Chapter 107: Leonhardt’s Territory (3)

Rip! Slash! 

The eerie sound of the ogre’s flesh being ripped apart accompanied his every slash.

―Rooooar!

The ogre screamed as he stared at the young man that was toying with it. It was only barely able to hit the man with its club but the man was letting it hold out as long as it could just so he could play with it. The beams of light that the man let out occasionally also hurt much more than blocking the man’s sword with its bare fist. What was worse was that the man kept on stabbing it in strange places that made it go crazy from the pain.

Most people would choose to kill it immediately but the man did not choose to do so. The man just kept on stabbing the ogre in different places as if he was experimenting and exploring the places that would hurt the ogre the most. 

The ogre had thought that the weak ones that rushed at it earlier were crazy but this man in front of it right now was the devil incarnate.

―Guwooo! Guwooo! 

Right now, the ogre was not roaring in anger but crying from pain instead.

“Bru… brutal.”

“Yeah.”

His steel sword thoroughly and fiercely stabbed through the important points in the ogre’s body to the point that even the Leonhardts, who were famous for being ferocious, found it cruel. 

However, from Iron’s point of view, it was just because he couldn’t let his guard down. He did not have any other intentions. Letting his guard down despite being at the late stage of the 5th Stage would mean that he was washing his neck to hand over to the ogre. That was why he was just trying to handle it safely and perfectly. But in other people’s perspective, he looked like he was playing around by only picking out at the ogre’s weaknesses. 

In the end, Iron finished the ogre, who was crying out in pain from the harassment, by cutting off its neck. Then, he looked around. He could see that the other monsters were also stepping back. It was as if they were afraid of Iron. 

“Uhmm…”

Iron looked around as he let out a voice of confusion.

The monsters were willingly stepping back while the soldiers were looking at him strangely. Then, he turned to look at the dead ogre who looked like a discarded rag with how hard he stabbed it earlier.

“Was I too much?”

In his opinion, he just used the most perfect way to kill an ogre since it was a monster that he met after a long time.

Although he had also killed an ogre in his previous life, he had used all kinds of tools and only finished it off with his sword. He never had the chance to kill an ogre with pure force like this. Only this time. After all, the rangers and the Ghosts were the one who dealt with the ogres in the Northeast so he had little to no impression on fighting against them in this life. And this even happened in Leonhardt's Lion Castle. So, he was a bit more emotional than normal.

“Ahem, ahem…”

Everyone turned to look at Iron strangely when he came back inside the castle through the broken gate while coughing. 

While he was in a bit of a strange trouble, a soldier from the Northeast came running from afar. 

“Loyalty! Fog Corps 6th Division, 12th Regiment…”

“Ah! That’s enough. Let’s go first.”

Iron moved towards the northern gate with the soldier as he said so. 

He could feel the gazes of the Leonhardt direct descendants on him but he ignored them as he moved to the northern gate. 

Then, he saw the monsters trying to occupy a part of the wall. They were also in a situation where their commander was not present so they were facing a lot of difficulties. 

When Iron saw this, he immediately climbed on the wall and slaughtered the monsters. 

“I am Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter! I have been dispatched and ordered by Command to take over the command of this place. From this point on, I will be taking charge of this place!”

“Yes, sir!”

All of the soldiers shouted loudly and raised their weapons at Iron’s shout. 

“The first order that I will give you is… wipe out the enemies! Let’s protect the northern gate!”

“We have received your orders!”

The soldiers squeezed their strength to wipe out their enemies at Iron’s orders. 

Iron Carter, the most famous person in the Northeast for his contributions, personally came here as their commander. That fact alone raised the soldiers’ morale.

Iron’s momentum and titles were able to boost the soldiers’ morale to the skies.

The youngest Ghost. 

The hero who protected the Winter Mountains. 

The most famous hero of the Northeast.

The hero who made the greatest contribution in the East.

The power that these titles brought about was no joke. 

“Waaaaaah!”

The soldiers squeezed out and milked their powers dry as they killed the monsters. 

Meanwhile, Iron also used his eye beams and sword to cut off and kill their enemies. He would also occasionally melt down those who used contaminated energy with Phoenix’s purification ability. 

Since his divine power had taken a leap and become stronger, Phoenix’s purification ability was also upgraded. Right now, he could melt the beings with contaminated mana as if he had burned them to their deaths. He was also able to bring out and use Phoenix’s flares and was now well on his way on becoming an all-rounder that could use a lot of abilities. 

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! 

“It feels comfortable to deal with bastards that I know.” 

Iron picked only at the weaknesses of the monsters that he was familiar with and stabbed them to their deaths. Since he was targeting their weaknesses, he did not need to use a lot of effort to kill them. Just using enough force to turn his strike into a fatal blow would make them explode and bleed to their deaths. Because of this, Iron’s sword became even faster and fiercer.

“Cra… crazy!” 

“Isn’t he just like a ghost? A ghost that sweeps away monsters!” 

“Maybe he was a monster killer in his previous life?” 

“No. I’m sure he was enemies with the monsters in his previous life.” 

The soldiers couldn’t help but comment as they watched Iron slaughter the monsters. The monsters were dying on their own after being cut or stabbed with Iron’s sword once. 

Even the small number of knights and officers from Command couldn’t help but mutter to themselves. They had some power on their own so they could clearly feel how strong and great Iron was right now.

“Monster.”

“Isn’t he being underestimated in the rumors?”

Those who saw Iron’s performance from a distance felt that his ability was being undervalued. Although he was hailed as a hero, the rumors that spread had attributed it greatly to his divine beasts which clearly underestimated his other abilities. 

Iron’s figure right now was clearly showing them why the officers in charge of Northeast Command were willing to give him the command of the regiment left here. 

“Hoo… It’s almost over.”

Iron looked around as he said so. There were monster corpses piled around him. His appearance, which was covered in the monster’s blood, looked extremely fierce and brutal. 

“Huh? Oops!”

Iron rushed towards the soldiers after confirming that they were gathered not too far from the wall. 

“Heok… heok… “

He could see a man leaning heavily against the wall while breathing raggedly. Iron approached the man carefully after confirming that he was at the same rank as himself. He could see that the man was soaked in blood. 

“I’m Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter.”

“Lieut… Lieutenant Colonel Zulchar…”

“You don’t need to speak. Thank you for your hard work. You have to move to the rear right away. And as soon as you recover, you are ordered to take the warp gate and go to the rear troops.”

The man nodded heavily after seeing the paper that Iron took out from his clothes. 

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After saying that, he gave a salute to the commander who suffered seriously trying to lead the troops here while being injured himself. 

Then, all of the soldiers nearby saluted and paid their respects to Lieutenant Colonel Zulchar. 

Tears formed in the eyes of Lieutenant Colonel Zulchar after seeing everyone’s salute. He thanked Iron before falling back to the rear. 

Iron only stopped saluting when he confirmed that the Lieutenant Colonel was out of sight. Then, he began to work earnestly. 

The first thing that Iron did after officially replacing the regiment commander was to divide those who suffered from serious injuries from those who suffered from minor injuries before reorganizing his forces. 

“Gather and unite, from here to here. We will be less efficient if we split up unnecessarily. And, gather those who are only lightly injured so we can reorganize.”

The officers’ eyes widened as they followed Iron’s orders. They did not know where he got experience as a commander but he was able to quickly reorganize their troops. They heard that he only lived as a Ghost after serving as an outpost leader so they doubted his commanding ability. But when they saw how well he could lead them, their trust in him increased which made them follow Iron’s orders wholeheartedly.

The officers had eaten a lot of jjambap yet they still sweated as they ran around and burned the soles of their feet to follow Iron’s orders. But even after working at the speed of light, they were only able to reorganize their troops by midnight.

However, their work was not yet finished.

“Starting from now, you have to transcribe this and distribute it to the platoon leaders. Tell them to learn the contents by heart.”

“This…”

Iron threw his personal textbooks to the officers who entered the temporary commander’s office. 

“These are the monster’s weaknesses and ways of attacking them.”

“If that’s what it is, then we already know it.”

“So, why can’t you fight properly? The soldiers are still understandable but even the commissioned and non-commissioned officers are doing terribly.”

Iron signaled them to read the book. The officers hurriedly read the books that had been thrown at them. 

“Ho…”

“This…”

The weaknesses were written in extreme detail. And the easiest way to target those weaknesses were also written 

“Their weaknesses aren’t only in one place. Monsters are still living things, and as living things they are bound to have many weaknesses. Only by identifying those weaknesses can we respond to our enemies effectively in various environments.”

Just like Iron said, there were many weaknesses listed per monster. They did not know how they should do it but it would be amazing once they memorized everything. 

Characteristics of each weakness were even written in detail as well as additional comments about how they should use them and in what situation. The head officer looked at Iron with respect after seeing everything written in the book.

Iron weighed in his thoughts before opening his mouth once again.

“If you can familiarize yourself with these and use them to attack our enemies, your chances of survival will increase sharply even if difficult situations suddenly happen. Now that the number of our troops are getting scarcer, it is essential that you get yourself familiarized with this information.”

The officers nodded heavily at Iron’s words. 

In reality, the Command has to hold out in this state until reinforcements come to their rescue. There were plenty of other places that were placed in a much more difficult situation than theirs so they would probably be the last ones to receive support. Perhaps they would need to endure for a long time with just this scant few troops that they have now. 

“Make sure that you’re already familiarized with this before the next battle. Due to time constraints, you can only practice during actual battles.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. I expect that you will all do better in the next battle.”

After Iron left the commander’s office, the officers hurriedly moved to distribute the books to the commissioned, non-commissioned officers and the soldiers. 

“Hoo… Did I do alright?” 

Iron smiled when he recalled the charismatic figure that he showed worked properly. 

“Ahem, ahem…” 

The corners of his mouth were unconsciously raised as he moved to work. 

Looking at the troops stationed here in the Lion Castle Fortress, he felt that he would become busier in the future. And Iron’s expectations were truly spot on when the next battle began. 

Holes in the defenses began to be opened in other gates except for the one that the Northeast was guarding. As a result, the Northeastern Army, which was already lacking in manpower, had to send some troops to support. 

Bang! Bang!

“It’s really a one-shot kill!” 

“Wow… amazing.” 

The soldiers felt amazed when they killed the mutated wolf after just stabbing it at the area below its groin.

When they confirmed in battle that the monsters, who were difficult to deal with, could be hunted and killed easily as long as they stabbed the correct spot, the soldiers read Iron’s book with more focus. 

The title of the book was also a bit shocking.

《Easy Ways to Hunt Monsters》

Subtitle: It’s easier to hunt monsters than to eat cold soup

The title sounded like someone selling fake drugs somewhere but after they confirmed it in practice, they realized that the title was really fitting. 

In addition, the soldiers, who learned everything in the book, were also trained by Iron after fighting in an actual battle so they were also able to work incredibly well in their next battle. 

Iron had developed combat methods based on the attacks in the book. He was also able to form a unique battle system by fusing the basic formation, a formation learned by the Northeastern soldiers. Once the system was set in place, the number of casualties that the Northeast garnered reduced to one-tenth in just one week. 

Rumors even began to circulate in the Lion Castle Fortress when the Northeastern soldiers went out to support one place after another and moved as if they had suddenly turned into elites. 

“I heard that we can survive if we learn what Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter teaches?” 

“Is it really that amazing?” 

“They said that they memorized all of their weaknesses so their chances of survival had increased by several times.” 

When rumors like this spread among the soldiers, they went crazy to buy the textbooks that were distributed to the Northeastern Army. Regardless if they were soldiers from the North, from the Leonhardt family or from the surrounding territories, they all went gungho as they tried to buy the textbook.

As a result, the executives of Leonhardt had no choice but to worry. 

It hurts our pride but should I go and bow down to a Northeastern officer and ask him to teach us?

However, they also worried that the family head would cut off their necks if they did that once he returned. When Kaiden saw them acting pitifully, he couldn’t help but open his mouth in annoyance.

“Tell him to teach you! What the hell is your problem?!” 

“But… if the family head learns of this…” 

“I’ll take responsibility.” 

Kaiden shouted angrily when he saw them sigh upon hearing his words.

“That bastard Iron is that guy Jaiden who ran away from home. Stop worrying about your pride!” 

The eyes of the people in the room widened at Kaiden’s outburst. 

It just so happened that they were discussing this in an area that was not too far away from where the soldiers were training. So, there were a lot of eyes that turned to him from his outburst.

Kaiden couldn’t help but sweat from embarrassment when he felt their gaze.

Saeriden, who was watching nearby, muttered to himself as he grinned, finding this situation to be funny and interesting.

***

QUIZ!

The answer to the last quiz was 7/15! Let’s all thank:

Eth, LhynxLol, Frantern, Axpredate, IcedCreep, Lanlo, Formam Pigritia, alanc, Aster, SnowFlake, tsukii, Oreothecat and Red Rain.

For the last quiz!

Same rules!

Who were the ones believed to be the first to discover iron which led to the start of the Iron Age?

Good luck! Also, if you ever answered this, chapter upload will be delayed since I'm still editing.