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The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (167)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

55 The Defensive Battle at Command (2)

The drake units that flew out of the airships helped Iron kill the harpies.

Iron nodded lightly when he saw the harpies dying.

It seemed like their training was worthwhile. Even if they were only able to sweep most of the harpies away, there were no damages among their allies so he thought that their performance was praiseworthy enough. 

“Loyalty! We greet the Commander!”

Iron nodded and accepted the salute of the drake units. 

“Is everyone here?”

“No, sir. We’re the 1st Team. We were the ones who departed first.”

“Hmm… It seems like I came too early.”

Despite controlling the speed and deliberately stopping by all of the Sky Towers that he could pass through, it seemed like he still arrived too early. 

“It seems like it will take a few more days for the main force to arrive?”

“That’s right.”

“Alright. The 1st Team should go and sweep the place so we can set up an area.”

Hearing Iron’s orders, the drake knight delivered the communication//report crystal from the General’s Airship to Iron. 

After a while, the drake units and the airships followed Iron, who was taking the lead with the divine beasts. But they weren’t just moving ahead.

Since they came to the Southeast, they had to clean up the vicinity of their Command. So, they began cleaning up the monsters. 

The airships began to bomb the forest that was contaminated by the power of the void. Even the divine beasts let out flames and thunders that razed the forest down to the ground. They began to stabilize and organize the area that was abandoned by Southern Command by burning everything down to the ground and creating a sanctuary around it. 

The Center’s drake knight, who was watching from the distance, mumbled blankly. 

“That’s… a newly established army?” 

While the drake knights moved to intercept the approaching aerial monsters, the airships continued to drop bombs and devastate the ground. Then, the assault units would descend on the ground and sweep everything clean to secure a safe area. Only after all of those things had been done would the airships land on the ground. 

The Center’s drake knight was speechless at the sight of the newly established army’s systematic operation. However, compared to his generous assessment, Iron was clicking his tongue at them. 

“The assault took too long. The enemies almost broke through the left side of the drake knights. You might have been able to handle them safely if you were able to keep them in check at a long-distance with the help of the wizards but they’re not here.” 

Iron continued to click his tongue as he pointed out their problems one by one through the communication crystal. 

He shouldn’t expect too much from soldiers who hadn’t finished training yet but he had no choice but to continue pointing out their problems since they had to play in real battles straight away. 

Iron shook his head as he watched his men from the sky. 

“At this rate, I can already say that things will be difficult.” 

They truly lacked time. With the state that they were in right now, it seemed like there would be too many casualties among their ranks before they could carry out the plans that he had set to stabilize the Southeast.

They were making a lot of mistakes even with Iron and the divine beasts present in the scene. So, Iron could see that they might usher huge casualties the moment they began carrying out missions and operations on their own.  

They couldn’t handle too much casualties with the current state of the Empire. They had to save as much troops as possible to survive whatever crisis would come their way. 

“Do this place first?”

Iron watched them create a safe area and gradually expand it with a bitter look as he ordered Phoenix. 

With the state that his army was in, he decided that he would be able to clean up the land easily by sweeping the monsters away. 

And Phoenix, who understood his will, spat out flames and began to wipe out the blackened forest. 

At that moment, the beings that were hiding in the blackened forest, roared loudly and jumped up in the air.

A colossal giant worm appeared and rushed up to try and devour Two Moons. But before it could even attempt to do so, two bright rays of light melted its body and killed it in an instant. However, the giant worm living in the blackened forest was not just one. Dozens of colossal giant worms flew up and opened their mouths threateningly towards the divine beasts. 

“Mutants?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he looked at the blackened body of the giant worm. 

Giant worms that grew to this size could never live in small forests like this. In addition, they would never crowd like that and be in a group of dozens. The fact that these creatures, who usually lived in the desert and the wastelands, would come and gather here meant that there was something in this place that could satisfy their terrible appetite. But it could also mean another thing. There was probably an entity that was strong enough to gather these creatures that were as free as the wind in one place. 

― Kueeeeeeeeeeeeck!

A black giant worm suddenly rose up from the ground. It was far larger than the other giant worms and had a unique appearance with shells covering its black body. 

“Is this a giant armored worm? I only heard about them but…” 

It was a gigantic monster that Iron had only heard of before.

The giant armored worm was a giant worm that evolved after devouring void insects. However, they couldn’t evolve in just a short period of time. They could only evolve after they ate void insects for a long period of time and accumulated enough void energy in their bodies. The shell covering their bodies would only appear after repeated and continuous replenishment of nutrients from void insects. 

This meant that it had been a long time since void insects had lived and burrowed themselves in this place. 

“Thunder.” 

Thunderbird immediately flew high up in the sky as it let out lightning bolts after hearing Iron’s call. A powerful lightning bolt lit up the surrounding area and struck the body of the giant armored worm. 

“How much did you eat?” 

Iron clicked his tongue as he watched the giant armored worm shriek. 

Despite the powerful strike from Thunderbird, the bastard did not collapse. It just roared loudly as it spread out murderous intent in the area. 

Iron suddenly felt something as he quickly unsheathed his sword and swung it out.

Baaaang!

Iron glared at the giant armored worm as he hit a black object that was flying towards Thunderbird. Then, the outer shell that covered its body began to fly towards the divine beasts as it increased the void energy that it released. 

“So, the bastard’s not just a gigantic blockhead?” 

Iron’s brows furrowed as he talked to Thunderbird. 

“Go closer.” 

Thunderbird took the risk and got closer as per his request. Then, he jumped down as he asked Thunder to attack the bastard mercilessly. Thunderbird let out lightning bolt after lightning bolt and struck the giant armored worm. 

Iron took advantage of the gap and headed towards the giant armored worm’s head. 

“Let’s see who’s sturdier.” 

Then, Iron fiercely struck his sword down at its head. 

The steel mana contained in his sword was concentrated. However, the giant armored worm was smarter than he expected. The outer shell that acted as its armor immediately gathered together and created dozens of layers on top of its head which prevented Iron’s sword from piercing through its head deeply.

Thud!

Huge shockwaves swept through the blackened forest as Iron’s steel mana and the bastard’s power collided. 

Then, dozens of giant worms that failed to mature flocked towards Iron. However, the giant armored worm was not the only one with backup. The airship flew back in the sky as they began dropping bombs while the drake knights supported them with their own artillery fire on the side. 

Seeing that his steel mana was not that effective, Iron released the holy power in his body. The holy power was so powerful that it completely extinguished the void energy in the surrounding area in an instant. The giant armored worm felt the threat of the holy power as it began to writhe and trash its huge body. 

“Keuk!” 

Iron dug his sword deeper into its head as he gritted his teeth and tried to hold out while it struggled. Of course, he did not just stay still. He also tried to swing his sword and deal some damage to the struggling giant armored worm. But the giant armored worm looked like it wouldn’t let itself be beaten easily as it let out its outer shell and countered his strikes. It still fiercely struggled even after Iron pushed his tremendous holy power into its body to eat up the void energy that lurked in its body.

However, Iron was not the only one fighting. He had no choice but to make a decision after seeing the other giant worms targeting the airships flying lowly to drop bombs in the forest.

He slammed hard on the giant armored worm’s head and left it in a daze before he jumped up on Thunderbird’s head. Iron failed to defeat it in one shot so all he could do was grit his teeth and issue an order. 

“Retreat.” 

The airships and the drakes flew higher and avoided the giant worms’ range the moment they heard Iron’s orders through the communication crystal that was left in Thunderbird’s care. It seemed like the giant armored worm also thought that Iron was not an easy opponent so it did not move to chase them. 

Iron reviewed the fight earlier meticulously after the distance between them had widened. However, all he could do was click his tongue. 

If he took a risk, the probability of killing it was high. If the only ones fighting were Iron and the giant armored worm, then Iron would most definitely win. The three divine beasts could also take turns with him in attacking which could increase his chances of winning.

However, the problem was the giant worms. Iron’s army was also there but it would be dangerous for them to deal with them alone with their inexperience and lack of skills. That was also the reason why he ordered a retreat. 

‘It’ll be worth trying to fight them after they have gained experience for at least a year.’ 

It was impossible for them to remain inexperienced after that much time had passed. In addition, their numbers were also insufficient since only the first team was here. 

‘What a pity.’ 

This thought flashed in Iron’s head. 

Masters each had their own preferred battlefields. Generally, Magic Masters preferred large-scale battlefields while Sword Masters preferred solo battles. Of course, the Magic and Sword Masters also had hidden one-hit kill skills, these skills could easily offset such generalization. 

The problem was that Iron was a radical.

It was assessed that his ranged attacks were far stronger than any of the existing masters but his one-hit kill skill was the weakest. Although he was recognized by all of the masters as a master-class individual, his power was still vague and ambiguous. After all, the power of his divine beasts was still not yet fully released and his swordsmanship was still not at the Sword Master level. This was the reason why he had no real powerful one shot killing move like the other real masters. 

Thanks to the power of his divine beasts and his title effects, his overall power was able to reach the master-level. However, there was obviously a limit since he was not a real ‘master’. 

“Hoo… Let’s not be in a hurry.”

Iron mumbled to himself as he looked at his divine beasts.

He was still growing. In fact, his divine power was increasing even right at this very moment. There would come a time when he would really reach that stage.

“It’s a mess.”

Iron smiled wryly when he saw the devastated land near the blackened forest.

There were still clusters of forests that remained in between but the land was completely ruined and blackened. He was sure that it would be too much for his army to handle if monsters like the ones from before were swarming all over this area. 

“The Southern Commander did not abandon this place for no reason, it seems?”

From the commander’s point of view, it was difficult to maintain the frontlines and search this place. However, the situation would not have become this serious if this place had been managed steadily from the beginning but it was too late now. 

“This won’t be easy.”

Iron mumbled as he looked at the area where his Field Army Command would be built. 

The area was completely devastated however it was by the river and was not that far from the front line that was being maintained by Southern Command. This area was their starting point and the area where they would begin their war to push towards the Southeast.

Iron’s expression was dyed with mixed emotions as called for the communications officer after he landed on the ground where Command was going to be built.

“Tell the 2nd Team to turn back and go to the Southern Command.”

“Yes, sir!”

Iron turned to inspect the devastated land after the communications officer rushed out to fulfill his orders. 

He looked at the blackened ground, a result of the complete pollution and devastation of the land from the void energy. Iron thought that the fight that would be held in this place would be the first defeat that he would suffer in this life. 

In fact, he could already tell the moment he stepped foot in the South that the Empire’s chaotic situation was just beginning. With the Center as the bait, their enemies were able to expand their territories by polluting the land with void energy. 

Iron admonished himself for thinking that this God Game would be an easy win after he realized that the danger in front of him was far greater than what he expected.

***

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