Chapter 589: Soldier (9)

“News has arrived that the one hundred thousand cavalry led by Careo and Grod have been annihilated.”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Wooooaaaaaah!!”

The news of their first victory rang through Verd Territory.

Commander-in-Chief Musashi was shocked when he learned how they had won.

So that’s what it was.......

Ares was overflowing with people who, like him, had been robbed before they could even do anything.

However, the joyful cheers went cold and died in no time.

KIEEEEEEEK—!!

KIEEEEEEEEEEEEK—!!

Dozens of hawks also lived in Verd Territory.

They moved information quickly and carried news back and forth.

The sky.

Kiheee—KWEK!

The hawks circling the sky to carry news were attacked by the Parion Empire’s hawks and fell meaninglessly.

“Hurry!!”

The hawks’ information network was important.

Users could not watch every road leading to the territory.

Through the hawks, they could look into the current state of the battlefield.

However—

The Parion Empire’s hawks, all of them Unique grade, were twice as large as Verd Territory’s hawks and far faster.

They were powerful.

KIEEEEE—!!

Even at the moment of crisis, one hawk plummeted in a steep dive to deliver a message to Musashi.

PERSHAAAACK!!

A Parion Empire hawk swooped in, tearing out its feathers, and it failed to deliver the message.

“What the......?”

They had defeated an army of one hundred thousand without suffering any damage.

Musashi and the guild members had been enjoying the joy of that victory.

But the soldiers and knights standing there felt an enormous helplessness.

Hundreds of giant hawks had seized the skies over Verd Territory.

Every Verd Territory hawk that flew in was hunted down, unable to deliver even a single message.

They were making them lose their eyes and ears.

The greatness and strength of the Great Parion Empire had already begun before the battle itself even started.

“How are we supposed to win this......?”

Warrior still had no shortage of people who did not understand Musashi’s decision.

The nation of Hyun could not officially participate in this war.

As they could see now, Verd Territory had only twenty-odd hawks, while the Parion Empire defied common sense even with something as simple as “hawks.”

KIEEEEEEEEEE—!!!!

The hawks’ eyes looked down upon Verd Territory.

The sight of hundreds of them tilting their heads this way and that as they looked down on them made it feel as if everything they did was being watched from above.

Some thought this had been a fight they never should have begun in the first place.

“What are we supposed to do with just a few soldiers......?”

That was their honest feeling.

The final hawk carrying information.

[28 hawks have died.]

It was the last remaining hawk out of twenty-nine.

As it cut across the air, surrounded by the roughly two hundred Parion Empire hawks, their talons moved to snatch it.

At that moment—

FWOOOOOSH—!

Flames rose over the body of the hawk that tried to seize it.

“......?”

Above the hawks that fell, charred black without even being able to resist—

KIEEEEEEEEEEE—!!!!!

One lone firebird breathed flames.

FWOOOOSH!

In the nation of Hyun, it was called Kkokko and treated as a stupid bird, but the truth was different.

It was a sacred being that had lived for hundreds of years and been called the Myriad-Mile Bird.

Time had passed, and it no longer lost its memories.

Most of the power it had lost had already been restored.

When it reigned above the hawks and burst its flames even more fiercely, a giant inferno rose.

The roughly two hundred Parion Empire hawks all surged upward at once.

PAAAAAAAT—!!

SWIIIIIIISH—!

The sight of the birds shooting upward in unison was magnificent.

A gently drifting firebird feather fell toward them.

At that moment—

FWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!

A massive blaze burned all two hundred or so hawks to ash.

“Insane......!”

“Huh......!”

“Amazing. Even so, it burned up all the Parion Empire’s hawks?”

They did not know.

From the beginning, the Myriad-Mile Bird was an emperor of the sky and a legend.

It had more than enough power to fight enemy messenger birds.

Also—

FWAAAAAAAH—

By recovering the power it had lost, the Myriad-Mile Bird could approach other hawks without being detected.

FWOOOOSH—!!

When it vanished as fire, Musashi, who had been entrusted as Commander-in-Chief, heard notifications.

[You have successfully hunted the hawks at Verd Territory Point A-31.]

[You have successfully hunted the hawks at Verd Territory Point A-11.]

[You have successfully hunted the hawks in the Kruon Mountains.]

[All hawks have been hunted!]

[The Parion Empire Army loses its eyes!!]

“.......”

In just one minute, the Myriad-Mile Bird returned as fire.

The Myriad-Mile Bird’s actions were enough to make them forget that their own messenger bird had landed before them.

“Please check the message quickly.”

“Right.”

Musashi hurriedly gathered his wits and checked the note.

—The Parion Empire Army has split into four groups and is advancing toward Verd Territory.

—In 15 minutes, the advance force of 100,000 troops will arrive.

They were advancing while split into a total of four groups.

Even a single one of those armies had numbers that overwhelmed the Verd forces.

In the distance, the advance force of one hundred thousand could be seen approaching.

Musashi, who drew his Japanese sword, and the Verd army fought back fiercely.

“They’re strong.......”

“They’re at a level that defies common sense.”

That was the honest assessment from the Verd Territory army after clashing with them.

It made them realize just what kind of people they had dared to rebel against.

Also, in Musashi’s guild, Warrior, there was Deputy Guild Master Janjan.

Seeing the Verd army swept away like fallen leaves in an autumn wind, he panicked and opened guild chat.

[Janjan: ......What exactly are we supposed to do against this with a few soldiers? That bastard is out of his mind!]

Janjan was shaken.

The elite troops were not the problem.

[Janjan: Do you truly trust Hyun? Blocking 400,000 with a few soldiers? That is madness. He may have been hoping our guild, Warrior, would weaken.]

It was a plausible story.

[Janjan: We will lose the place we belong, and the only place we can go will be the nation of Hyun. Hyun will say this, won’t he? That he did his best, but it was impossible!]

Janjan poured out his resentment.

How much had it taken for them to build this territory?

[Janjan: We should have.......]

Janjan’s words spread across the battlefield.

[Janjan: We should have surrendered.]

After saying that, Janjan cut down one soldier and corrected himself.

[Janjan: I apologize. I misspoke.]

Janjan, too, had seen the articles pouring in through Rollo’s broadcast.

The army currently advancing was clearly not here for an alliance, but to take everything from them.

At that moment—

KIEEEEEEE!

The Myriad-Mile Bird from earlier flew in again, and Musashi remained silent.

Janjan grew sad when Musashi continued not to speak.

They had never once had a clash of opinions.

Perhaps he had just said that Guild Master Musashi might need to kneel before the Parion Empire.

And it was true that saying they could do nothing with only a few soldiers had crushed the morale of everyone present.

But Musashi, who had been silent—

was not angry.

It was simply taking him time to copy over the contents of a fairly long note.

[Musashi: The Parion Empire’s 1st Army, 2nd Army, 3rd Army, and 4th Army were moving split into four groups. Current Verd Territory forces are in combat with the 1st Army. Current status of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Armies.]

[Musashi: Soldier 1. Enemy force of 70,000 annihilated.]

[Musashi: Soldier 2. 800 commander-class targets assassinated.]

[Musashi: Soldier 3. 100,000 enemies isolated in the Eoka area.]

Janjan saw that.

Until just a moment ago, he had argued that Hyun had a plan to weaken and swallow them.

But the result was shocking.

Soldier 1 annihilated 70,000 alone, Soldier 2 killed 800 commanders, and Soldier 3 isolated an army of 100,000 alone......? What the hell happened?

Janjan and Musashi looked bewildered, and time rewound briefly.

*****

Commander Pedro noticed that the one hundred thousand cavalry had been annihilated.

“The armies of one hundred thousand each will enter through a total of four routes!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Knight Farga. You will command the 2nd Army. Knight Beno, you will command the 3rd Army. Knight Base, command the 4th Army.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I will command the 1st Army, and we will advance straight toward Verd Territory!”

The four armies advanced with burning heat.

And then, the 2nd Army.

It was the army Knight Farga had taken command of.

Each army had different traits and different specialties.

The 2nd Army was mostly an attack unit composed of mages and archers.

Once enemies entered their range, they could devastate the enemy lines without even needing to attack directly.

That was why it was a problem.

“Who are you?”

A masked man had suddenly appeared.

It was Tai, Thailand’s No. 1 ranker.

Tai.

He, too, was no different from the others.

He was someone who had been trampled and robbed by the Parion Empire.

And Tai was a clever man.

“Soldier 2.”

He knew exactly what he had to do and how he had to do it.

BOOOO......!

Tai moved faster than the mages could cast and faster than the archers could shoot.

Before magic could be cast, the dagger that flew out lodged in a mage’s forehead.

PUK—!

Then chaos erupted inside their formation.

“Fire Boom.”

BOOOOOOM—!!

The magic cast to catch Tai swallowed their own allies.

KWAAAAAAANG!

“U-Uaaaaagh!”

“You crazy bastard! Why the hell would you use magic where our allies are!”

FWOOOOSH—!

In the middle of that opening, Tai concentrated his attacks on the high-Level mages and archers.

He also killed hundred-man commanders and thousand-man commanders.

Tai.

The more people he assassinated within three minutes, the more special bonuses he received.

[5% HP has been restored.]

[Attack power increases by 0.3%.]

[Defense increases by 0.2%.]

To Tai, this place, where only mages and archers were concentrated, was no different from a playground.

He was also skilled at hit-and-run tactics.

After killing commander-class targets and skilled mages—

BOOOOOOM—!

He became a log and headed to a new destination.

The new destination he headed for was where the 4th Army was.

After Tai disappeared—

“Mage Endor has died!”

“Mage Kala has also died!”

“Archer captain Anja has died!”

“Archer captain Puron has also died!”

[Allied morale drops sharply!]

An army of one hundred thousand was not led by a single knight.

Its balance had collapsed.

And amid those whose balance had collapsed, one man appeared.

Knight Farga looked at the man with an exhausted expression, and that man, who knew how to seize an opportunity, raised his staff toward the sky.

Soldier 1.

It was the great mage Lund.

“Mana Drain.”

His strongest 7th Class magic.

The power that could absorb the enemies’ MP and unleash an even more ultimate magic began to suck in MP.

If high-ranking mages had been present, Mana Drain might have been restricted.

However, because of what Tai had done, Lund gained the opportunity to rampage as much as he wanted.

And Lund—

Did he also bear a grudge against the Parion Empire?

In truth, he did not.

There was only one reason he had come here.

“Triple Fire Storm.”

KWARRRRRRRRRUK—!!!

Three enormous Fire Storms, large enough to touch the sky, swallowed the entire forest.

The troops inside burned, and Lund achieved the purpose for which he had come here.

[The amount of EXP acquired is too high!]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Elsewhere.

The Eoka area.

To cross from the Eoka area into Verd Territory, one had to pass over a long bridge connecting mountain to mountain.

There was one soldier there whose face could not be seen.

Soldier 3.

It was Divine Archer Mio.

The other Divine Archer, Hyeji, was an archer based on accuracy and skill.

Then what about Mio?

She was an archer based on far greater range and Destructive Power.

The bridge was only four meters wide, and an army of one hundred thousand was crossing it in formation.

And—

PUUUK—!

PUUUK—!

PUUUUUK—!

PUUUUUUK—!!!

Like a sniper on a battlefield.

At the moment she silently blew heads off on the bridge with a skill called “silent arrow,” she looked close to mythic.

She alone was blocking the route and isolating the enemies.

Currently—

Musashi, who had received a report on this unbelievable state of affairs, felt chills at how the user “soldiers” were being used.

But soon, another message arrived.

—Soldier 1. Killed in action.

—Soldier 2. Killed in action.

The soldier who had massacred 70,000 alone and Soldier 2, who had swept away mages, archers, and commanders by himself, had died.

Musashi’s formation, already fighting the 1st Army, was being pushed back.

The survivors from the other armies would push in together.

At that moment, flames rose once again.

FWOOOOSH—

A note sent by Hyunsoo was tied to Kkokko’s leg.

[It appears the surviving enemies, except the isolated 4th Army, will soon advance toward Verd Territory.]

“......!”

The joy over the soldiers collapsed in an instant.

They were already being pushed back by the Parion Empire Army before them.

The nearly 200,000 survivors are going to join them?

Even now, the Verd Territory army was in a situation where holding them back was difficult.

But Musashi had one faith.

Until now, Hyunsoo had crossed death lines by many different methods.

In Continental War.

And in the Great Atlas War.

Soon, Musashi took out the other note that still remained and checked it.

There, the one moment he had been waiting for was written.

[Knight deployment.]