Ch.134Chapter 134. The Beginning of War (5)

“Kieek-!”

With a sharp sword strike, the black goblin lets out an agonized cry and loses its life in a single blow.

True to his title as the Iron Wall Knight, not a single goblin corpse could be seen behind Lois.

Bodies were piling up only in front of him.

At first, the goblins had charged recklessly, overconfident in their strength, but gradually they became frightened and hesitated to rush toward Lois.

“Hmm.”

Though he was effectively blocking the goblins’ advance, a worried sigh escaped from Lois’s lips.

‘They’re endless.’

Lois was looking beyond the goblins that were cautiously watching him from the front.

Though only dozens of goblins were visible right now, they were just the beginning.

If he had to make a comparison, they were like scouts.

Indeed, the goblins charging in weren’t even fully armed.

They were all carrying only short swords to maximize their speed, without even proper clothing.

‘They’re probably planning to observe our situation through these scouts and prepare their attack accordingly.’

Lois calmly deduced the enemy’s intentions.

The concerning point was that the enemy had wyverns that could fly.

Yet they deliberately sent goblins as scouts.

‘Perhaps they can’t send wyverns this way. If that’s the case…’

Lois’s mind, experienced from countless battlefields, was working faster than ever.

Among the monsters he sensed beyond the goblins, none could fly.

‘They’re dividing their forces.’

Though he had no concrete evidence—it was just his intuition—Lois’s instinct told him so.

If these attackers were ordinary monsters, there would be no need to think so deeply about it.

Low-intelligence monsters simply follow their instincts and wouldn’t attempt any strategy.

But these weren’t ordinary monsters—they were under the control of Satan, a demon.

Moreover, they were also under the command of a human who was once a princess of a nation.

In other words, they were perfectly capable of moving strategically.

‘I need to maintain the front line somehow.’

Kuwoong-

As Lois thrust his sword forcefully into the ground, the earth shook with a thunderous sound.

Simultaneously, mana from Lois’s sword took the shape of a shield, firmly blocking the path ahead.

‘If one side breaks, the others will quickly become endangered as well.’

The battlefield’s layout naturally formed in Lois’s mind.

Allied forces approaching the northern continent from various directions.

And monster armies divided to defeat them one by one.

If they failed to hold back the monsters at even one point and the line was pushed back, other areas would inevitably fall back as well.

“Tsk.”

Lois thought that Satan had played it smart by attacking before the allied forces could properly unite and form a battle line.

After all, it started when he announced a three-day timeframe but launched the attack earlier.

True to his name as a demon, he was incredibly cunning.

“Everyone, return to the barracks!”

Lois shouted to his knights behind the massive shield.

The knights of Sinclair obeyed their family head and commander without question and immediately began to move.

The black goblins still didn’t charge, merely watching from a distance.

“I’ll take care of all these guys before returning.”

Lois muttered to himself as he pulled his sword from the ground.

As if saying he could handle these creatures alone.

**

“Hmm.”

Arte had her eyes closed, sharing the vision of the monsters under her control.

A goblin racing through the forest at high speed, a wyvern flapping its wings and looking down at the ground, a centipede burrowing underground and detecting vibrations above.

‘This side is solid.’

Arte thought as she viewed the massive shield through the goblin’s eyes.

She knew well what that golden, massive shield was.

The Iron Wall of Lois Sinclair, head of the Sinclair Family, one of the six great houses of the Crescen Empire.

No ordinary attack could break through that side.

Quickly shifting her view, Arte checked the situation elsewhere.

Through the wyvern’s eyes, she saw soldiers who were just setting up their positions and establishing their camp.

Mages were only now drawing up their mana and preparing to create magical barriers, while knights were building walls.

It looked like a scene where a sudden attack would result in a massacre.

‘But it’s too far.’

It would be great if she could attack immediately, but unfortunately, they were the farthest from the monster main force.

Even sending only the fastest wyverns would take at least an hour to reach them.

By the time other monsters arrived, the barriers and walls would already be complete.

Moreover, the commander on that side was no pushover either.

Ordin, the Grand Commander of the O’Neil Kingdom’s Knights.

A knight order always mentioned when discussing the strongest in the continent.

She recalled hearing that the First Elder had nearly annihilated them once, but their leader Ordin remained intact.

Arte knew very well how strong he was, especially against monsters.

He was not an opponent to challenge recklessly.

“Hmm, only this side remains.”

Arte muttered as she changed her view again.

The centipede, racing unhindered underground, seemed to realize Arte was watching through its eyes and soon surfaced.

The dark underground was replaced by the bright surface world.

The soldiers visible this time weren’t from a single nation.

They were allied forces dispatched from different countries.

Different flags fluttered throughout the camp.

‘Here it is.’

Arte smiled as she spotted the flag of Flora Kingdom, her homeland, among the many banners.

These allied forces were probably a coalition from the western continent.

Compared to the Crescen Empire and O’Neil Kingdom, both the average level of soldiers and the strength of commanders were relatively weaker.

Only after thoroughly assessing the western allied forces’ condition through the centipede’s eyes did Arte open her eyes.

“Whew.”

When she opened her eyes, a wave of dizziness nearly made her fall, but Arte barely managed to stay upright.

Sharing vision with the monsters she controlled was convenient, but it wasn’t a skill she was fully accustomed to yet.

The dizziness that followed was so severe she could barely stand.

“Lord Satan.”

“Yes, have you decided?”

“Yes. I’ll be on my way!”

Satan, who was floating in the air in a lotus position and meditating, briefly opened his eyes to respond to Arte.

After battling the Black Shadow Corps commander, Satan had been focusing on meditation whenever possible.

This was also why Satan wasn’t personally participating in this attack.

While Satan focused on meditation to regain his full power, he left the troublesome matters to them.

“Go ahead.”

Satan closed his eyes again and returned to his meditation.

Arte bowed respectfully, even though Satan had already closed his eyes and resumed meditating.

Then she gave instructions to the wyvern she was riding.

To move toward where the centipede was.

‘If only I were more capable.’

Arte gritted her teeth as she turned away from Satan.

Arte could control tens of thousands of monsters mentally, but she couldn’t control them perfectly.

This limitation was most evident in her inability to separate creatures of the same species from each other.

Wyverns had to stay clustered with other wyverns, and the same applied to other monster species.

If they were separated by distance, Arte’s control gradually weakened.

That’s why when dividing the monsters, she had no choice but to separate them by species rather than evenly.

“Whew.”

Arte let out a short sigh as she moved toward where the centipede was scouting.

She already felt apologetic to Lord Satan for not being able to control the monsters perfectly, but this time she was determined to succeed flawlessly.

With Arte’s firm resolve, the wyvern carrying her began to fly even faster.

**

“Let’s prepare for the monster invasion here.”

“Agreed.”

“We’ve established contact with Crescen and O’Neil, so…”

Hans of the Laurellai Kingdom, who was appointed as the overall commander of the western allied forces, nodded as he saw everyone in agreement.

An alliance was indeed difficult.

With everyone having different interests gathered in one place, making even a single decision took a very long time.

Even selecting a defensive position against the monster invasion required difficult coordination of opinions.

If they hadn’t established contact with Lois Sinclair of the Crescen Empire midway through, they might still be arguing about which location was better.

“It seems there aren’t many monsters on our side, since most are spotted near Crescen and O’Neil. Hahaha.”

Hans flinched momentarily at someone’s carefree remark but let it pass.

What was important now wasn’t to pick apart such comments but to establish defensive positions as quickly as possible.

“Then everyone, secure your assigned areas thoroughly!”

Everyone nodded at Hans’s words.

Despite the unprecedented crisis, people’s faces weren’t as grim as one might expect.

That was because the northern continent currently hosted the best forces from each nation.

Not just the western allied forces, but also troops from the major powers—the Crescen Empire and O’Neil Kingdom.

Although they were somewhat separated now, they would all meet tomorrow.

They had just confirmed each other’s positions through communication.

With three of the famous six great houses of Crescen, plus Ordin of the O’Neil Kingdom’s Knights.

If they all gathered in one place, no matter how strong the monsters were, they could never overcome such a force.

“Then, to your positions…”

Kwaaang-!

Just as Hans was about to conclude the temporary meeting, a thunderous sound came from outside.