novelraw Chapter 70 : Chapter 70
Chapter 70 : Chapter 70
Chapter 70. Let the Show Begin!
Dragon Mountain Range, Rime Valley.
This was a naturally fortified border pass and also a deathly choke point renowned throughout the world.
At this moment, a vanguard force of roughly five thousand soldiers from the Demi-Human Empire was cautiously stepping into this silent land.
The cold wind swept through the valley, yet it carried not the slightest sound.
Even the crunch of the soldiers’ heavy boots on the frozen ground was swallowed by this eerie stillness.
It was too quiet.
A heavy stone seemed to press on every soldier’s heart.
They tightened their grips on their weapons, their eyes filled with unease and fear toward the unknown.
They had come here to conquer, yet now they felt as though they had walked straight into the gaping jaws of a giant beast.
…
At the same time, inside the newly built defensive fortifications on the northern side of Rime Valley.
General Victor held up a brass telescope and observed the black swarm slowly moving through the valley, his expression grave.
The young officers beside him were so tense that their palms were slick with sweat.
They gripped their sword hilts tightly, as if they might charge out and fight the enemy to the death at any moment.
“General, they are about to enter the ambush zone,” one adjutant whispered in warning, his voice trembling slightly.
Victor lowered the telescope, his gaze deep and steady.
Then he gave his order in a low voice.
“Do not rush.”
“Tell all artillery crews and trap operators to stay calm.”
“Wait until they have fully entered Zone Three before making a move.”
The order was swiftly passed along, and in the tense air there appeared an additional stabilizing force called discipline.
Everyone understood that what came next would be a battle unlike anything they had faced before.
Meanwhile, several kilometers behind the front line, inside a temporary magitech command tent, the atmosphere was entirely different.
There were no thunderous war drums here, nor any strained breathing.
Logaris West sat leisurely in his chair, holding a steaming cup of coffee.
Before him floated a massive three-dimensional light screen formed from magic power.
Upon that screen, the terrain of Rime Valley was displayed in meticulous detail.
Mountains, rivers, passes—everything lay in plain view.
And along the inevitable route at the bottom of the valley, countless tiny runes flickered like a dangerous yet mesmerizing starry sky.
Those were all “gifts” he had personally arranged.
He pushed up the rimless glasses on the bridge of his nose.
The lenses reflected the ghostly light of the screen, and that calm expression of his—so calm it was almost cold—made him look less like a commander deciding the fate of thousands and more like a scholar observing experimental data.
At last, on the screen, the red points representing the demi-human vanguard wriggled forward and all crawled into the area marked as Zone Three.
It was a stretch of valley floor that looked utterly ordinary.
Open.
Flat.
One of the easiest roads to travel during a march.
It was also a perfect burial ground.
Logaris West picked up the Communication Crystal on the table and brought it to his lips.
“Activate the first wave of traps.”
The instant the order was given—
RUMBLE—!
The ground in distant Rime Valley began to quake violently!
Before the marching demi-human army could react, the frozen earth beneath their feet suddenly exploded open.
Countless sharp spikes of ice grew savagely from underground, instantly piercing through the bodies of the several hundred soldiers at the front!
Before their screams could even fully sound, the enormous rune arrays already carved into the cliffs on both sides of the valley flared brightly!
HUM!
An invisible wave instantly spread across the entire area.
Every demi-human soldier felt as though they had suddenly fallen into a thick swamp.
Every step they tried to lift became incomparably difficult.
“A slowing field!”
One mage cried out in terror.
But it was not over yet.
Immediately afterward, another far more violent force swept across the battlefield!
“Shockwave Impact!”
The soldiers were battered off balance by the force.
The formation they had barely maintained descended instantly into complete chaos.
And at the exact same time they fell into disorder—
On the high ground at the rear, ten sinister-looking magitech cannons with black barrels, the Justice II, made no sound at all.
Only a faint ring of energy shimmered briefly around each muzzle.
Ten shells tore across the sky at a speed the naked eye could scarcely follow.
A few seconds later—
Violent explosions suddenly erupted in the midst of the demi-human army, which was already struggling inside the slowing field and reeling from the Shockwave Impact!
Several hundred soldiers caught at the center of the blasts were blown apart on the spot, along with their armor and weapons.
The soldiers around them also suffered varying degrees of injury.
One volley.
Just one volley.
The formation of the five-thousand-man vanguard was completely torn apart.
The surviving demi-human soldiers stared at the hellish scene around them.
They stared at the comrades who had vanished in an instant without a trace.
Their minds went blank.
“Devils!”
“This is the attack of devils!”
“Run!”
“Run now!”
Fear overcame everything.
The soldiers cried out, throwing away their armor and weapons as they fled in madness back the way they had come.
…
The news was sent back to the central command tent of the Demi-Human Empire as quickly as possible.
When the messenger finished his report, stumbling and pale-faced, the entire tent fell into deathly silence.
The cult bishop cloaked in black robes had his jaw slightly hanging open beneath his hood.
Clearly, even he had not expected this result.
Ulzok, the bear demi-human, stood frozen in place.
His furry face was filled with genuine shock and bewilderment, utterly free of disguise.
A vanguard force of five thousand men, including no few fierce officers he had personally promoted, had collapsed in less than a quarter of an hour without even seeing the enemy’s face?
That outcome had gone beyond everything he understood about war.
At that moment, a sharp light flashed in the eyes of Kane, the white wolf demi-human who had remained silent all along.
He quickly walked to Ulzok’s side and patted the man’s thick arm without drawing attention.
Ulzok shuddered and instinctively turned his head toward Kane.
From the calm eyes of his close friend, he instantly understood a plan that had just taken shape.
Act.
In an instant, the genuine shock in Ulzok’s eyes was replaced by deliberately exaggerated fury.
BANG!
With a thunderous crash, he smashed the heavy marching table in front of him to pieces with a single palm strike.
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
“What did you say?!”
He grabbed the messenger by the collar, his bloodshot eyes wide as bronze bells.
“A five-thousand-man vanguard collapsed in less than a quarter of an hour?!”
“They did not even get to see what the enemy looked like?!”
“My heavens!”
“What kind of attack method is this?!”
“My soldiers!”
“My good lads!”
“They are just… gone like that?!”
His roar made the entire tent buzz.
That anger and grief, transformed from genuine astonishment, looked incomparably real.
It perfectly shaped the image of a fierce general who loved his soldiers like sons, yet was left helpless because the enemy’s methods were too strange.
The cult bishop looked at him, clearly dissatisfied, yet for the moment he could not find anything to say.
After all, the battle report was fact.
Seeing that the timing was right, Kane stepped forward.
He first cupped a hand respectfully toward the furious Ulzok, then began his analysis in a calm voice.
“Ulzok, calm yourself.”
“Based on the report we just received, the enemy clearly employed chain traps on a scale never before seen in our intelligence, along with a long-range attack weapon of tremendous power.”
“Their tactics are unheard of, and the intensity of their firepower far exceeds our prior estimates.”
Kane paused, then turned to the cult bishop, his tone becoming incomparably solemn.
“Under these circumstances, forcing an assault will only cause more of our soldiers to die in vain.”
“I propose that we halt the advance immediately, have the entire army construct defensive fortifications, and then dispatch elite scout teams to investigate and break the enemy’s strange traps first.”
The argument was logical and well-founded, full of the steadiness expected of a commander and a proper sense of responsibility for the lives of his soldiers.
After hearing it, Ulzok’s chest rose and fell violently, as though he were suppressing his rage.
In the end, he dropped heavily back into his chair and bellowed in a rough voice,
“We will do as you say!”
Then he turned his head and glared viciously at the cult bishop.
“Sir Envoy, you saw it yourself!”
“It is not that I, Ulzok, am not doing my utmost.”
“The enemy is simply too cunning!”
“I cannot just use my brothers’ lives to fill a pit, can I?!”
“I must be responsible for my soldiers!”
The cult bishop was left speechless.
Faced with the fact that “the enemy’s firepower is ferocious” and the “legitimate reason” that the two legion commanders were “thinking of their soldiers,” no matter how badly he wanted these men to march to their deaths, he could not find a single excuse to refute them.
All he could do was darken his face and let out a cold snort, silently accepting the decision.
Behind his back, where he could not see, Ulzok and Kane exchanged a glance.
Act.
Act it out to the bitter end.
The Regent wanted a war, after all.
He never said exactly how long it had to be fought.