Chapter 112

〈 112 〉 Advance

Asha had been brutally violated the previous day and hadn’t slept properly, and was tied up with ropes, but her stamina, which was slowly transcending human limits, hadn’t gone anywhere, so she was able to recover her energy before the march began.

Lucia tilted her head, noticing Asha’s dark complexion.

“Mom, are you not feeling well today?”

“Ugh… I’m a little under the weather.”

Asha still felt a throbbing in her Yoni and Anus.

‘I shouldn’t mess with Prince too much…’

She had learned the hard way what she would suffer when he lost his self-control.

“I wish it would be quiet today… Is that too hopeful?”

“If the Tentacles keep bothering you, should I just get rid of them all?”

Asha stopped Lucia, who was making terrifying remarks with a nonchalant expression.

“You don’t have to do that, Lucy.”

Even though she was helping people here, Asha didn’t want to see Lucia sacrificing herself to help them. Lost in thought, Asha saw things wriggling in the distance and sighed heavily.

“So this is my fate…”

As she watched the Tentacles giving their usual grand welcome, Asha conjured flames on her hand.

Asha wasn’t in the best condition, but she had no difficulty smashing the Tentacles. As always, she defeated the Tentacles with Lucia and looked at the remains of the burning Tentacles.

“Hmm…”

Dealing with the Tentacles wasn’t exactly easy, but Asha was afraid that she was starting to find it manageable these days. It wasn’t some nonsense about suddenly realizing the blood price of the Tentacles or being tired of destructive behavior.

‘These things are definitely not this easy…’

Rather, it was strange that the advance was going too smoothly. They were crossing through the heart of the Tentacle’s territory, but if they were receiving the same attacks as usual, it was definitely an abnormal situation. Asha ran towards the center of the formation to call Count and Prince.

“Prince, and Count! I have something to say.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Asha?”

After making sure they were far enough away that the surrounding Soldiers couldn’t hear, Asha spoke quietly to the two of them.

“The offensive is too weak. I think something is definitely going on.”

“The offensive is weak?”

Maximilian looked like he didn’t understand Asha’s words. The Count was also puzzled, and Asha realized once again that the two of them didn’t really know about the Tentacles.

In fact, the Tentacles that had been attacking them for a day since they left the village were as threatening as ever. The problem was that they were attacking with the same ‘as ever’ momentum. Shaking her head, she continued with a serious expression.

“They’re still terrifying now, but think about how they came out when we entered the Tentacle’s territory before. The capital must be a battlefield, and the Tentacles must know that we’re heading there, but the offensive hasn’t gotten any stronger than usual.”

The current offensive was strong, but that was only a relative matter. Only after hearing Asha’s words did the Count’s face stiffen.

“I thought the current offensive was threatening, but I was short-sighted. Asha, you’re right. This is definitely not a normal situation.”

“Then what should we do, Count?”

After pondering Maximilian’s question for a moment, the Count shouted with a desperate expression.

“The capital, the capital is in danger! They must be pouring a total offensive into the capital, so much so that they can’t even properly deal with our advance!”

The Count’s words made sense. There was no better way to describe this situation than ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire.’ Maximilian thought of the capital in dire straits and continued with difficulty.

“If there is no capital… there is no future for the kingdom. The damage will be irreparable, and it will be impossible to reclaim the territory from them forever. We must protect the capital at all costs!”

“But the women are still here, so we can’t march quickly.”

It was a crisis of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Asha, who had been agonizing over the situation, suggested.

“Divide the unit into two and have Prince stay with the reinforcements. If Prince is here, the Soldiers will be able to deal with the attacking Tentacles, and I will lead the way through the Tentacles.”

“Hmm…”

As the Prince was wondering what to do, the Regimental Commander agreed with Asha’s words.

“She is right. If Prince stays here, the remaining Soldiers will not think they have been abandoned and their morale will not drop. I and Asha will leave immediately to support the capital.”

“If even Count says so, I understand. I will stay here and lead the Soldiers. You two must be safe until I arrive!”

“Don’t worry, Prince.”

The Prince nodded firmly at Asha, who was speaking with a smile. As soon as the plan was decided, the Regimental Commander shouted loudly.

“Soldiers! The capital is in danger! From now on, all combat troops except for the supply unit and reinforcements will head to the capital as quickly as possible! The remaining troops will escort the civilians!”

“Yes!”

Despite the sudden order, the Soldiers immediately followed the Count’s orders. The Steel Regiment immediately divided into a unit to escort the rescued women and a unit to advance towards the capital and lined up. The Count looked at the Soldiers, got on his horse, stood at the front, and shouted.

“Let’s go right away!”

At this moment, everyone’s faces were stiff with tension as they sensed the unusual atmosphere, only Lucia was unaware of the situation and was simply puzzled with an innocent face.

Once the course was set, Asha and the Count’s Soldiers advanced quickly. The offensive of the Tentacles immediately intensified due to the forced march beyond the normal speed.

“There are too many!”

If they couldn’t maintain the formation even a little, they would be buried by the Tentacles in an instant. The Soldiers had to grit their teeth and endure the offensive, which was on a different level than before.

If the Soldiers who were blocking the surging Tentacles were shields, Asha was a spear to break the Tentacle’s forces. There might be stronger Sorcerers than Asha, but she was literally pouring out firepower by utilizing her unique regeneration and stamina.

“Aaaaaah!!”

Asha, who had taken out her Winged Garment, dropped huge rocks from the air.

Kwa-ga-gak-!!

Each of the boulders, larger than a person, fell to the ground with a terrible sonic boom, crushing the Tentacles on the ground. The Tentacles nearby were also not safe and were hit by the shockwave and scattered in all directions.

Asha, who had set up a huge stele completely covered with flesh from the Tentacles, turned in the sky and poured rocks in the opposite direction as well. The rocks that fell from all directions also blocked the Tentacle’s advance and gave the Soldiers a breather.

Asha hadn’t exactly used a new Spell. She had simply put dozens of huge rocks in her Inventory and dropped them from the sky, accelerated by Wind Magic.

‘To think I’m only now noticing that the Inventory capacity has increased so much…’

The current capacity of the Inventory that Asha could use was a whopping 1200 square meters! It was a capacity that could hold more than 20 containers. Asha, who was able to pour out firepower equivalent to more than ten Catapults in an instant, filled her Inventory with rocks again and dropped them on the Tentacles.

“It’s not like I have to die for nothing…”

When the threat of the Tentacles disappeared, she poured attacks from the air until the time limit of the Winged Garment was up. Every time a flame drew a tail and fell to the ground, a hole was made in the Tentacle’s forces with an explosion, and each time the Regimental Commander reorganized the formation and actively annihilated the Tentacles.

After the battle, Asha approached Count Avenue.

“How far are we from the capital now?”

“We’re a little more than half a day away now.”

The Regimental Commander was also exhausted from the continuous battles. Asha felt sorry for him, thinking that the battle might have been too much for him, who looked at least 50 years old.

“…Are you okay?”

“I can still hold on. All of this hardship will be in vain if we can’t protect the capital.”

Asha nodded at the Count’s words.

“We have to go as fast as possible.”

Even while talking to the Count, Asha picked up the rocks she had dropped on the ground and put them back into her Inventory.

“It’s a strange ability no matter how many times I see it. Are all Sorcerers like you?”

She smiled and replied to the Count, who was amazed.

“I’m just a little unique.”

“If only the Magic-users in our unit were even half as good as you, they would still be alive…”

It was a statement filled with lamentation and self-reproach rather than blame. Asha comforted the Count.

“There are still many things to do and people to protect. Let’s cheer up and go!”

“Heh, you’re right. I can’t just be complaining in this situation.”

The Soldiers, who had rested by taking a nap the day before, quickly continued their march. Asha, who was walking with them, turned on the map function and estimated the distance.

“At this rate, we should be able to see it soon…”

When the cooldown of the Winged Garment she had used the day before returned, she spread her wings and flew up.

“Count, at this rate, I think we’ll be able to see the capital soon. I’ll go check it out!”

“Okay! Come back quickly!”

Asha told the Count and flew into the sky with Lucia. She was puzzled when Lucia pulled on her sleeve.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Lucy?”

“Mom, it’s strange… Something’s wrong.”

“Wh, what do you mean by that? What’s wrong?”

“Let’s go. You’ll know when we get there.”

‘Even after coming this far… is it not enough?’

Asha’s heart was shaking violently, but she gritted her teeth and flew.

“Ah…”

Asha lost her words as she faced the tragedy before her eyes.

The walls that must have once stood firmly were tragically broken down. The bloodstains that remained thickly in the broken bricks suggested that a fierce battle had just taken place. She couldn’t hear it from where Asha was, but she felt like she could hear the thick smell of blood and screams from the capital.

Asha had desperately rushed here after noticing the abnormality, but the capital had already been captured by the Tentacles.