Chapter 117

〈 Episode 117 〉 Capital Search

Having heard the situation of the capital from Asha, the command was racking their brains trying to understand the bizarre circumstances.

“Those monsters were all dead, but the people were insane?”

“Yes… they convulsed while saying light, death, and sun, and then slumped over again.”

Count Avenue, who had been pondering for a while, said.

“It seems that another being has intervened. A third party that is neither human nor Tentacle.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s hard to think of any other possibility. It’s strange that the Tentacles, who could have used humans as food, died en masse like that, and considering that the people are not in their right minds, it’s clear that someone else has stepped into this situation.”

Lucia flinched repeatedly as she listened to the Count’s speculation, but the others, who were preoccupied with the serious matter, did not notice her fidgeting. Unaware that Lucia was looking at him with displeasure, the Count spoke of his future plans.

“Considering the reactions of the people, it is clear that some kind of Mental attack has been inflicted, centered on the capital. Without a certain level of mental strength, they would not have been able to resist. Now that the immediate threat has disappeared, we should enter the capital, but only a small number of strong individuals who can withstand the Mental attack should enter first to assess the threat.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just retreat? There is an unknown threat lurking, and sticking our heads in is unsettling…”

Marquis Chatillon’s words made sense. However, the Count shook his head.

“If the capital completely collapses, there is no hope anyway. If we want to preserve the kingdom even a little, the only way to survive is to evacuate the people and supplies that remain in the capital.”

“Hmph… yes. Since those things are all dead, it’s not like we can’t do it. If you’re going, go quickly!”

Asha and Geraldine, who were listening, agreed with his half-resigned words.

The unit, which was already approaching the capital, reached the vicinity of the capital before sunset. People were greatly shaken when they saw the ruined capital, a page left in a nightmare.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Isn’t this crazy?”

Even if they had decided to go to the capital, facing the despair that had happened not long ago was a completely different matter. The Count retransmitted to the murmuring people.

“Rest here today, and then a separate detachment will enter the capital the next day! Depending on the situation, further orders will be retransmitted. Rest!”

“Rest!”

The capital defense force had not yet calmed down, but the Steel Regiment did not react much. This was because their faith in the Regimental Commander had become even stronger while coming this far.

‘It will be difficult to get the defense force to enter the capital…’

It was clear to anyone that it would be unreasonable to bring the capital defense force back into the city. He decided not to force the Soldiers, who seemed to have mustered all their courage to come this far, to do anything more unreasonable.

“Aaaaargh!”

The sight of a heavy infantryman being dragged out of the formation like a pebble was surreal. With the sound of tearing metal twisting, his figure was soon buried in Tentacles and disappeared.

“Ugh!”

The Soldiers had no time to mourn their lost comrade and had to sweat profusely from the increasingly fierce Tentacle attacks. Seeing the unstable formation wavering, Maximilian quickly joined in.

“Hmph!”

He instantly cut the huge Tentacle, as tall as a person, that had been ramming its body against the Tower Shield into seven pieces and sent it flying far away. The Soldiers were catching their breath without even having time to express their gratitude.

‘This is serious…’

The premise of the original plan, in which the advance team, Asha and the Count, would go ahead to assess the situation and the follow-up unit, Maximilian, would follow slowly, was that the Tentacle attacks would be concentrated on the advance team.

However, Maximilian’s unit was facing fierce attacks from the Tentacles. Maximilian felt acutely the absence of Asha and the Count as he tirelessly rescued Soldiers in danger.

No matter how skilled the Prince was in Swordsmanship and how knowledgeable he was about basic strategy, it was a completely different matter to do all of those things. He was not as experienced as the Count, who had been commanding Soldiers for nearly 20 years, and Maximilian had no way to wipe out the swarms of Tentacles that were rushing in like ants.

“Since it’s difficult here, I can only hope that things are going well over there.”

He looked at the women trembling in fear in the middle.

“Hee, please, please…”

“Hee!”

They had barely been rescued by the Soldiers and were now watching the wave of Tentacles rushing in, and were almost in a panic. Furthermore, the elite troops had left, and even the reserve Soldiers were struggling to stop the Tentacles, so the women had no choice but to fall into even greater fear.

There was only one thing he could do to dispel the women’s anxiety and protect the Soldiers.

“The wounded fall back! 8th Company, replace the rear!”

Even the company commanders were struggling to take care of their own units. Maximilian supported the Soldiers in urgent need while busily commanding the precarious unit.

The next day, the members of the advance team to enter the capital first were decided to be 200 Soldiers, including Asha and Geraldine. Asha, equipped with the Winged Garment, was at the head, Geraldine was at the rear, and 12 knights of the Royal Knights were also included in the advance team.

Asha looked at the stats of the newly joined knights.

[Marc Roussillon]

Strength: 21

Agility: 16

Durability: 14

Stamina: 19

Mana: 13

Skills: Weapon Mastery LV.9, Survival Skills LV. 4, Horsemanship LV. 6

His stats were generally higher than those of the Steel Regiment’s officers, and his Weapon Mastery was particularly noticeable.

‘Maybe I can rest assured a little…’

They were Soldiers she had entrusted her back to many times, but she felt that they alone were not enough. The more trustworthy people there were, the better, when going to such a dangerous place. At this point, Asha also took a look at Geraldine’s Status Window, who was following behind.

[Geraldine Obert]

Strength: 41

Agility: 78

Durability: 24

Stamina: 38

Mana: 87

Skills: Weapon Mastery LV.27, Horsemanship LV.16, Cooking LV.8, Trading LV.8, Cleaning LV.6

“Wow, what…”

If Maximilian had reached the limit of human potential, Geraldine seemed to have already transcended humanity.

‘I wondered how she became the vice-captain of the Royal Knights despite being from a fallen family…’

Her Strength was slightly lower than Asha’s, but her Agility and Mana were more than double and nearly triple hers. The knight’s stats, which seemed plausible, looked infinitely shabby when compared to Geraldine’s stats. Asha felt that even if something could happen to her, nothing was likely to happen to Geraldine.

Similarly, Cooking and Cleaning, which were subtly included in her tremendous Horsemanship, were also noticeable. Asha smiled as she imagined Geraldine, as a child, busily cleaning and cooking with Zack.

“Kind of cute.”

Asha, who had scanned the overall Status Window of the advance team, took out the Winged Garment and prepared to enter.

“We will enter!”

Flying with just enough lift to float off the ground, Asha slowly entered the main gate of the capital.

“Gasp!”

The Soldiers, who were horrified to see the Tentacles piled up as soon as they entered the main gate, breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that they were all corpses.

There were quite a few people among the Tentacles, but the advance team’s purpose was to confirm the threat in advance, not to rescue them, so they had no choice but to leave them alone. However, the traces of terrible pain left on the faces of the fallen people made the Soldiers’ hearts shudder.

The advance team succeeded in entering the center of the capital without any resistance. The advance team, which had been moving separately, gathered together. Geraldine hesitated but spoke to Asha.

“Asha, this is…”

“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone there, does it?”

“Yeah. And these people here, it might be dangerous if we don’t rescue them and treat them quickly. Leaving them among the Tentacles like that isn’t a good idea either.”

It would be foolish to miss the opportunity now. Asha looked at Geraldine, and when she nodded, Asha quietly said to the advance team.

“We will explore the capital a little more, and if there is nothing wrong, we will come back with the main force.”

They searched the capital again.

The advance team searched for two more hours, but there were only dead Tentacles and fallen people in the capital. Having confirmed that there was no threat in the capital now, they quickly moved out of the capital.

“Hoo…”

Count Avenue, who was holding his position in the main force, breathed a sigh of relief inwardly when he saw the returning advance team. He was a Regimental Commander who could not easily reveal his emotions because so many Soldiers and refugees were watching. The Count asked Asha, who had approached him.

“Was the situation in the capital the same as before?”

“Yes, I went to the center of the capital and looked around other places, but the Tentacles were all dead and the people were unconscious. More than anything else, we need to get the people out quickly.”

“It’s been quite a while since you went, but the people still haven’t woken up… Something must have happened. If we’re not careful, something irreversible might happen to the people who are still alive there now.”

Hearing the Count’s words, Asha realized that they were in a more serious situation.

“T, then shouldn’t we go quickly?”

“First, the Soldiers will enter, and then we will divide into units to move food and supplies and units to rescue people. There are not just one or two people, so we will have to get cooperation from the refugees as well.”

Asha also nodded at the Count’s words.

“Count… can I check what happened to the royal castle?”

The Count groaned at Geraldine’s words.

“Ugh, hmm… I guess we need to check. Go and come back, Baroness. But I don’t think I can spare any Soldiers.”

“I’m enough on my own.”

“Here! We don’t have enough stretchers!”

“Ugh, I’m going crazy…”

The people who returned to the capital began rescue and transport operations without exception. None of the people who had escaped from the capital had considered the possibility that more than 50,000 people would fall into a coma. Therefore, the first thing the people who came to the capital had to do was to make hundreds of stretchers out of cloth and wood.

Taking the people out of the center of the capital required crossing half of the capital, which was not easy in terms of distance. Carpenters among the refugees even made wide transport carts on the spot, connecting them to horses. In what was literally a huge disaster site, they desperately rescued unconscious people.

Asha was burning the Tentacles in the main thoroughfares. There were so many Tentacles that they were obstructing traffic, so she first evacuated the people and then burned all the obstructive debris. There were so many Tentacles that ash flew endlessly, turning the surrounding buildings black.

‘Was I worried for nothing?’

The rescue operation was proceeding smoothly.

[Emergency Quest! Save the Artua Kingdom.]

Reclaim the territory of the Artua Kingdom, 51% of which has been occupied by unidentified creatures, and defeat these creatures. Rewards will be paid immediately according to the progress.

Time Limit 412D : 19H

It used to say that 57% was occupied, but encouragingly, it had decreased by 6% in a week. If they continued like this, they might be able to defeat all the Tentacles and save all the people of the kingdom.

“And the Tokens in the store are… 490,000?!”

Asha was horrified to see that the Tokens, which had been over 60,000 after buying a lot of food recently, had been cut in half to 30,000 Tokens, but 460,000 more Tokens had been added.

“I haven’t been catching many Tentacles lately? Why did the Tokens suddenly increase?”

Asha looked at the Token increase record. A whopping 440,000 Tokens were earned by catching the Tentacles in the capital.

“The Tentacles in the capital… did I create this scene?”

Since Lucia was subordinate to Asha, everything she did belonged to Asha, but Asha didn’t even think about that and just pondered over what the massacre of the Tentacles had to do with her.