching surprise attacks was not only happening to Kelvin but in all places.
However, unlike Kelvin who had paid the utmost attention, many humans who had underestimated the monsters died in their attacks.
At least Bastien alone, thanks to his long experience, was able to avoid the monsters’ traps.
And so, the monster invasion of the continent entered a new phase. The key figures were all gathered in the conference room of the Arthur Domain for the first time in a long time.
Today’s meeting was being presided over by Anne, who handled information. And the situation on the continent she was reporting was getting darker and darker.
Although Emperor Ellenhower was uniting each region as much as possible to resist the monsters, the area occupied by humans was shrinking as time passed.
Moreover, as the roads connecting each region were taken over by monsters, many areas became unable to trade. Isolated areas often could not hold out for long and collapsed as they were.
“The areas being pushed back are gradually increasing….”
Among the east, west, south, and north, the regions holding out against the monster invasion were practically the north, central, and east.
The western army, without Duke Jacques Marin, was practically unable to hold out any longer and had joined the northwestern region where Count Vito was.
“The Pope also said that he will join the north in about two weeks, leading the members of the Order and the rescued people.”
The south had a strong influence of the Order, so the power of the nobles was not very large. Even that beast-like Pope could not withstand the endless material offensive of the monsters and eventually expressed his intention to join me and was coming up to the north.
“In fact, only His Majesty Ellenhower, us, and Duke Yevgeny are holding out. If the power of the remaining monsters is added to them. We can’t guarantee what will happen after that.”
Everyone was silent. The destruction of humanity. Perhaps a terrible thing that had never happened in the long history of the continent might occur.
Just as everyone was silent, I slowly opened my mouth.
“I intend to move.”
“…?”
What did it mean to move in this situation?
“I will go out with volunteers and carry out a subjugation.”
These monsters were not an infinitely regenerating monster invasion like Saraban. While subjugating the north, I clearly felt that the number of monsters generated in the north was decreasing.
Although the number was so large that it didn’t decrease noticeably, the long-term subjugation operation in the north had clearly reduced the number of monsters in the northern region. Thanks to that, the north was expanding its territory day by day and consolidating its fortresses.
“We will attack the western region first to build a bridge connecting the north and west. And if we ally with the central and strike down to the south, we have a sufficient chance of winning.”
My words were not wrong. However, the damage that would occur in the process had to be borne entirely by the Arthur Domain.
“Those who do not wish to go do not have to go with me. This is not a journey that starts hoping for sacrifice. It’s just something I have to do.”
No one thought that the path I had to walk was something I had to do. Nevertheless, I was saying that this path of hardship was my own.
“I don’t know about young lives, but my life, which is not far from death, can burn a flame once, can’t it? Thanks to you, I feel that my realm is rising in my later years, hahahahaha.”
Bastien laughed heartily, brightening the atmosphere of the conference room.
“If my liege intends to go without me, I cannot accept it. No matter what anyone says, if you ask who my liege’s right-hand man on the continent is, isn’t it me?”
Kelvin spoke with a playful tone.
“It is a path for the continent. Our Order and the 3rd Holy Knights will also be with you.”
Daniel Lugetti added a sword. Although he didn’t speak, everyone present showed their will to participate in the war.
“Not everyone can go. The stability of the north, including the Arthur Domain, is essential for the survival of humanity.”
As Anne said, the stability here was absolutely necessary.
“Rogério and the Knights Hospitaller will remain. The Lighthouse Knights will select only 100 volunteers and move. Most of the military power will remain. We need people to connect the middle.”
“Our Mercenary Guild will take on that role.”
Verpin, the Mercenary King who had recently joined the north, spoke.
“The Order will also help secure a bridgehead.”
Once I made a decision, the implementation of the decision in the Arthur Domain was carried out swiftly without any noise. In the absolute trust in him, people moved for their respective tasks.
That night, in my bedroom, Anne was propping up her chin and looking at her man.
“You have to live like that, don’t you?”
It was the first time. The first time Anne had whined to me like a child. Her gaze had always encompassed the entire continent.
It was partly because she was a princess of the Gloster Imperial Family, and also because she was the head of an information organization that moved for the entire continent.
However, the person here now was only Anne, Karl’s woman.
“Someday, when my work is finished. Then I will be by your side until you are sick of me.”
It was a statement that was hard to hear from me, who was far from empty words or words that were pleasing to a woman’s ears.
“Even if it’s an empty word, it’s nice to hear.”
Anne smiled. Her hand stroked my hair. A warm touch. A warm gaze.
I suddenly pulled her into an embrace.
***
A few days later, the Pope joined the Arthur Domain, leading the members of the Order and the people of the south. The Pope, with his huge build, was smiling broadly, looking just as he did when he had been covered in a bearskin in the past.
“You’ve got a scar on your face.”
“So I have. What do you think, doesn’t it look manly and good?”
“Well, it suits you. You still don’t look like a Pope, though.”
He laughed loudly.
“By the way, now that I think about it, it’s surprising that there was someone who could injure the Pope.”
“I’ve gone beyond being surprised when I look at you.”
The two of them looked at each other and laughed.
The Pope was a person close to a Transcendent. And yet, that Pope was seeing nothing when he looked at me.
“You’ve surpassed him by far.”
“It just happened. Now I don’t even know how far I can go.”
“You’re deploying in three days?”
“That’s right.”
“May I go with you?”
“Of course. By the way, if the Pope dies while on the move, what happens to the vacant Pope’s seat?”
“Frederic is coming.”
It seemed that Abbot Frederic had been designated as the next Pope. In any case, with the Pope’s joining, another reliable supporter was gained.
“Rest well for the next three days. It won’t be an easy path once we start moving.”
“It’ll just be going back the way I came here.”
Come to think of it, the Pope had led that many people from the south all the way to the north.
“That eye, who really did that?”
“Sometimes, a monster that doesn’t seem like a monster appears. A black monster with a human-like form, but not human, appears from time to time. I don’t know its identity either.”
“Were you able to kill it?”
“I did annihilate it… but it was difficult.”
For the Pope, who had achieved a realm almost similar to a Grand Master, to say that meant that even an ordinary Master-grade knight would be no match. This was another variable.
‘General Bastien is also close to a Transcendent.’
In the meantime, Bastien, despite his age, had developed his realm more and more and had at some point reached a state close to a Transcendent. Perhaps, the system of this trash game was making adjustments to balance things out a little.
Although there was no such thing as experience points, shouldn't it be seen that the endless real combat with these numerous monsters served as a kind of experience point, and a level-up of extreme difficulty was being achieved?
I lightly organized my thoughts and organized in my head how to properly utilize personnel such as Bastien, the Pope, and Kelvin.
And so, the three days passed quickly, and a special task force of a total of 1,000 was formed, including 200 knights from the Arthur Domain, 500 Holy Knights from the Order, 100 dwarf warriors, and 200 elf and druid rangers.
As personnel to support them and build a formation, a total of nearly 3,000 personnel, including the Arthur Domain army and mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild, decided to move.
“First, we will secure a bridgehead leading to the west.”
With my departure command, 1,000 elites began their advance towards the west.
***
“Huk… huk… move quickly! We have to get to Tur Castle, no matter what!”
The survivors from the western army had formed their own groups and were creating safe zones for the survivors themselves. Among them, the number of those who had gathered in Tur was a total of about 3,000.
Although the number of people gathered was 3,000, the number of personnel who could actually participate in battle was only about 500.
Even then, the number of those who had been trained to the level of a regular army was about 300. And 200 could be said to be at the level of retired soldiers or new recruits.
Now that Skoshi had left with all the main forces of the west. Tur was one of the safest places. Tur Castle had a castle wall several times more sturdy than other castles in the west, excellent defensive power, and the outstanding advantage of being able to solve self-sufficiency to some extent within the castle.
The scouts of Tur, who had gone out to scout the area, were now running through the mountain path, breathing more heavily than ever before.
“If they all swarm in, even Tur Castle won’t be able to hold out….”
The knight leading the reconnaissance team, Lorenzo, was a Superior-grade expert. He had been active as a Free Knight and then joined Tur Castle.
Since then, he had consistently led the reconnaissance team and had made a significant contribution to the survival of Tur Castle.
The monster group he had witnessed a few days ago was of an enormous scale he had never seen before. Since the random invasion of monsters had occurred, he had never directly experienced a monster wave of a scale exceeding 3,000.
‘This means the number of survivors has decreased.’
As the number of humans in the west decreased, the scattered monsters would gather, and there was a high probability that they would shift to a large-scale offensive towards safe zones like Tur.
‘Shouldn’t we move to the north?’
The fact that the Arthur Domain and the Tennesse County were the safest places on the continent was well known to the survivors of the west.
However, it was not an easy thing to abandon all of their homes and move, risking their lives. In a situation where monsters were everywhere and it was more difficult to find a place without monsters, abandoning the castle and moving was no different from offering themselves up as their targets.
“…”
As a Superior-grade knight, it was not a very difficult matter for him to escape by himself.
However, the affection he had built up with the survivors of Tur Castle over the time was holding his desire to flee firmly.
“We have to arrive even a little bit faster.”
He let out a ragged breath and moved his feet tirelessly towards Tur Castle.