The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (168)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

55 The Defensive Battle at Command (3)

After suffering from a tremendous defeat in the blackened forest, Iron was no longer careless.

The operation of his army tilted more on the safer side. The airships were ordered to move only after rising to the highest altitude possible. Even the drake knights were ordered to increase the numbers of people included in their formation and fly at the maximum altitude that they could fly in. In addition, the assault and logistics units were kept from moving out and were tasked to be on high alert as they defended the area around Command. This decision was implemented so that they could accurately gauge the level of the monsters lurking in the Southeast.

After settling down at the site of their new Command and giving out the orders, Iron finally had the time to look around.

The traces of the buildings and the ruins of the castle that remained on the site were proof that this place was quite developed in the past. Not much was left to be seen since it had already been robbed clean by hunters and relic thieves but looking at these traces was enough to tell him that this was once a prosperous city.

Besides, it would be strange if he did not establish this as the site for their Command with this plain near a huge river. However…

“It will be extremely difficult to defend.”

It was difficult to defend and build a fortress in the plains compared to building and defending fortresses in the mountains and canyons. They needed to do everything by hand. From building the walls, to engraving the magic circles and creating traps. Building a fortress without the help of nature and only through the powers of humans would consume enormous amounts of resources and time.

― Tweet!

Baepsae looked at Iron worriedly. Since it was the first divine beast to sign a contract with him, it could quickly read and understand the thoughts that were going through his head. And all it could do was sigh after learning what Iron had in mind.

Iron chuckled loudly. It seemed like he found it fun to see the cute Baepsae sighing deeply.

“Worried?”

Baepsae glared at Iron when he asked it with a smile on his face. It knew that Iron had been running nonstop ever since they had signed the contract. He had spent his days busily so it knew that he had a lot of worries whenever he looked up at the sky or the distant landscape with a blank look on his face. It also knew that he would also do this whenever there was danger that he found to be too difficult and couldn’t be solved with his own abilities. This was the case back in the North, the East and the Center.

“I guess I will have to work a bit harder for a while.”

Iron couldn’t help but confess his thoughts awkwardly after seeing Baepsae’s unwavering stare.

He had no choice but to sacrifice himself since his army’s system was still incomplete. And he knew that this was a situation that would persist as long as it remained incomplete. The army was created after squeezing out the other armies so if he wanted to raise them properly and not let them become monster food then he had to run around a bit more.

― Tweet…

Iron patted Baepsae’s little head after seeing it worry about him.

“I won’t overdo it.”

― Tweet!

Iron smiled when he saw Baepsae turning its head away from him as if it did not believe in his words at all.

“I promise. This time, it’s real. Trust me.”

Iron’s words sounded a bit coquettish as he asked the cute Baepsae to trust him. Baepsae flapped its small wings and perched itself on his head.

― Tweet, tweet, tweet! ( I’m going to watch you from over here! )

“Alright.”

Iron nodded after hearing Baepsae’s determined words.

The 1st Team unloaded all of their supplies as they built field tents that would temporarily serve as their camp and finally settled down at their new Command. Everyone did not slack off since they would stay at these barracks that they were currently making until all of the engineers and workers finished building their fortress.

While most of their troops moved busily to build their camp, the others went out and did some reconnaissance as they flew at a high altitude. They had already experienced it once so they knew that it was very dangerous here. Because of this, they carried out the recon mission as safely as possible and they did not experience any major accident.

Even though that initial reconnaissance was inefficient, the drake units still moved in groups while the airship units moved together. This was because they were tasked to focus on their safety. They also only began to gradually expand their search with the new Command as the center after they had prepared for emergencies.

But once the craftsmen appeared, they thought that their safety measures were too excessive. With emphasis on safety, it was only natural that the progress of their work would proceed slowly. They spent most of their time focusing on creating traps and building temporary walls that would block their enemies and placed the building of the facilities for convenience like the administrative and military facilities as their last priority.

Perhaps that was the reason why the soldiers began to complain that Iron was focusing too much on safety. They also stated that it would be better for them to finish their work quickly instead of this slow pace. These thoughts were correct up until this point. After all, it was truly better for them to finish work quickly and expand the area where they were working than to proceed slowly.

However, Iron ignored their complaints as he focused on scouting the surrounding area with their airships.

After a few days of enduring everyone’s complaints…

― Bzzt! Incoming enemies!

“Position?”

Iron immediately asked the scout after receiving the report at the General’s Airship.

― Around 20km southwest from us. It looks like some sort of water buffalo. But it’s 10 times larger and it’s entire body is covered by some kind of shell.

“Is it similar to the outer shell of the armored worm?”

― That’s right.

“Alright. Keep reporting and slowly return.”

― Yes, sir! Loyalty!

Before Iron could issue an order…

― Bzzt! A giant ant has appeared 60km southeast of the blackened forest.

“Are there any indications that they’re coming this way?”

― There are still no signs as of now.

“Continue watching them from afar and immediately report suspicious movements from them.

― Yes, sir!

Iron sighed and was about to give his orders again when another report came in from another scout.

― Reporting! A giant black wasp appeared 80 km and 130 degrees away from the Southern Command. It’s threatening the Drake Knight Order.

“Don’t engage and retreat right away.”

― Yes, sir!

Iron immediately responded to the scouts’ reports as he gathered most of his troops at Command.

Most of them were not a threat since there wasn’t much of a movement from them but the water buffalos that seemed to be mutants were running straight towards Command.

“Tell them to prepare for battle and stop all of the work that they’re doing.”

The Operations Officers gulped heavily as he received Iron’s orders and relayed it to everyone.

“Move quickly!”

“We’re in an actual battle!”

“Prepare for war!”

The officers shouted loudly as they gathered the soldiers.

The battle that they had experienced while they were on the way here was just a little taste. This was, in fact, their first proper actual battle that they would experience in the Southeast. Compared to the North, all of the monsters here were mutated. So, they couldn’t properly apply the tactics that Iron had taught them before. Because of this, the officers were nervous and kept on nagging on the innocent soldiers.

“Maintaining a close formation is risky. Spread out around the camp.”

“Yes, sir!”

The officers relayed Iron’s orders once again as dust clouds began to appear from a distance.

“Tell everyone to break the formation!”

Iron jumped on top of Two Moons’ head from the airship as he gave out his orders.

“We have to work hard and struggle until the level of our subordinates increases to some extent.”

― Hoot!

Owl told Iron that it was alright. It even told him that it liked it because it was just like a warm up. However, this did not mean that Two Moons did not understand what Iron meant. It knew full well that this situation would happen frequently in the future and that Iron and the other divine beasts would have to fight every time.

They would only be able to relax and let go only after his subordinates grew to the level where Iron could trust them out on the battlefield. Until then, Iron and the divine beasts would have to run around and roll hard.

― Moooo!

Thunderbird was the first to move after hearing the cries of the giant water buffalos. The battle in the Southeast Command began with the advent of tornadoes, storms and lightning strikes. Then, Phoenix let out waves of fire as Two Moons swept the water buffalos with its black mana.

The gigantic water buffalos’ fierce rush halted to a stop with the appearance of the divine beasts’ wide area of attacks. However, some of them were able to stop and turn around to avoid the divine beasts’ range of attacks. And just like any other beings polluted and corroded by the energy of the void, they rushed fiercely after discovering the presence of humans and uncontaminated life.

“I’m already having a headache.”

Leaving those words, Iron jumped down from Two Moons’ head and sliced off the head of the water buffalo that led the pack.

Unlike the giant armored worm, the skin of the gigantic water buffalos was not that hard. It was at the level where Iron’s steel mana sword could easily cut through them like butter. However, this was only possible because of Iron’s level of power.

Although his swordsmanship level was only at the 6th Stage, his power had reached the master’s level thanks to his title effects. In fact, if you exclude the use of aura and only considered their pure body, Iron was stronger than the other masters. Even if the masters’ bodies had transcended the confines of a regular human’s body, their bodies were still bound to be weaker than Iron’s body, which power and strength had been amplified and strengthened dozens of times.

― Moo!

― Moooooo!

The water buffalos 52985, who’s eyes were filled with greed for the uncontaminated living creatures, had no choice but to step back after seeing Iron kill their kin swiftly one after the other. He looked like a cold-blooded machine with how efficient and fast he was killing them. But stepping back did not mean that they were safe. After all, their path of retreat had already been long turned into hell by the divine beasts.

However, it did not matter how strong Iron was, he still could not stop all of the mutant water buffalos. Some water buffalos out of the thousands that rushed forward were able to escape his grasp and rush towards the newly created camp. They could instinctively feel that the man, Iron, in front of them was like a monster but the humans behind him were nothing.

Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Stop them!”

“Don’t let them get near!”

The artillery unit fired their guns at the order of Dominic Stone. Even the troops scattered nearby fired together to stop the advance of the water buffalos as much as possible. A small number of knights also stormed out and hunted the water buffalos from the side while the airships bombarded them and broke their formation.

However, several soldiers still suffered injuries from the water buffalos that reached them. Even though they scattered quickly as soon as they learnt that they would arrive at the camp, they still weren’t able to completely avoid them since they were rushing so fast. In the end, their morale slowly dwindled when deaths began to appear in their ranks.

Iron’s overwhelming performance killed most of the water buffalos and prevented the full-on rush. However, they still suffered casualties. This was a very serious matter. This meant two things. One, the level of mutation in this place was extremely high. Two, his soldiers were extremely comfortable in their lives, hence they had become weak with their determination.

Just when the soldiers were going to succumb to depression, Iron, who returned to the General’s Airship, spoke through the voice amplifier.

― Ah, ah. This is the Commander.

Everyone looked up the moment they heard Iron’s words. Their ears perked up in reflex when they heard their commander speak.

― Get your grips! War has just begun. From this point on, enemies will continue to flock every day. You will experience this situation countless times. Are you going to be like this every time?!

All of them stared at the General’s Airship in the sky as his voice echoed in the area.

― Death would be inevitable especially if the war is prolonged. Did you not have this much determination when you came here?

The soldiers listening to Iron’s question bowed their heads in shame.

― Thread through the path of your comrades’ sacrifices and step even further. Become more experienced, proficient and be stronger. Do not stop until you match the name ‘elite’. Pull yourself together and do everything that you can! The war has just begun.

The haze covering the eyes of the soldiers disappeared. Their visions finally became clear.

― Don’t be frustrated just because you’re not good enough now. I will protect you until you grow stronger and can stand on your own. Trust me.

The determination finally returned back to the soldiers’ eyes after hearing Iron’s words.

― My troops fought in the Center and fought like they were equivalent to a hundred elites. The size has only grown dramatically from back then in this short period of time but you can be like that too. Trust me and follow my lead. Can you do it?

“Yes, sir!”

― Good. I believe you.

Iron cut off the communication crystal after leaving those words.

They were in a situation where their morale was already on the verge of declining. However, Iron’s speech boosted the morale of his army once again. Even though it ended like this right now, their morale could eventually go down since their enemies would continue to attack them in the future.

But that was alright.

Iron and his troops had proven before that they could survive if they trusted him. So, even if their morale declined, they would not collapse.

As if to prove it, the soldiers at the first-line of defense were able to defend well despite the attacks of the mutants that appeared over the past few days. They firmly held on even after casualties appeared and they became exhausted.

And finally, the 2nd Team arrived.

***