Chapter 136
An Empty Nest
"Wow..."
"...Wow."
Zed and Penelope stared at the wound in Ferda's chest.
Both of them let out the exact same exclamation.
"How are you even alive?"
"It wasn't a fatal wound. That's all."
"Still, you're lucky it missed your heart."
"There wasn't much bleeding or internal damage. There's no reason to make a fuss."
The horns had pierced surprisingly deep.
Yet because they had missed any vital organs and major blood vessels, the injury had ultimately been minor.
Ironically, Ferda's frail physique had actually helped.
His narrow build had left enough room for the horns to pass without causing catastrophic damage.
"So..."
Penelope leaned in to inspect the holes in his chest, grinning impudently.
"So you hugged each other..."
"...and she didn't realize she had horns sticking out of her head?"
"...Yes."
"Is that Grand Duke of yours..."
"...an idiot?"
"..."
Ferda couldn't honestly say she wasn't.
So instead...
he simply glared at Penelope as though he wanted to kill her.
She didn't even bother looking at him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the holes in his chest.
"Wooow."
"I'm honestly impressed."
"You almost went straight through the chest..."
"...and off to the next world."
Then she began singing dramatically.
"You left two holes inside my heart~
Now you'll be my lifelong sweetheart~
Oooooooh~
My eternal compan—"
Before Ferda could move,
Zed smacked the back of her head hard enough to knock her unconscious.
Then, as though nothing had happened, he casually changed the subject.
"So... you're still going on the expedition?"
"I don't see any reason not to."
Ferda shrugged.
"If anything, perhaps this counts as getting my bad luck out of the way."
"I suppose that's true."
Zed nodded.
"And we're really staying behind?"
Except for William,
the knights had been ordered to remain and defend headquarters.
In other words...
they'd been assigned the easy job.
"You won't have much to do during this operation."
"Guard the castle."
"Keep watch."
"That's enough."
"And..."
"And?"
"As long as Garnet remains here..."
"...we can't afford to lower our guard."
Both Luri and Ferda would be leaving.
With so many key personnel absent,
there was no telling what Garnet might attempt in an almost empty castle.
"Keep an eye on him."
"Can I trust you?"
"Don't worry."
Zed smiled.
"He may be an old friend..."
"...but I'm a knight of this castle now."
"Good."
"I'm counting on you."
"Then I'll take my leave."
Dragging the unconscious Penelope behind him like a sack of potatoes,
Zed headed for the door.
Just before stepping outside,
he stopped.
"Um..."
He scratched the back of his neck.
"...Congratulations."
"...?"
"On your first time."
Giving Ferda an enthusiastic thumbs-up,
he disappeared.
Ferda had absolutely no idea what Zed meant.
Still...
he had a vague feeling it came from the same twisted place as Penelope's jokes.
Right...
I forgot those two are cut from the same cloth.
He didn't even have the energy to get angry anymore.
Closing his eyes,
he decided to get some sleep before tomorrow.
...
Or at least,
he tried.
Every time he drifted toward sleep,
Penelope's ridiculous little song echoed inside his head.
The moment morning came,
Ferda resolved to beat that demon woman senseless.
***
Morning arrived.
The soldiers who had spent the previous night preparing bustled about as they assembled for the march.
The army was divided into three groups.
The First Regiment would be commanded personally by Olivia.
The Second Regiment would be led by the son of the Duke of Lutenia, serving as chief operations officer.
The final force would remain behind to defend the castle, protecting the civilians and the young noblewomen.
The plan was straightforward.
Attack from two directions simultaneously.
Eliminate the colossal monsters.
Destroy four of them between the two expeditionary forces.
Meanwhile, the Far Eastern Alliance gathered at Count Consilus's territory would launch its own assault.
Since they lacked magitech equipment,
they would target only a single colossal monster.
Erika's special operations unit would select twelve elite adventurers, forming the Eri Adventuring Party.
Their mission was to eliminate one colossal monster.
Altogether,
they intended to destroy six.
Including travel time,
their objective was to completely destroy the enemy breeding line within four days.
***
No one's expression looked particularly hopeful.
The entire monster army was marching toward the Empire,
leaving behind an almost completely empty nest.
Even so...
they were still marching into mortal danger.
No matter how anyone tried to frame it,
this was war.
And war alone was enough to wear down the human spirit.
"The Imperial Capital shall become our shield."
"And we..."
"...shall become the sword that severs the enemy at its source."
"For your homeland."
"And for your honor."
Princess Olivia's practiced speech inspired the troops.
It certainly raised morale.
But not enough to completely erase their fear.
Olivia herself hadn't expected it to.
She had another plan.
"We'll conduct a forced march and reach the monsters as quickly as possible."
"What effect are you hoping to achieve?"
"We'll deploy the Magitech Rifle Corps—the Tactical Infantry."
The Tactical Infantry had already proven their worth several times over.
If they could slaughter charging monsters with minimal casualties...
the soldiers' morale would undoubtedly soar.
"I'll report back once we reach the first checkpoint."
"I'll pray for your good fortune."
Olivia looked at Ferda as she gently rubbed the Althean amulet hanging around her neck.
It was her silent way of saying,
I'll pray for you.
***
More than three thousand soldiers,
along with countless wagons carrying supplies,
advanced along the prepared road.
The fully equipped expedition split into two columns.
The First Regiment marched with Princess Olivia and the Imperial Army at its head.
The Second Regiment advanced behind the heir of House Lutenia and his forces.
Ferda traveled alongside the Second Regiment.
His own detachment consisted of fifty Tactical Infantry soldiers,
their commander,
their greatest combat asset, Isabella,
and Luri.
Following the road,
they entered a dense forest.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
The Lutenia heir stared into the dark woods.
"It feels as though we're walking straight into Leviathan's stomach."
He wasn't the only one who felt that way.
Every soldier here marched knowing this might be the place where they died.
Ferda himself was no exception.
Then—
A violent gust of wind swept over them.
An enormous shadow blotted out the sun.
"W-What was that?!"
"M-Monsters?! Already?!"
Every head snapped upward.
For a moment,
they believed the battle had begun before the march had barely started.
But it wasn't monsters.
"...Ah!"
"That's...!"
The instant they recognized the figure,
gasps erupted from every direction.
Even Ferda couldn't help staring in awe.
Scarlet scales that blazed brighter than the setting sun.
Two pairs of majestic horns.
Enormous wings broad enough to blanket the heavens.
"A Red Dragon!"
"L-Lady Valdrova!"
"His Highness the Grand Duke has appeared!"
Valdrova circled gracefully through the sky once.
Then she descended,
landing atop the peak of a lonely mountain.
Standing there,
she looked as though she alone ruled the entire mountain beneath her.
The Red Dragon, who had not shown herself for so long, finally revealed herself proudly before the world.
Why did she come outside?
Even from within her lair, she should have been able to sense the movements of the monsters.
The fact that she had deliberately appeared in public could only mean one thing.
She had a purpose.
As Ferda quietly looked up at her,
their eyes met.
Though they were separated by an enormous distance,
he knew.
She was looking directly at him.
Almost imperceptibly,
she gave a small nod.
I'll do what I can.
That was what it seemed to say.
Ferda turned toward the eastern horizon and raised his voice.
"The Grand Duke is watching over us!"
"Hail Hestia!"
"Long live Grand Duke Valdrova!"
No one had ordered them to cheer.
Yet thunderous cries erupted from every direction, lifting the soldiers' spirits.
This...
was what she could do.
There was no trace of the infamous evil dragon said to slaughter humans like insects.
If she truly were the monster of those rumors,
could these men possibly shout her name with such fervent admiration?
Emotion welled up inside Ferda.
Without realizing it,
he placed a hand over his chest.
My heart...
A smile spread across his face.
Your courage...
I will carry it with me.
The icy morning chill could no longer make the soldiers tremble.
With victory already engraved upon their hearts,
the army resumed its march.
***
The borderlands of the Grand Duchy were nothing more than barren plains.
The ground was littered with stones that constantly shattered plows,
making it useless for farming.
Only a handful of crude hunting blinds, built by hunters waiting to catch animals grazing on the sparse vegetation, testified that humans had ever lived here.
Now...
even those traces of humanity had disappeared.
Encircling the Grand Duchy stood the colossal monsters.
Their appearance resembled gigantic caterpillars.
They were incapable of movement.
Instead,
they remained rooted in place,
constantly contracting and expanding.
They absorbed the life force of the land,
formed eggs,
and endlessly produced monsters.
After being left undisturbed for an entire month,
every inch of land within a two-kilometer radius had turned black.
Like every other day,
they continued reproducing and building their army.
But today...
something was different.
A beast-type monster sensed the change.
Its body twitched.
Then it lifted its head.
There...
rising with the eastern sun...
came countless banners.
An army of humans advanced beneath the dawn.
SKREEEEEE!
The beast let out a shrill warning cry.
Every monster immediately turned toward the sound.
The very reason they existed...
stood before them.
SKREEEEE!
SKREEEEEEEE!
Using those piercing animal shrieks as their battle cry,
the monsters charged.
No formations.
No tactics.
Only instinct.
***
At the head of the human army,
the blonde commander raised her sword.
"Prepare for battle!"
Olivia's amplified voice thundered across the battlefield through enhancement magic.
She no longer sounded like the Empire's delicate princess.
She commanded with the authority of a legendary general.
"Tactical Infantry, form an echelon!"
"Mages, prioritize aerial threats!"
"Tactical Infantry, concentrate on ground targets!"
Olivia had devoted herself entirely to planning troop deployments for this very moment.
The soldiers carrying magitech rifles moved with perfect discipline.
All fifty lined up shoulder to shoulder.
Every rifle pointed straight ahead.
"Power them up!"
The soldiers pressed the activation switches.
A low hum echoed from within every rifle.
Pure mana rounds began glowing inside the barrels.
The beast-type monsters charged on all fours.
The instant those massive bodies slammed into the line,
they would die before they even realized it.
As soon as the enemy entered effective range,
Olivia's sword sliced through the air.
"Fire!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thunder exploded across the battlefield.
Even the soldiers standing behind the firing line flinched.
But the sound wasn't the most astonishing part.
Before anyone fully grasped what had happened,
the front ranks of charging monsters collapsed one after another.
They hadn't died instantly.
But the attack's stopping power spoke for itself.
The front line crumpled like autumn leaves scattered by the wind.
The monsters, however, knew no fear.
Those behind simply continued charging.
The Tactical Infantry had already begun preparing another volley.
"Rotate the front line!"
As though rehearsed countless times,
the riflemen withdrew.
At the same instant,
heavily armored knights surged forward,
forming a shield wall.
Every one of them had come to protect their homeland,
bearing the pride of their territories upon their backs.
Destroyers met defenders.
The collision shook the battlefield.
The knights held magnificently.
The instant the charge settled into a deadlock,
one of the knights roared,
"Spearmen!"
"Attack!"
"Hold the line!"
"Stab the eyes!"
"If you can't reach the eyes, stab inside the mouth!"
"If not there, then the groin!"
"Anywhere that looks dirty enough to hurt—THRUST!"
While the knights held the monsters back,
the spearmen thrust over and between them,
preventing the beasts from advancing.
Their purpose wasn't merely to kill.
It was to buy time.
"Second volley is ready!"
William, serving as Olivia's adjutant, reported.
Still issuing commands without pause,
Olivia once again raised her sword.
"Tactical Infantry!"
"Condensed formation!"
"Shield-wall knights!"
"Open the corridor!"
BWOOOOOO!
Her voice alone couldn't carry across the battlefield.
A great war horn sounded.
The central knights calmly stepped backward.
Like massive gates opening,
they created a passage straight through the formation.
The monsters poured eagerly into the opening.
Until the path appeared...
they never realized...
they were running directly into a killing zone.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fifty mana rounds slammed into the tightly packed monsters.
There was no need to aim for their hearts.
They dropped where they stood.
The corpses became obstacles,
blocking the advance of those behind.
The monsters trapped themselves inside the corridor.
"Kill them!"
"Kill every last one!"
"Be purified by Althe's light, foul creatures!"
The most dangerous beast-type monsters found themselves trapped,
unable to advance or retreat.
The Aura-infused blades of the knights hacked them apart.
Yelp!
Screech!
Even their dying cries mimicked those of ordinary animals.
More than a hundred beast-type monsters...
were reduced to only a handful within moments.
"The remaining enemies have been eliminated!"
"Commander! Your orders!"
William's face shone with excitement.
Olivia looked no different.
Raising her command sword high,
she shouted,
"Split into two battalions and advance!"
"Do not let your guard down until the very end!"
The seemingly impenetrable wall of humanity surged forward once again.
The sluggish Melteds following behind the beast-type monsters were quickly dispatched,
allowing the troops to press all the way to the colossal monsters.
"First Battalion has secured its target!"
"Second Battalion has secured theirs as well!"
"Operation successful!"
Freshly born monsters were cut down the moment they emerged.
Unless the colossal monsters possessed abilities beyond reproduction...
they had already been rendered completely helpless.
"We've won!"
"Long live Count Kali!"
"Althe watches over us!"
Some soldiers shouted the names of their lords.
Others praised their god.
Every voice strengthened the army's morale.
Standing at the rear,
Olivia listened to their cheers.
This is the first step of my plan.
Joy welled up inside her.
She struggled to keep it from showing on her face.
If the Second Regiment succeeds as well...
...the plan will be perfect.
She never doubted victory.
Because...
Ferda was there.
Perhaps that was why.
She could no longer suppress her smile.
Lifting her sword high,
Olivia celebrated the triumph of the opening battle.
Meanwhile,
the heir of House Lutenia—
chief strategist and commander of the Second Regiment—
could only stare in disbelief.
...Is this really the kind of war I thought I knew?