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1. 1. The Great Southern War (1)

[The war that has overtaken the south of the continent]

[Ancient gods and the Lord God at war]

[War breaks out between the Empire and the Southern Confederation]

The newspapers carried news of the war with different titles, but what was paramount was the main quest. Everyone wondered who would win the Apocalypse’s first story. The victor of the Great Southern War would receive enormous rewards. In fact, no one could deny that that was the biggest reason for the war with the Southern Confederation.

But what about other territories? Especially the west that believed in the external gods?

They too had no complaints. Those who believed in the external gods were building a more solid social system, and preparing for the war that would come after (the Great Southern War). For them, more than receiving the great reward, it was more important to stabilise their system and achieve the plan that they had made with the external gods.

“The southern army is being too slow.”

“Right?”

Many people complained about how slow the southern command was, as they wanted to immediately carry out the main quest. The southern command was neither able to produce satisfactory results in fighting the southern confederation’s army, nor did they drive them to the frontlines so that the war could begin in the southern confederation. So it was inevitable that there would be complaints.

But from the perspective of the southern command, they were doing their best. They had pushed back the teeming monsters in the great forest, built a fortress there, and prepared for war with the confederation. It was just that they had needed more time because they had had to continuously fight against the hordes of monsters.

*******

The southern command’s army had been under fierce criticism day in, day out, but that would stop today.

“Is it finally starting?”

Iron smiled, as if to say that he had waited a long time.

News that the southern command had seized control of the territories connecting the Empire, great forest and the southern confederation reached the Mobile Field Army command. The report also stated that the castle that was located there had also been repaired and fortified.

“Tell them to get ready.”

“Yes, sir.”

Carl Stein replied to Iron’s order and left the Commander’s office.

“This war……”

This would be the final battle with the southern confederation. He wondered how much stronger he would become if they won this war.

‘Will I immediately become a Grandmaster?’

He felt that there was little chance of that happening, but as he thought about it some more, it did seem possible. Most masters or the 6th level warriors who were aiming to become masters had their own battle end qi. But Iron’s battle end qi was not yet perfect.

‘I was lucky.’

Different from other masters, because he was lucky enough to know the ins and outs of aura, he didn’t have to waste time on perfecting things like battle end qi before becoming a master. But now that he had become a master, he found that his lack of battle end qi was greater than he’d thought.

He was able to hold out for a long time in battle, so all he lacked was a killer punch. Up till now, he had made up for that with the formidable power given by his divine beasts and holy power, but since his opponents were getting stronger, he needed battle end qi.

The road to becoming a Grandmaster was long and difficult, so he had focused on the battle end qi. But once again, he could see a way forward.

Because he now had a shortcut, he began wondering if he really needed to perfect his battle end qi. Piecing together what the system had told him and the insight he had gotten while fighting the giant, he found that the path he had to take was not the silent yet steady ‘way of steel’.

‘A firmness that contains everything.’

That was the way he had to take. His path to becoming a Grandmaster required all his strength to be fused together, encapsulated in one. He suspected that once he completed that, he would become a Grandmaster. That aura blade that had contained all his strength when he struck the giant would soon become a new technique that would guide him on his new path.

“Calling it battle end qi……”

It was a bit of a let down to call it the same battle end qi that masters used. So he gave it some more thought. In the distant past, there were humans who fought against gods and transcendent beings, and won. Those people, called transcendents, were revered and exalted.[1] This had happened in the long gone mythical era, so long ago that records about it were vague. The technique they had used was called transcendent qi.

“Transcendent qi……”

If he became a Grandmaster, then he would be able to defeat frost giants, so there was nothing wrong in calling it that.

“That sounds good.”

It was a technique that was one level higher than battle end qi. Far from being perfected, he was only at the level where he had gained a sense of it, but he still felt that he was getting stronger. It was like he had broken through a barrier.

He didn’t find it said to not have those exceedingly strong title effects. The problem was the current situation. He was worried about having to fight the southern confederation with no title effects. Without realising it, he had gotten used to charging into battle with his powerful physical strength and mana. In the heat of battle, those past habits were wont to pop up.

–Tweet!

“I shouldn’t fear?”

Baepsae had appeared at some point, and pecked his head.

“But it’s not exactly that I am scared.”

Iron said so, but Baepsae scoffed.

“I am just a bit worried because I have not completely adapted, that’s all.”

–Tweet! Tweet tweet tweet!

Looking at Iron who was worried even though he had the divine beasts, as if it was fed up, Baepsae told him off sternly.

Iron smiled brightly as he watched Baepsae tell him to have some confidence and go fight those people.

“Right. Because you guys have definitely gotten stronger.”

Iron nodded his head as he spoke. Having reached Nature’s Body 4th Stage, his divine power also increased tremendously, and among the beasts, Baepsae’s advancement was the greatest.

The amount of holy power he was able to wield at once had decreased because of the disappearance of his title effects and the immense physical stamina they gave him. Even his retention power had decreased too. But Baepsae’s strength had increased enough to make up for that.

To add to that, his physical strength was also quickly increasing at the moment, because of his steel body.

‘To think that the steel body is also a growth type…… Incredible……’

Iron shook his head as he laughed. Even the Nature’s Body had changed to a growth type once I got to 4th stage.

But it made sense. Since the Fusion skill displayed powerful strength depending on how the user applied it, then strictly speaking, it was no different from a growth type. In short, he had exchanged fixed, inflexible stats for a growth type.

What Iron needed the most right now was time, but with the war with the southern confederation coming, he changed his mind.

‘Instead of more time, I will take a risk and advance towards the reward.’

Iron reaffirmed his resolve to continue the war, causing Baepsae to give a short cry of satisfaction.

–Tweet!

As Iron was determined to win the war, the overall atmosphere in the Mobile Field Army was also rising. It was because of the other-worlders and people from other regions who acted as if their victory was already certain.

One of the labels the Mobile Field Army was known by was ‘the army that knows not defeat’. Whenever the Empire’s citizens saw or thought of Iron, what came to their minds was not ‘hero’, or ‘contender for the continent’s strongest’, but instead, it was that he always brought them victory. That was exactly the greatest image that Iron had among them.

He was the Empire’s victory icon.

Because someone like him was leading, the soldiers of the Mobile Field Army naturally came to believe that they could always win, and in fact, this thought almost always proved to be true. So far, they had won, even in the worst circumstances, as if the word ‘defeat’ did not exist in their lexicon.

“Finally!”

“We are finally moving.”

Once word reached them that the southern command had completed the fort, the Mobile Field Army began moving.

Already, the monsters who were near the Command had been suppressed almost to the point where there were none. So only the minimum number of troops needed to protect the Command were left behind. Then they made up for their dearth of soldiers by using the rest of the southern command’s troops and the troops that the nobles in the south had sent as support.

“Amazing.”

A merchant said in awe as they stood in the Command and looked up at the sky. As was fitting for a place that had the Mobile Field Army’s reputation, there were hundreds of airships from each corps on standby in the air waiting for Iron. The Command defence troops were also at the ready, with all of them aboard the airships.

“Is this the Empire’s strongest air force?”

“Incredible!”

“Just look at that. They are probably all new too.”

There was an awe-inspiring number of airships flying, so many that it was far ahead of that of the western army that had once boasted of having the strongest airforce in the Empire. Even the skill that this air force possessed was greater than that of the western army’s. All the equipment on the airship was new.

But that was not all.

Armed with tonnes of experience and having at least two intrinsic abilities, the soldiers surpassed even those of the northeast who possessed the Empire’s greatest strength. The Mobile Field Army had once been the subject of the humiliating rumour that they were riding on Iron’s coattails, but now they had exceeded the Empire’s average and become the Empire’s strongest army. All of this had been accomplished in just over two years.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes, sir!”

Finally, Iron, who had boarded the large battleship, gave the order to set off. All the commissioned officers bowed and relayed the orders. Soon, the airships that had filled the sky above the Command began moving.

News of the nearly 1000 airships, and the drake knights’ order that followed it, heading for the southern confederation soon swept through the citizen’s communication devices.

Following right behind them was the eastern army. It meant that the Empire’s strongest armada had also been mobilised for the war against the southern confederation this time.

The eastern army commanded the sea, the Mobile Field Army took to the airspace, and the southern army took the frontline. These three armies from the Empire came together for a joint operation, sending shockwaves throughout the continent. Most people were of the opinion that these powerful troops would wipe out their opponents at once. The Mobile Field Army alone had been a stumbling block for the southern confederation’s army, and now there were three armies. As a result, the claims seemed self-confirming.

However, no information whatsoever came out of the southern confederation. As if all they had left in their arsenal was one last strike, the southern confederation showed no resistance even when the Empire’s southern army entered the southern confederation’s territory. All their supplies had long been transferred to the key cities of the confederation that were on the coast. Perhaps because of that, the southern command’s army faced no resistance as they occupied the southern confederation’s army and advanced, so much that at some point, most of the territory had been occupied by the Empire’s forces.

Nevertheless, because of the southern confederation’s unusual calm response, everyone on the continent, including merchants who had come from other continents, now had their eyes on the southern confederation.

And soon, the reason why the confederation had been so calm was revealed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground shook and throbbed, while in the skies a gigantic figure soared. It was smaller than the giant that Iron had gone head to head with, but its steel body was big enough to make even the tall buildings look small.

Then hundreds more appeared and stood at the vanguard. Mechanical giants that were a bit smaller followed right behind.

One of the Empire’s scouts spoke absentmindedly as they watched the spectacle.

“A giant… army.”

The words the scout had spoken unwittingly soon became a nickname for the southern confederation’s army. The mere presence of the steel giants, who no one was even sure how they were able to move, put pressure on the southern command’s army that was guarding the frontline. If the main fleet of the eastern command army had not arrived in the nick of time, the army of hundreds of giants would have trampled on the southern command army. Fortunately, the southern command army was able to withstand the pressure and maintain the frontline.

Finally, the Mobile Field Army arrived, coming to their rescue with the fleet of almost a thousand new, state-of-the-art airships and the three gigantic divine beasts that had now become a trademark of the Mobile Field Army.

With their appearance, the southern command’s troops finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Notes:

[1] Transcendent beings/transcendentals: The raws say “먼 옛날 신과 초월체들을 상대로 승리를 거두었던 인간들. 그런 이들을 초월자라 부르며 존경했던 시절이 있었다.” So for 초월체, I used transcendent beings and for 초월자, transcendents. Transcendents were also mentioned in chapter 78.