Chapter 296 The Donkey’s Pit

When the red light dies down, a battlefield bereft of the presence of the Paladins is revealed. A huge crater that expands for hundreds of feet is carved on the ground, resembling what a meteor will leave in its wake.

Steam can be seen rising into the sky from a couple of spots in the crater. Molten metal and a lump of charred flesh can be found in these spots. These are the remnants of the Paladins sent to the mine ahead of the others—the only proof that they were here. My newly made Skill: [Little Boy] has done its job well.

It has the same principle as [Radiant Core] but with some tweaks. If [Radiant Core] seals its target inside it, [Little Boy] releases the destructive power it has outward, creating an absurdly strong explosion. It is not as impressive a nuclear bomb yet, but it will be soon. I might even have to change its name because it will surpass nuclear bombs in the future.

Landing on the ground—in the crater, to be exact—I become the center of everyone's attention. They look at me with dumbfounded looks, either surprised by the amount of power I have or the decision I made to kill all of the Paladins at once.

As usual, I wave my hand to disperse their attention. It causes them to cheer loudly which is the opposite of what I intended.

"Enough! You have fought quite a long battle. This won't be the last, so rest take a rest, and embrace yourself for the next battle. It won't come too long."

At this, Decima orders her troops to return to the camp and then comes to me afterward. Following her is Neroel who seems to also have something to say. They stand before me and look at me silently for a few seconds. They bow deeply as they say their thanks soon after.

"We thought we were going to die."

"The situation was about to be hopeless when you joined the battle. We are extremely thankful that you came."

The situation was not hopeless for them even if I didn't intervene. At least, that would be the case if the Elite Paladins were the only obstacle they had. The number of people they would lose without my intervention would contribute significantly to their loss in the next battle. They won't run away from their duty, so they would decide to die should it be the case.

I have implemented a lot of rules that obligate them to prioritize the mission. They are already accustomed to it, but I wish they still use their logic when it comes to situations like this. If the situation is unsalvageable, they better run with lives depended on it. They are also assets worthy of treasuring, so losing them damages us further.

I am happy that they already developed discipline in them, but I don't want blind loyalty. They still have to think with their logic sometimes, and not let their absolute obedience to the rules decide their decisions.

"Were you planning to die in this place?" I ask.

"Preferably not, but I won't complain if the situation requires me," Decima answers straightly.

"Same here." Neroel nods his head.

"What will you gain from dying here?"

"Reducing as many of our opponents as possible."

Neroel doesn't say anything but nods at Decima's answer. They seem to think it is the best answer they can provide since saying defending the mine until the end of their lives is just as ridiculous as it sounds. They will die in the end. They won't be able to defend anything.

"Do you think it is worth your lives?"

"That is…"

Decima is rather surprised that she can't instantly answer the question. When she thinks about it seriously, she realizes that sacrificing her life may not change anything. Sure, she will manage to reduce the number of opponents, but she contributes nothing in the end. The mine will still be overtaken, which means we will still lose.

This makes her think about the best decision to make. It is not long before she realizes that running away is the best choice to make, but she won't accept that because the Demon King's Army never retreats.

"When we are losing, we strive to lose as little as possible," I preach. "You are assets to our Kingdom, so losing you is as undesirable as losing one of our money regenerators. Remember, you are carefully nurtured, so you are not expendables."

Patting the Lamia and the Swordsman on their shoulders, I walk past them. Genelos lands a few feet before me a few seconds after. He reassumes his lizard form and then latches on Millonia's shoulder as she runs at me.

I ask if she has made sure no one escaped, and she confidently says yes. Should this indeed be the case, the two Legions of the Rectusomine Army will arrive at the mine tomorrow afternoon. If they increase their pace, they will be here right after dawn. Either way, we still have a day to recuperate and prepare ourselves to face them.

This will be a drawn-out battle because decimating them is not our main goal. Their goal is to extract the Relic from the mine and we are going to let them do that. I can feel it; there is a Curse cast on the mine. It will be better to let them take the Curse in our stead and snitch the Relic after they extract it.

By the time I stop musing about my plan, I am already inside the mine. My feet are guiding me to the source of the familiar yet also unfamiliar power located deep in the mine. Millonia follows closely behind me. Her face is as straight as paper, but I can tell she is hiding her nervousness.

​ I don't know what she is nervous about. The power is indeed worth being careful about, but I don't think we should be wary of it. It is by no means hostile and I bet it won't suddenly go berserk. It may be too much to say this, but the power is harmless.

It is when I muse about the power that I figure out why the power feels familiar and unfamiliar simultaneously. Heroes also have this kind of power. It is different, but I can sense the touch of uniqueness in it. It is something that only Heroes have—the mysterious System that is born from God's power.

"This Curse Spell was made by the System," I remark as I look at the blocked cave before me. "The difference is not distinct, but I can tell it is not made by a human. It lacks creativity and flexibility. Once you tweak it a little bit, it will crumble and turn into a useless Spell."

I put my hand on the stone blocking the entrance of the cave. Ancient Runes immediately appear on its surface, glowing brightly in gold. I am tempted to channel my Mana to break the Rune, but I don't want to take a risk. Who knows if the Curse will take effect the moment I do that?

Retracting my hand, the Runes stop shining and then disappear. I turn my body slightly sideways and look at Millonia who keeps a distance from the cave's entrance. I quirk an eyebrow, and she immediately shakes her head. She is tenser than before and my suspicion grows. She knows something about the cave but decided to not say anything.

I am not one to pry when the other party is not willing to open up to me. A good friendship—any relationship—is built on trust. When she trusts me enough, she will tell me about it. Although I am sure that trust is not the issue here, I still don't want to press her. What will our friendship mean if I have to do that to make her speak about herself?

"Let's get back, shall we? You don't look very comfortable here."

"Yeah…let's just go outside."

Nodding my head, I turn my back on the cave and walk outside. Millonia takes a hesitant glance toward the cave for one last time before following me. She openly shows her concern about the cave, but I don't mention anything about it. I will turn a blind eye until the time comes when she has to speak.

We spend our time mostly in the tent talking about what to do and not to do tomorrow with Decima and the Warriors who lead a squad. I also train their formation, so they can fight more systematically. Decima's troop is consisted of around a thousand and three hundred people. The four hundred Paladins managed to kill seven hundred men.

The fight with the Rectusomine Army's two Legions will be an imbalance fight no matter how weak they are compared to the four hundred Elite Paladins. They make up their quality with their number; therefore, the upcoming fight is going to be a lot more challenging.

I can make their number mean nothing, but I don't want to participate in the fight as Layland Kleinhaus. It will only discourage them should I do that. I will fight as a random capable Warrior who kills a lot of them but is not a threat to be careful about. I will wait until the seal of the cave is lifted before revealing myself.

With that in mind, it is of utmost importance to arrange for the troop to fight systematically. That way, hopefully, we won't lose too many people by the time the people assigned by the Temple manage to unseal the cave.