Chapter 199
Castle Buster (4)
The flames of the Red Aura galloped through the battlefield, and hundreds of zombie troops followed it.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
It was indeed a scene that enacted the Legion of Hell.
Those who took the lead were fearsome, and those who followed were brutal.
When the enemies’ bodies froze, their hands became dull. The response of soldiers on the wall, weighed down by pressure, slowed down.
In the meantime, Ryu Han-bin, who reached Fort Fieldrocks, flew forward.
“Come on!”
Like a mountain goat running across cliffs, he climbed steep walls lightly like it was flat land.
He quickly took control of the fort and swung his Gigant.
“Everything goes down!”
With a roar, he cleared his surroundings. Han-bin, who had conquered the battlements, found his next target.
Just in time, a tower was beckoning him to destroy it.
Of course, it didn’t beckon literally but metaphorically.
“That’s nice!”
-Aura Stinger!
A red flash burst towards the castle, causing dust to be blown away.
The whole tower collapsed and roared.
Boom!
Leon Hart, who was attacking the other side of the wall from afar, shouted a complaint.
“Hey, don’t break it!”
“Oops. Force of habit.”
The conversation between the two men at such a far distance further terrorized the Kaldris soldiers.
A habit was repeated until someone got used to it.
What the hell did the crazy Valtara warrior do to make a habit out of cutting fortified buildings like slicing through pudding?
“Ahhh…”
Their morale couldn’t soar back up.
Eventually, the walls were scaled. The Allendia Army successfully infiltrated the fort and began a skirmish.
Ryu Han-bin kept running, creating loud metallic sounds.
He blew away everything and everyone that blocked his path.
“This gate?”
The entrance of the fort was still tightly closed.
If he destroyed it, his allies outside the walls would be able to enter the fort with ease.
Once again, Leon Hart reminded him for caution’s sake.
“Don’t break it! Just open it!”
“I know! I know!”
Pouting, Ryu Han-bin ran toward his target.
Of course, there were some guards, but he beat them down without much difficulty.
‘Let’s see…’
The gate was strengthened by pouring heavy steel into thick wood and magic.
Its hanging latches alone were more than a meter wide and 10 meters long, and there were three of them.
“Then let’s use my power!”
Cranking his shoulder, Han-bin relaxed his muscles and pulled up his Aura.
-Aura Boost!
The amplification of the Aura further strengthened his physical abilities.
After drawing as much power as possible, Ryu Han-bin pushed the gate.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
His muscles swelled and shook vigorously.
The hanging latches creaked in unison.
Screech! Screech!
In the end, magic couldn’t defend against his brute strength.
The steel bars broke simultaneously, and the large gates opened wide!
Boom!
The Allendia Army burst into cheers at the magnificent sight.
“Wow!”
“As expected of the Sword King!”
“He’s good at everything except swordsmanship!”
“Wait, that’s a little weird.”
There was a strange opinion in the middle, but regardless, their momentum was more than strong enough.
Outside the walls, the Allendia Army began to march through the wide-open entrance.
As he loosened his wrist, Ryu Han-bin smiled pleasantly.
“You’ve paid enough for your meal, haven’t you?”
Effir called out for him then.
“Hey, Felard?”
“Yeah?”
“Didn’t you think of opening the gates just by taking off the latches?”
“Oops…”
He just had to open it.
‘Why did I do that?’
He guessed he had been so profoundly imbued with Valtarism.
Dithering, Han-bin changed the topic.
“Still, I didn’t break the gate while opening it, did I? Then shouldn’t it be alright?”
The surging Allendia forces soon took control of Fort Fieldrocks.
‘We lost.’
Lord Hadell, the Fort Commander, gave up everything.
He turned black, not only pale.
It was impossible to retreat, let alone fight.
If he wanted to abandon the fort and flee, then they needed an actual escape route. He was surrounded everywhere. Where was he supposed to run?
Lord Hadell swallowed his anger and ordered his servant.
“Raise… the white flag…”
* * *
The Allendia Army used Fort Fieldrocks as their base and settled down.
At the same time, there was a massive military movement in the border area.
The retreating 1st Templar Corps and the 1st Allendia Corps headed towards them.
Each Corps from other locations began to move as well, leaving the least amount of power needed to defend the border.
Most of the northern forces dealing with the Kaldris Kingdom gathered in one place.
At first glance, it was a strategy that seemed too risky.
It would weaken the defense of the other side of the border.
If the Kaldris forces pushed down in unison, no other border fort but Fort Fieldrocks would last more than three days.
“Three days is enough….”
Looking back at the group gathered in the conference room, Leon Hart shrugged.
“For us all to fly on Effir.”
In the past, as soon as one or two people were picked up and flown with full power, Effir became exhausted and had to rest.
Compared to the level of her human form, her Wyvern form went up too slowly.
But even considering that Dragon races already leveled up slower than humans, her human form’s level still increased too much.
Still, with so much Force, her Wyvern’s level had gone over 70!
It was enough to fly all of Han-bin’s group for several hours.
Feeling awkward, Effir scratched her cheek.
“It’s comfortable when I’m at a higher level.”
She certainly wasn’t the strongest magic Swordswoman in Latna.
Nor was she part of the strongest Dragon race.
But at the moment, it was clear that she could fly the fastest in the whole world.
Han-bin’s party had the mobility that even Garhan and Genovia didn’t have.
Ryu Han-bin grinned and muttered.
“As expected, dragon-riding is a man’s dream.”
Leon Hart continued his explanation as he unfolded the map.
“The line-up that we needed is complete.”
With how their troops were placed across the border, Allendia couldn’t make large-scale military movements in preparation against a counterattack by the Kaldris Kingdom.
“But we can move in a few days.”
Thanks to Ryu Han-bin’s massive Magic Arrow, the main bases of the northern border of Kaldris had been severely damaged.
Hence, the relatively poor presence of soldiers in Allendia’s Forts could be enough to last them a few days.
What if Han-bin’s party joined them?
The ‘Sword King Army’ would become the garrison of the fort soon.
They were betting their unit combat power and mobility over the enemy’s numerical superiority.
Despite its inferiority, the Allendia-Church Alliance’s forces had put a blade against the chin of the Kaldris Kingdom.
“What’s next? Is all we have to do is thrust the blade we’re aiming with?”
Leon Hart shook his head at Kibie’s question.
“If we stabbed them, then wouldn’t the knife be stuck?”
No matter how advantageous their position was, the Kaldris Kingdom was still powerful.
Besides, they hadn’t even sent out the real threats yet.
Upper Draconium and Aliens of Akhtarun.
And most of all, the absolute of the absolute, the Thunder King Garhan himself!
“We should alternate between stabbing and just aiming.”
* * *
Encouraged by successive victories, the six Churches made a declaration throughout Latna.
-The six Goddesses are protecting us. We’re not afraid of anything! Corrupted heroes of the past, fear the Goddesses’ punishment!
Garhan responded to it.
“You’re excited, aren’t you?”
Towards the Regent of Kaldris, who looked sour with his chin on the table, Each subject provided their thoughts.
“It’s not such a ridiculous situation.”
“It’s true that our troops lost.”
The unit combat power of the Sword King’s party was high, but the bigger problem was their mobility.
They were flying around the border on a Wyvern.
“Oh, I can’t believe they could use that flying monster in such a way…”
“I thought it was useless except for emergency calls and reconnaissance…”
Small countries in the countryside often fostered Wyvern Knights and Gryphon Knights as the country’s main Force.
But things were different in the middle of the continent.
There were also flying units in the Three Continental Powers.
Like the Hippogriff Knights of Kaldris, the Griffin Knights of the Mado Kingdom, and the Pegasus Knights of Allendia.
However, those weren’t precisely combat units.
It was a matter of average level.
In the countryside, a person who exceeded level 30 was treated like a knight of a country.
On the other hand, even if their level was 40, they could become a soldier, and at level 60, they could become an ordinary knight in the Three Continental Powers.
However, the average level of tamable flying monsters was usually only about 20 to 25.
If a level 30 being fought on a level 20 flying monster, he could become a powerful force to be reckoned with.
On the other hand, what if a level 60 individual rode on a level 20 flying monster?
It wouldn’t help all that much. Instead, the risk of being shot down in the air increased.
Of course, preoccupying a high position in combat was undoubtedly an advantage.
But it also didn’t mean much in the center of the continent.
The worst enemies of the world right at that moment were the dungeon monsters and Aliens.
But those flying monsters weren’t helpful in dungeons and were only ever effective when dealing against native monsters in places with ample space to fly around on. Wyverns were used only in the low-level countryside. However, the Three Continental Powers just sent infantry to clear their enemies.
Thanks to that, the air force in the Three Continental Powers meant nothing more than emergency transport or reconnaissance, though they were still called Knights because of their low-level tradition.
One of the servants who knew that well asked, “Why don’t we shoot down the Wyvern of the Sword King? No matter how high they are, it would be a low-level monster to ride around.”
The knights at the meeting shook their heads in unison.
“That won’t work. It’s not a normal Wyvern.”
“Too fast. It avoids attacks too well.”
“We couldn’t shoot it right. It avoids Aura, magic, everything.”
“It mysteriously escapes through the cracks though we used a wide range seal.”
“There is also a hypothesis in Sinkers that there is a new super monster that looks just like a Wyvern.”
Everyone was pulling their hairs over the situation.
It was worth it.
Didn’t even the Transcendental clicked her tongue at Effir’s flying skills?
Wyvern was a tiny low-level monster, but Effir had become a completely separate existence.
Of course, they didn’t know that fact.
Hence, they couldn’t help but keep coming up with responses based on their common sense.
“Still, the Wyvern is still a ride. Wouldn’t it usually be tied in a dragon stable? Why don’t we infiltrate their territory and then rip its throat off?”
“Why haven’t we?”
The knights protested as if it was stupid.
“I’ve checked again and again.”
“There is no dragon stable!”
“I’m sure they are flying on a Wyvern…”
“Once they land, the big Wyvern disappears into thin air. I can’t understand that!”
Garhan’s expression changed while listening to the knights.
They might not know about it, but he had a hunch.
‘Polymorph Necklace? They must have acquired it.’
The unique items kept by Hollien the Transcendental were the Four-Power Conversion Belt and the Polymorph Necklace.
Among them, it had already been confirmed that Four-Power Conversion Belt had been handed over to the new Sword King.
That conclusion was based on the extremely powerful Magic Arrow and the presence of a wide-area spiritual art, which couldn’t be confirmed if it was strong or weak.
‘They got the Four-Power Conversion Belt. There’s no reason not to take Polymorph Necklace.’
Garhan spoke up.
“Look around them. They probably take one anchor with them. Killing that person should solve the Wyvern problem.”
Turning a Wyvern into a human didn’t change intelligence. Hence, he decided that it wouldn’t be able to act normal.
It turned out that everything was wrong, but even the Thunder King could only guess that far with their current information.
“That’s how they work, anyway.”
Garhan frowned, still resting his chin.
Things were getting more and more out of control.
‘I’ll have to discuss this with Genovia.’