Ch.133Chapter 133. The Beginning of War (4)

“Hmm.”

The Iron Wall Knight, Lois Sinclair, looked around with a low murmur.

The mages were busy setting up barriers, while the knights were building temporary wooden walls inside the barrier.

This was a situation Lois had never anticipated.

Fortunately, they had brought materials for temporary fortifications as a precaution. Otherwise, he didn’t want to think about how far they would have had to retreat.

“The defensive position will be completed within an hour.”

“I’m not sure if this will be enough to hold back those monsters.”

“…”

The red-haired woman gave no response to Lois’s muttered comment.

Her thoughts were exactly the same as his.

The coldest yet most passionate woman in Crescen.

Mirian Bernstein.

Among the troops dispatched from the Crescen Empire, there were three people from the Six Great Families.

The overall commander, the Iron Wall Knight Lois Sinclair.

His deputy commander, Mirian Bernstein.

And finally, the commander of the mage corps, Milia Phrysis.

Having three of the Six Great Families gathered in one place with a common purpose was both a major issue and a significant military advantage.

Nevertheless, Lois and Mirian couldn’t feel at ease.

The messenger who had just arrived from the Peace Alliance forces, and the monster invasion that had begun to be reported even before that.

Countless monsters, so overwhelming in number that they couldn’t be counted even on the small communication orb screen.

As soon as Lois heard the messenger’s report, he immediately turned his horse around and began to retreat.

Upon reaching an area where communication orbs functioned normally, he immediately set up camp and began erecting temporary walls.

“Any contact with other nations yet?”

“No, it seems no forces have escaped the interference zone yet.”

“Hmm.”

Anxiety was evident in Lois’s voice.

If all the monsters they had seen through the communication orb were heading this way, the barriers and temporary walls would be meaningless.

This meager defense couldn’t possibly hold back such a massive monster horde.

‘It would be challenging enough to defend if we were all gathered in one place.’

Lois doubted whether they could withstand the monster offensive he had seen earlier, even if all the forces from each country currently heading north were to gather.

What would happen if they encountered the monsters while scattered like this?

‘He planned well.’

Lois thought that Satan had indeed lived up to his name as a “demon” with his clever strategy.

He had mentioned a three-day timeframe to give people a false sense of security, then suddenly advanced southward.

As a result, people were generally more relaxed than usual and were caught off guard.

If there hadn’t been that three-day deadline, the allied forces wouldn’t have been defeated so easily as they had been earlier.

They would have maintained the highest level of alert in preparation for Satan’s invasion.

“Oh! Something’s moving!”

While Lois was lost in his troubled thoughts, a soldier’s loud shout rang out.

The soldier, who had been surveying the surroundings through a telescope, was staring fixedly at one spot while shouting.

Tap!

Lois leaped up to the temporary watchtower where the soldier stood in one bound.

He took the telescope from the soldier and checked the area the soldier had been watching.

‘What is that…?’

What caught Lois’s eye was a relatively common monster.

Goblins, small creatures that roamed throughout the forest.

However, unlike regular goblins with forest-green skin, these running goblins had black skin.

“They’ve already come down.”

Lois muttered with a concerned voice as he moved the telescope further away from where the first goblin was spotted.

As he adjusted the focus a bit further back, it became even clearer.

Black goblin hordes rapidly descending through the forest, pushing aside trees as they came.

“Tsk.”

Lois’s expression automatically soured at the thought of facing monsters before their defensive walls were properly set up, temporary though they might be.

The only fortunate thing was that no monsters other than goblins were visible.

“Mirian! I leave this to you for now! I’ll lead my knights outside and try to buy as much time as possible!”

Lois jumped down from the watchtower and started running somewhere without even waiting for Mirian’s response.

Mirian opened her mouth to speak but gave up as she watched Lois rapidly disappearing into the distance.

This was the “Iron Wall Knight” Lois Sinclair speaking, not just anyone.

In the current situation, there was no choice but to trust him.

Additionally…

“I’ll go out with the commander and help buy time too.”

“…Do as you wish.”

Mirian nodded slightly at the words of Milia Phrysis, a woman cold to the core.

Though she didn’t particularly like humans, Milia Phrysis’s skills were undeniable, and with Lois Sinclair together, things should be fine.

“Sigh.”

A tense sigh escaped from Mirian’s lips.

**

“An emergency… signal?”

“Huh?”

“Where is it?”

In response to Addy’s words, Erika let out a long sigh, and I immediately asked Addy about the location.

In this urgent situation, the one who found us wasn’t Felipe whom we had been waiting for.

Or perhaps it was Felipe, in a way.

It was an emergency signal sent by Felipe.

‘What has he gotten himself into this time?’

After a meeting conducted without Felipe, one of the four captains, our direction had been clearly decided.

Once Felipe joined us, the entire Black Shadow Corps would move north together to confront Satan.

We were just waiting for Felipe’s return when an unexpected situation arose.

Satan’s army had begun moving south earlier than the agreed time.

Satan’s forces, advancing at a time no one had anticipated, had instantly destroyed the Peace Alliance’s camp.

Yuria had already headed north with Jacqueline after seeing the monsters being broadcast in real-time.

I had considered going with them, but after Addy’s persuasion, I decided to stay here.

The reason was that if I took too long in the north and couldn’t return to the hideout in time, it would delay Felipe and Erika’s deployment to the battlefield.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

Besides, the Peace Alliance’s main camp that we had seen in the video had already been annihilated.

There was nothing we could do by arriving late.

So I had taken Yuria and Jacqueline to the northern continent and returned to wait for Felipe, but…

“The east… just how far did he go?”

Addy muttered to herself in disbelief.

Her finger finally stopped as she traced the location from which the emergency signal had been sent.

It was marked at the very edge of the map.

An island in the eastern part of the continent.

As soon as I saw the location, I understood why Felipe couldn’t return immediately.

It was impressive that he had gone that far without being able to teleport like me.

“Boss, can you go there?”

Erika asked me with a frustrated expression.

The eastern islands were places I visited occasionally.

It was where I redirected various attacks, and one of the islands somewhere in the eastern part of the continent was where I had recently fought a major battle with Kilvis.

“Where exactly?”

“Here.”

“Ah…”

Unfortunately, the place Addy pointed to was somewhere I had never been before.

Even the closest place I had visited was quite far from where the emergency signal had come from.

“Sigh, what could possibly be there that made him go all the way there?”

“I’ll go check it out.”

Although it was far, this was no time to be picky.

I would have to cross between islands, but with my dragon, it should be manageable somehow.

Woong—

Leaving behind Erika with her exasperated expression, I teleported to the island closest to where the emergency signal had originated.

Somehow, I seemed to be visiting this island frequently lately.

After briefly surveying the island where traces of my recent battle with Kilvis still remained, I immediately summoned my dragon.

Kuung—

As my dragon stepped onto the beach, a slight tremor sent fine sand billowing upward.

Without hesitation, I climbed onto the dragon’s head, and it spread its wings and took off as if it had been waiting for this moment.

“Let’s hurry, dragon!”

Grrrung—

My dragon seemed to understand my words, growling lowly as it began to increase its speed.

As we headed toward the source of the signal, islands passed beneath us.

They were probably islands I had visited at least once in the past.

I just couldn’t remember the exact locations.

‘By the way, why is Felipe here… Wait a minute.’

As I was wondering how Felipe had ended up here, a memory flashed through my mind.

I remembered Felipe asking me to recommend a training location, and I had half-jokingly mentioned the islands in the eastern part of the continent.

I was probably looking for a suitable island in the east at that time and just casually mentioned it.

‘S-surely he didn’t come all the way here because of that?’

Somehow, given Felipe’s personality, it seemed entirely possible. I stroked my dragon’s head as I thought about it.

When my hand touched it, the dragon increased its speed even more.

Just as we were about to reach the source of the signal…

“We’re almost there… Whoa!”

Clang!

As the island gradually came into view, my dragon’s body shook violently with a sharp sound.

It was the sound of my dragon’s claws colliding with something sharp.

“You undead creature! How dare you come all the way here!”

“Huh?”

A familiar and loud voice immediately assaulted my ears.

A red-haired man with long hair, floating in the air holding an enormous spear.

It was Felipe, the captain of the 3rd Division of the Black Shadow Corps.

“Hey!”

“You must be the master of this undead… Huh?”

So much for an emergency.

From the looks of it, he just called me to come pick him up.

Felipe, upon recognizing me, looked at my dragon with a surprised expression before lowering his spear.