Ch.571Approaching Anomaly

Anomalies always arrive without warning.

All humans can do is respond and clean up afterward. We call them anomalies precisely because we cannot read the signs and prepare for them.

=====[ Panam and Dane ]=====

In the Gelaine territory located in eastern Panam, a whirlwind of blood was rising as swords, arrows, roars, and flames crossed paths.

It was a war between Dane warriors who had invaded after breaking their secret alliance using the death of Danon, the king of Panam, as an excuse, and the defensive forces trying to stop them.

“Glory to Volberg-!”

“The War God watches over us!”

Formation against formation. Warrior against knight.

And streams of magical light swirling like a torrent.

The disparity in power was clear.

Dane cavalry charged relentlessly through the rain of arrows, activating runes of protection to shield themselves and their mounts while overwhelming their enemies. Infantry armed with round shields, axes, and swords unleashed fire and lightning with every swing of their weapons.

“Damn Dane bastards!”

“How is this possible?! Even common soldiers using magic—are they mass-producing mages on assembly lines?!”

The Panam forces, befitting a nation that had accumulated great wealth, possessed equipment of superior quality compared to most countries. However, this advantage was not enough to overwhelm the Dane warriors who had been trained for battle since childhood.

In such a situation, with hundreds of magical powers added to the mix, equipment superiority became meaningless.

The Panam defensive forces fought desperately, piling up hills of corpses, but they could not overcome their disadvantage and collapsed helplessly.

“This is madness! How are we supposed to stop these monsters?!”

“Aaaaargh! My arm! My aaaarm!”

The front line of the infantry formation shattered along with their shields, and as warriors relentlessly pushed through, the second and third lines melted away in succession.

Axes embedded themselves in the backs of fleeing soldiers who had lost their will to fight, and dozens of streams of fire flew toward knights trying to maintain formation, burning the flesh inside their armor.

“Haha! The celestial palace awaits me!”

Dane cavalry discarded their spears and swung axes and swords, harvesting the necks of enemy soldiers like crops in autumn.

The archers and knights who should have stopped them had long since died or fled, leaving Panam’s soldiers to become fertilizer for the Gelmaine territory without being able to offer proper resistance.

—-

“We’ve won.”

“Of course. There’s no way the current Panam has the strength left to stop us.”

At the rear of the Dane army, the commander and his noble subordinates gathered at headquarters, savoring the now-familiar sounds of victory with satisfied smiles.

In truth, this victory was all but predetermined. Since losing King Danon, Queen Eleonora, and three masters in a single night, Panam’s national fortune had greatly declined.

Nobles swollen with ambition to wield power as regents tried to install King Danon’s third son, still just a child, as the next king, but the other two princes rebelled against this, gathering supporters and starting a civil war.

Though both were children of concubines, the first prince gained support by emphasizing his position as Danon’s eldest son, while the second prince, Evian, gathered forces with the backing of the Empire.

After Panam split into three factions in a fratricidal war, Evian emerged victorious.

The first prince suddenly died of illness during an expedition, and the nobles supporting the third prince were divided by someone’s instigation and defeated one by one by Evian’s forces.

After occupying the palace, Evian seized the throne from his trembling younger brother and imprisoned him, promising that his brother would succeed him as the next king since he had no intention of having children himself.

This was to persuade and appease some nobles and knights who had remained loyal to the third prince out of respect for the royal family’s legitimacy.

Though Evian had achieved the throne he so desired, his reign was far from peaceful from the start.

The intermediary trade that had brought Panam enormous wealth was halted when Himmel entered a state of war, and it was impossible to know how many years it would take to recover the national power depleted by civil war.

At the very least, these problems could have been solved gradually over time, but…

The Dane forces crossing the border with a sudden declaration of war were a disaster that Evian had no way to handle.

The Dane invasion force, stronger than ever before, attacked when Panam’s military power was at its weakest.

Moreover, the Empire, unwilling to engage in all-out war with Dane in such an unstable political climate, provided no support, unlike during the civil war.

In the end, the Panam royal army, forced to face Dane’s forces alone, had to helplessly cede nearly three-tenths of their territory after repeated retreats.

—-

Nevertheless, even when victory is certain, the joy of actually achieving it doesn’t fade. The Dane commanders raised mental toasts to their victory with smiles.

Except for one person—a one-eyed crusader who glared at the battlefield with a dissatisfied expression.

“Your expression is dark, Knut. You should be rejoicing, since the power you discovered has led our country to victory.”

Frigg, a female warrior standing beside Knut as if guarding him, lifted her head slightly and whispered to the visibly discontented Knut.

“…How could I rejoice? Why are we here? Having obtained such power, we should rightfully be targeting the Ka’har, our longtime enemy. Instead of attacking the Ka’har, we betrayed and attacked Panam as soon as they fell into chaos, despite our temporary alliance. How is this different from breaking into a burning house to commit robbery?”

Thanks to the rune magic that Knut had discovered by descending to the depths of the Mimisbrunn ruins, Dane’s national power had dramatically improved, allowing them to achieve overwhelming victories against Panam, but…

Knut, arguably the greatest contributor to this war, had been skeptical about attacking Panam from the beginning.

Despite the vast territory and enormous wealth they could gain, if they couldn’t completely subjugate Panam, they would merely be turning a potential ally into an enemy.

To him, this war was a waste of time and manpower.

“If we had attacked Ka’har territory during winter when cavalry forces couldn’t exert their full power, we could have achieved a victory several times more valuable than this. Having squandered such an opportunity so futilely, how could I possibly rejoice?”

“Well… that’s uncertain. If we had been defeated, Panam might have invaded us instead. Anyway, please brighten your expression in front of others. Your face is already grim enough.”

Frigg patted Knut’s shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Though Knut remained deeply dissatisfied with his country’s course of action, he respected Frigg’s concerned advice and nodded.

‘…In any case, we’ll eventually have to fight the Ka’har. I can only wait for the right time.’

And that time would not be far off, Knut was certain.

Excluding Aishan-Gioro Haschal, who had grown incomprehensibly strong, the Empire’s power had clearly weakened compared to a year ago. Though the Ka’har had also suffered a defeat, their losses were negligible compared to the Empire’s.

If Orhan, the king of Ka’har, had not abandoned his ambitions toward the west, now would be the perfect opportunity to gamble on the fate of the east.

And if the Empire and Ka’har engaged in a great war, Dane would inevitably be drawn in as well, just as it had been nine years ago.

Knut suppressed the frustration gnawing at his chest as he waited for that moment to arrive.

It was then that the anomaly occurred.

—-

– Rumble!

It began with a slight tremor in the earth.

The tremor was so small that warriors immersed in the heat of battle barely noticed it. Only a few of the more sensitive warriors looked down at the ground with puzzled expressions, while most paid no attention to the shaking of the earth.

Until then.

– RUMBLE!

A thunderous sound that started from the ground and stretched toward the sky. As the roar loud enough to drown out the noise of the battlefield echoed, even the warriors had to stop their weapons and look down.

The earth was shaking.

“What’s happening?”

“Could it be an earthquake?”

And before their eyes, the anomaly unfolded.

– CRACK!

Like dried and cracked rice fields, the ground beneath them split open, revealing a deep crevice.

The land rose and sank, creating hills and valleys where there had been only plains moments before. The earth’s vibrations intensified until it became difficult even to stand.

“Get away! The ground is collapsing!”

“By Volberg, what is this…!”

“Has Ceres become angry?!”

Startled warriors, though staggering, somehow maintained their balance and avoided the ground fissures. The natural disaster was so sudden that even the excitement of battle was forgotten.

“What is that? What in the world is happening?!”

The nobles gathered at headquarters also expressed their bewilderment as they grabbed tables and chairs to support their bodies from falling.

The world was changing before their eyes.

– Rumble…!

By the time the thunderous sound echoing through the Gelaine plains subsided, their surroundings had already transformed from plains into a massive ravine.

– SCREECH!

And not just any ravine—one that was spewing monsters from caves pierced into both walls.

—-

The Dane forces, which had been sweeping through Panam, halted their advance after the Battle of Gelaine Plains.

Their purpose had already changed from war to exploration.