Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – The End of Childhood, Battle of Aristapo (5)When Kaisen entered the walls of Aristapo Castle and caught up with the corps, it was already a scene of fear and chaos.

The uruks who’d broken through the South and North Gates massacred every living thing they could find, and blood covered the city.

At a city intersection, Sharon’s corps encountered hundreds of uruks swarming in like rats.

“Kedark! Kill everything that moves on two feet!” an uruk yelled out.

A flag made of human skin waved, and people’s screams rang out.

Someone beckoned from the alley beyond. She was wearing a witch’s attire. “Let’s take you to the Temple of Sha-Memnon. There is a passage that only we know of.”

As they rode quickly to the temple on the city’s hill, they looked out over the city and saw the uruks committing massacres at random.

The cries of children looking for their mothers were silenced one by one. They also witnessed three of the garrison soldiers slaughtered at the same time by an uruk’s axe.

“Shit…” The grandeur of the Great Temple of Sha-Memnon was overshadowed by the gloom of the desecrated city.

Built by a legendary dwarven architect, Bynes Son Alztahim, the cathedral did not seem to have been constructed with worldly technology, so even when a small amount of light shined in, every corner of the cathedral was brightly lit and filled with warmth.

「You’re here.」 Even the mysterious temple felt dull in comparison to the being who guarded it. Setsunen of the Lightning… Everyone knew the name. He was one of the Three Heroic Dragons, the last lights shining in their age that the gods had abandoned.

The dragon’s brilliant golden hair seemed to capture the sun, and his eyes held a distinctive cross pattern. There were no words to describe the beauty of the dragonkin wearing an old hat, but it was not the time to admire such things.

「Since time is running short, I will get straight to the point.」 The fact that such a being was guarding the place confirmed the existence of the ‘secret weapon’ the marshal had mentioned.

Everyone gathered their fighting spirits. After a room sealed with several layers of protective barriers was opened, Kaisen felt a shiver of primal awe run down his spine.

「It is the egg of a light dragon.」

The brilliance emanating from the shining egg nestled in red silk was great and beautiful, lighting the interior of its holding room like the sun.

Godly… there was no other way to describe the light.

“If it’s a light dragon’s egg, then…?”

「It is a clone of Light Dragon Haraderiman, one of the Three Divine Dragons.」

“!”

「As you all know, His Holiness has been losing his strength since he fell ill about 300 years ago.」

Sharon sighed and muttered, “Yes, the Golden Age ended after he got sick.”

The Golden Age… To Kaisen, struggling in the Dark Age, those words sounded like a distant dream. It was a time filled with only peace and laughter. Was such a thing even possible?

「You did not come to because of its strategic value. It’s all to protect this.」

“What…?”

「The Light Dragon has been trying to create a copy of himself for a long time, but this is the only one he succeeded in creating. We were worried that something might go wrong, so we were putting off transporting it until it hatched, but now we have no choice.」

Setsunen’s soft voice became firm and commanding.「This is the hope of humanity, no, the whole world. If the Light Dragon can transfer his consciousness to this clone, Dark Age will end.」

“…!”

「It should be close to impossible to escape with this, but isn’t it a Warrior’s to overcome such impossibilities, be they fake or real?」 Setsunen added that they had no choice but to entrust the hope of humanity to the Warriors before closing his mouth.

“I don’t understand. If you take the egg and leave, you will definitely succeed, right?” Sharon asked.

「If I do that, everyone here will die.」

“No way, you…”

「I will take the final path given to me, and I will protect this place and buy time. Do your jobs.」

There was silence.

Setsunen packed the dragon egg into a chest made of willow rings. Wrapped in several layers of sild, the egg would not break, even under a considerable impact.

「I will move you all to the east with my power to those taking refuge in the underpass. Protect them and leave this city. The ‘Old Noble’ is looking for it, so hurry.」 Setsunen clapped his hands together with a quiet smile on his face.

The operation, which Wolf later recorded as ‘Operation Massive Sacrifice’, began. It would be the last operation Kamila’s corps ever operated in.

Bathed in golden light, Sharon experienced the bizarre sensation of her body being sucked elsewhere, and all the fatigue and wounds on her body vanished.

When the light disappeared, she had settled on the eastern hill of Aristapo, where a fierce back-and-forth battle was taking place under the command of Krauzan, involving over three million refugees.

“…”

“…”

“…”

When Sharon relayed the full story of the incident, all of the commanders present were left speechless.

“I guess there’s no other way now.” The silence grew louder when Kamila explained her plan on how they would safely transport the dragon egg and the refugees.

“Are you out of your mind?” Sharon asked in a shaky voice.

“I’m sane. Even if you try to escape with so many refugees, you’ll be caught in the siege of a million troops, and you’ll end up dead anyway. You can’t escape.”

“Let’s say you and I kill about 10,000 each…”

“There’s almost a million enemies, though? Are you planning on exchanging 990,000 for nothing? You said the demons would come after that thing. You can’t leave it to the main unit.”

“…”

“Those who need to live must be saved, and those who have been assigned a mission must complete their mission.”

“But… Wolf, you also have to say something!” Sharon pleaded.

Wolf didn’t answer. He just accepted his fate of being torn away from the woman he loved with detachment.

“I’m going to die anyway,” Kamila said, “So this is the right answer. Hey, perverted old man, take care of the rest, but leave the armored unit and artillery unit.”

Marshal Krauzan’s face was also dark. Kamila volunteered to guard the trenches so that the main force and refugees could retreat safely.

The Black Rose Corps would lure the enemy’s detachment by transporting the dragon egg, while the White Bone Corps would take charge of the main unit…

What was even more surprising was that not a single one of the White Bone Corps or Black Rose Corps soldiers opposed the decision.

“Lady Kamila, may I ask you a favor?” Eltoram, who had been silent, spoke.

Kamila nodded.

“Can I tell just the beastmen about the nature of this egg?”

“Why?”

“We have lived our whole lives being criticized as cursed children from the moment we were born. It was only after we came to your side that we were treated like human beings. Knowing we are entrusted with such a noble mission… we will all die happy.”

Eltoram’s voice was calm. He seemed to have already acknowledged his impending death.

Kamila hit the white bear’s chest with her fist and said, “Of course. Please tell them that they did great working under a crazy bitch.”

Eltoram grinned. Both Kamila and Wolf smiled as well. It was their farewell.

“Oh, Sharon, I also have a favor to ask,” Kamila said.

“What?”

“Kaisen… that kid is a bastard with no manners or cuteness, but he’s not a useless brat.”

Sharon felt speechless at Kamila’s words. She was smiling, and it had been a long time since Sharon had last seen her smile.

“Eltoram and Kaisen will be left with the task of guarding the egg.”

“Kamila…” Sharon tried to say.

“If you can… please ensure Kaisen makes it to the Imperial Court alive. Please.”

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator – Rainypup

Proofreader – ilafy

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* * *

Eltoram, carrying the chest with the dragon egg, looked up at the sky. “Rain…”

Thick raindrops fell from the gloomy sky and drenched the world.

Kaisen felt goosebumps going up his body. ‘The rainy season started?’ The rain signaling the beginning of midsummer was eerily black. The falling drops washed away the volcanic ash in the sky, dyeing Kaisen and everything else beneath it pitch black.

“What are you doing? The operation has already begun! Both of you, let’s go!”

The operation was a mess. If it had been a normal operation, the dragon egg would have had to be transported in a palanquin under the guard of a large army, but nothing was normal that summer.

Ttooooo—

Ttoooooooo—

Ttooooooo—

Not long after the operation began, Kaisen felt heart-stopping pain. ‘The trumpet call…!’ Rather than just the sound of a trumpet, it felt like the enemy’s blades were already piercing their lungs.

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“Leave this place to us!” Jin’s left army, supported by giant guns and artillery, was tasked with protecting the trenches and covering the retreat.

“Shoot, keep shooting!”

“Loading, loading!”

“There are no shells!”

Kamila’s corps was clearly a collection of mercenaries gathered for money. However, that group was also a group gathered under one premise—allies were never abandoned.

That was the belief and iron principle of Kamila’s corps. As a result, the number of veterans who sacrificed themselves for the military unit increased.

“Is… is anyone there…?”

Eventually, they were overwhelmed during their final heroic stand, a fate they’d all resigned themselves to. The uruks tore them apart, split open skulls with their axes, and trampled them with blache wolves.

The rain continued to pour down, washing over Rifle Jin’s cooling body, his half-missing face staring blankly into the sky in death.

When the Prisvia Cores on their backs exploded, their entire bodies were melted by the scalding water that came out, but those who were dead or dying could not move.

Still, compared to Sharon’s corps, Kamila’s corps was in better condition.

Sharon’s corps, which was selected as a decoy unit in the dragon egg cover operation, was divided into squads to disperse the uruk pursuit force.

“It’s coming from above!”

“Reorganize, reorganize!”

“I don’t even have time to reload!”

The majority of Sharon’s corps was torn apart by the blache wolf cavalry, which tore into the organs of the dying soldiers, eating them alive.

Of course, the nightmare didn’t stop there.

Kaisen didn’t know it at the time, but the entire sacrificial operation’s only goal was to protect Eltoram and kill any approaching blache wolf or uruk.

Eltoram was pretty lucky until they arrived upstream, where they could cross the river. An ambushing goblin’s venomous crossbow bolt pierced Eltoram’s shoulder. Clever goblins use poisoned arrows.

“Eltoram!” Kaisen shouted.

The uruk warriors who had been hiding in the stream walked out—a Kiranzuki and two others were in the lead.

Kaisen looked at the enemy. ‘There are about a hundred Kiral Clan elite warriors and well over five hundred goblins…’

Could he cut them all down? Goblins were nothing special, but for every 50 uruks, there were two Kiranzuki…

Eltoram suddenly grabbed Kaisen’s shoulder. “You’re quicker, so you go, Kaisen.”

“What?”

“Take the dragon egg and go. Sharon will be waiting for you at Signpost 37, if all goes according to plan.” There was no time to argue. He handed the chest containing the dragon egg to Kaisen.

Kaisen felt his breathing becoming heavier. “Are you… confident in winning?”

“What do you make of me, the best beastman on the continent, kid?!” Eltoram roared with his bear head and charged at the uruks.

“That foolish bear…” Kaisen’s fingers trembled on the hilt of his sword.

Setsunen’s voice rang in his head. “With that egg, humanity will be able to rise again.”

His heart ached, and Kaisen began crossing the river, avoiding the area where Eltoram and uruks were fighting.

“If you die before I come back, I will kill you!”

Shhk一!

Shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk一!

The escape was a close one. An arrow passed close to his ear and exploded. Eltoram shouted, and the arrows suddenly stopped.

‘Eltoram is the strongest beastman in the empire. There’s no way he would lose to just a hundred uruks.’ That was how he convinced himself to keep going.

Of course, there were only 500 demons, including 100 elite uruk warriors, but with two Kiranzuki there, Eltoram would have to be as strong as a Fake Warrior to win such a fight.

Kaisen’s head felt like it was on the verge of exploding. Going to the other side of the river, hurrying out of the forest road… When he arrived at Signpost 37 and approached the broken intersection sign, he saw Sharon Alter Tas Alfo and Lia Riley.

“Kaisen!” Tears formed in the corners of Lia’s eyes. Anyone was fine, as long as she saw a survivor. Including Sharon’s mage, there were only three other soldiers there.

“Eltoram and the other corps are all in danger. We have to go and save them,” Kaisen said, out of breath.

Sharon tightly closed her eyes and shook her head. “This was the plan from the beginning, Kaisen. Their sacrifices must not be in vain.”

“What?”

“Everyone died to safely transport that dragon egg. Let’s go.”

Kaisen stopped breathing. ‘Sacrifice? Dragon eggs? Everyone died?’ He uncontrollably started to laugh, perhaps because his mind was in such turmoil. “This is the plan…? Everyone dies…? Because of one egg like this?”

“It was Kamila’s plan.”

“Don’t make me laugh! It… it’s not funny, shit! Just how amazing is this egg?!” Kaisen suddenly picked the egg up and launched it toward the ground.

It would have broken just like that, ruining humanity’s hopes, had Sharon not hurriedly stepped in and plucked it out of the air.

“Rayboro Bridge,” Sharon said. “If things went as planned, Kamila and Wolf should be there right now.” The situation was urgent, so there was no time to listen to one little boy’s complaints.

‘I’m sorry, Kamila. You asked me to save this guy and take him to the Imperial Court… but if we get delayed in trying to persuade him, everyone’s death would be in vain. If we forced him, he might go crazy from the guilt.’

“Rayboro Bridge…?” Kaisen immediately tried to run back the way he’d come.

“Wait, Kaisen!” Lia Riley grabbed the boy’s shoulder. “It’s too late to go! it’s all over!”

“Shut up…”

“You know the condition of Kamila’s hair! It was completely gray!”

“Shut up and let go…”

“Even if you go and miraculously save them, it’s no use! Her vitality is already gone.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!” Kaisen roughly shook Lia’s hand off and ran into the rain.

Sharon shouted, “Stop, Lia! We have to go!”

“Master, if you send him back like this…!”

“Hurry!”

Running all the way to the bridge, Kaisen felt lonely. He felt the same fear he’d felt four years prior—the fear of having no place to return to and everything falling into darkness.

“Eltoram!” Kaisen shouted. Eltoram had fallen with his back against a tree. Although his chest was slowly rising and falling, dozens of arrows had pierced his chest and back.

“Wake up, wake up!” Kaisen yelled.

Hundreds of uruk and goblin corpses were lying in the water just ahead.

“Ahaha…” A dry laugh came out. Eltoram didn’t even know why or how he was able to smile.

“You won, you won! You swept away two hundred demons by yourself and killed two Kiranzuki! You are the best beastman on the continent!” Kaisen exclaimed.

“This brat… Keuk, keuhahaha… the egg, did you hand over the egg?” Eltoram’s laughter was low and pitiful. Blood flowed from the corner of the mouth and mixed with the rainwater.

“Yes, so wake up! Quick! Let’s go help Kamila together, you bastard!”

“Having… saved the most… holy person… in the world… I am now… a warrior that won’t bring… shame to my great ancestors…” His eyes open, Eltoram died.

Kaisen was alive, but he felt his vision becoming dark. His knees went weak, and his head was spinning. “Hey, Eltoram…?”

‘Why?’ He felt déjà vu from when his mother died and saw the past flash before his eyes.

“My name is Yohan Wolf Frost.”

“Okay? Thank God…”

“This was the plan from the beginning.”

Kaisen gasped and jumped up. His heart felt like it was going to explode during his rapid breathing. ‘The bridge… Which side is the bridge on? Okay… it’s downstream. Let’s go downstream.’

He started running like crazy. Wind and rain laden with volcanic ash hit his face, and a bitter smell lingered in his nose.

“No.” He had never thought of them as valuable companions. “No…” Why, amidst the wind and rain, were the voices of the corpsmen and the times he spent with those idiots going through his mind?

“No…” Rifle Jin, who said he wanted to open a gun store in the countryside after the war. Brick, a lion beastman, said he would return to his hometown and see his children.

‘I didn’t want to become friends with them.’ Ten and Soldem, who were one or two years younger than Kaisen, called Kaisen their older brother and followed him… he never wanted to become friends with anyone.

‘I was afraid that this would happen one day if I made friends.’

The world was a cruel and uncaring place—the moment you realized how precious something was always intersected with the moment you lost it.

“Nooooooo一!”

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