Chapter 282.
Kim Seon-Hyeok stuffed the overly conspicuous Bluegon somewhere along a branch of the river and widened his senses through Atiya to find the mercenaries.
The mercenaries, who had been moving to join the frontlines, were startled by his sudden appearance and guarded against him. However, when they realized that he was the well-known Indomitable Grand Duke, they deeply bowed to show the utmost respect.
“Who is the leader?”
In response to his question, a middle-aged mercenary stepped out of the group with their heads bowed down.
“Have you heard anything about the frontline’s situation?”
The mercenary captain looked very nervous to be standing in front of a renowned knight of the continent who was also a high-ranking n.o.bleman of the Empire. However, the mercenary still wholeheartedly explained what he knew.
“I heard that the troops on the frontline are having a lot of trouble with the berserker zealots’ attacks, sir. The frontline most likely won’t be breached immediately, but since the enemy is charging as if they want to take us down with them, the damage is immense.”
The situation wasn’t any different from before he left Granado.
“And… bizarre rumors are circulating around the frontlines, sir.”
Seeing how there wasn’t anything new, Kim Seon-Hyeok was about to turn around when he stopped at the mercenary captain’s words.
“They’re saying the central kingdoms’ army tied a man high up on a pole with a cloth covering his head like a death row prisoner on the verge of a hanging.”
“Tell me what he looks like in detail.”
When Seon-Hyeok showed interest, the mercenary captain became even more excited and started talking about the frontline rumors.
“Because his head was covered up with a cloth, nothing is known about his appearance. All that could be guessed from looking at his physique from a distance, is that he’s a young man. But he must have been tortured or something because his body was so messed up that no one’s certain whether he really is a young man.”
Kim Seon-Hyeok’s expression hardened as the mercenary captain continued to explain.
“Did they say he’s alive?”
When he finally talked after a long time, his voice was as low and heavy as his face had hardened.
“I don’t understand what you… Ah, it seems like he’s barely alive, sir.”
For a moment, the mercenary captain was at a loss for words at the random question, but when he finally understood it, he answered cautiously. Looking at his expression, he seemed to have noticed that the central kingdoms’ strange behavior might have something to do with the Indomitable Grand Duke.
“Good, he’s alive. As long as he’s alive, I can save him.”
The mercenary captain’s guess was correct.
The man that the central kingdom had tied high up on the pole was somehow related to Kim Seon-Hyeok. If his guess was right, then the wretched and unsightly man was most definitely Park Joon-Min, the Apostle of G.o.d that the Holy Kingdom had once been so proud of.
“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they’re truly showing they’re not human beings and their baseness.”
Kim Seon-Hyeok clenched his teeth in response to the vulgar provocation of the Holy Kingdom. However, his anger was only temporary. He soon calmed down and coldly a.n.a.lyzed the situation.
This could even be a good thing.
If the Holy Kingdom had continued to hide Park Joon-Min away instead of bringing him out, then Seon-Hyeok would have exhausted himself looking for him. He might’ve not even found the Warrior until the war had ended.
In their current situation, it was an overly hasty decision for the Holy Kingdom to have thrown out their hostage —the Warrior— in this manner.
Now that Kim Seon-Hyeok knew where the Warrior was, then no matter how heavy their defense was, he was strong enough to save the Warrior.
“Where is that man?”
The Seville fortress was on the verge of being isolated and unaided, so it was important to save it, but it was also important to rescue the Warrior who was both the starting point of the war and the reason for the war for both sides.
If he succeeded in rescuing the Warrior, then the reason that the Holy Kingdom put forward for the war would be thrown into the gutter.
Of course, even if that did happen, that didn’t mean the war would end. Right or wrong didn’t matter in a war that was already tangled as much as it could be tangled. The only thing controlling the war now was greed.
Nevertheless, justification was important. The moment the tense war situation changed even a little bit, the Holy Kingdom’s mistakes would be the perfect excuse for the central kingdoms to leave the frontlines.
No, before justification, the Warrior was no different than his sworn brother, he didn’t need any grand reason to save his own brother.
“Speak, where is he?”
But, nothing is ever easy in the world.
“I’m not sure which man you’re talking about…”
“What?”
“It’s not just one or two men hanging like that, sir. It’s said that almost all units had men hanging in the same appearance, almost as if they were the unit’s national banner.”
Curses poured out of Kim Seon-Hyeok’s mouth at the Holy Kingdom’s cunningness.
“Sir, I’ve heard several times that the people have seen the same thing on the Northwest front, and on the other side as well.”
At this point, it was impossible to know which of the widely deployed units of the central kingdoms’ armies had the real Park Joon-Min. No, it was even questionable whether Park Joon-Min even was among them.
It was a blatant trap. The Holy Kingdom was trying to slow him down even a little bit by putting out dozens of fake Park Joon-Mins. It was clear that they had been preparing this for a long time in order to deal with the nightmare that was Drachen raging like a tempest whenever he appeared on the battlefield.
And in fact, the measures they had taken seemed to be somewhat successful.
Kim Seon-Hyeok had been heading towards Sevill fortress without rest, but the moment he heard the rumor, he stopped for the first time.
But unlike the Holy Kingdom’s expectations, Kim Seon-Hyeok wasn’t that weak. Perhaps it would’ve been different if this wasn’t the battlefield, but he wasn’t so foolish that he would hesitate on the battlefield when their trickery was so obvious.
That was only natural.
After falling into this world, he had been consistently on the battlefield like a dog in a dogfighting ring. Just based on the number of large and small battles he fought in so far, no one could compare with him. That ‘rich’ experience made him that much more level-headed.
Sometimes he lost his temper and acted recklessly, but not right now.
I’m sorry, Joon-Min. Wait a little longer.
Instead of wasting who knows how much time trying to find the real one amongst all the fake ones, Kim Seon-Hyeok decided to save the desperate Seville fortress.
“Thank you for your kind explanation. Then, I’ll see you on the frontline.”
“May I know where you are headed, sir?”
The mercenary captain spoke cautiously. He seemed worried that he might be asking about an overly sensitive matter.
“Seville.”
But, Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t bother hiding his destination. No, he couldn’t hide it.
Bluegon had grown excessively large after molting that even if he wanted to hide Bluegon, he couldn’t.
In fact, shortly after he left, the mercenary captain heard rumors about a snake that was several hundred meters long moving like it was gliding towards the north.
And through the captain, the fact that the snake was the Indomitable Grand Duke’s dragon began to spread.
“The Indomitable Grand Duke has returned riding a new dragon!”
“This time, it’s not a gold dragon, it’s a blue one!”
In fact, if you consider it based on order, Bluegon was the second dragon to start working with Kim Seon-Hyeok immediately after Goldrake. But, there hadn’t been any opportunities for them to reveal his original form, so the people believed that he was a new dragon Kim Seon-Hyeok had tamed.
***
The sea dragon who, in the past, had been basically abandoned by his owner due to water source issues didn’t exist anymore. Previously, Bluegon had been as slow as a turtle on land, but now, he slithered like a snake and moved quickly.
While he couldn’t be compared to Goldrake or Redvern who sprinted at full power, because of his large size, Bluegon was able to move forward hundreds of meters with one movement.
The only problem was that because of his large size, he stood out too much.
However, seeing how Kim Seon-Hyeok never intended to hide his partic.i.p.ation in the war, he showed off his presence even more as he headed towards Seville fortress.
It was all so that he could raise the dwindling morale of his allies while preventing the enemies from acting impetuously.
In fact, the Iberian army’s morale skyrocketed when they heard the news that he was rapidly approaching the frontline.
“The G.o.d of war is coming!”
Out of all the battles he had partic.i.p.ated in, the Indomitable Grand Duke had never lost one. The Iberian army didn’t doubt that they could finally win this one with the Indomitable Grand Duke’s blessing.
The Iberian army had been dispirited in the face of the enemy’s berserkers, but now, their military discipline strengthened again. And just as the Iberian army’s discipline had been restored, the enemy’s momentum decreased.
“He can’t be coming this way, right?”
The central kingdoms’ commanders earnestly prayed that the nightmarish knight would never head towards them.
“Do not be afraid! G.o.d’s blessing will be with you, my brothers!”
The choir priests tried to encourage the soldiers who had lost their morale, but it didn’t work. The priests’ words only carried authority when they were singing hymns so that the pain of soldiers’ losing their limbs would be forgotten.
Fearing they might provoke the Indomitable Grand Duke, the central kingdoms’ commanders began to show a pa.s.sive att.i.tude. Amongst them, there were even those who remained inside the base and stopped attacking entirely.
All of this was because of the structural limitations of the Allied Forces. In a war where they didn’t have a great sense of duty, none of the Allied Forces wanted to step forward and be thrashed by the Indomitable Grand Duke. Their att.i.tude of thinking that it was all fine as long as it wasn’t them was completely changing the entire situation of the frontline.
It was impossible to believe that this was the ripple effect of a single knight partic.i.p.ating in the war.
“Th, the Indomitable Grand Duke is coming this way!”
Unfortunately for them, the Rosehog Kingdom’s army was the one blocking his path to the Seville fortress. They were preparing to withdraw immediately. However, before they could even prepare to retreat, a wrathful message arrived from the Holy Kingdom.
The Holy Kingdom threatened that if they backed down, the kingdom would judge that they colluded with the heretics and sentence them accordingly.
“The Indomitable Grand Duke had sustained an injury that cannot be healed. While the presence of the dragon is great, it’s clear that its power will not be comparable to the others. So why don’t we take this chance to kill the most famous knight, the Indomitable Grand Duke, and elevate the central region’s status? We, the priests, will help.”
The priests tried to encourage the central region’s n.o.bles that couldn’t do anything.
“The Indomitable Grand Duke is moving alone without any support. Isn’t this a great opportunity? You are the elites of the Rosehog Kingdom and have defeated even the evil and ferocious demonic monsters. I’m sure that if it’s you, you’ll certainly be able to make a great contribution.”
None of the commanders were foolish enough to fall for the priests’ words.
But there wasn’t much they could do otherwise. The Holy Kingdom’s influence was much stronger in the Rosehog Kingdom than the other kingdoms due to its location just north of the Holy Kingdom. And because of that, the Rosehog commanders decided to fight the Indomitable Grand Duke as if their lives depended on it.
“Ahhhhhh.”
The priests sang in unison when they saw a dust cloud approaching from over the horizon. The terrified soldiers’ eyes turned bloodshot as veins bulged on their hands gripping their weapons.
They looked ready to charge the moment the order was given.
The knights lined up behind them. The mages memorized in advance the most powerful spell they could, then looked beyond the horizon.
The hymn’s influence spread to the superhumans as well. While it wasn’t enough for them to lose their rationality like the ordinary soldiers, it was enough for them to forget their fears as their will to fight was forcibly raised.
“All troops!”
Intoxicated by his rising confidence, the commander of the Rosehog Kingdom’s army raised his sword high.
“At….”
But his confidence didn’t last long.
In a blink of an eye, the giant snake had gotten closer, and as soon as he saw its appearance, the miracle created by the hymn disappeared.
“That’s ridiculous, what the h.e.l.l…”
The knights’ swords that had been s.h.i.+ning brightly dimmed, and the mages’ continuous spells stopped.
They were completely overwhelmed by the presence of a monster that reached a height of hundreds of meters.
It wasn’t much better for the ordinary soldiers. Even in the face of the pain of getting their limbs cut off, the berserkers hadn’t lost their fighting spirit as they continued to fight to behead their enemies. But now, they slowly backed away, groaning as if they were suppressed frogs in front of a giant snake.
Even the hymn the choir priests had been singing nonstop stopped all of a sudden.
Gaaaaah!
The ma.s.sive sea serpent jumped into the midst of the completely frozen Rosehog Kingdom’s army.
***
“Rosehog Kingdom’s army, annihilated!”
Not long after news spread that the Indomitable Grand Duke had appeared on the frontline, the continent was. .h.i.t with the news that the Rosehog Kingdom’s army was close to being destroyed and was in the midst of retreating.
“Rosehog’s Royal Knights and the Commander-in-Chief, all killed in battle! 2nd in charge, killed in battle! Senior knights, annihilated! A small number of ordinary knights survived, currently retreating!”
“All seven members of the Royal Mages, dead!”
“4th Infantry Regiment, completely destroyed! Two companies of heavy cavalry lost all combat power!”
“600 alive out of 1,800 troops!”
The Rosehog Kingdom’s elite had survived even the harsh Western region, but they could not defeat a single knight and monster, and completely collapsed.
The shocking news didn’t end there.
“The Allied Forces besieging Fort Seville are currently retreating!”
Less than a week after breaking up the Rosehog Kingdom’s army, the 6,000 Allied soldiers laying siege on Fort Seville retreated from the frontline.
“The Fort Seville troops are currently abandoning the fortress and heading South! Allies are in danger!”
Once the Seville fort was liberated, the troops stationed there joined the Iberian Army. With that as the starting point, the other isolated eastern kingdoms’ armies were freed and all of them started running amok.
Among them was the Sword Star who had remained at the forefront with Devon.
“The Adenburg Empire’s reinforcements came from southern Iberia and have appeared on the frontlines!”
“The fairy archers are shooting the dispatched priests! The damage to the priesthood is severe!”
As if they had been waiting, the Adenburg Empire began to move. All of this happened in the span of fewer than two weeks since the Indomitable Grand Duke partic.i.p.ated in the war.
While the Holy Kingdom was in chaos with bad news being delivered daily, Kim Seon-Hyeok started the Warrior’s rescue mission that had been put off.
One by one, he began to sort through the fakes put forward by the Central Kingdoms’ armies. Destroying the troops that had hung the bait was a bonus.
It was a method that was very much like Kim Seon-Hyeok who preferred to use his body rather than his head.
There was no room for any trick or scheme to intervene. In the face of overwhelming power that dominated the battlefield, all the traps prepared by the Holy Kingdom were too insignificant.