Chapter 135: West’s Frontlines in Crisis (3)

While everyone was resting, Iron busied himself and began all kinds of experiments on these strange creatures to find out their weaknesses. 

He was able to identify how high their regenerative power was by removing the core and injecting holy power in their bodies. He was also able to find out how strong the core was and check the power contained inside with the help of some wizards.

He also tried to find out how they experimented on them and looked through the traces of the procedures in some of these creatures.

“What a pity.” 

However, there was a limit to what he could find while they were still out here in the field.

Iron suddenly started missing his previous life. 

Although he was not as strong and was not as trusted by everyone as he was now, the conditions back then were still leagues better in terms of experimenting. He had a laboratory and an experimental site built in Leonhardt’s Castle where he could experiment on the monsters that they had captured alive every day and identify their weaknesses.

One might think that this was a cruel practice. Some even said that they should at least give these lives a comfortable rest in the end. But that was only a story that should be mentioned when humanity’s survival was already guaranteed. It was extremely strange for them to pay attention to such matters when they were currently at a time where there were hundreds and thousands of humans that were being pushed back and dying day by day. 

They were able to identify the monsters' weaknesses through their countless experiments and their behaviors and patterns through their countless battles. From their findings, they wre able to create tactics tailored to defeat these monsters and create a defensive line that prevented the North’s complete collapse.

And Iron intended to repeat this process here as well. 

‘Unknown creatures? It will be enough as long as we find out things about them one by one.’ 

In his previous life, he had encountered plenty of monsters for the first time. Humanity was able to grow and survive only after identifying their weaknesses through experiments and killing them one by one. It was enough as long as he could replicate the process in his present life. 

He was able to identify their weaknesses through the surviving creatures so he went out in search of the bodies to find out more. However, nothing truly came out that outstanding in his eyes. Most of the bodies seemed to have been revived from the dead through the unity of their body and the death energy in the form of the beads which turned them into creatures that were neither vampires nor undead. 

“Hoo… This is quite vague.” 

Iron scratched the flesh of the beings that tried to kill him through a blood explosion in frustration. However, he would not be able to find out anything with just some pieces of flesh. 

In the end, all he could do was to inform his unit about the weaknesses that he roughly found out and told them to move out as soon as everything had been prepared and fixed. 

The further they entered the West from the North, the more bastards surrounded by black fog appeared. And every time, they fought overwhelming battles under the power of the sanctuary.

Baaaaaaang!

“Ha… these bastards are self-destructing bastards too.” 

Iron frowned as he watched the bastards explode just like the commanders that he had first met. 

The numbers of the bastards that they had met were not that large. However, even if they met groups of them several times, they were still unable to capture any of the commander-level ones. 

This was because they would immediately self-destruct the moment they saw him with a shout of Apostle! to cause a crisis. 

“I’m annoyed.”

“We’ll capture them alive.”

“That’s right. Please leave it to us.”

Iron shook his head at Ariel and Cardro’s words. 

He wasn’t ignoring and setting them aside but with their skills, their lives were likely going to be in danger once they were hit by a blood explosion at a close distance. 

“No.”

Ariel and Cardro ground their teeth at Iron’s answer. Despite being compatriots, Iron still did not place his trust in them. They felt frustrated that the gap between them was so wide that they couldn’t catch up to him now but at the very least they wanted to be in the same unit and be of help to him. However, all they did was to rely on their compatriot’s overwhelming performance. 

Iron couldn’t help but sigh when he saw that his compatriot’s expressions were not good. They would be left frustrated if things ended like this so he needed to find some sort of method to have a tie with the situation. This was because they were now the main pillars of their troops and not just his compatriots. 

“Go and make a stage.”

“Yes?”

“What do you mean…?”

The two looked at them with wide eyes when they heard his words.

“Go and make a stage for me and the commander-level bastards to fight. If I could focus on them, I believe I would somehow be able to spare one and capture them alive.”

His words brought life back to their eyes once again. 

“Ariel, don’t let other creatures clump and stick around me.”

“I will do that.”

Ariel looked reliable as she responded to Iron’s words.

“Cardro, stay on the rear and work with the rangers to break down the bastards’ formation as much as possible. That way, me and the other knights will be able to reach the commanders at a comfortable pace.”

“Yes.”

“Tell them to do what they usually do. There are still a lot of inexperienced soldiers in our ranks so telling them to do something difficult for no reason at all will bring casualties.”

Ariel and Cardro bowed their heads apologetically when they heard Iron’s words. Each and every day that they spent fighting together made them realize how much Iron was suffering because of their immaturity. 

However, Iron was thinking differently. To him, they were still young. They were only less than 20 years old but they were already participating in numerous battles, and if they continued to work under his command, they would be able to learn and grow well. 

He could wait for them because he trusted in them. After all, he could see how much they were growing day by day. Although they continued to reveal their inexperience and unfamiliarity due to the sudden turn of events, they were still coping quite well. 

“You’re doing well. If you continue to grow like this, then you will be able to reach the target that I want you to achieve in a year.”

But their faces could not brighten despite Iron’s words. His words meant that they were still a burden. 

Iron no longer spoke after seeing their expressions. Instead, he urged his unit to move and find the monsters quickly. The best training was fighting. The intense physical and mental memories that they would gain once they survived would be a greater fertilizer for their growth than training. 

There were many places where they could fight during these chaotic times. Especially here in the West, since their frontline had collapsed, the region was overflowing with places where they could fight.

As if to prove this, Iron’s unit was able to meet with a group of monsters as well as another group of the unknown troops. Each time, they saved people in crisis and annihilated the enemy. 

“Is it another failure?”

Iron looked bitterly at the commanders that self-destructed once again. Even though he tried to capture them several times, all of his attempts had failed. Ariel and the other leaders all looked apologetic but Iron believed that it was his fault and not theirs. 

“It’s my mistake, straighten your faces.” 

However, even if Iron said this, their faces did not straighten. Perhaps it was because they felt that he was just saying this for no reason at all. Seeing this, Iron spoke again.

“We’ll succeed next time. I already got the hang of it.” 

Iron smiled, encouraged them and prepared to move again. 

These unknown beings were creating a stir in the West. They had already gained the moniker ‘Death Corps’, an army that never died and brought forth the epitome of fear. However, in front of Iron’s unit that could use overwhelming holy power, they were just easy prey.

If I can’t do it once, do it twice. If I still can’t do it twice then do it thrice. 

They took on the challenge of capturing the commander-level figures of the Death Corps and did it several times while being accompanied by that mindset. 

― Krrk… A… Apostle… keuaaaaack!

Iron deliberately showed a gap in his movements to catch one of them at the risk of him getting hurt. The commander immediately tried to self-destruct the moment he injected holy power in its body and neutralized it. But Iron did not let him.

― Let’s die together!

“Shut up!” 

After experiencing it quite a lot of times, he was well aware of their patterns now. He quickly tied the being that he neutralized so it couldn’t move and pressed it down with his holy power so it could not regain its strength and commit suicide while he annihilated the rest with the help of Two Moons. 

“Finally…” 

Iron’s eyes glowed as he looked at the commander that he had caught. He grinned when he saw that it had failed to overcome his powerful holy power and passed out.

In just a blink of an eye, the battlefield had been organized and a barracks was built for Iron. 

― A… Apostle!

“Shouting is meaningless.” 

― Ughhhhhh…

“You won’t be able to self-destruct. Of course, you also won’t be able to kill yourself.”

Iron smiled as he said those words.

― No matter how much you torture me, you won’t be able to pry anything from my mouth!

“Sure, whatever. I did not intend to pry a confession out of you anyway.” 

Iron pulled out a dagger.

“First, let me find out what your body is made of. We have a lot of time.” 

The being began to panic at Iron’s words.

“You’re a commander so there must be something that differentiates you from your subordinates, right?” 

Then, he spinned the dagger. 

The wizards entered Iron’s barracks one by one, ready to experiment with the commander-level creature. 

“Well then! Shall we get started?” 

The experiment on the commander-level creature began with Iron’s cruel laughter.

The first thing that they investigated were the ‘Contract Insignia’ that were painted on its body. Then, they checked the suture marks to see if it had undergone any other experiments and procedures. And by the end of it all, they found out that this was a vampire’s body. 

The commander-level creature’s mentality broke when it saw that Iron found out its secret on his own without asking anything. Even if it mumbled like crazy and spewed out information, Iron did not believe anything that it said. He doubted the creature until the very end. After all, he had met countless beings that talked like this and recited false information in his previous life. 

“What should we do with this guy?”

The wizard asked as he looked at the commander-level being, which had turned into rags after several days of experiments. 

“Take it. There’s still a lot that we can find out.”

“Yes, sir!”

The wizards immediately went behind closed doors at Iron’s words. 

Iron was able to find out the weaknesses of the Death Corps. He was also able to roughly guess their goals after experimenting on the commander-level being. He thought about how he should use this information.

‘It’s hard to trust in just one guy’s information.’

This thought flashed in Iron’s head as he moved once again to check the authenticity of the information. 

He deliberately wandered to the places where the Death Corps could be found and caught a few commander-level beings on their way to Western Command. He gave support and helped the refugees by killing the Death Corps and capturing their commanders. Since the North had become the safest region in the continent, there were many refugees coming up, that was also the reason why plenty of Death Corps were in the area. 

And the more they killed them, the more he understood their behavior patterns and weaknesses. Because of this, he was able to create and refine a unique tactic against them. And the more his unit learned and used it in practice, the better they became at dealing with the Death Corps. 

“Is the information that you said true?”

After gathering all of the information that he had gathered from all of the commander-level beings, he was able to reach a conclusion. And that fact was something that couldn’t be known to the people here but even to the Empire. 

Iron, who contemplated on what to do with this information, decided to head to Western Command for now. 

Although the Western frontlines had collapsed, the remaining forces in the West still continued to fight fiercely at the temporary command that they had set up and was centered on the Western Commander. 

After deciding on helping them, Iron ordered his troops to move quickly. He and his troops had been delayed since they deliberately sought the Death Corps, but they were now moving quickly. Although there were still many Death Corps that targeted the refugees, they couldn’t find all of them and kill them especially if there was an urgent situation that they needed to deal with. The best thing that they could do now was to join the Western Army and defeat the big shots first to prevent any further damage. 

While they were moving quickly towards Western Command, the wide-eyed communications officer in the airship quickly approached Iron. 

“Brigade Commander! There’s trouble!”

“What is it?”

Iron tilted his head when he saw the urgent look on the communication officer’s face.

“The Central Army… The Central Army has collapsed!”